ON HYPOCRISY AND INTENTION, AND ALSO TO AVOID DANGEROUS OCCASIONS OF SIN

HYPOCRISY
by the Priests of the Congregation of St. Paul, 1893

  "Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites?"—St. Matt, xxii. 18.

What was it in the conduct of these Pharisees that made our Lord send them away unanswered and unsatisfied? If we listen to their words, there is nothing in what they said but what was most true and appropriate. They told our Lord that they knew that He was a true speaker, that He taught the way of God in truth, that He cared for no man and did not regard the person of men. Could anything be better said than that? And yet He who came to be the light of men dismissed these fine talkers still wrapped in darkness and ignorance. What is the reason for this treatment—a treatment so different to that which our Lord generally gave to those who came to Him?

The reason is plain. These words of theirs were only on their lips, not in their hearts; they did not mean what they said nor wish to mean what they said. In fact it was all put on. They came to our Lord to ensnare Him, to get Him into difficulties. In one word, they came to Him as tempters. But He who not only hears the words of men but sees their hearts detected their dishonesty and insincerity, and measured out to it fitting punishment. The Saviour of mankind left these hypocrites, so far as we are told, unforgiven and unsaved.

And now how does this apply to ourselves? Very closely and practically. Far and away the most important thing for all of us is that we should receive from God the forgiveness of the sins which we have committed. In order to obtain this forgiveness, we have, each one, to go in person to God, as really as these Pharisees went to our Lord, and we have to make to Him certain professions of sorrow and contrition. We have to say that we are heartily sorry for all our sins, we declare that the reason why we are sorry is that those sins have offended Him who is infinitely good and worthy of all love, or at least that the loss of heaven or the danger of everlasting punishment makes us detest those sins; above all, we have to declare that our mind is made up not to commit mortal [or venial] sin again, nor willingly to expose ourselves to the dangerous occasions of sin. These are the professions which we have all made to Almighty God over and over again. If they are sincere and genuine, they will, through the Most Precious Blood of our Lord, secure to us the remission of our sins, however many and great those sins may have been.

But the important point is that these professions should be sincere and genuine. How, then, are we to know that they are sincere and genuine? Well, of course, if we know that we don't mean what we say, that we don't intend to make any change in our life and conduct, those expressions are plainly hypocritical and will bring down upon us a curse instead of forgiveness. This is so plain that it only needs to be mentioned to see the result. But there are many people who intend to do right and yet make a mistake about the act of contrition. They think that its sincerity and goodness depend on their feelings. They think that they ought to be able, if they are truly sorry, to shed tears for their sins, or at least to have profound emotions.

Now, no one will deny that it would be a good thing to be able to shed sincere tears of sorrow for our sins. The saints have done so, and have instructed us that we should pray for the grace to be able to do so. But the act of contrition may be and generally is sincere and true if—but mark the condition—we have made up our minds not to sin again, and also to avoid dangerous occasions of sin.

This is the test of a real good act of contrition, and it is a good test, for every one must know his own mind on the point. If we have that full and sincere determination, an act of contrition is good, however dry and cold may be our feelings; but if we have not got that determination, if we have not resolved to avoid bad company; if, on the contrary, we intend going on much as before, then, although we might deluge the confessional with floods of tears, our Lord's words to the Pharisees would be appropriate to us: "Why tempt you me, you hypocrites?''

This, then, dear brethren, is a very important application of to-day's Gospel to ourselves: that we must take great care not to approach Almighty God with words which we do not mean, and especially, in coming to Confession, that we must come with a real, true determination to avoid all grievous sin in the future.

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ON HYPOCRISY AND INTENTION, AND ALSO TO AVOID DANGEROUS OCCASIONS OF SIN

Jerome comments: To be truly repentant and in order to be saved, one must also be determined not to commit even deliberate venial sin against the all good God. So does this mean one must never commit any sin? Of course, that is preferable, but it is impossible for a man or a woman while living on earth not to fall into at least venial sins from time to time. However, there is a great difference with falling into sin—such as mortal or venial—but without having an actual will or intention to sin prior to falling, and a whole other thing to know one is sinning or that this act is offending God and yet not care. If you know something is a venial sin or offends God yet commits it with a deliberate intention: that is a really bad sign, and if this will is not corrected, may lead to damnation.

The great St. Ambrose said concerning this: “True repentance [and thus love of God] is to cease to sin [all sin, however small].”

And in The Revelations of St. Bridget, Our Lord said: “Moreover, know that just as all mortal sins are very serious, so too a venial sin is made mortal if a human being delights in it with the intention of persevering.” (Book 7, Chapter 27)

According to this definition by Our Lord Jesus Christ, if a person were to commit a venial sin but does not want to or intend to continue committing this sin again in the future, such a person would not be in a state of damnation because of his sin, even if it turned out that he committed it again in the future, because his will at the time was not to continue doing it.

In contrast, if another person has “the intention of persevering” in a venial sin and does not repent with a firm resolution or will to stop doing this sin again in the future (such as the at least venial sin of continuing putting oneself in proximate or direct occasion of sinning), but intends to continue doing it and are unrepentant for his sin: then he is in a state of damnation.

