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 SPIRITUAL
DIRECTION FOR TODAY
[The works of a well known Catholic Spiritual Director will
be featured in this space each week.] SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH
ASCENT OF MOUNT CARMEL
CHAPTER XIV
Wherein is expounded the second line of the stanza.
Kindled in love with yearnings.
NOW that we have expounded the first line of this stanza, which treats
of the night of sense, explaining what this night of sense is, and why it is
called night; and now that we have likewise described the order and manner which
are to be followed for a soul to enter therein actively, the next thing to be
treated in due sequence is its properties and effects, which are wonderful, and
are described in the next lines of the stanza aforementioned, upon which I will
briefly touch for the sake of expounding the said lines, as I promised in the
Prologue;[203] and I will then pass on at once to the second book, treating of
the other part of this night, which is the spiritual.
2. The soul, then, says that, 'kindled in love with yearnings,' it
passed through this dark night of sense and came out thence to the union of the
Beloved. For, in order to conquer all the desires and to deny itself the
pleasures which it has in everything, and for which its love and affection are
wont to enkindle the will that it may enjoy them, it would need to experience
another and a greater enkindling by an other and a better love, which is that of
its Spouse; to the end that, having its pleasure set upon Him and deriving from
Him its strength, it should have courage and constancy to deny itself all other
things with ease. And, in order to conquer the strength of the desires of sense,
it would need, not only to have love for its Spouse, but also to be enkindled by
love and to have yearnings. For it comes to pass, and so it is, that with such
yearnings of desire the sensual nature is moved and attracted toward sensual
things, so that, if the spiritual part be not enkindled with other and greater
yearnings for that which is spiritual, it will be unable to throw off the yoke
of nature[204] or to enter this night of sense, neither will it have courage to
remain in darkness as to all things, depriving itself of desire for them all.
3. And the nature and all the varieties of these yearnings of love which
souls experience in the early stages of this road to union; and the diligent
means and contrivances which they employ in order to leave their house, which is
self-will, during the night of the mortification of their senses; and how easy,
and even sweet and delectable, these yearnings for the Spouse make all the
trials and perils of this night to appear to them, this is not the place to
describe, neither is such description possible; for it is better to know and
meditate upon these things than to write of them. And so we shall pass on to
expound the remaining lines in the next chapter.
CHAPTER XV
Wherein are expounded the remaining lines of the aforementioned stanza.
. . . oh, happy chance! -- I went forth without being observed, My house being now
at rest.
THESE lines take as a metaphor the miserable estate of captivity, a man's
deliverance from which, when none of the gaolers' hinder his release, he
considers a 'happy chance.' For the soul, on account of[205] original sin, is
truly as it were a captive in this mortal body, subject to the passions and
desires of nature, from bondage and subjection to which it considers its having
gone forth without being observed as a 'happy chance' -- having gone forth, that
is, without being impeded or engulfed[206] by any of them.
2. For to this end the soul profited by going forth upon a 'dark night'
-- that is, in the privation of all pleasures and mortification of all desires,
after the manner whereof we have spoken. And by its 'house being now at rest' is
meant the sensual part, which is the house of all the desires, and is now at
rest because they have all been overcome and lulled to sleep. For until the
desires are lulled to sleep through the mortification of the sensual nature, and
until at last the sensual nature itself is at rest from them, so that they make
not war upon the spirit, the soul goes not forth to true liberty and to the
fruition of union with its Beloved.
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TO SEE ASCENT OF MOUNT CARMEL BOOK II
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PRAYER TO THE PASSION AND WOUNDS OF JESUS
A Very
powerful Prayer To Obtain A Favor:
PRAY THE
FOLLOWING: O
great passion! O deep Wounds! O Blood shed in abundance! O
meekness! O God of meekness, O cruel death, have mercy on me and grant my
request if it be for my salvation. ---------
Promises Of Our
Lord
"I will grant all that shall be asked of Me through the invocation of my Holy
Wounds." "With my
Wounds and my Divine Heart you can obtain all." ---------
PRAY THE
FOLLOWING:
"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ to heal those
of our souls." "My Jesus, pardon and
mercy, by the merits of Thy Holy Wounds." __________ |
 PRAY
FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA AND VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN
We must pray for President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.
Scripture says "with
God all things are possible." We must pray for Vice-President ,
Joe Biden and his wife, Jill. Say the
prayer on the left for President Barack Obama's conversion to become prolife; that God would show
him that he must vote and legislate to always protect the lives of unborn
children. See :
Abortion Decisions of President Obama and his Administration Also See:
ABORTION DECISIONS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA:
FROM
LIFE NEWS:
http://www.lifenews.com/obamaabortionrecord.html
ABORTION IS
THE WORST FORM OF DISCRIMINATION MAN HAS EVER KNOWN!
