BarbTherese Posted April 17, 2023 Author Posted April 17, 2023 From Divine Office (General Calendar) Thursday 20th April 2023 SECOND WEEK EASTER Morning Prayer https://universalis.com/20230420/lauds.htm Evening Prayer https://universalis.com/20230420/vespers.htm Night Prayer https://universalis.com/20230420/compline.htm Office Readings - Second Reading From a sermon by Saint Gaudentius of Brescia, bishop The inheritance of the new Covenant The heavenly sacrifice, instituted by Christ, is the most gracious legacy of his new covenant. On the night he was delivered up to be crucified he left us this gift as a pledge of his abiding presence. This sacrifice is our sustenance on life’s journey; by it we are nourished and supported along the road of life until we depart from this world and make our way to the Lord. For this reason he addressed these words to us: Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life in you. It was the Lord’s will that his gifts should remain with us, and that we who have been redeemed by his precious blood should constantly be sanctified according to the pattern of his own passion. And so he commanded those faithful disciples of his whom he made the first priests of his Church to enact these mysteries of eternal life continuously. All priests throughout the churches of the world must celebrate these mysteries until Christ comes again from heaven. Therefore let us all, priests and people alike, be faithful to this everlasting memorial of our redemption. Daily it is before our eyes as a representation of the passion of Christ. We hold it in our hands, we receive it in our mouths, and we accept it in our hearts. It is appropriate that we should receive the body of Christ in the form of bread, because, as there are many grains of wheat in the flour from which bread is made by mixing it with water and baking it with fire, so also we know that many members make up the one body of Christ which is brought to maturity by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Christ was born of the Holy Spirit, and since it was fitting that he should fulfil all justice, he entered into the waters of baptism to sanctify them. When he left the Jordan he was filled with the Holy Spirit who had descended upon him in the form of a dove. As the evangelist tells us: Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan. Similarly, the wine of Christ’s blood, drawn from the many grapes of the vineyard that he had planted, is extracted in the wine-press of the cross. When men receive it with believing hearts, like capacious wineskins, it ferments within them by its own power. And so, now that you have escaped from the power of Egypt and of Pharaoh, who is the devil, join with us, all of you, in receiving this sacrifice of the saving passover with the eagerness of dedicated hearts. Then in our inmost being we shall be wholly sanctified by the very Lord Jesus Christ whom we believe to be present in his sacraments, and whose boundless power abides for ever. ____________________________________________________\\ _______________________________________________ The 20 Mysteries and their “Fruits” Quote The Joyful Mysteries focus on the joyful events related to the Incarnation of Jesus. 1. The Annunciation of Gabriel to the Virgin Mary (Fruit: Humility) 2. The Visitation of Virgin Mary to Elizabeth (Fruit: Love of Neighbor) 3. The Birth of Jesus (Fruit: Poverty of Spirit) 4. The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple at Jerusalem (Fruit: Purity of Mind and Body) 5. The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem (Fruit: Obedience) The Luminous Mysteries focus on the life and ministry of Jesus. 1. The Baptism of Our Lord in the Jordan (Fruit: Gratitude For the Gift of Faith) 2. The Wedding Feast at Cana (Fruit: Fidelity) 3. The Proclamation of the Kingdom of Heaven (Fruit: Desire for Holiness) 4. The Transfiguration of Our Lord (Fruit: Spiritual Courage) 5. The Institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper (Fruit: Love of Our Eucharistic Lord) The Sorrowful Mysteries focus on the sorrowful events related to the passion and death of Jesus. 1. The Agony of Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane (Fruit: God's Will Be Done) 2. Our Lord is Scourged at the Pillar (Fruit: Mortification of the Senses) 3. Our Lord is Crowned with Thorns (Fruit: Reign of Christ in Our Heart) 4. Our Lord Carries the Cross to Calvary (Fruit: Patient Bearing of Trials) 5. The Crucifixion of Our Lord (Fruit: Pardoning of Injuries) The Glorious Mysteries focus on the glorious events related to the Resurrection and the reigning of Jesus in heaven with the Virgin Mary. 1. The Resurrection of Our Lord (Fruit: Faith) 2. The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven (Fruit: Christian Hope) 3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Virgin Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost (Fruit: Gifts of the Holy Spirit) 4. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven (Fruit: To Jesus Through Mary) 5. The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth (Fruit: Grace of Final Perseve PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD Concerning wandering thoughts in prayer. Quote YOU tell me nothing new: you are not the only one that is troubled with wandering thoughts. Our mind is extremely roving; but as the will is mistress of all our faculties, she must recall them, and carry them to GOD, as their last end. When the mind, for want of being sufficiently reduced by recollection, at our first engaging in devotion, has contracted certain bad habits of wandering and dissipation, they are difficult to overcome, and commonly draw us, even against our wills, to the things of the earth. I believe one remedy for this is, to confess our faults, and to humble ourselves before GOD. I do not advise you to use multiplicity of words in prayer; many words and long discourses being often the occasions of wandering: hold yourself in prayer before GOD, like a dumb or paralytic beggar at a rich man’s gate: let it be your business to keep your mind in the presence of the LORD. If it sometimes wander, and withdraw itself from Him, do not much disquiet yourself for that; trouble and disquiet serve rather to distract the mind, than to re-collect it; the will must bring it back in tranquillity; if you persevere in this manner, GOD will have pity on you. One way to re-collect the mind easily in the time of prayer, and preserve it more in tranquillity, is not to let it wander too far at other times: you should keep it strictly in the presence of GOD; and being accustomed to think of Him often, you will find it easy to keep your mind calm in the time of prayer, or at least to recall it from its wanderings. I have told you already at large, in my former letters, of the advantages we may draw from this practice of the presence of GOD: let us set about it seriously and pray for one another. At the age of nearly fourscore exhorts his correspondent, who is sixty-four, to live and die with God and promises and asks for prayer. I PITY you much. It will be of great importance if you can leave the care of your affairs to, and spend the