Here is our Divine Mercy post. It was written a while back so has been buried under newer posts, but it is still a really helpful thing to read. Please check it out.
Bold Radish
Sunday, August 28, 2022
Do not tire of proclaiming My mercy
Thursday, August 4, 2022
Exorcist Monseigneur Stephen Rossetti talks about the 3 Rs of exorcism. (2 min read)
Exorcist Monseigneur Stephen Rossetti talks about the 3 Rs of exorcism.
https://www.catholicexorcism.org/post/exorcist-diary-200-the-three-r-s-for-casting-out-demons
Thursday, April 28, 2022
A warning about new Far/Deep Right/Left who say they are Catholic or in favor of Catholicism but are not.
One might recall Apocalypse ch 2: I know how sorely tried you are, how stricken with poverty (yet, all the while, so rich [in grace]); how your name is traduced by men who claim to be [Catholic] (though they are no true [Catholics]; they are rather the chosen people of Satan).
3 Kings ch3: And that night the Lord appeared to [young Solomon] in a dream, bidding him choose what gift he would. ... Solomon said, "Yes, Lord God, You have bidden this servant of Your's to reign where his father reigned; but, Lord, what am I? No better than a little child, that has no skill to find its way back and forth. ... Be this, then, Your gift to Your servant: wisdom, a heart quick to learn, so that I may be able to judge Your people’s disputes, and discern between good and ill." ... The Lord listened well pleased, and looked with favour on the choice he had made. "For this request of your's," God told Solomon, "you shall be rewarded. You did not ask for a long life, or riches, or vengeance upon your enemies, but for wisdom to administer justice. Your prayer is granted; hereby I grant you a heart full of wisdom and discernment, beyond all that went before you or shall come after you. And moreover, I grant you all thou did not ask for; in wealth, in glory, no king that ever was may compare with you. And if you will follow the paths I have chosen for you, as your father did, keeping My commandments, a long life you shall have too."
Proverbs 8:11: For wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to wisdom.
Jesus in Matthew 6: I say to you, then, do not fret over your life, how to support it with food and drink; over your body, how to keep it clothed. Is not life itself a greater gift than food, the body than clothing? See how the birds of the air never sow, or reap, or gather grain into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them; have you not an excellence beyond theirs? Can any one of you, for all his anxiety, add a cubit’s growth to his height? And why should you be anxious over clothing? See how the wild lilies grow; they do not toil or spin; and yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.If God, then, so clothes the grasses of the field, which today live and will feed the oven tomorrow, will He not be much more ready to clothe you, men of little faith?Do not fret, then, asking, What are we to eat? or What are we to drink? or How shall we find clothing? It is for the heathen to busy themselves over such things; you have a Father in heaven who knows that you need them all.Make it your first care to find the kingdom of God, and His approval, and all these things shall be yours without the asking.Do not fret, then, over tomorrow; leave tomorrow to fret over its own needs; for today, today’s troubles are enough.
