Christianity

The end goal of Christianity should be to love as God loves everyone, and to will for the salvation of all men, to have no enemies.

Page 334, link should go directly to it.

I feel like this espouses a different mindset, perhaps worth pondering and discussing. Greed seems like one of those sins that escapes censure in the modern world; certainly things like theft, proceeding from greed, are condemned, but often not the tendency towards endless accumulation (even if it were to harm no one else).

This booklet reveals the simplest secret of holiness and happiness ever. It shows us how to pray without ceasing and the great power of the Holy Name of Jesus. This little booklet can easily be the key to obtaining incredible graces and favors from Him both for our­selves and for others.

A personal note that the original booklet is traditionally approved; I saw a footnote I might disregard, so mild caution might be advised with any revisions made to the original text. Otherwise the original text has some interesting ideas.

https://archive.org/details/wonders-of-the-holy-name

Days of prayer, and formerly also of fasting, instituted by the Church to appease God's anger at man's transgressions, to ask protection in calamities, and to obtain a good and bountiful harvest...

The Rogation Days are the 25th of April, called Major, and the three days before the feast of the Ascension, called Minor.

The order to be observed in the procession of the Major and Minor Rogation is given in the Roman Ritual, title X, ch. iv. After the antiphon "Exurge Domine", the Litany of the Saints is chanted and each verse and response is said twice. After the verse "Sancta Maria" the procession begins to move. If necessary, the litany may be repeated, or some of the Penitential or Gradual Psalms added.

Catholic encyclopedia on "Rogation Days": https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13110b.htm

Based on this, I've sometimes thought people might observe the days at times by fasting, and by praying a Litany of the Saints and / or the Penitential Psalms.

Litany of the Saints: https://www.dailycatholic.org/litanyst.htm

About the Prayer: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09291a.htm

Penitential Psalms: https://traditionalcatholicprayers.com/2020/09/26/the-seven-penitential-psalms/

My favorite portion - from the end:

Three Hail Marys is a traditional Roman Catholic devotional practice of reciting three Hail Marys as a petition for purity and other virtues. Believers recommended that it be prayed after waking in the morning, and before going to bed, following the examination of conscience at night. This devotion has been recommended by St. Anthony of Padua, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. John Bosco and St. Leonard of Port Maurice.

A short and simple religious practice for those interested.

I'd like to do a longer post about the history of papal elections as I think their principles could be relevant to consider for the present or future, but I only have time to post this tonight.

For example, some questions come up about how Catholics would elect if the cardinals all died in a war for example or something; a little research indicates for example that cardinals were not always the exclusive electors of the pope, and that a "general imperfect council of bishops" might elect a pope if cardinals cannot, or a papal election might occur in some other way so long as it gains a kind of "universal acceptance by Catholics".

The election of a pope exclusively by cardinals is only from 1059 onward I believe:

The selection of the pope, the bishop of Rome and supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, prior to the promulgation of In nomine Domini in 1059 varied throughout history.

...

The absence of an institutionalized procedure of papal succession facilitated religious schism, and the Catholic Church currently regards several papal claimants before 1059 as antipopes.

...

In 1059, Pope Nicholas II succeeded in limiting future papal electors to the cardinals in In nomine Domini, instituting standardized papal elections that eventually developed into the procedure of the papal conclave.

Considered by a growing minority as a non-Catholic antipope who continued the "Vatican 2" revolt against Catholicism, the late "Francis" in our view continually pushed heterodox ideology at odds with traditional Catholic belief and practice.

While I do not necessarily agree with the all these critiques of him or how they're delivered, here's a laundry list of articles that viewed him in the most negative light, from a "traditional Catholic" (sedevacantist) perspective: https://novusordowatch.org/francis/

It would be nice to see at this point before a new "pope" is elected to continue the confusion, of there being a global rejection of Vatican 2's "reforms" and of there then being a conclave to elect an unquestionably Catholic pope.

http://infogalactic.com/info/Doctor_of_the_Church#List_of_Doctors

(note that we recognize the doctors listed up to 1958; not that some of the others listed may not be holy people)

So I had this idea to compile sermon collections of the Doctors of the Church (and theology writings). Does something like this exist, an organized collection of links to such sermons, or is there an interest in such a list?

