Catholic during the Great Apostasy

O child of God, always remember these two words: you are a child, and therefore you have a Father! But this Father of yours, is your God. The love of the Father, the wisdom and power of God, will watch over all the ways of your life!

Thy future is not in thy power, thy future from God is already marked from eternity. Thou art not yet in the world, and God has already counted all thy tears. He has already prepared crosses for thee, with which from time to time He will remind thee that thou art His child, and therefore a child of the cross; He has prepared for thee moments of happiness, joy and consolation, with which from time to time He will bless thee! For God interweaves our life with joy and suffering, according to His infinite wisdom! For He wants us to gather merit for ourselves both in joy and suffering, humble in happiness, patient in misfortune, and always close to Him, always close to His heart!

Just remember – don’t live an illusion but the truth, not a dream but reality! Tell yourself once: life is work not play, pilgrimage not rest, struggle but not reward! Do not demand from life what it can give you nothing, and you will never complain!

Do not demand happiness, and you will be happy. Above all, strive for inner peace of soul, peace in thought, peace in feeling, peace in word, peace in deed. Do not enjoy anything too much, nor grieve too much, for every thing has only as much value in itself as it has to God! And happiness will pass and suffering will pass. God is one eternal and unchanging!

Love God but be calm in that love too, for restlessness does not increase but diminishes love; for your love toward God, , should be as God’s love toward you, and in God you have no restlessness. The first blessing of the God of man, the angels announced to the world: peace to people of good will on earth!

So if you want to have this peace, strive to have goodwill, and if you want to have goodwill, strive for God’s will to always be your will! Not only when this Divine will is in accordance with your will, but when it is opposed to it.

Two wills opposed to each other cannot be fulfilled together, and your will, even the best will, if it is opposed to the Divine will, is always bad, not in itself, but in opposition to the Divine will. It is your will to do what is great for the glory of the Divine, and the Divine will is that you can do very little, nothing at all, what do you think is more salutary for you?

We delude ourselves and think that against the Divine Will, we can do what is good! Nothing is good that opposes the Divine Will; therefore let us ask God to reveal to us what He requires of us. So don’t be concerned about what you cannot do for God, but be concerned about doing well what He requires of you.

As there is no man who cannot do what is evil, so there is no man who cannot do what is good. Everything we do in our duty is good and pleasing to God, everything we do against the duties from God imposed on us is nothing in God’s eyes! God judges differently, and the world judges differently; so we judge the value of every thing according to the judgment of God and not the world!

Therefore, do not worry about what you could do for God, but do what God requires of you at every moment. Be faithful to Him, love Him, love people, pray and work! God has given you charge of this child, and what nicer thing can you do for Him than to watch over Him. Be patient with others, but be patient with yourself. Don’t want to be perfect right away, but try to be humble and you will be; remember that perfection does not depend on not having any mistakes, but on repenting for them and slowly recovering from them.

Humble yourself always before God, but let this humility always be calm. You have gone astray, and so what, correct yourself, but do not complain, because complaining about yourself comes from pride, regret comes from humility!

Regret is from God, anxiety is not from God. The memory of our sins should make us trust even more in God’s mercy. Whom we love, to Him we rush, when we have offended Him, that He may forgive us!  Fear holds us back from evil, but love leads us to good; therefore fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, but love is its completion.

So do not be concerned about yourself, but leave it to God. Think you of God, and God will think of you. Don’t think about what you would like to do for the love of God, but about what you can do.

Do not live in the past, for the past has already passed, do not live in the future, which may never come; the past is no longer yours, the future is not yet yours, the present day beholden to you; the duty of this day, the cross of this day-this is your merit!

Whoever wants to do much for the love of God should first learn to do little; spiritual strength, like bodily strength, can only develop over time through constant exercise. Therefore, thank God for all the graces He has given you, and especially for the grace that He has given you love in your heart; only ask Him that this love be active in the fulfillment of all your smallest duties. Be faithful in this only, and God will give you the opportunity to do more; be faithful in bearing small crosses, and God will bless you with greater ones!

Pray and work, love and suffer, endure and forgive! When you do what is good, do not exalt yourself; when you go astray, do not fall from your mind. Lay thy virtues and thy faults at the foot of the cross, and take there humility and sorrow! and then God and thy faults, for thy sorrow’s sake, will porach thee into merit; that is, thy error He will forgive, and thy sorrow He will accept; He will forget for the transgression, and remember for the tears! So courageously and valiantly, forward into life: become an example, a comfort to others, following the example of Christ, and God will become your comfort. Pray for this.

Fr. Karol Antoniewicz

Nie żyj złudzeniem ale prawdą, nie marzeniem ale rzeczywistością – Ks. K. Antoniewicz

Ks. Karol Antoniewicz – Listy w duchu Bożym do przyjaciół. Warszawa. Nakład Gebethnera i Wolffa. 1900 r. str. 6- 9.