Christopher’s Corner
· Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
· Religion in the Home for Preschool: August
· Spirit Hour: Whiskey sour
o Chambord
· Foodie-National Catfish Month
· Monday: Litany of Humility
· Rise and shine! Your day kicks off with a hearty banana split breakfast. Whip out some ice cream, a ripe banana, and all your favorite toppings. This sweet treat sets a delicious tone for the rest of your day. Got leftovers? Share the love with friends or neighbors.
· Come evening, it’s time to mix things up a bit with a refreshing whiskey sour. Treat yourself to this classic cocktail – whiskey, lemon juice, sugar, and a cherry if you have one. Sip it leisurely as you unwind from the day’s activities.
· Finally, wind down by channeling your inner adventurer on Pony Express Day. Take a walk, ride a bike, or explore a new route. Embrace the spirit of exploration and appreciate the journey as much as the destination.
· Bucket List trip[3]: USA 70-degree year trip:
· 🐋 Week 5: Arrive in Newport – Coastal Culmination
o Base: Newport
§ Yaquina Head Lighthouse: Watch for whales, listen to seabirds, and reflect on the Light that guides.
§ Oregon Coast Aquarium: A fun natural wonder to enjoy before heading inland.
Final Reflection: Like any good pilgrimage, give space for gratitude and intention.
MEDICINAL PLANTS Day 9 HOUSEHOLD PROTECTION-Revealed by Heaven to Luz De María
It is necessary for humanity to cry out to the Most Holy Trinity in order to obtain Divine Mercy and for this pandemic be appeased in the Divine Will, and together with prayer, I invite you to place blessed oil -and if you have the oil of the Good Samaritan, put a drop of this oil in the blessed oil - and with it mark the frame of the front door of your house and of the rear door, as well as to remain in a state of Grace, which is essential at this time. Blessed Virgin Mary, 03.15.2020
· 30 DAY TRIBUTE TO MARY 11th ROSE: Virgin Most Faithful, Looks for Lost Jesus at the Temple
o 30 Days of Women and Herbs – Frauendreissiger
§ St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum)
Monday
Night at the Movies
Brideshead
Revisited
1981 Brideshead
Revisited is a TV series and that is rich in Catholic themes:
📺 Summary of Brideshead Revisited (1981 TV
Series)
Based
on Evelyn Waugh’s 1945 novel, the 11-part British miniseries follows the life
of Charles Ryder, an agnostic Oxford student turned army officer, as he
reflects on his entanglement with the aristocratic and deeply Catholic Flyte
family.
Key
Plot Points:
·
Charles
meets Sebastian Flyte at Oxford in the 1920s. Their friendship is intoxicating,
filled with beauty, indulgence, and emotional complexity.
·
Brideshead
Castle, the Flyte family estate, becomes a symbol of lost innocence and
spiritual longing.
·
Sebastian’s
descent into alcoholism and estrangement from his family reflects his inner
conflict between worldly pleasures and religious expectations.
·
Charles
falls in love with Julia, Sebastian’s sister, but their relationship is doomed
by her Catholic guilt and unresolved spiritual yearning.
·
Lord
Marchmain’s deathbed conversion to Catholicism profoundly affects Charles,
marking a turning point in his spiritual journey.
·
The
story is framed by Charles’s return to Brideshead during WWII, where the chapel
has been reopened—symbolizing enduring grace.
✝️
Catholic Themes in Brideshead Revisited
Evelyn
Waugh, a Catholic convert, infused the story with theological depth, especially
the concept of divine grace—God’s persistent call to the soul, even through
suffering and sin.
Major
Religious Themes:
·
Divine
Grace: Cordelia compares God’s love to an invisible string that always pulls
the sinner back. This metaphor runs through the entire narrative.
·
Struggle
with Faith:
o
Sebastian believes but cannot live up to
Catholic ideals, finding peace only in humble service at a monastery.
o
Julia tries to escape her faith through
marriage and romance but ultimately returns to it, sacrificing her love for
Charles.
o
Lord
Marchmain, once
estranged from the Church, makes a powerful deathbed reconciliation.
·
Charles’s
Journey: Initially skeptical, Charles is drawn into the spiritual gravity of
the Flyte family. By the end, he whispers a prayer in the Brideshead chapel,
suggesting a quiet conversion.
·
The
Shallowness of Modernity: Characters like Rex Mottram and Hooper represent a
soulless modern world, contrasted with the enduring spiritual legacy of
Brideshead.
Brideshead has a
lot to say about longing, sanctuary, and the quiet pull of grace.
AUGUST 25 Monday
St.
Louis of France
They answered, “Cornelius, a
centurion, an upright and GOD-FEARING man, respected by the whole Jewish
nation, was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear
what you have to say.”
