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(0:00) Hello, and welcome to the Catholic Torch Podcast, episode 3. We’ll start as usual (0:06) with prayer. We’ll start out with the Memorare. In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known, that anyone (0:17) who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. (0:22) Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee O Virgin of Virgins and Mother. To thee (0:28) do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O mother of the Word Incarnate, (0:34) despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy, hear and answer me. Amen. In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Today’s episode is brought to you by Juan’s Mobile (0:46) Welding LLC. Thank you for your continued support, my friend.
As always, anything that (0:51) is true and good and beautiful is due to the honor and glory of our Lord and our Lady, (0:56) and anything that is erroneous is purely my own fault.
And now the continuation of the (1:02) dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena.
I have shown thee dearest daughter that the guilt is not (1:08) punished in this finite time by any pain which is sustained purely as such. And I say (1:16) that the guilt is punished by the pain which is endured through the desire, love and contrition (1:21) of the heart, not by virtue of the pain, but by virtue of the desire of the soul, in as (1:28) much as desire and every virtue is of value, and has life in itself, through Christ crucified, (1:36) My Only Begotten Son, insofar as the soul has drawn her love from him, and virtuously follows (1:43) his virtues, that is, his footprints. In this way and in no other are virtues of value, (1:51) and in this way, pains satisfy for the fault, by the sweet and intimate love acquired in (1:58) the knowledge of my goodness, and in the bitterness and contrition of heart acquired by knowledge (2:04) of oneself, and one’s own thoughts. And this knowledge generates a hatred and displeasure (2:10) against sin, and against the soul’s own sensuality, through which she deemed herself worthy of pains (2:17) and unworthy of reward.
The sweet truth continued, see how by contrition of the heart, together (2:24) with love, with true patience and with true humility, deeming themselves worthy of pain (2:30) and unworthy of reward, such souls endure the patient humility in which consists the above (2:37) mentioned satisfaction. Thou askest me then for pains, so that I may receive satisfaction (2:43) for the offenses, which are done against Me by My creatures, and now further asketh the will to (2:51) know and love me, who am the Supreme Truth. Wherefore I reply that this is the way, if thou (2:58) wilt arrive at a perfect knowledge and enjoyment of me, the Eternal Truth, and thou shouldest (3:04) never go outside the knowledge of thyself, and by humbling thyself in the valley of humility, (3:10) thou wilt know me and thyself, from which knowledge thou wilt draw all that is necessary. (3:18) No virtue, my daughter, can have life in itself except through charity and humility, (3:24) which is the foster mother and nurse of charity. In self-knowledge then, thou wilt humble thyself (3:31) seeing that, in thyself, thou dost not even exist, for thy very being, as thou wilt learn, (3:38) is derived from me, since I have loved both thee and others before you were in existence, (3:45) and that, through the ineffable love which I had for you, wishing to recreate you to grace, (3:52) I have washed you and recreated you in the Blood of my Only Begotten Son, (3:58) spilt with so great a fire of love. This Blood teaches the truth to him, who, (4:03) by self-knowledge, dissipates the cloud of self-love, and in no other way can he learn. (4:10) Then the soul will inflame herself in this knowledge of me with an ineffable love, (4:17) through which love she continues in constant pain, not however a pain which afflicts or dries (4:22) up the soul, but one which rather fattens her, for since she has known my truth and her own faults, (4:30) and the ingratitude of men she endures intolerable suffering, grieving because she loves me, (4:37) for if she did not love me she would not be obliged to do so. Hence it follows immediately (4:43) that it is right for thee, and my other servants who have learned my truth in this way, (4:49) to sustain, even unto death, many tribulations and injuries and insults in word and deed, (4:56) for the glory and praise of My Name. Thus will thou endure and suffer pains.(5:03) Do thou, therefore, and my other servants, carry yourselves with true patience, with grief for (5:10) your sins, and with love of virtue for the glory and praise of My Name. If thou actest thus, (5:17) I will satisfy for thy sins, and for those of my other servants, in as much as the pains which (5:24) thou will endure, will be sufficient, through the virtue of love, for satisfaction and reward, (5:31) both in thee and in others. In thyself thou will receive the fruit of life, (5:37) when the stains of thy ignorance are effaced, and I shall not remember that thou ever didst (5:43) offend me. In others I will satisfy through the love and affection which thou hast to me, (5:50) and I will give to them according to the disposition with which they will receive my gifts. (5:57) In particular, to those who dispose themselves humbly and with reverence, to receive the doctrine (6:03) of my servants, will I remit both guilt and penalty, since they will thus come to true knowledge (6:10) and contrition for their sins. So that, by means of prayer, and their desire of serving me, (6:16) they receive the fruit of grace, receiving it humbly in greater or lesser degree, (6:22) according to the extent of their exercise of virtue and grace in general.(6:27) I say, then, that through thy desires they will receive remission for their sins. (6:34) See, however, the condition, namely, that their obstinacy should not be so great in their despair, (6:41) as to condemn them through contempt of the Blood, which, with such sweetness, has restored them. (Refrence 1)
(6:47) So now I will try to simplify and summarize what we have just read by going back through.
