View attachment 2127 I bought two wonderful new books during the last couple of weeks which I very much recommend. I discovered this book on Glenn Dalliare's wonderful website, 'Mystics of the Church' cf: http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2009/11/sr-maria-antonia-under-angel-wings.html "Under Angel Wings -The Autobiography Sister Maria Antonia" (Cecy Cony, 1900-1939) Source for this information is from the book “Under Angel Wings- The Autobiography of Sister Maria Antonia”, Tan Books, 2000, Edited by Fr. J. Batista Reus, S.J., available from Tan books here: https://www.tanbooks.com/index.php/page/shop:flypage/product_id/583/ Under Angel Wings is the true story of a Brazilian girl named Cecy Cony (later Sr. Maria Antonia), who was born in 1900 and was led to high sanctity under the continual guidance, protection and inspiration of her Guardian Angel, whom she called her "New Friend." The autobiography of Sister Maria Antonia was first published in 1949 by the Franciscan Press of Petropolis, Brazil. This book became so popular that the first edition was soon exhausted, and a second edition was issued in 1950. Because of the extraordinary popularity of the book, numerous editions were again printed during the 1950's, and translated into various languages. including the current one from Tan Publishers in 2000. The editor of her autobiography was Father John Baptist Reus, SJ., who had been Sister Maria Antonia's spiritual director during the last few years of her life. In his introduction Father Reus tells us how the autobiography came to be written: “Obliged by obedience, Sister Maria Antonia wrote the recollections of her life with a certain repugnance, and after asking the special help of Our Lord. As she finished each of the six notebooks of which the autobiography consists, she handed them in to her religious superiors, and did not ask anything further about them…” It was only after she died that the notebooks were published. Her spiritual director Father John Baptist Reus, SJ writes- “…Humble, singularly sincere and innocent, she never lied in her life, that is, she never offended her Divine Master deliberately ["por querer” ie- intentionally]. She was incapable of inventing mystical occurrences. Neither from books nor in any other ordinary way could she have become acquainted with the supernatural phenomena that she describes so clearly. When she learned toward the end of her life that there were souls who never experienced the sensible presence of Our Lord at Holy Communion, she asked with great astonishment: ’Not even on the day of their First Holy Communion?’ When she received an answer in the negative, she replied very sadly ‘Those souls never came to know of our Lord's Presence in this life.’ “ Sister Maria Antonia saw her Guardian Angel throughout most of her life, however there is a period beginning in 1935 where God permitted that she no longer see her “New Friend”, perhaps because God was leading her, and drawing her ever closer to Himself through the “night of the spirit”, which is often experienced by mystics and those having reached the higher realms of spirituality. _____________________________________________________ "Make yourself familiar with the Angels, and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you" -St Francis de Sales Excerpts from: “Under Angel Wings- The Autobiography of Sister Maria Antonia” The Angel In the year 1905 the time for the carnival approached. At that season my mother would deck us out in fancy dress. Then, accompanied by Acacia and Coriceicao, my sisters and I would go with the other little ones to the town square. I had a great dread of those who disguised themselves in those horrible masks. I thought the masks were their real faces, and I believed that those persons were supernatural beings who lived in the depths of the earth, surrounded by fire, in that place about which Dona Mimosa had spoken. I believe that this was the first year that I accompanied my sisters. All the confusion and noise of the square frightened me. The multitude of masked people, big and small, jumping around and beating the ground with those big balloons tied at the end of a stick-all this filled me with such terror that I might have died if the good God had not come to my aid. I was with the other children, who were enjoying themselves; but Acacia [her caregiver –editor] and Conceicao, conversing with other servants, were not paying any attention to me. Thus, filled with terror and with no one to comfort me, I conceived the idea of getting away from there and returning home. I did not know the way, but I resolved to leave by the big gate. This was all I knew. I did not think of anything else. I left the group of children, and immediately I was swallowed up in that small square, which