God is inclusive. He loves all of
us; there are no exclusive country clubs or universities in heaven. Here God
reveals to Peter a new perspective that even the hated Romans have a place at
the table of the Lord and this table is big enough to sit the entire world.
Copilot🕊️
Reflection: A Table for All
On this feast of St. Louis of
France, a king remembered not for his power but for his piety and justice,
we are reminded that true nobility lies in humility before God. Today’s verse
from Acts reveals a profound truth: God is radically inclusive.
Cornelius, a Roman centurion—an
outsider, a symbol of oppression—becomes the vessel through which God expands
Peter’s vision. The angel’s message is clear: no one is beyond the reach of
grace. Heaven is not a gated community. There are no exclusive clubs, no
elite universities, no cultural boundaries at the Lord’s table. The invitation
is universal.
Peter, steeped in Jewish tradition,
is being stretched. He must learn that the Gospel is not tribal—it is catholic,
in the truest sense: universal. Even the hated Romans have a seat. Even
those we fear or misunderstand. Even us.
Let us ask St. Louis to intercede
for us, that we may rule our hearts with justice, welcome the stranger with
mercy, and recognize the divine spark in every soul we meet.
St.
Louis of France[1]
Reigning from 1226 to
1270, Louis IX showed how a saint would act on the throne of France. He was a
lovable personality, a kind husband, a father of eleven children, and at the
same time a strict ascetic. To an energetic and prudent rule Louis added love
and zeal for the practice of piety and the reception of the holy sacraments. He
was brave in battle, polished at feasts, and addicted to fasting and
mortification. His politics were grounded upon strict justice, unshatterable
fidelity, and untiring effort toward peace. Nevertheless, his was not a weakly
ruler but one that left its impress upon following generations. He was a great
friend of religious Orders, a generous benefactor of the Church. The Breviary
says of him: "He had already been king for twenty years when he fell
victim to a severe illness. That afforded the occasion for making a vow to
undertake a crusade for the liberation of the Holy Land. Immediately upon
recovery he received the crusader's cross from the hand of the bishop of Paris,
and, followed by an immense army, he crossed the sea in 1248. On the field of
battle Louis routed the Saracens; yet when the plague had taken large numbers
of his soldiery, he was attacked and taken captive (1250). The king was forced
to make peace with the Saracens; upon the payment of a huge ransom, he and his
army were again set at liberty." While on a second crusade he died of the
plague, with these words from the psalm upon his lips: "I will enter Thy
house; I will worship in Thy holy temple and sing praises to Thy Name!"
(Ps. 5). It was his mother's supreme desire that her son should become a kind,
pious and just ruler. She was wont to say to him: "Never forget that sin
is the only great evil in the world. No mother could love her son more than I
love you. But I would rather see you lying dead at my feet than know that you
had offended God by one mortal sin." These words remained indelibly
impressed upon his mind. St. Louis was a member of the Third Order of St.
Francis and so is included in the family of Franciscan saints.
St. Louis’ Last Instructions to
his Eldest Son
Then he [Louis] called my Lord Philip,
his son, and commanded him, as if by testament, to observe all the teachings he
had left him, which are hereinafter set down in French, and were, so it is
said, written with the king's own saintly hand:
·
"Fair son, the first thing I would teach
thee is to set thine heart to love God; for unless he love God none can be
saved. Keep thyself from doing aught that is displeasing to God, that is to
say, from mortal sin. Contrariwise thou shouldst suffer every manner of torment
rather than commit a mortal sin.
·
"If God send thee adversity, receive it in
patience and give thanks to our Savior and bethink thee that thou hast deserved
it, and that He will make it turn to thine advantage. If He send thee
prosperity, then thank Him humbly, so that thou becomest not worse from pride
or any other cause, when thou oughtest to be better. For we should not fight
against God with his own gifts.
·
"Confess thyself often and choose for thy
confessor a right worthy man who knows how to teach thee what to do, and what
not to do; and bear thyself in such sort that thy confessor and thy friends
shall dare to reprove thee for thy misdoings. Listen to the services of Holy
Church devoutly, and without chattering; and pray to God with thy heart and
with thy lips, and especially at Mass when the consecration takes place. Let
thy heart be tender and full of pity toward those who are poor, miserable, and
afflicted, and comfort and help them to the utmost of thy power.
·
"Maintain the good customs of thy realm and
abolish the bad. Be not covetous against thy people and do not burden them with
taxes and imposts save when thou art in great need.
·
"If thou hast any great burden weighing
upon thy heart, tell it to thy confessor or to some right worthy man who is not
full of vain words. Thou shalt be able to bear it more easily.