Our Lord’s words are crystal clear that a “venial sin is made mortal if a human being delights in it with the intention of persevering.” Hence, even if a sin is “only” venial, and, provided they commit it with an intention of persevering: they fall under the direct condemnation of Jesus Christ above, and they commit a mortal sin since they have an “intention of persevering” doing this sin, for “the smallest sin, lusted after, is enough to damn anyone from the kingdom of Heaven, who does not repent.” (Jesus speaking to St. Bridget, Book 1, Chapter 32)

The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, has the following interesting things to say about how a venial sin can become a mortal sin, and about the evil action of choosing sin before choosing to love God:

“The very fact that anyone chooses something that is contrary to divine charity, proves that he prefers it to the love of God, and consequently, that he loves it more than he loves God. Hence it belongs to the genus of some sins, which are of themselves contrary to charity, that something is loved more than God; so that they are mortal by reason of their genus… Sometimes, however, the sinner’s will is directed to a thing containing a certain inordinateness, but which is not contrary to the love of God and one’s neighbor, e.g. an idle word, excessive laughter, and so forth: and such sins are venial by reason of their genus… It is written (Sirach 19:1): "He that contemneth small things shall fall by little and little." Now he that sins venially seems to contemn small things. Therefore by little and little he is disposed to fall away together into mortal sin.” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part, Q. 88, Art. 2 & 3, Reply to Objection 1/On the contrary)

And further on, he says:

“Whether a venial sin can become mortal? I answer that, The fact of a venial sin becoming a mortal sin… This is possible, in so far as one may fix one’s end in that venial sin, or direct it to some mortal sin as end, as stated above (Article 2). [Excerpt from article 2:] … it happens sometimes that a sin which is venial generically by reason of its object, becomes mortal on the part of the agent, either because he fixes his last end therein, or because he directs it to something that is a mortal sin in its own genus; for example, if a man direct an idle word to the commission of adultery [or if a man takes illicit and secret delight in beholding what is not lawful to behold, such as by viewing at and searching for immoral images].” (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part of the Second Part, Q. 88, Art. 4 & 2)

Pope Innocent XI, Various Errors on Moral Matters #61, March 4, 1679: “He can sometimes be absolved, who remains in a proximate occasion of sinning, which he can and does not wish to omit, but rather directly and professedly seeks or enters into.” – Condemned statement by Pope Innocent XI.

Pope Innocent XI, Various Errors on Moral Matters #62, March 4, 1679: “The proximate occasion for sinning is not to be shunned when some useful and honorable cause for not shunning it occurs.” – Condemned statement by Pope Innocent XI.

Pope Innocent XI, Various Errors on Moral Matters #63, March 4, 1679: “It is permitted to seek directly the proximate occasion for sinning for a spiritual or temporal good of our own or of a neighbor.” – Condemned statement by Pope Innocent XI.

For instance, in order to help people avoid occasions of falling into sin, we often tell them about the absolute need to surf the internet without images on and with an adblock (which means that they can’t see images at all when surfing various websites or any internet ads) so as to avoid innumerable occasions of falling into sin, not only venial sins, but also mortal sins of impurity.

“Brother Roger, a Franciscan of singular purity, being once asked why he was so reserved in his intercourse with women, replied, that when men avoid the occasions of sin, God preserves them; but when they expose themselves to danger, they are justly abandoned by the Lord, and easily fall into some grievous transgressions.” (St. Alphonsus Liguori, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Mortification of the Eyes, p. 221)

Please see this section below for some more quotes on the issue and on the help and the steps on how to block images in your web-browser and how to surf the internet with an adblocker:

http://www.catholic-saints.net/spiritual/#How-to-control-your-eyes

Q&A: "I am a homosexual. I don't know what to do. I have suicidal thoughts."

Email question: “Hello, I am a member of the catholic church, but recently I have discovered that I am a homosexual. I don't know what to do. I have suicidal thoughts. Sometimes I feel like I am a pile of sin. Please help me, I don't know what to do with myself.”

Answer: Hello, you are only a homosexual if you accept that you are a homosexual. Reject this perversion with all your will, and even if you are tempted, say to yourself that you do not agree with it and that you don't want this. Also pray to God to deliver you from this inclination.

Do not say: I am a homosexual. Remember, if you do not agree with this and reject it and seek ways to come out of it, then you are not a homosexual.

If you are a member of the Vatican II sect and are living in heresy, then that may be one of many reasons for why you have this inclination. Please see this file for more information on Vatican II and sedevacantism:

http://www.catholic-saints.net/vatican-ii/

If you live in impurity and masturbate or indulge in sinful thoughts, that is also one reason why people are delivered over to perverse and unnatural desires. The same is true for idolatry, i.e., you show excessive love and care for worldly things and people and neglect God.

Please read this article for help and deliverance for overcoming homosexuality:

http://www.catholic-saints.net/homosexuality/

Also, never lose hope in God and do not despair. So long as you have a will not to be a homosexual and avoid sin and love God then you are not a homosexual and God's friend. It is actually not so hard to be God's friend. Ask yourself, do you have a desire to avoid all sin or not? That is how you will understand if you are God's friend or not. Have hope!

The best way to overcome homosexuality is of course by prayer. If you do not pray for help in overcoming any sin or sinful inclination, do not expect to be successful.

Regarding the Holy Rosary, Sister Lucia told Father Fuentes in a famous 1957 interview:

“Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary, we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.”

