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(0:00) Hello and welcome to the Catholic Torch Podcast Episode 15. We will start out with prayer.
(0:08) We will be praying The 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.
(0:50) Today’s episode is brought to you by Juan’s Mobile Welding LLC. Thank you Juan for your (0:57) continued support, my dear friend.
As always, anything that I say that is good and true and (1:04) beautiful belongs to the honor and glory of our Lord and our Lady. And anything that I say that (1:10) is erroneous is purely my own fault.
And now we will continue with The Dialogue of St. Catherine (1:16) of Siena.
Then that soul, thirsting and burning with the very great desire that she had conceived (1:23) on learning the ineffable love of God, shown in His great goodness, and, seeing the breadth of His (1:30) charity, that, with such sweetness, he had deigned to reply to her request and to satisfy it, giving (1:37) hope to the sorrow which she had conceived, on account of offenses against God, and the damage (1:43) of the Holy Church, and through His own mercy, which she saw through self-knowledge, diminished, (1:49) and yet, at the same time, increased her sorrow.
For, the Supreme and Eternal Father, (1:56) in manifesting the way of perfection, showed her anew her own guilt, and the loss of souls, (2:02) as has been said more fully above. Also because in the knowledge which the soul obtains of herself, (2:09) she knows more of God, and knowing the goodness of God in herself, the sweet mirror of God, (2:16) she knows her own dignity and indignity. Her dignity is that of her creation, seeing that (2:23) she is the image of God, and this has been given by her grace, and not as her due. In that same (2:30) mirror of the goodness of God, the soul knows her own indignity, which is the consequence of her own (2:36) fault. Wherefore, as a man more readily sees spots on his face when he looks in a mirror, (2:43) so, the soul who, with true knowledge of self, rises with desire, and gazes with the eye of the (2:51) intellect at herself in the sweet mirror of God, knows better the stains of her own face, (2:57) by the purity which she sees in Him.
Wherefore, because light and knowledge increased in that (3:04) soul in the aforesaid way, a sweet sorrow grew in her, and at the same time, her sorrow was diminished (3:11) by the hope which the Supreme Truth gave her, and, as fire grows when it is fed with wood, (3:18) so grew the fire in that soul to such an extent that it was no longer possible for the body to (3:24) endure it, without the departure of the soul; so that, had she not been surrounded by the strength (3:31) of Him who is the Supreme Strength, it would not have been possible for her to have lived any (3:37) longer. This soul then, being purified by the fire of divine love, which she found in the (3:44) knowledge of herself and of God, and her hunger for the salvation of the whole world, and for the (3:50) reformation of the Holy Church, having grown with her hope of obtaining the same, rose with confidence (3:57) before the Supreme Father, showing him the leprosy of the Holy Church, and the misery of the world, (4:03) saying, as if with the words of Moses, “My Lord, turn the eyes of Thy mercy upon Thy people, (4:11) and upon the mystical body of the Holy Church, for Thou wilt be the more glorified if Thou pardonest (4:17) so many creatures, and givest to them the light of knowledge, since all will render thee praise (4:23) when they see themselves escape, through Thy infinite goodness from the clouds of mortal sin, (4:28) and from eternal damnation; and then Thou wilt not only be praised by my wretched self, (4:36) who have so much offended Thee, and who am the cause and the instrument of all this evil, (4:42) for which reason I pray Thy divine and eternal love to take Thy revenge on me, and to do mercy (4:48) to Thy people, and never will I depart from before Thy presence until I see that Thou (4:54) grantest them mercy. For what is it to me if I have life, and Thy people death, and the clouds (5:01) of darkness cover Thy spouse, when it is my own sins, and not those of Thy other creatures, (5:07) that are the principal cause of this? I desire then, and beg of Thee, by Thy grace, that Thou (5:14) have mercy on Thy people, and I adjure Thee that Thou do this by Thy uncreated love which moved (5:22) Thee Thyself to create man in Thy image and likeness, saying, ‘Let us make man in our own image,’ (5:29) and this Thou didst, O Eternal Trinity, that man might participate in everything belonging to Thee, (5:36) the Most High and Eternal Trinity.