remainder of your life only in worshiping GOD. He requires no great matters of us; a little remembrance of Him from time to time, a little adoration: sometimes to pray for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, and sometimes to return Him thanks for the favours He has given you, and still gives you, in the midst of your troubles, and to console yourself with Him the oftenest you can. Lift up your heart to Him, sometimes even at your meals, and when you are in company: the least little remembrance will always be acceptable to Him. You need not cry very loud; He is nearer to us than we are aware of. It is not necessary for being with GOD to be always at church; we may make an oratory of our heart, wherein to retire from time to time, to converse with Him in meekness, humility, and love. Every one is capable of such familiar conversation with GOD, some more, some less: He knows what we can do. Let us begin then; perhaps He expects but one generous resolution on our part. Have courage. We have but little time to live; you are near sixty-four, and I am almost eighty. Let us live and die with GOD: sufferings will be sweet and pleasant to us, while we are with Him: and the greatest pleasures will be, without Him, a cruel punishment to us. May He be blessed for all. Amen. Use yourself then by degrees thus to worship Him, to beg His grace, to offer Him your heart from time to time, in the midst of your business, even every moment if you can. Do not always scrupulously confine yourself to certain rules, or particular forms of devotion; but act with a general confidence in GOD, with love and humility. You may assure - of my poor prayers, and that I am their servant, and yours particularly. Litany of the Most Blessed Sacrament Quote Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us, Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us, Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us. O Living Bread, Who from Heaven descended, have mercy on us. Hidden God and Savior, have mercy on us. Grain of the elect, have mercy on us. Vine sprouting forth virgins, have mercy on us. Wholesome Bread and delicacy of kings, have mercy on us. Perpetual sacrifice, have mercy on us. Clean oblation, have mercy on us. Lamb without spot, have mercy on us. Most pure feast, have mercy on us. Food of Angels, have mercy on us. Hidden manna, have mercy on us. Memorial of God's wonders, have mercy on us. Supersubstantial Bread, have mercy on us. Word made flesh, dwelling in us, have mercy on us. Holy Victim, have mercy on us. O Cup of blessing, have mercy on us. O Mystery of faith, have mercy on us. O Most high and venerable Sacrament, have mercy on us. O Most holy of all sacrifices, have mercy on us. O True propitiatory Sacrifice for the living and the dead, have mercy on us. O Heavenly antidote, by which we are preserved from sin, have mercy on us. O stupendous miracle above all others, have mercy on us. O most holy Commemoration of the Passison of Christ, have mercy on us. O Gift transcending all abundance, have mercy on us. O extraordinary memorial of Divine love, have mercy on us. O affluence of Divine largess, have mercy on us. O most holy and august mystery, have mercy on us. Medicine of immortality, have mercy on us. amesome and life-giving Sacrament, have mercy on us. Unbloody Sacrifice, have mercy on us. Food and guest, have mercy on us. Sweetest banquet at which the Angels serve, have mercy on us. Bond of love, have mercy on us. Offering and oblation, have mercy on us. Spiritual sweetness tasted in its own foutain, have mercy on us. Refreshment of holy souls, have mercy on us. Viaticum of those dying in the Lord, have mercy on us. Pledge of future glory, have mercy on us. Be merciful, spare us, O Lord. Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord. From the unworthy reception of Thy Body and Blood, deliver us, O Lord. From passions of the flesh, deliver us, O Lord. From the concupiscence of the eyes, deliver us, O Lord. From pride, deliver us, O Lord. From every occasion of sin, deliver us, O Lord. Through that desire, with which Thou desiredst to eat the Passover with Thy disciples, deliver us, O Lord. Through that profound humility with which Thou didst wash Thy disciples' feet, deliver us, O Lord. Through that most ardent love, with which Thou instituted this Divine Sacrament, deliver us, O Lord. Through the most precious Blood, which Thou hast left for us upon the altar, deliver us, O Lord. Through those Five Wounds of Thy most holy Body, which was given up for us, deliver us, O Lord. Sinners we are, we beseech Thee, hear us. That Thou wouldst graciously preserve and augment the faith, reverence, and devotion in us towards this admirable Sacrament, we beseech Thee, hear us. That Thou wouldst graciously lead us through the true confession of we beseech Thee, hear us. our sins to a frequent reception of the Eucharist, we beseech Thee, hear us. That Thou wouldst graciously free us from every heresy, falsehood, and blindness of the heart, we beseech Thee, hear us. That Thou wouldst graciously impart to us the Heavenly and precious fruits of this most Holy Sacrament, we beseech Thee, hear us. That Thou wouldst graciously protect and strengthen us in our hour of death with this Heavenly Viaticum, we beseech Thee, hear us. O Son of God, we beseech Thee, hear us. Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord. Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord. Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord. Christ, hear us, Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us, Christ, graciously hear us. Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy, Lord, have mercy. Our Father . . . Hail Mary . . . V. Thou didst furnish them with Bread from Heaven, Alleluia. R. Having in it every delight. Let us pray. O God, Who under a marvelous Sacrament has left us a memorial of Thy Passion; grant us; we beseech Thee; so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever perceive within us the fruit of Thy Redemption. Thou, Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen. ____________________________________________________________________________
