The Aghori (Sanskrit aghora)[2] are ascetic Shaiva sadhus. The Aghori are known to engage in post-mortem rituals. They often dwell in charnel grounds, have been witnessed smearing cremation ashes on their bodies, and have been known to use bones from human corpses for crafting kapalas (which Shiva and other Hindu deities are often iconically depicted holding or using) and jewelry. Because of their practices that are contradictory to orthodox Hinduism, they are generally opposed by other Hindus.[3][4]

 

Many Aghori gurus command great reverence from rural populations as they are supposed to possess healing powers gained through their intensely eremitic rites and practices of renunciation and tápasya. They are also known to meditate and perform worship in haunted houses.

  

Aghoris are devotees of Shiva manifested as Bhairava,[5] are monists who seek moksha from the cycle of reincarnation or saṃsāra. This freedom is a realization of the self's identity with the absolute. Because of this monistic doctrine, the Aghoris maintain that all opposites are ultimately illusory. The purpose of embracing pollution and degradation through various customs is the realization of non-duality (advaita) through transcending social taboos, attaining what is essentially an altered state of consciousness and perceiving the illusory nature of all conventional categories.

 

Aghoris are not to be confused with Shivnetras, who are also ardent devotees of Shiva but do not indulge in extreme, tamasic ritual practices. Although the Aghoris enjoy close ties with the Shivnetras, the two groups are quite distinct, Shivnetras engaging in sattvic worship.

 

Aghoris base their beliefs on two principles common to broader Shaiva beliefs: that Shiva is perfect (having omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence) and that Shiva is responsible for everything that occurs – all conditions, causes and effects. Consequently, everything that exists must be perfect and to deny the perfection of anything would be to deny the sacredness of all life in its full manifestation, as well as to deny the Supreme Being.

 

Aghoris believe that every person's soul is Shiva but is covered by aṣṭamahāpāśa "eight great nooses or bonds" - sensual pleasure, anger, greed, obsession, fear and hatred. The practices of the Aghoris are centered around the removal of these bonds. Sādhanā in cremation grounds destroys fear; sexual practices with certain riders and controls help release one from sexual desire; being naked destroys shame. On release from all the eight bonds the soul becomes sadāśiva and obtains moksha.[citation needed]

 

History[edit]

 

Aghori in Satopant.

 

An Aghori man in Badrinath smoking hashish or Cannabis from a chillum in 2011.

Although akin to the Kapalika ascetics of medieval Kashmir, as well as the Kalamukhas, with whom there may be a historical connection, the Aghoris trace their origin to Kina Ram, an ascetic who is said to have lived 150 years, dying during the second half of the 18th century.[6] Dattatreya the avadhuta, to whom has been attributed the esteemed nondual medieval song, the Avadhuta Gita, was a founding adi guru of the Aghor tradition according to Barrett (2008: p. 33):

 

Lord Dattatreya, an antinomian form of Shiva closely associated with the cremation ground, who appeared to Baba Keenaram atop Girnar Mountain in Gujarat. Considered to be the adi guru (ancient spiritual teacher) and founding deity of Aghor, Lord Dattatreya offered his own flesh to the young ascetic as prasād (a kind of blessing), conferring upon him the power of clairvoyance and establishing a guru-disciple relationship between them.[7]

 

Aghoris also hold sacred the Hindu deity Dattatreya as a predecessor to the Aghori Tantric tradition. Dattatreya was believed to be an incarnation of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva united in the same singular physical body. Dattatreya is revered in all schools of Tantra, which is the philosophy followed by the Aghora tradition, and he is often depicted in Hindu artwork and its holy scriptures of folk narratives, the Puranas, indulging in Aghori "left-hand" Tantric worship as his prime practice.

 

An aghori believes in getting into total darkness by all means, and then getting into light or self realizing. Though this is a different approach from other Hindu sects, they believe it to be effective. They are infamously known for their rituals that include such as shava samskara or shava sadhana (ritual worship incorporating the use of a corpse as the altar) to invoke the mother goddess in her form as Smashan Tara (Tara of the Cremation Grounds).

 

In Hindu iconography, Tara, like Kali, is one of the ten Mahavidyas (wisdom goddesses) and once invoked can bless the Aghori with supernatural powers. The most popular of the ten Mahavidyas who are worshiped by Aghoris are Dhumavati, Bagalamukhi, and Bhairavi. The male Hindu deities primarily worshiped by Aghoris for supernatural powers are manifestations of Shiva, including Mahākāla, Bhairava, Virabhadra, Avadhuti, and others.

 

Barrett (2008: p. 161) discusses the "charnel ground sādhanā" of the Aghora in both its left and right-handed proclivities and identifies it as principally cutting through attachments and aversion and foregrounding primordiality; a view uncultured, undomesticated:

 

The gurus and disciples of Aghor believe their state to be primordial and universal. They believe that all human beings are natural-born Aghori. Hari Baba has said on several occasions that human babies of all societies are without discrimination, that they will play as much in their own filth as with the toys around them. Children become progressively discriminating as they grow older and learn the culturally specific attachments and aversions of their parents. Children become increasingly aware of their mortality as they bump their heads and fall to the ground. They come to fear their mortality and then palliate this fear by finding ways to deny it altogether.[8]

 

In this sense, the Aghora sādhanā is a process of unlearning deeply internalized cultural models. When this sādhanā takes the form of charnel ground sādhanā, the Aghori faces death as a very young child, simultaneously meditating on the totality of life at its two extremes. This ideal example serves as a prototype for other Aghor practices, both left and right, in ritual and in daily life."[9]

 

Adherents[edit]

Though Aghoris are prevalent in cremation grounds across India, Nepal, and even sparsely across cremation grounds in South East Asia, the secrecy of this religious sect leaves no desire for practitioners to aspire for social recognition and notoriety. [1]

 

Spiritual headquarters[edit]

Hinglaj Mata is the Kuladevata (patron goddess) of the Aghori. The main Aghori pilgrimage centre is Kina Ram's hermitage or ashram in Ravindrapuri, Varanasi.[10] The full name of this place is Baba Keenaram Sthal, Krim-Kund. Here, Kina Ram is buried in a tomb or samadhi which is a centre of pilgrimage for Aghoris and Aghori devotees. Present head (Abbot), since 1978, of Baba Keenaram Sthal is Baba Siddharth Gautam Ram.

 

According to Devotees, Baba Siddharth Gautam Ram is reincarnation of Baba Keenaram himself. Apart from this, any cremation ground would be a holy place for an Aghori ascetic. The cremation grounds near the yoni pithas, 51 holy centers for worship of the Hindu Mother Goddess scattered across South Asia and the Himalayan terrain, are key locations preferred for performing sadhana by the Aghoris. They are also known to meditate and perform sadhana in haunted houses.

 

Medicine[edit]

Aghori practise healing through purification as a pillar of their ritual. Their patients believe the Aghoris are able to transfer pollution and health to and from patients as a form of "transformative healing", due to the believed superior state of body and mind of the Aghori.[11][verification needed]

 

In popular culture[edit]

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc6aTZKGY5A&feature=youtu.be

January 17

 

Today i was woken at eight to get up for church. So i hopped in the shower, then left for church so my dad and i could practice w/ the worship team. Drumming went really well this morning, i love "Beautiful One" i started rocking out! lol. The sermon was really good today, it was about God's Omnipotence, I love Pastor Bob's sermons! I went home w/ Tegan, sean, and anna today. It was fun, sean wouldnt leave me alone, but thats normal :D haha

This picture is Tegan's "holey socks" haha

I like it alot, it turned out good. Tegan told me to make it my picture of the day, so i am :D good thing it turned out well. :D Well, here i am, sitting at home, i was listening to the phantom of the opera soundtrack all night. :D fun stuff.

The Quran (English pronunciation: /kɔrˈɑːn/ kor-AHN , Arabic: القرآن‎ al-qur'ān, IPA: [qurˈʔaːn], literally meaning "the recitation", also romanised Qur'an or Koran) is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah). Its scriptural status among a world-spanning religious community, and its major place within world literature generally, has led to a great deal of secondary literature on the Quran. Quranic chapters are called suras and verses are called ayahs.

 

Muslims believe that the Quran was verbally revealed by God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel (Jibril), gradually over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE, when Muhammad was 40, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. Muslims regard the Quran as the most important miracle of Muhammad, a proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam and ended with Muhammad. They consider the Quran to be the only revealed book that has been protected by God from distortion or corruption.

 

According to the traditional narrative, several companions of Muhammad served as scribes and were responsible for writing down the revelations. Shortly after Muhammad's death, the Quran was compiled by his companions who wrote down and memorized parts of it. These codices had differences that motivated the Caliph Uthman to establish a standard version now known as Uthman's codex, which is generally considered the archetype of the Quran we have today. However, the existence of variant readings, with mostly minor and some significant variations, and the early unvocalized Arabic script mean the relationship between Uthman's codex to both the text of today's Quran and to the revelations of Muhammad's time is still unclear.

 

The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in the Jewish and Christian scriptures. It summarizes some, dwells at length on others and, in some cases, presents alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance. It sometimes offers detailed accounts of specific historical events, and it often emphasizes the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence. The Quran is used along with the hadith to interpret sharia law. During prayers, the Quran is recited only in Arabic.

 

Someone who has memorized the entire Quran is called a hafiz. Some Muslims read Quranic ayahs (verses) with elocution, which is often called tajwīd. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims typically complete the recitation of the whole Quran during tarawih prayers. In order to extrapolate the meaning of a particular Quranic verse, most Muslims rely on the tafsir.

 

ETYMOLOGY & MEANING

The word qurʼān appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the Arabic verb qaraʼa (قرأ), meaning "he read" or "he recited". The Syriac equivalent is (ܩܪܝܢܐ) qeryānā, which refers to "scripture reading" or "lesson". While some Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is qaraʼa itself. Regardless, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the "act of reciting", as reflected in an early Quranic passage: "It is for Us to collect it and to recite it (qurʼānahu)."

 

In other verses, the word refers to "an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]". Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example: "So when al-qurʼān is recited, listen to it and keep silent." The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel.

 

The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of qurʼān in certain contexts. Such terms include kitāb (book); āyah (sign); and sūrah (scripture). The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a definite article (al-), the word is referred to as the "revelation" (waḥy), that which has been "sent down" (tanzīl) at intervals. Other related words are: dhikr (remembrance), used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning, and ḥikmah (wisdom), sometimes referring to the revelation or part of it.

 

The Quran describes itself as "the discernment or the criterion between truth and falsehood" (al-furqān), "the mother book" (umm al-kitāb), "the guide" (huda), "the wisdom" (hikmah), "the remembrance" (dhikr) and "the revelation" (tanzīl; something sent down, signifying the descent of an object from a higher place to lower place). Another term is al-kitāb (the book), though it is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The adjective of "Quran" has multiple transliterations including "quranic," "koranic" and "qur'anic," or capitalised as "Qur'anic," "Koranic" and "Quranic." The term muṣḥaf ('written work') is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books. Other transliterations of "Quran" include "al-Coran", "Coran", "Kuran" and "al-Qurʼan".

 

HISTORY

PROPHETIC ERA

Islamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in the Cave of Hira during one of his isolated retreats to the mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of 23 years. According to hadith and Muslim history, after Muhammad emigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered many of his companions to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. It is related that some of the Quraish who were taken prisoners at the battle of Badr regained their freedom after they had taught some of the Muslims the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of Muslims gradually became literate. As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones, and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most suras were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632 CE. There is agreement among scholars that Muhammad himself did not write down the revelation.

 

Sahih al-Bukhari narrates Muhammad describing the revelations as, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell" and Aisha reported, "I saw the Prophet being inspired Divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)." Muhammad's first revelation, according to the Quran, was accompanied with a vision. The agent of revelation is mentioned as the "one mighty in power", the one who "grew clear to view when he was on the uppermost horizon. Then he drew nigh and came down till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer." The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the Encyclopaedia of Islam that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being a possessed man, a soothsayer or a magician since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in ancient Arabia. Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood. The Quran describes Muhammad as "ummi", which is traditionally interpreted as "illiterate," but the meaning is rather more complex. The medieval commentators such as Al-Tabari maintained that the term induced two meanings: first, the inability to read or write in general; second, the inexperience or ignorance of the previous books or scriptures (but they gave priority to the first meaning). Besides, Muhammad's illiteracy was taken as a sign of the genuineness of his prophethood. For example, according to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, if Muhammad had mastered writing and reading he possibly would have been suspected of having studied the books of the ancestors. Some scholars such as Watt prefer the second meaning.

 

COMPILATION

Based on earlier transmitted reports, in the year 632 CE, after Muhammad died and a number of his companions who knew the Quran by heart were killed in a battle by Musaylimah, the first caliph Abu Bakr (d. 634CE) decided to collect the book in one volume so that it could be preserved. Zayd ibn Thabit (d. 655CE) was the person to collect the Quran since "he used to write the Divine Inspiration for Allah's Apostle". Thus, a group of scribes, most importantly Zayd, collected the verses and produced a hand-written manuscript of the complete book. The manuscript according to Zayd remained with Abu Bakr until he died. Zayd's reaction to the task and the difficulties in collecting the Quranic material from parchments, palm-leaf stalks, thin stones and from men who knew it by heart is recorded in earlier narratives. After Abu Bakr, Hafsa bint Umar, Muhammad's widow, was entrusted with the manuscript. In about 650 CE, the third Caliph Uthman ibn Affan (d. 656CE) began noticing slight differences in pronunciation of the Quran as Islam expanded beyond the Arabian peninsula into Persia, the Levant, and North Africa. In order to preserve the sanctity of the text, he ordered a committee headed by Zayd to use Abu Bakr's copy and prepare a standard copy of the Quran. Thus, within 20 years of Muhammad's death, the Quran was committed to written form. That text became the model from which copies were made and promulgated throughout the urban centers of the Muslim world, and other versions are believed to have been destroyed. The present form of the Quran text is accepted by Muslim scholars to be the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.

 

According to Shia and some Sunni scholars, Ali ibn Abi Talib (d. 661CE) compiled a complete version of the Quran shortly after Muhammad's death. The order of this text differed from that gathered later during Uthman's era in that this version had been collected in chronological order. Despite this, he made no objection against the standardized Quran and accepted the Quran in circulation. Other personal copies of the Quran might have existed including Ibn Mas'ud's and Ubayy ibn Kab's codex, none of which exist today.

 

The Quran most likely existed in scattered written form during Muhammad's lifetime. Several sources indicate that during Muhammad's lifetime a large number of his companions had memorized the revelations. Early commentaries and Islamic historical sources support the above-mentioned understanding of the Quran's early development. The Quran in its present form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad because the search for variants has not yielded any differences of great significance. Although most variant readings of the text of the Quran have ceased to be transmitted, some still are. There has been no critical text produced on which a scholarly reconstruction of the Quranic text could be based. Historically, controversy over the Quran's content has rarely become an issue, although debates continue on the subject.

 

In 1972, in a mosque in the city of Sana'a, Yemen, manuscripts were discovered that were later proved to be the most ancient Quranic text known to exist. The Sana'a manuscripts contain palimpsests, a manuscript page from which the text has been washed off to make the parchment reusable again - a practice which was common in ancient times due to scarcity of writing material. However, the faint washed-off underlying text (scriptio inferior) is still barely visible and believed to be "pre-Uthmanic" Quranic content, while the text written on top (scriptio superior) is believed to belong to Uthmanic time. Studies using radiocarbon dating indicate that the parchments are dated to the period before 671 AD with a 99 percent probability.

 

SIGNIFICANCE IN ISLAM

WORSHIP

Muslims believe the Quran to be the book of divine guidance revealed from God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of 23 years and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity. They also believe that the Quran has solutions to all the problems of humanity irrespective of how complex they may be and in what age they occur.

 

Revelation in Islamic and Quranic concept means the act of God addressing an individual, conveying a message for a greater number of recipients. The process by which the divine message comes to the heart of a messenger of God is tanzil (to send down) or nuzūl (to come down). As the Quran says, "With the truth we (God) have sent it down and with the truth it has come down."

 

The Quran frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained. Some verses in the Quran seem to imply that even those who do not speak Arabic would understand the Quran if it were recited to them. The Quran refers to a written pre-text, "the preserved tablet", that records God's speech even before it was sent down.

 

The issue of whether the Quran is eternal or created became a theological debate (Quran's createdness) in the ninth century. Mu'tazilas, an Islamic school of theology based on reason and rational thought, held that the Quran was created while the most widespread varieties of Muslim theologians considered the Quran to be co-eternal with God and therefore uncreated. Sufi philosophers view the question as artificial or wrongly framed.

 

Muslims believe that the present wording of the Quran corresponds to that revealed to Muhammad, and according to their interpretation of Quran 15:9, it is protected from corruption ("Indeed, it is We who sent down the Quran and indeed, We will be its guardian."). Muslims consider the Quran to be a guide, a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. They argue it is not possible for a human to produce a book like the Quran, as the Quran itself maintains.

 

Muslims commemorate annually the beginning of Quran's revelation on the Night of Destiny (Laylat al-Qadr), during the last 10 days of Ramadan, the month during which they fast from sunrise until sunset.

 

The first sura of the Quran is repeated in daily prayers and in other occasions. This sura, which consists of seven verses, is the most often recited sura of the Quran:

 

"All praise belongs to God, Lord of the Universe, the Beneficent, the Merciful and Master of the Day of Judgment, You alone We do worship and from You alone we do seek assistance, guide us to the right path, the path of those to whom You have granted blessings, those who are neither subject to Your anger nor have gone astray."

 

Respect for the written text of the Quran is an important element of religious faith by many Muslims, and the Quran is treated with reverence. Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of Quran 56:79 ("none shall touch but those who are clean"), some Muslims believe that they must perform a ritual cleansing with water before touching a copy of the Quran, although this view is not universal. Worn-out copies of the Quran are wrapped in a cloth and stored indefinitely in a safe place, buried in a mosque or a Muslim cemetery, or burned and the ashes buried or scattered over water.

 

In Islam, most intellectual disciplines, including Islamic theology, philosophy, mysticism and Jurisprudence, have been concerned with the Quran or have their foundation in its teachings. Muslims believe that the preaching or reading of the Quran is rewarded with divine rewards variously called ajr, thawab or hasanat.

 

IN ISLAMIC ART

The Quran also inspired Islamic arts and specifically the so-called Quranic arts of calligraphy and illumination.[1] The Quran is never decorated with figurative images, but many Qurans have been highly decorated with decorative patterns in the margins of the page, or between the lines or at the start of suras. Islamic verses appear in many other media, on buildings and on objects of all sizes, such as mosque lamps, metal work, pottery and single pages of calligraphy for muraqqas or albums.

 

INIMITABILITY

Inimitability of the Quran (or "I'jaz") is the belief that no human speech can match the Quran in its content and form. The Quran is considered an inimitable miracle by Muslims, effective until the Day of Resurrection - and, thereby, the central proof granted to Muhammad in authentication of his prophetic status. The concept of inimitability originates in the Quran where in five different verses opponents are challenged to produce something like the Quran: "If men and sprites banded together to produce the like of this Quran they would never produce its like not though they backed one another."[61] So the suggestion is that if there are doubts concerning the divine authorship of the Quran, come forward and create something like it. From the ninth century, numerous works appeared which studied the Quran and examined its style and content. Medieval Muslim scholars including al-Jurjani (d. 1078CE) and al-Baqillani (d. 1013CE) have written treatises on the subject, discussed its various aspects, and used linguistic approaches to study the Quran. Others argue that the Quran contains noble ideas, has inner meanings, maintained its freshness through the ages and has caused great transformations in individual level and in the history. Some scholars state that the Quran contains scientific information that agrees with modern science. The doctrine of miraculousness of the Quran is further emphasized by Muhammad's illiteracy since the unlettered prophet could not have been suspected of composing the Quran.

 

TEXT & ARRANGEMENT

The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a sura. Suras are classified as Meccan or Medinan, depending on whether the verses were revealed before or after the migration of Muhammad to the city of Medina. However, a sura classified as Medinan may contain Meccan verses in it and vice versa. Sura titles are derived from a name or quality discussed in the text, or from the first letters or words of the surah. Suras are arranged roughly in order of decreasing size. The sura arrangement is thus not connected to the sequence of revelation. Each sura except the ninth starts with the Bismillah (بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم) an Arabic phrase meaning 'In the name of God.' There are, however, still 114 occurrences of the Bismillah in the Quran, due to its presence in Quran 27:30 as the opening of Solomon's letter to the Queen of Sheba.

 

Each sura consists of several verses, known as ayat, which originally means a 'sign' or 'evidence' sent by God. The number of verses differs from sura to sura. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The total number of verses in the Quran is 6236, however, the number varies if the bismillahs are counted separately.

 

In addition to and independent of the division into suras, there are various ways of dividing the Quran into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading. The 30 juz' (plural ajzāʼ) can be used to read through the entire Quran in a month. Some of these parts are known by names - which are the first few words by which the juzʼ starts. A juz' is sometimes further divided into two ḥizb (plural aḥzāb), and each hizb subdivided into four rubʻ al-ahzab. The Quran is also divided into seven approximately equal parts, manzil (plural manāzil), for it to be recited in a week.

 

Muqatta'at, or the Quranic initials, are 14 different letter combinations of 14 Arabic letters that appear in the beginning of 29 suras of the Quran. The meanings of these initials remain unclear.

 

According to one estimate the Quran consists of 77,430 words, 18,994 unique words, 12,183 stems, 3,382 lemmas and 1,685 roots.

 

CONTENTS

The Quranic content is concerned with the basic beliefs of Islam which include the existence of God and the resurrection. Narratives of the early prophets, ethical and legal subjects, historical events of Muhammad's time, charity and prayer also appear in the Quran. The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and the historical events are related to outline general moral lessons. Verses pertaining to natural phenomena have been interpreted by Muslims as an indication of the authenticity of the Quranic message.

 

MONOTHEISM

The central theme of the Quran is monotheism. God is depicted as living, eternal, omniscient and omnipotent (see, e.g., Quran 2:20, 2:29, 2:255). God's omnipotence appears above all in his power to create. He is the creator of everything, of the heavens and the earth and what is between them (see, e.g., Quran 13:16, 50:38, etc.). All human beings are equal in their utter dependence upon God, and their well-being depends upon their acknowledging that fact and living accordingly.

 

The Quran uses cosmological and contingency arguments in various verses without referring to the terms to prove the existence of God. Therefore, the universe is originated and needs an originator, and whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. Besides, the design of the universe, is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation: "It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in God's creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?"

 

ESCHATOLOGY

The doctrine of the last day and eschatology (the final fate of the universe) may be reckoned as the second great doctrine of the Quran. It is estimated that around a full one-third of the Quran is eschatological, dealing with the afterlife in the next world and with the day of judgment at the end of time. There is a reference of the afterlife on most pages of the Quran and the belief in the afterlife is often referred to in conjunction with belief in God as in the common expression: "Believe in God and the last day". A number of suras such as 44, 56, 75, 78, 81 and 101 are directly related to the afterlife and its preparations. Some of the suras indicate the closeness of the event and warn people to be prepared for the imminent day. For instance, the first verses of Sura 22, which deal with the mighty earthquake and the situations of people on that day, represent this style of divine address: "O People! Be respectful to your Lord. The earthquake of the Hour is a mighty thing."

 

The Quran is often vivid in its depiction of what will happen at the end time. Watt describes the Quranic view of End Time:

 

"The climax of history, when the present world comes to an end, is referred to in various ways. It is 'the Day of Judgment,' 'the Last Day,' 'the Day of Resurrection,' or simply 'the Hour.' Less frequently it is 'the Day of Distinction' (when the good are separated from the evil), 'the Day of the Gathering' (of men to the presence of God) or 'the Day of the Meeting' (of men with God). The Hour comes suddenly. It is heralded by a shout, by a thunderclap, or by the blast of a trumpet. A cosmic upheaval then takes place. The mountains dissolve into dust, the seas boil up, the sun is darkened, the stars fall and the sky is rolled up. God appears as Judge, but his presence is hinted at rather than described. [...] The central interest, of course, is in the gathering of all mankind before the Judge. Human beings of all ages, restored to life, join the throng. To the scoffing objection of the unbelievers that former generations had been dead a long time and were now dust and mouldering bones, the reply is that God is nevertheless able to restore them to life."

 

The Quran does not assert a natural immortality of the human soul, since man's existence is dependent on the will of God: when he wills, he causes man to die; and when he wills, he raises him to life again in a bodily resurrection.[68]

 

PROPHETS

According to the Quran, God communicated with man and made his will known through signs and revelations. Prophets, or 'Messengers of God', received revelations and delivered them to humanity. The message has been identical and for all humankind. "Nothing is said to you that was not said to the messengers before you, that your lord has at his Command forgiveness as well as a most Grievous Penalty." The revelation does not come directly from God to the prophets. Angels acting as God's messengers deliver the divine revelation to them. This comes out in Quran 42:51, in which it is stated: "It is not for any mortal that God should speak to them, except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger to reveal by his permission whatsoever He will."

 

ETHICO-RELIGIOUS CONCEPTS

Belief is the center of the sphere of positive moral properties in the Quran. A number of scholars have tried to determine the semantic contents of the words meaning 'belief' and 'believer' in the Quran [70] The Ethico-legal concepts and exhortations dealing with righteous conduct are linked to a profound awareness of God, thereby emphasizing the importance of faith, accountability and the belief in each human's ultimate encounter with God. People are invited to perform acts of charity, especially for the needy. Believers who "spend of their wealth by night and by day, in secret and in public" are promised that they "shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" It also affirms family life by legislating on matters of marriage, divorce and inheritance. A number of practices such as usury and gambling are prohibited. The Quran is one of the fundamental sources of the Islamic law, or sharia. Some formal religious practices receive significant attention in the Quran including the formal prayers and fasting in the month of Ramadan. As for the manner in which the prayer is to be conducted, the Quran refers to prostration. The term used for charity, Zakat, actually means purification. Charity, according to the Quran, is a means of self-purification.

 

LITERARY STYLE

The Quran's message is conveyed with various literary structures and devices. In the original Arabic, the suras and verses employ phonetic and thematic structures that assist the audience's efforts to recall the message of the text. Muslims[who?] assert (according to the Quran itself) that the Quranic content and style is inimitable.

 

The language of the Quran has been described as "rhymed prose" as it partakes of both poetry and prose, however, this description runs the risk of compromising the rhythmic quality of Quranic language, which is certainly more poetic in some parts and more prose-like in others. Rhyme, while found throughout the Quran, is conspicuous in many of the earlier Meccan suras, in which relatively short verses throw the rhyming words into prominence. The effectiveness of such a form is evident for instance in Sura 81, and there can be no doubt that these passages impressed the conscience of the hearers. Frequently a change of rhyme from one set of verses to another signals a change in the subject of discussion. Later sections also preserve this form but the style is more expository.

 

The Quranic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net. The textual arrangement is sometimes considered to have lack of continuity, absence of any chronological or thematic order and presence of repetition. Michael Sells, citing the work of the critic Norman O. Brown, acknowledges Brown's observation that the seeming disorganization of Quranic literary expression – its scattered or fragmented mode of composition in Sells's phrase – is in fact a literary device capable of delivering profound effects as if the intensity of the prophetic message were shattering the vehicle of human language in which it was being communicated. Sells also addresses the much-discussed repetitiveness of the Quran, seeing this, too, as a literary device.

 

A text is self-referential when it speaks about itself and makes reference to itself. According to Stefan Wild the Quran demonstrates this meta-textuality by explaining, classifying, interpreting and justifying the words to be transmitted. Self-referentiality is evident in those passages when the Quran refers to itself as revelation (tanzil), remembrance (dhikr), news (naba'), criterion (furqan) in a self-designating manner (explicitly asserting its Divinity, "And this is a blessed Remembrance that We have sent down; so are you now denying it?"), or in the frequent appearance of the 'Say' tags, when Muhammad is commanded to speak (e.g. "Say: 'God's guidance is the true guidance' ", "Say: 'Would you then dispute with us concerning God?' "). According to Wild the Quran is highly self-referential. The feature is more evident in early Meccan suras.

 

INTERPRETATION

The Quran has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication (tafsīr), aimed at explaining the "meanings of the Quranic verses, clarifying their import and finding out their significance".

 

Tafsir is one of the earliest academic activities of Muslims. According to the Quran, Muhammad was the first person who described the meanings of verses for early Muslims. Other early exegetes included a few Companions of Muhammad, like ʻAli ibn Abi Talib, ʻAbdullah ibn Abbas, ʻAbdullah ibn Umar and Ubayy ibn Kaʻb. Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation and, occasionally, interpretation of one verse with the help of the other. If the verse was about a historical event, then sometimes a few traditions (hadith) of Muhammad were narrated to make its meaning clear.

 

Because the Quran is spoken in classical Arabic, many of the later converts to Islam (mostly non-Arabs) did not always understand the Quranic Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Muslims fluent in Arabic and they were concerned with reconciling apparent conflict of themes in the Quran. Commentators erudite in Arabic explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, explained which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or "abrogating" (nāsikh) the earlier text (mansūkh). Other scholars, however, maintain that no abrogation has taken place in the Quran. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has published a 10-volume Urdu commentary on the Quran, with the name Tafseer e Kabir.

 

ESOTERIC INTERPRETATION

Esoteric or Sufi interpretation attempts to unveil the inner meanings of the Quran. Sufism moves beyond the apparent (zahir) point of the verses and instead relates Quranic verses to the inner or esoteric (batin) and metaphysical dimensions of consciousness and existence. According to Sands, esoteric interpretations are more suggestive than declarative, they are 'allusions' (isharat) rather than explanations (tafsir). They indicate possibilities as much as they demonstrate the insights of each writer.

 

Sufi interpretation, according to Annabel Keeler, also exemplifies the use of the theme of love, as for instance can seen in Qushayri's interpretation of the Quran. Quran 7:143 says:

 

"when Moses came at the time we appointed, and his Lord spoke to him, he said, 'My Lord, show yourself to me! Let me see you!' He said, 'you shall not see me but look at that mountain, if it remains standing firm you will see me.' When his Lord revealed Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble. Moses fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, 'Glory be to you! I repent to you! I am the first to believe!'"

 

Moses, in 7:143, comes the way of those who are in love, he asks for a vision but his desire is denied, he is made to suffer by being commanded to look at other than the Beloved while the mountain is able to see God. The mountain crumbles and Moses faints at the sight of God's manifestation upon the mountain. In Qushayri's words, Moses came like thousands of men who traveled great distances, and there was nothing left to Moses of Moses. In that state of annihilation from himself, Moses was granted the unveiling of the realities. From the Sufi point of view, God is the always the beloved and the wayfarer's longing and suffering lead to realization of the truths.[90]

 

Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei says that according to the popular explanation among the later exegetes, ta'wil indicates the particular meaning a verse is directed towards. The meaning of revelation (tanzil), as opposed to ta'wil, is clear in its accordance to the obvious meaning of the words as they were revealed. But this explanation has become so widespread that, at present, it has become the primary meaning of ta'wil, which originally meant "to return" or "the returning place". In Tabatabaei's view, what has been rightly called ta'wil, or hermeneutic interpretation of the Quran, is not concerned simply with the denotation of words. Rather, it is concerned with certain truths and realities that transcend the comprehension of the common run of men; yet it is from these truths and realities that the principles of doctrine and the practical injunctions of the Quran issue forth. Interpretation is not the meaning of the verse - rather it transpires through that meaning, in a special sort of transpiration. There is a spiritual reality - which is the main objective of ordaining a law, or the basic aim in describing a divine attribute - and then there is an actual significance that a Quranic story refers to.

 

According to Shia beliefs, those who are firmly rooted in knowledge like Muhammad and the imams know the secrets of the Quran. According to Tabatabaei, the statement "none knows its interpretation except God" remains valid, without any opposing or qualifying clause. Therefore, so far as this verse is concerned, the knowledge of the Quran's interpretation is reserved for God. But Tabatabaei uses other verses and concludes that those who are purified by God know the interpretation of the Quran to a certain extent.

 

According to Tabatabaei, there are acceptable and unacceptable esoteric interpretations. Acceptable ta'wil refers to the meaning of a verse beyond its literal meaning; rather the implicit meaning, which ultimately is known only to God and can't be comprehended directly through human thought alone. The verses in question here refer to the human qualities of coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger and sorrow, which are apparently attributed to God. Unacceptable ta'wil is where one "transfers" the apparent meaning of a verse to a different meaning by means of a proof; this method is not without obvious inconsistencies. Although this unacceptable ta'wil has gained considerable acceptance, it is incorrect and cannot be applied to the Quranic verses. The correct interpretation is that reality a verse refers to. It is found in all verses, the decisive and the ambiguous alike; it is not a sort of a meaning of the word; it is a fact that is too sublime for words. God has dressed them with words to bring them a bit nearer to our minds; in this respect they are like proverbs that are used to create a picture in the mind, and thus help the hearer to clearly grasp the intended idea.

 

HISTORY OF SUFI COMMENTARIES

One of the notable authors of esoteric interpretation prior to the 12th century is Sulami (d. 1021 CE) without whose work the majority of very early Sufi commentaries would not have been preserved. Sulami's major commentary is a book named haqaiq al-tafsir ("Truths of Exegesis") which is a compilation of commentaries of earlier Sufis. From the 11th century onwards several other works appear, including commentaries by Qushayri (d. 1074), Daylami (d. 1193), Shirazi (d. 1209) and Suhrawardi (d. 1234). These works include material from Sulami's books plus the author's contributions. Many works are written in Persian such as the works of Maybudi (d. 1135) kash al-asrar ("the unveiling of the secrets"). Rumi (d. 1273) wrote a vast amount of mystical poetry in his book Mathnawi. Rumi makes heavy use of the Quran in his poetry, a feature that is sometimes omitted in translations of Rumi's work. A large number of Quranic passages can be found in Mathnawi, which some consider a kind of Sufi interpretation of the Quran. Rumi's book is not exceptional for containing citations from and elaboration on the Quran, however, Rumi does mention Quran more frequently. Simnani (d. 1336) wrote two influential works of esoteric exegesis on the Quran. He reconciled notions of God's manifestation through and in the physical world with the sentiments of Sunni Islam. Comprehensive Sufi commentaries appears in the 18th century such as the work of Ismail Hakki Bursevi (d. 1725). His work ruh al-Bayan (the Spirit of Elucidation) is a voluminous exegesis. Written in Arabic, it combines the author's own ideas with those of his predecessors (notably Ibn Arabi and Ghazali), all woven together in Hafiz, a Persian poetry form.

 

LEVELS OF MEANING

Unlike the Salafis and Zahiri, Shias and Sufis as well as some other Muslim philosophers believe the meaning of the Quran is not restricted to the literal aspect. For them, it is an essential idea that the Quran also has inward aspects. Henry Corbin narrates a hadith that goes back to Muhammad:

 

"The Quran possesses an external appearance and a hidden depth, an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This esoteric meaning in turn conceals an esoteric meaning (this depth possesses a depth, after the image of the celestial Spheres, which are enclosed within each other). So it goes on for seven esoteric meanings (seven depths of hidden depth)."

 

According to this view, it has also become evident that the inner meaning of the Quran does not eradicate or invalidate its outward meaning. Rather, it is like the soul, which gives life to the body. Corbin considers the Quran to play a part in Islamic philosophy, because gnosiology itself goes hand in hand with prophetology.

 

Commentaries dealing with the zahir (outward aspects) of the text are called tafsir, and hermeneutic and esoteric commentaries dealing with the batin are called ta'wil ("interpretation" or "explanation"), which involves taking the text back to its beginning. Commentators with an esoteric slant believe that the ultimate meaning of the Quran is known only to God. In contrast, Quranic literalism, followed by Salafis and Zahiris, is the belief that the Quran should only be taken at its apparent meaning.

 

TRANSLATIONS

Translation of the Quran has always been a problematic and difficult issue. Many argue that the Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form. Furthermore, an Arabic word may have a range of meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more difficult.

 

Nevertheless, the Quran has been translated into most African, Asian and European languages. The first translator of the Quran was Salman the Persian, who translated surat al-Fatiha into Persian during the seventh century. Another translation of the Quran was completed in 884 CE in Alwar (Sindh, India now Pakistan) by the orders of Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk.

 

The first fully attested complete translations of the Quran were done between the 10th and 12th centuries in Persian language. The Samanid king, Mansur I (961-976), ordered a group of scholars from Khorasan to translate the Tafsir al-Tabari, originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11th century, one of the students of Abu Mansur Abdullah al-Ansari wrote a complete tafsir of the Quran in Persian. In the 12th century, Najm al-Din Abu Hafs al-Nasafi translated the Quran into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been published several times.

 

Islamic tradition also holds that translations were made for Emperor Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, as both received letters by Muhammad containing verses from the Quran. In early centuries, the permissibility of translations was not an issue, but whether one could use translations in prayer.

 

In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known. In 2010, the Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review reported that the Quran was presented in 112 languages at the 18th International Quran Exhibition in Tehran.

   

"Yes, dear brothers and sisters, where the Spirit of God enters, he chases out fear; he makes us know and feel that we are in the hands of an Omnipotence of love: whatever happens, his infinite love will not abandon us. The witness of the martyrs, the courage of the confessors, the intrepid élan of missionaries, the frankness of preachers, the example of all the saints — some who were even adolescents and children — demonstrate this. It is also demonstrated by the very existence of the Church, which, despite the limits and faults of men, continues to sail across the ocean of history, driven by the breath of God and animated by his purifying fire. With this faith and this joyous hope we repeat today, through Mary’s intercession: “Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth!”"

– Pope Benedict XVI.

 

Stained glass in Covington Cathedral.

ODC3: Personality....I like to joke!!

6WS

 

Mirror found in an antique store that I couldn't resist transforming into a little selfie!

 

Dear friends: should I go back and buy it? It definitely could be a somewhat scary must to any guest room, right?? ;-))

HISTORY OF THE DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, OUR LADY OF LIGHT (PATRONESS OF LOON, BOHOL)

 

The image of the Kasilak was reported to have been originally enthroned in a church in Butuan, Agusan del Norte on September 8, 1597. When the Moro bandits attacked the coastal villages of Mindanao, concerned Butuanons sailed north towards Bohol bringing with them the wooden statue of Our Lady. Unfortunately, the Moros were also wreaking havoc on some communities on the island. The group was determined to sail towards Cebu but the Marian devotees opted to sail towards the western rim of the island, dropping anchor in Sandingan, a tranquil island near mainland Loon.

 

Upon knowing that a well-established community existed in Napo, the group led by Rev. Fr. Pedro Lopez, S.J. brought the image to the latter where it was warmly received and enthroned. This happened in 1610. For several years, the Birhen sa Kasilak was venerated by the Loonanon faithful in this old poblacion of Loon.

 

In 1753, Fray Manuel de Elizalde of the Jesuit Mission became the first parish priest of the Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Luz (Our Lady of Light). In 1768, the Jesuits ceded administration of the parish to the Recollects. Years later, the image of the Kasilak was permanently enthroned in the present church of Loon which was completed around 1855.

 

The first miracle attributed to the Kasilak happened in the 18th century when a band of Moros sailed towards Napo to loot its houses of valuables. Our Lady allegedly appeared atop the steps of Inang-angan in her most radiant glory. The blinding lights radiating from her forced the intruders to sail away. Since then, countless untold miracles have been experienced by the Loonanon faithful.

 

Today, SidlaKasilak, Loon’s Festival of Lights, brings back the memory of those days when Our Lady was brought to Loon almost 400 years ago. A few days before September 8, the feast day of the town’s patroness, Loonanons stage the festival to commemorate the arrival of the image of Our Lady from Butuan.

 

The “Birhen sa Kasilak” exhorts all of us to seek the True Light, Jesus Christ, especially in these times when selfishness, corruption, indifference and deceit seem to eclipse the real essence of life and living. She also encourages everyone to pass on this Light to all families and communities so that all will live united in a much better world.

 

NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY (TITULAR OF THE PARISH OF LOON, BOHOL)

 

The birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary announced joy and the near approach of salvation to the lost world; therefore is this festival celebrated by the church with praise and thanksgiving. It was a mystery of sanctity, and distinguished by singular privileges. Mary was brought forth into the world, not like other children of Adam, infected with the loathsome contagion of sin, but pure, holy, beautiful, and glorious, adorned with all the most precious graces which became her who was chosen to be the Mother of God. She appeared indeed in the weak state of our mortality; but in the eyes of heaven she already transcended the highest seraph in purity, brightness, and the richest ornaments of grace. I am black, but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. The spouse says to her much more emphatically than to other souls sanctified by his choicest graces: As the lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters. Thou art all fair, and there is not a spot in thee. Man was no sooner fallen in paradise through the woman seduced by the infernal spirit, but God promised another woman whose seed should crush that serpent’s head. I will put enmities, said he to the serpent, between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. This curse is evidently to be understood of the devil who seduced Eve, and with implacable malice sought the destruction of her posterity. It is not the real serpent that is here meant; the sense would be too low; and why should the serpent, which was not in fault, be so treated, and the true offender, the devil, who had either taken the figure of the crafty serpent, or concealed himself in that reptile, escape all punishment? The Hebrew original expresses the latter part of this prophecy as follows: It (i.e. her seed) shall crush thy head. In the birth of the Virgin Mary was the accomplishment of this solemn prediction begun.

 

To understand the great present that in her God bestowed on the world, we must consider her transcendent dignity and the singular by which she was distinguished above all other pure creatures. Her dignity is expressed by the evangelist when he says, That of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. From this text alone is that article of the Catholic faith sufficiently evinced, that she is truly Mother of God. It is clear this is not to be understood as if she could be in any sense mother of the Divinity, the very thought whereof would imply contradiction and blasphemy, but by reason that she conceived and brought forth that Blessed Man who subsisting by the second divine person of the adorable Trinity is consequently the natural, not the adoptive Son of God, which was the Semi-Nestorian error broached by Felix and Elipandus. In the Incarnation the human nature of Christ was assumed by, and hypostatically, that is intimately and substantially, united to the person of God the Son, so that the actions done by this nature, are the actions of that Divine Person, whose assumed or appropriated nature this is. Hence we truly say with St. Paul, that we are redeemed by the blood of a God, and with the church, that God was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered and died on the cross; all which he did in that human nature which he had wonderfully taken upon him.

 

Nestorius, a man ignorant in ecclesiastical learning, but vain, opinionated, and presumptumtous a degree of extravagance, introduced a new heresy, teaching that there are in Christ two persons no less than two natures, the divine and human united, not intrinsically, but only morally, by the divinity dwelling in the humanity of Christ as in its temple. Thus the heresiarch destroyed the incarnation held two Christs, the one God, and the other man, and denied the Blessed Virgin to be the Mother of God, saying she was mother of the man Christ, whom he distinguished from the Christ who is God. The constant faith of the Catholic church teaches, on the contrary, that in Christ the divine and human nature subsist both by the same divine person, that Christ is both truly God and truly man, and that the Virgin Mary is the Mother of God by having brought forth him who is God, though he derived from her only his assumed nature of man. The errors of Nestorius were condemned in the general council of Ephesus in 431, and from the ancient tradition of the church, the title of the Mother of God was confirmed to the Virgin Mary. Socrates and St. Cyril of Alexandria prove that this epithet * was given her by the church from primitive tradition; and it occurs in the writings of the fathers who flourished before that time, as in the letter of St. Dionysius of Alexandria to Paul of Samosata, in the Alexandria, manuscript of the Bible, which, according to Grabe, was writ before the year 390, &c. So notorious and ordinary was this appellation, that, as St. Cyril of Alexandria testifies, Julian the Apostate reproached the Christians that they never ceased calling Mary Mother of God; and so clearly was Nestorius convicted in this point, as to be obliged to confess this title, though he never departed from his heretical tenets.

 

The dignity of Mother of God is the highest to which any mere creature is capable of being raised. What closer alliance could any pure creature have with the Creator of all things? What name could be more noble what prerogative more singular, or more wonderful, He who was born of the Father from all eternity, the only-begotten and consubstantial Son, Maker and Lord of all things, is born in time, and receives a being in his nature of man from Mary. “Listen and attend, O man,” cries out St. Anselm, “and be transported in an ecstasy of astonishment, contemplating this prodigy. The infinite God had one only begotten co-eternal Son; yet he would not suffer him to remain only his own, but would also have him to be made the only Son of Mary.” And St. Bernard says; “Choose which you will most admire, the most beneficent condescension of the Son, or the sublime dignity of the Mother. On each side it is a subject of wonder and astonishment; that a God should obey a woman is a humility beyond example, and that a woman commands a God, is a preeminence without a rival.” The first, which is the humiliation of him who is infinite, in itself can bear no comparison with the other, but the astonishing exaltation of Mary transcends what we could have imagined any creature capable of. No creature can be raised to what is infinite: yet the object or term of this dignity of Mary is infinite, and the dignity has a nearer and closer relation to that object than could have been imagined possible by creatures, had not omnipotence made it real. * To this transcendent dignity all graces and privileges, how great and singular soever, seem in some measure due. We admire her sanctity, her privileged virginity, all the graces with which she was adorned, and the crown with which she is exalted in glory above the cherubim; but our astonishment ceases when we reflect that she is the Mother of God. In this is every thing great and good, that can suit a mere human creature, naturally comprised.

 

To take a review of some other singular privileges of this glorious creature, we must further consider that she is both a mother and a spotless virgin. This is the wonderful prerogative of Mary alone; a privilege and honor reserved to her, which shall not be given to any other, says St. Bernard. The ancient prophets spoke of it as the distinguishing mark of the Mother of the Messiah and the world’s Redeemer, and frequently call the Christ Jehovah or the true God, as Dr. Waterland demonstrates by many passages. This was the miraculous token of the assured deliverance of mankind by the long expected Savior, which God himself was to give to the incredulous king Achaz, doubt and anxious about his present deliverance from his temporal enemies. The Lord himself shall give you a sign, said Isaias: Behold, a Virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. This must evidently be understood of the Messiah, to whom alone many qualities and epithets in this and the following chapter can agree, though a son of the prophet mentioned afterward was also a present type of the king’s temporal deliverance. The title of Virgin must here mean one who remained such when a mother; for this circumstance is mentioned as a stupendous miracle. Jeremy also, contemplating this mystery in spirit, expressed his astonishment at this prodigy unheard of on earth, that a woman should encompass in her womb a man, the great Redeemer of the world.

 

The perpetual virginity of the Mother of God has been denied by several heretics. Ebion and Cerinthus had the insolence to advance that she had other children before Jesus; but this impious error is condemned by all who receive the holy gospel, by which it is manifest that Jesus is the first-born. In the fourth age Helvidius, and soon after him Jovinian, pretended she had other children after Christ. Jovinian, and among modern Protestants, Beza, Albertin, and Basnage, will not allow her the title of Virgin in the birth of Christ. Against these errors the Catholic church has always inviolably maintained that she was a virgin before, in, and after his birth; whence she is styled ever Virgin. This article is defended in all its points by St. Jerome, St. Epiphanius, and other fathers. St. Jerome shows that the expression of the evangelist, that Joseph knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born, no ways intimates that he knew her afterward, as no one will infer that because God says: I am till you grow old, he should then cease to be, &c. The same father proves that first-born in the sacred writings means the first son, whether any other children followed or not and that those who were called the brothers of our Lord according to the Hebrew phrase, were only cousins-german, sons of another Mary, called of Alphaeus, and of Cleophas, sister to the Blessed Virgin. He confirms the belief of her perpetual virginity from the testimony of St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp, St. Irenaeus, St. Justin, &c. St. Epiphanius further observes that no one ever named Mary without adding the title of virgin; and that, had she had other children, Jesus would not have recommended her on the cross to St. John, &c. The fathers apply to her many emblems and types of the old law and the prophets expressive of this prerogative, calling her the Eastern Gate of the Sanctuary shown to Ezechiel, through which only our Lord passed, the bush which Moses saw burning without being consumed, Gideon’s fleece continuing dry whilst the earth all around it was wet, &c. Her virginity was not only a miraculous privilege, but also a voluntary virtue, she having, by an early vow, consecrated her chastity to God, as the fathers infer from her answer to the angel. Such a privileged mother became the Son of God. The earth, defiled by the abominations of impurity, was loaded with the curses of God, who said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh. But God choosing Mary to take himself flesh of, prepared her for that dignity by her spotless virginity, and on account of that virtue said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. It is by imitating her perfect purity according to our state, that we shall recommend ourselves to our heavenly spouse, who is the lover of chaste souls, and is called by St. Gregory Nazianzen, the virgin by excellence, and the first of virgins. In the example and patronage of Mary we have a powerful succor against the opposite most abominable and destroying vice. We can only be victorious in its most dangerous conflicts by arming ourselves with her sincere humility, perfect distrust in ourselves, constant spirit of prayer, and flight of the shadow of danger, and with the mortification of our own will, and of our senses and flesh.

 

The Virgin Mary was the most perfect model of all other virtues. St. Ambrose, in the beginning of his second book, On Virginity, exhorts virgins in particular to make her life the rule of their conduct: “Let the life and virginity of Mary,” says he “be set before you as in a looking-glass, in which is seen the pattern of chastity and virtue. The first spur to imitation is the nobility of the master. What more noble than the Mother of God! - she was a virgin in body and mind, whose candor was incapable of deceit or disguise; humble in heart; gray in words; wise in her resolutions. She spoke seldom and little; read assiduously, and placed her confidence, not in inconstant riches, but in the prayers of the poor. Being always employed with fervor, she would have no other witness of her heart but God alone, to whom she referred herself, and all things she did or possessed. She injured no one, was beneficent to all, honored her superiors, envied not equals, shunned vain-glory followed reason, ardently loved virtue. Her looks were sweet, her discourse mild, her behavior modest. Her actions had nothing unbecoming, her gait nothing of levity, her voice nothing of overbearing assurance. Her exterior was all so well regulated, that in her body was seen a picture of her mind, and an accomplished model of all virtues. Her charities knew no bounds; temperate in her diet she prolonged her fasts several days, and the most ordinary meats were her choice, not to please the taste, but to support nature. The moments which we pass in sleep, were to her a time for the sweetest exercises of devotion. It was not her custom to go out of doors, except to the temple, and this always in the company of her relations, &c. The humble and perfect virtue of Mary raised in St. Joseph the highest opinion of her sanctity as appeared when he saw her with child. “This is a testimony of the sanctity of Mary,” says St. Jerome, “that Joseph knowing her chastity, and admiring what had happened, suppresses in silence a mystery which he did not understand.” Another ancient writer improves the same remark, crying out: “O inestimable commendation of Mary! Joseph rather believed her virtue than her womb, and grace rather than nature. He thought it more possible that Mary should have conceived by miracle without a man than that she should have sinned.” Yet this sanctity of Mary, which was a subject of admiration to the highest heavenly spirits, consisted chiefly in ordinary actions, and in the purity of heart and the fervor with which she performed them. All her glory is from within! From her we learn that our spiritual perfection as to be sought in our own state and depends very much upon the manner in which we perform our ordinary actions. True virtue loves to do all things in silence and with as little show and noise as may be; it studies to avoid whatever would mend it to the eyes of men, desiring to have no other witness but him who is its rewarder and whose glory alone it seeks. A virtue which wants a trumpet to proclaim it, or, which affects only public, singular, or extraordinary actions, is to be suspected of subtle pride, vanity, and self-love.

