Spiritual consolation is like an affirmation of love. It’s similar to showing or telling someone, “I love you.” The only difference is that with spiritual consolation Jesus is the one expressing that love to you. He gives you feelings of love out of His perfect goodness. Our natural response then is to reciprocate that expression of love by replying in prayer, “I love you too.”

Desolation is like a moment of silence in a love relationship. No words are spoken but no less love is exchanged. It is a quiet moment when we wonder what the other person is thinking or we may even question if the other person is truly present with us at all. Even if we venture to speak the words, “I love you” we may not hear them in return. The only difference in spiritual desolation is that Jesus is silent for our good.

Like most simple definitions, it’s a good place to start but it brings up more questions. To fully understand the implications of this love relationship with God one must consider the magnitude of having a relationship with the almighty, all-knowing, all-loving, eternal God in contrast to having relationships with purely ordinary, knowing, loving, temporal people^[1] . Both are persons but in the case of Jesus the person is also God and therefore perfect in all things especially love. Indeed, God is love itself. That means that every expression, action and movement or lack of the same must be from the pure motive of perfect love. In an ordinary relationship if we were to say, “I love you” but not hear that reciprocated, the natural thing to think or feel is to doubt the other person’s sincerity in that relationship or wonder if that person is holding a grudge. To continue loving another in this kind of ordinary relationship would mean unrequited love and would demand fortitude that few people can sustain long term. Knowingly entering into marriage under these circumstances would seem like a mistake. And this is where the problem in the analogy happens.

Earthly marriage is like spiritual marriage but not the same. The spiritual relationship and indeed marriage of the soul to God is never unrequited even in times of desolation (consider also that it is we who reciprocate love since God is the originator and author of love and we are made in His image). In fact, it is impossible to keep another from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). Only the act of our free will can separate us from God. Now we are beginning to understand the point of desolation since the only factor in this love relationship that we have control of is our free will to love as perfectly as possible. Not just the good of reciprocal love, which is love for love given, but rather the perfection of love for love’s sake. This is the point of desolation; to reveal to us the disposition of our hearts toward God through trials because He wants for us to join Him in His perfect love by loving perfectly without provocation. So, during desolation (as at all times) we have the choice of doing nothing or continuing to love Jesus and pray the same as if we had received consolation. For whether we sense it or not, the Love of God is as constant as the rays of the Sun continually shining on all of us indiscriminately. The difference is simply whether we acknowledge it and continue to trust Him.

Share on Facebook

1. This is from Therese of Avila rather than from Ignatius. Interior Mansions pg. 44

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Share on Facebook

This post is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Password:

Share on Facebook

La Gioconda AKA Mona Lisa, da Vinci 1503-1506, Cropped to bust, bevel indicates portion shown on The da Vinci Code book cover

In some ways art influences the way we think and in other ways the way we think influences art. In the Renaissance age most art was Christian because the Church was such a great patron to the arts. In the twentieth century art reflected modernism and industrialism. Today art is diverse and eclectic with influences from every corner of the globe largely because of commerce and the Internet. This frenzied exchange of data is accelerating the ebb and tide between cultural expression and pop culture. Which begs the question, are TV, Movies and the Internet an accurate reflection of who we are or are the images helping to shape who we are becoming? It seems that whoever patrons the arts and the media in particular have the steering wheel of the age and of cultural identity.

One recent shift in the tide or turn of the culture wheel seems to be when our attention shifted from the Mona Lisa’s smile to her eyes. The beauty of the Mona Lisa was chiefly in her smile as many a poet has mused. Her smile leads us to wonder what she was thinking. In contrast, has anyone ever written a poem about Mona Lisa’s eyes? Nevertheless today’s graphic art has little to no concern for her smile. Instead, today’s popular art is concerned with the eyes and with appearances. In other words it’s all about superficiality. There was one image in particular that epitomized this shift. Remember the image that popularized that insipid book The da Vinci Code? It was the image of the Mona Lisa with her mouth torn away. She was robbed of the central thing that made that work famous. She was unable to speak and this is precisely what the book attempted to do in words. It presented only the details that Dan Brown wanted us to see and which he pronounced as the whole truth. The image was a dead giveaway that the masterpieces which he hijacked for his plot wouldn’t get a chance to tell the whole story. I am surprised that feminists didn’t object to the image of the Mona Lisa as a woman whose mouth had been torn, hidden or stolen away; a woman whose voice had been squelched. But then again that woman is really not the feminine mystique that feminists protect but rather the Catholic Church (reasoned by the books content not the image of the Mona Lisa).