I guess it was an attempt to curate a list of some of the most edifying spiritual sermons, for education and inspiration.

Has this already been done in the discipline of homiletics, or are there compilation books from some of the writings of the Doctors of the Church?

(Another approach to this might be to find some compilations of "sermons for every Sunday of the year" and to compile some sermons for certain holidays, like this compilation by St. Alphonsus Liguori - https://archive.org/details/sermonsforallsun00liguuoft)

For example, for Easter (sermons by Church Doctors; note that I do not think they are, but the translations may be corrupted in some way, so this may require double checking to make sure something wasn't translated incorrectly - also that linking to these sites does not imply endorsement of other content posted on the sites):

St. John Chrysostom: https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/john_chrysostom_easter_sermon.htm

St. Athanasius: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2806002.htm

Pope St. Leo the Great: https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360371.htm

St. Augustine: https://catholicism.org/st-augustine-easter.html

Pope St. Gregory the Great: https://catholicism.org/st-gregory-resurrection.html

Anyone find any others to share?

I personally had to experience, through the example of our family, what it means to pray together for the deceased. After my grandmother passed away, she began to appear in the dreams of relatives in a very distressed state, asking for help and support. We organised ourselves and began to pray simultaneously for her repose every day for forty days, each in our own home.

Time passed, and she appeared in a dream to her daughter. When asked how things were, my grandmother replied, "At first, it was very bad, dark, cold, scary, and drowsily, but now it is very good."

We are not ascetics, saints, or great men of prayer. We are ordibnary, sinful people, without any hint of anything special. And we prayed most simply, reading prayers from the prayer book, and I served the Litia – just as usual. But, as some would say today, "it works". And all of us need to know this! God hears even us – common, sinful, imperfect people, very far from true holiness. And not only does He hear, but He also accepts our prayers, shows mercy and forgiveness. Of course, hundreds of such stories can be read today, but there is a difference between reading them and having one's own experience.

Mostly I've seen this one before which made me think of the topic:

May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields, and, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

But I have seen others; not sure all these are "theologically sound", but otherwise here may be some more:

https://www.today.com/life/holidays/irish-blessings-rcna138613

Any favorites or thoughts on the topic?

Letter 148: To A blacksmith, Radosav I

By Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

You would like for God to pardon all sinners of His Terrible Judgement. Are you again tempting Christ just like that enemy of God tempted Him on the mountain? "If you are the all-merciful Son of God, have mercy on Judas and Cain and all serious sinners, and I will worship you!" This is how you could phrase your tempting of Christ. And the Lord Himself could respond to you and say, "Was I not merciful enough when I descended from my eternal glory into human darkness and gave my whole self as a sacrifice for mankind? How shall I pardon those who never asked me for it; who despised my offered mercy to their last breath; who spilled the blood of my faithful disciples like water; who remained servants of Satan to the end?"

And how is it now that mortal men compare their mercifulness to God's and even think themselves to be more merciful than God? Examine yourself thoroughly and see how limited and vain human mercy is. See if you would easily forgive a friend who swore three times that he does not know you. Would you forgive a man who was persecuting your relatives with the sword to the point of extinction? Would you forgive a man who would mock everything that is most sacred to you? The Lord Jesus forgave Peter who renounced Him three times. He forgave Saul who was persecuting His followers, His relatives. He forgave Augustine who mocked the sacred things of Christianity. He forgave all those who repented wholeheartedly and turned their rebellion into zeal for God and God's sacred things. He will forgive at His terrible judgement even those who repented only on their deathbed, confessed Christ as the Son of God and cried out to Him for salvation. He will also forgive those who showed even as much mercy in His name as to give a glass of cold water to the least of His followers.

But all this is not enough for God's tempters! It is not enough for those who neither know what it is to forgive nor to repent. They do not know how God's mercy overcomes our way of thinking. Nor do they know how deep are the wounds of Christ for mankind. They would like for God to mingle the Kingdom of eternal light with darkness and for there to be a mixture of good and evil on heaven as on earth. They would like for Cain and Judas and all the fratricides, all the godless, all the bloodthirsty, debauchers, lascivious, mockers of sanctity, ridiculers of God - everybody, all the unrepentant evildoers to stand at the right hand of Christ at the last Judgement, together with the Saints, martyrs and the righteous, and for no one to be on the left side! Is that justice? Is it just to give the same wages to those who worked all day? Is it mercy to mix light with darkness, truth with lies, wheat with chaff?

Who are you, O man, to teach justice to the One who founded justice? Or to remind of mercy the One who out of mercy gave Himself to be crucified for mankind? Bow down to the sanctity of His justice and to the unsearchable depth of His mercy, cry out, "O Most-Merciful One, have mercy one me a sinner and save me!"

johnsanidopoulos.com

(Lifted from this post on reddit)

"We require to be encouraged rather than frightened, and those generals who, on the eve of a battle, speak only of dangers and difficulties to their troops, ought to expect a shameful flight rather than a glorious victory. Indeed, soldiers ought to be cheered with the certain hope and prospect of glory ; and nothing should be left untried that may lessen fear and enkindle courage. And, in the same way, recruits in the spiritual army ought to be cheered on, and reminded that since they have the help of an invincible Leader, they cannot be conquered by the foe, unless they choose to yield."

• Rev. Dom. Innocent Le Masson, "Spiritual Reading For Every Day" p. 9

https://archive.org/details/spiritualreading01massuoft/page/n19/mode/2up

Someone posted "Tolerance is not a Christian virtue". So I decided to check a Catholic view on the subject; "Religious toleration" in Catholic encyclopedia: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14763a.htm

Not all intolerance, however, is a vice, nor is all tolerance a virtue.

This statement seems to affirm "some tolerance is a virtue", hence disagrees with the idea that "[no] tolerance is a Christian virtue".

Relatedly, of St. Fulgentius (January 2) it was said, on revenge:

An Arian priest betrayed Fulgentius to the Numidians, and ordered him to be scourged. This was done. His hair and beard were plucked out, and he was left naked, his body one bleeding sore. Even the Arian bishop was ashamed of this brutality, and offered to punish the priest if the Saint would prosecute him. But Fulgentius replied, "A Christian must not seek revenge in this world. God knows how to right His servants' wrongs. If I were to bring the punishment of man on that priest, I should lose my own reward with God. And it would be a scandal to many little ones that a Catholic and a monk, however unworthy he be, should seek redress from an Arian bishop."

I guess, while there is maybe some pushback on a wrongful pacificism and false tolerance, that all good tolerance might not be forgotten today in the storm of the seeking of "intolerant justice".

This is from a chapter in "The Art of Dying Well" By St. Robert Bellarmine: https://archive.org/details/TheArtOfDyingWellStBellarmine

Honestly I'm not sure if I can sum up the chapter and it seems to be worth posting as I see little awareness of this attitude anywhere unless I am ignorant of people knowing of this

Chapter V. The Fifth Precept, In Which The Deceitful Error Of The Rich Of This World Is Exposed.

IN addition to what has been already said, I must add the refutation of a certain error very prevalent among the rich of this world, and which greatly hinders them from living well and dying well. The error consists in this: the rich suppose that the wealth they possess is absolutely their own property, if justly acquired; and that therefore they may lawfully spend, give away, or squander their money, and that no one can say to them, "Why do you do so? Why dress so richly? Why feast so sumptuously? Why so prodigal in supporting your dogs and hawks? Why do you spend so much money in gaming, or other such-like pleasures?" They will answer: "What is it to you ? Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own ?"

Now, this error is doubtless most grievous and pernicious: for, granting that the "rich" are the masters of their own property with relation to other men; yet, with regard to God, they are not masters, but only administrators or stewards. This truth can be proved by many arguments. Hear the royal prophet: "The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof: the world and all they that dwell

therein." (Psalm xxiii.) And again: " For all the beasts of the wood are mine: the cattle on the hills, and the oxen. If I should be hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof." (Psalm xlix.)

