All Saints and All Souls Solemnities

                                                          Van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece

 "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."(Eph 3:13, 17-19) 

St Paul admonished the Ephesians not to grow weak in their tribulations and to be strong and rooted in charity in order to comprehend with all the Saints what is the breath and height and depth and to know also the supereminent charity of the knowledge of Christ, in order to be filled with all the fullness of God. (St John of the Cross, 'The Collected Works')

'Behold, the Lord invites all since He is truth itself, there is no reason to doubt' (St Teresa of Avila, 'The Way of Perfection' ch 19). 

Today is a vigil of All Saints, and All Souls Day is the (40th) Anniversary of my receiving the habit. Ask God to make me a geniune Carmelite nun, for better late than never, (fragment of her letter to Fr Gratian)

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St Teresa of Avila, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, solemnity

 
Mercies of the Lord I will sing forever, says the latin inscription (after Psalm89) on the picture of St Teresa above. It fits her life perfectly. She was born in Avila, Spain in 1515. As a member of the Carmelite Order she made great
progress in perfection and received mystical revlations. As reformer of her Order she underwent many trials which she intrepidly overcame. She also wrote books of the greatest spiritual value which reflect her own experiences. She died at Alba in 1582. 

This is what she writes with great humlility in the Epilogue of the Interior Castle: "Through the strong desire I have to play some part in helping you serve my God and Lord, I ask that each time you read this work you, in my name, praise His Majesty fervently and ask for the increase of His Church and for light for the Lutherans. As for me, ask Him to pardon my sins and deliver me from purgatory, for perhaps by the mercy of God I will be there when this is given you to read -- if it may be seen by you after having been examined by learned men. If anything is erroneous it is so because I didn't know otherwise; and I submit in everything to what the holy Roman Catholic Church holds, for in this Church I live, declare my faith, and promise to live and die." 

In her autobiography she tells us: Whoever lives in the presence of so good a friend and excellent a leader as is Jesus Christ can endure all things. Christ helps us and sthrengthens us and never fails.; He is a true friend. And I see clearly that God desires that if we are going to please him and receive his great favours this must come about through the most sacred humanilty of Christ, in whom he takes his delight. Many, many times have I perceived this through experience. The Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate if we desire His sovereign Majesty to show us great secrets. A person should desire no other path, even if he be at the summmit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely. This Lord of ours is the one through whom all blessings come to us. He will teach us these things. In beholding his life we find that he is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side, who will not abandon us in our labours and tribulations as firends in the world do? Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious St Paul: it doesn't seem that any other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, as coming from one who kept the Lord close to his heart. Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they hadn't taken any other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God's hands. If His Majesty should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept gladly. As often as we think of Christ we should recall the love with which he bestows on us so many favours and the great things God showed in giving us a pledge like this of his love: for love begets love. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to waken ourselves to love. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the favour of impressing this love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall carry out our tasks quickly and without much effort.After Discalced Carmelite Proper Offices.

 

 

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Receipt for Sainthood from St Therese

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (St Luke 14:12-14) 

I have noticed (and this is very natural) that the most saintly Sisters are the most loved. We seek their company; we render them services without their asking... On the other hand, imperfect souls are not sought out. No doubt we remain within the limits of religious politeness in their regard, but we generally avoid them, fearing lest we say something which isn't too amiable... This is the conclusion I draw from this: I must seek out in recreation, on free days, the company of the Sisters who are the least agreeable to me in order to carry out with regard to these wounded souls the office of the good Samaritan. A word, an amiable smile, often suffice to make a sad soul bloom; but it is not principally to attain this end that I wish to practice charity, for I know I would soon become discouraged: a word I shall say with the best intention will perhaps be interpreted wrongly. Also, not to waste my time, I want to be friendly with everybody (and especially with the least amiable Sisters) to give joy to Jesus and respond to the counsel He gives in the Gospel in almost these words: “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not invite your friends, or your brethren, or your relatives, or your rich neighbors, lest perhaps they also invite you in return, and a recompense be made to you. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; and blessed shall you be, because they have nothing to repay you with, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (cf. Lk 14,12-14; Mt 6,4-5) What banquet could a Carmelite offer her Sisters except a spiritual banquet of loving and joyful charity? As far as I am concerned, I know no other and I want to imitate Saint Paul who “rejoiced with those who rejoice” (Rm 12,15). It is true he wept with the afflicted and tears must sometimes appear in the feast I wish to serve, but I shall always try to change these tears into joy (Jn 16,20), since “the Lord loves a cheerful giver” (2Cor 9,7).