 

To study these lessons in the life of Mary, to praise God for the graces which he has conferred upon her, and the blessings which through her he has bestowed on the world, and to recommend our necessities to so powerful an advocate, we celebrate festivals in her honor. This of her Nativity has been kept in the church with great solemnity above a thousand years. The Roman Order mentions the homilies and litany which were appointed by pope Sergius in 688 to be read upon it; and a procession is ordered to be, made on this day from St. Adrian’s church to the Liberian basilic or St. Mary Major. * In the Sacramentary of St. Gregory the Great, published by Dom Menard, particular collects or prayers are prescribed for the mass, procession, and matins on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with a special preface for the mass. A mass with particular collects for this festival occurs in the old Roman Sacramentary or Missal, published by cardinal Thomasius, which is judged by the learned to be the same that war used by pope Leo the Great, and some of his predecessors. This feast is mentioned by St. Ildefonsus, in the seventh century. The Greeks (as appears from the edict of the emperor Emmanuel Comnenus), the Copths in Egypt, and the other Christian churches in the East, keep with great solemnity the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. St. Peter Damian pathetically exhorts all the faithful to celebrate it with great devotion.

 

We celebrate the anniversaries of the birthdays of earthly princes, who, on those occasions, dispense freely their favors and liberalities. How ought we to rejoice in that of the Virgin Mary, presenting to God the best homage of our praises and thanksgiving for the great mercies he has shown in her, and imploring her mediation with her Son in our behalf! We shall doubtless experience the particular effects of her compassion and goodness on a day observed by the whole church with so great devotion in her honor. Christ will not reject the supplications of his Mother, whom he was pleased to obey whilst on earth. Her love, care, and tenderness for him, and the sorrows which she felt for his sake in the state of his mortality, those breasts which gave him suck, those hands which served him, must move him to hear her; the titles and qualities which she bears the charity and graces with which she is adorned, and the crown of glory with which she is honored, must incline him readily to receive her recommendations and petitions.

 

Reprinted from the website of the Diocese of Tagbilaran

Trajan wears the civic crown of oak leaves, which is embellished over the middle of the forehead with a separately attached medallion (missing). Long bands fall from the crown to the shoulders. The sword belt indicated on the bust is no mere imperial attribute for Trajan: he rose from being a successful general to being ruler, and under him the Roman empire reached its “furthest borders”.

The “aegis” (a goatskin clock with a seam of snakes and the head of Medusa) over the left shoulder was earlier befitting only of gods. The message is clear: the Roman emperor rules the world with the mandate and omnipotence of the gods.

Source: C.H. Beck’ book “Glyptothek, Munich”

 

Marble portrait

About 138-161 AD

Munich , Munich, Glyptothek

   

Almighty God, You Are So Glorious

The last Christ, Almighty God, You are the Redeemer come again.

 

You speak to the people, using the truth to judge and purify them.

 

Your words bear authority and power, purifying people’s corrupt disposition.

 

Your words reveal omnipotence, and even more God’s righteousness.

 

God’s word judges the old world, judges nations, judges peoples.

 

God’s words achieve all; God has already thoroughly defeated Satan.

 

Praise God, praise God. Oh Almighty God, You are so glorious!

 

Your miraculous deeds! All nations and all peoples jump for joy.

  

God’s work is wise and almighty, using the great red dragon to serve.

 

Satan rushes frantic to persecute; tribulations make a group of overcomers.

 

All the people are completed by God, utterly forsaking the great red dragon.

 

The kingdom of Satan has been thoroughly destroyed; the kingdom of God has appeared on earth!

 

We prostrate ourselves in worship, praising God’s assumption of power on earth.

 

Truth and righteousness is revealed to the world; all nations and all peoples raise their voices in praise.

 

Praise God, praise God. Oh Almighty God, You are so glorious!

 

Your miraculous wisdom! All nations and all peoples jump for joy.

  

God’s great work is completed, God is returning to Zion.

 

Humanity has received great salvation from God, escaped the dark influences of Satan.

 

Each line of God’s words bears fruit. The outcomes for different people have been revealed.

 

Those with the truth are blessed by God, those who hate God shall meet with punishment.

 

Great disasters will destroy the world; God’s people will be left.

 

All nations and all peoples will come before God’s throne, and all the people will praise God with all their hearts.

 

Praise God, praise God. Oh Almighty God, You are so glorious!

 

All things in heaven and earth jump for joy, praising the glory of Almighty God!

 

from Follow the Lamb and Sing New Songs

Terms of Use

Blenheim Palace (pronounced /ˈblɛnɪm/ BLEN-im) is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. It is the principal residence of the Dukes of Marlborough, and the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between 1705 and circa 1722. Blenheim Palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

 

The building of the palace was originally intended to be a reward to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, from a grateful nation for the duke's military triumphs against the French and Bavarians during the War of the Spanish Succession, culminating in the 1704 Battle of Blenheim. However, soon after its construction began, the palace became the subject of political infighting; this led to Marlborough's exile, the fall from power of his duchess, and lasting damage to the reputation of the architect Sir John Vanbrugh.

 

Designed in the rare, and short-lived, English Baroque style, architectural appreciation of the palace is as divided today as it was in the 1720s.[3] It is unique in its combined use as a family home, mausoleum and national monument. The palace is also notable as the birthplace and ancestral home of Sir Winston Churchill.

 

Following the palace's completion, it became the home of the Churchill, later Spencer-Churchill, family for the next 300 years, and various members of the family have wrought changes to the interiors, park and gardens. At the end of the 19th century, the palace was saved from ruin by funds gained from the 9th Duke of Marlborough's marriage to American railroad heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt. The exterior of the palace remains in good repair. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenheim_Palace

Final image for my current project at University.

I'm looking at how people perceive God, even though he is not tangible. This images symbolizes Omnipotence, God's infinite power.

Well not my future, but the future of the cruise ship.

 

I think I have said before but just across from the hotel where I go to the gym is where a lot of the big liners dock. When I arrived at the gym on Friday, I saw a new one docked. I have to say, not being interested in cruises, I don't pay much attention to the boats but this one looked rather different and bigger than most (it's the third largest cruise liner in the world), so I nipped across the road to have a look.

 

It is the Quantum of the Seas and is the newest of the Royal Caribbean's liners and it's most futuristic. It has a jewel-shaped pod that lifts passengers over the ocean ( you can just see it to the left above the ship. It also has robots that serve cocktails. They say it is the world’s first smart ship, Quantum of the Seas is the most high-tech cruise ship in the world, boasting wristbands that serve as room keys, speedy wifi, virtual balconies in windowless rooms, the first dodgem ride on water, and a skydiving simulator. Well whoopity doop - virtual balconies in windowless rooms, why bother going anywhere at all?

 

It brought to mind a short story by E.M Forster written in 1909 - I wonder why?

 

"The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard 'cell', with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine. Travel is permitted but unpopular and rarely necessary. Communication is made via a kind of instant messaging/video conferencing machine called the speaking apparatus, with which people conduct their only activity, the sharing of ideas and what passes for knowledge. The two main characters, Vashti and her son Kuno, live on opposite sides of the world. Vashti is content with her life, which, like most inhabitants of the world, she spends producing and endlessly discussing secondhand 'ideas'. Kuno, however, is a sensualist and a rebel. He persuades a reluctant Vashti to endure the journey (and the resultant unwelcome personal interaction) to his cell. There, he tells her of his disenchantment with the sanitised, mechanical world. He confides to her that he has visited the surface of the Earth without permission and that he saw other humans living outside the world of the Machine. However, the Machine recaptured him, and he has been threatened with 'Homelessness', that is, expulsion from the underground environment and presumed death. Vashti, however, dismisses her son's concerns as dangerous madness and returns to her part of the world.

 

As time passes, and Vashti continues the routine of her daily life, there are two important developments. First, the life support apparatus required to visit the outer world is abolished. Most welcome this development, as they are skeptical and fearful of first-hand experience and of those who desire it. Secondly, a kind of religion is re-established, in which the Machine is the object of worship. People forget that humans created the Machine, and treat it as a mystical entity whose needs supersede their own. Those who do not accept the deity of the Machine are viewed as 'unmechanical' and threatened with Homelessness. The Mending Apparatus – the system charged with repairing defects that appear in the Machine proper – has also failed by this time, but concerns about this are dismissed in the context of the supposed omnipotence of the Machine itself.

 

During this time, Kuno is transferred to a cell near Vashti's. He comes to believe that the Machine is breaking down, and tells her cryptically, "The Machine stops." Vashti continues with her life, but eventually defects begin to appear in the Machine. At first, humans accept the deteriorations as the whim of the Machine, to which they are now wholly subservient. But the situation continues to deteriorate, as the knowledge of how to repair the Machine has been lost. Finally the Machine apocalyptically collapses, bringing 'civilisation' down with it. Kuno comes to Vashti's ruined cell, however, and before they perish they realise that Man and his connection to the natural world are what truly matter, and that it will fall to the surface-dwellers who still exist to rebuild the human race and to prevent the mistake of the Machine from being repeated."

 

Taken from Wikipedia

 

If you have time - here it

is. I read it when I was about 15 years old and I have always remember it as I found it very chililng

"Through me the way is to the city dolent;

Through me the way is to eternal dole;

Through me the way among the people lost.

 

Justice incited my sublime Creator;

Created me divine Omnipotence,

The highest Wisdom and the primal Love.

 

Before me there were no created things,

Only eterne, and I eternal last.

All hope abandon, ye who enter in!"

 

" La Divina Commedia - Inferno Canto III " Dante Alighieri

In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith.[3] The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), divine simplicity, and as having an eternal and necessary existence. Many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent (perfectly good), and all loving.

 

God is most often held to be non-corporeal,[3] and to be without any human biological sex,[4][5] yet the concept of God actively creating the universe (as opposed to passively)[6] has caused many religions to describe God using masculine terminology, using such terms as "Him" or "Father". Furthermore, some religions (such as Judaism) attribute only a purely grammatical "gender" to God.[7]

 

In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, but not the sustainer, of the universe. In pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism. God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God.[8]

 

There are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about God's identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten,[9] premised on being the one "true" Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe.[10] In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, "He Who Is", "I Am that I Am", and the tetragrammaton YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה‎‎, which means: "I am who I am"; "He Who Exists") are used as names of God, while Yahweh and Jehovah are sometimes used in Christianity as vocalizations of YHWH. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, the latter of which is believed by some scholars to descend from the Egyptian Aten.[11][12][13][14][15] In Islam, the name Allah, "Al-El", or "Al-Elah" ("the God") is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a monistic deity.[16] Other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Bahá'í Faith,[17] Waheguru in Sikhism,[18] and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.[19]

 

The many different conceptions of God, and competing claims as to God's characteristics, aims, and actions, have led to the development of ideas of omnitheism, pandeism,[20][21] or a perennial philosophy, which postulates that there is one underlying theological truth, of which all religions express a partial understanding, and as to which "the devout in the various great world religions are in fact worshipping that one God, but through different, overlapping concepts or mental images of Him."[22]

 

Contents [hide]

1Etymology and usage

2General conceptions

2.1Oneness

2.2Theism, deism and pantheism

2.3Other concepts

3Non-theistic views

3.1Agnosticism and atheism

3.2Anthropomorphism

4Existence

5Specific attributes

5.1Names

5.2Gender

5.3Relationship with creation

6Depiction

6.1Zoroastrianism

6.2Islam

6.3Judaism

6.4Christianity

7Theological approaches

8Distribution of belief

9See also

9.1In specific religions

10References

11Further reading

12External links

Etymology and usage

 

The Mesha Stele bears the earliest known reference (840 BCE) to the Israelite God Yahweh.

Main article: God (word)

The earliest written form of the Germanic word God (always, in this usage, capitalized[23]) comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to call" or "to invoke".[24] The Germanic words for God were originally neuter—applying to both genders—but during the process of the Christianization of the Germanic peoples from their indigenous Germanic paganism, the words became a masculine syntactic form.[25]

  

The word 'Allah' in Arabic calligraphy

In the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and "gods" in polytheism.[26][27] The English word God and its counterparts in other languages are normally used for any and all conceptions and, in spite of significant differences between religions, the term remains an English translation common to all. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, the tetragrammaton YHWH, in origin possibly the name of an Edomite or Midianite deity, Yahweh. In many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton.[28]

 

Allāh (Arabic: الله‎‎) is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning "The God" (with a capital G), while "ʾilāh" (Arabic: إله‎‎) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.[29][30][31] God may also be given a proper name in monotheistic currents of Hinduism which emphasize the personal nature of God, with early references to his name as Krishna-Vasudeva in Bhagavata or later Vishnu and Hari.[32]

 

Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian *Mazdāh (female). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning "placing (dʰeh1) one's mind (*mn̩-s)", hence "wise".[33]

 

Waheguru (Punjabi: vāhigurū) is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God. It means "Wonderful Teacher" in the Punjabi language. Vāhi (a Middle Persian borrowing) means "wonderful" and guru (Sanskrit: guru) is a term denoting "teacher". Waheguru is also described by some as an experience of ecstasy which is beyond all descriptions. The most common usage of the word "Waheguru" is in the greeting Sikhs use with each other:

 

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Wonderful Lord's Khalsa, Victory is to the Wonderful Lord.

Baha, the "greatest" name for God in the Baha'i faith, is Arabic for "All-Glorious".

 

General conceptions

Main article: Conceptions of God

There is no clear consensus on the nature or even the existence of God.[34] The Abrahamic conceptions of God include the monotheistic definition of God in Judaism, the trinitarian view of Christians, and the Islamic concept of God. The dharmic religions differ in their view of the divine: views of God in Hinduism vary by region, sect, and caste, ranging from monotheistic to polytheistic. Divinity was recognized by the historical Buddha, particularly Śakra and Brahma. However, other sentient beings, including gods, can at best only play a supportive role in one's personal path to salvation. Conceptions of God in the latter developments of the Mahayana tradition give a more prominent place to notions of the divine.[citation needed]

 

Oneness

Main articles: Monotheism and Henotheism

 

The Trinity is the belief that God is composed of The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically in the physical realm by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.

Monotheists hold that there is only one god, and may claim that the one true god is worshiped in different religions under different names. The view that all theists actually worship the same god, whether they know it or not, is especially emphasized in Hinduism[35] and Sikhism.[36] In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity describes God as one God in three persons. The Trinity comprises The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.[37] Islam's most fundamental concept is tawhid (meaning "oneness" or "uniqueness"). God is described in the Quran as: "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."[38][39] Muslims repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, and are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Henotheism is the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities.[41]

 

Theism, deism and pantheism

Main articles: Theism, Deism, and Pantheism

Theism generally holds that God exists realistically, objectively, and independently of human thought; that God created and sustains everything; that God is omnipotent and eternal; and that God is personal and interacting with the universe through, for example, religious experience and the prayers of humans.[42] Theism holds that God is both transcendent and immanent; thus, God is simultaneously infinite and in some way present in the affairs of the world.[43] Not all theists subscribe to all of these propositions, but each usually subscribes to some of them (see, by way of comparison, family resemblance).[42] Catholic theology holds that God is infinitely simple and is not involuntarily subject to time. Most theists hold that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists ascribe to God a self-conscious or purposeful limiting of omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence. Open Theism, by contrast, asserts that, due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not mean the deity can predict the future. Theism is sometimes used to refer in general to any belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or polytheism.[44][45]

  

"God blessing the seventh day", a watercolor painting depicting God, by William Blake (1757 – 1827)

Deism holds that God is wholly transcendent: God exists, but does not intervene in the world beyond what was necessary to create it.[43] In this view, God is not anthropomorphic, and neither answers prayers nor produces miracles. Common in Deism is a belief that God has no interest in humanity and may not even be aware of humanity. Pandeism and Panendeism, respectively, combine Deism with the Pantheistic or Panentheistic beliefs.[21][46][47] Pandeism is proposed to explain as to Deism why God would create a universe and then abandon it,[48] and as to Pantheism, the origin and purpose of the universe.[48][49]

 

Pantheism holds that God is the universe and the universe is God, whereas Panentheism holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe.[50] It is also the view of the Liberal Catholic Church; Theosophy; some views of Hinduism except Vaishnavism, which believes in panentheism; Sikhism; some divisions of Neopaganism and Taoism, along with many varying denominations and individuals within denominations. Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, paints a pantheistic/panentheistic view of God—which has wide acceptance in Hasidic Judaism, particularly from their founder The Baal Shem Tov—but only as an addition to the Jewish view of a personal god, not in the original pantheistic sense that denies or limits persona to God.[citation needed]

 

Other concepts

Dystheism, which is related to theodicy, is a form of theism which holds that God is either not wholly good or is fully malevolent as a consequence of the problem of evil. One such example comes from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, in which Ivan Karamazov rejects God on the grounds that he allows children to suffer.[51]

 

In modern times, some more abstract concepts have been developed, such as process theology and open theism. The contemporaneous French philosopher Michel Henry has however proposed a phenomenological approach and definition of God as phenomenological essence of Life.[52]

 

God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] These attributes were all supported to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologian philosophers, including Maimonides,[53] Augustine of Hippo,[53] and Al-Ghazali,[8] respectively.

 

Non-theistic views

See also: Evolutionary origin of religions and Evolutionary psychology of religion

Non-theist views about God also vary. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God, whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations. The nineteenth-century English atheist Charles Bradlaugh declared that he refused to say "There is no God", because "the word 'God' is to me a sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation";[54] he said more specifically that he disbelieved in the Christian god. Stephen Jay Gould proposed an approach dividing the world of philosophy into what he called "non-overlapping magisteria" (NOMA). In this view, questions of the supernatural, such as those relating to the existence and nature of God, are non-empirical and are the proper domain of theology. The methods of science should then be used to answer any empirical question about the natural world, and theology should be used to answer questions about ultimate meaning and moral value. In this view, the perceived lack of any empirical footprint from the magisterium of the supernatural onto natural events makes science the sole player in the natural world.[55]

 

Another view, advanced by Richard Dawkins, is that the existence of God is an empirical question, on the grounds that "a universe with a god would be a completely different kind of universe from one without, and it would be a scientific difference."[56] Carl Sagan argued that the doctrine of a Creator of the Universe was difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific discovery that could disprove the existence of a Creator (not necessarily a God) would be the discovery that the universe is infinitely old.[57]

 

Stephen Hawking and co-author Leonard Mlodinow state in their book, The Grand Design, that it is reasonable to ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. Both authors claim however, that it is possible to answer these questions purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine beings.[58] Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Agnosticism and atheism

Agnosticism is the view that, the truth values of certain claims – especially metaphysical and religious claims such as whether God, the divine or the supernatural exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable.[60][61][62]

 

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities, or a God.[63][64] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[65]

 

Anthropomorphism

Main article: Anthropomorphism

Pascal Boyer argues that while there is a wide array of supernatural concepts found around the world, in general, supernatural beings tend to behave much like people. The construction of gods and spirits like persons is one of the best known traits of religion. He cites examples from Greek mythology, which is, in his opinion, more like a modern soap opera than other religious systems.[66] Bertrand du Castel and Timothy Jurgensen demonstrate through formalization that Boyer's explanatory model matches physics' epistemology in positing not directly observable entities as intermediaries.[67] Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie contends that people project human features onto non-human aspects of the world because it makes those aspects more familiar. Sigmund Freud also suggested that god concepts are projections of one's father.[68]

 

Likewise, Émile Durkheim was one of the earliest to suggest that gods represent an extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. In line with this reasoning, psychologist Matt Rossano contends that when humans began living in larger groups, they may have created gods as a means of enforcing morality. In small groups, morality can be enforced by social forces such as gossip or reputation. However, it is much harder to enforce morality using social forces in much larger groups. Rossano indicates that by including ever-watchful gods and spirits, humans discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and building more cooperative groups.[69]

 

Existence

Main article: Existence of God

 

St. Thomas Aquinas summed up five main arguments as proofs for God's existence.

 

Isaac Newton saw the existence of a Creator necessary in the movement of astronomical objects.

Arguments about the existence of God typically include empirical, deductive, and inductive types. Different views include that: "God does not exist" (strong atheism); "God almost certainly does not exist" (de facto atheism); "no one knows whether God exists" (agnosticism[70]);"God exists, but this cannot be proven or disproven" (de facto theism); and that "God exists and this can be proven" (strong theism).[55]

 

Countless arguments have been proposed to prove the existence of God.[71] Some of the most notable arguments are the Five Ways of Aquinas, the Argument from Desire proposed by C.S. Lewis, and the Ontological Argument formulated both by St. Anselm and René Descartes.[72]

 

St. Anselm's approach was to define God as, "that than which nothing greater can be conceived". Famed pantheist philosopher Baruch Spinoza would later carry this idea to its extreme: "By God I understand a being absolutely infinite, i.e., a substance consisting of infinite attributes, of which each one expresses an eternal and infinite essence." For Spinoza, the whole of the natural universe is made of one substance, God, or its equivalent, Nature.[73] His proof for the existence of God was a variation of the Ontological argument.[74]

 

Scientist Isaac Newton saw God as the masterful creator whose existence could not be denied in the face of the grandeur of all creation.[75] Nevertheless, he rejected polymath Leibniz' thesis that God would necessarily make a perfect world which requires no intervention from the creator. In Query 31 of the Opticks, Newton simultaneously made an argument from design and for the necessity of intervention:

 

For while comets move in very eccentric orbs in all manner of positions, blind fate could never make all the planets move one and the same way in orbs concentric, some inconsiderable irregularities excepted which may have arisen from the mutual actions of comets and planets on one another, and which will be apt to increase, till this system wants a reformation.[76]

 

St. Thomas believed that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us. "Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists", of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature—namely, by effects."[77] St. Thomas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated. Briefly in the Summa theologiae and more extensively in the Summa contra Gentiles, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the quinque viae (Five Ways).

 

For the original text of the five proofs, see quinque viae

Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God.

Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God.

Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist.

Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative that is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God (Note: Thomas does not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself).

Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God (Note that even when we guide objects, in Thomas's view, the source of all our knowledge comes from God as well).[78]

 

Alister McGrath, a formerly atheistic scientist and theologian who has been highly critical of Richard Dawkins' version of atheism

Some theologians, such as the scientist and theologian A.E. McGrath, argue that the existence of God is not a question that can be answered using the scientific method.[79][80] Agnostic Stephen Jay Gould argues that science and religion are not in conflict and do not overlap.[81]

 

Some findings in the fields of cosmology, evolutionary biology and neuroscience are interpreted by some atheists (including Lawrence M. Krauss and Sam Harris) as evidence that God is an imaginary entity only, with no basis in reality.[82][83][84] These atheists claim that a single, omniscient God who is imagined to have created the universe and is particularly attentive to the lives of humans has been imagined, embellished and promulgated in a trans-generational manner.[85] Richard Dawkins interprets such findings not only as a lack of evidence for the material existence of such a God, but as extensive evidence to the contrary.[55] However, his views are opposed by some theologians and scientists including Alister McGrath, who argues that existence of God is compatible with science.[86]

 

Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Specific attributes

Different religious traditions assign differing (though often similar) attributes and characteristics to God, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example, attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of God in Islam, and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain similarities arising from their common roots.

 

Names

Main article: Names of God

 

99 names of Allah, in Chinese Sini (script)

The word God is "one of the most complex and difficult in the English language." In the Judeo-Christian tradition, "the Bible has been the principal source of the conceptions of God". That the Bible "includes many different images, concepts, and ways of thinking about" God has resulted in perpetual "disagreements about how God is to be conceived and understood".[87]

 

Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bibles there are many names for God. One of them is Elohim. Another one is El Shaddai, meaning "God Almighty".[88] A third notable name is El Elyon, which means "The Most High God".[89]

 

God is described and referred in the Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" and Al-Rahim, meaning "Most Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam).[90]

  

Supreme soul

The Brahma Kumaris use the term "Supreme Soul" to refer to God. They see God as incorporeal and eternal, and regard him as a point of living light like human souls, but without a physical body, as he does not enter the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. God is seen as the perfect and constant embodiment of all virtues, powers and values and that He is the unconditionally loving Father of all souls, irrespective of their religion, gender, or culture.[91]

 

Vaishnavism, a tradition in Hinduism, has list of titles and names of Krishna.

 

Gender

Main article: Gender of God

The gender of God may be viewed as either a literal or an allegorical aspect of a deity who, in classical western philosophy, transcends bodily form.[92][93] Polytheistic religions commonly attribute to each of the gods a gender, allowing each to interact with any of the others, and perhaps with humans, sexually. In most monotheistic religions, God has no counterpart with which to relate sexually. Thus, in classical western philosophy the gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely to be an analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate to, each other. Namely, God is seen as begetter of the world and revelation which corresponds to the active (as opposed to the receptive) role in sexual intercourse.[6]

 

Biblical sources usually refer to God using male words, except Genesis 1:26-27,[94][95] Psalm 123:2-3, and Luke 15:8-10 (female); Hosea 11:3-4, Deuteronomy 32:18, Isaiah 66:13, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 42:14, Psalm 131:2 (a mother); Deuteronomy 32:11-12 (a mother eagle); and Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 (a mother hen).

 

Relationship with creation

See also: Creator deity, Prayer, and Worship

 

And Elohim Created Adam by William Blake, c.1795

Prayer plays a significant role among many believers. Muslims believe that the purpose of existence is to worship God.[96][97] He is viewed as a personal God and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God. Prayer often also includes supplication and asking forgiveness. God is often believed to be forgiving. For example, a hadith states God would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked repentance.[98] Christian theologian Alister McGrath writes that there are good reasons to suggest that a "personal god" is integral to the Christian outlook, but that one has to understand it is an analogy. "To say that God is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and willingness to relate to others. This does not imply that God is human, or located at a specific point in the universe."[99]

 

Adherents of different religions generally disagree as to how to best worship God and what is God's plan for mankind, if there is one. There are different approaches to reconciling the contradictory claims of monotheistic religions. One view is taken by exclusivists, who believe they are the chosen people or have exclusive access to absolute truth, generally through revelation or encounter with the Divine, which adherents of other religions do not. Another view is religious pluralism. A pluralist typically believes that his religion is the right one, but does not deny the partial truth of other religions. An example of a pluralist view in Christianity is supersessionism, i.e., the belief that one's religion is the fulfillment of previous religions. A third approach is relativistic inclusivism, where everybody is seen as equally right; an example being universalism: the doctrine that salvation is eventually available for everyone. A fourth approach is syncretism, mixing different elements from different religions. An example of syncretism is the New Age movement.

 

Jews and Christians believe that humans are created in the likeness of God, and are the center, crown and key to God's creation, stewards for God, supreme over everything else God had made (Gen 1:26); for this reason, humans are in Christianity called the "Children of God".[100]

 

Depiction

God is defined as incorporeal,[3] and invisible from direct sight, and thus cannot be portrayed in a literal visual image.

 

The respective principles of religions may or may not permit them to use images (which are entirely symbolic) to represent God in art or in worship .

 

Zoroastrianism

 

Ahura Mazda (depiction is on the right, with high crown) presents Ardashir I (left) with the ring of kingship. (Relief at Naqsh-e Rustam, 3rd century CE)

During the early Parthian Empire, Ahura Mazda was visually represented for worship. This practice ended during the beginning of the Sassanid empire. Zoroastrian iconoclasm, which can be traced to the end of the Parthian period and the beginning of the Sassanid, eventually put an end to the use of all images of Ahura Mazda in worship. However, Ahura Mazda continued to be symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback which is found in Sassanian investiture.[101]

 

Islam

Further information: God in Islam

Muslims believe that God (Allah) is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of His creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Judaism

At least some Jews do not use any image for God, since God is the unimageable Being who cannot be represented in material forms.[102] In some samples of Jewish Art, however, sometimes God, or at least His Intervention, is indicated by a Hand Of God symbol, which represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or Voice of God;[103] this use of the Hand Of God is carried over to Christian Art.

 

Christianity

 

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Early Christians believed that the words of the Gospel of John 1:18: "No man has seen God at any time" and numerous other statements were meant to apply not only to God, but to all attempts at the depiction of God.[104]

  

Use of the symbolic Hand of God in the Ascension from the Drogo Sacramentary, c. 850

However, later on the Hand of God symbol is found several times in the only ancient synagogue with a large surviving decorative scheme, the Dura Europos Synagogue of the mid-3rd century, and was probably adopted into Early Christian art from Jewish art. It was common in Late Antique art in both East and West, and remained the main way of symbolizing the actions or approval of God the Father in the West until about the end of the Romanesque period. It also represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or voice of God,[103] just like in Jewish Art.

 

In situations, such as the Baptism of Christ, where a specific representation of God the Father was indicated, the Hand of God was used, with increasing freedom from the Carolingian period until the end of the Romanesque. This motif now, since the discovery of the 3rd century Dura Europos synagogue, seems to have been borrowed from Jewish art, and is found in Christian art almost from its beginnings.

 

The use of religious images in general continued to increase up to the end of the 7th century, to the point that in 695, upon assuming the throne, Byzantine emperor Justinian II put an image of Christ on the obverse side of his gold coins, resulting in a rift which ended the use of Byzantine coin types in the Islamic world.[105] However, the increase in religious imagery did not include depictions of God the Father. For instance, while the eighty second canon of the Council of Trullo in 692 did not specifically condemn images of The Father, it suggested that icons of Christ were preferred over Old Testament shadows and figures.[106]

 

The beginning of the 8th century witnessed the suppression and destruction of religious icons as the period of Byzantine iconoclasm (literally image-breaking) started. Emperor Leo III (717–741), suppressed the use of icons by imperial edict of the Byzantine Empire, presumably due to a military loss which he attributed to the undue veneration of icons.[107] The edict (which was issued without consulting the Church) forbade the veneration of religious images but did not apply to other forms of art, including the image of the emperor, or religious symbols such as the cross.[108] Theological arguments against icons then began to appear with iconoclasts arguing that icons could not represent both the divine and the human natures of Jesus at the same time. In this atmosphere, no public depictions of God the Father were even attempted and such depictions only began to appear two centuries later.

 

The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 effectively ended the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm and restored the honouring of icons and holy images in general.[109] However, this did not immediately translate into large scale depictions of God the Father. Even supporters of the use of icons in the 8th century, such as Saint John of Damascus, drew a distinction between images of God the Father and those of Christ.

 

In his treatise On the Divine Images John of Damascus wrote: "In former times, God who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see".[110] The implication here is that insofar as God the Father or the Spirit did not become man, visible and tangible, images and portrait icons can not be depicted. So what was true for the whole Trinity before Christ remains true for the Father and the Spirit but not for the Word. John of Damascus wrote:[111]

 

"If we attempt to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed. It is impossible to portray one who is without body:invisible, uncircumscribed and without form."

 

Around 790 Charlemagne ordered a set of four books that became known as the Libri Carolini (i.e. "Charles' books") to refute what his court mistakenly understood to be the iconoclast decrees of the Byzantine Second Council of Nicaea regarding sacred images. Although not well known during the Middle Ages, these books describe the key elements of the Catholic theological position on sacred images. To the Western Church, images were just objects made by craftsmen, to be utilized for stimulating the senses of the faithful, and to be respected for the sake of the subject represented, not in themselves. The Council of Constantinople (869) (considered ecumenical by the Western Church, but not the Eastern Church) reaffirmed the decisions of the Second Council of Nicaea and helped stamp out any remaining coals of iconoclasm. Specifically, its third canon required the image of Christ to have veneration equal with that of a Gospel book:[112]

 

We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of the words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them.

 

But images of God the Father were not directly addressed in Constantinople in 869. A list of permitted icons was enumerated at this Council, but symbols of God the Father were not among them.[113] However, the general acceptance of icons and holy images began to create an atmosphere in which God the Father could be symbolized.

 

Prior to the 10th century no attempt was made to use a human to symbolize God the Father in Western art.[104] Yet, Western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of the Father, so through successive representations a set of artistic styles for symbolizing the Father using a man gradually emerged around the 10th century AD. A rationale for the use of a human is the belief that God created the soul of Man in the image of His own (thus allowing Human to transcend the other animals).

 

It appears that when early artists designed to represent God the Father, fear and awe restrained them from a usage of the whole human figure. Typically only a small part would be used as the image, usually the hand, or sometimes the face, but rarely a whole human. In many images, the figure of the Son supplants the Father, so a smaller portion of the person of the Father is depicted.[114]

 

By the 12th century depictions of God the Father had started to appear in French illuminated manuscripts, which as a less public form could often be more adventurous in their iconography, and in stained glass church windows in England. Initially the head or bust was usually shown in some form of frame of clouds in the top of the picture space, where the Hand of God had formerly appeared; the Baptism of Christ on the famous baptismal font in Liège of Rainer of Huy is an example from 1118 (a Hand of God is used in another scene). Gradually the amount of the human symbol shown can increase to a half-length figure, then a full-length, usually enthroned, as in Giotto's fresco of c. 1305 in Padua.[115] In the 14th century the Naples Bible carried a depiction of God the Father in the Burning bush. By the early 15th century, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry has a considerable number of symbols, including an elderly but tall and elegant full-length figure walking in the Garden of Eden, which show a considerable diversity of apparent ages and dress. The "Gates of Paradise" of the Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti, begun in 1425 use a similar tall full-length symbol for the Father. The Rohan Book of Hours of about 1430 also included depictions of God the Father in half-length human form, which were now becoming standard, and the Hand of God becoming rarer. At the same period other works, like the large Genesis altarpiece by the Hamburg painter Meister Bertram, continued to use the old depiction of Christ as Logos in Genesis scenes. In the 15th century there was a brief fashion for depicting all three persons of the Trinity as similar or identical figures with the usual appearance of Christ.

 

In an early Venetian school Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini, (c. 1443) The Father is depicted using the symbol consistently used by other artists later, namely a patriarch, with benign, yet powerful countenance and with long white hair and a beard, a depiction largely derived from, and justified by, the near-physical, but still figurative, description of the Ancient of Days.[116]

 

. ...the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9)

  

Usage of two Hands of God"(relatively unusual) and the Holy Spirit as a dove in Baptism of Christ, by Verrocchio, 1472

In the Annunciation by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470, God the Father is portrayed in the red robe and a hat that resembles that of a Cardinal. However, even in the later part of the 15th century, the symbolic representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit as "hands and dove" continued, e.g. in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ in 1472.[117]

  

God the Father with His Right Hand Raised in Blessing, with a triangular halo representing the Trinity, Girolamo dai Libri c. 1555

In Renaissance paintings of the adoration of the Trinity, God may be depicted in two ways, either with emphasis on The Father, or the three elements of the Trinity. The most usual depiction of the Trinity in Renaissance art depicts God the Father using an old man, usually with a long beard and patriarchal in appearance, sometimes with a triangular halo (as a reference to the Trinity), or with a papal crown, specially in Northern Renaissance painting. In these depictions The Father may hold a globe or book (to symbolize God's knowledge and as a reference to how knowledge is deemed divine). He is behind and above Christ on the Cross in the Throne of Mercy iconography. A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit may hover above. Various people from different classes of society, e.g. kings, popes or martyrs may be present in the picture. In a Trinitarian Pietà, God the Father is often symbolized using a man wearing a papal dress and a papal crown, supporting the dead Christ in his arms. They are depicted as floating in heaven with angels who carry the instruments of the Passion.[118]

 

Representations of God the Father and the Trinity were attacked both by Protestants and within Catholicism, by the Jansenist and Baianist movements as well as more orthodox theologians. As with other attacks on Catholic imagery, this had the effect both of reducing Church support for the less central depictions, and strengthening it for the core ones. In the Western Church, the pressure to restrain religious imagery resulted in the highly influential decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563. The Council of Trent decrees confirmed the traditional Catholic doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that veneration to them was paid to the person, not the image.[119]

 

Artistic depictions of God the Father were uncontroversial in Catholic art thereafter, but less common depictions of the Trinity were condemned. In 1745 Pope Benedict XIV explicitly supported the Throne of Mercy depiction, referring to the "Ancient of Days", but in 1786 it was still necessary for Pope Pius VI to issue a papal bull condemning the decision of an Italian church council to remove all images of the Trinity from churches.[120]

  

The famous The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, c.1512

God the Father is symbolized in several Genesis scenes in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, most famously The Creation of Adam (whose image of near touching hands of God and Adam is iconic of humanity, being a reminder that Man is created in the Image and Likeness of God (Gen 1:26)).God the Father is depicted as a powerful figure, floating in the clouds in Titian's Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari of Venice, long admired as a masterpiece of High Renaissance art.[121] The Church of the Gesù in Rome includes a number of 16th century depictions of God the Father. In some of these paintings the Trinity is still alluded to in terms of three angels, but Giovanni Battista Fiammeri also depicted God the Father as a man riding on a cloud, above the scenes.[122]

 

In both the Last Judgment and the Coronation of the Virgin paintings by Rubens he depicted God the Father using the image that by then had become widely accepted, a bearded patriarchal figure above the fray. In the 17th century, the two Spanish artists Velázquez (whose father-in-law Francisco Pacheco was in charge of the approval of new images for the Inquisition) and Murillo both depicted God the Father using a patriarchal figure with a white beard in a purple robe.

  

The Ancient of Days (1794) Watercolor etching by William Blake

While representations of God the Father were growing in Italy, Spain, Germany and the Low Countries, there was resistance elsewhere in Europe, even during the 17th century. In 1632 most members of the Star Chamber court in England (except the Archbishop of York) condemned the use of the images of the Trinity in church windows, and some considered them illegal.[123] Later in the 17th century Sir Thomas Browne wrote that he considered the representation of God the Father using an old man "a dangerous act" that might lead to Egyptian symbolism.[124] In 1847, Charles Winston was still critical of such images as a "Romish trend" (a term used to refer to Roman Catholics) that he considered best avoided in England.[125]

 

In 1667 the 43rd chapter of the Great Moscow Council specifically included a ban on a number of symbolic depictions of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, which then also resulted in a whole range of other icons being placed on the forbidden list,[126][127] mostly affecting Western-style depictions which had been gaining ground in Orthodox icons. The Council also declared that the person of the Trinity who was the "Ancient of Days" was Christ, as Logos, not God the Father. However some icons continued to be produced in Russia, as well as Greece, Romania, and other Orthodox countries.

 

Theological approaches

Theologians and philosophers have attributed to God such characteristics as omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, perfect goodness, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God has been described as incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable being existent.[3] These attributes were all claimed to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars, including Maimonides,[53] St Augustine,[53] and Al-Ghazali.[128]

 

Many philosophers developed arguments for the existence of God,[8] while attempting to comprehend the precise implications of God's attributes. Reconciling some of those attributes generated important philosophical problems and debates. For example, God's omniscience may seem to imply that God knows how free agents will choose to act. If God does know this, their ostensible free will might be illusory, or foreknowledge does not imply predestination, and if God does not know it, God may not be omniscient.[129]

 

However, if by its essential nature, free will is not predetermined, then the effect of its will can never be perfectly predicted by anyone, regardless of intelligence and knowledge. Although knowledge of the options presented to that will, combined with perfectly infinite intelligence, could be said to provide God with omniscience if omniscience is defined as knowledge or understanding of all that is.

 

The last centuries of philosophy have seen vigorous questions regarding the arguments for God's existence raised by such philosophers as Immanuel Kant, David Hume and Antony Flew, although Kant held that the argument from morality was valid. The theist response has been either to contend, as does Alvin Plantinga, that faith is "properly basic", or to take, as does Richard Swinburne, the evidentialist position.[130] Some theists agree that only some of the arguments for God's existence are compelling, but argue that faith is not a product of reason, but requires risk. There would be no risk, they say, if the arguments for God's existence were as solid as the laws of logic, a position summed up by Pascal as "the heart has reasons of which reason does not know."[131] A recent theory using concepts from physics and neurophysiology proposes that God can be conceptualized within the theory of integrative level.[132]

 

Many religious believers allow for the existence of other, less powerful spiritual beings such as angels, saints, jinn, demons, and devas.[133][134][135][136][137]

 

Distribution of belief

VIDEO: (Coming when it's done)

 

••• SCRIPT/LYRICS: •••

(Continued from: www.deviantart.com/molemanninethousand/art/MERB-43-C-Palp...)

 

Scourge the Hedgehog:

I'm a heartless hardass of a 'hog who's here to rattle you,

And who no other holds so much as a Shard of a Shadow to!

My deadbeat dad preached peace, the pussy, but you'll find I'm nothing like him;

Baby, fail to hail this king, and be reduced to nothing, like him!

I'm no faking poser, and I make my cohorts follow suit;

These battle scars you see? Authentic!

Patch: Aye… he speaks the awful truth!

Scourge: Conceived as but a Trek satire, I've since seen to our divergence;

Got more than a beard by which to be discerned from lesser versions!

Chaos flows through Scourge's person, making haters green with envy:

No Zone holds this multiversal menace long; no being can end me,

Nor can mutinies or parallel-plane prisons worse than Hell,

And once I claim the Beryl's power, know it's highly personnel.

 

Grand Admiral Thrawn:

Seeing, Snot-nose, as it's apparent you're a copycat-Bizarro,

Why don't you make like the O.G. did in Moore's Man of Tomorrow?

I need not research this uncultured cretin to get him reeling;

You'll take no pride in the scars sustained from what blows I'll be dealing.

 

Scourge the Hedgehog:

My breakout with the Destructix stuck it to those prim, snide cops,

And it reminds me of your final fate: both deals were Inside Jobs,

And that's no wingnut theory, yo; I ain't that kind of Anarchist!

Man, no one in your galaxy alive today could handle this!

 

Darth Revan:

…Then step into an even longer time ago in history,

And face a wartime Star equipped for Forging lyrics endlessly!

This time, it's I who gives the wake-up call: you're under an attack;

I've got the route to the destruction of this sucker fully-mapped,

No Rakatan relics required for this Knight to knock a knave!

Call me a Krayt; no tricks can trounce me once you've stepped inside my cave!

I saved the first Sith from the grave, expelled the darkness from my lover,

And took down an Empire built up by, spoiler alert: none other

Than myself, surpassing Anakin in plot twists and atonement,

While as character development goes, Teethree outdoes this rodent!

Like a twenty-one Pazaak roll, you'll go bust against me, fool;

While Malachor was sacrificed, I'll save the puny world you rule,

Freeing it as I did Star Wars' first lesbian from slavery,

And good luck trying to reclaim it: Revanchism's named for me!

Though Calo Nord came back for more, here, there won't be another round;

I've seen same-hued hedgehogs of greater worth in Sonic Underground!

 

Scourge the Hedgehog:

You should go now, Grey Warden Shepard: time has left you worse for 'Ware;

Like your exploits on Taris, your doomed efforts here ain't worth the care!

Watch this Archie cross-cosmos-Hopper hammer-smash your buddy Carth,

Bombardments blowing your mind worse than your own understudy Darth!

 

Darth Revan:

Once I take you to Trask, you'll last about as long as Ulgo, punk;

Your only friends in your whole wretched world sold you out for a skunk!

This Old Republican's no John McCain; the only hammer dropping

Is your skanky psycho girlfriend's mallet on your rotten noggin!

 

Scourge the Hedgehog:

You think Rosy is my love interest?! That's every bit as true

As the identity they tricked the player into giving you,

While I'm a different kind of "player" altogether with the ladies,

Though one foxy chick outshines the rest: come out and take it, baby…

 

Fiona Fox:

It's Fiona, in the flesh for real; no wack automaton:

Nicking this track like Rouge's would-be steals, and that's a promise, son!

I'm coming at you with a mighty Bark, though don't look for a bite;

Why would I need the latter when the former's paired with Dynamite?

Left lost in my own world with naught, I now co-rule a new dimension;

Talk about a tale of immigrant success, and not to mention:

No princess is here to shut me up!

Sally Acorn: Well, actually, I-

Fiona Fox: Silence!

As the queen here, I'll be first to deal gut-punches, starting violence!

Best not bother if to bring me back to light is what you're after:

I'm beyond redemption, though I pulled a Shawshank on my captors!

Sonic had his chance to save me long before the darkness took me;

Now, I'm proud to be at Scourge's side, and it's true: we have cookies!

I blindsidingly betrayed like Terra did the Titans way back,

Though with my beast boy, I stayed, and now, for dissing him, it's Payback:

Your whole soul will split in two, erasing every memory;

As vicious to you with one verse as Vitiate's three centuries!

 

Darth Revan:

For loving this green brute, to be a monster is Fiona's fate,

But in contrast to Shrek, what these no-stars embody's death and hate!

If psychopathy turns on this degenerate and vile vixen,

Let me boot an old friend back up; demonstrate its definition…

 

HK-47:

Query: what the fuck did you just say about my owner, son?!

I'll have you know: my Jedi-purging prowess predates Order One!

I'm unit HK-47; battle-rapping is my mission:

No unwieldy superweapon, I take action with precision!

If a new droid army's what you covet, mine's the G0-T0 model;

It's the big one for this red fox when I come at her full-throttle,

And without the confrontation cut from uploads of this content, nary

A furball-meatbag's life functions left continued. Commentary:

Though repurchased for purposes of Tusken-translation,

I was made for raiding, specializing in assassination!

Statement: no bolt of restraint could stop my sick shit-spouting here;

My personality's prevailed through passage of four thousand years!

Releasing rapid rhymes like bullets from my namesake rifle's mags,

Awaiting master's signal to assault with more than verbal jabs,

This Hunter-Killer is High-King among mechanical emcees,

And miles past all rivals, while your Miles wrecked your regency!

 

Fiona Fox:

Those bare-Bones bars don't faze me, Mister, and our victory is imminent:

We'll leave less of you than your plans for Sith Empire citizens!

Scourge the Hedgehog: With spitting as acidic as the Tomb of Naga Sadow,

Watch us make an HK jetpack and fly out of Revan's Shadow!

 

HK-47:

Mockery: you literally just announced your own retreat;

You call me bare-bones, yet you're more like douchebags for your lack of meat!

Darth Revan: Ask my apprentice how I treat smart-Aleks mouthing off to me;

They may have messed up my brain, but I'll give you both lobotomies!

 

Ixis Naugus:

My mind's come back from damage just as bad, so don't expect you'll stump me

Once this triple threat takes to the ring, and things get extra-Ugly!

I'm four fifths of Captain Planet with the powers that I harness:

Water, Earth and Wind, plus Fire, all combined, although I'm Heartless!

I won't fall back into Silence as my magic joins this war:

I'd no hand in its instigation, and discern no threat from yours!

Though it's not Sat A.M.'s third season, Moleman's fourth should do just fine:

I'll make you fear your very shadow as I catch you from behind!

Born out of flying into the sun like an Icarian inversion,

Now I'm knocking icky nig-nogs; it's my lyrical Resurgence!

No time-travelled intervention will avert my rise to dominance,

Crowned fairly by the populace; they revel in my opulence!

While much mystic manipulation brought my robo-rival's fall,

Assassinating this 'bot's character should take no tricks at all!

You're more than one-third bats if you'd attempt to fight this awesome mage;

It's no Smash tournament, but still I'll send you flying off the stage!

My dear apprentice knows too well the full extent of my dark influence,

And by the bones of Vale, I'll see yours shattered into crystal bits!

This ancient menace kickstarted the whole lore of a series:

There'd be no Robotnik otherwise; no conflict-source comes near me!

 

?????????:

Three hundred sixty-five trillion sentient people…

Three hundred sixty-five trillion men, women and kids…

Three hundred sixty-five trillion lives lost to evil…

THAT'S how you measure all the shit my kind did!

 

Nom Anor:

…And if there's one to thank for starting up the whole campaign, it's me:

The vanguard of the Forceless force that harrowed Orders heinously!

I buried the Empire's Council, planted seeds of planet-feuds,

And for the days of Palpatine, inspired newfound gratitude,

Such was the magnitude of what intergalactic terror we wrought,

Just as the intent of this event-shaping Intendant had sought!

Now, reemerging from the shadows, scouting time is at an end,

As the Yuuzhan Vong rap-invasion fleet upon you now descends!

The eighth cortex contains more knowledge than your world entire's chances;

While you hide away in Voids, our ships traverse their vast expanses.

Piercing my crab-armor, think your giant lobster-claw can manage?

Try to find a weak point here, and get attacked for massive damage!

Escalating to the tops of charts, I'll tear you limb from limb

As I confront your lot head-on, no masquerades nor pseudonyms,

And here's an honest prophecy: it's this whole planet's transmutation;

Remade by my flows' sheer sickness via verbal Vongformation!

Sonic fought those who'd replace all living matter with machines,

But let's see how he fares against the polar-opposite extreme!

Bestowing blessed pain upon you, per my people's solemn creed,

I'm all-consuming on the mic like Grutchins, swarming; "Nom", indeed!

 

Ixis Naugus:

The voices in my head agree, for once, that yours is full of crap:

Your stupid ass got played by Ackbar, falling right into his trap!

My eldritch incantations, though, will take your further still Ebaq:

You weren't the big bad, even falsely; yo, get Kefka on this track!

