Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts Archives

IP#341 Elizabeth Lev – How Catholic Art Saved the Faith on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor Podcast

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What a delight to speak with Elizabeth Lev about her phenomenal book “How Catholic Art Saved the Faith: The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Counter-Reformation Art!” This book is a feast for your mind and heart. It is filled with Church history and illuminated by a cast of extraordinary characters and beautiful images. Professor Lev is a master storyteller who never disappoints! It will be difficult for anyone who begins to enter its pages to put this book down. This work reflects the best in Catholic cultural apologetics. Along with the podcast, check out the absorbing TED talk Liz gave on the story of Sistine Chapel embedded in this post! Give yourself treat, don’t wait, get a copy of the book for yourself and plan on gifting it to many of your friends!

You can find the book here

“In a series of finely crafted and absorbing essays, Elizabeth Lev actually demonstrates how, at a crucial moment in the Church’s history, artists used paintbrush and chisel to proclaim the Gospel. This book will be extremely helpful for catechists, teachers, preachers, and I daresay, for artists themselves. ”
Bishop Robert Barron

“Liz Lev so brilliantly connects art and faith that you will experience every painting, statue and church in a deeper, emotionally powerful and spiritually fulfilling way.”
Newt Gingrich

“A treat for the eye and the soul.”
Peggy Noonan
Wall Street Journal

BTP- L9 – Letter 185 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast

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Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, our conversation reflects on letter 185:

185
[November 28, 1903]
Dijon Carmel,
November 28

J. M. + J. T.

“Ipsi sum desponsata cui Angeli serviunt.” Monsieur l’Abbé, Thank you for your good prayers, thank you for your letter. What you tell me about my name does me much good; I love it so much, it expresses my entire vocation; when I think of it my soul is carried away in the great vision of the Mystery of mysteries, in the Trinity that even here below is our cloister, our dwelling, the Infinite within which we can pass through everything. At the moment I am reading some very beautiful pages in our blessed Father Saint John of the Cross on the transformation of the soul in the three Divine Persons. Monsieur l’Abbé, to what an abyss of glory we are called! Oh! I understand the silence, the recollection of the saints who could no longer leave their contemplation; thus God could lead them to the divine summits where union is made perfect between Him and the soul who has become His bride, in the mystical sense of the word. Our blessed Father says that then the Holy Spirit raises it to so wonderful a height that He makes it capable of producing in God the same spiration of love that the Father produces in the Son and the Son in the Father, the spiration that is the Holy Spirit Himself ! To think that God calls us by our vocation to live in this holy light! What an adorable mystery of charity! I would like to respond to it by living on earth as the Blessed Virgin did, “keeping all these things in my heart,”6 burying myself, so to speak, in the depths of my soul to lose myself in the Trinity who dwells in it in order to transform me into itself. Then my motto, “my luminous ideal,” as you said, will be accomplished: it will really be Elizabeth of the Trinity! . . .

I am very grateful to you for having sent me your instruction; it can apply to a Carmelite as well as to a priest, and I loved reading it on the 21st, the day we had the beautiful ceremony of the renewal of our holy vows. You see how perfectly it suited the occasion!

Monday I will say the Office of Saint Andrew for you, and I will offer Holy Communion for that same intention. May you be submerged, invaded by the great river of Life, may you feel the springs of living water well up from the deepest part of your soul, so that God may be your All. I have entrusted this desire you formed in my soul into the hands of her who was so completely God’s “thing,” and she will speak to you in the silence of your soul. With you, I remain wholly adoring the Mystery.

Sr. M. Eliz. of the Trinity r.c.i.

The death of Monsieur Chapuis12 grieved me deeply: to think God has loved so much and that some souls close themselves off to the action of this love. . . .

Catez, Elizabeth of the Trinity. The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel (pp. 135-137). ICS Publications. Kindle Edition.

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

Anthony Lilles, S.T.D. is an associate professor and the academic dean of Saint John’s Seminary in Camarillo as well as the academic advisor for Juan Diego House of Priestly Formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. For over twenty years he served the Church in Northern Colorado where he joined and eventually served as dean of the founding faculty of Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. Through the years, clergy, seminarians, religious and lay faithful have benefited from his lectures and retreat conferences on the Carmelite Doctors of the Church and the writings of St. Elisabeth of the Trinity.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Novena Day 1 – Discerning Hearts Podcasts

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Dr. Anthony Lilles STD - Beginning to Pray 3

Day One – For the grace to enter into great silence

In this nine days of prayer with Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, we will offer her oblation to the Trinity, “O My God whom I adore. “ Elizabeth wrote this prayer to help souls seek a spiritually mature relationship with God. This journey to spiritual maturity progresses by way of silence, an interior silence. This is not an empty silence or an alienated one. It is a silence that is vigilant for the new work that the Holy Trinity is waiting to do in us. On this first day of this Novena, let us begin by recalling Saint Elizabeth’s mission – a mission completely oriented to the powerful silence in which the soul encounters the fullness of God. She writes, shortly before her death:

I suppose that in heaven my mission will be to attract souls
Helping them go out of themselves
To cleave to God by a entirely simple and loving movement
And to keep them inside this great silence
That will allow God to imprint Himself in them
And transform them into Himself. L 335

That this mission might be realized in us, and that we might enter into great silence, and through Saint Elizabeth’s intercession, remain there, let us pray:

O My God, Trinity whom I adore, help me to forget myself entirely so as to be established in you as still and as peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity. May nothing be able to disturb my peace, nor make me depart from you, o my Unchanging One, but may each moment carry me further into the depths of your Mystery. Pacify my soul, make it your heaven, your beloved abode, your resting place. May I never leave you there alone, but may I be entirely present, my faith completely ready, wholly adoring, fully surrendered to your creative action.

O my beloved Christ, crucified by love, I would like to be a bride for your heart. I would like to cover you with glory, I would like to love you… unto death. I feel my powerlessness, however, and I ask you to clothe me with yourself, to identify my soul with all the movements of your soul, to defeat me, to overwhelm me, to substitute yourself for me, that my life might be but the radiation of your Life. Come into me as Adorer, as Healer, as Savior. O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life listening to you, I want to be completely docile, ready to learn everything from you. Then, through all nights, all voids, all weakness, I want to fixate on you always and to remain under your great light. O My beloved Star, fascinate me so that I would not be able to forsake your shining light.

O Consuming Flame, Spirit of love, come over me until my soul is render into an incarnation of the Word; may I be for Him another humanity in which he renews His whole Mystery.

And you, O Father, bend over your little creature, cover her with your shadow, and see in her only the Beloved in whom You are well-pleased.
O my Three, my All, my Beatitude, Infinite Solitude, Immensity in which I loose myself, I surrender myself as prey. Bury yourself in me in order that I might bury myself in you, while waiting to contemplate in your light the immeasurable depths of your grandeur.

Amen

The Novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity is authored by Dr. Anthony Lilles S.T.D.

For the entire 9-Day Novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory Day 1

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composed by St. Alphonsus of Liguori
Visit the Discerning Hearts “Holy Souls” page for the complete novena and text of the prayers

Jesus, my Saviour, I have so often deserved to be cast into hell. how great would be my suffering if I were now cast away and obliged to think that I myself had caused my damnation. I thank Thee for the patience with which Thou hast endured me. My God, I love Thee above all things and I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee because Thou art infinite goodness. I will rather die than offend Thee again. Grant me the grace of perseverance. Have pity on me and at the same time on those blessed souls suffering in Purgatory. Mary, Mother of God, come to their assistance with thy powerful intercession.

Say the following prayers: 1 Our Father… 1 Hail Mary…

The Prayer to Our Suffering Savior for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

O most sweet Jesus, through the bloody sweat which Thou didst suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane, have mercy on these Blessed Souls. Have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel scourging, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most painful crowning with thorns, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in carrying Thy cross to Calvary, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel Crucifixion, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most bitter agony on the Cross, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the immense pain which Thou didst suffer in breathing forth Thy Blessed Soul, have mercy on them. R. Have mercy on them, O Lord.