Book of Wisdom ch 9: Wisdom was with You, God, long ago, privy to all Your designs, she who stood by You at the world’s creation, and knows Your whole will, the whole tenor of Your commandments. From that heavenly sanctuary, that high throne of Your's, send her out still on Your errand, to be at my side too, and share my labors! How else should Your Will be made clear to me?For her, no secret, no riddle is too dark; her prudent counsel will be my guide, the fame of her my protection. So shall my task be accomplished as You would have it be; so shall I give this people of Your's just awards, no unworthy heir of the throne my father left me.What God’s purpose is, how should man discover, how should his mind master the secret of the divine Will? So hesitating our human thoughts, so hazardous our conjectures! Ever the soul is weighed down by a mortal body, earth-bound cell that clogs the manifold activity of its thought.Hard enough to read the riddle of our life here, with laborious search ascertaining what lies so close to hand; and would we trace out heaven’s mysteries too? Your purposes none may know, unless You grant Your gift of wisdom, sending out from high heaven Your own holy spirit. Thus ever were men guided by the right way, here on earth, and learned to know Your will; ever since the world began wisdom was the salve they used that have won Your favor. ( http://catholicbible.online/side_by_side?bible_part_no=1& book_no=25&chapter_no=9 )
(For those who don't know: *Heart did not used to mean emotions or even your core; heart means your consciousness. Your active thoughts. Your spirit, as opposed to your soul. Your "reigns" or core was the kidneys. Mary kept her active thoughts about God, which is what we in Catholicism call "contemplation" or "meditation" -- both of which only mean, to think actively about God -- and her thoughts were perfect, they were not in the dark or without understanding, because she is "full of grace." Hence she was broken hearted -- stupefied with sorrow and her spirit totally run through by a sword, taking on more sorrow -- not only for Jesus' sufferings but over the salvation of our own souls, we who are sinners -- than anyone else could ever withstand. By this suffering that she offered to God, which she could in a moment of crisis from her life of contemplating Him, she became the only one in the in human race, past, present or future, who can crush the skull of the serpent; the head of God's Army and the most powerful weapon in it, higher than the angels and The Terror to demons during an exorcism; understanding that Jesus is God, not a creature but the second member of the Holy Trinity, God the Son, whereas Mary is still a creature, like us, made by the Creator.)
Here is a brother, here is a sister, going naked, left without the means to secure their daily food; if one of you says to them, "Go in peace, warm yourselves and take your fill," without providing for their bodily needs, of what use is it? [...] But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Matthew 25: Then shall the just answer God, saying: Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You; thirsty, and gave You drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and took You in? or naked, and covered You ? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and came to You? And the king answering shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me.Then He shall say to them also that shall be on His left hand: Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger, and you did not take took Me in: naked, and you would not cover Me: sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me.Then they also shall answer Him, saying: Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You?Then He shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to Me.And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.
Hebrews 4: God’s Word to us is something alive, full of energy; it can penetrate deeper than any two-edged sword, reaching the very division between soul and spirit, between joints and marrow, quick to distinguish every thought and design in our hearts. From Him, no creature can be hidden; everything lies bare, everything is brought face to face with Him, this God to whom we must give our account. Let us hold fast, then, by the faith we profess. We can claim a great high priest, and one who has passed right up through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.And this High Priest of our's is not without compassion on our weaknesses; He was tempted in all things the way we are tempted, yet is without sin. Therefore, let us go with confidence to the Throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy, and win that grace which will help us in our needs.[This throne of grace being prayer, the Sacraments such as Baptism, Confession, and the core of everything, the Holy Eucharist; as well as the intercession of Mary and the angels and Saints of Heaven, who have also becomes "seats of wisdom" through the holiness of their lives.]
Luke 2:14: Glory to God in the Highest and peace on earth to those of good will, on whom God's favor rests!
Job 28: But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding? People do not know the price of wisdom, neither is it found in the land of those who live in worldly delights.
The deep said: It is not in me; and the sea said: It is not with me. The finest gold shall not purchase wisdom, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it. It shall not be compared with the vibrant dyed colors of India, or with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire. Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of gold be changed for it. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither shall it be compared to the cleanest dyeing.High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret places.From whence, then, comes wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and the fowls of the air don't know it. Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have heard of it.God understands the way of wisdom, and he knows where it is.For He beholds the ends of the world: and looks on all things that are under heaven. Who made a weight for the winds, and weighed the waters by measure. When He gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding storms. Then He saw it, and declared, and prepared, and examined it.And He said to mankind: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding.
Matthew 16: For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for My sake, shall find it. How is a man the better for it if he gains the whole world at the cost of losing his own soul? For a man’s soul, what price can be high enough?
St. James, 2:26: For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also faith without works is dead.
