Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Catholic Living in the Modern World => Topic started by: Matthew on February 19, 2007, 10:25:54 AM
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Time to do more penance, spiritual reading, and think about the state of our souls...
Lent means "springtime" -- so I suppose you could say that the season of Lent is supposed to be 'spring cleaning' for our spiritual lives.
There are so many good books that could be read -- I have a bunch sitting on my shelf, crying out "read me!"
In Christ,
Matthew
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I suppose I should mention the name of some of those books...
The School of Jesus Crucified
The Soul of the Apostolate
The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Lent
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
The Spiritual Combat
I have many other good spiritual books (mostly from TAN) but these are particularly good for Lenten reading.
Matthew
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May our adorable Savior grant each of you a holy Lent. Please pray for me.
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The one I'm (finally) reading now is Preparation for Death, by St. Alphonsus De Liguouri.
St. Alphonsus is one of my all-time favorite authors. He makes his points so well, and helps connect ourselves, with all its baggage and tendency to slothfulness, to the Jesus Our Crucified Savior.
Last year my health was better, and did a lot of penances and I don't know that I grew much better for them. They probably were ok penances, but not the best ones for me. Sometimes something seemingly small can be a great thorn in one's side --- for the right person. My mistake last year was not running these penances past my confessor. This year I told him about them, and he said 'no go'. I'm almost sure if I was someone else, of better constitution, he would have said it was ok. However, he was able to perscribe a few penances for me, one not even related to food.
BTW:
Does anyone have any suggestions for particularly bad-tasting foods? The only one I can think of is this generic cheesy tuna-helper that I bought one time because it was on sale and I was trying to curb my tastes. It just doesn't seem edible to me.
I know people who have trouble with making their food taste bad. Everything they taste, pretty much, they enjoy. Even sour foods like kale, rappini, etc., and nothing is every really too salty or not having enough, at least to wear it'd bother them that much. I wouldn't say this is necessarily a virtue, but most likely something to do with the person's taste and upbringing (perhaps they were poor growing up and also were used to diverse foods).
I admit, I am one of those people who likes just about everything. Even when I was a very little girl I was the same way. I was a sumthucker...errr thumbsucker, and my father had the brilliant idea of putting tabasco sauce on my thumb. Not long after, I began finding the stuff and putting more on my thumb by myself. Now I still love tabasco and every other hot sauce (but I kicked the thumb). I remember him asking me, "Why are you doing that?" when he saw me with the tabasco. I think he saw through the excuse that I made, "because I'm trying to stop (?)" and realized I was consuming all his beloved tabasco sauce. He had to start hiding the tabasco, and that's when I finally quit the thumb. (It just wasn't the same anymore without it.) (Ha! I remember complaining about how small they made the bottles.) Then I ended up getting braces (ouch).
Oh, but back to Lent...probably the best thing I've done for Lent *(I hope) was get specific advice from my Confessor. One of the biggest mistakes I've made is to not do enough small penances throughout the year (each week), and then out of guilt, do too much during Lent. Even if you get through it with no problems, the point is that it doesn't necessarily help, because immediately after Lent it leads such a person to indulge the senses as a 'reward' afterwards.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Gladius, I'll pray for you, and the rest of you this Lent. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PRAY FOR ME.
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Well, now Lent is HERE.
"Memento, homo, quia pulvis est, et in pulverem reverteris."
Remember, man, thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.
I think a lot of people would benefit from keeping a plaster human skull as a decoration in the main room -- or something else memento mori that would keep us from getting too frivolous as we go about our daily lives.
Matthew
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Memento mori beads on your rosary?
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Apple cider vinegar - although a liquid and not a food - is an excellent penance for the taste buds - and it also happens to be great for the body's pH level. If you decide to buy and drink some, get the unpasteurized kind with 'the mother' still in it. After Lent, dilute it in water and add some honey. This is a great thing to drink a couple of times a day.
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Trying... not to snack...
Is kool aid ok to drink every once in a while between meals?
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Or any drink?
What about water with nothing in it? I heard that was ok.
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Water is certainly ok -- in fact, it's good for your health (otherwise you might not get enough water to stay hydrated -- just about every food has a lot of water in it)
As for other liquids, it depends on how serious you intend to keep the fast. Obviously, the more you do without, the heavier the penance.
It really is between you and God.
My opinion, which is just an opinion, is that since the weekdays of Lent are not obligatory anymore, it would be more virtuous to fast (1 main meal, 2 snacks) and drink kool-aid (even chocolate milk, if you're fainting away) between meals, rather than give up fasting because it's too hard, or because your health/body can't take it (based on what you do for a living, etc.)
Everyone is different, as far as occupation, bodily constitution, etc. are concerned. That is why it's best to ask your confessor and/or silently pray about it.
