aeternus

Holy Spirit, powerful Consoler,
sacred Bond of the Father and the Son,
Hope of the afflicted,
descend into my heart
and establish in it your loving dominion.

Enkindle in my tepid soul the fire of your
Love so that I may be wholly subject to you.

We believe that when you dwell in us,
yolu also prepare a dwelling for the Father
and the Son.

Deign, therefore, to come to me,
Consoler of abandoned souls,
and Protector of the needy.

Help the afflicted,
strengthen the weak,
and support the wavering.

Come and purify me.
Let no evil desire take possession of me.

You love the humble and resist the proud.
Come to me, glory of the living,
and hope of the dying.

Lead me by your grace that I may always be pleasing to you.

Amen.

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This is a short meditation for the day of May 7th as written by John Cardinal Henry Newman from a book of daily reflections on the Litany of Loretto for the month of May. The Cardinal dedicated this book to “To you, boys of the Oratory School, past and present, this collection of devotional papers by Cardinal Newman is dedicated. They are a memento both of the Cardinal’s constant thought of you, and of his confident assurance that, after his death, you would pray for his soul.”

The complete text can be found and read at the Newman Reader website which is an amazing gathering of information about the Cardinal and his life’s works and writings.

May 7

Mary is the “Rosa Mystica,” the Mystical Rose

“HOW did Mary become the Rosa Mystica, the choice, delicate, perfect flower of God’s spiritual creation? It was by being born, nurtured and sheltered in the mystical garden or Paradise of God. Scripture makes use of the figure of a garden, when it would speak of heaven and its blessed inhabitants. A garden is a spot of ground set apart for trees and plants, all good, all various, for things that are sweet to the taste or fragrant in scent, or beautiful to look upon, or useful for nourishment; and accordingly in its spiritual sense it means the home of blessed spirits and holy souls dwelling there together, souls with both the flowers and the fruits upon them, which by the careful husbandry of God they have come to bear, flowers and fruits of grace, flowers more beautiful and more fragrant than those of any garden, fruits more delicious and exquisite than can be matured by earthly husbandman.

All that God has made speaks of its Maker; the mountains speak of His eternity; the sun of His immensity, and the winds of His Almightiness. In like manner flowers and fruits speak of His sanctity, His love, and His providence; and such as are flowers and fruits, such must be the place where they are found. That is to say, since they are found in a garden, therefore a garden has also excellences which speak of God, because it is their home. For instance, it would be out of place if we found beautiful flowers on the mountain-crag, or rich fruit in the sandy desert. As then by flowers and fruits are meant, in a mystical sense, the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, so by a garden is meant mystically a place of spiritual repose, stillness, peace, refreshment, and delight.

Thus our first parents were placed in “a garden of pleasure” shaded by trees, “fair to behold and pleasant to eat of,” with the Tree of Life in the midst, and a river to water the ground. Thus our Lord, speaking from the cross to the penitent robber, calls the blessed place, the heaven to which He was taking him, “paradise,” or a garden of pleasure. Therefore St. John, in the Apocalypse, speaks of heaven, the palace of God, as a garden or paradise, in which was the Tree of Life giving forth its fruits every month.

Such was the garden in which the Mystical Rose, the Immaculate Mary, was sheltered and nursed to be the Mother of the All Holy God, from her birth to her espousals to St. Joseph, a term of thirteen years. For three years of it she was in the arms of her holy mother, St. Anne, and then for ten years she lived in the temple of God. In those blessed gardens, as they may be called, she lived by herself, continually visited by the dew of God’s grace, and growing up a more and more heavenly flower, till at the end of that period she was meet for the inhabitation in her of the Most Holy. This was the outcome of the Immaculate Conception. Excepting her, the fairest rose in the paradise of God has had upon it blight, and has had the risk of canker-worm and locust. All but Mary; she from the first was perfect in her sweetness and her beautifulness, and at length when the angel Gabriel had to come to her, he found her “full of grace,” which had, from her good use of it, accumulated in her from the first moment of her being.”

Meditations and Devotions of the late
Cardinal Newman
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
91 AND 93 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
LONDON, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA 1907

image above aeternus.com

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Immaculate Heart of Mary,
pray for us.

