Give and forgive - the two wings of prayer

Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) describes Jesus double precept to give
and forgive as two essential wings of prayer:

"Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given you.
These are the two wings of prayer on which it flies to God. Pardon the
offender what has been committed, and give to the person in need"
(Sermon 205.3). "Let us graciously and fervently perform these two
types of almsgiving, that is, giving and forgiving, for we in turn
pray the Lord to give us things and not to repay our evil deeds"
(Sermon 206.2).

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September 19th - Our Lady of La Salette

On September 19, 1846, Our Lady appeared to two small shepherds,
Maximin Giraud and Melanie Calvat. The beautiful lady, as the children
called her, appeared in an attitude of profound sadness asking prayers
and penance to help her prevent the arm of her Son from falling over
humankind for its sins. Our Lady also revealed to the shepherd
children a secret. Since this apparition took place on the mountain
call La Salette in the Diocese of Grenoble, France, a new invocation
of Our Lady soon spread throughout the world – Our Lady of La Salette.

There have been three major apparitions of Our Lady in the last 150
years: La Salette, Lourdes and Fatima. In all them the Church accepted
the authenticity of the apparitions and endorsed them by making
special feasts to commemorate them. In each of those three apparitions
Our Lady left a secret. In all of them, Our Lady manifested herself as profoundly sad because of the state of mankind, and predicted an
enormous chastisement that would come at a chosen moment.

You are constantly in contact with members of the High and Low Clergy
as well as with Catholic laypeople who are very happy, who think that everything is going very well. If you tell these people that a
chastisement is being prepared for humankind, they respond that it is
absurd. They affirm that today Religion is in an extraordinary
progress.

Next to such people we look gloomy and sad. We play the role of the
pessimistic hypochondriacs who do not fit into the joyful, carefree
atmosphere of our days, which always disseminates an optimistic and
positive opinion about everything. Our role is a hard one, because it
is always hard to foresee and announce chastisements for a mankind
turned toward enjoying life. It is not surprising that very few people
are willing to believe and follow our political and religious
perspectives regarding events, which demonstrates the ever greater
victory of the Revolution. They do not want to hear about the great chastisement that God is preparing.

This is characteristic of all epochs that take the wrong path. When
people hear someone saying that they are going astray, they do not
listen to him. For this reason, the great chastisements come. If the
people would listen, they would convert, and the chastisement would be
averted. It is precisely because they do not open their souls to the
message that the catastrophe becomes inevitable. The fact that they do
not believe in Our Lady’s messages is the proof that those messages
will be fulfilled.

Someone could object: Over 150 years have gone and nothing has
happened. How have these messages been fulfilled? I sustain that in
ovo (in the egg; in its seed) the great chastisements have begun. Our
Lady appeared in La Salette in 1846; in 1870 the Franco-Prussian war
started as a result of the rivalry between France and Germany. This
rivalry would reach an apogee in 1914 and be the most profound cause
for World War I, as well as for World War II. The quarrels of WWII
have still not been resolved completely and the perspective of a World
War III lies on the horizon. A possible WWIII with its nuclear
apocalypse can very well be the start of great chastisement predicted
in La Salette and Fatima.

The great chastisements of God defy the patience of those few who are
faithful. The most characteristic example was the Deluge where
everybody laughed at Noah who was building his ark in expectation of a
great chastisement. It took him 100 years to complete his work, and
then the Flood came. At times Noah might have been tempted to think
that he was wrong and that the people laughing at him were right. But
he did not relent. He remained faithful to the message he received
from God and continue to prepare for the chastisement. The fact that
it took a long time to come did not mean that it would not come;
rather, it meant that it would be an enormous chastisement.

Our Lord predicted that the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed.
When He died, an earthquake shook its floors and the veil of the
Temple was rent in the middle. Some walls were damaged but the Temple
remained standing. Decades passed and the prophecy was not fulfilled.
Several times the faithful of Jerusalem thought that the signs were
ripe for the chastisement and fled to the mountains, as Our Lord had
advised them to do. However, nothing happened and they returned to
their normal lives, perhaps a little discouraged. Then, 40 years after
Our Lord’s death, and apparently by chance, a soldier from the army of
Titus threw a torch into one of the side windows of the Temple; the
fire spread quickly, swallowed all the buildings, and then, in truth,
not one stone remained over the other just as He had predicted.
Afterward the Temple was never rebuilt.

We should be convinced that we were chosen to be among the few who
listen to the voice of Our Lady and wait for the chastisement she
predicted. These cherished ones must give proof of their love. They
must give proof of their fidelity before the word of God is
accomplished. This is the situation we are in. I don’t know how many
years we must await the promises of La Salette and Fatima to be
fulfilled. At times we think: “Now it has to come, because it is
impossible for the situation to be any worse.” Then, it doesn’t come.
The stormy sky releases just some few drops of rain and dissipates.
Again the sky becomes stormy… People laugh at us. We should remember
Noah. When the rain finally fell, it was the Deluge.

To confide against all appearances, and believe after all the delays
is the demand of God in selecting those with whom He will make His
alliance. This is the great teaching of La Salette. This is the spirit
we should ask to receive on the feast day of Our Lady of La Salette:
to have a blind confidence against any hope in her promise, and to be
confident that its fulfillment will come.

http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j226sd_OLLaSalette_9-19.html


When you can do no more, say a Pater and an Ave Maria; and when you
have the time to do better, you will say more.”
-- Our Lady of la Salette

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