Can you believe 318 guests were looking at this forum a minute ago?  Could that be a first?

First mentioned plant in Bible is tree of life, Gen 2-9.

We offer our prayers for God's blessing, comfort, and healing.

'I thank God for having preserved me in the integrity of faith in the midst of an age that has brought forth so many heresies and scandalous opinions, and for the grace of never having held any opinion contrary to that of the Church. By a special protection of God, notwithstanding the many dangerous occasions wherein I might have been turned from the right path, I have always been on the side of truth.'

'To establish ourselves in a virtue it is necessary to form good and practical resolutions to perform certain and determined acts of that virtue, and we must, moreover, be faithful in executing them.'

'Our perfection consists in uniting our will so intimately with God's will, that we will only desire what He wills. He who conforms most perfectly to the will of God will be the most perfect Christian.'

'Read good and useful books, and abstain from reading those that only gratify curiosity.'

'Among the different means that we have of pleasing God in all that we do, one of the most efficacious is to perform each of our actions as though it were to be the last of our life.'

'Afflictions are the most certain proofs that God can give us of His love for us.'

'In proportion as the love of God increases in our soul, so does also the love of suffering.'

St. Vincent de Paul

'She was full of faith, and yet all her life long she had been tormented by thoughts against it. Nor did she once relax in the fidelity God asked of her. And so I regard her as one of the holiest souls I have ever met on this earth.'

St. Vincent de Paul, of St. Jeanne Frances de Chantal

 

I searched for a summary of St Vincent's life, but when this was displayed I couldn't resist recalling it.  St Vincent, pray for us.  May I add this prayer from today's Roman Missal (1994):
God our Father,
You gave St Vincent
the courage and holiness of an Apostle
for the well-being of the poor
and the formation of the clergy.
Help us to be zealous in continuing his work...

The dictionary of Delaney lists St Gothard as aka Godehard, born in 962 in Bavaria, and taken to Rome by Archbishop of Salzburg, who made him Provost of Canons in 981, when he was just 19.  He was ordained in 990 and became a monk at Nieder Altaich when the Benedictine rule was restored there, where he was named Abbot.  In 1022 he was named by Emperor Henrey II Bishop of Hildesheim, where he imposed strict discipline and built churches, schools and a hospice.
St Godhard, pray for us to understand and follow God's Will.

How can we reconcile the two prior posts?  Certainly, the Church has struggled with understanding the degree of influence on Salvation of Grace vs Faith vs Works.  The following quotes from today's meditation by Pope St John Paul II on the Memorial of St Augustine of Hippo may encourage reconciliation.
"Love the Truth, by dedicating yourselves carefully to the work of your perfection".  It seems appropriate that our Forums are designated Saints Works.  "St Augustine, who had been elevated so high in Contemplation of Divine Truth and had also gone so deeply into the mysteries of God and man, understood the absolute necessity for humble and totally trusting prayer."

I'm still reading here, still very grateful for these posts.  i have been particularly drawn to Chapter XIV and its suggestions for 17 devotions to St Joseph.  Members may recall my efforts to contribute to threads here on learning to pray, contemplation, meditation, and other related issues, and I'm also grateful for all I've learned here on these subjects as well.  Lately I've been searching definitions of Devotion and looking a selection of short phrases, verses, or axioms that express praise or thanksgiving or devotion or adoration to our Heavenly Father, Divine Trinity, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Holy Mother, St Joseph, Guardian Angel, Archangels, Patron Saints, and Fathers of the Church.  I pray members will share their views on how and when they feel most appropriate in expressing their devotion.

I cannot imagine how you think these comments are helpful, and I'm further concerned that you're not following Shin's request to not post specific URLs.  I'm reasonably confident that you're aware that the Church has faced much division in its efforts to reconcile rationalism and spiritualism; consider the conflicts between Alexandria and Antioch.  If you're trying to be helpful, I think it would be best to be more specific and follow our guidelines.  I submit our search for truth requires all three sources; religion, science, and philosophy, with profound discernment.

Thanks for both fascinating posts.  I wonder if you might consider that a constitutional monarchy might be the form of government most resistant to long term control by evil spirits, even if more at risk of temporary, short-term weakness?

My NAB Concordance reports Paul's family was Jewish but had Roman citizenship and gave him both names Saul, Jewish, and Paul, Latin.  It does not comment specifically on their reasoning.  The Roman name implied his citizenship, which Scripture reported extended his life and influence.

Thanks for your comments.  I regret to inform you that I see no FAQ icon in the help section, nor any reference to quotations.  I was thinking that I could quote your opening comment to be redisplayed as the last post in the first forum to bury my foolishness, but as you see it didn't work.  Sorry to make extra work, i hope you are well.

I've just noticed that my silence on Liturgy of the Hours has been, some might say, deafening.  Last year in early spring Shin suggested several Saints that I might profitably read, I wonder if I could find his thread.  I had at least four of their books, but could not recall having done much but scan them, and did not see any reviews I had written, so I brought them, with others of course, to camp and based on my sad, sketchy journal I struggled frequently with them in some ways as I did in prior years with LOH.

I want to insert that despite my difficulties following the process of LOH I have always felt a strong sense of joy and community when I felt I was reading with the world Catholic community even if I and probably some others were sometimes on the wrong page.  I think I've mentioned before here that generally I've tried to focus during Advent and Lent on LOH, even though I often wish during these periods we could do more celebration of the Epiphany and Resurrection and less focus on temptation, sin, and repentance.

This year my reading has been more chaotic with my bride's surgery and subsequent therapy, but thanks are to you for prayers, and to God that she is recovering and I resolve to do better and more consistently with LOH.  But alas my Catholic Book Publishing volume is titled Christian Prayer on the cover, then The Divine Office on the top of page 1, and four lines below The Liturgy of the Hours.  I'll go back to trying to figure that out.

I'm sorry for my recent obvious problems trying to use the quote icon?  Has this changed or did I forget how to use it?
Will a quote (copy) only appear at the end of the thread where it was copied?
Does that mean I can't move the quote to another thread?
Is there an FAQ section here where I should have found these answers?

A bit more from People's Prayer Book: p944, one of the most important Devotions in honor of our Lord Jesus is the Devotion to His Sacred Heart.  This has been highly commended by the Church and is devoutly practiced by countless Catholics.
Also, the Devotion of the Way of the Cross is highly approved by the Church as is the Novena to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus' use of the term unbelief seems strangely harsh, but the disciples had failed to dispel the demon, which it seems Jesus is saying that they should have been able to do with only small faith.  I suspect in this statement and His comment to Thomas that you referred to Jesus was working to foster humility.
On the relation of Devotion to Faith, my St Joseph People's Prayer Book (1980) has a 65-page section (Ch 11 starting p 943) titled Prayers for Popular Devotions.  To my surprise, the section begins with this comment:  In the recent past (until the Second Vatican Council), there was a flourishing type of Catholic devotion known as the Novena...contrary to some views, this devotion has not been prohibited; it has just fallen into disuse...
It seems very unfortunate that neither the Catechism nor the NAB Concordance has a direct Index reference to Devotion, I think, but I'm still looking.

Welcome, SJDR.  May you continue to ask God, and may He continue to bless you.