An Updated Post on Scrupulosity

Dear friends, I have updated an old post on how to overcome scruples/scrupulosity. It is new and improved. The article can be found here:

https://littlestsouls.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/an-infallible-cure-for-scrupulosity/

Much has been added!

 “… St. Antoninus agrees with Gerson in thus reproving the scrupulous soul who, through a vain fear, is not obedient in overcoming his scruples: ‘Beware lest, from overmuch desire to walk securely, thou fall and destroy thyself.’”

– Rev. J. B. Scaramelli, S.J.

 “Scruples are like tight shoes. You can’t walk in them. Despise them.”

– St. Padre Pio

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Blessed Angela’s Visions of the Mass

Bl. Angela of Foligno was a great mystic who was favoured with many visions, locutions and other mystical gifts. But most importantly, she loved God very much.

Her writings are beautiful. The revelations she received are also very beautiful. Here are a few of Bl. Angela’s visions relating to Holy Mass:

FIRST VISION

“… by virtue of His divine power, the Body of Christ could be upon every altar, a thing not to be comprehended in this present life… “But those who feel something of Me,” said God, “do understand more of it; nevertheless, neither the former nor the latter do fully understand, but the time cometh when ye shall understand.”

 After this I was enlightened and did comprehend… how God cometh in this Sacrament… together with a most beauteous company… the Thrones [“It was revealed to St. Mechtilde that three thousand angels from the seventh choir, the Thrones, are ever in devout attendance around every tabernacle where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.” – Cochem]. That company was most bright, and was an exceeding numerous multitude… for it could not be measured either in length or breadth, but was ineffable.”

SECOND VISION

“Now whilst the Mass was being said, there was a priest who was celebrating near unto the time of the Communion. And as he was taking the Body of Christ and breaking the Host, I heard a voice weeping and saying, “Alas, many are there who break Me in pieces and who do even draw blood from My back!” I did therefore think that the priest was not in a state meet for receiving the Body of Christ, and I prayed, saying, “Grant that he may not be such a one,” and instantly it was answered me, “He shall not be thus eternally.”

FOURTH VISION

“And as I drew nigh unto the Communion, the voice [of God] spake again and said, “Now is the Son of God upon the altar, according both unto His divinity and His humanity, and with Him is a multitude of angels.” 

SIXTH VISION

“Another time I beheld Christ in the consecrated Host as a Child. He appeared certainly to be a child of twelve years of age, very lordly, as though He held the sceptre and the dominion. He appeared to hold something in His hand as an emblem of lordship, but I know not what, and although I saw it with my bodily eyes I cannot say what it was that He held in His hand…  Verily, His beauty and adornment cannot be described… And finally, my delight in that vision was so great that I asked no help of Him and spake neither good nor evil, for I was so absorbed in the delight of that beauty that I knew not what to say.”

SEVENTH VISION

“I have many times seen the Body of Christ in divers forms in this Blessed Sacrament. For sometimes I have seen the throat of Christ more splendid and beauteous than the sun, and by that beauty was it certified unto me that God Himself was here, seeing that it was incomparably greater than the sun both in beauty and quantity, wherefore doth it greatly grieve me that I cannot make it manifest. Sometimes I have seen two eyes of great splendour, and so large that I beheld nothing of the Host save the edge thereof. At the sight of both these things was I refreshed with so much joy that I cannot compare the one with the other, because both are so great that I do think I shall never lose them.”

Divine Grace and Beauty of Soul

“For if you saw the spiritual beauty of the angels and of holy souls, your body could not bear to see it but would break like a vessel, broken and decayed due to the soul’s joy at the sight.”

– Jesus to St. Bridget (Bk 2, Ch. 18)

“I desire,” said Our Lord to Sr. Gertrude Mary, “that you should be altogether beautiful, My beloved.” It is as if He said: ‘My spouse, I love you. I cannot bear to see your soul sullied with sin.’

God takes delight in seeing us happy, beautiful and holy. But we will never have these things if we are attached to sin. Why? Because they can only increase in proportion to grace and charity, which are opposed to sin.

“Be ye perfect,” says the Lord. These are not the words of a demanding Spouse; no, they are an admirable proof of God’s love for us. We are perfected by grace and charity, which unites us to God; therefore, by calling us to perfection, God is calling us to receive His love, so that we might love Him in return!

