aeternus

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life and without You I am without fervor.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much and alway be in Your company.

Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes, death, judgment and eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strenth, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You.

Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.

With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity.

Amen.

I do not know why today I am interested in St. Andrew, maybe it is because of his devotion to the Cross and his ability to help transform this symbol of criminality and punishment into the sign of love, union and redemption that it has become. Imagine how hard it must have been to convert the contemporary cultural mindset of the time! What a struggle it was for these early apostles and disciples to teach “Christian” apologetics and spiritual truth. We should note that our struggles certainly must be a little easier now (however difficult they may seem to us!)

Here is a short summary of the life of Saint Andrew from Jacobus de Voragine’s Golden Legend. Andrew’s prayer of the Good Cross is below.

There was a man named AEgeas who was provost and judge of Achaia. He heard of Andrew after Andrew had “replenished all the country with churches and converted the people to the faith of Jesus Christ” and then proceeded to baptize the wife of AEgeas in the faith! You can imagine, AEgeas was none to happy about this!

Andrew tried to speak with AEgeas, but was met with bully tactics. When he was threatened with Crucifixion, Andrew quietly acknowledged that the mystery of the cross was great.

“Andrew said to him: If I doubted the gibbet [Gibbet is sometimes used to describe a gallows, a structure used in the execution of criminals by hanging.] of the cross I would not preach the glory thereof. I will that thou hear the mystery, and if thou knew and believedst on it thou shouldst be saved. Then he showed to him the mystery of the cross, and assigned five reasons. The first is this: Forasmuch as the first man that deserved death was because of the tree, in breaking the commandment of God, then is it thing convenable that the second man should put away that death, in suffering the same on the tree. The second was that, he that was made of earth not corrupted, and was breaker of the commandment, then was it thing convenable that he that should repel this default, should be born of a virgin. The third; for so much as Adam had stretched his hand disordinately to the fruit forbidden, it was thing convenable that the new Adam should stretch his hands on the cross. The fourth; for so much as Adam had tasted sweetly the fruit forbidden, it is therefore reason that it be put away by thing contrary; so that Jesu Christ was fed with bitter gall. The fifth; for as much as Jesu Christ gave to us his immortality, it is thing reasonable, that he take our mortality. For if Jesu Christ had not been dead, man had never been made immortal.”

AEgeas response was: “If thou obey not to me, I shall do hang thee on the cross, for so much as thou hast praised it.”

“Then commanded AEgeas that he should be beaten of twenty-one men, and that he should be so beaten, bounden by the feet and hands unto the cross, to the end that his pain should endure the longer. And when he was led unto the cross, there ran much people to it. And when he saw the cross from far he saluted it, and said:

O BONA CRUX, quae decorem ex membris Domini suscepisti, diu desiderata, sollicite amata, sine intermissione quaesita, et aliquando cupienti animo praeparata: accipe me ab hominibus, et redde me magistro meo: ut per te me recipiat, qui per te me redemit. Amen.
O GOOD CROSS, made beautiful by the body of the Lord, long have I desired thee, ardently have I loved thee, unceasingly have I sought thee, and now thou art ready for my eager soul. Receive me from among men and restore me to my Master, so that He, who redeemed me through thee, shalt receive me through thee. Amen.”

And then they hung him on the cross, like as to them was commanded. Andrew was held on the cross by ropes rather than nails, to prolong his suffering. But Andrew took advantage of his slow death to preach from the cross for two days, and twenty thousand men were there to hear his words. The people there then threatened violence unless Andrew was taken down. By this time Andrew had preached enough and, to die quickly, prayed that his limbs would be paralysed so that he could not be cut down. As a great light shines, he dies.

What a beautiful story. What faith! May we see the crosses in our own lives and not shun them. May we embrace these opportunities to unite our struggles with our Lord’s ultimate redemptive act and give our acceptance of these personal sufferings to Him with joy and love.

Life of St. Andrew: by Jacobus de Voragine

Above Image:

The Crucifixion of St Andrew c. 1607 (b. 1571, Caravaggio, d. 1610, Porto Ercole)
Oil on canvas, 202,5 x 152,7 cm
Museum of Art, Cleveland

Last week I was privileged to meet someone quite astounding. We met after mass at the Carmelite Monastery where she had been staying over the past week or so. She was in the United States to meet with colleagues in her organization called “International Research Center for Spirituality in Business Practice” which is a program affiliated with the University of Mystic, at Avila, in Spain.

The aim of her project is to promote spirituality in the workplace by leadership training. They “favor spiritual progress of people at work, as managers and leaders, by giving them answers to meet the challenges of today’s economic world.”

This sounds not unlike what is today quite common in America, Bible Study at lunch with your colleagues (or in a way motivational efforts to lift employees to a higher level in the whole lives not just at work). To challenge these efforts already in place in many places of employment, the center is looking to evangelize through authentic Catholic spiritualites and charisms. They want to make an effort to show the beauty behind our tradition by introducing prayer in pure and time tested fashions. Igniting anew the enthusiasm for those special graces contained within the Church’s observance of prayerful and reverent worship through the many flowering vines of beauty we hold through sacred tradition and history.

The center for spirituality in business practice is an “intellectual frame of Carmelite mystic theology, but in a non exclusive way. The variety of spiritualities within the Roman Catholic Church (Benedictine, Franciscan, Dominican, Ignacian, Rhenan, of the French school, the Opus Dei…), the other religions (other Christian churches, Jews, Muslim…), and agnostics are strongly encouraged to participate.

This sounds great does it not? A blessing indeed! Something to be excited about and shout from the rooftops! But, here is the catch… this wonderful woman is trying to make this happen in France. Do I have to say more, or have you already sighed in a knowing sadness just what seeming futility she is up against? Though she is not the least bit pessimistic about the value and importance of this ministry she is trying to launch, surely I was able to see her holding back tears of frustration over the weight of her task in France.

Not to worry though, I am confident that all will work out for the best. You see, the hero of this story lives just two doors down from “Les Buissonnetes” in Liseiux. For those of you who do not know this famed address, it is the childhood home of Saint Thérèse (the littel flower of Carmel) where her father (Louis) moved after the death of Thérèse’s mother (Zelie). The home is on a little road called “Chemin du Paradis” (“Paradise Way”). It was in this home that Thérèse Martin spent eleven years of her life here, until she joined the Carmelite Convent, and here that our new Carmelite Apostle is beginning her quest to bring Carmelite Spirituality into the workplace. Is it no small consolation to have a friend and neighbor like Thérèse on your side! Not to mention I pray that the other holy Martin Sisters (Carmelites: Mother Agnes of Jesus, Sister Marie of the Sacred Heart, Sister Genevieve of the Holy Face and Visitation Sister Françoise-Thérèse) will be helping too! May they send down the roses from heaven please!

I thought it quite fitting then yesterday when I read of Pope Benedict’s equal frustration with contemporary European Culture and its attempts at playing with this new societal evil which is an irrational new humanism. The pontiff noted “the current cultural crisis in Europe as suffering from “a false dichotomy between theism and authentic humanism.” In its extreme form, this belief sees “an irreconcilable conflict between divine law and human freedom”.”

