ST. TERESA OF PORTUGAL - JUNE 17 AND 20

 

Saint Teresa of Portugal

b. 1126 - d. 18 June 1250

My 1st cousin, 28 times removed!

Saint Teresa of Portugal was the daughter of King Sancho I of Portugal, my 27th great granduncle.

Catholic Online (and other online sources) list today as her Feast Day, which it USED to be, but in the 1960's it was changed to June 20th so she can share it with her sisters Sancha and Mafalda who are ALSO saints. The three of them are my first cousins, 28 times removed. Their grandfather is my 28th great grandfather, Alfonso I, King of Portugal.

Alfonso I of Portugal

My 28th Great Grandfather

b. 1109 - d. 6 Dec. 1185

I'm not sure why her feast day was the 17th of June ANYWAY because she died on the 18th, but I am sure there is a story behind that somewhere. 

I WON'T be trying to get accurate information about her from Catholic Online because they've used Teresa of Avilla's portrait on Saint Teresa of Portugal's page. They do not appear to realize there was more than one female saint who lived in Portugal. Obviously, their researcher isn't all that good.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                                                             

They also gave my personal information and email address to an organization called "America Needs Fatima" that has been sending me hysteria-laden emails exhorting recipients to go to battle against several different things. Evangelization is passé, apparently. Now we are expected to force non-Catholics to live, think, behave and read nothing but what meets the approval of a certain group of Catholics. I've told them to take me off their list I never agreed to be on to begin with.

The Catholic Church has a LOT to apologize for these days, and we should be a bit more humble. Sometimes I wonder if these war-like Catholics get all militant and demanding as a type of smoke and mirrors, to distract from all our scandals.

Anyway, I will give you the straight scoop on Teresa of Portugal, to the degree I am able.

Teresa of Portugal married her first cousin, without permission. He was Alfonso IX, King of Leon and Galicia. They had a few children, then their marriage was nullified, ostensibly because of consanguinity, but I suspect the main reason was that they did not get permission. You know how those authoritarians are.

Alfonso went on to marry Berengaria of Castile. who was his first cousin once removed! One of their five children was my 25th great grandfather, Saint Ferdinand III of Castile. See how it is with these nobles? They intermarried so often, I am a cousin to myself 100 times over!

So - back to cousin Teresa of Portugal. She retired to the Monastery of Lorvao when the church dissolved her marriage. It had been a Benedictine establishment, but she changed it to Cistercian, which is more of a contemplative order. Right up my alley!

Abbey of Lorvao

She remained involved in political matters, however, coming out of the convent to help solve some complex disputes about inheritance. (Small wonder.)

I searched around quite a bit to try and get some idea of why this lady was sainted. I know that several confirmed miracles are required as part of the process these days. If I can find some information about her details, I will come back later and include it. I have searched several times over the last few years, and there is still nothing new on this score, which is a perfect example of how it is with the saints. If the exploits of the saint are not recorded during her/his time, then her/his story is lost in the mists of time.

In this way, research of the saints becomes somewhat a case of "what have you done for us lately?" This is due partly to the fact that people seem to gravitate toward the sensational. We love excitement and when given a choice between a serious topic and a bit of fluff that has some excitement attached to it, we often run to the thing we find entertaining.

This is what I have observed about Facebook, for instance. If you have some maniac writing a screed against the Pope and about how he is supposedly an "usurper" or a "heretic" or some such nonsense, you will see the Facebook version of a crowd collecting around the town lunatic. FORGET learning about the saints and how you can emulate them.  No. Most people would rather get themselves all enthused about the latest scandal.

It's when we take the lunatics seriously and we lose track of the human tendency to gravitate toward entertainment that we forget ourselves and get into real trouble. Understanding human beings, digging for the truth, and trying to bring it to the light, is a tedious process. We can't assume we even know what a person means when they speak the same language, as a matter of fact. Hardly anyone is exact in their speech, especially if their words are translated, such as the Pope's. He was born in Argentina, where a number of languages are spoken, the main language being Spanish, but Argentinian Spanish is different than the Spanish spoke in New Mexico or that which is spoken in Cuba. The slang is different. A few words are different, because of the other languages in a country such as Argentina, where many other languages are used there - not in the minority, but a enough to have an effect on the primary language.

