Oblate Formation 
Posts concerning Oblate and Novice formation. These include articles which are also applicable to most Christians, whether Oblate or not. Additional articles on instruction of various parts of the Rule can be found under that category.
About discernment
No matter what it is — healings, apparitions, weeping statues, locutions, stigmata, even deliverance — mystical manifestations are subject to discernment and — usually — dispute. It’s why some shy away from them. But when we do, we risk losing out on manifest Grace. (We occasionally had these discussions with Mother Angelica, who believed strongly… Read More ›
Nine Traits of a Toxic Friendship
It was inevitable. I would walk away from a conversation happy and bubbly, but then the moment would hit. Panic. Disappointment. Self-loathing. “Why did you say that? What must they think of you! You always say such stupid things. They will probably tell everyone they know what an idiot you are!” These horrible thoughts would flood my heart as… Read More ›
The Disturbing Fact of the Resurrection
“If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, all bishops, priests and Christian ministers should go home and get honest jobs …” The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is the be-all and end-all of the Christian faith. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, all bishops, priests and Christian ministers should go home and get… Read More ›
4 Ways Holy Week Can Be the Perfect Antidote to This Election Year
If you’re feeling like there are too many shadows, Holy Week brings the Light It is Holy Week at last, and boy do we need it. Holy Week does one thing better than any other event each year: It describes what hope looks like in the most desperate of times. It is the perfect antidote… Read More ›
Politics Today: Looking for Messiahs in All the Wrong Places
Elections sometimes boil over with passionate fervor that contains a religious component, but it is false religion Aleteia, March 18, 2016: Watching the bizarre personality cults being built around our political candidates, I’m wondering, “Has our country gone crazy?” Gone are the days of dull-but-decent candidates laying out feasible, unglamorous policy positions. If we doubted… Read More ›
Struggle with the eight main passions: Avarice
“… a person of double heart cannot wage war for the Lord, for ‘a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.“(XV.2) Our third conflict is with avarice, which we can call the love of money. It attacks are from without and is not natural, and it does not have its source in the monk… Read More ›
Struggle with the eight main passions: Fornication
The second struggle that confronts us is that with the spirit of carnal lust — the most prolonged and perpetual one, and very few win in this battle. The passion of fornication in a person arises at a very early stage of puberty and does not stop until he conquers his other passions. Inasmuch as… Read More ›
Sinful Curiosity is at the Root of Many Sins
Curiosity is one of those qualities of the human person that are double-edged swords. It can cut a path to glory or it can be like a dagger of sin that cuts deep into the soul. As to its glory, it is one of the chief ingredients in the capacity of the human person to, as… Read More ›
5 Ways the Devil Attacks During Lent
Feeling more temptation than usual? ‘Tis the season, and here’s how to recognize and respond to it: The Lord said to satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on him.” – Job 1:12 I don’t know about you but ever since I returned to the… Read More ›
A Description of Purgatory
In 1873 a holy nun identified only as Sister M. de L.C. in a French convent began to hear prolonged sighs beside her. The strange noises from an invisible presence went on and came nearer. In February of 1874, after much prayer and many Communions, the presence finally identified itself to Sister M as the… Read More ›