It seems that in Europe tradition and spirituality are like oil and water. Tradition is a mere “habit” while the actual practice of heritage (like spirituality) is an exercise they are unwilling to partake in. It is like the exact opposite of America. Here we will indulge in plenty of spirituality, though certainly it can be seen that it adhears to no absolute form of tradition. How many protestant churches are there now listed in the Yellow Pages? 5,ooo or so!?!

I pray for the efforts being born in a land which is so desolate. It certainly seems to me that the lands of rationalist Europe are completely opportune to hear a different voice. The voice of truth and love at an objective level. It certainly gets tiresome listening to the secular voice shouting that “everyone is right” no matter how skewed their viewpoint. I pray that instead of following the heard of sheep falling off the cliff of despair that the voice of our Heavenly Father will be heard. It is He who wants to shepherd us all into an enchanted and blissful eternity of ceaseless love with Him.

I would WELCOME any thoughts or ideas about this new “Center for Spirituality in the Workplace”. Is this a project that could happen in America or am I totally wrong? Is there a chance this could happen with a good old grass roots effort? Would not this effort be welcomed by many Third Order community apostolates? Remember this is not just a Carmelite effort. Please forward this article on to any persons you might think could benefit from it and I will send it along to France.

In the meantime, here is the article from the Catholic News Agency:
The Holy Father Reflects on “A New Humanism”

Vatican City, June 24 (CNA).-The Holy Father joined rectors and university professors from all over Europe in the Paul VI Auditorium on Saturday to discuss the theme of a ‘New Humanism.’ The meeting was organized to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, “which gave rise to the present European Union”, the Holy Father noted.

The pontiff first noted the moral climate of Europe: “Europe is presently experiencing a certain social instability and diffidence in the face of traditional values, yet her distinguished history and her established academic institutions have much to contribute to shaping a future of hope.”

Commenting on what this new philosophy might embody, Benedict remarked: “Promoting a new humanism, in fact, requires a clear understanding of what this “newness” actually embodies. Far from being the fruit of a superficial desire for novelty, the quest for a new humanism must take serious account of the fact that Europe today is experiencing a massive cultural shift, one in which men and women are increasingly conscious of their call to be actively engaged in shaping their own history.”

The current moral and intellectual crisis is largely due to the attempt “to build a regnum hominis detached from its necessary ontological foundation.” Modern man has attempted to construct a kingdom of mankind, without any reference to its Creator.

The Holy Father diagnosed the current cultural crisis in Europe as suffering from “a false dichotomy between theism and authentic humanism.” In its extreme form, this belief sees “an irreconcilable conflict between divine law and human freedom”.

Quoting his predecessor, John Paul II, Benedict questioned the result of man’s progress: “we need to ask ‘whether in the context of all this progress, man, as man, is becoming truly better, that is to say, more mature spiritually, more aware of the dignity of his humanity, more responsible and more open to others.’” (Redemptor Hominis, 15).

Benedict spoke of a theme often touched on by John Paul II: Man cannot know himself without knowing Christ. He said, “In my recent visit to Brazil, I voiced my conviction that “unless we do know God in and with Christ, all of reality becomes an indecipherable enigma.”

In conclusion, the Holy Father referred to universities as “laboratories of culture”, stated that they provided a needed service of wisdom to society, and hoped that they would work, with the help of theologians, to address “the questions of particular importance to society.”

Top Photograph: The room of Thérèse’s sister, Marie, where she was cured by the Virgin Mary on Sunday 13th May, 1883.

Yesterday, a dear friend gave me something very, very special. She had made a pilgrimage down to Hanceville to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi with those beautiful Poor Clares and their most magnificent holy temple of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery. Of course you can not go to the shrine without stopping in Mother’s gift shop too! “Naturally”- you say!

Well, the fruit of this little shopping was that she found an Agnus Dei from Pope Benedict XVI. It is a lovely little charm size heart which splits in two to reveal the symbol of the Lamb with the Banner flag and on the other side has the wax seal. Now, although I had heard of an Agnus Dei before, mostly I have just “sung it” during mass. I thought I had better brush up on my Sacramental Tradition.  The website, Catholicsm.org claims that the practice of this holy tradition has expired through the modern church, but I am glad to see that it has not. I also did not know the “holy powers” associated with this sacramental, it is good to learn. Here is what I found on the Catholicism.Org website:

One of the oldest of the Church’s sacramentals used in private devotion is the Agnus Dei — the “Lamb of God.” Though its origin is shrouded in the mist of antiquity, the Agnus Dei sacramental is mentioned in historical Church accounts as early as the sixth century and mentioned frequently by the early-to-middle ninth century. Thus, for at least fifteen centuries, the Agnus Dei has been a popular and treasured sacramental of Catholics, especially those living in Europe where it was most readily available. Yet, regrettably, few Catholics living today have ever even heard of the Agnus Dei.

The name was given to special wax disks of various sizes (which, based on the pictures we have seen, appear to be as small as 8 inches in diameter, and as large as perhaps 16 inches in diameter). The disks were impressed with the coat of arms of the pope who “consecrated” them and the figure of a lamb, the “Lamb of God” (a reference to the words of St. John the Baptist in Jn. 1:29, 36). This consecration was traditionally accomplished during the first year of a pope’s pontificate, and in every seventh year in which he remained in office.

In earlier times, during Holy Week (most sources indicate this occurred on Holy Saturday), the Pope, with the assistance of the Archdeacon of Rome, prepared the wax from the previous year’s paschal candles, adding both chrism and balsam to the wax and forming the wax into disks. The Agnus Deis were subsequently consecrated on the Wednesday of Easter week and distributed to the Cardinals on Saturday of the same week. In more recent times, the wax was prepared by monks, then consecrated by the pope and distributed. When Cardinals would visit the Holy Father on Easter Saturday, an Agnus Dei wax disk (or, perhaps more than one, depending on circumstances) would be placed into his miter. The Cardinals then distributed the Agnus Deis as they saw fit. It was the custom that the cardinals would then have some pious souls in their charge, generally cloistered nuns to whom they may have been favorable, to process the Agnus Deis further.

It was the practice of the sisters to prepare favorite prayers or passages from the Bible on small pieces of paper. They would then take a small bit of wax from the large disk and enclose it in the paper, praying the prayer (or reading the Scripture passage), offering this, and the effort of doing this work, for the individual who would ultimately possess that particular Angus Dei. The paper would then be tied with a string and placed into a small cloth pouch, which was sewn up and hand-decorated according to the talents of the sister preparing the sacramental. Each Agnus Dei became both a work of art and a labor of love. Because of the Papal blessing, it was also a powerful intercessory weapon against the powers of evil in the world.

In order to provide a comprehensive look into the meaning and importance of the Agnus Dei, we cite the Catholic Encyclopedia 5 as it describes its “Symbolism and Use”:

“As in the paschal candle, the wax typifies the virgin flesh of Christ, the cross associated with the lamb suggests the idea of a victim offered in sacrifice, and as the blood of the paschal lamb of old protected each household from the destroying angel, so the purpose of these consecrated medallions is to protect those who wear or possess them from all malignant influences. In the prayers of blessing, special mention is made of the perils from storm and pestilence, from fire and flood, and also of the dangers to which women are exposed in childbirth. Miraculous effects have been believed to follow the use of these objects of piety. Fires are said to have been extinguished, and floods stayed.”

