Spiritual Conference 9-26-2012
Dear Brothers,
The spiritual conference is an important part of a monastery or indeed any religious house. We give a very short sermon every morning after the Gospel at Mass, as well. Since we will be forming a monastery soon, We believe it is essential to start giving a spiritual conference at least once a week as a preparation for the time when the monastery is officially open. At that time, the prior will give a weekly spiritual conference as part of his duty as prior.
“Reflect that there must be someone to cook the meals and count yourselves happy in being able to serve like Martha. Reflect that true humility consists to a great deal in being for what the Lord desires to do with you and happy that He should do it, and in always considering yourselves unworthy to be called His servants.” (Saint Teresa of Avila, The Way of Perfection) Just before We read this, We were reminded of something We read many years ago in Saint Alphonsus (The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ): “’Devotion,’ says St. Thomas, ‘consists in being ready to accomplish in ourselves whatever God demands of us.’ (II-II Q82 A1)”
God is going to ask us all to make some sacrifices in order to make this monastery work. Any new foundation like this takes work. In fact, we have the added burden of trying to get moving forward towards the universal conversion. And this is the main reason for forming the monastery, for it will be through our prayers, our silence, our sacrifices that God will send down graces to bring about conversion. One of the sacrifices will be that sometimes we will have to pull away from prayer in order to work, whether it is in restoring whatever we eventually buy or just day to day duties such as cooking and cleaning.
Watch for an announcement on the monastery here soon.
Read MoreHow do we know that prayer and penance governs the world affairs?
“For my justice hath the Lord brought me in to possess this land, whereas these nations are destroyed for their wickedness.” (Deuteronomy 9:4) Our sanctity governs the temporal and spiritual affairs of the world. Our Lady of Fatima 1917 told us that nations will be annihilated. Sacred Scripture tells us that this destruction is according to the physical act. But remember too destroy can also pertain to the soul. How many souls are destroying their souls at this moment? The world is currently killing their own souls with mortal sin. “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) Our sanctity as religious comes from obedience. As religious we must cure the disobedience of the laity. We are the examples of sanctity and godliness. We are suppose to be the light of the world. When a laymen, lay women, or other religious are lax in their obedience, then we must pick up the slack of others meanwhile carrying our own cross. That is what it means to be a saint. “Bear ye one another’s burdens; and so you shall fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) Obedience governs the world. The penance of a religious is obedience. A monk’s sole purpose in praying is so that he can perfect his obedience. Our Lady of Good Success told us that monasteries and convents were constructed by God to purify the air from sin. “We are the good odor of Christ unto God.” (2 Corinthians 2:15) A soul that is in the state of grace is emits a holy odor as talked about by St. Teresa of Avila in the Interior Castle. This holy odor rises to the throne of Heaven. But realize, how many souls are in the state of mortal sin! This odor is so disgusting should we be permitted to smell it we would die instantaneously!
Br. Raphael
Read MoreReturning from the Mountain
“You are the Church, you Catholic lay people. You must not consider the Church as the pope, the bishops, and the priests, with yourselves as a sort of outer fringe. … You are the Church … just as my hands are my body. … It is only through you that the Church can adapt herself to the changing conditions in the world. Go forth to conquer the world again for Christ.” Pope Pius XI.
How do we re-Christianize the world? We must first re-Christianize ourselves. We cannot hope to re-Christianize the world while we live by the pagan maxims of the world. We must pull down our pagan idols and replace them with Christian symbols. We can’t judge by worldly maxims, but must judge all in the light of faith. We have the teachings of the Church readily available to us, let us immerse ourselves in them. In coming weeks We will apply these teachings to various important subjects raised today.
Today, though, We are returning from the mountain where We retired to pray. We have plotted Our course forward towards the universal conversion. This weekly blog is only part of that plan.
At the beginning of this month a man approached us with a plan. Soon two others joined with him. On February 2, 2013 we will open a monastery in Atchison, Kansas. We will follow the Carmelite spirit of Saint Teresa of Jesus and her ‘little way’. This is most appropriate for several reasons. First Mary appeared to Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia as Our Lady of Mount Carmel on October 13, 1917 during the miracle of the sun. Lucia became a Carmelite in 1948 and remained so until her death in about 1959. Saint Dominic said: “One day, Brother Angelus, to your Order of Carmel the Most Blessed Virgin Mary will give a devotion to be known as the Brown Scapular, and to my Order of Preachers she will give a devotion to be known as the Rosary. And one day, through the rosary and the scapular, she will save the world.” The Brown Scapular is Carmelite and symbolic of Elias’ cloak which he left when the fiery chariot took him away three millenia ago. Elias and Eliseus founded the Carmelites. They Carmelites came off of Mount Carmel on the first Pentecost to joint he Church and to return and support the Church with their prayers and penances. Finally we were elected on July 16, 1990, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
More information and spiritual conferences will be posted in a section for the monastery.
