And that, Ethelred, bring me back to my original post.  Let's compile a list of the best books out there.    

Mystical City of God  - Ven Mary of Agreda
Introduction to the Devout Life - St. Francis de Sales
The Secret of the Rosary - St. Louis De Montfort
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin - St. Louis De Montfort
The Secret of Mary - St. Louis De Montfort
The Imitation of Christ - Thomas a Kempis
The Story of a Soul - St. Therese of Lisieux
The City of God - St. Augustine
The Confessions of St. Augustine
The Twelve Steps to Holiness and Salvation - St. Alphonsus de Liguori
Preparation for Death - St. Alphonsus de Liguori
Writings of the Church Fathers
A Treatise on the Spiritual Life - St. Vincent Ferrer
The Spiritual Exercises - St. Ignatius of Loyola

Quote from: Ethelred

I'm not so sure you and some others here understood Bishop Williamson correctly. His EC isn't satirical. Of course he's usually saying something between the lines, too. But despite the possibility that there's some parallels between Bishop Williamson's fate and what he's writing about this and that, his suggestions are very solid again. Some people here in this thread should take him more seriously!

Oh for sure he has a primary reading - exactly what the piece says - but there is a secondary reading and I'm sure it's not too far from what I wrote.

I don't disagree with the primary reading in the slightest - I think the Valtorta has a huge amount of good in it and I have publicly spoken about this work even defending it when many thought I was joking.

Once Bishop Williamson asked what should be done to wake up modern man to his spiritual realities and I responded openly "Read some of the Valtorta to him." They laughed at that but I was deadly serious.

However, since he likes to be "unpredictable" I am certain he has the secondary reading I proposed (but I am not him). Do you really think he would pass up the opportunity of his last EC (possibly) in the SSPX and not stand everybody on their head ? Didn't he just say a few weeks ago how much he "loved the attention" ? I'm sure he does (in so far as he is a man and prone to things temporal) but as a man in pursuit of holiness (I think not). In the sense that attention brings opportunity to convince others of the truth then bring it on, in the sense he seeks personal fame... then you certainly don't know the man.

Oh and as for satire - he has the wit of an Englishman and many people fail to distinguish the ancient arts that a schooling in the classics provide: hyperbole and satire amongst others.

I was just saying this morning that most people need the humor of gutter TV to laugh, but satire is a humor most people today cannot understand.

BTW if you want to get a handle on various readings to a text read a "theologo-novel" by Ratzinger those have many readings and none of them good.

When I first read this new EC I was in a hurry, and it caught me by surprise, I
must say.  I had thought I was having a bad dream (not really a nightmare, but
one that is incomprehensible when you first wake up).

I just now returned and thanks to this thread, I have been able to get a much
better grasp of what +W has sent out in what might be his "last blast of the
blasted bugler," EC cclxxv.



Those are chilling words to contemplate.




It seems to me that this is the gist of his message here.  We are living at a time
when every day could be our last chance to prepare for the chastisement that
looms over our heads.  Are we ready???

Certainly a chastisement looms over his head, for this Tuesday 10-23 is his
own starting line of "post-mortem" work.  Like any publisher with a "deadline,"
certain things must be done before the "paper goes to press."  For after the
inevitable has come to pass, what is done is done, and all you can change is
the next issue, as it were.  Only in HIS case (and by extension, our own case)
there might not be a 'next issue' to worry about!!

What are we going to do?  His relentless message, as magnified by the posts in
this thread, is that family reading time is so vitally important, especially for
the little ones.  Can anyone imagine the enormity of the responsibility hanging
over the heads of our small children these days??

Please give pause to consider what they will perhaps face, and how they would
be best prepared to face it!  What can we do about it?  

We can all strive to promote the enduring value of reading good books written
on paper, NOT relying on electronic media.  That is something that every one
of us can do.  Look for ways of doing so.  You will find them.  

In this age of uncertainty, the reading of books printed (or even handwritten, as
the Apostles did!) on paper is THE ESSENTIAL SEED of civilization.  We cannot
hope to be able to remember everything we need to remember without a
written foundation.  Even if we are separated from our libraries, to start anew
will require someone to start writing books again, and he will have a memory
that is based on having had books to learn from, in the past.  Books are
invaluable.

I really appreciate the short list of books begun here, and I suppose this is
as good a place to do it as any, even if it could be its own thread.  For this is
the ACTION that H.E. is trying to inspire in us.

I have a couple of suggestions, though.