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary,
pray for us, and intercede for us.

Mother of Sorrows,
pray for us.

Mother of Mercy,
pray for us.

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
pray for us.

O, Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

O, Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

O, Mary, conceived without sin,
pray for us who have recourse to Thee.

Sweet Heart of Mary,
be our hope and our salvation.

To Jesus through Mary.

Bless us Mary, maiden mild;
bless us, too, Her tender Child.

My Mother, my Hope.

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As we are getting ready for Pentecost, I remembered to dig out one of my favorite poems from a dear Carmelite, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. It was a poem that was never completed and one of her last writings before she was taken off to Auschwitz and killed during  August of 1942. The manuscript itself remains in the Carmel in Echt and was probably written in the Summertime of 1942.

By St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

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 judgment 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!

image above: Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, Folio 79r - Pentecost the Musée Condé, Chantilly.

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Mary, Mother of Grace

It becomes you to be mindful of us,
as you stand near Him Who granted you all graces,
for you are the Mother of God
and our Queen.
Help us for the sake of the King,
the Lord God and Master Who was born of you.
For this reason you are called full of grace.

Remember us,
most holy Virgin,
and bestow on us gifts from the riches of your graces,
Virgin full of grace.

– Prayer by Saint Athanasius

photo of springtime in my yard… 

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Oh Mary, we crown you with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.

Bring flowers of the rarest, bring flowers of the fairest
From garden and woodland and hillside and vale;
Our full hearts are swelling, our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest Rose of the vale.

Oh Mary, we crown you with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.

Our voices ascending, in harmony blending,
Oh, thus may our hearts turn, dear Mother, to you.
Oh, thus shall we prove you how truly we love you;
How dark without Mary life’s journey would be.

Oh Mary, we crown you with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May.

We had a wonderful outdoor May Crowning and mass at the children’s school this morning. The sun was brilliant and the Holy Spirit was joyfully blowing through the tall trees. What a favorite day is May 1 when we celebrate our dear St. Joseph and honor his beautiful spouse, our Blessed Mother, throughout the whole moth!

Today, of course, I can not fail to mention how much trust dear Saint Teresa of Avila put in Saint Joseph. I have a many a friend too who places such trust in him. What a wonderful choice of a soul to call upon when you are in need.
Here is what Teresa says:

“I took for my patron and lord the glorious St. Joseph, and recommended myself earnestly to him. I saw clearly that both out of this my present trouble, and out of others of greater importance, relating to my honour and the loss of my soul, this my father and lord delivered me, and rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for. I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for anything which he has not granted; and I am filled with amazement when I consider the great favours which God hath given me through this blessed Saint; the dangers from which he hath delivered me, both of body and of soul. To other Saints, our Lord seems to have given grace to succour men in some special necessity; but to this glorious Saint, I know by experience, to help us in all: and our Lord would have us understand that as He was Himself subject to him upon earth—for St. Joseph having the title of father, and being His guardian, could command Him—so now in heaven He performs all his petitions. I have asked others to recommend themselves to St. Joseph, and they too know this by experience; and there are many who are now of late devout to him, having had experience of this truth.

Would that I could persuade all men to be devout to this glorious Saint; for I know by long experience what blessings he can obtain for us from God. I have never known any one who was really devout to him, and who honoured him by particular services, who did not visibly grow more and more in virtue; for he helps in a special way those souls who commend themselves to him. It is now some years since I have always on his feast asked him for something, and I always have it. If the petition be in any way amiss, he directs it aright for my greater good…

Those who give themselves to prayer should in a special manner have always a devotion to St. Joseph; for I know not how any man can think of the Queen of the angels, during the time that she suffered so much with the Infant Jesus, without giving thanks to St. Joseph for the services he rendered them then. He who cannot find any one to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious Saint for his master, and he will not wander out of the way.” [St. Teresa of Avila, the book of her Life Chapter VI]

– photo of Our Lady in the front grotto of school (a.k.a. “the bowel”) 

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My daughter is the girl who does not run with the crowd. At 7 years old she is not fascinated with “Hanna Montana” and could care less about “American Girl” or “fashion” or the “Disney Channel” like the rest of her little friends. Of course, this makes me very happy.