(State your intention(s) here while recommending yourself to the souls in Purgatory.)

Blessed Souls, I have prayed for thee; I entreat thee, who are so dear to God, and who are secure of never losing Him, to pray for me a miserable sinner, who is in danger of being damned, and of losing God forever. Amen.

HR#11 “Instead of circling around one’s self, hospitality” – The Holy Rule of St. Benedict with Fr. Mauritius Wilde OSB

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Instead of circling around one’s self, hospitality

From the Holy Rule of St. Benedict:

CHAPTER LIII
Of the Reception of Guests

Let all guests who arrive be received as Christ, because He will say: “I was a stranger and you took Me in” (Mt 25:35). And let due honor be shown to all, especially to those “of the household of the faith” (Gal 6:10) and to wayfarers.

When, therefore, a guest is announced, let him be met by the Superior and the brethren with every mark of charity. And let them first pray together, and then let them associate with one another in peace. This kiss of peace should not be given before a prayer hath first been said, on account of satanic deception. In the greeting let all humility be shown to the guests, whether coming or going; with the head bowed down or the whole body prostrate on the ground, let Christ be adored in them as He is also received.

When the guests have been received, let them be accompanied to prayer, and after that let the Superior, or whom he shall bid, sit down with them. Let the divine law be read to the guest that he may be edified, after which let every kindness be shown him. Let the fast be broken by the Superior in deference to the guest, unless, perchance, it be a day of solemn fast, which cannot be broken. Let the brethren, however, keep the customary fast. Let the Abbot pour the water on the guest’s hands, and let both the Abbot and the whole brotherhood wash the feet of all the guests. When they have been washed, let them say this verse: “We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple” (Ps 47[48]:10). Let the greatest care be taken, especially in the reception of the poor and travelers, because Christ is received more specially in them; whereas regard for the wealthy itself procureth them respect.

Let the kitchen of the Abbot and the guests be apart, that the brethren may not be disturbed by the guests who arrive at uncertain times and who are never wanting in the monastery. Let two brothers who are able to fulfil this office well go into the kitchen for a year. Let help be given them as they need it, that they may serve without murmuring; and when they have not enough to do, let them go out again for work where it is commanded them. Let this course be followed, not only in this office, but in all the offices of the monastery — that whenever the brethren need help, it be given them, and that when they have nothing to do, they again obey orders. Moreover, let also a God-fearing brother have assigned to him the apartment of the guests, where there should be sufficient number of beds made up; and let the house of God be wisely managed by the wise.

On no account let anyone who is not ordered to do so, associate or speak with guests; but if he meet or see them, having saluted them humbly, as we have said, and asked a blessing, let him pass on saying that he is not allowed to speak with a guest.

Father Mauritius Wilde, OSB, Ph.D., did his philosophical, theological and doctoral studies in Europe. He is the author of several books and directs retreats regularly. He serves as Prior at Sant’Anselmo in Rome.

IP#340 Dr. Timothy O’Malley – Off the Hook on Inside the Pages with Kris McGregor Podcast

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A great conversation with Dr. Timothy O’Malley, Director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy and author of “Off the Hook: God, Love, Dating and Marriage in a Hook-up World. ” He had me at “nuptial mystagogy.” I love a theologian who deeply appreciates the font of grace present in our liturgical expression and sacramental experience. From this point forward, this is THE book for practical, life-sustaining marriage formation. Outstanding!

You can. find the book here

From the book description:

Hookup culture is about much more than the quest for pleasure. It offers an easy way out of real communication and lasting relationships. It also teaches us to treat each other as objects for personal satisfaction. Even those who reject the hookup culture can still be negatively affected by it and develop poor habits of relating to others. In Off the Hook, Timothy P. O’Malley, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame, shows how God’s plan for love serves to heal the wounds of hookup culture and is a medicine for what ails our understanding of sex, romance, love, and marriage.