to me was like a world without end. I did not cry. My great fear had frozen my tears. In my terror I remembered the good Jesus [a crucifix in her home which she was devoted to], whom I had left behind alone, and I felt a great sorrow for not having brought Him with me. But I knew that my Father in Heaven sees and knows everything, and that He certainly saw me there alone. Just then a big man, wearing a horrible mask and with flashing eyes that I can still see in my imagination, approached me and took me by the hand. At that moment I could have died of fright. I had walked a few steps, held prisoner in his big hand, when I sensed, at my side, without actually seeing anything-knew to be present just as truly as I knew the presence of the big masked man on my other side-the Angel whom I had seen in the picture at the home of Captain Bezerra. My Father in Heaven had sent this angel to stay with me and take me home. I was aware of his presence without seeing him, but it was as if I had seen him. I had the absolute certainty that he was at my side, on the side opposite the masked man. Then the masked man freed me with a push and I did not see him anymore. He disappeared into the crowd. All my terror now left me, and my soul was filled with a sweet tranquillity because of the confidence I felt in my "New Friend." I had come in sight of the gate leading out of the square when I saw Acacia running toward me. If I had seen her before the arrival of my "New Friend," I should certainly have run toward her with the same anxiety with which she was hastening toward me. But my calmness no doubt quieted Acacia's anxiety; and neither she, nor my father, nor my mother, ever knew of this incident of the Angel, for this is the first time that I have related it. From that day in February or March of 1905 my "New Friend" accompanied me always and everywhere. He stood guard with me at the foot of the big bureau as we watched before the Crucified Jesus. From that time I had no more fear of the semi-darkness of that room, for I felt the sweet, protecting presence of my "New Friend." That is the name I gave him and called him by until I was six years old, when I learned that he was my holy Guardian Angel. I understood him perfectly when he spoke to me, although I never heard his holy voice.
Her devotion to Jesus Soon after the carnival I heard my father saying one day that we were going to take our vacation at the sea. On the following day I saw Acacia, Conceicao and my mother busily preparing clothes and packages. We were going to the sea! This thought delighted me. My New Friend would go also. This I knew. Every member of the household was going, even the good Abelino, the soldier who bathed Congo. Abelino would drive the carriage. However, my father could not go. During our absence he would have to live in the barracks, as our house would be closed up. I was thinking about all this while I was arranging, in a little basket that Dona Mimosa had given me, the teddy bear and also the big doll, which could get into the basket only by sitting down. Suddenly my great joy was changed into bitter sorrow as I remembered Someone. Even the little teddy bear would go; only my beloved Crucified Jesus would remain alone. He who had sent my New Friend to protect me from the masked man, He would have to remain in the dark, closed-up room. I would willingly have remained with Him, but I knew very well that my mother would not allow this. Ah, but-then the thought came to me-supposing, in place of the doll and the teddy bear, I should take along the crucifix. Acacia had given me the little basket for the doll and the teddy bear, but instead I would take the crucifix without my mother or Acacia knowing anything about it. I went to the bedroom. Having placed the high chair near the bureau, I was able to reach my Great Friend and place Him in my lap. Then, going to the wardrobe, I took out a small cape and wrapped up that crucifix which I liked so much. It was thus that the crucifix went also to the sea. During the journey I kept the basket with me all the time. When we arrived at the sea, I guarded it at the foot of my little bed. We stayed many days at the seaside, but the crucifix remained always in the little basket. I brought it back to the city and placed it on top of the bureau without my mother or Acacia knowing. The Temptation of the Peaches One afternoon some other children and my sisters and I went for a walk in the country with Acacia and Conceicao. Acacia took money with her to buy fruit, and we carried little baskets. We went to a farm that was recommended by Abelino, the good soldier whom my father had brought with him from Santa Vitaria. Abelino conducted us to the farm. When we arrived at the farm, a man with a hoe on his shoulder told us to enter. We ran into the