Yet there is one charge I make against you; of losing the charity that was your's at first. Remember the height from which you have fallen, and repent, and go back to the old ways; or else I will come to visit you and, when I find you still unrepentant, will remove your candlestick from its place. http://catholicbible.online/side_by_side/NT/Apoc/ ch_2
Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows... In those days, people will give you up to persecution, and will put you to death; all the world will be hating you because you bear my name; whereupon many will lose heart, will betray and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise, and many will be deceived by them; and the charity [love] of most will grow cold as they see wickedness abound everywhere; but the one will be saved who endures [in charity] to the last.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hoped it helped be encouraging in some way. God bless you and your day.
Special link for more: http://www.boldradish.com/p/radical-factions-taint-catholicism.html
Monday, January 31, 2022
Mary of Egypt (c. 344 – c. 421)
Saturday, July 17, 2021
Pray In Your Interior Chapel
Interior Chapel
When Saint Catherine of Sienna was deprived by her parents of any place or time for prayer and meditation, Our Lord inspired her with the thought of making a little interior chapel in her mind, into which she could retire in heart, and enjoy a holy solitude amid her outward duties.And henceforward, when the world assaulted her, she was able to be indifferent, because, she said, she could retire within her secret chapel, and find comfort with her Heavenly Bridegroom.
She later counselled her spiritual daughters to make a retirement within their heart, in which to dwell.
In the same manner let your heart withdraw to an inward retirement, where, apart from all men, you can lay it bare, face to face with God.
-Written by Saint Francis de Sales (Wiki entry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_de_Sales)
Monday, June 21, 2021
Visions of Mercy and Joy given to the nuns from Mary of Good Success book and devotion
In the events of Mother Mariana's life described in the book of Our Lady of Good Success published by Dolorosa Press, the non-observant nuns (meaning the ones who don't pray) made up false accusations and imprisoned the founders, that is, the nuns that founded the religious community. The holy warriors of God (the observant nuns, meaning the ones who prayed and followed the Rule of the Religious Order they belonged to) were kept in a very sad prison for crimes which they did not commit.
My (brief) experiences understanding some “Catholic” words from an English perspective
This might be trivial for some people, but it did help me so I wanted to share in case it helps someone. I don’t know if anyone whose first language is English has experienced the same thing I have experienced. (Although I am ok now, I've had a history of depression, PTSD, etc, and all of these diseases causes one's dopamine levels or serotonin levels to be deficient which can hinder, to one degree or another, one's ability to speak, understand language, and learn, so, maybe it is just me, and maybe you don't have this experience.)
In another post a long time ago, I mentioned that I don’t say “thee” and “thou.” I translate to “you” because I have no experience with the words “thee” or “thou” and therefore they do not connect in my mind the way “you” does. (Not that I think there is anything wrong with thee and thou, and I don’t think one should be indignant about them or anything.) To me, they are like foreign words but used in the middle of an otherwise English sentence, which I feel I have to translate as I read, like climbing a wall, to be able to connect to the meaning of what I’m reading. This seems to distance me from what I am reading and from the persons who are speaking in the Gospels or who I am speaking to in prayer (ie, I don’t pray a Hail Mary or Our Father with “thee,” because I feel too separated, more like play-acting than speaking to God or Mary). So I replace it with the word “you” in my mind or writing. … I’m not saying you have to do that, but when I do it, it helps me better connect to, and be closer to, what is being said and to Whom I am speaking.
When I first converted to Christianity and I read about Mary, I read terms such as “mediatrix” and “co-redemptrix.” I thought they were very intellectual sounding words and also very… sort of fancy. Very impressive words and titles; very honorable, too!
But… they present the same problem as “thee” and “thou,” except even more so because they are made up words that I have never heard before.
I only recently started to translate these words into what they would actually be in English, which are Mediator and Co-Redeemer.
Because “mediator” and “redeemer” are actually real words in English, they have a much deeper impact on my mind, and they much more profoundly show me God’s Mercy in creating Mary and giving her to us as our Mother, Mediator and the Co-Redeemer.
“Mediator” and “Co-Redeemer” are real words in English so they are much more powerful words to me in helping me to understand what is really being said.