Contrast this with the Renaissance age of art when the beauty in the master painter’s works spoke the gospel truth loud and clear. Pope Benedict XVI, addressed the artists of the world last November (Nov 22 2009 Vatican City) saying, “Christianity from its earliest days has recognized the value of the arts and has made wise use of their varied language to express her unvarying message of salvation.” It wasn’t that long ago that beauty in art still invited the observer to lift his mind and heart toward heaven. Pope Benedict continues, “What is capable of restoring enthusiasm and confidence, what can encourage the human spirit to rediscover its path, to raise its eyes to the horizon, to dream of a life worthy of its vocation – if not beauty?” And what more beautiful things are there than heaven and salvation? Indeed, Pope Benedict concludes, “Art, in all its forms, at the point where it encounters the great questions of our existence, … can take on a religious quality, thereby turning into a path of profound inner reflection and spirituality.” It’s no wonder that the Church is still the custodian of some of the world’s greatest and most renowned masterpieces including the Sistine chapel ceiling, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Notre Dame, the Thinker, The Last Supper, and the list goes on and on and on.

In architecture there are some Gothic basilicas with ornate flying buttresses that render the totality of the whole construction so visually poetic they soar beyond architecture and pierce the heart on their way toward heaven. This is what truly great art should do. It should make you gasp in awe of grandeur not in shock of obscenity. It shouldn’t just peak the interest with hidden puzzles and pseudo-religious-neo-pagan-socio-psycho-political-mind-babble. Some of that stuff can seem fun or engaging but mostly it pales in relation to the beauty in the works of the masters. The reason the masters works endure is because the subject satisfied deep desires of the soul rather than shallow desires of the flesh or the world. Here let me quote Pope Benedict XVI one more time, “Beauty, whether that of the natural universe or that expressed in art, precisely because it opens up and broadens the horizons of human awareness, pointing us beyond ourselves, bringing us face to face with the abyss of Infinity, can become a path towards the transcendent, towards the ultimate Mystery, towards God.”

Achieving the transcendent in art requires freedom not just in liberties and rights recognized by the law of a good nation but by the good choices of people unfettered by the chains of materialism and unconditioned by the cardinal rule of modernism, which may be summed up as ‘think free as long as you don’t think as the Church thinks’. Anyone can see that such a rule has not the ultimate and complete freedom that it pretends. In contrast the Church says ‘wherever the truth is, recognize it, acknowledge it, and believe it.’ I can find little or no truth in tearing off the smile of the Mona Lisa (tearing it off just smacks of truth killers and silencers like socialism and communism). But I can find truth in protecting her smile and wondering of what beautiful thing she was thinking. It’s not a question of relativity like beauty belonging to the eye of the beholder but considering that the internet is a great gallery of parading images the beholder may get the last word. It may be that the new patron of the arts is the people and that their payment is their praise. Therefore pray that soon many artists will, by their free choice, concede that their responsibility is greater than themselves and more valuable than the praise of their peers. Pray that these will realize that the pinnacle and purpose of art is not to honor creation or creativity rather it is to honor the creator.

Read the whole story of the popes meeting with artists as reported by the Vatican Information Service.

Sources:
VIS – Nov 23 2009
The Catholic Association

Share on Facebook

Liturgical meaning is explicit:
First let me clearly state that I have no formal training in the transcription or translation of Latin into English. I have done my best with a few Latin dictionaries to make this translation admittedly with a Catholic world view (that was also prevalent in Helinandus’ day and which he undoubtedly held as a Roman Catholic monk). I believe that the essence of what Helenandus was trying to convey is decently reflected here but at the same time I welcome any professional advice given in charity from better qualified individuals.

I noticed that where certain words had several choices of meanings that some might make explicit references to the liturgy of the Mass. Also some phrases are clearer when understood from a Catholic perspective of the Holy Eucharist. For instance the Latin word “dapes” may be translated as “sacrificial feast/meal” or more plainly as “banquet”. Some dictionaries offer even “meal of meat”. In other words we are talking about real flesh or meat.

Then there is also the coupling of the term “preciosae” with “dapes” which is clearly defined as “precious”. Is it a coincidence that Catholics refer to one species of the Eucharist as the Precious Blood?