In his wonderful article entitled “The Forgotten Sacramental,” Charles Hugo Doyle provides a summary of the special virtues of the Agnus Dei. Citing Popes Urban V, Paul II, Julius III, Sixtus V, and Benedict XIV, Doyle enumerates the following benefits:

They foster piety, banish tepidity, preserve from vice and dispose to virtue.
They cancel venial sins and purify the soul from the stain left by grievous sin after it has been remitted in the Sacrament of Penance.
They banish evil spirits, deliver from temptation and preserve from eternal ruin.
They are a protection from a sudden and unprovided death.
They dispel fears occasioned by evil spirits.
They are a protection in combat, and have power to ensure victory.
They deliver from poison and from the snares of the wicked.
They are excellent preventatives against sickness and are also an efficacious remedy — especially in cases of epilepsy.
They hinder the ravages of pestilence, of epidemics and infectious diseases.
They quiet the winds, dissipate hurricanes, calm whirlwinds, and keep away tempests.
They save from shipwreck and the danger of lightning and floods.
In reference to the last named benefit, Doyle recalls an episode in the life of Pope St. Pius V. When the Tiber was flooding and seemed likely to submerge the city of Rome, an Agnus Dei was thrown into the river. At once, the angry waters subsided.

Needless to say, due to the limited quantity of the Agnus Deis available, those which could be obtained were cherished by the faithful and gratefully passed down from generation to generation.

The End of an Ancient Tradition

Elected to the Chair of Peter in the latter half of 1963, Pope Paul VI is said to have consecrated Agnus Deis in the traditional manner during the Easter season of 1964. According to the ancient tradition, Pope Paul VI would have again consecrated the Agnus Deis during the Easter season of 1971. Inexplicably, he did not. Nor did he ever again consecrate the Agnus Deis.

Being Sovereign Pontiff for only 33 days, Pope John Paul I was unable to renew the custom during his pontificate.

There is no indication that Pope John Paul II, closing in on his 24th year as Pope, has ever undertaken to reestablish the tradition. As is the case with so many of traditional Catholic practices subsequent to the Second Vatican Council, the Agnus Dei was abandoned, probably “in the spirit of the Council” — just at a time when God’s graces were most needed.

To the best of our knowledge, no official reason has ever been given by Rome as to why the ancient and revered traditional practice was abandoned. We wrote to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments — and have encouraged others to do the same — but, to the best of our knowledge, no one has yet received a response.

May Thy Heart dwell always in our hearts!
May Thy Blood ever flow in the veins of our souls!
O sun of our hearts, Thou givest life to all things by the rays of Thy goodness!
I will not go until Thy Heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus!
May the Heart of Jesus be the King of my heart!
Blessed be God. Amen.

- Saint Francis De Sales

“And what shall I say about your wounds? They must have been similar to that rainbow God gave to Noah, signifying that he would never bring the waters of the Deluge upon the earth again. And, Word, your wounds will be like that bow; placed between the eternal Father and the human kind, your wounds will abate our faults and thanks to them he will not be called God of revenge anymore but rather God of mercy and love. Oh, how joyful Mary must have felt when she saw that the Blood of the Word had taken from her would be a stole for all the elect!”

Probation: p 305 Maria Maddelena de’Pazzi Translated by Armando Maggi, Paulist Press 2000.

Pope Says Saint a Model of “Purified Love” Letter Recalls Life of St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi

VATICAN CITY, MAY 29, 2007 (Zenit.org).-

St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi is a symbolic figure of living love that recalls an essential dimension of every Christian life, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this in a letter to the Cardinal Ennio Antonelli of Florence, Italy, in honor of the 400th anniversary of the Carmelite mystic’s death (1566-1607).

“She did not let herself be conditioned by the world; the world, though Christian, did not satisfy her desire to become ever more similar to her crucified Spouse,” wrote the Holy Father.

Born in Florence on April 2, 1566, into a noble family, she was baptized with the name Catherine. The future saint entered the Monastery of San Giovannino of the Dames of Malta.

It was there, on March 25, 1576, that she received her first Communion, and then a few days later, she made a vow of perpetual virginity.

When she was 16, she entered the cloistered Carmelite Monastery of St. Mary of the Angels and took the name Mary Magdalene.

In March 1584, she fell ill, but was able to make her religious profession later that year on the feast of the Holy Trinity.

Ecstasies

“Thus began an intense mystical period from which would come her fame as a great ecstatic,” recalled the Pope.

Her confessors, in order to determine if these ecstasies where divinely inspired, obliged her to tell her superiors everything that she was experiencing. Her sisters wrote down her words during and after the ecstasies.

Benedict XVI described these as intense experiences “that, at only 19 years old, rendered her capable of understanding the mystery of salvation — from the incarnation of the Word in Mary’s womb to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.”

These experiences were published as “Forty Days” (1584), “Discussions” (1585), and “Revelations and Understandings” (1585).

The volumes describe “eight days of wonderful ecstasy from the vigil of Pentecost to the Feast of the Trinity,” wrote the Holy Father.

He continued: “Five years of interior purification were to follow — Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi spoke of it in her book ‘Probation,’ in which the Word, her Spouse, removed from her the feeling of grace and left her, like Daniel in the lions’ den, to suffer many trials and temptations.

“Her great desire for Church reform was born during this time, after witnessing rays of light from on high in the summer of 1586, showing her the true state of the Church in the era after the Council of Trent.

“Like Catherine of Siena, she felt ‘compelled’ to write letters to the Pope, cardinals of the Curia, her archbishop and other Church leaders, encouraging them to work for the ‘Renewal of the Church,’ as the title of the manuscript says.”

Calvary

Eventually, tuberculosis forced her to slowly withdraw from the active life of the community.

“Purified love, which beat so strongly in her heart, opened her to the desire for full conformity with Christ, her Spouse, even unto sharing with him the ‘nudo patire’ [naked suffering] of the cross,” the Pope continued. “The last three years of her life were a true Calvary of sufferings for her.”

She died on May 25, 1607. Her incorrupt body is under the altar of the Church of the Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi in Careggi, Florence.

She was beatified on May 8, 1626, by Pope Urban VIII, also from Florence, and was canonized by Pope Clement IX on April 28, 1669.

Benedict XVI added: “During her life she would ring the bells and exhort her fellow sisters saying: ‘Come to love Love!’

“The great mystic from Florence, from her convent and from the Carmelite monasteries that aspire to her, we pray that we may still hear her voice in the entire Church, spreading the proclamation of God’s love for every human creature.”

TO THE SACRED HEART.

Beside the tomb wept Magdalen at dawn, —

She sought to find the dead and buried Christ;

Nothing could fill the void now He was gone,

No one to soothe her burning grief sufficed.

Not even you, Archangels heaven-assigned!

To her could bring content that dreary day.

Your buried King, alone, she longed to find,

And bear His lifeless body far away.

Beside His tomb she there the last remained,

And there again was she before the sun;

There, too, to come to her the Saviour deigned, —

He would not be, by her, in love outdone.

Gently He showed her then His blessed Face,

And one word sprang from His deep Heart’s recess:

Mary! Hisvoice she knew, she knew its grace;

It came with perfect peace her heart to bless.

One day, my God! I, too, like Magdalen,

Desired to find Thee, to draw near to Thee;

So, over earth’s immense, wide-stretching plain,

I sought its Master and its King to see.