BarbTherese Posted April 17, 2023 Author Posted April 17, 2023 https://psychcentral.com/bipolar/bipolar-and-spirituality Spirituality in Bipolar Disorder: Calm in the Storm? History and stigma Links with enlightenment Spirituality as a tool Summary Hyper-religiosity is often a feature of mania in bipolar disorder. But for many, religion and spirituality are tools to support medication and talk therapy when living with bipolar disorder. Quote Bipolar disorder is a complicated group of conditions, with diagnosis in part based on at least one episode of mania or hypomania. Mania sometimes involves an intense religious experience, which could be delusion or false beliefs. For an individual, such experiences can hold great spiritual meaning, but can also result in confusion about their significance. Recent research has analyzed in-depth interviews with folks who have bipolar disorder and report religious experiences. They reveal that most understand them as a combination of bipolar disorder symptoms and genuine spiritual experiences. For many people, having a faith-based or spiritual practice can be a helpful tool in managing bipolar disorder, along with medication and conventional therapy. Long history of bipolar disorder mania and spiritual overlap For a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, individuals must experience at least one episode of mania or hypomania. This is a period of high energy or irritability accompanied by specific changes in behavior. Some people experiencing mania may also experience false beliefs or hallucinations. These are known as psychotic features. If someone with bipolar disorder reports hearing the voice of God, or believing they’re God’s messenger, a mental health professional could determine this as a psychotic feature. For the person undergoing this experience, the situation may be more layered. Some folks describe such episodes of mania as profoundly meaningful spiritual experiences. They may do significant personal work to find a balance between their faith and management of the symptoms of bipolar disorder. There is some evidence that this balance may be an important one. A 2018 study of 168 people with bipolar disorder found that positive religious coping was associated with better quality of life, even when individuals were not experiencing a mood episode. Mania, religion, and lack of support For some people, it can be challenging to find support from their faith communities during their journey with bipolar disorder. Some folks report silence about mental health within families and congregations, while they say physical health is commonly given up to God for healing. Mental health challenges are sometimes dismissed as the result of “demons,” lack of self-control, or “personality problems.” Such invalidation of individual experiences can be hard for someone trying to remain part of their spiritual community, while actively managing a mental health condition. What is hyper-religiosity? Hyper-religiosity is when a person engages more frequently in religious practices or has religious-themed delusions during a period of mania. Research from 2019 notes that people with bipolar disorder who experience mania with religious aspects often want to know whether their experiences are genuine or a symptom of illness. The same paper notes that mental health professionals are not always able to offer a clear answer. The study looked at 196 people with bipolar disorder — two-thirds of whom reported religious experience. It found that 50% believed religiosity was important to talk about in conventional treatment. Of those who had religious experiences, almost half spoke about it with a mental health professional. Another paper from 2020 notes that, although hyper-religiosity is a well-known part of some mania experiences, there is little research on how religious beliefs may affect the course of bipolar disorder. The paper suggests it’s possible that religion could help prevent future episodes of mania or depression, although it does not suggest a person with bipolar disorder should reject medication or stop adhering to treatment. Mania, as a path to enlightenment Hyper-religiosity during mania can give some people a profound sense of spiritual connection and lead some to pursue a spiritual quest. However, some research shows this feeling can change over time. In a 2019 study of 34 people with bipolar disorder who had spiritual experiences, people tried to distinguish what was genuine enlightenment and what was a symptom of bipolar disorder. Most of the interviewees interpreted their experience with a mixture of medical and religious explanations. In the study, those who had experiences while younger reported less significance as time passed. Religious affiliation and the course of bipolar disorder also influenced how people came to understand those experiences. Symptoms of mania reported similar to spiritual awakening As the research demonstrates, both people with bipolar disorder and mental health professionals may labor to distinguish between genuine religious experience and a symptom of mania. Hallucinations, delusions, and false beliefs are defined as psychotic features, which may or may not form part of an episode of mania. When someone experiences a new and unsupported religious belief, like they’re God’s special messenger, this could be seen as a psychotic feature of a manic episode. Genuine spiritual or religious experiences, on the other hand, are much more challenging to define. One scholar notes that the objective view of the psychiatric community is to view all such experiences as stemming from the illness. The subjective view of the individual, on the other hand, is that the experience may have both spiritual and medical causes. Symptoms of mania/psychosisSelf-reports of enlightenment flood of ideasepiphanies or revelations hearing voiceshearing the voice of divinity grandiositya feeling of being “chosen” elevated moodeuphoria hallucinationsvisions sharply increased goal-oriented behaviors (can be many endeavors)goal-oriented behavior (typically single objective) agitationpeaceful drive toward high-consequence behaviors e.g. overspending heightened sexual impulsivity fidgety, restlessa feeling of centeredness, stillness operating “full steam” on little-to-no sleepsleep disruptions Spirituality as a tool for bipolar disorder management For anyone living with bipolar disorder, medication and talk therapy are the gold standards of treatment. One firsthand report details how an individual with bipolar disorder attempted to manage it through spirituality alone, with nearly devastating results as her symptoms returned. Nonetheless, having a spiritual practice or belief system can be an invaluable resource for many people. This can take many forms, including participating in a faith community and practicing meditation. Meditation and bipolar disorder: Research Meditation is a practice generally designed to help enhance mindfulness and focus on the present moment. There are many forms of meditation that people may use to help with bipolar disorder symptoms. Research shows meditation for bipolar disorder management may be effective. A 2019 studyTrusted Source out of India with 311 participants found people with bipolar disorder II who followed a meditation program scored lower on the Bipolar Disorder Rating Scale (BDRS) after engaging in the practice. A 2017 studyTrusted Source found people with bipolar disorder who participated in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy continued to feel the benefits two years after the therapy. Many said they had an awareness of being able to better their own health. Recap Bipolar disorder is a complicated group of conditions. One hallmark of bipolar disorder is mania or hypomania. When mania has religious features, it can be hard to tell if you’re having a spiritual experience or a bipolar disorder symptom. Many people find a balance between faith and the gold standard bipolar disorder management of meds alongside talk therapy. If you want to find someone to talk with about your experiences, check out the resources on Psych Central’s Find a Therapist and Mental Health Support page.