When this little one gets home from school her most favorite thing to do in the world is go out front in our yard to play on her big tree swing. She will be there for hours entertaining herself by admiring nature and singing to it. And when I say sing, I really mean sing. She does NOT stop. I am thankful that we live on a hidden little Lane with zero traffic. If not, she would obviously have become the city curiosity by now!

In any case, she is just lovely in her little solitudes of song. I love to be making dinner in the late afternoon while being entertained by her musical performance. I look out the window while cutting up some vegetables and smile at her and her little companion - our dog Obi (she’s a Jedi dog you know!).

In short, this is a genuine little girl. Not a wannabe teen and not a distracted child who’s every over scheduled moment in life is booked from now until death. One might imagine that this girl who spends quite a bit of time in her own imaginary world among the trees and squirrels would be one to not partake in the social activity of school, but by thinking that you would be incorrect. As content as she is, it must be some sort of attraction to the other girls for they flock to her like bees to honey and she is a glad to be with their company as she is to be alone in her own solitude.

So this is the girl we are talking about who was preparing for her First Communion last week. She is a girl with a couple of ants in her pants when it comes to mass (age seven and some figets are inevitable) but she comes with a understanding of the mass which is quite beautiful. As we studied the catechism together over the past few months (the old St. Joseph’s edition of the Baltimore Catechism is wonderful!) she began to see things in a new way. She already has a great fondness for Saint Therese of Lisieux and I caught her reading her “St. Therese Autobigoraphical comic book” many times lately. I was happy to see that Therese too was playing a part in our little girl’s preparation.

To be honest, I try to never pester our little girl or try to get her to talk about spiritual things but rather like to wait for the thoughts and occasions to come from her. Casually, over time, as I was trying to prepare her for the Eucharist, there were these amazing little moments which were like the white fluffy happiness of a dandelion seed floating through the air in a gentle breeze. This child would speak beautiful little whisperings from her young lips and from her soul which would float around in the air to land square between the muscles of a mother’s heart. Every word of these musings was filled with the Holy Spirit and how I would have to hold back tears sometimes at the beauty of her words. In these moments I was sure that our dear Lord was shedding these tears in joy for me!

As the “big day” was approaching, there was much occasioning in the classroom at school in preparation for the Eucharist. The children were quite practiced in processing into the chapel (at snail pace) and they had had a “taste” of some wine and a bit of bread and had even drawn a life size banner representing the Last Supper which was attached over the doorway of the chapel. Our little girl drew St. Andrew at the Last Supper and gave him lots of freckles because another little boy she admires has such a face! At home we had been ready for First Communion in our hearts a little more quickly than we had managed to collect the proper First Communion “attire” of a dress, veil, gloves, shoes, etc. There was a little rush at the end, but all was quite well. It seemed all would continue to be well when she came home from school crying one day.

“They won’t let us wear gloves or a veil Mommy!!!”

I tried not to show my dismay, but I was upset too. I could not imagine why a Catholic School would not want their beautiful little girls to wear veils? Is it so outdated a custom? Are we suppose to throw away our heritage so quickly? Will these girls grow up and be married without veils too? Did our Holy Mother not wear a veil 24/7? Is humility of a women so defunct a modern action?

I tried to lie low for a few days hoping the situation would resolve itself so I would not have to go into school and make a fuss with the faculty. Then the next day she came home to say:

“Mommy, they want us to receive Jesus in our hands and not on our lips! I don’t want to have my first communion at school, I want to do it at Carmel with the Sisters and Saint Therese!”

This was just too much for me. I could not stand to see her so distraught. She would not find consolation in my words so I marched her and myself up the hill to Carmel for a pow wow with the Extern Sister who is our friend.

