Oldest Complete Torah Scroll Found in Bologna

http://m.ibtimes.co.uk/oldest-complete-torah-scroll-found-bologna-472015.html

Abortion banned in North Dakota if a heartbeat can be detected

http://americaneedsfatima.blogspot.com/2013/03/north-dakota-governor-signs-heartbeat.html

Prayer, Fasting, and Mercy by St. Peter Chrysologus

From a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop

Prayer knocks, fasting obtains, mercy receives

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures. They are prayer, fasting and mercy. Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives. Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated. If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing. So if you pray, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others you open God's ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others. If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry. If you hope for mercy, show mercy. If you look for kindness, show kindness. If you want to receive, give. If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Let this be the pattern for all men when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting be one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defense, a threefold united prayer in our favor.

Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others. Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting. There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.

Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God. Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.

To make these acceptable, mercy must be added. Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy. Fasting dries up when mercy dries up. Mercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth. However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn. Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering. Give to the poor, and you give to yourself. You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.

Christian Quotes/Thoughts on Procrastination

"Do not be afraid to be saints. Follow Jesus Christ who is the source of freedom and light. Be open to the Lord so that He may lighten all your ways."
- Pope John Paul II

'See, my children, if we really wish to be saved we must determine, once for all, to labor in earnest for our salvation; our soul is like a garden in which the weeds are ever ready to choke the good plants and flowers that have been sown in it. If the gardener who has charge of this garden neglects it, if he is not continually using the spade and the hoe, the flowers and plants will soon disappear. Thus, my children, do the virtues with which God has been pleased to adorn our soul disappear under our vices if we neglect to cultivate them. As a vigilant gardener labours from morning till night to destroy the weeds in his garden, and to ornament it with flowers, so let us labor every day to uproot the vices of our soul and to adorn it with virtues. See, my children, a gardener never lets the weeds take root, because he knows that then he would never be able to destroy them. Neither let us allow our vices to take root, or we shall not be able to conquer them.

One day, an anchorite being in a forest with a companion, showed him four cypresses to be pulled up one after the other; the young man, who did not very well know why he told him to do this, took hold of the first tree, which was quite small, and pulled it up with one hand without trouble; the second, which was a little bigger and had some roots, made him pull harder, but yet he pulled it up with one hand; the third, being still bigger, offered so much resistance, that he was obliged to take both hands and to use all his strength; the fourth, which was grown into a tree, had such deep roots, that he exhausted himself in vain efforts. The saint then said to him, "With a little vigilance and mortification, we succeed in repressing our passions, and we triumph over them when they are only springing up; but when they have taken deep root, nothing is more difficult; the thing is even impossible without a miracle."

Let us not reckon on a miracle of Providence, my children; let us not put off till the end of our life the care that we ought daily to take of our soul; let us labor while there is yet time. . .'

St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney, the Cure of Ars

Christian Quotes of Wisdom

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.  Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
--Proverbs 1:7

Psalms 36:9
For with thee is the fountain of life; in thy light do we see light.

"To see the miraculous within the ordinary is the mark of highest wisdom."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"He is not wise to me who is wise in words only, but he who is wise in deeds."
- Pope St. Gregory

Ecclesiastes 7:10
Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

"When you wonder about the mystery of yourself, look to Christ, who gives you the meaning of life. When you wonder what it means to be a mature person, look to Christ, who is the fulfillness of humanity. And when you wonder about your role in the future of the world look to Christ."
- Pope John Paul II

"Wonder is the desire for knowledge."
- St. Thomas Aquinas

"Things were in God's plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that - from God's point of view - there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God's divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God's all-seeing eyes."
- St. Edith Stein

That it is better to approach God and virtue by the affections of the heart than by the thoughts of the mind, and it is an important counsel to nourish the heart and make the mind fast; that is to say, to desire God, sigh after God, long for the holy love of God, for an intimate union with God, without amusing yourself with so many thoughts and reflections. Therefore it is more useful to occupy yourself with the affair of belonging to God without reserve; with the desire to lead an interior life, with a profound humility, fervor, the gift of prayer, the love of God, the true spirit of Jesus Christ, and with the practice of those virtues which He taught by word, and His divine example, than to make a thousand useless reflections about them. If you do not feel any of these desires the mere wish to have them, the mere raising of the heart is sufficient to keep your soul recollected and united to God. Therefore, once more, the mere raising of the heart to God, or towards certain virtues in order to please God, will do more to help you on than all your reflections and grand reasoning.
--Abandonment to Divine Providence

