aeternus

The Gerard Manley Hopkins poem “As Kingfishes Catch Fire, Dragonflies Draw Flame has always been such a favorite of mine and I have never heard it so well read as by this amazing voice.  Thank you dear and wonderful voice whomever you are!

First you can read the text of the poem:

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.
Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Chríst—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

A meditation on the feast of St. John Eudes:

“God made us to know Him; our first duty, therefore, is to learn Him, to study Him until we know Him by heart, yes, by heart rather than by understanding. We learn better and more quickly what we love. The heart is the best of teachers.

Where and how do we learn this science? In the school of silence and prayer ; less by the study of what the most enlightened and holiest men have written, than by humble, serious and profound study of the exterior works of God, of His providential guidance of His chosen people and of all men, of the great mysteries of Religion and especially by constant application to contemplating in spirit the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Spouse. This Divine Saviour came upon earth to make us know God, His Father. We had forgotten the end of our journey, He came to remind us of it, presenting it to our view under the veil of His adorable humanity. This is the reason why the assiduous meditation of the Gospel is the fruitful source of this science, the only indispensable one: the science of God.

In this Divine Book we learn. God, His spirit, His thoughts, His judgments and especially His Heart. Yes, His Heart, so full of love for His poor creature. His heart with its irresistible inclinations to mercy and to pardon. Ah, if we knew God, how we should love Him. Our great wrong, like our great misfortune, is not knowing Him.”

*** Meditations for an Eight-Day Retreat According to the Spirit of BLESSED JOHN EUDES

A friend has written today inviting me to partake in a novena to the Blessed Virgin Mary under her title as “Our Lady of Knock”.  While I have heard of Our Lady appearing in this small town in Ireland I admit to not knowing too much about this apparition.  I am most interested however, to participate because the novena begins on the Feast of the Assumption.

Locally, here in St. Louis, there will be participation in praying this novena concluding with rosary and holy mass at St. John the Apostle on Saturday August 21st at 8:30 a.m.  The 21st would be the feast of Our Lady of Knock.

You can find the novena prayer here.

In the meanwhile, I thought to post some beautiful sentiment from dear Saint Alphonsus Ligouri speaking about the Assumption…

SECOND DISCOURSE ON THE ASSUMPTION OF MARY.

“How glorious was the triumph of Mary when she ascended to heaven! How exalted was the throne to which she was elevated in heaven !

IT would seem right, that on this day of the Assumption of Mary to heaven, the holy Church should rather invite us to mourn than to rejoice, since our sweet Mother has quitted this world, and left us deprived of her sweet presence, as Saint Bernard says : ‘ It seems that we should rather weep than rejoice.’1 But no, the holy Church invites us to rejoice: ‘Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary.’ And justly; for, if we love our Mother, we ought to congratulate ourselves more upon her glory, than on our own private consolation, What son does not rejoice, though on account of it he has to be separated from his mother, if he knows that she is going to take possession of a kingdom? Mary, on this day, is crowned Queen of Heaven, and shall we not keep it a festival, and rejoice, if we truly love her? ‘ Let us rejoice then, let us all rejoice.’ And that we may rejoice, and be consoled the more by her exaltation, let us consider, first, how glorious was the triumph of Mary when she ascended to heaven ! And, secondly, how glorious was the throne to which she was there exalted!

First Point.—After Jesus Christ, our Saviour, had completed, by His death, the work of redemption, the angels ardently desired to possess Him in their heavenly country. Hence, they were continually supplicating Him in the words of David: ” Arise, O Lord, into Thy resting place: Thou and the ark which Thou hast sanctified.” Come, O Lord, come quickly, now that Thou hast redeemed men come to Thy kingdom and dwell with us, and bring with Thee the living ark of Thy sanctification—Thy Mother, who was the ark which Thou didst sanctify, by dwelling in her womb. Precisely thus, does Saint Bernardine make the angels say : ‘Let Thy most holy Mother Mary, sanctified by Thy conception, also ascend.’ Our Lord was, therefore, at length pleased to satisfy the desire of these heavenly citizens, by calling Mary to paradise. But if it was His will that the ark of the old dispensation should be brought with great pomp into the city of David-—” And David, and all the house of Israel, brought the ark of the Covenant of the Lord with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet,”—with how much greater, and more glorious pomp, did He ordain that His Mother should enter heaven! The prophet Elias was carried to heaven in a fiery chariot, which, according to interpreters, was no other than a group of angels who bore him off from the earth. ‘ But, to conduct thee to heaven, 0 Mother of God,’ says the Abbot Rupert, ‘ a fiery chariot was not enough; the whole court of heaven, headed by its King, thy Son, went forth to meet and accompany thee.

Saint Bernardine of Sienna is of the same opinion. He says, that ‘Jesus,’to honour the triumph of His most sweet Mother,’ went forth in His glory to meet and accompany her.’ Saint Anselm also says, ‘that it was precisely for this purpose that the Redeemer was pleased to ascend to heaven before His Mother, that is, He did so not only to prepare a throne for her in that kingdom, but also that He might Himself accompany her with all the blessed spirits, and thus render Her entry into heaven more glorious, and such as became one who. was His Mother.’1 Hence, Saint Peter Damian, contemplating the splendour of this assumption of Mary into heaven, says, ‘ that we shall find it more glorious than the ascension of Jesus Christ ; for, to meet the Redeemer, angels only went forth ; but when the Blessed Virgin was assumed to glory, she was met and accompanied by the Lord Himself of glory, and by the whole blessed company of Saints and Angels. ‘a For this reason, the Abbot Guarrio supposes the Divine Word thus speaking : ‘ To honour the Father, I descended from heaven ; to honour My Mother, I reascended there:’* that thus I might be enabled to go forth to meet her, and Myself accompany her to paradise.”

** The glories of Mary, translated from the Italian of St. Alphonsus de’Liguori, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, by a Father of the same Congregation

“The return of Friday once more calls us to the thought of suffering, and we see that .the closest tie of friendship with our Blessed Lord is to ” know the fellowship of His sufferings.”

Nothing draws earthly friends together more nearly than suffering which they bear together, in and for each other. Even those who have been our enemies are sometimes drawn to us and made into friends by the softening touch of suffering and pain.

In a far higher degree does the fellowship of the sufferings of our Divine Master knit our hearts to His Loving Heart, and hold us close to Him.

This holy fellowship teaches us what a blessed thing it is to suffer like the Lord. The cross, since He deigned to hang on it, shines with the glory of His Presence, and lights up the darkest day ; the crown of thorns, since it touched His Sacred Brow, has become a diadem of precious jewels which the Saints delight to wear; the nails, since His Blessed Hands and Feet were pierced with them, are now to His faithful children, but a welcome means by which they are more firmly united to the Passion of their Lord.

To know the fellowship of His sufferings is to find comfort in affliction, joy in grief, and peace in that death by which we are made conformable to Him.

