Virgo Potens

Month of St. Joseph ~ March 10th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ Monday after the First Sunday in Lent — The Washing of the Feet Read St. John xiii. 2-20 And when supper was done, (the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him,) knowing that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he came from God, and goeth to God; He riseth from supper, and layeth aside his garments, and having taken a towel, girded himself. After that, he putteth water into a basin, and began to wash the feet of the disciples, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. He cometh therefore to Simon Peter. And Peter saith to him: Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered, and said to him: What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith to him: Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me. Simon Peter saith to him: Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him: He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all. For he knew who he was that would betray him; therefore he said: You are not all clean. Then after he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, being set down again, he said to them: Know you what I have done to you? You call me Master, and Lord; and you say well, for so I am. If then I being your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also. Amen, amen I say to you: The servant is not greater than his lord; neither is the apostle greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, you shall be blessed if you do them. I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen. But that the scripture may be fulfilled: He that eateth bread with me, shall lift up his heel against me. At present I tell you, before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe that I am he. Amen, amen I say to you, he that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me. 1. When the paschal supper was finished, Our Lord rose from table, laid aside His upper garment, and girding Himself with a towel, He filled a basin with water and went from one to another of the apostles, washing with His sacred hands the feet of each. This act was intended to teach us the happiness of performing menial services for those around us. To wait on others, especially on our inferiors, for Christ's sake, is far more honorable than to be waited on by them; to make ourselves the servants of others is far more noble than to be served by them. Is this the principle on which I act? 2. In this act were combined the two virtues which are most prominent in Our Lord's life on earth— charity and humility. Charity takes a pleasure in everything that promotes the happiness or the comfort of our fellow-men because they are the brethren of Christ. Humility takes a pleasure in whatever puts us in an inferior position, in one to which no worldly honor or dignity attaches, but rather contempt and humiliation. How sadly wanting I am in these virtues! I dislike charity if it costs me anything, and I positively hate to be humbled, to be despised by men. 3. Yet Christ's words are true: the disciple is not greater than His Master. If our Divine Master was glorious in the sight of the angels as He stooped to wash the apostles' feet, our road to glory must be by stooping, by ministering in all humility to others. We never can be as great as our Master. We must take care lest our selfishness and pride place us in direct contrast with the Son of God. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

2 of 2 The First Sunday in Lent — Jesus' Desire for His Sufferings 1. How are we to account for Christ's desire to suffer? Human nature shrinks from suffering and dreads it, and none of the sons of men was ever so sensitive as He, or had sufferings to look forward to in any way comparable to His. Yet in spite of this Christ longed for His sufferings. O wondrous love, that not only suffered for us, but longed for the time when His Passion should come! 2. Was it the suffering in itself for which Christ longed? Impossible. It was for the result of that suffering, for the joy that was set before Him, that He endured the cross and despised the shame. Even Christ could not work without the prospect of some reward. So we should encourage ourselves with the thought of the glorious recompense God will give to all who suffer for Him and who unite their sufferings to the sacred sufferings of the Son of God. 3. But what sort of reward was that to which the Son of God looked forward? It was no selfish reward. It was the pure, unselfish joy of seeing others happy, of knowing that by all He was to endure millions of mankind would be freed from the eternal misery of hell, and raised to the eternal and unspeakable joy of the beatific vision. He knew that it was by sufferings that graces must be won for others. This lesson, too, the saints learned from their Master. How have I learned it? Do I recognize the necessity, the dignity, the happiness of suffering? ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

1 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 9th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ The First Sunday in Lent — Jesus' Desire for His Sufferings Read St. Luke xii. 49, 50 And they that were about him, seeing what would follow, said to him: Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. (continued)