First off, the Story of a Soul by St. Therese of Lisieux is a wonderful item for the  
list.  However, I might suggest first getting a copy of Mary Fabyan Windeatt's
children's version, and reading THAT to the little ones first.  It is of much benefit
for adults, as well.  Windeatt's style is not childish.  Her tone is respectful and
vocabulary challenging.  The children will ask lots of questions about what
certain words mean, and it is a great opportunity to instill a desire to learn the  
joy of discovering definition.  Definition is at the heart of the truth.  Our modern
Church has abandoned definition, in the traditional sense.  The Modernists have
always spread the flithy LIE that a passion for RE-DEFINITION of words is some
kind of a 'virtue' --- but they don't even have the same thing in mind when they
say 'virtue' (!!)

For Story of a Soul is difficult to read and understand.  There is a lot of detail that
is missing, a lot of background that makes the whole thing hang together.  Please
remember that the author did not write it thinking that anyone would ever read
it like we do.  It was meant as personal letters to her own sisters, who already
knew the background, and did not need to be reminded.  Windeatt provides all
the background in marvelous detail, giving the reader everything that is needed
to appreciate the full depth of the original text.

I can say this with confidence because I have experienced it.  When I first tried
to read the original, I was a bit perplexed how it could have been such a
blockbuster in the first years of its publication, for so much made no sense to me.
Then I wanted to share it with my own children, mostly because I had been told
by trusted others that it is a great story for kids, and one that has been the
start of many vocations and holy lives in the past century.  That's when I came
across the Mary Fabyan Windeatt version, and I immediately recognized the
value it offers.  I was able to read it to my little ones with great effect.  And then,
once we had been through that, we undertook the original version, and they were
most appreciative of the deeper understanding they found, as they would recall
the background information they had learned from the Windeatt version, which
opens the door to comprehension.  

Another thing, it should be a practice for all Christian families to read from the
New Testament every day.  This habit should form a lifetime routine.  It is the
most basic lesson to teach children to last their lifetime, that reading for a few
minutes (at least 3 minutes, but preferably 15 or more) every day from the
Gospels of Our Lord and the other books really ought to be an appetite that
makes us hungry, a hunger that can only be satisfied by reading the NT again.
And to that end, I recommend most highly the Douay-Rheims version, for it
not only is free of doctrinal errors (unlike the Poem of Valtorta!!), but it preserves
the vocative "thee, thou, thine, thy" and such, which gives Scripture a sacred
aspect and as anything else consecrated, "sets it apart from profane use."

I would further recommend prayers with the family in Latin. The Our Father
(Pater noster, qui es in coelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum...), the Hail Mary (Ave,
Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecuм; benedictat tu...), the Apostles' Creed (Credo
in Deum, Patrem omnipotentem, creatorem coeli et terrae...), the Glory Be
(Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sacnto, sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper
et in saecula saeculorum), are all essential knowledge for Catholics in the Roman
Rite.  I typed these, above essentially from memory just now.  I would also add
the names of the mysteries of the Rosary in Latin, and the Fatima Decade Prayer
in Latin:

Prex Decadis Rosarii

O mi Iesu, dimitte nobis debita nostra, libera nos ab igne inferni, conduc in caelum
omnes animas, praesertim illas quae maxime indigent (misericordia tua).

Mysteria Sacratissimi Rosarii

Mysteria Gaudiorum
1o B. Maria Virgo ab Angelo salutatur.
2o B. Maria Virgo Elisabeth visitat.
3o Iesus Christus in Bethlehem nascitur.
4o Iesus infans in templo praesentatur.
5o Iesus puer in templo inter doctores invenitur.
 
Mysteria Dolorum
1o Iesus Christus, in horto orans, sanguinem sudat.
2o Iesus Christus ad columnam flagellis caeditur.
3o Iesus Christus spinis coronatur.
4o Iesus Christus, morte condemnatus, Calvariae locuм, crucem baiulans,  
   petit.
5o Iesus Christus, cruci affixus, coram Matre sua moritur.
 
Mysteria Gloriae
1o Resurrectio Iesu Christi.
2o Ascensio Iesu Christi.
3o Spiritus Sancti supra beatam Mariam Virginem et discipulos descensus.
4o Assumptio beatae Mariae Virginis in caelum.
5o Beatae Mariae Virginis coronatio itemque Angelorum et Sanctorum  
   gloria.
 

These mystery names can be carried on an index card and read for the use
of a Latin Rosary.  There are also the prayers at the end of the Rosary, all
of which every true Roman Catholic should know by heart:

Salve Regina  
Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae; vita, dulcedo et spes nostra,  
salve.  Ad te clamamus, exsules filii Hevae.  Ad te suspiramus, gementes  
et flentes in hac lacrimarum valle.  Eia ergo, advocata nostra, illos  
tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.  Et Iesum, benedictum fructum  
ventris tui, nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.  O clemens, o pia, o  
dulcis Virgo Maria.  
 
V. Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genetrix.  
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.

