Saints' Discussion Forums

'The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate.'

Isaias 64:10

'The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins.'

Isaias 64:11

Jerusalem desolata est.  I remembered this from Rorate Coeli, which I really like to listen to on youtube, but I don't understand what this quote means - the city of Thy sanctuary has become a desert, in Isaias.   

Ah, the Latin is very deeply touching. Thank you Susanna.

FWIF.

When I posted it I was thinking of the desolation of our churches in these times. The high altars destroyed, the statues thrown out, impious priests substituted for pious..

Then too I was thinking about Rome.. and some of the foul art there as well as sacred..

And I think of a quote by Pope Pius XII.

"A day will come when the civilized world will deny its God, when the Church will doubt as Peter doubted. She will be tempted to believe that man has become God. In our churches, Christians will search in vain for the red lamp where God awaits them. Like Mary Magdalene, weeping before the empty tomb, they will ask, "Where have they taken him?"

Pope Pius XII

And I think about the Jerusalem of the soul.. and a quote from St. Maximos.. or St. Maximus the Confessor.

'The passions lying hidden in the soul provide the demons with the means of arousing impassioned thoughts in us. Then, fighting the intellect through these thoughts they force it to give assent to sin. When it has been overcome, they lead it to sin in the mind; and when this has been done they induce it, captive as it is, to commit the sin in action. Having thus desolated the soul by means of these thoughts, the demons then retreat, taking the thoughts with them, and only the spectre or idol of sin remains in the intellect. Referring to this our Lord says, 'When you see the abominable idol of desolation standing in the holy place (let him who reads understand). . .' (Matt. 24:15). For man's intellect is a holy place and a temple of God in which the demons, having desolated the soul by means of impassioned thoughts, set up the idol of sin. That these things have already taken place in history no one, I think, who has read Josephus will doubt; though some say that they will also come to pass in the time of the Antichrist.'

St. Maximos the Confessor

Yes.  I have been in churches that make me feel desolate.  To hear about beautiful altars destroyed breaks my heart. 

Many churches have been closed here, many people upset, and I think, well, you brought up your children to think contraception was the way to go, religion can go on the back burner, and now there are not enough Catholics to support the churches.  God let them watch their churches be sold.  imho. 

Jerusalem desolata est.

O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence.   

They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies: that the nations might tremble at thy presence.   

When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away.   

Sicut exustio ignis tabescerent aquae arderent igni ut notum fieret nomen tuum inimicis tuis a facie tua gentes turbarentur utinam disrumperes caelos et descenderes a facie tua montes defluerent cum feceris mirabilia non sustinebimus descendisti et a facie tua montes defluxerunt.

Isaias 64:1-3