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Friday 27 September 2013

Senator Cruz' Dad--Silent No More


Sorry about the deltas; cannot get them out of the text. 




Note sent to me from a friend........

Obama has no liking for Cruz, the least reason of which is because Cruz is
> Republican.  Here are a few other factors: Cruz is academically superior.
> Cruz graduated cum laude from Princeton. Not the case for Obama. Cruz
> graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. Not so for Obama. Cruz's
> mental prowess has been recognized by Allan Dershowitz (who by all accounts
> is a bigger liberal than Obama) who said that Cruz is one of the most
> brilliant legal minds that he has ever seen. His actual quote was that "Cruz
> was off-the-charts brilliant."  Not so Obama. Cruz clerked for the Chief
> Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, Justice William Rehnquist, one of the
> most coveted positions for any young lawyer right out of law school. Not so
> Obama. The liberal tin horns in Washington along with the liberal media try
> to tout Cruz as some kind of nut.
>
>
>
> Perhaps Obama and the other libs don't like him because he worked on the
> Florida lawsuit for George W. Bush against Gore. Perhaps it is because Cruz
> is a Baptist. Perhaps it is because Cruz's wife worked for Condoleezza Rice
> in the White House and also as one of those horrible investment bankers in
> New York. Perhaps it's because Cruz ran his Senate campaign as a Republican
> and still garnered 40% of the Hispanic vote in Texas. Perhaps it’s because
> Cruz is against same-sex "marriage." For whatever reason, Obama seems
> jealous of Cruz's legal successes. What has Obama done in the legal
> profession? Ans.: community organization in one of the most God forsaken
> cities in the world. Obama was not a professor at the University of Chicago
> as many of his supporters dishonestly tout, but was a "guest lecturer," an
> enormous difference.
>
>

>
> This brief video of Cruz's father is amazing-- it is a must watch. Indeed,
> every true American should have an opportunity to watch this.
>
> Ted Cruz is a Texas Senator AND NOW A US SENATOR. His Dad may have just
> established himself as one more reason for Obama to dislike Texas.
>
>
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0Ym4Xt0T6fM
>

All People in America Will Pay for Abortions-All

"[U]nder the secrecy clause, plans that cover abortion are only allowed to disclose the abortion surcharge 'as a part of the summary of benefits and coverage explanation, at the time of enrollment.' Many families may choose a plan that covers abortion without realizing it or because the plan is the only one that covers the critical care that their family needs."
An abortion "slush fund" bankrolled by a separate "abortion fee" charged to enrollees should also be struck from Obamacare, the letter says:
"Anyone who enrolls in a federally-subsidized health care plan that covers elective abortions will pay a separate 'abortion fee' of at least $1 per month into an abortion slush fund to pay for abortion on demand."
- See more at: http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/craig-bannister/boehner-warned-obamacares-abortion-slush-fund-secrecy-clause#sthash.QjCG4qAF.dpuf

Parents Giving in to Peer Pressure: Forming the Mind of A Girl Against Vanity

Recommend Girl Books Age 6-8


This post is specifically on girls and the formation of the virtues to destroy the predominant fault.

Starting with vanity, one knows that the opposing virtue is humility. Charity is also a virtue which can overcome vanity.

But, the parent is the main formator of the child. This excuse that the peers form the child is ridiculous, as it is the parents who give in to the peer pressure not the child.

I see very young girls daily in clothes which can only be described as slutty or prostitute clothes. Even in churches, many mothers allow their young girls, ages six to ten, for example, to dress with midriffs showing, underwear showing, and wearing nothing but tights-no skirts.

Now, the child did not go out and buy these clothes, the mothers did. The mothers are creating a monster girl, a princess who thinks she can have anything she wants and who is being taught to be a slave to fashion.

Vanity is being encouraged.  To be vain, all a girl needs is to be taught that the exterior is more important than the interior life. Vanity is encouraged by giving the girl the right to think about her clothes, her hair, her nails, her shoes, etc. as more important than developing the virtues given to her at baptism.

Also, too many mothers are not honest with their girls about their outward appearance. A child does not have to think she is the most beautiful person in the world. In fact, saying that over and over creates a false view of the self and also creates false expectations.

The entire Walt Disney princess preoccupation, as I have noted before on this blog, is dangerous.

Not all girls are princesses, and the models for holiness are not those who hung on to worldly power, including the power of sexual attraction, money and status, but those saints who gave those up for higher goods.Young girls do not need to be spending allowances on clothes, make-up and jewelry. This type of laxity is dangerous to the formation of virtue.

