If I remember correctly, I think I remember seeing a quote from St. Teresa of Avila saying something along the lines of : “the reason we keep on sinning is because we think that God is far away, rather than right here.” I’m pretty that’s one of the main reasons why I keep on sinning, I need help practicing the presence of God more, does anyone have tips and advice on how to do that? I’ve gotten into the habit of saying the Chotki or Jesus beads more (actually, Jesus beads is probably a more accurate term for mine as they are actually beads and not a rope.) as a way of reminding myself of Him, but it’s not enough, does anyone know of other methods or practices I could do?
Visit the Blessed Sacrament daily and ask/plead to our Eucharistic Lord for the grace and humility to stop your serious sinning. Wear the miraculous medal and/or the brown scapular of our Blessed mother and ask her for assistance. Keep this practice and you will find the sins in your life disgusting enough to quit. This may help as well... http://blog.adw.org/2018/07/mortal-not-sin-always-causes-harm-2/
I find that prayer in front of a crucifix, even for a few minutes a day, helps make my ego smaller, and leaves more room for Christ. I think more of Him, less of myself and my problems.
Go to Adoration and daily Mass if possible. I find that the more time I spend in adoration the more the love of God grows and less that I wish to do things which will disappoint Him. Offer your suffering, joys, and works up to Him each day in union with the sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world for the sins committed against the immaculate heart of Mary, your sins, and the sins of the whole world. When you feel the sting of suffering to abstain from a particular vice you will know that Our Lord is using it for His good. We can become closer to God as well by offering ourselves and our time to serve others. This also has the added benefit of keeping us busy and away from the things which might lend us to our own selfish desires and is something we can do which can be as simple as a chore around the house for anothers benefit. Father Ripperger suggested in one of his videos to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet each day.
As Saint Paul tells us, Romans 3:23 ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Perfection , in the sense of never sinning is, I think unrealistic. I was watching , 'The Song of Bernadette ' film there for the 100th time and soemthing that happened struck me. Saint Bernadette asked Our Lady who she was and the Mother of God replied, 'I am the Immaculate Conception'. This caused the Parish Priest to very much doubt as he thought the correct thing for Our Lady to have said was, 'I was Immaculately Concieved'. That a person so to speak, is not an action. But when you think about it, it is right to call Mary the, 'Immaculate Conception ' in that the action of God with Mary is an Eternal one. So Mary is an was preserved from sin forever. But for our poor selves we will one be preserved from sin when we get to heave. Everyone is different. But for me the great path to the continual presense of God has been the Rosary. Such a gentle , firm , golden path to the feet of God. Nitce when Mary appeared at Lourdes as the Immaculate Coneption she held the rosary in her hands.
Throughout the day, the more you say "I love You" to God, the more you will feel His Presence with you and your love will grow. Coupled with your daily practice of the Jesus beads, these two devotions should help you with overcoming your habitual sins. In fact, if you could say "I love You" to God as many times as your Jesus beads, that would be an amazing gift to Jesus and His Father each day. God bless!
Books: "The Practice of the Presence of God": Brother Lawrence "How to Converse with God": St. Alphonsus Ligouri
Honestly, RW, something about the Jesus Prayer as a repetitive practice does not quite sit right with me. The Rosary, we know, was given by Heaven to Saint Dominic, and even some super honest Orthodox will admit that the East had a tradition of Hail Marys, but kind of lost / forgot it. There are many good and Holy Orthodox Christians, but a Catholic adopting their spiritual practices as a Catholic does not feel 100% advisable. Maybe that's just my paranoia kicking in. But having seen scores of prayerful Catholics leave the Church for something that looks, sounds, feels, and smells deeply holy in Orthodoxy, and then have nothing fair to say about Catholics and Protestants, is a trend that's getting too frequent. Prayer is good! Humility is good! Just take care where you tread. I would recommend the Rosary over any other prayers. We know it is a wonderful weapon. Pray the Rosary, my friend. Our Lady has given us this wonderful gift.
