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Tuesday 15 October 2013

Thought for The Day

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sassoferrato_-_Jungfrun_i_b%C3%B6n.jpg


On Mary...

It was she, the second Eve, who, free from all sin, original or personal, and always more intimately united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father for all the children of Adam, sin-stained by his unhappy fall.” Pope Ven. Pius XII, encyclical Mystici Corporis.

I shall be posting later tomorrow. This autumn is one of the hottest with some of the highest humidity seen in Malta for a long time. The weather is draining.

I grew up in Iowa where the corn pops on the stalk in late August (not really), but I must admit, this Maltese heat is some of the most intense I have experienced as an adult. Reminds me of Mississippi heat.

Being Tolerant Again

The priest at Mass asked people to be open to the Syrian and Somalian immigrants. As reported, hundreds of people have died coming from Africa to Sicily. Many of the dead are children and mothers of those children.

The Catholics here have, understandably, different views, as Malta is a very crowded island. There is housing here, but it is not inexpensive, although housing prices have crashed from 2007 highs. The government is not necessarily set up for dealing with large influxes of people. Many immigrants have been welcomed in Malta in the past. In fact, one of the charms of Malta is the multi-cultural population. Many North Africans have been coming here for years.  The immigrants coming in now are from areas where civil wars are raging.

God bless them.

God bless Malta and give the leaders both in the government and in the Church great wisdom.




Some Back Posts on St. Teresa of Avila

04 Aug 2013
Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux and John of the Cross and the Purification of the Spirit Pt. 24. Posted by Supertradmum. "ad lucem per crucem, and of the progressive configuration of the soul to Christ crucified."
15 Sep 2013
Fulton J. Sheen And St. Teresa of Avila. Posted by Supertradmum. Life, Truth, Love, states Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, are what we find in heaven. The soul who hates those would be tormented in heaven and that soul, who has ...
08 Feb 2013
St. John of Avila writes to a lady on what holiness is. Obviously, he was aware of those stages of perfection, and so inspired St. Teresa of Avila, to whom he wrote as well. He is summarizing all three stages here, purification, ...
02 Aug 2013
One can see the overlapping of ideas and experiences with St. Teresa of Avila. But, whereas Teresa is more descriptive, John is more systematic. 6. And in order to prove more completely how efficacious is this night of sense, ...

22 Sep 2013
The first thing, however, I want to note, is that the people of Ignatius's day, and in the days of St. Teresa of Avila, did not have access to Mass and the sacraments as we do now. People had to strive to be holy with perhaps only ...
24 Sep 2013
... by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding His greatness, we realize our own littleness; His purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon His humility we find how very far we are from being humble." Teresa of Avila.
09 Feb 2013
I am using a link to a post from last year for the two Teresas. Both Teresa of Avila and Therese, the Little Flower are Doctors of the Church. Sometimes, Teresa is call the Great Teresa and Therese is called the Little Therese.
14 Aug 2013
However, let us turn to St. Teresa of Avila's words for an explanation, and remember, she had not committed a mortal sin, but was shown the consequences of her evil tendencies if she did not allow God to purify her and the ...

26 Nov 2012
Here is St. Teresa of Avila's definitions, from her Life, taken from the Catholic Encyclopedeia. Also, the fruits of the prayer of quiet follow. May I note that only those who are in sanctifying grace and in complete orthodoxy with ...
03 Jun 2013
This process started for me in Missouri in 2009, when I had cancer and studied the word of Teresa of Avila and Catherine of Siena in my convalescence, beginning to understand the radical change one must allow God to do in ...
28 Feb 2012
Continuing the series on perfection, I have switched temporarily from Garrigou-Lagrange to the Interior Castle of St. Teresa of Avila. In this book, St. Teresa refers to the enlargement of the heart. Quoting Prime, Teresa writes, ...
06 Aug 2013
John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, it seems that memory is to be avoided and the past completely set aside in the new life which God is demanding in the purification of both the senses and the soul. God has given me an ...

