Preparation for Death

Desiderius Erasmus (by Albrecht Dürer, 1526)

We are assured of victory over death, victory over the flesh, victory over the world and Satan. Christ promises us remission of sins, fruits in this life, a hundred-fold, and thereafter life eternal. And for what reason? For the sake of our merit? No indeed, but through the grace of faith which is in Christ Jesus. We are the more secure because he is first our doctor. He first overcame the lapse of Adam, nailed our sins to the cross, sealed our redemption with his blood, which has been confirmed by the testimonies of the prophets, apostles, martyrs, and virgins and by the universal Church of the saints. He added the seal of the Spirit lest we should waver in our confidence… What could we little worms do of ourselves? Christ is our justification. Christ is our victory, Christ is our hope and security. “Unto us a child is born.” Unto us, born for us, given for us. He it is who teaches us, cures our diseases, casts out demons, for us suffers hunger and thirst, is afflicted, endures the agonies of death, sweats bloods, for us is conquered, wounded, dead and resurrected, and sits at the right hand of God the Father. As we approach death the sacraments are not to be despised, but of greater importance are faith and charity without which all else is vain… Christ said “Come unto me all ye that labor.” Take refuge then is his cave in the rocks. Flee to his wounds and you will be safe. The way to enter paradise is the way of the penitent thief. Say simply, “Thy will be done. The world to me is crucified and I to the world.”

Desiderius Erasmus, A Treatise on Preparation for Death (Praeparatio ad mortem (1534)

Cultivate the fruits of the Spirit

The ancients philosophized very little about divine things… The curious subtlety of the Arians drove the orthodox to greater necessity… Let the ancients be pardoned… but what excuse is there for us, who raise so many curious, not to say impious, questions about matters far removed from our nature? We define so many things which may be left to ignorance or in doubt without loss of salvation. Is it not possible to have fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit without being able to explain philosophically the distinction between them and between the nativity of the Son and the procession of the Holy Ghost? If I believe the tradition that there are three of one nature, what is the use of labored disputation? If I do not believe, I shall not be persuaded by any human reasons… You will not be damned if you do not know whether the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son has one or two beginnings, but you will not escape damnation, if you do not cultivate the fruits of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, modesty, continence, and chastity.

Desiderius Erasmus, Preface to his edition of the works of St. Hilary of Poitiers (1523)

Memento mori (‘remember you will die’)

"Memento mori (‘remember you will die’) is the ancient Christian practice of contemplating death and especially our own. Rather than to give into the hopelessness of decay, we know that flesh and bone will rise in the Resurrection. But to get to the joy of Easter Sunday, we must also endure the pain of Good Friday.

"This week, Michael is joined by Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble to answer the question, 'How does reflecting on death bring us closer to understanding Christ’s death and Resurrection?' As a former atheist who has studied and practiced memento mori in her own spiritual life, Sr. Theresa offers some fascinating insights on how the contemplation of death can lead to a more fruitful Lent and a more joyful Easter..."

Read more and listen to the podcast here: The Lenten Practice of Memento Mori | feat. Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble https://catholicexchange.com/the-lenten-practice-of-memento-mori-feat-sr-theresa-aletheia-noble

For God has chosen the foolish things of the world...

No morons so play the fool as those who are obsessed with the ardor of Christian piety to the point they distribute their goods, overlook injuries, suffer themselves to be deceived, make no distinction between friends and enemies, eschew pleasure, glut themselves with hunger, vigils, tears, toils, and reproaches, who disdain life, who crave only death, who seem utterly to contemn all common sense, as if the soul lived elsewhere and not in the body. What is this if not insanity? No wonder that the apostles appeared to be drunk with new wine and Paul seemed to Festus to be mad. Christ himself became a fool when he was found in fashion as a man that he might bring healing by the foolishness of the cross. “For God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.”

Desiderius Erasmus, Moriae Encomium

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Moriae Encomium (Latin) In Praise of Folly, also translated as The Praise of Folly, is an essay written in Latin in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in June 1511

Where is the image of Christ in your behavior?

Desiderius Erasmus

If you walk in the spirit, where are the fruits of the spirit? where is love? where is joy? where is peace toward all? where patience, long suffering, goodness, kindness, compassion, faith, modesty, continence, and chastity? Where is the image of Christ in your behavior? You say, “I am not an adulterer, a thief, a blasphemer. I keep my vows.” What is that other than to say, “I am not as other men, extortioners, adulterers. I fast twice in the week.” The humble publican in Christ’s parable, I tell you, and again I tell you, is better than those who recount their good deeds. Paul says “there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh.” May you then in kindness correct the erring, teach the ignorant, raise the fallen, console the despondent, aid the toiling, relieve the needy. In a word, let all your possessions, all your concern, all your care be directed toward the imitation of Christ, who was not born for himself, lived not to himself, died not to himself, but for our sakes.

Desiderius Erasmus, Enchiridion militis Christiani 

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The Handbook of a Christian Knight (Latin: Enchiridion militis Christiani), sometimes translated as The Manual of a Christian Knight, is a work written by Dutch scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1503, and was first published in English in 1533 by William Tyndale.

Radio interview with author and researcher Michael Hoffman

This interview is well worth an hour of your listening time. His books are worth reading, too...

The Alchemical Processing of Humanity Through Public Psychodrama
Posted on January 27th, 2019

Guest: Michael Hoffman

We discuss Michael Hoffman’s book, Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare, published in April 2001; the Revelation of the Method or Making Manifest All That Is Hidden; the Cryptocracy; occult public psychodrama; alchemical processing; metaphysical alchemy; the lone nut syndrome; the cryonic process of freeze and thaw; the Kennedy assassination as a killing of the king rite; revealing the method lends an air of invulnerability to the criminals; mystical toponymy; Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey; advanced mind control; history and objectives of Freemasonry; synchronicity and coincidence; pattern detection; the subconscious group or dreaming mind; manipulation at a spiritual and psychological warfare level.

Listen Here: The Alchemical Processing of Humanity Through Public Psychodrama http://gunsandbutter.org/blog/2019/01/27/the-alchemical-processing-of-humanity-through-public-psychodrama

Book: Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare: https://www.amazon.com/Societies-Psychological-Warfare-Michael-Hoffman/dp/0970378416

Book: The Occult Renaissance Church of Rome: https://www.amazon.com/Occult-Renaissance-Church-Rome/dp/0990954722

Life is uncertain, death levels all

Knight, Death, and the Devil (Albrecht Dürer, 1513)

As for fame, it is fleeting. Where now is Alexander? Where is Xerxes? Where is Hannibal? What remains is a legend which itself would not be remembered save for the writings of literary men. What value have the pyramids to those who see them no longer? Riches only beget desire for more. Beauty wilts like the roses, friends flit like swallows. Life is uncertain, death levels all. How many are those who live, I will not say as long as Nestor or Methuselah, but to be a hundred? How many until sixty? Not one in a thousand! The body will die but nothing is so dreadful as the death of the soul. Therefore study to make yourself capable of eternal felicity. This you can do best by secreting yourself from the seductions of the world.

Desiderius Erasmus, On Contempt of the World