[Saint Catherine of Genoa ~ XV-XVI Century; born: Genoa, Republic of Genoa/ died: Genoa, Republic of Genoa; (aged 62-63); Mystic; Spiritual Writer] Chapter XIII ~ HOW THE SOULS IN PURGATORY ARE NO LONGER IN A STATE TO MERIT, AND HOW THEY REGARD THE CHARITY EXERCISED IN THE WORLD FOR THEM. IF the souls in purgatory could purge themselves of their stains by contrition, they would in a single instant discharge all their debt, so ardent and so impetuous an act would they make, seeing in so clear a light the effects of the impediment which hinders them from attaining to their end, which is God, the object of their love. And be assured that the souls have to pay what they owe even to the uttermost farthing : this is God's decree, to satisfy the demands of justice. As to the souls themselves, they have no choice of their own in the matter ; they see nothing but God's will ; nor do they wish otherwise, because they have been so determined. They would not care for alms contributed by the living …More
"Should, then, the soul perceive that it lacked even a moment of satisfying God most completely, it would be to it a thing intolerable ; and rather than stand thus imperfectly cleansed in the presence of God, it would plunge at once into a thousand hells."
"PSALM 39 Expecting, I have expected thy grace: and thou hast done with me according to the multitude of the mercies of thy name. Thou hast heard my prayers: and thou hast led me out of the den of misery, and from the pit of the enemy. Manifold and wonderful are thy gifts, O Lady: incomparable are the gifts of thy graces. Let all those exult and rejoice in thee who love thee: let them who have hated thy name, fall into hell. Blessed be thou forever, O Lady: forever, world without end. Glory be to the Father, etc."
[Saint Bonaventure – XIII Century AD; born: Civita di Bagnoregio, Papal States/died: Lyon, Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles; (Aged 52-53); Cardinal; Teacher of the Faith; Seraphic Doctor; Doctor of the Church; Scholastic Theologian, Philosopher] PSALM 38 I said: I will keep my ways, O Lady: when by thee the grace of Christ was given to me. By thy sweetness my soul was melted: my bowels are inflamed by thy love. Hear my prayer, O Lady, and my supplication: and let mine enemies pine away. Have mercy on me from Heaven and from the height of thy throne: and permit me not to be troubled in the valley of misery. Keep my foot, lest it should be injured: and may thy grace be with my end. Glory be to the Father, etc. PSALM 39 Expecting, I have expected thy grace: and thou hast done with me according to the multitude of the mercies of thy name. Thou hast heard my prayers: and thou hast led me out of the den of misery, and from the pit of the enemy. Manifold and wonderful are thy gifts, O Lady: incomparable …More
"If you should see a starving man standing with mouth open to the wind, inhaling draughts of air as if in hope of gratifying his hunger, you would think him lunatic. But it is no less foolish to imagine that the soul can be satisfied with worldly things which only inflate it without feeding it. What have spiritual gifts to do with carnal appetites, or carnal with spiritual? Praise the Lord, O my soul: who satisfieth thy mouth with good things (Ps. 103.1ff)."
[St. Bernard of Clairvaux – XI-XII Century AD; born: Burgundy, Kingdom of France/died: Clairvaux, Kingdom of France; (aged 62-63); Abbot; Mystic; Leader; co-founder of the Knights Templar; Last of the Fathers; Doctor Mellifluus] Chapter VII. Of love toward God not without reward: and how the hunger of man's heart cannot be satisfied with earthly things But life is too short, strength too feeble, and competitors too many, for that course to be practicable. One could never reach the end, though he were to weary himself with the long effort and fruitless toil of testing everything that might seem desirable. It would be far easier and better to make the assay in imagination rather than in experiment. For the mind is swifter in operation and keener in discrimination than the bodily senses, to this very purpose that it may go before the sensuous affections so that they may cleave to nothing which the mind has found worthless. And so it is written, 'Prove all things: hold fast that which is …More
Yes, the agnostic Einstein was naturally opposed to blind obedience, as He frequently criticized traditional, organized religions and supernatural dogmas as being based on fear and superstition. Christianity is essentially "blind obedience." "We walk by faith and not by sight " 2 Corinthians 5:7
Pope St. Pius X ~ Pascendi Dominici Gregis ~ If the Modernists have not yet reached this point, they do ask the Church in the meanwhile to be good enough to follow...