Please read this article from another person who also had problem with sin and said he had lost hope. The recommendations apply as well to you:

https://against-all-heresies-and-errors.blogspot.com/2017/11/i-am-in-real-trouble-i-am-in-mortal-sin.html

Also, you may need to read this article below in order to stop exposing yourself to sexual temptations on the media and internet:

http://www.catholic-saints.net/spiritual/#How-to-control-your-eyes

You will find all the instructions on how to surf the internet in a safe way (with image and ad blockers) and also read about the need not to watch secular media, such as the television. If you watch television or surf the internet with images on, you will expose yourself to innumerable temptations and hence expose your chastity. Not only that, but you are also exposing yourself to the occasion of sin and those who do this cannot be saved according to Church teaching.

Pope Innocent XI, Various Errors on Moral Matters #61, March 4, 1679: “He can sometimes be absolved, who remains in a proximate occasion of sinning, which he can and does not wish to omit, but rather directly and professedly seeks or enters into.” – Condemned statement by Pope Innocent XI.

The section in the link above is a bit long but very important, since it deals with avoiding sin and the occasion of sin. People who live in the occasion of sin may be delivered over to such things that you describe and they also expose themselves to impurity and to fall into masturbation and unchaste thoughts, which also is one of the mayor reasons for homosexuality.

Related article:

http://www.catholic-saints.net/best-adblockers-imageblockers-and-flashblockers/

If there is anything else, let me know.

Preparing the soul for Christmas † What are your priorities on Christmas?

The feasts of the Church provide us abundant opportunity to have joy. Among them, Christmas is the one that shines out in this respect.  

In the ambience that surrounded Christmas there was a fundamental joy that came from all the graces that descended on mankind at the birth of Our Lord. Anne Catherine Emmerick and Blessed Maria de Agreda tell us that all nature, including the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, shone with a special splendor on Christmas night in commemoration of the coming of the Savior to the world. 

In the Catholic Liturgy and traditions, we find many other joys in the preparation for and celebration of Christmas. Some vestiges of this joy still remain in the ecclesiastical structure we see around us – where we only see vestiges of the Catholic Church. 

When I consider those graces of Christmas, the joy they inspire penetrates me profoundly. It is the joy of knowing and feeling that God reconciled Himself with man, that mercy became present among us; that Our Lord, the Sun of all virtues, made Himself small, weak and accessible, and that He came to us filled with goodness.

The greatest joy of Christmas is spiritual - preparing to receive Christ.

Because I have a Savior, I was rescued. Someone paid the debts I had no condition to pay; someone loved me with a love that I did not deserve. There is a God who comes to me even when I do not go to Him, who is concerned about me even when I do not think of Him, and who wants to save me even when I persecute Him. 

Considering this, I feel a kind of peace and joy that participates in that supernatural cascade of graces that flooded nature on the first Christmas. The whole universe of which I am a part was made nobler by the fact that God became flesh and dwelt among us. 

I have a special joy when I consider all these things at the foot of the Manger, kneeling before the Divine Infant, my Savior, my Redeemer and my God, and, at the same time my Brother, a Son of Our Lady like me. 

Special graces normally accompany the feasts of the Church, inviting Catholics to become aware of the nobility, beauty and excellence of what is being celebrated. Thus, for me the most important thing on Christmas Night, the apex of Christmas, is not to have a Pantagruelic feast or to take part in the pagan festivities of our modern cities. It is something much more elevated than the pleasures of the flesh – even the licit and innocent ones, such as a good meal. 

The double joy of Christmas comes from being in the state of grace and having God dwelling among us. “The word was made flesh and dwelt among us” - until the last day of the world whenever a person pronounces this phrase of the Creed, knees will bend. The Creed and the Angelus will be said until the final bell of the last church tolls, and Our Lord Jesus Christ returns in person. That is, this is a joy that will be repeated until the end of the world. 

This joy comes from the first night of Christmas and will continue to the very end. The joy that I will have at this Christmas is a regal share of the river of joys opened by the coming of Our Lord, which will flow through the poignant prairie of this world until the end times. 

Therefore, for Christmas I need to prepare my soul to experience this joy that comes from such high causes. I need to meditate and be recollected, and to realize that on Christmas night it is as if Our Lord were born again. It is as if He were present at the Manger in Bethlehem and I were there with Him. This should be my delight. 

How to treat ‘brother body’ 

Now, it happens that man is an ensemble of soul and body. St. Francis of Assisi would affectionately refer to the body as “brother body.” Brother body asks to be well treated also during times of joy. It is normal that in a time of a great joy for the soul, we should give the body some contentment. This is the reason for the Christmas Supper. It is an extension or echo of our interior spiritual joy. 

Although it is normal to have a nice Christmas Supper, it is an aberration to make it the center of our Christmas commemorations. To show no concern for preparing one’s soul and the greatest care in arranging a magnificent meal is an upside-down Christmas. This Supper should not be a Pantagruelic meal to make us feel overstuffed. It should be a light meal that gives the body a proportionate pleasure that discreetly follows the spiritual joy we are experiencing. 

For example, imagine that one of us attends a Catholic concert during Christmas time in honor of Our Lord. During the intermission he goes to a buffet and eats a huge barbecue and fills himself completely. Coming back home, someone might comment to him: “What a wonderful concert!” But he is thinking: “Really, what a wonderful barbecue!” This man squandered the benefit of the concert. He should have appreciated the exquisite music in Honor of Our Lord, but instead he became incapable of appreciating anything because of the disproportionate amount of food he ate. He put things upside-down. 

Christmas Eve celebrated in high society

Imitating worldly patterns should be avoided at Christmas dinner.

