|
Showing 1 - 25 of
934 matches in All Departments
|
Saint Cajetan (Paperback)
George Herbert Ely; Edited by Brother Hermenegild Tosf; R. De Maulde De Claviere
|
R384
Discovery Miles 3 840
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
Saint Cajetan lived in Rome in the early 1500s. He went to Venice
and then returned to Rome to found the order of the Theatines.
Saint Teresa of Avila wrote many letters, which are collected here.
Her correspondence was most extensive, including bishops,
archbishops, kings, ladies of rank, gentlemen of the world, abbots,
priors, nuncios, her confessors, her brothers and sisters, rectors
of colleges, fathers provincial of the Society of Jesus, nuns and
superiors of her convents and monasteries, learned doctors of
different religious orders, and even most eminent saints, such as
.St. Peter of Alcantara, St. Francis Borgia, St. John of the Cross,
&c. In the Letters of St. Teresa it seems to me that all her
admirable endowments, both of nature and of grace, can be more
clearly discovered than in any of her other works. When we peruse
her Life, or The Interior Castle, one is at first inclined to
imagine that the Saint was altogether unearthly, unfit for the
cares and troubles of life that all her time must have been spent
in holding sweet converse with her Beloved, and sighing for the
hour when she should be united with Him for ever, and that visions
and raptures must have engrossed all the powers of her soul.
Others, again, might fancy that the Saint must have been very
grave, austere, solemn, exceedingly scrupulous, and given to
melancholy. Some might also be inclined to believe that she was
quite an enthusiast, led away by the ardent temperament of her
character, or the vagaries of an unsteady imagination. But how
quickly are such erroneous ideas scattered, when we read her
admirable Letters. They soon convince us that the Saint possessed
what we call common sense" in a most remarkable manner that so fur
from being an enthusiast, she was endowed with a solidity of
judgment, and a prudence and sweetness in all her actions, which
won the admiration of everyone; that she was so careful to guard
against melancholy, as never to allow any one to enter the Order
who seemed to be the least infected with it. With regard to
herself, we shall see, by perusing her Letters, that she was
cheerfulness itself, even in the midst of her greatest trials and
afflictions, and withal exceedingly witty, lively, and jocose;
indeed, her naivetr is one of the greatest charms of her Letters.
These will show us, too, that her raptures and visions did not, in
the least, interfere with her ordinary duties, for she was an
excellent and most admirable woman of business. Considering her
numerous labours, duties, journeys, sicknesses, and infirmities, is
it not surprising how she could find time to carry on such an
extensive correspondence? Juan de Palafox, the celebrated bishop of
Osma, remarks, "that it was principally by her Letters the Saint
was enabled to effect the reform of the Carmelite Order."
THE LITTLE BOOK OF ETERNAL WISDOM is among the best of the writings
of Blessed Henry Suso, a priest of the Order of St. Dominic, who
lived a life of wonderful labours and sufferings, and died in the
Fourteenth century with a reputation for sanctity which the Church
has solemnly confirmed. Gregory XVI. granted to the whole Order of
St. Dominic the privilege of celebrating his office, and of
offering the Mass yearly in his honour, appointing the Second of
March for his festival. The Order of St. Dominic, known in the
Church both as the Order of Truth and the Order of Preachers, so
rich in pontiffs, martyrs, and confessors, is also illustrious for
its theologians, its ascetic writers, its great masters of the
spiritual life. Its mystic theologians stand in the first rank of
those who have scaled the wondrous heights of sublime perfection.
Not only have they stood on the mountain tops of the spiritual
life, but they have pointed out, with a clearness surpassed by no
other writers, the path of ascent, marking for the unwary its every
danger. The wiles of the enemy are exposed; where, when, and how he
seeks to accomplish our ruin. Our defence is first outlined, and
then given in detail. The source of strength is pointed out, and
thus the perilous journey may safely be made.
This is a fifteen volume set, which is being brought back into
print for the edification of the Faithful. Anyone who wishes to
appreciate the timeless Tridentine Mass and liturgy will find this
set a valuable aid in that endeavor. Dom Gueranger has produced a
most excellent work, which began the liturgical movement. We pray
that this set of books will bring many more to a true appreciation
of the Latin Mass and the Divine Office of the Catholic Church. At
one time, under the impulse of that Spirit, which animated the
admirable Psalmist and the Prophets, she takes the subject of her
canticles from the Books of the Old Testament; at another, showing
herself to be the daughter and sister of the holy Apostles, she
intones the canticles written in the Books of the New Covenant; and
finally, remembering that she, too, has had given to her the
trumpet and harp, she at times gives way to the Spirit which
animates her, and sings her own new canticle. From these three
sources comes the divine element which we call the Liturgy. The
Prayer of the Church is, therefore, the most pleasing to the ear
and heart of God, and therefore the most efficacious of all
prayers. Happy, then, is he who prays with the Church, and unites
his own petitions with those of this Spouse, who is so dear to her
Lord, that he gives her all she asks. It was for this reason that
our Blessed Saviour taught us to say our Father, and not my Father;
give us, forgive us, deliver us, and not give me, forgive me,
deliver me. Hence, we find that, for upwards of a thousand years,
the Church, who prays in her temples seven times in the day, and
once again during the night, did not pray alone. The people kept
her company, and fed themselves with delight on the manna which is
hidden under the words and mysteries of the divine Liturgy. Thus
initiated into the sacred Cycle of the mysteries of the Christian
year, the faithful, attentive to the teachings of the Spirit, came
to know the secrets of eternal life; and, without any further
preparation, a Christian was not unfrequently chosen by the Bishops
to be a Priest, or even a Bishop, that he might go and pour out on
the people the treasures of wisdom and love, which he had drunk in
at the very fountain-head. For whilst Prayer said in union with the
Church is the light of the understanding, it is the fire of divine
love for the heart. The Christian soul neither needs nor wishes to
avoid the company of the Church, when she would converse with God,
and praise his greatness and his mercy. She knows that the
companyof the Spouse of Christ could not be a distraction to her.
Is not the soul herself a part of this Church, which is the Spouse?
Has not Jesus Christ said: Father, may they be one, as we also are
one? and, when many are gathered in his name, does not this same
Saviour assure us that he is in the midst of them? The soul,
therefore, may converse freely with her God, who tells her that he
is so near her; she may sing praise, as David did, in the sight of
the Angels, whose eternal prayer blends with the prayer which the
Church utters in time.
|
|