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Exaltation of the Cross

So must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life (Jn 3:14-15) 

Lord Jesus, I have received the cross, I have received it from Thy hand: and I will bear it until death, as Thou hast laid it upon me. indeed the life of a good religious man is a cross, but it is cross that conducts him to Paradise. (Imitation of Christ, Bk 3)

Instead of reproaching Our Lord for having sent us this cross, I cannot fathom the depths of divine love which  move Him so to treat us. God must love Father very dearly to sent him such suffering. What a joy for us to share this humiliation with him! (St Therese, Letters)

Let us not believe that it is possible to love without suffering, without suffering a great deal...That is our poor human nature and it is not there for nothing!...It is our wealth, our livelihood! It is so precious that Jesus came on earth just to have it. (St Therese, Letters)

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Transfiguration of the Lord - Feast

He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white (Mt 17:2) 

Your Face is my only wealth, I ask for nothing more. By continously hiding myself in it, I will look like you, Jesus. Leave in me the Divine imprint of your Features, filled with kindness. And soon, I will become a saint, and to you, I will draw hearts (St Therese, Poems)

You reign on the Almighty's Throne, also in transfigure human form, Ever since the completion of your work on earth (Edith Stein, I will remain with You)

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Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola - click to read previous posts

Saint Ignatius of Loyola spent nine months in convalescence from March 1522 to February 1523, in Manresa, close to the Benedictine monastery of Montserrat in Spain, in the diocese of Barcelona, due to a war wound. Ignatius had a vision that he shared in his autobiography.

One night, he was awoken and he saw the Blessed Virgin with the Holy Child; during this vision, which lasted a good length of time, he received great spiritual consolation and the memory of his past life became very distasteful to him, especially the things concerning the flesh. He had the impression that all the images that had been imprinted in his heart before had been completely removed. From that moment until August 1533, when he wrote these words, he never again gave even the smallest consent to the things of the flesh. Without indicating the origin of this vision, he simply recorded the fruits, which in their sobriety, were never doubted. ('Dictionary of Apparitions')

credit: quoted after 'A Moment with Mary', picture represents Black Madonna of Montserrat, Spain. To visit the breathtaking photo gallery of Montserrat shrine, click HERE

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St John of the Cross Novena to Our Lady of Mt Carmel, 7-15th of July

Prayer for every day

Immaculate Virgin and Queen of Carmel, thou art the hope of the sufferer and the consolation of the afflicted. Look not upon my sins, but remember only that I am apoor soul redeemed by the Precious Blood of thy Son, and that my heart is sealed with thy holy scapular. Hear my prayer and if it be for the glory of God, thy honour and for the salvation of my soul, grant what I ask in this novena. Amen

July 7

First Day Prayer: The beauty of Carmel and the glory of Lebanon are given to Thee in thy Immaculate Conception, O Blessed Queen of Carmel! I also rise from the sea of this world, not like thee all pure and immaculate, but loaded with sin. Help me, look upon me with these eyes of mercy. Amen. Hail Mary (three times)

Flower of Carmel,

Blossoming vine

Splendour of heaven

Mother divine

None like to thee!

Mother of meekness

Peerless thou art

To the Carmelites

Favours impart,

Star of the sea!

July 8
Second Day Prayer:  I give thanks to thee, O Virgin Mother of Carmel, for the gift of the holy scapular, the sign of thy confraternity. O my Mother, make me worthy to wear that sacred livery and may my heart ever be pure, free from every stain of sin. Amen. Hail Mary (three times)

Flower of Carmel etc

July 9

Third Day Prayer: Virgin Mother of Carmel, remember me who am consecrated to thee by the holy scapular I place my trust in thee, O flower of Carmel, fruitful vine, ever Immaculate Queen, O Mother mild, implore thy Son to hear my prayer now and at the hour of my death. Amen. Hail Mary (three times).

Flower of Carmel etc 

July 10
Fourth Day Prayer: I thank thee, my Lady and Mother, for the gift of thy holy scapular. Thou knowest well my weakness and my malice, but I trust in thee and under thy protection I take refuge. O holy Mother of Mt Carmel, despise not my petition in my necessities, but deliver me from all danger. Amen. Hail Mary (three times).

Flower of Carmel etc 

July 11
Fifth Day Prayer: Queen and Beauty of Carmel, thy glance is love, hope, and sweetness. As the rays of the sun colour the flowers, so also thy glance gives to the soul strength and beauty. May I remain ever before thee, my Mother, turn thine eyes of mercy on me. Amen. Hail Mary (three times).

