St Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church A wooden block used as a pillow by St Teresa The life of St. Teresa teaches us that we should never despair of becoming saints. As a child she was filled with a strange mysterious longing for martyrdom. But the early years of her religious life found her cold or tepid in the service of God, indifferent to the sacred duties of …
Saints
October 15, 2010
We continue with the meditations of the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises, and in particular with the meditation on Hell. Here are the thoughts suggested by St Ignatius: First Prelude. The first Prelude is the composition, which is here to see with the sight of the imagination the length, breadth and depth of Hell. Second Prelude. The second, to ask for what I want: it will be here …
October 13, 2010
Today we consider one of the first exercises from the first week – the meditation on sin. The first week of the Spiritual Exercises is tough – it includes meditations on sin, death, judgement, hell and so forth. Later on the Exercises consider the Resurrection and happier subjects for meditation. But the purpose of the first week is to purify the soul. St Ignatius proposes a set formula for …
October 12, 2010
St Ignatius The Spiritual Exercises begin with a meditation on the Principle and Foundation of our existence. Any serious Christian should be able to concur with the principles St Ignatius outlines at the beginning of the Exercises. However, accepting these principles brings home to us the full extent of our obligations before Almighty God. It is one thing to accept them, quite another to wholeheartedly live our lives in accordance …
October 11, 2010
Copy of the Spiritual Exercises from 1586 Today we will start a new series of special quotations from Fr Doyle. This day 103 years ago – 10 October 1907 – Fr Doyle commenced the “Long Retreat”: 30 days immersed in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. Many people – lay and religious – do the spiritual exercises but in a truncated form over 8 or so days. But St Ignatius …
October 10, 2010
Death of St. Joseph, Patron of a Happy Death Pray for all, but especially for sinners, and in particular for those whose sins are most painful to His Sacred Heart. With great earnestness recommend to His mercy the poor souls who are in their agony. What a dreadful hour, an hour tremendously decisive, is the hour of our death! Surround with your love these souls going to appear before God, …
October 9, 2010
Solid virtue is so called because it is formed by amassing together a facility in repeated acts. Hence the practice of any virtue is not the less meritorious because it is easy. Quite the contrary. The merit depends on the intention we had when we determined to practise the virtue, and not on the amount of pain it costs. COMMENT: Here we see once again the tremendous balance of Fr …
October 8, 2010
Do I ever say, when an occasion of denying myself comes, “It’s too hard, I am no saint?” Might it not be asked of me in justice, “Why aren’t you? It is your business to be one, God intends you should be one, but you are too lazy, you won’t take the trouble.” Let us remember that we must not drag Christ down to our own level, but rather we …
October 5, 2010
Saint Francis in Meditation In the end what once caused us pain and tears becomes the source of great interior joy, since we have realised how these things help in our spiritual progress. COMMENT: It is true, as Fr Doyle says, that things that were once disagreeable to us can become a source of peace in our lives. We can see this in today’s saint, Francis of Assisi, who, …
October 4, 2010
Blessed Columba Marmion I cannot deny that I love Jesus, love Him passionately, love Him with every fibre of my heart. He knows it, too, since He has asked me to do many things for Him, which have cost me more than I should like to say, yet which with His grace were sweet and easy in a sense. He knows that my longing, at least, even if the strength …
October 3, 2010