orchard with Abelino, Acacia and Conceicao. While the man was gathering the fruit for Acacia, the other children, without the knowledge of our three guides, began to gather big peaches and plums, which they placed in their baskets. I saw them plainly. Their little baskets were nearly full, and only mine was empty. Just then I was standing under a peach tree. Looking up, I saw a big peach, and another, and another-all within reach of my hand. I thought: "Why cannot I pick some peaches like the other children?" I stretched out my hand to pick a peach, and my fingers had already touched this big velvety peach, when I received the most sweet, calm warning of my New Friend. My arm, suspended in mid-air, was gently lowered by an "invisible hand," which I felt as really as if I had been touched by one of the persons I could see. For I had a better and more clear understanding of the voice of my New Friend than of the spoken words of Mother Raphael, or Sister Pauline, or Sister Irene, whom I could see when they spoke to me. I repented immediately and with great sorrow of the big ugly sin that I was about to commit; and a great pity for the good Jesus filled my heart as I thought of the great big thorn that I had nearly hammered into His sacred head. That night, as I lay in bed, I wept bitterly after I had begged forgiveness from the good Jesus, from Our Lady and from my New Friend. (This custom of begging forgiveness of my New Friend I kept up until I was fourteen years old.) In one of her instructions Sister Irene had spoken to us about a young boy who died and was sentenced to suffer in Purgatory because of the lies he had told during life. Up to that time I had not known the meaning of a lie, and I imagined that the poor boy had committed a very big sin to deserve such a punishment. However, my New Friend would give me the explanation very soon. The Broken Glass Each afternoon I was accustomed to go with Acacia and the neighborhood children to buy milk. Each child brought along a little glass wrapped in a napkin. I had a very pretty green glass decorated with a golden wing and spotted with little stars. It was Captain Barcelos [a family friend] who had given it to me. One of my companions took a great liking to my glass and said to me, "Give me your glass and you can drink milk from mine." Acacia, overhearing this, said, "No, my little lady, each one must drink milk from her own glass." My companion made no answer, and it seemed that she accepted the denial without bitterness. We continued walking for a short time when suddenly my companion turned toward me and gave a violent tug to my napkin, so that the glass fell to the ground and broke into little pieces. With the same speed that she did this she ran toward Acacia, who had gone ahead of us, and said: "Acacia, Cecy was in such a rage because you did not allow her to exchange glasses with me that she just threw hers on the ground and broke it purposely." Naturally, Acacia was highly indignant and she said to me: "What a beautiful way to act, my little angry puppy! Now you can do without a glass and without milk. While the others drink milk, you can watch them!" Everything happened so quickly that it was all over before I realized what had happened. But then I became so angry and revengeful that I was just about to run after my companion in order to break her glass, when my New Friend entered into action, holding me back in the same manner as when he hindered me from stealing the fruit. And I heard clearly the warning of my New Friend: "Your poor companion has committed two big sins." The first, which referred to the breaking of the glass, I did not at that time understand. But the second-ah, I suddenly understood that the second sin was the lie told to Acacia, the same kind of sin for which the young boy was punished. Yes, my companion had lied to Acacia, who thought that everything had happened as it was told to her. Now I understood perfectly the meaning of a lie. I said to my New Friend: "Now I know. It would be a lie if I were to break a glass and afterward tell my mother I did not do it." We finally arrived at the place where we were accustomed to buy the milk, and I forgot to tell Acacia that it was not I who had broken the glass. Perhaps it was because my New Friend was with me and I respected his presence even more than I respected the presence of Mother Raphael, Sister Irene and Sister Pauline, the authority of these being supreme in my eyes. Acacia, however, always allowed me to have what I wanted; so she gave me milk from my sister's glass. Thus it was that my New Friend hindered me from committing the ugly and low sin of vengeance. Oh my holy Guardian Angel, if I were to tell all that you have done for me, a big book would not contain the account of all your holy inspirations.