Then cried I, though I saw the flowers bloom

In beauty ‘neath green trees and azure skies:

O brilliant Nature! thou art one vast tomb,

Unless God’s Face shall greet my longing eyes.”

A heart I need, to soothe me and to bless, —

A strong support that can not pass away, —

To love me wholly, e’en my feebleness,

And never leave me through the night or day.

There is not one created thing below,

Can love me truly, and can never die.

God become man — none else my needs can know;

He, He alone, can understand my cry.

Thou comprehendest all I need, dear Lord!

To win my heart, from heaven Thou didst come;

For me Thy blood didst shed, O King adored!

And on our altars makest Thy home.

So, if I may not here behold Thy Face,

Or catch the heav’nly music of Thy Voice,

I still can live, each moment, by Thy grace,

And in Thy Sacred Heart I can rejoice.

O Heart of Jesus, wealth of tenderness!

My joy Thou art, in Thee I safely hide.

Thou, Who my earliest youth didst charm and bless,

Till my last evening, oh! with me abide,

All that I had, to Thee I wholly gave,

To Thee each deep desire of mine is known.

Whoso his life shall lose, that life shall save; —

Let mine be ever lost in Thine alone!

I know it well, — no righteousness of mine

Hath any value in Thy searching eyes;

Its every breath my heart must draw from Thine,

To make of worth my life’s long sacrifice.

Thou hast not found Thine angels without taint;

Thy Law amid the thunderbolts was given;

And yet, my Jesus! I nor fear nor faint.

For me, on Calvary, Thy Heart was riven.

To see Thee in Thy glory face to face, —

I know it well, — the soul must pass through fires.

Choose I on earth mypurgatorial place, —

The flaming love of Thy great Heart’s desires!

So shall my exiled soul, to death’s command,

Make answer with one cry of perfect love;

Then flying straight to heaven its Fatherland,

Shall reach with no delay that home above.

Therese Martin, October, 1895.

Photograph:
Nr. 65 • Herz-Jesu-Symbol (Kloster Maria Medingen)
Foto und Text: Sr. Gerlinde Fehr OSF
Bruder-Firminus-Stiftung • Postfach 24 01 41 • 4000 Düsseldorf 1

China to Dynamite Shrine to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
TIANJIAJING, China, JUNE 21, 2007 (Zenit.org ).

The sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be dynamited following a government decision that the pilgrimage site is a place of illegal religious activity.

The Henan Province government will prevent the annual July 16 pilgrimage, which normally draws 40,000 pilgrims for the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, AsiaNews reported.

The shrine was built in 1903 by a priest from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, Monsignor Stefano Scarsella, then apostolic vicar to northern Henan. The shrine was meant to thank the Blessed Virgin for preserving Christians from the dangers of the Boxer Rebellion.

The sanctuary lies in Tianjiajing, in the Diocese of A! nyang, in a scenic, mountainous area that some speculate will be used for a commercial or government building.

The provincial government has mobilized 700 soldiers for military exercises in the area since May 12, when the planned destruction was announced. Roads leading to the shrine are closed and pedestrians who go near the area are searched.

The faithful of the Diocese of Anyang, appealing through AsiaNews, said: “We ask all our brothers and sisters in the Lord to pray for us and spread our message to all the faithful of the world.”

MORE from Asia News

It seems difficult to imagine this happening. This small shrine certainly does not appear to be threatening in any way. Oh Mother, we shall place this cause in your hands. For the sake of the Faithful in China:

O, most beautiful flower
Of Mount Carmel,
Fruitful vine,
Splendor of Heaven.
Blessed Mother of eh Son of God,
Immaculate Virgin,
Assist me in this my necessity.
O, Star of the Sea, help me
And show me herin
You are my mother.
O, Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Queen of Heaven and earth,
I humbly beseech you
From the bottom of my heart
To succor me in this necessity.
There are none that can withstand
Your power,’
O, show me herin you are my mother.
O, Mary, conceived without sin,
Pray for us who have recourse to Thee.
Sweet Mother, I place this cause
In your hand.
Amen

Here is an article from the “Indian Catholic” who talked to the “Father of the Internet in Thailand” Srisakdi Charmonman. Srisakdi thinks that on-line communications could be such an effective evangelizer in devloping countries because their young people are so attracted to Internet Media.

He says:

“Catholics need a new strategy to attract people. The most effective way is to use available media. Catholics may join Internet chat rooms or forums, and show how important being Catholic is.

The Catholic Church should train priests to use the Internet and understand how to use media. Every priest should have his own website and chat room. Well-known websites and chat rooms should be developed and owned by Catholics, to communicate with more people.

To communicate with people through the Internet, you have to know how to speak or communicate the same topic in a different way with different people.” (READ MORE)

I am most pleased that this “Thai Father of the Internet” has such good things to say about Catholic and the Internet. Unfortunately, the ORIGINAL “Father of the Internet”, Vint Cerf (now of Google fame) is too busy battling the XXX domain name monsters with his position as President of ICANN to chime in on this. Please pray for Mr. Cerf so that he will continue to battle the deamons of on-line pornography!

The top photo is from the Knights of Columbus website in North Merrik, New York.

I would like to make an announcment about the upcomming Outdoor Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel at the Carmel of St. Joseph in St. Louis, Missouri. The dates will be earlier this year and I know everyone would like to update their itineraries like me!

This Novena will be the 59th year it is held on the Monastery’s front lawn.  As usual, the outdoor altar will be used and the old lights will be strung out again from the trees to provide a little light (along with the fireflies!). What is unusual is that Carmelites all over the world are celebrating the 800th Anniversary of the “Rule of St. Albert” this year. That rule (which have now changed over into a Constitution) was established by Albert, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Carmelites asked him to write for them a “formula of life” based on their current method of prayer upon the mountain top and caves surrounding Mount Carmel in Haifa.

To live in allegiance, to bind oneself by oath, is the heart of the Rule. As the first hermits on Mount Carmel desired to follow Christ by a solitary life meditating on the law of the Lord day and night so Carmelites today do the same.

When the first Carmelites were forced to flee Mount Carmel, they found that they could turn every place they lived into a Mount Carmel. “In whatever place you live, draw away from the finite and enter into enter into the infinite space which is God. Turn every place you live into a Mount Carmel.”

Here is a list of the celebrants for the novena masses. Write them in your schedule!

Novena Speakers and Dates:

Sunday, July 8
Rev. Eugene Morris
Episcopal Vicar for the Permanent Diaconate

Monday, July 9
Rev. Nicholas J. Muenks
Associate Pastor, St. Clement of Rome

Tuesday, July 10:
Rev. Stephen P. Giljum
Associate Pastor, Immaculat Conception, Dardenne

Wednesday, July 11:
Msgr. Patrick K Hambrough
Pastor, St. Mark

Thursday, July 12:
Rev. Timothy L. Bannes
Associate Pastor, Holy Infant

Friday, July 13:
Rev. Timothy P. Elliot
Pastor, St. Gianna

Saturday, July 14:
Rev. Timothy P., Cronin
Rector, Cardinal Glennon College Seminary

Sunday, July 15:
Rev. Edward M. Rice
Pastor, St. John the Baptist

Monday, July 16:
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke Archbishop of St. Louis

Rosary and Benediction at 7:15
Mass begins at 8:00

Visit the Sister’s Website

This is a photo from the 2005 Novena…

What great modesty and humility is shown by Therese at such a very young age. To meditate on the virtues contained in this passage are for all ages. Oh this great soul of Carmel’s Garden, her flowering virtue has inspired so many and led them to love our Lord with a fervent heart!

