Thomas Mirus

"Satan fell from heaven in the beginning; by the just sentence of his Creator he fell, against whom he had rebelled. And when he had succeeded in gaining man to join him in his rebellion, and his Maker came to save him, then his brief hour of triumph came, and he made the most of it. When the Holiest had taken flesh, and was in his power, then in his revenge and malice he determined, as he himself had been struck down by the Almighty arm, to strike in turn a heavy blow at Him who struck him. Therefore it was that Jesus fell down so suddenly. O dear Lord, by this Thy first fall raise us all out of sin, who have so miserably fallen under its power. ... Satan had a second fall, when our Lord came upon earth. By that time he had usurped the dominion of the whole world—and he called himself its king. And he dared to take up the Holy Saviour in his arms, and show Him all kingdoms, and blasphemously promise to give them to Him, His Maker, if He would adore him. Jesus answered, 'Begone, Satan!'—and Satan fell down from the high mountain. And Jesus bare witness to it when He said, 'I saw Satan, as lightning, falling from heaven.' The Evil One remembered this second defeat, and so now he smote down the Innocent Lord a second time, now that he had Him in his power. O dear Lord, teach us to suffer with Thee, and not be afraid of Satan's buffetings, when they come on us from resisting him. ... Satan will have a third and final fall at the end of the world, when he will be shut up for good in the everlasting fiery prison. He knew this was to be his end—he has no hope, but despair only. He knew that no suffering which he could at that moment inflict upon the Saviour of men would avail to rescue himself from that inevitable doom. But, in horrible rage and hatred, he determined to insult and torture while he could the great King whose throne is everlasting. Therefore a third time he smote Him down fiercely to the earth. O Jesus, Only-begotten Son of God, the Word Incarnate, we adore with fear and trembling and deep thankfulness Thy awful humiliation, that Thou who art the Highest, should have permitted Thyself, even for one hour, to be the sport and prey of the Evil One." -St. John Henry Newman, Short Meditations on the Stations of the Cross

Wow - really glad I decided to make a quick stop in Orleans on my way to the airport! View from Rue Jeanne d'Arc.

"We recall that Original Sin was the effect of Satan’s malicious desire to separate us from our origin, from our Father in Heaven, or said another way, to throw off the Fatherhood of God. Jesus, the perfect child and Son of God, comes into the world to reestablish that severed bond of love. The current unrelenting attack on “patriarchy” reminds us of the devil’s scheme, and the Father’s wise and loving remedy for our salvation: the Son reveals God to us as Father, and the cure for sin is the self-giving love of the Son at Calvary. Through the Paschal Mystery, we become adopted children of God. This grace is our patrimony, 'the gift of the father' (pater + munus, in the Latin)." Fr. Paul Check