Worse than this is someone who ignores the graces of Christmas because he is thinking about the supper he will have with family or friends. 

The Christmas Supper should be distinguished but discreet, with certain good dishes to satisfy our appetite and give us a moderate pleasure, but it need not be a stupendous meal. 

In practice, it should not be an occasion for us to eat many unusual and exceptional things that transport us to a kind of small gastronomical paradise: an exotic fowl, a super-paté, an astonishing caviar followed by a spectacular champagne. Of course, it is not the time to have a steak with two fried eggs, but also it is not the place to over-satiate ourselves. 

Nor is it the place for us to put on social airs. Suppose that someone heard it was fashionable among nobles and millionaires to eat a rare, exquisite white caviar that comes from the Caspian Sea. So he also wants to have this singular dish at his Christmas Supper. 

Even if he saved and could buy some of that caviar, it would not be proportional to his social level. We should not make such pretenses, especially at the Christmas Supper. Such things do not properly commemorate the Holy Christmas of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It transforms the celebration into a worldly competition or a grand dinner party. 

The Catholic Supper should be good and dignified, but something that is temperate so that we can follow the sublimity of the spiritual joys of Christmas. 

The joys of brother body should never suffocate the more elevated ones of sister soul. 

The fundamental joy of a Catholic 

What are the joys of a Catholic? 

There is a principle in Catholic doctrine that teaches us that since man is constituted of soul and body, the joys as well as the sorrows of a well-ordered man should be greater for his soul than his body. The life of a well-ordered Catholic must give more importance to what concerns his soul rather than his body. 

The Catholic whose conscience is in order knows that he is a successful man. This is a fundamental point. Each of us who lives in the state of grace, dies in the state of grace, and goes to Heaven has a completely fulfilled life. He was successful when he lived, when he died, and for all eternity.

The smiling Angel of Rheims [picture] expresses the joy of a Catholic who lives in the state of grace.

No matter how many surprises, sufferings, disappointments and frustrations he might have, a fundamental joy should exist in that man. He can say: “I am in the grace of God; therefore I am in the correct state. Whatever else befalls me is either because God permits it or because I did not take the right stance in face of certain problems.” When his judgment time comes, he may pass through Purgatory, but in the end he will go to Heaven, and, therefore, his life is a success – he is a successful man. 

This fundamental joy of having a peaceful conscience, of having a life that is successful in what is essential, is the joy of a Catholic. It gives him stability and peace, and disposes him to judge everything from the highest perspective. He sees the things that happen on earth from a higher and more translucent prism, which frees him from the afflictions, disquiet and anxieties characteristic of the people of our days. This, then, is the fundamental joy of the Catholic. 

Annette Marie
December 23, 2017 at 8:46 AM
HOW MANY OF YOU PREFER A MIDNIGHT MASS FOR CHRISTMAS?

Anonymous
December 23, 2017 at 8:56 AM

Christmas Midnight Mass is one of the most special and revered Christmas memories for me. I absolutely wish I could still find one in my area.

Original Source:
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Posted with some modifications

"Because I have a Savior, I was rescued. Someone paid the debts I had no condition to pay; someone loved me with a love that I did not deserve. There is a God who comes to me even when I do not go to Him, who is concerned about me even when I do not think of Him, and who wants to save me even when I persecute Him."

I wanted to wish you all a very blessed Christmas.  Let us keep focus on Christ each and everyday going forward.  We have a lot to be thankful for and I am very thankful for all of your support and prayers.  I ask you all to continue to keep me and those most in need in prayer as I will for you!  St. Nicholas, pray for us!  Immaculate Heart of Mary, reign within us and Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

Q&A: "I keep falling into the same sins again. God has abandoned me. I also don't do any more good works. Prayer too is a burden."

Hello Jerome. I keep falling into the same sins again. Some of them are hatred of my parents for giving me a bad upbringing despite their being Catholic and blasphemous thoughts. I also feel that the number of my sins (as St Alphonsus says in his sermons) is complete and that there is no point in going on since God has abandoned me. I also don't do any more good works for the same reason. Prayer too is a burden. 
Secondly, about evangelisation. I am unable to debate or argue and therefore avoid evangelising others. I also feel aversion towards the effort needed. I live in a country that is anti-Christian and I fear being persecuted if I begin to spread the Faith. I feel I will never be able to evangelise. But evangelisation is a necessity if one wishes to be saved. I could then direct people to your material. Then questions keep cropping up such as, were my dead ancestors saved? I know the answer is no, but I am too afraid to say so and avoid such situations altogether. What do I do in this situation? Christus Rex

Hi Michael

If you fall into sins of impurity, for example, you need to make some changes in your life in order to avoid falling into this sin. Please read this article below and implement the changes necessary (such as the recommendations on media, and internet surfing etc.) in order to avoid exposing yourself to the occasions of sins on the internet and television:

http://www.catholic-saints.net/spiritual/#How-to-control-your-eyes

Concerning feeling hatred. If you make a will to stop hating others and be so negative about yourself (your parents, neighbors, friends etc.) you will feel better and have better thoughts and this will help you to avoid sin also.

If you think good about others and about God, you will, as a consequence through grace, have better thoughts about yourself. If you think good about God, God will think good about you and give you better and holier thoughts.
Thinking negatively about oneself and others have a major effect on how one will feel (if you think bad about others, God will punish you as a consequence; but if you think good about others, you will be Graced with better thoughts about yourself). Therefore, make an effort to think good about others and even of yourself, in the sense that you have hope of becoming better and saving your soul.