I have come to the conclusion that the sort of intellectual jargon words “mediatrix” and “redemptrix”, while very intellectual and fancy, … just… don’t have a lot of impact on me on a more profound level. Even more than “thee” and “thou.”
I feel the jargon has delayed and hindered my coming to a deeper understanding of God’s mercy in souls and Mary’s God-given role in the salvation of souls.
I also feel that translating these words from their more impressive Latin-based made up version to a real English version is more humble of me to do, more “little” (as in, the Little Way of Saint Therese). I’m not trying to be intellectual, I’m just trying to be close to God. I think that is more humble.
Mary typifies all of the promises Jesus gave in the New Testament (and throughout the Old Testament) about those who would believe in Him: for example, rivers of living water will flow from them. This is certainly truly observed in Mary. They will work wonders in His Name. This is certainly true of Mary, which we experience when we pray to her and ask her to pray for us. Etc.
I also sort of feel that these “Catholic” words are not condescending to the native English speaker and are also over-intellectualized, and therefore, a bit vain. (The word Catholic means Universal – it is not really universal if you don’t translate it so I can understand what you are saying and so see the fulfillment of Christ’s promises in His believers.)
What I mean is, if I were to go to, say, India to be a missionary, I would learn one of the native languages of India (there are many!) and I would try to speak to the people who spoke that language in the words that they speak so they can understand what I am saying about God. I would not try to make up new words based on my native language of English and try to make them understand what I am saying in my English-ized words. I would condescend to their language because I would want them to be able to understand better Who God is. And I wish I could see that condescension a bit better towards my native language of English.
The best example I can think of for this is Japanese. What we know as Japanese is really the common man’s Japanese. There is a second Japanese which is traditionally only spoken in the Imperial Court. It is like… Imperial Japanese. At the time of the end of World World 2, the Emperor came on the radio to speak to the Japanese people about the surrender. However, the people didn’t understand most of what he was saying. It was like a foreign language to them because he was speaking in the Imperial language. Which, frankly, is a mostly foreign language to common man's Japanese.
It would be like if someone said, “we should preach in an Imperial language because Jesus is King!” Yes, He is King. He is more of a King than anyone has ever been: He is King of Kings. Mary is Queen of Heaven and earth and all of us. … Yet… Jesus is not a king born in the cradle of gold and diamonds… He is a King laid in an animal’s food trough. To show that God will triumph over all the power and wealth of the world and public opinion. … He was not a King who was visited by foreign dignitaries, men and women dressed in embroidered silks and expensive dyes whose decisions impact millions of lives and who have considerable wealth. … He was visited by shepherds. Very, very poor shepherds. Who may have had nothing but sheep. They might not have even owned the sheep, they might have just been shepherding them. They might have wore sheepskins. They might have only eaten what they could catch or hunt. They might have been patched together. They might have smelled and had dirty faces and unkept hair that perhaps they did their best to clean before visiting the King, and it might not have been that impressive a transformation. Very poor persons. But they had sincerity… they were chosen… And when He spoke, it was not exclusively to educated men and women. It was often times to… the poor… the sick… the forgotten… the excluded… the sneered upon… the woman at the well who had been passed around, discarded by so many men and considered so unimportant… sinners whose confessions He heard and then healed them… the absolute worthless of society, either made so by their own sins or by circumstances they had no control over, by their societies or people’s sins against them… the “have nots,” the “losers.” The failures. The forgotten. The rejected. The unloved. The poor. The powerless. The unclean. The lowest caste. … And we know of He spoke even with an accent. A southern accent, which the intellectuals of the day sneered at and said of Him, “he is an uneducated yokel who keeps company with stupid fishers.” He didn’t have a college education or sound like a Harvard grad. … So… if you preach in an Imperial language… no one would know what was being said. Even if it is very impressive. … And it isn’t really what Jesus did in His whole Life. He was meek and humble of heart. Life, death, resurrection… and today, too…
English is not a latin-based language (although we do have a lot of words from Latin based languages). Unlike Latin-based languages, we do not have different nouns for male and female. For example, in Spanish, a male doctor is called “doctor” and a female doctor is “doctora.” If I had grown up speaking Spanish, this would be very straight forward to me. (Well, the words are super close anyway, it isn’t difficult to grasp. Adding -trix and -ess to the end of things sort of makes them part of a whole different language, it’s so far away from any English I know, and it just doesn’t have the impact.)