I must go back now to the subject of my scruples. They made me so
ill that I was obliged to leave school when I was thirteen. In
order to continue my education, Papa took me several times a week
to a lady who was an excellent teacher. Her lessons served the
double purpose of instructing me and making me associate with
other people.

Visitors were often shown into the old-fashioned room where I sat
with my books and exercises. As far as possible my teacher’s
mother carried on the conversation, but still I did not learn much
while it lasted. Seemingly absorbed in my book, I could hear many
things it would have been better for me not to hear. One lady said
I had beautiful hair; another asked, as she left, who was that
pretty little girl. Such remarks, the more flattering because I
was not meant to hear them, gave me a feeling of pleasure which
showed plainly that I was full of self-love.

I am very sorry for souls who lose themselves in this way. It is
so easy to go astray in the seductive paths of the world. Without
doubt, for a soul somewhat advanced in virtue, the sweetness
offered by the world is mingled with bitterness, and the immense
void of its desires cannot be filled by the flattery of a moment;
but I repeat, if my heart had not been lifted up towards God from
the first moment of consciousness, if the world had smiled on me
from the beginning of my life, what should I have become? Dearest
Mother, with what a grateful heart do I sing “the Mercies of the
Lord!” Has He not, according to the words of Holy Wisdom, “taken
me away from the world lest wickedness should alter my
understanding, or deceit beguile my soul?”

Therese of Lisieux from a Story of a Soul

I have the Carmelite Podcast, Meditations from Carmel, liked on my Blogroll, but want to say how WONDERFUL their latest podcast is! It is from Pere Jacques Bunel who is most famous from the movie “Au revoir, les enfants” about his role in World War II.

As history records, when the Nazis occupied France in 1940, Père Jacques joined the French Resistance. As part of the resistance, he hid three Jewish boys in the Petit-College, protecting them by giving them Christian names. Eventually the boys identities were discovered and the three boys were immediately deported to Auschwitz and executed. Following detainment at Fontainebleau, Compiègne, and Neue Bremm, Père Jacques was finally sent to the concentration camp at Mauthausen/Gusen in Austria. He remained there for a year until the American forces liberated the camp. A month after obtaining his freedom, however, he died in St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Linz, emaciated and exhausted from sixteen months of cruel suffering at the hands of the Nazis.

This particular Podcast on the Meditations from Carmel website is from a conference he gave to the Carmelite nuns at Pontoise in September 1943, four months before the Nazis arrested him. He councils the nuns to search for the “quiet uninterrupted conversation with God”. He says:

“We can neither find nor embrace God, just as we cannot sit at his feet in order to gaze lovingly upon him, if we are immersed in noise and activity. We cannot hear the voice of God, who speaks without words, except in silence. ”

I really love this episode of the podcast. The voice of Pere Jacques is so soothing and I really feel as though the saint was speaking just to me… maybe I am to nutty, but I do think this! Give it a listen yourself and tell me what you think!

The conference in the Podcast comes from the book, Listen to the Silence A Retreat with Pere Jacques Translated and Edited by Francis J. Murphy.  It is published by ICS Publications Institute of Carmelite Studies Washington, D.C. 2005.  I have read this book and would really reccomend it as a wonderful little book full of the conferences Pere Jacques gave to the Carmelite Nuns.  They are short enough for quick reading and meditation afterwards.

Ah, we have reached the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus! AMEN! The novena at the Pink Sisters will conclude tonight with Bishop Robert Hermann and the most outstanding Alleluia Chorus! There seems to be a little bit of a “let down” when the final night of the novena is over. Just when you get into the habit of going every night it is over and everyone seems to linger in the chapel with the Blessed Sacrament a little longer tonight. And of course, one must have an extra cup of pink lemonade to hold them over until next year!!

Today, also, Archbishop Raymond Burke will anoint two Deacons into the priesthood at the Cathedral Basilica. These young men are from the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and they follow the traditional Latin Mass and have their St. Louis home at the beautiful St. Francis de Sales Oratory. Apparently this is the first time the traditional Latin liturgy will be used in an ordination here in more than 40 years!

Also of “Sacred Heat” news is that Archbishop Burke will be consecrating a new altar at the Cathedral Basilica on Sunday afternoon. The shrine of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be installed in the west transept of the cathedral basilica, directly across from the baptistery and ambry, which are in the east transept. The space for the shrine is ample without necessitating the removal of any pews or disturbing, in any other way, the present ordering of the space in the cathedral basilica.

The image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has been created by the Vatican Mosaic Studio. It is modeled after the image of the Sacred Heart in the Archbishop’s Residence, which has been reproduced in various sizes for the devotion of the faithful. It is also on the holy card with the Morning Offering, which is distributed by the archdiocese.

The mosaic image of the Sacred Heart will be placed in an altarpiece made of marble from Pietrasanta in Italy. The shrine will include stands with votive candles to represent our prayers continuously lifted up to the glorious Heart of Jesus.

The shrine has been designed by Duncan G. Stroik of the School of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. He is internationally known for his design of beautiful churches and chapels, in accord with the long tradition of sacred architecture, at an affordable cost for the parish or Catholic institution. His design of the shrine of the Sacred Heart is truly beautiful and, therefore, inspiring.

The Archbishop has also encouraged the faithful to prayerfully consider “enthroning” an image of the Sacred Heart in their homes. There are 12 promises that go with the displaying of the Sacred Heart in a family home. Usually this is done by hanging the image of Jesus on the wall and having a priest come and “Enthrone” Him. The “Enthronement” is a small ceremony with special devotional prayers that invoke the protection of the Sacred & Immaculate Hearts. These 12 promises were not given in a “list” form to Saint Margaret Mary by Jesus, but as she wrote about what Jesus had told her about His loving Heart, these promises emerged. Some long time later an American businessman gleaned these promises from Saint Margaret Mary’s writings, and made a list for us to contemplate and hold.

The Twelve Promises of Our Blessed Lord to St. Margaret Mary for those who are devoted to His Sacred Heart (taken from her autobiography and letters):

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in my Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and Infinite Ocean.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes in which the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honored
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in my Heart and it shall never be effaced.
12. The All-Powerful Love of my Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving the Sacraments; my Heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour.

Since the 16th century Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The month of June is set apart for devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “From among all the proofs of the infinite goodness of our Savior none stands out more prominently than the fact that, as the love of the faithful grew cold, He, Divine Love Itself, gave Himself to us to be honored by a very special devotion and that the rich treasury of the Church was thrown wide open in the interests of that devotion.” These words of Pope Pius XI refer to the Sacred Heart Devotion, which in its present form dates from the revelations given to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673-75.
The devotion consists in the divine worship of the human heart of Christ, which is united to His divinity and which is a symbol of His love for us. The aim of the devotion is to make our Lord king over our hearts by prompting them to return love to Him (especially through an act of consecration by which we offer to the Heart of Jesus both ourselves and all that belongs to us) and to make reparation for our ingratitude to God.