25 May 2013
Teresa of Avila, Angela of Foligno, Collete, Veronica Guiliani, Maria de Agreda, and Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, whose feast day is today. Here are some characteristics of a mystical marriage. The first is an almost continual ...
02 Sep 2012
She wrote hundreds of letters in her lifetime and a biography of her has just been published, literally, hot off the press. She was a mystic, in the unitive way, in the same category at St. Teresa of Avila, or St. John of the Cross.
08 Jun 2012
I seem to recall Saint Teresa of Avila writing in "Life" that, as a matter of policy, it's best to ignore elocutions, since all we need is obedience to the Church. This is what I normally tell those I meet who are "really into" some ...
26 Nov 2012
This is not the mystic state of St. Teresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross, but is the stage just prior to that state, which is called Extraordinary Contemplation. This higher contemplation is not a topic which I shall cover for several ...

04 Sep 2013
One does not know what to expect next if the symptoms are new and odd. One of the common themes in St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila is that of accepting suffering. One cannot choose the way it comes to one.
14 Aug 2013
As to books, just read the lives of the saints, and the Rule of St. Benedict, the writings of Therese the Little Flower and Teresa of Avila. One is called to a spirituality, such as Dominican-ism, or Franciscan-ism or Benedictine-ism ...
07 May 2012
So too were St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila. 
St. Maximilian Kolbe and many, many other witnesses to the Faith. Many people are closed to repentance, especially if they are contracepting or in marriages which need ...
10 Jul 2013
This Rose and other roses like her, such as Catherine of Sienna, whose Illuminations I read while convalescing (two weeks) and Teresa of Avila, who I truly understand for the first time in my life, have led me to the realization ...

09 Feb 2013
Like Catherine, Teresa, and Therese, Hildegard cooperated with grace to come into unity with Christ. All these saints entered into the Unitive State. Catherine describes this, as does Teresa of Avila very clearly. Hildegard as ...
16 Mar 2013
So far, I have dipped into the writings of these great men women, Doctors of the Church, in the series. Hildegard of Binen Therese of Lisieux Teresa of Avila Catherine of Siena Augustine of Hippo Ambrose Albert the Great
08 Feb 2013
Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux and Hildegard of Bingen. I am concentrating on their holiness and some of the writings. The reason a person is declared a Doctor of the Church is sort of like an honorary ...
01 May 2012
2 comments: New Sister said... How can anyone read the writings of saints & then not inquire about/seek a spiritual director? (e.g., Francis de Sales, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Faustina) Maybe that's the problem - lack ...

10 Mar 2013
Catherine of Siena Therese of Lisieux Teresa of Avila Hildegard of Bingen Augustine of Hippo Albert the Great Bede the Venerable Ephraim the Syrian Bernard of Clairvaux Peter Damian Ambrose Anselm of Canterbury
20 Nov 2012
Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross understood and practiced contemplative prayer. It is a grace, and I am convinced, for all Catholics. One must start with meditation, which is using the events in the Life of Christ in the Bible ...
18 Nov 2012
Teresa of Avila, Bernard, and many others, realizing that they were busy in the world as well. The contemplative prayer and meditation allowed them to be effective in the world. St. Catherine of Siena was a great player in the ...
10 Aug 2013
I could use more instruction on when it's appropriate to disclose sin because there are examples of saints who disclosed theirs – Saint Augustine and even the great Teresa of Avila, who in “Interior Castles” refrains from ...

02 Apr 2012
Continuing on the theme of perfection and middle-age, I come to the writings of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila. She writes, "God gives Himself wholly to the soul which gives itself wholly to Him." Father Gabriel of ...
16 Feb 2013
There are a few saints I am sure who moved very quickly through these stages, but even Teresa of Avila took years and years. One must start as young as one can organize one's life to do so. These selections from St. Albert ...
12 Feb 2013
Emily said... One of my favorite verses--such a good reminder. Much like St. Teresa of Avila's bookmark. 12 February 2013 17:34 · Post a Comment · Newer Post Older Post Home. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) ...
09 Aug 2012
I did the same thing, quite spontaneously. She loved the spirituality of the Carmelites, and so do I, although I am more Benedictine by practice and temperament. But, she took St. Benedict's name as well as Teresa of Avila's for ...