Try to judge yourself, rather than others, and try to go against your own will, and pray every day to gain the Good Spirit and the Love of God. These are the quickest ways towards achieving the Love of God.

If you fear that the number of your sins is closing in, please, do not sin anymore! It is not hard to stop sinning, provided you ask for help (pray) and do what you can. In order to stop sinning, you also need to have a will not to sin and offend the all good God anymore deliberately. If you do not have such a will, you will never succeed in living a good life. Change your will and beseech the Blessed Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, for help and you will receive a change of heart, I can assure you that -- provided you have a will to change. If you don't want to change and stop with sinning, there is no hope.

God abandons no one until the last moment! Please believe in this with your whole heart. Your salvation depends upon it. Do not offend and sadden God by thinking that He has abandoned you when in reality, He loves you and desires your Salvation. It is only your own negative thoughts which plays tricks on you, making you believe that all is lost even though it is not!

Start to think positive about God, such as that He loves you and desires your Salvation, and see yourself in a better light, such as that there is hope for you and that you will, and, can change your life. You are not abandoned by God until death. Please stop to think that you are abandoned and you will feel a lot better.

Also, do not forget to pray and ask Our Lady for help to sort out your life -- and She will help you. Our Lady is always glad to help us out but we often forget to ask Her help. Pray the Rosary every day, preferably the fifteen decades. Believe me, if you start to pray the Rosary, all your problem will vanish immediately. Sister Lucy of Fatima, regarding the Holy Rosary, said the following words to Fr. Augustin Fuentes on December 26, 1957:

“Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary.”

See how to pray the Rosary in this link:

http://www.trusaint.com/how-to-pray-the-rosary/

We highly recommend that all 15 decades of the Rosary be prayed daily. Our Lady repeatedly emphasized the importance of praying the Rosary each day in her messages at Fatima. She even said that Francisco would have to pray ‘many rosaries’ before he could go to Heaven. You should prioritize reading the word of God (Catholic books and the Catholic Bible) and praying before other activities to grow in the spirit. Praying all 15 decades of the Rosary each day can be accomplished in a variety of ways. However, for many it is best accomplished by praying a part of the Rosary at different times of the day, for example, the joyful mysteries in the morning, sorrowful mysteries at midday, and glorious mysteries in the evening. ‘Salve Regina’ only needs to be prayed at the end of the entire day’s rosary. An essential part of the Rosary is meditation on the mysteries, episodes in the life of Our Lord and Our Lady. This means thinking about them, visualizing them, considering the graces and merits displayed in them, and using them for inspiration to better know and love God. It is also common to focus on a particular virtue with each mystery.

You must pray every day and if you do not pray you will be damned. Pray everyday, do not let a single day pass without praying and spiritual reading. And when I say praying, I do not mean only 10 or 15 minutes a day. But a lot more preferably, such as one hour at least or more, if you have the time. Also, try to read some spiritual book at least 30 minutes every day.

If you want great Catholic books, check out the link below:

http://www.trusaint.com/catholic-books/

Please also look into this article with questions similar to you from a person who was in a similar situation as you are now:

http://against-all-heresies-and-errors.blogspot.com/2017/11/i-am-in-real-trouble-i-am-in-mortal-sin.html

Prayer may feel burdensome for a while, but provided you persevere in prayer and change your heart concerning God and prayer, and approach it with a better intention, it will become a lot easier and even a joy. Also, if you ask for help to pray better, you will receive help. Before beginning the Rosary, make sure to ask for some specific grace that you need in your life. The Rosary is powerful in granting you all your requests that are good for your temporal ad spiritual wellbeing.

If you are burdened with sadness and bad thoughts, ask Our Lord and Our Lady for the help to feel better and to have better thoughts -- and you will receive help. The problem is that we often forget to ask about the things we need, even simple things, such as help in praying better, feeling better and having better thoughts. If we ask them about this, we are sure to receive help.

Also read this article that contains some helpful advices for you on prayer and spiritual advancement:

https://against-all-heresies-and-errors.blogspot.com/2017/10/on-the-brown-scapular-the-rosary-priestly-blessings-etc.html

You don't have to debate or argue in order to evangelise. You can just quickly mention God, the Blessed Virgin, Heaven or Hell, or give them some DVDs or other material, and it would be sufficient. Many people don't care about God or talking about God today, so you don't have to worry too much about it. But when possible, you can try to drag the conversation towards the Meaning of Life and Eternal Life in Heaven (or other topics such as Creation), and that there is a Heavenly Family in Heaven to look forward too, provided one only believe. I my self usually give out some DVDs, or the homepage, or talk about the meaning of life and a Heavenly Family in the afterlife.

Most people want a meaning for life to exist after death, therefore, it is always a good topic to talk about Eternal Life in Heaven and a Heavenly Family.

When it comes to evangelisation, do what you can, follow your conscience, and feel at ease.

And yes, you can direct people to the material as a form of evangelisation. It is easier if you have the homepage already printed out to hand to people. One can make templates with the homepages in a word program and print them out and cut with a scissor (OpenOffice and LibreOffice are two great and free word programs). One often feels bad in one's conscience when one does nothing about evangelisation. So if you feel better by doing something, even if little, gain a habit of doing it. Over time, it will get easier and easier and what felt hard in the beginning, will feel easy with practise.

