The result of humility and fear of the LORD is riches, honor and life. Train the young in the way they should go; even when old, they will not swerve from it. (Proverbs 22: 4&6)
· Richard Nixon resigns as President 1974
· Let Freedom Ring Day 34 Freedom from Relativism
o Relativism bases itself in our emotional being more important than our rational being in decision making and in the pursuit of truth. Since, everything is subjective, truth is what I feel it is based on my own perceived emotional needs and passions. My passions and emotions are the filters through which I define my reality. So, what happens when my reality does not line up with your reality? You have to be wrong and must align yourself to my reality. If you don't, then I will call you intolerant and if you try to express your opinion contrary to mine, then I will shout you down. Does this sound familiar?
o Our society is rife with relativism. It has long trumped faith; now it trumps science and empirical evidence. If I am a male and feel that I am not. You must accept. If I am sexually attracted to...well...anything, you must accept it. If I believe that I should get everything for free, you must give it. Progressivism is relativistic. It is why everything, every belief, every thought, and every word must be a reflection of itself. It is the powertrain of narcissism.
· Bucket Item trip: Budapest, Hungary – Danube reflections & divine kingship
· Saturday Litany of the Hours Invoking the Aid of Mother Mary
· Foodie National Panini Month
o Halászlé - Hungarian Fisherman's Soup
· Spirit hour: Amaretto Sour
A Prayer Before Mass (Saturday) (by Saint Ambrose)
I entreat Thee also, O Lord, by this most holy mystery of Thy Body and Blood, wherewith we are daily fed, and cleansed, and sanctified in Thy Church, and are made partakers of the one Supreme Divinity, grant unto me Thy holy virtues, that filled therewith I may with a good conscience draw near unto Thy holy Altar, so that these heavenly mysteries may be made unto me salvation and life; for Thou hast said with Thy holy and blessed lips: The Bread which I will give is My Flesh, for the life of the world. I am the living Bread which came down from heaven. If any man eats of this Bread, he shall live forever. O most sweet Bread, heal the palate of my heart, that I may taste the sweetness of Thy love. Heal it of all infirmities, that I may find sweetness in nothing out of Thee. O most pure Bread, having all delight and all savor, which ever refreshest us, and never failest, let my heart feed on Thee, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor. The Angels feed on Thee fully; let pilgrim man feed on Thee after his measure, so that, refreshed by this nourishment, he may not faint by the way. Holy Bread! Living Bread! Pure Bread! Who didst come down from heaven, and who givest life to the world, enter into my heart and cleanse me from all impurity of flesh and spirit. Come into my soul; heal and cleanse me within and without; be the protection and continual health of my soul and body. Drive far from me all foes that lie in wait: let them flee afar off at the presence of Thy power; that, strengthened by Thee without and within, I may by a straight way arrive at Thy kingdom, where, not as now in mysteries, but face to face, we shall behold Thee; when Thou shalt have delivered up the kingdom to God Thy Father, and shalt be God All in all. Then shalt Thou satisfy me with Thyself by a wondrous fullness, so that I shall never hunger nor thirst any more forever. Who with the same God the Father, and the Holy Ghost, ever livest and reignest world without end.
Amen.
· Full Sturgeon Moon tonight
o According to the almanac today we are having a Full Sturgeon Moon; plan to spend some time fishing or visit an aquarium with your children or grandchildren.
AUGUST 9 Saturday Vigil of St.
Lawrence-fast day
ST. BENEDICTA OF THE CROSS-BOOK
LOVERS
Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, Verse 13
The LORD, your God, shall you FEAR; him shall you serve, and by his
name shall you swear.
I will not serve. Non serviam is Latin for "I will not serve". The phrase is traditionally attributed to Satan, who is thought to have spoken these words as a refusal to serve God in heaven.[1]
Whom do you serve?[2]
What is meant by serving God?
Doing the will of God in all things which He requires
of us, in whatever state of life we may be placed, and doing this with
fidelity, with unwearied zeal, and out of love for Him.
Who are the two master’s whom we
cannot serve at the same time?
God and an inordinate desire for worldly gain. One
cannot serve both, because they demand things that are contradictory.
Who are they that serve mammon, or worldly
wealth?
The avaricious, who, impelled by their longing for
riches, offend God by manifold transgressions of His commandments.
Why does Christ refer us to the
birds of the air and the lilies of the field?
To awaken in us confidence in Divine Providence. If
God feeds the young ravens (Ps. cxlvi. 9) and the birds of the air if He decks
so beautifully the flowers of the field, how much more will He not care for
men, whom He has created after His own image, and adopted as His children.