So did the Saints win their crown of glory, and triumph over the bitterest of torments, because in the midst of their cruelest sufferings they rejoiced in the sight of Him Who is invisible, Who bore all their griefs and carried all their sorrows.”

” Pierce through my feet, my hands, my heart,

It may some drop distil

Of Blood Divine into my soul,

And all its evils heal.

So shall my feet be slow to sin,

Harmless my hands shall be ;

So from my wounded heart shall each

Forbidden passion flee.”

**”Christe Eleison.”: a short office of meditation and prayer for every day in Lent. : with selections from the “Imitation of christ,” by Thomas a Kempis Skeffington & son, 1887

“Should it happen that you feel no relish or comfort in meditation, I conjure you not to disturb yourself on that account, but repeat some of the prayers which are most dear to your heart. Complaining of yourself to our Lord, confess your unworthiness, and beseech Him to assist you. Kiss his picture if you have it at hand, addressing to Him those words of Jacob : ” I will not let Thee go, O Lord, till Thou hast given me thy blessing” (Gen. xxxii.) ; or those of the Canaaneau woman : ” Yea, Lord, I am a dog; but yet the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” (Matt, xv.)

At other times take up some spiritual book, and read it with attention, till your spirit is awakened, and returns to you. Or stir up jour heart by some exterior act of devotion, such as prostrating yourself on the ground, crossing your hands before your breast, or embracinga crucifix — provided you be alone or in some private place. But if you should, after all, receive no comfort, dp not disturb yourself, be the dryness ever so excessive, but continue to keep yourself in a devout posture.

How many courtiers go a hundred times a year into the prince’s presence- chamber, without hope of speaking to him, but only
to be seen by him, and to pay their court to him ? So ought we come to prayer purely and solely to pay our homage, and testify our fidelity to God ; and should it please his Divine Majesty to speak, and entertain Himself with us by his holy aspirations and interior consolations, it would doubtless be to us a great honour, and most delightful pleasure ; but should it not please Him to grant us this favour, but leave us, without taking any more notice of us, than if we were not in his presence, we must not
therefore depart, but remain before his Sovereign Goodness with a devout and respectful deportment : and then observing our diligence, our patience, and perseverance, He will, when we again come before Him, favour us with his consolations, and make us experience the sweetness of holy prayer. Yet, if He should not do so, let us rest content, Philothea, for it is an exceeding great honour for us to come before Him and be admitted into his presence.”

– Saint François de Sales An introduction to the devout life

Photo of our swing soon to be lonely as school begins next week already!

SOAR up my soul unto thy rest,

Cast off this loathsome load ;

Long is the death of thine exile,

Too long thy strict abode.

Graze not on worldly wither’d wood,

It fitteth not thy taste;

The flowers of everlasting spring

Do grow for thy repast.

Their leaves are stain’d in beauty’s dye,

And blazed with her beams,

Their stalks enamel’d with delight,

And limn’d with glorious gleams.

Life-giving juice of living love

Their sugar’d veins doth fill,

And water’d with eternal showers

They nectar’d drops distill.

These flowers do spring from fertile soil,

Though from unmanured field;

Most glittering gold in lieu of glebe,

These fragrant flowers do yield.

Whose sovereign scent surpassing sense

So ravisheth the mind,

That worldly weeds needs must he loathe

That can these flowers find.

** The poetical works of the Rev. Robert Southwell, 1856

“O grant that I may daily grow and continue for ever stedfast in thy love, that I may pay thee all the affection I wish I could, all I owe and should pay; that thou mayest be my only aim and end, the only object of my thoughts. (Ps. Ixiii. G.) Let my days be spent in meditating1 upon thee incessantly; and my dreams present no other idea to my imagination : let my spirit confer with thee upon my bed, and remember thee alone when waking in the night season. Let the light of thy countenance shine through every corner of my heart, that under thy government and conduct I may proceed from strength to strength, till at length I see the. God of gods in Sian; (Ps. Ixxxiv. 7.) and whom I now can only take an imperfect glimpse of through a dark and broken glass, may then behold face to face, and know even as I am known. (1 Cor. xiii. 12; Mat. v. 8.) And since this is a blessing promised in a peculiar manner to the pure in heart, I iutreat thee, by all that goodness and compassion, which hath delivered us from death eternal, let thy most powerful holy union soften this tough, hard, rocky heart of mine, and render it susceptible of tender and good impressions, that the fire of compunction and holy zeal may be cherished there continually, and render it a daily living sacrifice unto thee.

Grant me the grace of a humble and contrite spirit, that I may come into thy presence washed clean with tears of godly sorrow. And let my affections be so inseparably united to thee, that  may have no carnal desires left, but be utterly cold and dead to this world. Let me not so much as remember transitory things for the vehemence of that fear and love I bear to God ; that these momentary trifles may no longer be matter of grief or joy, or concern to me ; nor any flattering prosperity have power to bias or corrupt my heart, nor any terror of adversity to shake my coustancy. And because the love of thee is strong as death itself, let this, I beseech thee, entirely possess and swallow up my soul; let that sweet and holy fire consume all the dross of worldly affections, that I may cleave to thee alone, and make it my constant meat and drink to do thy will, and know no refreshments but •such as flow from the delightful remembrances of thee. (John iv.)

Send down, O Lord, send down into my heart thy precious odours, that I may be ravished with the fragrance of my heavenly spouse. Let the delightful relish of thy sweetness excite in me holy and eager desires, and be in me a well of living water springing up to everlasting life.”

** St. Augustine’s Meditations. Treatise of the Love of God, Soliloquies, and Manual.  Translated by George Stanhope 1818

Today is the feast of one of my most favorite biblical heroines, Martha.  I thought I would include a daily meditation which would be of use to we contemporary “Marthas” who tend to over-do our tasks instead of taking the necessary breaks to sit quietly in prayer.  This council was given from a book to help converts to the faith in seeking new ways to order their new found life in Christ…

“Every man who wants to live a holier life . . . . should devote some part of the day to solitude, should—that is—save an hour or half an hour each day from the cares and amusements and worries of this life, and devote it to the repossession of his own soul. That such a habit is good for men cannot possibly be doubted. We may drug our souls with the busy idleness of a hurried life. We say ‘idleness’ advisedly—for most men who lead the ordinary active business life leave their souls in complete idleness. They hurry and they rush—they are occupied with a thousand questions great and small: but they never once possess their souls before they die. If a man is to give his soul its rights, he must allow it time in which, untroubled by bodily activity and by mere mental activity, it may use its wings and travel unfettered in its own region – the region of pure thought and meditation. To most men the thought of an hour, or even half an hour, with nothing to do suggests torture. If they have nothing to do or to read, nothing—as they would say—to occupy their minds, they feel utterly lost. This fact is a proof how much men need to acquire the habit of meditation. The wings of the soul have become so stiff from want of use that the mere thought of stretching them out is painful. The habit of meditation has—for most people—to be acquired by conscious effort. But it is a habit well worth acquiring: and when once acquired it greatly strengthens and vivifies man’s nature.