Flower of Carmel etc 

July 12
Sixth Day Prayer: O my dear Mother of Carmel, I love thee more than I can express, more than my very soul can conceive. I reverence thee, I praise thee, O sacred Virgin, whose chaste womb bore the Son of the Most High God. Bless me and deliver me from all evil. Amen. Hail Mary (three times)

Flower of Carmel etc 

July 13
Seventh Day Prayer: Most loving Virgin of Carmel, I acknowledge gratefully thine immense goodness toward me, hear my prayer and after this exile, show unto me the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O most clement, O most loving, O most sweet Virgin Mary. Amen. Hail Mary (three times)

Flower of Carmel etc 

July 14
Eight Day Prayer: O Mother of Carmel, when my last hour shall sound, when I shall take thy holy scapular into my trembling hands, fill my heart with confidence in it, and do thou, my loving Mother, receive my soul and offer it to thy sweet Jesus. Amen. Hail Mary (three times)

Flower of Carmel etc 

July 15
Ninth Day Prayer: O Mary, most holy Mother of Carmel, Virgin of virgins, sanctuary of the Blessed Trinity, mirror of angels, assured refuge of sinners! have compassion on me in my suffering, listen to my sighs with clemency and appease the anger of thy Son. Amen. Hail Mary (three times)

Flower of Carmel etc

Text from 'Carmelite Devotions and Prayers'

Alternative Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel here

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Immaculate Heart of Mary

Devotion to Immaculate Heart of Our Lady is connected on many points with that to the Heart of Jesus. The attention of Christians was early attracted by the love and virtues of the Heart of Mary. The Gospels recount the prophecy delivered to her at Jesus' presentation at the temple: that her heart would be pierced with a sword. This image of the pierced heart is the most popular representation of the Immaculate Heart. The Gospels further invited attention to Mary's heart with its depictions of Mary at the foot of the cross at Jesus' crucifixion. St. Augustine said of this that Mary was not merely passive at the foot of the cross; "she cooperated through charity in the work of our redemption"

"O most pure Mary, I offer and give myself to you, not only with that purity and innocence that I received when I consecrated myself to you, but adorned beyond that, and then repurified, and then adorned again. Receive me, therefore, O Mary, and keep me within yourself". St Mary Magdalen de Pazzi.

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Most Sacred Heart Solemnity

St Teresa Margaret Redi, Carmelite nun best known for her devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus wrote during her spiritual exercises in 1768: "My God, I only wish to become a perfect copy of Thee, nothing else. Because Thy life was a hidden one of humility, love and sacrifice, so must mine be, since Thou knowest that I desire nothing else but to become a victim of the Sacred Heart entirely consumed in the fire of Thy Divine Love"

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The Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi solemnity

"There is an especially beautiful moment in the Mass when the priest, as he holds the host, makes the sign of the cross three times over the chalice and twice between himself and the chalice. Then he raises the chalice and says: “per ipsum et cum ipso et in ipso…”"  Père Jacques de Jésus Conference 3, To See Christ, after Carmelite Quotes.

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The Holy Trinity Sunday

Masaccio, The Holy Trinity with Virgin Mary, St John and donors fresco 

Santa Maria Novella, Florence 

"God chose us in Him before creation, that we should be holy and immaculate in His presence, in love"(Eph 1:4.) 

The Holy Trinity created us in its image, according to the eternal design that it possessed in its bossom before the world was created, in this beginning without beginning of which Bosuet speaks following St John: "In principio erat Verbum" (John 1:1). In the beginning was the Word; and we could add: in the beginning was nothing, for God in His eternal solitude already carried us in His thought. The Father contemplated Himself in the abyss of His fecundity, and by the very act of comprehending Himself He engendered another person, the Son. His eternal Word. The archetype of all creatures who had not yet issued out of the void eternally dwelt in Him, and God saw them and contemplated them in their type Himself. This eternal life which our archetypes possessed without us in God, is the cause of our creation.
Our created essence asks to be rejoined with its principle. The Word, the Splendour of the Father, is the eternal archetype after which creatures are designed on the day of their creation. This is why God wills that, freed from ourselves, we should stretch our arms towards our exemplar and possess it, rising above all things towards our model. This contemplation opens the soul to unexpected horizons.In a certain manner it possesses the crown towards which it aspires. The immense riches that God possesses by nature, we may possess by virtue of true love, by His dwelling in us and by our dwelling in Him. It is by virtue of this immense love that we are drawn into the depths of the intimate sanctuary where God imprints on us a true image of His majesty. Thus it is, thanks to love and through love, as the Apostle says, that we can be holy and immaculate in God's presence (Eph 1:4), and can sing with David: I will be unblemished and I will guard myself from the depths of sinfulness within me.(Ps 17:24)
Bl Elisabeth of the Trinity, Prayer One, Day Seven, Collected works, vol 1

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THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD

PRESENCE OF GOD - O Jesus, who ascended into heaven, grant that I, too, may live there in spirit.