A priest told me once Mary is the key to stay in God’s presence. I carry a Rosary in my pocket and touch it here and there to help remember Christ is by my side. I also use an image of Mary on discreet places such as my phone screen saver or If I am working I place on the table right next to my laptop a holy card of Mary or a cross so I can look at it often. Hope this helps.
Perhaps, the thing about the Chotki/Jesus Beads, is that their purpose is to help one pray without ceasing, as St. Paul said. I use the Jesus Prayer, it's sort of grace-perfects-natur- type of thing where I'm trying psychologically internalize the reality of God, not that I'm not doing that with the Rosary as well. But with the Rosary, I schedule it to be in a time and place where there is the least amount of distraction possible, because I want to really focus on the mysteries. (Not that I don't still struggle with distractions saying the Rosary.) I guess I could get into the habit of saying the Chaplet of the Immaculate Conception instead, as well as getting into the habit of saying the Miraculous Medal prayer repeatedly.
The prctise of the Jesus Prayer is good. Two good books are , 'The Way of the Pilgrim' and its follow up , alos the 'Philokelia' ( a compendium of Eastern Fathers) However as someone else mentions, Orhtodoxy tends to be intensely hostile to Catholicism, so you will encounter down thsi route a certain, for want of a better wrod, virulent porpaganda against the Church. So one needs to fortify oneself against this a little be reading good Catholic literature on the source of the schism to counteract this. Actually yesterdays Gospel was a good expounding on the Jesus Prayer. (I mean for the Latin Mass..the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost) https://tridentine-mass.blogspot.com/2018/07/tenth-sunday-after-pentecost.html GOSPEL Luke 18:9-14 At that time, Jesus spoke this parable also to some who trusted in themselves as just and despised others. "Two men went up into the temple to pray: the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself: 'O God, I give thee thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican. I fast twice in a week: I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven; but struck his breast, saying: 'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' I say to you, this man went down into his house justified rather than the other: because every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
One of the mistakes people make in the spiritual life is that their own paticular spirituality, their own way is the only way. This is true not only among the some Orthodox but Catholics and Protestants too and an inclination to look down noses at others who are called to a different path. I have tow stories about this form when I had just entered the Dark Night of the Soul when I was about 26 years old. It was a terribel time. It was as though God had desrted me and I found at the start of this period, which would last about 24 years was the hardest for I had not adjusted to it. I thought my entire world had caved in. Anyway I went for a trip to the seaside to cheer myself up and there was a Proestannt Evnagelical Preacher talking to a small crowd. I was a little depserate at the time and walked over to him to ask him questions about the Spiritaul State I found myself in . He seemed confused by the Night I was in and said CHirsitnas should always be happy. He asked me what Church I was in and when he discovered I was Catholic he laughed. That was the problem!! I was a Catholic! I wasn't even a Chrisitan! As you cna imagine this did not cheer me up. But the poor man was looking through a prism of his won understanding, a little like the Pharisee in the Temple. Another time I went to talk to a very Holy Catholic Hermit priest abiout the Dark Night but he misdiagnosed this as a Pathology, a Depression. The reason he did so, I think was because I was so young. He did not think I could enter such a stage until the end of the monastic life. Again he looked through the lens of his own perosnal experience. There is a story about an Eagles Egg that rolled out of the nest and rolled into a coop of chickens . The chickens brought him in and reaered him as his own. So, naturally enough the young eagle thought he was a chicken too. One day though the young eagle looked up to the sky and saw two eagles flying by, far in the sky above. His heart was full of longing and he wnated to join then but was downcast thinking he was still a chicken. Now he had two choices to believe he could fly or to remain forever a chicken. For men these things, to become a saint are impossible; but with God all things are possible.
That is fascinating. It also implies Mary's uniqueness, as "the Immaculate Conception" is a title. If it is conceived immaculately, then it is her, and if it is Mary, then it is immaculately conceived.