Are we, then, to use no care or
labor?
That by no means follows from what has been said. The
Savior forbids only that anxiety, proceeding from little faith, which, in
striving for maintenance, neglects God s honor and commandments, and the good
of one’s soul. For the rest, God Himself has commanded man to labor (Gen. iii.
17-19); and St. Paul says, “If any man will not work, neither let him eat” (n.
Thess. iii. 10).
What should preserve us from
excessive anxiety?
A firm and living faith that God can and will help us.
That He can is clear, because He is almighty; that He will is certain, for the
reason that He is love that He has promised it to us, more than once, most
expressly, and that He is faithful in keeping His promises.
Let
us, then, trust in God, and daily renew our confidence in Him, particularly
when we say the Creed, or when, in the Our Father, we pray, Give us this day
our daily bread.
Consolation
in Poverty
In
your misery and poverty, say often, with Job: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath
taken away; as it hath pleased the Lord so it is done; blessed be the name of
the Lord (Job i. 21). Or seek comfort in these words: “We lead indeed a poor
life, but we shall have many good things if we fear God and depart from all sin
and do that which is good” (Job iv. 23).
Warning
against Usury
Usury
is that mortal sin which takes advantage of our neighbor’s poverty and need to
extort from him what is justly his own. Would that usurers might bear in mind
what the Lord says: “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and
suffer the loss of his own soul?” (Matt. xvi. 26.)
Copilot
Powerful and uncompromising stream
of scriptural truths—threaded with sobering warnings, consolations, and calls
to radical trust in Divine Providence.
🕊️ “Whom do you serve?” That
question echoes with prophetic force, juxtaposed with non serviam. The
posture of refusal versus obedience defines the cosmic battle and the personal
pilgrimage. “Serving God” is not mere
lip service. It’s fidelity in your station, zeal without fatigue, and love that
draws its energy from grace. Scripture doesn’t permit selective loyalty. You
can’t serve both God and mammon—and how many subtle modern usuries go unnoticed
beneath respectable veneers?
✨ Christ’s references to
nature—ravens and lilies—aren’t quaint but revolutionary. They rebuke anxiety
born of distrust. The story of Job and the Creed is especially apt. They’re
anchors when the waves of scarcity or fear rise, they remind us that trust in
God is not naive, but audacious and salvific.
Vigil of St. Lawrence[3]
August 9th is a liturgical
oddity in many respects in the 1962 Calendar and Divine Office. Whereas in the
pre-1955 Office today is the Feast Day of St. John Vianney with a Commemoration
of the Vigil of St. Lawrence and a Commemoration of St. Romanus, in the
1962 Office it is the Vigil of St. Lawrence with a Commemoration of St.
Romanus.
While
nearly all Vigils were removed between 1954 and 1962 from the Calendar (e.g.
Vigil of the Immaculate Conception, Vigils for the Apostles feast days, Vigil
of All Saints, etc.), the Vigil of St. Lawrence alone remained. And what is really unique is that
in the 1962 Office today's Vespers is of the Vigil of St. Lawrence and not 1st
Vespers for St. Lawrence. This is a true oddity.
Let us keep in mind today that as a Vigil we should perform penance in
anticipation for tomorrow's feast day of one of the greatest Deacons in the
Church - St. Lawrence. May he, the glorious martyr St. Lawrence, intercede for all clerics and all
the Faithful in the Church. Today was kept as a fast day for instance in
some Western Colonies of the United States longer than in some other areas.
In keeping with the
ancient custom for this Vigil, let us observe it as a day of fasting and
abstinence. In years when the Vigil falls on a Sunday, the fasting and
abstinence were anticipated on Saturday prior
to the changes under Pope St. Pius X.
Today is also the
Commemoration of St. Romanus, the neophyte who died just days before St.
Lawrence. May his prayers help preserve us from sin and help us win the grace
of final perseverance.
Collects:
Attend, O Lord, to Our supplications, and by the intercession of Thy blessed
martyr, Lawrence, whose feast we anticipate, graciously bestow upon us Thy
everlasting mercy.
Grant, we beseech Thee, O
Almighty God, that by the intercession of blessed Romanus, Thy martyr, we may
both be delivered from all adversities in body and be purified from all evil
thoughts in mind. Through our Lord, etc.
