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Friday 27 March 2015

Busy Day = Short Post on Knowledge of Divine Things Twenty-Nine Caritas in Veritate Four

Today, I worked with a maintenance person who was taking out old skirting boards and putting in new ones; then, I cleaned the entire house after he left. After that, I showed the house to someone who was interested.

Also, I did some spiritual direction and finish cleaning the patio, which I stated yesterday by raking leaves and pruning the rose bush. I also did my regular prayers and ordered groceries, as a reader sent me a gift card to buy food, (thankyou, R.).

In other words, I did not have time to work on Caritas in Vertitate, but I shall tomorrow. Let me just quote this section, showing the great need for Catholics to regain a foothold in the larger society, a foothold which they have removed in order to pursue either American values, which are not those of the saint necessarily or the values of certain "isms". The problem is that Catholics do not know how to love, or to think or to believe in an objective manner. Truth must be approached in faithfulness and with rigor.



9. Love in truth — caritas in veritate — is a great challenge for the Church in a world that is becoming progressively and pervasively globalized. The risk for our time is that the de facto interdependence of people and nations is not matched by ethical interaction of consciences and minds that would give rise to truly human development. Only in charity, illumined by the light of reason and faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more humane and humanizing value. The sharing of goods and resources, from which authentic development proceeds, is not guaranteed by merely technical progress and relationships of utility, but by the potential of love that overcomes evil with good (cf. Rom 12:21), opening up the path towards reciprocity of consciences and liberties.
The Church does not have technical solutions to offer[10] and does not claim “to interfere in any way in the politics of States.”[11]She does, however, have a mission of truth to accomplish, in every time and circumstance, for a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation. Without truth, it is easy to fall into an empiricist and sceptical view of life, incapable of rising to the level of praxis because of a lack of interest in grasping the values — sometimes even the meanings — with which to judge and direct it. Fidelity to man requires fidelity to the truth, which alone is the guarantee of freedom (cf. Jn 8:32) and of the possibility of integral human development. For this reason the Church searches for truth, proclaims it tirelessly and recognizes it wherever it is manifested. This mission of truth is something that the Church can never renounce. Her social doctrine is a particular dimension of this proclamation: it is a service to the truth which sets us free. Open to the truth, from whichever branch of knowledge it comes, the Church's social doctrine receives it, assembles into a unity the fragments in which it is often found, and mediates it within the constantly changing life-patterns of the society of peoples and nations[12].

Very Special Intention

Please pray for a very special intention for a young reader. This is a turning point in his life and he needs prayer.

Thanks, STM

Chapel Update

I have not received any offers for altar linens, but I am getting some statues and more icons. The person who own the property is very pleased with a chapel in his house and has given me permission to add kneelers, benches and eventually a proper altar. I shall also need some type of proper light, as the candelabra will not work out as the owner and I have discussed.

At this time, I am the only one using it but I trust that if God want His Presence in the Eucharist here under authority of the local bishop, this will happen.

The house has been empty for a year and on the market but not selling. I, of course, do not have the money to buy this, but am grateful for its use and the support of prayer for the owner, until it sells.

Anything which is bought or donated can be moved to another location, if this is God's Will.

In the meantime, I am encouraged by several people who have prayed for me but cannot afford to help.

If you think you want to do so, and if there is another woman interested in a fairly strict and simple life of adoration, let me know. I go on.

Again, if anyone feels called to help furnish this room for Jesus, let me know in the combox.

It is a real joy for me to have this "sacred place"

The entire name for this little chapel is "St.Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, in Ephesus. Of course, benefactors will be on the daily prayer list.

STM

Sad

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/germanwings-co-pilot-andreas-lubitz-called-5405143

Another Video To Watch


Video on the persecution of Christians in Iraq and other Middle East nations.

You must watch this baby in the womb

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/baby-claps-during-ultrasound-video/979809/

My son when in the womb kicked more when I played Mozart. I was never sure whether that meant he liked the composer or not! I assumed "like".

There can be no doubt of a fetus being a "real person". Please watch this.

Entering the Holiest Week of The Year


As a child, growing up in pre-Vatican II, pre-Novus Ordo Catholic culture, this coming week was clearly special. Even in the home, things began to be "different".

Of course, we had all fasted and abstained during Lent-even those under age-a good habit which should be done in all Catholic families.

But, beginning the Saturday before Palm Sunday, new and exciting preparations for Holy Week and Easter began.

First of all, we went to confession on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, but then we went as a family once a month.

Second, mother and one grandmother took us to the clothing stores for new Easter outfits, to wear for the first time on Easter day and keep for Sundays. This was a yearly event-buying new Easter clothes, when was an old custom in the family. I would be given a new hat, new dress, new spring coat, new socks with little lace at the top, new shoes and so on. My brothers would get a new shirt, new trousers, and a new jacket. As children grow, they need new clothes and this was the time for the spring buy.

Third, cooking would begin for Easter Sunday. Breads and cookies would be baked and set aside. Later in Holy Week, more food would be prepared and saved for the Pasch. Holy Saturday, kept in low key, almost silent observance, would be the day we colored eggs, but I get ahead of myself.

My mother's great gift, among many, was cake decorating and the baking of cakes "from scratch". She still does this, at 87 and last week she told me on the phone that she made a coffee cake for Dad.

Fourth, we would clean the house from top to bottom. Lent was coming to an end, and the winter clothes were packed, (except for a few in case of a late snowstorm), curtains and rugs washed, windows cleaned, and so on. Easter day would find a house clean and bright.