But what should a man think about in such meditation ? . . . . He should dwell on the great issues of life and eternity, and of human conduct. He should consider in its widest aspect his duty to God and his neighbour. … It is through meditation a man must train and develop his moral being and strengthen his soul. It has been truly said that the greatest things that have been done in the world have been due to the victories of the spirit. But to gain the victories of the spirit meditation is as necessary as is a base to an army in the field. No man who wishes to do the best by himself spiritually can afford to neglect Meditation ..”

As we all know well, Christ was adamant that Martha’s sister had chosen the “better part” (ie prayerful watching at the foot of our Lord) while Martha was too busy with the details to take the time to gaze upon Him who was in her house.  But as a friend of mine likes to sometimes say, “If it were not for Martha nobody would have eaten that day!”

So dear souls who yearn for prayer but often feel the distractions of the mind which creep into that quiet time with interruptions, give yourself a break.  Do not feel discouraged by the challenge of activity but see the incredible wealth of your soul which is gained through conscious and active participation in prayer.  It is no time wasted but instead time gained in eternity!

** Early Steps in the Fold, Instructions for Converts and Enquireres – F. M. DE ZULUETA, S.J. 1910

“One day when St. Mechtilde had received holy communion, after contemplating the Sacred Passion of Our Lord, He said to her: ” Wouldst thou see in what manner I am in thee and thou in Me ? ” But she held her peace, considering herself unworthy. In the same moment shs saw the Lord under the form of a transparent crystal, and her own soul like clear, sparkling water flowing through the body of Christ. As she marvelled greatly at the unspeakable goodness of God towards her, the Lord said: ”Remember that which the Apostle Paul hath written: ‘ I am the least of the apostles . . . but through the grace of God I am what I am’ (1 Cor. xv. 9). Thou also in thyself art nothing, but whatsoever thou art, that through My grace art thou in Me.”

Another time when St. Mechtilde, after holy communion, desired to know what God would have of her, she received the following reply: ” Let us go out into the fields.” And it seemed to her as though she were in a great field in which many plants were to be seen, e.g. roses, lilies, violets, and others. By roses were to be understood the martyrs; by lilies, the virgins; widows and the rest of the saints were represented by violets and other flowers. In this field sat the Lord, as it were, surrounded on all sides with wheat heaped up; and it was revealed to her that the field represented all those fruits which the Church gathers in out of the Incarnation of Christ. Nightingales and larks also flew around the Lord, singing incessantly with sweet, glad voices. Now the nightingales signified the loving holy souls, while the larks were a figure of those who perform good works with gladness and singleness of heart.

Once, when about to go to holy communion, St. Mechtilde said to the Lord: ” My sweetest Lord, write my name upon Thy heart.” Then said the Lord to her: ” If thou willest to communicate, receive Me with such intention as though thou hadst all the fervor and all the love by which a human heart was ever inflamed, and so wilt them offer Me the highest love which it is possible for a human heart to give. This love will I accept from thee, not as it is in thee, but as thou desirest it should be in thee.”

On another occasion when about to communicate she said again: ” Write my name in Thy heart;” and thereupon it seemed to her as though the Lord bore certain- golden letters on His breast, which were adorned with seven precious stones; and she saw the first letter of her name, and understood the signification thereof.  After which, when she sought for the names of some whom she had recommended in her prayers, she found the first letter of their names also, adorned with the seven precious stones. The first of these represented purity of heart; the second, steady contemplation of the Consecration; the third, humility; the fourth, increase in good works; the fifth, patience; the sixth, hope; and the seventh, divine charity. She understood therefore that one who would worthily communicate must be a lorned with these seven jewels.”

** Hours and Half-Hours of Adoration Before the Blessed Sacrament – Rev. FRANCIS XAVIER LASANCE, 1897

I wanted to share one of the best novena’s I have been privileged to pray.  It is always sad when they come to a close but through the many graces received we have such a glow in our hearts to share with others.  I thought I might share it with you via this 3 minute multi-media… (note that you have to push the small little triangular “play button” near the bottom left of the image when you visit the page.)

On the feast of Elijah…

“And it came to pass (we are told) after many days that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab ; and I will send rain upon the earth. Elijah’s long waiting-time is over. He on the one hand and Israel on the other have been prepared for the final crisis. The ravens have taught him faith; the poor widow has taught him love; at any rate, the wady of Cherith and the Sidonian city were the schools in which he practiced himself in those essential qualities. Israel too has been brought down by suffering, and has begun to distrust a god who cannot relieve it in its distress. Longing to help his people, and knowing that this cannot be till Israel of itself turns to its God, Elijah sets forth to meet the man who is the chief cause of its backsliding.

Let us see to it that, whether in the matter of ritual we sympathize with Elijah, or perhaps with both, we do not fall behind the first great Puritan in realizing his two special truths—that there is a living God and that our life, physical and spiritual, being derived from Him, is to be a priestly, consecrated life. The theology of the Church is but an expansion of these two great truths. Elijah would, I think, have called them, not truths, but facts. Can we say that they are becoming facts to us ?—facts which in the sight of God are transfiguring our lives ? Surely if this were the case as it might be, the existence of the supernatural would want no other argument ; and theoretic or practical atheism would be as impossible as to deny the power of the tides or the sun.”

The Hallowing of Criticism – Nine Sermons on Elijah preached in Rochester Cathedral – Rev. Thomas Kelly Cheyne, Oriel professor of the interpretation of Holy Scripture at Oxford, Canon of Rochester 1888

On this wonderful feast day of one of my very favorite Saints, Teresa of Jesus of the Andes, I thought I would share one of the many, many, many wonderful things she has written as a meditation for the day…

Letter # 141 to Amelia Montt Martinez

October, 1919

“May the grace of the Holy Spirit be with your soul.

There are only a few more days left before my taking the habit.  And the days seem so long while I wait to be clothes with it.

I am the happiest person with my vocation and never tire of thanking God for having brought me to this little corner of heaven.  I live for God alone.  My soul concern is to know Him that I may love Him more.  I have begun the life of heaven here on earth, a life invented and thought of by God through all eternity; a life of love alone and of ceaseless praise.  If you could see but for an instant what’s in the soul of this Carmelite postulant, you’d understand the happiness of living always near the tabernacle.  Alone with Him in His aloneness, I am there at the chapel grates or in my humble cell.  There is nothing between Him and His creature now.  I hear His divine voice always.  I gaze on always and contemplate His infinite beauty.  I feel always the beating of my God’s Heart, begging me for love because He knows that love contains everything; sacrifice and souls.