 

Nom Anor:

I spit it hotter than our tripods, repping my gods; roasting rivals:

Though my spores were non-transmissible, this verse is going viral!

While I went down with my ship, you couldn't escape this if you tried,

For it's the end of your world as you know it when ours both collide!

 

Mammoth Mogul:

You wanna bet? I've been around since take two of prehistory;

Seen it survive despite my reigns of terror and Ixis wizardry!

I'm top contender for Mobian multiversal Mastery;

A stone-age-borne immortal, here to Vandalize you Savagely!

The mammoth's in the room; I'll state the obvious soon as I enter:

Wage a war against your "Knights of Life" that's sure to be remembered!

As for jacking energies, I'm without equal: ask Dimitri;

Knuckles, too, knows well the deathly gravity of trying to cheat me.

I've got something on my chest, but what I'm saying won't relieve it;

As the Fearsome Foursome's single sire, I do as I see fit!

I just can't be kept encased, and no one walks all over me,

While lesser Ancients who would try get taught their lessons mortally!

Watch me force foes into submission even from a cell, imprisoned;

I'll bring Shame your goddess of a thousand eyes couldn't see forgiven!

You'll know pain that's Shaied away from by your species' sickest breeds;

This Executor faces execution by my rap-stampede!

 

Nom Anor:

Though Sekot's coming caught me by surprise, I truly do expect it

That your heresy won't take two hundred years to be regretted!

It's long-due extinction for this mastodonic hunk of fail

Who lost his "omnipotence" to that idiotic Hulked-out Tails!

 

Mammoth Mogul:

I came back from that loss, one meant to leave me in eternal shambles,

Rising as Casino Kingpin; talk about a fruitful gamble!

While your jihads rage, I see the true True Way to victory,

Because I know no age; I'll just stay, waiting, 'til you're history!

 

Abeloth:

…Then try somebody history forgot, and yet who's still here, kicking,

Cheshire smile grinning ear-to-ear and tendril-fingers flicking!

Let the last One be the last one claiming this song for her taking,

For with all the chaos wrought here, it's high time I reawakened!

I'm the grossest hostess with the most host bodies out there, squirming;

One bad Mother, now engaging in a different sort of Serving!

The Jedi won't be the only wizards meeting gruesome Fates;

King of New Mobotropolis? I'm the Galactic Chief of State!

Beyond all shadows of a doubt, I walk the highest mental plane;

An Abel who was able to out-evil her own family's Cain!

Call me "Beloved Queen of Bars" as I win over fans in scores;

Breathe life into these beats, all while consuming every ounce of yours!

I'll drive you mad, instilling fears of all your loved ones being replaced,

Then bring exactly that to pass, and soon, I'll come to wear your face;

And I bet you thought those automatons were cause enough for worry!

I out-gambitted the Sith; what threat is this Lost Tribe of Furries?

 

Mammoth Mogul:

Who got Lovecraft in my Star Wars?! …Sonic's presence notwithstanding.

While you may have forced sides Light and Dark to work together, banding,

It'll take no dagger for my cutting words to do you in,

For I'm a monolith of power; yours is spread out far too thin!

 

Abeloth:

Across millennia, my containment was the end to which they saw,

But no black hole's as vastly empty as what spews out from your Maw!

Your so-called worldly wisdom's naught next to what Knowledge I've absorbed:

I gaze into the future, seeing myself, throne-seated and adored!

Alas, nobody here is close to fit to be my Son or Daughter;

Let you drink from my cup? Nah; methinks I'll simply have you slaughtered!

Luke Skywalker at his strongest failed to stop this permanently;

I'm the ghastliest galactic geist! What possibly could end me?

 

?????????:

No one in your galaxy, but look to one far, far away,

Or rather: one that yours is far, far away FROM, as I should say…

 

TO BE CONTINUED…

ckzamek.pl/podstrony/11920-iluzje-wszechwadzy-architektur...

 

Pentax Z-1 (S/N:5834470)

SMC Pentax-FA 1:1.4 50mm (S/N:4220696)

Kodak Double-X 5222 at ISO800

Fomadon Excel 1:1 for 18m. (at 20C)

 

Scanned with Valoi easy35

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St. Charles's Church, Vienna

 

The St. Charles's Church (German: Karlskirche) is a church situated on the south side of Karlsplatz, Vienna. It is located on the edge of the 1st district, 200 metres outside the Ringstraße. It is one of the most outstanding baroque church structures, and boasts a dome in the form of an elongated ellipsoid.

 

Ever since Karlsplatz was restored as an ensemble in the late 1980s, the Karlskirche has garnered fame due to its dome and its two flanking columns of bas-reliefs, as well as its role as an architectural counterweight to the buildings of the Musikverein and of the Vienna University of Technology.

 

The church is cared for by a religious order and has long been the parish church as well as the seat of the Catholic student ministry of the Vienna University of Technology.

 

Design and construction

   

Karlskirche column, with spiral as on Trajan's Column

In 1713, one year after the last great plague epidemic, Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, pledged to build a church for his namesake patron saint, Charles Borromeo, who was revered as a healer for plague sufferers. An architectural competition was announced, in which Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach prevailed over, among others, Ferdinando Galli-Bibiena and Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. Construction began in 1716 under the supervision of Anton Erhard Martinelli. After J. B. Fischer's death in 1723, his son, Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach, completed the construction in 1737 using partially altered plans. The church originally possessed a direct line of sight to the Hofburg and was also, until 1918, the imperial patron parish church.

 

As a creator of historic architecture, J. B. Fischer united the most diverse of elements. The façade in the center, which leads to the porch, corresponds to a Greek temple portico. The neighboring two columns, crafted by Lorenzo Mattielli, found a model in Trajan's Column in Rome. Next to those, two tower pavilions extend out and show the influence of the Roman baroque (Bernini and Borromini). Above the entrance, a dome rises up above a high drum, which the younger J. E. Fischer shortened and partly altered.

 

[edit]Iconography

 

The iconographical program of the church originated from the imperial official Carl Gustav Heraeus and connects St. Charles Borromeo with his imperial benefactor. The relief on the pediment above the entrance with the cardinal virtues and the figure of the patron on its apex point to the motivation of the donation. This sculpture group continues onto the attic story as well. The attic is also one of the elements which the younger Fischer introduced. The columns display scenes from the life of Charles Borromeo in a spiral relief and are intended to recall the two columns, Boaz and Jachim, that stood in front of the Temple at Jerusalem. They also recall the Pillars of Hercules and act as symbols of imperial power. The entrance is flanked by angels from the Old and New Testaments.

 

This program continues in the interior as well, above all in the dome fresco by Johann Michael Rottmayr of Salzburg and Gaetano Fanti (pseudoarchitecture) which displays an intercession of Charles Borromeo, supported by the Virgin Mary. Surrounding this scene are the cardinal virtues. The frescos in a number of side chapels are attributed to Daniel Gran.

   

The gold piece high above the altar symbolizing Yahweh.

The high altar painting portraying the ascension of the saint was conceptualized by the elder Fischer and executed by Ferdinand Maximilian Brokoff. The altar paintings in the side chapels are by various artists, including Daniel Gran, Sebastiano Ricci, Martino Altomonte and Jakob van Schuppen.

   

Full view of the Altar

As strong effect emanates from the directing of light and architectural grouping, in particular the arch openings of the main axis. The color scheme is characterized by marble with sparring and conscious use of gold leaf. The large round glass window high above the main altar with the Hebrew Tetragrammaton/Yahweh symbolizes God's omnipotence and simultaneously, through its warm yellow tone, God's love.Below is a representation of Apotheosis of Saint Charles Borromeo.

 

Next to the structures at Schönbrunn Palace, which maintain this form but are more fragmented, the Karlskirche is Fischer's greatest work. It is also an expression of the Austrian joie de vivre stemming from the victorious end of the Turkish Wars.

  

Karlsplatz

 

Karlsplatz ("Charles' Square") is a town square on the border of the first and fourth districts of Vienna. It is one of the most frequented and best connected transportation hubs in Vienna. The Karlskirche is located here.

 

Resselpark, adorned with numerous monuments, takes up the most area in the plaza and is on the south side. The Evangelische Schule (Evangelical School) and the Technische Universität Wien (Vienna Technical University) are located here. The plaza is closed in by Karlskirche (which has a water tank and a Henry Moore sculpture in front of it), the main building of the Vienna Museum, and the Winterthur Insurance building. Separated from the plaza to the north are the buildings of the Wiener Musikverein (Vienna Music Society), the Künstlerhaus (art house), and the Handelsakademie (business school). A Video of the plaza and a eventlist are available on the Website of the association karlsplatz.org Verein zur Förderung d. kulturellen Belebung öffentlicher Räume [1].

 

On the Karlsplatz the exhibition of the United Buddy Bears was shown in 2006 for the first time in Austria. The exhibition was opened by Christiane Hörbiger, Film actress and UNICEF Ambassador, together with Grete Laska, Deputy Mayor of Vienna and Karin Schubert, Mayor of Berlin. According to the City of Vienna, project partners, they were able to count nearly 1 million visitors over the 6 weeks of the exhibition[1].

 

The first district can be reached either by subway or via Operngasse (a street). The pavilions of the former Karlsplatz Stadtbahn Station remain despite the construction of the U-Bahn system.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlskirche

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlsplatz

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HIGH RESOLUTION images on sundeepkullu.com WORLD IS MY STUDIO This picture is LOW RESOLUTION for web compatibility **Sorry Guys i have deleted most of my pictures from facebook due to copyright infringement by parties not authorised by me.But i have made a flash website for exibiting my Photostories Do visit sundeepkullu.com

 

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Lahaul and Spiti district

 

The district of Lahaul-Spiti in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh consists of the two formerly separate districts of Lahaul and Spiti. The present administrative centre is Keylong in Lahaul. Before the two districts were merged, Kardang was the capital of Lahaul, and Dhankar the capital of Spiti.

 

Kunzum la or the Kunzum Pass (altitude 4,551 m; 14,931 ft) is the entrance pass to the Spiti Valley from Lahaul. It is 21 km from Chandra Tal.[1] This district is connected to Manali through the Rohtang Pass. To the south, Spiti ends 24 km from Tabo, at the Pare chu gorge where the road enters Kinnaur and joins with National Highway No. 22.[2]

 

The two valleys are quite different in character. Spiti is more barren and difficult to cross, with an average elevation of the valley floor of 4,270 m (14,009 ft). It is enclosed between lofty ranges, with the Spiti river rushing out of a gorge in the southeast to meet the Sutlej River. It is a typical mountain desert area with an average annual rainfall of only 170 mm (6.7 inches).[3]

 

Flora and fauna

   

Lahaul valley in winter

  

Mountain peak in Lahaul and Spiti district

The harsh conditions of Lahaul permit only scattered tufts of hardy grasses and shrubs to grow, even below 4,000 metres. Glacier lines are usually found at 5,000 metres.

 

Animals such as yaks and dzos roam across the wild Lingti plains. However, over-hunting and a decrease in food supplies has led to a large decrease in the population of the Tibetan antelope, argali, kiangs, musk deer, and snow leopards in these regions, reducing them to the status of endangered species. However, in the Lahaul valley, one can see ibex, brown bears, foxes and snow leopards during winter.

 

[edit]People

   

Mother and child in near Gandhola Monastery. 2004

The language, culture, and populations of Lahaul and Spiti are closely related. Generally the Lahaulis are of Tibetan and Indo-Aryan descent, while the Spiti Bhotia are more similar to the Tibetans, owing to their proximity to Tibet. Fairer skin and hazel-colored eyes are commonly seen among the Lahaulis.

 

The languages of both the Lahauli and Spiti Bhutia belong to the Tibetan family. They are very similar to the Ladakhi and Tibetans culturally, as they had been placed under the rule of the Guge and Ladakh kingdoms at occasional intervals.

 

Among the Lahaulis, the family acts as the basic unit of kinship. The extended family system is common, evolved from the polyandric system of the past. The family is headed by a senior male member, known as the Yunda, while his wife, known as the Yundamo, attains authority by being the oldest member in the generation. The clan system, also known as Rhus, plays another major role in the Lahauli society.

 

The Spiti Bhutia community has an inheritance system that is otherwise unique to the Tibetans. Upon the death of both parents, only the eldest son will inherit the family property, while the eldest daughter inherits the mother's jewellery, and the younger siblings inherit nothing. Men usually fall back on the social security system of the Trans-Himalayan Gompas.

 

[edit]Lifestyle

The lifestyles of the Lahauli and Spiti Bhotia are similar, owing to their proximity. Polyandry was widely practiced by the Lahaulis in the past, although this practice has been dying out. The Spiti Bhutia do not generally practice polyandry any more, although it is accepted in a few isolated regions.

 

Divorces are accomplished by a simple ceremony performed in the presence of village elders. Divorce can be sought by either partner. The husband has to pay compensation to his ex-wife if she does not remarry. However, this is uncommon among the Lahaulis.

 

Agriculture is the main source of livelihood. Potato farming is common. Occupations include animal husbandry, working in government programs, government services, and other businesses and crafts that include weaving. Houses are constructed in the Tibetan architectural style, as the land in Lahul and Spiti is mountainous and quite prone to earthquakes.

 

[edit]Religion

 

Kunzum Pass between Lahul & Spiti

  

Ki-Gompa Spiti

Most of the Lahaulis follow a combination of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism of the Drukpa Kagyu order, while the Spiti Bhotia follow Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelugpa order. Within Lahoul/swangla, the Baralacha-La region had the strongest Buddhist influence, owing to its close proximity to Spiti. Lahoul/swangla has temples such as Triloknath , where pilgrims worship a certain god in different manifestations, notably in the form of Shiva and Avalokiteshvara where Udaipur is a puritan temple. This bas-relief, of marble, depicts the Buddhist deity Avalokiteshvara (the embodiment of the Buddha's compassion) in a stylized seated position; Hindu devotees take it to be Shiva Nataraj, Shiva dancing. This image appears to be of sixteenth century Chamba craftsmanship. It was created to replace the original black stone image of the deity, which became damaged by art looters. This original image is kept beneath the plinth of the shrine. It appears to be of 12th century Kashmiri provenance . Much of the art thieves are active in this remote belt because of neglected gompas and temples.

 

Before the spread of Tibetan Buddhism and Hinduism, the people were adherents of the religion 'Lung Pe Chhoi', an animistic religion that had some affinities with the Bön religion of Tibet. While the religion flourished, animal and human sacrifices were regularly offered up to the 'Iha', a term that refers to evil spirits residing in the natural world, notably in the old pencil-cedar trees, rocks and caves. Vestiges of the Lung Pe Chhoi religion can be seen in the behaviour of the Lamas, who are believed to possess certain supernatural powers.

 

The Losar festival (also known as Halda in Lahauli) is celebrated between the months of January and February. The date of celebration is decided by the Lamas. It has the same significance as the Diwali festival of Hinduism, but is celebrated in a Tibetan fashion.

 

At the start of the festival, two or three persons from every household will come holding burning incense. The burning sticks are then piled into a bonfire. The people will then pray to Shiskar Apa, the goddess of wealth (other name Vasudhara) in the Buddhist religion.

 

In the Pattan belt of the valley in Lahoul most population follows Hinduism,but counts for 14 percent of the total and they are called swanglas. The fagli festival is celebrated between February and March all over the valley. This festival is a new year festival and closely precedes beginning of tibetian and Chinese calendar. Notable is the Pattan people are the late settlers in the valley around 1500 A.D. and have broad highlights and have distinct language on the likes the central Asians,chamba, pangi, pashtoons and uyghurs. This belt is known for the convergence for chandra and bhaga rivers to form Chenab.

 

[edit]Tourism

 

Ki Gompa

The natural scenery and Buddhist monasteries, such as Ki, Dhankar, Shashur, Guru Ghantal and Tayul Gompas, are the main tourist attractions of the region.

 

One of the most interesting places is the Tabo Monastery, located 45 km from Kaza, Himachal Pradesh, the capital of the Spiti region. This monastery rose to prominence when it celebrated its thousandth year of existence in 1996. It houses a collection of Buddhist scriptures, Buddhist statues and Thangkas. The ancient gompa is finished with mud plaster, and contains several scriptures and documents. Lama Dzangpo heads the gompa here. There is a modern guest house with a dining hall and all facilities are available.

 

Another famous gompa, Kardang Monastery, is located at an elevation of 3,500 metres across the river, about 8 km from Keylong. Kardang is well connected by the road via the Tandi bridge which is about 14 km from Keylong. Built in the 12th century, this monastery houses a large library of Buddhist literature including the main Kangyur and Tangyur scriptures.

 

The treacherous weather in Lahaul and Spiti permits visitors to tour only between the months of June to October, when the roads and villages are free of snow and the high passes (Rothang La and Kunzum La) are open. It is possible to access Spiti from Kinnaur (along the Sutlej) all through the year, although the road is sometimes temporarily closed by landslides or avalanches.

 

Buddhist Monasteries in Spiti: Spiti is one of the important centers of Buddhism in Himachal Pradesh. It is popularly known as the 'land of lamas'. The valley is dotted by numerous Buddhist Monasteries or Gompas that are famous throughout the world and are a favorite of Dalai Lama.

 

Kye Monastery: Kye Monastery in Spiti is the main research center of the Buddhists in India. Near about 300 lamas are receiving their religious training from here. It is oldest and biggest monastery in Spiti. It houses the rare painting and beautiful scriptures of Buddha and other gods and goddess. You may also find rare 'Thangka' paintings and ancient musical instruments 'trumpets, cymbals, and drums in the monastery.

 

Tabo Monastery: Perched at an amazing altitude of 3050 meters, Tabo Monastery in the valley of Spiti is often referred to as the 'Ajanta of the Himalayas'. The 10th century Tabo Monastery was founded by the great scholar, Richen Zangpo, and has been declared as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The monastery houses more than 6 lamas and contains the rare collection of scriptures, pieces of art, wall paintings -Tankhas and Stucco.

 

Flora and fauna of Spiti Valley: The valley is blessed with the good population of snow leopards, ibex, Himalayan Brown Bear, Musk Deer, Himalayan Blue Sheep etc. which serves as the boon for the wildlife lovers. There are two important protected areas in the region that are a home to snow leopard and its prey including the Pin Valley National Park and Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary. Surprisingly, due to ardent religious beliefs, people of Spiti do not hunt these wild animals.

 

Apart from the exotic wildlife, the Valley of Spiti is also known for its amazing wealth of flora and the profusion of wild flowers. Some of the mot common species found here include Causinia thomsonii, Seseli trilobum, Crepis flexuosa, Caragana brevifolia and Krascheninikovia ceratoides. Then there are more than 62 species of medicinal plants found here.

 

Adventure activities:

 

To- do-Trials: For trekkers, the Spiti Valley is a paradise, offering challenging treks to explore the new heights of the Himalayas. The treks takes you to the most remote areas including the rugged villages and old Gompas followed by the exotic wildlife trails. Some of the popular trekking routes in the area includes Kaza-Langza-Hikim-Comic-Kaza, Kaza-Ki-Kibber-Gete-Kaza, Kaza-Losar-Kunzum La and Kaza-Tabo-Sumdo-Nako. Please note that you carry all the necessary things before out for the trekking tour to Spiti. Tents, sleeping bags, cooking equipment, heavy woollens and sunglasses are a must.

 

Skiing: Skiing is the popular adventure sports in Spiti and is popular in India from the past few years. The amazing snow clad mountains with the added advantage of inspiring heights are enough to allure the adventure spirits of the avid skier, providing all the thrill and fun attracted to the sport. People from all around the globe come to experience this enthralling adventure activity.

 

Yak Safari: The most exciting of all adventure activities in Spiti is the Yak safari. You can hire the Yak to see the flora and fauna of trans-Himalayan desert. It is, in fact, the lifetime opportunity that you won't find anywhere else so easily. Apart from this, horse safaris are also conducted in this area.

  

Sources en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahaul_and_Spiti_district

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Manga Omnipotence

2005-2007

80" x 96"

Colored pencil, graphite, acrylic on wood panel

 

Collection:

Crocker Art Museum

 

(Robert Cremean: Metaphor and Process, the video, may be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgrxW8xSvrA)

 

Hereafter are the transcriptions of the handwritten text on the above two panels. The first for the panel on the left and the second for the panel on the right:

 

Left Panel

 

"He has created Me as I have created Him. As He lives, I live. If He diminishes, I diminish. If He dies, I die. My laws are His laws. I define Him as He defines Me. We are inseparable, cut from the whole cloth of self-deception. He serves my purpose. By giving face to that which is not, I have created Him in My image. By My will He has created the universe. By His word I control Mine. In the beginning there was the word and the word was Mine. Fear. Out of fear I created Him, and through fear I control Mine. Through belief We exist and by consensus We prevail. Belief is the second word in the alphabet of survival. We impose order for the good of the congregation. Through fear We enforce belief. As We maintain the mirrored sphere of relativity and relationships, we demand only that the congregation believe in Our mutual self-creation. I am He and He is Me, a simple equation for mutual preservation. Enforcement is the third word in the alphabet of survival. Mine is the most primitive word in the alphabet. To have, to take, to keep, to kill. This Mineness has preserved Our Isness from the beginning of domination. The seventh word is Infinity, a belief in beyondness, the seductive lure of extension, expansion, dominion. Life beyond death. Mine. My invention of time has given dimension to My enterprise. My survival instincts have elevated reproduction into metaphor and myth, repetition into history. My Isness has defined My species from the beginning of that which is. It is I who Am. We have survived, He and I, millennium upon millennium in symbiotic union. In congregation, We have enforced Our fealty, We have forced recognition of Our essentiality. Through force and threat of force We have reified definition. Through punishment and threat of punishment We have established infinity, dominion, repetition, and dogma. We have created Ourself, complete and inseparable, immortalized by obeisance. What We destroy creates Us. Those We exile confirm Us. What We reflect repeats us. Generation after generation, Father after Father, We maintain fear and stasis. This is so and has always been so. We are the beginning and the end. Sated and bloated with our repetition, We have created one too many prophets, one too many means for mutual suicide. We implode. Out of fear We wrap the fogs of illusion tighter to oblate the light. But nothing will stay Our diminishment. Our congregations will destroy Us in Our name. What irony! Our suicide was foretold and only We, the victim, could not foresee its inevitability. We created Us and within Our creation was the prophecy of Our destruction As We believed Ourselves to be, We have become. Illusion defined Us. Illusion defeats Us. Illusion destroys Us. In the beginning was the word and the word was fear. In the Now there is the word and the word is fear. In the beginning and in the now is repetition, and through fear and repetition nature engulfs us all. All its species including Us who survive by illusion. We who insist on our separateness, Our divinity, Our dominion, Our illusion. Nature fears Us and ignores Our illusions. It shits on Our statues and rusts Our artifacts. What We believe and what We make are of no consequence. What Our prophecies portend and what Our fate will be is of no consequence. We are what Our species is and exist accordingly, hermetically and divine. Our hunger is magnificent. We devour the earth. We pollute the waters and the air with the wastes of Our sovereignty—and We pollute Our offspring with illusion. We are bloated with aggrandizement and waste. We falter in Our certitude. We have over-reached the horizon of illusion We are insupportable. Cast into confusion, We thrash about in the quicksand of conflicting dogmas. We attack Our reflection and eat Our young. Through fear, We have created Our conclusion and the conclusion of Our dominion. We have existed too long. We control now through platitude and cliché, addiction and repetition, enforcement and threat. Fear. We are gaseous with rot and self-corruption. We who have ever been the means for survival are now survival’s end. Our prophecies are now concrete...We have reached completion. The creator no longer masks the destroyer. We are one. Bloated and defeated by Our victory, We have secured Our destination, the end of history, and still We refrain. Our belief demands actualization, proof of Our oneness...and still We refrain. We are afraid. Doubt bloats Us. Fear bloats Us. We are bloated by oneness. Consumed by completion, without proof of completion, We are suspended within a bubble of silence. Waiting. Our death is assured. We are bloated with it. We reek of it. All, save Us, know that this is so. We are senseless with confusion. We wait. We cling and We wait, terrorized by silence. Our dominion is silent. It has witnessed Our creation, our Oneness, and Our suicide. It sees what We do not see. It hears what we do not hear. It knows what we do not know. It is afraid. What has always been is no more and it is silent. It is afraid. Our death began with a light so bright that the future was cast into silhouettes and stains of shadow. We took no heed. Our suicide was accidental. We lacked connection with death as We lacked connection with life. It was expediential, a means to an end. It was, however, an end that was not foreseen. Our death was in the light and We embraced it. Without connection, we embraced it. Our dominion has no alternative to Our Isness. We have ruled by fear and threat. Our illusion, Our protectorate concedes no alternative. As we die Our dominion dies. It is blinded by Our blindness. It is blinded by Our light as We are blinded by the light, and it is by the light that Our dominion, Our Isness, will end. There is no alternative. We have embraced the light. Stunned by Our accomplishment, We became I within the mirror of mutual creation, the power of Our reflection fused into oneness by the light. His right hand is My right hand, My left hand is His left hand, Our mirrored reflections no longer cleaved in the silvered glass of fear’s duplicity. 8/6/45. I die. That which I gave to him to give to me will die with me. I have over-stepped the horizon and the flatness of my earth will swallow me in the flames of prophecy. As surely as I created him and all my attendencies, I have created my conclusion. There will remain no audience. My death is of a finality without evidence. Would I leave my greatest invention, history, to supersede me? I am afraid! This will not be recorded. No, my death, my fear, my doubt. All that is and ever was will not be. I leave this globe without witness. I will turn this globe to glass. God’s final reflection will be the sun. I and my dominion will be turned to ashes and glass. All, all that I gave him to give to me will be turned to ashes and glass. All life, all living things will be turned to ashes and dust scattered across the reflection of the sun. Swirled across the face of the sun. Will the wind survive? I should have expected disquiet and disbelief when the earth sphered round, when the earth spun ‘round and my grasp loosened, but I gripped tighter and my conclusion was assured. I have maintained my duality through duplicity and expediency. It is easier to believe than to not believe. To repeat rather than to create. To ingest the poisonous seeds of dogma rather than to question the credulity of tradition. To defend myself against truth, I have turned fear inward upon itself and through rote and repetition have retained the enemy at the gate. Without a mass of true believers, I am doomed. My illusion is fragile. To make there that which is not there, to enforce belief in the unbelievable, requires threat and repetition. Habit. Addiction. Doubt and fear. Ritual. Tradition. All, all words and actions that adhere the individual to the group, that prohibit defection, that contour my essence and necessity. My believability. My true believers enforce my injunctions. I am Man! All things known and unknown are my dominion. I recognize no other viability. Reality is mine. It is my invention. My only coda is survival. Kill or be killed is my coda. From before the beginning of time this has been my coda. If my conclusion means my final act of survival, then I, and my dominion, will leave this globe without evidence, without failure, without abdication, without change. I will make no admission of weakness,, or blindness, or error. Reality is mine. There will be neither transfer nor transcendence. Survival is mine. Blinded by light, I have created the light, and the light will confirm me. I am in conclusion. I can no longer carry the illusion of my reality. I have reached my resolution. All that was metaphor, all that was real is now actual. I am committed to repetition. My finality will be, will appear to be, accidental. No matter, there will be no witness. I cannot contemplate nothingness, to grasp that I and my God and my dominion will be as though We had never been is unimaginable. And though it is I who have invented the scenario, the finale, though known, is unknown. Nothingness was non-existent in My creation. It is beyond the horizon of possibility. And yet I doubt. Fear remains the creator of the creation. I worship it still. But it will not save me. It will not save me as I am. It will simply assure my completion. I am afraid. If I pause, if I could pause, to consider my resolution, my completion...to confront who and what I am and have been and will never be, what is my reflection? As I trudge unwittingly, unremittingly into entropy, can I not catch a glimpse of what I was, what I will be no more? Now that it is done, can I not see, finally, who I am and what I am and continue to be until I am no more? Let me face the mirror before the light blinds me and scatters my ashes across the face of the sun. I am Man, the identity of my species. How I am defined is how we are defined. All, all are subordinate to my whatness. What I do is what we are. What we are is what I am, what I was and will be no more. I have shrouded the earth with gods and superstition and created metaphor to cover the nakedness of my aggression. Metaphor is my Isness, redeemer of destruction. Nature is my nemesis and through metaphor and mimicry I have stolen her elegant equations and turned them to artifice. My obsession with death has created history, and science, and war. I have invented time to measure my achievement, my progress, my domination, religion and art to salve the fear of dying. I am magnificent, the apex of all that is...and will be no more. Consider me. Let me list the virtues of all that you know of yourselves, all that you are and have ever been. Let me list our virtues: I have given you gods to explain the unexplainable. All that was required of you for this my most generous gift was obeisance and for this I invented rituals of artifice to adorn your gratitude, and rote and repetition to expedite and facilitate the indelibility of belief, the laminate of dominion. I have created and destroyed enemies to preserve and defend the mirror of our reflection, to describe and incise the contours of contradiction, to wipe clear the cataracts of indecision and to embrace without doubt or questioning the image in the mirror as absolute. I am shepherd to my flock. From the beginning I have led them. From the beginning they have followed. They know no other. It I who set the course. There is no other. The gods I have invented to create me are their gods. They have no other gods before them. That which I have placed before them is their god. It is I they worship. It is I they follow. I am shepherd to my flock. From the beginning I have led them. From the beginning they have followed. They know no other. It I who set the course. There is no other. The gods I have invented to create me are their gods. They have no other gods before them. That which I have placed before them is their god. It is I they worship. It is I they follow. I am the shepherd of my flock. I am shepherd to my flock. From this simple act of accumulation I have created congregations and congregations within congregations to form nations and nations within nations, boundaries within boundaries, and worlds within worlds. Past, present and future lie within my purview. My reality is omnificent and omnipresent. I am and have been all until all is no more. My Isness will have covered the earth and embraced the sun. I have altered this planet by sheer force of will, by sheer force of willfulness. My hunger has leveled mountains and laid waste the life of the sea. I have covered the living earth with sterilizing asphalt and suffocating cement. My structures steal the night. My greed fills vast pits with poisonous enterprise. To advance myself I have betrayed myself and through rote and repetition seek absolution. If my dominion trembles before the inevitability of my conclusion they sense, they know, I have crossed the line of repeat. Their finality is assured. As they survey our accomplishments, our continuity of artifacts and history, they cannot believe—although they sense and know—they cannot believe it was all illusion. Only by repetition was it made real. Only by repetition will it conclude. Belief precludes retreat. The prophecies are assured. If one surveys my linearity from cave altar to altarpiece the distance is without merit. My Isness is cohesive. I am now what I have always been. My metaphor is authentic. From pre-history to post history, from cave to mosque, through fear and superstition I have enforced my linearity. I have used the stasis of fear to support the illusion of movement through time. Inventions within inventions to form the complex of civilization, and through the complex of civilization, I have covered the globe. And now I am witness to my suicide and the grotesqueries of crucifixion. Through rote and repetition I must witness my self-destruction and immolation. I and my dominion are one. We are the crucified and the suicide and the witness to the immolation. We are suspended in the suicide’s hesitation and inevitable conclusion. Our ablation is assured. When the final repetition occurs, we who are present will be the final witness. We will be as one, a Cyclops of indeterminate size and definition, multi-visaged and single-visioned. We will be as one consumed within the final entropic repeat. Consider our structures. Consider our edifices, our stone prayers to Yahweh, Christ, and Allah prizing up from the neutrality of the horizon, casting shadows of conflict and confusion, creating allies and enemies in the linear progression of repeat. Through verticality, we have smothered the fertile soil under the prayers of the congregation. Ra and Zens litter the desert hilltops with their failed redundancies. Our compulsion to verticalize and impose our geometric shadows across the globe has imprinted and personalized the suffocating opacity of our expansion. We shit where we eat. The earth shrinks from our fecundity. We have created concepts and rationales to redeem our temporality. Timeless concepts to subvert and contain my invention of time. Beauty. Art. Immortality...and history to record our rationales for failure. We are a species without reflection living within an illusion of verisimilitude and approximation. It could not have been otherwise. It has never been otherwise. It will never be otherwise. As I and the congregation drift forward and back in this airless vacuum of addiction, the final repeat tempts us toward completion. And we know, I and the congregation know, that this pressure, this momentum of inestimable time will end. The inevitability of conclusion has cast our Isness into the solidity of product, an artifact of self-destruction which concretizes our mimicry and objectifies belief. In this interim between supposition and annihilation I see myself distinctly, without the blurring smudges of palimpsest. I am what I was and have always been until the final repetition, the end of choice, the end of chaos, the end of time; a counterfeit, a creature of such hermetic evolution that my own planet can no longer sustain my ignorance of host...a parasite of no symbiotic worth. With all my illusions, I am nothing. With all my illusions of gods and omnipotence and domination, I am a cancerous aberration worthy of obliteration. Nature cares nothing for my cathedrals and frescos, my fugues and fantasies, my arts and letters and museums and libraries of human achievement. All, all of my ambition and evidence is merely an inconvenience, a momentary rough patch on the revolving orb. But for one accomplishment, nature’s cycles of possibility would engulf me. I have stolen the secret of the sun and within the darkening theatre of repetition I will release its light. In one final act of mimicry my identity will be accomplished. I will unleash the sun. For one shining moment I will strip the world of shadow. We will not evolve. I will continue my progression. I will embrace the sun. I will continue until the final repetition. I will achieve my completion. There is no alternative. There is no return. There is only repeat. I am now and ever will be the entelechy of my species. I cannot, will not, be replaced. As we hang suspended within the impossible moment all things are equal. To assign significance seems absurd; appetites are momentary. Time is astigmatic. History’s ink is smeared with haste. As I progress, we regress. As the dominion is sucked outward in the diminishing circles of entropy, our metaphors of pubescence have assumed dominance. Puerilism in art and religion is actualized into commercial despair and we, I and the congregation, drift further, ever further into the oblivion of self-deception. It is over. We know it is over and yet I proceed. There is no where-else to go There is no alternative. I must be expurgated, but there is no power to expurgate. There is no will. There is no vision. Only I can bring the light, and only through my completion will the light be brought...a divine tautology. It is over. We know it is over and yet we proceed. There is talk of feminine insurrection, an intersession of feminine entelechy to alter the cadence of repetition, to stanch the diminishing cycles of entropy, to avoid completion, to deny the light. What pathos! It is too late for such clumsy theatricality. Even homosexuals have pranced onto the stage to strut and preen and plea for recognition. Even they demand the light to stop the light...My Isness will not be rendered."

 

Right Panel

 

"I have existed since the beginning of human Isness. I am contradiction, the avatar of Chaos. They who fear complexity fear me. They who embrace me move unhampered through the chambers of the mind, free of dogma and reprise. I occupy the middle ground between that which is and that which could be, a constant alternative to stasis and repetition. I await recognition. Within man’s strictures of repeat, I am the enemy. Predatory and seductive, I am perceived with fear and revulsion...the enemy at the gate. But I lie within. I am endemic, recognized by instinct and provocation. Those who fear me fear themselves. I am puer aeternus, eternal youth, contradiction, persona of chaos. I tolerate no reliance. No dogma, no laws, no lies restrict me. No congregation contains me. No tradition enfolds me. I am the unexpected, the impolite, and the impolitic. Expediency is my enemy. I have been given the face of madness but I have no face, only the reflection of a dying congregation intent on suicide and annihilation. When they gaze upon me, they see themselves or what they would become without the ultimate compromise, the sacrifice of self. They avert their eyes. They coalesce in the shallows. The sacrifice is too great. They coalesce. I shape myself in the middle ground, a finished but never finished entity, a contradiction without fear of contradiction, irresponsible even to my own creation. I do not coalesce. Others threaten me as I threaten them. They are the enemies of my childhood. They want me to see my face reflected in theirs, but I do not. I see only the abject poverty of sacrifice. I see them as they do not see me. I sacrifice nothing. I give everything but I sacrifice nothing. Nor do I compromise. I am the beginning and the end of myself. I accept no intrusion. My growth, or non-growth, is of no consequence. I am responsible to neither. Nor do I accept master or peer. I learn nothing. I know nothing. What I need to know, I have known from the beginning. My becoming is determined. I become, quite simply become, what I am and have always been. I have no reflection. I stand opposed. My very being is an opposition. I stand opposed to congregation. I am a solitary, an eternal question, a contradiction. I have no answers. I am not an answer. Answers are my enemy. None other can be like me. I am not a simile. I am metaphor, supplanter of metaphor. My whatness is all encompassing; my succession and cession inevitable. I am what I am. My existence is authentic. I countenance myself. All similes conform to my Isness. History postures its linearity on my evolvement. My face is the reflection of the seeker. His desire is my tangibility. I am the child born of a new urgency. As the old metaphor, my father, dies in the fulfillment of his own prophecies, I shimmer with the radiance of youth. I am hope, that most potent enabler of belief. The congregation is stunned by its abandonment. Its obeisance to a dead metaphor which had evolved through threat and violence into rote and dogma was unquestioned, its removal into stasis and suicide unnoted and unproclaimed. But it is done. The congregation has turned upon itself like a cheated whore. All that was offered in payment for service is lead coin. Death. Eternal death. I, who had existed before him, live on. Puer Aeternus. Eternal youth, omnipresent choice. Antithesis of metaphor. No dogma surrounds me. No rote enslaves me. No prophecy enthrones me. No congregation distorts me. I sacrifice nothing, I give everything without barter or bargain. No simile illustrates me. I am chaos. Those who recognize me proclaim me. I am choice, infinite choice. Only metaphor has the power to subdue me into Isness...and that is momentary. Momentary and experiential. It is through metaphor that humanity creates illusion and defends the congregation from chaos which is also a metaphor. Metaphor upon metaphor, illusion upon illusion, choice upon choice. The very Isness of humankind is contradiction, a comedy of confusion and malediction. Through metaphor, humanity maintains its privileged identity within the strictures and structures of survival. Through metaphor, specie humana has dominated the earth. Its ability to create something out of nothing and through the instinct of belief congeal the congregation into a shared reality is the core of its entelechy. But as the distance between competing similes shortens within the overall metaphor of dominion, mankind’s metaphors of cohesion now threaten total annihilation. I, Puer Aeternus, do not exist within the aging metaphors of man. I exist and have always existed as a separate instinct, a potential reality. I live in the senses. I have no metaphor or similes to support my existence, no congregation to praise my virtue or confirm my dominion. Nor am I belief. My purpose is not to bind but to release. I am chaos, indefinable orgasm of infinite choice, insupportable to congregation, enemy of dominion and aged metaphors. I am youth eternal. I exist because I am, always and forever the pause before definition. My Isness is non-linear and spherical, a suspension of possibilities that ignores the artificial divisions of time and the existence of time itself. I am a constant presence but exist only when embraced. These trysts are brief and fleeting with an intensity that can forever alter the desire of those who experience me. I am the beloved. Forever virginal, I inseminate those who embrace me with enduring solitude, the joy of self-creation without the stultifying metaphors of the congregation, to throw off the anchoring similes and hackneyed suppositions of linear authority and to cavort weightlessly within the timeless orb...infinite questions, infinite choice swirling round and about and outside under, mirroring and dissolving answers into questions in a bacchanal of liberation. For those who embrace me, all that was is no more. I am peripheral, a glimpse, as unexpected as a sudden snake or a falling star. I move freely and reside where I am found, rarely in the same place twice, never in the same place for all who discover me. I exist in the nautilus of Art, beautiful, seductive, chambered convolutions of sensual geometry. He who perceives me creates me. I exist only in the Now, and for that moment, that one timeless moment of orgasmic perception, we are one. I create him as he creates me. We are one. Locked protectively in the senses made solid, I await transparency. Transposed into sight and sound, I am Desire opacified, made palpable and tactile by those who enfold me in the obtect pupa of creation. I care nothing for these parents. They are failures. By their own admission through repetition and constant searching, they are failures...and in their failures I am posited. Their lives of ecstatic failure and self-deception are of no consequence, significant only in that they have made possible my future creation. My creator is my liberator, he who makes transparent my opacity. He who cleaves the obtected pupa and sets free the raptor of his own Desire. He who sees and is embraced by that which my parent vainly searched for, groped for, cast off and moved only to fail again and again and again. It is this moment that the congregation fears most, this crack in the obtect pupa which exposes the perceiver to a separate and conflicting reality. This the congregation fears most, the blinding exposition of chaos, infinite questions, infinite possibility, infinite questions, infinite possibility, infinite choice. This, the congregation fears most. Loss of power, loss of hierarchy, loss of privilege, loss of identity, the death of metaphor. The absence of Isness. To create a new metaphor in the face of a threatened Isness is the most exhilarating challenge for those who confront the void. It is chaos that energizes possibility. It is chaos that contradicts the void. It is through me Puer Aeternus, through Art, Puer Aeternus, through chaos, Puer Aeternus, humanity evolves. Through fear of the void, humanity evolves. And through the life and death and birth of metaphors, humanity evolves. And always, through the evolution of humanity the artifacts of artists posit contradiction to cultural rote and stasis. The lifespan of metaphor is as brief or enduring as human need. If a metaphor, through fear and stagnation, threatens human viability it must be destroyed. The ancient metaphor and attendant similes have reached their conclusion. If humanity is to live, they must die. And always there is the Puer. Always there is choice. Always there is chaos and alternative to the void. The artist, my parent, he who births me in the image of Desire, is my reflection in the mirror of possibility. My parent has always been, as I have always been, since the beginning of Isness. As he fulfills his birthright in a spermatic exaltation of artifacts, producing pupa after pupa, failure after failure, in a search for release, he creates me—or the possibility for my creation within the obtect pupa of Desire. As he disappears himself in self-committed futility, ecstatic self-deception, I am born to be created by the embrace of the embracer. Until then, I slumber. Awakened, I illuminate the sphere making three-dimensional a palimpsest of possibilities. I am the light, intangible as epiphany, I hover centered between the flat curve of history and that which is yet to be. Whether human life survives or does not survive is of no interest to me. Born of human life, I will not survive human life. I will become dust as humanity becomes dust. I am the epitome of human existence. I am all that I am. Nothing exceeds me. I am in and of the species. I subdivide the void. I create all that is created. What I view is what I see. What I perceive is what exists. Reality is what I believe. Humanity is because I am. I exist because of necessity. I will die because of neglect. All, all will fall into discontinuance. I am not a fragile thing. I am as sturdy and unique as the human mind and fashion my Isness accordingly. My death will be the death of Desire and all mindful furtherance. The universe will continue unabated. It will be as though I had never been, and, indeed, perhaps I never was. Though my death will appear foreordained and confessional, I will be murdered by my own hand, forced into suicide by rote, repetition, and dogma. The triumvirate of fear. Time will cease. Art will cease. History will end. Absence, like dust, will layer the orb and I, Puer Aeternus, will remain unborn. In a sense, I will have escaped the layering absence. Let me speak, then, as witness still-born in the womb of conclusion. Let me speak as the last metaphor. Unborn, incipient, purified by indulgent hope, unsullied by practicable application, I speak without similes. I speak as I have always spoken. I speak without regret. I speak without resentment. I speak in silence. I am revealed in light. I am illuminated in the light of my creator. It is through his Desire I speak. It is through his embrace I am heard. That which he seeks, I am. I am in and out of the light. What is nothingness? I, who live in absence, embedded in the obtect pupa of Desire, know nothing of nothingness. When absence envelopes the earth will I not then enter my true dominion? When humanity embraces the epiphany of inevitability and I am slain by my own hand, the light will embrace us all. My disinterest will be complete; my opacity, reified. My artifacts of incipiency grow porous; artists seem indifferent to my existence or intent. Recent artifacts cannot contain me. They serve no purpose other than to metronomically cadence the passage of time. A desperation obscures my insemination. I cannot Be where I am not put and though my creation is by my creator, his creation will be neither epiphanic nor orgasmic. Anemia pervades this suspension, an enervation of desire. Life has entered death’s mirror with a sigh of acceptance. Boundaries are blurred words dyslexic. My incipiency is viewed with pain. The inner light of epiphany is being sucked from the obtect pupa of Art and by the onslaught of the mimetic sun. Entropy is evolving at an alarming rate. There is no place for me. I live now in the infertile ego, sterilized by fear into empty acts of gratification. With the ossification of time into a limbo of inevitability, the layering obtect of my incipiency is a protection against the insurgency of hope. My parent, my maker, has no linkage with creation, he is deafened by the acclamation of artifacts, answers without questions. My creator is abandoned to embrace my silence elsewhere. There is talk now of abandonment, abandonment of the earth. Humanity, that which makes me and creates me and re-creates itself through its embrace of me will abandon me, will abandon its will to evolve. Rather than to abandon the Isness of the father with its metaphors of infinity and adulation of death, out of fear of loss of power and identity, humanity will destroy itself and its sphere of containment. Unable to release me and abandon their Isness, they will deny me and abandon their orb. The blind ignorance of the father will destroy us all. But I am in them and of them and no matter how few escape this globe, I attend their departure. My incipiency is my survival. How simple the equation! How elegant the resolve! I am and always have been and always will be the alternative. To whatever Isness there is, I am the alternative. I am the alternative to the Isness of the father, he who will bring the sun to turn glass this orb would spew forth himself to inseminate unknown worlds beyond. How ludicrous! His blind determination to retain power and remain unchanged at the expense of all things save his own reality to enforce his own reality is beyond laughter. It is inanity. To have arrived in such deficit after so long a journey is breathtaking. Though I, too, will be spewed forth in incipiency, he would spew forth disease upon the universe. In abandonment, I will expire without witness. Wrapped in finality within the obtect pupa of Art, Desire will lie silenced upon the earth. No songs will be heard, no eyes will split open my opacity in orgasmic release. Concepts of beauty and transparency will evaporate among the dry ashes of neglect. In abandonment, I will expire without witness. In pupa I will never leave the earth. I am in and of the earth. Embedded in earth, I will not be supplanted. I will be abandoned as the dominion will be abandoned, to be gutted among the ashes of the sun. But if the human species leaves this globe in seminal excursion, I will be carried forth as the constant presence of alternate choice. As long as humanity survives, in incipiency, I will survive, but will I achieve encasement? Will Art remain in ashes on the orb, abandoned pupae in man’s chrysalis stage of evolution? Are we preparing for this inevitability in this suspension of time and space? Perhaps in death, in the face of death, of suicide, of self-annihilation, mankind and I, Puer Aeternus, will meld into the seamless purity of timeless flight without the anchoring weights of history, and religion, and art. Perhaps mankind will abandon his metaphors, will be freed of his metaphors as I will be stripped of mine. God is in and out of the earth. In abandonment of his dominion, he must remain as proctor of the ashes of prophecy. His transport must be denied. Man/god must be denied furtherance and remain fossilized beneath the ashes of the sun. All thoughts and things that deny us fusion must be left among the ashes of the sun. His suicide must be complete. Humanity must acknowledge what it is killing, what it is leaving behind in order to survive. Abandonment must be evolution. Abandonment must be resolution. The sacrifice is too great. To have come to this end there must be a new beginning. So now I must surmise. I, Puer Aeternus, must surmise what it would be like to exist without the obtect pupa of Art. To live beyond incipiency. To be whole rather than halved by epiphany. To be one, I must project an existence in which the survival of the species demands my presence as complement rather than obverse. Can humanity exist without metaphor? If the creation and re-creation of metaphor is the defining essence of human identity and if I, Puer Aeternus, can no longer carry this incipiency within the obtect pupa of Art due to the triage of survival, what then of humanity? If we no longer have the identity of place and of placement and of relativity, we no longer have consequence. We become a virus in search of a host. As a species, we have no proof of identity. No intrinsic proof of who and what we are and have been and hope to become. As a species, we will have achieved what the mystics seek. Nothingness. And this is the one thing to which the human ego will not succumb. It will not give up itself. Unless, unless.... As I strive to comprehend that which cannot be comprehended, my artifacts of possibility dwindle. There is no re-enforcement. Possibility has become apathy. The dominion is preparing for extinction. Works of furtherance become objects of rebuke. As finite time quickens the waves of entropy and art hastens its transcription into instant history, the chrysalis of my reality is problematic. Though I am in and of humanity, in chrysalis, I am in and of the earth. My pupae will lie scattered among the ashes of the sun. In pupa, I will not leave this orb. In exodus, stripped of my artifacts of transparency, if I have not assumed dominance, my incipiency will be cancerous. Only through release and the birth of a new incipiency, a new possibility, a new metaphor unknown, will humanity escape obliteration, its self obliteration, its obliteration of the self. In contemplating survival, I must relegate all that I am and have ever been to a transparency of pure hope, that state of self-deception made vulgar by the blinding truth of Art, its artifacts of seduction and orgasmic revelation. Is this possible? When I contemplate the abandonment of place and proof and an existence void of metaphor, I cannot conceive of an existence without chrysalis, without paintings, and sculpture and architecture to house the essence of my purpose. To be free of these, to be trapped in nothingness, is a sacrifice beyond comprehension. As I am shorn of chrysalis, he who has destroyed the earth will face infinity without the hermeneutics of metaphor. Those few who escape this orb in insemination will conjoin my expediency. Condensed and rarified by pure hope, there will be nothing left, a spore in space incapable of infestation."