MEDITATION1. The central idea in the liturgy today is the raising of our hearts toward heaven, so that we may begin to dwell in spirit where Jesus has gone before us. "Christ's Ascension" says St Leo, "is our own ascension; our body has the hope of one day being where its glorious Head has preceded it" (RB). In fact, Our Lord had already said in His discourse after the Last Supper, "I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself; that where I am, you also may be" (Jn 14:2,3). The Ascension is, then, a feast of joyful hope, a sweet foretaste of heaven. By going before us, Jesus our Head has given us the right to follow Him there some day, and we can even say with St Leo, "In the person of Christ, we have penetrated the heights of heaven" (RB). As in Christ Crucified we die to sin, as in the risen Christ we rise to the life of grace, so too, we are raised up to heaven in the Ascension of Christ. This vital participation in Christ's mysteries is the essential consequences of our incorporation in Him. He is our Head; we, as His members, are totally dependent upon Him and intimately bound to His destiny. "God, who is rich in mercy," says St Paul, "for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us...hath quickened us together in Christ..., and hath raised us up...and hath made us sit together in the heavenly places through Christ Jesus" (Eph 2:4-6). Our right to heaven has been given us, our place is ready; it is for us to live in such a way that we may occupy it some day. Meanwhile, we must actualize the beautiful prayer which the liturgy puts on our lips: "Grant, O almighty God, that we, too, may dwell in spirit in the heavenly mansions" (Collect)."Where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also" (Mt 6:21), Jesus said one day. If Jesus is really our treasure, our heart cannot be anywhere but near Him in heaven. This is the great hope of the Christian soul, so beautifully expressed in the hymn of Vespers: "O Jesus, be the hope of our hearts, our joy in sorrow, the sweet fruit of our life" (RB).

2. Besides the hope and the joyful expectancy of heaven so characteristic of the Ascension feast there is a note of melancholy. Before the final departure of Jesus, the Apostles must have been very much disturbed: each felt the distress of one who sees his dearest friend and companion going away forever, and finds himself alone to face all the difficulties of life. The Lord realized their state of mind and consloed them once more, promising the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter: "He commanded them," we read in the Epistle (Acts 1:1-11), "that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father....you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence." but even this time the Apostles did not understand! How much they neede to be enlightened and transformed by the Holy Spirit, in order to accomplish the great mission which was to be entrusted to them! Jesus continued: which was to be entrusted to them! Jesus continued : "You shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you and you shall be witnesses unto Me...even to the uttermost part of the earth". For the moment, however, they were there, around the Master, weak, timid, frightened, like little children watching their mother leave for a distant, unknown land. In fact, "while they looked on, He was raised up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight." Two angels came to distract them from their great amazement and to make them realize what had happened. Then, placing their trust in the word of Jesus, which would henceforth be their only support, they returned to Jerusalem where, in the Cenacle, they awaited in prayer the fulfillment of the promise. It was the first novena in preparation for Pentecost: "All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with...Mary, the Mother of Jesus" (ibid 1:14).
Silence, recollection, prayer, peace with our brethren, and union with Mary: these are the characteristics of the novena we too should make in preaparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

COLLOQUY
..."Ah! my works are poor, my God, even if I could perform many! Then why should I remain in this life, so full of misery? Only to do Your will. Could I do anything better than that? Hope, therefore, my soul, hope. Watch carefully, for you know not the day nor the hour. Everything passes quickly, even though your desire makes you struggle, the greater the proofs of love you will be giving to your God, and afterwards the more you will enjoy your Beloved in happiness and felicity without end" (T.J. Exc., 15). 