Words of wisdom flew from dear Sister’s mouth as she made it clear and precise to our girl that she must offer these things (the veil, gloves, communion in hand, ect.) to Jesus as a sacrifice. Sister expertly explained to this Innocent that He knew what she wished and how she loved Him. Sister beautifully navigated this little one’s troubled thoughts and worries and disarmed each of her fears and sadnesses. In a final aplomb she said, “you must go and take your First Communion with Jesus with your schoolmates on Saturday afternoon and do it just the way your teachers want. Then on Sunday morning you wake up early and put your dress back on, this time with your veil and gloves and come up to Carmel with your Mommy and Daddy and have a Second Communion with Jesus here with the Sisters and St. Therese”

I was astounded by the goodness of dear Sister. She was wonderful. Our little girl was so very happy and her soul was filled with happiness. Our plan was set, all worries were gone and nothing was to be done but anticipate the happiness to come. The Carmelite wisdom of “suffering in silence” was pure beauty.

So the big day was almost here, but first we had to get to sleep that night! Getting to sleep seemed to be a bit of a trial. Our dear girl was just so excited that she had the greatest of trouble falling asleep. I usually sit with her after her prayers until she drifts off, but this night was a little more difficult. She would have her eyes closed and just about to fade off when the eyes would pop back open to say something more to me. This happened a half dozen times before I was certain she would finally be at peace. Her breathing became bigger, and her little hand grasped mine in reflex before her eyes popped back open again. I think she was asleep, or at least not quite awake, when she muttered the most profound little sentence to me. I want to so much share this little speech of hers, but I have locked its beauty away in my heart to be kept in a safe place for eternity. I will say that these words were truly, truly beautiful with an understanding of the Eucharist which could only come from the purest soul of a child.

It was a lucky thing my Mother came to visit us from Pennsylvania for she was so very good in helping iron out any wrinkles which may have accumulated on the communion dress and made sure her shoes were shiny and bright. When we started to leave the house our little girl asked if she could just take her veil in the car with us. Of course I said. When we got to the school chapel a photographer was there taking pictures. Upon seeing this we agreed that she could be photographed with her veil on and so my husband dutifully ran out to the car to retrieve it. When we placed it on her head our girl looked so beautiful and her happy smile filled the room. She seemed to beam so brightly that I could not dare ask her to take the veil off (so much for suffering in a Carmelite silence!) I looked across the room to see the School Principal and walked over to her. I said as nicely as I possibly could, “please, you would not ask her to take off her veil, she is so happy in it”. The Principal aghast replied, “Oh no, I am not the veil police. Of course she can wear it. Is there some reason she should not! She looks beautiful in it!”

Now, I ask you, dear reader, is there some reason I should not have trusted all along that heaven would not intercede on the part of a young soul who it loves so very much! Shame on any doubt I may have had!

I will not say too much more about the ceremony. It was beautiful. The children processed into chapel with grace and reverence (at their practiced great and amazing snail’s pace) and I am sure they were an inspiration to all in attendance. At the proper time of the mass the Eucharist was given to these handsome young souls and the Holy Spirit was swiftly flying throughout this holy persuasion.

When mass was over we gathered for a few pictures as we took our time to leave the chapel. I don’t think any of us wanted for the occasion to be over and our dear girl only complained that the mass seemed to last only 5 minutes. As we were finished and perhaps some of the last left in the building, we started to walk down the hallway of the school towards the statue of Mater Admirabilis (our school’s most favorite Mother and a model for the religious of the Sacred Heart of our school) for one more photograph. There were no other people in the hallway but our family when a small little call came from beyond for our dear girl. It was the Principal calling her name. She drew close to our girl and presented her with a wrist corsage of white roses.

O.K. now, WHOA! Did I just say white roses?!!

Mother and daughter (in front of Our Lady mind you) stop dead in their tracks with open mouths of wonderful joy and an amazing look of knowing passes between the both of us. I ask you again, dear reader, is there some reason I should not have trusted that our dear Saint Therese would not be with us on this day?!! As our dear Therese has said ” I wish to pass my Heaven in doing good on earth,” and also “After my death I will let fall a shower of roses.”

I do hope gentle reader, that you have had a chill of holy hope run through your veins learning about yet another little miracle sent down to earth from above!

As this is perhaps my LONGEST blog entry ever, I feel I had better wrap it up. The story ends with a “Second Communion” early Sunday morning at the Carmelite chapel. Our dear Carmelite sister’s were so gracious and good to our girl. Perhaps they could not contain their happiness at seeing this little one in her white dress and veil sitting up the front of the chapel chaperoned by her family and our super hero Extern Sister. There were a couple of smiles and perhaps a few little winks and waves between the Sister’s choir stalls and our dear little girl. The Sister’s mentioned our girl in the Petitions of the Mass and prayed for ALL those young souls who would be meeting Jesus for the first time in the Eucharist this Easter-springtime.