“Wherefore, Thou gavest him memory in order to receive (5:42) Thy benefits, by which he participates in the power of the Eternal Father, and intellect that (5:49) he might know, seeing Thy goodness, and so might participate in the wisdom of Thy Only-Begotten (5:56) Son; and will, that he might love that which his intellect has seen and known of Thy truth, (6:03) thus participating in the clemency of Thy Holy Spirit. What reason hast Thou for creating man (6:09) in such dignity? The inestimable love with which Thou sawest Thy creature in Thyself, and didst (6:16) become enamored of him, for Thou didst create him through love, and didst destine him to be (6:22) such that he might taste and enjoy Thy Eternal Good. I see therefore that through his sin he (6:30) lost this dignity in which thou didst originally place him, and by his rebellion against Thee, (6:37) fell into a state of war with Thy kindness, that is to say, we all became Thy enemies.
“Therefore, (6:44) Thou, moved by that same fire of love with which Thou didst create him, (6:50) didst willingly give man a means of reconciliation, so that after the great rebellion into which he (6:56) had fallen, there should come a great peace; and so Thou didst give him the Only-Begotten Word, (7:04) Thy Son, to be the Mediator between us and Thee. He was our Justice, for He took on Himself (7:11) all of our offenses and injustices, and performed Thy obedience, Eternal Father, which thou didst (7:18) impose on Him, when Thou didst clothe Him with our humanity, our human nature and likeness. (7:25) Oh, abyss of love! What heart can help breaking when it sees such dignity as Thine (7:32) descend to such lowliness as our humanity? We are Thy image, and Thou hast become ours, (7:39) by this union which Thou hast accomplished with man, veiling the Eternal Deity with the cloud of (7:46) woe, and the corrupted clay of Adam. For what reason?-Love. Wherefore, Thou, O God, hast become (7:54) man, and man has become God. By this ineffable love of Thine, therefore, I constrain Thee, (8:02) and implore Thee that Thou do mercy to Thy creatures.” (Reference 1)
(8:06) Now we will go back through, and I will try to explain it a few sentences at a time.
“Then that soul, thirsting and burning with the very great desire that she had conceived on learning the ineffable love of God, shown in His great goodness, and, seeing the breadth of His charity, that, with such sweetness, he had deigned to reply to her request and to satisfy it, giving hope to the sorrow which she had conceived, on account of offenses against God, and the damage of the Holy Church, and through His own mercy, which she saw through self-knowledge, diminished, and yet, at the same time, increased her sorrow.”
Catherine, after learning about how much God (8:54) really loves us, God replied to her request and granted her hope for the sorrow she had conceived.(9:02) She grew more sorrowful for offences against God and the damages being wrought to His Holy Church.
“For, the Supreme and Eternal Father, in manifesting the way of perfection, showed her anew her own guilt, and the loss of souls, as has been said more fully above. Also because in the knowledge which the soul obtains of herself she knows more of God, and knowing the goodness of God in herself, the sweet mirror of God, she knows her own dignity and indignity. Her dignity is that of her creation, seeing that she is the image of God, and this has been given by her grace, and not as her due. In that same mirror of the goodness of God, the soul knows her own indignity, which is the consequence of her own fault. Wherefore, as a man more readily sees spots on his face when he looks in a mirror, so, the soul who, with true knowledge of self, rises with desire, and gazes with the eye of the intellect at herself in the sweet mirror of God, knows better the stains of her own face, by the purity which she sees in Him.”