The meal is served “gradatim” from which we can see that the word “gradale” or “gradalis” is derived (Gradale as etymologists inform us is where we get the term grail as in Holy Grail). “Gradatim” literally means step-by-step or gradual. The Holy Mass is said and prayed in step-by-step fashion and the oldest of the four important chants of the Mass is called the Gradual. The name Gradual came from the medieval practice of singing a psalm while standing on the set of steps leading to the Ambo. Not all the way up the steps but on the way up… gradually ascending them.

Consider also that when the common people partake of this meal they are thankful. The Latin word “grata” means thanks as does the Greek word “Eucharist” which we name our Blessed Sacrament. This is the proper way to approach the Most Holy Eucharist, with a humble and contrite heart, with thanksgiving.

But most compelling is not a single word or a pairing of words but a repeated phrase, “and so by means of its content.” From this phrase we see that it is not the grail itself that gives the rich and the poor alike the reason to be thankful. It is not for the glorification of the grail itself that it should be decorated lavishly. Rather it is that precious sacrifice which the grail contains which merits veneration (cf Matthew 23:20-22). Of course the mere fact that Christ used it makes it a relic par excellence!

From these translations and considering that Helinandus was a Cistercian monk who would certainly have understood the liturgical references in his choice of words, I believe it is a reasonable conclusion that the term “gradale” from its very beginning was blessed with a deep liturgical meaning.

Original Latin:
Hoc tempore (717-719) in Britannia cuidam heremitae demonstrata fuit [monstrata est] mirabilis quaedam visio per angelum de [santo] Ioseph decurione nobili, qui corpus Domini deposuit de cruce et de catino illo vel [sive] paropside, in quo Domius caenavit cum discipulis suis, de quo ab eodem heremita descripta est historia quae dicitur gradale [de gradali]. Gradalis autem vel [sive] gradale gallice dicitur scutella lata et aliquantulum profunda, in qua preciosae dapes [add: cum suo jure] divitibus solent apponi gradatim, unus morsellus post alium in diversis ordinibus. Dicitur et vulgari nomine greal [graalz], quia grata et acceptabilis est in ea comedenti, tum propter continens, quia forte argentea est vel de alia precioso materia, tum propter contentum .i. [id est] ordinem multiplicem dapium preciosarum. Hanc historiam latine scriptam invenire non potui sed tantum gallice scripta habetur a quibusdem proceribus, nec facil, ut aiunt, tota inveniri potest.

Resources:
Introduction, The Grail Legend by Emma Jung, Marie Louise von Franz, pg 29
Concerning the Word Graal Greal, Modern Philology, March 1916 pg 185
Latin – English translations:
- Pocket Oxford LATIN Dictionary, Oxford University Press Inc., New York
- Catholic Archives
- Starz21 Online Translator
- Translation Guide Online Translator
New Advent
Ancient Texts

Share on Facebook

1. implied by context of the preceding entry I presume
2. some texts have the word Sancto which means saint
3. decurione – means senator.
4. From scripture we know that Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Sanhedrin and it is this status which gained him access to request the body of Jesus and gave him the means for His burial. Luke 23:50-53 Matthew 27:57-60 John 19:38
5. it may or may not have been extant at the time Helinandus wrote this
6. Gall – from Gallic meaning of or pertaining to France
7. some translate grata as agreeable because of the phonetic similarity but this doesn’t exist in the Latin pronunciation
8. Gallice – from Gallic meaning of or pertaining to France

Leap of Faith from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

While on vacation at Copper Canyon my daughter, noticing the cliff jumpers, asked if I would ever do something like that. Indeed in my younger days I had done that and worse. Wanting to show her a side of myself that I have never shown her before, I crossed over to the cliff and promptly ascended the path to the highest point from where none in our company had yet flung themselves. At the top there were a few people trying to muster the courage to jump and I asked them, “It is deep enough right? I mean people have done this and survived right?” Indeed I had seen a few people not in our party jump from this height earlier. I looked down at the water and saw that there were patches of discolorations and from this was able to discern the deep areas. After that I leaned forward and with a great push of my legs leaped of the ledge. The plummet was fast, the landing furious and the fanfare glorious. Never have I considered that leap foolish, since I ascertained the degree of safety before hand. Certainly there was some risk but all the while I was assured by the actions of the people that had gone before me. The leap of faith is just like this leap at Copper Canyon; it is certified by the Tradition of those saints who precede us.

