Attention!!! Beware! You May Be, Unknowingly, Working for the Devil
Attention!!! …
Beware! You may be, unknowingly, working for the devil…
A lady who enters church decked out with various ornaments is apt to attract attention and unfortunately, to withdraw hearts from the worship of God. It is true that women, both young and old, are inclined to frequent churches but, the point that they should understand is, with what modesty and reverence they ought to present themselves in the house of God, and particularly when the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is being celebrated!
How scandalous, as Saint Leonard of Port Maurice exclaimed, are those vain creatures that, arrayed in the fashion of the hour and with an air caught as it were from the theatre, almost seem as if they would be the goddesses of some temple (or the hottest T.V. and/or film celebrity of the decade). Learn from this episode in the life of Blessed Ivetta, a noble Flemish lady; she had a vision while in church one day: a woman magnificently dressed, such as described, was not far from her during the Holy Mass. The Saint was enlightened to see the disposition of the woman’s heart: the vain, worldly and even impure thoughts which came and went freely through her mind without check. And all the while she perceived that there were evil spirits close to this self-complacent woman of fashion, who would at times seem to touch her lace or her ribbons as objects of which they had a care. The Saint was made clearly to understand that the evil spirits who were near her found in her luxury and vanity of dress something congenial to their minds and easy instruments for her ruin, and that our Lord refused to be given to her because of her sinful dispositions.
You may say that you do not belong to those so corrupt and lost; yes, but yet all that finery, those perfumes, that search after effect; that studious calculation of means to heighten every good feature of face, of figure or complexion; that pride of splendor and outlay; how shall these things be sternly enough denounced? Do you not, so far as you can, degrade the House of God; do you not rob Christ of honor, by casting more or less of distraction by your demeanor and your finery? (The Hidden Treasure Holy Mass, pp. 76-78).
Another very common defect people commit during the celebration of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is that of lack of recollection; whispering with some friends or neighbor or looking around and thus, also causing distraction to others. Attention! The devil is very pleased with you if you have this ugly habit as is clearly shown to us by this well-founded story handed down in a book entitled “Dormisicuro”: It says that a woman, suffering from deep poverty for a long time, wandered about in despair through solitary places, and that there, in some way or other, an evil spirit intimated to her that if she had conducted herself in church as some did, entertaining those near with idle whisperings and useless and impertinent talk, he would have befriended her and made her better off. The miserable woman accepted the bargain thus suggested, applied herself to the miserable and devilish work and succeeded marvelously. Whoever happened to be seated beside her found it impossible to attend devoutly to Mass or other divine functions, so constant were her observations or questions and so many the little methods of interruption which she applied. But not much time passed before she felt the avenging hand of God. One morning there a violent tempest occurred and a thunderbolt fell among the crowd, which slew her alone, reducing her to ashes. Learn, then, at another’s cost and avoid those who with idle talk and with so much irreverence in church, make themselves truly the servants of Satan; spurn them if you do not wish to incur the wrath of God yourselves..