Modesty, the Handmaid of Purity If my New Friend had not filled me with the greatest respect for his holy presence, I think that I should have acquired at an early age careless habits, more or less immodest. I realized perfectly well, when I was in the presence of the Sisters or of other persons for whom I had great respect, that I should be careful of the postures I assumed. But I learned to be even more careful when I was alone, for then I felt myself being observed by my New Friend Until I was eight years of age it was Acacia who dressed and bathed me, combed my hair, put me to bed and called me in the morning. I had learned to rely on her too much; so it was not until I was ten or eleven that I dispensed completely with her services in this regard. Oftentimes, on getting up in the morning and dressing myself-for example, putting on my stockings-I was not careful of my position or of my dress. At such times I immediately felt the holy presence of my Guardian Angel so vividly, without ever seeing him, and I so strongly felt his reproval of my improper posture, that, being thoroughly ashamed, I would close my eyes lest I see his holy face regarding me sternly. This scene was repeated innumerable times, sometimes when I was alone, other times when I was in the midst of the most interesting games. Through the grace of the good God I do not remember ever resisting these holy warnings of my New Friend, even though oftentimes I had to subdue my rebellious nature, filled with bad inclinations as it was. On one occasion my father took us to see a military celebration in Rio Grande do Sul. I was delighted when I saw that there anyone could ride on horseback. Women and children were doing it. I had never ridden except once or twice when my father had seated me on his horse named "Congo". At this celebration, I had my heart set on riding. A certain lieutenant was taking care of me, and he brought me a beautiful little pony. This filled me with happiness. He placed me astride the pony as if I were a boy, and I had just begun to pull on the reins when I heard and felt the warning of my New Friend just as vividly as I heard and perceived the lieutenant. [Since God had chosen Cecy for intimate union with Himself during her earthly life, her Guardian Angel was charged with the duty of preserving her from the danger of even the slightest fault against modesty.] My New Friend did not want me to continue any farther. I felt his holy arm taking me gently from the pony, just as I had previously felt the lieutenant lifting me onto the pony's back. When I reached the ground, I said to the lieutenant: "I do not wish to ride any more." The lieutenant admired my seeming agility in dismounting from the pony, and he related the fact to my father, who called me cowardly and silly. I should have liked to ride on the pony, but I wanted much more to please my New Friend. First Communion and the Sensible Presence of Jesus The great day of my First Holy Communion, October 17, approached very slowly. Before this great event, we made our second Confession. Finally the eve of the holy day arrived. Sister Irene took good care of us. When I returned home, I remained seated in the little rocking chair at the foot of the bureau, preparing the prayers which we should recite in common before and after the visit of Our Lord, as Sister Irene had told us. I did not yet know how to read quickly, and I was accustomed to point out each word with my finger. Sister Irene did not want us to read our prayers, but I wanted to say them perfectly without mispronouncing one word, so that Our Lord could hear and understand me…. …Finally, the seventeenth of October arrived. For me this was a holy date, a date of infinite happiness, a date on which I came to know at first hand-or rather when I welcomed within myself--the good Jesus, the Lord of Heaven, whom a few months before I had known only from the big picture in my mother's bedroom and from the beloved crucifix on the big bureau. My good Jesus, as I look back, what holy longing fills my soul as I think of how infinitely happy I was on the day of my First Communion! That was the first time, oh my God, that I felt really and vividly within myself Thy most holy presence, Thy Real Presence. It was indeed well that I waited for Thee, oh my Jesus, and I was not deceived. I knew that I would feel Thee in me, not as I perceived and felt the presence of my New Friend, but as if Thou, oh my God, were I myself, and as if I myself were Thou. You in me and I in Thee. Thy soul in my soul, Thy heart in my heart! Two souls in only one soul! Two hearts in only one heart! The great omnipotent God and His miserable little creature! I do not know how to describe how much I loved Thee at that moment, and how much You, oh great God, have loved me. Only we two, Jesus and His little "Cece," can know this. Oh good and most faithful Jesus, thirty long years have passed since then, and still we love each other very much; infinitely more today, is it not so, oh my God? From that day I felt always, always, Thy most holy presence in me, until the past year, when Thou did leave Thy little servant immersed in the most sorrowful abandonment, in the most sorrowful longing. However, may Thy most holy will be fulfilled in Thy little creature! It is true that even in the novitiate You hid Yourself from me at times, but soon, very soon, I did find Thee. The Oath of Fidelity On that sacred day of my First Communion, October 17, 1906, after I had returned home, accompanied not only by my New Friend, but bearing within me