#alphonsus

[fwoosheye]

These artfight (revenge) attacks were time limited challenges, where I gave myself 5 minutes with a reference to do a rough sketch of the character, and then 5 minutes without the reference to do a "clean up" sketch. It was very fun!

Doleris (spiky hair and braids, a good of chaos) belongs to @ryssbelle

Alphonsus (exasperated guy with tail and hairbun) belongs to @hazethestrange

Raff (aka Raighbhearteigh, scheming sprite/fairy) belongs to @zarvasace

Benji (tired lizard guy) belongs to @jocks-play-with-their-balls

[apesoformythoughts]

‘It is much more satisfactory to deal with God than with human beings. When we have dealings with our fellow men and women, they very frequently do not live up to their promises, either because their promises were deceitful or because, having promised, they changed their intentions.

But as the Holy Spirit asserts, "God is not a human being, that he should lie, or a mortal, that he should change his mind." God simply cannot be unfaithful to his promises since being truth itself he cannot deceive nor can he alter his intentions, since all that he wishes is just and right. He has promised to receive everyone who comes to him, to assist those who ask his help, to love those who love him. And will he not do as he says? "Has he promised, and will he not do it? Has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?"

Oh, that we were as faithful with God as he is faithful with us! How often in the past have we not promised to belong to him, to love and serve him. And then we have betrayed him, and, abandoning his service, have become the slave of the powers of evil. Let us pray to God that he will give us strength to be faithful in the future. How happy we would be if we were faithful to God in the very few things he demands of us. He, for his part, will always be faithful in rewarding us out of all proportion to what we have done.’

— St. Alphonsus de Liguori

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

1696 - 1787

Feast Day:  August 1 (New), August 2 (Trad)

Patronage: arthritis, confessors, moralists, theologians

Born to the nobility, Alphonsus was a child prodigy and received his doctorate in law from the University of Naples at age 16. After losing an important court case, he decided to become a priest. He was ordained at 29 and appointed bishop at 66. Founder of the Redemptorists, Alphonsus is the most published author in history, with over 21,000 editions of his works having been printed. 

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[momentsbeforemass]

Faith

“O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

That’s how today’s Gospel ends. If it sounds really familiar, it should. Jesus says stuff like this all the time in the Gospels. “Your faith has saved you. “Your faith has made you whole.”

Great. Faith is a big deal. But what is it?

Faith isn’t something out there. Something abstract. Like a mathematical formula. That just exists by itself. Without reference to any particular person or situation.

Faith is intimate. Faith is personal. Faith is central to us as human beings, in particular to our relationships. Especially our most important relationship. Our relationship with God.

But what is it? What is faith? The writer of Hebrews tells us that, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Which means that faith is not the same thing as belief. Why do I say that?

Because belief is the knowledge of the head. You believe in something because you’ve seen the evidence, you’ve seen proof, you’ve seen it happen before.

You believe because you know why.

Faith is the knowledge of the heart. You have faith in someone because you’ve seen them. You’ve seen them in their crises, in their unguarded moments. You’ve seen who they really are.

You have faith because you know who.

So what does it take to have faith? Whether we’re talking about faith in another human being, or faith in God, there’s only one way to have faith. And we see it in today’s Gospel, with the woman talking to Jesus.

You can’t do it at arm’s length. And it’s not safe.

It’s personal. It’s intimate. And kind of vulnerable.

But it’s the only way to have faith. In anyone. Especially God.

So how do you do that with God? St. Alphonsus Ligouri gives us the recipe,

“Speak to God as if you were alone with Him, familiarly and with confidence and love, as to the dearest and most loving of friends.”

That’s the recipe. That’s what, in time, will take us beyond belief, beyond knowing about God.

To the grace of truly knowing God. To faith.

That’s what it takes to have the faith that Jesus is talking about.

The faith that saves us.

The faith that makes us whole.

Today’s Readings

[ghostsandgod]

Mary, my hope, obtain for me, from God, perseverance and the grace to love Him; and I ask nothing more.

-St Alphonsus Ligouri

[anastpaul]

(via Thought for the Day – 14 September – CONSIDERATION VI, Third Point: The Death of the Sinner, “God is not mocked.” – AnaStpaul)

[betty-bourgeoisie]

Probably my most unpopular Alfred headcanon is that he didn't participate in the roaring 20's at all because he was busy being a farmer in Oklahoma that decade

[church-history]

[trustfallwithgod]

[tinyshe]

[quiltofstars]

Four large craters on the Moon // Wilco Kasteleijn

From top to bottom left: Arzachel, Alphonsus, Ptolemaeus, and Albategnius.

Arzachel crater is named after the Arabic instrument maker Abū Isḥāq Ibrāhīm ibn Yaḥyā al-Naqqāsh al-Zarqālī al-Tujibi (1029 - 1100). His Latinized name was Arzachel, meaning "the engraver." He wrote books about constructing instruments for calculating the positions of the planets.

Alphonsus crater is named after King Alfonso X of Castile (1221-1284). He was sometimes nicknamed the Astrologer for the creation of the Alfonsine tables used to compute the position of the planets.

Ptolemaeus crater is named after the Greek philosopher Claudius Ptolemy (c. 100 - 170). Among his many accomplishments is the Almagest, the earliest surviving complete book on ancient astronomy. It also provided mathematical "proof" for the geocentric nature of the universe.

Albategnius crater is named after Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Jābir ibn Sinān al-Raqqī al-Ḥarrānī aṣ-Ṣābiʾ al-Battānī (bef. 858 - 928), one of the greatest and most famous astronomers of the medieval Islamic world. It was the accuracy of his data that later led Nicolaus Copernicus to consider a heliocentric model of the universe.

[peoplefromheaven]

“Should we not melt with love, as do the candles which adorn the altars where the Holy Sacrament is preserved? There the Sacred Heart remains burning with love for us. Shall we not in turn burn with love for Jesus?”

-St Alphonsus Liguori

[mostmagicals]

@apurekindness liked and gets Alphonsus!

"Will you shut up?" Alphonsus hissed at Kiara as he was now discreetly taking a few apples when the seller wasn't looking. He could only click his tongue after seeing how expensive fruits and vegetables are these days, rolling his eyes, "I'm hungry and I don't have any money with me, okay? That's why. I suggest you pretend you didn't see anything."

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

1696 - 1787

Feast Day:  August 1 (New), August 2 (Trad)

Patronage: arthritis, confessors, moralists, theologians

Born to the nobility, Alphonsus was a child prodigy and received his doctorate in law from the University of Naples at age 16. After losing an important court case, he decided to become a priest. He was ordained at 29 and appointed bishop at 66. Founder of the Redemptorists, Alphonsus is the most published author in history, with over 21,000 editions of his works having been printed. 

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[eternal-echoes]

“The practice of recommending to God the souls in Purgatory, that He may mitigate the great pains which they suffer, and that He may soon bring them to His glory, is most pleasing to the Lord and most profitable to us. For these blessed souls are His eternal spouses, and most grateful are they to those who obtain their deliverance from prison, or even a mitigation of their torments. When, therefore, they arrive in Heaven, they will be sure to remember all who have prayed for them.” 

– St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[ghostsandgod]

O Mary, through the love which thou dost bear to thy Jesus, obtain for me two graces - perseverance and love.

-St Alphonsus Ligouri