Audio Sancto

Sermon titled "Prayer: What to Ask And How to Ask For It" given on Sunday August 12, 2012. Size: 1.7 MB; duration: 07:32. Prayer is essential for salvation. God gives us many things for which we have not asked. What should we ask for? For whom should we pray? To whom do we pray? We should believe in God and His goodness; we should persevere.

Sermon titled "Merit: Obtaining Graces for Ourselves and Others" given on Sunday August 12, 2012. Size: 5 MB; duration: 21:49. Saint Augustine says that God created us without our help but will not save us without our cooperation. This cooperation comes though spiritually meritorious works. In order for an act to be meritorious: The work must be done by a living man, The one doing the work must be in the state of grace, The action performed must be virtuous, The action must be done of free will, God promises a reward for the action. The greatest merit is obtained through sacrifice and patient suffering.

Sermon titled "God Loves a Cheerful Giver: Saint Lawrence, Martyr" given on Friday August 10, 2012. Size: 2.3 MB; duration: 10:14. Archdeacon of Rome and guard of the Church treasury. The persecution of St. Laurence. "I'm done on this side; you can turn me over." This sentiment and St. Lawrence's daily work with the poor of the Church show why God loves a cheerful giver. Let us light a fire within our hearts to fight the wildfires of the world. Humility cannot be acquired without poverty.

Sermon titled "The Dispositions Necessary for Prayer" given on Sunday August 5, 2012. Size: 3.9 MB; duration: 16:56. Dispositions necessary for prayer. How much does pride offend God? Examples from scripture on humility. The just man is at peace. Being under the influence of sin will also rob our peace. The beginning (fear, anxiety, complaining) of sin robs us of peace. None of those three acts will restore what ever has been lost materially or spiritually. Sorrow and contrition are the antidote of sin.

Sermon titled "Islam: A Christian Heresy Posing as a Post-Christian Religion" given on Sunday August 5, 2012. Size: 3.3 MB; duration: 14:21. "You know that when you were heathens, you went to dumb idols, according as you were led" (1 Corinthians 12:2). Salman Rushdie's book, The Satanic Verses, references an actual event in the life of Muhammad when the pseudo-prophet used the words of Satan as if they were the word of God. Initially Muhammad said that the early adherents of Islam could worship three pagan (false) gods in addition to Allah. This is just one example of Islam's mixing paganism with concepts drawn from Christianity (ie: one God, the immortal soul, punishment or reward in an eternal afterlife, angels, demons, heaven, and hell).

Sermon titled "If We Are Faithful to God We Will Be Saved" given on Sunday July 29, 2012. Size: 6.8 MB; duration: 29:34. A detailed examination of 1 Corinthians, chapter 10. Definition of "type:" a person thing or action that really existed that is meant to foreshadow a future person, thing, or action. The journey of the Jews from Egypt to the Promised Land is a type of our life as Christians: Egypt represents the world which is ruled by Satan; the passage through the Red Sea is a type of Baptism, and the journey in the desert is a type of the trials and temptations we face in our lives as we strive to follow Christ. Let us learn a lesson from the fall of the Israelites: if you are faithful to God, He will be faithful to you.

Sermon titled "Persistence in Sin Brings Eternal Punishment" given on Sunday July 29, 2012. Size: 2.3 MB; duration: 09:56. Saint Paul, in today's Epistle, reminds us of the Justice of God: that He will punish those who do evil. Jerusalem was destroyed because her inhabitants "did not recognize the time of their visitation" (Luke 19:41-44); they remained obstinate in their sin of rejection. So too shall we be punished eternally unless we answer God's call for us to repent.

Sermon titled "Blessed Titus Brandsma Shows Us How To Love Gratuitously" given on Friday July 27, 2012. Size: 3 MB; duration: 13:10. "All that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (2 Timothy 3:12) Blessed Titus Brandsma, a martyr died at the hands of the Nazis at Dachau (also called the concentration camp for the clergy) 70 years ago on the feast of Saint Anne. Blessed Titus shows us how we can love gratuitously, something we must do for the Love of God. Recommended reading: "Christ in Dachau" by Fr. John M. Lenz: http://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9781929291663/

Sermon titled "Saint Anne: How to be Made Worthy of the Promises of Christ" given on Thursday July 26, 2012. Size: 3.2 MB; duration: 14:03. "Who shall find a valiant woman? (Proverbs 31:10)" The example of Saint Anne shows us that prayer and sacrifice is the path to make ourselves "worthy of the promises of Christ."

Sermon titled "Saint James the Greater: Drinking of the Chalice of Our Vocation" given on Wednesday July 25, 2012. Size: 2.4 MB; duration: 10:39. Jesus asked James and John: "Do you know what you are asking? Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink? (Mark 10:38)" The "chalice" is the sum of the trials and tribulations we will face in our vocation. Drinking of the chalice requires Faith, trust in God, courage, and -- perhaps most importantly -- perseverence; in drinking of this chalice we accept God's Will for us and if we persevere we will find our salvation.

Sermon titled "The Pearl of Great Price: The Virgin Martyrs vs. Religious Liberty" given on Tuesday July 24, 2012. Size: 3.2 MB; duration: 13:47. A brief reflection on Saint Christina (ten year old virgin martyr), and the three "Guadalajara Martyrs" (Carmelite nuns) of the Spanish Civil War of 1936. What does the heroic testimony of the martyrs tell us about the notion of "religious liberty?" Also a brief analysis of the communist dialectic of "thesis, antithesis, synthesis" -- the errors of Russia -- and how it is present today even in America.

Sermon titled "Fatima: The Vision of Hell, the Torments of the Damned in Hell" given on Sunday July 22, 2012. Size: 6.6 MB; duration: 29:01. Review of the evidence for the miracle of Fatima. The first (vision of hell) and second (persecution and famine) apparition instructions. Devotion to the Immaculate Heart. What will happen if these instructions are not followed. The vision of Hell was shown to children. We should not hide the truth of Hell: modernist excuses to ignore Hell. Scripture and Tradition: Mark, chap 9; Council of Trent; words of Our Lord regarding demons in Hell; Pope Pius II condemned idea that all are saved; Sr. Lucia and Jacinta's prayers. The pains of Hell. Quotes from popes.

Sermon titled "Spiritual Fertility vs. Spiritual Barrenness: Anniversary of Humanae Vitae" given on Sunday July 22, 2012. Size: 3.6 MB; duration: 15:51. Life of Elisabeth Leseur ("My Spirit Rejoices"): the giving of her life for her husband. In contrast to her contemporary: Margaret Sanger (founder of Planned Parenthood). Instead of heroic virtue there is pernicious vice. Pregnancy has become a "sickness" for which we need a pill.

Sermon titled "Make Friends You Can Meet in Heaven" given on Sunday July 22, 2012. Size: 2.4 MB; duration: 10:20. Avarice is the inordinate love of earthly goods. Christ commends the unjust steward for his cunning. It applies to Christ's followers in that we should use the goods of the world to glorify God and our eternal end. What we have been given (or not given) is meant to get us to Heaven. Using the goods of the world to assist those in need establishes for us friends in Heaven who will help us if we fail.

Sermon titled "Saint Lawrence of Brindisi" given on Saturday July 21, 2012. Size: 3.2 MB; duration: 13:49. Great militant defender of the Faith against the Muslim invasions. Christ is the foundation of the world. This is why God did not rebuild after the sin of Adam. "The Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the world." The Novitiate is the foundation of religious life. All the true, good and beautiful comes from Christ. The devil revolted against the order established by God in Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve followed. Christ was not a revolutionary but a restorer.