Love reading reading a Chapter of the Bible every day. So many wonderful stories to pray over and think about, a great, great joy.
I gave up my Devotions mostly a long time ago as I used to love just sitting in Contemplative prayer. One time the Cure of Ars asked an old peasant what he did all day sitting in Church? To which the old guy replied that he looked at God and God looked at Him. However St Teresa of Avila was asked one time why she used a prayer book so often in prayer and she said she found it helped. I love the discipline of the rosary. The stations and Bible reading. It ties me to the heart of God with chains of Gold.
You might enjoy the Bible in a year podcast with Father Mike. I have found it excellent. So many great insights and connections. Hallow is a great app that has that and many other things
The sudden thought came to me that I will die soon enough as I am entering the sunset of my years. I do not fear death and how can I fear the Jesus whom I have loved so much in this life? We are fast friends from my earliest years, friends do not send friends into the flames. St Elizabeth Seton knew that death was approaching two years in advance and welcomed it with great joy and eagerness. I am not eager for death as I know I have a lot of work left to do here below. But many saints welcomed death with open arms. But heaven can wait, there is work to be done here below. What greater heaven can there be than in doing the Will of God. In either case Our Lady promised me many, many years ago to come and take me home herself when the time comes. But it is wise to consider death.
I might. The Protestants are very much into planned Bible Study. I envy them this. Maybe even a really. really good Catholic study Bible. But I am really enjoying just reading through it, great, great story tellers. Wonderful. Every story a gem.
You will enjoy it. Its section of biblical history is given context, main narrative thread outlined and explained etc. Really is excellent. Plus you can listen on the go.
Your not to far from the dark sky observatory well worth a trip to it. the stars at night are awesome.
I ended up there by total accident. I went to walk around Dervock Forest in the Sperrin Mountains and came upon it. Sadly they would not let me in on account of the dog. But I will be back. On the other hand I visited the grave mounds down the road. 6000 years old , perfect circles of stones, long, long before the pyramids in Egypt or the Aztecs. They say they did this through studying the stars. One of the most Dark Skies were stars can be seen clearly in Europe.
The Church in Donnaghmore is gorgeous, like a white marble wedding cake. Very old but they must have just done it up. So beautiful. St Therese of Lisieux said one time the clinking of a nuns beads her sweat in case she complained. People who talk in Church make me grind my teeth, what little I have left after the Turks got through with me to the bone. They whispered but that just goes to show they knew they were doing wrong but kept right on doing it. I am a crabby old fart.
After Mass I lingered on with my devotions. The sacristan kept checking on me. Stranger in town! Funny but sad. I suppose they have to be careful these days. So. So sad.
At the old. Old standing stones, I suppose one of the oldest graveyards in the world. I had the strangest thought. 6000 years old. When Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour died on the Cross in Jerusalem, it would have been some of these very Ancient old Irish souls He would have liberated. I heard their cries of joy echoing from two millennium ago. I also saw evidence of a recent fire which made me think of Satanic activity. Just the kind of place they like. It was hidden away at the back, but I studied around and found it.
The Observatory is called , 'Skynight'. Satanists have an ancient term to describe themselves. The 'Skyclad'. The magic rites are supposed to be performed under an open sky. In the city they get round this with things like Conservatories with an open or roll back roof.
I must go back, next time I'm around and check it out some more; also check for thefts or desecrations from local Catholic Churches, maybe that's why the Sacristan at mass this morning kept checking me out.
I think I have mentioned the time when my son, Fr. Benjamin, was on a mission in Haiti. There is a pervasiveness of occult practice in that country, and one night a group of Haitians gathered on a rooftop next door to where the mission was taking place and conducted a service. In the morning the upstairs of the mission building was inundated by scorpions. After carefully removing them, my son went out and liberally splashed holy water on that rooftop and prayed deliverance prayers. The group returned the next night and went through their ritual, but that second time it proved ineffectual. The mission had no more interference. Praise the Authority of Christ!
Yes me and my wife visited the stones as well you can walk from there to the observatory around 2 miles through the peat bog..we both felt a calmness and peace and prayed for the dead. On the other hand my son visited the site and it gave him the creeps and he had great fear he felt something terrible had happened there.
In many such places in the old days things turned bad and they did human sacrifice. But there was good and bad everywhere even back when. Witness the 3 magi who visited Bethlehem. I think St Paul says that many who worshiped idols actually worshipped demons unawares, he said many, not all St Padraig and the other missionaries took a hard line on the idols and destroyed them when found Probably as well. Pope Francis, take note . But they left the old grave sites untouched which is interesting. I think the bad feeling was not from the stones themselves vut at the very back of the site were I found the fire, this is recent, not ancient
A priest told me one time as soon as you step of a plane in Haiti you can feel the evil . Which is why they are being hit so hard