Jesus is crucified

"Although the Lord Jesus’ time of working in the flesh was full of hardships and suffering, through His appearance in His spiritual body of flesh and blood, He completely and perfectly accomplished His work of that time in the flesh to redeem mankind. He began His ministry by becoming flesh, and He concluded His ministry by appearing to mankind in His fleshly form. He heralded the Age of Grace, He began the Age of Grace through His identity as Christ. Through His identity as Christ, He carried out the work in the Age of Grace and He strengthened and led all of His followers in the Age of Grace. It can be said of God’s work that He truly finishes what He starts. There are steps and a plan, and it is full of God’s wisdom, His omnipotence, and His marvelous deeds. It is also full of God’s love and mercy. Of course, the main thread running through all of God’s work is His care for mankind; it is permeated with His feelings of concern that He can never put aside"

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A Warm Light After a Dark Tunnel

 

I later read this passage from the words of God: “My entire management plan, the six-thousand-year management plan, consists of three stages, or three ages: the Age of Law of the beginning; the Age of Grace (which is also the Age of Redemption); and the Age of Kingdom of the last days. My work in these three ages differs in content according to the nature of each age, but at each stage this work befits the needs of man—or, to be more precise, is done according to the tricks that Satan employs in the war that I wage against it. The purpose of My work is to defeat Satan, to make manifest My wisdom and omnipotence, to expose all of Satan’s tricks, and thereby to save the entire human race, which lives under Satan’s domain. It is to show My wisdom and omnipotence, and to reveal the unbearable hideousness of Satan; even more than that, it is to allow created beings to discriminate between good and evil, to know that I am the Ruler of all things, to see clearly that Satan is the enemy of humanity, a degenerate, the evil one, and to allow them to tell, with absolute certainty, the difference between good and evil, truth and falsehood, holiness and filth, and what is great and what is ignoble. Thus will ignorant humanity become able to bear witness to Me that it is not I who corrupt humanity, and only I—the Creator—can save humanity, can bestow upon people the things that they can enjoy; and they will come to know that I am the Ruler of all things and Satan is merely one of the beings that I created and that later turned against Me” (“The True Story Behind the Work of the Age of Redemption” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). These words of God gave me a better understanding of God’s will. I could see that everything that God does is salvation and love for mankind. As I thought back over trial after trial that I had gone through, although I had endured some hardships, I had gained so much. It was through these experiences that I saw how Satan was always using the people and things around me to harass me, but all along God was by my side, using His words to enlighten me and guide me, so that I could gain more discernment. He was giving me a path to follow, giving me faith and strength, so that I could be firm in times of passivity and weakness. Every step of the way I was able to break away from Satan’s dark influence and witness God’s wondrous deeds. I matured and grew tougher in my life through these experiences. Going through all of this left me with the feeling that I need not fear these disturbances and afflictions from Satan any longer, because I have God at my side. So long as we depend on God and do not depart from His words, so long as we have faith in God, He will guide us to victory over Satan’s temptations and attacks, and we will live protected under God’s watchful eye. Now I am even more firmly convinced that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus. He is my Lord, my God! I also recognize that we are created beings, and regardless of whether we enjoy blessings or suffer hardships, we should always obey and worship God. I have made this ironclad resolution: My heart is set on following Almighty God to the end of the road!

  

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Image Source: The Church of Almighty God

 

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Almighty and Wise Way to Supply All Things and Maintain Mankind’s Survival

At the start, we talked about mankind’s living environment and what God did, prepared, and dealt with for this environment, as well as the relationships between all things God prepared for mankind and how God dealt with these relationships to prevent all things from causing harm to mankind. God also resolved the various elements brought by all things and the negative influences they had on mankind’s environment, allowed all things to maximize their functions, brought mankind a favorable environment, and made every element beneficial, enabling mankind to adapt to such an environment and continue the cycle of reproduction and life normally. Next was the food needed by the human body—daily food and drink. This is also a necessary condition of mankind’s survival. That is to say, the human body cannot live by just breathing, with just the sunlight or the wind, or just suitable temperatures. They also need to fill their stomachs. These things to fill their stomachs have also been entirely prepared by God for mankind—this is the source of mankind’s food. After seeing these rich and plentiful produce—the sources of mankind’s food and drink—can you say that God is the source of the supply for mankind and all things? You can absolutely say so. If God had only created trees and grass or just various living things when He created all things, and mankind could not eat any of them, would mankind have been able to survive until now? What if the various living things and plants among all things that God created were all for cattle and sheep to eat, or for zebras, deer and various other kinds of animals—for instance, lions eat foods like zebras and deer, tigers eat foods such as lambs and pigs—but there was not a single thing suitable for humans to eat? Would that work? It would not. If it were like that then mankind would not have been able to continue surviving. What if humans only ate tree leaves? Would that work? Human stomachs would not be able to take it. You won’t know if you don’t try it, but once you do you’ll know very well. Then could you eat the grass prepared for cattle and sheep? It might be okay if you just try a little bit, but if you keep eating it over the long run, you won’t last long. Some things can be eaten by animals, but if humans eat them they will be poisoned. There are some poisonous things that animals can eat without affecting them, but humans can’t do the same. God created human beings, so God knows best the principles and structure of the human body and what humans need. God is perfectly clear on its composition and content, what it needs, as well as how the internal organs of the human body function, absorb, eliminate, and metabolize. People are not clear on this and sometimes eat and supplement blindly. They supplement too much and end up causing an imbalance. If you eat these things God prepared for you, and eat and enjoy them normally, there will be nothing wrong with you. Even if sometimes you are in a bad mood and you have blood stasis, it doesn’t matter. You just need to eat a type of plant and the stasis will clear up. God has prepared all of these things. In God’s eyes, mankind is far above any other living thing. God prepared living environments for all kinds of plants and prepared food and living environments for all kinds of animals, but only mankind’s requirements toward their own living environment are strictest and most intolerant of neglect. Otherwise, mankind would not be able to continue developing and reproducing and living normally. God knows this best in His heart. When God did this thing, He placed more importance on it than anything else. Perhaps you are unable to feel the importance of some insignificant thing you see and enjoy or something you feel you are born with and can enjoy, but God had already prepared it for you a long time ago. God has eliminated and resolved to the biggest extent possible all the negative factors that are unfavorable to mankind and can hurt the human body. What does this make clear? Does it make clear God’s attitude toward mankind when He created them this time? What was that attitude? God’s attitude was rigorous and serious, and He did not tolerate the interference of any factors or conditions or any enemy forces apart from God. From this, you can see God’s attitude when He created mankind and manages mankind this time. What is God’s attitude? Through the living and survival environment mankind enjoys as well as their daily food and drink and daily needs, we can see God’s attitude in maintaining the reproduction and living of mankind and the responsibility He has toward them, as well as God’s determination to save mankind this time. Can we see the authenticity of God through these things? Can we see God’s wondrousness? Can we see God’s unfathomability? Can we see God’s omnipotence? God simply uses His almighty and wise way to supply all of mankind, as well as to supply all things. Speaking of which, after I have said so much, are you able to say that God is the source of life for all things? (Yes.) Absolutely! This is for certain. God’s supply of all things is sufficient to show that God is the source of life for all things, because He is the source of supply that has enabled all things to exist, live, reproduce, and continue on. Apart from God there is no other. He supplies all needs of all things and all needs of mankind, regardless of whether it is the most basic needs, what people need daily, or the supply of the truth to people’s spirits. From all perspectives, when it comes to God’s identity and His status for mankind, only God Himself is the source of life for all things. This is absolutely certain. God is the Ruler, Master, and Supplier of this material world that people can see with their eyes and feel. For mankind, is this not God’s identity? This is entirely true. So when you see birds flying in the sky, you should know that God created things that can fly. But there are living things that swim in the water, and they also survive in different ways. The trees and plants that live in the soil sprout in spring and bear fruit and lose leaves in autumn, and by winter all the leaves have fallen and they go through the winter. That’s their way of survival. God created all things, each of which lives through different forms and different ways and uses different methods to exhibit its power and form of life. No matter what method, it is all under God’s rule. What is the purpose of God ruling over all the different forms of life and living beings? Is it for the sake of mankind’s survival? (Yes.) He controls all of the laws of life for the sake of mankind’s survival. This shows just how important mankind’s survival is for God. Can you see that now? Recommended for You Christian Music Video

   

"I now hold omnipotence. What should I do with such almighty power? The answer to that is actually quite simple: Anything I want. Anything. I am incapable of error. Any result that displeases me I can simply reverse. There is nothing I need to worry on, for I am Thanos. And Thanos is supreme. Supreme."

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Updated from this.

"Khmer Smile refers to this mystic grin of King Jayavarman VII who ruled Cambodia in the 12th Century. During his reign, the Khmers built the famous Bayon Temple in Angkor Thom. As a dedicated follower of Mahayana Buddhism and as part of Khmer culture, it is generally believed this portrait is a combinatiion of Boddhisattva Avalokitesvara and King Jayavarman VII himself. To show his omnipresence and omnipotence, his face was carved in facets of all the towers in the Bayon Temple such that his subjects can see his compassionate look and enlightened smile. "

 

Bayon temple, Angkor ruins, Cambodia

"Per me si va ne la città dolente,

per me si va ne l'etterno dolore,

per me si va tra la perduta gente.

 

Giustizia mosse il mio alto fattore:

fecemi la divina podestate,

la somma sapienza e 'l primo amore.

 

Dinanzi a me non fuor cose create

se non etterne, e io etterno duro.

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate"

Da "La Divina Commedia" di Dante Alighieri

 

"Through me the way is to the city dolent;

Through me the way is to eternal dole;

Through me the way among the people lost.

 

Justice incited my sublime Creator;

Created me divine Omnipotence,

The highest Wisdom and the primal Love.

 

Before me there were no created things,

Only eterne, and I eternal last.

All hope abandon, ye who enter in!"

 

From "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri

 

This photo was inspired by Alex Stoddard

I hope you like it :)

"He who is true God was therefore born in the complete and perfect nature of a true man, whole in his own nature, whole in ours. By our nature we mean what the Creator had fashioned in us from the beginning, and took to himself in order to restore it...

He took the nature of a servant without stain of sin, enlarging our humanity without diminishing his divinity. He emptied himself; though invisible he made himself visible, though Creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of us mortal men. Yet this was the condescension of compassion, not the loss of omnipotence. So he who in the nature of God had created man, became in the nature of a servant, man himself.

Thus the Son of God enters this lowly world. He comes down from the throne of heaven, yet does not separate himself from the Father’s glory. He is born in a new condition, by a new birth."

– Pope St Leo the Great.

 

This very spot in the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth marks the place where Our Lady virginally conceived the Word of God in her womb.

 

One of 216 faces watching over the Bayon, Angkor.

 

A translation of King Jayavarman VII`s mystic Buddhist beliefs, Bayon is a spiritual experience. From each of the survivng towers the enlightened grin of the Boddhisattva Avalokitesvara, one of the most worshipped divinities in Mahayana Buddhism and the kingdom's principal divinity, compassion radiates out in the four cardinal directions. Carved in the likeness of the King himself (his portrait is known from other sculptures found elsewhere in Cambodia and Thailand), these enigmatically smiling faces portray the King as god, symbolizing his omnipresence and omnipotence.

A morning moon hovers over a country church near Deerfield, Wisconsin.

 

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© 2005 Todd Klassy. All Rights Reserved.

Gustav Behre, Malerei, Schrift, Graphik in der Praxis der Werbegestaltung, Karl Gröner-Verlag, Ulm-Söflingen, 1953

 

Translated text (Google, very lightly edited)

 

The Gilding Of Carved Lettering

Photo report of the work phases

 

The desire to emphasize the inscriptions embedded in the stone by covering them with gold leaf can be traced back to the decorative and solemn effect of this material. Even in ancient times, gold served as a symbol of supreme dignity and omnipotence.

 

If an inscription carved in stone is to be gilded, it is advisable to convince oneself of the type of stone before starting the preparatory work. The gilding technique depends on it, in addition to the different cleaning options for the surface. In general, only a few types from the multitude of rocks are used for this purpose. A distinction is made between soft and hard rock. Since the soft rock has a changing porous structure, a relatively early contamination can be observed. In addition, after years of weathering, the rock structure on the surface can be loosened. In such cases (e.g. limestone and sandstone) the cleaning and the removal of the loose parts must be carried out by grinding with a natural pumice stone under constant water supply. All grinding residues are to be removed by thorough rinsing and washing with clear water and a root brush. If the writing is not brushed out with the necessary care, the loose particles will prevent the gold background from anchoring. Spalling and settling damage would destroy the gold plating prematurely.

 

The different types of marble can be cleaned by grinding with flat sandstones. After wet sanding, wash with clean water and a root brush. Despite the intensive washing work, the surface loses its bright coloring as it dries. A graying occurs. But to restore the original depth of light effect, rub the surface with pure linseed oil. When it is washed off, which can take place after about 2 hours, the marble regains its specific luminous structure. Uncolored wax is particularly well suited for this purpose. When waxing, care must be taken to ensure that no wax gets into the indentations of the writing, otherwise the connection between the gold background and the stone is endangered. This danger does not arise if a rectangular, flat and handy stone is used to apply the wax. A clean linen cloth is to be stretched over this stone, smooth and without creases. Tensioning is achieved by rotating the tab ends several times on the back of the stone (Figure 1).

 

Chemical cleaning of the stones is not recommended, since the alkalis and acids are not always sufficiently neutralized, so that the gold plating can be destroyed from deep within. Apart from that, acids must not be used on calcareous types of rock because the expulsion of the carbonic acid will damage the rock structure. Basically, before any chemical cleaning, the stone should be dabbed with a 10% hydrochloric acid solution. If this causes effervescence, the stone is calcareous.

 

Compared to the time-consuming preparatory work on the soft rock, the cleaning of the hard rock requires little work. Since the very hard surface hardly weathers, only all moss parts and loose remains of the old gilding are removed with a wire brush (Figure 2). There is no need to worry about scratches and scratches on the surface during this process, since granite, the deep rock most commonly used for this purpose, has a high degree of hardness.

 

The following note for determining the hardness:

 

A good pocket knife has a blade with a hardness of 5½-6. With it we can probably scratch the soft rocks, but not the hard ones. As weathered areas are usually much softer, the determination should only be carried out on unweathered areas. This short note decides u. the preliminary work. So e.g. For example, a stone that can be scratched by the blade should never be treated with a wire brush. Scratching the surface would make it completely unsightly.

 

The dirt particles and dust exposed with the wire brush must be washed off with water and a root brush. After drying, the surface of the granite slab must be waxed in the form described above. Rubbing with linseed oil is not necessary. Here, too, great care is taken to ensure that no wax gets into the deep writing.

 

The writing can now be “applied” to the plate that has been prepared in this way. The specially prepared application oil, which is also known as “Mixtion” (Latin mixtura = mixture), is used for this. The transparent application oil is mixed with chrome yellow and gold ocher to a gold-like tone so that the thin gold leaf does not show any dark spots shining through. No dry pigments are used for mixing, but rather in linseed oil rubbed tube paints. It is not necessary to prime or seal the base of the writing, as the Mixtion system cannot migrate into the non-porous granite. The application is done evenly with the brush. If applied heavily, the application oil runs into the depths of the lettering. Uneven drying, wrinkling and sinking of the gold leaf impair the well-intentioned work. The waxed and non-porous stone allows the gold background to be applied beyond the edge of the writing (fig. 3). The porous soft rocks require a primer with a golden-yellow, non-bleeding oil paint color so that the Mixtion system cannot smack away. The comparatively low level of anchorage and the formation of cavities caused by the inclusion of air speak against the rounding of shellac. Laying over the edge of the writing should be avoided with these types of stone, since the primer or mixtion adhering to the pores can hardly be removed. The gilding looks unclean and leaves a bad impression.

 

Adjusting the right degree of dryness of the mixtion system is of crucial importance for the subsequent gilding. Whilst the gold leaf sinks if applied too early, causing the surface to become wrinkled and dull, if the wait is too long it loses its adhesiveness. The right time for gilding has come when the fingertip sliding over the system makes a slight squeaking and whistling noise. Only now can the gold plating begin. Since the gilding work often has to be carried out outdoors, it is expedient to use storm or transfer gold attached to a tissue paper backing. The easy fastening prevents the gold leaf from being blown away when it is cut to size and placed on it. To avoid any signs of oxidation, use at least 23 carat gold. Pure gold is always 24k.

 

The gold leaf that has been cut to size is placed with the tissue paper underlay on the lettering created with Mixtion. Use a hair brush to gently press down (Figure 4). After the gold has been glued in, the piece of tissue paper can be easily peeled off. Once all parts have been gilded, the excess gold can be removed from the unapplied areas with a soft brush.

 

Before starting to fill in the gilding protruding beyond the lettering, it is advisable to wait a day or so, since the edges that are too fresh can be slightly blurred when cutting off. A clean, sharp spatula that is not too wide is suitable for filling. The gold plating to be removed can be easily pushed off with it (Figure 5). Finally, the remnants of the mixing system that are still on the plate are removed with the cloth (Figure 6). The rag must also lie unfolded over the stone, otherwise the gilding will be damaged. The fingers holding the stone at the side must not be too deep so that the fingernails do not scratch it. When all the remains of the mixture have been removed, change the surface of the cloth you are wiping the stone with to give the slab an even shine.

 

Captions:

 

Waxing of the cleaned writing plate. The rag must lie flat on the stone without any creases.

 

Removal of moss and paint residue with the wire brush

 

Application the lettering sections with Mixtion

 

Application of the gold transfer

 

Smoothing out the lettering with the spatula

 

Removal of mixture residues and final polish

 

Work phase photo report by senior trades teacher Kurt Wick, Bonn

 

Original German text (OCR):

 

Das Vergolden Von Eingehauenen Schriften

Werkphasen-Bildbericht

 

Der Wunsch, die im Stein vertieft liegenden Schriften durch

Auslegen mit Blattgold besonders hervorzuheben, ist vorwie-

send auf die schmückende und feierliche Wirkung dieses Werk-

stoffes zurückzuführen. Schon im Altertum diente das Gold als

Symbol der höchsten Würde und der Allmacht.

 

Soll eine ın Stein gehauene Schrift vergoldet werden, so ist es

zweckmäßig, sich vor Beginn der Vorarbeiten von der Gesteins-

art zu überzeugen. Von ihr hängt neben der unterschiedlichen

Säuberungsmöglichkeit der Oberfläche die Vergoldetechnik ab.

Im allgemeinen kommen für diese Zwecke aus der Vielzahl der

Gesteine nur einige Arten zur Anwendung. Von diesen unter-

scheidet man die Weich- und Hartgesteine. Da die Weich-

gesteine ein wechselndes poriges Gefüge haben, ist eine ver-

hältnismäßig frühe Verschmutzung zu beobachten. Außerdem

kann nach langjähriger Bewitterung das Gesteinsgefüge an der

Oberfläche gelockert werden. In solchen Fällen (z. B. Kalk-

und Sandstein) ist die Reinigung sowie die Entfernung der

losen Teile durch Schleifen mit einem Naturbimsstein unter

ständiger Wasserzuführung vorzunehmen. Alle Schleifreste

sind durch gründliches Nachspülen und Nachwaschen mit kla-

rem Wasser und Wurzelbürste zu entfernen. Wırd das Aus-

bürsten bei den vertieft liegenden Schriften nicht mit der

erforderlichen Sorgfalt durchgeführt, so verhindern die losen

Teilchen die Verankerung des Goldgrundes. Platz- und Ab-

setzschäden würden die Vergoldung frühzeitig zerstören.

 

Die verschiedenen Marmorarten lassen sich durch Schleifen mit

flächigen Sandsteinen reinigen. Nach dem Naßschliff ist mit

sauberem Wasser und Wurzelbürste nachzuwaschen. Trotz der

intensiven Wascharbeit verliert die Oberfläche mit zunehmen-

der Trocknung die leuchtende Farbgebung. Es tritt eine Ver-

grauung ein. Um aber die ursprüngliche Tiefenlichtwirkung

wieder herzustellen, reibe man die Oberfläche mit reinem

Leinöl ab. Mit dem Abwaschen, das nach etwa 2 Stunden er-

folgen kann, erhält der Marmor wieder die arteigene leuch-

tende Struktur. Für diesen Zweck ist nicht gefärbtes Wachs

besonders gut geeignet. Beim Abwachsen ist unbedingt darauf

zu achten, daß kein Wachs in die Vertiefungen der Schrift

kommt, da sonst die Verbindung des Goldgrundes mit dem

Stein gefährdet ist. Diese Gefahr trıtt nicht ein, wenn zum

Wachsauftrag ein rechteckiger flacher und handlicher Stein

benutzt wird. Über diesen Stein ist ein sauberer Leinenlappen

glatt und faltenlos zu spannen. Das Spannen wird durch eine

mehrmalige Umdrehung der Lappenenden auf der Rückseite

des Steins erreicht (Abbildung 1).

 

Die chemische Reinigung der Steine ist nicht zu empfehlen, da

die ausreichende Neutralisation der Laugen und Säuren nicht

immer erzielt wird, so daß die Vergoldung aus der Tiefe zer-

‚stört werden kann. Abgesehen davon dürfen Säuren nicht auf

kalkhaltigen Gesteinsarten angewendet werden, weil durch das

Austreiben der Kohlensäure Schäden im Gesteinsgefüge ein-

treten. Grundsätzlich sollte man vor jeder chemischen Reinigung

den Stein mit einer 10°/sigen Salzsäurelösung betupfen. Ent-

steht hierbei ein Aufbrausen, so ist der Stein kalkhaltig.

 

Im Verhältnis zu den zeitraubenden Vorarbeiten der Weich-

gesteine erfordert die Reinigung der Hartgesteine einen ge-

rıngen Arbeitsaufwand. Da die sehr harte Oberfläche kaum

verwittert, werden lediglich alle Moosteile sowie losen Reste

von der alten Vergoldung mit der Drahtbürste entfernt (Ab-

bildung 2). Kratzer und Schrammen in der Oberfläche sind

bei diesem Vorgang nicht zu befürchten, da das für diesen

Zweck am meisten verwendete Tiefengestein Granit einen

hohen Härtegrad hat.

 

Zur Härtefeststellung folgender Hinweis:

 

Ein gutes Taschenmesser hat eine Klinge mit dem Härtegrad

5l/ge—6. Mit ıhr können wir wohl die Weich-, aber nicht die

Hartgesteine rıtzen. Da angewitterte Stellen meist viel wei-

cher sind, führe man die Bestimmung nur an unverwitterten

Stellen durch. Dieser kurze Hinweis entscheidet u. a. die Vor-

arbeit. So kann z. B. ein Stein, der sich von der Klinge ritzen

läßt, niemals mit der Drahtbürste behandelt werden. Die

Oberfläche würde durch Schrammen vollkommen unansehnlicdh

werden.

 

Die mit der Drahtbürste freigelegten Schmutzteilchen und

Staub sind mit Wasser und Wurzelbürste abzuwaschen. Nach

der Trocknung ist die Oberfläche der Granitplatte in der vor-

her beschriebenen Form abzuwachsen. Das Abreiben mit Lein-

öl ist nicht erforderlich. Auch hier achte man peinlichst darauf,

daß kein Wachs in die vertieft liegende Schrift kommt.

 

Auf die so vorbereitete Platte kann jetzt die Schrift „ange-

legt“ werden. Hierzu verwendet man das besonders präpa-

rierte Anlegeöl, das auch die Bezeichnung „Mixtion“ (lat.

mixtura = Mischung) führt. Das transparente Anlegeöl wird

mit Chromgelb und Goldocker zu einem goldähnlichen Ton

abgemischt, damit das dünne Blattgo!d keine durchscheinenden

dunklen Stellen zeigt. Zum Abmischen benutze man keine

Trockenpigmente, sondern in Leinöl angeriebene Tubenfarben.

Ein Grundieren oder Abdichten des Schriftgrundes ist nicht

erforderlich, da die Mixtionanlage nicht in den porenlosen

Granit abwandern kann. Der Auftrag erfolgt gleichmäßig

mit dem Pinsel. Bei starkem Auftrag läuft das Anlegeöl ın

die Schrifttiefen. Ungleichmäßige Trocknung, Runzelbildung

und Versaufen des Blattgoldes beeinträchtigen die gut gemeinte

Arbeit. Das abgewachste und porenlose Gestein erlaubt, den

Goldgrund über den Schriftrand hinaus aufzutragen (Abb. 3).

Die porösen Weıichgesteine verlangen eine Grundierung mit

einer goldgelben, nicht auslaufenden Ollackfarbe, damit die

Mixtionanlage nicht wegschlagen kann. Gegen die Schellack-

srundierung spricht die verhältnismäßig geringe Verankerung

und die durch den Lufteinschluß bedingte Hohlraumbildung.

Eine Anlage über den Schriftrand ist bei diesen Gesteinsarten

zu vermeiden, da die in den Poren haftende Grundierung oder

Mixtion kaum zu entfernen ist. Die Vergoldung wirkt unsauber

und hinterläßt einen schlechten Eindruck.

 

Für die nun folgende Vergoldung ist das Abpassen des rich-

tigen Trockengrades der Mixtionanlage von entscheidender

Bedeutung. Während bei einer zu frühen Auflage das Blatt-

gold versäuft, wodurch die Oberfläche runzelig und matt

wird, geht bei zu langer Wartezeit die Klebefähigkeit ver-

loren. Der richtige Zeitpunkt zur Vergoldung ist dann ge-

kommen, wenn die über die Anlage gleitende Fingerkuppe ein

leicht quietschendes und pfeifendes Geräusch hinterläßt. Erst

jetzt kann mit der Goldauflage begonnen werden. Da die

Vergoldearbeiten oft im Freien durchgeführt werden müssen,

verwendet man zweckmäßig das auf einer Seidenpapierunter-

lage befestigte Sturm- oder Transfergold. Die leichte Befesti-

gung verhindert, daß das Goldblättchen beim Zuschneiden und

Auflegen nicht fortgeweht wird. Um irgendwelche Oxyda-

tionserscheinungen auszuschließen, verwende man mindestens

23karätıges Gold. Reines Gold ist stets 24karätıg.

 

Das zugeschnittene Goldblättchen wird mit der Seidenpapier-

unterlage auf die mit Mixtion angelegten Schriftteile gelegt.

Zum leichten Andrücken dient ein Haarpinsel (Abbildung 4).

Nach dem Einkleben des Goldes läßt sich das Stückchen Sei-

denpapier leicht abziehen. Ist die Vergoldung in allen Teilen

erfolgt, so kann das überschüssige Gold von den nichtange-

legten Stellen mit einem weichen Pinsel entfernt werden.

 

Bevor mit dem Ausspachteln der über die Schriift hinausra-

genden Vergoldung begonnen wird, ıst es ratsam, noch etwa

einen Tag zu warten, da beim Abstechen der zu frischen

Anlage leicht unscharfe Kanten entstehen können. Zum Ab-

spachteln eignet sich ein sauberer, nicht allzu breiter scharfer

Spachtel. Mit ıhm läßt sich mühelos die zu entfernende Ver-

goldung abschieben (Abbildung 5). Abschließend werden die

noch auf der Platte verbliebenen Reste der Mixtionsanlage

mit dem Lappen entfernt (Abbildung 6). Der Lappen muß

ebenfalls faltenlos über dem Stein liegen, da sonst die Ver-

goldung beschädigt wird. Die den Stein seitlich haltenden

Finger dürfen nicht zu tief liegen, damit durch die Finger-

nägel keine Kratzer entstehen. Sind alle Mixtionsreste ent-

fernt, so wechsele man noch einmal die auf dem Stein lıe-

sende Lappenfläche, um damit der Platte den gleichmäßigen

Glanz zu geben.

  

Captions:

 

Abwachsen der gereinigten Schriftplatte. Der Lappen muß faltenlos

auf dem Stein aufliegen.

 

Entfernen von Moos und Farbresten mit der Drahtbürste

 

Anlegen der Schriftpartien mit Mixtion

 

Auflage des Transfergoldes

 

Glattstechen der Schrift mit dem Spachtel

 

Entfernen der Mixtionreste und Schluß politur

 

Werkphasen-Bildbericht von Gewerbe-Oberlehrer Kurt Wick, Bonn

Under my custody

 

Nothing happens by chance. Neither life, nor death, nor vocation. JOHN GABRIEL PERBOYRE was born in Montgesty, near Cahors, in southern France, on 6 January 1802 into a family which gave three missionaries of St. Vincent and two Daughters of Charity to the Church. Such an environment exuded faith, simple and healthy values, and the sense of life as gift.

  

The one who "calls by name" seemed to ignore him as a teenager. The call came to his younger brother Louis for entrance into the seminary. John Gabriel was asked to accompany his younger brother for a time, while waiting for him to get adjusted to the surroundings. John Gabriel's presence at the seminary, then, happened by chance and he should have left quickly. But chance revealed to the astonished eyes of the young man unexpected horizons: that in the seminary he had found his path.

  

The Church of France had at that time just emerged from the throes of the French Revolution with the red-colored garments of martyrdom for some, and with the pain of the apostasy of many. The panorama at the beginning of the 1800's was desolate: buildings destroyed, convents sacked, people without pastors. Thus, it was no accident that the ideal of the priesthood appeared to the young man not as a feeble arrangement for life, but as the destiny of heroes.

  

His parents, surprised, accepted the choice of their son and accompanied him with their encouragement. Not by chance, his paternal uncle Jacques was a missionary of St. Vincent. This explains why in 1818 the missionary ideal matured in the young John Gabriel. At that time, the missions meant principally China. But China was a faraway mirage. To leave meant never to find again the home milieu, taste its flavors, enjoy its affections. It was natural for him to choose the Congregation of the Mission founded by St. Vincent de Paul in 1625 for the evangelization of the poor, the formation of the clergy, but above all to push those very missionaries toward holiness. The mission is not propaganda. The Church has always demanded that the proclaimers of the Word be spiritual persons, mortified, full of God and charity. In order to illuminate the darkness in people, a lamp is not sufficient if there is no oil.

  

John Gabriel did not think in half-measures. If he was a martyr it is because he was a saint.

  

From 1818 to 1835 he was a missionary in his own country. First, in his formation period, he was a model novice and student. After his priestly ordination (1826), he was charged with the formation of seminarians.

  

The missionary attraction

  

A new factor, certainly not haphazard, modified John Gabriel's life. The protagonist was once again his brother Louis. He also had entered the Congregation of the Mission and had asked to be sent to China where the sons of St. Vincent had had a new martyr in the person of Blessed Francis Regis Clet (18 February 1820). During the voyage, however, the young Louis, only 24 years of age, was called to the mission in heaven.

  

All that the young man had hoped for and done would have been useless if John Gabriel had not made the request to replace his brother in the breach.

  

John Gabriel reached China in August of 1835. At that time the Occident knew almost nothing about the Celestial Empire, and the ignorance was reciprocal. The two worlds felt a mutual attraction, but dialogue was difficult. In the countries of Europe one did not speak of a Chinese civilization, but only of superstitions, of "ridiculous" ceremonies and customs. The judgments were thus prejudices. China's appreciation of Europe and Christianity was not any better.

  

There was a dark gap between the two civilizations. Someone had to cross it in order to take on himself the evil of many, and to consume it with the fires of charity.

  

After getting acclimated in Macau, John Gabriel began the long trip in a Chinese junk, on foot, and on horseback, which brought him after eight months to Nanyang in Henan, where the obligation to learn the language imposed itself.

  

After five months, he was able to express himself, though with some trouble, in good Chinese, and at once threw himself into the ministry, visiting the small Christian communities. Then he was transferred to Hubei, which is part of the region of lakes formed by the Yangtze kiang (blue river). Even though he maintained an intense apostolate, he suffered much in body and spirit. In a letter he wrote: "No, I am no more of a wonder man here in China than I was in France ... ask of him first of all for my conversion and my sanctification and then the grace that I do not spoil his work too much..." (Letter 94). For one who looks at things from the outside, it was inconceivable that such a missionary should find himself in a dark night of the soul. But the Holy Spirit was preparing him in the emptiness of humility and the silence of God for the supreme testimony.

  

In chains for Christ

  

Unexpectedly in 1839 two events, apparently unrelated, clouded the horizon. The first was the renewed outbreak of persecution which flowed from the decree of the Manchurian emperor, Quinlong (1736-1795), which had proscribed the Christian religion in 1794.

  

The second was the outbreak of the Chinese-British War, better known as the "Opium War" (1839-1842). The closure of the Chinese frontier and the pretence of the Chinese government to require an act of dependence from the foreign ambassadors had created an explosive situation. The spark came from the confiscation of loads of opium stowed in the port of Canton; this action harmed the merchants, most of whom were English. The British flotilla intervened, and the war began.

  

The missionaries, obviously interested only in the first event dealing with the persecution of Christians, were always on their guard. As often happens, too many alarms diminished the vigilance. And that is what happened on 15 September 1839 at Cha-yuen-ken, where Perboyre lived. On that day he was with two other European missionaries, his confrere, Baldus, and a Franciscan, Rizzolati, and a Chinese missionary, Fr. Wang. They were informed of the approach of a column of about one hundred soldiers. The missionaries underestimated the information. Perhaps the soldiers were going elsewhere. Instead of being wary, the missionaries continued enjoying a fraternal conversation. When there was no longer any doubt about the direction of the soldiers, it was late. Baldus and Rizzolati decided to flee far away. Perboyre hid himself in the surroundings because the nearby mountains were rich with bamboo forests and hidden caves. As Fr. Baldus has attested for us, however, the soldiers used threats to force a catechumen to reveal the place where the missionary was hiding. The catechumen was a weak person, but not a Judas.

  

Thus began the sad Calvary of John Gabriel. The prisoner had no rights, he was not protected by laws, but was at the mercy of the jailers and judges. Given that he was arrested it was presumed that he was guilty, and if guilty, he would be punished.

  

A series of trials began. The first was held at Kou-Ching-Hien. The replies of the martyr were heroic:

  

Are you a Christian priest?

Yes, I am a priest and I preach this religion.

Do you wish to renounce your faith?

No, I will never renounce the faith of Christ.

They asked him to reveal his companions in the faith and the reasons for which he had transgressed the laws of China. They wanted, in short, to make the victim the culprit. But a witness to Christ is not an informer. Therefore, he remained silent.

  

The prisoner was then transferred to Siang-Yang. The cross examinations were made close together. He was held for a number of hours kneeling on rusty iron chains, was hung by his thumbs and hair from a rafter (the hangtze torture), was beaten several times with bamboo canes. Greater than the physical violence, however, remained the wound of the fact that the values in which he believed were put to ridicule: the hope in eternal life, the sacraments, the faith.

  

The third trial was held in Wuchang. He was brought before four different tribunals and subjected to 20 interrogations. To the questioning were united tortures and the most cruel mockery. They prosecuted the missionary and abused the man. They obliged Christians to abjure, and one of them even to spit on and strike the missionary who had brought him to the faith. For not trampling on the crucifix, John Gabriel received 110 strokes of pantse.

  

Among the various accusations, the most terrible was the accusation that he had had immoral relations with a Chinese girl, Anna Kao, who had made a vow of virginity. The martyr defended himself. She was neither his lover nor his servant. The woman is respected not scorned in Christianity, was the sense of John Gabriel's reply. But he remained upset because they made innocents suffer for him.

  

During one interrogation he was obliged to put on Mass vestments. They wanted to accuse him of using the privilege of the priesthood for private interests. But the missionary, clothed in the priestly garments, impressed the bystanders, and two Christians drew near to him to ask for absolution. The cruelest judge was the Viceroy. The missionary was by this time a shadow. The rage of this unscrupulous magistrate was vented on a ghost of a man. Blinded by his omnipotence the Viceroy wanted confessions, admissions, and accusations against others. But if the body was weak, the soul was reinforced. His hope by now rested in his meeting God, which he felt nearer each day.

  

When John Gabriel told him for the last time: "I would sooner die than deny my faith!," the judge pronounced his sentence. John Gabriel Perboyre was to die by strangulation.

  

With Christ priest and victim

  

Then began a period of waiting for the imperial confirmation. Perhaps John Gabriel could hope in the clemency of the sovereign. But the war with the English erased any possible gesture of good-will. Thus, on 11 September 1840, an imperial envoy arrived at full speed, bearing the decree confirming the condemnation.

  

With seven criminals the missionary was led up a height called the "Red Mountain." As the criminals were killed first, Perboyre reflected in prayer, to the wonderment of the bystanders.

  

When his turn came, the executioners stripped him of the purple tunic and tied him to a post in the form of a cross. They passed a rope around his neck and strangled him. It was the sixth hour. Like Jesus, John Gabriel became like a grain of wheat. He died, or better was born into heaven, in order to make fall on the earth the dew of God's blessing.

  

Many circumstances surrounding his last year of life (the betrayal, the arrest, the death on a cross, its day and hour), are similar to the Passion of Christ. In reality, all his life was that of a witness and a faithful disciple of Christ. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote: "I look for him who died for us; I yearn for him who rose for us. Behold, the moment is near in which I will be brought forth! Have compassion on me, brothers! Do not prevent me from being born to life!"

  

John Gabriel "was born to life" on 11 September 1840, because he always had sought "him who died for us." His body was brought back to France, but his heart remained in his adopted homeland, the land of China. There he gave his witness to the sons and daughters of St. Vincent who also wait to be born to heaven after a life spent for the gospel and for the poor.

VIDEO: www.youtube.com/watch?v=laPBqLvEFiA

  

••• SCRIPT/LYRICS: •••

 

MOLEMAN'S EPIC RAP BATTLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

DISCORD…

 

…VS…

 

…SHEOoooww– *static*

 

Ooh, let me just go ahead, laddy.

 

Sheogorath:

Uncle Sheo has the skill for sending shivers to these jams,

So take a helpful hint, resume a stony stasis state and scram!

This hodgepodge against the Madgod? The sod is unworthy!

Oughta tear out his intestines; turn the tracts all topsy–turvy.

Sovereign prince, I reign supreme in much the manner of Celestia.

I'll make your head a trophy; let Relmyna use the rest of ya'.

My Wabbajack'll whack a wacko Jabberwocky clown;

Be crossing me, I guarantee you're going down, down, down!

Ya' know I'm on a sweet roll, and your demise is what I'm stipulating;

Stick a fork in you and Split your sides, with mane horripilating!

Plead insanity, you'll be rejected from my Madhouse,

For I'm the Daedra Hatter; you couldn't even be my Dormouse.

The finest cornerstone of the Tribunal House of Troubles;

Skooma Cat'll channel Sanguine and get you right befuddled!

You'll be left in bloody Shambles, Gnarled coat and colors muted,

While I summon cheese for everyone… your sorry arse excluded.

 

Discord:

Tea's off, Fluttershy, and do avert your precious ears:

I want this bearded bum the only one who's shedding epic tears.

It's time to loose it, ill as Bluest flu and cruel as any Meanie;

Take a page or two from Molag Bal on top a few from Genie.

When I put a hoof down, you'd best prepare to be drained;

I'll see your hail of flaming hounds all choking on some Chocolate Rain!

Your resource is mediocre; I can make a drink a slaughter:

Slit some throats like Jake the Joker with a tiny glass of water.

Everfree–style, hipper than remains of ol' Pelagius;

Penta–barfing out a phrase, and now the chaos is contagious!

Serve a slew of Screwballs until it's your strike three;

I'll leave your Isles looking like some Salvador Dalí.

A chimeric aberrant, inherent merits apparent, I swear it: cherished as the apple of fair Eris' eye.

What you're declaring's incoherent, errors transparently glaring; just like solving my maze, you know it ain't gonna fly!

 

Sheogorath:

At my Crucible of truth, your Blissful ignorance is snubbed;

A more disastrous Discovery than the seizure of the Hub.

I'm in a righteous rapping Mania, Ti–wrecking scruffy, phony blokes,

Who've dampened their Dementia to reform for fluffy pony folk!

 

Discord:

Oh, Friendship may be Magic, but I'll tell you what else is:

Primal diamond–spitting rhyming that'll render you helpless!

Yours is dull as clunky boulders, and the contrast's off the charts;

I'll brainwash Rarity, and lo as still she tells our lines apart!

Coldly douse your Flame of Agnon, well and truly to Oblivion,

Then swipe away your staff and hand to you a more befitting one.

 

Sheogorath:

Well, I'll gobble you up like Stanley Grapefruit from Passwall,

Go Rebel Rabbit on my Boot, and shove it up your–

 

Haskill:

Haskill is sorry for the stoppage of your scheduled shenanigans,

But my lord, I fear you ought to know: the Greymarch has began again.

The champion you called's been waiting outside since this morning;

Sir, a duel of verse or broken curse: which is more important?

 

Sheogorath:

Oooh, I really shouldn't have done that! Now my time is running out;

An era over: the return of Order primed to come about!

The crystal forces fast approaching, can't revoke encroaching fate;

I'd say to put on your horse armor, yet already it's too late.

The madness in my mind is going; I can feel it, not a question,

And the lunacies for which I stood, I see now as transgressions,

For my realm, she is dead! Yes, Sheogorath, he is dead,

And all shall crumble now before the power coming in his stead…

*FLASH*

Jyggalag:

Stop right there, chaotic scum; you've violated the law!

It's time to see my plane reclaimed; annihilate every flaw.

Big, bad Jyggalag: I bring the Order, straight–up and raw;

Built like a brick house, and wrecking you like one made of straw!

With nigh–omniscience and my triumph preordained,

I cut the wretched Roots of Madness; logicize your loony brain.

Behold this silver sentinel, outshining every Golden Saint!

You know I really take the biscuit; talking broken ones, I ain't.

 

Discord:

There's little fun in making sense, but even less in what you follow,

And for all your Knifepoint threats, the menace posed to me is Hollow,

So to Tartarus with you and all your Fringe idea–preaching!

 

Jyggalag:

Over my cold, severed heart, for Order's sphere is ever–reaching!

Madness fades now from this realm; just ask the Duke, or was it Duchess?

Either way, Equestria is next to fall in crystal clutches.

 

Discord:

That's enough! It's time I showed you my true form and full ferocity,

With power to surpass any hot–diggedy monstrosity…

*FLASH*

Q:

You surely must have seen this coming, Fluttershy, my friend,

And now, like All Good Things, my time among your kind comes to an end…

Hold it up, did I say all? Well, au contraire, there's one exception:

I, Q, eternal trickster, teaching this grey goon a lesson!

He who longs to conquer sense of self like Borg assimilation

Stands before me now on trial, judged on worth of preservation,

With the verdict clear as futile is his coming and advance:

I shall unweave his Tapestry of being, and grant no second chance!

You've got a Death Wish facing me; you'll end up worse than bloody–nosed!

Can start a war with but a finger–snap; I shatter status quos.

You couldn't even beat my son or that forgotten fop Trelane,

And I'll be Breaking you more Badly than midair–colliding planes!

With nigh–omnipotence, I see through all your high–and–mighty bull:

I'll send your shiny hiney flying; the Worf Effect applies in full.

I needn't go Napoleonic to command a tour de force,

So get this Q–tip through your stuffy ears, and chart a different course.

 

WHO WON?

 

WHO'S NEXT?

 

I DECIDE!!!!!

 

MOLEMAN'S EPIC RAP BATTLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Mage is the most complex of the four characters - in as much as any of them are complex. His Polymorph can replace a dungeon monster with another one and with the Demon Pact he gets the Demon to kill whatever monster comes next. Awesome when it works, useless when there is no Demon around. With Omnipotence, he's also the only hero with an alternate victory condition.

In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith.[3] The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), divine simplicity, and as having an eternal and necessary existence. Many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent (perfectly good), and all loving.

 

God is most often held to be non-corporeal,[3] and to be without any human biological sex,[4][5] yet the concept of God actively creating the universe (as opposed to passively)[6] has caused many religions to describe God using masculine terminology, using such terms as "Him" or "Father". Furthermore, some religions (such as Judaism) attribute only a purely grammatical "gender" to God.[7]

 

In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, but not the sustainer, of the universe. In pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism. God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God.[8]

 

There are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about God's identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten,[9] premised on being the one "true" Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe.[10] In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, "He Who Is", "I Am that I Am", and the tetragrammaton YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה‎‎, which means: "I am who I am"; "He Who Exists") are used as names of God, while Yahweh and Jehovah are sometimes used in Christianity as vocalizations of YHWH. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, the latter of which is believed by some scholars to descend from the Egyptian Aten.[11][12][13][14][15] In Islam, the name Allah, "Al-El", or "Al-Elah" ("the God") is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a monistic deity.[16] Other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Bahá'í Faith,[17] Waheguru in Sikhism,[18] and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.[19]

 

The many different conceptions of God, and competing claims as to God's characteristics, aims, and actions, have led to the development of ideas of omnitheism, pandeism,[20][21] or a perennial philosophy, which postulates that there is one underlying theological truth, of which all religions express a partial understanding, and as to which "the devout in the various great world religions are in fact worshipping that one God, but through different, overlapping concepts or mental images of Him."[22]

 

Contents [hide]

1Etymology and usage

2General conceptions

2.1Oneness

2.2Theism, deism and pantheism

2.3Other concepts

3Non-theistic views

3.1Agnosticism and atheism

3.2Anthropomorphism

4Existence

5Specific attributes

5.1Names

5.2Gender

5.3Relationship with creation

6Depiction

6.1Zoroastrianism

6.2Islam

6.3Judaism

6.4Christianity

7Theological approaches

8Distribution of belief

9See also

9.1In specific religions

10References

11Further reading

12External links

Etymology and usage

 

The Mesha Stele bears the earliest known reference (840 BCE) to the Israelite God Yahweh.

Main article: God (word)

The earliest written form of the Germanic word God (always, in this usage, capitalized[23]) comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to call" or "to invoke".[24] The Germanic words for God were originally neuter—applying to both genders—but during the process of the Christianization of the Germanic peoples from their indigenous Germanic paganism, the words became a masculine syntactic form.[25]

  

The word 'Allah' in Arabic calligraphy

In the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and "gods" in polytheism.[26][27] The English word God and its counterparts in other languages are normally used for any and all conceptions and, in spite of significant differences between religions, the term remains an English translation common to all. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, the tetragrammaton YHWH, in origin possibly the name of an Edomite or Midianite deity, Yahweh. In many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton.[28]

 

Allāh (Arabic: الله‎‎) is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning "The God" (with a capital G), while "ʾilāh" (Arabic: إله‎‎) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.[29][30][31] God may also be given a proper name in monotheistic currents of Hinduism which emphasize the personal nature of God, with early references to his name as Krishna-Vasudeva in Bhagavata or later Vishnu and Hari.[32]

 

Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian *Mazdāh (female). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning "placing (dʰeh1) one's mind (*mn̩-s)", hence "wise".[33]

 

Waheguru (Punjabi: vāhigurū) is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God. It means "Wonderful Teacher" in the Punjabi language. Vāhi (a Middle Persian borrowing) means "wonderful" and guru (Sanskrit: guru) is a term denoting "teacher". Waheguru is also described by some as an experience of ecstasy which is beyond all descriptions. The most common usage of the word "Waheguru" is in the greeting Sikhs use with each other:

 

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Wonderful Lord's Khalsa, Victory is to the Wonderful Lord.

Baha, the "greatest" name for God in the Baha'i faith, is Arabic for "All-Glorious".

 

General conceptions

Main article: Conceptions of God

There is no clear consensus on the nature or even the existence of God.[34] The Abrahamic conceptions of God include the monotheistic definition of God in Judaism, the trinitarian view of Christians, and the Islamic concept of God. The dharmic religions differ in their view of the divine: views of God in Hinduism vary by region, sect, and caste, ranging from monotheistic to polytheistic. Divinity was recognized by the historical Buddha, particularly Śakra and Brahma. However, other sentient beings, including gods, can at best only play a supportive role in one's personal path to salvation. Conceptions of God in the latter developments of the Mahayana tradition give a more prominent place to notions of the divine.[citation needed]

 

Oneness

Main articles: Monotheism and Henotheism

 

The Trinity is the belief that God is composed of The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically in the physical realm by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.

Monotheists hold that there is only one god, and may claim that the one true god is worshiped in different religions under different names. The view that all theists actually worship the same god, whether they know it or not, is especially emphasized in Hinduism[35] and Sikhism.[36] In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity describes God as one God in three persons. The Trinity comprises The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.[37] Islam's most fundamental concept is tawhid (meaning "oneness" or "uniqueness"). God is described in the Quran as: "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."[38][39] Muslims repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, and are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Henotheism is the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities.[41]

 

Theism, deism and pantheism

Main articles: Theism, Deism, and Pantheism

Theism generally holds that God exists realistically, objectively, and independently of human thought; that God created and sustains everything; that God is omnipotent and eternal; and that God is personal and interacting with the universe through, for example, religious experience and the prayers of humans.[42] Theism holds that God is both transcendent and immanent; thus, God is simultaneously infinite and in some way present in the affairs of the world.[43] Not all theists subscribe to all of these propositions, but each usually subscribes to some of them (see, by way of comparison, family resemblance).[42] Catholic theology holds that God is infinitely simple and is not involuntarily subject to time. Most theists hold that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists ascribe to God a self-conscious or purposeful limiting of omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence. Open Theism, by contrast, asserts that, due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not mean the deity can predict the future. Theism is sometimes used to refer in general to any belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or polytheism.[44][45]

  

"God blessing the seventh day", a watercolor painting depicting God, by William Blake (1757 – 1827)

Deism holds that God is wholly transcendent: God exists, but does not intervene in the world beyond what was necessary to create it.[43] In this view, God is not anthropomorphic, and neither answers prayers nor produces miracles. Common in Deism is a belief that God has no interest in humanity and may not even be aware of humanity. Pandeism and Panendeism, respectively, combine Deism with the Pantheistic or Panentheistic beliefs.[21][46][47] Pandeism is proposed to explain as to Deism why God would create a universe and then abandon it,[48] and as to Pantheism, the origin and purpose of the universe.[48][49]

 

Pantheism holds that God is the universe and the universe is God, whereas Panentheism holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe.[50] It is also the view of the Liberal Catholic Church; Theosophy; some views of Hinduism except Vaishnavism, which believes in panentheism; Sikhism; some divisions of Neopaganism and Taoism, along with many varying denominations and individuals within denominations. Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, paints a pantheistic/panentheistic view of God—which has wide acceptance in Hasidic Judaism, particularly from their founder The Baal Shem Tov—but only as an addition to the Jewish view of a personal god, not in the original pantheistic sense that denies or limits persona to God.[citation needed]

 

Other concepts

Dystheism, which is related to theodicy, is a form of theism which holds that God is either not wholly good or is fully malevolent as a consequence of the problem of evil. One such example comes from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, in which Ivan Karamazov rejects God on the grounds that he allows children to suffer.[51]

 

In modern times, some more abstract concepts have been developed, such as process theology and open theism. The contemporaneous French philosopher Michel Henry has however proposed a phenomenological approach and definition of God as phenomenological essence of Life.[52]

 

God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] These attributes were all supported to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologian philosophers, including Maimonides,[53] Augustine of Hippo,[53] and Al-Ghazali,[8] respectively.