BarbTherese Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 It is good to strive for definitions e.g.for humility and all the virtues; however, we need to ask The Lord in prayer for humility and all virtue for the gift of humility etc. in truth. That means a deep conversion of heart. To come to an internalized understanding that all indeed is gift, is Grace. We have nothing, dust that we are, all is Grace. We achieve nothing apart from Grace.
BarbTherese Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 (edited) I do disagree with Thomas in the opening statements in the above. I do not think that the gifts of God to a person should ever be disdained in favor of going directly to the Mystery that is God. As an example in my case with bipolar. I should never disdain the gifts of medication and my psychiatrist, common sense tells me, in order to exercise Faith alone, but not trust in the gifts God has given me in the daily struggle with bipolar - gifts of medication and my psychiatrist. Just now, physical pain and side affects of medication are constant tormentors. This latter is causing bipolar to be restless. I am truly gifted in the crosses of bipolar. At the same time, I am called to engage in the struggle against suffering....mine and that of others. Trusting in God's gifts, is an act of Trust in God Himself. It is not trusting in secondary causes, but Trust and with thanksgiving in God's gifts. It is, rather, humble Trust of Him, Primary Cause as it were. I see my psychiatrist on the 26 April. She is an excellent doctor and I was blest to find her, led by God to her. She kept me well for 12 years and has been my psychiatrist for over 25 years now, it must be. If not longer. I have kept her as my treating doctor, because I recognize the gift that she is. Contemplation with Union is a pure gratuitous gift and CANNOT be acquired by any effort nor method. We certainly can, through effort and method predispose ourselves to it, but without guarantees. No effort nor method can lead to it. It is bestowed, not acquired by available means. It can occur in the most unlikely as well as the likely. The Good Lord does not bestow on the qualified, He qualifies those on whom He bestows. There are those who have lived a sinful life, suddenly experience a conversion and then stages to Union. There are those who have lived virtuous lives all their life. There are those who struggle lifelong with serious temptations. Each could experience the stages to Union. We cannot make and enforce rules nor boundaries on The Holy Spirit. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.' John Ch3 Well, that is my take anyway, my humbled and humble take. Edit: Even a sufferer of mental illness in potential could experience the stages up to and including Union. "Nothing is impossible to God" LukeCh1 Edited April 18, 2023 by BarbTherese
BarbTherese Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 Even if all indications are to abandon active and reflective meditation and prayer. Passivity is never positive in my book, and at various times during a sort of prayer of quiet or simplicity, one is able and should make short aspirations of love. This is not forced, it is a gentle and peaceful sort of invitation or inclination that is an invitation from The Lord. He who is first speaking secretly His words of love to one's soul, one's spirit, one's heart. Merton's talk of reading a book was excellent, I thought. When one experiences the Prayer of Quiet or Simplicity, one knows it..........one does not and cannot doubt it, it is different from any other life-consciousness. The experience is very deep and intense, immediate and unforced, and is actually an experience one is silently 'drawn into'. The Presence, sense of it, is sweet, Peaceful and full of quiet Joy. Loving. St Therese said that God would not inspire desires He cannot fulfill, will not fulfill. Faith, trust, humility and......one's own faithfulness to God. God is forever, only and always, The Faithful One. Nothing but God is our desired Giver, who alone can gift such intense, simple and quiet Peace and Joy, never ever experienced before. We can indeed make mistakes. Sin, faults, weaknesses mean "to miss the mark". Our mark is God. His mark, if you like, is us. The Good Lord does not ever miss His mark - oneself! Not ever. That includes in suffering. Fill me with Your Love, Your Mercy, Jesus........for I trust in You. The Dark Night potentially can be lifelong, most often experienced intermittently............or continually. No Christ without His Cross. Jesus gave His Life for us in a cruel and agonizing, tortured, death. What am I willing to give? Spiritual Fullness in Christ "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians Ch2
BarbTherese Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 (edited) We do not go into the desert to leave people, but to TRULY find them and only a secondary end. The primary end is the Love of God and people as the Loved in Him True solitude is within us. It leads one to horizons of poverty of spirit and then sets up it's tent there on sacred ground of our being. One cannot find that country by travelling but by standing still in isolation. One needs a place or room, corner, of isolation. Then "go into your secret chamber and close the door, pray to your Father, who is in Heaven" Matthew Ch 6. Once you find that secret chamber within, treasure it as gift. Return to it as often as possible, but if called out of it by the need of another, let charity and love of neighbour take you out of it and go out without resentment. Towards the end if this video, I found the words of Merton a bit arrogant and judgmental. Even dismissive and unkind. I have come into the desert of the self to find God and His beloved people in Him. I have come out of the desert of the secret room of my heart, to cast myself with Him into the whole messiness of life, nothing excluded, to be with His people, His world and creation, creativity, prayerfully in Truth with The Holy 'Spirit, not to disdain or reject anything whatsoever. There can be a desire to be a contemplative to be other and over and above others. On the contrary, there are those who desire to plunge unreservedly into God and His creation at creation's heart with all its difficulties, blindness and suffering as well as their joys in order to better know and spread The Gospel............ with His Grace, for "All is Grace" -St Therese of Lisieux Edited April 18, 2023 by BarbTherese
BarbTherese Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 5 Ways to Love Your Unsaved Friends Quote https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/ways-to-love-your-unsaved-friends.html?utm_source=Pushnami As believers in Christ, yes, we’re called to remain holy (“separate”) in our conduct and are not to conform to this world. But that isn’t justification to withdraw from the world or from its people. Quite the opposite. Distancing ourselves from the unsaved is not an option, nor is it biblical. Rather, Jesus told his disciples and us to “Go” into the world (“to all nations”) and to make disciples. And many times, that happens when we intentionally and prayerfully build genuine friendships with the unsaved. MORE ON ABOVE LINK
BarbTherese Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 The following is very deep and intense, even confusing and hidden, dark......NOT FOR everyone. I found it a real mind bender.......what Merton makes complex, is in reality simplicity per se in the extreme. Just my lowly uneducated take, which it is........no lie.