An excellent book can help a girl move away from princess preoccupation which destroys the real beauty of the virtues.

St. Etheldreda, the patroness of this blog, and many in her family, gave up being princesses and even queens in order to pursue holiness. This is a movement completely in antithesis to the Disney brainwashing. A girl may be a princess of a day on her birthday, but the rest of the year, mom should be teaching her to be a servant.

One of the best stories for a girl is the life of Blessed Humbeline, the sister of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. Now, the book I am recommending is a children's book, but parents can benefit from it as well. It is charming. And I have written about Humbeline on this blog under the label saints and martyrs. And, here and here...

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/02/saints-of-february-continuedhumbeline.html

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/08/more-on-my-favourite-saints-family.html

I wish the publishers had used a different cover, as this depiction is not necessarily a true picture of what is inside the book. The one I had read, published in the 1950s, had child-friendly illustrations.

Humbeline was vain and gave it all up. She is only one example. But, her brothers challenged her to become holy. And, she did.

Obviously, a mother may have the same predominant fault as her girls or girls. When the Bible states that a woman is saved by child-bearing, one of the meanings of that pregnant (pun intended) phrase is that one sees one's one sins and flaws when one is raising children and one can respond in grace and gratitude for changing and converting in the second conversion, when one is working with the character building of one's children.

To be continued...







Virtues in Children Continued on The Predominant Fault

As the regular readers know, I did a long posting theme in the Summer on forming virtues in children. This is in the home schooling, home education series and quite detailed. The labels are on the side. Also, one can find many posts on the predominant fault in the perfection and perfection again series.




However, mothers and fathers are responsible, as I wrote in that series, on helping the child crush the predominant fault. I did not go into detail on how mothers can help their daughters not be proud, but be humble, and not be vain, but be humble, and shall do so now.

To start with, vainglory, or vanity, like pride, is one of the seven deadly sins. These sins form the roots of others sins and as predominant faults must be faced and uprooted, like briars. I am reminding the readers of Garrigou-Lagrange's definition of the predominant fault.

May I add, before quoting this, that to start young in determining what the fault is and dealing with it saves one from life of both mortal and venial sin.

The predominant fault is the defect in us that tends to prevail over the others, and thereby over our manner of feeling, judging, sympathizing, willing, and acting. It is a defect that has in each of us an intimate relation to our individual temperament.(1) There are temperaments inclined to effeminacy, indolence, sloth, gluttony, and sensuality. Others are inclined especially to anger and pride. We do not all climb the same slope toward the summit of perfection: those who are effeminate by temperament must by prayer, grace, and virtue become strong; and those who are naturally strong, to the point of easily becoming severe, must, by working at themselves and by grace, become gentle.
Before this progressive transformation of our temperament, the predominant defect in the soul often makes itself felt. It is our domestic enemy, dwelling in our interior; for, if it develops, it may succeed in completely ruining the work of grace or the interior life. At times it is like a crack in a wall that seems to be solid but is not so; like a crevice, imperceptible at times but deep, in the beautiful facade of a building, which a vigorous jolt may shake to the foundations. For example, an antipathy, an instinctive aversion to someone, may, if it is not watched over and corrected by right reason, the spirit of faith, and charity, produce disasters in the soul and lead it to grave injustice. By yielding to such an antipathy, it does itself far more harm than it does its neighbor, for it is much more harmful to commit injustice than to be the object of it.

Giving in is not a good
The predominant fault is so much the more dangerous as it often compromises our principal good point, which is a happy inclination of our nature that ought to develop and to be increased by grace. For example, a man is naturally inclined to gentleness; but if by reason of his predominant fault, which may be effeminacy, his gentleness degenerates into weakness, into excessive indulgence, he may even reach the complete loss of energy. Another, on the contrary, is naturally inclined to fortitude, but if he gives free rein to his irascible temperament, fortitude in him degenerates into unreasonable violence, the cause of every type of disorder.

Now, the predominant fault is what makes each one of us a slave to sin. Also, it is the evil which sometimes is confused with our character. We do not and should not identify with our predominant fault.

Habits of sin are formed early in the child. We have all met children who lie, for example, at an early age. This child is giving in to her predominant fault of deceitfulness. The parent has a duty to turn the child away form encouraging the predominant fault and moving that child into the virtues received at baptism.