my Divine Guest, I desired most ardently to lock myself in my little room and there to remain alone with my God. 1 had so many things to say to Him, so many favors to ask from Him. I desired to clasp Him to my heart, to protest my love to Him, to make Him innumerable promises. But alas! Acacia was there waiting for me, ready to take me to the house of my grandmother and my godmother. I went with her, but very soon returned home. When Acacia had taken off my white dress and the veil with its wreath of flowers, I asked her to let me wear one of my Sunday dresses, because I was thinking of the Great Visitor I was entertaining. Dressed once more, I ran to my room and sat in my little chair quietly, seriously, respectfully, using my best manners; and I began to make acts of love-many acts of love-to my God. I embraced myself, because in me I embraced Jesus. A thousand promises of love and fidelity I made to Him in my childish language, and I knew that Jesus understood me very well-much better than my father or mother. I felt so vividly within me the presence of my God, though in a manner much different from the way I perceived my New Friend. It was as if I myself were the good Jesus-He, my Divine Guest, listened to me without being bored. And I, without hearing His holy voice, listened attentively and lovingly to what Jesus wished from His little servant: that I never, never commit even one sin, so that He, Jesus, might never be separated from me-not even once, not even for one moment! Then getting up from the chair, I knelt down and made a little cross with my two index fingers. This I kissed in my childish simplicity and said with the most firm resolution: "Oh good and beloved Jesus, I swear to Thee, my Lord, that I do not want ever to commit any sin." This was the first and only oath that I ever took in the world. Perhaps I did not understand the immense obligation that I assumed. I cannot say, but I do know this much: I made this oath moved by a great desire never to offend the good God. Until today I kept this oath as a secret in my heart. I never revealed it to anyone. I took this oath while Jesus was within me and my New Friend was at my side. And this is the moment when I reveal my secret. Jesus, the good Jesus, accepted and guarded in His most Sacred Heart this oath of a weak creature; and through His grace He took care that this oath was never broken, even to this date. Oh my God, please continue to take care of Thy little spouse. Enclose in Thy most Sacred Heart until my last breath this oath which I made to Thee with such great love and sincerity.” __________________________________________________________ The source for this information is the wonderful Autobiography “Under Angel Wings”. See link at the top of this article on how to obtain it. Later in the narrative, we read how her Guardian Angel would spread forth his wings and shield her from viewing the bathers at the beach, and also certain movies at the movie theater, always keeping a close watch over her modesty and purity. Sister Maria Antonia died a holy death on the night of April 24, 1939, at age 40. ~Sister Maria Antonia, pray for us! "My holy and most faithful New Friend, only today do I realize the innumerable dangers to which I was exposed in this evil world, and from which I escaped unharmed, solely on the account of the special grace of my God, and thy most faithful protection. Oh my God, may You be eternally glorified in the weakness of Thy little creature! And to thee, my New Friend, I give my grateful love, the love of thy little sister and friend. Amen." -Sister Maria Antonia writing shortly before her death - See more at: http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2...a-under-angel-wings.html#sthash.dP6bbE15.dpuf http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2009/11/sr-maria-antonia-under-angel-wings.html
I was delighted but very surprised that this book is available both as a kindle and hard copy on amazon and at very fair price too. (in my opinion religious Catholic books and articles always come at a premium ..the sellers thinking Catholics are good for a , 'Rip Off' ...if you don't believe me compare the price of Protestant literature compared to Catholic) . http://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Angel...1407216455&sr=1-1&keywords=under+angels+wings
You may think I am praising this book too highly but it reminds me so much of the great spiritual classic, 'The Story of a Soul' , by St Therese of Liseaux'. The author , Sr Maria Antonia died was back in 1939 at the very young age of 39. Search the web as I might I can only ever find the one perfectly dreadful picture of her:
She reminds me of St Therese in that firstly of course who was a nun who died young and whose mother died in infancy. But more than this she is like a little compass who always points to God in her writings. It is so clear that everything, everything revolves around God, there is a purity an innocense about her, that reminds me of a glass of spring water. I am amazed from the quality of her writing that this book has not become a great Catholic classic and the good sister made a saint. In fact the book is very little know and her Cause for Canonisation has gotten exactly nowhere. She differs from St Therese however in her, 'Light on' mysticism especially in her extraordinary relationship with her guardian Angle whom she could, 'See' from infancy right up until the age of 26, when she entered the Dark Night of the Suul , three years before her early death at the outbreak of World War 2.