Sister dear, without doubt, as Jesus Himself said to Magdalene, He has chosen for me “the best part.”  A Carmelite is to be concerned with her God alone.  She’s to live no longer on earth, but in God.  She is to move and to work and to breathe far from people, far from earthly things.  We are to remember the world but only in order to pray for it and for people but without letting ourselves be influenced by them, without breathing in their impure atmosphere.  Jesus has imprisoned me here to unite Himself with me, nothing disturbing this gaze, this vision of this adorable Face of His which one day I shall possess in its fullness there in heaven.  I often imagine that I am like a queen; for while others serve the King in the apostolate of action, I, like a queen, am by His side, listening to Him, contemplating Him, praying together with Him, and joining Him in His own suffering.  He exchanged His own feelings with my own by divinizing them.  He surrounds me with His divine light, beautifying my soul with His teachings.”

Letters of St. Teresa of Jesus of the Andes Discalced Carmelite.  Translated by Michael D. Grifin, O.C.D  Teresian Charism Press Holy Hill  1525 Carmel Road  Hubertus, WI  53033.  All Rights are Reserved to the Discalced Carmelite Friars of the Washington Province.  Copyrighted 1994.

Novena third night – feast day of Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin

(parents of Saint Thérèse of Lisiuex)

A new feature to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Novena this year has been the Crux Ave Ensemble Choir led by Mr. Jim Randazzo. Their voices have lifted up our souls with their most beautiful sacred music. The two rank Wick’s pipe organ makes such a unique sound in the chapel as Mr. Randazzo handles they keys so expertly. It is a blessing to have them at the Novena!

Carmelite Priest, Father Christopher LaRocca,  began his wonderful sermon today with the fine words: “We have set the goal of our pilgrimage the summit of Mount Carmel. Nothing short of the glory of God in Heaven. We were created to be with God forever in Heaven. We have seen His glory. We are glorified and transfigured now through our lives of prayer. And, we are called, as Saint Therese would say, to this face to face eternal embrace of merciful love.”

After his most wonderful Carmelite introductory statement, Father continued to speak about the parents of Saint Thérèse, Louis and Zélie Martin as today was the first time we may celebrate their feast day after their beatification last October at the Basilica of St. Thérèse in Lisieux France.  You may listen to Father LaRocca’s full homily here.

You may hear the Crux Ave Ensemble and pray the Rosary and Benediction with us here.

CAPTIONS:  Night sky over the outdoor altar.  Fr. LaRocca gives a blessing to a baby after mass.  Seminarian’s lead the prayerful recitation of the most holy rosary.  Ave Crux Ensemble choir.

Oh, I have been so very badly neglecting this blog and the guilt hangs over me like a big heavy dark cloud…  Nothing like being Catholic to welcome and embrace such a thing as guilt!  (insert laugh here!)

In an endeavor of casting off this nagging bad conscience, I thought I might make a new start of things by posting about the Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel which we are celebrating at the Carmel of St. Joseph here in St. Louis.  It is an annual event which includes praying the rosary and benediction in the nun’s beautiful chapel before heading outdoors to the green front lawns of the monastery to celebrate holy mass.  This year’s novena is especially wonderful as the homilist for the masses is Carmelite Friar Father Christopher LaRocca from Mount Angel in Oregon.

I could send you over to the Carmelite’s website for daily updates, but I think I will share them here.  I’ll begin by posting the past two evenings worth of prayerful wonderment…

Novena has begun!

The annual outdoor novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel began tonight and hundreds of St. Louis Catholics assembled on the front lawn of the monastery  declaring their devotion to the Mother of Christ.

Our Lady is our model, “she who pondered the word in her heart.  She treasured the word and she said be unto me according to thy word.  And so we will be pondering the word with the Blessed Virgin Mary,” said Carmelite Friar Christopher LaRocca.

Father LaRocca, homilist for this year’s novena, made reference to Elijah upon the Mountain of Mount Carmel and of Saint John of the Cross’ writings as he spoke of the pilgrimage of the ascent of Mount Carmel.  We are all invited to make this pilgrimage during the month of July under the guidance and protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It is “she knows her way up the mountain” he said.

Just as at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon those who were praying Father LaRocca reminds us that, “When we pray with Mary the Mother of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will come down upon us and enlighten our minds and instruct us and lead us into all truth.  If we ponder the word of truth – we will find the will of God.”

“We are called to be with God forever in heaven. This is our journey.  We do not have to cross the sea or the desert.  It is not just a temporal journey, although the Church journeys through time.  It is an interior journey to the Mount Carmel of the heart – the Kingdom within where we will find God,” said LaRocca.

Drawing enthusiasm from the faithful Father LaRocca adopted a modern metaphor while preaching saying, “The good news is the human soul is equipped with a GPS system.  The bad news is it’s broken!  It should point directly to heaven.  It should point directly the straight and narrow way to the summit of Mount Carmel.”

You may hear Father’s complete homily here:

HOMILY #1

You may listen and pray along to the Rosary and Benediction which is held in the chapel before each mass of the Novena here:

ROSARY #1

Novena night 2

After an afternoon of tornado watches in St. Louis the skies cleared and the novena mass was able to be held outside on the front lawns of the Carmel of St. Joseph.  And with the setting of the sun came a much welcomed cool breeze!

Carmelite Friar Christopher LaRocca, speaker for the novena, began his homily by encouraging the faithful to ask the question in prayer:  ”What must I do to gain heaven?”   He summed up the spiritual life in two most important words – humility and charity.  ”No humility, no charity,” he said.  ”Humility purifies and corrects the will, our disordered will, disordered appetites, disordered affections and attachments.  And so we need humility of heart.”

Speaking about the virtue of practicing humility Father explained that “the fruit of humility is always obedience.”  Father pointed to the Blessed Virgin Mary as a prime example of humility and obedience.  ”If we want to pray as the Blessed Virgin Mary prays,” he said, “be it done onto me according to thy word.”

The model of humility and charity comes from our Lord’s crucifixion on Calvary where he was obedient onto death on a cross.  ”The model of perfect charity of loving God and loving neighbor with all ones heart is also right there on Calvary where our salvation and our redemption was wrought – on the cross,” said LaRocca.  ”There on the cross we see humility and charity.  Our Lord’s meek, gentle and humble heart there pierced open the wellspring of sacramental life in the church, laying down his life in charity.”  The straight and narrow way to heaven is found “straight up in the vertical beam of the cross, this tree of life where the victim becomes the victor,” he said.

You may listen to Father’s full homily here.