And in the first book of Paralipomenon, when David had offered for the building of the temple three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver, and Parian marble in the greatest abundance; and when, moved by the example of the king, the princes of the tribes had offered five thousand talents of gold, and ten thousand of silver, and eighteen thousand of brass, and a hundred thousand of iron, then David said to God: "Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to thee is praise; for all that is in heaven or earth is thine: thine is the kingdom, Lord, and thon art above all princes. Thine are riches, and thine is glory, thou hast dominion over all: in thy and is power and might: in thy hand greatness and the empire of all things. Who am I, what is my people, that we should be able to promise thee all these things ? All things are thine; and we have given thee what we have received of thy hand." (chap. xxix. 11, &c.) To these may be added the testimony of God Himself, who by Aggæus the prophet saith: "Mine is silver, and mine is gold." This the Lord spoke, that the people might understand that for the new building of the temple nothing would be wanting, since He himself would order its erection, to whom belonged all the gold and silver in the world.

I shall add two more testimonies from the words of Christ, in the New Testament: " There was a certain rich man who had a steward: and the same was accused unto him, that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said to him: How is it I hear this of thee ? Give an account of thy stewardship: for now thou canst be steward no longer." (St. Luke xvi.) By the "rich man" is here meant God, who, as we have just said, crieth out by the prophet Aggæus: " Mine is silver, and mine is gold." By the "steward" is to be understood a rich man, as the holy Fathers teach, St. Chrysostom, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, Venerable Bede, besides Theophylact, and Euthymius, and others on this passage.

If the Gospel, then, is to be credited, every rich man of this world must acknowledge that the riches he possesses, whether justly or unjustly acquired, are not his: that if they be justly acquired, he is only the steward of them; if unjustly, that he is nothing but a thief and a robber. And since the rich man is not the master of the wealth he possesses, it follows that, when accused of injustice before God, God removes him from his stewardship, either by death or by want: such do the words signify, "Give an account of thy stewardship, for now thou canst be steward no longer."

God will never be in want of ways to reduce the rich to poverty, and thus to remove them from their stewardship: such as by shipwrecks, robberies, hail-storms, cankers, too much rain, drought, and many other kinds of afflictions so many voices of God exclaiming to the rich: "Thou canst be steward no longer."

But when, towards the end of the parable, our Lord says: "Make unto you friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings," He does not mean that alms are to he given out of unjust riches, but of riches that are not riches, properly so speaking, but only the shadows of them. This is evidently the meaning from another passage in the same Gospel of St. Luke: " If then you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will trust you with that which is the true?"

The meaning of these words is: "If in the unjust mammon" that is, false riches "you have not been faithful" in giving liberally to the poor, "who will trust you" with true riches the riches of virtues, which make men truly rich ? This is the explanation given by St. Cyprian, and also by St. Augustine in the second book of his Evangelical Questions, where he says that mammon signifies "riches;"

which the foolish and wicked alone consider to be riches, whilst wise and good men despise them, and assert that spiritual gifts are alone to be considered true riches.

There is another passage in the same Gospel of St. Luke, which may be considered as a kind of commentary on the unjust steward: "There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores. Desiring to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man s table, and no one did give him; moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham s bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell." This Dives was certainly one of those who supposed he was master of his own money, and not a steward under God; and therefore he imagined not that he offended against God, when he was clothed in purple and linen, and feasted sumptuously every day, and had his dogs, and his buffoons, & c. For he perhaps said within himself: " I spend my own money, I do no injury to any one, I violate not the laws of God, I do not blaspheme nor swear, I observe the sabbath, I honour my parents, I do not kill, nor commit adultery, nor steal, nor bear false witness, nor do I covet my neighbour’s wife, or anything else." But if such was the case, why was he buried in hell ? why tormented in the fire ? We must then acknowledge that all those are deceived who suppose they are the “absolute" masters of their money; for if Dives had any more grievous sins to answer for, the Holy Scripture would certainly have mentioned them. But since nothing more has been added, we are given to understand that the superfluous adornment of his body with costly garments, and his daily magnificent banquets, and the multitude of his servants and dogs, whilst he had no compassion for the poor, was a sufficient cause of his condemnation to eternal torments.

