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Index
Act of Contrition
Acts of Faith, Hope & Charity, & Votive Prayer for Charity
Angelus & Regina Caeli
Confiteor

Divine Praises

Grace Before & After Meals
Litany of Humility

Litany of St Joseph

Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus
Litany of the Most Precious Blood
Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Litany of the Saints
Morning & Evening Prayers

Novena Prayer to St Philomena

Prayer for the Conversion of Australia
Prayers & Litany to Holy Michael the Archangel

Prayers & Litany to Our Guardian Angel

Prayers & Litany to St Joseph
Prayers & Litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Prayers & Litany to
the Holy Ghost &
Veni Creator
Prayers & Novena for the Souls in Purgatory
Prayers & Novena to St Martin De Porres
Prayers & Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, & Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Prayers Before & After Confession
Prayers Before Mass, Prayers Before Holy Communion, Prayers After Holy Communion & Thanksgiving After Mass

Prayers for Priests & Vocations

Prayers, Novena & Litany to St Anne
Prayers, Novenas & Litany to St Jude Thaddeus
The Prayers & Mysteries of the Holy Rosary
Various Prayers
Votive Prayers for Rain, Fine Weather & to Avert Storms
Audio Files - SSPX
Video Files - SSPX
Thoughts for the Week
 
 

 

Second Sunday after Epiphany

Thoughts for the Week - Fr. R. Taouk 
15th January 2017

The Importance of Going on Retreat by St. Peter Julian Eymard

"The retreat offers three principal means of interior renovation:

First, it purifies the soul of sin, especially of the habit of sin, and attachment to sin. On the road of life in which the Christian walks, the wind raises up a sordid dust which falls back upon him, sticks to him, even without his knowing it, and sullies him… By studying ourselves in the light of the retreat, we shall find certain habits of laziness, of negligence, of self-love, of outbursts of temper, of excesses of the tongue which are so well implanted in us that we fall into them continually, easily, at the least occasion, as if they were second nature to us… We ignore the cause of them, neither have we ever gone to the root of the evil; how then could we hope to get rid of them?  The retreat brings us a stronger light.  It will discover us to ourselves.

The second grace of the retreat is a renewal in us of fervour. It is a true axiom of the spiritual life that the soul, of herself, goes on continually falling off in piety, like the fire which consumes itself and tends always to die out, even while burning its brightest. And on a battlefield, when death does not claim us, even victory tires us, and depletes our strength. For that reason, the victor gives his troops time to rest in order to retrieve lost energy. The exercise and the struggles of the spiritual life wear out the strength of the soul. We must give her some rest, so that she may be reinvigorated. That is especially necessary in a life of action, in which the soul spends much more of herself in spreading the love of God around her… We are reservoirs, and not very deep at that… If we want to give to others, we must be supplied from elsewhere (outside ourselves), at the risk of soon running dry… Start by being holy yourselves and then you may sanctify others; glorify God in you first and then you may glorify Him in others.

Lastly, the retreat prepares you a grace greater than all the aforementioned: The enjoyment of God to an exceptional degree.  In these days of solitude God communicates Himself to the soul with goodness, meekness and tenderness. You must enjoy God in your retreat in order to come out of it fortified and ready to return cheerfully to your daily duties. God in His tenderness must spoil you like a mother her child. Alas! Sad to say, we are such wretches that we are afraid of the goodness of God, afraid of enjoying it too much, afraid to let ourselves be plunged into it and submerged… We are all afraid to lose our independence because we could then no longer give a little of ourselves to the world or to self-love. The reason is that if He ever comes into us for good and invades us with the power of His goodness, if once he makes His presence really felt, if once He makes us break into tears of love and gratitude, we are done for, we are no longer free, we are caught in the trap His love has laid for us and we cannot break away from it; we must surrender ourselves unconditionally."

In the Light of the Monstrance, pp. 212-219.