Spiritual Warfare: St. Paul Illustrated that by Loving Jesus Christ with our Mind, Heart, Will & Suffering that we Win more "Souls for Heaven than if [we] had Spend a Hundred Years Preaching the Gospel"

Catholic author William Thomas Walsh in his 1943 book "Saint Teresa of Avila" showed how there is a need for Catholics to engage in spiritual warfare by offer their "sufferings in union with those of Christ on the cross, [which] takes on something of the unearthly beauty, peace, and sublimity of... [our] Master:

"About this time her [St. Teresa] duties brought her into contact with one of the older nuns who was dying of the most painful and disgusting disorder: as the result of oppilations, she had in her belly open wounds, though which emerged whatever she ate. Some of the nuns seemed afraid of the poor woman's malady; but what impressed Teresa was her remarkable patience. the nun was one of those mystics who so penetrated the paradoxical secret of suffering at the heart of Christianity that she could endure all the pain and humiliation, not merely with resignation, but with a positive joy which no one can understand without witnessing it, as it recurs in convents generation after generation."

"The face of such a person, offering her sufferings in union with those of Christ on the cross, takes on something of the unearthly beauty, peace, and sublimity of her Master. And so it seemed to Teresa that what she saw in that Christlike face was worth any price that might be paid for it in terms of human inconvenience. It must be paid for, however, and the price was pain. From the heart of that magnanimous heart of the novice, vital and alert in the bloom of her youth, there leaped a prayer, a prayer that was incomprehensible even to Christians who have not penetrated the center of their Faith; she asked God to give her a similar patience, with whatever sickness might be necessary to achieve it." (Pages 49-50)

Yes, our prayers and sufferings, even the smallest prayers and sufferings, when united to Jesus Christ "bring... greatest blessings for a sinful world" as St. Paul knew they can save souls as Our Lady of Fatima proclaimed.

Catholic author Mary Fabyan Windeatt in her 1949 book "Saint Paul the Apostle" explained how St. Paul after his near death stoning at Iconium illustrated that by loving Jesus Christ with our mind, heart, will and suffering that we win more "souls for Heaven than if [we] had spend a hundred years preaching the Gospel":

"He'll never be well," Timothy told himself. The Jews from Icomium have ruined everything."

But when several weeks had passed, Paul rallied suddenly. Staggering, he rose from his bed and insisted on going out for a walk. and before an hour had passed he had a convert!

"I don't understand!" cried Timothy, when Paul told him about it. 'How did you do it when you didn't even preach a word?"

Paul looked thoughtfully at his young friend. "By suffering," he said, smiling.

"Suffering?"

"Yes. Didn't I tell you once before that God can use our weakness best of all?"

[... ]

"I have been thinking a great deal about Stephen."

"The young man who at Jerusalem?"

"Yes. Only not of that death so much as the one that Stephen died before.The real death."

[... ]

"I mean that when Stephen gave up his own will, he won more souls for Heaven than if he had spend a hundred years preaching the Gospel!"

"But I can hardly believe that!"

"It's true. The Lord doesn't need our words and actions, but he does want our love - our hearts and wills. When we have given Him these, we have given everything. We have died on the Cross just as He did, and won the greatest blessings for a sinful world." (Pages 64-65)

Fr. Chad Ripperger's Breastplate of St. Patrick (Modified) & Binding Prayer ("In the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, and by the power of the Most Holy Catholic Church of Jesus, I render all spirits impotent...")

Deliverance Prayers II The Minor Exorcisms and Deliverance Prayers compiled by Fr Chad Ripperger: Breastplate of St. Patrick (Modified) I bind (myself, or N.) today to a strong virtue, an invocation of the Trinity. I believe in a Threeness, with a confession of an Oneness in the Creator of the Universe. I bind (myself, or N.) today to the virtue of Christ’s birth with his baptism, to the virtue of his crucifixion with his burial, to the virtue of his resurrection with his ascension, to the virtue of his coming to the Judgment of Doom. I bind (myself, or N.) today to the virtue of ranks of Cherubim, in obedience of Angels, in service of Archangels, in hope of resurrection for reward, in prayers of Patriarchs, in preaching of Apostles, in faiths of confessors, in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men. I bind (myself, or N.) today to the virtue of Heaven, in light of Sun, in brightness of Snow, in splendor of Fire, in speed of l...

"Well, 'either one gives up the scapular or they give up immodesty'. The point is they cannot coexist."

By Mary's Secretary In my book The Practice of the Presence of Mary: To Live and Die with Mary , I dedicated Part II to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Her scapular (fitting as Her feast is approaching), and I specifically mentioned how the scapular and spaghetti straps DO NOT go together. What I mean by that is I have noticed that those in the Church who DO NOT follow the Catholic dress code typically aren’t the ones wearing the scapular. I went on to say that modesty and the scapular go together and if you ever were immodest in dress, the scapular, being Our Lady’s sacramental that it is, gives one the grace to BECOME modest. I can attest to this in my own life. Only after I was enrolled in the scapular did I begin, little by little, become modest. It’s a process. Kind of like the rosary quote, “one either gives up the sin or they give up the rosary.” Well, “either one gives up the scapular or they give up immodesty”. The point is they cannot coexist. In fact...

5 Dubia Questions for 1P5's Steve Skojec & All faithful Catholics especially Francis is definitely Pope Cardinals, Bishops & pundits

Here are five really short and easy to answer dubia questions which hopefully aren't too complicated for Steve Skojec, publisher of the One Peter Five website, to answer. To make it really easy for the publisher of One Peter Five it has been formatted so that he only has to answer: yes or no. 1. Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales said "The Pope... when he is explicitly a heretic... the Church must either deprive him or as some say declare him deprived of his Apostolic See." Was St. Francis de Sales a Sedevacantist or a Benevacantist? Answer: yes or no. 2. "Universal Acceptance" theologian John of St. Thomas said "This man in particular lawfully elected and accepted by the Church is the supreme pontiff." Was John of St. Thomas for saying "the supreme pontiff" must be BOTH "lawfully elected and accepted by the Church" a Sedevacantist or a Benevacantist? Answer: yes or no. 3. Do you think that a "supreme pontiff...

The Catholic Monitor

Search This Blog