Text after 'Divine Intimacy' - Ven Gabriel of St Mary Magdalen, OCD

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Holy Week and Easter with St Therese and Carmelite Saints

Gratitude is the one thing which disposes God to grant his blessings. If we thank Him for His graces, He is grateful and showers us with ten more graces...My gratitude is limitless for all he has given me and I show it to Him in a thousand ways (Advice and Memories 72). There are certain souls who require regular payment. For me, I take my chances at the bank of Love...I go for the big win. If I lose, I will know. I don't concern myself with the ups and downs, Jesus takes care of them for me. I do not know if I am rich or poor but I will know this later (Advice and Memories 71)

"The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and they will fast" (Mt 9:15)

Blessed Husband of our souls! If we had the love from all the hearts, all that love would be for you...Give us this love and quench your thirst through your humble brides. (Prayers 12)

"I have come to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Lk 5:32)

When you are angry with someone, the way to find peace is to pray for that person (Advice and Memories 150)

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil" (Mt 4:10).

The more you press forward, the less you have to fight, or rather you win because you see the good side of things. It is then that your soul rises above the humans. It is incredible how, in the end, everything anyone tells me doesn't even graze my soul because I have understood the weakness of human judgement. (Advice and Memories 186)

Jesus said to his disciples: «In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.(Mat 6:7-15)

Outside the Divine Office which I am very unworthy to recite, I do not have the courage to force myself to search out beautiful prayers in books. There are so many of them it really gives me a headache! and each prayer is more beautiful than the others...However, I would not want you to believe, dear Mother, that I recite without devotion the prayers said in common in the choir or the hermitages. On the contrary, I love very much these prayers in common, for Jesus has promised to be in the midst of those who gather together in His name. (Mt 18:19-20).  I feel then that the fervor of my Sisters makes up for my lack of fervor; but when alone (I am ashamed to admit it) the recitation of the rosary is more difficult for me than the wearing of an instrument of penance. I feel I have said this so poorly! I force myself in vain to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary; I don't succeed in fixing my mind on them. For a long time I was desolate about this lack of devotion which astonished me, for I love the Blessed Virgin so much that it should be easy for me to recite in her honor prayers which are so pleasing to her. Now I am less desolate; I think that the Queen of Heaven, since she is my Mother, must see my good will and she is satisfied with it. Sometimes when my mind is in such a great aridity that it is impossible to draw forth one single thought to unite me with God, I very slowly recite an "Our Father" and then the angelic salutation; then these prayers give me great delight; they nourish my soul much more than if I had recited them precipitately a hundred times.(Autobiography)

'Later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became dazzling white. (Mt 17:1-2)

'Oh Holy Face, more beautiful than the lilies and spring roses! You are not hidden from us! The tears which come from your Divine Face are like diamonds...of infinite value. We want to gather them so we can buy back the souls of our brothers and sisters. (Prayers 12)

"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day."  (Mat 20:17)

  Jesus declared himself to be head of the mystical Body of which we are the members. He is the vine, we the branches (Jn 15:5). He stretched himself out on the winepress and began to tread it. Thus he gave us the wine by which we might, by drinking, live his life and share his sufferings. 'If anyone wishes to do my will, let him take up his cross daily. Whoever follows me has the light of life. I am the Way. I have given you an example that you also might do what I have done for you' (Lk 9:23; Jn 8:12; 14:6; 13:15). And as his disciples themselves did not understand that his way was to be a way of suffering, he explained it to them, saying: 'Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and so enter into his glory?' (Lk 24:26). Then the disciples' hearts burned within them (v.32). God's Word inflamed them. And when the Holy Spirit came down like a divine flame upon them to set them on fire (Acts 2), then they were happy to suffer scorn and persecution (Acts 5:41) since in this way they would become like him who had gone before them on the path of suffering. The prophets had already foretold this path of Christ's suffering and the disciples finally understood that he had not avoided it. From the crib to his agony on the cross, poverty and incomprehension had been his lot. He had spent his life teaching that God's view of suffering, poverty and human incomprehension is different to the world's foolish wisdom (1Cor 1:20)... In the cross is salvation. In the cross is victory. This is how God wanted it to be. (Bl Titus Brandsma 'The Mysticism of Suffering')

No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day...Whoever believes has eternal life. (Jn 6:44-47)

To live in charity is to give without seeking return here on earth;... being sure that when we love, we do not measure. Divine Heart, overflowing with tenderness, I gave you my all! I run unburdened. I have nothing but my humble treasure which is to live in love . (St Therese, Poetry, 17)

It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life (Jn 6:63)

Some of the thoughts of the soul can't be translated into human language without losing their heavenly and intimate meaning. They are like this white stone which will be given to the victor, upon which is written the name no one knows, except the person who receives it. (The story of a soul)

Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture (Jn 10:7,9)
I also feel the desire to love the Lord alone and to find joy only in Him (The Story of a soul) 

Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen my Father...I am in the Father and the Father is in me (Jn 14:9-11).

