Saintly Quote - Humility

Whoever you may be who still desire the first place here—go and sit in the last place. Do not be lifted up by pride, inflated by knowledge, elated by nobility, but the greater you are, the more you must humble yourself in every way, and you will find grace with God. In His own time He will say to you: "Friend, go up higher," and then you will be honored by all who sit at table with you.

Moses sat in the last place whenever he had the choice. When the Lord, wishing to send him to the Israelites, invited him to take a higher place, his answer was: I beg you, Lord, send someone else. I am not a good speaker. It was the same as saying: "I am not worthy of so great an office."

Saul, too, was of small account in his own eyes when the Lord made him king. And Jeremiah, similarly, was afraid of rising to the first place: "Ah, Lord God," he said, "look, I cannot speak—I am only a child."

In the Church, then, the first seat, or the highest place, is to be sought not by ambition but by humility; not by money but by holiness.

Bruno of Segni ( died 1123 AD, bishop of Segni, great commentator on scripture who helped Pope Gregory VII in his reform of the Church.

Sue - Half the Kingdom

Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

On August 15, the piety of the Catholic devotees honors the Feast of the Assumption.

This is holy day of obligation in the United States. It is the most ancient feast of Mary but its origin is unknown. The feast of Assumption completes God's work in Mary since it was not fitting that the flesh that had given life to God himself should ever undergo corruption. The Assumption is God's crowning of His work as Mary ends her earthly life and enters eternity. Mary had been taken up, body and soul, into heaven.

The Feast of Assumption is a dogma of the Faith declared by Pope Pius XII in 1950. The feast turns our eyes in that direction, where we will follow when our earthly life is over. The Assumption looks to eternity and gives us hope that we, too, will follow Our Lady when our life is ended

Source St. Michael Center for the BVM, Honolulu, HI Please visit their site and you can find Assumption Day traditions as well as other interesting articles on the Assumption.

"The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven."

- Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus

Fine Art Friday - Special Edition - The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This week we will spotlight famous artists' depictions of the same theme, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven body and soul.
Assumption - School of Avignon
Assumption of the Virgin by El Greco
The Assumption of the Virgin, a fresco at Sopocani, c 1260
Assumption of the Virgin by Gianlorenzo Bernini
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin by Annibale Carricci
The Assumption of the Virgin by Nicolas Poussin
The Assumption of the Virgin (1612-17) by Peter Paul Rubens

On Christian Marriage - The Hierarchy of the Family

How are husbands to love their wives?
Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the Church. (Paragraph 23 - Quoting the Bible)

What is the hierarchy of the family?
This order includes both the primacy of the husband in regard to the wife and children, the ready subjection of the wife and her willing obedience, which the Apostle commends in these words: "Let women be subject to their husbands as to the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, and Christ is the head of the Church." (Paragraph 26)

The man is the ruler of the family, and the head of the woman; but because she is flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, let her be subject and obedient to the man.....(Paragraph 29 - Quoting Pope Leo XIII)

Is the wife then the slave of her husband?
.....not as a servant but as a companion, so that nothing be lacking of honor or of dignity in the obedience which she pays. Let divine charity be the constant guide of their mutual relations, both in him who rules and in her who obeys, since each bears the image, the one of Christ, the other of the Church. (Paragraph 29 - continued from previous quote of Pope Leo XIII)

But is not this subjection of the wife to her husband against her human dignity?

The same false teachers who try to dim the luster of conjugal faith and purity do not scruple to do away with the honorable and trusting obedience which the woman owes to the man. Many of them even go further and assert that such a subjection of one party to the other is unworthy of human dignity.....(the false teachers say) the woman is to be freed at her own good pleasure from the burdensome duties properly belonging to a wife as companion and mother.....

This, however, is not the true emancipation of woman, nor that rational and exalted liberty which belongs to the noble office of a Christian woman and wife; it is rather the debasing of the womanly character and the dignity of motherhood, and indeed of the whole family, as a result of which the husband suffers the loss of his wife, the children of their mother, and the home and the whole family of an ever watchful guardian. More than this, this false liberty and unnatural equality with the husband is to the detriment of the woman herself, for if the woman descends from her truly regal throne to which she has been raised within the walls of the home by means of the Gospel, she will soon be reduced to the old state of slavery (if not in appearance, certainly in reality) and become as amongst the pagans the mere instrument of man.

This equality of rights which is so much exaggerated and distorted, must indeed be recognized in those rights which belong to the dignity of the human soul and which are proper to the marriage contract and inseparably bound up with wedlock. In such things undoubtedly both parties enjoy the same rights and are bound by the same obligations; in other things there must be a certain inequality and due accommodation, which is demanded by the good of the family and the right ordering and unity and stability of home life. (Paragraphs 74-76)

Encyclical of Pope Pius XI Casti Connubii (On Christian Marriage)
promulgated on December 31, 1930.

Shared by Sue of Half the Kingdom

Saintly Quote - St. Ignatius of Loyola

If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He has great designs for you, and that He certainly intends to make you a saint. And if you wish to become a great saint, entreat Him yourself to give you much opportunity for suffering; for there is no wood better to kindle the fire of holy love than the wood of the cross, which Christ used for His own great sacrifice of boundless charity.

- Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

Shared by Sue of Half the Kingdom

Feast of St. Maximilian Kolbe

Today, the Catholic blog world will be alive with posts on one of the Church's favorite saints and heroes, St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe.

I would like to share with you two of my past posts:

St. Maximilian Kolbe 2006

Feast Day of St. Maxiilian Mary Kolbe 2007

Saintly Quote - St. Alphonsus di Liguori

He who wills only what God wills possesses all that he desires. For whatever happens to him,happens by the will of God.

St. Alphonsus Liquori

Shared by Sue

The Church

Purgatorio by Salvador Dali

The Church teaches us that the Holy Souls in Purgatory are officially known as "The Church Suffering" because they are undergoing purification before entering into Heaven. There may be said to be a sort of joy in Purgatory, though, despite the suffering which largely results from an absence of God.

This joy is because the Poor Souls in Purgatory are assured of their salvation. They have made it to Purgatory, so they cannot be damned to hell. They are confident that after their stay in Purgatory, they will be permitted to enter into everlasting bliss in Heaven and will never have to undergo the permanent fires of hell.

The second branch of the Church after "The Church Suffering" is "The Church Militant". We who still are working out our daily salvation are considered to be members of this group.

The third branch is "The Church Triumphant", the full company of the Communion of Saints in Heaven

Shared by Sue

Magnificat - Pilgrimage of Hope

The folks who bring us the beautiful Magnificat Magazine are sponsoring a Pilgrimage of Hope on October 11th in Boston.

The following is an invitation from the pilgrimage director:

Dear Friends,

Pope John Paul II referred to the Christian life as "a great pilgrimage to the house of the Father" that "takes place in the heart of each person, extends to the believing community and then reaches to the whole of humanity." Magnificat has become a beloved companion to you on this journey.

The Pilgrimage of Hope offers you a privileged opportunity to gather with other pilgrims from around the world, and to experience together the prayer, the beauty, and the peace that is Magnificat.
Fr. Daniel P. Barron, O.M.V.