Most people are too lazy to do the work necessary to make sure they have "it" right before they ride off into the sunset to bring the news to everyone that the Pope is a heretic because he said such and such a thing, which they extrapolate to mean something B-A-A-D. They're off and running with it. It is more exciting to spread the gossip than to knuckle down and thoroughly research and investigate, if something like that is even necessary - what to speak about the ability of some folks to do the kind of research necessary to establish truth under the circumstances. 

Some people love to spread bad news especially, because it captivates the attention of others, which is a big boost to the ego.

The next thing you know, there is some nun who is being advertised as a "seer" to whom God and the Virgin Mary and various saints are speaking and who have told her that the Pope is an "usurper," as if the guy strode into the Vatican with a conquering army, beheaded Pope Benedict and ascended to the chair of Peter. Please.

Jesus promised us that His Church would last the test of time. He said that the gates of Hell would not overcome it. He would not mislead us. God doesn't change his mind like some undisciplined human. This Pope was chosen the same way Popes have been chosen, with confidence, for more than a thousand years.

Don't you think it odd that the same type of conspiracy theories about American law and justice are being bandied about by Americans in regard to the legitimacy of our POPE? 

I cannot tell you why this infectious fad has hit Americans so strongly. But I CAN tell you that Jesus can be trusted, and our Holy blessed Catholic Church can ALSO be trusted.

This is not to say that mistakes are never made. I am quite sure there are many small errors being made at the Vatican, as there is everywhere else in the world - because anywhere human beings are involved, there will be errors. But the organization is protected from deadly error. 

Instead of catering to our desire for entertainment and ease and mouthing off about the defects of the current Pope, I recommend that we each take a good hard look at our own behaviors, and especially our spiritual disciplines. How is your prayer life? Are you praying the Angelus three times a day? Are you meditating at least 15 minutes a day? Are you doing a daily rosary? Are you meeting all the prayer commitments you have made since becoming Catholic?

May we all be blessed!

Silver Rose
Silver Cottage Hermitage

************************************************************

P.S. All of the blog posts I write are independently researched and written by me and all of them are protected by legal copyright and may not be copied for any purpose by any person for any reason, so please just enjoy them here and leave them here where you found them.

(c) Copyright 2022, Silver S. Parnell

All rights reserved.

No copying for any purpose by anyone is allowed.

                                                                                                              

THE POWER OF THE MIND

Saint Julian of Norwich

Anchoress

I went to mass yesterday for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There was a visiting priest who spoke about beginning one's transformation into a person of Christ by starting with a turn of the mind to think well of others, such as the immigrant, the poor, etc. I appreciated his homily very much, as it spoke to my background as a contemplative nun.

Everything begins in the mind. Every action we take is an expression of something that has started in the mind. Whatever forms the basis of your overall value structure is going to be reflected in your actions.

To the degree to which our stated values differ from our actions is the degree to which our commitment to those values is deformed. In simplistic terms, if we say we are Christian, but we refuse to forgive our enemies and, instead, advocate for retaliation, our actions betray us, since they are in stark contradiction to the Christian values we espouse.

Yesterday, we awoke to news that Donald Trump had retaliated against another detractor by pulling his security clearance, a clear abuse of power that has come to be commonplace for this dictator wannabe whose brutal tactics and vulgar xenophobic, racist and misogynistic language have made the United States universally hated. Many of us no longer feel safe in America, thanks to this malignant narcissist and his fascist sycophants.

Also in the news was the shocking final result of the investigation into the pedophilia scandal of the Pennsylvania Catholic Church. Something like 300 priests violated more than 1,000 children, one as young as 18 months old! The priests were protected by the bishop and others. Reports of the incidents used code words like "boundary issues" to describe assaults and rapes. Horrific details of the violations of these children filtered out through multiple newscasts and reports, resulting in a chaos of grief and anger on social media and among my friends.

We have reached a dangerous point in our national history. We can no longer depend upon the government for stability, integrity, and the rule of law and, just when we most need the church to hold onto, we find that it, also, has been infiltrated by Satan. What can we do?