IN ABORTION ALL RACES OF MEN ARE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST! ____________ |
MARIAN PRAYER
PRAYER OF
ASPIRATIONS TO MARY
(By Saint Alphonsus Liguori)
Knowest thou, sweet Mary,
Whereto I aspire?
It is my hope to love thee,
This is my desire.
I would ever be near thee,
Queen most fair and sweet!
Do not, do not drive me
From my Mother's feet.
Then, O Rose most lovely!
Let me hear from thee.
Loving Mother! tell me
What thou wilt of me.
More I cannot offer,
Lo! I bring my heart;
Lovingly I give it,
Never from thee to part.
Lady, thou didst take it,
It is no longer mine:
Long since thou didst love it,
And its love was thine!
Do not, then, forsake me,
Mother of sweet Love,
Till one day thou see me
Safe in Heaven above.
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 THREE
HAIL MARY'S
PRAYER TO SAVE THE LIVES OF UNBORN CHILDREN
Christian prolifers who have spent time
counseling in front of abortion clinics have often observed the power of
prayer to save the lives of unborn children. God pours out special
graces to save the lives of unborn children when His followers petition Heaven
to redirect women away from having abortions. Your prayers today can
save a life. Prayers said to the Virgin Mary can prevent abortion from
taking place.
According
to a recent news story from the Associated Press a record number of babies
were born in the United States in 2007. A total of 4,315,000
children were born in 2007. That's about 15,000 more births than the peak time
of the baby boom in 1957. These figures were recorded by the National Center
for Health Statistics which compiled the data from provisional birth
certificate registrations at state health departments. But there were
1,287,000 abortions
done in the United States in 2007. This means the people of United
States in 2007 aborted approximately 1 out of every 5 babies.
Mother Teresa said that "the
fruits of abortion are nuclear war."
When Mother Teresa said this she was indicating that the complete disrespect for
life, especially the lives of the unborn, would bring about a nuclear war.
During each day, offer up
three Hail Mary's several times each day asking the Blessed Mother to
redirect women throughout the world away from the abortion clinics and toward
giving birth to their children. If you want to say rosaries each
day to save unborn children; this is also recommended. |
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 PRAYER
TO PROTECT ALL MILITARY TROOPS FIGHTING FOR PEACE
Oh, Lord God, we ask
in the name of your precious Son,
JESUS, for the protection of all
military troops fighting against terrorism. Secondly, in the name of
JESUS, we ask for the
apprehension of all hostile terrorist leaders and their followers.
"Whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that the Fathe glorified in the
Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." John 14:
13-14
PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL
(Ask Saint Michael to protect International troops in harm's way around the
world.)
Glorious St. Michael,
Prince of the heavenly hosts,
who standest always ready to give assistance
to the people of God;
who didst fight with the dragon,
the old serpent,
and didst cast him out of heaven,
and now valiantly defendest the Church of God
that the gates of hell may never prevail against her,
I earnestly entreat thee to assist me also,
in the painful and dangerous conflict
which I have to sustain against the same formidible foe.
Be with me, O mighty Prince!
that I may courageously fight
and wholly vanquish that proud spirit,
whom thou hast by the Divine Power,
so gloriously overthrown,
and whom our powerful King,
Jesus Christ, has,
in our nature,
so completely overcome;
to the end that having triumphed
over the enemy of my salvation,
I may with thee and the holy angels,
praise the clemency of God who,
having refused mercy
to the rebellious angels after their fall,
has granted repentance
and forgiveness to fallen man.
Amen
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U.S.
FATALITIES IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
HAVE MASSES SAID
FOR SOLDIERS THAT HAVE DIED |
EVENING PRAYER:
Jesus gave us the very essence of
spiritual direction in the Bible: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment." Matthew 22:37-38 Each evening we should
reflect on the good things and on the bad things we did during the day and
ask God to help us to improve in the future. It is good if we say an
Act of Contrition each evening to help us acknowledge our imperfections
and to ask God to give us the graces to improve. ACT OF CONTRITION
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all
my sins, because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they
offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I
firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid
the near occasions of sin. |
CATHOLIC
SPIRITUAL
DIRECTION
SAINT JEROME EMILIANI
CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES
PURPOSE
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PRAYER
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