“Besides these and other occasions of actual visits to the Blessed Sacrament, the pious soul can supply all defects of opportunity by visits in spirit. And this holy practice will draw down showers of grace upon our souls. The devout Christian in his humble home, whether by the bleak mountain’s side or far away in the bog, can enter the closet of his heart, and kneel in spirit before his Lord. With the eyes of faith he sees Jesus on the altar; he adores and loves Him; he begs His graces and blessings; he elicits the very same acts, and derives the very same advantages, as if he had been really in the church in the actual presence of the Blessed Sacrament. These spiritual visits can be made at all times and in all places, and are recommended to all, but especially to those living at a distance from the church. How the Sacred Heart of Jesus will dilate to diffuse His graces upon those who thus far away from the altar of His love still remember Him; who thus make their hearts living tabernacles of the Blessed Sacrament —tabernacles more precious than those of marble, silver, or gold; and who convert, so to speak, their modest dwellings into churches for the Holy of holies ! Sacred Heart of Jesus ! grant to us all the grace of this holy practice.

My soul, consider the infinite love of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist; His love in the Mass, in holy communion, in the Blessed Sacrament: for thy sake Jesus remains day and night on the altar, to hear thy petitions, to cure thy diseases, to bless thee, to make thee happy, ‘ to refresh thee.’ How often hast thou been irreverent ? How often hast thou forgotten thy God ? In love to Jesus, and in reparation,to His sacred heart, make and keep the following resolutions:

My Jesus ! ever present day and night on the altar, full of mercy and love, I resolve, first, never to pass by a church in which the Blessed Sacrament is kept without uncovering and bowing my head, and saluting and adoring in my heart the Holy Eucharist.

Secondly, when I enter such a church, to genuflect to the ground in profound adoration, saying: ‘ I adore and love Thee, Jesus Christ, in the Most Holy Sacrament.’

Thirdly, I resolve to pay a visit of at least a quarter of an hour every day to the Blessed Sacrament.

And, lastly, when from any cause I am deprived of this blessing of every day kneeling before Thy altar, I resolve to make amends by visiting Thee in spirit. Jesus in the tabernacle! grant me grace to keep these holy resolutions.

O Sacrament most holy!

O Sacrament divine!

All praise and all thanksgiving

be every moment thine.”

*** Hours and Half-Hours of Adoration Before the Blessed Sacrament. Rev. FRANCIS XAVIER LASANCE, 1897.

“If the mystery of this feast were accomplished in our hearts, we should be sure to celebrate its outward ceremonies well. Were our souls watered with but one drop from the mighty river which flows from the throne of God and the Lamb, it would quench in us all thirst for anything in this world, and remove the aridity and hardness which make us so dry, tepid, and miserable. How grateful should we feel to our Savior for having redeemed us, and blotted out our sins and given us perfect joy instead of sorrow! Suffering, exile, the absence from those we love, the want of things we now think necessary, or other trials would no longer afflict us. So powerful is the fire of the Holy Spirit, that it mounts upwards, and gives us a love and trust in God that no water of sorrow or affliction can extinguish: it remains ever alight; it fills and inflames our hearts, burning away all evil, so that not even death can conquer him whose evil passions it has destroyed.

This is the beloved Guest, Who cured the wound which our Lord’s departure made in the hearts of those who loved Him, and filled the place He had left empty. If the Paraclete could console them for the absence of Jesus, how much more can He comfort us in any grief caused by the loss of creatures! He is the Parent Who cares so tenderly for the orphaned that He clothes them with power from on high, and sheltering them beneath His mantle, teaches them that there is One in heaven Whom they may dare, without presumption, to call their Father. He raises the fallen, enlightens our darkness, warms what is frozen, brings back the erring, refreshes the weary, and each day gives souls new strength to fly upwards, even to the mount of God.

Surely such a wonderful gift should fill us with zeal, and make us give all our hearts’ affections’ to purchase this precious pearl, which is our true treasure, and which alone can make us happy. All around we hear the tidings of His coming to men, and of His longing to dwell in their hearts. Let us not allow Him to pass by, but constrain Him to visit and comfort us that we may serve Him the better. He will need little entreaty; ask Him in our Lord’s name, for the Father sends Him through Jesus Christ His Son. It is our Savior Who obtained for us poor mortal creatures, frail, impure and subject to many evils though we be, the gift of the Holy Spirit, Who is higher above us than the firmament is from the earth. Our vileness could never have attracted Him. Our Redeemer, the Only-Begotten of His Father in heaven, abased Himself to become Man on earth, and taking our weakness on Himself, suffered, toiled and gave His life, that the Paraclete, the Creator of all things, might deign to come to us, poor vessels of clay.

Let us then thank our Savior, and rejoice in the fruit of His labors. Since, through His merits, the Holy Spirit wills to dwell within us, let us not be so ungrateful as to lose both of these favors, nor so foolish as to reject the Holy Ghost, Who deigns to become our Father and our Guide. We should go forth with love, to meet Him Who comes with love; we should feel an ardent longing to receive Him, for where He is much longed for, He gladly stays. Let us cry, with Isaiah: “My soul hath desired Thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to Thee.” That soul “desires” the Holy Spirit by night, which in the time of sorrow puts no confidence in itself, but sighs to Him, as the. Comforter of the afflicted and the Solace of all in pain: it “watches for Him in the morning early,” when its first care is to provide a dwelling for this divine Guest, and to study how best to obtain this grace. If the Holy Ghost is thus eagerly desired and invoked, He will come, like our Lord, Who was the Desired of all nations, and will assuredly enter our hearts, for He loves those who long to possess Him.

Let us invite the Paraclete, then, by heart and voice, to dwell within us, and let us be sure we have some feast to offer Him when He comes. To please Him we must destroy our fleshly passions, for He detests them; we must mortify our own judgment, so that we can be taught by Him, for two people cannot govern a house well unless the wiser take control. We must also renounce our own will, which is the chief enemy of the Holy Spirit, Who teaches us to say ” Not my will, but Thine be done.” Let us too, cleanse our consciences by confession and penance from the slightest defilement, for this Heavenly Guest is a Lover of purity, and there must be nothing to offend Him in the place where He lodges : we must keep peace both with ourselves and with others, for even quarrelsome people hide their dissensions before a guest whom they wish to honor.

When this mighty King deigns to make our hearts His palace, we should close them to all else, and being recollected in His presence, not let our minds leave Him to wander elsewhere. We should worship Him with the deepest reverence, assuring Him that nothing shall ever make us desert Him, or be allowed to come between us. Then we shall enjoy Him as we ought, for He can give us a happiness of which nothing can deprive us. Then our sorrows shall be turned into joy, and we shall drink of the river of the delights of God until it inebriates us. It will be a great consolation to me to know that you are in the hands of Him Who know what is passing in your soul during this week, which is consecrated to the Holy Ghost. He gives light to the understanding, love to the will, and even strength to the body, which gift is symbolized by the parable of the three loaves the man offered his friend, on returning hungry and weary from his journey. The Holy Spirit takes away the hunger our heart feels when wandering amongst creatures, and fills it with the bread of fulness and satisfaction.