It is because of God’s great love for us that He wants us to abstain from sin. Sin is a privation of goodness: it is a negation, a corruption, a perversion, an absence of goodness. Just as leprosy ravages the body, so too does cancer ravage the soul. One mortal sin is worse than all the sufferings of Hell.

If people cared as much for the beauty of their soul as they did their bodies, many of us would be saints. But, too often, instead of adorning our souls with virtues, we adorn our bodies; instead of directing others to God by our virtue and humility, we seek to draw attention to ourselves; rather than growing in love, we grow in self–love; rather than “glorifying God in [our] bodies”, we profane them.

“We must love the state of grace above everything else and fear nothing so much as occasions of sin… The state of grace is our beauty. It is the reflection of Jesus Christ in His Saints. As the Father sees Himself in His Word, so Jesus sees Himself in their souls. But if the soul is stained with sin, it is impossible for God to be reflected therein. Do you expect Him to be well pleased to look at His Divine Son’s executioner? Evil is never lovable. And when we are guilty of sin, God cannot love our state.” (St. Peter Julian Eyrmard)

What good has mankind’s general obsession with physical beauty achieved? Vanity, low self–esteem, depression, jealousy, envy, lust? How many souls have been led into sin as a result of this perverse glorification of the human body, which is destined to decay and die!

Let us value things according to their true worth. Let us shun all vanity and impurity, asking God to give us a thirst for holiness. One can hardly exaggerate the value of a soul, considering that Our Lord redeemed us with His Precious Blood, one drop of which is sufficient to atone for an infinite number of offences.

We must not take sin lightly. For all that God has done for our souls, we owe it to Him to keep them pure, remembering that only the pure of heart shall see God.

“Never go to rest at night with the slightest shadow obscuring your soul. This I recommend to you with great insistence. When you commit a fault, repair it at once. I wish your soul to be as pure as crystal.”

– Jesus to Sr. Josefa Menendez

“… I in the beginning created man to My own image and likeness, and… it is always My endeavour, in so far as you are fit for it, to intensify that likeness between Me and you.”

– The Eternal Father to St. Catherine of Siena

The Beauty of a Soul in Grace

“When God had once revealed this beauty to St. Catherine of Siena, she covered with kisses the footsteps of those who were engaged in bringing sinners back to the grace of God, and transported with joy, she said to her confessor:  “Had you, my father, beheld the beauty of one soul adorned with grace, you would certainly, for the sake of one such soul, gladly suffer death a thousand times…

Solomon, therefore, in his Canticle of Canticles, praises nothing so much as this Divine beauty and glory of a soul in grace… If the mere natural beauty of the soul surpasses beyond comparison the beauty of all bodies, even that of the sun, how much more the supernatural beauty which it receives from grace? For there exists a much greater distance between grace and the nature of the soul, than between the latter and all the beauty of the visible world. Nor does the heavenly splendour of grace suffer from the fact that our bodily, or even our mental eye, is incapable of beholding it; this is rather a proof of its excellence, for whatever we are able to see can only be a limited and earthly beauty.” (‘The Glories of Divine Grace’ – an essential read for every Christian!)

‘The Glories of Divine Grace’ can be read online here (legally):

https://archive.org/stream/gloriesofdivineg00sche#page/n3/mode/2up

If we can find the time to learn about trivial things, surely we can devote at least a few minutes a day to learning about Divine Grace! This book will be a revelation to many; it certainly has been to me. It will make sin seem very, very unappealing.

A Beautiful Revelation for Every Christian (Pt. 3)

Jesus to Sr. Gertrude Mary:

“In return for the signal favours with which I fill your soul, I ask you to console My Heart. This is the part you have to play, My privileged spouse.

You rejoice My Heart every time that you show Me gratitude for the trials which I send you.**

Let Me do what I will with you. Be faithful to all that I ask of you.

You shall be the beloved disciple of My Heart, and I will take the entire charge of your soul.”

** Our Lord said to St. Gertrude that we should thank Him for sufferings and trials. Why? Because they are sent or permitted for our eternal welfare, and for the benefit of others.  They are sent by God’s love as a means of purifying our souls; uniting us more intimately to God; increasing our merits; and to “snatch many souls from perdition” (Jesus to Sr. Josefa Menendez).

Ponder these truths, and next time you suffer, call to mind Our Crucified Saviour, the Lamb without spot.