The Catholic Church and the Bible teaches that the Catholic Faith and dying in a State of Grace is necessary for salvation. If this be lacking, there seems to be no hope. I know it is hard to think about this and I have thought about it a lot my self. At present, we can only try to save our own souls and that of others as best we can.

God Bless

I hope this answers your questions.

If there is anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Jerome

against-all-heresies-and-errors.blogspot.com

(Please, pray for me, since I am in great need of prayers currently since I find my self in a spiritual crisis of sort.)

http://against-all-heresies-and-errors.blogspot.com/2017/07/jesus-mary-joseph.htmlJESUS, MARY, JOSEPH! (seven years indulgence for each recital!)

About not putting trust in dreams

I remember a while ago a traditional layman creating a blog (now deactivated) about his dreams in which he described his dreams of the night to his readers; and this person not only put much attention to his dreams, but even prayed to God that he may remember his dreams; and this person also testified that after this prayer, he remembered even more of his dreams, and he acted as if this was something good that happened to him rather than perhaps[*] something bad and spiritually distracting (the majority of the few dreams I read was just random happenings as dreams usually use to be, and hence made no real sense, and also seemed to have no real spiritual benefit; and whereas some had religious elements, it really did not say or teach anything special).

My thought at first was of making him aware of the below revelation from Jesus Christ concerning on how one should act concerning one's dreams, and about the inherent danger a person is exposed to by thinking too much, or putting too much trust in one's dreams, but I never took the time to do so. Now I am writing a short post about it instead.

I also think that instead of praying to God of remembering one's dreams[**], one should pray to God rather to not think of one's dreams or even not remembering them at all; and also that if one have to dream this night, one will dream only such dreams as are beneficial for our own or our neighbor's spiritual profit; and we should especially remember to ask that we be spared from dreaming sinful, sensual and/or pornographic/fornicating dreams this night! I think the two latter points are especially important to ask of God every night, in addition to ask for the protection of the Holy Spirit in one's sleep.[***] By praying thus everyday, our bad dreams should be lessened dramatically.

[*]Does God really answer such a prayer of remembering more, or even all of our dreams that (in ordinary cases) seems highly spiritually disadvantaged to the person asking for it to be granted (since our dreams often are so nonsensical, impossible to discern the meaning of, and even lustful, in addition to being a complete waste of time to try to remember and write down)? I would say no; unless of course there is some hidden advantage in granting (or permitting) it known only to God. God can and often draws good out of evil or a lesser good, and that is also the reason for why He allows (or permits) evil to exist. -- It is also a possibility our own mind may start to remembering more of our dreams once we have been inclined to wanting or willing to remember them. But I might be wrong on this. -- The devil may also play a part in this, especially if we are inclined to look for signs or "truths" in our dreams or if we put too much attention to them, as we will see further down of how the devil can fool people with dreams.

[**]If God really gives a person a dream intendent to instruct (such as to Saint John Bosco and his frequent Dreams of Hell and Spiritual States of his Pupils), I believe it will be remembered, since such dreams often stand out and is taken note of immediately upon awakening. I am not saying it is wrong to moderately think about our dreams or considering them (without putting too much confidence, time and effort in them, of course) when they may have some spiritual meaning or purpose, but rather that if a person puts too much attention on his dreams: he is disposing himself to be deceived by the devil and to become distracted in his spiritual life; as explained further below by Jesus Christ in the Church approved heavenly revelation of St. Bridget.

[***]It is also highly important to pray The Three Hail Mary's every day/night with the added prayer of being protected by the Most Holy Virgin during the day/night from falling into mortal sin, a practise recommended by many saints. See this article below on how to pray this short but important prayer:

https://against-all-heresies-and-errors.blogspot.com/2017/05/heaven-opened-by-the-practice-of-the-three-hail-marys.html

Jesus Christ's words to the bride about not putting trust in dreams but, rather, being wary of them, no matter how happy or sad they are, and about how the devil mixes falsehoods with truth in dreams, because of which many errors occur in the world, and about how the prophets did not err, because they truly loved God above all things.

Book 4, Chapter 38

The Son speaks: ”Why do happy dreams lift you up so much? And why do sad dreams depress you so? Did I not tell you that the devil is envious and can accomplish no more without God's permission than a piece of straw beneath your feet? I also told you that he is the father and inventor of lies and that he mixes some truth in with all his falsehoods. I tell you, accordingly, that the devil never sleeps but goes around looking for an occasion to ensnare you.

You must therefore be careful so that the devil does not deceive you, using his subtle knowledge to discover your inner states by means of your outer movements. Sometimes he induces happy moods into your heart to make you feel empty joy; at other times he gives you sad ones to make you omit in your sorrow the good deeds that you could do and to make you sad and wretched before anything sad has occurred.

Sometimes the devil also puts a great many falsehoods into the kind of deluded heart that desires worldly esteem and so deceives many people, such as false prophets. This happens to people who love other things more than God. This is why it happens that a lot of truth is found in the midst of a great many false words, for the devil could never deceive anyone if he did not mix some truth in with the falsehood, as was clear in the case of the man you saw in a seizure. Although he was confessing that there is one God, his indecent gestures and strange words showed that the devil was possessing him and dwelling in him.

