Today is the memorial of St. Padre Pio of Pieltrelcina. This letter comes from the book, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (Letters III). More on this somewhat difficult to obtain Italian book, in English, at the bottom.
J.M.J.D.F.C.
Dear daughter of Jesus,
May your heart always be the temple of the most holy Trinity; may Jesus increase in your soul the ardour of his love and may he always smile on you as on all souls whom he loves. May most holy Mary smile on you throughout all the events of your life, and abundantly replace the earthly mother you lack.
May your good guardian angel always watch over you; may he be your guide on the rugged path of life. May he always keep you in the grace of Jesus and sustain you with his hands so that you may not stumble on a stone. May he protect you under his wings from all the snares of the world, the devil and the flesh.
Have great devotion, Annita, to this good angel; how consoling it is to know that near us is a spirit who, from the cradle to the tomb, does not leave us even for an instant, not even when we dare to sin. And this heavenly spirit guides and protects us like a friend, a brother.
But it is extremely consoling to know that this angel prays without ceasing for us; offers to God all our good actions, our thoughts, our desires, if they are pure.
For pity’s sake, don’t forget this invisible companion, always present, always ready to listen to us and even more ready to console us. O delightful intimacy, O delightful company! If we could only understand it!
Always keep him present to your mind’s eye. Often remember the presence of this angel; thank him, pray to him, always keep him good company. Open up yourself to him and confide your suffering to him. Have a constant fear of offending the purity of his gaze. Know this and keep it well imprinted on your mind. He is so delicate, so sensitive. Turn to him in times of supreme anxiety and you will experience his beneficial help.
Never say you are alone in sustaining the battle against your enemies. Never say you have nobody to whom you can open up and confide. You would do this heavenly messenger a grave wrong.
As regards those interior locutions, don’t worry but be calm. What you must avoid is that your heart becomes attached to these locutions. Don’t give too much importance to them; show that you are indifferent. Neither despise love, nor long for such things. Always reply to these voices: “Jesus, if it is you who are speaking to me, let me see the facts and the effects of your words, that is, holy virtue in me.”
Humble yourself before the Lord and confide in him, spending your energies by divine grace, in practicing the virtues, and then let grace work in you as God wishes. It is virtue which sanctifies the soul and not supernatural phenomena.
And don’t confuse yourself by trying to understand which locutions come from God. If God is their author, one of the principle signs is that as soon as those voices are heard, they fill the soul with fear and confusion, but afterwards, they leave a divine peace. On the contrary, when the author of internal locutions is the devil, they begin with a false security, followed by agitation and an unspeakable malaise.
I do not doubt at all that God is the author of those locutions, but one must be very cautious because often, the enemy mixes a lot of his own work through them. But this must not frighten you; this is the trial to which even the greatest saints and most enlightened souls were subjected, and they were acceptable to the Lord. You must simple be careful never to believe in these locutions too easily, especially when they concern how you must behave and what you must do. But you must receive them and submit them to the judgment of him who directs you. Then you should resign yourself to his decision.
Therefore it is best to receive similar locutions with great caution and constant indifference. Behave in this way and everything will increase your merit before the Lord. Don’t worry about your spiritual life; Jesus loves you and very much, and you try to correspond to his love by always advancing more and more in holiness before God and men.
Pray vocally also; as the time has not yet come to leave these prayers, and patiently and humbly bear the difficulties you experience in doing this. Be ready, also, to undergo distractions and aridity, and you must by no means neglect prayer and meditation. It is the Lord who wishes to treat you in this manner for your spiritual advantage.
Forgive me if I end here. Only God knows how much it cost me to write this letter. I am very ill; pray a great deal that the Lord may desire to free me from this body soon.
I bless you along with the excellent Francesca. May you live and die in the arms of Jesus.
F. Pio
This is a three volume series out of Italy and is the 2nd Edition (English). It was not easy to get these books and you must read carefully anything you find at Amazon because they are selling the Italian version. Fr. Perrone originally ordered them for us after he found the books when traveling in Italy.
The letters they had for Padre Pio were broken down into the volumes, to whom they were directed. One volume covers his letters to spiritual directors, another to his spiritual daughters, and the third to his friend Rafaela.
Note that website has multiple language icons at the top, including English (I would be careful about subscribing to anything without checking the language. If anything, use the contacts page to find out if there are any vendors here in the US carrying the book. Catholic book sellers should contact them to stock the book here in the US.
I believe the Assumption Grotto Gift Shop has it stocked. You can call the gift shop and leave a message for them to contact you back. We don’t have a website, but they will ship things out if you ask. The best time to actually reach someone would be weekdays around 8:45 AM to 9:30 AM. (313) 332-4432
Category Archives: Religion
Imitation of Christ
A Letter to President Obama
On Jan. 20, you officially began your second term as president of the United States. You were first elected in 2008 at a time of grave fiscal crisis in this country. That crisis, and its legacy, in many ways defined your presidency in your first term.
We will leave it to history to judge the decisions you made in that first term, but we want to voice our concern that a different legacy may haunt your second term.
