Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr
by VP
Posted on Thursday October 17, 2024 at 01:00AM in Quotes
"10. Pray also without ceasing for other men: for there is hope of repentance in them, that they may attain unto God. Let them therefore at least be instructed by your works, if they will be no other way, Be ye mild at their anger; humble at their boasting: to their blasphemies, return your prayers: to their error, your firmness in the faith: when they are cruel, be ye gentle; not endeavoring to imitate their ways: (let us be their brethren in all kindness and moderation, but let us be followers of the Lord; for who was ever more unjustly used? more destitute? more despised?) that so no herb of the devil may be found in you; but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety both of body and spirit, in Christ Jesus.
11. The last times are come upon us: let us therefore be very reverent, and fear the long suffering of God, that it be not to us unto condemnation. For let us either fear the wrath that is to come, or let us love the grace that we at present enjoy; that by the one or other of these, we may be found in Christ Jesus, unto true life. Besides him, let nothing be worthy of you; for whom also I bear about these bonds, those spiritual jewels, in which I would to God that I might arise through your prayers: of which I entreat you to make me always partaker, that I may be found in the lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always agreed with the Apostles, through the power of Jesus Christ.
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13. Let it be your care therefore to come more fully together, to the praise and glory of God. For when ye meet fully together in the same place, the powers of the devil are destroyed, and his mischief is dissolved by the unity of your faith. And indeed, nothing is better than peace; by which all war both spiritual and earthly, is abolished.
14. Of all which nothing is hid from you, if ye have perfect faith and charity in Christ Jesus, which are the beginning and end of life. For the beginning is faith; the end charity. And these two joined together, are of God: but all other things which concern a holy life are the consequences of these. No man professing a true faith, sinneth; neither does he who has charity, hate any. The tree is made manifest by its fruit, [Matt. xii, 33] So they who profess themselves to be Christians, are known by what they do. For Christianity is not the work of an outward profession; but shews itself in the power of faith, if a man be found faithful unto the end.
16. Do not be deceived, my brethren. Those who ruin homes will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, if those who do this to gratify the flesh are liable to death, how much more a man who by evil doctrine ruins the faith in God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such a filthy creature will go into the unquenchable fire, as will anyone that listens to him.
17.The Lord permitted myrrh to be poured on His head that He might breathe incorruption upon the Church. Do not let yourselves be anointed with the malodorous doctrine of the Prince of this world, for fear he may carry you off into captivity, away from the life that is in store for you. Why do we not all become wise, having received knowledge of God, that is Jesus Christ! Why do we perish in folly, failing to appreciate the gift which the Lord has sent us in truth!"
Source: St. Ignatius of Antioch Epistles To the Ephesians, 1946 p66The Attacks Made by Heretics upon the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
by VP
Posted on Tuesday October 08, 2024 at 01:00AM in Quotes
Saint Catherine of Siena, Wake Forest NC
"The persecutions which the evil enemy has stirred up at various times against the most holy sacrifice of the Mass are a proof how sacred a thing it must be, and how obnoxious to the devil; otherwise he would not attack it with such violence. (...)
From the days of the apostles until the present time the holy sacrifice of the Mass has had no more vehement opponent than the unhappy Martin Luther, who not only attacked but decried this divine mystery. He did not do this of himself, nor when he first apostatized, but at a later period, and at the instigation of the devil. In fact the deluded man himself acknowledges in his writings that his teaching comes from the devil, and only at the suggestion of the evil one has he abolished the Mass as an act of idolatry, although he must have known full well that the devil is the hater of all that is good, and teaches mankind naught but what is evil."
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If the people are ignorant of the great value of holy Mass they do not love and esteem it as they ought; they never go to Mass on week-days, and on Sundays and holidays they are too often indifferent, irreverent, superficial; they absent themselves on a mere pretext, and without the slightest scruple of conscience.
But if they understand the vast efficacy and value of
the holy Mass, they cannot fail to prize more highly this costly
treasure, to love it deeply, and assist at the divine oblation with
greater reverence. There is in the Catholic Church no mystery more
important, more consoling, more salutary, than this sublime mystery of
the altar. If this truth were recognized aright, we should certainly see
a larger attendance at Mass on week-days."
Source:Cochem's Explanation of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Saint Bruno, Confessor, Founder of the Carthusian Monks
by VP
Posted on Sunday October 06, 2024 at 01:00AM in Quotes
"Still her (the Church) enemies arise anew to taunt her in the modern day. She is called on by modern religion to come down from her supernatural viewpoint and become humanitarian; she is called by modern morality to come down from her high standards of celibacy and virginity, of indissoluble marriage, of marriageʼs sanctity; she is called upon by modern skepticism and unbelief to come down from her belief in such a thing as Truth, the existence of God and the Divinity of Christ. All together call upon the Catholic Church to come down and mingle as one among many and change her standards to suit the modern mind. And they threaten that is as she will not come down, then she must die." Bishop William J. Hafey of Raleigh, N.C. Easter Sermon 1932
"THE SCANDALS OF THE WORLD.- When the Church is about to encounter great dangers on the part of enemies of the Faith, God raises up to her noble champions; and whenever great scandals grow to a head, they are compensated for by lofty examples of virtue. Therefore was it that Bruno felt himself led into solitude. In the eleventh century ignorance had generated laxness and immorality; faith was rife enough, but morality was not in acceptance.
Bruno, canon and chancellor of the cathedral of Rheims, out of love with the world by reason of the scandals he there witnessed, formed the project, together with certain of his friends, of relinquishing it altogether. Hugh, bishop of Grenoble, to whom he unfolded his purpose, pointed out to them, as suitable for the end in view, the "Chartreuse," a rugged solitude not far distant. They there constructed for themselves separate cells, and began to lead a life of poverty and labor, as forbidding even as their chosen desert. Numerous companions soon thronged to join them, and the great ones of the world followed, to draw edification from the sight of their austere virtues. Thus was founded, in 1084, the most edifying and rigorous order that has ever existed. St. Bruno died in 1101.
MORAL REFLECTION.-"It is necessary," for the sanctification of the just, "that scandals should come; and yet woe unto him through whom scandal cometh."-(Matt. xviii. 7.)"
