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(0:00) Hello, and welcome to the Catholic Torch Podcast, Episode 5.
We will begin with the (0:06) Memorare.
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins and Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, 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 sponsored by my company, Holy Queen Handmade.
As usual, anything that I say that is good and true and beautiful is due to the honor (0:52) and glory of Our Lord and Our Lady, and anything that is erroneous is purely my own fault.(0:58) We will now continue with the dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena.
(1:02) Very pleasing to me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every pain and fatigue, (1:09) even unto death, for the salvation of souls. For the more the soul endures, the more she shows that (1:16) she loves Me. Loving Me, she comes to know more of My truth, and the more she knows, (1:23) the more pain and intolerable grief she feels at the offenses committed against Me. (1:29) Thou didst ask Me to sustain thee, and to punish the faults of others in thee, and thou didst not (1:35) remark that thou wast really asking for love, light, and knowledge of the truth, since I have already (1:42) told thee that by the increase of love grows grief and pain, wherefore he that grows in love grows (1:51) in grief. Therefore I say to you all that you should ask, and it will be given you, for I deny (2:00) nothing to him who asks of Me in truth. Consider that the love of divine charity is so closely (2:08) joined in the soul with perfect patience, that neither can leave the soul without the other. (2:15) For this reason (if the soul elect to love Me) she should elect to endure pains for Me (2:21) in whatever mode or circumstance I may send them to her. Patience cannot be proved in any other way (2:29) than by suffering, and patience is united with love, as has been said. Therefore, bear yourselves (2:37) with manly courage, for unless you do so, you will not prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, (2:43) and faithful children, nor the company of those who relish the taste of My honor and the salvation (2:50) of souls. (Reference 1)
Now we will go back through what we just read, and I will try to explain it a couple lines (2:57) at a time.
“Very pleasing to Me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every (3:04) pain and fatigue, even unto death, for the salvation of souls. For the more the soul endures, (3:11) the more she shows that she loves Me. Loving Me, she comes to know more of My truth, (3:18) and the more she knows, the more pain and intolerable grief she feels at the offenses (3:24) committed against Me.”
Here God is describing how the more the soul grows in love (3:31) for God, the more the soul will know the truth, and also will suffer more pain and grief for sins (3:38) committed against God. The soul will start to resemble something of what Christ went through (3:43) in the Passion, since this was the most pleasing sacrifice to God ever made, The Perfect Sacrifice.(3:51) That is why we re-present the sacrifice of Calvary at Mass everyday in an Unbloody manner. The priest(3:58) offers this sacrifice of Christ to God the Father.
“Thou didst ask Me to sustain thee, (4:07) and to punish the faults of others in thee, and thou didst not remark that thou wast really asking (4:13) for love, light, and knowledge of the truth, since I have already told thee that by the increase of (4:20) love grows grief and pain, wherefore he that grows in love grows in grief.”
Here God tells (4:29) Catherine that when she asks for God to punish the faults of others in her, that she was asking to (4:35) grow in love for God and neighbor, to grow in light as to be wise, and knowledge of the truth.(4:42) The more you know of the truth, and the true state of souls, the more you will grow in grief for the (4:49) offenses being done to the Supreme Ultimate Goodness, the Lord Giver of Life, God. The more (4:56) God reveals to you, and the deeper you start to love Him, the more you will start to see all around you (5:02) the suffering souls who are so lost without anyone to take on suffering for them, so that they may (5:09) stay open to receive the graces God wants to pour out onto them. For Jesus said from the cross, (5:14) “I thirst.” He thirsts for souls. God desires all of His creatures to love Him, but not all do, (5:24) and not all will.
“Therefore I say to you all that you should ask, and it will be given you, (5:33) for I deny nothing to him who asks of Me in truth. Consider that the love of divine charity (5:40) is so closely joined in the soul with perfect patience that neither can leave the soul without (5:47) the other. For this reason (if the soul elect to love Me) she should elect to endure pains for Me (5:54) in whatever mode or circumstance I may send them to her. Patience cannot be proved in any other way (6:01) than by suffering, and patience is united with love as has been said.”