The very first thing to do is remind ourselves and one another that, while Satan has infiltrated our church, we cannot give up our hope. We cannot give up our faith. Christ is not diminished by the wolves in sheep's clothing that have savaged our children and marred the edifice of the institutional church in the process. Our faith is no less valid now than when it was given to us by Christ, and we must not judge our religion by the reprehensible acts of individuals who have failed to live up to its lofty aims.

In addition to practical measures that need to be taken to fight Satan where he has infiltrated our government and our religious institutions, we must continue to remind ourselves of Christ and to look upon the world with the eyes of Christ. We must continue to incline our minds toward the Lord and think as he does. Contemplation and meditation helps us do this.

This is a very simple practice. In a quiet place, sit comfortably erect, if you can, and meditate upon Christ. Just think of him and his qualities. Think upon him sitting in your heart, the center of your being. Establish the feeling of Him within yourself. Then, take a lesson from the Gospels in which Jesus has demonstrated a love for the poor, for instance, and adopt that love as your own, in your mind.

Think of Jesus sitting in your heart. Think upon his loving heart. His heart becomes your heart. Gaze upon the world from that perspective. That is it. Deceptively simple, but give it a try.  Even if you only have a few moments, try to do this practice whenever you can - preferably three times a day.

Our true foundation and all our stability comes entirely from Christ - not from our government or our religious institutions. We must continue to establish our entire being in Him and Him in us.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose

SATAN INFILTRATES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Christ hands the keys to Peter

by Pietro Perugino

"And I say to thee: 'That thou art Peter; and upon this rock

I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not

prevail against it."

Matthew 16:18

It is obvious from the above quote, and others, that Jesus certainly knew that Hell and Satan are real. If you think you know better than Jesus and the Apostles who transmitted Christ's words and traditions, you are not Christian. You worship yourself instead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and you need to stop pretending that you are Catholic or Orthodox or any version of a zillion Christian denominations. "Loving" Jesus is not enough because He himself said that those who love Him follow his commandments.

You cannot get away from the Commandments if you expect to go to Heaven when you die. Jesus said that many people would come to him, crying, "Lord! Lord!" and he would send them away, saying that He does not know them. Take the hint.

I have met many people who loudly assert that, despite unrepentant flouting of Catholic moral teachings, they fully expect to be welcomed into Heaven when they die. While it is entirely up to our gracious good Lord to admit someone or not, it is a mistake to presume upon the grace of the Lord, especially if you've thumbed your nose at Him your whole life and, not only have you refused to follow His commandments, but you have loudly blabbed on Facebook that no one should have to do so.

"[E]very one that exalteth himself shall be humbled,

and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

Luke 14:11

There are far too many people bitching about eternal tenets of the Catholic faith while masquerading as "faithful Catholics." Even the converts have gotten into the act, questioning Catholic moral teachings, especially, because they can't imagine giving up sexual licentiousness.

We all need to keep in mind that, while the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church that Christ founded, this does not stop Satan from attacking it continually, from without and from within. We have to be vigilant and watchful in this battle of the ages.

"And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that 

scandals should not come: but woe to him through

whom they come."

Luke 17:1

Modern man dismisses even the notion of Satan as being antiquated and laughable, while at the same time expecting "The Church" to work some kind of cosmic poo-poo magic act that will prevent evil from infesting it. Typically, respect for the authority of God and the tenets of The Faith, are either dismissed entirely or discounted until they are inconsequential. This contradiction is like a cancer among Catholics.

Satan at the Gates of Hell

I see "Catholics" on Facebook spewing resentment against The Church and arguing against ancient tenets of the faith in the mistaken belief that their opinions and weird twists of logic are somehow superior to Catholic moral teachings that were firmly established in the early church.

By infecting the hearts of Catholics with dissatisfaction and inflaming the egos of otherwise good people, Satan cultivates a wave of discontent within the faith. He likewise inspires men of evil habit and inclination to push into the seminaries and into positions of power so that their eventual unmasking as pedophiles will negatively impact the reputation of The Church and weaken the confidence of its members.