Woe to us if we feel not the nothingness of all that is visible and turn not to God, if only because we are wearied at discovering the defects and nothingness of all in which we hoped to find our rest. When, O God, will our souls be chaste and loyal to Christ our Spouse; when will our love, untainted by affection for any creature, be wholly given to Him? When shall we learn that He alone is the Master of our souls, that He created us for Himself, and that He alone can satisfy us? Can we not remember that we have often experienced how ill the world treats those who trust it, and that our souls have never known rest nor peace except, when, realizing their miseries and poverty, they have taken refuge in God and been received in His embrace? A short space of this joy is worth more than a life-time spent in the empty noise and vanities of this foolish world. There can be no better time than this to say to earthly things ” I know you not,” and to cleanse and empty our souls, so as to provide a dwelling-place for the God Who created us from nothingness.

The Paraclete Who will visit us is so holy that He would not come even to the disciples, until our Lord’s Body was taken from their sight, to show how utterly empty must be the temple in which He dwells. I am glad that, having prepared your heart by His grace, you have received Him into it, both to His joy and your own. Rejoice with the Holy Ghost, for He is joy itself; remember how St. Paul tells us not to grieve “the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption,” that is, the last Judgment. To be dull and sad, to serve Him slothfully and tepidly, and to perform actions displeasing to this most holy Guest, is “to grieve the Holy Spirit.”

He is ” flame,” and wishes His servant to be ardent and to glow with fervor, and to throw on to the fire kindled in his heart the fuel of good works, and light it up with holy thoughts. This will prevent this heavenly flame from dying out. Our spiritual vitality depends on its burning: if we keep it alive, it will maintain our life in God, although we are only returning to Him what He has first given us.

This week will have been a real feast to you, as you have kept not only its outward observances, with those who care for nothing but its ritual and festivities, but in your heart also, as God commands, Who wishes us “to adore Him in spirit.” Let us now consider how you are to prepare for the feast of Corpus Christi which is so near at hand. It would indeed be a disgrace for the Christian soul not to long and hunger after this holy Bread. Christ was waited for even by the three Kings in their far-off country, and desired by the prophets and patriarchs long before the Incarnation. What greater joy than to see our Lord, Whom heaven and earth cannot contain, veiled beneath the accidents of bread: sometimes borne by our hands, passing amongst us through our streets, and making Himself our companion, and again, sometimes deigning to enter into our poor sinful breasts.

Do not let my words pass from your mind, but rouse yourself to consider this great favor and work of God. Empty your heart of all else, that it may hunger keenly for this celestial Bread on which the Angels feed. Be watchful during these days lest your attention wander. This is the week consecrated to the Holy Ghost, therefore beg Him for grace to observe devoutly the feast or the Body of Christ. That Body was conceived by Him, and when we receive Holy Communion on that day, the Paraclete will come to us also, because it was through our Lord’s merits that He was sent to us. Christ’s merits are imparted to us in the Holy Eucharist in proportion to the worthiness of our dispositions.

Thus one festival prepares us for the next and should make us long for it. Unlike the banquets of the world, where those who have feasted at noon are not hungry at night, each festival of the Church increases our appetite for the next, fulfilling God’s promise in Leviticus “the threshing of your harvest shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and you shall eat your bread to the full.” Blessed be God, for so bountifully providing for us that He even bestows on us His very Self. The Son is given to us, and through Him the Holy Spirit, and with Them comes the Father. Thus the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit reside within us, and we already have a beginning here of that intercourse with God which will be perfect in the next life. Let us thank Him for all His mercies and prepare ourselves to receive the favors that still remain to be bestowed on. us. With hearts raised on high, let us celebrate the feasts of heaven, so that from temporal joys we may pass to those which are eternal, in which I pray that you, may have your share.

Amen.”

** Letter to a lady on the feast of Pentecost by Saint John of Avila

“Of the manner in which the soul should prepare herself to receive the light of the Holy Spirit, and the grace to be guided by Him.

There is a vast difference between the life of an ordinary good Christian and that of one who is aiming at perfection. Much greater preparation is required for the erection of a high tower than for the building of a small house. So also much more care must be taken by one who wishes to raise the edifice of perfection in his soul than what is necessary for another who is living an ordinary good life.

A profound exterior and interior silence is the first preparation demanded by the Holy Ghost of one who is earnestly seeking for His light and guidance. Exterior silence consists of three things.

1. Silence at all times when it is not lawful to speak.
2. To converse only of praiseworthy things when it is allowable to speak.
3. To keep silence sometimes even when it is not enjoined.

Interior silence requires that we never wilfully entertain a suspicion or rash judgment about our neighbour.

This double silence is necessary for a threefold reason, for as long as it is not observed sin is committed, the virtues of charity, meekness, and humility are wounded, and union with God is impossible. A house with a defective roof, through which the rain can penetrate, is a type of those souls who are careless in maintaining this silence.

The second preparation necessary to obtain the guidance of the Holy Spirit is perfect submission of judgment and of self-will.

It is the will of God that man should be governed by man. The Divine Guide never accepts the direction of a soul until she has entirely renounced her own will and judgment. She must be wholly submissive. It would seem that obedience to man is even more pleasing to God than obedience to Himself, for we read in the life of S. Teresa that our Lord in a vision commanded her to found a convent in a certain town. Her provincial, Father Gratian, forbade her to do this. She obeyed him. Our Lord made known to her that she had acted rightly, and He further told her that the foundation should be carried out without her presence being needful.

The third preparation is constant and fervent prayer.

The soul that perseveres in these holy dispositions will most surely be purified in time by the Divine Sanctifier, and will be sweetly inebriated with His holy love.”

** Meditations on the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost | Rev. Father j. Pergmayer, S.J. 1882

“Who are you, sweet light, that fills me

And illumines the darkness of my heart?

You lead me like a mother’s hand,

And should you let go of me,

I would not know how to take another step.

You are the space

That embraces my being and buries it in yourself.

Away from you it sinks into the abyss

Of nothingness, from which you raised it to the light.

You, nearer to me than I to myself

And more interior than my most interior

And still impalpable and intangible

And beyond any name:

Holy Spirit eternal love!

Are you not the sweet manna

That from the Son’s heart

Overflows into my heart,

The food of angels and the blessed?

He who raised himself from death to life,

He has also awakened me to new life

From the sleep of death.

And he gives me new life from day to day,

And at some time his fullness is to stream through me,

Life of your life indeed, you yourself:

Holy Spirit eternal life!

Are you the ray

That flashes down from the eternal Judge’s throne

And breaks into the night of the soul

That had never known itself?

Mercifully relentlessly

It penetrates hidden folds.

Alarmed at seeing itself,

The self makes space for holy fear,

The beginning of that wisdom

That comes from on high

And anchors us firmly in the heights,

Your action,

That creates us anew:

Holy Spirit ray that penetrates everything!

Are you the spirit’s fullness and the power

By which the Lamb releases the seal

Of God’s eternal decree?

