Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

When the soul has given itself up to God, He makes it suffer, and will make it suffer constantly. This will be hard! In order to take complete possession of the soul, God annihilates it, as it were, and takes its place. And as it is continually assailed by the temptation to find itself again, God gives combat, makes it suffer; He effaces the spirit, stifles the heart. Photo by Joshua Eckstein on Unsplash When the spirit will not surrender unconditionally, God plunges it into darkness, into temptations against faith, and hope and confidence. All peace is lost until the mind surrenders and totally renounces its own lights. Against such a state, the director can do nothing. He reasons; he discourses on the goodness of God, which the soul alas, can no longer see. It is terrified by the past and trembles for the present. What is to be done? Accept everything. God wills this state for you and does not tell you why. He is waiting for you to say to Him: 'I am nothing but sin; I give myse...

  We are at war! We have always been at war with an enemy not ordinarily visible to our naked and sinful eyes… a spiritual war…a fight for our eternal souls! Yet millions of souls do not realize this! This spiritual war, on-going since the onset of creation, has now manifested itself in the physical plain as evidenced by the chaos and hatred present throughout our world – a world which, for the most part, has rejected its Creator and abandoned His commandments. No one fights this kind of war successfully without adequate spiritual armaments – the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the frequent reception of the Holy Communion and the Sacraments (especially confession), regular participation in Eucharistic Adoration, prayer throughout the day (daily rosary a must), fasting, mortification, and the use of sacramentals (including such blessed items as holy water, medals, scapulars, blessed salt, crucifixes and candles). How tragic it is that access to many of these weapons has been dras...

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 . Mother Mectilde of The Blessed Sacrament “We must be very surprised to see with what boldness people enter churches and we ourselves enter choir, which is a place sanctified by the Presence of God Oh! If we could see the posture of the angels and the saints before the adorable Eucharist, we would not be so bold as to enter without fear, without respect, and without amazement. It is here that we lack faith.” (From The Mystery of Incomprehensible Love )     Father Jean Pierre de Caussade, S.J. “To avoid the anxieties which may be caused by either regret for the past or fear of the future, here is the rule to follow: The past must be left to God’s measureless mercy, the future to his loving providence; and the present must be given wholly to his love through our fidelity to his grace.”  (From Abandonment to Divine Prov...

I ran across this video presentation by John Henry Weston on Life-Site in which he discusses a "little known method of [receiving] Holy Communion" employed by St. Louis de Montfort. I do not recall having seen this prayer before. It is as powerful as Mr. Weston suggested. I highly recommend both this prayer and the video. Prayer of St. Louis de Montfort (Photo©Michael Seagriff) Before Mass I renounce myself and all my inner dispositions, no matter how good my self-love may make them look. I’m all Thine my dear Mistress with all that I have and I take Thee for my all. Please give me Thy heart O Mary that I might receive Thy Son here with the same dispositions as Thine own. For it touches Thy Son’s glory to be put into a heart as sullied and inconstant as mine which would not fail either to lessen his glory or to destroy it. But if Thou will come and dwell with me in order to receive Thy Son, He will be well received by Thee without danger of being outraged or unnot...

This is a "must listen to homily" given at the Vigil Mass at St. Daniel Church in Syracuse, New York by 94 year old Monsignor Eugene Yennock. I received the video link embedded below from a friend and faithful Catholic who reminded me that the good Monsignor "is noted for his straight forward talks" and "for saying it the way it is." This is the way Truth must be presented to those who have never heard it, abandoned it, forgotten it, or rejected it. This humble and courageous prelate is a model for all our priests to follow. He is an invaluable gift to the Catholic Church and to our Syracuse Diocese. The clarity of his teaching is sorely needed today. You honor the God he has so faithfully served as a priest for seventy years by taking his words to heart and by sharing his homily with family, friends and the general public. The homily is 16 minutes in length. You can view and hear it here . It begins around the 15:50 mark. Let us never cease praying for...