Read MoreGoing Up to the Mountain to Pray
“And having dismissed the multitude, He went into a mountain alone to pray.” (Matthew 14:23) As We have done several times in the past, We shall retire during the Ember week of September to pray. During this time We shall not be answering emails. Tuesday evening after dinner We shall commence Our retreat. The theme of Our retreat is: “Go out from her My people,” (Apocalypse 18:4) which means detachment from earthly things. We shall record the morning sermons and process them after We return from the mountain.
Wednesday, September 19th, is the 166th anniversary of the apparition of Blessed Virgin Mary at La Salette. Mary appeared on an Ember Saturday and she said: “The world takes no notice of Lent. People go to the butchers like dogs.” How many today observe the easy fast laws of the Church, which permits meat once a day on days that are not days of total abstinence? And this reminds us that Ember Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are days of fast and partial abstinence. Let us zealously observe the fast of the Ember Days, which goes back to the time of the Apostles. No one can be truly Catholic who does not observe this Holy fast!
Let us consider something as we go up to the mountain to pray. Devotion is more than just prayers. Many confuse devotion with devotions. There is a big difference, although both are necessary. Saint Teresa of Avila says: “Prayer cannot accompany self indulgence.” Devotion consists in the trinity of prayer, penance, and mortification.
Prayer is more than reciting a set form of words. No, prayer must come from the heart and itcomes from the heart in two ways. First through sincere vocal prayer, such as the Rosary, prayers before and after meals, morning and night prayers. Secondly and more importantly it comes through meditation which should lead ultimately to contemplation, for our goal in the life of prayer is contemplation.
Penance atones for past sins. Saint Basil says: “Mere renouncement of sin is not sufficient for the salvation of penitents, but fruits worthy of penance are also required.”
Mortification is the enemy of pleasure. Pleasure and self-indulgence prepare us for sin, for many sins are pleasurable and self-indulgent. For this reason we must give up some lawful pleasures in order to prepare our self for the battle against sin. Saint Catherine of Sienna says: “For perfection does not consist in macerating or killing the body, but in killing our perverse self-will.” Indeed, philautia, which is the technical term for self-will or selfishness is the source of all sin.
Let us consider this from A Treatise of the Spiritual Life: “For foremost is philautia, or self-love, the root and parent of all vices. From this usually springs a high esteem of self, so that a man magnifies, admires and prefers himself; and thus is pride the first-born of self-love, and the prolific mother of vices. Next, it comes to pass that the same vicious self-love covets all created goods for sake of its own benefit, at first indeed those which have the appearance of propriety, such as honors, magistracies and positions of authority, from which ambition and vain glory originate; but afterwards those that seem pleasing to the senses, and gratifying, whence gluttony and lust; then the means of acquiring these, that is money and riches, from which springs covetousness. But if anything that seems to be an obstacle to their acquisition interferes, anger bursts forth. If it thinks any one is possessed of some good, of which itself is either devoid, or fears to be deprived, envy is begotten. Finally, the mind being occupied with the pursuit of earthly things, no room is left for piety and spiritual interests, hence tiresomeness in good actions and sloth are brought forth.”
Let us close with another consideration from A Treatise of the Spiritual Life: “To the first species of modesty belongs eutrapelia, which sets the limit of reason to sports and jests and relaxations of mind; for some rest must be given the spirits, that they may rise up more eager for labor after lawful recreation. But relaxation of mind is contained in various actions. The first is walking in a pleasant and open place, as in a suburban retreat; next, the sight of rural beauty, some rustic labor in that retreat calculated to relieve the mind; the chirping and singing of birds and playing with them; fowling also, and hunting and fishing; pleasant and lighter studies; musical concert and any becoming pastime; harmless jests and pleasantries free from all injury, obscenity, illiberality, irrelevancy and indecency under the circumstances.” And this from Moral and Pastoral Theology, Davis, Volume 1, page 269: “Eutrapely (courtesy, urbanity) is concerned with moderation in the use of recreation, laughter and merriment, so that a man should neither decline in all such relaxations nor exceed in them. Its contraries are austere moroseness by defect and buffoonery by excess.”
Pope Michael
September 17, 2012, the Impression of the Stigmata of Saint Francis.
Note We have posted a video on the Ember Days.
http://pope-speaks.com/?p=21
We are also posting videos to GloriaTV
http://gloria.tv/?user=94506
We will be posting the sermons throughout he week there. You will notice a duplication, their user interface is not he greatest, but We are getting a lot of views. You wil also find someone else has posted one of Our videos:
http://gloria.tv/?media=266382
Ember Sunday
The Third Sunday in September is a special day, being the Sunday before the Ember Days, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
Read MoreNew Book
Brother Lawrence
Recent Comments