The Contemplative Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary 

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I'm so totally overcome by this most beautiful video thanks Fr. So beautiful and meaningfully delivered.I feel drawn to the Virgin and ask her ,to be ever at my side n lead me towards contemplative.prayer.

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You are welcome! And may the Lord bless you and yours as well!

Glad to be of service. May the Lord bless you!

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It's our joy! Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. May the Lord bless you!

@@ThomisticInstitute I am humbled. I receive it with joy to. Remain blessed.

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Or is contemplative prayer when God reaches out to you, and therefore, you reach back? May the Lord bless you!

@@ThomisticInstitute I have called you by name , you are mine. The hound of heaven , is like a greyhound , legs stretching out coming back , then stretching out again. His legs move with the Motion of effortless ease, the hook is in and he has his preys scent. The chapel is lit by only three candles , the sun is going down , it's time for vespers , through out the dusk untill dawn vigil will be a night of silence , then when the stained glass windows light up at dawn The prayer of matins will be said closeing the vigil. The hound lay at the foot of the altar the whole of the night. The vestment of the vigil is put aside , the simple robe of a monk but used for all who stand this silent vigil , the smoke of the candle Curls upward like the wings of an angel taking the silent prayer to heaven. Deus vult. Pax Domini

May the Lord bless you!

Thank you! May the Lord bless you!

Conscience is one of the activities that belong to the personal core. See ST I q.79 a.12 & a.13

Well God is the one that brings the soul to a contemplative state

We can't bring ourselves to that state, without God bring us towards it. In meditation, we are the ones working with our mind and will, Man works the most not God. In contemplation is much more supernatural, no words, thought, or any external element is needed, God works not man. " For your contemplation to be perfect and still, it should be based on nothing but love" We can prepare ourselves for contemplation, but we can't get there without God. My advice is for you to read these books "The interior Castle" and " The way of perfection" by St Teresa of Avila "The way of mental prayer" by Vital Lehodey "The Ascend to Mount Carmel" by St John of the cross "Ascend to Mount Sion" Bernadino De Laredo

Also, remember it is not to know everything but to love everything, contemplation isn't to understand but to love, contemplation could be just one thing " My God, My life and my all", one doesn't need to know everything about God to enter the state of contemplation, the humblest, and the littles will do.

Ave Mater is absolutely correct. I would simply add that philosophical meditation can prepare you to receive contemplation, if it can help you love and appreciate Christ more. Also, Aristotle speaks of "contemplation", but what he describes is closer to what we mean by meditation.

@@kylepfeifer6576 leave it to Aristotle to point to the fullness of truth, but as usual coming up one step shy of it... Thanks for the input.