Yes, the Face of Jesus shines. If we consider it beautiful in spite of its wounds and tears, what will it be when we see it in heaven?...Yes, just to have the chance to see the Face of Jesus and contemplate the eternal beauty of Jesus, the poor grain of sand is willing to be scorned on earth (St Therese, Letters 95)

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Juat as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (Jn 13:34-35)

I understand that love encompasses all vocations and that love is everything. Love encompasses all times and places. In a word, it is eternal! Then, in the overabundance of my extraordinary love, I exclaimed "Oh Jesus, my love....my vocation, I finally found my vocation"...(The Story of a Soul)

"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you - that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures (Lk 24:44-45).

Beloved Sister, how happy we are to understand the intimate secrets of our Divine Spouse! If you would write down all you know of them, we would have some brautiful pages to read. However, you prefer to keep "the secrets of the King" deep within your heart (The Story of a Soul) 

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end (Jn 13:1)

At the Last Supper, when Jesus knew his disciples' hearts burned with devoted love after he had just given himself to them through the unfathomable mystery of the Eucharist, this gentle Saviour gave them a new commandment. (...)Love one another just as I have loved you .(The story of a soul) 

When Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), "I am thirsty."...When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (Jn 19:28, 30).

The cry of the Lord on the Cross, "I am thirsty" sounded continually in my heart...I wanted to give my Beloved a drink, and felt myself devoured by the thirst of all souls...It was not the souls of priests that attracted me, but those of the big sinners. I burned with the desire to pull them from the eternal flames. (The Story of a Soul) 

There was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid....They laid Jesus there (Jn 19:41-42)

When I saw the blood running from the wounds of Jesus, the thirst of all souls entered my heart.(....) Oh, each day since this special blessing [Pranzini conversion], my desire to save these souls grew, I felt I heard Jesus tell me, "give me something to drink!" (The Story of a Soul)

"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen" (Lk 24:5)


Celebrations! Even if the most important feasts do not come very often, my heart is brought to celebrate one every Sunday...That is God's feast, the feast of rest...The whole family goes to Mass (The Story of a Soul). 

"Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent" (Lk 24)

Rejoice, O my soul...and since the Lord finds His delights in you, may all things on earth not suffice to make you cease to delight in Him and rejoice in the greatness of your God. (St Teresa of Avila, Exclamation of the Soul to God)

Picture at the top represents Crucifixion of Christ by Lucas Cranach and engraving is by Gustave Dore.
Some citationd adopted from 'Through the Year with St Therese'

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Novena to St Joseph starts today - click to read

Novena to St Joseph should be prayed between 10th of March and 18th of March - vigil of the Feast.

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St Therese and the sword - Arbp Fulton Sheen meditations

Lent has just began and we may need to think about our spiritual needs, imperfections, wants etc. What is the better way than to enjoy a crush course in the Little Way of our beloved Carmelite Saint, St Therese, the Little Flower, given by her disciple and third Order Carmelite, Archbishop Fulton Sheen? Let us see what he has to say....

The new way of St Therese is not to start thinking about how wicked you are, how sinful, but to begin looking at our Lord. And from that, you will see that you are not as good as you ought tobe, but yo will try to please the one you love. Let me give you some of her words along these lines. She said:

Jesus! i would so love Him, love Him as he has never been loved in the history of the world.

And one of the novices - for she was the Mistress of Novices - came to her one day, and she said, "Oh, I have so many virtues to aquire."

The Little Flower said, "No, you've got a lot of things to lose!"

That's the trouble. Our spiritual books tell us how to acquire humility. I told you about the 12 ways of St Bernard. Well now, you'll go crazy trying to develop those 12 ways. One of them is to love to be stomped on and trampled on. The Little Flower says, no, start loving the Lord, and then you'll no longer be proud. You cannot start acquiring, for example, the virtue of humility or fortitude. You can never fall in love with abstraction. You can only love a person. No one in the world ever fell in love with a theorem of geometry.

This is the trouble with secular humanism and materialism: There's no person to love. So then the new way of the Little Flower is....fall in love. Love the Good Lord, and then you will strive to please Him. And because you see that there are imperfections in you, you will love Him more so that they may washed away. This is not a little way, it's the new way because we've forgotten it. It's buried in Scripture. It's buried in Isaiah, buried in Psalms, buried in Zechariah, and she digs it out for us.

