The Magnificat

Holy Writ ^ | God

[narses]

Indeed. Always, but even more now with Lent approaching, I feel my own weakness and insignificance very much.

[narses]

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Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem;
Creatorem caeli et terrae.

Et in Jesum Christum,
Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum;
qui conceptus est
de Spiritu Sancto,
natus ex Maria virgine;
passus sub Pontio Pilato,
crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus;
descendit ad inferos;
tertia die resurrexit a mortuis;
ascendit ad caelos;
sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis;
inde venturus est
iudicare vivos et mortuos.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum;
sanctam ecclesiam catholicam;
sanctorum communionem;
remissionem peccatorum;
carnis resurrectionem;
vitam aeternam. Amen.

In English:

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
and born of the Virgin Mary,
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
he will come again
to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen

[xzins]

My sole devotional for years was an old tattered copy of Francois Fenelon that I no longer have. Someone sent me a link a few years back.

Fenelon in his 21st letter wrote:

It is a long while since I renewed the assurance of my attachment to you in our Lord. It is, nevertheless, greater than ever. I desire with all my heart that you may always find in your household the peace and consolation which you enjoyed in the beginning. To be content with even the best of people, we must be contented with little and bear a great deal. Those who are most perfect, have many imperfections, and we have great faults, so that between the two, mutual toleration becomes very difficult. We must bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ, (Gal. vi. 2,) thus setting off one against the other in love. Peace and unanimity will be much aided by frequent silence, habitual recollection, prayer, self-abandonment, renunciation of all vain criticisms, and a faithful departure from the vain reflections of a jealous and difficult self-love. To how much trouble would this simplicity put an end! Happy he who neither listens to self nor to the tales of others!

Be content with leading a simple life, according to your condition. Be obedient, and bear your daily cross; you need it, and it is bestowed by the pure mercy of God. The grand point is to despise self from the heart, and to be willing to be despised, if God permits it. Feed upon Him alone; St. Augustine says that his mother lived upon prayer; do you do so likewise, and die to everything else. We can only live to God by the continual death of self.

[narses]

A great man, pe3rhaps indeed a saint. A quote from his work that I like much:

A people is no less a member of the human race, which is society as a whole, than a family is a member of a particular nation. Each individual owes incomparably more to the human race, which is the great fatherland, than to the particular country in which he was born. As a family is to the nation, so is the nation to the universal commonweal; wherefore it is infinitely more harmful for nation to wrong nation, than for family to wrong family. To abandon the sentiment of humanity is not merely to renounce civilization and to relapse into barbarism, it is to share in the blindness of the most brutish brigands and savages; it is not be a man no longer, but a cannibal.

Would that the cannibals among us be brought to the Light of the King of Peace.

[Running On Empty]

I agree with this post, narses.

xzins, I have great respect for you and always welcome your posts. They remind me of Jesus’ words about Nathaniel: “He is a true Israelite; he is man without guile”.

And also, xzins, regarding your postings, I often think of St. John of the Cross who wrote: “The good man thinks well of others, his judgment proceeding from the goodness of his own thoughts.”

[samiam1972]

‘To how much trouble would this simplicity put an end!’ and ‘Be content with leading a simple life...’. How many of us truly do this?

We’ve had a wild couple of months in our household attempting to drastically change the way we live. I have been purging our house of almost everything I can get my hands on. I’m tired of being a manager of stuff and long to live more simply. Simple home, simple food, lots of prayer and lots of work. It has been so liberating!!

[Running On Empty]

:-)

[xzins]

To be content with even the best of people, we must be contented with little and bear a great deal.

Isn't this beautiful?

It says that the very few wonderful moments we have with others are worth the very many difficult moments we have with them. As Ten Bears would say, "There is iron in those words."

[samiam1972]

That is beautiful! Reminds me of my relationship with my husband and children. Ha!

I’ve just started reading ‘Happy Are You Poor, The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom’ by Thomas Dubay. I can already tell it will have highlighter marks, scribbles in the margins and will have to be read several times for me to glean everything from it that I possibly can. I am addicted to simplicity in every area of my life.

[Not gonna take it anymore]

http://tinyurl.com/4f2uw8p

Watch this, I love it.