He who bears tribulations
“In this life there is no Purgatory, but either Paradise or Hell. He who bears tribulations with patience, has Paradise; he who does not, Hell.”
- St. Philip Neri
Prayer Before Mass
Eternal Father,
I unite myself with the intentions and affections of our Lady of Sorrow on Calvary, and I offer to Thee the Sacrifice which Thy beloved Son made of Himself on the Cross, and which He now renews on this holy Altar.
I offer it in the name of all mankind, with the Masses which are now being offered, and all those which will be offered throughout the world this day: To adore Thee and give Thee the honor which is due to Thee, confessing Thy supreme dominion over all things, and the absolute dependence of everything upon Thee, Who are our one and last End; To thank Thee for the innumerable benefits we have received; To appease Thy justice, aroused against us by so many sins, and to make satisfaction for them; To implore grace and mercy for myself, for Thy Church, for all afflicted and sorrowing, for poor sinners, for those whom I have promised prayers, for all the world, and for the holy souls in Purgatory.
Amen
– Photo above of St. Therese of Lisieux marble statue at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis during the Christmas season.
On humility and Peace
On humility and Peace
Do not care much who is with you and who is against you; but make it your greatest care that God is with you in everything you do. Have a good conscience, and God will defend you securely; no one can hurt you if God wishes to help you. If you know how to suffer in silence, you will surely receive God’s help. Since he knows best the time and the way to set you free, resign yourself to him, for God helps you and frees you from all confusion.
It is often good for us, and helps us to remain humble, if others know our weaknesses and confront us with them. When a man humbles himself for his faults, he more easily pleases others and mollifies those he has angered. God protects and frees a humble man; he loves and consoles a humble man; he favors a humble man; he showers him with graces; then, after his suffering, God raises him up to glory.
He reveals his secrets to a humble man and in his kindness invitingly draws that man to himself. When a humble man is brought to confusion, he experiences peace, because he stands firm in God and not in this world. Do not think that you have made any progress unless you feel that you are the lowest of all men.
Above all things, keep peace among others. It is better to be peaceful than learned. The passionate man often thinks evil of a good man and easily believes the worst; a good and peaceful man turns all things to good. A man who lives at peace suspects no one. But a man who is tense and agitated by evil is troubled with all kinds of suspicions; he is never at peace with himself, nor does he permit others to be at peace.
He often speaks when he should be silent, and he fails to say what would be truly useful. He is well aware of the obligations of others but neglects his own. So be zealous first of all with yourself, and then you will be more justified in expressing zeal for your neighbor.
You are good at excusing and justifying your own deeds, and yet you will not listen to the excuses of others. It would be more just to accuse yourself and to excuse your brother. If you wish others to put up with you, first put up with them.
– Thomas a’Kempis
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours - Office of Readings
There is a Homelessness
There is a homelessness, never to be clearly defined.
It is more than having no place of one’s own,
no bed or chair.
It is more than walking in a waste of wind,
or gleaning the crumbs where someone else has dined,
or taking a coin for food or clothes to wear.
The loan of things and the denial of things are possible to bear.
It is more, even than homelessness of heart,
of being always a stranger at love’s side,
of creeping up to a door only to start
at a shrill voice and to plunge back to the wide
dark of one’s own obscurity and hide.
it is the homelessness of the soul in the body sown;
it is the loneliness of mystery:
of seeing oneself a leaf, inexplicable and unknown,
cast from an unimaginable tree;
of knowing one’s life to be a brief wind blown
down a fissure of time in the rock of eternity.
The artist weeps to wrench this grief from stone;
he pushes his hands through the tangled vines of music,
but he cannot set it free.
It is the pain of the mystic suddenly thrown
back from the noon of God to the night of his own humanity.
It is his grief; it is the grief of all those praying
in finite words to an Infinity
Whom, if they saw, they could not comprehend;
Whom they cannot see.
– Sister Miriam of the Holy Spirit, OCD (Jessica Powers) Carmel of the Mother of God, Pewaukee, WI