Defend yourself against the demonic

"Try this: The next time you face a temptation, remind yourself that you're cooperating with the malevolent will of a highly developed insect that hates you yet wants to be with you forever. You'll find your old reliable sins lose a little of their allure."

Go here to read an excellent article by Tom Hoopes about the demonic - those who have experience direct and open assault from the minions of evil and how to combat your spiritual enemies.

Sword of Justice

(photo credit)

Last night in prayer, I was contemplating Jesus as Christ the King, seated in majesty upon His throne. I am a bit of a history buff as well as an admirer of Kings, as a result of this I have grown to have a devotion to Christ the King. In prayer, I will spiritually bow low before my Heavenly King in worship and offer to Him my prayer of awe. Last night and this morning, I imagined Christ's hand resting upon a great sword - His Sword of Justice. Make no mistake, our King is no wimp, no feminine, weak, powerless victim. Oh no, He is all powerful, all knowing - all things are in His hand. He has a right to our devotion, love and worship. We must strive to remember at all times of every word, thought and deed before Him we will give account.

Your Majesty Jesus, my Lord and King, on that terrible day I beg you, have mercy upon me a poor sinner, upon me pass a light judgment. Amen+

She will crush the head of the serpent

"They also oppose the truth–people of depraved mind, unqualified in the faith. But they will not make further progress, for their foolishness will be plain to all." -2 Timothy 3:8

Thought for the weekend, in these times of darkness, where sin seems to rule the world, remember our Mother gathers an army of prayer warriors and with them she will crush the head of the serpent. Those who serve the devil in these times reveal themselves and whom they serve - have nothing to do with them but still pray for them. All sin and evil will be conquered, but first we must pass through the fire. Our Lord and our Lady will not abandon us, they are as close to us as our own breath.

May Mary's prayers go with you always. Amen+

"Shall I see You no more?"

(photo credit)

Can you hear your sorrowful mother say "Beloved Son, shall I see you no more?"

We ought not be afraid of entering into the desert of our own sorrow in loss and trial. The Lord is pleased to thus purify and soften us. To those He loves He gives a portion of His cross, therefore within every suffering there is a great blessing. Let us strive to be not attached to our God's sweetness and consolation for it is in fire that gold is purified.

Lord, in your Sorrowful Mother's Immaculate Heart I place myself forever, there to be purified by the fire of Thy love. Do with me what You will, I surrender myself unto Thee. Amen+

From the Throne of Peter V

"When man has hardened his heart and hate has overrun the earth, when fire and sword convulse the world and make it resound with clash of arms and wailing, when human plans have prove misleading, and when all social well-being is upset, faith and history point to Mary as the only refuge." - Benedict XV, To the Consistory of Cardinals and Bishops, December 24, 1915

From the Throne of Peter IV

"She is the best of Mothers, our safest confidant and in fact the very motive of our hope: she obtains all she asks for and her prayers are always heard." - Pius VII, Exultavit cor Nostrum, November 21, 1851

From the Throne of Peter III

"Almighty God enriched the Blessed Virgin with the gifts of his grace more abundantly than He enriched any other creature. He chose her from all mankind and at the word of an angel elevated her to the ineffable dignity of dignity of the Mother of God." - Benedict XIV, Gloriosae Dominae, September 27, 1748

From the Throne of Peter II

(photo credit - Holy Cards for Your Inspiration)

"...by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, for the honor of the Holy and undivided Trinity, for the glory and adornment of the Virgin Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, and for the furtherance of the Catholic religion, by the authority of Jesus Christ our Lord, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own; We declare, pronounce and define that in the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary , in the first instance of her Conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful." -Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854

From the Throne of Peter I - She Commands

Central panel of Masaccio's Pisa Polyptych

"When she approaches Her divine Son's throne, as Advocate She begs, as Handmaid She prays, but as Mother She commands." - Pius IX, tanto studio, February 19, 1805

Our Lord Jesus Christ will deny her nothing. Mary Mother of God - ora pro nobis!

God Bless our Holy Father

"The Church… intends to continue to raise her voice in defense of mankind, even when policies of States and the majority of public opinion moves in the opposite direction. Truth, indeed, draws strength from itself and not from the amount of consent it arouses." —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Vatican, March 20, 2006

The First Christian Persecution

The first documented case of imperially-supervised persecution of the Christians in the Roman Empire begins with Nero (37-68). In 64 A.D., a great fire broke out in Rome, destroying portions of the city and economically devastating the Roman population. Nero himself was suspected as the arsonist by historian Suetonius, claiming he played the lyre and sang the 'Sack of Ilium' during the fires. In his Annals, Tacitus (who claimed Nero was in Antium at the time of the fire's outbreak), stated that "to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace"