Venerable Louis de Blois: Thoughts on Paradise
Below you will find a compilation of quotes on the topic of Paradise. These have been taken from different works, by Ven. Louis de Blois (principally ‘Spiritual Works of Louis of Blois, Abbot of Liesse,’ R & T Washbourne, 1903).
As a preliminary consideration, it will be worthwhile to reflect on a spiritual light given to St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi. She learnt that, whereas earthly pleasures, being less than man, enter into him, the joys of Paradise, conversely, are so much greater than man, that he enters into them. Earthly joys, she writes, are like a glass of water; heavenly, like a limitless ocean. St. Thomas concurs with this thought, as do all other theologians, at least implicitly; impelled, as they are, by the inexorable laws of sound philosophy. ‘Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord’ (Mt. 25:21)
THOUGHTS ON PARADISE:
Putting Things in Perspective: The Depths of Mary’s Joy
In fact, if all the joys of the world, all peace, all delights and pleasures were gathered into one, they would appear mere bitterness compared with the least joy that the Blessed Virgin possessed.
The Company of Countless Angels and Saints
We shall enjoy for ever the society of Mary, the Mother of God, most beautiful, most sweet, most kind, most lovable, of the holy angels and the other citizens of heaven, and we shall know them all right well as our friends… Each one distinctly and perfectly knows every one of the citizens of heaven, and abounds with every sort of riches, delight and joy… [We shall be blessed to] behold the most Blessed Mother of God, to join the chorus of Angels, to have perpetual fellowship with the holy Patriarchs and Prophets, with the holy Apostles and Martyrs, with the holy Confessors and Virgins: to know all the citizens of heaven, and to rejoice with each of them in their eternal happiness.
‘Better is One Day in Thy Courts Above Thousands…’Truly, that blessed heavenly country is our only fatherland; where an everlasting day always shineth forth, better far than a thousand days here below.
The Hour of Death: Man’s “Hour”
Happy is the hour, and most desirable the moment, when the heavenly Spouse joyfully meets the holy soul coming forth from the prison of the body with gentle words, and invites it, saying, “Arise, make haste, my love. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. Flowers have appeared in our land; the vines in flower yield their sweet smell, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land” (Cant. ii. 10, 11, 12). Come forth with joy, most dear daughter: tremble not, nor be afraid; thou art brought out of exile, thou leavest the miseries of the calamitous world. For “nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow, shall be any more” (Apoc. xxi. 4). Henceforth, the corruptible body shall not weigh down the soul: for when thou art admitted into the joy of thy Lord, thou shalt rejoice for ever in the gift of immortality.
No Need for Food and Drink
They who shall possess God will not need corruptible food and drink, for they will be full of God. God will be to them, food and drink, and whatsoever they can desire; they will have all things in Him, with whose vision they will be filled.
Endless Desire, Endless Satisfaction
They will ever see Him, and ever be satisfied; and they will desire ever to see Him, and ever to be satisfied. They will desire without anxiety, and they will have their fill without satiety.
Beauty Incomparable
Thy gates shine with choice pearls; thy streets are paved with the purest gold; thy walls are bright with most precious stories. In thee, delicious gardens and pleasant vales are ever fresh; in thee, perennial flowers and violets continually flourish; in thee, the cinnamon and balsam incessantly breathe forth an ineffable odour of sweetness; in thee, all kinds of beautiful things abound without fading, remain without passing away, exist without corruption, are eternal without change. In thee is a climate temperate and serene, beyond all human conception; in thee, are peace and repose surpassing all imagination; in thee, is eternal day, and one life in all; in thee, is certain security, and secure eternity, and eternal tranquillity, and tranquil happiness, and happy sweetness, and sweet joy: in thee shall the just shine as the sun (Matth. xiii. 43).
Absolutely Nothing is Lacking
No one can seek, or desire, or love anything, which he will not find in thee. That only which is nothing worth, is not in thee. Oh, what an ocean of unalloyed bliss, what a torrent of unmixed joy, what an abyss of purest delight is it to see the God of gods in Sion (Psalm Ixxxiii. 8), to discern that incomprehensible glory of the Most Holy Trinity: clearly to contemplate that surpassing fairness, perfectly to taste that ineffable sweetness, from whence flows out all the beauty and sweetness of created things…
A Land Free of Every Affliction… there is no infirmity, no corruption, no fear, no thoughts, no anxiety, no grief, no poverty, no affliction, no sorrow or misery (Apoc. xxi. 4). There wilt thou most happily enjoy that supreme and unchangeable Good, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of mortal man (1 Cor. ii. 9).
Like Iron Cast into the Fire
For thou shalt clearly see the glorious Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the One supremely desirable God. Thou will be in God and God will be in thee in a most excellent manner. Being thus united to God, thou wilt perfectly taste the sweetness of His goodness, and wilt be utterly inebriated with the torrent of divine delights (Psal. xxxv. 9). Thou wilt then most fully know and feel, with what immense love He has loved thee from all eternity.
The Lamb is the Lamp Thereof (Apoc. 21: 23)
Filled with unspeakable and incomprehensible joy, thou wilt behold the Human Face of thy Beloved Jesus, which is verily all gracious, glorious, and sweet; for His beauty and fairness far surpass all that can in this life be wished for or desired.
Beauty, Peace, Truth
There, all are adorned with incorruptible beauty, and enjoy an imperturbable peace. There all are ever glorified by the serene light of the Godhead, and obtain full knowledge of the truth.
God Possesses All Perfections Perfectly
Thou needst not fear lest any of those things which please thee here should be absent. For all the beauty, elegance, sweetness, grace, perfection, and excellence that can here be found in all creatures, exist there most exuberantly and superessentially. In short, there is the influx of every good.
33 Forever
We shall all rise again at the age at which the Lord Jesus was when He died for us. The old man of a hundred years and the infant of one night old will be of the same stature. And although the good may now be lame, or blind, or deformed; yet they will then rise again sound, whole, fair, beautiful, and free from every blemish.
The Glory of the Risen Body
The bodies of the elect will then emit a most sweet odour, and will be seven times more brilliant than the sun, since the glory of their souls will penetrate them. They will also be impassible, so that they can suffer no injury. And they will be endowed with such agility that wherever the soul may wish to be, thither it will in a moment transport the body. They will moreover be so subtle that they will penetrate solid and thick substances with less difficulty than the light of the sun penetrates glass.
Justice at Last
Then, indeed, the Saints, who during the winter of this exile, like trees stripped of all adornment, appeared lowly and were esteemed barren, will be clothed with unspeakable glory and beauty, and will flourish like palm-trees for ever and ever.
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• Taken from "Littlest Souls:" Thoughts on Paradise -
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The Strange Prophecy of Mitar Tarabich
by Charles Reed -
O God, who doest marvellous things, and incomprehensible, and wonderful things without number. Job 5
O sing unto the Lord a new song: for he has done marvellous things. -Psalm 97
Part I
1. Andrew from the Far North
2. The Strange Destiny of Charles Reid
3. The Mysterious Destiny of Charles' Grandson
4. Charles Began to Write
5. He Wrote About Love and Compassion
6. A Horrifying Ugly Prophecy
7. Common People Believing in False Ideas
8 Is the Prophecy Fulfilled?
9. Note about Prophecy: His Writings Will Remain
Part II
1. Objections and Answers
2. Only Three Times in World History
3. Notes About Scandinavia
In the 19th century there lived a pious, illiterate Serbian peasant in the south of Europe, who received revelations about future events. His name was Mitar Tarabich. He died in 1899.
Mitar's uncle was a priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church. He wrote down the prophecies of nis nephew, to preserve them for posterity.
No sooner had Mitar died, than some of the prophecies were fulfilled. He predicted the coming of television. At that time the word television did not exist; he said that there would be a small box filled with many images, and that people would sit in front of it, staring at the box, thus predicting the bad effects of too much TV watching. He prophesied the coming of petroleum and oil wells. He called it "black gold," because the owners of these petroleum wells became immensely wealthy.
Mitar predicted that women would dress like men, wearing pants and having short hair. He said that if you saw a couple at a distance it would seem that it was two men, for the woman wore pants and had short hair. He said that there would even be weddings, in which the bride wore pants, so from a distance it seemed that two men were being married.
Mitar Tarabich predicted the future of the chief of state of Yugoslavia, saying that he wouold die soon after having a horse riding accident. The famous dictator of Yugoslavia, Tito, died exactly as he had foretold.
The Enigmatic Prophecy
Mitar said: There will come a little man from the far north, who willl write about love (charity) and compassion. (Read More Here)
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* History of Early Christianity -
* Confessions of St. Augustine -
. Devotion and Reflection -
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Explanation of St. Benedict medal
Many Catholics wear the St. Benedict Medal. It is a sacramental containing many symbols and prayers that can remind us to hold fast against temptation.
During his life, Benedict was known to work many miracles through the power of the Holy Cross. These included his heroic conquering of temptations and his miraculous vanquishing of attempts to kill him. By making the Sign of the Cross over a glass of wine that had been poisoned, for example, the glass shattered and he was spared from drinking it.
These miracles, and his devotion to Christ’s Cross, led to the creation of the St. Benedict Medal. It was a Jubilee medal first struck in 1880 by the Archabbey of Monte Cassino to commemorate the 14th centenary of St. Benedict’s birth.
On the front of the medal, St. Benedict can be seen holding a cross in his right hand and the Rule he wrote for his monks in his left.
To the right there is an image of the poisoned cup which he was once given.
On the other side of Benedict, a raven can be seen. This is because an enemy once sent him poisoned bread; God sent a raven to take the loaf and fly off with it, thereby protecting Benedict from harm.
The letters on the medal contain either whole phrases in Latin or the first letter of each word in these phrases. What do they mean in English?
Front of the Medal:
Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti
Cross of the Holy Father Benedict
Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur
May we at our death be fortified by his presence
Back of the Medal:
Pax
Peace
On the cross in the center:
C.S.S.M.L.—N.D.S.M.D.Crux Sacra Sit Mihi LuxNon Draco Sit Mihi Dux
The Holy Cross be my light
Let not the dragon be my guide
Circled letters at each corner of the cross:
C.S.P.B.Crux Sancti Patris Benedicti
Cross of the Holy Father Benedict
Initials around the perimeter:
V.R.S.N.S.M.V.—S.M.Q.L.I.V.B.Vade Retro Satana, Nunquam Suade Mihi Vana
Sunt Mala Quae Libas, Ipse Venena Bibas
Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities!
What you offer me is evil. Drink the poison yourself!
This is a medal that tells Satan to go back to hell where he belongs.
When we strive to lead virtuous lives, pray for the mercy of God, and seek the intercession of St. Benedict, this medal becomes a true weapon for the spiritual warrior. Let us make use of it as we fight against sin and evil.
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