At this I expect that modernists will point to the classic example of the Brooklyn Bridge jumpers saying, “If everybody jumped of the Brooklyn Bridge that still wouldn’t make it right.” First, the leap of faith is nothing like the Brooklyn Bridge. Those who jump off the Brooklyn Bridge or travel down the Niagara Falls in a barrel are in no way assured of their safety. They are the extreme, the fringe of society who in no way characterize the lives of the saints. Second, not everyone… not even a majority of this culture is exactly standing in line to take the leap of faith. Really, when was the last time you looked at the red and white martyrs of the faith and said, “Ooo! There’s something everyone is lining up to do, I can’t wait for my turn!?”

Share on Facebook

1. Let us for the time being suspend the modernist argument that we cannot trust our senses and for the sake of this argument accept that the man is in fact supported by the chair. The reality of the common empirical experience of sitting in chairs should suffice for any rational person.

Share on Facebook

For this post during the week of Christmas I would like to share with you a short quotation from the late Bishop Fulton Sheen whose cause is being considered for canonized sainthood.

“What a lesson nature teaches about selflessness! Clouds, playing like lambs in the pastures of the sky, never keep their treasures of moisture to themselves, but pour them out in the beautiful benediction of rain to a thirsty earth. No drop of water leads a selfish life. There is no breeze without its mission. Human lives were not sent into this world as ornaments. God has prettier things for that purpose. As the bird that sings for others gladdens its own heart with song, as rivers flee the decay of stagnant self-content to service the mighty ocean, as the sun burns itself out to light a world, so does everything – man included – become good by doing good to others.

But if we are to do good to others, they must be loved for God’s sake. No moral profit comes from doing good to another because “she can get it for us wholesale” or from giving gifts to others because of the pleasure they give us. There is not even great merit in doing good to those who love us. “If you love those who love you, what reward is there in that? Do not sinners do the same?” (Luke 6:32). The greatest spiritual profit comes from loving those who hate us, and from giving gifts and dinners to those who cannot give anything in return, for then recompense will be made in the Kingdom of heaven (cf Luke 14:12-14).”^[1]

This is just what God the Father has done for us by sending to us His only begotten Son, we who have nothing except that which is already His, we who are not always His friend but have been His betrayer by our sins. Yet He gives us Jesus anyway for He loves us to such a perfect extent. What then should be our response to this perfect love? Shouldn’t it be the same as Mary’s at the annunciation? Shouldn’t we say yes to God with our whole selves^[2] ? This is one of the reasons why I think the national holiday of Thanksgiving is appropriately placed the month before Christmas and it initiates Advent with a right spirit of thankfulness. Thank you God for your wondrous, perfect and Holy goodness. Thank you God for redeeming us in Christ. Thank you God. Alleluia!

RESOURCES:
A great Christmas Message from Bishop Fulton Sheen prepared by Catholic speakers Mathew Arnold and Terry Barber: Saint Joe Podcast – God Love You – Christ Was Pre-Announced

Share on Facebook

1. Way to Inner Peace, Fulton J. Sheen, Alba House NY – Society of Saint Paul Inc., 1995
2. The Compendium to the Catechism says that our response to God should be an “obedience of faith, which means the full surrender of ourselves to God and the acceptance of his truth, insofar as it is guaranteed by the One who is Truth itself.” CCC 142-143

Presently, Tim was entertained by shooting three and a half minute movies with a super-8 camera that belonged to a classmate who was awkward in his own way. This was an expensive hobby. Many times Tim would save his allowance or beg an advance from his mother so he could buy or develop film. Sometimes he even shoveled snow for a neighbor to earn the cash for more film. Tim began to get so involved in this creativity that he forgot about not feeling a part of the family and about not being noticed for being good at anything. The films he shot probably only made sense to him since much of it was imaginary or pretend. But it didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was that he could set up something on camera, shoot it and then days later he could see it enlarged on the wall by a projector that he borrowed from the local library. This is one hobby that didn’t seem to bore him and gave him the occasional excuse to dig out those toys that he was supposed to be too old to play with since they made good characters to animate with stop motion.