(6:54) “I have shown thee, dearest daughter, that the guilt is not punished in this finite time, (6:59) by any pain which is sustained purely as such, and I say that the guilt is punished by the pain, (7:05) which is endured through the desire, love, and contrition of the heart, not by virtue of the pain, (7:13) but by virtue of the desire of the soul.”
So here God says, guilt for sin is not punished (7:20) in this life, by any pain which is undergone purely for the sake of pain, but only through (7:27) desire, love, and contrition of heart, not by virtue of the pain, but virtue of the desire of the soul.
(7:36) “Inasmuch as desire and every virtue is of value and has life in itself through Christ crucified, (7:44) My Only Begotten Son, in so far as the soul has drawn her love from Him and virtuously follows (7:52) His virtues, that is, his footprints. In this way and in no other way are virtues of value, (8:00) and in this way, pains satisfy for the fault, by the sweet and intimate love acquired in the (8:07) knowledge of My Goodness, and in the bitterness and contrition of heart acquired by knowledge of (8:12) oneself and one’s own thoughts. And this knowledge generates a hatred and displeasure against sin, (8:20) and against the soul’s own sensuality, through which she deems herself worthy of pains and unworthy (8:26) of reward.”
So what’s being said here is every virtue only ever has value and life in it (8:34) through Christ crucified, as long as the soul has obtained this virtue of love from Christ crucified, (8:42) and uprightly follows Christ’s virtues, or his footprints. This is the only way that pains can (8:48) satisfy for fault. This self knowledge of one’s own faults and failings, or sins, causes a hatred (8:56) and displeasure against those things, against one’s own disordered enjoyment of physical pleasure, (9:02) or one’s own feelings. Seeing that the soul is worthy of pains and not worthy to receive any reward.
(9:09)”The sweet truth continued, see how by contrition of the heart together with love, (9:16) with true patience, and with true humility, deeming themselves worthy of pain and unworthy of reward, (9:23) such souls endure the patient humility in which consists the above mentioned satisfaction.(9:29) Thou asketh me, then, for pains, so that I may receive satisfaction for the offenses which are (9:35) done against me, by my creatures, and thou further asketh me the will to know and love me, (9:43) who am the Supreme Truth. Wherefore I reply that this is the way, if thou will arrive at a (9:49) perfect knowledge and enjoyment of me, the Eternal Truth, that thou shouldest never go outside the (9:55) knowledge of thyself, and by humbling thyself in the valley of humility, thou wilt know Me, (10:01) and thyself, from which knowledge thou wilt draw all that is necessary. (10:06) No virtue, my daughter, can have life in itself except through charity and humility, (10:12) which is the foster mother and nurse of charity. In self knowledge, then, thou wilt humble thyself, (10:19) seeing that, in thyself, thou does not even exist. For thy very being, as thou wilt learn, (10:26) is derived from me, since I have loved both thee and others before you were in existence.”