In Off the Hook, O’Malley explains how the ethics of hooking up shape relationships between men and women and examines the considerable harm to individuals and society that results. By exploring the sacrament of marriage in its biblical, theological, and liturgical dimensions, he offers Catholic young adults and those charged with their formation and pastoral care a wealth of insight into God’s plan for love.

Young people will find help grappling with the Church’s countercultural understanding of sex, love, and marriage. Parents and pastoral workers will discover a refreshing presentation of the Catholic theology of marriage and wise counsel about forming young people in the Church’s vision. Newly married, and even long-married couples will find hope, courage, and the promise of sacramental love that can sustain them for a lifetime.

RN-10 – Value #5 – part 4 – Participation – Regnum Novum w/Omar Gutierrez – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Value 5 – The Common Good, Universal Destination of Goods, Subsidiarity, Participation, Solidarity part 4

“Participation.”

These are the five principles laid out in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. If we understand these principles, then the work of the Revolution can begin. We are made now for a New Kingdom with Christ as our King in all things. Let us discover this place together, and make the devil cringe and know the suffering of defeat.

Deacon Omar F.A. Gutierrez is an Instructor for the Holy Family School of Faith Institute and Director of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith for the Archdiocese of Omaha. He’s also the author of “The Urging of Christ’s Love: The Saints and The Social Teaching of the Catholic”

IJCY6- “Your fear is from the spirit against Christ” – The 6th & 7th Spiritual Lesson – Is Jesus Calling You w/ Fr. Paul Hoesing ep 6 – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Fr. Paul Hoesing - Is Jesus Calling You? Discerning Your Vocational Call 3

The Eighth Spiritual Lesson: The will of the spirit against Christ is revealed in fear. “This spirit against Christ drives a man by a fear of something false. While the Spirit of Christ draws a man by a peaceful presence to something that is true.”

Questions: Does your fear come when you are desiring to do God’s will and the thought of you choosing not to do His will causes your fear? Or, rather, does your fear come when you are focused on what you want and the thought that God might want something different makes you afraid; if so, identify that as the will of the spirit against Christ and turn away from it, inviting Christ into the situation by repeating a simple prayer like, “Jesus I trust in you!”

The Ninth Spiritual Lesson: You must stand firm in faith in what you received from God. “This is the essential choice. If one does not make this choice, his spiritual life will be the experience of a ping pong ball, bouncing back and forth, believing one desire one day and the opposite one the next. He will be a confused man.”

Questions: Do you have moments in prayer where the next step you are to take becomes quite clear from the experience of the peace of Christ, but then you believe and follow the thoughts, feelings, and desires in the fear flowing from the spirit against Christ, causing you to change your mind and not move forward? Identify those movements and cling to Christ during them by praying, “Jesus, I I trust in you.”

Based on “Is Jesus Calling You To Be A Catholic Priest: A helpful guide,” published by National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Director.

Fr. Paul Hoesing serves at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary as Dean of Seminarians & Director of Human Formation

BTP- L8 – Letter 184 – The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity – Beginning to Pray w/Dr. Anthony Lilles podcast

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Dr. Lilles continues the spiritual explorations of the Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity. In this episode, our conversation reflects on letter 184, with a special focus on Heaven, the Saints, and spiritual friendship as a spiritual reality.:

L184
[November 24, 1903]

Dijon Carmel,
November 24

J. M. +J. T.

“My Beloved is all mine and I am all His!”2 Madame and dear sister, I was very touched by your good wishes. I, for my part, celebrated your feast day, too, since Saint Elizabeth is your patron,3 for it does us much good to look into the soul of saints and then to follow them through faith right up to Heaven; there, they are all luminous with the light of God, whom they contemplate face to face for all eternity! . . . This Heaven of the saints is our homeland, the “Father’s House”4 where we are awaited, where we are loved, where one day we too will be able to fly and rest in the bosom of Infinite Love!

