WHY WE GET DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GRACE

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus

I had wondered for a long time why God had preferences and why all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace. I was astonished to see how He showered extraordinary favors on saints who had sinned against Him, saints such as St. Paul and St. Augustine. He forced them, as it were, to accept His graces. I was just as astonished when I read the lives of saints to see that Our Lord cherished certain favored souls from the cradle to the grave and never allowed any kind of obstacle to check their flight towards Him. He bestowed such favors on them that they were unable to tarnish the spotless splendor of their baptismal robe. I also wondered why such vast numbers of poor savages died before they had even heard the name of God.

Jesus saw fit to enlighten me about this mystery. He set the book of nature before me and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realized that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gray.

It's just the same in the world of souls which is the garden of Jesus. He has created the great saints who are like the lilies and the roses, but He has also created much lesser saints and they must be content to be the daisies or the violets which rejoice His eyes whenever He glances down. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being that which He wants us to be. I also understood that God's love shows itself just as well in the simplest soul which puts up no resistance to His grace as it does in the loftiest soul.

- Source: Marian Messenger, Volume 2, Issue No. 5

BLESSED JOHN PAUL II'S TOTUS TUUS

"Totus Tuus". It is a Latin phrase which means "I am totally yours." This was Blessed John Paul II's motto addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Have you ever wondered why John Paul II had so much devotion to Mary? Source: Wikimedia Commons / cc In his book, Crossing The Threshold of Hope, John Paul II explained that his motto Totus Tuus was not just an expression of piety and devotion, it was his total abandonment and personal consecration to the Mother of God. His deep devotion to Mary was manifested in many different ways; among these is his Coat of Arms which bears the letter M that stands for Mary. Even his coffin has a letter M on it. He credited St. Louis Marie de Montfort for his Totus Tuus when he read the saint's book "True Devotion to Mary." John Paul II came to know the book "True Devotion to Mary" when he worked as a factory worker at a chemical plant during World War II. He studied the book and oftent...

AMERICA'S ABORTION RATE DECREASES

cc photo by Cristi Sebastian Photography on flickr Good news to all of us who are pro-life. Last February 3, 2014, Guttmacher Institute , an organization that works to advance reproductive health including abortion rights, and a former research arm of Planned Parenthood, reported on their site that " U.S. Abortion Rate Hits Lowest Level Since 1973 ". The all-time highest abortion rate in the U.S. was in 1981 with 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women, but in 2011, the abortion rate was 16.9 per 1,000 women aged 15-44, which was a drop of 13%. Guttmacher also reported that the number of abortion providers decreased by 4% and the number of abortion clinics dropped by 1%. There was no concrete reason for the decrease of the abortion rate, but it was believed that the 106 pro-life laws enacted in 2008 to 2011 with the majority of the laws went into effect in late 2011 had something to do with the decline of the abortion rate. I believe that this is the result of cons...

THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IS SATAN'S MOST FEARFUL ENEMY

Genesis 3:15 - "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head while you strike at his heel. The following are excerpts from the book "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin" by St. Louis Marie de Montfort. "God has established only one enmity - but it is an irreconcilable one - which will last and even go on increasing to the end of time. That enmity is between Mary, his worthy Mother, and the devil, between the children and the servants of the Blessed Virgin and the children and followers of Lucifer. Thus the most fearful enemy that God has set up against the devil is Mary, his holy Mother. From the time of the earthly paradise, although she existed then only in his mind, he gave her such a hatred for his accursed enemy, such ingenuity in exposing the wickedness of the ancient serpent and such power to defeat, overthrow and crush this proud rebel, that Satan fears her not only more tha...

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