Month of St. Joseph ~ March 8th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ First Saturday in Lent —The Eating of the Paschal Lamb Read St. Luke xxii. 14-18 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said to them: With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you, before I suffer. For I say to you, that from this time I will not eat it, till it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And having taken the chalice, he gave thanks, and said: Take, and divide it among you: For I say to you, that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, till the kingdom of God come. Our blessed Lord, before He suffered, celebrated the Jewish rite which above all the rest foreshadowed His own sacred sufferings. The paschal lamb was an exact type of Him, the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sins of the world. 1. The paschal lamb was the means employed by Almighty God to deliver His people from Egypt. It was the sprinkling of its blood on the posts of the door which caused the avenging angel to pass by and leave the inmates unharmed. So the Blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on our souls, in the sacraments and when we make an act of contrition, saves us from the vengeance that would otherwise fall upon us. O Jesus! sprinkle me with one drop ofThy precious Blood, and Ibshallbbe free from sin. 2. The paschal lamb had to be drained of the last drop of its blood. So the Lamb of God shed for us the last drop of His precious Blood. He was not satisfied with merely giving His life for us, but He must needs endure all the intense agony, the burning thirst which came of this draining of His whole body for love ofus. How can I ever thank Him as I ought? 3.The lamb suffers uncomplainingly. It never murmurs against its lot, or struggles against those who lead it here and there; unlike the filthy swine, that grunt and grumble at every attempt to control them. None was ever so submissive as the Lamb of God. "Lo, Icome to do Thy will, O my God. I am content to do it." Can I echo these words? ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

FIRST FRIDAY of March ❤️ O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee! If possible, receive Holy Communion today and make reparation to Our Lord and Saviour for past and present offenses against His Most Sacred Heart.

Month of St. Joseph ~ March 7th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ First Friday in Lent — The Supper in Simon's House Read St. Mark xiv. 3-11 And when he was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, and was at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of precious spikenard: and breaking the alabaster box, she poured it out upon his head. Now there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said: Why was this waste of the ointment made? For this ointment might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. But Jesus said: Let her alone, why do you molest her? She hath wrought a good work upon me. For the poor you have always with you: and whensoever you will, you may do them good: but me you have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come beforehand to anoint my body for burial. Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memorial of her. And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests, to betray him to them. Who hearing it were glad; and they promised him they would give him money. And he sought how he might conveniently betray him. 1. The supper in Simon's house was remarkable for St. Mary Magdalene's act of devotion to our Divine Lord. She brought an al alabaster box of ointment of precious spikenard, and poured it on His head as He sat at table. Her gift was very pleasing to Our Lord for three reasons: (a) she gave of her best; (b) she gave out of pure love; (c) she gave in presence of the assembled guests, fearlessly and knowing that men would ridicule and blame her. Are the gifts I give to God marked by generosity, supernatural love, absence of all human respect ? 2. Some of those present, instigated by Judas, began to criticise what they regarded as waste. They had indignation within themselves and showed it in words. They veiled their grumbling under show of charity to the poor. This was very displeasing to Jesus. He hates the spirit that finds fault and criticises and condemns, and all the more when it hides itself under the cloak of virtue. Yet is not this spirit strong in me? 3. Notice the gratitude of Jesus. A little box of ointment poured on His head earns for the donor a commemoration of her gift wherever the Gospel shall be preached in the whole world. And not only this: it obtains for her also many graces on earth and great glory in heaven. There is no one who is so grateful as Jesus Christ; no one who will reward with such divine generosity everything done from love to Him. Nothing will beforgotten, nothing is too small to be noticed and richly recompensed by Him. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of St. Joseph ~ March 6th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ First Thursday in Lent — The Preliminaries of the Passion Read St. Luke xxii. 1-6 Now the feast of unleavened bread, which is called the pasch, was at hand. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put Jesus to death: but they feared the people. And Satan entered into Judas, who was surnamed Iscariot, one of the twelve. And he went, and discoursed with the chief priests and the magistrates, how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. And he promised. And he sought opportunity to betray him in the absence of the multitude. 1. During the first days of the week in which He suffered, our blessed Lord had been teaching all day in the Temple. The assembled crowd had cried, " Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name ofthe Lord." It seemed as if He were going to be acknowledged by the voice of the people as the King of Israel. How deceptive are appearances! How often, when all seems going well and the cause of Christ about to triumph, some grievous disappointment is at hand! 2. Side by side with the enthusiasm of the people grew the rage and fury of the chief priests and scribes. Why did they thus hate Him Who went about doing good? In their selfishness and cupidity they feared lest He should interfere with their influence and they thus lose their position, their reputation, their gains. Pride and self-love blinded their eyes, and made them hate with a bitter hatred the Son of God. Am I not sometimes blinded by likefeelings? filled with unjust dislike of others because they seem to interfere with my influence or my personal interests? 3. The chief priests had a great advantage in the fact that in the little company that surrounded Jesus there was a traitor. Judas, impelled by avarice, had been first a thief, and then had made overtures to betray his Master. O fatal love of money, to harden the heart of man! How careful must I be not to set my heart on any earthly possessions, since nothing has a more deadly power than this to separate me from the love of Jesus ! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of St. Joseph ~ March 5th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ Ash Wednesday— The Anticipation of the Passion Read St. Matthew xvi. 21; xvii. 21, 22 From that time Jesus began to shew to his disciples, that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put to death, and the third day rise again. Matthew xvii. 21, 22 And when they abode together in Galilee, Jesus said to them: The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men: And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again. And they were troubled exceedingly. 1. From the first moment of His Incarnation our blessed Lord had ever before His eyes the prospect of His approaching Agony and Death. It was present to Him, not vaguely and uncertainly, like pain and suffering to which men look forward, but vividly and distinctly, as at the actual time when He suffered. Never for a single moment was it absent from His thoughts. O wondrous love of our Incarnate God, Who thus employed His divine power to protract His sufferings by this continual prospect! 2. Yet in spite of this He was always cheerful and full of brightness and joy of heart. His coming Agony did not weigh Him down or depress Him. In spite of the bitterness of the chalice, of the unspeakable agony ever present to Him, no cloud overcast His brow, no weakness or dread was manifest to His apostles, no thought of self interfered with His perfect sympathy for others. He was a pattern of divine unselfishness; the unselfish always forget their own troubles, and so can comfort and help others. 3. But our blessed Lord not only was not cast down by the approaching Passion, He actually longed for it. "I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized: and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?" His love for men was such that He rejoiced in the thought of suffering for us. How can I ever thank Him as I ought? How can I show my love for Him Who loved me with so great a love? ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