Now we come to the second point. What effect did it have on her? Now when we look at the picture of this frail little French girl, we think of her, yes, as the little Therese, frail, meek, humble. But does love make one that way? Real lovers are courageous.

Do you know what she wanted to be? She wanted to be a soldier. She used to dream about it. In one of her dreams, someone was conscripting soldiers for an army. And she heard a voice saying, "Maybe we ought to ask for Therese." And she said, "Well, I'm ready." She said, "I'm sorry it's not a holy war, but I'm ready to fight anyway."

Now we never think of the Little Flower as having a saint whom she wanted to be like more than anyone else, but she did. Do you know who that was? Joan of Arc. Can you imagine her seated on a horse clad in armour? And she said: "If I were Joan of Arc, it would not be voices from heaven. It would be only the voice of my Beloved."

One of her favourite texts of Scriptures, therefore, was "I came not to bring peace, but the sword." (Matt 10:34)...And then St Therese said: "A sister showed me a photograph representing Joan of Arc, consoled by an interior voice. The saints encourage me from above, and they say to me, "So long as you are in fetters, you cannot fulfill your mission. But after your death, then will be the time of your conquest."

In other words, she said, "I'm going to be a warrior and a soldier after my death, I am in no battlefields, now except the battle of the spiritual life."

This figure gives you some idea of, for example, her powerful intercession. This, too, accounts for her love of missions. She is the patroness of the Propagation of the Faith, though she was never in mission lands. The reason she is the patroness of the Propagation of the Faith was because she loved missions, and she corresponded all her life with two missionary priests and offered up her sufferings for them.

Yes, that is true, but there is a deeper reason still. This woman was in love, and she wanted her Beloved known all over the world. That's why she loved the missions! As she put it:

"Like the prophets and the doctors, I would enlighten souls, I would travel the whole world to preach Your name and set up Your glorious cross in pagan lands. But one mission could never suffice for me. Would that I could, at one and the same time, proclaim the gospel to the world, even to the remotest of its islands. I  would desire to be a missionary not only for a few years but to have been one from the creation of the world and to continue to the end of time."

Love makes one a missionary. When we cease to love, we cease to be a missionary. Now it is sometimes asked, for example, why is there a decline of conversions today? It is  due to ecumenism? No, it's not due to ecumenism. It's due to the fact that we're not making Christ the center of our lives. And if we were deeply in love with Christ instead of with social programs and the like (all which have their place, but here I am speaking of primacy), if we gave the primacy to Christ, then we would be on fire to save souls. After all, the reason we are tired in body is because we are already tired in mind. We have no love. The fires have gone out. We are cinders, burnt out cinders floating in the immensity of space and time. And here is a young girl. It is almost as if she is locked up in a gilded cage, absolutely straining at the leash in order to become a missionary. Why? Simply because she loved!

As I told you, love does not mean just simply to have and to own and to possess. It's not sitting on the throne waiting for others to serve. It's the going out, the spending of oneself. Love is not the circle circumscribed bt self. It's like a cross outstreched to embrace the whole world.

Love isn't Buddha, fat, sleek, a well-oiled body, hands folded across the breast intently looking inward, thinking only of self. It's the picture of thin saints looking out for the mission to the world, as Therese looks out in many of her photos. And therefore, she loved this text, the sword. And she says many times in her writings that "I am entering Carmel to bring the sword to the monastery of Carmel." In other words, it needed a little fire. She entered it to change it. And her reason for doing so was right.

We are fond of talking peace today, but all we mean by peace is lack of disturbance. Our Lord said, "I came not to bring peace." God HATES PEACE in those who are destined for war! And we are destined for war, spiritual war. We've forgotten that we're in a combat. We are in genuine combat. When our first parents were driven out of the garden of Paradise, God stationed an angel with a flaming sword, a two-edged sword that turned this way and that. Why? To keep our first parents from going back to eat of the Tree of Life and thus immortalize their evil. And the only way we can ever get back again into paradise is by having that sword run into us. It's flaming because it's love. It's two-edged because it cuts, and it penetrates. It's not the sword that's thrust outward to hack off the ear of the servant of the high  priest as Peter did. It's the sword that's thrust inward to cut out all of our seven pallbearers of the soul, the pride and covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and sloth.

