Join Fr. Joseph Michael Mary as he reflects upon the Message of Our Lady of Fatima.

So many find it fashionable to quote her…how many have the courage to truly read her?  Someone asked me once why I love Flannery O’Connor?   At first, I wasn’t sure how to answer.  She is a challenge.  I suppose she islike your favorite fitness trainer; when you’re done you feel something has changed.  Reading Flannery causes you to look in the mirror; watch out you may not like what you see.  She causes you to practice the virtues in a way you may never have thought; so that when you encounter a moral challenge in life, you’ve already “flexed your virtue muscles”.  And isn’t that the key to great literature anyway?  “A Good Man Is Hard

To Find” was the first short story I read by Flannery…it was the first serious short story I had ever read (what a piece to cut your teeth on).   I was 13…I didn’t get it.  I read “Wiseblood” at 16…I didn’t get it.  At 48, do I get it?  I think I’ll leave that to God to answer.
Do I think she is a saint?  Yup, no doubt in my mind.  Will the Church ever declare her a saint…I don’t know, and in the end does it really matter what we think…God’s got her.

Here’s a little piece I found on her life…not great, but not bad..

Here is an “Inside the Pages” discussion with Amy Welborn about Flannery O’Connor
[powerpress url=”http://discerninghearts.com/interviews/Inside_the_Pages-Amy_Welborn_Flannery_O_Connor.mp3″]Download (right click & choose “Save Link As”)

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Here is an absolute GEM!!!!! The “Happy Catholic” Julie Davis told me that an audio was available of Flannery O’Connor actually reading “A Good Man is Hard to Find” …and indeed there was (is…whatever). This was recorded shortly before her death of lupus at a talk given at Vanderbilt University. Take a listen to the “Master” in her own voice…priceless!

Fr. Solanus Casey…what an incredible life of humilty and faith.  “When Father Solanus Casey died in Detroit in 1957, all he left after 86 years on this earth were a small crucifix, an old pair of sandals, several religious pictures, a wooden statue of St. Anthony, some dog-eared religious books, a knot of heavily darned socks and a framed, 40-year-old picture of his family. But he left another rich legacy — a long list of curious “favors” to an equally long list of devoted believers.

Father Solanus Casey had come to Detroit to be a Capuchin friar. During his years as a priest he spent time in other states, but he began and ended his career in Detroit.”

To discover more about this ordinary man who did extraordinary things with the grace of God…just visit the Father Solanus Guild

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Also you may want to take a listen to the interview Bruce and I had with Joel Schorn who wrote about Fr. Solanus, Padre Pio and Blessed Andre  in “God’s Doorkeepers”

 

This was filmed at Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary which is located in the Gargano Mountains at San Giovanni Rotondo. At times there is an atmosphere of playfulness redolent of the Fioretti of St Francis. At the end, they are obviously teasing him about the camera and he hits the cameraman with his cincture. We see him in the refectory and in the Church, and there are scenes of his brothers dealing with the massive postbag which he generated. Starting at 4’23” there is some footage of Padre Pio as celebrant at Tridentine Latin Mass.

THE INTERIOR CASTLE
OR
THE MANSIONS
By
St. Teresa of Avila

The Fifth Mansions Chapter 1:  [powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

1. Graces of the fifth mansions. 2. Contemplation to be striven for. 3. Physical effects of the Prayer of union. 4. Amazement of the intellect. 5. The Prayer of union and of quiet contrasted. 6. Divine and earthly union. 7. Competent directors in these matters. 8. Proof of union. 9. Assurance left in the soul. 10. Divine union beyond our Power to obtain.

Translated from the Autograph of St. Teresa of Jesus by
The Benedictines of Stanbrook
Thomas Baker, London [1921]
Dom Michael Barrett, O.S.B.Censor Deputatuus
Nihil Obstat:✠ Edward Apostolic Administrator Birmingham, Oscott.
February 24, 1921

THE INTERIOR CASTLE
OR
THE MANSIONS
By
St. Teresa of Avila

The Fifth Mansions Chapter 3:  [powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

1. Zeal for souls left by divine union. 2. The soul may fall from such a state. 3. How divine union may always be obtained. 4. Union with the will of God the basis of all supernatural union. 5. Advantage of union gained by self-mortification. 6. Defects which hinder this union. 7. Divine union obtained by perfect love of God and our neighbour. 8. Love for God and our neighbour are proportionate. 9. Real and imaginary virtues. 10. Illusionary good resolutions. 11. Works, not feelings, procure union. 12. Fraternal charity will certainly gain this union.

Translated from the Autograph of St. Teresa of Jesus by
The Benedictines of Stanbrook
Thomas Baker, London [1921]
Dom Michael Barrett, O.S.B.Censor Deputatuus
Nihil Obstat:✠ Edward Apostolic Administrator Birmingham, Oscott.
February 24, 1921

Find more on Fr. Flanagan here

Prayer to St. Benedict

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O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God’s grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention it), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.

Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.

 

For more on the life of St. Benedict visit his Discerning Hearts page

THE INTERIOR CASTLE
OR
THE MANSIONS
By
St. Teresa of Avila

The Sixth Mansions Chapter 10:

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For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

1. Reasons for speaking of these supernatural favours. 2. An intellectual vision. 3. God compared to a palace in which His creatures dwell. 4. Forgive as we are forgiven. 5. The vision shows God to be Truth itself. 6. We should imitate God by truthfulness. 7. Why God reveals these truths.

Translated from the Autograph of St. Teresa of Jesus by
The Benedictines of Stanbrook
Thomas Baker, London [1921]
Dom Michael Barrett, O.S.B.Censor Deputatuus
Nihil Obstat:✠ Edward Apostolic Administrator Birmingham, Oscott.
February 24, 1921