✧✿───✧✧✿✧✧───✿✧ Ash Wednesday, 2025 Dear Telly-gram Friends, Thank you so much to everyone for continuing to follow my channels! Lent, a season when great graces are available and it is possible to make tremendous spiritual progress, is upon us. If you have not determined your Lentan penances (what you will be doing extra and what you will be foregoing), based, of course, on your state in life, now would be a good time to do this. Today, Ash Wednesday, is the first day of Lent, and a day of fast and abstinence (no meat). The current USCCB rules around fast and abstinence are: • Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. • In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence. • For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. • The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onward. Those observing the pre-1962 norms observe the rules of fasting Mondays through Saturdays; Sunday is not a day of fast. All Fridays during the year are generally days of abstinence; those looking to add more penance to their schrdule may want to practice abstinence on Wednesdays and Saturdays as well. Fasting for Lent ends at noon on Holy Saturday. Spring Ember Days this year are Wednesday, March 12th (fast/partial abstinence); Friday, March 14th (fast/abstinence); and Saturday, March 15th (fast/abstinence). Partial abstinence means that you may have meat, meat-based soups and gravy at one meal. Daily Meditations for the season of Lent will be posted at Virgo Potens, beginning today, Ash Wednesday. Meditations from Humility of Heart will continue after Easter. Daily Meditations for The Month of St. Joseph are being posted this month at One, Holy, Catholic. Prayers to St. Joseph are being posted at Defende nos in prœlio. Daily Collects for Lent will be found at Catholic Universe. Chantbird’s Garden of Song, Christus Regnat, and Glory to God will continue much the same. May you have a blessed and profitable Lent! +A.M.D.G.+ For the greater glory of God! Virgo Potens https://t.me/Virgo_Potens Defende nos in prœlio https://t.me/Defende_nos Chantbird’s Garden of Song https://t.me/chantbirds_garden_of_song Catholic Universe https://t.me/Catholic_Universe One, Holy, Catholic https://t.me/one_holy_catholic Christus Regnat https://t.me/RexUniversi Glory to God https://t.me/AdDeiGloria ✧✿───✧✧✿✧✧───✿✧