I shall go through the seven deadly sins, each one which could be a predominant fault even though on is not in mortal sin, but has the tendency to commit sins from that basis.

A good parent sees these, and parents must be very careful not to identify the child with the predominant fault. 

For example, one does not preach the gospel of negativity, saying over and over, "You are so lazy. You are a lazy person" and so on. That is actually encouraging the predominant fault thinking so that the youth, the child would identify with sin rather than with virtue.


The predominant fault is sometimes the dark side of one's strength of character which must be developed in the child. Again, a good parent has discernment for their children to help them find their strengths and cultivate those.

Below is a repetition of what I have quoted in other posts, but read it from the viewpoint of a parent. 

Here is Garrigou-Lagrange again:

But how can we discern it? For beginners who are sincere, this is quite easy. But later the predominant fault is less apparent, for it tries to hide itself and to put on the appearances of a virtue: pride clothes itself in the outward appearances of magnanimity, and pusillanimity seeks to cover itself with those of humility. Yet we must succeed in discerning the predominant fault, for if we do not know it, we cannot fight it; and if we do not fight it, we have no true interior life.
That we may discern it, we must first of all ask God for light: "Lord, make me know the obstacles I more or less consciously place in the way of the working of Thy grace in me. Then give me the strength to rid myself of them, and, if I am negligent in doing so, do Thou deign to free me from them, though I should suffer greatly."
After thus asking sincerely for light, we must make a serious examination. How? By asking ourselves: "Toward what do my most ordinary preoccupations tend, in the morning when I awake, or when I am alone? Where do my thoughts and desires go spontaneously?" We should keep in mind that the predominant fault, which easily commands all our passions, takes on the appearance of a virtue and, if it is not opposed, it may lead to impenitence. Judas fell into impenitence through avarice, which he did not will to dominate; it led him to impenitence like a violent wind that hurls a ship on the rocks.


A second step in discerning the predominant fault, is to ask ourselves: "What is generally the cause or source of my sadness and joy? What is the general motive of my actions, the ordinary origin of my sins, especially when it is not a question of an accidental sin, but rather a succession of sins or a state of resistance to grace, notably when this resistance persists for several days and leads me to omit my exercises of piety?" Then we must seek sincerely to know the motive of the soul's refusal to return to the good.
In addition, we must ask ourselves: "What does my director think of this? In his opinion, what is my predominant fault? He is a better judge than I am." No one, in fact, is a good judge in his own case; here self-love deceives us. Often our director has discovered this fault before we have; perhaps he has tried more than once to talk to us about it. Have we not sought to excuse ourselves? Excuses come promptly, for the predominant fault easily excites all our passions: it commands them as a master, and they obey instantly. Thus, wounded self-love immediately excites irony, anger, impatience. Moreover, when the predominant fault has taken root in us, it experiences a particular repugnance to being unmasked and fought, because it wishes to reign in us. This condition sometimes reaches such a point that, when our neighbor accuses us of this fault, we reply that we have many bad habits, but truly not the one mentioned".(4)
The predominant fault may also be recognized by the temptations that our enemy arouses most frequently in us, for he attacks us especially through this weak point in our soul.
Lastly, in moments of true fervor the inspirations of the Holy Ghost ask us for the sacrifice of this particular fault.

To be continued....in the next post on the choice of books, models and the destruction of vanity and pride.

The Predominant Fault of Some Women Two

The second most common predominant fault of women could be pride. This is the primordial sin and one easy to fall into. But, if this is the main, underlining fault of all faults, it must be rooted out through serious attention, prayer, fasting. Pride can be inherited in a family where family pride continues to separate people from God.

Pride stops all growth in holiness. For a woman, this is deadly, as in order for her to be holy, the virtues must flourish into the small daily loveliness we see in the saints, such as St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Gemma Galgani.

Here is Aquinas on pride: thanks to New Advent's Summa.

Question 162. Pride


Pride is directly opposed to the virtue of humility, which, in a way, is concerned about the same matter as magnanimity, as stated above (161, 1, ad 3). Hence the vice opposed to pride by default is akin to the vice of pusillanimity, which is opposed by default to magnanimity. For just as it belongs to magnanimity to urge the mind to great things against despair, so it belongs to humility to withdraw the mind from the inordinate desire of great things against presumption. Now pusillanimity, if we take it for a deficiency in pursuing great things, is properly opposed to magnanimity by default; but if we take it for the mind's attachment to things beneath what is becoming to a man, it is opposed to humility by default; since each proceeds from a smallness of mind.