I am so thankful to these wonderful Carmelites who live a life of seclusion interceding to our God on behalf of the world. They give up their every desire to unite themselves completely to Christ their Bridegroom. Their prayers and self-mortification no doubt steadies the hand of Divine Justice and this selfless homage of their own souls goes unnoticed and un-thanked by millions and millions of other souls. From my heart I thank them for everything they do. God reward their goodness and kindess.

Praise be Jesus Christ, Now and Forever!

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I am so very happy after the MOST wonderful weekend spent here in St. Louis.  My daughter’s First Communion was so very special and filled with lots of little stories I should very much like to write about.  However, my Mother is visiting and it seems I will not have time to write for a few more days.  I thought I would say thank you for the prayers and put up this photo while she is busy reading…

Deo Gratias!

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“One morning in May
or June, 1829, the aged clergyman came to our
house very early. Looking immediately for mother,
he withdrew with her to the garden. Presently
mother called me, and the reverend gentleman took
my hand and said: “Child, I had a very peculiar
dream concerning you last night. You must be
prepared as soon as possible to receive your first
holy Communion.” Mother remarked that I was
still very young, but withal no dunce ; she would
therefore make no objections. Then she inquired
on what day it was to take place. The clergyman
answered that it must occur on no other day than
the feast of St. Francis. Mother consulted the
almanac and was rejoiced to find that in that year
the feast of the saint coincided with that of Our
Lady of Victories, which was celebrated in a
solemn manner in our parish church, and, in a
sense, was also my mother’s (Mary Louisa Victoria)
patronal feast. It was now decided that I
should receive first Communion on that day
together with my sister Julia Ottilia, who was
about a year and a half older than I.  A priest
gave us the necessary instruction. The immediate
preparation for Communion was well made. I
yearned for the happy moment when Our Lord
was to give Himself to me. I was greatly moved
when I received the Blessed Sacrament. My sponsor,
the aged canon, gave it to us and to our whole
family, who all approached the holy table at the

same time. When he ministered the sacred host
to me his tears flowed copiously, and he was so
moved that his voice almost failed him. I was
moved to tears also, but I do not remember
whether it was solely because Our Dear Saviour
came to me, or whether it was not also because I
saw the good old priest weep. I was very recollected
and filled with spiritual joy ; but the day did
not pass without some interior distractions caused
mostly by outward circumstances. This saddened
me the more because I had not expected it.”

– from THE VENERABLE MOTHER FRANCES SCHERVIER, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SISTERS OF THE POOR OF ST. FRANCIS.

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And, now for the most beautiful (and perhaps most famous) of First Communion stories. I’ve been waiting all week to post this for it is my favorite. It is from Saint Therese of Lisieux…

“I shall always remember my First Communion Day as one of unclouded
happiness….

At last there dawned the most beautiful day of all the days of my
life. How perfectly I remember even the smallest details of those
sacred hours! the joyful awakening, the reverent and tender
embraces of my mistresses and older companions, the room filled
with snow-white frocks, where each child was dressed in turn, and,
above all, our entrance into the chapel and the melody of the
morning hymn: “O Altar of God, where the Angels are hovering.”

But I would not and I could not tell you all. Some things lose
their fragrance when exposed to the air, and so, too, one’s inmost
thoughts cannot be translated into earthly words without instantly
losing their deep and heavenly meaning. How sweet was the first
embrace of Jesus! It was indeed an embrace of love. I felt that I
was loved, and I said: “I love Thee, and I give myself to Thee for
ever.” Jesus asked nothing of me, and claimed no sacrifice; for a
long time He and little Therese had known and understood one
another. That day our meeting was more than simple recognition, it
was perfect union. We were no longer two. Therese had disappeared
like a drop of water lost in the immensity of the ocean; Jesus
alone remained–He was the Master, the King! Had not Therese asked
Him to take away her liberty which frightened her? She felt
herself so weak and frail, that she wished to be for ever united
to the Divine Strength.