Satan is behind the lack of humility that is a huge problem in our culture. After all, it was Satan's conceit that got him kicked out of heaven to begin with. The Bible likewise speaks of the dangers of hubris in the story of Adam and Eve who disobeyed the commandments of The Lord because the serpent encouraged them to believe that The Lord had not told them The Truth. The original "fake news."

"And the serpent said to the woman:

No, you shall not die the death."

Genesis 3:4

Satan lied to Adam and Eve and told them that God's word was wrong. Satan said they would not die, but this is exactly how death was introduced into mankind. We were SUPPOSED to live in paradise with the Lord forever. All we had to do was obey the word of the Lord and do not eat the forbidden fruit. The same thing is happening today. Instead of obeying God, we are behaving like the serpent and telling everyone else that God is wrong.

Whether you choose the literal or the figurative reality of that ancient Biblical message, the meaning is the same.

Catholic moral teachings around sex attracts the most animosity from these pseudo-Catholics. They cite all sorts of reasons but fail to recognize that all the major religious traditions, especially those with a mystical bent, emphasize sexual restraint as a significant entree into the mystical life. In fact, in several of the East Indian Hindu-based religious traditions, it is recommended that husband and wife live together as brother and sister after the birth of one or two children! You think the Catholic proscription against birth control is an onerous burden? Fine. Live as brother and sister with your mate for the rest of your life. Millions of people around the world are doing it.

We all need to maintain focus on our goal. The primary purpose of the Catholic faith is to align ourselves with the Lord so that, when the time comes, we can spend eternity with him in Heaven. This isn't a grim duty. There is tremendous joy in following the Lord. He tells us Himself that He resides among us. In order to experience that contact with the Divine here on earth, we need to pay attention to the methods laid out for us and ignore Satan's whisperings.

If a Catholic is sincerely struggling with any aspect of the faith,, I recommend that they get their questions answered from reliable sources within the faith instead of blabbing their discontent all over the internet and thereby doing Satan's work for him.

Silver Rose

A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT

Saint Luke

Feast day: October 18

Typically, I write a blog about an obscure saint of the day, but Luke overshadows the calendar.  I couldn't find much about the other saints that share this feast day with him. Much is already written about Luke by great theologians and writers far more gifted than me, and I decided not to bring coals to Newcastle, as they say, but to make a comment about something that is happening in our "modern" Catholic Church.

It has come to my attention that certain priests and lay persons are publishing dissent against the faith and criticism of Pope Francis. Rather than humbly consenting to be led by the pontiff, these persons have, instead, decided to broadcast their disapproval of his approach in blogs, on television, in newspapers, and wherever else their opinion can find a foothold.

No one ever became a saint by publishing complaints about the Pope and The Holy Catholic Church. They became protestant. Remember Martin Luther. He published his condemnation by hammering it onto the door of the church. His role in separating thousands of people from the church that Jesus founded was not rewarded in heaven, I can assure you. I am not presuming to know whether or not Luther is in heaven. He may be in heaven despite his break with the faith, but certainly not because of it.

Like most of you, I absolutely love Holy Mother Church. There are some things that bug me about the modern church in America, but it isn't helpful for me to air my grievances. I will not become a saint by doing that.

Our whole mission in life is to become saints so that we can spend eternity in heaven, gazing upon the Lord, being with Him, experiencing Him. It isn't a question of "earning" it, because no one can deserve union with God. We have to prepare ourselves to be with God by becoming more like God, so that we can be in harmony with Him.

As I study the saints throughout the years, I have yet to find one that became a saint because they publicly dissented with the Pope and the church and tried to get others involved in their dissatisfaction.

Prayer, fasting, alms giving, performing spiritual and corporeal works of mercy, forgiving our enemies and doing good toward those who harm us, loving our neighbor as much as ourselves. We know these things. They involve an emptying of ourselves and our petty egos and opinions so that we can be filled with and led by God.

If the Pope was having a mistress or stealing from the coffers or committing mortal sins, we would have to admonish the sinner, at least someone would have to be doing that, but this is not the case in the current instance. Some people, apparently, do not like his style of leadership and they are fomenting fear among the laity that Pope Francis will destroy the church by his mode of leadership.