Oratio
Deus, cuius Unigenitus per vitam, mortem et resurrectionem suam nobis salutis
aeternae praemia comparavit:  concede, quaesumus; ut, haec mysteria
sanctissimo beatae Mariae Virginis Rosario recolentes, et imitemur quod
continent, et quod promittunt, assequamur.  Per eundem Christum Dominum
nostrum.  Amen.

(That last one is the Collect from the CTLM Feast of the Holy Rosary, Oct. 7th.)




Finally -- and many of you may think this is a "bit much," but if so, I put to you
that I have known Protestants who have recited this Latin prayer by heart, so
you Catholics ought to sit up straight and pay attention -- this comes directly
out of the Bible, the Latin Vulgate Bible of St. Jerome: extremely Catholic!


MAGNIFICAT (CANTIcuм B. MARIAE VIRG. AD VESPERAS)

MAGNIFICAT anima mea Dominum:
        et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo, salutari meo.
Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:
        ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.
Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est:
        et sanctum nomen eius.
Et misericordia eius a progenie in progenies
        timentibus eum.
Fecit potentiam in bracchio suo:                (Luke 1:51)
        dispersit superbos mente cordis sui.
Deposuit potentes de sede,
        et exaltavit humiles.
Esurientes implevit bonis:
        et divites dimisit inanes.
Suscepit Israel, puerum suum,
        recordatus misericordiae suae.
Sicut locuts est ad patres nostros,
        Abraham et semini eius in saecula.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.
        Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper,
        et in saecula saeculorum.  Amen.

(I always remember 1:51 because it reminds me of a universally pleasing drink!
"He hath shewed might in His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the conceit
of their heart."  This pious oration dispels demons and extinguishes temptation,
because, I believe, it reminds the devil of his ultimate fate, when his head will
be crushed by the heel of the Virgin Mary (Cf. Gen. iii. 15), whose own words
these are -- these are the closest words we have to the Third Secret of Fatima!)

I think it's a wonderful thing to read together as a family. But Maria Valtorta?
 

Our children loved The Martyrs of the Coliseum or Historical Records of the Great Amphitheater of Ancient Rome  by A. J. O'Reilly

Darn good book. I read from it to my public high schoolers.

It might be well to add some Catholic history to the reading--especially with the teens.  Off the top of my head, I would suggest A Heart for Europe by Joanna and James Bogle, and Elena Maria Vidal's Trianon and Madame Royale.  

This is not the first time +Williamson recommends reading Valtorta.  Her work was censured by the Holy Office under the direction of Card. Ottaviani while it was promoted by father Bea.

To understand why it's impossible that Jesus would venerate the creature Hillel for "justice and wisdom" we look at Mark 10;2-10 and Matthew 19;3-9 in which the Pharisees attempt to ensnare Jesus on the topic of divorce.

Judaic and Christian scholarship of any given era largely takes for granted that Jesus is being confronted with the pharisaic positions of Hillel and Shammai in this passage. The Gospel passage makes it clear that Jesus condemns both the positions of Hillel and Shammai, corrects the injustices of both positions and teaches what God intends on the indissolubility of marriage.

The 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia identifies Hillel and his "lax" teaching on divorce with the Gospel narrative of the Pharisaic attempted ensnarement of Jesus on that topic:

In the time of Christ there was an acute controversy between the recent, lax school of Hillel and the strict, conservative school of Schammai about the meaning of the Hebrew phrase ["for some uncleanness"]. Hence the question with which the Pharisees tempted Our Lord: "Is it lawful [for a man to put away his wife] for every cause?" The putting-away of the wife for frivolous reasons had been sharply condemned by God through the Prophets Micheas (ii, 9) and Malachias (ii, 14), but in later days it became very prevalent. (Catholic Encyclopedia, "Divorce")

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05054c.htm

We know from the Gospel that Jesus condemned Hillel's unjust teaching on divorce. We know with absolute certainty that the Gospel is of God. If the law of non-contradiction has any bearing on the matter, the Midrash "of the Man-God" which outrageously depicts Jesus venerating the creature Hillel for his "justice and wisdom" cannot be of God.

Single-issue traditionalists who don't care about Augustine Bea's shepherding of the Midrash "of the Man God" past any criticism or his shepherding of Nostra Aetate through Vatican II or his shepherding of textual and historical criticism of Scripture into the Church may be interested to know of his role in shepherding the Novus Ordo Mass into Catholic parishes. Augustin Bea, along with Annibale Bugnini and others, was a member of the secretive Commission for Liturgical Reform from its very beginning in 1948. As we know, the first target of attack was the Holy Week liturgy.

There is a clear trajectory to his treachery for anyone with eyes to see. The Judaizing "Poem of the Man God" is very much in alignment with it.