The movement of the human soul, and human society in general, from its fallen chaotic state towards divine order is at the heart of the Blog of Padre Pio Press. Writings, ponderings, and reflections on this movement of the soul are authored by Fr. Cliff Ermatinger and by the occasional Guest Contributor. The articles and recordings are relegated to the following areas:
Throughout the Month of August,
Padre Pio Press Cordially Invites Its Readership to Join in Saying:
Litany of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Third Sunday After Easter — Homily by Fr. Ermatinger
Audio In Full Post
Second Class – The Parting. “Thus part we rich in sorrow, parting poor”, Abraham Solomon, 1855
Transcription of Homily
Translation of the Epistle for the Third Sunday after Easter:
Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, to refrain yourselves from carnal desires which war against the soul, Having your conversation good among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by the good works which they shall behold in you, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Be ye subject therefore to every human creature for God’s sake: whether it be to the king as excelling, Or to governors as sent by him for the punishment […]
St. Augustine, Is Faith More Than the Source of Prayer?
Question 033.
So faith is merely the source of prayer?
For St. Augustine, faith is more than prayer’s source. It is certainly more than trusting that his prayers are heard… God alone knows the things of God in their fullness… But he does communicate something of himself to man, and that is precisely the content of Augustine’s faith…Although we are deprived of the vision of God, giving our mortal state, we do attain it to a certain extent by faith.
from St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer by Fr. Ermatinger.
Thanks to Luther, it has become common parlance to speak of faith as a species of […]
St. Augustine, How Does Faith Relate to Prayer?
Question 032.
What is the relation between faith and prayer?
If faith lacks, prayer dies. For who prays for that which he does not believe?… So that we might pray, let us believe. And that this faith by which we pray not fail, let us pray. Faith pours out prayer and the pouring out of prayer, in turn, obtains the strengthening of faith.
from St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer by Fr. Ermatinger.
The seed of prayer is the grace of faith that God implants within the soul. It is watered by hope, grows by charity, and the fruit of its flowering is the obtaining of […]
A Message From Diadochus of Photike
Note: Diadochus of Photike does not mean ‘Sing happy music to make the blues go away.’ He means that in melancholy/discouragement, turn to the Pslams, which contain lamentations that look forward in hope. By joining one’s personal distresses in with the distresses of the Pslams, the hope of the Psalms will become one’s own personal joys. — PPP
St. Augustine, How Is Sacrifice A Part of Prayer?
Question 031.
What does sacrifice have to do with prayer?
If the soul uses the body as an instrument or servant, thus becoming a sacrifice when used correctly and in reference to God, how much more must the soul, in turn, become a sacrifice when it offers itself to God, so that, aflame with the fire of God’s love, it might participate in his beauty and become pleasing to him?
from St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer by Fr. Ermatinger.
At the lowest understanding of the term, sacrifice is about setting aside a good in order to procure another good. A father might give up one […]