St. Teresa Benedicta of
the Cross[4]
A brilliant philosopher
who stopped believing in God when she was fourteen, Edith Stein was so
captivated by reading the autobiography of Teresa of Avila that she began a
spiritual journey that led to her Baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she
imitated Teresa by becoming a Carmelite, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of
the Cross. Born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau (now Wroclaw,
Poland), Edith abandoned Judaism in her teens. As a student at the University
of Gottingen, she became fascinated by phenomenology, an approach to
philosophy. Excelling as a protege of Edmund Husserl, one of the leading
phenomenologists, Edith earned a doctorate in philosophy in 1916. She continued
as a university teacher until 1922 when she moved to a Dominican school in
Speyer; her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich
ended under pressure from the Nazis. After living in the Cologne Carmel
(1934-1938), she moved to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands. The
Nazis occupied that country in 1940. In retaliation for being denounced by the
Dutch bishops, the Nazis arrested all Dutch Jews who had become Christians.
Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, died in a gas chamber in
Auschwitz on August 9, 1942.
Things to Do:
·
In the month of August, we celebrate two martyrs
of Auschwitz, St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Teresa Benedicta. We need to pray,
hard and often that our world does not return to the inhumanity to man. The
acceptance of euthanasia and abortion, embryonic stem cell research, IVF, are
the first steps to deciding who can live or who can die. Offer a Mass, say a
rosary, offer sacrifices, etc. to end abortion and other sins against mankind.
Read about Auschwitz and ponder the modern gas chambers in every state
of our Union and resolve to do all that you can to end the killing.
·
Read more about Edith Stein at this site.
·
To teach the children more about this saint,
discuss topics such as these at age-appropriate levels:
1.
Definition of a martyr.
2.
Discussion of the Jews as our older brothers and
sisters in the Faith. In the Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman Canon) we refer to
"Abraham, our father in faith."
3.
Discussion of the call of Truth, its claim on us,
despite the cost.
4.
Edith Stein's reason for taking the name
"Teresa."
5.
Discussion of patron saints and what it means to our
daily lives.
6.
For younger children, discuss on simpler terms ideas
such as complete love of God; our daily crosses; meaning of sacrifice; and how
to make small but meaningful sacrifices for God.
·
Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta) was a
philosopher and prolific writer. Her writings are available from ICS
Publications. Of special note is her Essays on Woman.
·
Catholic Culture's library contains two writings
of Edith Stein:
The Vocation of the Soul to Eternal Life, and Verses For a Pentecost Novena
·
For more about Edith Stein, see Catholic
Culture's Search Engine and type "Edith Stein".
Bible
in a Year Day 52 Israel
Continues to Journey
Fr.
Mike kicks off our reading of the book of Numbers by explaining where Israel is
at in their journey with the Lord, and how they are keeping him at the center
of it all (literally). Today we read from Numbers 1, Deuteronomy 1, and Psalm
84.
Book
Lovers Day[5]
·
From the scent of a rare first edition book found in an old-time
book collection, to a crisp, fresh book at the local supermarket, the very
sight of a book can bring back memories. Reading as a child, enjoying the short
stories, the long books and the ability to lose yourself in a story so powerful
that at the end your asking yourself where to get the next book in the series.
This is for the reader in all of us, the celebration of Book Lovers Day!
While the day’s origins
may be shrouded in mystery and rumor, the books themselves are not. Started
from carving on stone tablets, the book was designed to make portable the
writings and drawings of those that could not carry around stone tablets.
Originally it was parchment or vellum (calf skin, in case you were wondering)
was bound tightly with a wooden cover. Often the wooden cover was tightly
wrapped in leather to prevent the wood from getting wet and had clasps or
straps to hold it shut. In the more modern age, printing capabilities made
books cheaper, and easier, to print. The printing press, the typewriter, and
the computer all had an effect on the market for books. But more so than most,
is the upsurge in electronic devices that can be used to read on. Computers,
tablets, and most cell phones now have the ability to read books, making it
that much easier to carry around a small library to enjoy no matter where you are.
How to celebrate Book Lovers Day
In order to truly
appreciate Book Lovers Day, one must only find a story and read it. Maybe you
wish to dive into the unknown with a good mystery, or see magic in a high
fantasy setting, or be enthralled in a steamy romance. The individual genre of
your reading is not the big piece of this, just that you do read is.
Maybe a visit to your
local library is in order?
After
all public libraries existed even way back in the Middle Ages, but they didn’t
really let many folks take books home. The librarians in those days chained
books to shelves or desks in order to prevent theft of carefully hand-written
tomes. Many librarians will gladly help you find a title to read, giving a
brief explanation on what it is about if they have read it, or giving it a
little flip and reading about it quickly in the synopsis. But no matter your
preference, if you read it at home with a cup of tea, share a book meeting with
friends or go to the library and make use of the wonderful pieces on those
shelves, just enjoy your reading, revel in the book and find a way to read
during Book Lovers Day!
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Purity
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: August
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
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