Here are some great prayers to the Sacred Heart:

INVOCATION

O Heart of love, I put all my trust in Thee; for I fear all things from my own weakness, but I hope for all things from Thy goodness.
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

PRAYER TO THE SACRED HEART

Hail! O Sacred Heart of Jesus, living and quickening source of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, and burning furnace of divine love. Thou art my refuge and my sanctuary, 0 my amiable Savior. Consume my heart with that burning fire with which Thine is ever inflamed. Pour down on my soul those graces which flow from Thy love, and let my heart be so united with Thine, that our wills may be one, and mine in all things be conformed to Thine. May Thy divine will be equally the standard and rule of all my desires and of all my actions. Amen.
Saint Gertrude

FOR THE CHURCH

O most holy Heart of Jesus, shower Thy blessings in abundant measure upon Thy holy Church, upon the Supreme Pontiff and upon all the clergy; to the just grant perseverance; convert sinners; enlighten unbelievers; bless our relations, friends and benefactors; assist the dying; deliver the holy souls in purgatory; and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Thy love. Amen.

A PRAYER OF TRUST

O God, who didst in wondrous manner reveal to the virgin, Margaret Mary, the unsearchable riches of Thy Heart, grant that loving Thee, after her example, in all things and above all things, we may in Thy Heart find our abiding home.
Roman Missal

ACT OF LOVE

Reveal Thy Sacred Heart to me, O Jesus, and show me Its attractions. Unite me to It for ever. Grant that all my aspirations and all the beats of my heart, which cease not even while I sleep, may be a testimonial to Thee of my love for Thee and may say to Thee: Yes, Lord, I am all Thine;
pledge of my allegiance to Thee rests ever in my heart will never cease to be there. Do Thou accept the slight amount of good that I do and be graciously pleased to repair all m] wrong-doing; so that I may be able to bless Thee in time and in eternity. Amen.
Cardinal Merry del Val

MEMORARE TO THE SACRED HEART
Remember, O most sweet Jesus, that no one who has had recourse to Thy Sacred Heart, implored its help, or sought it mercy was ever abandoned. Encouraged with confidence, O tenderest of hearts, we present ourselves before Thee, crushes beneath the weight of our sins. In our misery, O Sacred Hear. of Jesus, despise not our simple prayers, but mercifully grant our requests.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O’Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

A great link from EWTN for Meditating on the Sacred Heart

NOVENA TO THE SACRED HEART

O most holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore Thee, I love Thee and with a lively sorrow for my sins, I offer Thee this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to Thy will. Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in Thee and for Thee. Protect me in the midst of danger; comfort me in my afflictions; give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, Thy blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Within Thy Heart I place my every care. In every need let me come to Thee with humble trust saying: Heart of Jesus help me.

From the Discalced Carmelites in Rome there is this report:

We are solicited to maintain our solidarity of prayer with our brothers of Baghdad (Iraq). A communication of June 7th made known that the telephone service in their district has already been cut for 37 days. And they are not even able to use the internet service. They are allowed to have use of electricity only once every 48 hours. They have problems for the restocking of gas/oil for their refrigerators and of gasoline for travel. They live under temperatures as high as 117 degrees (F) (47°C) in the shade. In the last weeks the situation has subsequently deteriorated, becoming evermore dramatic and tragic. Numerous terrorist groups have started to systematically persecute Christians. It now appears clear the plan that our brothers had already suspected: to force the Christians to abandon the South in Baghdad and to assemble them north of the city, in well defined zones. This is the explanation for the murder of a priest and three deacons on June 3rd, and the sequestration of another priest three days ago. The violence and the persecution are increasing.

In a message June 9th to the Reception office of the Missions our brothers communicated to us: “Death is something usual and daily. Yesterday I lost a friend, murdered by the terrorists. Every day we receive various families that have been expelled from the neighborhoods in Baghdad. From evening to morning they have lost everything. The terrorists impose on them to convert to Islam or to surrender their daughters to their leader or to pay 250 USA Dollars per person every month: it is an enormous sum for poor people. We try to find lodging for them. Many Christians have moved to the north or they have abandoned the country. Many priests are seized or lose their lives. By now only a few priests remain in Baghdad”. In the Carmelite community in Baghdad there are four simply professed religious who cannot continue their studies in the country. We need to find a solution to this serious problem. May the Lord help them because we don’t have a single day without some undesirable surprise. We intensify our prayers for our brothers in Baghdad.

I’m not able to write today, if I did it would be upon the subject of detachment.  A photograph says more than I could anyway…

Here is a photo of my new and most precious God Daughter, Elizabeth Claire who was baptized yesterday. What a beautiful thing to see the most innocent little soul being totally filled with grace from above! I have no words to describe the beauty of this blessed event.

I thought to read from Gregory Nazianzen’s Oration Number 40 on the Sacrament of Baptism and what it means for God’s children. He speaks so well of the gift and the notion of water and light leading to contemplating God. Here is an excerpt, but you can read more at New Advent.

We call it, the Gift, the Grace, Baptism, Unction, Illumination, the Clothing of Immortality, the Laver of Regeneration, the Seal, and everything that is honourable. We call it the Gift, because it is given to us in return for nothing on our part; Grace, because it is conferred even on debtors; Baptism, because sin is buried with it in the water; Unction, as Priestly and Royal, for such were they who were anointed; Illumination, because of its splendour; Clothing, because it hides our shame; the Laver, because it washes us; the Seal because it preserves us, and is moreover the indication of Dominion. In it the heavens rejoice; it is glorified by Angels, because of its kindred splendour. It is the image of the heavenly bliss. We long indeed to sing out its praises, but we cannot worthily do so.

God is Light: [1 John 1:5] the highest, the unapproachable, the ineffable, That can neither be conceived in the mind nor uttered with the lips, 1 [Timothy 6:16] That gives life to every reasoning creature. [John 1:9] He is in the world of thought, what the sun is in the world of sense; presenting Himself to our minds in proportion as we are cleansed; and loved in proportion as He is presented to our mind; and again, conceived in proportion as we love Him; Himself contemplating and comprehending Himself, and pouring Himself out upon what is external to Him. That Light, I mean, which is contemplated in the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, Whose riches is Their unity of nature, and the one outleaping of Their brightness. A second Light is the Angel, a kind of outflow or communication of that first Light, drawing its illumination from its inclination and obedience thereto; and I know not whether its illumination is distributed according to the order of its state, or whether its order is due to the respective measures of its illumination. A third Light is man; a light which is visible to external objects. For they call man light because of the faculty of speech in us. And the name is applied again to those of us who are more like God, and who approach God more nearly than others. I also acknowledge another Light, by which the primeval darkness was driven away or pierced. It was the first of all the visible creation to be called into existence; and it irradiates the whole universe, the circling orbit of the stars, and all the heavenly beacon fires.

Please pray this gets attention in the Secular Media!

Washington DC, June 8 (CNA).-Pro-life and church groups are optimistic about a new scientific breakthrough that provides yet another ethical alternative to embryonic stem cell research, reports Time Magazine.

According to the scientific journals Nature and Cell Stem Cell, researchers have succeeded in reprogramming ordinary cells from the tips of mouse tails so they are virtually indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells.

Three research groups said they accomplished their feat in mature cells by turning on four genes that are always active in days-old embryos. Some of the rejuvenated cells were able to mature into new mice, demonstrating the cells’ ability to create every type of tissue in the body.