·
"See that thou hast in thy company men,
whether religious or lay, who are right worthy and loyal and not full of
covetousness, and confer with them oft; and fly and eschew the company of the
wicked. Hearken willingly to the Word of God and keep it in thine heart, and
seek diligently after prayers and indulgences. Love all that is good and
profitable and hate all that is evil, wheresoever it may be.
·
"Let none be so bold as to say before thee
any word that would draw or move to sin, or so bold as to speak evil behind
another's back for pleasure's sake; nor do thou suffer any word in
disparagement of God and of His saints to be spoken in thy presence. Give often
thanks to God for all the good things he has bestowed on thee, so that thou be
accounted worthy to receive more.
·
"In order to do justice and right to thy
subjects, be upright and firm, turning neither to the right hand nor to the
left, but always to what is just; and do thou maintain the cause of the poor
until such a time as the truth is made clear. And if anyone has an action
against thee, make full inquiry until thou knowest the truth; for thus shall
thy counsellors judge the more boldly according to the truth, whether for thee
or against.
·
"If thou holdest aught that belongeth to
another, whether by thine own act or the act of thy predecessors, and the
matter be certain, make restitution without delay. If the matter be doubtful,
cause inquiry to be made by wise men diligently and promptly.
·
"Give heed that thy servants and thy
subjects live under thee in peace and uprightness. Especially maintain the good
cities and commons of thy realm in the same estate and with the same franchises
as they enjoyed under thy predecessors; and if there be aught to amend, amend
and set it right, and keep them in thy favor and love. For because of the power
and wealth of the great cities, thine own subjects, and especially thy peers
and thy barons and foreigners also will fear to undertake aught against thee.
·
"Love and honor all persons belonging to
Holy Church, and see that no one take away or diminish the gifts and alms paid
to them by thy predecessors. It is related of King Philip, my grandfather, that
one of his counsellors once told him that those of Holy Church did him much
harm and damage in that they deprived him of his rights, and diminished his
jurisdiction, and that it was a great marvel that he suffered it; and the good
king replied that he believed this might well be so, but he had regard to the
benefits and courtesies that God had bestowed on him, and so thought it better
to abandon some of his rights than to have any contention with the people of
Holy Church.
·
"To thy father and mother, thou shalt give
honor and reverence, and thou shalt obey their commandments. Bestow the
benefices of Holy Church on persons who are righteous and of a clean life, and
do it on the advice of men of worth and uprightness.
·
"Beware of undertaking a war against any
Christian prince without great deliberation; and if it has to be undertaken,
see that thou do no hurt to Holy Church and to those that have done thee no
injury. If wars and dissensions arise among thy subjects, see that thou appease
them as soon as thou art able. "Use diligence to have good provosts and
bailiffs, and inquire often of them and of those of thy household how they
conduct themselves, and if there be found in them any vice of inordinate covetousness
or falsehood or trickery. Labor to free thy land from all vile iniquity, and
especially strike down with all thy power evil swearing and heresy. See to it
that the expense of thy household be reasonable.
·
"Finally, my very dear son, cause Masses to
be sung for my soul, and prayers to be said throughout thy realm; and give to
me a special share and full part in all the good thou doest. Fair, dear son, I
give thee all the blessings that a good father can give to his son. And may the
blessed Trinity and all the saints keep and defend thee from all evils; and God
give thee grace to do His will always, so that He be honored in thee, and that
thou and I may both, after this mortal life is ended, be with Him together and
praise Him everlastingly. Amen."
Highlights
and Things to Do:[2]
- From the
Catholic Culture library, St. Louis, King of France.
- Listen to
Catholic Culture's Audiobook: St. Louis IX—Letter to His Son read by James Majewski.
- Read the Biography of Saint Louis IX, King of France (1214-1270).
- Watch the Last
Words of Saint Louis IX, King of France, 1270.
- Read more
about St. Louis:
- Catholic
Encyclopedia
- The Golden Legend
- Catholic Ireland
- Anastpaul 1
- Anastpaul 2
- CatholicSaints.info
- Saints Stories for All Ages
- Visit Christian
Iconography for images and symbolism of St. Louis.
- Learn about
the origin and meaning of the Fleur-de-lis.
- Catholic
Cuisine has several ideas for foods with fleur-de-lis and a Easy French Ratatouille in honor of St. Louis.
Fr. Mike breaks down God's divine judgement, and the refuge he offers to those who are faithful to him. Today's readings are Numbers 18, Deuteronomy 19-20, and Psalm 99.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: The
sanctification of the Church Militant.
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: August
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[3] Schultz, Patricia. 1,000 Places to See Before You
Die: A Traveler's Life List Workman Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.
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