Involuntary Asceticism

Cold showers are awesome. Just kidding. I hate them. Who doesn’t? But I still took one every day for over a year. Every day. I

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Purification on Our Path to God

Conquering mortal sin and leaving behind venial sin are both good and necessary. But we need more, and that’s where purification, both passive and active,

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Trying to Be Perfect

  Like most European Catholics I was born and brought up in the aftermath of the Renaissance influenced by a spirituality that owed as much

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desert, Lent

Give Me a Word

Every now and then I will arrive a few minutes late to daily Mass. I make it a habit in these situations, when the Word

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Merit, gift

Austerity for Christmas

I recently realized how I naturally put on the classical, jazz or fado (traditional Portuguese music) radio stations in my car, without any sacrifice at

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