Poland marks the Assumption with a secular Madonna

Tribulation Times

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/august.asp?version=63&startmmdd=0101

August 19, 2009    

(Luk 18:7-8) And will not God revenge his elect who cry to him day and night? And will he have patience in their regard? I say to you that he will quickly revenge them. But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?

HEADLINE: Poland marks the Assumption with a secular Madonna

Madonna's Saturday night concert in Warsaw coincided with an important day for another Madonna - the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven. That was a source of dismay to some ultra-Catholic Poles but did not seem to perturb the tens of thousands of cheerful fans who attended the concert.

"I'm a practicing Catholic but I don't think there's anything wrong with going to the concert tonight," said a grinning young woman, clutching her white Madonna ticket as she pushed past a single protester decked out in signs condemning the event.

The failure of the protests to gain much support is another sign of the growing secularization of Polish society, which has come to light in the Catholic Church's recent head counts of the faithful.

The most recent, last November, found 40 per cent of adults in the pews - a percentage that would be beyond the dreams of many non-Polish churchmen. But in Poland the figure is seen as a grim warning because it marks a 4 percentage point decline from a year earlier and more than a 6 percentage point drop from 2003.

That does not mean Polish churches are emptying. The norm is still standing-room-only Masses in churches across the country, and the crosses and statues of saints dotting roadsides across Poland are still decorated with fluttering ribbons tended by the pious.

But there are signs that something may be shifting. Surveys show that while 95 per cent of Poles identify themselves as Catholics, only 70 per cent believe in heaven, and one of the lowest birth rates in Europe suggests the Church's teachings on sexual issues are taken with a pinch of salt.

Another disconcerting statistic for the Church is the decline in young men and women deciding to become priests, monks or nuns. In 2004 there were 2,178 in their first year of religious studies; last year there were only 1,382, a drop of almost 37 per cent.

"We are observing a steady decline, which you can see in vocations and in general religiousness," says Bishop Wojciech Polak.

Image by loswl via Flickr

FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA READER: The article below on Crisis of Vocations is quite interesting. But when one is living in a very secular society and people do not know what it truly means to "live in the world but not of it," and as such, they are as worldly as everyone else, you will have hardly any vocations.
 
I have recently been reading a book (not that long, only about 141 pages) on Blessed Euphemia of Serbia; The Life of an Apostolic Eldress." She was an Orthodox Eldress who died in 1958 (so not so long ago). The book is utterly fascinating and has many very good commentaries and good sense. I happened to read this from the book:
"By her radiant life, Mother attracted  to her community a large number of those seeking salvation."
"....in the center of Serbia, where there were still...children who were raised for the monastery."
When you think about the above information, well, this should truly tell us all something. Children raised for monastic life? Think about that one.

From the back of the cover of the book, let me provide what it says:
"By their nature, women are called by God to reflect the spirit of other-worldliness in this temporal world. Although often hidden from common view, by virtue of their humility, holy and righteous women have spiritually illumined the path to the heavenly realm in all times. Among them shines the image of this modern day heroine, Blessed Euphemia of Ravanitsa, as it is presented in this biography lovingly written by her devoted spiritual daughters. Mother Euphemia had a wondrous charm and power of spirit. Her external appearance was a reflection of her prayerful disposition. Her outward activity was boundless. As a young lay ascetic she preached the Word of God from village to village; she guided her large sisterhood and hundreds of lay people through the physical and spiritual dangers of two World Wars and the communist yoke; she founded orphanages; educated the young; and translated patristic texts for the spiritual instruction of her people. Inwardly, Abbess Euphemia lived in the spirit of the ancient desert Fathers, in fasting, all-night vigils and sleeping only in a sitting position. For this, God granted her the gifts of clairvoyance and healing. A renewer of six monasteries, she re-established coenobitic monastic life in her country to such an extent that the monastic rule which she instituted was used in women's monasteries all over Serbia.

Who, in the US would be ever willing to be like her?  Yet, this is what is needed. And true Catholics should be totally honored to have their children become priests and sisters/nuns. Yet...are they? One cannot be deeply in the world and also of it, and think that vocations will abound. It isn't possible. Naturally, a good starting place would be in the Catholic schools, yet from what I have heard from many different people, what is being taught in the religious instruction is not very good. I've heard that alot.  Yet, the best place to begin a serious spiritual life must begin within a home.  Every home (like in many villages in Central Europe even today) should have a prayer corner where the family gets together and prays daily. But, if there is no time for God because Johnny has to go here and there, and Mary has to go thither and yon, well then, there is no time for God because 'everyone is too busy'  and a child has no time for the silence needed to 'listen to what God wants of him or her"  (God's will, not one's own foolish thinking). As such, how are vocations going to ever begin, let alone grow, when there is constant noise, interruptions, constant going and moving, computers and TV (which is just about worthless), and goodness only knows what.

What is needed is to go back to the beginning and start all over again. Go back to customs and old traditions. Go back to those wonderful evening Masses with their novenas, rosaries, and children's processions.  Go back to family gatherings, and not all the so called 'busy' stuff which as St. Paul states, means nothing. Without the above, vocations will not increase.

AKITA PRAYER: "Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, truly present in Holy Eucharist, I consecrate my body and soul to be entirely one with Your Heart, being sacrificed at every instant on all the altars of the world and giving praise to the Father pleading for the coming of His Kingdom."

"Please receive this humble offering of myself. Use me as You will for the glory of the Father and the salvation of souls."

"Most holy Mother of God, never let me be separated from Your Divine Son. Please defend and protect me as Your Special Child. Amen."

Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 22- "On the many forms of vainglory"

6. A vainglorious person is a believing idolater; he apparently honours God, but he wants to please not God but men.   

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Posted via email from deaconjohn's posterous