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Stand Firm: Preparing for the Test
No one becomes a martyr overnight. The strength to refuse the mark on the last day is built on all the ordinary days before it.
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✓ Reviewed by Fr. John How this site is made
Fr. Charles Arminjon wrote that God announced this trial in advance so that we might “prepare ourselves even now to sustain it,” by turning to him in prayer and taking up “the spiritual weapons of charity and faith” (The End of the Present World, p. 48). These five pages are written for that purpose. They stand on their own: a reader who does not share Fr. John's reading of current events should still find in them a sound and hopeful preparation for any trial of faith.
1
What the mark is, and what it costs
What Scripture says, what it does not say, and the other seal.
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Discerning now
Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.
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Preparing now
Eight ways to make ready, beginning with the Mass while it is freely offered.
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The courage of the martyrs
Those who would not bow, from Babylon to Brandenburg.
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Love even now
Toward our leaders, toward those who follow them, and toward those who think I am wrong.
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