On the same way, on the other hand, pride may be opposed by excess, both to magnanimity and humility, from different points of view: to humility, inasmuch as it scorns subjection, to magnanimity, inasmuch as it tends to great things inordinately. Since, however, pride implies a certain elation, it is more directly opposed to humility, even as pusillanimity, which denotes littleness of soul in tending towards great things, is more directly opposed to magnanimity.



A sin may destroy a virtue in two ways. On one way by direct contrariety to a virtue, and thus pride does not corrupt every virtue, but only humility; even as every special sin destroys the special virtue opposed to it, by acting counter thereto. On another way a sin destroys a virtue, by making ill use of that virtue: and thus pride destroys every virtue, in so far as it finds an occasion of pride in every virtue, just as in everything else pertaining to excellence. Hence it does not follow that it is a general sin.




...Pride regards a special aspect in its object, which aspect may be found in various matters: for it is inordinate love of one's excellence, and excellence may be found in various things.



Those women who are proud honestly believe they are better than other people. They are the proverbial "snobs".  They also live a life of complete narcissism, thinking that the entire world revolves around them. This predominant fault is the First Sin of our First Parents. One can fall into pride concerning status, money, power, beauty and so on.  Pride wants to be served instead of wanting to serve.


In a marriage, pride in a woman belittles a man and dominates him and the children. Pride also manipulates, lies, and causes dissension. Women, battle this if this is your predominant fault. Life is more than all about you.


The Predominant Fault of Some Women

Just to be fair, I have been talking with lovely, good Catholic women who want to become saints. They would be in the category of the really beautiful women who are working on virtues.

What has been shared with me are two main predominant faults; vainglory and pride.

Vainglory is one of the Seven Deadly Sins-Vanity. And, this is connected to the two posts I did on inner beauty and the life of the virtues.

Vainglory may be described as Thomas Aquinas states:

Question 132. Vainglory


Now the sin of vainglory, considered in itself, does not seem to be contrary to charity as regards the love of one's neighbor: yet as regards the love of God it may be contrary to charity in two ways. On one way, by reason of the matter about which one glories: for instance when one glories in something false that is opposed to the reverence we owe God, according to Ezekiel 28:2, "Thy heart is lifted up, and Thou hast said: I am God," and 1 Corinthians 4:7, "What hast thou that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" Or again when a man prefers to God the temporal good in which he glories: for this is forbidden (Jeremiah 9:23-24): "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me." Or again when a man prefers the testimony of man to God's; thus it is written in reproval of certain people (John 12:43): "For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God."



In another way vainglory may be contrary to charity, on the part of the one who glories, in that he refers his intention to glory as his last end: so that he directs even virtuous deeds thereto, and, in order to obtain it, forbears not from doing even that which is against God. On this way it is a mortal sin. Wherefore Augustine says (De Civ. Dei v, 14) that "this vice," namely the love ofhuman praise, "is so hostile to a godly faith, if the heart desires glory more than it fears or loves God, that our Lord said (John 5:44): How can you believe, who receive glory one from another, and the glory which is from God alone, you do not seek?"

Now the end of vainglory is the manifestation of one's own excellence, as stated above (A1,4): and to this end a man may tend in two ways. On one way directly, either by words, and this is boasting, or by deeds, and then if they be true and call for astonishment, it is love of novelties which men are wont to wonder at most; but if they be false, it is hypocrisy. On another way a man strives to make known his excellence by showing that he is not inferior to another, and this in four ways. First, as regards the intellect, and thus we have "obstinacy," by which a man is too much attached to his own opinion, being unwilling to believe one that is better. Secondly, as regards the will, and then we have "discord," whereby a man is unwilling to give up his own will, and agree with others. Thirdly, as regards "speech," and then we have "contention," whereby a man quarrels noisily with another. Fourthly as regards deeds, and this is "disobedience," whereby a man refuses to carry out the command of his superiors.




One needs to grow in humility and God will give a person many opportunities for this.


Praise God, Women, when God allows the ebbing of your looks, the lessening your personal power, the clouding of your intelligent and the suffering of illness. All of these trials breakdown vainglory.


To be continued...more on this here 


http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/09/the-predominant-fault-of-some-women-two.html


See also http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/09/on-beauty.html

and

http://supertradmum-etheldredasplace.blogspot.ie/2013/09/on-beauty-two.html

I love this generation-creative and clever and more independent