Monthly Bulletin
Fraternal Association of Prayer and Sacrifice
|
January 12, 2008 Monthly Bulletin Fraternal Association of Prayer and Sacrifice |
| You
are receiving this monthly bulletin because you have registered as a
member of the Trumpets of Jericho Fraternal Society of Prayer and
Penance, or have been given a complimentary copy. The bulletin is sent
only to registered members, or, again, guest recipients. On or before the first Friday of each month you will get this bulletin to remind you of the prayer and fasting you have offered to do for the Diocese you have chosen. |
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"See what fasting may do: it heals the sick, it stops the vicissitudes
of the flesh, it puts demons to flight, it expels evil thoughts, it
makes the mind clearer, the heart purified, the body sanctified and
presents man at the throne of God….
"Fasting is a great virtue, and through it deeds are made excellent…
"Fasting is the life of angels, by which he who uses it is deemed of the angelic order.
"And, beloved, do not judge that it consists simply
in things. For he whose fasting is esteemed as acceptable is not the
one who abstains only from food, but the one who abstains from every
evil deed. For if you fast and you should not check your mouth, lest
you speak evil, or lest you not be on your guard from wrath, lying,
perjury; if you should say anything evil against your neighbor; if, I
say, from the mouth of the fasting man any of these things should come
forth, from [fasting] he receives nothing of use, but looses all his
labor."
(St. Athanasius, De Virginitate [About Virginity], in Enchiridion Asceticum: Loci Ss. Patrum et scriptorum ecclesiasticorum ad ascesim spectantes, ed. De Journetl and Dutilluel, Herder, Fribourg, 1936, n. 217, p. 114-5, tr. from Joshua from the Lat.)
The
Trumpet Sounds
Two messages today!
First, about our liturgical calendar. We hardly
clear 40 days after Christmas, to the feast of the Presentation (Feb.
2), when Ash Wednesday will surprise us (Feb. 6). The earliest Ash
Wednesday can be is February 4, which hasn’t happened since 1818,
and the latest March 10. The next early Ash Wednesday which we will see
is in 2035, when it falls on Feb. 7.
Second, about holiness of life. Great reform is
needed in the Church in our day, not only among the clergy but also
among the laity and religious. Sometimes we forget that the most
important and effective way to effectuate reform is to pursue holiness
of life. Work, action, even great apostolates, will always fail where
souls are not truly pursuing holiness. But that means embracing
one’s cross, penance, fasting, prayer, discipline, humility,
purity, detachment and so many such spiritual goods which are despised
by the devil, the flesh and the world. So let us all work for the
salvation of souls, but work always supported by a fervent interior
life.
- Joshua
Scripture Passage for the Pilgrimage Around the Walls
Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives sleep to his beloved.