BarbTherese Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 (edited) ...........because TDN thieves one away from the known, thereby opening one into the unknown, and God is The Unknown Unknowable. Then one is no longer in the darkness of the so called known, but into The Light, The Unknown Unknowable. The Reality. Ahhh the bipolar mind. Edited April 18, 2023 by BarbTherese
BarbTherese Posted April 18, 2023 Author Posted April 18, 2023 “Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.” - Charles F. Stanley
BarbTherese Posted April 19, 2023 Author Posted April 19, 2023 Quote Ten Important Aspects of Saintliness FR. ED BROOM, OMV All of us are called to become saints. How do we know? Jesus commanded us: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt. 5:48) In other words: Become a saint! Most saints have not been officially canonized but are anonymous, unknown except by God alone. Given that this is a serious command given by Jesus Himself, to be holy, to become a saint, let us briefly highlight ten of the most salient notes or characteristics of the saints. This will serve to motivate each and every one of us to become whom God has called us to be—a saint! 1. Antithesis of Saintliness: Sin Let us start with the negative. Saints truly detest the one major evil in the world—the reality of sin. Modern culture glamorizes and even promotes sin; the saints fight against it! The motto of Saint Dominic Savio for his First Holy Communion was the following immortal assertion: Death Rather Than Sin! 2. Prayer It is absolutely impossible to come across or read the life of any saint who did not take his prayer life seriously and spend sizable blocks of time dedicated to prayer, which is union and friendship with God. Face it, we can all improve in our prayer lives; we can pray more and we can always pray better. May the Holy Spirit enlighten and inspire us to upgrade our prayer life in our pursuit of holiness. 3. Humility Saints are truly humble. By humility we mean the following: saints attribute all the good they have done to God who is the origin, author and end of all good. When complimented on any good done, almost spontaneously the saint responds: Thanks be to God! 4. Hunger for Holiness Authentic saints have a real hunger and thirst for exactly that—holiness, to become a saint. If you like, the saint lives out the first verse of Psalm 42: “As the deer yearns for running waters, so my soul yearns for you, O Lord my God.” A saint admits that he is not a saint but really longs to be a saint one day. This longing, this yearning indeed is half the battle of attaining the crown of holiness, the triumph of winning the crown of saintliness. Many yearn for money, power, pleasure, success and possessions. Not so for the saint: he yearns to love God fully and totally and unreservedly; he longs to be the saint that God has called him to be! 5. Charity The saint is motivated to assimilate and to carry out in word and deed the greatest of all the Commandments—the command to love both God and neighbor. If you want to see a graphic image of charity, lift up your eyes to Jesus crucified, Jesus hanging from the cross—there you have a clear image of charity. We are called to love God totally and to love our neighbor as ourselves. On one occasion, after Thomas Aquinas had achieved enormous accomplishments, Jesus appeared to him and asked the saint what gift he desired most. Immediately Aquinas responded: “Lord, grant me the grace to love you more and more each day.” Saint John of the Cross asserted: “In the twilight of our existence we will be judged on love.” Saint Francis de Sales adds to this in these words: “The measure with which we should love God is to love Him without measure.” 6. Zeal for the Salvation of Souls Two saints met, one a youngster, the other a priest. The youngster looked up and saw on the wall a few words written in Latin and he asked the priest what the words were and what they meant. The priest responded by saying that those words were his motto and they were: “Give me souls and take all the rest away.” The priest was Saint John Bosco; the youngster was Saint Dominic Savio. An authentic saint loves God and loves what God loves—the salvation of immortal souls. One soul is worth more than all of creation in the natural world! The reason for the excruciating pain that Jesus suffered in His Passion and the outpouring of His most Precious Blood on the cross was precisely this: to save immortal souls for all eternity. The stigmata for fifty years of Saint Padre Pio; the 13-18 hours daily in the Confessional in the life of the Cure of Ars, aka Saint John Vianney; the heroic sacrifices of the little children of Fatima; the victimhood of Saint Faustina, had one motivational reason and force: love of God and hunger and thirst for the salvation of souls. 7. Struggling Sinners Who Rise When They Fall Many have been deceived into an artificial, sugar-sweet, somewhat romantic vision of the saint as exempt from human weaknesses and moral failures. Nothing could be further from the truth! Saints are born sinners. However, a common characteristic of the saint is that upon falling, sinner though he is, he resiliently bounces back; he returns to the Lord through Confession, good will, and a firm purpose of amendment. Venerable Bruno Lanteri taught Nunc Coepi—meaning if we fall, then we must rise immediately and trust all the more in the grace and mercy of the loving Heart of Jesus! No surprise that in the Diary of Saint Faustina, Jesus reminds us that the greatest sinner can be the greatest saint if he trusts fully in the mercy of Jesus. Venerable Fulton J. Sheen reminds us that the first canonized saint was a murderer, an insurrectionist, and a thief who hung on a cross next to Jesus on Calvary. “Jesus said: ‘Truly I tell you, this day you will be with me in Paradise.’” (Lk. 23:43) As Sheen points out: “And he died a thief because he stole heaven.” Read and meditate on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, that can also be