And then my joy became so intense, so deep, that it could not be
restrained; tears of happiness welled up and overflowed. My
companions were astonished, and asked each other afterwards: “Why
did she cry? Had she anything on her conscience? No, it is because
neither her Mother nor her dearly loved Carmelite sister is here.”
And no one understood that all the joy of Heaven had come down
into one heart, and that this heart, exiled, weak, and mortal as
it was, could not contain it without tears.

How could my Mother’s absence grieve me on my First Communion Day?
As Heaven itself dwelt in my soul, in receiving a visit from Our
Divine Lord I received one from my dear Mother too. Nor was I
crying on account of Pauline’s absence, for we were even more
closely united than before. No, I repeat it–joy alone, a joy too
deep for words, overflowed within me.

During the afternoon I read the act of consecration to Our Lady,
for myself and my companions. I was chosen probably because I had
been deprived of my earthly Mother while still so young. With all
my heart I consecrated myself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and
asked her to watch over me. She seemed to look lovingly on her
Little Flower and to smile at her again, and I thought of the
visible smile which had once cured me, and of all I owed her. Had
she not herself, on the morning of that 8th of May, placed in the
garden of my soul her Son Jesus–”the Flower of the field and the
Lily of the valleys”?

On the evening of this happy day Papa and I went to the Carmel,
and I saw Pauline, now become the Spouse of Christ. She wore a
white veil like mine and a crown of roses. My joy was unclouded,
for I hoped soon to join her, and at her side to wait for Heaven.

I was pleased with the feast prepared for me at home, and was
delighted with the beautiful watch given to me by Papa. My
happiness was perfect, and nothing troubled the inward peace of my
soul. Night came, and so ended that beautiful day. Even the
brightest days are followed by darkness; one alone will know no
setting, the day of the First and Eternal Communion in our true
Home. Somehow the next day seemed sorrowful. The pretty clothes
and the presents I had received could not satisfy me. Henceforth
Our Lord alone could fill my heart, and all I longed for was the
blissful moment when I should receive Him again.”

– St. Thérèse’s First Communion 8th May 1884 From a Story of a Soul [St. Thérèse’s autobiogrphy]

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“FROM the moment you were old enough to understand
what is meant by the adorable Eucharist, you
should look forward with a holy impatience to you:
first Communion, and never pass a day without humbly
and fervently begging the Almighty to prepare
you for that happiness. Each time that you see your
elder companions communicate, you should make a
spiritual communion, by an act of Faith in the adorable
Eucharist, an act of hope, of love, and ardent desire
to communicate yourself; looking on those who
enjoy such a happiness as objects of that holy envy
which is very allowable and innocent, since the angels
themselves would envy a Christian the felicity and
if these were your dispositions with regard to the
holy Communion, so long as your extreme youth,
ignorance of the Christian Doctrine, or any other
cause, deferred your first Communion, you need not
be told to rejoice from your heart, now that you have
been chosen to prepare for that most solemn duty;
you will naturally feel delighted at the prospect of
soon enjoying the happiness you so much desired
Your first care should be to make your most humble
and grateful thanksgivings to God.

There is reason to hope that
it is He who has selected you for his
temple, since that choice was not made without consulting
his Divine Majesty, and imploring the light
of his Holy Spirit by prayer. But that sentiment
which should predominate over all others on this occasion,
is a holy fear of the awful duty for which
you are now going to prepare, and a deep sense of
its great responsibility. This disposition is of the
utmost importance, so much so, that the first Communion
is always deferred until children are old
enough to discern the body of the Lord; that is, as
your Catechism says, until they are of an age to
understand what the blessed Eucharist is; how they
snould prepare to receive it worthily; the terrible
misfortune of an unworthy Communion, and the risk
those run who prepare negligently for an action of
such importance, that thereby they may learn to tremble
at their own weakness, to trust unreservedly in
God’s grace, and at the same time to leave noth
ing in their own power undone for rendering themselves
less unworthy of the happiness of communicating.
You have now attained that age, and you do not, it
is hoped, resemble many children, who are more delighted
at the thoughts of making their first Communion, than
impressed with the necessity of sparing
no exertion to make it well. But as so much depends
on this sentiment a holy fear, which should honour of
receiving the Almighty, if it were possible for them
to desire any thing they do not possess.

