Don’t let space deter you, if you can’t afford to buy land or even get a mortgage and have to rent a home, there are so many helpful tips on how to make small spaces work for a family. Don’t feel disheartened because you can’t provide all the luxuries of the world, cherished memories and time spent together create their own.

https://youtu.be/nU5IXx4vf1U

For the parents in the group

Spiritual Warfare & Marriage - How demons affect our perceptions.

Every marriage is usually subject to some level of spiritual warfare; there are very specific things that the demons actually do in order to bring the marriage down. Don’t be naïve - love is sacrifice, not just good feelings.

After original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve, marriage was effected as well. These defects show up in different ways to men and women, and demons will use those defects against the married couple. We have to be aware of this knowledge.

The first thing demons do is to divide the couple into their own minds by affecting their perceptions of each other. That’s the foundation of all division and strife within the marriage: they will foster a negative attitude towards the spouse. It can be psychological but demons will get into those kind of fractures.

For example, a wife decides she is going to do something for her husband because it’s his birthday. He’s in bed and it’s almost seven o’clock in the morning - she goes in because she wants to make him breakfast in bed and she says to him "when are you getting up?". Now, the reason she’s asking this is in order to plan her breakfast, so that when he’s ready to get up the breakfast is ready. When he hears her say that, though, the demon steps in. It puts in his mind “see, she thinks you’re lazy”, while she was just trying to be charitable.

By the nature of the union of the marriage, the closer we are to someone, the less protected we are internally, that is, emotionally. Problems really arise out of a lack of willingness to suffer: in that case, everything the couple sees they will look at from their own woundedness and their own feelings rather than what their spouse really intended. The demons are able to influence your feelings, when you put your feelings over the facts, you are opening the door to the demons to infect the relationship, to get you hyper-focused on the injustice when the majority of this injustice is the invention of the demons.

The Solution

The first thing you have to do in marriage if you’re going to get to any semblance of a solid foundation is to put aside how you feel in relationship to the individual you're married to. Look for the object of reality. Most of the time, your spouse didn't really mean to hurt you, or to be mean etc. You have to keep your head cool, even if you believe you are totally correct.

Quit focusing on the defects of your spouse. Now, this isn't about ignoring your partner’s defects. In fact, God usually makes you sure you get hooked up with the person who maximizes the sensitivity to your own defects. Your spouse is there to chisel away at your defects so you have an oportunity to grow in virtue. What demons do is to keep you focusing in the negative. "If he really loved you, he wouldn’t do this", "look at how obnoxious she is", and so on.

You need to heal individually before you come together and have a normal marriage, because the demons are going to use your woundedness. Part of the reason for courtship is to determine if the person has sufficient virtue, and this also means that they’re not wounded. Many people are very wounded individuals or they have a tender heart towards each other. Our Lord had the most tender of all hearts but if you don’t have that perfection that He had, which is that ability to suffer well, then you won’t be willing to be vulnerable with your spouse and because of that, a wall will come up. The demons are going build that wall block by block by constantly putting stuff in your head about your spouse.

Taken from : Spiritual Warfare & Marriage part 1/3 ~ Fr Ripperger

“Taking our cue from the use of veils in the sanctuary, we can say that every woman who embraces the ancient tradition of wearing a veil creates a wonderful harmony between herself as a vessel of life and the vessels that hold Life itself.” -Fr. Robert Fromageot, F.S.S.P.

#virtue #woman #veil #modesty

Remember that the devil was once a beautiful angel in the Heavens with God. Just as the world will make evil look good and good look evil. Society will continue to push this narrative that scandalous women win, but what do they win? Women that lead with promiscuity only have this to rely on. Once they are no longer youthful enough or popular enough, they are discarded.

As a virtuous woman, you offer more than just your body. You offer an example of fine womanhood, femininity and qualities that any man would want to invest his time in. God is most pleased with women that honour and guard their virtue. In a world where escorts, models and celebrity women are living lavish lives, I urge you to remember that nothing is free. Some lifestyles will cost you your peace of mind, self respect and soul.

https://virtuousfemininity.com/2020/09/14/can-virtuous-women-compete-with-scandalous-women/

#reading #modesty #woman

Portugal is worth fighting for!

One common pitfall is how parents teach the moral law to the kids, there are two aspects:

Knowledge: Many parents teach their children what not to do, which is good, but few teach their children what to do, what exactly the virtues are: justice, temperance, fortitude, etc.. because the parents usually do not even know it.

There is a big difference between not doing something bad and actually doing something good. Only putting rules on your kids, telling them no no no no will help little when they actually have to develop, train their virtues, you need to show them about discipline, abstinence, etc.. after all you won’t be always there to put the rules.

Experience: we call this implicit learning. Children are fairly intelligent so they can just watch you and pick up certain things on how to behave without really reflecting about it, just by watching. If they see you being disciplined, faithful to your duties in your state in life, praying, being modest, they will be the same.

For example, if you want your daughters to marry the right man, you have to exemplify virtue on how you treat your wife so that she learns from that, not necessarily she’s going to analyze it but she’ll build up these associations in her mind “this is what a good man is like”.

It’s all about helping to develop good habits, so that when they get older especially after they go through purity they’ll have these good habits in themselves so that they can rest upon them and make use of them.

If anyone is interested: I have founded a group for German-speaking Catholic mothers. The topic is everyday religious culture and book recommendations, especially for children. I would look forward to a lively exchange with like-minded people. @tradkathfam

Honourable and Virtuous women will attract their likeness.
The positive side to society being so degenerate, is the ability to stand out as a virtuous woman. Believe me ladies, there are plenty of men who are tired of the promiscuity and lack of virtue in modern women. Today more than ever you can stand out! Show your difference with your attitude, the way you dress and the manner in which you express yourself. A man may stare at a promiscuous woman, but he will never genuinely love her. A man may even sleep with one (a mans nature is different, remember), however he would never love or respect one. Men have gone to war and work hard jobs for the women they deemed honourable and respectable!

#reading #modesty #virtue #woman
https://virtuousfemininity.com/2020/09/13/society-does-not-value-virtuous-women-so-who-does/