termed the Parable of the Merciful Father. (Lk. 15:11-32) 8. Fervent Love for the Source of All Holiness: the Holy Eucharist The ultimate source of grace, purity, strength and holiness is Jesus Himself. The most efficacious means by which we unite ourselves with Jesus in His Mystical Body is through the Sacraments. The greatest of all the Sacraments is the Most Holy Eucharist for the simple but profound reason that the Eucharist actually is Jesus—His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity! Jesus is the Holy of Holies; He is God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Though it may sound trivial, there is a real truism behind this one liner: “You become what you eat!” Bad eating habits can produce health problems; good eating habits can contribute to health and longevity. In a parallel but real sense, when we nourish our souls with the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus with faith, devotion, fervor and love, then we start to think like Jesus, feel like Jesus, act like Jesus, become like Jesus, until we can say with Saint Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal. 2:20) 9. Open and Docile to the Holy Spirit Father Jacques Philippe wrote a short masterpiece on this topic with the title “In the School of the Holy Spirit.” In this short but inspiring book, Father Jacques constantly reminds his readers that holiness essentially depends on one basic attitude, action, and plan of life: being docile to the Holy Spirit and His heavenly inspirations. The Holy Spirit speaks gently but insistently to humble and docile souls, guiding them in the proper course of action that leads to holiness of life, that leads them to become the saints that we are all called and destined to become. Saint Paul reminds us: “We do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with ineffable groans so that we can call out Abba, Father.” (Rom. 6:26) It is precisely for this reason that Pope Saint John XXIII stated: “The saints are the masterpieces of the Holy Spirit.” 10. Mary and the Saints Our Lady, Mary most holy, is the Queen of Angels, the Queen of Virgins, the Queen of Confessors, the Queen of Martyrs, the Queen and beauty of Carmel, the Queen of the most Holy Rosary, and finally, Mary is the Queen of all of the Angels and Saints. After he died, Saint Dominic Savio appeared bathed in heavenly glory to Saint John Bosco and told the holy priest what gave him the greatest joy in his short life on earth. It was precisely this: his great love and confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary. Saint Dominic ended this encounter with Saint John Bosco exhorting him to spread devotion to Mary to the greatest extent possible. Mary inspires the saints to pray fervently. Mary inspires the saints to return to God after they sin. Mary encourages the saints to love Jesus with their whole being. Mary’s presence helps the saints to avoid moral dangers. Mary’s maternal and loving presence helps the saints to move from desolation to consolation. For that reason, the saints cry out to Mary in these words: “Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.” Conclusion Our final prayer and hope is that all of our readers will become saints and great saints. Our hope and prayer is that all of you will one day be a very precious, resplendent and glorious jewel in the crown of Mary so as to contemplate and praise the Blessed Trinity for all eternity. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us so that we can attain the grace to truly become the saint that God has destined us to become for all eternity. Amen!
BarbTherese Posted April 19, 2023 Author Posted April 19, 2023 From Divine Office (General Calendar) FRIDAY 21ST April 2023 SECOND WEEK EASTER Morning Prayer https://universalis.com/20230421/lauds.htm Evening Prayer https://universalis.com/20230421/vespers.htm Night Prayer https://universalis.com/20230421/compline.htm Office Readings - Second Reading From a sermon by Saint Theodore the Studite The precious and life-giving cross of Christ Quote How precious the gift of the cross, how splendid to contemplate! In the cross there is no mingling of good and evil, as in the tree of paradise: it is wholly beautiful to behold and good to taste. The fruit of this tree is not death but life, not darkness but light. This tree does not cast us out of paradise, but opens the way for our return. This was the tree on which Christ, like a king on a chariot, destroyed the devil, the Lord of death, and freed the human race from his tyranny. This was the tree upon which the Lord, like a brave warrior wounded in his hands, feet and side, healed the wounds of sin that the evil serpent had inflicted on our nature. A tree once caused our death, but now a tree brings life. Once deceived by a tree, we have now repelled the cunning serpent by a tree. What an astonishing transformation! That death should become life, that decay should become immortality, that shame should become glory! Well might the holy Apostle exclaim: Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world! The supreme wisdom that flowered on the cross has shown the folly of worldly wisdom’s pride. The knowledge of all good, which is the fruit of the cross, has cut away the shoots of wickedness. The wonders accomplished through this tree were foreshadowed clearly even by the mere types and figures that existed in the past. Meditate on these, if you are eager to learn. Was it not the wood of a tree that enabled Noah, at God’s command, to escape the destruction of the flood together with his sons, his wife, his sons’ wives and every kind of animal? And surely the rod of Moses prefigured the cross when it changed water into blood, swallowed up the false serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians, divided the sea at one stroke and then restored the waters to their normal course, drowning the enemy and saving God’s own people? Aaron’s rod, which blossomed in one day in proof of his true priesthood, was another figure of the cross, and did not Abraham foreshadow the cross when he bound his son Isaac and placed him on the pile of wood? By the cross death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross we put on Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven. _