Above all, we don't want to deceive ourselves. If we are honest with ourselves, and honest with God, we will go far in the spiritual life.
In Christ,
Matthew
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Kool-aid is crap, and should not be consumed at any point in one's life. Any juice, however, is certainly acceptable between meals. Converte nos, Deus salutaris noster, et averte iram tuam a nobis.
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Kool-aid is #$@!, and should not be consumed at any point in one's life. Any juice, however, is certainly acceptable between meals. Converte nos, Deus salutaris noster, et averte iram tuam a nobis.
Me-->:fryingpan:<---gladius
Shame on your for your language.
Well, I don't particularly care for Kool-Aid, but if I was fainting away, boy I'd drink it in a hurry! One time I had a fit when I wasn't even fasting, but just because I was travelling and didn't get to stop to get something. I literally couldn't see in front of me, but I could hear. Kool-Aid not a good way to stabilize one's sugar, but if one is in dire need of sugar, it's a sure bet!
But if it's simply regarding fasting, and if someone is drinking it because they like it, then they should drink it only on Sunday. Instead of savoring the artificial-fruity 'goodness' of Kool-Aid, savor the fact that not only are you growing in virtue, but you can make it a love note to your most Blessed Mother and to your Lord. Now THAT'S Kool! If you stay with this for any length of time, say for example, throughout the rest of Lent, you will have developed a greater love for higher things, because your attention won't be so easily diverted by your appetite for something you once craved. The pay off is totally priceless! You're closer to how you would need to be in order to get into Heaven, and, thereby, happier even in this life for it. Don't underestimate the small steps! It's an awesome investment for eternity and even in the not-so-long term.
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Any drink that is water with anything else added to it is what I was implying by kool aid.
I'm assuming snacking isn't allowed at any time during Lent?
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Any drink that is water with anything else added to it is what I was implying by kool aid.
I'm assuming snacking isn't allowed at any time during Lent?
You have to remember that under current Church law you are only bound under pain of sin to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstain from meat on these two days as well as all Fridays of lent. That being said, no one here can say you are obliged to do any more than that, so to ask what you are "allowed" to do during lent is going more along the lines of the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. What we can say is, if you do want to fast, which no one can deny is an inseparable part of penance and what lent is all about, then use what was in place prior to the crisis as a guideline for your Lenten fast. To keep it simple, just have one main meal, with meat if you like, and two smaller meatless snacks that you would normally eat during your other eating times. No eating anything between these times, the hardest time often being in the evening before heading to bed. Drink whatever you need to keep your strength between meals, water being preferable, but coffee would not be breaking the fast nor probably soft drinks strictly speaking. You should always leave the table feeling still a little hungry. Those simple rules are you really need to know to do a Lenten fast. Don't make it more complicated than it is. :scratchchin:
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Gettin' scruples.
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The best thing for anyone to do is to get direction from their Confessor and/or Spiritual Director. We all need to do MORE than what the Church demands of us in order to overcome our faults and get into Heaven.
For me, I had to get direction from both doctors and my Confessor tells me to obey the doctors. Yet, my Confessor was able to recommend other penances that would help in the same way fasting helps.
The point is, we should always be doing mortifications, so Lent should not be some scary deal for us.
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Memento mori beads on your rosary?
I made a rosary out of skull shaped beads carved out of bones. I read somewhere that the centerpiece is supposed to represent the BVM, should I find a more appropriate bead? I'll take a pic to share this weekend.
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Memento mori beads on your rosary?
I made a rosary out of skull shaped beads carved out of bones. I read somewhere that the centerpiece is supposed to represent the BVM, should I find a more appropriate bead? I'll take a pic to share this weekend.
Well, I've never heard of a rosary made out of skull-shaped beads, however, the rosary is supposed to represent the Blessed Virgin Mother of Christ, Mary. I don't know why you wouldn't prefer to see her anyway.
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I don't know why you wouldn't prefer to see her anyway.
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I don't know why you wouldn't prefer to see her anyway.
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:confused1:
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I don't know why you wouldn't prefer to see her anyway.
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???
:confused1:
In other words, you should have a bead that is of the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and NOT a skull on that part of the Rosary.
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I don't know why you wouldn't prefer to see her anyway.
???
???
:confused1:
In other words, you should have a bead that is of the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and NOT a skull on that part of the Rosary.
I didn't really think about it much 'til I was done, but yeah, I agree.
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You have to remember that under current Church law you are only bound under pain of sin to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and abstain from meat on these two days as well as all Fridays of lent...
Ah, JS, this is an excellent example of how the Novus Ordo (false) religion has altered the Gospel - which mentions fasting on practically every page.