It is interesting that Sister Antonia, 'saw' (and heard) her Guardian Angel since the age of six. But she makes it plain that in , 'seeing' her guardian angle it was not with physical eyes but with the inner 'eye' of Faith , with , 'eyes', of the soul. To a large extent it seems to me than that she does pretty much what the rest of us do when we have Faith. This is the key, Faith, so that in accordance with the degree of Faith mountains move and we see beyond the veil. I have always had a great devotion to my own guardian angel and when I say good night to him above and at the right hand sight of my bed up in the air just beside the top of the ward robe. But how much of this is a harmless subjective imaginative rendering of the mystical reality and how closely does it correspond to the reality itself? I think the good Sister gives many answers herself in her book. The first time she sees the angel it is in a busy market place were a bad man tries to abduct her. the angel appears on the scene , the man pushes her away and the little girl escapes a dire fate. On another occasion she goes to steal a peach, the angel grabs her arm and lowers it, stopping her from stealing things. So these things are not merely subjective apprehensions they impose themselves on the physical domain. Or to put it another way they are more than very pious imaginings. In my own life I have nearly been killed or murdered on so many occasions I have lost count. I appear to have had more lives than a dozen black cats. On one occasion ,for instance a bomb went off about ten yards from me , but apart from a black face, the temporary loss of my eye brows and hearing and a passing limp I was entirely in one piece. I too put this down to my good angel. Like Sister Antonia in Faith I see my angels wings in these things. If you check your own life I'd be amazed if you didn't find you own stories to tell. But you need the eyes of Faith to see them....and this is the great lesson form this book, it informs the eyes of Faith. View attachment 2128
I am still loving Sr Antonia's book and loving it. One thing I love to see in mystical phenomena is objective confirmation of what may well seem to be purely subjective (imaginary) experiences. Sr Antonia gives loads. I love to see a mystic touching ground by actually being physically protected by her angel on several occasions. I am also touched by someone who preserves who baptismal innocense as she did. What a huge gift from God and all down to her angel guardian, her, 'Dear friend ', as she calls him. What a gift.
Well just finished reading Sister Antonia's book concerning her Guardian Angel. It took me a little while because I paused to read a bio on my hero Abraham Lincoln ( a dreadful book) but anyway. Sister Antonio died very young in 39 when she was just 29 years old and this interrupted and stopped her bio , which is quite short and concerns her dealings with her guardian angel in her childhood days up until she was just 15. But well worth reading, heart warming. One thing I notice is how the angel (her , 'New Friend') protected her from bad influences. For instance if she went to the theatre he spread his wings so she could not watch of hear anything, if she went to read a dodgy book if went blank, if she wanted to go to a place with a bad influence he laid his hand on her shoulder to stop her , if she met a bad or evil person he took her way ..and so on.... So like the words of our prayers to our angel guardian. Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day, be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide. More later...
Thanks Padraig, I do appreciate a good book review. I'll add it to my list of "To Reads". I read a book once and in the intro the author said if he could choose what to do with life, he'd like to head for a deserted island with millions of books and spend his life doing what he loved - reading. I kinda get what he meant, time is pretty hard to come by. If I had my way I'd sell my TV, but my wife would miss it!
I find my Kindle a God send. After mass everyday I read a chapter of the bible , a verse from the Imitation of Christ and a little bit of the saint of the day from Butlers Lives of the Saints.. It is like carry a little monastery library about with me. Today in the surgery I had to wait an hour and a half reading the Visions of Blessed Catherine Emmerich. I love them but some of them I have to fire out the window. For instance this morning she suggests that the Children of Ham )those with dark skin) are further from God than those with light skin..the darker the skin the further from God. This unabashedly racist view point would do credit to a Klan Chief of the Klu Klux Klan and made me choke a little. But other things I swallow readily enough. But it shows with visions and such like , well its a bit like drink or food, you want to be careful not to swallow everything put down in front of you. View attachment 2196
Back to Sister Antonia . It is so interesting that God picks out some souls to preserve their Baptismal innocence and purity right through their lives. Why does He do this? Perhaps God is like an artist and to paint the Glory of Heaven He needs every souls to be of a different colour or shade. The innocent souls off a light pastel colour. The wicked old hardened shameless ones like myself for the browns, greys and blacks (in my case jet black). I remember when your reading the life of St Gabriel Possenti by Blessed Fr Germanus, a huge weighty volume. (St Gabriel is a patron of youth and was as pure as an angels wings) View attachment 2197 At the time (I was just 16) I thought St Gabriel was maybe over the top in the care he took to avoid bad things like plays, dancing and so on. I thought maybe he did not have much of a life of it for a young lad. But looking back at life from this distance I think maybe both himself and Sister Antonia choose the better half. For instance when younger I would think nothing of going into a pub and chatting away half the day with complete strangers, may of whom looking back on it could have given Satan himself lessons on badness. Now I am leary of strangers . The world is not so innocent anymore. St Gabriel and Sister Antonia, helped by God Knew that right form the start. I like a little pig had to roll around in the much for a very considerable number of years before I even had an inkling..... View attachment 2198
I love your analogy of colors, Padraig. I like pastels - but I know I'm not one . I was also tickled that you mentioned Abraham Lincoln is one of your great heroes. One of mine, too. In fact, when I chose my confirmation name, Abraham, it was because of the combination of the Biblical Abraham and of Lincoln. Both, it seemed to me, were signs of unity. All the monotheistic faiths claim Abraham as father. Lincoln forged a unity that was threatened so that a land of many peoples could survive - and did it with fortitude and resolve through the searing trial of a terrible war. Lincoln once called himself a man of peace but said that sometimes peace can only be reached by passing through war. I think his 2nd Inaugural is the most amazing political speech ever written in the English language.
