#christian soul

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

If something is unfalsifiable, not only can it not be shown to be false, it also can't be shown to be true either. A "gender identity" is indistinguishable from thetans, chakras, auras or a Xian soul.

It's a purely faith-based belief.

[paymetea]

Beyoncé wearing Christian Dior for Elle Magazine (2003)

[illustratus]

The Boat of Souls (Dante's Divine Comedy) by Gustave Doré

[wombywoo]

ID 🪪

[austerity-audacity-asceticism]

The atomic habits of St. Therese of Lisieux

I used to be one of those people that were like “oh I love St. Joan of Arc, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul, St. Teresa of Avila” because I thought they were Cool and Heroic and they did Big Things

And whenever someone would talk about “The Little Flower of Lisieux” I was like “mehhhhh… okay”

Not in a way that was totally disrespectful, but not totally aware of the enormity of her interior life

Because guys

Wow

You’d have to read The Story of the Soul to really appreciate just WHY she is a doctor of the Church

(She’s the Doctor of Divine Love, btw)

Because St. Therese? She was in the details

They like to say the devil is in the details, but let’s face it— God is in the details, and in his mercy and wisdom, he placed St. Therese there for us to learn from and imitate in our own ways

She had to reconcile her great desire to be a saint with the enormous legacies of the saints that came before her, especially Joan of Arc and St. Teresa of Avila

(She, along with St. Joan, are the patron saints of France. I’m sure that’s something St. Therese never dreamed of)

And she had the realization that God would not have given her a desire that she was incapable of, and that there must be a way for someone “as small as her” to become a great saint

Which lead her to meditate on Mathew 18:4 (Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven)

And she was like “oh, okay. This desire planted into my heart is an invitation to become a little child, because the Lord wants to be the one to carry me to Heaven” 

(I am heavily paraphrasing so that you guys won’t be spoiled for Story of a Soul. Go read it!!!)

All of this is to say that her writings and her life reflect a simple but profound theology 

The Little Way is one of total dependence on the providence of God, of total surrender and self-mortification— the emptying of the cup of one’s self little by little, so that the Lord can fill it with his graces and abundance, and ultimately, with His own divine self 

The Little Way is one of the smallest acts of radical love, because the only person who needs to see it is God 

The Little Way is St. Therese going out of her way to nurse the nuns that she didn’t get along well with 

The Little Way is St. Therese is doing her best to hold cheerful conversations with a particularly surly nun 

The Little Way is St. Therese relishing being splashed with dirty laundry water as a sign of the smallest of suffering that only God would see

I called this particular post her “atomic habits,” because she believed that small acts can lead to holiness when done with great love for our Lord 

Small acts of love and self mortification were the things that she sought for while in the Carmel 

St. Therese elucidated in her signature sincere and effervescent style the enduring idea that there is no suffering too small, no act of love too small, to offer the Lord— because what he wants is souls, what he wants is us

That’s not to say that her interior life was always rich 

She suffered so much from months of aridity that she grew an affection for atheists, even going so far to say, and I quote:

[God] allowed my soul to be overwhelmed with darkness, and the thought of Heaven, which had consoled me from my earliest childhood, now became a subject of conflict and torture. This trial did not last merely for days or weeks; I have been suffering for months, and I still await deliverance. I wish I could express what I feel, but it is beyond me. One must have passed through this dark tunnel to understand its blackness ... When I sing of the happiness of Heaven and the eternal possession of God, I do not feel any joy therein, for I sing only of what I wish to believe. Sometimes, I confess, a little ray of sunshine illumines my dark night, and I enjoy peace for an instant, but later, the remembrance of this ray of light, instead of consoling me, makes the blackness thicker still.

It’s thought that St. Therese experienced this interior anguish up until the end of her battle with tuberculosis, with her final words being: “My God, I love you!” 

To summarize everything, reading St. Therese is a study not only of radical love, but also radical humility 

From a spoiled child to a martyr of the Carmel, St. Therese lived an inner life that very few of her own sisters in the convent were aware of 

Her life is also a testimony to God's perfect timing; St. Therese wanted to be a missionary in Hanoi, but was prevented from doing so when she contracted tuberculosis. She was later named a patron saint to missionaries.

St. Therese's Little Way informed the spirituality of many of the saints and intellectuals that came after her: St. Josemaria, St. John Paul II, Mother Teresa, St. Teresa of the Andes, Blessed Cecilia Eusepi, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Dorothy Day

On her feast day, let’s take the time to reflect on what small things we can do today for the Lord; what small sufferings we can offer him with great love and humility 

God would never inspire me with desires which cannot be realized; so in spite of my littleness, I can hope to be a saint. — St. Thérèse of Lisieux

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us.

[taitavva]

Thus, Socrates says that "sophrosyne is something divine" (Carmides, 174b) and that "the sensible man is a philosopher" (Carmides, 174c).

[Enkrateia and sophrosyne in Plato: a comparative study of the dialogues Carmides, Gorgias, Republic, Politius and Laws - Juan Carlos Tellería Sebastián]

[tomicscomics]

05/27/2024

Continuing from the previous cartoon, St. Joan of Arc's sleepover scheme ends in DISASTER?! (Yes, this still really happened.)