Let it, therefore, be a fixed rule for living well and dying well, often to consider and seriously to ponder on the account that must be given to God of our luxury in palaces, in gardens, in chariots, in the multitude of servants, in the splendour of dress, in banquets, in hoarding up riches, in unnecessary expenses, which injure a great multitude of the poor and sick, who stand in need of our superfluities; and who now cry to God, and in the day of judgment will not cease crying out until we, together with the rich man, shall be condemned to eternal flames.

December 13, St. Lucia Day, also known as the Festival of Light, is a day of celebration in Sweden, in the spirit of Advent and Christmas. Young girls are dressed in white robes with a red sash, with one girl selected as "Lucia" who wears a crown of lit candles (or battery powered ones), the others carrying a single candle. Processions with singing and revelry abound.

At home, the eldest girl dresses up in robe, sash, and candle crown, and delivers coffee and lussekatter, or S shaped saffron buns to her parents for breakfast.

Saffron bun recipe: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/st_lucia_saffron_buns/

https://infogalactic.com/info/Saint_Lucy%27s_Day

Ember Days follow St. Lucy's Day traditionally:

The Ordo Romanus fixed the spring fast in the first week of March (then the first month), thus loosely associated with the first Sunday in Lent; the summer fast in the second week of June, after Whitsunday; the autumnal fast in the third week of September following the Exaltation of the Cross, September 14; and the winter fast in the complete week next before Christmas Eve, following St. Lucy's Day (Dec. 13).

https://infogalactic.com/info/Ember_day

https://archive.org/details/thegloriesofmary00liguuoft

A classic Catholic book on topics related to the Blessed Virgin Mary

https://infogalactic.com/info/Mariology

BVM in Catholic encyclopedia: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15464b.htm

Also wanted to note for discussion in this post that "Mariology" seems to be a topic that sticks out, among others, as something Catholics and protestants often have different views about, I think?

Also perhaps a discussion might be related about what it means to be a woman today in light of the example of Mary and the Holy Family

I noticed I posted this previously but that the book was split up into two volumes and I only posted one of them, and it's a book (or books) that might be something to look at for the coming new year. There are 53 lessons with sub-lessons under them about various spiritual topics.

This was recommended for spiritual reading in "My Prayer Book" by Fr. Lasance (early 1900s): https://archive.org/details/MyPrayerBookHappinessInGoodness

vol 1: https://archive.org/details/spiritualreading01massuoft/page/n19/mode/2up

vol 2(?): https://archive.org/details/spiritualreading02lemauoft/page/264/mode/2up

Gratitude: https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3106.htm

Ingratitude: https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3107.htm

Incidentally many secular people have noted "benefits" of gratitude to health and well-being, besides the spiritual aspect of gratitude as noted in above writings.

(From Lat. gluttire, to swallow, to gulp down), the excessive indulgence in food and drink. The moral deformity discernible in this vice lies in its defiance of the order postulated by reason, which prescribes necessity as the measure of indulgence in eating and drinking. This deordination, according to the teaching of the Angelic Doctor, may happen in five ways which are set forth in the scholastic verse: "Prae-propere, laute, nimis, ardenter, studiose" or, according to the apt rendering of Father Joseph Rickably: too soon, too expensively, too much, too eagerly, too daintily. Clearly one who uses food or drink in such a way as to injure his health or impair the mental equipment needed for the discharge of his duties, is guilty of the sin of gluttony. It is incontrovertible that to eat or drink for the mere pleasure of the experience, and for that exclusively, is likewise to commit the sin of gluttony.

via Catholic Encyclopedia

Aquinas on Gluttony

Wiki Gluttony Entry

I thought this was a timely topic to reflect on given that some people eat too much around the holidays