Ecclesiastes 7:12. RSV-CE
For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money; and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

'Do not grow conceited about your interpretations of Scripture, lest your intellect fall victim to blasphemy.'
St. Mark the Ascetic

Imitation of Christ
1.5 Reading Scripture
The Fifth Chapter
Reading the Holy Scripture
TRUTH, not eloquence, is to be sought in reading the Holy Scriptures; and every part must be read in the spirit in which it was written. For in the Scriptures we ought to seek profit rather than polished diction.
Likewise we ought to read simple and devout books as willingly as learned and profound ones. We ought not to be swayed by the authority of the writer, whether he be a great literary light or an insignificant person, but by the love of simple truth. We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is said. Men pass away, but the truth of the Lord remains forever. God speaks to us in many ways without regard for persons.
Our curiosity often impedes our reading of the Scriptures, when we wish to understand and mull over what we ought simply to read and pass by.
If you would profit from it, therefore, read with humility, simplicity, and faith, and never seek a reputation for being learned. Seek willingly and listen attentively to the words of the saints; do not be displeased with the sayings of the ancients, for they were not made without purpose.

The Christian Fight--Quotes to encourage you as you struggle against evil

"Let us return from that Table like lions breathing out fire, terrifying to the devil!"
- St. John Chrysostom

"Persevere to the end. Victory depends on this. There is a swift and effective remedy for the wounds of anyone who fights for God's cause and who places his entire trust in Him. When he least expects it, he will see his enemy at his feet."
--from The Spiritual Combat by Lorenzo Scupoli

"And therefore we also having so great a cloud of witnesses over our head, laying aside every weight and sin which surrounds us, let us run by patience to the fight proposed to us."
--Hebrews 12:1

You will be tempted.  You will have to deal with evil.  Acknowledge your dependence on God.
"Temptation is necessary to make us realize that we are nothing in ourselves."
- St. Josemaria Escriva


"Fight to the death for Truth, and the Lord God will do battle for you."
- Sirach 4:33



"The devil strains every nerve to secure the souls which belong to Christ. We should not grudge our toil in wresting them from Satan and giving them back to God."
- St. Sebastian


"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."
--C. S. Lewis

With God, you cannot lose
"Who has so fortified his soldiers with the arms of piety that their souls, being firmer than adamant, shine brilliantly in the contests with their opponents?"
--Eusebius witing about Jesus

Think about eternity.  Your reward awaits you
"None shall be crowned who has not fought well"
--2 Tim 2:5

Apparition on Marytv.tv Thursday

Subject: Apparition on Marytv.tv Thursday

On November 15 at 5 PM Marytv.tv will stream live Marija's apparition at Notre Dame.  The Rosary will begin at 5 PM and she will have her apparition at 5:40 PM.  

Those connected through the internet will be prayed over by Our Lady during her apparition the same as those present -  
see http://www.marytv.tv/MaryTV/blessing-over-the-internet/

     

Christian Quotes on Temptation and Evil

The traitor has turned against his friends;
he has broken his word.
His speech is softer than butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are smoother than oil,
but they are naked swords.
--Divine Office, Psalms

"You can't dance with the devil and expect him to leave after the song is over."
--Christopher Majella Paul


"There are in truth three states of the converted: the beginning, the middle, and the perfection. In the beginning, they experience the charms of sweetness; in the middle, the contests of temptation; and in the end, the fullness of perfection."
- Pope St. Gregory the Great

"As soon as you willfully allow a dialogue with temptation to begin, the soul is robbed of peace, just as consent to impurity destroys grace."
- St. Josemaria Escriva

Guard your mind, and you will not be harassed by temptations. But if you fail to guard it, accept patiently whatever trial comes.
--St. Mark the Ascetic