Now, however, you might ask: Why do I permit the devil to lie? I answer: I have permitted and do permit this due to the sins of the people and of the priests who have wanted to know things that God did not want them to know, who desired success in areas where God saw that it was not beneficial to their salvation. Thus, it is because of sins that God permits many things to occur that would not occur if humankind had not abused grace and reason. Those prophets who longed for nothing but God and did not wish to speak God's words except for God's sake, these did not fall victims to deception but spoke and loved the words of truth.

Yet, as not all dreams should be welcomed, so not all dreams should be rejected, since God sometimes reveals good things in dreams, including the hour of their death to bad people in order that they might repent of their sins.

Sometimes he also reveals good things to good people in order that they might make greater progress toward God. So, whenever and as often as such things occur to you, do not lay them to heart but ponder them and study them with your wise spiritual friends, or else dismiss them and shut them out of your heart as if you had not seen them, because people who delight in such things are very often fooled and become disturbed. So, be firm in your faith in the Holy Trinity, love God with your whole heart, be obedient in failure as well as in success, do not think yourself better than anyone but tremble even when you do good, do not trust your own sense more than others but entrust your entire will to God, ready to do everything God wants. Then you will not need to be afraid of dreams. If they are happy dreams, do not trust or desire them without considering God's glory in them; if they are sad, do not be saddened but place yourself entirely in God's hands.”

The Mother says then: ”I am the Mother of mercy. I get the clothes ready for my daughter while she sleeps; I get food ready for my daughter while she gets dressed; I get a crown and every good reward ready for my daughter while she is working.”

Read more: The Prophecies and Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden

The word of God in the Holy Bible teaches spouses to practice chastity for three days while praying to God to beget offspring for the glory of His Holy Name before consummating the marriage by the marital act

The word of God and Holy Scripture further teaches that one should not consummate the marriage immediately after one has been married, but that one should wait for three days while praying earnestly to God to bless their marriage, “because for these three nights we are joined to God: and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock.” (Tobias 8:4) The Holy Archangel Raphael, acting as God’s messenger, instructs husbands and wives to always wait three days in prayer before consummating the marriage.“But thou when thou shalt take her, go into the chamber, and for three days keep thyself continent from her, and give thyself to nothing else but to prayers with her.” (Tobias 6:18)

These words shows us that spouses must remember their bond with the Lord first and foremost and that the fleshly or physical part of the marriage must always come secondhand. By this highly virtuous act of abstaining from marital relations for three days, the devil’s power over married couples is undoubtedly thwarted and diminished. Holy Scripture thus advices spouses to be “joined to God” for three days in prayer before performing the marital act. Not only that, but spouses should always fervently pray to God before every marital act and ask Him to protect them from falling into sin, and also after the marital act in order to ask Our Lord to forgive them if they committed any sin during the act. This is the safe road of the fear of God that every righteous man or woman should follow if they wish to enter Heaven.

Tobias 6:18, 20-22 “[St. Raphael said to Tobias:] But thou when thou shalt take her, go into the chamber, and for three days keep thyself continent from her, and give thyself to nothing else but to prayers with her.… But the second night thou shalt be admitted into the society of the holy Patriarchs. And the third night thou shalt obtain a blessing that sound children may be born of you. And when the third night is past, thou shalt take the virgin with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for love of children than for lust, that in the seed of Abraham thou mayst obtain a blessing in children.”

Haydock Commentary explains: “Verse 18. Days. No morality could be more pure. The Christian Church has given similar counsels [of abstinence before marital consummation], in the Capitulars of France, and of Erard, archbishop of Tours, and in many rituals published in the 16th century. The council of Trent only advises people to approach to the sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, three days at least before marriage. The Greeks, in their third council of Carthage, (canon 13) order the first night to be spent in continence.”

Notice how Our Lord and God in the biblical book of Tobias promises that those who pray and abstain from the marital act for three days before having marital relations shall receive the inestimable graces of “sound children” on the third night and that they shall be admitted “into the society of the holy Patriarchs” on the second. The honor of being “admitted into the society of the holy Patriarchs” is of course too great to even describe in human terms. The blessing on the third night of “sound children” obviously means that those couples who do not perform the marital act for the sake of lust or too often, and who are virtuous and wait for three days in accordance with the promise of Holy Scripture, will receive a child without birth deformities or defects. This may be hard for many to believe, but this is really and truly what Holy Scripture is promising and saying.

It is sad to see that none today seem to care anything about these promises or virtuous deeds that promise these remarkable and wondrous graces that Our Lord said He would bless a virtuous couple with. One could think that even a worldly or ungodly couple would appreciate the grace of not receiving a child that is deformed and that they, if they believed in God or were aware of these promises, would act in accordance to the words of the Holy Scripture; but now neither “Catholics” or so-called Christians nor any people of the world care anything about these words of our Lord that promises the inestimable grace of receiving “a blessing that sound children may be born of you.”

Tobias 8:4-10 “Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: Sara, arise, and let us pray to God today, and tomorrow, and the next day: because for these three nights we are joined to God: and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock. For we are the children of saints, and we must not be joined together like heathens that know not God. So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that health might be given them, And Tobias said: Lord God of our father, may the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all thy creatures that are in them, bless thee. Thou made Adam of the slime of the earth, and gave him Eve for a helper. And now, Lord, thou know that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity, in which thy name may be blessed for ever and ever. Sara also said: Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, and let us grow old both together in health.”