You should most earnestly beg of God to enlighten your
understanding, and penetrate your heart, that yoy
may know and feel what you are about, and never be
so thoughtless as to prepare lightly for a Sacrament,
which no created being could dare to receive, had
not the command proceeded from God himself. Endeavour
likewise to conceive a just notion of this
great work, by reflecting seriously that your first
Communion is without comparison the most important
action you will ever have to perform. This is
the action on which perhaps your eternal salvation
or misery depends, because nothing more directly
lea^ds a soul to heaven or to hell, than the good or
bad use of this Sacrament; now, that is often decided
by the first Communion. Those who are so happy
as to make it worthily, begin well, and receive in the
first visit of their Saviour abundant graces and
special assistance for persevering in his holy service;
whereas those who are so truly unfortunate as to
profane the precious body and blood of Jesus Christ
the very first time they receive it…

How many perhaps of the blessed in heaven owe
their happiness to the care, the fervour, and purity
of heart with which they approached, for the first
time, the holy communion!”

– From The Ursuline Manual: Or A Collection of Prayers, Spiritual Exercises

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WHITE maid, like snowflake at my door,
Why comest in such weed ?
Thy pure sweet face is fresh with joy,
Thy hands with flowers.
Say, hast thou ended life’s annoy
By one brave holy deed ?
Amid life’s showers,
Say, hast thou leave to sit in waveless calm for evermore?
Not so; thy cloudless day must die,
Thy stainless garb wax dim;
But fed with Hidden Manna still,
Thy strength shall last.
Thy violets, wash’d by living rill,
Shall purple o’er its brim;
Thy lot is cast,
And thou with whiter lilies shall be crowned by and by.

– from: The three kings, and other poems By Emily Bowles

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Here is an excerpt from a book on St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the preparation she maintained for her “first communion” as she was living among the Poor Clares for her education.

The silence of this sacred cloister, the austerity and
continual prayer of the religious, their nocturnal devotions,
their modesty and recollection, made an extraordinary
impression upon Margaret. She became conscious
that this was the kind of life God desired of her.”
I thought,” she said, “were I a religious, I should become
holy like those around me. I conceived so great
a longing for the life that I breathed but for it. I did
not find the convent in which I was retired enough for
my taste; but not knowing any other, I thought I must
remain there.”

Let us note this new feature. This
convent of Poor Clares, enclosed by austere grates,
shrouded in silence and fervor, was not sufficiently retired
to satisfy the craving after a hidden life already
experienced by this young child. From the cradle to
the tomb, that desire of hers was to go on increasing.
Hardly had she entered with the Poor Clares, when
they prepared her to make her first Communion. She
was only nine years old; but her angelic dispositions
supplied the defect of age. The results were extraordinary.
Margaret was gay, lively, naturally given to
play and amusement; but from this day, she no longer
found in them the same attraction. “This first Com-
munion,” she said, ” infused so much bitterness into all
the little pleasures and amusements of my age that I
could find no relish in them, though I still sought them
eagerly. When I desired to share my companions’ games,
I always felt something restraining me, something that
called me apart; and I had no peace until I obeyed.
The same impulse made me begin to pray, almost always,
provided I was not seen, on my bare knees, or making
genuflections. To be observed was for me inconceivable
torment.”

A very serious illness at this time endangered the
child’s life, and obliged her family to withdraw her
from the Poor Clares. She returned to Lhautecour,
where she was surrounded with the tenderest care by
her mother and brothers, who loved her dearly. They
did everything to promote her cure, but in vain. “They
could,” said she, “find no cure for my malady till they
gave me to the Blessed Virgin. They promised her, if
I were cured, I should some day be one of her daughters.
I had no sooner made the vow than I was cured.
I ever after experienced the Blessed Virgin’s protection
in a manner altogether marked, as of one belonging entirely
to her.”

This was the first public sign of the special love of God for
the holy child. She was deeplymoved by it, and resolved
more firmly than ever to belong to Him without reserve.