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY:

1. The Source: This cartoon is based off of characters and events mentioned in St. Joan of Arc's trial. Here are the relevant passages (translated by W. S. Scott): "Asked what [Catherine de La Rochelle] said to her, [Jeanne the Maid] answered that this Catherine said [...] that a woman appeared [to her], a white lady, dressed in cloth of gold [...]. [Jeanne] asked Catherine if this Lady appeared every night; and if so, [Jeanne] would sleep with [Catherine to see her]. And [Jeanne] did so, but kept awake till midnight; saw nothing, and then went to sleep. And when morning came, she asked if the Lady had appeared. And [Catherine] answered that she had come, but [Jeanne] was asleep, and [Catherine] had not been able to wake her."

2. Explanation: Continuing from the last cartoon, St. Joan arrives at Catherine's for their sleepover. She wants to stay awake to see if Catherine's telling the truth about her nightly apparition, but she only stays awake until midnight. The next morning, Catherine tells her the White Lady appeared sometime after Joan fell asleep.

3. Historical / Fiction: The main gist of this story -- Joan's sleepover / stake-out with Catherine -- is historically accurate, based on Joan's account during her trial. In this cartoon, I fill in some gaps and take a few artistic liberties for fun's sake. Here are some of those liberties:

Pierronne: The third wheel in this rivalry, Pierronne the Breton, is not mentioned in the actual sleepover story, but I included her in this cartoon because I wanted a third character to offset the tension with a positive naïveté.

Midnight: In the original account, Joan says she stayed awake until midnight, saw nothing, then went to sleep. This could mean that she chose midnight as her limit and deliberately went to sleep after that, or it could mean that she meant to stay awake longer but could only manage to stay awake until midnight. In this cartoon, I went with the second interpretation, because it flavors Joan's failure to stay awake as a failure of ability, not a failure of judgment. To me, that makes Catherine's claim that the White Lady appeared shortly after all the more devastating, but I really could've gone either way.

Catherine: At the end of Joan's account of the story, Catherine tells her that the White Lady appeared after Joan had gone to sleep, and that Catherine had even tried and failed to wake Joan when the Lady arrived. Though it sounds like a weak lie in the actual story, in this cartoon, I flavored it as cruel gloating, which I think feeds into their rivalry a little better.

[spectredreamer]

[emilydickinsonsghost]

When you have zero interest in canon but the fanfiction is really good.

That’s how I feel about Christianity. Like, no hate, but it just isn’t for me. And yet I am a huge fan of the gay Bible fanfics known as Good Omens and Jesus Christ Superstar.

[cuties-in-codices]

the heart as a house

a devotional illustration, single-sheet fragment, bavaria, c. 1470

source: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Hdschr. 417

[chaiaurchaandni]

it is imp to remember that this is not about religion and the ethnic cleansing of artsakh proves this. all oppressive regimes are connected regardless of religion and that is why azerbaijan and israel have good relations. another example is saudi arabia having good relations with america and israel while also killing other muslims in yemen.

interestingly, like israel, saudi also uses religion to gain credibility (recently got holy mosque imam to give statement condemning boycotts and encouraging muslims to not be involved in the situation in palestine) and recruit muslim supporters from all over the world, while simultaneously killing/imprisoning muslim critics of the kingdom.

similarly, israel sells itself as a safe haven for jews and convinces jews around the world to migrate to israel while also simultaneously criminalizing antizionist jews all over the world, even suggesting that theyre not 'real jews' (reminiscent of takfirism which is a core part of saudi wahabi ideology) [ fun fact: the house of saud came into power in arabia with help from the british, just like the zionists in palestine! ]

oppressive regimes are directly connected and mirror each other in several ways. this is why liberation and resistance movements need to unite and work together across the world

[clonedchaos]

Welp, as I was googling some images for Yasammy week, I came across a thread and turns out one of my favorite Jurassic YouTubers is homophobic and a Yasammy hater…

(More ranting in the tags)

[illustratus]

Denise Poncher before a Vision of Death — Master of the Chronique Scandaleuse

[sunnyschristiancottage]

My prayer

God, please help the people who think they are gonna die because of Trump. Put their minds at ease, Lord, and let them see the truth. Satan is having his way and letting fear and anger consume them. Drive Satan away from their hearts and let them feel peace. Let their minds not be heavy with all that is going on. I pray they see your goodness shine through the darkness and they find true, permanent happiness so they don't have to reach for these temporary fixes that only make them happy for a moment. They deserve to be happy and free from their sin and worries. I love them, God, and I know you do, too. My heart aches for them, for they do not know your goodness, father. God, please, help them to see your love and let me shine with your love for them God. I love you, God. In your name, Amen.

[pol-ski]

All Saints' Day Procession, Rakowicki Cemetery, Kraków, Poland

[dramoor]

"Panagia, from the height of her glory, is heard to say to all Christians who are tempted here: 'Faithful children of the heavenly Father, have strength. What do you fear? Death? But death is the gateway to the new life. Here on high where I am there is a new life, which no one on earth could even begin to imagine. This life is preordained for those who will live with faith and virtue. Here there is no partiality. My Son is the just Judge. When I was below on the earth, I heard voices that blessed me, for I was made worthy to become His Mother, and He said that, in the cycle of blessedness, it would not be me alone who gives Him birth, but for all those who hear Him and keep His word. For Christ is born spiritually in every soul who believes in Him and worships Him as the only Savior. 'Yea of a truth, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.' (Luke 11:28) Therefore, I invite you all to the glory of Heaven'."

~Bishop Avgoustinos, Homily II On the Dormition of the Theotokos

(Image via ekklisiaonline.gr)