2 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 4th These Meditations deal with some of the main incidents of Our Lord's Sacred Passion. They are intended to be begun on Ash Wednesday, and to end on Holy Saturday. A few verses of Scripture are suggested to be read before each meditation, as furnishing the subject-matter of which it treats. How to Meditate on the Passion St. Bonaventure tells us that if we desire to meditate with fruit on the Passion of Jesus Christ, three conditions are necessary. Our meditation must be : 1. Humble; for the Passion is unlike anything else in the world, it is unfathomable to human reason— a bottomless ocean of mystery. Reason must bow its head and confess its inability to grasp the mysteries that even Faith sees only darkly and through a glass. The story of Christ's humiliation is to the proud a sealed book; they see nothing attractive in it. Christ suffering has no beauty that they should admire Him. I must therefore begin by praying for humility. 2. Full of confidence; since the Passion is the source of all our confidence. It is the proof of the exceeding love wherewith Christ loved us. How can I fear with the sight before me of Christ suffering for love of me? It is, too, a medicine for every possible evil, for every temptation, for every sin ; whatever the malady of my soul,the Passion of Christ can cure it. At the foot of the cross each mortal wound will be made whole. 3. Persevering: the beauty of the Passion does not appear all at once. The world considers it a degradation, the careless and the indifferent pass it by unmoved; even the faithful Christian scarcely penetrates beneath the surface of that Divine Mystery, unless he prays earnestly and continually to appreciate it. Only gradually and by degrees are we drawn by the sacred attractiveness of the cross. Before I begin my meditations I must ask God for this spirit of humility, confidence, persistency. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

1 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 4th PREFACE THERE is no subject of meditation more pleasing to God and more profitable to the soul than the Passion of Jesus Christ. It contains in itself all sweetness. It is the remedy for every evil; the food that nourishes the soul. It is continued still in the Blessed Eucharist, and every Mass is a representation and renewal of the Sacred Passion. It is a subject always in season, but especially during the holy time of Lent. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 3rd There is an immense difference between the morality of human philosophy and that evangelical morality taught by Jesus Christ. Read the works of Seneca attentively–—he who was held to exceed all other philosophers in morality,–—and you will see how in those very maxims with which he teaches magnanimity and fortitude he also instills pride. Read the works of the most famous of the Stoics, and you will say with St. Jerome that “When they are studied with the greatest care and attention, there is to be found no satisfactory fullness of truth, no correspondence with the true principles of justice.” [Epist. 146, ad Damas.] All is vanity that only inspires vanity. It is only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that are to be found the rules of that humility of heart which is true virtue, consisting in the knowledge of God’s greatness and of our own nothingness; and it is by attending to the study of this wise humility that we fulfill the Apostolic precept: “Not to be more wise than it behoveth to be wise, but to be wise unto sobriety.” [Rom. xii, 3] Jesus Christ before teaching anything of His new law wished to teach humility, as St. John Chrysostom observes: “When He began to lay down His Divine laws, He started with humility.” [Hom. 39 in Matt.] For without humility it is impossible to comprehend this Heavenly doctrine, but with humility we are enabled to understand everything that is necessary or useful to our salvation. ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

1 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 3rd 31. We read of various ancient philosophers who bore calumny, insults and contempt with perfect equanimity and without anger or perturbation, but they did not even know the name of humility. Their courageous fortitude was only an effect of refined pride, for as they considered themselves far above kings and emperors they cared little about insults, and maintained their equanimity by the contempt with which they looked down on those who insulted them. They overcame their feeling of resentment by a passion that was more dominating still, and that they were modest, peaceable and gentle was an effect of that pride which despotically ruled the feelings of their hearts. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 1st However much our Christian self-love desires to avoid the remorse and repentance which ever follows the humiliations caused by sin, we should nevertheless desire and seek to be humble, because if we are humble we can never be humbled. “O my soul,” we must say to ourselves,” O my soul, look well into thyself and be humble if thou dost not will that God should humble thee with temporal and eternal shame.” God promises to exalt the humble, and Heaven is filled with the humble; God also threatens the proud with humiliation, and Hell is filled with the proud. God thus promises and menaces so that if we do not remain in humility allured by His great promises, we should at least remain in humility from fear of His potent threats: “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” [Matt. xxiii, 12] God regards the petitions of the humble favorably, and inclines to answer them: ”He hath regard to the prayer of the humble, and He hath not despised their petition.” [Ps. ci, 18] But however much the proud man may invoke God, God will give him no spiritual consolation. St. Augustine says: “God will not come, even though thou call upon Him, if thou art puffed up.” [Enarr. In Ps. 74] These things are all old and oft-repeated, but it is because we know them and do not practice them that we deserve the reproof given by the prophet Daniel to Nabuchodonosor:” Thou hast not humbled thy heart, whereas thou knewest all these things.” [Dan. v, 22] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