Researchers are optimistic that the discovery can be applied to human cells, which would offer an ethical way to create a limitless supply of cell lines tailor-made for patients.

“This would be a win for science, ethics and society,” said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. “It may offer a way for people of all faiths and all ethical backgrounds to study, use, subsidize and enjoy any therapeutic benefits of stem cell research.”

Researchers say the method for human cells could eventually start by simply taking a cheek swab or some skin cells, and turning them into stem cells in a laboratory.

While researchers admit that there are lots of technical hurdles to overcome, reprogrammed cells could become the long-sought ethical substitute for embryonic stem cells.

This ground-breaking research was based on a Japanese study at Kyoto University, published last year, in which cells from the tails of adult mice were reprogrammed to become “pluripotent” able to grow into many kinds of tissues.

In one of the new studies, published in the journal Nature, the Japanese scientists modified their procedures and succeeded in reversing the cell development toward an embryonic stage which they were not able to do previously. When the resulting cells — which they dubbed induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPS cells were injected into mouse embryos, they contributed to the development of all parts of the animals.

Some of their offspring also inherited genes from the iPS cells. Senior author Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, from Kyoto University’s stem cell biology department, said that genetic inheritance was an important sign because only cells that behave like embryonic stem cells can be passed from parent to child.

While the new Japanese study presented numerous positive results, more than 10 percent of the mice used in the study developed tumors—an obstacle that must be tackled in future research.

As a result, some scientists are concerned that it is too premature to use this method in humans because it might pose a health risk.

Last evening began my favorite 9 days of the year. The annual Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the “Pink Sisters” chapel at Mount Grace. I credit this holy place, these holy sisters and their lives of perpetual adoration for leading me to Jesus so many year ago. I can not say just how much my heart sweels upon entering this chapel. Indeed, I must even steady myself before opening its wooden doors! It is as if when you just begin to crack the doors open, the Holy Spirit rushes out of the chapel in a breath of air and fills your lungs with grace!

The sisters are called “PINK” because of their habits which are of a deep rose color. They chose this habit because of their proper title and dedication to the Holy Spirit as “The Holy Spirit sisters of Perpetual Adoration”. The great monstrance in the chapel is always being venerated as there is always a sister kneeling in praise before the Lord day and night.  Sometimes, when I can not sleep at night, I imagine the sister who is kneeling before our Lord at the moment.  This vision always settles my heart and I find great solace in this!

The Sisters are somewhat famous in St. Louis for being the ones who interceded before our Lord that he send good weather for the pastoral visit of our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II in 1999. The trip was in January and the weather turned out to be a balmy 70 degrees or so! It was generally acknowledge as a miracle among the population of the city!

Last evening, Father Herzog began the novena so beautifully and his homily focused on the incredible story of Tobit and how Jesus is mystically with us in our spiritual life, but also in the everyday trials of earthly life. He is there listening to our “immediate prayer” and also leads us to a “mystical prayer” with Him in his loving and merciful Sacred Heart. Father is a wonderful, wonderful teacher.After mass, as it is traditional, for our family (and anyone other pilgrims) to visit with the Sisters in their reception room for PINK LEMONADE and cookies. It is the coldest, best tasting lemonade you will ever drink! Then, feeling refreshed, the children venture outside to catch lightening bugs.

I will include the Consecration Prayer to the Sacred Heart for families which is prayed every night during the novena…

Sacred Heart of Jesus, you revealed to St. Margaret Mary you desire to reign over Christian families. To fulfill this desire, we today proclaim your complete dominion over our family. From now on we wish to live your life, to cultivate in our home those virtues which bring us your peace, and avoid that worldliness which you have condemned. You will rule over our minds by simple faith and over our hearts by a love kept aflame by frequent Communion.

Divine Heart of Jesus, be pleased to preside over our family, to bless all we do, to dispel our troubles, sanctify our joys, lighten our sufferings. If one of us should ever offend you by sin, remind us, merciful Jesus, of your goodness and mercy to the penitent sinner. And when the hour of separation strikes, when death brings its grief into our midst, those of us who go and those of us who say will be submissive to what you have decreed. Then it will be our consolation to remember that the day will come when our entire family, reunited in heaven, will be able to sing forever of your glory and mercy.

May the Immaculate Heart of May and the glorious patriarch, St. Joseph, present to you this our Consecration and keep us ever mindful of it all the days of our life. All glroy to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our King and our Father!

More about the Sisters:

We are a cloistered-contemplative missionary Congregation, living in community, whose members are entirely dedicated to the contemplative life in the service of perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Thus we offer intercessory prayer for the needs of all. The rose color of our habits, which we wear in honor of the Holy Spirit, symbolizes our dedication to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Evangelization and the sanctification of priests are particularly remembered in our life of prayer, which includes the singing of the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) in choir.

Our way of life points to the basic truth that God alone is the true center of being and the goal of all creation, that he alone can satisfy the human heart, and that every good and every success on this earth are his free gifts.

In union with the Lord, whom we follow in a life of poverty, chastity and obedience, we adore God on behalf of our brothers and sisters throughout the world, convinced that being true to our love-response in answer to God’s call, our life of prayer and commitment is the best service we can contribute towards the building up of mankind in peace, justice, and love. In prayer before the Eucharistic Throne, we bring to the Lord all the needs and intentions recommended to us.

This is a wonderful discription of the virtues of contemplative prayer!

Whoever has been permitted to escape by reason and contemplation from matter and this fleshly cloud or veil (whichever it should be called) and to hold communion with God, and be associated, as far as man’s nature can attain, with the purest Light, blessed is he, both from his ascent from hence, and for his deification there, which is conferred by true philosophy, and by rising superior to the dualism of matter, through the unity which is perceived in the Trinity. And whosoever has been depraved by being knit to the flesh, and so far oppressed by the clay that he cannot look at the rays of truth, nor rise above things below, though he is born from above, and called to things above, I hold him to be miserable in his blindness, even though he may abound in things of this world; and all the more, because he is the sport of his abundance, and is persuaded by it that something else is beautiful instead of that which is really beautiful, reaping, as the poor fruit of his poor opinion, the sentence of darkness, or the seeing Him to be fire, Whom he did not recognize as light.

– Gregory Nazianzus: Oration 21: On Athanasius of Alexandria

Later in the passage Saint Gregory says of Athanasius:

… using life as the guide of contemplation, contemplation as the seal of life. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and, so to say, its first swathing band; but, when wisdom has burst the bonds of fear and risen up to love, it makes us friends of God, and sons instead of bondsmen.

[from Gregory Nazianzus, Select Orations, Sermons, Letters; Dogmatic Treatises , trans in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd Series, ed. P. Schaff and H. Wace, (repr. Grand Rapids MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1955), VII, pp. 269-280]

Who was Saint Norbert? I know there is a church in St. Louis dedicated to him, but otherwise, I do not know much. However, that means there is lots to learn and that is fun!

A quick summery of him would be that Norbert led a worldly lifestyle. Galavanting around the countryside of Gernmany with the Kings Court, Norbert was thrown from his horse and nearly killed in a thunderstorm. He interpreted this as an invitation to repent and immediately began to lead the life of a penitent, barefoot and dressed in sheepskin.

