Catholic Bible 101

Eve, an immaculately created Virgin, said yes to the spirit Lucifer, and allowed sin to enter the world;  Mary, an immaculately created Virgin, said yes to the spirit Gabriel, and allowed salvation to enter the world.

Eve came out of Adam; Jesus came out of Mary.

Adam called Eve "Woman"; Jesus called Mary "Woman."

Eve induced Adam to commit the first sin.  Mary induced Jesus to produce his first miracle.

Eve gave mankind forbidden fruit for his damnation;  Mary gave mankind the Eucharist for our salvation. 

PRAYER OF POPE LEO XIII

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.  May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do you, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by divine power, thrust into hell satan, and all of the other evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.  AMEN 

St Francis and the devil

St. Francis of Assisi and all his religious were gathered on an open plain, where they had built little huts of rushes. Seeing the extraordinary penances which were being practiced, St. Francis ordered that all instruments of penance should be brought out, whereupon his religious produced them in bundles. At this moment there was one young man to whom God gave the grace to see his Guardian Angel. On the one side he saw all of these good religious, who could not satisfy their hunger for penance, and, on the other, his Guardian Angel allowed him to see a gathering of eighteen thousand devils, who were holding counsel to see in what way they could subvert these religious by  temptation. One of the devils said: "You do not understand this at all. These religious are so humble; ah, what wonderful virtue, so detached from themselves, so attached to God! They have a superior who leads them so well that it is impossible to succeed in winning them over. Let us wait until their superior is dead, and then we shall try to introduce among them young people without vocations who will bring about a certain slackening of spirit, and in this way we shall gain them."

A little further on, as he entered the town, he saw a devil, sitting by himself beside the gate into the town, whose task was to tempt all of those who were inside. This saint asked his Guardian Angel why it was that in order to tempt this group of religious there had been so many thousands of devils while for a whole town there was but one -- and that one sitting down. His good angel told him that the people of the town had not the same need of temptations, that they had enough bad in themselves, while the religious were doing good despite all the traps which the Devil could lay for them.

The Prayer of St. Gertrude for the Poor Souls in Purgatory

Catholic Church History

St Thomas Aquinas on Fasting

"One day I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music, and all sorts of pleasures.  People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves.  They reached the end without realizing it.  And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell.  And their number was so great, it was impossible to count them.  And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them.  Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on.  At the end of the road, there was a magnificent garden, filled with all sorts of happiness, and these souls entered there. At the very first instance, they forgot their sufferings."

Who knows? Perhaps if God had given us greater talent, better health, a more personable appearance, we might have lost our souls! Great talent and knowledge have caused many to be puffed up with the idea of their own importance and, in their pride, they have despised others. How easily those who have these gifts fall into grave danger to their salvation! How many on account of physical beauty or robust health have plunged headlong into a life of debauchery! How many, on the contrary, who, by reason of poverty, infirmity or physical deformity, have become saints and have saved their souls, who, given health, wealth or physical attractiveness had else lost their souls! Let us then be content with what God has given us. "But one thing is necessary," and it is not beauty, not health, not talent. It is the salvation of our immortal souls. 

Daniel 7:18:  But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever and ever.

John 17:20-23: "I do  not  pray for  these  only, but also for those who believe in me through their  word,  that they may all  be one;   even  as thou,  Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory  which  thou  hast  given  me I have given to them, that they  may  be  one  even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they  may  become  perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me.

2 Peter 1:3: "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,  by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature."

Luke 20:35-36: but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,  for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3: Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, matters pertaining to this life!

1 Corinthians 6:17: But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Ephesians 2:19-20:  Now, therefore, you are no longer visitors and new arrivals. Instead, you are citizens among the saints in the household of God, having been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and of the Prophets, with Jesus Christ himself as the preeminent cornerstone.

Matthew 12:33: "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit

Luke 1:42: and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Luke 6:43:"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;

The Blessed Virgin Mary!  The New Testament Ark of the Covenant, The Woman of Genesis 3:15 & Revelation 12, The new Eve, The Queen Mother, Our Mother, who  is the most blessed woman of all time.  As Gabriel said, "HAIL FULL OF GRACE!  As Elizabeth said, "Blessed art thou among women." As Mary said, "My Soul magnifies the Lord", and "All ages to come shall call me blessed!"

Romans 6:14:  For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Luke 1:28:  And he came to her and said, "Hail, Full of Grace, the Lord is with you!"

No Mary, no Jesus.   Know Mary, know Jesus!

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Here's how John Pacheco at Catholic Legate explains it.

..
Empty Cup: Soul before baptism, lack of sanctifying grace
Water: Sanctifying Grace
Act of pouring water into cup: Infusion of sanctifying grace through the act of baptizing
Commission of Venial Sin: Water in cup becomes dirty
Commission of Mortal Sin: Water is poured out of cup
Act of True Repentance via Sacrament of Reconciliation: Pure Water is poured back into cup
Purgatory: Water is poured through filter and cleansed
Purpose in life: Let Jesus' water be in the cup: no water in cup; no salvation.

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