Where in the Bible does it say refer to the Bible only? Your bible isn't even the right one, it's luther-customized! Read this, The Real Bible, preserved By The Catholic Church: sensusfidelium.us/bible-catechesis/the-bible/ you, like many heretics have done throughout the past, assert that The Blessed Virgin had other children? Kid, do you think that any mortal was worthy to have dwelt in the Same Holy Womb in which God dwelt for 9 Months? Luke 1:34 "And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?" The Infallible Tradition of The Catholic Church has a Dogma that God REVEALED that states, that The Blessed Virgin was a Virgin, Before, During and AFTER conceiving and giving Birth to God. So that in itself is enough, but since you sola scriptura HERETICS want everything from the Bible.... The Immaculate Virgin asked the Angel "how shall this be done?", She knew how normal people conceive, so why was She asking, "how shall this be done?" It's because from Her Youth, She Dedicated Herself to God, as a Perpetual Virgin. That's why She asked "how shall this be done"? Also, since in your demonic anger, you'll bring this up: Somewhere else, The Gospel says (Matthew 1:25) that "He [Joseph] had no relations with Her [Mary] until She bore a Son, whom He named Jesus." In the Greek, the word "untill (to, till)" is used to state that something didn't change upto a certain period of time. But it doesn't mean that something changes after that period of time. This conjunction is used to indicate a select period of time, without implying change in the future. Examples? 2 Samuel 6:23 "Therefore Michol the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death." So does that mean Michol had children after her death? In another place, we are told that Christ would be with us until the end of ages, does that mean that He will abandon us after the end of ages? In another place we are told that Christ would reign until He has put all His enemies (including you) under His feet, does that mean He'll stop reigning afterwards? Nope. Another evidence going against your false comment is this. When Christ was in the Cross, and dying to whom did He Give His Mother? To John. John was not The Immaculate Mary's son, he was the Son of Salome. In Jewish tradition, it was customary that if the son was about to die, he should assign his mother to his younger brother, the second son of the mother. If Jesus had any brothers, why did he give His Mother to John? John already had a mother, but He even took Mary into his house. Additionally, in the Scripture, just because they use the word "brother" doesn't mean blood brother. Literally, ask a Jewish rabbi. They call everyone brother. Uncle's, cousins, close friends, kinsmen, close relatives. What is forgotten is that the Jewish expression for brothers and sisters applies to cousins and even to people in the same tribe. Although Lot was the son of Jjraharn’s brother Aran, he is described as Abraham’s “brother” (Genesis 14:14). Similarly, Jacob is referred to as the “brother” of his uncle Laban (Genesis 29:15). You proties pride yourselves in memorizing your luther-customized"bible", but you don't understand what your reading, and when it doesn't sound nice, you interpret it according to YOUR fancy and not the way God wants it to be interpreted. I'd suggest you jump boat now, and come into The True Church. May The Immaculate Queen of Heaven have mercy in you!

@@acrusader.1801 "Like many heretics have done throughout the past, assert that The Blessed Virgin had other children?" Apostate Catholics are notorious for calling others "heretics" when they don't agree with their unscriptural Catholic beliefs. And you are no exception. "Do you think that any mortal was worthy to have dwelt in the Same Holy Womb in which God dwelt for 9 Months?" You say God dwelt in Mary's womb 9 months? Uh, don't Catholics believe God is a trinity? So, are you telling me that the trinity dwelt in Mary's womb for nine months? Where does your "real Bible" say that? "If Jesus had any brothers, why did he give His Mother to John?" Likely the reason why Jesus entrusted his mother to his disciple John instead of to any of his fleshly brothers was that they were not yet believers, and Jesus considered the spiritual relationship more important than the fleshly. As Jesus said about his spiritual family: "'Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?' And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother." (Matt. 12:48-50) Now, where in the Bible does it say Mary was a perpetual virgin? Uh, NOWHERE!! Consider Matt. 1:25, which says: "And [Joseph] knew [Mary] not till she brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS." Did you notice the word "till"? This lets us know that Joseph did not have sex with Mary until AFTER Jesus was born. That means Mary was not always a virgin. "The Infallible Tradition of The Catholic Church has a Dogma that God REVEALED that states, that The Blessed Virgin was a Virgin, Before, During and AFTER conceiving and giving Birth to God." Again, Catholics believe God is a trinity, remember? So, you must be saying that the trinity states that Mary was a perpetual virgin. Where does it say anywhere that a triune deity revealed that Mary was a perpetual virgin?