Norbert was a friend of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux and he was largely influenced by the Cistercian ideals as to both the manner of life and the government of his order. But as the Premonstratensians were not monks but canons regular, their work was preaching and the exercise of the pastoral office, and they served a large number of parishes incorporated in their monasteries.

Now, that is the most very basic outline of Norbert to be had, surely, but the most interesting part is coming…

According to the Office of Readings today, which is taken from a Life of Saint Norbert written by one of his Premonstratensian Canons, we are able to learn of the contemplative aspects of this Saint. I will quote from it…

Norbert did all these things with a steadfast faith: “Faith was the outstanding virtue of Norbert’s life, as charity had been the hallmark of Bernard of Clairvaux’s.” Affable and charming, amiable to one and all, “he was at ease in the company of the humble and the great alike.” Finally, he was a most eloquent preacher; after long meditation “he would preach the word of God” and with his fiery eloquence purged vices, refined virtues and filled souls of good will with the warmth of wisdom.” He spent many hours in contemplation of the divine mysteries and fearlessly spread the spiritual insights which were the fruit of his meditation.

How beautiful that Norbert became a Saint by meditating on God’s laws, , keeping it in his own heart, and then preaching its holy wisdom to the masses! That is contemplation in action!
Read more about St. Norbert’s life in Vita “A” Sacnti Norberti Translated from the Latin, and with an Introductioin by Theodore J. Antry, O.Praem. (Daylesford)

This morning’s second reading from the office is from St. Boniface whose feast day we celebrate today. The opening paragraph is just wonderful and is as pertinent today as it was back in the 7th Century. Boniface writes:

In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.

Boy, what words of wisdom. Boniface surely could help us out today in Germany. Yesterday I read an article by Dr. Jeff Mirus who talks about how we are under constant and most ridiculous battle not just from outside our church, but most fiercely from within. In his article entitled, “When Fear and Anger Give way to Laughter” Mirus uses a current silly situation where 130 theologians from Germany and Austria have signed a petition for reform of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He jokes in the article:

“Tell the German theologians to pin their 95 Theses to the door and we’ll get back to them.”
On the other hand, there is a priest in Minnesota who is being censured because he is trying to protect the innocent young minds of our school children. In his attempts to expose the insanity behind Virtus a program which is mandated for all Catholic schools and religious education programs. Virtus is being implemented in the archdiocese’s 220 parishes to comply with a 2003 mandate by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in the wake of the clergy-sex-abuse scandal.
MANY believe that the program violates Vatican teachings (the magisterium) and that only parents should talk to children about sex.

I can hardly believe that the Bishops feel forced into implementing such a program as this! It is astounding. In the name of protecting children (through a some delusional secular culture mentality) should we expose 5 and 6 year old children to point to pictures of naked bodies to say what part is what and who should and should not touch them!? Or, should we love children and protect their little souls by centering our efforts of education to the adult population who has gone sex mad and gender nutty? Would not it be wise to turn our attention to battling the pornography industry and clean up television, movie and news media hype?! Can we PLEASE put a ban on having advertisements for “enlargement” medicines on every channel at every commercial break?!! We should be fighting the adult battle and not showing our 5 year old children how to protect themselves. If we can not battle, why, no – HOW could we possibly think they could!!! It is insane!!!

O.K… I had better stop this rant and get back to our saint of the day…
As we can see we have both sides of the Christ’s church being bombarded with waves today! The good forces and the bad are often mistaken for one another! We surely should pray to our dear Saint Boniface today for we need his and everyone’s help!

It was said Boniface showed a great zeal for meditation as a youngster. I found a short, but so wonderfully written biography on him from the Medieval Sourcebook at Fordham. I will include this paragraph about his contemplative aspects and how he shows us a great example in attaining a life of saintly union with our Lord:

… the saint’s daily contemplation and to his perseverance in fasting and abstinence. In this way, making gradual progress, we shall relate with conciseness and brevity his wonderful deeds, follow his life to its close, and examine it in greater detail. By balancing one aspect of his life against another we shall show that the venerable and holy Boniface was an example for us of eternal life in his evenly balanced moderation and that he laid before us the precepts of apostolic learning. Following the example of the saints, he climbed the steep path that leads to knowledge of heavenly things and went before his people as a leader who opens the gates of paradise through which only the upright shall enter.

from the Medieval Sourcebook: Willibald: The Life of St. Boniface

VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 2007 (VIS) – Pope Benedict’s general prayer intention for June is:

“That the Lord may protect sailors and all those involved in maritime activities.”

His mission intention is: “That the Church in North Africa may bear witness, with its presence and its action, to God’s love for every individual and all peoples.”

It does not seem as though one day a year is enough to celebrate the Holy Trinity, so I am still thinking about it today. When I think if the Trinity, it is not far from my mind to include meditating on the words of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, that wonderful young Carmelite who wrote so beautifully about the mystery. After completing the works of St. Teresa of Avila, it was she who I went to next. Her descriptions of the abyss of this mystery have always struck such a chord within me. I thought I would share a special passage from Volume I of her works. This is from Heaven in Faith, in a retreat she wrote about…

“Remain in Me.” It is the Word of God who gives this order, expresses this wish. Remain in Me, not for a few moments, a few hours which must pass away, but “remain …” permanently, habitually, Remain in Me, pray in Me, ador in Me, that you may be able to encounter anyone or anything; penetrate further still into these depths. This is truly the “solitue into which God wants to allure the soul that He may speak to it, as the prophet sang.

In order to understand this very mysterious saying, we must not, so to speak, stop at the surface, but enter ever deeper into the divine Being through recollection. I pursue my course,” exclaimed St. Paul; so must we descend daily this pathway of the Abyss which is God; let us slide down this slope in wholly loving confidence. “Abyss calls to abyss. It is there in the very depths that the divine impact takes place, where the abyss of our nothingness encounters the Abyss of mercy, the immensity of the all of God. There we will find the strength to die to ourselves and, losing all vestige of self, we will be changed into love….”

– Elizabeth of the Trinity, the Complete Works Volume One, ICS Publications 1984.

Chris Clamp

If I Held My Breath, Would You Come Back? Art MoCo

Did Jesus die only for those people who are the “noble part”, the ones who know and love Him here on this earth? Did He come to redeem only the ones who prayed to Him every day from their hearts, who contemplated His mysteries and adored His incarnation into this world?

It seems silly to even propose such a thing! There can be no doubt that Jesus cares for these witnesses and through the grace of His Father these good servants may take a place in their eternal reward. But, what about the poor soul, the confused soul, the soul that feels abandoned?

Let us remember these souls today. For in remembering them in prayer before our Heavenly Father we may ask for His help for the souls of our dear brothers and sisters who are poor in spirit. Certainly we can understand the human weakness of souls. Surely we appreciate the graces we have already been given from above that allow us to know and love the Father. Let us not be selfish with this grace, but allow it to grow through prayer.
Let us offer a prayer from Saint Augustine for the poor souls of this earth, many, many of whom we know and love personally and may even be members of our own family. Imagine in your immagination that “breath” of the Holy Spirit contained in the first line of this prayer… if you do, you may not even be able to finish the prayer because the concept is so overwhelmingly beautiful!

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, that I love but what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit, that I always may be holy.

Amen.

– Saint Augustine of Hippo