St. Augustine also taught that the first man and woman were waiting for God’s order and commandment to engage in intercourse since God created Adam and Eve without sexual desire for each other. Thus, St. Augustine, with the rest of the Church, understood that sexual desire was not an aspect of God’s design for the male and the female: “For why should they not await God’s authorization for this, since there was no drive of concupiscence coming from rebellious flesh?” Augustine concluded that sexual intercourse was “fundamentally alien to the original definition of humanity.” By this we can understand that the biblical teaching (in Tobias 6:18) of chaste and humble prayer for three days (before one consummates the marriage by the marital act) comes directly from God’s original plan and will for humanity before the fall and original sin of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden; for before the fall, the human will was infinitely more directed to obeying and following God’s perfect will and direction in all things rather than their own reason and judgment, as it sadly is now.

This is also why St. Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-215) taught that “the first man of our race [Adam] did not await the appropriate time, desiring the favor of marriage before the proper hour and he fell into sin by not waiting the time of God’s will… they [Adam and Eve] were impelled to do it before the normal time because they were still young and were persuaded by deception.” (The Stromata or Miscellanies, On Marriage XIV:94, XVII:102-103)

It is thus certain and an established fact by both the Holy Bible and Apostolic Tradition that those spouses who do not practice chastity and prayer for a while before they perform the marital act will much more easily fall into sexual sins of various sorts since they will be more easily controlled by the devil and his demons because of their carelessness and sloth in praying to God and invoking His Holy aid in resisting sinful inclinations and temptations.

Anne Catherine Emmerich was also told in her Revelations that Adam and Eve performed penance for seven years before “Seth, the child of promise, was there conceived and brought into the world”. Our Lord and God – whom they had offended – consoled them with this child for their loss of their first son, Abel, after seven years penance, which shows us that God requires penance from spouses who behaves badly or lustfully and that penance should be done without command. “I have learned many things which took place in ancient times in the Grotto of the Crib. I remember only that Seth, the child of promise, was there conceived and brought into the world by Eve, after a penitence of seven years. It was there that the angel told her that God had given her this offspring in the place of Abel.” (Anne Catherine Emmerich, The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ) Either one makes penance in this life or in the next in Hell or in purgatory. God always requires penance when people commits evil acts. That is just a fact.

Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself indicates in The Revelations of St. Bridget that after the fall and sin of Adam and Eve, the devil aroused sensuality in them, and that their first sexual act or acts after the fall were heedlessly and thoughtlessly planned. The reason for this was that they were inspired by the devil to act more in accordance to their selfish lust than their reason, and that they did not pray to Our Lord before the marital act in humility, pleading to and asking Him to guard them from sinning during the act, as Our Lord wants all spouses to do. The Revelations also shows that Adam and Eve understood their lustful error after this happened, and that they thereafter were afraid to perform the marital act, and chose to completely abstain from the marital act for a while because of their fear of God’s wrath. They thus learned that Our Lord wanted them to pray for a while before they performed the marital act, and awaited Our Lord’s commandment for them to come together in marital union again, and after a while, God directly told them that they could have marital relations again.

The Son of God speaks: “After the disobedience was enacted, my angel came over them [Adam and Eve] and they were ashamed over their nakedness, and they immediately experienced the lust and desire of the flesh and suffered hunger and thirst. …And for the sensuality the devil had aroused in them after their disobedience, I gave and created souls in their seed through my Divinity. And all the evil the devil tempted them with, I turned to good for them entirely.

“Thereafter, I showed them how to live and worship me, and I gave them permission to have relations, because before my permission and the enunciation of my will they were stricken with fear and were afraid to unite and have relations. Likewise, when Abel was killed and they were in mourning for a long time and observing abstinence, I was moved with compassion and comforted them. And when they understood my will, they began again to have relations and to procreate children, from which family I, their Creator, promised to be born.” (St. Bridget’s Revelations, Book 1 Chapter 26)

The historical fact that Cain was Adam and Eve's first child, and Abel their second child, support this fact and that parents' lust effect and harm their children, for Cain murdered Abel. Not that Cain was free from sin, but that through Adam and Eve's more lustful life at that time, they made it so that their child would be more easily tempted by the devil, and it ended with one child killing his brother in cold blood and brutality. Parents do not think about such things in the heat of their lust, but if only more parents understood this truth, so much more children would grow up virtuous and good, and society as a whole would be almost free of crime. It is a small sacrifice to avoid a short lust in order to help one's child grow up healthy and virtuous, and by God's grace, we pray that this truth will be taught to and accepted by every parent on this earth. Amen.

Hence “he who neglects prayer in the time of temptation is like a general, who, when surrounded by the enemy, does not ask for reinforcements from his monarch. Adam fell into sin because when he was tempted he did not look to God for help. We should say a Hail Mary, or at least devoutly utter the holy names of Jesus and Mary. "These holy names," St. John Chrysostom declares, "have an intrinsic power over the devil, and are a terror to hell." At the name of Mary the devils tremble with fear; when she is invoked their power forsakes them as wax melts before the fire.” (Rev. Francis Spirago, The Catechism Explained, A.D. 1899)

St. Ephraim, On Prayer Before Intercourse: “O Blessed Fruit conceived without intercourse, bless our wombs during intercourse. Have pity on our barrenness, Miraculous Child of virginity.” (Hymns of St. Ephraim: Hymn 7 On the Nativity)

For those who want to read and learn a lot more on sexual ethics, I can recommend the following interesting and informative article that is absolutely packed with quotes from the popes, saints and fathers of the Church:

Sexual Pleasure, the Various Sexual Acts, and Procreation