@@cbooth151 "don't agree with their unscriptural beliefs"? Kid, that literally made no sense. Firstly, we agree everything God requires us to agree with and believe. The Magesterium of The Catholic Church, Scripture and Infallible Tradition are the three legs. We don't believe in the heresy of sola scriptura, which was started by martin luther, who was an apostate... Secondly, presuming that you say we don't believe what God requires us to believe, just because some bad Catholic doesn't live an exemplary life as a Catholic,a memebe of Christ's Only Body, doesn't mean The entire body is like that bad Catholic. People like you hate Jesus because Judas was one of His Apostles. Thirdly, "unscriptural beliefs"? Son, where in the Bible does it say refer to the Bible only, nothing else? Word for word? The word Bible isn't even in The Bible. John 16:12 "I have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot bear them now." This phrase alone coming from The Divine Lips of Christ throws all protest-antism out the window. Christ first established The Law of Grace, His True Church and The Preaching of His Gospel. In later ages only did he reveal other things, such as The Immaculate Excellence of His Virgin Mother, The Glory of Sainthood, The Infallibility of The Church, etc, as He knew that The first disciples would be overwhelmed and wouldn't be able to bear it. If He (The Holy Spirit) shall teach all truth, and that for ever, how is it possible, that the Church can err, or hath erred in matters of faith, at any time, or in any point of doctrine? Now about God dwelling in Mary's Immaculate Womb. Of course we believe that God is Trinity, but that doesn't mean The Father dwelt in Her Womb. That's a heresy, fyi, that was condemned by The Church a long time ago. A brief lesson. God has revealed and His Church has continued to Teach that God IS Trinity. That means The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are Three separate Divine Persons but ONE GOD. Three Persons, One God, not Three Gods, One God. The Father is not The Son or The Holy Spirit and The Son is Not The Father or The Holy Spirit, and The Holy Spirit is neither The Son or The Father. To put it in simpler terms and in a way in which our limited minds can understand (as God wouldn't be God if He was understood), let's take a rose. The rose has smell, beauty and color, yet it is one rose. You are an example too. You have a soul, spirit and body, yet you are one individual, though those 3 components are perfectly seperate. In brief, (and for another example), take a family in a room. The four members have the same human nature, but they are different instances of that same human nature. However, The Holy Trinity, is ONE Instance of The Same Divine Nature. Now, who dwelt in The Immaculate Virgin's Womb? Christ. Though, in truth, The Trinity (as He has always) dwelt in Her Immaculate Soul. But in Her Womb, The Second Person of The Holy Trinity took Flesh, Christ took Her Immaculate Flesh. So who was in Her Womb? God was. Christ IS GOD, and She concealed Him in Her Immaculate Womb, and was and Is God's Mother. Now to refute your heresy of Christ having blood brothers. You know, this was actually a hersy, which was condemned by The Catholic Church back then. Looks like the sons of the heretic lives on. Be a man, quit being the coward you already are and read briefly through this: www.newadvent.org/fathers/3007.htm St. Jerome beat the heretic real good. Kid, do you literally think that any mortal was worthy to have dwelt in the Same Holy Womb in which God dwelt for 9 Months? Or is Christ God or not? Luke 1:34 "And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?" The Infallible Tradition of The Catholic Church has a Dogma that God REVEALED that states, that The Blessed Virgin was a Virgin, Before, During and AFTER conceiving and giving Birth to God. If He (The Holy Spirit) shall teach all truth, and that for ever, how is it possible, that the Church can err, or hath erred in matters of faith, at any time, or in any point of doctrine? So that in itself is enough, but since you sola scriptura HERETICS want everything from the Bible.... The Immaculate Virgin asked the Angel "how shall this be done?", She knew how normal people conceive, so why was She asking, "how shall this be done?" It's because from Her Youth, She Dedicated Herself to God, as a Perpetual Virgin. That's why She asked "how shall this be done"? Also, since in your demonic anger, you'll bring this up: Somewhere else, The Gospel says (Matthew 1:25) that "He [Joseph] had no relations with Her [Mary] until She bore a Son, whom He named Jesus." As I said before, In the Greek, the word "untill (to, till)" is used to state that something didn't change upto a certain period of time. But it doesn't mean that something changes after that period of time. This conjunction is used to indicate a select period of time, without implying change in the future. Examples? 2 Samuel 6:23 "Therefore Michol the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death." So does that mean Michol had children after her death? You say that the evidence for This Infallible Dogma, is not present in The Bible, (so with regard to the word till) you are utterly refuted by the authority of the same Scripture, which often denotes by its (the word till) use a fixed time; frequently time without limitation, as when God by the mouth of the prophet says to certain persons, Isaiah 46:4 "Even to old age I am HE." Will He cease to be God when they have grown old? And the Saviour in the Gospel tells the Apostles, Matthew 28:20 "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Will the Lord then after the end of the world has come forsake His disciples, and at the very time when seated on twelve thrones they are to judge the twelve tribes of Israel will they be bereft of the company of their Lord? Again Paul the Apostle writing to the Corinthians says, Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet. . What does he mean then by saying, for he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet? Is the Lord to reign only until His enemies begin to be under His feet, and once they are under His feet will He cease to reign? Of course His reign will then commence in its fullness when His enemies begin to be under His feet. David also in the fourth Song of Ascents speaks thus, "Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us." Will the prophet, then, look unto the Lord until he obtain mercy, and when mercy is obtained will he turn his eyes down to the ground? In another place, we are told that Christ would be with us until the end of ages, does that mean that He will abandon us after the end of ages? Though you falsely and wrongly comment against this point, what do you know about Jewish tradition, you who don't even have the real Bible, and worships his own interpretation of it? When Christ was on the Cross, and dying to whom did He Give His Mother? To John. John was not The Immaculate Mary's son, he was the Son of Salome. In Jewish tradition, it was customary that if the son was about to die, he should assign his mother to his younger blood brother, the second son of the mother. If Jesus had any brothers, why did he give His Mother to John? John already had a mother, but He even took Mary into his house. And you say to Christ the spiritual relationship was more important than a physical, but didnt Christ come to fulfill the law? He did everything the old law commanded, He was Circumcised, He and His Family went to The temple each year. So to say that He did not fulfill this part of the law, is to go against Christ very words in Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil" The Lord fulfilled the law three several ways: 1. By his obedience to the prescribed rites; therefore he says, it behoveth us to fulfil all justice: and who shall accuse me of sin? 2. He observes the law 3. He fulfilled the law. Additionally, in the Scripture, just because they use the word "brother" doesn't mean blood brother. Literally, ask a Jewish rabbi. They call everyone brother. Uncle's, cousins, close friends, kinsmen, close relatives. What is forgotten is that the Jewish expression for brothers and sisters applies to cousins and even to people in the same tribe. Although Lot was the son of Jjraharn’s brother Aran, he is described as Abraham’s “brother” (Genesis 14:14). Similarly, Jacob is referred to as the “brother” of his uncle Laban (Genesis 29:15). God revealed The Dogma of The Perpetual Virginity of His Most Holy Mother, you can read The Definition of The Dogma here: "Canon 3. If anyone does not properly and truly confess in accord with the holy Fathers, that the holy Mother of God and EVER Virgin and IMMACULATE Mary in the earliest of the ages conceived of the Holy Spirit without seed, namely, God the Word Himself specifically and truly, who was born of God the Father before all ages, and that she incorruptibly bore [Him], HER virginity remaining indestructible even after His birth, let him be condemned." Lateran Council 649