Driven by you

The messengers of judgement ride through the world

And separate with a sharp sword

The kingdom of light from the kingdom of night.

Then heaven becomes new and new the earth,

And all finds its proper place

Through your breath:

Holy Spirit victorious power!

Are you the master who builds the eternal cathedral,

Which towers from the earth through the heavens?

Animated by you, the columns are raised high

And stand immovably firm.

Marked with the eternal name of God,

They stretch up to the light,

Bearing the dome,

Which crowns the holy cathedral,

Your work that encircles the world:

Holy Spirit God’s molding hand!

Are you the one who created the unclouded mirror

Next to the Almighty’s throne,

Like a crystal sea,

In which Divinity lovingly looks at itself?

You bend over the fairest work of your creation,

And radiantly your own gaze

Is illumined in return.

And of all creatures the pure beauty

Is joined in one in the dear form

Of the Virgin, your immaculate bride:

Holy Spirit Creator of all!

Are you the sweet song of love

And of holy awe

That eternally resounds around the triune throne,

That weds in itself the clear chimes of each and every being?

The harmony,

That joins together the members to the Head,

In which each one

Finds the mysterious meaning of his being blessed

And joyously surges forth,

Freely dissolved in your surging:

Holy Spirit eternal jubilation!”

**  From a Pentecost Novena – Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross Discalced Carmelite

(Copyright Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, ICS Publications)

As one who came with ointments sweet,

Abettors to her fleshly guilt,

And brake and poured them at Thy Feet,

And worshipped Thee with spikenard spilt:

So from a body full of blame,

And tongue too deeply versed in shame,

Do I pour speech upon Thy Name.

O Thou, if tongue may yet beseech,

Near to Thine awful Feet let reach

This broken spikenard of my speech!

** Spikenard | A book of Devotional Love Poems, Laurence Houseman 1898

“God loves us with an eternal love; there was not a moment in that long, never-beginning course of eternity when God did not love us, and love us singly and individually. Before the world was, when He was all alone, when there was not even an angel before His throne, when there was no light and no darkness, nothing but Himself,— ever since then He has been caressing us with love. There was not an instant in that long eternity when He was not thinking of us. Holy Scripture, as well as Reason, tells us this: In charitate perpetua dilexi te. “With a love eternal have I loved thee.” We know it is true, yet we cannot realize what eternal love means. But what a revelation it is! what a light and what a treasure! Each one of us can say to himself: Before the world was created, before there was such a thing as time, when nothing existed but God, when He saw His own beauty and was ravished with it, and was infinitely and absolutely happy, when the Triune God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost were all alone, without relation to any created being whatever, even then He thought of me and loved me, though as yet I had no existence. In seeing His Word, the Son, the Father saw me, and in that very mutual love, which exists between Father and Son, and which is the Holy Ghost, He loved me. He has thus always loved me ever since He began to love Himself, that is, from all eternity! The very thought of it overwhelms us!

But this is not all: since God is eternal, He cannot change; what is eternal is immutable. “Thou art the Lord and Thou dost not change.” God’s love for us in being eternal is also unchangeable. Here is another mystery! Yet it is a truth as undeniable as God Himself. God’s love for us can never change. We change in many ways, even in love. One day we love God more than another, one day we are lukewarm, then fervent, then again our hearts seem void of love. It appears to us that God changes; that at times He gives more freely, loves more tenderly, draws more intensely; but the change is in us, not in God. The earth revolves around the sun, and we make the circle with it, yet all the time we imagine that the sun is moving around us; the seasons come and go, the atmosphere varies, the clouds rise and descend; we imagine that the sun shines less warmly in winter than in summer, more brightly in spring than in autumn, yet the sun itself is, as it were, immovable; day and night throughout the year it sends forth the same amount of light and heat.—So too with God. His love is unchangeable and immovable. If we love Him, He loves us; if we hate Him, He loves us: if we betray Him, He loves us still. His love for us will continue even to the consummation of its work—even to death on the cross, even though it be denied, forsaken, betrayed; for it is eternal, and therefore, independent of time. This, His eternal love, is all beautifully and magnificently typified by the human Heart of Jesus.”

** Rev. Henry Brinkmeyer  – The LOVER of SOULS  Short Conferences on the  Sacred Heart of Jesus

“To those who are deputed by the Church to recite the canonical hours, two very great and important offices are entrusted that of praising and glorifying God, and that of imploring the divine mercies upon all Christian people.

In the first place, then, the supreme majesty of God is to be honored by the reciting of the Office. The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me: and there is the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.

I declare myself honored, saith the Lord, by him who offers me a sacrifice of praise; and thereby he shall find the way of obtaining eternal salvation. St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi, when she heard the bell for Office, was filled with consolation/ and hastened immediately to the choir, de lighted with the thought that she was going to be en gaged in the employment of the angels, whose constant occupation it is to praise God. And it is for this end that the Church has appointed her ministers to sing the divine Office, that men on earth may join with the blessed in heaven in honoring their common Creator.

St. Gregory Nazianzen says that the chanting of the psalms is a prelude of the praises with which the saints honor God in heaven.

Thus, according to Tertullian, when we recite the canonical hours, we as it were take possession of heaven, inasmuch as we discharge the same duty as the inhabitants of that blessed country. Hence, St. Catharine of Bologna took so much delight in reciting the divine Office, that she wished her death might take place while she was so engaged.

By the Office God is to be thanked for all the graces and favors that he is continually bestowing on mankind, and his divine mercy is to be obtained for poor sinners. It is the duty of the faithful in general to thank God for all his benefits; and as all stand in need here below of the divine assistance, in order to resist their spiritual enemies, and to obtain eternal salvation, so all are likewise bound to implore by prayer the succor of his mercies. But, as seculars are constantly distracted with the affairs of the world, the holy Church has appointed her ministers to implore for themselves and for all the people of Christ the assistance of his divine majesty through the different hours of the day. For this end is the Office divided into seven canonical hours, that there may be always some praying for all, and in the best form of prayer; inasmuch as the divine Office is nothing less than a memorial drawn up for us by God himself, through which he may more readily hear our prayers and succor us in our necessities, as he declares to us by the prophet Isaias: My spirit that is in thee, and My words that I have put in thy month, shall not depart out of thy month. In this our good God acts as a prince, who, wishing to relieve the miseries of his vassals, draws up for them himself a form of supplication suitable to his dignity and their own wants, that he may be the better able to console them. Many private prayers do not equal in value only one prayer of the divine Office, as being offered to God in the name of the whole Church and in his own appointed words. Hence St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi says that, in comparison with the divine Office, all other prayers and devotions are but of little merit and efficacy with God. Let us be convinced, then, that after the holy Sacrifice of the Mass the Church possesses no source, no treasure, so abundant as the Office, from which we may draw such daily streams of grace.”