"Temptation is necessary to make us realize that we are nothing in ourselves."
- St. Josemaria Escriva

St. Jean-Marie Baptiste of Vianney on Temptation, fasting, and prayer: 3.6: … let us put our confidence in God; let us fast and pray; and the devil will not be able …

3.6: … let us put our confidence in God; let us fast and pray; and the devil will not be able …

CHAPTER 5: On Temptations

WE ARE all inclined to sin, my children; we are idle, greedy, sensual, given to the pleasures of the flesh. We want to know everything, to learn everything, to see everything; we must watch over our mind, over our heart, and over our senses, for these are the gates by which the devil penetrates. See, he prowls round us incessantly; his only occupation in this world is to seek companions for himself. All our life he will lay snares for us, he will try to make us yield to temptations; we must, on our side, do all we can to defeat and resist him. We can do nothing by ourselves, my children; but we can do everything with the help of the good God; let us pray Him to deliver us from this enemy of our salvation, or to give strength to fight against him. With the Name of Jesus we shall overthrow the demons; we shall put them to flight. With this Name, if they sometimes dare to attack us, our battles will be victories, and our victories will be crowns for Heaven, all brilliant with precious stones.

See, my children, the good God refuses nothing to those who pray to Him from the bottom of their heart. St. Teresa, being one day in prayer, and desiring to see the good God, Jesus Christ showed to the eyes of her soul His Divine hands; then, another day, when she was again in prayer, He showed her His face. Lastly, some days after, He showed her the whole of His Sacred Humanity. The good God who granted the desire of St. Teresa will also grant our prayers. If we ask of Him the grace to resist temptations, He will grant it to us; for He wishes to save us all, He shed His Blood for us all, He died for us all, He is waiting for us all in Heaven. We are two or three hundred here: shall we all be saved, shall we all go to Heaven? Alas! my children, we know nothing about it; but I tremble when I see so many souls lost in these days.

See, they fall into Hell as the leaves fall from the trees at the approach of winter. We shall fall like the rest, my children, if we do not avoid temptations, if, when we cannot avoid them, we do not fight generously, with the help of the good God--if we do not invoke His Name during the strife, like St. Antony in the desert.

This saint having retired into an old sepulchre, the devil came to attack him; he tried at first to terrify him with a horrible noise; he even beat him so cruelly that he left him half dead and covered with wounds. "Well," said St. Antony, "here I am, ready to fight again; no, thou shalt not be able to separate me from Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God. " The spirits of darkness redoubled their efforts, and uttered frightful cries. St. Antony remained unmoved, because he put all his confidence in God. After the example of this saint, my children, let us be always ready for the combat; let us put our confidence in God; let us fast and pray; and the devil will not be able to separate us from Jesus Christ, either in this world or the next.

Christian Quotes on Discipline, Laziness, & Works (both labor and love)

The more recollected a man is, and the more simple of heart he becomes, the easier he understands sublime things, for he receives the light of knowledge from above. The pure, simple, and steadfast spirit is not distracted by many labors, for he does them all for the honor of God. And since he enjoys interior peace he seeks no selfish end in anything. What, indeed, gives more trouble and affliction than uncontrolled desires of the heart?
--from Imitation of Christ, 1.3

Idleness is the enemy of the soul, and therefore the brethren ought to be employed in manual labor at certain times, at others, in devout readings.
--Saint Benedict


"Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus."
- Mother Teresa

"We are unprofitable servants, we have done what we were obliged to do."
- Luke 17:10

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?."

--John Wooden

No matter what your work is, do it for Jesus
"Each one of them is Jesus in disguise."
- Mother Teresa

Let God work through you
"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."
- Mother Teresa

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31

Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.
--Saint Teresa

Do you think it is only a little thing to possess a house from which lovely things can be seen?
--Saint Teresa

Christian Quotes on Contemplation

"Souls who aspire to a sublime union with God by contemplation usually suffer interior purgations in one way or another."
St. Paul of the Cross

"Seek by reading and you will find by meditating. Knock by praying, and it will be opened to you in contemplation."
- St. John of the Cross