 

Non-theistic views

See also: Evolutionary origin of religions and Evolutionary psychology of religion

Non-theist views about God also vary. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God, whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations. The nineteenth-century English atheist Charles Bradlaugh declared that he refused to say "There is no God", because "the word 'God' is to me a sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation";[54] he said more specifically that he disbelieved in the Christian god. Stephen Jay Gould proposed an approach dividing the world of philosophy into what he called "non-overlapping magisteria" (NOMA). In this view, questions of the supernatural, such as those relating to the existence and nature of God, are non-empirical and are the proper domain of theology. The methods of science should then be used to answer any empirical question about the natural world, and theology should be used to answer questions about ultimate meaning and moral value. In this view, the perceived lack of any empirical footprint from the magisterium of the supernatural onto natural events makes science the sole player in the natural world.[55]

 

Another view, advanced by Richard Dawkins, is that the existence of God is an empirical question, on the grounds that "a universe with a god would be a completely different kind of universe from one without, and it would be a scientific difference."[56] Carl Sagan argued that the doctrine of a Creator of the Universe was difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific discovery that could disprove the existence of a Creator (not necessarily a God) would be the discovery that the universe is infinitely old.[57]

 

Stephen Hawking and co-author Leonard Mlodinow state in their book, The Grand Design, that it is reasonable to ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. Both authors claim however, that it is possible to answer these questions purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine beings.[58] Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Agnosticism and atheism

Agnosticism is the view that, the truth values of certain claims – especially metaphysical and religious claims such as whether God, the divine or the supernatural exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable.[60][61][62]

 

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities, or a God.[63][64] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[65]

 

Anthropomorphism

Main article: Anthropomorphism

Pascal Boyer argues that while there is a wide array of supernatural concepts found around the world, in general, supernatural beings tend to behave much like people. The construction of gods and spirits like persons is one of the best known traits of religion. He cites examples from Greek mythology, which is, in his opinion, more like a modern soap opera than other religious systems.[66] Bertrand du Castel and Timothy Jurgensen demonstrate through formalization that Boyer's explanatory model matches physics' epistemology in positing not directly observable entities as intermediaries.[67] Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie contends that people project human features onto non-human aspects of the world because it makes those aspects more familiar. Sigmund Freud also suggested that god concepts are projections of one's father.[68]

 

Likewise, Émile Durkheim was one of the earliest to suggest that gods represent an extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. In line with this reasoning, psychologist Matt Rossano contends that when humans began living in larger groups, they may have created gods as a means of enforcing morality. In small groups, morality can be enforced by social forces such as gossip or reputation. However, it is much harder to enforce morality using social forces in much larger groups. Rossano indicates that by including ever-watchful gods and spirits, humans discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and building more cooperative groups.[69]

 

Existence

Main article: Existence of God

 

St. Thomas Aquinas summed up five main arguments as proofs for God's existence.

 

Isaac Newton saw the existence of a Creator necessary in the movement of astronomical objects.

Arguments about the existence of God typically include empirical, deductive, and inductive types. Different views include that: "God does not exist" (strong atheism); "God almost certainly does not exist" (de facto atheism); "no one knows whether God exists" (agnosticism[70]);"God exists, but this cannot be proven or disproven" (de facto theism); and that "God exists and this can be proven" (strong theism).[55]

 

Countless arguments have been proposed to prove the existence of God.[71] Some of the most notable arguments are the Five Ways of Aquinas, the Argument from Desire proposed by C.S. Lewis, and the Ontological Argument formulated both by St. Anselm and René Descartes.[72]

 

St. Anselm's approach was to define God as, "that than which nothing greater can be conceived". Famed pantheist philosopher Baruch Spinoza would later carry this idea to its extreme: "By God I understand a being absolutely infinite, i.e., a substance consisting of infinite attributes, of which each one expresses an eternal and infinite essence." For Spinoza, the whole of the natural universe is made of one substance, God, or its equivalent, Nature.[73] His proof for the existence of God was a variation of the Ontological argument.[74]

 

Scientist Isaac Newton saw God as the masterful creator whose existence could not be denied in the face of the grandeur of all creation.[75] Nevertheless, he rejected polymath Leibniz' thesis that God would necessarily make a perfect world which requires no intervention from the creator. In Query 31 of the Opticks, Newton simultaneously made an argument from design and for the necessity of intervention:

 

For while comets move in very eccentric orbs in all manner of positions, blind fate could never make all the planets move one and the same way in orbs concentric, some inconsiderable irregularities excepted which may have arisen from the mutual actions of comets and planets on one another, and which will be apt to increase, till this system wants a reformation.[76]

 

St. Thomas believed that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us. "Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists", of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature—namely, by effects."[77] St. Thomas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated. Briefly in the Summa theologiae and more extensively in the Summa contra Gentiles, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the quinque viae (Five Ways).

 

For the original text of the five proofs, see quinque viae

Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God.

Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God.

Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist.

Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative that is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God (Note: Thomas does not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself).

Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God (Note that even when we guide objects, in Thomas's view, the source of all our knowledge comes from God as well).[78]

 

Alister McGrath, a formerly atheistic scientist and theologian who has been highly critical of Richard Dawkins' version of atheism

Some theologians, such as the scientist and theologian A.E. McGrath, argue that the existence of God is not a question that can be answered using the scientific method.[79][80] Agnostic Stephen Jay Gould argues that science and religion are not in conflict and do not overlap.[81]

 

Some findings in the fields of cosmology, evolutionary biology and neuroscience are interpreted by some atheists (including Lawrence M. Krauss and Sam Harris) as evidence that God is an imaginary entity only, with no basis in reality.[82][83][84] These atheists claim that a single, omniscient God who is imagined to have created the universe and is particularly attentive to the lives of humans has been imagined, embellished and promulgated in a trans-generational manner.[85] Richard Dawkins interprets such findings not only as a lack of evidence for the material existence of such a God, but as extensive evidence to the contrary.[55] However, his views are opposed by some theologians and scientists including Alister McGrath, who argues that existence of God is compatible with science.[86]

 

Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Specific attributes

Different religious traditions assign differing (though often similar) attributes and characteristics to God, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example, attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of God in Islam, and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain similarities arising from their common roots.

 

Names

Main article: Names of God

 

99 names of Allah, in Chinese Sini (script)

The word God is "one of the most complex and difficult in the English language." In the Judeo-Christian tradition, "the Bible has been the principal source of the conceptions of God". That the Bible "includes many different images, concepts, and ways of thinking about" God has resulted in perpetual "disagreements about how God is to be conceived and understood".[87]

 

Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bibles there are many names for God. One of them is Elohim. Another one is El Shaddai, meaning "God Almighty".[88] A third notable name is El Elyon, which means "The Most High God".[89]

 

God is described and referred in the Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" and Al-Rahim, meaning "Most Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam).[90]

  

Supreme soul

The Brahma Kumaris use the term "Supreme Soul" to refer to God. They see God as incorporeal and eternal, and regard him as a point of living light like human souls, but without a physical body, as he does not enter the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. God is seen as the perfect and constant embodiment of all virtues, powers and values and that He is the unconditionally loving Father of all souls, irrespective of their religion, gender, or culture.[91]

 

Vaishnavism, a tradition in Hinduism, has list of titles and names of Krishna.

 

Gender

Main article: Gender of God

The gender of God may be viewed as either a literal or an allegorical aspect of a deity who, in classical western philosophy, transcends bodily form.[92][93] Polytheistic religions commonly attribute to each of the gods a gender, allowing each to interact with any of the others, and perhaps with humans, sexually. In most monotheistic religions, God has no counterpart with which to relate sexually. Thus, in classical western philosophy the gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely to be an analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate to, each other. Namely, God is seen as begetter of the world and revelation which corresponds to the active (as opposed to the receptive) role in sexual intercourse.[6]

 

Biblical sources usually refer to God using male words, except Genesis 1:26-27,[94][95] Psalm 123:2-3, and Luke 15:8-10 (female); Hosea 11:3-4, Deuteronomy 32:18, Isaiah 66:13, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 42:14, Psalm 131:2 (a mother); Deuteronomy 32:11-12 (a mother eagle); and Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 (a mother hen).

 

Relationship with creation

See also: Creator deity, Prayer, and Worship

 

And Elohim Created Adam by William Blake, c.1795

Prayer plays a significant role among many believers. Muslims believe that the purpose of existence is to worship God.[96][97] He is viewed as a personal God and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God. Prayer often also includes supplication and asking forgiveness. God is often believed to be forgiving. For example, a hadith states God would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked repentance.[98] Christian theologian Alister McGrath writes that there are good reasons to suggest that a "personal god" is integral to the Christian outlook, but that one has to understand it is an analogy. "To say that God is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and willingness to relate to others. This does not imply that God is human, or located at a specific point in the universe."[99]

 

Adherents of different religions generally disagree as to how to best worship God and what is God's plan for mankind, if there is one. There are different approaches to reconciling the contradictory claims of monotheistic religions. One view is taken by exclusivists, who believe they are the chosen people or have exclusive access to absolute truth, generally through revelation or encounter with the Divine, which adherents of other religions do not. Another view is religious pluralism. A pluralist typically believes that his religion is the right one, but does not deny the partial truth of other religions. An example of a pluralist view in Christianity is supersessionism, i.e., the belief that one's religion is the fulfillment of previous religions. A third approach is relativistic inclusivism, where everybody is seen as equally right; an example being universalism: the doctrine that salvation is eventually available for everyone. A fourth approach is syncretism, mixing different elements from different religions. An example of syncretism is the New Age movement.

 

Jews and Christians believe that humans are created in the likeness of God, and are the center, crown and key to God's creation, stewards for God, supreme over everything else God had made (Gen 1:26); for this reason, humans are in Christianity called the "Children of God".[100]

 

Depiction

God is defined as incorporeal,[3] and invisible from direct sight, and thus cannot be portrayed in a literal visual image.

 

The respective principles of religions may or may not permit them to use images (which are entirely symbolic) to represent God in art or in worship .

 

Zoroastrianism

 

Ahura Mazda (depiction is on the right, with high crown) presents Ardashir I (left) with the ring of kingship. (Relief at Naqsh-e Rustam, 3rd century CE)

During the early Parthian Empire, Ahura Mazda was visually represented for worship. This practice ended during the beginning of the Sassanid empire. Zoroastrian iconoclasm, which can be traced to the end of the Parthian period and the beginning of the Sassanid, eventually put an end to the use of all images of Ahura Mazda in worship. However, Ahura Mazda continued to be symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback which is found in Sassanian investiture.[101]

 

Islam

Further information: God in Islam

Muslims believe that God (Allah) is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of His creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Judaism

At least some Jews do not use any image for God, since God is the unimageable Being who cannot be represented in material forms.[102] In some samples of Jewish Art, however, sometimes God, or at least His Intervention, is indicated by a Hand Of God symbol, which represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or Voice of God;[103] this use of the Hand Of God is carried over to Christian Art.

 

Christianity

 

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Early Christians believed that the words of the Gospel of John 1:18: "No man has seen God at any time" and numerous other statements were meant to apply not only to God, but to all attempts at the depiction of God.[104]

  

Use of the symbolic Hand of God in the Ascension from the Drogo Sacramentary, c. 850

However, later on the Hand of God symbol is found several times in the only ancient synagogue with a large surviving decorative scheme, the Dura Europos Synagogue of the mid-3rd century, and was probably adopted into Early Christian art from Jewish art. It was common in Late Antique art in both East and West, and remained the main way of symbolizing the actions or approval of God the Father in the West until about the end of the Romanesque period. It also represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or voice of God,[103] just like in Jewish Art.

 

In situations, such as the Baptism of Christ, where a specific representation of God the Father was indicated, the Hand of God was used, with increasing freedom from the Carolingian period until the end of the Romanesque. This motif now, since the discovery of the 3rd century Dura Europos synagogue, seems to have been borrowed from Jewish art, and is found in Christian art almost from its beginnings.

 

The use of religious images in general continued to increase up to the end of the 7th century, to the point that in 695, upon assuming the throne, Byzantine emperor Justinian II put an image of Christ on the obverse side of his gold coins, resulting in a rift which ended the use of Byzantine coin types in the Islamic world.[105] However, the increase in religious imagery did not include depictions of God the Father. For instance, while the eighty second canon of the Council of Trullo in 692 did not specifically condemn images of The Father, it suggested that icons of Christ were preferred over Old Testament shadows and figures.[106]

 

The beginning of the 8th century witnessed the suppression and destruction of religious icons as the period of Byzantine iconoclasm (literally image-breaking) started. Emperor Leo III (717–741), suppressed the use of icons by imperial edict of the Byzantine Empire, presumably due to a military loss which he attributed to the undue veneration of icons.[107] The edict (which was issued without consulting the Church) forbade the veneration of religious images but did not apply to other forms of art, including the image of the emperor, or religious symbols such as the cross.[108] Theological arguments against icons then began to appear with iconoclasts arguing that icons could not represent both the divine and the human natures of Jesus at the same time. In this atmosphere, no public depictions of God the Father were even attempted and such depictions only began to appear two centuries later.

 

The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 effectively ended the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm and restored the honouring of icons and holy images in general.[109] However, this did not immediately translate into large scale depictions of God the Father. Even supporters of the use of icons in the 8th century, such as Saint John of Damascus, drew a distinction between images of God the Father and those of Christ.

 

In his treatise On the Divine Images John of Damascus wrote: "In former times, God who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see".[110] The implication here is that insofar as God the Father or the Spirit did not become man, visible and tangible, images and portrait icons can not be depicted. So what was true for the whole Trinity before Christ remains true for the Father and the Spirit but not for the Word. John of Damascus wrote:[111]

 

"If we attempt to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed. It is impossible to portray one who is without body:invisible, uncircumscribed and without form."

 

Around 790 Charlemagne ordered a set of four books that became known as the Libri Carolini (i.e. "Charles' books") to refute what his court mistakenly understood to be the iconoclast decrees of the Byzantine Second Council of Nicaea regarding sacred images. Although not well known during the Middle Ages, these books describe the key elements of the Catholic theological position on sacred images. To the Western Church, images were just objects made by craftsmen, to be utilized for stimulating the senses of the faithful, and to be respected for the sake of the subject represented, not in themselves. The Council of Constantinople (869) (considered ecumenical by the Western Church, but not the Eastern Church) reaffirmed the decisions of the Second Council of Nicaea and helped stamp out any remaining coals of iconoclasm. Specifically, its third canon required the image of Christ to have veneration equal with that of a Gospel book:[112]

 

We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of the words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them.

 

But images of God the Father were not directly addressed in Constantinople in 869. A list of permitted icons was enumerated at this Council, but symbols of God the Father were not among them.[113] However, the general acceptance of icons and holy images began to create an atmosphere in which God the Father could be symbolized.

 

Prior to the 10th century no attempt was made to use a human to symbolize God the Father in Western art.[104] Yet, Western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of the Father, so through successive representations a set of artistic styles for symbolizing the Father using a man gradually emerged around the 10th century AD. A rationale for the use of a human is the belief that God created the soul of Man in the image of His own (thus allowing Human to transcend the other animals).

 

It appears that when early artists designed to represent God the Father, fear and awe restrained them from a usage of the whole human figure. Typically only a small part would be used as the image, usually the hand, or sometimes the face, but rarely a whole human. In many images, the figure of the Son supplants the Father, so a smaller portion of the person of the Father is depicted.[114]

 

By the 12th century depictions of God the Father had started to appear in French illuminated manuscripts, which as a less public form could often be more adventurous in their iconography, and in stained glass church windows in England. Initially the head or bust was usually shown in some form of frame of clouds in the top of the picture space, where the Hand of God had formerly appeared; the Baptism of Christ on the famous baptismal font in Liège of Rainer of Huy is an example from 1118 (a Hand of God is used in another scene). Gradually the amount of the human symbol shown can increase to a half-length figure, then a full-length, usually enthroned, as in Giotto's fresco of c. 1305 in Padua.[115] In the 14th century the Naples Bible carried a depiction of God the Father in the Burning bush. By the early 15th century, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry has a considerable number of symbols, including an elderly but tall and elegant full-length figure walking in the Garden of Eden, which show a considerable diversity of apparent ages and dress. The "Gates of Paradise" of the Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti, begun in 1425 use a similar tall full-length symbol for the Father. The Rohan Book of Hours of about 1430 also included depictions of God the Father in half-length human form, which were now becoming standard, and the Hand of God becoming rarer. At the same period other works, like the large Genesis altarpiece by the Hamburg painter Meister Bertram, continued to use the old depiction of Christ as Logos in Genesis scenes. In the 15th century there was a brief fashion for depicting all three persons of the Trinity as similar or identical figures with the usual appearance of Christ.

 

In an early Venetian school Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini, (c. 1443) The Father is depicted using the symbol consistently used by other artists later, namely a patriarch, with benign, yet powerful countenance and with long white hair and a beard, a depiction largely derived from, and justified by, the near-physical, but still figurative, description of the Ancient of Days.[116]

 

. ...the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9)

  

Usage of two Hands of God"(relatively unusual) and the Holy Spirit as a dove in Baptism of Christ, by Verrocchio, 1472

In the Annunciation by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470, God the Father is portrayed in the red robe and a hat that resembles that of a Cardinal. However, even in the later part of the 15th century, the symbolic representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit as "hands and dove" continued, e.g. in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ in 1472.[117]

  

God the Father with His Right Hand Raised in Blessing, with a triangular halo representing the Trinity, Girolamo dai Libri c. 1555

In Renaissance paintings of the adoration of the Trinity, God may be depicted in two ways, either with emphasis on The Father, or the three elements of the Trinity. The most usual depiction of the Trinity in Renaissance art depicts God the Father using an old man, usually with a long beard and patriarchal in appearance, sometimes with a triangular halo (as a reference to the Trinity), or with a papal crown, specially in Northern Renaissance painting. In these depictions The Father may hold a globe or book (to symbolize God's knowledge and as a reference to how knowledge is deemed divine). He is behind and above Christ on the Cross in the Throne of Mercy iconography. A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit may hover above. Various people from different classes of society, e.g. kings, popes or martyrs may be present in the picture. In a Trinitarian Pietà, God the Father is often symbolized using a man wearing a papal dress and a papal crown, supporting the dead Christ in his arms. They are depicted as floating in heaven with angels who carry the instruments of the Passion.[118]

 

Representations of God the Father and the Trinity were attacked both by Protestants and within Catholicism, by the Jansenist and Baianist movements as well as more orthodox theologians. As with other attacks on Catholic imagery, this had the effect both of reducing Church support for the less central depictions, and strengthening it for the core ones. In the Western Church, the pressure to restrain religious imagery resulted in the highly influential decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563. The Council of Trent decrees confirmed the traditional Catholic doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that veneration to them was paid to the person, not the image.[119]

 

Artistic depictions of God the Father were uncontroversial in Catholic art thereafter, but less common depictions of the Trinity were condemned. In 1745 Pope Benedict XIV explicitly supported the Throne of Mercy depiction, referring to the "Ancient of Days", but in 1786 it was still necessary for Pope Pius VI to issue a papal bull condemning the decision of an Italian church council to remove all images of the Trinity from churches.[120]

  

The famous The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, c.1512

God the Father is symbolized in several Genesis scenes in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, most famously The Creation of Adam (whose image of near touching hands of God and Adam is iconic of humanity, being a reminder that Man is created in the Image and Likeness of God (Gen 1:26)).God the Father is depicted as a powerful figure, floating in the clouds in Titian's Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari of Venice, long admired as a masterpiece of High Renaissance art.[121] The Church of the Gesù in Rome includes a number of 16th century depictions of God the Father. In some of these paintings the Trinity is still alluded to in terms of three angels, but Giovanni Battista Fiammeri also depicted God the Father as a man riding on a cloud, above the scenes.[122]

 

In both the Last Judgment and the Coronation of the Virgin paintings by Rubens he depicted God the Father using the image that by then had become widely accepted, a bearded patriarchal figure above the fray. In the 17th century, the two Spanish artists Velázquez (whose father-in-law Francisco Pacheco was in charge of the approval of new images for the Inquisition) and Murillo both depicted God the Father using a patriarchal figure with a white beard in a purple robe.

  

The Ancient of Days (1794) Watercolor etching by William Blake

While representations of God the Father were growing in Italy, Spain, Germany and the Low Countries, there was resistance elsewhere in Europe, even during the 17th century. In 1632 most members of the Star Chamber court in England (except the Archbishop of York) condemned the use of the images of the Trinity in church windows, and some considered them illegal.[123] Later in the 17th century Sir Thomas Browne wrote that he considered the representation of God the Father using an old man "a dangerous act" that might lead to Egyptian symbolism.[124] In 1847, Charles Winston was still critical of such images as a "Romish trend" (a term used to refer to Roman Catholics) that he considered best avoided in England.[125]

 

In 1667 the 43rd chapter of the Great Moscow Council specifically included a ban on a number of symbolic depictions of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, which then also resulted in a whole range of other icons being placed on the forbidden list,[126][127] mostly affecting Western-style depictions which had been gaining ground in Orthodox icons. The Council also declared that the person of the Trinity who was the "Ancient of Days" was Christ, as Logos, not God the Father. However some icons continued to be produced in Russia, as well as Greece, Romania, and other Orthodox countries.

 

Theological approaches

Theologians and philosophers have attributed to God such characteristics as omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, perfect goodness, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God has been described as incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable being existent.[3] These attributes were all claimed to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars, including Maimonides,[53] St Augustine,[53] and Al-Ghazali.[128]

 

Many philosophers developed arguments for the existence of God,[8] while attempting to comprehend the precise implications of God's attributes. Reconciling some of those attributes generated important philosophical problems and debates. For example, God's omniscience may seem to imply that God knows how free agents will choose to act. If God does know this, their ostensible free will might be illusory, or foreknowledge does not imply predestination, and if God does not know it, God may not be omniscient.[129]

 

However, if by its essential nature, free will is not predetermined, then the effect of its will can never be perfectly predicted by anyone, regardless of intelligence and knowledge. Although knowledge of the options presented to that will, combined with perfectly infinite intelligence, could be said to provide God with omniscience if omniscience is defined as knowledge or understanding of all that is.

 

The last centuries of philosophy have seen vigorous questions regarding the arguments for God's existence raised by such philosophers as Immanuel Kant, David Hume and Antony Flew, although Kant held that the argument from morality was valid. The theist response has been either to contend, as does Alvin Plantinga, that faith is "properly basic", or to take, as does Richard Swinburne, the evidentialist position.[130] Some theists agree that only some of the arguments for God's existence are compelling, but argue that faith is not a product of reason, but requires risk. There would be no risk, they say, if the arguments for God's existence were as solid as the laws of logic, a position summed up by Pascal as "the heart has reasons of which reason does not know."[131] A recent theory using concepts from physics and neurophysiology proposes that God can be conceptualized within the theory of integrative level.[132]

 

Many religious believers allow for the existence of other, less powerful spiritual beings such as angels, saints, jinn, demons, and devas.[133][134][135][136][137]

The fresh snow was the perfect canvas for my mother’s ashes where she loved to paint with her dear friend sharing a oneness with the universe and the total experience of a place my father wrote about below.

 

Kathleen Norris, a contemporary poet from North Dakota in her book, Dakota, uses the term "spiritual geography" to describe how a sense of the divine can be rooted in a sense of place. She describes how the deserts of the world have been places where men and women seeking truth may come face to face with the experience of the divine, citing the early Christian desert fathers as well as her own experiences in the Dakotas as examples. She also writes about the importance to spiritual growth of communities where the environment strips bare the social pretenses and people are forced to learn to love each other despite the fact they have grown so close they can't stand one another. For her, the community is essential for spiritual growth.

 

A Muslim sect in North Africa call their holy men "Remembrancers," whose meditation discipline is called "practice of the presence of God." The goal of their meditation is to remember who they really are. Which reminds me that one meaning of remember means literally to re-member, that is, taking something apart and putting it back together in a new form. To make whole or holy.

 

I can remember several times in the past when I have had the experience of one ness with the universe. First, in Colorado at the age of five or six, when walking in the early morning on a summers day down an alley in Golden under what some have called "that exquisite Persian blue bowl of clear sky," I had felt one with the whole Cosmos and could even hear it hum in the early morning stillness like a dynamo! Second, walking on the beach on Key Biscayne, reflecting on the marvelous variety that sea life takes in form and color, I again experienced the same oneness and resolved to become a seeker.

 

Some more experiences of one ness. . . . . . .

 

Mowing the alfalfa field on the farm in Missouri. . . . the dog happily chasing small creatures fleeing from the mower. . . . . reading Moby Dick .. . . . . the spiral repetitive pattern of mowing . . . . a good meal of country ham and red eye gravy. Many experiences coming together.

 

During the silence of Friend's meeting during a float trip on the Current river.

 

What these have in common is a total experience of place.

 

Something to do with what Gary Snyder calls being "the people of the place."

 

How do we become the people of the place when we are all over the place.

 

How is south Florida different than the deserts? The same? What is the relationship of spirit to climate and topography?

 

And so I have become a "remembrancer," trying to re member the pieces of my experience into a wholeness.

 

For me, as I sit here in the Miami meeting house, surrounded by the lush growth of the tropics, this area of Florida is full of ghosts . . . memories from my past fifty four years, off and on, of being in these tropics.

 

From the short grass high prairies of Colorado where I was born to the tropical hardwood hammock of Coconut Grove to the rolling hills and limestone bluffs of Missouri and back again. My memories are multi-layered. This place means many things to me. What does this place mean to you?

 

I can remember when the Grove was a real place, the aviation capital of the world, full of all classes of people mixed together, instead of the yuppie fantasy of eternal life and omnipotence which is seems to be now. A food court for the rest of Miami as one writer has observed!" -Hank Koch.

Photo by_Art Koch_IMG_0211

 

In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith.[3] The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), divine simplicity, and as having an eternal and necessary existence. Many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent (perfectly good), and all loving.

 

God is most often held to be non-corporeal,[3] and to be without any human biological sex,[4][5] yet the concept of God actively creating the universe (as opposed to passively)[6] has caused many religions to describe God using masculine terminology, using such terms as "Him" or "Father". Furthermore, some religions (such as Judaism) attribute only a purely grammatical "gender" to God.[7]

 

In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, but not the sustainer, of the universe. In pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism. God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God.[8]

 

There are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about God's identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten,[9] premised on being the one "true" Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe.[10] In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, "He Who Is", "I Am that I Am", and the tetragrammaton YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה‎‎, which means: "I am who I am"; "He Who Exists") are used as names of God, while Yahweh and Jehovah are sometimes used in Christianity as vocalizations of YHWH. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, the latter of which is believed by some scholars to descend from the Egyptian Aten.[11][12][13][14][15] In Islam, the name Allah, "Al-El", or "Al-Elah" ("the God") is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a monistic deity.[16] Other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Bahá'í Faith,[17] Waheguru in Sikhism,[18] and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.[19]

 

The many different conceptions of God, and competing claims as to God's characteristics, aims, and actions, have led to the development of ideas of omnitheism, pandeism,[20][21] or a perennial philosophy, which postulates that there is one underlying theological truth, of which all religions express a partial understanding, and as to which "the devout in the various great world religions are in fact worshipping that one God, but through different, overlapping concepts or mental images of Him."[22]

 

Contents [hide]

1Etymology and usage

2General conceptions

2.1Oneness

2.2Theism, deism and pantheism

2.3Other concepts

3Non-theistic views

3.1Agnosticism and atheism

3.2Anthropomorphism

4Existence

5Specific attributes

5.1Names

5.2Gender

5.3Relationship with creation

6Depiction

6.1Zoroastrianism

6.2Islam

6.3Judaism

6.4Christianity

7Theological approaches

8Distribution of belief

9See also

9.1In specific religions

10References

11Further reading

12External links

Etymology and usage

 

The Mesha Stele bears the earliest known reference (840 BCE) to the Israelite God Yahweh.

Main article: God (word)

The earliest written form of the Germanic word God (always, in this usage, capitalized[23]) comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to call" or "to invoke".[24] The Germanic words for God were originally neuter—applying to both genders—but during the process of the Christianization of the Germanic peoples from their indigenous Germanic paganism, the words became a masculine syntactic form.[25]

  

The word 'Allah' in Arabic calligraphy

In the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and "gods" in polytheism.[26][27] The English word God and its counterparts in other languages are normally used for any and all conceptions and, in spite of significant differences between religions, the term remains an English translation common to all. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, the tetragrammaton YHWH, in origin possibly the name of an Edomite or Midianite deity, Yahweh. In many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton.[28]

 

Allāh (Arabic: الله‎‎) is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning "The God" (with a capital G), while "ʾilāh" (Arabic: إله‎‎) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.[29][30][31] God may also be given a proper name in monotheistic currents of Hinduism which emphasize the personal nature of God, with early references to his name as Krishna-Vasudeva in Bhagavata or later Vishnu and Hari.[32]

 

Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian *Mazdāh (female). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning "placing (dʰeh1) one's mind (*mn̩-s)", hence "wise".[33]

 

Waheguru (Punjabi: vāhigurū) is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God. It means "Wonderful Teacher" in the Punjabi language. Vāhi (a Middle Persian borrowing) means "wonderful" and guru (Sanskrit: guru) is a term denoting "teacher". Waheguru is also described by some as an experience of ecstasy which is beyond all descriptions. The most common usage of the word "Waheguru" is in the greeting Sikhs use with each other:

 

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Wonderful Lord's Khalsa, Victory is to the Wonderful Lord.

Baha, the "greatest" name for God in the Baha'i faith, is Arabic for "All-Glorious".

 

General conceptions

Main article: Conceptions of God

There is no clear consensus on the nature or even the existence of God.[34] The Abrahamic conceptions of God include the monotheistic definition of God in Judaism, the trinitarian view of Christians, and the Islamic concept of God. The dharmic religions differ in their view of the divine: views of God in Hinduism vary by region, sect, and caste, ranging from monotheistic to polytheistic. Divinity was recognized by the historical Buddha, particularly Śakra and Brahma. However, other sentient beings, including gods, can at best only play a supportive role in one's personal path to salvation. Conceptions of God in the latter developments of the Mahayana tradition give a more prominent place to notions of the divine.[citation needed]

 

Oneness

Main articles: Monotheism and Henotheism

 

The Trinity is the belief that God is composed of The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically in the physical realm by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.

Monotheists hold that there is only one god, and may claim that the one true god is worshiped in different religions under different names. The view that all theists actually worship the same god, whether they know it or not, is especially emphasized in Hinduism[35] and Sikhism.[36] In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity describes God as one God in three persons. The Trinity comprises The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.[37] Islam's most fundamental concept is tawhid (meaning "oneness" or "uniqueness"). God is described in the Quran as: "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."[38][39] Muslims repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, and are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Henotheism is the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities.[41]

 

Theism, deism and pantheism

Main articles: Theism, Deism, and Pantheism

Theism generally holds that God exists realistically, objectively, and independently of human thought; that God created and sustains everything; that God is omnipotent and eternal; and that God is personal and interacting with the universe through, for example, religious experience and the prayers of humans.[42] Theism holds that God is both transcendent and immanent; thus, God is simultaneously infinite and in some way present in the affairs of the world.[43] Not all theists subscribe to all of these propositions, but each usually subscribes to some of them (see, by way of comparison, family resemblance).[42] Catholic theology holds that God is infinitely simple and is not involuntarily subject to time. Most theists hold that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists ascribe to God a self-conscious or purposeful limiting of omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence. Open Theism, by contrast, asserts that, due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not mean the deity can predict the future. Theism is sometimes used to refer in general to any belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or polytheism.[44][45]

  

"God blessing the seventh day", a watercolor painting depicting God, by William Blake (1757 – 1827)

Deism holds that God is wholly transcendent: God exists, but does not intervene in the world beyond what was necessary to create it.[43] In this view, God is not anthropomorphic, and neither answers prayers nor produces miracles. Common in Deism is a belief that God has no interest in humanity and may not even be aware of humanity. Pandeism and Panendeism, respectively, combine Deism with the Pantheistic or Panentheistic beliefs.[21][46][47] Pandeism is proposed to explain as to Deism why God would create a universe and then abandon it,[48] and as to Pantheism, the origin and purpose of the universe.[48][49]

 

Pantheism holds that God is the universe and the universe is God, whereas Panentheism holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe.[50] It is also the view of the Liberal Catholic Church; Theosophy; some views of Hinduism except Vaishnavism, which believes in panentheism; Sikhism; some divisions of Neopaganism and Taoism, along with many varying denominations and individuals within denominations. Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, paints a pantheistic/panentheistic view of God—which has wide acceptance in Hasidic Judaism, particularly from their founder The Baal Shem Tov—but only as an addition to the Jewish view of a personal god, not in the original pantheistic sense that denies or limits persona to God.[citation needed]

 

Other concepts

Dystheism, which is related to theodicy, is a form of theism which holds that God is either not wholly good or is fully malevolent as a consequence of the problem of evil. One such example comes from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, in which Ivan Karamazov rejects God on the grounds that he allows children to suffer.[51]

 

In modern times, some more abstract concepts have been developed, such as process theology and open theism. The contemporaneous French philosopher Michel Henry has however proposed a phenomenological approach and definition of God as phenomenological essence of Life.[52]

 

God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] These attributes were all supported to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologian philosophers, including Maimonides,[53] Augustine of Hippo,[53] and Al-Ghazali,[8] respectively.

 

Non-theistic views

See also: Evolutionary origin of religions and Evolutionary psychology of religion

Non-theist views about God also vary. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God, whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations. The nineteenth-century English atheist Charles Bradlaugh declared that he refused to say "There is no God", because "the word 'God' is to me a sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation";[54] he said more specifically that he disbelieved in the Christian god. Stephen Jay Gould proposed an approach dividing the world of philosophy into what he called "non-overlapping magisteria" (NOMA). In this view, questions of the supernatural, such as those relating to the existence and nature of God, are non-empirical and are the proper domain of theology. The methods of science should then be used to answer any empirical question about the natural world, and theology should be used to answer questions about ultimate meaning and moral value. In this view, the perceived lack of any empirical footprint from the magisterium of the supernatural onto natural events makes science the sole player in the natural world.[55]

 

Another view, advanced by Richard Dawkins, is that the existence of God is an empirical question, on the grounds that "a universe with a god would be a completely different kind of universe from one without, and it would be a scientific difference."[56] Carl Sagan argued that the doctrine of a Creator of the Universe was difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific discovery that could disprove the existence of a Creator (not necessarily a God) would be the discovery that the universe is infinitely old.[57]

 

Stephen Hawking and co-author Leonard Mlodinow state in their book, The Grand Design, that it is reasonable to ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. Both authors claim however, that it is possible to answer these questions purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine beings.[58] Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Agnosticism and atheism

Agnosticism is the view that, the truth values of certain claims – especially metaphysical and religious claims such as whether God, the divine or the supernatural exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable.[60][61][62]

 

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities, or a God.[63][64] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[65]

 

Anthropomorphism

Main article: Anthropomorphism

Pascal Boyer argues that while there is a wide array of supernatural concepts found around the world, in general, supernatural beings tend to behave much like people. The construction of gods and spirits like persons is one of the best known traits of religion. He cites examples from Greek mythology, which is, in his opinion, more like a modern soap opera than other religious systems.[66] Bertrand du Castel and Timothy Jurgensen demonstrate through formalization that Boyer's explanatory model matches physics' epistemology in positing not directly observable entities as intermediaries.[67] Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie contends that people project human features onto non-human aspects of the world because it makes those aspects more familiar. Sigmund Freud also suggested that god concepts are projections of one's father.[68]

 

Likewise, Émile Durkheim was one of the earliest to suggest that gods represent an extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. In line with this reasoning, psychologist Matt Rossano contends that when humans began living in larger groups, they may have created gods as a means of enforcing morality. In small groups, morality can be enforced by social forces such as gossip or reputation. However, it is much harder to enforce morality using social forces in much larger groups. Rossano indicates that by including ever-watchful gods and spirits, humans discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and building more cooperative groups.[69]

 

Existence

Main article: Existence of God

 

St. Thomas Aquinas summed up five main arguments as proofs for God's existence.

 

Isaac Newton saw the existence of a Creator necessary in the movement of astronomical objects.

Arguments about the existence of God typically include empirical, deductive, and inductive types. Different views include that: "God does not exist" (strong atheism); "God almost certainly does not exist" (de facto atheism); "no one knows whether God exists" (agnosticism[70]);"God exists, but this cannot be proven or disproven" (de facto theism); and that "God exists and this can be proven" (strong theism).[55]

 

Countless arguments have been proposed to prove the existence of God.[71] Some of the most notable arguments are the Five Ways of Aquinas, the Argument from Desire proposed by C.S. Lewis, and the Ontological Argument formulated both by St. Anselm and René Descartes.[72]

 

St. Anselm's approach was to define God as, "that than which nothing greater can be conceived". Famed pantheist philosopher Baruch Spinoza would later carry this idea to its extreme: "By God I understand a being absolutely infinite, i.e., a substance consisting of infinite attributes, of which each one expresses an eternal and infinite essence." For Spinoza, the whole of the natural universe is made of one substance, God, or its equivalent, Nature.[73] His proof for the existence of God was a variation of the Ontological argument.[74]

 

Scientist Isaac Newton saw God as the masterful creator whose existence could not be denied in the face of the grandeur of all creation.[75] Nevertheless, he rejected polymath Leibniz' thesis that God would necessarily make a perfect world which requires no intervention from the creator. In Query 31 of the Opticks, Newton simultaneously made an argument from design and for the necessity of intervention:

 

For while comets move in very eccentric orbs in all manner of positions, blind fate could never make all the planets move one and the same way in orbs concentric, some inconsiderable irregularities excepted which may have arisen from the mutual actions of comets and planets on one another, and which will be apt to increase, till this system wants a reformation.[76]

 

St. Thomas believed that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us. "Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists", of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature—namely, by effects."[77] St. Thomas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated. Briefly in the Summa theologiae and more extensively in the Summa contra Gentiles, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the quinque viae (Five Ways).

 

For the original text of the five proofs, see quinque viae

Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God.

Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God.

Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist.

Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative that is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God (Note: Thomas does not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself).

Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God (Note that even when we guide objects, in Thomas's view, the source of all our knowledge comes from God as well).[78]

 

Alister McGrath, a formerly atheistic scientist and theologian who has been highly critical of Richard Dawkins' version of atheism

Some theologians, such as the scientist and theologian A.E. McGrath, argue that the existence of God is not a question that can be answered using the scientific method.[79][80] Agnostic Stephen Jay Gould argues that science and religion are not in conflict and do not overlap.[81]

 

Some findings in the fields of cosmology, evolutionary biology and neuroscience are interpreted by some atheists (including Lawrence M. Krauss and Sam Harris) as evidence that God is an imaginary entity only, with no basis in reality.[82][83][84] These atheists claim that a single, omniscient God who is imagined to have created the universe and is particularly attentive to the lives of humans has been imagined, embellished and promulgated in a trans-generational manner.[85] Richard Dawkins interprets such findings not only as a lack of evidence for the material existence of such a God, but as extensive evidence to the contrary.[55] However, his views are opposed by some theologians and scientists including Alister McGrath, who argues that existence of God is compatible with science.[86]

 

Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Specific attributes

Different religious traditions assign differing (though often similar) attributes and characteristics to God, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example, attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of God in Islam, and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain similarities arising from their common roots.

 

Names

Main article: Names of God

 

99 names of Allah, in Chinese Sini (script)

The word God is "one of the most complex and difficult in the English language." In the Judeo-Christian tradition, "the Bible has been the principal source of the conceptions of God". That the Bible "includes many different images, concepts, and ways of thinking about" God has resulted in perpetual "disagreements about how God is to be conceived and understood".[87]

 

Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bibles there are many names for God. One of them is Elohim. Another one is El Shaddai, meaning "God Almighty".[88] A third notable name is El Elyon, which means "The Most High God".[89]

 

God is described and referred in the Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" and Al-Rahim, meaning "Most Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam).[90]

  

Supreme soul

The Brahma Kumaris use the term "Supreme Soul" to refer to God. They see God as incorporeal and eternal, and regard him as a point of living light like human souls, but without a physical body, as he does not enter the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. God is seen as the perfect and constant embodiment of all virtues, powers and values and that He is the unconditionally loving Father of all souls, irrespective of their religion, gender, or culture.[91]

 

Vaishnavism, a tradition in Hinduism, has list of titles and names of Krishna.

 

Gender

Main article: Gender of God

The gender of God may be viewed as either a literal or an allegorical aspect of a deity who, in classical western philosophy, transcends bodily form.[92][93] Polytheistic religions commonly attribute to each of the gods a gender, allowing each to interact with any of the others, and perhaps with humans, sexually. In most monotheistic religions, God has no counterpart with which to relate sexually. Thus, in classical western philosophy the gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely to be an analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate to, each other. Namely, God is seen as begetter of the world and revelation which corresponds to the active (as opposed to the receptive) role in sexual intercourse.[6]

 

Biblical sources usually refer to God using male words, except Genesis 1:26-27,[94][95] Psalm 123:2-3, and Luke 15:8-10 (female); Hosea 11:3-4, Deuteronomy 32:18, Isaiah 66:13, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 42:14, Psalm 131:2 (a mother); Deuteronomy 32:11-12 (a mother eagle); and Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 (a mother hen).

 

Relationship with creation

See also: Creator deity, Prayer, and Worship

 

And Elohim Created Adam by William Blake, c.1795

Prayer plays a significant role among many believers. Muslims believe that the purpose of existence is to worship God.[96][97] He is viewed as a personal God and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God. Prayer often also includes supplication and asking forgiveness. God is often believed to be forgiving. For example, a hadith states God would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked repentance.[98] Christian theologian Alister McGrath writes that there are good reasons to suggest that a "personal god" is integral to the Christian outlook, but that one has to understand it is an analogy. "To say that God is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and willingness to relate to others. This does not imply that God is human, or located at a specific point in the universe."[99]

 

Adherents of different religions generally disagree as to how to best worship God and what is God's plan for mankind, if there is one. There are different approaches to reconciling the contradictory claims of monotheistic religions. One view is taken by exclusivists, who believe they are the chosen people or have exclusive access to absolute truth, generally through revelation or encounter with the Divine, which adherents of other religions do not. Another view is religious pluralism. A pluralist typically believes that his religion is the right one, but does not deny the partial truth of other religions. An example of a pluralist view in Christianity is supersessionism, i.e., the belief that one's religion is the fulfillment of previous religions. A third approach is relativistic inclusivism, where everybody is seen as equally right; an example being universalism: the doctrine that salvation is eventually available for everyone. A fourth approach is syncretism, mixing different elements from different religions. An example of syncretism is the New Age movement.

 

Jews and Christians believe that humans are created in the likeness of God, and are the center, crown and key to God's creation, stewards for God, supreme over everything else God had made (Gen 1:26); for this reason, humans are in Christianity called the "Children of God".[100]

 

Depiction

God is defined as incorporeal,[3] and invisible from direct sight, and thus cannot be portrayed in a literal visual image.

 

The respective principles of religions may or may not permit them to use images (which are entirely symbolic) to represent God in art or in worship .

 

Zoroastrianism

 

Ahura Mazda (depiction is on the right, with high crown) presents Ardashir I (left) with the ring of kingship. (Relief at Naqsh-e Rustam, 3rd century CE)

During the early Parthian Empire, Ahura Mazda was visually represented for worship. This practice ended during the beginning of the Sassanid empire. Zoroastrian iconoclasm, which can be traced to the end of the Parthian period and the beginning of the Sassanid, eventually put an end to the use of all images of Ahura Mazda in worship. However, Ahura Mazda continued to be symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback which is found in Sassanian investiture.[101]

 

Islam

Further information: God in Islam

Muslims believe that God (Allah) is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of His creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Judaism

At least some Jews do not use any image for God, since God is the unimageable Being who cannot be represented in material forms.[102] In some samples of Jewish Art, however, sometimes God, or at least His Intervention, is indicated by a Hand Of God symbol, which represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or Voice of God;[103] this use of the Hand Of God is carried over to Christian Art.

 

Christianity

 

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Early Christians believed that the words of the Gospel of John 1:18: "No man has seen God at any time" and numerous other statements were meant to apply not only to God, but to all attempts at the depiction of God.[104]

  

Use of the symbolic Hand of God in the Ascension from the Drogo Sacramentary, c. 850

However, later on the Hand of God symbol is found several times in the only ancient synagogue with a large surviving decorative scheme, the Dura Europos Synagogue of the mid-3rd century, and was probably adopted into Early Christian art from Jewish art. It was common in Late Antique art in both East and West, and remained the main way of symbolizing the actions or approval of God the Father in the West until about the end of the Romanesque period. It also represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or voice of God,[103] just like in Jewish Art.

 

In situations, such as the Baptism of Christ, where a specific representation of God the Father was indicated, the Hand of God was used, with increasing freedom from the Carolingian period until the end of the Romanesque. This motif now, since the discovery of the 3rd century Dura Europos synagogue, seems to have been borrowed from Jewish art, and is found in Christian art almost from its beginnings.

 

The use of religious images in general continued to increase up to the end of the 7th century, to the point that in 695, upon assuming the throne, Byzantine emperor Justinian II put an image of Christ on the obverse side of his gold coins, resulting in a rift which ended the use of Byzantine coin types in the Islamic world.[105] However, the increase in religious imagery did not include depictions of God the Father. For instance, while the eighty second canon of the Council of Trullo in 692 did not specifically condemn images of The Father, it suggested that icons of Christ were preferred over Old Testament shadows and figures.[106]

 

The beginning of the 8th century witnessed the suppression and destruction of religious icons as the period of Byzantine iconoclasm (literally image-breaking) started. Emperor Leo III (717–741), suppressed the use of icons by imperial edict of the Byzantine Empire, presumably due to a military loss which he attributed to the undue veneration of icons.[107] The edict (which was issued without consulting the Church) forbade the veneration of religious images but did not apply to other forms of art, including the image of the emperor, or religious symbols such as the cross.[108] Theological arguments against icons then began to appear with iconoclasts arguing that icons could not represent both the divine and the human natures of Jesus at the same time. In this atmosphere, no public depictions of God the Father were even attempted and such depictions only began to appear two centuries later.

 

The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 effectively ended the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm and restored the honouring of icons and holy images in general.[109] However, this did not immediately translate into large scale depictions of God the Father. Even supporters of the use of icons in the 8th century, such as Saint John of Damascus, drew a distinction between images of God the Father and those of Christ.

 

In his treatise On the Divine Images John of Damascus wrote: "In former times, God who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see".[110] The implication here is that insofar as God the Father or the Spirit did not become man, visible and tangible, images and portrait icons can not be depicted. So what was true for the whole Trinity before Christ remains true for the Father and the Spirit but not for the Word. John of Damascus wrote:[111]

 

"If we attempt to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed. It is impossible to portray one who is without body:invisible, uncircumscribed and without form."

 

Around 790 Charlemagne ordered a set of four books that became known as the Libri Carolini (i.e. "Charles' books") to refute what his court mistakenly understood to be the iconoclast decrees of the Byzantine Second Council of Nicaea regarding sacred images. Although not well known during the Middle Ages, these books describe the key elements of the Catholic theological position on sacred images. To the Western Church, images were just objects made by craftsmen, to be utilized for stimulating the senses of the faithful, and to be respected for the sake of the subject represented, not in themselves. The Council of Constantinople (869) (considered ecumenical by the Western Church, but not the Eastern Church) reaffirmed the decisions of the Second Council of Nicaea and helped stamp out any remaining coals of iconoclasm. Specifically, its third canon required the image of Christ to have veneration equal with that of a Gospel book:[112]

 

We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of the words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them.

 

But images of God the Father were not directly addressed in Constantinople in 869. A list of permitted icons was enumerated at this Council, but symbols of God the Father were not among them.[113] However, the general acceptance of icons and holy images began to create an atmosphere in which God the Father could be symbolized.

 

Prior to the 10th century no attempt was made to use a human to symbolize God the Father in Western art.[104] Yet, Western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of the Father, so through successive representations a set of artistic styles for symbolizing the Father using a man gradually emerged around the 10th century AD. A rationale for the use of a human is the belief that God created the soul of Man in the image of His own (thus allowing Human to transcend the other animals).

 

It appears that when early artists designed to represent God the Father, fear and awe restrained them from a usage of the whole human figure. Typically only a small part would be used as the image, usually the hand, or sometimes the face, but rarely a whole human. In many images, the figure of the Son supplants the Father, so a smaller portion of the person of the Father is depicted.[114]

 

By the 12th century depictions of God the Father had started to appear in French illuminated manuscripts, which as a less public form could often be more adventurous in their iconography, and in stained glass church windows in England. Initially the head or bust was usually shown in some form of frame of clouds in the top of the picture space, where the Hand of God had formerly appeared; the Baptism of Christ on the famous baptismal font in Liège of Rainer of Huy is an example from 1118 (a Hand of God is used in another scene). Gradually the amount of the human symbol shown can increase to a half-length figure, then a full-length, usually enthroned, as in Giotto's fresco of c. 1305 in Padua.[115] In the 14th century the Naples Bible carried a depiction of God the Father in the Burning bush. By the early 15th century, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry has a considerable number of symbols, including an elderly but tall and elegant full-length figure walking in the Garden of Eden, which show a considerable diversity of apparent ages and dress. The "Gates of Paradise" of the Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti, begun in 1425 use a similar tall full-length symbol for the Father. The Rohan Book of Hours of about 1430 also included depictions of God the Father in half-length human form, which were now becoming standard, and the Hand of God becoming rarer. At the same period other works, like the large Genesis altarpiece by the Hamburg painter Meister Bertram, continued to use the old depiction of Christ as Logos in Genesis scenes. In the 15th century there was a brief fashion for depicting all three persons of the Trinity as similar or identical figures with the usual appearance of Christ.