@@acrusader.1801 "Now about God dwelling in Mary's Immaculate Womb. Of course we believe that God is Trinity, but that doesn't mean The Father dwelt in Her Womb." You are only fooling yourself. If God is a trinity and that God was dwelling in Mary for nine months, then the trinity, the WHOLE trinity, was dwelling in Mary for nine months, not just a fraction of the trinity.So, did Mary give birth to the trinity or just a part of it? The problem with Catholics is that to them, "God" can mean one of four different things, even though Catholics swear there is only one God that is made up of three persons. For instance, "God" can mean... 1. the Father. As the Athanasian Creed says. "The Father is God." 2. the Son. As the Athanasian Creed says, "The Son is God." 3. the holy spirit is God. As the Athanasian Creed says, "The holy spirit is God." 4. a combination of the above three Gods. As the Athanasian Creed says: "[The Father, Son, and holy spirit] are not three Gods, but one God." Now, where in the Bible did Jesus teach such nonsense? Answer: NOWHERE!! Instead, Jesus expressly said his Father, a single person, is "the only true God." (John 17:3) The word "only" means, "to the exclusion of others." So, since the Father is the true God to the _exclusion_ of others, how many other true Gods can there be? NONE!! Jesus also said that his Father was also his God. As he said to his apostles through Mary: "I am ascending to _my_ Father and _my_ God." (John 20:17) Did you notice that in the above two verses [John 17:3; 20:17] that the word "God" is applied to the Father? Now, tell me, can you give me *ONE VERSE* where the word "God" is applied, not just to the Father, but also, to the Son and the holy spirit? You know you can't. So, if Jesus is the "God" that Mary carried for nine months, wouldn't that make him a different "God" than the one that is made up three Gods? Wouldn't that make Jesus one God who was also a part of another God--a three-god God? Now can you see how Catholics' view of God is so distorted? "The rose has smell, beauty and color, yet it is one rose." Applying the trinity formula to the rose, we would say, the smell of the rose is the rose, the beauty of the rose is the rose, and the color of the rose is the rose. But, they are not three roses, but one rose. Does that make sense to you? Let me put things a different way. John is a doctor. Bill is a doctor. Larry is a doctor. Now, tell me, how many doctors are there? One doctor or three doctors? Anyway, Mary was not a perpetual virgin. She and Joseph were instructed not to have sexual relations until after Jesus was born. As Matt. 1:25 says: "But he did not have sexual relations with her *_until_* her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus." The Catholic Church teaches many unscriptural teachings. The Church preaches "sola scriptura" so it can make up any teachings that it wants which are not based on Scripture. Too bad the Church ignores its own rules. As A Catholic Dictionary says: "The Catholic is fully justified in believing with perfect confidence that the Church *-**_cannot_* teach any doctrine contrary to the Scripture." The teaching of the perpetual virginity of Mary goes contrary to Scripture.