This was the sword she loved. And this sword is what we've forgotten in our modern world with the dripping away of discipline, the ascetic principle. The disciplinary principle of the Christian world had moved to the totalitarian countries. And concerning the sword, I quoted the sword in relationship to the Garden of Eden, but in the prophecy of Zechariah, we read this:

"This is the very word of the Lord of Hosts: Oh sword, awake against my shepherd." (Zech 13:7)

Who is the shepherd? Our Lord. So Zechariah is having the heavenly Father say, "Sword awake! Awake against My shepherd, against My Son, against Him who works with Me." So when our Blessed Lord came to this earth, the sword of Herod was raised against Him. Did anyone ever raise a sword against a two-year-old Caesar? Or a six-month-old Stalin? Why the sword against Him? because He plays a role in salvation. It belongs to warriors. And as the heavenly Father ran the sword into His own Son, the Son ran the into His own Mother. Simeon said to Mary, "You, too, shall be pierced to the heart." (Luke 2:35) So the Father ran a sword into His Son, the Son into His own Mother, and Our Lord into us.

"I have come not to bring peace, but the sword." This , then, is the way of the warrior and the little girl who wanted to be a soldier. And there was not much difference in her mind between a soldier and a missionary.

to be continued...

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OUR LADY OF LOURDES

Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, perfect moment to think about virtue of humility, and this virtue is most dear to God and Our Lady. St Bernadette, poor peasant girl, to whom Our Lady appeared in Lourdes, was made a very holy person through many trials in particular when she lived a hidden life of a nun. Her incorruptible body is preserved in the convent where she died in 1879. I recommend reading a very edifying story of her life written by Abbe Trochu more than fifty years ago in the book 'Saint Bernadette Soubirous' which may be found in some internet bookstores.

No sudden splendour broke the grey
And even tenor of your days,
No ecstasy made you forget
Your poverty in its high rays.


Mary, the lowliest can tread
With confidence the path you trod,
Your life the bright and shining star
That leads wayfarer to God. (St Therese)

"I was twelve years old when I first went to Lourdes, and the sight of some of those sick people was hard for me to bear. I wondered what the use was for some of them to travel, people who, logically, would have been much more comfortable in their beds.

Each day my father, as a doctor, went to the office of medical findings. On the third day, he came back very upset. In that office, he had seen a man seated at a table before a ham sandwich. Everybody watched with a sense of wonder a man who, that very morning, could not walk or eat normally. A few moments earlier he had stood up from his wheelchair and walked into the office. The medical certificates stating his condition declared that he was incurable.

The Church, being very cautious, acknowledged the authenticity of the miracle only later. "This man," I told myself, "was right to leave his room and come to implore Our Lady of Lourdes."

However, I later witnessed some events that in my mind were just as supernatural. As we boarded the train for our return journey, I saw some sick people embark, many of whom were very seriously ill. Overwhelmed with pity, I imagined that they felt some despair about not having been cured. But, on the contrary, many of those people had smiles on their faces. They looked happy, at peace, and a few of them even exchanged jokes.

And, in a more serious tone, a terribly crippled woman confided to her stretcher-bearer: "This trip did me so much good that I plan to come back next year... Maybe I'll see you again."

By Germaine Acremant and Jean Barbier in "For You, What Does Lourdes Represent?" After 'A Moment With Mary'
Photo credit to Fr Lawrence 

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The Presentation of Our Lord

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord...and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord (Lk 2:22-24) 

Jesus, your arms are the elevator which will lift me to heaven! To achieve this, I must not grow; just the opposite, I must remain small, I must become smaller and smaller. Oh Lord, you have gone beyond my expectations, and I want to sing of your mercies (St Therese, The Story of a Soul)

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Conversion of St Paul

'Let Thy name be praised, not mine, let Thy work be extolled, not mine; let Thy holy name be blessed, but to me nothing be attributed of the praises of men. Thou art my glory; Thou art the joy of my heart. In Thee will I glory and rejoice all the day; but for myself I will glory in nothing but in my infirmities (2 Cor.12; 5) (Imitation of Christ, B 3 ch 11) 

Someone had said to her: "You are a Saint!" "No, I am not a saint, nor have my deeds ever been those of a saint. I am a very little soul whom God has overwhelmed with graces. In Heaven you will see that I am speaking the truth" St Therese, Novissima Verba

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Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Madonna and the Child by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1530

“Mother of God, tell me your mystery; of how your earthly life was spent: the way, right from the time of ‘Fiat – how you’d be buried in adoration, Mary! (Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity) 

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Christmas Novena - 16-24 December, starts today, click for link

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