We recall that when you were elected, you had promised to bring a divided nation together. In your first inaugural address, you said: “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” Later that year, you spoke at the University of Notre Dame, addressing some of the issues that divide us, most specifically abortion. You said: “Let’s honor the conscience of those who disagree with abortion, and draft a sensible conscience clause, and make sure that all of our healthcare policies are grounded not only in sound science, but also in clear ethics . . .”
Despite your initial rhetoric, however, we have seen steps taken by your administration that have aroused our concerns about freedom of conscience and religious liberty, and about the desire for “unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” There have been numerous decisions by your administration to weigh in on some of the most divisive and conflicted social issues of the day, particularly regarding abortion, religious liberty and freedom of conscience.
Most disturbing has been the decision of your own Department of Health and Human Services to establish rules forcing both for-profit and not-for-profit companies and organizations to violate their consciences and provide funding for contraceptive services, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. This mandate, which has to date not been tempered or moderated by your administration, despite your assurances, would force organizations — including our own — to violate the teachings of our Church or risk outrageously punitive monetary fines many times the cost of simply not providing healthcare benefits to our employees at all. READ MORE
by Gregory R. Erlandson is the President of the Publishing Division for Our Sunday Visitor, one of the largest Catholic publishing companies in the United States. Erlandson is also President of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada, an advisor on the U.S. Bishops’ Communications Committee, and has been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Read more reports from Gregory R. Erlandson
Why My Support for Abortion Was Based on Love…and Lies |Blogs | NCRegister.com
Why My Support for Abortion Was Based on Love…and Lies |Blogs | NCRegister.com.
via Why My Support for Abortion Was Based on Love…and Lies |Blogs | NCRegister.com.
At some point I started to feel like I was more determined to be pro-choice than I was to honestly analyze who was and was not human. And I saw it in others in the pro-choice community as well. On more than one occasion I was stunned to the point of feeling physically ill upon reading of what otherwise nice, reasonable people in the pro-abortion camp would support.
In reading through the Supreme Court case of Stenberg v. Carhart, I read that Dr. Leroy Carhart, an abortion advocate who actually performs the procedures, described some second-trimester abortions by saying, “[W]hen you pull out a piece of the fetus, let’s say, an arm or a leg and remove that, at the time just prior to removal of the portion of the fetus…the fetus [is] alive.” He said that he has observed fetal heartbeat via ultrasound with “extensive parts of the fetus removed.”
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which presumably consists of well-educated, reasonable, intelligent men and women, spoke out against this procedure. When I discovered their reasoning, I felt dizzy. They didn’t oppose it because it’s clearly infanticide in its most grisly form; they opposed it because of the inconvenience of dismembered body parts. In their amici brief to Stenberg, the ACOG explained in detail why they believe it’s better to kill these babies outside the womb, in a procedure they refer to as “D&X”:Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jennifer-fulwiler/the-enemy-of-sex#ixzz2Iq92WT39
Prayer by St. Louis-Marie de Montfort
Hail MARY, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father. Hail MARY, admirable Mother of the Son. Hail MARY, faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost. Hail MARY, my Mother, my loving Mistress, my powerful sovereign. Hail, my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul. Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am Thine by justice. But I am not yet sufficiently Thine. I now give myself wholly to Thee without keeping anything back for myself or others. If Thou seest anything in me which does not belong to Thee, I beseech Thee to take it and make Thyself the absolute Mistress of all that is mine.
Destroy in me all that may displease GOD; root it up and bring it to nought. Place and cultivate in me everything that is pleasing to Thee. May the light of Thy faith dispel the darkness of my mind. May Thy profound humility take the place of my pride; may Thy sublime contemplation check the distractions of my wandering imagination. May Thy continuous sight of GOD fill my memory with His presence; may the burning love of Thy heart inflame the lukewarmness of mine. May Thy virtues take the place of my sins; may Thy merits be my only adornment in the sight of GOD and make up for all that is wanting in me. Finally, dearly beloved Mother, grant, if it be possible, that I may have no other spirit but Thine to know JESUS and His Divine Will; that I may have no other soul but Thine to praise and glorify GOD; that I may have no other heart but Thine to love GOD with a love as pure and ardent as Thine.
I do not ask Thee for visions, revelations, sensible devotions, or spiritual pleasures. It is Thy privilege to see GOD clearly; it is Thy privilege to enjoy heavenly bliss; it is Thy privilege to triumph gloriously in Heaven at the right hand of Thy Son and to hold absolute sway over angels, men and demons. It is Thy privilege to dispose of all the gifts of GOD, just as Thou willest. Such, O heavenly MARY, is the ʻbest partʼ, which the Lord has given Thee, and which shall never be taken away from Thee, and this thought fills my heart with joy. As for my part here below, I wish for no other than that which was Thine, to believe sincerely without spiritual pleasures, to suffer joyfully without human consolation, to die continually to myself without respite, and to work zealously and unselfishly for Thee until death, as the humblest of Thy servants. The only grace I beg Thee, for me, is that every moment of the day, and every moment of my life, I may say, “Amen, so be it, to all that Thou art doing in Heaven. Amen, so be it, to all Thou didst do while on earth. Amen, so be it, to all Thou art doing in my soul,” so that Thou alone mayest fully glorify JESUS in me for time and eternity. Amen.
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New Book
Ebook is now live in Apple’s iBookstore.You can locate it in the iBookstore here
Be Holy! 