Jesus promised us that His Church would last until the end of time and that He would be with us until the end of time. Even the "gates of hell" can not withstand the Holy Catholic Church. We have assurances from Christ Himself that no one can destroy His Church.

All of this controversy about the Pope, the current Synod, and the various factions that are trying to change the unchangeable...all of it...is a distraction and a detour away from what we have been told to do by Christ Himself.

Please join me in praying for The Church and everyone in it. Pray for Pope Francis, as he has many times asked us to do, and refrain from engaging in or encouraging this useless chatter that is exploding all around us. Continue your devotions and increase your prayers if you can. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said to remove the beam from our own eye before we try to remove the speck from our neighbor's!

Have confidence in the promises of Jesus. He will not fail.

Silver Rose Parnell
(c) copyright 2015
All rights reserved.

BREAKING NEWS: SHOCKING, SCANDALOUS DISCOVERIES IN OBAMA'S COMPUTER

A cappybarra and a dog FOUND IN THE TUB TOGETHER!!!!!

Oh, hi!  There you are.  SO nice to see you.

For the last several weeks, I have been posting and re-posting a fundraising blurb about my need for a service dog, asking people to just spread the word around so that I can get the fundraising site up and running.

YOU, however (and you know who you are), you can't be bothered to even make a supportive comment or "like" my post, what to speak of sharing it on your timeline, which is what I really need.

However, in that same span of time, you are very quick to put in your two cents' worth about political garbage that is at least mostly, if not wholly untrue.  As long as I post some kind of controversy, you are right in there with a quick retort.  Thus, the title of this blog post.  I have no breaking news about scandalous discoveries in Obama's computer.  I had to get your attention, and this was the only way to do it.

But I DO have a scandal!  The scandal is that there are so many people who call themselves Christian who, when the subject of the poor comes up, immediately have something nasty to say.  I am beginning to see that you are one of these people.  Usually, some anecdote is trotted out about people that you "know" who are "scamming the system."  Of course, you don't know them.  You don't even know their names.  You've certainly never seen their financial information or their medical records, and you DON'T have X-ray vision, don't even try to say you do.  No one knows the suffering going on inside another person.  No one knows another person's heart except God, and you ain't God, honey.

The only thing you know about these people who supposedly scam the system (if they exist at all) is what they look like.  You aren't up in their houses having tea with those folks.  They wouldn't want you there, anyway, considering the way you talk about them.

You know the Bible is FULL of references about being good to the poor and not judging.  Jesus, who was poor his whole life, is particularly fond of poor people.  He never said anywhere that you should criticize the poor, spread lies about them and gossip about their habits.  He said to help them, and if you DO help them, you are helping HIM.  He was very clear about that.

So let me be clear about this.  I am a poor person.  Yes, I am a nice old white lady with fairly good manners and a proper, modest wardrobe.  I don't smoke, drink or take drugs and you are pretty sure I don't even cuss, so when you criticize the poor, you automatically assume that I am not going to take it personally because I am not one of "them."  I've got news for you: I AM one of "them."  I am no more or less sinful than any other human being on earth, including the poor, to whom I belong.  In fact, compared to some poor people I know, I think I am much more sinful than they are.

If you can't bear to leave off criticizing the poor and spreading stories about people "scamming the system" instead of spreading God's love and compassion, I am tempted to tell you that you can just take me off your phony "friend" list on Facebook right now, because as far as I am concerned, concentrating on the sins of the poor is just another way of doing Satan's work, and I am not up for that.  On the other hand, I love you.  You are my fellow Christian, even if you are misguided.

I want to encourage you to work up some compassion for the poor and to concentrate on God's mercy instead of the (supposed) sins of others.  While you're at it, for the love of God, would you please just share the item about my service dog the next time it rolls by?  I need a proper service dog.  TWO doctors agree I need one.  The veterinarian and the breeder/trainer and the doctors are ALL on board as to the type of dog I need and the type of tasks it needs to perform.  The problem is that I am poor, and dogs, like everything else, are EXPENSIVE.

For the three people that did share my Facebook post, don't think I didn't notice.  I surely appreciate it and I thank you!

For all my other readers, please take a look at the last post of this blog and you will get the whole story about the service dog.

God bless you all

Silver Rose Parnell