 

In an early Venetian school Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini, (c. 1443) The Father is depicted using the symbol consistently used by other artists later, namely a patriarch, with benign, yet powerful countenance and with long white hair and a beard, a depiction largely derived from, and justified by, the near-physical, but still figurative, description of the Ancient of Days.[116]

 

. ...the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9)

  

Usage of two Hands of God"(relatively unusual) and the Holy Spirit as a dove in Baptism of Christ, by Verrocchio, 1472

In the Annunciation by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470, God the Father is portrayed in the red robe and a hat that resembles that of a Cardinal. However, even in the later part of the 15th century, the symbolic representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit as "hands and dove" continued, e.g. in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ in 1472.[117]

  

God the Father with His Right Hand Raised in Blessing, with a triangular halo representing the Trinity, Girolamo dai Libri c. 1555

In Renaissance paintings of the adoration of the Trinity, God may be depicted in two ways, either with emphasis on The Father, or the three elements of the Trinity. The most usual depiction of the Trinity in Renaissance art depicts God the Father using an old man, usually with a long beard and patriarchal in appearance, sometimes with a triangular halo (as a reference to the Trinity), or with a papal crown, specially in Northern Renaissance painting. In these depictions The Father may hold a globe or book (to symbolize God's knowledge and as a reference to how knowledge is deemed divine). He is behind and above Christ on the Cross in the Throne of Mercy iconography. A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit may hover above. Various people from different classes of society, e.g. kings, popes or martyrs may be present in the picture. In a Trinitarian Pietà, God the Father is often symbolized using a man wearing a papal dress and a papal crown, supporting the dead Christ in his arms. They are depicted as floating in heaven with angels who carry the instruments of the Passion.[118]

 

Representations of God the Father and the Trinity were attacked both by Protestants and within Catholicism, by the Jansenist and Baianist movements as well as more orthodox theologians. As with other attacks on Catholic imagery, this had the effect both of reducing Church support for the less central depictions, and strengthening it for the core ones. In the Western Church, the pressure to restrain religious imagery resulted in the highly influential decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563. The Council of Trent decrees confirmed the traditional Catholic doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that veneration to them was paid to the person, not the image.[119]

 

Artistic depictions of God the Father were uncontroversial in Catholic art thereafter, but less common depictions of the Trinity were condemned. In 1745 Pope Benedict XIV explicitly supported the Throne of Mercy depiction, referring to the "Ancient of Days", but in 1786 it was still necessary for Pope Pius VI to issue a papal bull condemning the decision of an Italian church council to remove all images of the Trinity from churches.[120]

  

The famous The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, c.1512

God the Father is symbolized in several Genesis scenes in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, most famously The Creation of Adam (whose image of near touching hands of God and Adam is iconic of humanity, being a reminder that Man is created in the Image and Likeness of God (Gen 1:26)).God the Father is depicted as a powerful figure, floating in the clouds in Titian's Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari of Venice, long admired as a masterpiece of High Renaissance art.[121] The Church of the Gesù in Rome includes a number of 16th century depictions of God the Father. In some of these paintings the Trinity is still alluded to in terms of three angels, but Giovanni Battista Fiammeri also depicted God the Father as a man riding on a cloud, above the scenes.[122]

 

In both the Last Judgment and the Coronation of the Virgin paintings by Rubens he depicted God the Father using the image that by then had become widely accepted, a bearded patriarchal figure above the fray. In the 17th century, the two Spanish artists Velázquez (whose father-in-law Francisco Pacheco was in charge of the approval of new images for the Inquisition) and Murillo both depicted God the Father using a patriarchal figure with a white beard in a purple robe.

  

The Ancient of Days (1794) Watercolor etching by William Blake

While representations of God the Father were growing in Italy, Spain, Germany and the Low Countries, there was resistance elsewhere in Europe, even during the 17th century. In 1632 most members of the Star Chamber court in England (except the Archbishop of York) condemned the use of the images of the Trinity in church windows, and some considered them illegal.[123] Later in the 17th century Sir Thomas Browne wrote that he considered the representation of God the Father using an old man "a dangerous act" that might lead to Egyptian symbolism.[124] In 1847, Charles Winston was still critical of such images as a "Romish trend" (a term used to refer to Roman Catholics) that he considered best avoided in England.[125]

 

In 1667 the 43rd chapter of the Great Moscow Council specifically included a ban on a number of symbolic depictions of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, which then also resulted in a whole range of other icons being placed on the forbidden list,[126][127] mostly affecting Western-style depictions which had been gaining ground in Orthodox icons. The Council also declared that the person of the Trinity who was the "Ancient of Days" was Christ, as Logos, not God the Father. However some icons continued to be produced in Russia, as well as Greece, Romania, and other Orthodox countries.

 

Theological approaches

Theologians and philosophers have attributed to God such characteristics as omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, perfect goodness, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God has been described as incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable being existent.[3] These attributes were all claimed to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars, including Maimonides,[53] St Augustine,[53] and Al-Ghazali.[128]

 

Many philosophers developed arguments for the existence of God,[8] while attempting to comprehend the precise implications of God's attributes. Reconciling some of those attributes generated important philosophical problems and debates. For example, God's omniscience may seem to imply that God knows how free agents will choose to act. If God does know this, their ostensible free will might be illusory, or foreknowledge does not imply predestination, and if God does not know it, God may not be omniscient.[129]

 

However, if by its essential nature, free will is not predetermined, then the effect of its will can never be perfectly predicted by anyone, regardless of intelligence and knowledge. Although knowledge of the options presented to that will, combined with perfectly infinite intelligence, could be said to provide God with omniscience if omniscience is defined as knowledge or understanding of all that is.

 

The last centuries of philosophy have seen vigorous questions regarding the arguments for God's existence raised by such philosophers as Immanuel Kant, David Hume and Antony Flew, although Kant held that the argument from morality was valid. The theist response has been either to contend, as does Alvin Plantinga, that faith is "properly basic", or to take, as does Richard Swinburne, the evidentialist position.[130] Some theists agree that only some of the arguments for God's existence are compelling, but argue that faith is not a product of reason, but requires risk. There would be no risk, they say, if the arguments for God's existence were as solid as the laws of logic, a position summed up by Pascal as "the heart has reasons of which reason does not know."[131] A recent theory using concepts from physics and neurophysiology proposes that God can be conceptualized within the theory of integrative level.[132]

 

Many religious believers allow for the existence of other, less powerful spiritual beings such as angels, saints, jinn, demons, and devas.[133][134][135][136][137]

O Holy Mary! Our sovereign Queen! as God the Father, by his omnipotence, has made thee most powerful, so assist us at the hour of our death, by defending us against all the power that is contrary to thine. Hail, Mary, etc.

 

O Holy Mary! our sovereign Queen! as God the Son has endowed thee with so much knowledge and splendor, that it enlightens all Heaven, so in the hour of our death, illumine and strengthen our souls with the knowledge of the true faith, that they be not perverted by error or pernicious ignorance. Hail, Mary, etc.

 

O Holy Mary! our sovereign Queen! as the Holy Ghost has plentifully replenished thee with the love of God, so instill into us at the hour of our death, the sweetness of divine love, that all bitterness at that time may become acceptable and pleasant to us Hail, Mary, etc.

 

Small exhibition of my photos "Ladakh - the Land of Gods" in Telekom Slovenia Headquarter.

 

And accompanying text:

 

Architect and designer Brane Žalar has long been devoted to photography, and has developed a similarly strong passion for globetrotting. As a younger man, Brane was discovering the pulse of the global metropolises and made photographic notes of the cities’ architectural peculiarities, whereas lately he has been audaciously exploring diverse hidden parts of the world, areas removed from the established currents of civilisation, where only a handful of intrepid journeyers venture. On this occasion, he is exhibiting a selection of photos from one of his most recent travels, the journey to the mountainous region of Ladakh in northern India, although this piece of information is almost irrelevant since, in truth, the photographer is only interested in documenting his personal experience of the travel: with a shrewd eye Brane has been constructing a universal narrative of the omnipotence of nature and the contrastingly fragile and evanescent traces of human presence. Parallel to the natural and cultural environment of each of his destinations, the photographer also vividly records the geography of human visage: he has gradually compiled a vast gallery of astounding portraits. The current exhibition features superbly juxtaposed pictures that display the destinies of the portrayed subjects as conditioned by the places they inhabit.

Brane Žalar has held several public exhibitions of various selections of photos; he has also tried his hand at the monochrome image, and has displayed his works online. It is thus not surprising that the photographer has been approached by several specialised, national and international magazines and has been successfully publishing his travelogues, verbal as well as visual, for a number of years.

 

Photography by: N-Photographers Studio

 

WWW.N-PHOTOGRAPHERS.COM

Mobile: +965 66 383 666

 

Edit and design by: Mohammed Mustafa

 

Scriptwritter: Dr. Ali Al-Saraaf

 

Calligraphers: Zuhair Al-Zerei

 

The Historical Play " The Inherited" The sign of divine omnipotence, The knowledge of Jafar Al.Sadeq

 

المسرحية التاريخية " الموروث " آية القدرة الإلهيه .. علم جعفر الصادق -عليه السلام

 

على مكتبة الرسول الاعظم (ص) - بنيد القار - شارع بورسعيد - بجانب مركز طب الاسنان

ت:22560226

99460722

99460711

 

Product by: The Islamic Center of Art Production المركز الاسلامي للانتاج الفني و المسرحي

 

The Video adver. الاعلان المرئي

 

العرض المسرحي مستمر طوال شهر محرم و صفر 1420 هـ

الخميس و الجمعه: عروض خاصة بالنساء

السبت: عرض خاص بالرجال

Shiva dansant

Musée Guimet

 

Ce chef-d’œuvre provenant d’Inde du Sud est une image de procession. Le trou dans le socle permettait de faire passer un brancard pour que l’image divine soit portée par des fidèles ou hissée sur un char.

 

Cette cérémonie avait pour but de faire en sorte que le dieu, qui est physiquement présent dans l’image grâce à un rituel d’installation, puisse voir ses dévots et d’être vu d’eux.

 

Pour les souverains de la dynastie Chola, qui régna sur l’Inde du Sud entre le 9ème et le 13ème siècle, Shiva sous sa forme de Seigneur de la danse était la divinité suprême. Figé dans une posture de Bharata natyam, la danse classique du pays tamoul, il exécute la « danse terrible qui apporte la joie ». Le dieu manifeste ainsi sa toute puissance. Il foule au pied le démon de l’ignorance. De sa main supérieure droite, il agite le tambourin qui rythme la création du monde, tandis que, dans la main supérieure gauche, il tient la flamme de la destruction. Maître du cycle des existences, il est donc à la fois celui qui crée et détruit l’univers, selon un cycle en perpétuelle révolution. Mais durant la durée d’existence du monde, ou de notre vie, Shiva est aussi le protecteur, comme l’indique sa main droite inférieure qui fait le geste de l’absence de crainte, tandis que de son bras gauche il fait le très beau geste dit "de la trompe d’éléphant" : il désigne ainsi son pied tendu, devant lequel le fidèle est invité à s’incliner pour recueillir la grâce divine.

Source: www.guimet.fr/fr/nos-collections/monde-indien/shiva-dansant

--------------------

Shiva dancing

Musée Guimet, Paris

 

This masterpiece from South India is a processional image. The hole in the base made it possible to pass a stretcher so that the divine image could be carried by the faithful or hoisted on a chariot.

 

This ceremony was intended to ensure that the god, who is physically present in the image through an installation ritual, could see his devotees and be seen by them.

 

For the rulers of the Chola dynasty, who ruled South India between the 9th and 13th centuries, Shiva in his form as Lord of Dance was the supreme deity. Frozen in a posture of Bharata natyam, the classical dance of the Tamil country, he performs the “terrible dance that brings joy”. The god thus manifests his omnipotence. He tramples underfoot the demon of ignorance. With his upper right hand he shakes the tambourine which punctuates the creation of the world, while in his upper left hand he holds the flame of destruction. Master of the cycle of existences, he is therefore the one who both creates and destroys the universe, according to a cycle in perpetual revolution. But during the duration of existence of the world, or of our life, Shiva is also the protector, as indicated by his lower right hand which makes the gesture of absence of fear, while with his left arm he makes the very beautiful gesture called "the elephant's trunk": it thus designates its outstretched foot, before which the faithful is invited to bow to collect divine grace.

 

www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html

 

The LORD of PARDON Devotion

 

RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Welcome Prayer [iii]

O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.

BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.

LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.

 

3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]

O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)

 

4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]

Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!

Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!

Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!

Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.

 

5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta

 

6. Invocations

  

O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)

O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)

O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)

O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)

Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our

death. Amen.

O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us

O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us

O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us

Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!

   

THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON

 

OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Come, Holy Ghost

COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful

And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.

 

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

 

Let Us Pray

O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

 

(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)

 

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS

 

Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry

And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High

Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love

To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above

To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.

 

3. Divine Will Prayer [1]

THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.

 

4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]

O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.

 

5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]

JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.

 

6. Act of Contrition

O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

 

7. Daily Prayer [4]

O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.

O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross

and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

 

8. Hymns

O SACRED HEART

 

O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!

Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!

And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!

That we may holy be Make us always Thine.

 

HAIL MARY

Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,

The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,

Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --

And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.

9. Prayers before The Rosary

 

THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]

O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.

 

ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]

WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.

WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.

WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.

 

10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary

 

THE APOSTLE’S CREED

I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

 

THE PATER

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

 

THE AVE

HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

THE GLORIA

GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *

MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.

O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.

 

PEACE PRAYER

O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.

 

IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *

O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.

 

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 thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

 

THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY

 

The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)

1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by

The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)

2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)

3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)

4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)

5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)

 

The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)

1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane

2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar

3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns

4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary

5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross

 

The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)

1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His

burial)

2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)

3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day

after The Ascension of Jesus)

4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)

5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)

 

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.

 

V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 

Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +

R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

 

11. Prayers After The Rosary

LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

 

Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us!

Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,

Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,

Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,

Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,

Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,

Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,

Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,

Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,

Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,

Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,

Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,

Blood of Christ, victor over demons,

Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,

Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,

Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,

Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,

Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,

Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,

Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,

Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,

Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,

Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,

Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,

Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,

 

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us

 

V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,

R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.

 

Let Us Pray

OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.

 

FIRST DAY

“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SECOND DAY

“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

THIRD DAY

“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”

(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FOURTH DAY

“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”

(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FIFTH DAY

“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SIXTH DAY

“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SEVENTH DAY

“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

   

HEART of JESUS

 

Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!

Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!

And when the tempest most severe

Heart of Jesus, hear!

 

(Refrain)

Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart

Never from Thee, Oh let us part

Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer

O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!

    

FAREWELL

(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)

 

O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.

Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.

Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.

We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.

 

TO JESUS’ HEART

To Jesus’ Heart all burning

With fervent love for men

My heart with fondest yearning

Shall raise its joyful strain.

 

Refrain

While ages course along

Blest be with loudest song

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

By every heart and tongue

 

Too true I have forsaken

Thy love by willful sin

Yet now let me be taken

Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)

 

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

 

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,

And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,

For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)

Refrain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine

Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.

I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)

   

The Fifteen Prayers

of St. Bridget of Sweden

  

These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.

    

First Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.

 

Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.

 

Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."

 

Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.

 

Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.

 

In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.

  

Second Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.

  

Third Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.

 

I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.

  

Fourth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

 

Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.

  

Fifth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.

 

Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.

  

Sixth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".

 

I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.

  

Seventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.

  

Eighth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.

  

Ninth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

 

Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.

  

Tenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.

  

Eleventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.

  

Twelfth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?

 

May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.

  

Thirteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."

 

Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.

  

Fourteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.

 

By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.

  

Fifteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.

 

From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.

 

Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.

  

Concluding Prayer

 

O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.

 

ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)

 

01

JAN

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

Amen.

 

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come to you.

 

Let us pray:

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html

 

The LORD of PARDON Devotion

 

RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Welcome Prayer [iii]

O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.

BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.

LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.

 

3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]

O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)

 

4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]

Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!

Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!

Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!

Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.

 

5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta

 

6. Invocations

  

O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)

O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)

O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)

O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)

Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our

death. Amen.

O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us

O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us

O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us

Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!

   

THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON

 

OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Come, Holy Ghost

COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful

And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.

 

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

 

Let Us Pray

O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

 

(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)

 

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS

 

Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry

And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High

Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love

To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above

To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.

 

3. Divine Will Prayer [1]

THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.

 

4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]

O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.

 

5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]

JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.

 

6. Act of Contrition

O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

 

7. Daily Prayer [4]

O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.

O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross

and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

 

8. Hymns

O SACRED HEART

 

O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!

Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!

And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!

That we may holy be Make us always Thine.

 

HAIL MARY

Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,

The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,

Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --

And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.

9. Prayers before The Rosary

 

THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]

O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.

 

ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]

WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.

WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.

WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.

 

10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary

 

THE APOSTLE’S CREED

I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

 

THE PATER

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

 

THE AVE

HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

THE GLORIA

GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *

MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.

O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.

 

PEACE PRAYER

O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.

 

IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *

O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.

 

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 thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

 

THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY

 

The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)

1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by

The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)

2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)

3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)

4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)

5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)

 

The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)

1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane

2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar

3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns

4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary

5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross

 

The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)

1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His

burial)

2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)

3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day

after The Ascension of Jesus)

4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)

5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)

 

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.

 

V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 

Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +

R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

 

11. Prayers After The Rosary

LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

 

Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us!

Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,

Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,

Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,

Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,

Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,

Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,

Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,

Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,

Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,

Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,

Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,

Blood of Christ, victor over demons,

Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,

Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,

Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,

Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,

Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,

Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,

Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,

Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,

Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,

Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,

Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,

Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,

 

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us

 

V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,

R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.

 

Let Us Pray

OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.

 

FIRST DAY

“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SECOND DAY

“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

THIRD DAY

“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”

(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FOURTH DAY

“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”

(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FIFTH DAY

“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SIXTH DAY

“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SEVENTH DAY

“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

   

HEART of JESUS

 

Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!

Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!

And when the tempest most severe

Heart of Jesus, hear!

 

(Refrain)

Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart

Never from Thee, Oh let us part

Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer

O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!

    

FAREWELL

(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)

 

O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.

Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.

Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.

We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.

 

TO JESUS’ HEART

To Jesus’ Heart all burning

With fervent love for men

My heart with fondest yearning

Shall raise its joyful strain.

 

Refrain

While ages course along

Blest be with loudest song

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

By every heart and tongue

 

Too true I have forsaken

Thy love by willful sin

Yet now let me be taken

Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)

 

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

 

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,

And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,

For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)

Refrain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine

Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.

I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)

   

The Fifteen Prayers

of St. Bridget of Sweden

  

These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.

    

First Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.

 

Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.

 

Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."

 

Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.

 

Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.

 

In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.

  

Second Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.

  

Third Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.

 

I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.

  

Fourth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

 

Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.

  

Fifth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.

 

Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.

  

Sixth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".

 

I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.

  

Seventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.

  

Eighth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.

  

Ninth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

 

Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.

  

Tenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.

  

Eleventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.

  

Twelfth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?

 

May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.

  

Thirteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."

 

Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.

  

Fourteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.

 

By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.

  

Fifteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.

 

From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.

 

Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.

  

Concluding Prayer

 

O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.

 

ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)

 

01

JAN

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

Amen.

 

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come to you.

 

Let us pray:

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

water colour on paper

  

www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html

 

The LORD of PARDON Devotion

 

RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Welcome Prayer [iii]

O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.

BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.

LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.

 

3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]

O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)

 

4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]

Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!

Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!

Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!

Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.

 

5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta

 

6. Invocations

  

O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)

O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)

O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)

O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)

Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our

death. Amen.

O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us

O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us

O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us

Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!

   

THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON

 

OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Come, Holy Ghost

COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful

And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.

 

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

 

Let Us Pray

O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

 

(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)

 

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS

 

Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry

And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High

Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love

To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above

To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.

 

3. Divine Will Prayer [1]

THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.

 

4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]

O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.

 

5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]

JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.

 

6. Act of Contrition

O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

 

7. Daily Prayer [4]

O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.

O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross

and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

 

8. Hymns

O SACRED HEART

 

O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!

Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!

And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!

That we may holy be Make us always Thine.

 

HAIL MARY

Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,

The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,

Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --

And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.

9. Prayers before The Rosary

 

THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]

O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.

 

ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]

WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.

WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.

WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.

 

10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary

 

THE APOSTLE’S CREED

I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

 

THE PATER

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

 

THE AVE

HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

THE GLORIA

GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *

MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.

O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.

 

PEACE PRAYER

O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.

 

IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *

O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.

 

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 thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

 

THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY

 

The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)

1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by

The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)

2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)

3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)

4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)

5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)

 

The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)

1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane

2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar

3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns

4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary

5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross

 

The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)

1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His

burial)

2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)

3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day

after The Ascension of Jesus)

4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)

5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)

 

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.

 

V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 

Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +

R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

 

11. Prayers After The Rosary

LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

 

Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us!

Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,

Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,

Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,

Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,

Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,

Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,

Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,

Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,

Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,

Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,

Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,

Blood of Christ, victor over demons,

Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,

Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,

Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,

Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,

Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,

Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,

Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,

Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,

Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,

Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,

Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,

Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,

 

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us

 

V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,

R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.

 

Let Us Pray

OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.

 

FIRST DAY

“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SECOND DAY

“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

THIRD DAY

“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”

(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FOURTH DAY

“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”

(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FIFTH DAY

“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SIXTH DAY

“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SEVENTH DAY

“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

   

HEART of JESUS

 

Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!

Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!

And when the tempest most severe

Heart of Jesus, hear!

 

(Refrain)

Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart

Never from Thee, Oh let us part

Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer

O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!

    

FAREWELL

(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)

 

O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.

Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.

Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.

We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.

 

TO JESUS’ HEART

To Jesus’ Heart all burning

With fervent love for men

My heart with fondest yearning

Shall raise its joyful strain.

 

Refrain

While ages course along

Blest be with loudest song

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

By every heart and tongue

 

Too true I have forsaken

Thy love by willful sin

Yet now let me be taken

Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)

 

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

 

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,

And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,

For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)

Refrain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine

Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.

I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)

   

The Fifteen Prayers

of St. Bridget of Sweden

  

These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.

    

First Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.

 

Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.

 

Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."

 

Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.

 

Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.

 

In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.

  

Second Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.

  

Third Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.

 

I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.

  

Fourth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

 

Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.

  

Fifth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.

 

Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.

  

Sixth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".

 

I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.

  

Seventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.

  

Eighth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.

  

Ninth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

 

Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.

  

Tenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.

  

Eleventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.

  

Twelfth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?

 

May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.

  

Thirteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."

 

Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.

  

Fourteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.

 

By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.

  

Fifteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.

 

From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.

 

Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.

  

Concluding Prayer

 

O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.

 

ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)

 

01

JAN

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

Amen.

 

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come to you.

 

Let us pray:

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

In monotheism, God is conceived of as the Supreme Being and principal object of faith.[3] The concept of God as described by most theologians includes the attributes of omniscience (infinite knowledge), omnipotence (unlimited power), omnipresence (present everywhere), divine simplicity, and as having an eternal and necessary existence. Many theologians also describe God as being omnibenevolent (perfectly good), and all loving.

 

God is most often held to be non-corporeal,[3] and to be without any human biological sex,[4][5] yet the concept of God actively creating the universe (as opposed to passively)[6] has caused many religions to describe God using masculine terminology, using such terms as "Him" or "Father". Furthermore, some religions (such as Judaism) attribute only a purely grammatical "gender" to God.[7]

 

In theism, God is the creator and sustainer of the universe, while in deism, God is the creator, but not the sustainer, of the universe. In pantheism, God is the universe itself. In atheism, God is not believed to exist, while God is deemed unknown or unknowable within the context of agnosticism. God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] Many notable philosophers have developed arguments for and against the existence of God.[8]

 

There are many names for God, and different names are attached to different cultural ideas about God's identity and attributes. In the ancient Egyptian era of Atenism, possibly the earliest recorded monotheistic religion, this deity was called Aten,[9] premised on being the one "true" Supreme Being and Creator of the Universe.[10] In the Hebrew Bible and Judaism, "He Who Is", "I Am that I Am", and the tetragrammaton YHWH (Hebrew: יהוה‎‎, which means: "I am who I am"; "He Who Exists") are used as names of God, while Yahweh and Jehovah are sometimes used in Christianity as vocalizations of YHWH. In the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, God, consubstantial in three persons, is called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. In Judaism, it is common to refer to God by the titular names Elohim or Adonai, the latter of which is believed by some scholars to descend from the Egyptian Aten.[11][12][13][14][15] In Islam, the name Allah, "Al-El", or "Al-Elah" ("the God") is used, while Muslims also have a multitude of titular names for God. In Hinduism, Brahman is often considered a monistic deity.[16] Other religions have names for God, for instance, Baha in the Bahá'í Faith,[17] Waheguru in Sikhism,[18] and Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism.[19]

 

The many different conceptions of God, and competing claims as to God's characteristics, aims, and actions, have led to the development of ideas of omnitheism, pandeism,[20][21] or a perennial philosophy, which postulates that there is one underlying theological truth, of which all religions express a partial understanding, and as to which "the devout in the various great world religions are in fact worshipping that one God, but through different, overlapping concepts or mental images of Him."[22]

 

Contents [hide]

1Etymology and usage

2General conceptions

2.1Oneness

2.2Theism, deism and pantheism

2.3Other concepts

3Non-theistic views

3.1Agnosticism and atheism

3.2Anthropomorphism

4Existence

5Specific attributes

5.1Names

5.2Gender

5.3Relationship with creation

6Depiction

6.1Zoroastrianism

6.2Islam

6.3Judaism

6.4Christianity

7Theological approaches

8Distribution of belief

9See also

9.1In specific religions

10References

11Further reading

12External links

Etymology and usage

 

The Mesha Stele bears the earliest known reference (840 BCE) to the Israelite God Yahweh.

Main article: God (word)

The earliest written form of the Germanic word God (always, in this usage, capitalized[23]) comes from the 6th-century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself is derived from the Proto-Germanic * ǥuđan. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form * ǵhu-tó-m was likely based on the root * ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to call" or "to invoke".[24] The Germanic words for God were originally neuter—applying to both genders—but during the process of the Christianization of the Germanic peoples from their indigenous Germanic paganism, the words became a masculine syntactic form.[25]

  

The word 'Allah' in Arabic calligraphy

In the English language, the capitalized form of God continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and "gods" in polytheism.[26][27] The English word God and its counterparts in other languages are normally used for any and all conceptions and, in spite of significant differences between religions, the term remains an English translation common to all. The same holds for Hebrew El, but in Judaism, God is also given a proper name, the tetragrammaton YHWH, in origin possibly the name of an Edomite or Midianite deity, Yahweh. In many translations of the Bible, when the word LORD is in all capitals, it signifies that the word represents the tetragrammaton.[28]

 

Allāh (Arabic: الله‎‎) is the Arabic term with no plural used by Muslims and Arabic speaking Christians and Jews meaning "The God" (with a capital G), while "ʾilāh" (Arabic: إله‎‎) is the term used for a deity or a god in general.[29][30][31] God may also be given a proper name in monotheistic currents of Hinduism which emphasize the personal nature of God, with early references to his name as Krishna-Vasudeva in Bhagavata or later Vishnu and Hari.[32]

 

Ahura Mazda is the name for God used in Zoroastrianism. "Mazda", or rather the Avestan stem-form Mazdā-, nominative Mazdå, reflects Proto-Iranian *Mazdāh (female). It is generally taken to be the proper name of the spirit, and like its Sanskrit cognate medhā, means "intelligence" or "wisdom". Both the Avestan and Sanskrit words reflect Proto-Indo-Iranian *mazdhā-, from Proto-Indo-European mn̩sdʰeh1, literally meaning "placing (dʰeh1) one's mind (*mn̩-s)", hence "wise".[33]

 

Waheguru (Punjabi: vāhigurū) is a term most often used in Sikhism to refer to God. It means "Wonderful Teacher" in the Punjabi language. Vāhi (a Middle Persian borrowing) means "wonderful" and guru (Sanskrit: guru) is a term denoting "teacher". Waheguru is also described by some as an experience of ecstasy which is beyond all descriptions. The most common usage of the word "Waheguru" is in the greeting Sikhs use with each other:

 

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

Wonderful Lord's Khalsa, Victory is to the Wonderful Lord.

Baha, the "greatest" name for God in the Baha'i faith, is Arabic for "All-Glorious".

 

General conceptions

Main article: Conceptions of God

There is no clear consensus on the nature or even the existence of God.[34] The Abrahamic conceptions of God include the monotheistic definition of God in Judaism, the trinitarian view of Christians, and the Islamic concept of God. The dharmic religions differ in their view of the divine: views of God in Hinduism vary by region, sect, and caste, ranging from monotheistic to polytheistic. Divinity was recognized by the historical Buddha, particularly Śakra and Brahma. However, other sentient beings, including gods, can at best only play a supportive role in one's personal path to salvation. Conceptions of God in the latter developments of the Mahayana tradition give a more prominent place to notions of the divine.[citation needed]

 

Oneness

Main articles: Monotheism and Henotheism

 

The Trinity is the belief that God is composed of The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically in the physical realm by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.

Monotheists hold that there is only one god, and may claim that the one true god is worshiped in different religions under different names. The view that all theists actually worship the same god, whether they know it or not, is especially emphasized in Hinduism[35] and Sikhism.[36] In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity describes God as one God in three persons. The Trinity comprises The Father, The Son (embodied metaphysically by Jesus), and The Holy Spirit.[37] Islam's most fundamental concept is tawhid (meaning "oneness" or "uniqueness"). God is described in the Quran as: "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."[38][39] Muslims repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, comparing it to polytheism. In Islam, God is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of his creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, and are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Henotheism is the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities.[41]

 

Theism, deism and pantheism

Main articles: Theism, Deism, and Pantheism

Theism generally holds that God exists realistically, objectively, and independently of human thought; that God created and sustains everything; that God is omnipotent and eternal; and that God is personal and interacting with the universe through, for example, religious experience and the prayers of humans.[42] Theism holds that God is both transcendent and immanent; thus, God is simultaneously infinite and in some way present in the affairs of the world.[43] Not all theists subscribe to all of these propositions, but each usually subscribes to some of them (see, by way of comparison, family resemblance).[42] Catholic theology holds that God is infinitely simple and is not involuntarily subject to time. Most theists hold that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent, although this belief raises questions about God's responsibility for evil and suffering in the world. Some theists ascribe to God a self-conscious or purposeful limiting of omnipotence, omniscience, or benevolence. Open Theism, by contrast, asserts that, due to the nature of time, God's omniscience does not mean the deity can predict the future. Theism is sometimes used to refer in general to any belief in a god or gods, i.e., monotheism or polytheism.[44][45]

  

"God blessing the seventh day", a watercolor painting depicting God, by William Blake (1757 – 1827)

Deism holds that God is wholly transcendent: God exists, but does not intervene in the world beyond what was necessary to create it.[43] In this view, God is not anthropomorphic, and neither answers prayers nor produces miracles. Common in Deism is a belief that God has no interest in humanity and may not even be aware of humanity. Pandeism and Panendeism, respectively, combine Deism with the Pantheistic or Panentheistic beliefs.[21][46][47] Pandeism is proposed to explain as to Deism why God would create a universe and then abandon it,[48] and as to Pantheism, the origin and purpose of the universe.[48][49]

 

Pantheism holds that God is the universe and the universe is God, whereas Panentheism holds that God contains, but is not identical to, the Universe.[50] It is also the view of the Liberal Catholic Church; Theosophy; some views of Hinduism except Vaishnavism, which believes in panentheism; Sikhism; some divisions of Neopaganism and Taoism, along with many varying denominations and individuals within denominations. Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, paints a pantheistic/panentheistic view of God—which has wide acceptance in Hasidic Judaism, particularly from their founder The Baal Shem Tov—but only as an addition to the Jewish view of a personal god, not in the original pantheistic sense that denies or limits persona to God.[citation needed]

 

Other concepts

Dystheism, which is related to theodicy, is a form of theism which holds that God is either not wholly good or is fully malevolent as a consequence of the problem of evil. One such example comes from Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, in which Ivan Karamazov rejects God on the grounds that he allows children to suffer.[51]

 

In modern times, some more abstract concepts have been developed, such as process theology and open theism. The contemporaneous French philosopher Michel Henry has however proposed a phenomenological approach and definition of God as phenomenological essence of Life.[52]

 

God has also been conceived as being incorporeal (immaterial), a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the "greatest conceivable existent".[3] These attributes were all supported to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim theologian philosophers, including Maimonides,[53] Augustine of Hippo,[53] and Al-Ghazali,[8] respectively.

 

Non-theistic views

See also: Evolutionary origin of religions and Evolutionary psychology of religion

Non-theist views about God also vary. Some non-theists avoid the concept of God, whilst accepting that it is significant to many; other non-theists understand God as a symbol of human values and aspirations. The nineteenth-century English atheist Charles Bradlaugh declared that he refused to say "There is no God", because "the word 'God' is to me a sound conveying no clear or distinct affirmation";[54] he said more specifically that he disbelieved in the Christian god. Stephen Jay Gould proposed an approach dividing the world of philosophy into what he called "non-overlapping magisteria" (NOMA). In this view, questions of the supernatural, such as those relating to the existence and nature of God, are non-empirical and are the proper domain of theology. The methods of science should then be used to answer any empirical question about the natural world, and theology should be used to answer questions about ultimate meaning and moral value. In this view, the perceived lack of any empirical footprint from the magisterium of the supernatural onto natural events makes science the sole player in the natural world.[55]

 

Another view, advanced by Richard Dawkins, is that the existence of God is an empirical question, on the grounds that "a universe with a god would be a completely different kind of universe from one without, and it would be a scientific difference."[56] Carl Sagan argued that the doctrine of a Creator of the Universe was difficult to prove or disprove and that the only conceivable scientific discovery that could disprove the existence of a Creator (not necessarily a God) would be the discovery that the universe is infinitely old.[57]

 

Stephen Hawking and co-author Leonard Mlodinow state in their book, The Grand Design, that it is reasonable to ask who or what created the universe, but if the answer is God, then the question has merely been deflected to that of who created God. Both authors claim however, that it is possible to answer these questions purely within the realm of science, and without invoking any divine beings.[58] Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Agnosticism and atheism

Agnosticism is the view that, the truth values of certain claims – especially metaphysical and religious claims such as whether God, the divine or the supernatural exist – are unknown and perhaps unknowable.[60][61][62]

 

Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities, or a God.[63][64] In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities.[65]

 

Anthropomorphism

Main article: Anthropomorphism

Pascal Boyer argues that while there is a wide array of supernatural concepts found around the world, in general, supernatural beings tend to behave much like people. The construction of gods and spirits like persons is one of the best known traits of religion. He cites examples from Greek mythology, which is, in his opinion, more like a modern soap opera than other religious systems.[66] Bertrand du Castel and Timothy Jurgensen demonstrate through formalization that Boyer's explanatory model matches physics' epistemology in positing not directly observable entities as intermediaries.[67] Anthropologist Stewart Guthrie contends that people project human features onto non-human aspects of the world because it makes those aspects more familiar. Sigmund Freud also suggested that god concepts are projections of one's father.[68]

 

Likewise, Émile Durkheim was one of the earliest to suggest that gods represent an extension of human social life to include supernatural beings. In line with this reasoning, psychologist Matt Rossano contends that when humans began living in larger groups, they may have created gods as a means of enforcing morality. In small groups, morality can be enforced by social forces such as gossip or reputation. However, it is much harder to enforce morality using social forces in much larger groups. Rossano indicates that by including ever-watchful gods and spirits, humans discovered an effective strategy for restraining selfishness and building more cooperative groups.[69]

 

Existence

Main article: Existence of God

 

St. Thomas Aquinas summed up five main arguments as proofs for God's existence.

 

Isaac Newton saw the existence of a Creator necessary in the movement of astronomical objects.

Arguments about the existence of God typically include empirical, deductive, and inductive types. Different views include that: "God does not exist" (strong atheism); "God almost certainly does not exist" (de facto atheism); "no one knows whether God exists" (agnosticism[70]);"God exists, but this cannot be proven or disproven" (de facto theism); and that "God exists and this can be proven" (strong theism).[55]

 

Countless arguments have been proposed to prove the existence of God.[71] Some of the most notable arguments are the Five Ways of Aquinas, the Argument from Desire proposed by C.S. Lewis, and the Ontological Argument formulated both by St. Anselm and René Descartes.[72]

 

St. Anselm's approach was to define God as, "that than which nothing greater can be conceived". Famed pantheist philosopher Baruch Spinoza would later carry this idea to its extreme: "By God I understand a being absolutely infinite, i.e., a substance consisting of infinite attributes, of which each one expresses an eternal and infinite essence." For Spinoza, the whole of the natural universe is made of one substance, God, or its equivalent, Nature.[73] His proof for the existence of God was a variation of the Ontological argument.[74]

 

Scientist Isaac Newton saw God as the masterful creator whose existence could not be denied in the face of the grandeur of all creation.[75] Nevertheless, he rejected polymath Leibniz' thesis that God would necessarily make a perfect world which requires no intervention from the creator. In Query 31 of the Opticks, Newton simultaneously made an argument from design and for the necessity of intervention:

 

For while comets move in very eccentric orbs in all manner of positions, blind fate could never make all the planets move one and the same way in orbs concentric, some inconsiderable irregularities excepted which may have arisen from the mutual actions of comets and planets on one another, and which will be apt to increase, till this system wants a reformation.[76]

 

St. Thomas believed that the existence of God is self-evident in itself, but not to us. "Therefore I say that this proposition, "God exists", of itself is self-evident, for the predicate is the same as the subject.... Now because we do not know the essence of God, the proposition is not self-evident to us; but needs to be demonstrated by things that are more known to us, though less known in their nature—namely, by effects."[77] St. Thomas believed that the existence of God can be demonstrated. Briefly in the Summa theologiae and more extensively in the Summa contra Gentiles, he considered in great detail five arguments for the existence of God, widely known as the quinque viae (Five Ways).

 

For the original text of the five proofs, see quinque viae

Motion: Some things undoubtedly move, though cannot cause their own motion. Since there can be no infinite chain of causes of motion, there must be a First Mover not moved by anything else, and this is what everyone understands by God.

Causation: As in the case of motion, nothing can cause itself, and an infinite chain of causation is impossible, so there must be a First Cause, called God.

Existence of necessary and the unnecessary: Our experience includes things certainly existing but apparently unnecessary. Not everything can be unnecessary, for then once there was nothing and there would still be nothing. Therefore, we are compelled to suppose something that exists necessarily, having this necessity only from itself; in fact itself the cause for other things to exist.

Gradation: If we can notice a gradation in things in the sense that some things are more hot, good, etc., there must be a superlative that is the truest and noblest thing, and so most fully existing. This then, we call God (Note: Thomas does not ascribe actual qualities to God Himself).

Ordered tendencies of nature: A direction of actions to an end is noticed in all bodies following natural laws. Anything without awareness tends to a goal under the guidance of one who is aware. This we call God (Note that even when we guide objects, in Thomas's view, the source of all our knowledge comes from God as well).[78]

 

Alister McGrath, a formerly atheistic scientist and theologian who has been highly critical of Richard Dawkins' version of atheism

Some theologians, such as the scientist and theologian A.E. McGrath, argue that the existence of God is not a question that can be answered using the scientific method.[79][80] Agnostic Stephen Jay Gould argues that science and religion are not in conflict and do not overlap.[81]

 

Some findings in the fields of cosmology, evolutionary biology and neuroscience are interpreted by some atheists (including Lawrence M. Krauss and Sam Harris) as evidence that God is an imaginary entity only, with no basis in reality.[82][83][84] These atheists claim that a single, omniscient God who is imagined to have created the universe and is particularly attentive to the lives of humans has been imagined, embellished and promulgated in a trans-generational manner.[85] Richard Dawkins interprets such findings not only as a lack of evidence for the material existence of such a God, but as extensive evidence to the contrary.[55] However, his views are opposed by some theologians and scientists including Alister McGrath, who argues that existence of God is compatible with science.[86]

 

Neuroscientist Michael Nikoletseas has proposed that questions of the existence of God are no different from questions of natural sciences. Following a biological comparative approach, he concludes that it is highly probable that God exists, and, although not visible, it is possible that we know some of his attributes.[59]

 

Specific attributes

Different religious traditions assign differing (though often similar) attributes and characteristics to God, including expansive powers and abilities, psychological characteristics, gender characteristics, and preferred nomenclature. The assignment of these attributes often differs according to the conceptions of God in the culture from which they arise. For example, attributes of God in Christianity, attributes of God in Islam, and the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Judaism share certain similarities arising from their common roots.

 

Names

Main article: Names of God

 

99 names of Allah, in Chinese Sini (script)

The word God is "one of the most complex and difficult in the English language." In the Judeo-Christian tradition, "the Bible has been the principal source of the conceptions of God". That the Bible "includes many different images, concepts, and ways of thinking about" God has resulted in perpetual "disagreements about how God is to be conceived and understood".[87]

 

Throughout the Hebrew and Christian Bibles there are many names for God. One of them is Elohim. Another one is El Shaddai, meaning "God Almighty".[88] A third notable name is El Elyon, which means "The Most High God".[89]

 

God is described and referred in the Quran and hadith by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahman, meaning "Most Compassionate" and Al-Rahim, meaning "Most Merciful" (See Names of God in Islam).[90]

  

Supreme soul

The Brahma Kumaris use the term "Supreme Soul" to refer to God. They see God as incorporeal and eternal, and regard him as a point of living light like human souls, but without a physical body, as he does not enter the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. God is seen as the perfect and constant embodiment of all virtues, powers and values and that He is the unconditionally loving Father of all souls, irrespective of their religion, gender, or culture.[91]

 

Vaishnavism, a tradition in Hinduism, has list of titles and names of Krishna.

 

Gender

Main article: Gender of God

The gender of God may be viewed as either a literal or an allegorical aspect of a deity who, in classical western philosophy, transcends bodily form.[92][93] Polytheistic religions commonly attribute to each of the gods a gender, allowing each to interact with any of the others, and perhaps with humans, sexually. In most monotheistic religions, God has no counterpart with which to relate sexually. Thus, in classical western philosophy the gender of this one-and-only deity is most likely to be an analogical statement of how humans and God address, and relate to, each other. Namely, God is seen as begetter of the world and revelation which corresponds to the active (as opposed to the receptive) role in sexual intercourse.[6]

 

Biblical sources usually refer to God using male words, except Genesis 1:26-27,[94][95] Psalm 123:2-3, and Luke 15:8-10 (female); Hosea 11:3-4, Deuteronomy 32:18, Isaiah 66:13, Isaiah 49:15, Isaiah 42:14, Psalm 131:2 (a mother); Deuteronomy 32:11-12 (a mother eagle); and Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 (a mother hen).

 

Relationship with creation

See also: Creator deity, Prayer, and Worship

 

And Elohim Created Adam by William Blake, c.1795

Prayer plays a significant role among many believers. Muslims believe that the purpose of existence is to worship God.[96][97] He is viewed as a personal God and there are no intermediaries, such as clergy, to contact God. Prayer often also includes supplication and asking forgiveness. God is often believed to be forgiving. For example, a hadith states God would replace a sinless people with one who sinned but still asked repentance.[98] Christian theologian Alister McGrath writes that there are good reasons to suggest that a "personal god" is integral to the Christian outlook, but that one has to understand it is an analogy. "To say that God is like a person is to affirm the divine ability and willingness to relate to others. This does not imply that God is human, or located at a specific point in the universe."[99]

 

Adherents of different religions generally disagree as to how to best worship God and what is God's plan for mankind, if there is one. There are different approaches to reconciling the contradictory claims of monotheistic religions. One view is taken by exclusivists, who believe they are the chosen people or have exclusive access to absolute truth, generally through revelation or encounter with the Divine, which adherents of other religions do not. Another view is religious pluralism. A pluralist typically believes that his religion is the right one, but does not deny the partial truth of other religions. An example of a pluralist view in Christianity is supersessionism, i.e., the belief that one's religion is the fulfillment of previous religions. A third approach is relativistic inclusivism, where everybody is seen as equally right; an example being universalism: the doctrine that salvation is eventually available for everyone. A fourth approach is syncretism, mixing different elements from different religions. An example of syncretism is the New Age movement.

 

Jews and Christians believe that humans are created in the likeness of God, and are the center, crown and key to God's creation, stewards for God, supreme over everything else God had made (Gen 1:26); for this reason, humans are in Christianity called the "Children of God".[100]

 

Depiction

God is defined as incorporeal,[3] and invisible from direct sight, and thus cannot be portrayed in a literal visual image.

 

The respective principles of religions may or may not permit them to use images (which are entirely symbolic) to represent God in art or in worship .

 

Zoroastrianism

 

Ahura Mazda (depiction is on the right, with high crown) presents Ardashir I (left) with the ring of kingship. (Relief at Naqsh-e Rustam, 3rd century CE)

During the early Parthian Empire, Ahura Mazda was visually represented for worship. This practice ended during the beginning of the Sassanid empire. Zoroastrian iconoclasm, which can be traced to the end of the Parthian period and the beginning of the Sassanid, eventually put an end to the use of all images of Ahura Mazda in worship. However, Ahura Mazda continued to be symbolized by a dignified male figure, standing or on horseback which is found in Sassanian investiture.[101]

 

Islam

Further information: God in Islam

Muslims believe that God (Allah) is beyond all comprehension or equal and does not resemble any of His creations in any way. Thus, Muslims are not iconodules, are not expected to visualize God.[40]

 

Judaism

At least some Jews do not use any image for God, since God is the unimageable Being who cannot be represented in material forms.[102] In some samples of Jewish Art, however, sometimes God, or at least His Intervention, is indicated by a Hand Of God symbol, which represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or Voice of God;[103] this use of the Hand Of God is carried over to Christian Art.

 

Christianity

 

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Early Christians believed that the words of the Gospel of John 1:18: "No man has seen God at any time" and numerous other statements were meant to apply not only to God, but to all attempts at the depiction of God.[104]

  

Use of the symbolic Hand of God in the Ascension from the Drogo Sacramentary, c. 850

However, later on the Hand of God symbol is found several times in the only ancient synagogue with a large surviving decorative scheme, the Dura Europos Synagogue of the mid-3rd century, and was probably adopted into Early Christian art from Jewish art. It was common in Late Antique art in both East and West, and remained the main way of symbolizing the actions or approval of God the Father in the West until about the end of the Romanesque period. It also represents the bath Kol (literally "daughter of a voice") or voice of God,[103] just like in Jewish Art.

 

In situations, such as the Baptism of Christ, where a specific representation of God the Father was indicated, the Hand of God was used, with increasing freedom from the Carolingian period until the end of the Romanesque. This motif now, since the discovery of the 3rd century Dura Europos synagogue, seems to have been borrowed from Jewish art, and is found in Christian art almost from its beginnings.

 

The use of religious images in general continued to increase up to the end of the 7th century, to the point that in 695, upon assuming the throne, Byzantine emperor Justinian II put an image of Christ on the obverse side of his gold coins, resulting in a rift which ended the use of Byzantine coin types in the Islamic world.[105] However, the increase in religious imagery did not include depictions of God the Father. For instance, while the eighty second canon of the Council of Trullo in 692 did not specifically condemn images of The Father, it suggested that icons of Christ were preferred over Old Testament shadows and figures.[106]

 

The beginning of the 8th century witnessed the suppression and destruction of religious icons as the period of Byzantine iconoclasm (literally image-breaking) started. Emperor Leo III (717–741), suppressed the use of icons by imperial edict of the Byzantine Empire, presumably due to a military loss which he attributed to the undue veneration of icons.[107] The edict (which was issued without consulting the Church) forbade the veneration of religious images but did not apply to other forms of art, including the image of the emperor, or religious symbols such as the cross.[108] Theological arguments against icons then began to appear with iconoclasts arguing that icons could not represent both the divine and the human natures of Jesus at the same time. In this atmosphere, no public depictions of God the Father were even attempted and such depictions only began to appear two centuries later.

 

The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 effectively ended the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm and restored the honouring of icons and holy images in general.[109] However, this did not immediately translate into large scale depictions of God the Father. Even supporters of the use of icons in the 8th century, such as Saint John of Damascus, drew a distinction between images of God the Father and those of Christ.

 

In his treatise On the Divine Images John of Damascus wrote: "In former times, God who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see".[110] The implication here is that insofar as God the Father or the Spirit did not become man, visible and tangible, images and portrait icons can not be depicted. So what was true for the whole Trinity before Christ remains true for the Father and the Spirit but not for the Word. John of Damascus wrote:[111]

 

"If we attempt to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed. It is impossible to portray one who is without body:invisible, uncircumscribed and without form."

 

Around 790 Charlemagne ordered a set of four books that became known as the Libri Carolini (i.e. "Charles' books") to refute what his court mistakenly understood to be the iconoclast decrees of the Byzantine Second Council of Nicaea regarding sacred images. Although not well known during the Middle Ages, these books describe the key elements of the Catholic theological position on sacred images. To the Western Church, images were just objects made by craftsmen, to be utilized for stimulating the senses of the faithful, and to be respected for the sake of the subject represented, not in themselves. The Council of Constantinople (869) (considered ecumenical by the Western Church, but not the Eastern Church) reaffirmed the decisions of the Second Council of Nicaea and helped stamp out any remaining coals of iconoclasm. Specifically, its third canon required the image of Christ to have veneration equal with that of a Gospel book:[112]

 

We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of the words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them.

 

But images of God the Father were not directly addressed in Constantinople in 869. A list of permitted icons was enumerated at this Council, but symbols of God the Father were not among them.[113] However, the general acceptance of icons and holy images began to create an atmosphere in which God the Father could be symbolized.

 

Prior to the 10th century no attempt was made to use a human to symbolize God the Father in Western art.[104] Yet, Western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of the Father, so through successive representations a set of artistic styles for symbolizing the Father using a man gradually emerged around the 10th century AD. A rationale for the use of a human is the belief that God created the soul of Man in the image of His own (thus allowing Human to transcend the other animals).