God showed Catherine again her own guilt, (10:20) and the loss of souls, as we have been discussing in the last fourteen episodes. As the soul (10:26) obtains more knowledge of its own state, it will also, in turn, learn more of God. (10:32) God reminds her that she has been given dignity by her creation. God can only give that. It is (10:40) grace. This is no man’s due. God does not owe us existence. When the soul looks at God in this same (10:48) mirror, we see our own indignity due to our own fault, (our sinfulness.) The soul who truly knows (10:55) themself, and looks at God in this mirror with the eye of its intellect, sees its own sinfulness, (11:02) and recognizes it, because God is pure, and when the two are side by side, it is easy to recognize. (11:09) The soul sees God’s purity, and also it sees its own face, spotted.(11:17)
“Wherefore, because light and knowledge increased in that soul in the aforesaid way, a sweet sorrow grew in her, and at the same time, her sorrow was diminished by the hope which the Supreme Truth gave her, and, as fire grows when it is fed with wood, so grew the fire in that soul to such an extent that it was no longer possible for the body to endure it, without the departure of the soul; so that, had she not been surrounded by the strength of Him who is the Supreme Strength, it would not have been possible for her to have lived any longer. This soul then, being purified by the fire of divine love, which she found in the knowledge of herself and of God, and her hunger for the salvation of the whole world, and for the reformation of the Holy Church, having grown with her hope of obtaining the same, rose with confidence before the Supreme Father, showing him the leprosy of the Holy Church, and the misery of the world.”
This knowledge helped Catherine grow in a sweet (12:24) sorrow. The fire of love grew in Catherine so much, that had God not been surrounding her by (12:31) His strength, her soul would have left her body, and she would have died. God was purifying her (12:37) by Divine Love, which she gained through knowledge of herself and of God, and hunger for the salvation (12:43) of the whole world, and for the proper reformation of the Holy Church, and growing in hope of obtaining (12:50) these things, she speaks to God, as Moses did in the Old Testament.
“saying, as if with the words of Moses, “My Lord, turn the eyes of Thy mercy upon Thy people, (4:11) and upon the mystical body of the Holy Church, for Thou wilt be the more glorified if Thou pardonest (4:17) so many creatures, and givest to them the light of knowledge, since all will render thee praise (4:23) when they see themselves escape, through Thy infinite goodness from the clouds of mortal sin, (4:28) and from eternal damnation; and then Thou wilt not only be praised by my wretched self, (4:36) who have so much offended Thee, and who am the cause and the instrument of all this evil, (4:42) for which reason I pray Thy divine and eternal love to take Thy revenge on me, and to do mercy (4:48) to Thy people, and never will I depart from before Thy presence until I see that Thou (4:54) grantest them mercy. For what is it to me if I have life, and Thy people death, and the clouds (5:01) of darkness cover Thy spouse, when it is my own sins, and not those of Thy other creatures, (5:07) that are the principal cause of this? I desire then, and beg of Thee, by Thy grace, that Thou (5:14) have mercy on Thy people, and I adjure Thee that Thou do this by Thy uncreated love which moved (5:22) Thee Thyself to create man in Thy image and likeness, saying, ‘Let us make man in our own image,’ (5:29) and this Thou didst, O Eternal Trinity, that man might participate in everything belonging to Thee, (5:36) the Most High and Eternal Trinity.”
Mystical body of the Holy Church refers to the following:
The members of the church, the communion of the saints, the living and the suffering and triumphant members, under the headship of Christ, united in a real spiritual body by the supernatural grace of baptism, the members receive graces to fulfill their function under the head, Christ, for their salvation. (Reference 2)
So Catherine is here pleading on our behalf, for God to turn the eyes of His (15:04) mercy on His people and the mystical body of The Church, and begs for all these souls to be shown (15:10) through the light of self-knowledge, their sinful ways, so that they may turn back to God and glorify (15:17) Him and offer Him praise, because He has shown them these things, so that they will escape eternal (15:23) damnation. Then Catherine says not only will she praise Him, but that she will never depart (15:29) from His presence until she sees Him grant them mercy. She says it means nothing for her to live (15:35) and them to die, and the clouds of eternal darkness linger over the Bride of Christ, (15:41) the Spouse of Christ, the Holy Church, the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Catherine (15:48) is saying here that it is her own sins that is the principal cause of the clouds hanging over the (15:55) Bride of Christ, and not the rest of creatures. Again she begs for mercy for us, and points out (16:01) that God’s love was uncreated, and that love that He has always had, moved him to make us in His (16:08) image and likeness in the first place, and that we should participate in everything belonging to Him.