(6:08) Now God says He denies nothing to those that ask of Him in truth.
Nothing.
(6:15) God has always kept his word. He is perfect and cannot err. He will never default on what He says. (6:24) So when he says that He denies nothing to those that ask of Him in truth for something, (6:30) that’s exactly what He means. God says that divine charity and perfect patience (6:36) are so closely united to one another that without each other they cannot reside in the soul without (6:42) one another. And then God says that if the soul chooses to love God, then God will allow that (6:50) soul to endure pains for Him, but in whatever mode or circumstance he sends them in. One cannot (6:57) choose their own crosses. Those would not sanctify. But God who knows all, and has made all, (7:04) knows what is best for your sanctification, and also, can and does bring fruits forth from the (7:12) pains a soul endures for another.
God says patience can only be proven by suffering. (7:20)
That’s it.
This is the only way to prove it. Suffering.
Jesus Christ, our most perfect example, (7:30) showed us this during his Passion. Perfectly patient. I challenge you to read back through (7:37) the Gospel account of John. Every Catholic hears it on Good Friday. St. John’s Gospel account is (7:45) read every Good Friday because it has been given pride of place. Read and meditate on the Passion, (7:53) how Christ was perfectly patient throughout the entire thing, from the Garden all the way (7:58) till His last breath. But now also look at how patient our Most Holy Mother was.(8:05) Do not forget that this was her Son they were crucifying, and she never once was impatient. (8:10) She never once screamed or yelled out. Never was it mentioned, because it never happened, (8:17) that she would be impatient. If she would have been, then she would have lost that divine charity (8:23) at the exact same time she lost her perfect patience. That also goes the same for Christ. (8:30) If He is our perfect example, then we really must be willing to suffer just like Him (8:36) and our Lady, even unto death, just as Christ did. Think about how much patience it must have (8:43) taken our Blessed Mother to hold our Most Holy Lord after he was taken down from the cross, (8:49) and then to have to bury your own Son. That has to be something unreal to have to experience. (8:57) But she willfully accepted those Seven Swords of Sorrow with perfect patience, and divine charity.(9:05)
One more thing to add to this. Christ stayed perfectly patient throughout, and full of divine (9:12) charity, even though most around Him were in a dreadful hurry to get everything all over with. (9:19) The Jews were in a hurry to have Him crucified that day no matter what, because the next day (9:23) was the start of the Pasch. The Romans were in a hurry to do the deed, so they could be off to do (9:29) whatever debauched behavior that they could dream up, so they caused Christ extreme pain in a very (9:36) short amount of time, whipping him up the mountain to crucify him, so that they may be off to do (9:41) whatever else they had planned, living according to their own sensuality. Both groups showed great (9:50) impatience, and Christ suffered for them, and for all, so as to keep everyone open to grace. (9:57) And look how many cooperated after He died. But also, look at the sad state of souls today, (10:05) and even then, and how many did not choose to dispose themselves to receive God’s grace.
“Therefore, bear yourselves with manly courage, for unless you do so, you will not prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, and faithful children, nor the company of those who relish the taste of My honor, and the salvation of souls.”
(10:33) Now God tells us that if we do not prove ourselves in this way, (10:38) we will never look like Christ to him, and we will never enjoy heaven. We will never enjoy (10:44) Heaven with Him, and all the Angels and Saints, and Our Blessed Lady. We must prove our patience, (10:50) with suffering.
On the next episode, we will be talking about how every virtue and every defect is (10:58) obtained by means of our neighbor.
That will end our episode for today. If you have any questions (11:04) or comments, you can find my email in the contact button below. If you need a Catholic priest, (11:12) please reach out to me, and I will help you find one. And now we will end in prayer.
(11:16)In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Ave Maria, gratia plena Dominus tecum benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in ora mortis nostrae. Amen.
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
(11:41) Thank you for listening, and I will see you on the next episode.
References
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