[Saint Bonaventure – XIII Century AD; born: Civita di Bagnoregio, Papal States/died: Lyon, Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles; (Aged 52-53); Cardinal; Teacher of the Faith; Seraphic Doctor; Doctor of the Church; Scholastic Theologian, Philosopher] PSALM 38 I said: I will keep my ways, O Lady: when by thee the grace of Christ was given to me. By thy sweetness my soul was melted: my bowels are inflamed by thy love. Hear my prayer, O Lady, and my supplication: and let mine enemies pine away. Have mercy on me from Heaven and from the height of thy throne: and permit me not to be troubled in the valley of misery. Keep my foot, lest it should be injured: and may thy grace be with my end. Glory be to the Father, etc. PSALM 39 Expecting, I have expected thy grace: and thou hast done with me according to the multitude of the mercies of thy name. Thou hast heard my prayers: and thou hast led me out of the den of misery, and from the pit of the enemy. Manifold and wonderful are thy gifts, O Lady: incomparable …More
"PSALM 39 Expecting, I have expected thy grace: and thou hast done with me according to the multitude of the mercies of thy name. Thou hast heard my prayers: and thou hast led me out of the den of misery, and from the pit of the enemy. Manifold and wonderful are thy gifts, O Lady: incomparable are the gifts of thy graces. Let all those exult and rejoice in thee who love thee: let them who have hated thy name, fall into hell. Blessed be thou forever, O Lady: forever, world without end. Glory be to the Father, etc."
[St. Bernard of Clairvaux – XI-XII Century AD; born: Burgundy, Kingdom of France/died: Clairvaux, Kingdom of France; (aged 62-63); Abbot; Mystic; Leader; co-founder of the Knights Templar; Last of the Fathers; Doctor Mellifluus] Chapter VII. Of love toward God not without reward: and how the hunger of man's heart cannot be satisfied with earthly things But life is too short, strength too feeble, and competitors too many, for that course to be practicable. One could never reach the end, though he were to weary himself with the long effort and fruitless toil of testing everything that might seem desirable. It would be far easier and better to make the assay in imagination rather than in experiment. For the mind is swifter in operation and keener in discrimination than the bodily senses, to this very purpose that it may go before the sensuous affections so that they may cleave to nothing which the mind has found worthless. And so it is written, 'Prove all things: hold fast that which is …More
"If you should see a starving man standing with mouth open to the wind, inhaling draughts of air as if in hope of gratifying his hunger, you would think him lunatic. But it is no less foolish to imagine that the soul can be satisfied with worldly things which only inflate it without feeding it. What have spiritual gifts to do with carnal appetites, or carnal with spiritual? Praise the Lord, O my soul: who satisfieth thy mouth with good things (Ps. 103.1ff)."
"But as for the righteous man, it is not so with him. He remembers the condemnation pronounced on the multitude who wander after vanity, who travel the broad way that leads to death (Matt. 7.13); and he chooses the King's highway, turning aside neither to the right hand nor to the left (Num. 20.17), even as the prophet saith, 'The way of the just is uprightness (Isa. 26.7). Warned by wholesome counsel he shuns the perilous road, and heeds the direction that shortens the search, forbidding covetousness and commanding that he sell all that he hath and give to the poor (Matt. 19.21)."
What? The quote seems to imply that 'rich people' in se are "lesser' than 'poor people' No. Someone can be a saint whether rich OR poor - and one can be a sinner either rich or poor. Look at the Catholic monarchs who used their wealth to help others.
The electron and muon magnetic moment anomalies are very well calculated (10^-12 and 10^-9 respectively). If you have nothing better to do why not to have a look at kind of a flat article? 3030. 6. PhD-Level Academic Executive Summary of … PAM Dirac ~ God is a Mathematician of a very high order.
"38. Another person, of Valentia, in 1613, committed a great crime, which he was ashamed to confess, and therefore made sacrilegious confessions. But, being troubled with great remorse of conscience, he went one day to visit the altar of Our Lady of Halle, that he might obtain relief. When he arrived at the door of the church, which stood open, he felt himself thrust back by an invisible power. Then he determined to make his confession, and immediately entered. After making a general confession, he went home entirely consoled."
[Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori – XVII – XVIII Century AD: born: Marianella, Kingdom of Naples/died: Pagani, Kingdom of Naples; (aged 90); spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian, Founder, Bishop, Doctor of the Church] 35. In the year 1610, there lived in Turin an obstinate heretic, who even on his death-bed would not be converted by all that was said to him by the various priests who were with him for eight successive days. At length one of them, almost by force, brought him to have recourse to Mary, with these words: Mother of Jesus, help me: "Mater Jesu, assiste mihi." And the heretic, as if awakened from sleep, exclaimed, "I will die a Catholic;" and indeed he became reconciled to the Church, and died in two hours. 36. Another infidel, who was living in India, was about to die, abandoned by all, but as he had heard the Christians so much extol the power of Mary, he had recourse to her, and the blessed Virgin appeared to …More
"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.)"
[St. Robert Bellarmine – XVI-XVII Century A.D.; born: Montepulciano, Grand Duchy of Tuscany/died: Rome, Papal States; (Aged 78); Cardinal; Rector; Professor; Doctor of the Church; Role in Giordano Bruno & Galileo cases] 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 …More
St. Thomas Aquinas ~ Mortification prepares a place for it (the love of God) by banishing from the heart all earthly affections, which are the most powerful obstacles to charity