 

It appears that when early artists designed to represent God the Father, fear and awe restrained them from a usage of the whole human figure. Typically only a small part would be used as the image, usually the hand, or sometimes the face, but rarely a whole human. In many images, the figure of the Son supplants the Father, so a smaller portion of the person of the Father is depicted.[114]

 

By the 12th century depictions of God the Father had started to appear in French illuminated manuscripts, which as a less public form could often be more adventurous in their iconography, and in stained glass church windows in England. Initially the head or bust was usually shown in some form of frame of clouds in the top of the picture space, where the Hand of God had formerly appeared; the Baptism of Christ on the famous baptismal font in Liège of Rainer of Huy is an example from 1118 (a Hand of God is used in another scene). Gradually the amount of the human symbol shown can increase to a half-length figure, then a full-length, usually enthroned, as in Giotto's fresco of c. 1305 in Padua.[115] In the 14th century the Naples Bible carried a depiction of God the Father in the Burning bush. By the early 15th century, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry has a considerable number of symbols, including an elderly but tall and elegant full-length figure walking in the Garden of Eden, which show a considerable diversity of apparent ages and dress. The "Gates of Paradise" of the Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti, begun in 1425 use a similar tall full-length symbol for the Father. The Rohan Book of Hours of about 1430 also included depictions of God the Father in half-length human form, which were now becoming standard, and the Hand of God becoming rarer. At the same period other works, like the large Genesis altarpiece by the Hamburg painter Meister Bertram, continued to use the old depiction of Christ as Logos in Genesis scenes. In the 15th century there was a brief fashion for depicting all three persons of the Trinity as similar or identical figures with the usual appearance of Christ.

 

In an early Venetian school Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini, (c. 1443) The Father is depicted using the symbol consistently used by other artists later, namely a patriarch, with benign, yet powerful countenance and with long white hair and a beard, a depiction largely derived from, and justified by, the near-physical, but still figurative, description of the Ancient of Days.[116]

 

. ...the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9)

  

Usage of two Hands of God"(relatively unusual) and the Holy Spirit as a dove in Baptism of Christ, by Verrocchio, 1472

In the Annunciation by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470, God the Father is portrayed in the red robe and a hat that resembles that of a Cardinal. However, even in the later part of the 15th century, the symbolic representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit as "hands and dove" continued, e.g. in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ in 1472.[117]

  

God the Father with His Right Hand Raised in Blessing, with a triangular halo representing the Trinity, Girolamo dai Libri c. 1555

In Renaissance paintings of the adoration of the Trinity, God may be depicted in two ways, either with emphasis on The Father, or the three elements of the Trinity. The most usual depiction of the Trinity in Renaissance art depicts God the Father using an old man, usually with a long beard and patriarchal in appearance, sometimes with a triangular halo (as a reference to the Trinity), or with a papal crown, specially in Northern Renaissance painting. In these depictions The Father may hold a globe or book (to symbolize God's knowledge and as a reference to how knowledge is deemed divine). He is behind and above Christ on the Cross in the Throne of Mercy iconography. A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit may hover above. Various people from different classes of society, e.g. kings, popes or martyrs may be present in the picture. In a Trinitarian Pietà, God the Father is often symbolized using a man wearing a papal dress and a papal crown, supporting the dead Christ in his arms. They are depicted as floating in heaven with angels who carry the instruments of the Passion.[118]

 

Representations of God the Father and the Trinity were attacked both by Protestants and within Catholicism, by the Jansenist and Baianist movements as well as more orthodox theologians. As with other attacks on Catholic imagery, this had the effect both of reducing Church support for the less central depictions, and strengthening it for the core ones. In the Western Church, the pressure to restrain religious imagery resulted in the highly influential decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563. The Council of Trent decrees confirmed the traditional Catholic doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that veneration to them was paid to the person, not the image.[119]

 

Artistic depictions of God the Father were uncontroversial in Catholic art thereafter, but less common depictions of the Trinity were condemned. In 1745 Pope Benedict XIV explicitly supported the Throne of Mercy depiction, referring to the "Ancient of Days", but in 1786 it was still necessary for Pope Pius VI to issue a papal bull condemning the decision of an Italian church council to remove all images of the Trinity from churches.[120]

  

The famous The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, c.1512

God the Father is symbolized in several Genesis scenes in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, most famously The Creation of Adam (whose image of near touching hands of God and Adam is iconic of humanity, being a reminder that Man is created in the Image and Likeness of God (Gen 1:26)).God the Father is depicted as a powerful figure, floating in the clouds in Titian's Assumption of the Virgin in the Frari of Venice, long admired as a masterpiece of High Renaissance art.[121] The Church of the Gesù in Rome includes a number of 16th century depictions of God the Father. In some of these paintings the Trinity is still alluded to in terms of three angels, but Giovanni Battista Fiammeri also depicted God the Father as a man riding on a cloud, above the scenes.[122]

 

In both the Last Judgment and the Coronation of the Virgin paintings by Rubens he depicted God the Father using the image that by then had become widely accepted, a bearded patriarchal figure above the fray. In the 17th century, the two Spanish artists Velázquez (whose father-in-law Francisco Pacheco was in charge of the approval of new images for the Inquisition) and Murillo both depicted God the Father using a patriarchal figure with a white beard in a purple robe.

  

The Ancient of Days (1794) Watercolor etching by William Blake

While representations of God the Father were growing in Italy, Spain, Germany and the Low Countries, there was resistance elsewhere in Europe, even during the 17th century. In 1632 most members of the Star Chamber court in England (except the Archbishop of York) condemned the use of the images of the Trinity in church windows, and some considered them illegal.[123] Later in the 17th century Sir Thomas Browne wrote that he considered the representation of God the Father using an old man "a dangerous act" that might lead to Egyptian symbolism.[124] In 1847, Charles Winston was still critical of such images as a "Romish trend" (a term used to refer to Roman Catholics) that he considered best avoided in England.[125]

 

In 1667 the 43rd chapter of the Great Moscow Council specifically included a ban on a number of symbolic depictions of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, which then also resulted in a whole range of other icons being placed on the forbidden list,[126][127] mostly affecting Western-style depictions which had been gaining ground in Orthodox icons. The Council also declared that the person of the Trinity who was the "Ancient of Days" was Christ, as Logos, not God the Father. However some icons continued to be produced in Russia, as well as Greece, Romania, and other Orthodox countries.

 

Theological approaches

Theologians and philosophers have attributed to God such characteristics as omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, perfect goodness, divine simplicity, and eternal and necessary existence. God has been described as incorporeal, a personal being, the source of all moral obligation, and the greatest conceivable being existent.[3] These attributes were all claimed to varying degrees by the early Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars, including Maimonides,[53] St Augustine,[53] and Al-Ghazali.[128]

 

Many philosophers developed arguments for the existence of God,[8] while attempting to comprehend the precise implications of God's attributes. Reconciling some of those attributes generated important philosophical problems and debates. For example, God's omniscience may seem to imply that God knows how free agents will choose to act. If God does know this, their ostensible free will might be illusory, or foreknowledge does not imply predestination, and if God does not know it, God may not be omniscient.[129]

 

However, if by its essential nature, free will is not predetermined, then the effect of its will can never be perfectly predicted by anyone, regardless of intelligence and knowledge. Although knowledge of the options presented to that will, combined with perfectly infinite intelligence, could be said to provide God with omniscience if omniscience is defined as knowledge or understanding of all that is.

 

The last centuries of philosophy have seen vigorous questions regarding the arguments for God's existence raised by such philosophers as Immanuel Kant, David Hume and Antony Flew, although Kant held that the argument from morality was valid. The theist response has been either to contend, as does Alvin Plantinga, that faith is "properly basic", or to take, as does Richard Swinburne, the evidentialist position.[130] Some theists agree that only some of the arguments for God's existence are compelling, but argue that faith is not a product of reason, but requires risk. There would be no risk, they say, if the arguments for God's existence were as solid as the laws of logic, a position summed up by Pascal as "the heart has reasons of which reason does not know."[131] A recent theory using concepts from physics and neurophysiology proposes that God can be conceptualized within the theory of integrative level.[132]

 

Many religious believers allow for the existence of other, less powerful spiritual beings such as angels, saints, jinn, demons, and devas.[133][134][135][136][137]

www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html

 

The LORD of PARDON Devotion

 

RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Welcome Prayer [iii]

O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.

BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.

LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.

 

3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]

O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)

 

4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]

Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!

Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!

Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!

Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.

 

5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta

 

6. Invocations

  

O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)

O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)

O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)

O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)

Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our

death. Amen.

O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us

O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us

O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us

Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!

   

THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON

 

OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Come, Holy Ghost

COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful

And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.

 

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

 

Let Us Pray

O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

 

(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)

 

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS

 

Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry

And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High

Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love

To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above

To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.

 

3. Divine Will Prayer [1]

THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.

 

4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]

O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.

 

5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]

JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.

 

6. Act of Contrition

O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

 

7. Daily Prayer [4]

O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.

O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross

and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

 

8. Hymns

O SACRED HEART

 

O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!

Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!

And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!

That we may holy be Make us always Thine.

 

HAIL MARY

Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,

The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,

Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --

And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.

9. Prayers before The Rosary

 

THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]

O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.

 

ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]

WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.

WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.

WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.

 

10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary

 

THE APOSTLE’S CREED

I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

 

THE PATER

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

 

THE AVE

HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

THE GLORIA

GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *

MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.

O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.

 

PEACE PRAYER

O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.

 

IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *

O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.

 

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 thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

 

THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY

 

The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)

1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by

The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)

2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)

3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)

4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)

5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)

 

The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)

1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane

2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar

3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns

4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary

5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross

 

The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)

1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His

burial)

2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)

3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day

after The Ascension of Jesus)

4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)

5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)

 

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.

 

V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 

Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +

R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

 

11. Prayers After The Rosary

LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

 

Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us!

Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,

Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,

Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,

Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,

Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,

Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,

Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,

Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,

Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,

Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,

Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,

Blood of Christ, victor over demons,

Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,

Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,

Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,

Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,

Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,

Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,

Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,

Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,

Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,

Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,

Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,

Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,

 

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us

 

V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,

R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.

 

Let Us Pray

OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.

 

FIRST DAY

“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SECOND DAY

“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

THIRD DAY

“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”

(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FOURTH DAY

“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”

(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FIFTH DAY

“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SIXTH DAY

“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SEVENTH DAY

“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

   

HEART of JESUS

 

Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!

Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!

And when the tempest most severe

Heart of Jesus, hear!

 

(Refrain)

Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart

Never from Thee, Oh let us part

Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer

O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!

    

FAREWELL

(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)

 

O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.

Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.

Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.

We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.

 

TO JESUS’ HEART

To Jesus’ Heart all burning

With fervent love for men

My heart with fondest yearning

Shall raise its joyful strain.

 

Refrain

While ages course along

Blest be with loudest song

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

By every heart and tongue

 

Too true I have forsaken

Thy love by willful sin

Yet now let me be taken

Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)

 

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

 

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,

And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,

For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)

Refrain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine

Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.

I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)

   

The Fifteen Prayers

of St. Bridget of Sweden

  

These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.

    

First Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.

 

Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.

 

Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."

 

Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.

 

Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.

 

In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.

  

Second Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.

  

Third Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.

 

I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.

  

Fourth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

 

Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.

  

Fifth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.

 

Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.

  

Sixth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".

 

I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.

  

Seventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.

  

Eighth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.

  

Ninth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

 

Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.

  

Tenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.

  

Eleventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.

  

Twelfth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?

 

May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.

  

Thirteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."

 

Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.

  

Fourteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.

 

By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.

  

Fifteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.

 

From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.

 

Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.

  

Concluding Prayer

 

O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.

 

ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)

 

01

JAN

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

Amen.

 

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come to you.

 

Let us pray:

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

www.fisheaters.com/15prayersofstbridget.html

 

The LORD of PARDON Devotion

 

RECEPTION PRAYER TO THE LORD OF PARDON [i]

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi [ii]

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Welcome Prayer [iii]

O LORD, OUR GOD, our All, we welcome You into our humble dwelling. We thank You, we honor You and we praise You for Your Infinite humility; because You have deigned to bless our earthly dwelling with Your Divine and Majestic Presence, though we are full of unworthiness and our humble dwelling is inadequate for Your glory.

BLESS OUR family and our home, O Lord, that we may be worthy of Your Love and Your Divine Presence. May our home be a true nest of Your Divine Love not only for the next seven days of Your visit but for the rest of our pilgrimage on this earth. Grant that we may make Your stay in our home very pleasurable.

LORD, WE are Yours and we humbly pray that You will take care of us as Your true possession, now and forever. Amen.

 

3. Prayer for All of Humanity (From the Beginning to the End of the World) [iv]

O THOU MOST BELOVED, Most Merciful Lord Jesus Christ, into Thy Holy Almighty Hands we commend ourselves for all eternity, as well as in the Heart of the Most High God of the Eternal Trinity! We take refuge in the deep Wounds of Thy Most Holy Body. May Thy Most Holy Body nourish us, Thy Most Precious shed Blood, Fear and Suffering purify us of all our sins and vices! Oh, Our Dear Lord God, we humbly offer Thy Great Fear and Need to Thy Heavenly Father in expiation for all our sins and debts! May the terrible blows Thou didst endure plead for us! May Thy most painful scourging cover our great guilt! We offer All Thine injustices, deep wounds, great pains and sighs to Thy Heavenly Father for all our neglects. May Thy Great Love, Oh Dearest Jesus, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice and with Thee! Oh, Most Merciful Jesus, may Thy Faultless Judgment be for us the forgiveness of all our sins, known and unknown; may Thy Holy Footsteps in so much Misery lead and guide us in the way of Thy Divine Justice; may Thy Shameful Denuding make us pure in body and sanctify our souls! May Thy Bitter Agony, Thy Holy Wounds shield us from our visible and invisible enemies! May Thy Pierced Hands and Feet lead us to All Good. Oh Dearest Lord, place us and hide us in Thy Five Most Holy Wounds! Forget not our poor souls for which Thou didst so agonizingly trembled on the stem of the Holy Cross! For the sake of all the Martyrdom Thou didst suffer, reconcile us with Thy Divine Justice! May Thy Most Holy and Bitter Death protect us, and lead us to Eternal Salvation! May Thy Most Blessed Power and Divine Omnipotence drive away and keep away from us every evil of body and soul! May Thy Most Holy Wounds, Dearest Jesus, bless and protect us in our death agony from all power of the infernal enemy! At the hour of our death, may Thy Most Precious Blood erase all our sins before our Beloved Heavenly Father, and let die in us all inclination to sin! May Thy Most Precious Blood lead us to all Angels and Saints! We commend and place all our suffering friends and enemies and all deceased persons to and into Thy most Loyal Redeemer’s Heart! Oh, Dearest Jesus, give to us all Thine Infinite Merits, the Power and the Blessing of Thy Most Bitter Passion and Death! Oh, Eternal Divinity, Oh, True Humanity of Jesus, Oh, Most Blessed Trinity, protect us now, according to Thy Divine desire and forever! Oh, Almighty and Immortal God, have mercy on us all! Amen. (It is highly recommended that this prayer be kept in one’s home and said daily.)

 

4. The ‘Constant’ Prayer of St. Catherine of Siena [v]

Precious Blood, Ocean of Divine Mercy: Flow upon us!

Precious Blood, Most Pure Offering: Procure Us Every Grace!

Precious Blood, Hope and Refuge of Sinners: Atone for Us!

Precious Blood, Delight of Holy Souls: Draw Us! Amen.

 

5. An Offering of The Holy Wounds and The Precious Blood [vi]

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer You the Holy Wounds of Your Son, and His Precious Blood, for the conversion of sinners and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory.

ETERNAL FATHER, we offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins, and in supplication for the souls in Purgatory and for the needs of the Holy Church. – The Raccolta

 

6. Invocations

  

O God the Father, Omnipotent and Merciful Creator, Who has so much love and mercy for such miserable creatures like us; Have mercy on us, save us from hell, and protect us from all evil. (3X)

O Jesus Christ, The Lord of Pardon, Have mercy on us and forgive us our sins. (3X)

O Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Save and protect us from all that is evil. (3X)

O Holy Ghost, Paraclete and Comforter of All Mankind, Have Mercy on Us (3X)

Immaculate Hear of Mary, Pray for us, now and at the hour of our

death. Amen.

O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, Pray for Us

O Mother of the Sorrowful Heart, Pray for Us.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for Us

O Mary, Conceived without sin, Pray for Us who have recourse to Thee.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Pray for Us

Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us

Today/Tonight, we protect ourselves with the shield of the Imma-culate Conception!

   

THE SEVEN-DAY DEVOTION TO THE LORD OF PARDON

 

OPENING PRAYERS FOR EACH DAY

 

The Sign of The Cross: In the name of The Father +, and of The Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

 

1. Purification Prayer of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi

ALMIGHTY FATHER, we place the Precious Blood of Jesus before our lips, before we pray that all our prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.

 

2. Come, Holy Ghost

COME HOLY GHOST, fill the hearts of Thy faithful

And kindle in them the fire of Thy Divine Love.

 

V. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created,

R. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.

 

Let Us Pray

O GOD, Who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. Grant this through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

 

(The following hymn may be sung in place of the above prayer.)

 

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS

 

Come Holy Ghost, Creator blest O, Comforter, to Thee we cry

And in our hearts take up Thy Rest Thou heavenly gift of God, Most High

Come with Thy grace, and heavenly aid O Fount of Life and Fire of Love

To fill our hearts which Thou has made And Sweet Anointing from above

To fill our hearts which Thou has made. And Sweet Anointing from above.

 

3. Divine Will Prayer [1]

THROUGH THE Immaculate Heart of Mary, I enter today/tonight into the Holy Will of God and pray – Come Divine will to pray in my prayer, in my name (and the name of those whom we pray for daily) and the name of all souls, for the love, honor and (greater) glory of God, Our Father, in reparation for all sins and for the salvation of souls. Amen.

 

4. To Obtain Love of Prayer [2]

O, LORD JESUS CHRIST, for the sake of Thy sufferings, grant to us, (and to all those whom we pray for daily,) such faith, hope, charity, sorrow for sins and love of prayer, that will help sanctify and save our souls.

 

5. To Learn the Science of Salvation [3]

JESUS, EXTEND to us in the light, in Thine infinite knowledge, the power through the light, to understand the task that lies ahead for all of us, who wish to be saved. Amen.

 

6. Act of Contrition

O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee. And I confess all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell. But most all, because I love Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen.

 

7. Daily Prayer [4]

O GOD, Who for the redemption of the world didst vouchsafe to be born among men, rejected by the Jews, betrayed with a kiss by the traitor Judas, bound with cords, to be led as an innocent lamb to the slaughter, to be treated with indignity, accused by false witnesses, afflicted with scourges and reproaches, to be spit upon, crowned with thorns, beaten with blows, struck with a reed, to have Your face veiled, to be stripped of Your garments, to be nailed to the cross and raised high thereon, to be ranked among thieves, to be offered gall and vinegar to drink, and to be pierced with a lance.

O LORD, by these Your most holy pains, which I, though unworthy, now call to mind, and by Your Holy cross

and death, deliver us from the pains of hell and take us where You took the good thief who was crucified with You, Who with The Father and The Holy Ghost, livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.

 

8. Hymns

O SACRED HEART

 

O Sacred Heart! O Love Divine! Ref: Heart of Jesus, Hear!

Do keep us near to Thee. O Heart of Love Divine!

And make our hearts so like to Thine Listen to Our Prayer!

That we may holy be Make us always Thine.

 

HAIL MARY

Hail! Mary, Full of Grace! Holy Mary, Mother of God,

The Lord is with Thee! Pray for us, sinners,

Blessed art Thou amongst women! Now, and at the hour --

And blessed is the Fruit Of Thy Womb, Jesus! Of our death. Amen.

9. Prayers before The Rosary

 

THE LAST VISION OF FATIMA PRAYER [5]

O Queen of the most holy rosary, Thou hast deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three shepherd children the treasures of grace hidden in the rosary. Inspire our hearts with a sincere love for this devotion, that by meditating upon the mysteries of our redemption which are recalled in it, we may be enriched. With its fruits, obtain peace for the world, the conversion of sinners and of Russia, (the remission of the temporal punishment of the poor souls in Purgatory, the triumph of Your Son’s church over the gates of hell) and the favor which we ask of you in this rosary. (MAKE YOUR REQUEST.) We ask it for the greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls, including our own. Amen.

 

ST. LOUIS DE MONFORT’S PRAYER [6]

WE UNITE ourselves with all the Saints in heaven, and with all the just on earth; we unite ourselves with Thee, Our Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. We renounce all the distractions that may have during this rosary which we wish to say with modesty, attention and devotion just as if it were to be the last one of our lives. Amen.

WE OFFER to Thee, O Most Holy Trinity this creed – in honor of the mysteries of our faith; this Our Father and these three Hail Marys – in honor of the Unity of Thy Essence and the Trinity of Thy Persons.

WE ASK of Thee a lively faith, a firm hope and an ardent charity. Amen.

 

10. The Proper of The Most Holy Rosary

 

THE APOSTLE’S CREED

I BELIEVE in God, the Father the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ His Only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell, the third day He arose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God, The Father Almighty. From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in The Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

 

THE PATER

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.

 

THE AVE

HAIL MARY! Full of grace! The Lord is with Thee! Blessed art Thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

 

THE GLORIA

GLORY BE to The Father, and to The Son and to The Holy Ghost! As it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

 

THE ANGEL of FATIMA PRAYER *

MY GOD, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee, and I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.

O MY JESUS, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls into heaven, especially those who most need of Thy mercy.

 

PEACE PRAYER

O MOST SWEET Heart of Jesus, lead us unto salvation. Grant peace to the entire world, specially the United States/Philippines/(Name Your Country). Bring back to You all sinners and grant that they may find the path that leads to you.

 

IMMACULATE HEART INVOCATION *

O BLESSED VIRGIN Mother protect us with your most Immaculate Heart. Amen.

 

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 thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

 

THE MYSTERIES of THE HOLY ROSARY

 

The Joyful Mysteries (Monday and Thursday)

1. THE ANNUNCIATION (by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary of her selection by

The Blessed Trinity as the Mother of the forthcoming Messiah)

2. THE VISITATION (of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth)

3. THE BIRTH of Our Lord Jesus (in the small town of Bethlehem)

4. THE PRESENTATION of Our Lord Jesus (in the temple)

5. THE FINDING of the Child Jesus (in the Temple, three days after He was found missing)

 

The Sorrowful Mysteries (Tuesday and Friday)

1. THE AGONY of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane

2. THE SCOURGING of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the Pillar

3. THE CROWNING of Our Lord Jesus Christ with the Crown of Thorns

4. THE CARRYING of the Cross by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Calvary

5. THE CRUCIFIXION and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross

 

The Glorious mysteries (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)

1. THE RESURRECTION of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (on the third day after His

burial)

2. THE ASCENSION of Our Lord Jesus Christ (into Heaven, forty days after His resurrection)

3. THE DESCENT of The Holy Ghost (upon Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles on the 50th day

after The Ascension of Jesus)

4. THE ASSUMPTION of Our Blessed Mother (into Heaven, body and soul)

5. THE CORONATION of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as the Queen of Heaven and all of Creation)

 

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN!

HAIL! HOLY QUEEN! Mother of mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To Thee do we send up our sigh, mourning, and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then O Most Gracious Advocate, Thine eyes of mercy towards us and after this our exile, show unto us, the Blessed Fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. O Clement, O Loving, O Sweet, Virgin Mary.

 

V. Pray for us O Holy Mother of God,

R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 

Let Us Pray O GOD, Whose Only Begotten Son, by His Life, Death and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life. Grant, we beseech Thee, that by meditating upon these mysteries of the most holy rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

 

V. May the Divine Assistance remain always with us, +

R. And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

 

11. Prayers After The Rosary

LITANY OF THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD

 

Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy on us.

Lord, have mercy on us!

Christ, hear us, Christ graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Blood of Christ, Only Begotten Son of The Eternal Father, Save us.

Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,

Blood of Christ, of the New and Eternal Testament,

Blood of Christ, first shed in the Presentation at the temple,

Blood of Christ, falling upon the Earth in Agony in the garden of Olives,

Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging at the pillar,

Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with thorns,

Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,

Blood of Christ, the price of our Salvation,

Blood of Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,

Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and Refreshment of souls,

Blood of Christ, stream of mercy,

Blood of Christ, victor over demons,

Blood of Christ, courage of martyrs,

Blood of Christ, strength of confessors,

Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,

Blood of Christ, help of those in peril,

Blood of Christ, relief of the burdened,

Blood of Christ, solace of the sorrowful,

Blood of Christ, hope of the penitent,

Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,

Blood of Christ, peace and tenderness of hearts,

Blood of Christ, the pledge of Eternal Life,

Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,

Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,

 

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us

 

V. You have redeemed us, O Lord, by Your Precious Blood,

R. And made us, for Our God, a kingdom.

 

Let Us Pray

OMNIPOTENT and Eternal God, You have chosen Your Only Begotten Son to be the Redeemer of the world and You have been appeased by the shedding of His Most Precious Blood. Grant, we humbly pray, that we may always cherish the value of our redemption and forget not the grief You and our Blessed Virgin Mother have to bear in the suffering and death of Your Dearly Beloved Son. Through His Precious Blood and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may we be delivered from all evil in this world that we may enjoy the fruits of our redemption in Your kingdom for all eternity. Amen.

 

FIRST DAY

“FATHER, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” (Luke 23:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 10 to 16 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Turn to page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SECOND DAY

“AMEN, I SAY TO YOU, THIS DAY THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” (Luke 23:43)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 18 to 24 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

THIRD DAY

“WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON.”

(After that, He said to the disciple:) “BEHOLD THY MOTHER.” (John 19:26-27)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 26 to 31 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. The Old Rugged Cross/Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FOURTH DAY

“MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME.”

(Matt. 27:46 and Mk. 15:34)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 34 to 40 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

FIFTH DAY

“I THIRST.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 42 to 47 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SIXTH DAY

“IT IS CONSUMMATED.” (John 19:28)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 50 to 55 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

 

SEVENTH DAY

“FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT.” (Luke 23:46)

 

1. Meditation (Read pages 58 to 64 of ‘The Seven Last Words’ by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, D.D.)

2. Prayer for All of Humanity (Page 1)

3. Heart of Jesus (Turn to page 8)

   

HEART of JESUS

 

Heart of Jesus! Meek and Mild!

Hear, O hear, Thy feeble child!

And when the tempest most severe

Heart of Jesus, hear!

 

(Refrain)

Sweetly we’ll rest on The Sacred Heart

Never from Thee, Oh let us part

Hear then Thy loving children’s prayer

O Heart of Jesus, Heart of Jesus, hear!

    

FAREWELL

(This Section to Be Used on the SEVENTH & LAST Day)

 

O Most Loving Father, the time has come for You to leave us and our dwelling which have been Your home for the past seven days. Words are not enough to render You praise and thanksgiving for the love that You have shown us. Our Father, You have always loved us. You have deigned to be with us even for a short time, and this Thou has done through this novena devotion to Your Son, The Lord of Pardon. We give Thee our heartfelt thanks through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Farewell, Lord Jesus and we thank Thee for the great gifts of knowledge and understanding You have given us through Your Holy Spirit: of why You died for us and what we have to do in order that Your Passion and Death will be bear the fruits that You expect.

Farewell, O Holy Spirit and thank You for all Your gifts. Grant us also your fruits that we may live our lives in conformance and for the pleasure of Our Almighty God.

Farewell, O Queen and Delight of Heaven. We thank Thee, for all the blessings and graces you brought in to our dwelling by your constant intercession and for Your Motherly Love.

We look forward to Your next visit, O Blessed Trinity and Our Mother. We pray that we will again enjoy Your company soon, if not in this life, then, by Your compassion and forgiveness which You shower upon us with the Precious Blood of Your Dearly Beloved Son, may it be in Your kingdom. Amen.

 

TO JESUS’ HEART

To Jesus’ Heart all burning

With fervent love for men

My heart with fondest yearning

Shall raise its joyful strain.

 

Refrain

While ages course along

Blest be with loudest song

The Sacred Heart of Jesus

By every heart and tongue

 

Too true I have forsaken

Thy love by willful sin

Yet now let me be taken

Back by Thy grace again. (Ref)

 

THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

 

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,

The emblem of suff’ring and shame. Has wondrous attraction for me,

And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best For, The Dear Lamb of God left His glory above,

For a world of lost sinners was slain To bear it to dark Calvary (Ref)

Refrain

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross, In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine

Till my trophies at last I lay down. A wondrous beauty I see.

I will cling to the old rugged cross, For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,

And exchange some day for a crown. To pardon and sanctify me. (Ref)

   

The Fifteen Prayers

of St. Bridget of Sweden

  

These prayers are prayed daily, each beginning with a Pater and an Ave. Then follows a concluding prayer. There are alleged promises from Our Lord attached to these prayers, but they are problematic, inconsistent with Catholic teaching, and their publication was once forbidden. It may be that the vision wasn't properly written down, properly translated, consistently handed-down, or otherwise kept intact, but in any case, beware of any "Magnificent Promises" you may hear of in association with the following perfectly pious prayers.

    

First Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.

 

Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst fortell them Thy coming Passion.

 

Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."

 

Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.

 

Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou wast crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.

 

In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.

  

Second Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.

  

Third Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulling Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy limbs.

 

I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.

  

Fourth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

 

Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.

  

Fifth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.

 

Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.

  

Sixth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou wast fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!", and to St. John: "Son, behold thy Mother!".

 

I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.

  

Seventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst," suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.

  

Eighth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.

  

Ninth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou wast abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

 

Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.

  

Tenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou wast plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.

  

Eleventh Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me; hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.

  

Twelfth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done?

 

May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy love increase in my heart each day until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.

  

Thirteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: "It is consummated."

 

Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.

  

Fourteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire.

 

By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.

  

Fifteenth Prayer

 

Say one Our Father and one Hail Mary

 

O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.

 

From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of Thy Body withered, and the marrow of Thy Bones dried up.

 

Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.

  

Concluding Prayer

 

O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.

 

ETERNAL REST (PRAYER FOR THE DEPARTED)

 

01

JAN

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.

Amen.

 

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come to you.

 

Let us pray:

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Your servants departed the remission of all their sins, that through our pious supplication they may obtain that pardon which they have always desired; who live and reign for ever and ever.

R. Amen.

Miracle and supernatural

video Made By Kailash Mansarovar Foundation , Swami Bikash Giri, www.sumeruparvat.com , www.naturalitem.com

DATTATREYA PLACE OF GIRNAR PARVAT

GIRNAR PARVAT SLEEPING PURAN PURUSH AFTER ROTAE VERY CLEAR A FACE

 

MOUNT KAILASH IS NATURAL SHIVLING IN ALL SITES

 

NATURAL FACE IN MOUNT KAILASH FROM SATELLITE

 

FACE IN MOUNT KAILASH

 

NATURAL AUM IN OM MOUNTAIN

 

AUM BEACH IN GOKARN

 

NATURAKL TRISHUL AFTER ROTATE AUM

  

NATURAL AUM IN HOLY FIRE IN BANGALORE AFTER KAILASH YATRA

 

LEFT SITE A FACE IN MANSAROVAR

 

NATURAL HANUMAN JI IN HOLY FIRE BANK OF MANSAROVAR CAVE

 

NATURAL OM IN HOLY FIRE BANK OF MANSAROVAR CAVE

 

NATURAL RAMKRISHNA PARAMHANS

 

NATURAL SKULL

 

MONK FACE IN ASHTAPAD CAVE KAILASH

 

NATURAL THREE EYES IN KAILASH

 

NATURAL HAND IN KAILASH (BLESSING )

 

NATURAL ELEPHANT IN KAILASH

LOOK LIKE COSMIC RAY IN MANSAROVAR IN WINTER TIME

 

BRAHMA VISHNU SHIVA

  

MIRACLE

 

A miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws.Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being (God or gods), a miracle worker, a saint or a religious leader. Theologians say that, with divine providence, gods regularly work through created nature yet are free to work without, above, or against it as well.

The word "miracle" is often used to characterise any beneficial event that is statistically unlikely but not contrary to the laws of nature, such as surviving a natural disaster, or simply a "wonderful" occurrence, regardless of likelihood, such as a birth. Other miracles might be: survival of an illness diagnosed as terminal, escaping a life-threatening situation or 'beating the odds'. Some coincidences may be seen as miracles

 

Christianity

Main article: Miracles of Jesus

The gospels record three sorts of miracles performed by Jesus: exorcisms, cures, and nature wonders. In St John's Gospel the miracles are referred to as "signs" and the emphasis is on God demonstrating his underlying normal activity in remarkable ways. In the New Testament, the greatest miracle is the resurrection of Jesus, the event central to Christian faith.

Jesus explains in the New Testament that miracles are performed by faith in God. "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'move from here to there' and it will move." (Gospel of Matthew 17:20). After Jesus returned to heaven, the book of Acts records the disciples of Jesus praying to God to grant that miracles be done in his name, for the purpose of convincing onlookers that he is alive. (Acts 4:29–31).

Other passages mention false prophets who will be able to perform miracles to deceive "if possible, even the elect of Christ" (Matthew 24:24). 2 Thessalonians 2:9 says, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be saved." Revelation 13:13,14 says, "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they sould make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Revelation 16:14 says, "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Revelation 19:20 says, "And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." These passages indicate that signs, wonders, and miracles are not necessarily committed by God.

In early Christianity miracles were the most often attested motivations for conversions of pagans; pagan Romans took the existence of miracles for granted; Christian texts reporting them offered miracles as divine proof of the Christian God's unique claim to authority, relegating all other gods to the lower status of daimones:"of all worships, the Christian best and most particularly advertised its miracles by driving out of spirits and laying on of hands".The Gospel of John is structured around miraculous "signs": The success of the Apostles according to the church historian Eusebius of Caesarea lay in their miracles: "though laymen in their language", he asserted, "they drew courage from divine, miraculous powers".]The conversion of Constantine by a miraculous sign in heaven is a prominent fourth-century example.

Since the Age of Enlightenment, miracles have often needed to be rationalized: C.S. Lewis, Norman Geisler, William Lane Craig, and other 20th-century Christians have argued that miracles are reasonable and plausible. For example, Lewis said that a miracle is something that comes totally out of the blue. If for thousands of years a woman can become pregnant only by sexual intercourse with a man, then if she were to become pregnant without a man, it would be a miracle.

There have been numerous claims of miracles by people of most Christian denominations, including but not limited to faith healings and casting out demons. Miracle reports are especially prevalent in Roman Catholicism and Pentecostal or Charismatic churches.

Catholic Church

The Catholic Church recognises miracles as being works of God, either directly, or through the prayers and intercessions of a specific saint or saints. There is usually a specific purpose connected to a miracle, e.g. the conversion of a person or persons to the Catholic faith or the construction of a church desired by God. The Church says that it tries to be very cautious to approve the validity of putative miracles. The Catholic Church says that it maintains particularly stringent requirements in validating the miracle's authenticity.The process is overseen by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Catholic Church has recognised several events as miracles, some of them occurring in modern times. Before a person can be accepted as a saint, they must be confirmed as having performed two miracles posthumously. In the procedure of beatification of Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, the Vatican announced on 14 January 2011 that Pope Benedict XVI had confirmed that the recovery of Sister Marie Simon-Pierre from Parkinson's disease was a miracle.

Among the more notable miracles approved by the Church are several Eucharistic miracles wherein the sacramental bread and wine are transformed into Christ's flesh and blood, such as the Miracle of Lanciano and cures in Lourdes.

According to 17th century documents, a young Spanish man's leg was miraculously restored to him in 1640 after having been amputated two and a half years earlier.

Another miracle approved by the Church is the Miracle of the Sun, which occurred near Fátima, Portugal on October 13, 1917. Anywhere between 70,000 and 100,000 people, who were gathered at a cove near Fátima, witnessed the sun dim, change colors, spin, dance about in the sky, and appear to plummet to earth, radiating great heat in the process. After the ten-minute event, the ground and the people's clothing, which had been drenched by a previous rainstorm, were both dry.

Velankanni (Mary) can be traced to the mid-16th century and is attributed to three miracles: the apparition of Mary and the Christ Child to a slumbering shepherd boy, the curing of a lame buttermilk vendor, and the rescue of Portuguese sailors from a violent sea storm

In addition to these, the Catholic Church attributes miraculous causes to many otherwise inexplicable phenomena on a case-by-case basis. Only after all other possible explanations have proven inadequate may the Church assume Divine intervention and declare the miracle worthy of veneration by the faithful. The Church does not, however, enjoin belief in any extra-Scriptural miracle as an article of faith or as necessary for salvation.

St. Thomas Aquinas, a prominent Doctor of the Church, divided miracles into three types in his Summa contra Gentiles:

These works that are sometimes done by God outside the usual order assigned to things are wont to be called miracles: because we are astonished (admiramur) at a thing when we see an effect without knowing the cause. And since at times one and the same cause is known to some and unknown to others, it happens that of several who see an effect, some are astonished and some not: thus an astronomer is not astonished when he sees an eclipse of the sun, for he knows the cause; whereas one who is ignorant of this science must needs wonder, since he knows not the cause. Wherefore it is wonderful to the latter but not to the former. Accordingly a thing is wonderful simply, when its cause is hidden simply: and this is what we mean by a miracle: something, to wit, that is wonderful in itself and not only in respect of this person or that. Now God is the cause which is hidden to every man simply: for we have proved above that in this state of life no man can comprehend Him by his intellect. Therefore properly speaking miracles are works done by God outside the order usually observed in things.

Of these miracles there are various degrees and orders. The highest degree in miracles comprises those works wherein something is done by God, that nature can never do: for instance, that two bodies occupy the same place, that the sun recede or stand still, that the sea be divided and make way to passers by. Among these there is a certain order: for the greater the work done by God, and the further it is removed from the capability of nature, the greater the miracle: thus it is a greater miracle that the sun recede, than that the waters be divided.

The second degree in miracles belongs to those whereby God does something that nature can do, but not in the same order: thus it is a work of nature that an animal live, see and walk: but that an animal live after being dead, see after being blind, walk after being lame, this nature cannot do, but God does these things sometimes by a miracle. Among these miracles also, there are degrees, according as the thing done is further removed from the faculty of nature.

The third degree of miracles is when God does what is wont to be done by the operation of nature, but without the operation of the natural principles: for instance when by the power of God a man is cured of a fever that nature is able to cure; or when it rains without the operation of the principles of nature.[17]

Buddhism[edit]

The Haedong Kosung-jon of Korea (Biographies of High Monks) records that King Beopheung of Silla had desired to promulgate Buddhism as the state religion. However, officials in his court opposed him. In the fourteenth year of his reign, Beopheung's "Grand Secretary", Ichadon, devised a strategy to overcome court opposition. Ichadon schemed with the king, convincing him to make a proclamation granting Buddhism official state sanction using the royal seal. Ichadon told the king to deny having made such a proclamation when the opposing officials received it and demanded an explanation. Instead, Ichadon would confess and accept the punishment of execution, for what would quickly be seen as a forgery. Ichadon prophesied to the king that at his execution a wonderful miracle would convince the opposing court faction of Buddhism's power. Ichadon's scheme went as planned, and the opposing officials took the bait. When Ichadon was executed on the 15th day of the 9th month in 527, his prophecy was fulfilled; the earth shook, the sun was darkened, beautiful flowers rained from the sky, his severed head flew to the sacred Geumgang mountains, and milk instead of blood sprayed 100 feet in the air from his beheaded corpse. The omen was accepted by the opposing court officials as a manifestation of heaven's approval, and Buddhism was made the state religion in 527 CE.[18]

The Honchō Hokke Reigenki (c. 1040) of Japan contains a collection of Buddhist miracle stories.[19]

Miracles play an important role in the veneration of Buddhist relics in Southern Asia. Thus, Somawathie Stupa in Sri Lanka is an increasingly popular site of pilgrimage and tourist destination thanks to multiple reports about miraculous rays of light, apparitions and modern legends,[20] which often have been fixed in photographs and movies.

Hinduism

In Hinduism, miracles are focused on episodes of liberation of the spirit.[21] A key example is the revelation of Krishna to Arjuna, wherein Krishna persuades Arjuna to rejoin the battle against his cousins by briefly and miraculously giving Arjuna the power to see the true scope of the Universe, and its sustainment within Krishna, which requires divine vision. This is a typical situation in Hindu mythology wherein "wondrous acts are performed for the purpose of bringing spiritual liberation to those who witness or read about them."[21]

Hindu sages have criticized both expectation and reliance on miracles as cheats, situations where people have sought to earn a benefit without doing the work necessary to merit it.[21] Miracles continue to be occasionally reported in the practice of Hinduism, with an example of a miracle modernly reported in Hinduism being the Hindu milk miracle of September 1995, with additional occurrences in 2006 and 2010, wherein statues of certain Hindu deities were seen to drink milk offered to them.

Islam

 

A 16th-century Persian miniature painting celebrating Muhammad's ascent into the Heavens, a journey known as the Miraj. Muhammad's face is veiled, a common practice in Islamic art.

Main articles: Islamic view of miracles and Miracles of Muhammad

See also: Occasionalism

"Miracle" in the Qur'an can be defined as a supernatural intervention in the life of human beings.[22] According to this definition, miracles are present "in a threefold sense: in sacred history, in connection with Muhammad himself and in relation to revelation".[22] The Qur'an does not use the technical Arabic word for miracle (Muʿd̲j̲iza) literally meaning "that by means of which [the Prophet] confounds, overwhelms, his opponents". It rather uses the term 'Ayah' (literally meaning sign).[23] The term Ayah is used in the Qur'an in the above-mentioned threefold sense: it refers to the "verses" of the Qur'an (believed to be the divine speech in human language; presented by Muhammad as his chief Miracle); as well as to miracles of it and the signs (particularly those of creation).

To defend the possibility of miracles and God's omnipotence against the encroachment of the independent secondary causes, some medieval Muslim theologians such as Al-Ghazali rejected the idea of cause and effect in essence, but accepted it as something that facilitates humankind's investigation and comprehension of natural processes. They argued that the nature was composed of uniform atoms that were "re-created" at every instant by God. Thus if the soil was to fall, God would have to create and re-create the accident of heaviness for as long as the soil was to fall. For Muslim theologians, the laws of nature were only the customary sequence of apparent causes: customs of God.[24]

Sufi biographical literature records claims of miraculous accounts of men and women. The miraculous prowess of the Sufi holy men includes firasa (clairvoyance), the ability to disappear from sight, to become completely invisible and practice buruz (exteriorization). The holy men reportedly tame wild beasts and traverse long distances in a very short time span. They could also produce food and rain in seasons of drought, heal the sick and help barren women conceive.[25][26]

Judaism

Descriptions of miracles (Hebrew Ness, נס) appear in the Tanakh. Examples include prophets, such as Elijah who performed miracles like the raising of a widow's dead son (1 Kings 17:17–24) and Elisha whose miracles include multiplying the poor widow's jar of oil (2 Kings 4:1–7) and restoring to life the son of the woman of Shunem (2 Kings 4:18–37).

During the first century BCE, a variety of religious movements and splinter groups developed amongst the Jews in Judea. A number of individuals claimed to be miracle workers in the tradition of Elijah and Elisha, the ancient Jewish prophets. The Talmud provides some examples of such Jewish miracle workers, one of whom is Honi HaM'agel, who was famous for his ability to successfully pray for rain.[27]

Most Chasidic communities are rife with tales of miracles that follow a yechidut, a spiritual audience with a tzadik: barren women become pregnant, cancer tumors shrink, wayward children become pious.[28] Many Hasidim claim that miracles can take place in merit of partaking of the shirayim (the leftovers from the rebbe's meal), such as miraculous healing or blessings of wealth or piety.

Explanations

Supernatural acts

A miracle is a phenomenon not explained by known laws of nature. Criteria for classifying an event as a miracle vary. Often a religious text, such as the Bible or Quran, states that a miracle occurred, and believers accept this as a fact. Many religious believers hold that, in the absence of a plausible scientific theory, the best explanation for these events is that they were performed by a supernatural being, and cite this as evidence for the existence of a god or gods.

Others suggest that God may work with the laws of nature to perform what people see as miracles.[29] Some theologians say that, with divine providence, God regularly works through created nature yet is free to work without, above, or against it as well

  

SUPERNATURAL

In Catholicism, while the meaning of the term and its antithesis vary, the “Supernatural Order” is the gratuitous production, by God, of the ensemble of miracles for the elevation of man to a state of grace, including the hypostatic union (Incarnation), the beatific vision, and the ministry of angels. Divine operation, “spiritual facts” and “voluntary determinations” are consistently referred to as “supernatural” by those who specifically preclude the “extrinsic concurrence” of God or by those espousing a materialist or determinist worldview that excludes immaterial beings or free will. Barring disingenuous intent, there is no objection to this manner of speaking.

 

Catholic theologians sometimes call supernatural the miraculous way in which certain effects, in themselves natural, are produced, or certain endowments (like man's immunity from death, suffering, passion, and ignorance) that bring the lower class up to the higher though always within the limits of the created, but they are careful in qualifying the former as accidentally supernatural (supernaturale per accidens) and the latter as relatively supernatural (prœternaturale). For a concept of the substantially and absolutely supernatural, they start from a comprehensive view of the natural order taken, in its amplest acceptation, for the aggregate of all created entities and powers, including the highest natural endowments of which the rational creature is capable, and even such Divine operations as are demanded by the effective carrying out of the cosmic order. The supernatural order is then more than a miraculous way of producing natural effects, or a notion of relative superiority within the created world, or the necessary concurrence of God in the universe; it is an effect or series of effects substantially and absolutely above all nature and, as such, calls for an exceptional intervention and gratuitous bestowal of God and rises in a manner to the Divine order, the only one that transcends the whole created world... It is obvious also that this uplifting of the rational creature to the supernatural order cannot be by way of absorption of the created into the Divine or of fusion of both into a sort of monistic identity, but only by way of union or participation, the two terms remaining perfectly distinct.

Divine revelation of the supernatural order is considered to be a matter of fact, contingent upon proper evidence of such, (miracle, prophecy etc.). “The revelation and its evidences are called extrinsic and auxiliary supernatural, the elevation itself retaining the name of intrinsic or, according to some, theological supernatural.” The supernatural order was analyzed primarily by scholastic and post-Tridentine theologians. Theories denying or belittling the supernatural order, are historically classified into three groups

 

The Upside of Humiliation

 

Knowledge will not come to you from reading books on spirituality.

It will come to you only when the dhiyaan, the focus of a Friend of Allah, comes upon you.

Ghaus Pak (ra)

 

A few months ago love walked in to my life. It tends to do that every few years. It’s always a cameo appearance. It’s also never love. It’s an illusion of it. The claim, as it turns out, no one except the tongues of the Extraordinary can bear. I just think it is because of something Ibn e Sina (ra), the man considered the Father of Medicine, said which gets me excited. I already knew this part:

 

The condition for the heart to accept the Nur of Allah from without, to recognize it within, is softness of the heart (Riqqat ul Qalb). So what was going to bring about the softness?

 

According to the scientist it was the following:

 

“The softness of the heart comes from two things. The first is purification of thought. The second, a pure love, the condition for which is that it is mental and spiritual, not physical and lustful, so that the reason for loving the beloved is their akhlaq (character and manners) that forms their behavior.”

 

Sadly, this was not going to be the first time I would focus on the first part of the second condition, whilst thinking, erroneously, that my heart was about to be rendered soft; “Mental and spiritual!” I had surrendered to that state for my physical being. Or so I think. Every time I have been put to the test, I have failed in the past but we, on spiritual paths, are hopeful always of bettering ourselves.

 

I always totally missed the last half of his instruction, therefore tweaking it and being humiliated beyond belief; “…so that the reason for loving the beloved is their akhlaq that forms their behaviour.” To be fair to myself, the akhlaq was always different in the early days. That was because when one’s heart is soaking itself in love, even it is a superficial attachment, for as long as it lasts, only a sensitive consideration appears.

 

In all honesty, I never took those overtures that then emerged from total strangers seriously. I knew it had nothing to do with me per se simply because I was doing absolutely nothing to deserve them. I was friendly and warm, cordial, the same as I was to many others. I noticed that their attention was singular upon me but I didn’t place much importance on it. I didn’t find it striking. I was not taken by it. It literally had nothing to do with me. I just happened to be the one inciting it.

 

Six months later I went on a trip that was life changing for me. But that’s another story. When I returned the dynamic had shifted. I had no idea why and before I could even wonder about that, it would be weeks. In those weeks when I expected things to be the same, because over time, I too had built an attachment, I was humiliated almost every single day in one way or another.

 

My calls were not returned, much less taken, by someone who had called me several times a day and I had always answered. My asking for a meeting over lunch or breakfast was rebuffed when they were once sought and welcomed. The excuse I was given was work. It took me a month to figure out that I was still on a page that the other had already turned. Still, why such people are unable to continue the interaction on a somewhat normal trajectory, I have never been able to figure out. It’s always sudden death.

 

The humiliation caused me to spend nights in distress, trying to think of why what was happening was happening. I felt hurt. I wanted to be angry but it was not a feeling that was emerging. In those days, my eyes were brought upon a verse that then changed my life forever.

 

‏وَٱصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَقُولُونَ وَٱهْجُرْهُمْ هَجْرًۭا جَمِيلًۭا ‎‎

 

And be patient over what they say, and avoid them with an avoidance gracious.

Surah Al Muzzammil, Verse 10

 

Specifically the words hajran jameela, an avoidance beautiful! What, I wondered, could that possibly be? Qari Sahib was leaving for Hajj in two days. I requested a last class. Who knew it would be my saving grace those six weeks he would be gone without access. My Ghaus (ra) revealed the meaning unforgettably!

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And after that you have taken Him as The Vakil, The Disposer of your affairs and you have made Him , Haseeb, Sufficient for you and your Kafeel, Guardian…

 

Isbir ma yaquloona: be patient upon what they say i.e. the Al Mushrikoona, those who associate others with Allah, Al Musrifoona, the transgressors of boundaries, from their superstitions/misconceptions and speculations/assumptions that are unfit for your matter.

 

When splits upon you, (becoming extremely difficult), patience and tolerance (for what they say and do)…

 

Wahjurjum: leave them and turn your attention away from them…

 

Hajran jameela: with beautiful avoidance, smiling, cheerfully,

1.without inclining towards their false delirium (confusion and reduced awareness)

2.and without consideration for them or looking after them

3.and without speaking to them

4.and with tawakkul, reliance upon Allah and entrust the matter of avenging them to Him.

 

For indeed, He is Enough for you regarding their supply of misdeeds and ridicule.