(10:33) God says that this is the way if we come to a perfect knowledge and enjoyment of God, (10:40) never leaving knowledge of our own self. So, in other words, not going about sticking our noses (10:46) and others’ faults and failings, but staying in our own knowledge of self, and our own (10:52) unworthiness for reward, and our own failings, and remembering that we don’t even exist in (10:58) ourselves if it weren’t for God. If we see these faults and failings of others, we can take note (11:04) mentally and make a petition to God right then to be punished for this person’s actions because (11:09) they are offensive to God because we love God. Remembering that our very existence is only derived (11:15) from God alone. I heard it put this way once “If God forgets we exist, if He stops thinking about us (11:23) for even one second, we would become a poof. We would simply cease to exist.” So, an example of this (11:32) would be like the following scenario:
Let’s say you are out in public, and a man next to you (11:37) takes the Lord’s name in vain, or utters some blasphemy against our Lord. You can immediately say, (11:43) Blessed be the Name of The Lord, or some other iteration of this, either interiorly or even (11:50) out loud. Interiorly, you are saying it to God in secret because He has just been given an offense.(11:58) So, in desiring to make up for the offense given to God, you tell God you love Him and desire for (12:03) all to love Him and praise His name, and to ask Him to punish in you this fault, so as to make up (12:10) for this offense given to Him who is all goodness, and never deserves these insults and injuries (12:15) from man, but also out of love for your neighbor, (But this is only second to God’s love.) (12:22) Love for your neighbor’s soul so that He will come to the truth and reform his life. (12:27) For the Bible clearly states:
“I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance.” (Luke 15-7 DRA).
(12:41) This act of penance that you would take upon yourself, with God’s permission, would keep this (12:46) person open to receiving grace, whether or not this person co-operates with the graces available (12:52) to him, is entirely up to that soul that has just offended God.
If you say it out loud, (12:57) you’re still talking to God, but it may cause the person to stop his action for a brief second (13:02) and think, “well that was weird,” or maybe he will not do it again because he thought about it (13:08) and now sees that it is bad. At very least it may cause a pause in this behavior. And then still go (13:16) through all the interior steps I just described.
“And that through the ineffable love which (13:23) I had for you, wishing to recreate you to grace, I have washed you and recreated you in the Blood (13:31) of My Only Begotten Son spilt was so great a fire of love. This Blood teaches the truth to him, (13:39) who by self-knowledge dissipates the cloud of self-love and in no other way can he learn. (13:46) Then the soul will inflame herself in this knowledge of me with in ineffable love through (13:53) which she continues in constant pain. Not however a pain which afflicts or dries up the soul, (14:00) but one which rather fattens her, for since she has known my truth and her own faults, (14:07) and the ingratitude of men, she endures intolerable suffering, grieving because she loves me, (14:15) for if she did not love me, she would not be obliged to do so.”
(14:21) This washing that He is talking about, that God is talking about, is Baptism. We refer to this washing (14:27) as being washed by the Blood of The Lamb, but also we receive the washing over and over as long as (14:34) we continue to make use of the Sacrament of Penance (or confession or reconciliation is another term (14:41) for those.) God through the Blood of Christ teaches the truth to the soul who has been washed by it, (14:50) who by self-knowledge destroys the cloud of self-love and can’t learn in any other way. (14:55) So in other words, this self-knowledge we obtain from the Blood of Christ teaches us the truth (15:01) and helps us to lose this covering of self-love by turning against our own self-love, to love for God. (15:09) Remembering that the Blood of Christ spilt for us was done with such a great fire of love.
(15:15) “Whence it follows immediately that it is right for thee and my other servants who have learnt my (15:22) truth in this way to sustain, even unto death, many tribulations and injuries and insults in word (15:28) and deed for the glory and praise of My Name. Thus will thou endure and suffer pains. (15:36) Do thou therefore and my other servants carry yourselves with true patience, with grief for your (15:43) sins and with love of virtue for the glory and praise of My Name.”