I would say ,Charlie that Lincoln was certainly a mystic...reading between the lines that is. I would also say he struggled with the angel of the use of force, as do all good men. The blood spilled in the Civil War on both sides broke his heart. As to the use of force I struggle with it too. The priest at mass the other day said we could certainly engage in a Just War with the Islamic Caliphate. I do not judge others ; nor do I have easy answers anymore. Just my own and I hope never to raise a gun again. But that's me. One thing among many I liked about Lincoln was that just at the end of the war ,after they had played the ,'Battle Hymn of the Republic' he asked the military band to strike up, 'Dixie'. Quite a gentleman, quite a healer.
Charlie- thanks for inspiring to read President Lincoln's address. It is truly inspiring. A lesson for modern day politicians that an economy of words can deliver a mighty and powerful message. Fellow-Countrymen: AT this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself, and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 1 On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war—seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came.2 One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend this interest was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the causeof the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."3 With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
Yes, Padraig, he was as resolute at binding up the wounds as he was to prosecuting the war. After the war was over, as his advisors asked him how to handle defeated rebel leaders, his continued direction was to "...let 'em up easy." He was determined to make it truly one nation again. A genealogist working with my father long ago, determined that Confederate General Joe Johnston was a direct ancestor. When Lincoln was assassinated, Johnston was in meetings on local terms of surrender with Union General William Sherman. I was inordinately please to learn that when Sherman gave him the news, Johnston fell into tears and said, "The south has lost the best friend we could have." Johnston knew Lincoln's death boded ill for a large-spirited reconstruction.
No wonder the book is so popular, I would like to get it and to have my family read it too. "It is interesting that Sister Antonia, 'saw' (and heard) her Guardian Angel since the age of six. But she makes it plain that in , 'seeing' her guardian angle it was not with physical eyes but with the inner 'eye' of Faith , with , 'eyes', of the soul. To a large extent it seems to me than that she does pretty much what the rest of us do when we have Faith. This is the key, Faith, so that in accordance with the degree of Faith mountains move and we see beyond the veil. I have always had a great devotion to my own guardian angel and when I say good night to him above and at the right hand sight of my bed up in the air just beside the top of the ward robe. But how much of this is a harmless subjective imaginative rendering of the mystical reality and how closely does it correspond to the reality itself?"... Do you actually see him, see something padraig? There are medical people on the forum, tell me, is this a physical thing, is it my eyes? When I pray beside my bed at night and only in a darkened room or the same wherever I am, "up in the air" I see a spinning light and it has depth. I place my hand before it to block it and I still see it. Ha, ha, I imagine it is the light of the NDE experiences or my guardian angel.
