HERESIES AND THE FIRST COUNCILS

It is said that the devil, first, attacked the early church from without through persecution.  But failing in this he changed his strategy.  This time he attacked from within through heresies.  The saints fought the heresies; while Holy Mother church protected her flock through Ecumenical Councils.

By the 3rd century, the church existed in relative calm and in some parts, even in luxury.  There was much time for everything specially for speculative theology.  Instead of being concerned with how to live holy lives, people were speculating on the nature of God.  The Hierarchy begun to enter into politics and Emperors begun to manipulate the hierarchy. The church became splintered into several groups.

St. Jerome observed: that one day the whole world woke up to find itself Arian, a heresy propagated by the priest, Arius, and backed up by a bishop, Eusebius.

Before the church could win her battle against the heresy of the priest Arius, a bishop, Nestorius, arose with another heresy denying that the Blessed Virgin was the Mother of God.  This was followed by the heresy of the monk Eutyches.  As usual God raised champions to refute the heresies; the church summoned councils to protect the faithful.  The Council of Nicea to expose the heresy of Arius, the Council of Ephesus to expose Nestorius and the Council of Chalcedon to expose Eutyches.

In fighting heresies, St. Irenaeus gave the cardinal rule: if anyone wants to know with certainty what is true in religious matters, he should study the teachings of the church written by a line of holy bishops going back to the apostles, i.e. the Fathers which are in the possession of the Catholic Church.

With heresies, the church needed no attacks from without.  The enemy was now within; from her own bosom, among her own priests, her own bishops and her own religious.

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Source: http://www.caryana.org/brief/brief25.html

Acknowledgement

The above article is from Winnowing Fan which is owned and copyrighted by S of G Foundation.  The publishing of this article in full is permitted without written authorization.

MARKS OF TRUE DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

What is genuine devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary?

1.  True devotion to Mary is interior - it comes from within the heart and mind and follows from the love we bear her.

2.  True devotion to Mary is trustful - it fills us with confidence in the Blessed Virgin Mary, just like the confidence of a child for its mother.

3.  True devotion to Mary is holy - it leads us to avoid sin and to imitate the virtues of Mary.

4.  True devotion to Mary is constant - it is guided by faith and not by feelings.  It strengthens our desire to lead good Christian lives.

5.  True devotion to Mary is disinterested - it inspires us to seek God in His Blessed Mother and not ourselves.  Mary's true devotees serve her out of love and not for selfish gain.

Source: From the book True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary

            Author:  St. Louis Marie de Montfort

FALSE DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Do you have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary?  If so, what kind of devotion do you have?  According to St. Louis Marie de Montfort in his book True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, there are seven kinds of false devotions.

1.  Critical devotees - are those who do not have a clear devotion to Mary.  They criticize all those forms of Marian devotions and practices that do not appeal to them.  They hardly believe or question the truths of the miracles that are attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

2.  Scrupulous devotees - are those who consider devotion to Mary as separate from devotion to Jesus.  They consider devotion to Mary as an offense to Jesus.

3.  Superficial devotees - are devotees who do not have an interior devotion to Mary.  Their devotion consists only of the external practices.

4. Presumptuous devotees - are devotees who continue to live in sin thinking that God will accept them in heaven just because they have a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

5.  Inconstant devotees - are those whose devotion to Mary is only good at the start.  Sometimes they are fervent in their devotion, other times they are lukewarm.  Their devotion depends only on their feelings.

6.  Hypocritical devotees - are sinners who hide their sins and evil habits under the name of Mary.

7.  Self-interested devotees - are those who have a special devotion to Mary not because they love her but because they need her help and intercession.

IMPERFECT AND STRUGGLING

One may think that I'm as meek as a lamb or as innocent as a dove just because I have this religious blog dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Two years ago, I attended a seminar on how to make a blog. After the seminar, I was excited and planned to create a music blog which will talk about my favorite songs, favorite music videos and favorite artists.

For many months, I read and reread the guidelines that were given to us during the seminar.  But every time I pray and told the Lord that I'm planning to create a music blog, there's always a voice inside me telling me to create a religious blog instead of a music blog.  I always refused, "No, I'm not worthy to create a religious blog, it's not for me, and what would I write, I'm not fluent in English."  But then, something inside me argued, "If you're not fluent in English, then why would you create a music blog?"  Yes, God speaks deep within our consciences, but I'm always ashamed to admit that God speaks to me in my conscience because I'm NOT a saint; I'm just a normal human being.

But for some reason, I was able to create this religious blog, which is now on its second anniversary.

I'm not comfortable that people who follows or read the entries of this blog might think that I'm pious and virtuous.  The truth is, I'm not perfect, I also have character defects and weaknesses.  But I always turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary for help, for guidance and for enlightenment.  I always ask her to "Please increase in me and I must decrease."  That is my battle cry every time I pray the Rosary, and will be till the end.

Please pray for this blog.

ST. CATHERINE OF GENOA'S VISION OF PURGATORY

St. Catherine of Genoa's vision of Purgatory - By Joe Tremblay

There are three divisions of the church, namely: 

1. Church Militant - composed of Christians here on earth who are struggling against the devil, sin, the world and the flesh.  We, the living, belong to this Church.

2.  Church Suffering - means the souls in purgatory, and

3.  Church Triumphant - comprised of the saints in heaven.

The Church Suffering cannot help themselves but we, the Church Militant can help them by praying for them and by offering sacrifices for them.

I read so many books about the souls in purgatory, and I found out how badly they need our help.  So let's pray for them or better yet have a mass said for them.