brandelynmarie Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Rave away! I will comment again once I have time to let this soak in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Soak away, BM - I'll spare you and any others another rave on!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immanuel Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 BT, Thank you for the additional link to more JPdCaussade. I am super inspired to dig into this for lent. [quote name='BarbaraTherese' timestamp='1328577273' post='2382681'] Somehow, I ommited to grasp that you had read the book online without the letters. The book Abandonment to Divine Providence by JPdCaussade together with his spiritual counsels and letters can be read in full free online here: [url="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/decaussade/abandonment.toc.html"]http://www.ccel.org/...onment.toc.html[/url] The above link also gives chapter descriptions. [/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandelynmarie Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 What you have written sounds so much in line with St. Therese's & St. Faustina's writings. I don't think I can add anything else, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Being quite a fan of St Therese and her theology for many years and having read the diaries of St Faustina and been entirely impressed, my thoughts are nothing at all original. When one gets down to the nitty gritty with our saints and what they have written and said, they all basically say the same thing differently very often, with perhaps different emphasis. And this makes absolute sense. Here I shall desist rather than launch into yet another rave on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandelynmarie Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Chica! Rave on! Your postings are feeding my spirit & giving me hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immanuel Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 [quote name='brandelynmarie' timestamp='1328964419' post='2385354'] Chica! Rave on! Your postings are feeding my spirit & giving me hope. [/quote]Mine too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 I am very confident that a read of the 'Autobiography of a Soul" [url="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/therese/autobio.html"]http://www.ccel.org/ccel/therese/autobio.html[/url] by St Therese of Lisieux and "Abandonment to Divine Providence" (link in previous post) will confirm confident trust to any soul at all and perhaps those especially who feel that their life is outstandingly ordinary and everyday and the battle with self and failings seemingly eternal and consistent - and therefore much Hope. Good habit before spiritual reading to say a prayer to the Holy Spirit. I think that I read somewhere that St Therese may have read "Abandonment to Divine Providence" by de Caussade - or I attended a lecture once by a Carmelite priest who is an expert on her life and writings and he may have made the comment. I found the Diary of St Faustina a more heavy read and one needs to get things into the whole context of the entire text - and my experience. This site gives excerpts from her diary by subject:[url="http://www.catholic-forum.com/churches/cathteach/divinemercy1.htm"]http://www.catholic-forum.com/churches/cathteach/divinemercy1.htm[/url] I am fairly confident that her full diary is online and did a quick search but couldn't find it. I will try again later and post the link if I can come up with it. Or some other reader in this thread may be able to post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 A full text of the Diary of St Faustina can be found here: [url="http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS1.shtml"]http://www.saint-fau...ry/DMIMS1.shtml[/url] For those that may be struggling with serious sin - or suffering with guilt after serious sin even though confessed, this excerpt from the Diary of St Faustina is very comforting, consoling. One of the wiles of Satan for any soul whatsoever is to try to instill an [b]unhealthy and spiritually 'off centre'[/b] fear of God and lack of understanding of the Teaching of The Church on the Wondrous Mercy of God, so that the soul will become discouraged, lack Peace. [b]Diary of St Faustina: #1448 - "Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [/b][the Sacrament of Reconciliation][b]. There the greatest miracles take place [/b][and][b] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [/b][hope of][b] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God's mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late."[/b] [url="http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS28.shtml"]http://www.saint-fau...y/DMIMS28.shtml[/url] Fear of The Lord (one of the seven gifts of The Holy Spirit at Confirmation) is not a servile fear of punishment, rather it is a filial fear of offending God 'sighting' something of His Majesty and Glory and entirely humbled by this. [quote] [b][url="http://www.therealpresence.org/cgi-bin/getdefinition.pl"]http://www.therealpr...etdefinition.pl[/url] GIFT OF FEAR. [/b]Infused gift of the Holy Spirit that confirms the virtue of hope and inspires a person with profound respect for the majesty of God. Its corresponding effects are protection from sin through dread of offending the Lord, and a strong confidence in the power of his help. The fear of the Lord is not servile but filial. It is based on the selfless love of God, whom it shrinks from offending. Whereas in servile fear the evil dreaded is punishment; in filial fear it is the fear of doing anything contrary to the will of God. The gift of fear comprises three principal elements: a vivid sense of God's greatness, a lively sorrow for the least faults committed, and a vigilant care in avoiding occasions of sin. It is expressed in prayer of the Psalmist, "My whole being trembles before you, your ruling fills me with fear" (Psalm 119:120). One of its salutary effects is to induce a spirit of deep humility in dealing with others, especially with inferiors, since it makes a person aware that he or she stands constantly before the judgment of God. [/quote] Well does humility know its status as sinner - and 'sighting' something of the Majesty and Glory of God which includes His Mercy, in all of the humble soul's failings, be they very great or most minute, it turns immediately and with great confidence and trust to God's Mercy - and to His Sacrament of Loving Mercy manifested: Reconciliation or the Sacrament of Confession. The humble soul is never surprised by its failings, nor their extent. Rather such failings bring about total distrust of itself - and abounding confidence and trust in the Mercy of God and His Grace, a God whom it lovingly fears to offend while knowing that it might - it is the fear of offending, not the fear of punishment. Quite a few of our saints having 'sighted' something of God's Great Majesty and Glory feel that they deserve Hell - I dont think personally that this so much is a reflection on themselves, as a reflection about the Great Majesty and Glory of God. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarysLittleFlower Posted February 16, 2012 Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) I think that's so true the post helped me to clarify the difference between the wrong type of fear, and fear of offending God that includes trust. Edited February 16, 2012 by MarysLittleFlower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 [u] [/u] [u]From the Diary of St Faustina:[/u] [u][url="http://www.catholic-forum.com/churches/cathteach/divinemercy1.htm"]http://www.catholic-...ivinemercy1.htm[/url][/u] [b][color=#ff0000][quote]Write this for the benefit of distressed souls: when a soul sees and realises the gravity of its sins, when the whole abyss of the misery into which it immersed itself is displayed before its eyes, let it not despair, but with trust let it throw itself into the arms of My mercy, as a child into the arms of its beloved mother. These souls have a right of priority to My compassionate Heart, they have first access to My mercy. Tell them that no soul that has called upon My mercy has been disappointed or brought to shame. I delight particularly in a soul which has placed its trust in My goodness. (1541)[/color][/b] [url="http://www.catholic-forum.com/churches/cathteach/divinemercy1.htm"]http://www.catholic-...ivinemercy1.htm[/url] [b][color=#ff0000][color=#800080][b]Soul: Lord, I doubt that You will pardon my numerous sins; my misery fills me with fright.[/b][/color][/color][/b] [color=#ff0000][b][b]My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the ENTIRE WORLD.[/quote][/b][/b][/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted February 16, 2012 Author Share Posted February 16, 2012 (edited) The stunning and amazing Mercy of God tells us something of His Majesty and Absolute Goodness. A personal reflection: Could I embrace any sinner or sinners whatsoever in this world - past, present or future - with total love and absolute forgiveness, so complete I never would remember their offence or offences ever again? All is totally and absolutely wiped from memory and that person or persons stands shoulder to shoulder, equal in absolutely every way, with my very best of friends and loved ones and in whose company they are now beloved intimates. Could I do this? Am I prepared to do this? What a Lord have we! Edited February 16, 2012 by BarbaraTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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