Yet on those days when there wasn’t enough money to buy film, when his friend with the camera wasn’t available or when the mood just wasn’t right Tim would get bored and feel sorry for him self. Boredom and self pity make a poor match that motivates people to make irrevocable mistakes. Such was the case only two weeks before Christmas. Tim was home by himself and he knew where his mother hid the Christmas presents. He snuck in the hallway closet and lifted the trap door to the laundry shoot that had long ago been sealed off. Sure enough, through the shadows Tim’s hands groped a present and felt that it was wrapped. Was it meant for him or his brother? He convinced himself that it was probably meant for Todd and that it wouldn’t make a difference if he snuck a peak at it. So he pulled the box out of the cubby hole and delicately pealed back the tape which only slightly pulled off some of the paper design without ripping the paper. He then unfolded the wrapping and the packaging became visible. In the dim and yellowed light of the hallway Tim could make out the word; Sanyo. “Whatever it is”, he thought, “it’s electronic and that means it’s probably for Todd because he always gets the better presents like stereos and boom boxes.” He had to know for sure, what kind of electronic thing this was so Tim unwrapped the gift a little bit further and then he saw it. All at once excitement and fear ran through him at the same time. It was for him! The gift really was for him! There pictured beneath the word Sanyo was an 8mm movie camera and this one recorded sound! For what felt like an hour he gawked at the wondrous trophy that he had stolen at that moment. How did his mother know what to get him when he him self didn’t even know what he wanted? And then other thoughts descended on him from his conscience that he had been far too late in listing to. Oh how in this world was he ever going to keep this secret and how was he ever going to put on a convincing act on Christmas day when his mother hands him the box that he had already opened? With that thought, Tim almost cried but the idea of getting the wrapping paper wet was enough to keep the tears from falling on it. He sighed heavily all through repairing the wrapping and replacing the gift in that dim little cubby.

Although the gift was now rewrapped and it was again hidden from sight, it was never far from his mind what he had done. Not only had he robbed himself of the joy of opening this gift on Christmas but he had robbed his family of the joy of seeing him open it too. He couldn’t bear to be found out. He didn’t want his thievery known, so he vowed to conjure up just the right mix of drama and surprise to keep his brother and mother from knowing. He rehearsed over and over again until he couldn’t tell what seemed realistic and what was plainly false. Before Tim had skulked around and opened his present he had dreams of Christmas morning with the whole family in their pajamas on the floor around the lighted Christmas tree laughing and playing but now that was all poisoned. Now each day that passed was one day closer to a fate he couldn’t avoid. Every day that came closer to Christmas was a day closer to a morning he would have to fill with lies and deceit. He would have to feign laughter and fake joy and it made him sick to his stomach. Each day Tim wanted to just tell his family what he had done just so he could end the agony of waiting till Christmas to put on an act, an act he just didn’t have the heart for. In fact he lost his heart for Christmas altogether. How he wished he could undo what he had done. How he wished that he could turn back time and get a second chance at saving this surprise. Why did it have to be a movie camera? Why couldn’t it be a puzzle, a book or some socks or something? That, he thought, wouldn’t have been such a big deal. Or why couldn’t it have been for Todd? That would be a secret he could keep. But no, it was too late and he couldn’t turn back. Tim would just have to fake it.

It finally came. Christmas finally arrived and with it dread and a nervous feeling in Tim’s gut where excitement and joy should be. For most of the morning he put on a good act and was suspiciously more pleasant than usual, offering to clean up or get more coffee for his mom. With each present that came his way fear shot through him until he nearly ran out of fear. And then it happened. Todd handed Tim the box. Tim recognized it instantly but tried to play it off with something like, “what’s this another present for me?” “Well open it why don’t you?” Todd recommended. So Tim held his breath which was already at the top of his lungs and ripped at the paper then saw the camera for the first time in plain light. He had forgotten everything he practiced. He couldn’t gasp in awe so the best he could do was exclaim, “Wow! A movie camera.” But it wasn’t at all convincing. As he sat there looking at the box his mother prompted him to open it. Opening it he seemed rather quite, too quite for this kind of gift. He tried to convince himself that they had bought his poor little act but another part of him didn’t want to get away with it anymore. He slowly took the camera and microphone from their packaging while wrestling with his thoughts and feelings. Finally Todd broke the silence, “If you’re not going to say something then I will. You knew about the camera didn’t you?” Tim expected Todd and their mother to be condemning but they weren’t. They could see confused emotions all over Tim’s face so they were very delicate about asking. Then Tim replied, “Yes, it’s true.” And he told them the whole story about how he had peaked and what it made him feel like. He apologized to them and said, “Most of all I feel like I robbed you of something special. Mom, I still can’t figure out how you even knew that I wanted a movie camera when I didn’t even know that myself.” To that Tim’s mother replied, “Oh mothers know a little something about their children. And do you know what else I know Tim? You think you have stolen Christmas from us but you haven’t. We have something else for you.” She went behind the couch and pulled out another bigger box with the same wrapping paper and set it in front of him. Tim tore at the paper and revealed a gift that made him gawk in wonder. He gasped; he pressed his hands to his cheeks shaking his head from side to side like it just wasn’t real. And then he started to weep ever so slightly. There in front of him was a dual recording sound movie projector. They had done it, they had truly surprised him and he received their gift with a kind of humility that was deeper than anything he could have planned. Like the prodigal son, he didn’t deserve any gifts after what he had done and yet they lavished more and more upon him. In his stocking he found stuffed several rolls of film and a book about the special effects of cinema. The more he tried to avoid it, the more Christmas found him, not in the many gifts or their fine quality but in way Todd and their mother gave them. What great joy they received in giving them and in seeing Tim open them!