Consider the countless (15:51) saints from the very beginning of the church in 33 A.D. All the twelve Apostles underwent (15:58) Martyrdom for this love. Their executioners tried to get these men to recant their statements, (16:05) but to no avail. The apostles stood firm in their love for God, and they stood firm in the faith, (16:10) unto their own death. Look at St. Stephen for example who was stoned to death by the Jews (16:16) after the crucifixion of Christ for preaching the truth. Or consider St. Catherine of Alexandria (16:22) who was put to death for being a Christian, by being tied to a wheel to be torn to shreds (16:29) by spikes on that same wheel. But God sent one of his angels down to release her from this (16:34) form of death and then she was beheaded by an axe, because of this love of God and knowledge (16:41) of self she had obtained and also the refusal to deny this said love or renunciation of it.
(16:49) “If thou actest thus I will satisfy for thy sins and for those of my other servants (16:57) in as much as the pains which thou wilt endure will be sufficient through the virtue of love (17:03) for satisfaction and reward both in thee and in others.”
God has just said (17:11) if you carry yourselves with true patience and grief for your sins and with love of virtue (17:17) for God’s praise and honor and glory he will cancel the debt due to you for your sins (17:22) and for those of others as long as the pains in which you undergo for them are sufficient (17:28) through love of God for a cancellation of the debt owed to God, for said fault or failing (17:34) and further, reward for both you and the other soul you are doing penance for or undergoing pains (17:41) for.
“In thyself, thou wilt receive the fruit of life when the stains of thy ignorance (17:49) are effaced. And I shall not remember that thou ever didst offend me. In others I will satisfy (17:56) through the love and affection with which thou hast to me and I will give to them according (18:02) to the disposition with which they will receive my gifts. In particular to those who dispose (18:09) themselves humbly and with reverence, to receive the doctrine of my servants, will I (18:14) remit both guilt and penalty. Since they will thus come to true knowledge and contrition for their (18:21) sins so that by means of prayer and their desire of serving me, they receive the fruit of grace. (18:29) Receiving it humbly in greater or lesser degree according to the extent of their exercise of virtue (18:35) and grace in general.”
God says you will receive the fruit of life (18:42) when the stains of your own ignorance are blotted out. This ignorance is not knowing one’s own self (18:49) or God. God says for these others that a soul decides to go through pains for, for love of God, (18:56) because God is being offended by their faults and failings, He will satisfy for them by the love (19:02) and affection a soul (the soul that was willing to undergo pains and penalties for their neighbor), (19:08) has for God and will give to the offending soul only what that soul is willing to dispose (19:14) themselves to receive of God’s gifts. Dispose meaning, to be brought into a particular frame of mind. (19:22) In this case to enter into conversation with God and to be willing to be brought into knowledge (19:28) of God and self and humble one’s own self. Hating one’s own sensuality.
“I say then (19:35) that through thy desires they will receive remission for their sins. See however the condition (19:43) namely that their obstinacy should not be so great in their despair, as to condemn them through (19:50) contempt of the Blood, which ,with such sweetness, has restored them.”
God tells us that (19:58) the souls will receive remission for their sins as long as their stubbornness to conform or (20:06) dispose themselves to God should not be so great when they realize how unworthy of reward they are (20:13) that they end up hating God and Christ’s sacrifice of His Blood for us, so much that it ends up (20:19) condemning them to eternal death. This despair God is speaking of is a soul never being hopeful (20:25) of being satisfied for so as to obtain life everlasting from God, because the soul often says, “Oh what I (20:33) have done is too heinous. I cannot be forgiven!” and in so doing they despair of God’s kindness and (20:40) mercy so as to never come to accept God’s love for them, or reciprocate that love back to God.
(20:47) we will stop right there for this episode.
On the next episode we will be talking about what fruit (20:53) those souls receive, and all the different ways that God uses, to draw those souls to Him.
(21:00) well that will end our episode for today, if you have any questions or comments please feel free (21:07) to drop me an email. You can find that in the contact us button below.
And now I’d like to end (21:15) the episode with an Ave Maria. In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen. Ave Maria, gratia plena Dominus tecum (16:12) benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus.
(16:18) Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in ora mortis nostrae. Amen. In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Thank you for listening and I will see you on the next episode.
Refrences
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