These are all good questions Jackie. I like what Jesus said, Matthew 7:16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? I try not to beat myself over the head too much over the 'reality' of seeing things. By this I mean trying to subject to empirical testing that which is beyond this. For instance we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God but I do not believe this is subject to testing but to Faith itself. So for the reality of such phenomena I am inclined to look to its fruits. If the fruit is good then I would take it as being from God. St Teresa of Avila gave another sign, she said that that which is of grace remains in the heart, engraved. That which is delusion of pure imagination fades like a fog. For instance many, many years ago I had a dream of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our Lady was standing in the sky her heart was on fire with the purest whitest light imaginable. Around her were angels flying staring at the heart in Adoration. Rather like the angels around the Lamb of God How true was this dream, how objective? Well I remember it vividly though I had it over 30 years ago. So that's St Teresa's test passed. It inculcated a great devotion in me to the Immaculate Heart so that's that test. But can I nail it down? No, not really . I tend to hold such things lightly enough. Trying to nail them down is often like chasing the wind. If other people chose not to believe, I would be fine with that. I have no messages to pass on or any further agenda. If other people told me such things I might very well not believe myself; though I have to say, having seen so many things myself I am very ,very open to the experiences of others, like, say Sister Antonia. Sometimes such things are testable, perhaps because they choose to be. One for instance I had a long conversation with a buisness lady who had died. She told me intimate details of her family which I confirmed at once with her son and daughter. I had no way at all to know such things, I had never met her or any of her family. She gave these confirmations , not for me but for them because they could not get over her death. To comfort them. Even so after all these hard proofs they had difficulty believing. It will be the same after the Warning. Even after heaven opens its gates folks will still choose to believe what they will. I often try to test such things as best I can to see how objectively real they are and there are sometimes certain little proofs; sometimes there are not. It depends. For instance last week. I live in a block which has four apartments. It is as quiet here as the grave. The gentleman above me uses his appartment for emergencies , he hasn't lived there for two years. The place next to him is rented by a Spanish student and since it is holiday time I have not seem him for two months. The gentleman next door to me is as quiet as A mouse, I have never ever heard him in there just when we pass in the hallway. Nor am I off a nervous disposition it would take a lot to scare me. But the other night I was woken up by whistling very,very clear. It was like a dirge . Naturally in this very very quite place I tried to identify who was doing it and where it was coming from. Well it was coming from my living room. I am the only one lives here and the two dogs are not into whistling. The whistling was weird and did not , I believe come from any human voice but from, I believe a demon. Can I prove this? No. I can only say I was fully wide awake and know what I heard. It reminded me a bit of the nurse whistling in 'Kill Bill' Do you remember?
padraig, Thank you, everybody loves your personal stories, spiritual and temporal. St. Teresa of Avila's quote is very good. I remember vividly though it has been 16 years when for the first time not realizing because it was new, experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit in me at the final apparition at Conyers on the day I arrived at the farm and on the plane going home. Your sharing about the businesswoman who died, of people believing or not, who will believe the Warning? Seeing the supernatural, belief, having faith made me think of a Protestant messenger and the latest Word she's heard. Her name is Mary Beth. I enjoy the video talks Mary Beth posts on her blog. I do not agree with all she says but Mary Beth calls the Warning, the Warning as stated in her messages and has heard from Our Lord about the 3 Days of Darkness but like two other Protestant prophets, the 3 Days of Darkness seems to be at the time of the Warning. I can't figure it, for Catholics hear of the 3 Days of Darkness happening at the end of Tribulation, the result of the Chastisement. There is the Divine Mercy quote about darkness, light extinguished and the Cross in the sky at the Warning. God Speaks Will You Listen messages say those who have not received the Eucharist, "spiritual babies", many will be taken home to Heaven. Our Protestant brothers and sister's don't believe, its pre-Warning. Faithful Catholics will be here (and those who convert) during the Great Tribulation and to go through the 3 Days of Darkness. Might be, the reason for a few Protestant Rapture like (taken home) sounding private revelation. Mary Beth said in one her latest three videos (27:03), we're all looking for a "Moses moment" looking for continued confirmation but Our Lord told Mary Beth in her most recent message. She read it out loud... "Cry out to My children who grow restless for they need to stand tall in the faith now. My children need not ask for they know the time of day. Why must I repeat what all My children already know. My watchers know My hour but they worry for not. This is the calm before the storm, the many storms. This is the time you wish Me to walk on water but have I not already done this for the many who believed and they too were mine, only so they would grow in faith and not in fear. I need not do this for you for you know true faith." CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW! CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW! Sharing Some Heavenly Help, Messages and Tools for NOW View on mbj8388.wordpress.com I didn't see the movie "Kill Bill", thanks for the video.