When we consider the divine world that envelops us already here in our exile and in which we can move, oh, then things here below disappear: all of that doesn’t exist, it is less than nothing. The saints, for their part, understood true knowledge so well, the knowledge that makes us leave everything, and especially ourselves, so we can fly to God and live solely with Him! Dear Madame, He is within us to sanctify us, so let us ask Him to be Himself our sanctity.5 When Our Lord was on earth, the Gospel says “a secret power went out from Him,”6 at His touch the sick recovered their health, the dead were restored to life. Well, He is still living! living in the tabernacle in His adorable Sacrament, living in our souls. He Himself said: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make Our home in him,”7 so since He is there, let us keep Him company as a friend does with the One he loves! The essence of our life in Carmel is this divine, wholly intimate union; it is what makes our solitude so precious, for, as our holy father John of the Cross, whose feast we are celebrating today, said, “Two hearts who love each other prefer solitude to anything else.”8 On Saturday,9 the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, we had the beautiful ceremony of the renewal of our vows. Oh! dear Madame, what a beautiful day, what joy to be bound to the service of so good a Master, to tell Him that one is His until death, “sponsa Christi.” I am so happy to feel that you too are given to Him, and it seems to me that, from up in Heaven, our great Saint Elizabeth must bless and seal the union of our souls. Please tell your little Sister Imelda of Jesus10 that I very happily grant her wish by remembering her each day before God; I ask her to pray for me too, especially to say “thank you” to Him who has chosen the better part for me! I was very happy to have news of you through Mama, who was so well received, so spoiled when she was with you,11 I don’t know how to express my gratitude to all of you for that. As for me, I will never go to your beautiful mountains again, but I will follow you there in soul and heart, asking Him who is our “rendez-vous” to draw us to those other mountains, those divine summits that are so far from earth they nearly touch Heaven; I remain wholly united with you there beneath the rays of the Sun of Love! . . . 12 Sister M. Eliz. of the Trinity r.c.i.

Catez, Elizabeth of the Trinity. The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity volume 2: Letters from Carmel (pp. 134-135). ICS Publications. Kindle Edition.

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

GWML#10 William Shakespeare (Hamlet and Macbeth) – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Episode 10 – Great Works in Western Literature with Joseph Pearce – William Shakespeare

Arguably Shakespeare’s finest and most important play, Hamlet is also one of the most misunderstood masterpieces of world literature. “To be or not to be”, may be the question, but the answer has eluded many generations of critics. What does it mean “to be”? And is everything as it seems to be?

Probably the darkest of all Shakespeare’s plays, Macbeth is also one of the most challenging. Is it a work of nihilistic despair, “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”, or is it a cautionary tale warning of the dangers of Machiavellianism and relativism? Does it lead to hell and hopelessness, or does it point to a light beyond the darkness?

Based on the Ignatius Critical Edition, this series examines, from the Judeo-Christian perspective, the life, the times, and influence of authors of great works in literature.

Joseph Pearce is currently the Writer-in-Residence and Visiting Fellow at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire. He is also Visiting Scholar at Mount Royal Academy in Sunapee, New Hampshire. He is also Visiting Scholar at Mount Royal Academy in Sunapee, New Hampshire. He is co-editor of the Saint Austin Review (or StAR), an international review of Christian culture, literature, and ideas published in England (Family Publications) and the United States (Sapientia Press). He is also the author of many books, including literary biographies of Solzhenitsyn, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, and Oscar Wilde.

To learn more about the authors and titles available in the Ignatius Critical Editions

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

The Novena to St. Elizabeth of the Trinity is authored by Dr. Anthony Lilles S.T.D.

Instead of circling around one’s self, hospitality

“Participation.”

The Eighth Spiritual Lesson: The will of the spirit against Christ is revealed in fear. “This spirit against Christ drives a man by a fear of something false. While the Spirit of Christ draws a man by a peaceful presence to something that is true.”

Special thanks to Miriam Gutierrez for her readings of St. Elizabeth’s letters

For other episodes in the series visit The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’

For other episodes in the series visit
The Discerning Hearts “The Letters of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity” with Dr. Anthony Lilles’