Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Pondering Tidbits of Truth is my simple and inadequate way of providing nuggets of spiritual wisdom for you to chew on from time to time.   Dr. Peter Kreeft “In our day, the Sacrament of Confession has suffered a radical decline. In one large Dutch diocese during a twelve-month period there were no confessions. There is no place on earth the Devil fears more than the confessional. His desperate propaganda has been incredibly successful even within the Church.” (From Christianity for Modern Pagans - Pascal’s Pensees ) Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. “As I write this book [ God, A Woman, and The Way ], I know that out of the almost two billion persons on the earth at this moment [1954], not more than one third of them knows so much as the name of the One who died that they might live eternally. And as one very observant mystic remarked: ‘Out of that third, close to ninety-nine per cent of them know it in vain.’ Is that not enough to set the nine...

Pondering Tidbits of Truth is my simple and inadequate way of providing nuggets of spiritual wisdom for you to chew on from time to time. St. Catherine of Siena “0 blind humanity, to have so lost sight of your dignity! You who were so great have become so small! You who were in command have' sold yourselves into servitude to the vilest power there is, for you have become the servants and slaves of sin. Yes, you have become a nothing, since you become like what you serve, and sin is nothingness. It has taken life from you and given you death in its place.” (From The Dialogue )   St. Augustine "I ask you, Christian soul: if you were told, as was that rich man, 'You also, go, sell all that you possess and you will have treasure in heaven, and come and follow Christ, would you go away sad as he did?" (From Sermon ) Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. “We moderns shrink from pain; we shun all that can afflict body or mind. We have forgotten ...

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) Today on this memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, let me share a unique reflection offered by the late Father Raymond, O.C.S.O. in his book, God, A Woman and The Way - a book I highly recommend you read. One of the seven dolors of our Blessed Mother; The Flight and Exile into Egypt: “There was pain in Egypt - yet, I say it was heaven.

(Source:unprofound.com)  Pondering Tidbits of Truth is my simple and inadequate way of providing nuggets of spiritual wisdom for you to chew on from time to time.  Father Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. “The secondary purpose of the grace which the priest receives at ordination is the sanctification of the faithful. If the priest has the care of souls, he has a special obligation to strive for holiness of life because of his duty toward the Mystical Body of Christ. In no other way will he be able to sanctify the souls committed to his charge or avoid the dangers of the world which are not to be found in a monastery. (Cf. St. Thomas, loc. cit.)