— from the Life of Blessed Margaret Mary Alacoque

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This is a letter from Elizabeth Ann Seton to a friend about to receive her first communion…

“DEAR THERESA:
I only write to you to put you in mind of the great
action you are going about; and do, my dear love, try to prepare
your heart to receive our blessed Lord. Oh, think how
good he is to you in granting you such a favor! Spend,
every day till Christmas, a quarter of an hour in the chapel,
to offer your heart to our blessed Lord and beg him to prepare
it. You know you cannot do it yourself. Offer yourself
to the Blessed Virgin ; beg her to make you her child.
Pray our dear Lord to be born in your heart, as he was in
the stable of Bethlehem for our salvation. Oh, remember,
Theresa, you can make your first communion but once : try
to make it well, then. Think, my love, how happy you will
be if you receive him for your salvation. Oh, when death
comes, how you will wish that you had made it well ! but it
will be too late then, and how dreadful if you have made it
ill I Take care : throw yourself, in spirit, at the foot of the
cross; say to our Lord you are a weak child, you can do nothing
of yourself. Beg him to send the holy spirit of his love
in your heart, to consume it with this blessed fire; beg him
to enlighten your faith, that you may receive him worthily.
Oh, how happy would I think myself if 1 could again make
my first communion ! I would think I could never
prepare myself enough. In the course of the day, while you
are at your lessons, sometimes think, ‘ Oh, how happy am I !
Jesus, my dear Jesus, is coming to me. O dearest Lord,
prepare me for yourself.’ Try to serve him, and make resolutions
to do your best. Try, when you think any thing
will make you angry, to reflect, ‘ Is this preparing to receive
my Jesus ?’ When you are at your prayers, keep your head
bowed down and your hands joined, and do not look about
the chapel, because you need not think our Lord will listen
to your prayers when you do not even think of what yea
are saying to him. . . . Oh, my love, if you knew what I
feel for you and the girls who are to make their first communion !
All I ask of you is to beg Him to prepare your
heart and to give you a true sense of what you are going to
do. I know I need say nothing if our Lord pleases to make
you his; all I wish is to put you in mind, because I would be
so happy to think you would be forever his. Pray for me,
dear love ; beg our dear Lord to make me his and to teach
me how to love him.”

– from: Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton, Foundress and First Superior of the Sisters Of The Daughters of Charity IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

– image above: lithograph of Christ the Redeemer given to Elizabeth Ann Seton by William Magee Seton, her husband, sometime between 1774 and 1803. The Eucharistic theme of this print reflects Elizabeth Seton’s deep devotion to the reception of Holy Communion and her reverence for the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

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As our family is in the final week’s preparation for our little one’s first communion, I thought I would focus on that theme this week as I post. The theme may be geared towards the prayer of children, but the meditations for us “older folks” is the same. May we see and love with a childlike trust and may we value our communion in a most appreciative way as such a gift given to us from above…

Here is a snippet from a book on first holy communion. It is helpful in getting our souls ready for battle and ordering our hearts towards goodness for a state of grace to receive the Most Blessed Sacrament…

“My dear Angel Guardian, guardian of my soul and body, how hard I make your work for you by thinking so much of my body and so little of my soul. You must envy the Guardian Angels of the Saints. Pray for me that I may be more like them, more in earnest about the work of my salvation ; that I may have the courage to say “ No” to myself when I ought to say it, and to bear patiently the pain that comes of saying it. The pain will grow less as I grow more expert in battle, so that what seems hard now will come to be easy. Besides, a soldier of Christ must not mind a little pain. The pain will pass, but the reward in Heaven and the joy of having given glory to God will not pass. Stand by me, dear Angel, in all my battles, and when the last struggle is over, present me to my King. Your reward as well as mine will be to see His smile and hear Him say, “Well done.”"

– The photo above is another from Mepkin Trappist Abbey in South Carolina. The landscape is truly unbelievable in its early spring beauty!

P.S. Just in case the Holy Father is reading (insert snicker and roll eyes here at my brash presumption!) Dear Holy Father we are so excited for your visit. May you travel in safety and know we are eager for your apostolic visit to us tomorrow!

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