In today's Times of Malta

The civil union bill provides the main story on today's Time of Malta. That this issue is being pushed shows the decadence into which this once holy island has fallen. This movement towards sin and corruption breaks my heart. Last year, the government passed the IVF bill, which is another law now in direct contradiction with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

How sad that what is being pushed as the real first step towards ssm is going through into law. Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli published the bill yesterday.

As the newspaper reports, this law is based on the Danish Law of 1980, which basically gives all legal and financial recognition to gay couples as to heterosexual couples.

Neil Falzon who drafted the bill, stated that the underlying principle of this bill was same-sex marriage.

I shall pray the rosary, again,  if I can, with those people on the Promenade, for Malta. Same sex couples have made Valletta and Sliema into havens for gay-pride.


St. Teresa of Avila

Many people think that the saints had an easy time become perfect. And, of course, only those who did reach perfection in the stages written about so many times on this blog, are the ones which are canonized. But, this road was not strewn with roses for most of the saints. A few, especially the young ones, had tremendous graces which allowed them to become one with Christ early on. For the rest, like the Great Teresa, this road was strewn with rocks and  she met with dangerous spiritual crevices.

One only has to read her writings to see this hard journey.

Today is the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila.
I shall re-post some of my blogs from the past on her today.


A real treat...more on the museum

http://www.wignacourtmuseum.com/


The Wignacourt Museum in Rabat, Malta

http://www.unescomalta.org/wignacourt.asp

Small Extraordinary Events

As I was taking my evening constitutional along the famous Sliema promenade, I happened upon the Legion of Mary saying the rosary in public. Of course, I joined them. We were praying for Malta, for several good reasons.

Then, as I continued my walk, I met a couple who live in Sliema saying their nightly rosary and I joined them. Again, these two were praying for Malta. Malta needs prayers. But, how wonderful that people feel free to pray in public. Several people joined us for a decade or so and moved on. I had the feeling that Mary was very pleased with this display of loyalty and devotion.

One man about my dad's age told me he had stopped to say the rosary, as he remembered when the Legion of Mary was popular in parishes.

God bless these good people and may all our prayers for Malta be answered.

1917 Postcard of Sliema

Arguments on Nomenclature

For years, I have had an on-going argument on the terms child, youth, young adult and adult.

Part of the problem is the over-protection of teens, from the point of view from parents in Gen X. Overprotecting children does not help them grow. I know children who are in their teens who have never walked anywhere, being carried in cars their entire lives from here to there.

I know parents who check up on their children almost constantly on the cell phone, creating hot-house plants instead of allowing youth people experiences that help them grow up.

But, one must start with language. A teen is not a child. A teen is a young adult, who should be learning skills for being independent at college or university. To keep calling teens children is to demean the process of maturation.

In addition to not giving young adults some freedom in movement and making decisions under parental guidance, another huge problem is that parents do not demand obedience from adults who are in the house and being supported.

I tell parents constantly that if they are still paying rent, food, travel, clothes, etc for their offspring, those children owe their parents obedience and honor. I have friends who absolutely disagree with their young adults' lifestyles, but still give them money and meet their needs.

This is not good parenting. One should not become friends with their offspring until these people earn such respect as adults.

One moves towards maturity in slow steps, but these steps have to be orchestrated by the parents. Parents need to plan how to make their children become young adults and finally adults.

Being financially responsible is one of those steps. Becoming mannerly and respectful is part of growing up.
Making good decisions about things is also a step to maturity, under the guidance of parents and under the authority of parents.

To be continued...