This is the true meaning of Christmas. It’s not found so much in surprises and secrets, fancy wrapping or fine feasts. To be fair, there are ways of finding Christmas in those things too but here in this story we find the meaning of Christmas in a gift joyfully given in full knowledge of the undeserving. For this is the perfect love of God that while we were still sinners he came to us (cf Romans 5:8). He came in the flesh of our flesh and was born in a dirty, smelly manger of a place and was wrapped in swaddling clothes. He came to us while we were neck deep in the filth of our lies, corruption and deceit. Just as Tim was struggling that day to make some sense of the sublime way his mother and brother had given him things he didn’t deserve… not just material things but more lofty things like love and mercy… just like that, so too does this world struggle to understand the inestimable gift of God himself on Christmas day.

This may seem like a good place to leave this true story that really happened to this author but there is just a tiny bit more to tell because the gift kept on giving long after Todd and Tim’s mother had died. Tim was a young man and wanted to marry Becca but didn’t have the means. Since super-8 equipment was starting to catch the eyes of collectors Tim sold his prized camera and projector for just enough cash to buy a modest engagement ring and Becca and Tim were wed just two days after Christmas. Now, the same joy that his family felt in giving to him, Tim feels each time he sees that ring on Becca’s finger.

Share on Facebook

An every day life example of vigilance might be the ant problem that we battle annually near the tail end of summer and into the early fall. While I know that Raid and other toxic chemical concoctions have the long lasting effect of eradicating the vermin we choose not to use such toxins. So in season we fight the battle of the ants almost daily, with safer more green alternatives. The ants stop for a while and then they come back. This goes on for a few weeks until the ants finally give up. It’s a frustrating experience but if we gave in and used the toxic stuff who knows what affect that would have on us in the long run. And that’s what these battles are about; the long run not just the immediate gain of a few yards but the cumulative gain of a first down, the taking of a hill, the conquering of vice. Once the ants are gone I have a sigh of relief but I start looking for other areas where they might shift their activity. It’s the same way with demons who will try to gain a toehold anywhere they can. That’s why I think it’s important to reinforce the message that you should never give out… never give in… and never give up. And if we loose ground its important to remember that the goal is a first down, then a touchdown and then the final score. Don’t give up your prayer life, not when your tired while the going is tough and not when when your bored while the going is easy. Vigilance is twenty-for-seven.

The fictional character Rocky is exemplary in this respect. In the original movie Rocky and in the newest movie Rocky Balboa, his goal was less to win than it was to “go the distance”. Finishing the race was wining and that kind of winning only comes by getting up when you’re knocked down. Sylvester Stallone wrote it this way in the new movie, “But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” Saint Paul said something like it too. He said to run the good race (NAB).

2 Timothy 4:7

7I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

And

1 Corinthians 9:24

24Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain.

Prayer is a battle of constant vigilance. So pray, even when you think you can’t… even after you have been knocked down… just open your heart, then open your mouth and speak to God. He knows you are knocked down and He’ll lift you up.

A good prayer for deliverance is the Our father since it ends with “deliver us from evil,” but here I would like to share with you O Saving Victim (O Sal­u­tar­is Hos­tia – written by Saint Thomas Aquinas), which is generally sung at the Exposition or Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

O saving Victim, open wide
The gate of Heaven to man below;
Our foes press on from every side;
Your aid supply; Your strength bestow.

To your great Name be endless praise;
Immortal Godhead, One in Three;
Grant us, for endless length of days,
In our true native land to be.

Share on Facebook