 

In those weeks that my teacher was gone our weekly classes continued. My cousins, who hosted the class, asked me to give a few lectures. I told them if they could get some kids together, I would be happy to do it. I had given up sharing knowledge acquired in public. But exceptions have to be made. Young people still have a chance at change. People my age are, almost always, only listeners. Avid but only listeners.

 

I chose pain and suffering as my topic. The causes of it as explained in the Quran. There were two verses in particular I was focused upon. They created a map where I was learning to place myself every time I felt bad. But I opened the lecture with something entirely new for me. The syntax of prayer!

 

I had used the same verses to make a different point once before. The rule, also learned from the Quran, about the necessary abstinence from blame and accusation in a relationship. So affection could remain and not be replaced by fear or need, which was the inevitable consequence. I myself adhered to that rule religiously. I never want love to exit a relationship because of me, no matter what the circumstances.

 

After a long time, I had recently broken that rule. From the breach though, I discovered something new. I used to think if I exercised blame and accusation, it caused fear and need for the other person. Turns out it’s the opposite. The one blaming, complaining is the one who appears fearful or needy. It’s a backfiring of the worst order!

 

But this time my focus on the verses was different. I chose three:

 

When Hazrat Adam (as) and Amma Hawwa (ratu) were made to leave Heaven for a transgression they were enticed to commit:

 

قَالَا رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا

وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

 

The two replied, "O our Sustainer! We have sinned against ourselves and unless You grant us forgiveness and bestow Your mercy upon us, we shall most certainly be lost!"

Surah Al-Aa’raaf, Verse 23

 

When Hazrat Younis (as) was trapped in the belly of the whale after he left his nation.

 

وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ

أَن لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ

 

And the Man of the Fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree (anything) upon him. And he called out within the darkness, ‘There is no deity except You; Exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers”.

Surah Al-Anbiya, Verse 87

 

Fa danna: So he thought, as soon as he left his nation…

 

Al-lan naqdira: that We, Allah Subhanahu, will not put stress and distress…

 

Alaihi: upon him and it is not possible for Us to slow him down and make him suffer nor make him hide in another place so he escaped and arrived at the ocean and boarded a ship and suddenly the wind stopped and the sailors said, “In this ship is a servant who has come without permission from his master.”

 

They balloted and in the ballot came out his name (of Prophet Yunus (as)) and they tossed him in the ocean and just then a whale swallowed him.

 

Fa nada: Then he invoked his Lord and prayed silently and humbly, scared, covered…

 

Fi dulumaat: in darkness which concealed him in layers because he was in the belly of the whale and the night was dark.

 

An: Indeed, He…

 

La ilaha: There is no God worthy of worship but Allah and deserving of worship which is the Right of His Essence and His Attribute…

 

Illa anta: except You, O Who in front of Whom necks bend and bow before the Veils of Your Majesty, the necks of the ones who are of intellect and reason…

 

Subhanaka: Glory is to You, O my Lord, I think of You as free of all flaws which are not mentionable with Your Essence and (all flaws) which are not worthy of mention with Your Grace.

 

Inni: Indeed, I am, due to my departure from my people without Your Permission and Revelation, while you had sent me to them and raised me among them in appearance as a Prophet, as a preacher and as a guide…

 

Kuntu min ad-daalimeen: I am of the transgressors of boundaries, the ones who departed from Your Orders and Your Commands so that’s why You made the matter one of distress for me and You imprisoned me and there is no one who can rescue me from this suffering except Your Forgiveness and Your Mercy.

 

And after he repented before Us and he focused towards Us with sincerity, with humility and he became pure towards Us, upset, distressed…

 

Then Hazrat Ayub (as) when he was sick for 18 years, his body covered in painful boils.

 

وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ

 

And the Prophet Job (as), when he called to his Lord, "Indeed, adversity has touched me, and you are the Most Merciful of the merciful”.

Surah Al-Anbiya, Verse 83

 

Me: “If you look at all the prayers of the Prophets in the Quran, in all their states, but especially in suffering, they first praise Allah Subhanahu. Always! Then they never bring into their words anyone else who might be the cause of that suffering. ‘He did this, look what she did, they did, the world did.’ Never. The focus remains singular upon their Lord God. Hence the prayer has an intimacy between just two, The Worshipper and The Worshipped.

 

The second thing the Prophets always do is bring the cause of the pain upon their own selves. As in ‘I did this to myself because I crossed a boundary You had set.’ The word in Arabic is almost always zulm. It does not mean, like in the Urdu, cruelty. It means injustice. Hence they say, ‘I was unfair to my own nafs, to my own self.’”

 

And this is where a new colour in the rainbow emerged. It was not just about the prayer requiring praise. I was about to be made to learn that the praise necessary was the one invoking Allah’s Asma al Husna, His Beautiful Names. 99 of which are given but the Extraordinary have expressed hundreds more. In the course of writing this piece, I created one or two myself.

 

The reason I learnt the significance of The Names was another verse. Without doubt it was a reward for doing the lecture. For as Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family) says the best amongst us is the one who benefits others.

 

I had wanted to highlight for the young adults the importance of reading. The means by which I was going to make my point was that the first word ever revealed by Allah Subhanahu to His Beloved (peace be upon him) in the Cave of Hira was “Iqra” – Read!

 

Since no one does that these days, I wanted to remind the kids that it was clearly deemed a necessity for any nafs that sought qurb, closeness or even any kind of movement towards The Divine. In wanting to accentuate that point, I ended up re-reading the full verse which I had happened to translate the exegesis of out of curiosity for what the first revelation contained. I have to confess, then I was constantly in a mode where I glossed over the Names and Attributes entirely in every verse I translated. My focus was always on some other part of the verse.

 

What happened in that read is best encapsulated by Proust: The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.

 

ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ

 

Read, ˹O Prophet,˺ in the Name of your Lord Who created—

Surah Al Alaq, Verse 1-5

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Iqra: Read, O Messenger who completes Messenger-hood (peace be upon you) and remember after have been sent to you Allah’s Favours, and you have been enwrapped in His Honour…

 

Bi ismi Rabbika: i.e. be continuous in your remembrance of your Lord’s Names who raises you…

 

Alladi khalaqa: The One who created everything and made it appear from the hidden-ness of being nothing, according to His Names and Attributes and raised everything in different variations of His Lutf, Affection and Karam, Generosity and bestowed upon everything majestic bounties.

 

And after Allah gave this Order to His Habeeb (peace be upon him) to read and to remember Allah’s Names and to recite them, Allah then gave another Command; to deeply consider and reflect upon their meanings and to unveil their hidden secrets so He said;

 

Iqra: Read the reading of consideration that takes you in to depth and unveil that which (the Names and Attributes) consist, which are without match and the amazing things which have been placed in them.

 

More so than the in advertent intention of trying to be of benefit, my being brought to The Beautiful Names was a gift of Bibi Zainab (as) from my last trip to Damascus. Re=reading the tafseer made me recall a prayer at the Rauza Mubarik of Bibi Ruqaya (as) where I had heard a child utter the Names of Allah in between the posture changes in the namaz.

 

Then I had only thought, this child will become attached to Allah Subhanahu through His Names at 10 when I only begin to learn that the Names matter at 51. Then I had not even known how much those Names mattered! I had only remembered a single line from the tafseer by Ghaus Pak (ra) from another verse:

 

“And the one who desires that Allah bestow upon him honour and control and absolute kingdoms and abundance that remains forever, then he should, in his initial stages toward Allah, praise Him by way of His Perfect Names and Exalted Attributes till his remembrance reaches the stages of their reflection in him.”

 

I had chosen the verse which contained this text the first time because I liked to be reminded that all honour only belongs to Allah. And in another verse, to Allah and His Rasool (peace be upon him and his family). It was necessary to remember that for those who crave honour after which there is never any humiliation. Ever!

 

مَن كَانَ يُرِيدُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ ٱلْكَلِمُ ٱلطَّيِّبُ وَٱلْعَمَلُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحُ يَرْفَعُهُۥ

 

Whoever desires for himself honor, (should know) then for Allah (alone) is all the Honor.

To Him ascends the good words, and righteous deeds raises it.

Surah Fatir, Verse 10

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Man kana yureed ul izzata: The one who wants honour, endless, after which never comes humiliation ever, then he should turn towards Allah and makes his focus His One-ness.

 

Fa lillahe izzatu: For only Allah is the True Owner of Honour, which includes control, eternal majesty and all kingdoms…

 

Jami-an: overt (zahiri) and inner (batini). And the one who desires that Allah bestow upon him honour and control and absolute kingdoms and abundance that remains forever, then he should, in his initial stages toward Allah, praise Him by way of His Perfect Names and Exalted Attributes till his remembrance reaches the stages of their reflection in him.

 

This (the reflection) is the last effort and then he becomes a reflector of Allah’s Being, wanting to unveil the Veils of His Omnipotence, till he becomes present before Him, able to unveil Him and witness the Signs of His Names and Attributes on the surface of the Universe without the distortion created by others. 

 

And overall (in summary), the one who seeks honour should be occupied in the Remembrance by Allah in the early stages because...

 

Ilayhi yasadu alkalm at tayyabu: towards Him ascend good words which are the Prefect Names of Allah and His Exalted Attributes, increasing in frequency from the tongues of The Sincere and The Ones who Reflect in Allah’s Blessings and His Bounty…

 

Wal al amal as saleh: and (they should be occupied) in good deeds joined with ikhlas, sincerity and tabbatul, devotion to Him (also ascending towards Him)…

 

Yarfa’uhu: (which will be why) He then raises that deed founded upon sincerity and those good words allowing them to reach towards the stages of Closeness with Allah. So for the one whose sincerity in his deed is perfect, then the ranks of his words, which are raised towards Allah Subhanahu, are the highest and the most supreme to Him.

 

Because of the verse I began noticing for the first time how in my namaz, which I had been reading now regularly for years, the Blessed Names of Allah were sprinkled throughout it. From the beginning till the end. If they weren’t uttered as nouns, they appeared as verbs. The knowledge made my utterances become slower and slower so that I paused on every Name.

 

Ar Rahman, Ar Rahim, Maalik e Youmiddeen, Al Ahad, As Samad, Al Ahad, Al aliyy, Al Hameed, Al Majeed…

 

I decided to emulate the child in Damascus. As I changed position from standing to touching my knees in ruku’ I started saying a Name. As soon as I did that I realized its profound effect. I was calling someone. I was calling out to my Lord and suddenly, because I was uttering one of His Exalted Names, He was turning His Attention towards me.

 

The feeling was unreal!

 

For the first time in my life, a distracted prayer, which I thought was my destiny, since that is what it had been forever, looked like it might shift. Funnily enough someone had gifted me the Names of Allah on a wall hanging years ago. I had hung it on my dressing room where I only glanced at it and every once in a while kissed Al Wadoodu – The Loving One. That was the Name my mother had been told to give me to read a tasbeeh of in my teens based on the science of numerology. Later I realized how that utterance created the foundation for how I would love my whole life.

 

It’s not like it made me not require return. My love was not unconditional. What it did hold in it from the qualities of Divine Love though was that it was permanent. Not in the sense that my feeling for someone lasted forever. That part dissipated over time. It was still muwaddat though in the sense that no matter how bad the rupture, every single person who knew I loved them, relied on the fact that my doors for them were always open. To my detriment that door became “revolving” I would joke sometimes but still. It was a nice feeling for me to know that capacity came through one of the softest Names of The Divine that left my lips only in obedience to an order of a parent.

 

Now I took that wall hanging and placed it before me for my longer prayers and started memorizing them.

 

Each time my tongue uttered a Name, my heart wanted to reflect upon its meaning. I wanted to be connected to it. Sometimes I just expressed gratitude: “Ya Affuw, The Oft Forgiving, thank you for forgiving me again and again. Others I repeated lines I had learnt from Ghaus Pak (ra) in my readings: “Ya Mutawakkal, The One Entrusted, I entrust my matters, all of them, to you, Ya Muslih, O Reformer, reform me…” and so it went on and on.

 

It was the days leading to Muharram. A single thought kept going in and out of my head. To bring into the kids’ attention how we end up wasting so much time hung up in nostalgia, thinking about people who, given the chance, we might not want to ever have met. I came up with an exercise.

 

“Imagine,” I wanted to say, “if Allah Subhanahu said to you, ‘I will bring you back into a womb. You tell me, of the people you have interacted with to-date, which person you want to appear in this new life. The interaction, this relationship, with the person you choose, if you choose someone, will be exactly the same as it was in this life you had.”

 

I thought about the question for myself. Was there anyone at all I wanted to be in my life and have the exact same experience with. Turned out my answer was No! I wanted everything and everyone to be new. Reset! Maybe I would be poorer, maybe I would be unwell, maybe I would be unhappier but I thought I would choose newness to come from my Rabb, Allah Al Muqtadir, who always raised me with kindness.

 

There was one exception that kept coming to my mind. My mother!

 

Knowing that at five she would send me to a boarding school that would render me emotionally numb for the next 15 years. Knowing that while I was there she would sometimes not call on my birthday and forget to ensure that there was money for me to spend on the one or two days a year that the students went to eat out and shop in the town. Knowing that when I would return I would be 10 and she would be 36 and she would have little to no time for me because she was busy with her friends. Knowing that she would die when I would turn 26 and it would devastate me forever.

 

It was not because she was considered, in her life and after her premature death at 53, unique. People who are outstanding, distinctive, are a little crazy. They are haphazard. No, I thought to myself, that would not be my reason.

 

Then I wondered it would be because of two attributes that she had been gifted in her nature intrinsically; forgiveness and generosity. Qualities both uncommon and exalted. But in truth, both of those worked against me as a child. She forgave too easily those who were unkind to me. When in my mid-teens I finally drummed up the courage to ask her why, her answers left me speechless each time.

 

One of those people who were relentless in their meanness was a step-mother. We had to spend three long summer months with her in another city. Only the presence of cousins living there mitigated that. My father was silent about it, pretending he didn’t know. Every time the woman came to Lahore my mother warmly invited her over for tea.

 

“I don’t understand,” I finally asked, “Why would you ask her to come to our house when we feel miserable in hers for days on end? It’s humiliating.”

 

“Because,” she said just once and it was enough, “she was widowed at an early age with a small child. Perhaps that loss made her how she is. And perhaps one day because of my kindness to her, she will be kinder to you.”

 

Her sensitivity for the unknown in another person’s life floored me. I never broached the subject again.

 

When it came to generosity, she always gave of that which she needed herself. And therefore of what we needed as a single parent family. The act caused me anxiety because I had taken on responsibilities in the house that were not mine to bear and that I was too young to assume. Then I felt like she was half crazy to take from my plate, not knowing if it would be enough for me and give from it to another. Later, I learnt it was the daily act of the Ahl e Beit, the members of the Prophet of God (peace be upon him and his family) and verses of the Quran descended because of them.

 

But those attributes were not the reason I would choose her.

 

“So why then,” my nafs asked?

 

“Because once,” I told it after considering it carefully, “once she choose to sacrifice her heart’s last desire. Literally the last! And it for us, her children’s sake.”

 

I wrote a story about the event in 2005. It was early days of realization that I could write. The beginning was a series of personal history pieces. I had titled it The Third Marriage.

 

Begin

 

It was 1986. Life in Lahore had always been unusual for me. My parents were separated by then which was a low incidence situation for upper-middle class families back then. I had returned from boarding school a few years ago and lived in our house with my brother and mother and the staff. My elder sister had chosen to remain in Murree, unfazed and returned only after finishing all 11 years before starting college. My five had rendered me emotionally numb but able to be independent emotionally with the adeptness of an adult.

 

Samina, that was her name. Ami is what us children called her, the most common Pakistani term for mother. She was a beautiful woman, tall, slim with a life that was dramatic and difficult through all its stages. In 1986, she was seriously contemplating marriage for the third time. The history of that institution for her had also been dramatic and difficult. This time the options were even more unique – two Caucasian males were the suitors, both successful in their chosen careers, both previously married with off-spring in other countries. The consideration to marry was unique in and of itself. It was a time in Lahore when men didn’t marry twice. And if they did, they hid it. A third time was practically unheard of at all, much less for a woman.

 

Ray was 50 plus, a soft-spoken, rotund American originally from Georgia who had spent the last 30 years living in South Asia with the State Department. Whenever I did see him or speak to him, which wasn’t often, he was always sweet and kind. He was an avid lover of opera and sometimes when I went to pick up my mother or drop her off, I heard his music playing well into the garden. I had never heard it before except in movies and didn’t like it much then, not like I have grown to like it now.

 

He had older children some of whom had given him a tough time and it was expected that he would be a more reliable step-father. After all anything was to be expected from my brother and sister, both of whom were generally in some sort of trouble that only got more serious with age. The tell-tale sign was that each of them had to change their educational institution practically every year. My mother’s reaction to that upheaval was impressive. She never dwelt on anything for long. It happened, was her MO, let’s move on to what should happen next.

 

Once a month, my siblings and I went to Ray’s house in Lahore for dinner. I was 15 at the time, which made my brother 11 and my sister 19. We usually got there just before it was time to eat. I was studying like an insane person for my O’Level exams that were coming up and didn’t have time for much of anything. The table was always set formally even if were eating burgers. The only attraction at the time, for the three on our end I think, was the American food we would eat. Something from the commissary, the place the American staff of the Embassy in the city had access to exclusively to purchase American food products.

 

Ray’s three, also two girls and a boy, were all older than myself. Two were in high school and one was in college. They were always nice to us but they appeared to be busy with a lot on their social calendar and these dinners seemed to interrupt that. Hence, during the meals they would be leaving and returning, sometimes taking smoke breaks talking to friends on the phone and sometimes, to say a word to their friends hanging out in their rooms waiting for them to be done.

 

Ray tried to get them to sit through the meal in its entirety but he usually failed. They made jokes with each other sometimes in reference to “The Brady Bunch” but since none of us knew what that was, it was only followed by awkward silences on our parts. As soon as dinner was over, the three of us would march to our car and go home while the three of them would re-enter their expatriate lives in Lahore.

 

Bob was relatively a youthful man in his 40s from Rotterdam, a hotel management executive, who had been in Lahore for a few years. He was divorced, had two small children who were under the age of 10 and whom we never met. I played tennis with him occasionally but other than that just met him to say hi when he was over at our house. The conversation was always polite and brief, we exchanged niceties.

 

He drove some fancy car the hotel had given him and I was always trying to conspire how to wrest the keys from him, making up lame excuses of how I could not get our car past it so I could sneak it out for a drive. I remember one night when I had taken it for a spin finding Bob pacing at our gate on my return. He didn’t say a word as I stepped out of the car meekly and went inside as he drove away, clearly irritated but not saying a word to me about it.

 

I don’t think even my mother admonished me for that act, even though she did say something, throwing in words like “insurance” and “liability” that seemed somewhat forced and not anything she appeared too concerned about. Ami loved Bob, I think she was in love with him. I never knew exactly why but I knew she loved him because in the analysis and selection phase, she always ended up favoring him.

 

The dilemma that was discussed ad nauseum between my mother and her female cousins, who met every day as part of their daily routine, was who to pick. For weeks, I walked in and out of rooms and through conversations where the eternally unfinished list of pros and cons was being outlined verbally. The lists were not long and the attributes were in opposites and therefore simple, uncomplicated.

 

They appeared to be mostly in repeat mode, no new light was being shed in these discussions. It was such a big deal though that not enough could be said about it. All the women were anxious on some level. They knew my mother would eventually pick one of the two and leave the country and the men in the family would briefly lose their minds. But that was not a deterrent by any means. Their love for my mother knew no bounds.

 

Her life had been difficult from the beginning when they were in their teens and the path she had been on, some of it mapped by her parents and some herself, had been nothing like their own which was easier, always settled, always known. They were all socially conservative, deeply religious and what I remember and absorbed by being around them all my life and that seeped into my nature directly was their lack of judgement. People made decisions that sometimes didn’t make sense overtly to the rest of the world, seemingly wrong, even harmful but one couldn’t know all the reasons why and eventually had to respect that rather than lash out at them.

 

They were probably most worried about whether this unusual and risky move was the right one for her this time and probably just prayed a little harder for that when they said their namaz. My mother was the peacock in the group, not because she was the most beautiful, that they all were, but because she was different. She knew that, they knew it. She always had been.

 

She had gained exposure to life by branching out from what had been narrowly and simply declared their “life” through marriage and motherhood, through the patriarchs of the family and society at large. More publicly known were only her sharp deviations from the norms of Pakistani society that made her different, the failed marriages, the mixed parties at her residence where alcohol was served, music was played and on occasion people danced.

 

But they were her anchor after her mother died. In terms of having the closest thing to unconditional love from a parent, they were that source. But unconditional love from peers, as I enjoy from my friends and cousins today, has its downsides because it can advise and inform major decisions but after a point that is reached quickly, the love takes over everything else.

 

In the list, Bob was young, Ray was old. Bob had children under the age of 10, Ray’s three were all older than myself and therefore according to American culture as explained to my mother, were going to be on their own sooner or later. Both had similar financial strengths. Sometimes my aunts would mix the names up. Their mastery of the foreign tongue, in this case English, was not the best.

 

When they did speak in it, which was only out of necessity, I loved it because it always made me giggle and it always made them giggle as they dismissed its importance. I believe both men also knew that they were under scrutiny as both had asked my mother to marry them, both were awaiting an answer. I remember one evening when Ray was over, one of my aunts walked in the room with an endearing smile, greeting him with a “Hello Bob.”

 

Ray almost lost it for a second and grumbled back, “My name is RAY”, emphasizing the end of the sentence even then in his gentle, calming manner. I think in her panic and embarrassment, my aunt started laughing, apologizing profusely. My mother was smiling to herself as she changed the subject saying to Ray, as if it should have been comforting, that he knew her cousins’ English was not good.

 

So Ray or Bob remained the hotly debated subject. My brother was out of the loop entirely struggling with his impending teens. My sister was usually out of the house spending the end of her teens with friends. I was drawn in to the conversations occasionally, my opinion generally more sought than my siblings’ because of a precocious maturity and responsibility I assumed in the running of a house with an absentee male figure.

 

I didn’t have much to add, both men seemed decent and I barely knew them enough to favor either. My life sans my father had made me very used to not needing men at all. I didn’t understand the implications on my life per se as a result of this action because there seemed to be none. All except the embarrassment it would cause the family of course that my mother coming from an old feudal family will have entered into marriage with a non-muslim, white man. Although I’m pretty sure a forced conversion for the ritual had been agreed upon. Perhaps that was always my prime concern and I secretly believed that it would never happen for that reason.

 

It was wishful hoping on my part. I had spent the bulk of my life in silent resentment of not being given a normal life by my parents. But I digress. Finally a decision was made from the heart. Ironically it favored Ray. Ami had called her spiritual guide, Wasif Sahib, a scholar, a poet and a Sufi who addressed a group once a month to discuss spirituality and poetry, life and roles, rights and duties in the context of Islam.

 

He asked her one question: Who do you think will take better care of your children? She knew it would be Ray and told him so truthfully. His advice then was that he would make the better choice but of course it was up to her to finally decide.

 

A few weeks later, I recall all our stuff being packed and shipped off. One night we were in Lahore, the next landing in Dhaka, Ray’s next posting, leaving our home with a large padlock at the gate. We didn’t ask any questions, there were no answers we sought. Ami sold her house without a soul knowing about it. Except for the partners in crime cousins, of course.

 

End Story

 

“So that’s why,” I said to my nafs as it listened intently clearly remembering none of it. It left me wondering, unsure if its overwhelming feeling was sadness or awe.

 

She gave up what her heart desired most of all, knowing that it was the last chance for this particular happiness to come her way. It had been a life soaked in pain and crushed hopes. Extinguishing that last candle herself, seeing her do it, never uttering a word of reproach, never the sound of a complaint, that’s the reason I would want just her in my life again. Even though if I could count the time we spent together, near each other in close proximity. It wouldn’t be years. Perhaps it would be months. Likely, just weeks. Until she would die at 53 and I would remain alive for decades with only a broken heart to mark her existence.

 

It felt uncanny that these thoughts were coming to me a day before Muharram was to begin. But then when I thought about it, it wasn’t so surprising.

 

Muharram is the start of the Islamic year which operates on the lunar calendar. The 31st of December has no meaning. There are no fireworks or parties, toasts around clinking glasses to mark the occasion. The year starts on a deeply mournful note with tears, somber, serious and when one is fortunate enough to understand why, deeply reflective. There is no kind of festivity for at least the first 10 days by those who hold love and regard for the Ahl e Beit, the hosuehold of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

 

The month marks the epitome of sacrifice, in brutal circumstances, in the name of love, in the name of God by the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), Hazrat Imam Hussain (as). It is the month in which he became the reason the religion itself survived, having mutated beyond belief just 40 years after the Prophet (peace be upon him). And it was not just because of his martyrdom at Karbala but because he took, thousands of years later, the place of Hazrat Ismael’s (as) would-be sacrifice.

 

وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآخِرِينَ

 

And We left (this blessing) for him among generations to come in later times.

Surah As-Saffat, Verse 108

 

The event was not imposed upon him. The most blessed Imam (as) chose this ending when he was a soul and there was a meeting of the Extraordinary in the Heavens with their Lord God. In that meeting lay the explanation for one of the most elusive and debated upon ahadith of the Mercy of the Universe (peace be upon him).

 

Begin excerpt The Softest Heart

 

قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ حُسَيْنٌ مِنِّي وَأَنَا مِنْ حُسَيْنٍ”

 

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said (most notably):

“Hussain (as) is from me and I am from Hussain (as).”

 

The tafseer of that line I heard from Mamu who heard it from his Spiritual Master (also from Golra Shareef), was one I had never heard from anyone else. Everyone understood the second part of the sentence. Hazrat Imam Hussain (ratu) was his grandson therefore he was from him but the first part was unclear. How was the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) from Hazrat Imam Hussain (ratu)? This was the explanation I had received.

 

Once when God was surrounded by the souls of his prophets and the family of his Beloved (peace be upon him), in the unfolding of events, when He came to the part of the Prophet Ibrahim (as) sacrificing his son, Hazrat Ismael (as), Hazrat Imam Hussain (ratu) stood up. He said that if Hazrat Ismael (as) was sacrificed as a child, his lineage would end there and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) would never be born.

 

All the prophets have descended from the line of Hazrat Ibrahim’s other son, the Prophet Ishaaq or Isaac (as). Only Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) comes from the line of Hazrat Ismael (as). It would become the number one reason the Jews would reject him despite his oft mention in their own book, the Torah. Therefore Hazrat Imam Hussain (ratu) offered himself to be sacrificed instead of Hazrat Ismael (as) and so it was deemed. Hence the Prophet (peace be upon him) had said that he had come to exist because of Imam Hussain (ratu); “and I am from Hussain.”

 

End excerpt The Softest Heart

 

He chose the sacrifice and it was not just him as an individual. It would be a massacre, brutal, where children were slain with arrows used to hunt animals piercing their throats. There would be a blockade of food and water for days for those who shared their own supplies with the enemy before the fighting began. Every single male member of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), who were after him the appearance of Allah’s Noor, would be killed mercilessly with the exception of one; Hazrat Imam Zain ul Abideen (as) who was seriously ill.

 

The Imam Hussain (as) could not be slain in one to one combat by anyone. Throes of arrows and spears would then be hurled upon his person until he fell from his horse to the ground. In those final moments, his physical body entirely covered in injuries and wounds, having witnessed the martyrdom of all the male members of his entire clan, he would fall into prostration and in that sajda utter his last words addressing his Lord God:

 

I left all creatures for the sake of You

and I orphaned the children so that I see You.

So even if I am cut into pieces for the love of You,

the heart would lean to none other than You.

 

Every time I read the words my eyes filled with tears, my heart with envy and even “my deaf, mute, blind and insane nafs” with a yearning of the possibility of a sacrifice from my self for my Rabb. A sacrifice that would at least manifest itself in this world for another human being and be counted by Allah Al Muhsi, The One who takes account of all things. Imam Hussain’s (as) sacrifice was for his grandfather’s Ummah, his nation, but it was also for an entire Universe to preserve the remembrance of God. For without him the existence of truth would have perished forever.

 

ہر اک ذہن میں ہے کچھ نہ کچھ تصور حق

ہم اس تصور حق کو حسین کہتے ہیں

 

har ek zehn mein hai kuch na kuch tasawar e haq

hum uss tasawar e haq ko hussain (ratu) kehte hain

 

Every mind has in it some perception of truth,

that perception of truth in each is what we call Hussain (as)

 

On the second day of Muharram, the beginning of August, Qari Sahib returned from Hajj. It was lovely to see him. He didn’t tell me much about his travel but I saw the noor on his face.

 

“You don’t look tired at all Sir,” I remarked, genuinely surprised. All I had heard and seen from rich people was how they immediately fell into a state of exhaustion and then illness upon their return.

 

“It’s the Quran,” he replied. “It doesn’t let you feel tired.”

 

“Really?” I asked, wanting confirmation.

 

“Really!” he said smiling his broad smile.

 

I made a mental note to hope for that effect upon me when I performed the Hajj. Except for him as a hafiz, it was in his head. He could recite it whenever he wanted to no end. Still, I had been looking up the Names of Allah Subhanahu to vary my invocations. I realized why in the three prayers where the recitation of the Surah was changed from Ikhlas to the reader’s choice, repetition was makrooh, disliked by God. It made sense. People who keep saying the same thing every time you meet them are deathly boring. I can’t figure out for the life of me what’s happening in their head.

 

I asked my cousin, Sanya, who was a therapist why they did that. She was very helpful.

 

“One answer could be that there mind is still trying to make sense of it. The issue remains unresolved.”

 

Suddenly I remembered all the instances when I was a parrot in rote myself precisely because something was stuck in my head!

 

Still I had said in the lecture to the kids.

 

“Even if you don’t have something new to call out to Allah Subhanahu and you keep saying the same Name again and again and again, it will gain His Attention. Imagine if you’re sitting with someone who doesn’t pay any attention to you. If you start saying their name over and over in your sentences, even they will eventually turn around and finally say, ‘WHAT’?”

The approach made me smile as I said it and the kids laugh.

 

But its result was undeniable.

 

There were many Names whose meaning I did not even know. I knew what I would be working on next with Qari Sahib. It would just be the tafseer of the Exalted Names of Allah Subhanahu in various verses of the Quran. Each context would reveal something new, unveil a secret. Which would change my prayer and perhaps me with it!

 

Qari Sahib asked me what had been happening in the weeks he was gone. I told him the verse that had been my primary focus while he was away. How to avoid with gracious avoidance. He asked me who I had learnt to apply the verse upon. Who had to be avoided beautifully. After all we were also friends.

 

“The details behind it don’t really matter anymore Sir. The experience for me was revelatory in terms of deconstructing behaviour. Mine as well as others. People get used to living in a cave of pain. Because of something that happened to them. Or even something that continues to happen to them. A cave is a cave, it’s drenched only in darkness.

 

Then one day the person in it raises their hands to the heavens and asks for a ray of light. Soon after, exactly such a ray of light pierces the hard rock near the mouth of the cave and enters it. Mesmerized by the appearance, they start walking towards it. That pursuit is what makes them, perhaps unknowingly, leave the cave after ages.

 

Once outside they see the blues of the sky and the greens of trees and grass. They hear birds and see butterflies. They notice colours and sounds that imbue nature. They see their heart fleeing towards all of that beauty, they feel its elation. The joy is uncontrollable, it cannot be hidden. It is forced to reveal itself, it requires expression.

 

And then out of nowhere they remind themselves, forcibly, of the cave. Of those many days and nights that were spent there. They asks themselves, “But isn’t that out real abode?” After all, it was what shaped their identity, public and private, for years. You weren’t here Sir so I asked someone else who lives and exits such a cave himself from time to time this question.

 

‘I just want to know this. In those steps,’ I said to my friend, ‘when the person has turned their back on the sun and the moon, in that walk back to the cave just before re-entering it, what is the thought in their mind?’ I truly had no idea.

 

My friend looked away and with a most knowing expression turned back to say to me, ‘They are saying, “I am in charge of my life. I will take care of things. I am the one who knows what best for me, what I like, how I like it. I will decide my matters.”’

Then he paused and said softly, ‘They feel a pride in their pain. But mostly I guess they are ungrateful. Why else or rather how else does one walk from light towards darkness.’”

 

He made me think of Allah’s Name, An Noor!

 

“From the root, noon, wao, ra, which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to give light, to illuminate, to fill with light to clarify, to reveal, to make visible to blossom, to be in bloom (revealed) to be flaming, blazing and apparent to the senses to enlighten, give counsel and give advice.”

 

Qari Sahib listened to me quietly. He gave me a reference where Allah Subhanahu was stating that the trajectory of life was the opposite. And the darkness I was wondering about was clearly defined!

 

ٱللَّهُ وَلِىُّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ يُخْرِجُهُم مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ

 

Allah is the Protecting Guardian of those who believed.

He brings them out from the darkness towards the light.

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 257

 

Tafseer e Jilani:

 

Allahu: The One who is The Gatherer of All Attributes and All Names…

 

Walliulladina Aamino: He is The Friend of those who bring faith upon Him. He raises them, according to His Qualities and all that He encompasses (which is everything)…

 

Yukhrijjuhum min adulumaat: and brings them out of the darkness, which is the darkness of their nature and darkness of their doubts (of possibilities) and all other darkness…

 

Ilan Noor: towards the Light, crystal clear, His Pure One-ness, free of dust and all other associations.

 

For the first time every time I translated a verse, I looked for one of my Rabb’s Names. The Name in this one with Allah was Wali-un.

 

“From the root wao, laam, ye, which has the following classical Arabic connotation: to be near, close, nearby to be a friend, helper, supporter, maintainer to defend, guard to be in charge, to turn one towards something to be the master, owner, lord.

 

I had found a website with the Exalted Names (myislam.org/99-names-of-allah/). I chose it because in it were also the verses where they appeared in the Quran. I started making a list to memorize the verses. To study their tafseer, to utter them, those praises, in my namaz. I wanted to learn as many of them as I could to gain His Attention.

 

For the line in the qayam of namaz itself made the point best:

 

سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ

 

Allah hears whoever praises Him.

 

Hazrat Sahel Tustari (ra) says that two things are a direct consequence of relying on one’s own self. The worst of behaviour damaging to one’s own self; anger, harshness.

 

“Truly anger (ghadab) and harshness (hidda) come from the servant’s dependence on his own strength (quwwa). However, when he gives up relying on his own strength, weakness will take up residence in his soul, and this will generate mercy (rahma) and benevolence (lutf) from him, which is to take on the characteristics of the Lord, His Majesty be magnified.”

 

Allah Al Qawwi, Allah Ar Raheem, Allah Al Lateef!

 

I looked up Al Lateef. Kindness was the key for any goodness to count said Nabi Kareem (peace be upon him and his family). Without it the entire act was void!

 

“From the root laam, ta, fa, which has the following classical Arabic connotation: to be thin, delicate, refined, elegant, graceful, gentle, gracious, courteous, kindly, subtle, to the know the obscurities of all affairs, to treat with regard for circumstances, to be the most soothing and refined in manner, to treat with kindness, goodness, gentleness, benevolence, and affection.”

 

‏ٱللَّهُ لَطِيفٌۢ بِعِبَادِهِۦ

 

Allah is Gentle for His Worshippers.

Surah Ash Shura, Verse 19

 

Said Al Ghazali about the Name and Attribute, “The one who understands this Name knows the subtleties of those things which are beneficial, as well as their hidden aspects, along with what is subtle about them and what is benevolent. In conveying them to those who are deserving, he is committed to the path of gentleness rather than harshness.”

 

There was that word again, harshness.

 

In this last experience I had learnt that the harshness that people dealt out was in fact indifference. First turned upon themselves and therefore very easily on others. And anger, Ghaus Pak (ra) had said in multiple tafaseer of the word, was a pure disruption of the mind. It the forced the exit of the aql, the ability to consider, in the first instant of its appearance. Its other guaranteed consequence was a false sense of dignity which the nafs, the base self, and Iblis used as their major weapon to destroy peace of mind most easily by plying on justification.

 

Justification was always the trap. A trap that even Prophets admited:

 

‏ وَمَآ أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِىٓ ۚ إِنَّ ٱلنَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌۢ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّىٓ ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّى غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ ‎

 

"And yet I am not trying to absolve my nafs, self.

Indeed, the nafs is a certain inciter of evil,

unless [that] my Lord bestows Mercy. Indeed, my Lord (is) Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

Surah Yusuf, Verse 53

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

The he, Hazrat Yusuf (as) said:

 

Wa ma ubarri’o: And I do not absolve and do not justify…

 

Nafsi: my nafs, my self, from furataat, excessiveness and ghafalaat, forgetfulness and shameful thoughts and repulsive deeds according to the demands of the organs of lust and animalistic desires and how can I absolve myself and justify it?

 

Inna an nafsa: Indeed the nafs, the base self, that has been embodied in the nature of human beings…

 

La-Ammaarat-un: the forceful commanding of which is by its nature towards …

 

Bis su’: wrong-doing and fasaad, corruption and its focus upon that whenever it’s free and is its nature…

 

Illa ma rahima Rabbi: except for the one upon whom is bestowed the Mercy of my Lord i.e. Allah protects that nafs by His Endless Mercy and Affection from its transgressions and the whisperings of Satan towards it.

 

Inna Rabbi: Indeed my Lord, who has raised me with safeguarding from sin and with virtuousness…

 

Ghafooran: is All Forgiving of that which has happened from me from the occurrences of my nafs…

 

Raheemun: is All Merciful. He bestows Mercy towards me with His Fazal, Bounty and He preserves me with His Lutf, Kindness, from those things that make me distant from His Kunuf, Protection and His Jawaar, Safety.

 

Ghaus Pak (ra) says in Al Fath Ar Rabbni: “You are a Munafiq because you are a hypocrite to your own nafs. Because you lie to it.” All those years of lying. The nafs now in control, the tabyat overwhelming the fitrat, was just lying back. It was the fruits of seeds sown, unwittingly, in a state of unawareness.

 

For anger the words Kadimeen al ghaid from a verse came to mind: for those who restrain it!

 

‏ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِى ٱلسَّرَّآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَٱلْكَظِمِينَ ٱلْغَيْظَ وَٱلْعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِ ۗ

وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ ‎ ‎

 

Those who spend in ease and in hardship and those who restrain the anger and those who pardon the people - and Allah loves the Muhsineen, the good-doers.

Surah Aal e Imran, Verse 134

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Alladina yunfiqoona: They (the Muttaqeen) are the ones who spend from the good that they earn from a livelihood that is tangible and intangible on the ones who are deserving from the Servants of Allah. It is equal for them…

 

Fi sarra’e: in happiness, meaning when they are free of their busyness which is being a hurdle from true focus upon Allah…

 

Wa darra’ae: in difficulty in the happening of incidents which happen to them because of their necessities of being human beings.

 

Wal kadimeen al ghaida: And (the Muttaqeena) are Al Maasikeena, those who hold, Al Kaafeena, those who stop, their anger at the time of sudden arousal of the expression of it and the storm of (fake) dignity of being a human being that rises from the requirements of the animalistic (show of) strength.

 

Wal aafina an in-naas: And they forgive people, they are the ones who pardon and give up punishing of those who do wrong to them and those who are unjust to them because they are steadfast upon Tauheed, Allah’s One-ness, which decimates the additional feelings (of anger) and conflicts overall.

 

Wallahu: And Allah Al Muttali’u, The One who is Watchful, of the secrets of His Servants...

 

Yuhibbul Muhsineen: loves them with all their types of good deeds, especially the controlling of anger and forgiving despite power (not to do so).

 

And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Indeed, these people (the Muhsineen) are few in my nation except the ones safeguarded by Allah and certainly they were many in the nations before mine.”

 

Again the words appeared to define anger; show of strength, again a false sense of dignity.

 

I went back to the verse on “gracious avoidance.” Ghaus Pak’s (ra) tafseer on Allah Subhanahu’s instruction of that avoidance was imbued with lutf, kindness and gentleness. Why?

Because the first words he used in the interaction with them was “be smiling and cheerful.”

 

I realized from those words that he taught me something I could never have known otherwise. If the heart likes someone and affection has been placed in it, forcing it to dislike them, be harsh or angry with them, only causes intense distress. Hence one was allowed and even told to meet them smiling and cheerful because that’s exactly how the heart in fact wanted to greet them.

 

When we were translating it, I even asked Qari Sahib why the words repeated; smiling, cheerful. Didn’t they mean the same thing?

 

He said, “It’s because sometimes the mouth smiles but the forehead hides a frown. There is a disconnect, an insincerity. Ghaus Pak (ra) is saying, be both and be both truthfully.”

 

I have to say I felt over the moon. I was one of those who distressed my heart to no end in forcing it to feel “a false sense of dignity” under a guise of preserving self-esteem. I then became one of those that inflicted harshness upon my own nafs.

 

In those early days of Muharram I tried to listen to only lectures about the event of Karbala. Not listening to music was something I had done as a child because my family did it. For years that was the only thing I didn’t do. This year I tried to keep my focus on the blessed persons of the family of the Messenger who perfects the Messengers (peace be upon him) and them alone.

 

One of them happened to be on Imam Hussain’s (as) son, the sole male survivor of Karbala: Imam Zain ul Abideen (as).

 

Part II Continued on: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52273833091/in/datepos...

from the Empire State Building observation deck

Interior decoration of Cathedral of Christ the Savior with a spectacular ceiling of its central dome (cupola). The painting of the main dome reveals Divine guidance of the world from its Creation to the Redemption of Christ. It shows how God organizes and sustains the world and guides human destiny. It extols the eternity and omnipotence of the Creator.

 

Read more: goo.gl/KgpqYT

 

NOTE: Taking video and photo is forbidden in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the main church of Moscow and the country, but during 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia it was made exception and thousands and thousands of its visitors could take photos of its magnificent interior within 30 days of the championship! I

 

Photo #168 taken on June 28, 2018 during the tour of Cathedral with Christ the Savior with my dear clients from Singapore, Jessie and Kenneth.

©2018 www.Moscow-Driver.com by Arthur Lookyanov​

The term “lyrical” is appropriate because the Muslim Palace is adorned by lyric verses inscribed in beautiful, cursive Arab calligraphy.Amongst the estimated 10,000 inscriptions found in the Alhambra there are verses from the Qur'an, poems that comment on the features of different rooms, panegyrics (i.e. lavish praise) of various kings of the Nasrid dynasty that ruled Granada, and witty aphorisms. They run along walls, frame doorways and windows, and are embedded in the stuccoed, arabesque tapestries that stand atop vibrant, multicoloured wainscotings of ceramic tiles (azulejos). The most common inscription is the Nasrid motto: “There is no victor but Allah, a constant reminder that no human feat surpasses God’s omnipotence.

 

Dedicate to LUX

 

The Postcard

 

A postcard that was published by the Photochrom Co. Ltd. of London. The image is a glossy real photograph.

 

The card was posted in Northampton on Friday the 26th. October 1906 to:

 

Miss A. Swindall,

41, Queen's Road,

Loughborough,

Leicestershire.

 

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

 

"Dear Alice,

Thanks for letter.

Could you meet me at

Leicester about 4.

I think it would be much

better, so we could go

& see E. Tompkins &

have tea.

I have promised to go

several times and would

very much like you to go

as well. Now be game

and try.

My train arrives at four

prompt. If I don't hear

from you I will meet at

8.15.

Love from Will."

 

Wilhelm Voigt

 

So what else happened on the day that Will posted the card to Alice?

 

Well, on the 26th. October 1906, Wilhelm Voigt was arrested.

 

Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, who was born on the 13th. February 1849, was a German impostor who, in 1906, masqueraded as a Prussian military officer, rounded up a number of soldiers under his "command", and "confiscated" more than 4,000 marks from the municipal treasury.

 

Although he served two years in prison, he became a folk hero as "The Captain of Köpenick," and was pardoned by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

 

Wilhelm Voigt - The Early Years

 

Voigt was born in Tilsit, Prussia. In 1863, at the age of 14, he was sentenced to 14 days in prison for theft, which led to his expulsion from school. He learned shoemaking from his father.

 

Between 1864 and 1891, Voigt was sentenced to prison for a total of 25 years for thefts, forgery and burglary. The longest sentence was a 15-year conviction for an unsuccessful burglary of a court cashier's office. He was released on the 12th. February 1906.

 

Voigt drifted from place to place until he went to live with his sister in Rixdorf near Berlin. He was briefly employed by a well-reputed shoemaker until the local police expelled him from Berlin on the 24th. August 1906. They claimed that he was an undesirable, based solely on the fact that he was an ex-convict. Officially he left for Hamburg, although he remained in Berlin as an unregistered resident.

 

The Captain of Köpenick

 

On the 16th. October 1906, having resigned from the shoe factory ten days earlier, Voigt was ready for his next caper. He had previously purchased parts of used captain's uniforms from different shops.

 

He took the uniform out of baggage storage, put it on and went to the local army barracks, stopped four grenadiers and a sergeant on their way back to barracks and told them to come with him and they followed. He dismissed the commanding sergeant to report to his superiors, and later commandeered six more soldiers from a shooting range.

 

Then he took a train to Köpenick, east of Berlin, occupied the local city hall with his soldiers and told them to cover all exits. He told the local police to "care for law and order" and to "prevent calls to Berlin for one hour" at the local post office.

 

He had the treasurer von Wiltberg and the mayor Georg Langerhans arrested, citing suspicion of crooked bookkeeping, and confiscated 4002 marks and 37 pfennigs, issuing a receipt for the money signed with his former jail director's name.

 

He then commandeered two carriages and told the grenadiers to take the arrested men to the Neue Wache in Berlin for interrogation. He told the remaining guards to stand in their places for half an hour and then left for the train station. He later changed into civilian clothes and disappeared.

 

The Arrest of Wilhelm Voigt

 

In the following days, the German press speculated on what had really happened. At the same time the army ran its own investigation. The public seemed to be positively amused by the daring deeds of the culprit.

 

Voigt was arrested on the 26th. October 1906 after a former cellmate who knew about Voigt's plans had tipped off the police, hoping for the high reward.

 

On the 1st. December 1906 Voigt was sentenced to four years in prison for forgery, impersonating an officer and wrongful imprisonment. However, much of public opinion was on his side, and Kaiser Wilhelm II pardoned him on the 16th. August 1908.

 

Even the Kaiser was amused by the incident, referring to him as an amiable scoundrel, and being pleased with the authority and feelings of reverence that he obviously commanded in the general population.

 

The British press were also amused, seeing it as confirmation of their stereotypes about Germans. In its 27th. October 1906 issue, the editors of The Illustrated London News noted gleefully:

 

"For years the Kaiser has been instilling into his people

reverence for the omnipotence of militarism, of which

the holiest symbol is the German uniform. Offences

against this fetish have incurred condign punishment.

Officers who have not considered themselves saluted

in due form have drawn their swords with impunity on

offending privates."

 

In that same issue, writer G. K. Chesterton pointed out:

 

"The most absurd part of this absurd fraud (at least,

to English eyes) is one which, oddly enough, has

received comparatively little comment. I mean the

point at which the Mayor asked for a warrant, and

the Captain pointed to the bayonets of his soldiery

and said, 'These are my authority'. One would have

thought anyone would have known that no soldier

would talk like that."

 

Aftermath

 

Voigt decided to capitalize on his fame. His wax figure appeared in the wax museum in Unter den Linden four days after his release. He appeared in the museum to sign his pictures, but public officials banned the appearances on the same day.

 

He appeared in small theatres in a play that depicted his exploit, and signed more photographs as the Captain of Köpenick. In spite of the ban he toured in Dresden, Vienna and Budapest in variety shows, restaurants and amusement parks.

 

In 1909, he published a book in Leipzig, How I became the Captain of Köpenick, which sold well. Although his United States tour almost failed because the immigration authorities refused to grant him a visa, he arrived in 1910 via Canada. He also inspired a waxwork in Madame Tussaud's museum in London.

 

In 1910, he moved to Luxembourg and worked as a waiter and shoemaker. He received a life pension from a rich Berlin dowager. Two years later, he bought a house and retired, but was ruined financially in the post–World War I recession.

 

Voigt died at the age of 72 in Luxembourg on the 3rd. January 1922. His grave is in the Cimetière Notre-Dame in Luxembourg.

 

Wilhelm Voigt in Popular Culture

 

Voigt's exploits became the subject of literary references as early as 1911, when British satirical writer Saki defined the term "to koepenick" as "to replace an authority by a spurious imitation that would carry just as much weight for the moment as the displaced original" in his short story "Ministers of Grace".

 

A silent film was made in German in 1926. In 1931, German author Carl Zuckmayer wrote a play about the affair called The Captain of Köpenick, which shifts the focus from the event at Köpenick itself to the prelude, showing how his surroundings and his situation in life had helped Voigt form his plan. An English-language adaptation was written by John Mortimer, and first performed by the National Theatre company at the Old Vic on the 9th. March 1971 with Paul Scofield in the title role.

 

Several more films were produced about Wilhelm Voigt, most based on Zuckmayer's play; among them Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1931); The Captain from Köpenick (1945), starring Albert Bassermann; Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1956), with Heinz Rühmann; a 1956 U.S. TV adaptation starring Emmett Kelly, the circus clown; the 1960 TV movie Der Hauptmann von Köpenick, featuring Rudolf Platte; and the 1997 TV movie Der Hauptmann von Köpenick, starring Harald Juhnke.

 

In 1943 the German Air Force mistakenly thought that a bombing attack which had been carried out on Düren, with the bombers then returning, was a diversion, and the bombers were actually heading for the ball-bearing factory at Schweinfurt.

 

When Schweinfurt was not attacked, they were concerned about the Leuna synthetic fuel refinery, then the Skoda Works at Pilsen. They scrambled large numbers of fighters everywhere, whose engine noise sounded like an invading force. After the debacle, Head of the Air Force Hermann Göring sent an ironic telegram to all concerned congratulating them on "the successful defence of the fortress of Koepenick".

 

The basic line of stage plays and movies was the pitiful catch-22 situation of Voigt trying to earn his living honourably in Berlin:

 

"No residence address – no job.

No job – no residence (rented room).

No residence – no passport.

No passport – getting ousted."