** Saint Alphonsus de Liguori

“When the soul has passed through the doctrine of Christ crucified, with true love of virtue and hatred of vice, and has arrived at the house of self.knowledge and entered therein, she remains, with her door barred, in watching and constant prayer, separated entirely from the consolations of the world. Why does she thus shut herself in? She does so from fear, knowing her own imperfections, and also from the desire, which she has, of arriving at pure and generous love. And because she sees and knows well that in no other way can she arrive thereat, she waits, with a lively faith for My arrival, through increase of grace in her. How is a lively faith to be recognized? By perseverance in virtue, and by the fact that the soul never turns back for anything, whatever it be, nor rises from holy prayer, for any reason except (note well) for obedience or charity’s sake. For no other reason ought she to leave off prayer, for, during the time ordained for prayer, the Devil is wont to arrive in the soul, causing much more conflict and trouble than when the soul is not occupied in prayer. This he does in order that holy prayer may become tedious to the soul, tempting her often with these words: ‘ This prayer avails thee nothing, for thou needest attend to nothing except thy vocal prayers. ‘ He acts thus in order that, becoming wearied and confused in mind, she may abandon the exercise of prayer, which is a weapon with which the soul can defend herself from every adversary, if grasped with the hand of love, by the arm of free choice in the light of the Holy Faith. Here, touching something concerning the Sacrament of the Body of Christ, the complete doctrine is given; and how the soul proceeds from vocal to mental prayer, and a vision is related which this devout soul once received.

“Know, dearest daughter, how, by humble, continual, and faithful prayer, the soul acquires, with time and perseverance, every virtue. Wherefore should she persevere and never abandon prayer, either through the illusion of the Devil or her own fragility, that is to say, either on account of any thought or movement coming from her own body, or of the words of any creature. The Devil often places himself upon the tongues of creatures, causing them to chatter nonsensically, with the purpose of preventing the prayer of the soul. All of this she should pass by, by means of the virtue of perseverance. Oh, how sweet and pleasant to that soul and to Me is holy prayer, made in the house of knowledge of self and of Me, opening the eye of the intellect – to the light of faith, and the affections to the abundance of My charity, which was made visible to you, through My visible only-begotten Son, who showed it to you with His blood!  Which Blood inebriates the soul and clothes her with the fire of divine charity, giving her the food of the Sacrament (which is placed in the tavern of the mystical body of the Holy Church) that is to say, the food of the Body and Blood of My Son, wholly God and wholly man, administered to you by the hand of My vicar, who holds the key of the Blood. This is that tavern, which I mentioned to thee, standing on the Bridge, to provide food and comfort for the travelers and the pilgrims, who pass by the way of the doctrine of My Truth, lest they should faint through weakness. This food strengthens little or much, according to the desire of the recipient, whether he receives sacramentally or virtually. He receives sacramentally when he actually communicates with the Blessed Sacrament. He receives virtually when he communicates, both by desire of communion, and by contemplation of the Blood of Christ crucified, communicating, as it were, sacramentally, with the affection of love, which is to be tasted in the Blood which, as the soul sees, was shed through love. On seeing this the soul becomes inebriated, and blazes with holy desire and satisfies herself, becoming full of love for Me and for her neighbour. Where can this be acquired? In the house of self knowledge with holy prayer, where imperfections are lost, even as Peter and the disciples, while they remained in watching and prayer, lost their imperfection and acquired perfection. By what means is this acquired ? By perseverance seasoned with the most holy faith.”

** Saint Catherine of Siena — A TREATISE OF PRAYER

“For, the Supreme and Eternal Father, in manifesting the way of perfection, showed her anew her own guilt, and the loss of souls, as has been said more fully above. Also because in the knowledge which the soul obtains of herself, she knows more of God, and knowing the goodness of God in herself, the sweet mirror of God, she knows her own dignity and indignity. Her dignity is that of her creation, seeing that she is the image of God, and this has been given her by grace, and not as her due. In that same mirror of the goodness of God, the soul knows her own indignity, which is the consequence of her own fault. Wherefore, as a man more readily sees spots on his face when he looks in a mirror, so, the soul who, with true knowledge of self, rises with desire, and gazes with the eye of the intellect at herself in the sweet mirror of God, knows better the stains of her own face, by the purity which she sees in Him.”

** The Dialog of Catherine of Siena

** photo at Our Lady of Guadalupe parish outdoor shrine.

“The joys of Heaven, and the joy of joys…

For there is no mourning there, no weeping, no sorrow, and no fear. There is no sadness there, no difference, no envy, no distress, no temptation, no changefulness and no unhealthiness of clime; no suspicion, no pretense, no flattery, no detraction, no sickness, no age, no death, no poverty, no night, no gloom; no need of eating, of drinking, or of sleeping; and no fatigue. What good, then, is there there?  For, surely, where there is neither mourning, nor weeping, nor sorrow, nor sadness, what can there be but perfect joy?  Where there is neither trial, nor distress, nor change of seasons, nor unhealthiness of clime; no summer too fierce, no winter too severe; what, what can there be but a certain perfect temperature of the elements, and true and uttermost tranquillity both of body and of mind? Where there is no cause for fear, what can there be but uttermost security? When neither envy nor estrangement, what but real and perfect love? Where no unsightliness, what but real and consummate beauty? Where no poverty, what but perfect fulness?  Where neither labour nor exhaustion, what but uttermost repose and fullest strength?  Where there is nothing to oppress or burden, what can there be but plenitude of happiness?  And where old age and disease are never expected, never feared, what but truest health?  Where no night is, and no darkness, what but perfect light? Where death and mortality are altogether swallowed up, what is there but eternal life?

And what more can we require?  Yes, indeed; we may ask for more, for something that transcends all this; I mean, the vision, the knowledge, and the love of the Creator. He shall be seen in Himself, and seen in all His creatures; ruling all things, but without solicitude; sustaining all things, but without exertion; communicating Himself in some strange way to each, according to his capacity, but without diminution of Himself, and without division of Himself. That Face shall be seen inviting all love and every longing, the Face that angels long to gaze into; and the meaning, the light, the sweetness of that Face, who, who shall tell them?  The Father shall be seen in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and in each of Them the Holy Ghost. For He shall be seen as He is, the promise fulfilled in which He says,  ‘He that loveth Me shall be loved by My Father; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him’ (St. John xiv. 21).

And from this vision proceeds the knowledge of God, of which He Himself says, ‘This is life everlasting, that they may know Thee, the only true God’

And from these two, the vision and the knowledge of God, there springs a love so great, an affection so ardent, a charity so sweet, a fruition so abundant, a longing so vehement, that neither satisfaction can pall desire, nor desire weary satisfaction.  And what is this?  What is it all?  Ay, ‘the eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him’”

** Saint Anselm |  SEVENTEENTH MEDITATION – OF FUTURE BENEFITS FROM GOD

** photo of an empty cross after a living stations of the cross on Good Friday.