1 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 2nd 30. At times we are over-scrupulous about works of supererogation, such for instance as having omitted on such a day to say a certain prayer or to perform some self-imposed mortification; these are scruples of omissions which in regard to our eternal salvation are of little or no importance; but we take but little heed of that humility which is to us most essential and necessary and without which no one can be saved. St. Paul warns us: “Do not become children in sense.” [1 Cor. xiv, 20] Do not be like children who cry and despair if an apple is taken away from them, but care little for losing a gem of great value. Let us place humility above all things. It is the hidden treasure buried in the field, to acquire which we ought to sell all we possess. [Matt. xiii, 44] It is the pearl of great price, to obtain which we should sell all we have. [Matt. xiii. 45] (continued)

FIRST SATURDAY of MARCH 💙 “See my daughter, how my heart is encircled by thorns with which ungrateful men pierce me at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, try to console me, and announce that I promise to assist at the hour of death, with the graces necessary for salvation, all those who on the First Saturdays of five consecutive months, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite part of My Rosary, and keep me company for a quarter of an hour, meditating on its mysteries with the intention of offering me reparation.” ~ Words of Our Lady to Sr. Marie (Lucia dos Santos) on December 10, 1925 If possible, make First Saturday devotions today, in reparation for offenses against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as requested by Our Lady herself in 1925, and confirmed by Our Lord in 1927.

2 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 1st However much our Christian self-love desires to avoid the remorse and repentance which ever follows the humiliations caused by sin, we should nevertheless desire and seek to be humble, because if we are humble we can never be humbled. “O my soul,” we must say to ourselves,” O my soul, look well into thyself and be humble if thou dost not will that God should humble thee with temporal and eternal shame.” God promises to exalt the humble, and Heaven is filled with the humble; God also threatens the proud with humiliation, and Hell is filled with the proud. God thus promises and menaces so that if we do not remain in humility allured by His great promises, we should at least remain in humility from fear of His potent threats: “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” [Matt. xxiii, 12] God regards the petitions of the humble favorably, and inclines to answer them: ”He hath regard to the prayer of the humble, and He hath not despised their petition.” [Ps. ci, 18] But however much the proud man may invoke God, God will give him no spiritual consolation. St. Augustine says: “God will not come, even though thou call upon Him, if thou art puffed up.” [Enarr. In Ps. 74] These things are all old and oft-repeated, but it is because we know them and do not practice them that we deserve the reproof given by the prophet Daniel to Nabuchodonosor:” Thou hast not humbled thy heart, whereas thou knewest all these things.” [Dan. v, 22] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

1 of 2 Month of St. Joseph ~ March 1st [29.] To whatever sublime height of sanctity we may have attained, a fall is always to be feared. For, as says St. Augustine, there is no holiness that cannot be lost through pride alone: “If there be holiness in you, fear lest you may lose it. How? Through pride.” [Serm. 13 de Verb. Dom.] (continued)

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯ 2025 March ~ Month of St. Joseph ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 28th I am constrained to adore with fear the supreme judgments of God and also for my own warning to learn that pride was the reason of so great a fall; therefore we should all exclaim with the prophet, “And being exalted I have been humbled and troubled,” [Ps. lxxxvii] and say to ourselves the words which he said to Lucifer after he had “meditated in his heart: ‘I will ascend’ “–—“How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer.” [Isa. xiv] The soul is humbled according to the measure of its self-exaltation, and great must have been the pride which was followed by such a tremendous and abominable humiliation. Ah, how much more precious is one degree of humility in comparison with a thousand revelations or ecstasies! Of what use is it, says St. Augustine, to possess unsullied purity and chastity and virginity if pride dominates the heart? “Of what avail is continence to him who is dominated by pride?” [Serm. de Verb. Dom.] It is a wise and just disposition of God to permit the fall of the proud into every sin and especially into that of wantonness, as being the most degrading, so that by so great a fall he should be ashamed, humbled and cured of his pride. O St. Thomas, how well hast thou said: “He who is fettered by pride and does not know it, falls into the sin of impurity which is manifestly of itself disgraceful, that through this sin he may rise humiliated from his confession.” [22, qu. clxi, art. 6, ad 3] From this, the Saint continues, is shown the gravity of the sin of pride; and as a doctor often permits his patient to suffer from a minor ill so as to liberate him from a greater, so God permits the soul to fall into the sin of the senses, so that it may be cured of the vice of pride. ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).