St. Augustine, What is Prayer?
Question 001
What is prayer?
… prayer can be compared to the breath of the soul…this life is for praying, (while) in heaven there will be no praying only praising… In prayer we turn to God alone, because… we are all beggars before God…we can only plead.
from St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer by Fr. Ermatinger.
In the prayers of this life, […]
St. Augustine, is there Prayer in Heaven?
Question 101
Will our prayer finally come to an end in heaven?
…Augustine makes our primary occupation in heaven to be prayer…in the form of singing God’s praise with an everlasting Alleluia. “For when we come to our rest after [our Earthly] labors, God’s praise will be our sole occupation, for there [in Heaven] our task will be Alleluia […]
Audio Interview
Fr. Patrick Wainwright of the Podcast For College Catholics interviews Fr. Cliff Ermatinger about his new book, The Trouble with Magic.
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Advent – Time for “Holiday Parties” or Little Lent?
Origionally Published at TAN Direction
“But except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish.”
—Luke 13:5
My childhood hero was Bishop Ignatius Kung.
We were told of his heroic suffering as a prisoner. The Chinese Communists (the same ones who recently gifted us with a man-made virus), permitted him to leave his solitary confinement of thirty years if he would only renounce his allegiance to Rome.
As a little boy, and later as a college student, I felt […]
How to Advance in Holiness: Lectio Divina
Originally Published for TAN Direction
How do we advance in holiness? This not an impractical question. The Church teaches us that we have three necessary means of salvation and, those same, according to degree, attain holiness: sacramental grace, prayer, and virtue. All three pistons have to be running in unison for the motor of the spiritual organism to advance.
By grace we:
- are elevated by God to participate in His nature (cfr. II Pet 1:4);
- made pleasing to […]