• =?UTF-8?Q?Excerpt_from_=E2=80=9COn_the_Seven_Spiritual_Weapons=E2=80=9D

    From Weedy@21:1/5 to All on Thu May 13 23:31:18 2021
    Excerpt from “On the Seven Spiritual Weapons”

    Sometimes the devil inspires souls with an inordinate zeal for a
    certain virtue or some special pious exercise, so that they will be
    motivated by their passion to practice it more and more. This
    temptation is more to pride rather than virtue....Sometimes, on the
    other hand, the devil coaches souls to do less than they can really
    do. This temptation is more to false humility...In both cases, the
    devil's goal is to make the soul discouraged when the virtue is found
    to be unattainable; and to be wearied and disgusted if his efforts are
    below his abilities. The soul ends up neglecting everything. It is as
    necessary to overcome the one snare as the other.
    -- Saint Catherine of Bologna,

    <<>><<>><<>>
    May 14th - St. Matthias, Apostle

    (died 63)
    After our Blessed Lord's Ascension His disciples came together, with
    Mary His mother and the 11 Apostles, in an upper room at
    Jerusalem. The little company numbered no more than one hundred and
    twenty souls. They were waiting for the promised coming of the Holy
    Ghost, and they persevered in prayer. Meanwhile there was a solemn act
    to be performed on the part of the Church, which could not be
    postponed. The place of the fallen Judas had to be filled, that the
    number of the Apostles might be complete. Saint Peter, therefore, as
    Vicar of Christ, arose to announce the divine decree. What the Holy
    Ghost had spoken by the mouth of David concerning Judas, he said, must
    be fulfilled. Of him it had been written, "His bishopric let another
    take." A choice, therefore, was needed of one among those who had been
    their companions from the beginning, who could bear witness to the
    Resurrection of Jesus.

    Two were named of equal merit, Joseph called Barsabas, and Matthias.
    After praying to God, who knows the hearts of all men, to show which
    of these He had chosen, they cast lots, and the lot fell upon
    Matthias, who was thereby numbered with the Apostles. It is recorded
    of the Saint, wonderfully elected to so high a vocation, that he was
    remarkable for his mortification of the flesh. It was thus that he
    made his election sure.

    He preached in Judea where he was persecuted by both Jews and
    Gentiles, and died by stoning, a victim of their pursuits, in the year
    63. His body was taken to Rome by Saint Helena, mother of Constantine,
    some 250 years later. A church there bears his name.

    Reflection. Our ignorance of many points in Saint Matthias's life
    serves to fix the attention all the more firmly upon these two -- the
    occasion of his call to the apostolate, and the fact of his
    perseverance. We then naturally turn in thought to our own vocation
    and our own end: may it be like his, a holy death in reward for our
    fidelity.

    Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on
    Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea
    (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).


    Saint Quote:
    "As to ... the avoidance of sin, there is no more efficacious means of
    subduing the passions [desires], of resisting temptations, and
    consequently of avoiding sin, than the remembrance of God's presence."
    --St. Alphonsus de Liguori (Useful Doctor, 1696-1787)

    Bible Quotes:
    "Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the
    Lord hath looked upon the earth"  (Psalm 101:20)

    "And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on
    the multitude of my sins. For mercy and wrath quickly come from him,
    and his wrath looketh upon sinners. Delay not to be converted to the
    Lord, and defer it not from day to day. For his wrath shall come on a
    sudden, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee"
    (Ecclesiasticus 5:69)


    <><><><>
    Flowers of the rarest

    "Bring flowers of the rarest,
    Bring blossoms of the fairest,
    From garden and woodland and hillside and dale,
    Our full hearts are swelling.
    Our glad voices telling
    The praise of the loveliest Flower of the Vale.

    "O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
    Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
    Their lady they name thee,
    Their mistress proclaim thee,
    Ah! grant that thy children on earth be as true;"


    56. St. Joseph of Cupertino (Monk, 1603-63) - 'Miniature Lives Of The
    Saints" -- (Fr. H. Bowden, Burns & Oates, 1959 p. 422)
    This Saint accepting no present but flowers, with which he adorned his
    picture of the Madonna, once said:

    "My Mother is hard to please: I bring her flowers and fruit, and she
    does not care for them and will not accept them. I ask her what she
    wants, and she answers, 'It is the heart which I care for'

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    NOTE:

    And what then shall we give Her now, all our wills?
    It's easier said than done? Then why not resolve to learn to do it?
     How? By going through the "Marian Exercises" for emptying ourselves
     of the 'spirit of the world', and Solemnly Consecrating ourselves
     as slaves to Our Lord through Our Lady,
    by St. Louis Marie de Montfort (Founder, 1673-1716)--needs four
    weeks of hard work on self--worth an eternity

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