“Wherefore, Thou gavest him memory in order to receive Thy benefits, by which he participates in the power of the Eternal Father, and intellect that he might know, seeing Thy goodness, and so might participate in the wisdom of Thy Only-Begotten Son; and will, that he might love that which his intellect has seen and known of Thy truth, thus participating in the clemency of Thy Holy Spirit. What reason hast Thou for creating man in such dignity? The inestimable love with which Thou sawest Thy creature in Thyself, and didst become enamored of him, for Thou didst create him through love, and didst destine him to be such that he might taste and enjoy Thy Eternal Good. I see therefore that through his sin he lost this dignity in which thou didst originally place him, and by his rebellion against Thee, fell into a state of war with Thy kindness, that is to say, we all became Thy enemies.”
God gave us memory to receive his benefits, (17:24) intellect to know His goodness, and will that we may love that which his intellect has seen (17:31) and known of God’s truth. These three gifts help us to participate in everything belonging to God (17:37) by participating in the power of the Eternal Father, the wisdom of Jesus, and the clemency (17:44) of the Holy Ghost, participation in the Trinity. Through sin we lost our dignity by our own fault, (17:51) through rebellion against God, (just as Satan did at the beginning,) and became His enemy. (17:58) God created us out of an inestimable love, and we rebelled and continuously do every day, (18:06) sometimes all day, and for some more, until their journey on earth ends. What an ungrateful lot we (18:13) truly are! To make war against the perfect God, the One True God, who is Perfection itself, (18:20) and Perfect Love. We are truly in a wretched state.
“Therefore, Thou, moved by that same fire of love with which Thou didst create him, didst willingly give man a means of reconciliation, so that after the great rebellion into which he had fallen, there should come a great peace; and so Thou didst give him the Only-Begotten Word, Thy Son, to be the Mediator between us and Thee. He was our Justice, for He took on Himself all of our offenses and injustices, and performed Thy obedience, Eternal Father, which thou didst impose on Him, when Thou didst clothe Him with our humanity, our human nature and likeness. Oh, abyss of love! What heart can help breaking when it sees such dignity as Thine descend to such lowliness as our humanity? We are Thy image, and Thou hast become ours, by this union which Thou hast accomplished with man, veiling the Eternal Deity with the cloud of woe, and the corrupted clay of Adam. For what reason?-Love. Wherefore, Thou, O God, hast become man, and man has become God. By this ineffable love of Thine, therefore, I constrain Thee, and implore Thee that Thou do mercy to Thy creatures.”
(19:50) But God, with the same fire of love in which He created us, endeavored to give us a means of (19:57) reconciliation. After man’s rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden, He sent us His Only-Begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and us. Jesus Christ took upon Himself, out of love for (20:10) us, all our offenses and injustices, and with them was nailed to the cross on Calvary. He did this (20:17) out of love, so that we may spend an eternity in heaven with Him. If we but cooperate, and are (20:23) Baptized, and follow His commands. He left us very plainly, a Church and a leader of that Church, (20:30) to lead us to everlasting salvation. He left us aids and gifts for our journey along the path (20:36) through this life as well, which we will explore more in future episodes. He did this out of love.(20:44) God became man, and man has become God. Two become one. God became man, so we could be like Him, (20:52) when he looks at us. That is, if we look like Christ.
On the next episode, we will be discussing (21:00) how God grieves over His people, the Christian people, and particularly over His ministers. (21:07)
That will end our episode for today.If you have any questions or comments, you can find my email (21:13) in the contact button below. If you need a Catholic priest, please reach out to me and I (21:19) will help you find one. And now we will end in prayer.
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.
(21:48) Thank you for listening and I will see you on the next episode.
References
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