Fifth, the garden would be put in order. March is the time for pruning rose bushes, especially before the cold weather broke, and we did that. Leaves were cleaned away. Lilies appeared in the house on the dining room and kitchen tables. but only on Holy Saturday.

Sixth, Palm Sunday saw special visits to the grandmothers and the talk of more Easter food prep.
(For me, no more perogies!!!!!!!!!)

As the week progressed, the house fell into a quiet mode of preparation so that all could attend the Triduum. Simple foods for dinner meant that Mom could go as well. When I was much older, many of us in our thirties would get together for a great meal on Holy Thursday, more solemn than Easter, but a gathering of friends to celebrate Holy Thursday before the Triduum began. We would not have a feast such as on Easter, but it was a symbol of the gathering of the apostles in the Upper Room with Christ, and then we would go to Holy Thursday Mass together.

Seventh, when I grew up, Catholic schools let out on Wednesday afternoon and we had Thursday, Friday, and Easter Monday off. I am not sure what the school systems do now. But, this meant we could help Mom get the house ready and be in a proper attitude for the Triduum.

Eighth, Good Friday was a serious day. Mother made us go to our rooms before we went to Church and be quiet. We could not play music, but were encourage to pray or sit and think of the Passion. Even as a young child, I was encouraged to do this We never, never shopped on Good Friday.


Ninth, Saturday was also a quiet day, preparing the Easter dinner with the dishes we could do ahead of time. When I was married, our dinner was, of course, lamb, with Greek dishes, as I love to cook.
Our typical Easter meal was lamb, spanakopita, dolmathes, baklava, some amazing lemon muffins I would make which were a family favorite, and  blueberry cheese cake for desert or a bunny cake.

In my family, we had special wines set aside for different feast days or holidays. For example, Gewurztraminer is and was always our Thanksgiving wine at dinner, port and burgundy for Christmas, along with whiskey for Dad, and for Easter, a Spatlese, Auslese, and Eiswien for desert.

Tenth, visiting the grandmothers was an absolute on Easter Sunday, if one did not come for dinner, which she usually did with one uncle, who lived in the same city. (My family tends to spread out across the entire USA). She would bring something for us all as well, little gifts, usually religious. We would look for our Easter baskets before Mass, (our family went to two Masses after the babies grew up, as Mom and Dad were in the choir), which were hidden around the house in rather obvious places. If we found someone elses, we were not allowed to share the secret.

Eleventh, we attended all the Triduum, especially after the Easter changes of Pope Pius XII.

I have more memories, but these are shared to encourage families to start seeing this week coming up as different, solemn, special.


Calendars in the Church

I have four possible calendars to follow on this blog. The first is the one most of us follow daily, and from where I get my daily readings for meditation for you. That is the Novus Ordo calendar. Home schoolers could buy the liturgical calendar poster I did for my son for years and have it on the home school wall.

The second calendar is that of the 1962 Missal, that of the Extraordinary Form.

The third is the Byzantine Catholic calendar, with the Eastern saints honored, and which has different holydays of obligation.

The fourth is the Benedictine calendar, which I follow daily in my breviary, which is the order of the Monastic Diurnal.

Those who read my blog know I use a mix of these, so do not get confused, go with the flow, and enjoy the riches of the liturgical heritage of our beautiful Church.

Re-posts for the feast of St. John Damascene, Doctor of the Church


04 Dec 2013
As readers know, I am putting the series on again with different numbering. As today is the Feast of St. John Damascene, I am putting his entries on the blog. I hope this helps for people still confused about invincible ignorance ...
10 Mar 2013
I shall look at Basil, Peter Chrysologus, Gregory Nazianzus, Hilary of Poitiers Athanasius, the two Cyrils, and John Damascene, John Chrysostom, and Isidore of Seville before moving on to others closer to our own time.
25 Sep 2013
IX. St. Anselm's Proof of the Existence of God. X. The Cosmological Argument of St. John Damascene. XI. The Argument from Intuition. XII. Aspects of Modern Pantheism. XIII. Christian Idealism. XIV. Malebranche and Fénelon.
19 Feb 2014
So the soul must strike out toward the open sea, into the infinite ocean of being, says St. John Damascene, borne up by the divine will as made known there and then and abandoning itself to that divine will upon which all ...
17 Aug 2014
... tabernacles.... It was fitting that she who saw her Son die on the cross, and received in her heart the sword of pain which she had not felt in childbirth, should gaze upon Him seated next to the Father." John Damascene ...
04 Aug 2014
THE PASSIONS FROM THE PSYCHOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW St. Thomas, who follows Aristotle and St. John Damascene, defines passion thus: "A movement of the sensitive appetite when we imagine good or evil.
03 Jan 2015
He gives to each, says St. Thomas, [1456] more than strict justice requires. It is thus that St. Thomas harmonizes God's antecedent will, of which St. John Damascene speaks, with God's omnipotence. The Supreme Principles.

21 Nov 2014
357-358; Hesychius of Jerusalem, Homilia de sancta Maria Deipara: PG 93, 1464; Chrysippus of Jerusalem, Oratio in sanctam Mariam Deiparam, 2 PO 19, p. 338: St Andrew of Crete, Oratio V: PG 97, 896: St John Damascene ...
06 Mar 2014
of St. Augustine but of St. John Chrysostom, of Origen, of St. Gregory the Great, and of St. John Damascene,. since they say that Peter was deprived of help, a statement which cannot apply to sufficient grace, for without this ...
16 Mar 2013
Albert the Great Ephraim the Syrian Gregory the Great John of Avila Lawrence of Brindisi Anthony of Padua Bernard of Clairvaux Thomas Aquinas Basil the Great Francis de Sales Bede the Venerable John of Damascus