BarbTherese Posted April 19, 2023 Author Posted April 19, 2023 EUCHARISTIC ADORATION Friday 21.4.23 20 Mysteries of The Rosary https://www.marquette.edu/faith/prayers-mysteries.php Chaplet of Mercy Quote How to Recite the Chaplet The Chaplet of Mercy is recited using ordinary Rosary beads of five decades. The Chaplet is preceded by two opening prayers from the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and followed by a closing prayer. 1. Make the Sign of the Cross In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 2. Optional Opening Prayers St. Faustina’s Prayer for Sinners O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equalled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 72). You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us. (Repeat three times) O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You! 3. Our Father Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen. 4. Hail Mary Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen. 5. The Apostles’ Creed I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. 6. The Eternal Father Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. 7. On the 10 Small Beads of Each Decade For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 8. Repeat for the remaining decades Saying the "Eternal Father" (6) on the "Our Father" bead and then 10 "For the sake of His sorrowful Passion" (7) on the following "Hail Mary" beads. 9. Conclude with Holy God (Repeat three times) Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world. 10. Optional Closing Prayers Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. O Greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to Your mercy — to Your compassion, O God; and it is with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out. Gracious God, do not reject the prayer of this earth's exiles! O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding, Who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our own power we cannot ascend to You, we implore You: anticipate us with Your grace and keep on increasing Your mercy in us, that we may faithfully do Your holy will all through our life and at death's hour. Let the omnipotence of Your mercy shield us from the darts of our salvation’s enemies, that we may with confidence, as Your children, await Your [Son’s] final coming — that day known to You alone. And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite of all our wretchedness. For Jesus is our Hope: through His merciful Heart, as through an open gate, we pass through to heaven (Diary, 1570). NINTH LETTER Quote Enclosing a letter to a corresponding sister, whom he regards with respect tinged with fear. * His old theme concisely put. THE enclosed is an answer to that which I received from - ; pray deliver it to her. She seems to me full of good will, but she would go faster than grace. One does not become holy all at once. I recommend her to you: we ought to help one another by our advice, and yet more by our good examples. You will oblige me to let me hear of her from time to time, and whether she be very fervent and very obedient. Let us thus think often that our only business in this life is to please GOD, that perhaps all besides is but folly and vanity. You and I have lived above forty years in religion [i.e., a monastic life]. Have we employed them in loving and serving GOD, who by His mercy has called us to this state and for that very end? I am filled with shame and confusion, when I reflect on the one hand upon the great favours which GOD has done, and incessantly continues to do, me; and on the other, upon the ill use I have made of them, and my small advancement in the way of perfection. Since by His mercy He gives us still a little time, let us begin in earnest, let us repair the lost time, let us return with a full assurance to that FATHER of mercies, who is always ready to receive us affectionately. Let us renounce, let us generously renounce, for the love of Him, all that is not Himself; He deserves infinitely more. Let us think of Him perpetually. Let us put all our trust in Him: I doubt not but we shall soon find the effects of it, in receiving the abundance of His grace, with which we can do all things, and without which we can do nothing but sin. We cannot escape the dangers which abound in life, without the actual and continual help of GOD; let us then pray to Him for it continually. How can we pray to Him without being with Him? How can we be with Him but in thinking of Him often? And how can we often think of Him, but by a holy habit which we should form of it? You will tell me that I am always saying the same thing: it is true, for this is the best and easiest method I know; and as I use no other, I advise all the world to it. We must know before we can love. In order to know GOD, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure. This is an argument which well deserves your consideration. LITANY THE DIVINE PRAISES Quote THE DIVINE PRAISES Blessed be God. Blessed be His Holy Name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Blessed be the Name of Jesus. Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart. Blessed be His Most Precious Blood. Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete. Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy. Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception. Blessed be her glorious Assumption. Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother. Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse. Blessed be God in His angels and in His Saints. May the heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament, be praised, adored, and loved with grateful affection, at every moment, in all the tabernacles of the world, even to the end of time.