@@acrusader.1801 "Now about God dwelling in Mary's Immaculate Womb. Of course we believe that God is Trinity, but that doesn't mean The Father dwelt in Her Womb." You are only fooling yourself. If God is a trinity and that God was dwelling in Mary for nine months, then the trinity, the WHOLE trinity, was dwelling in Mary for nine months, not just a fraction of the trinity.So, did Mary give birth to the trinity or just a part of it? The problem with Catholics is that to them, "God" can mean one of four different things, even though Catholics swear there is only one God that is made up of three persons. For instance, "God" can mean... 1. the Father. As the Athanasian Creed says. "The Father is God." 2. the Son. As the Athanasian Creed says, "The Son is God." 3. the holy spirit is God. As the Athanasian Creed says, "The holy spirit is God." 4. a combination of the above three Gods. As the Athanasian Creed says: "[The Father, Son, and holy spirit] are not three Gods, but one God." Now, where in the Bible did Jesus teach such nonsense? Answer: NOWHERE!! Instead, Jesus expressly said his Father, a single person, is "the only true God." (John 17:3) The word "only" means, "to the exclusion of others." So, since the Father is the true God to the _exclusion_ of others, how many other true Gods can there be? NONE!! Jesus also said that his Father was also his God. As he said to his apostles through Mary: "I am ascending to _my_ Father and _my_ God." (John 20:17) Did you notice that in the above two verses [John 17:3; 20:17] that the word "God" is applied to the Father? Now, tell me, can you give me *ONE VERSE* where the word "God" is applied, not just to the Father, but also, to the Son and the holy spirit? You know you can't. So, if Jesus is the "God" that Mary carried for nine months, wouldn't that make him a different "God" than the one that is made up three Gods? Wouldn't that make Jesus one God who was also a part of another God--a three-god God? Now can you see how Catholics' view of God is so distorted? "The rose has smell, beauty and color, yet it is one rose." Applying the trinity formula to the rose, we would say, the smell of the rose is the rose, the beauty of the rose is the rose, and the color of the rose is the rose. But, they are not three roses, but one rose. Does that make sense to you? Let me put things a different way. John is a doctor. Bill is a doctor. Larry is a doctor. Now, tell me, how many doctors are there? One doctor or three doctors? Anyway, Mary was not a perpetual virgin. She and Joseph were instructed not to have sexual relations until after Jesus was born. As Matt. 1:25 says: "But he did not have sexual relations with her *_until_* her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus." The Catholic Church teaches many unscriptural teachings. The Church preaches "sola scriptura" so it can make up any teachings that it wants which are not based on Scripture. Too bad the Church ignores its own rules. As A Catholic Dictionary says: "The Catholic is fully justified in believing with perfect confidence that the Church *-**_cannot_* teach any doctrine contrary to the Scripture." The teaching of the perpetual virginity of Mary goes contrary to Scripture.