I sort of think whomever invented the term “redemptrix” was attempting to “Latin-ify” English by creating a feminine word for redeemer or mediator. But this does not connect to my thoughts as a native English speaker. For example, we do not call female doctors “doctrix” or “doctress.” We call them doctors. Just because that is the way that English is.
There are many languages besides Latin-based ones which have masculine and feminized words (including Hebrew), and there are many languages besides English which do not. (English may be the current international language, but English is not a top tier language in Catholic history – that would be the latin based languages and … Polish.)
I really like the Latin Mass because it is much more powerful for Exorcisms. The Mass is very beautiful and wonderful, and the High Latin Mass is actually quite “Jewish,” if you’ve seen Jewish things, which is very beautiful because… it fits very much with the whole Bible. It makes a lot of sense. It is wonderful. And even though at first it was very difficult for me to follow so I did not, I felt like the unconscious man on the side of the road in Jesus’ example of who the true neighbor is, and I felt that Jesus was coming to take care of my immortal soul despite me being ‘unconscious’ to what was being said at first. This was a very beautiful and wonderful experience and I received so many blessings and deliverances which impact my life to this day. I do not think there would be such a need for exorcisms if we had more Latin Masses. They really are wonderful for deliverance!
But Latin is a dead language and so it is everyone’s second language… Essentially it is the Resurrected Language. Latin in a Mass reminds all Christians in all countries that earth is not the Kingdom we must aim for, but rather a new citizenship in Heaven that is very real… even so far as to be in another language. Like a true country, not just the “idea” of a country. But a real place we must strive for and strive to bring on earth through our closeness to God, especially in prayer and in His Sacraments (baptism, Mass, confession).
But when a missionary preaches to a people in their native language, it seems a lot more humble for him or her to speak to those people in their native language… I think, anyway. (I’m not saying the Good News should be preached in slang or with the grievous sins of contemporary language such as foul language or anything like that – but at least in real English that I can grasp. Even if it is a more formal or correct English, it helps me to read real English words rather than made-up – and frankly, unnecessary – words. Unnecessary because I know Mary is a woman already.)
I started writing or translating over my Catholic books which use the word “mediatrix” or “co-redemptrix”, to “Mediator” and “Co-Redeemer” and this has personally helped me a great deal to understand. It has more impact on a deeper level.
So, I suggest that if your native language is English, you try writing or mentally translating these words in your books because maybe you will come to a new understanding of the great impact that these titles have, which would deepen your contemplation of God’s infinite Mercy and His infinite love for us by giving us His holy Mother as our mediator and co-redeemer, and the proper abandonment we should give to Mary to obtain graces for our souls from God through her intercession so that we can spend eternity in Heaven with God.
It might help you to do so; it helped me, anyway. That’s why I thought I would share.
Maybe you understood it already on a profound level and it won’t make a difference to you. That’s very good!
But it me, it really helped me to understand Mary and God better and I feel like I’ve begun a fresh contemplation of God’s Mercy.
(PS. This same sort of thing is in the Good Success book, where they refer to the founders of the community in Quito, Ecuador, as “foundresses.” It is a little redundant, given that they are nuns so we know they are women. I suggest trying out this translation from “foundress,” another attempt at latin-izing English with a made up word, to “founder” so you can again see the great impact of the work of the holy warrior of God, Mother Mariana, and all of the other holy founders. Again, unless it has no impact on you. Maybe it was just me.)
Have a nice day~!