BarbTherese Posted April 19, 2023 Author Posted April 19, 2023 (edited) The Catholic Chaplain came in today and I received Holy Communion. Deo Gratius. We had a rather long chat and discovered we were both in the same parish. However she attended our Mother Church in the parish, while I attended a Mass Centre and much closer to me back then. She is going to arrange for Father to come in and anoint me, bless my room and hear my Confession. It is much too long since I have been to Confession. I will ask Father if he could call in every three months or so to hear my Confession. I don't like to ask for a shorter time span because our priests are already overloaded. Not only that! I am no Martin Luther who, when still a monk (he later married) annoyed heck out of his fellow monks as he laboured with terrible scruples and wanted a monk to hear his Confession sometimes a couple of times in a day. I am not that keen !!! I love Confession, but invariably come away with the feeling I have left something out. I know I haven't, it is just a feeling I have, conscious as I am of my very real status as sinner, sinful. Often more inclined/attracted towards vice than to virtue. Gosh, ten years next September since my Home Mass and oh what a journey it has been. Spirituality, living with The Lord, is the greatest adventure one could undertake. It has been a struggle uphill, with failures and falls, struggling up again, His Grace lifting one up, and going on. The daily struggle with bipolar and the almost daily struggle with temptation. Then the easy slide on the downhill grade that is actually an easy uphill (paradox! our spirituality is full of them). But lo and behold, another hill looms up. And so life is repetitive insofar as I can see. It is a continual arriving that is departure, departing once more. Only Heaven can reveal final destination of it all. But who knows what lay beyond this NOW as I type and tonight, tomorrow or the next day, week........or years. That is something only the Good Lord knows. That is the lesson of my history to date-............but it keeps on repeating anyway. My theory is that that thing tempted Eve first because it knew she needed a very high intelligent being to be tempted and then she could handle Adam............a pushover, cinch for Eve.........easy peasy! Healthy laughter and sense of the funny to me is a by-product of Joy in The Lord. Fr James Martin's book Between Heaven and Mirth is now available on Kindle $13.99. https://www.amazon.com.au/Between-Heaven-Mirth-Laughter-Spiritual-ebook/dp/B005C6L1EG/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Quote “Between Heaven and Mirth will make any reader smile. . . . Father Martin reminds us that happiness is the good God’s own goal for us.” —Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York From The Colbert Report’s “official chaplain” James Martin, SJ, author of the New York Times bestselling The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, comes a revolutionary look at how joy, humor, and laughter can change our lives and save our spirits. A Jesuit priest with a busy media ministry, Martin understands the intersections between spirituality and daily life. In Between Heaven and Mirth, he uses scriptural passages, the lives of the saints, the spiritual teachings of other traditions, and his own personal reflections to show us why joy is the inevitable result of faith, because a healthy spirituality and a healthy sense of humor go hand-in-hand with God's great plan for humankind. Sample from the book https://www.amazon.com.au/Between-Heaven-Mirth-Laughter-Spiritual-ebook/dp/B005C6L1EG/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&asin=B005C6L1EG&revisionId=b253bb63&format=1&depth=1 Edited April 19, 2023 by BarbTherese
BarbTherese Posted April 20, 2023 Author Posted April 20, 2023 FULL MOVIE IN ENGLISH From Divine Office (General Calendar) SATURDAY 22ND April 2023 SECOND WEEK EASTER Saturdays are traditionally dedicated to Our Lady Morning Prayer https://universalis.com/20230422/lauds.htm Evening Prayer https://universalis.com/20230422/vespers.htm Night Prayer https://universalis.com/20230422/compline.htm Office Readings - Second Reading From the constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council God's plan of salvation Quote In his desire that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, God spoke in former times to our forefathers through the prophets, on many occasions and in different ways. Then, in the fullness of time he sent his Son, the Word made man, anointed by the Holy Spirit, to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted as the physician of body and spirit and the mediator between God and men. In the unity of the person of the Word, his human nature was the instrument of our salvation. Thus in Christ there has come to be the perfect atonement that reconciles us with God, and we have been given the power to offer the fullness of divine worship. This work of man’s redemption and God’s perfect glory was foreshadowed by God’s mighty deeds among the people of the Old Covenant. It was brought to fulfilment by Christ the Lord, especially through the paschal mystery of his blessed passion, resurrection from the dead and ascension in glory: by dying he destroyed our death, and by rising again he restored our life. From his side, as he lay asleep on the cross, was born that wonderful sacrament which is the Church in its entirety. As Christ was sent by the Father, so in his turn he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. They were sent to preach the Gospel to every creature, proclaiming that we had been set free from the power of Satan and from death by the death and resurrection of God’s Son, and brought into the kingdom of the Father. They were sent also to bring into effect this saving work that they proclaimed, by means of the sacrifice and sacraments that are the pivot of the whole life of the liturgy. So, by baptism men are brought within the paschal mystery. Dead with Christ, buried with Christ, risen with Christ, they receive the Spirit that makes them God’s adopted children, crying out: Abba, Father; and so they become the true adorers that the Father seeks. In the same way, whenever they eat the supper of the Lord they proclaim his death until he comes. So, on the very day of Pentecost, on which the Church was manifested to the world, those who received the word of Peter were baptized. They remained steadfast in the teaching of the apostles and in the communion of the breaking of bread, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. From that time onward the Church has never failed to come together to celebrate the paschal mystery, by reading what was written about him in every part of Scripture, by celebrating the Eucharist in which the victory and triumph of his death are shown forth, and also by giving thanks to God for the inexpressible gift he has given in Christ Jesus, to the praise of God’s glory.
BarbTherese Posted April 20, 2023 Author Posted April 20, 2023 EUCHARISTIC ADORATION Saturday 22nd April 2023 20 Mysteries of The Rosary - https://www.marquette.edu/faith/prayers-mysteries.php How to Pray The Chaplet of Mercy https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD TENTH LETTER Quote Has difficulty, but sacrifices his will, to write as requested. * The loss of a friend may lead to acquaintance with the Friend. I HAVE had a good deal of difficulty to bring myself to write to M. -, and I do it now purely because you and Madam desire me. Pray write the directions and send it to him. I am very well pleased with the trust which you have in GOD: I wish that He may increase it in you more and more: we cannot have too much in so good and faithful a Friend, who will never fail us in this world nor in the next. If M. - makes his advantage of the loss he has had, and puts all his confidence in GOD, He will soon give him another friend, more powerful and more inclined to serve him. He disposes of hearts as He pleases. Perhaps M. - was too much attached to him he has lost. We ought to love our friends, but without encroaching upon the love of GOD, which must be the principal. Pray remember what I have recommended to you, which is, to think often on GOD, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone, who came to visit you: why then must GOD be neglected? Do not then forget Him, but think on Him often, adore Him continually, live and die with Him; this is the glorious employment of a Christian; in a word, this is our profession, if we do not know it we must learn it. I will endeavour to help you with my prayers, and am yours in our LORD.
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