From: truecatholicstaff@truecarpentry.org   
      
   well, your not of truth, cause if you were, you would respect the   
   northern cross in the sky and what the real Bible says   
      
   On 9/30/2019 11:06 PM, Rich scribbled:   
   >   The Doctrine of Truth  {6}   
   >   
   > Tell me, where now are all the masters and teachers whom you knew so   
   > well in life and who were famous for their learning? Others have   
   > already taken their places and I know not whether they ever think of   
   > their predecessors. During life they seemed to be something; now they   
   > are seldom remembered. How quickly the glory of the world passes away!   
   > If only their lives had kept pace with their learning, then their   
   > study and reading would have been worth while.   
   > --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 1, Ch 3   
   >   
   > <<>><<>><<>>   
   > October 1st - St. Therese of Lisieux   
   >   
   > St. Therese of Lisieux, fondly known in English as “The Little   
   > Flower,” died on September 30, 1897.   
   >   
   > Although Therese was born in a century--and in a civilization--now   
   > passe, she has been appropriately termed “a beacon … of the atomic   
   > century.” Her writings were applicable even more to the future than to   
   > her own day, and she is still fulfilling her promise to “spend her   
   > heaven doing good on earth.” Let us recall who she was and what   
   > contribution she has made to her fellow men.   
   >   
   > Marie-Frances-Therese Martin, youngest of the nine children and of the   
   > five surviving daughters of Louis Martin (1823-1894) and Azelie Guerin   
   > (1831-1877), was born at Alencon, Normandy, on January 2, 1873. Her   
   > father was a prosperous watchmaker. Her mother, an expert at creating   
   > Alencon lace, had a lace-making business of her own. What was more   
   > important than their economic prosperity was their holiness of life: a   
   > trait testified to by Pope John Paul II on March 26, 1994, when he   
   > declared the Martin couple “venerable,” the first step to sainthood.   
   >   
   > The Martin household was therefore a devout and an affectionate one.   
   > Unfortunately, Azelie died in 1877. The widower thereupon moved to   
   > Lisieux so as to be near his wife’s family and have their help in   
   > raising his daughters. His own older daughters assisted him greatly,   
   > of course. Marie, the eldest, was his housekeeper; Pauline, the   
   > second, became the new “mother” of the four-year-old Therese. Therese   
   > subsequently attended a convent school, but because of her shyness   
   > found the classroom difficult. Thereafter she was carefully taught at   
   > home by a tutoress and by her sisters.   
   >   
   > In 1882, her “second mother,” Pauline, entered the Carmelite monastery   
   > at Lisieux. Therese felt called to the same way of life when she was   
   > only nine. She was not attracted to the convent for loneliness or as a   
   > copycat, she always insisted. Hers was an individual vocation.   
   >   
   > Physically and emotionally delicate in her early years, Therese at 13   
   > suddenly became spiritually grown-up, strong of heart, and eager to be   
   > a saint. Thereafter this junior teen, naturally bright, earnest and   
   > thoughtful, devoted much time to serious reading, not only in   
   > spirituality but in history and science. She set her mind on entering   
   > the local Carmel at 15. Objections were raised at so early a   
   > reception, but Therese was determined, and though prayer and   
   > persistence she got her wish. She entered the convent on April 9,   
   > 1888, taking the name Therese of the Child Jesus. (Later she added the   
   > words “of the Holy Face.”) Eventually, two others of her sisters,   
   > Marie and Celine, joined the same community. Did the four Martins take   
   > over Carmel? By no means; Carmel definitely took over the Martins, but   
   > they had their impact.   
   >   
   > Therese would live only nine years as a Carmelite, dying of a painful   
   > consumption in 1897. In that brief term she had become a “perfect   
   > nun;” still, nobody would have thought of her as a great saint on the   
   > basis of their own observance. What disclosed her true holiness was   
   > her spiritual journal or “autobiography” published posthumously. In   
   > 1895, on the command of her superior, Mother Agnes (who was also her   
   > sister and “second mother” Pauline) she had commenced to write down   
   > her reflections. After her death, Mother Agnes sent around selections   
   > from this Story of a Soul to a number of Carmelite monasteries and   
   > certain churchmen. The readers were captivated by it, and more copies   
   > were demanded. Published formally in 1898, the book became a perennial   
   > “best-seller” throughout the world. By now it has been translated into   
   > over 40 languages and dialects.   
   >   
   > What message in this book had identified the writer as a major saint?   
   >   
   > The message communicated in Therese’s spiritual autobiography “The   
   > Story of a Soul” was a plan to achieve holiness, which she called “the   
   > little way of spiritual childhood”. Intent as a nun to become a saint,   
   > she had long sought in prayer and the Scriptures a specific vocation.   
   > She aspired to many, even contradictory apostolates: priest,   
   > missionary, doctor of the Church, martyr, etc. But eventually she   
   > realized that the apostolate that included and surpassed all these was   
   > love. Love, therefore, would be her mission: love of God and neighbor.   
   >   
   > With regard to love of God, it is a mistake to conclude from the title   
   > “Little Flower” that Therese Martin was simply a routine votary. Quite   
   > the contrary. She was a strong character, down-to-earth, and truly a   
   > “valiant woman”. She did not favor heavy acts of penance, for she   
   > found in constant good cheer and the little trials of everyday life   
   > ample material for self-discipline. If she was physically prevented   
   > from travel by the convent walls, spiritually she could tour the world   
   > freely in quest of souls. She was a mere helpless child, she said, but   
   > she trusted God as a loving father, and found her strength in Him.   
   >   
   > No wonder the little Saint said of her book, “There is something there   
   > for all tastes.” Its approach to holiness made it comprehensible to   
   > people in every walk of life. The crowds that have hailed her and   
   > still visit her shrine include saints and sinners; men, women and   
   > children; philosophers and theologians; poets and novelists; Catholics   
   > and Eastern Orthodox; Christians and Buddhists; cabaret entertainers;   
   > prisoners and prostitutes. In her they have found an empathetic figure   
   > and one eager to help.   
   >   
   > The popes, too, have saluted Sister Therese as a gift of God. St. Pius   
   > X formally introduced her cause of canonization in 1914, only 17 years   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)