aeternus

Well, the novena to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is over. I pray that many graces were given to the participants who attended with hearts purposefully devoted and united in prayer to the needs and aspirations of our most Blessed Mother. And, as a friend said to me, “surely many graces also came because everyone endured such great heat!” You see, it seems the temperature reached 107 last night! Praise be to God those beautiful priests, seminarians, decons and altar boys did not melt into the ground wearing all those beautiful vestments!

Today’s saint gave me much to think about so far today. I thought I would pass along my favorite passages from this morning’s Office of Readings:

“There is a spiritual life that we share with the angels of heaven and with the divine spirits, for like them we have been formed in the image and likeness of God. The bread that is necessary for living this life is the grace of the Holy Spirit and the love of God. But grace and love are nothing without faith, since without faith it is impossible to please God. And faith is not conceived unless the word of God is preached. Faith comes through hearing, and what is heart is the word of Christ…

For the word of God is a light to the mind and a fire to the will. In enables man to know God and to love him. And for the interior man who lives by the Spirit of God through grace, it is bread and water, but a bread sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, a water better than wine and milk. For the soul it is a spiritual treasure of merits yielding an abundance of gold and precious stones. Against the hardness of a heart that persists in wrongdoing, it acts as a hammer. Against the word, the flesh and the devil it serves a sword that destroys all sin.”

– From a sermon by Saint Lawrence of Brindisi

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A wonderful woman, who is a true and loving Secular Carmelite sent me this beautiful poem which I would like to share today. I am sure Our Lady was watching over her in a special way yesterday on her feast day…

Soon I’ll hear that sweet harmony,
Soon I’ll go to beautiful heaven to see you.
You who came to smile at me in the morning of my life,
Come smile at me again, Mother …
It’s evening now! ….
I no longer fear the splendor of your supreme glory.
With you I’ve suffered, and now I want
To sing on your lap, Mary, why I love you,
And to go on saying that I am your child !…..

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As it is the feast of St. Bonaventure (called the Seraphic Doctor of the Church), I thought to aquaint myself with his chapter on the Practice of Prayer from his book: Holiness of life : being St. Bonaventure’s treatise De perfectione vitæ ad sorores

But first, here is a Prayer for Communion written by him:

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the
most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true,
calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever
languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee,
may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be
dissolved and to be with Thee. Grant that my soul may
hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of
holy souls, our daily and supersubstantial bread, having
all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste. May my
heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels
desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with
the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee,
the fountain of life, the fountain of widsom and knowledge,
the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the
fulness of the house of God; may it ever compass Thee, seek
Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on
Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of
Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and
delight, with ease and affection, with perseverence to the
end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence,
my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and
tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my
refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my
possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart
be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

—————————

Now, here is his writing, De perfectione vitæ ad sorores Chapter V: THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER

The religious whose heart is cold and tepid
leads a wretched and useless life; nay, the tepid
religious, the religious who does not pray fer
vently and assiduously, scarcely lives at all.
His body lives, but in the sight of God it harbors
a dead soul. It follows then, that pray
erful habits are essential if the spouse of
Christ is to achieve her desires and advance to
wards perfection. The practice of prayer is a
virtue of such efficacy that of itself it can com
pletely subdue all the cunning devices of its
implacable enemy, the devil. It is the devil and
the devil alone who prevents the servant of
God from soaring above herself even unto the
heavens. There is, then, no reason for sur
prise that the religious who is not devoted to
the practice of constant prayer succumbs fre
quently to temptation.

St. Isidore realised this truth, for he says:
“Prayer is the remedy when temptations to sin
rage in the heart. Whenever you are tempted
to sin, pray, and pray earnestly. Frequent
prayer renders powerless the assaults of
vice.” 112 Our Lord gives similar advice in
the Gospel: “Watch ye and pray that ye
enter not into temptation.” 113 Devout prayer
is so powerful that it enables a man to win
whatever he wants. Winter and summer,
when times are stormy, when times are fair,
night and day, Sunday and Monday, in days
of health, in the hour of illness, in youth and
old age, standing, sitting and walking, in choir
and out of choir: in a word, never need the
efficacy of prayer fail. Indeed, at times, more
than the very world itself its worth may be
gained by one hour of prayer. By one little
devout prayer it is possible for a man to gain
Heaven.

I shall now discuss the nature of prayer.
Probably, in this matter I am more in need of
information than you are, still in so far as the
Lord inspires me, I shall tell you in what way
and manner you should pray.

(more…)

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“Lord, You know what is best; let this be done or that be done as You please. Give what You will, as much as You will, when You will. Do with me as You know best, as will most please You, and will be for Your greater honor. Place me where You will and deal with me freely in all things. I am in Your hand; turn me about whichever way You will. Behold, I am Your servant, ready to obey in all things. Not for myself do I desire to live, but for You - would that I could do this worthily and perfectly!”

– THOMAS A KEMPIS, From THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, Bk 3, chapter 15

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“When Abba Arsenius was in the palace, he prayed to
God, and said, “O Lord, direct me how to live”; and
a voice came to him, saying, “Arsenius, flee from
men, and thou shalt live.”

And when Arsenius was living the ascetic life in the
monastery, he prayed to God the same prayer, and again he
heard a voice saying unto him, “Arsenius, flee, keep silence,
and lead a life of silent contemplation, for these are the
fundamental causes which prevent a man from committing sin.”

A certain man said that there were once three men who
loved labours, and they were monks. The first one chose to go
about and see where there was strife, which he turned into
peace ; the second chose to go about and visit the sick ; but
the third departed to the desert that he might dwell in quiet
ness. Finally the first man, who had chosen to still the con
tentions of men, was unable to make every man to be at peace
with his neighbour, and his spirit was sad ; and he went to
the man who had chosen to visit the sick, and he found him
in affliction because he was not able to fulfil the law which he
had laid down for himself. Then the two of them went to the
monk in the desert, and seeing each other they rejoiced, and
the two men related to the third the tribulations which had
befallen them in the world, and entreated him to tell them how
he had lived in the desert. And he was silent, but after a little
he said unto them, “Come, let each of us go and fill a vessel
“of water”; and after they had filled the vessel, he said unto
them, “Pour out some of the water into a basin, and look
“down to the bottom through it,” and they did so. And he
said unto them, “What do ye see?” and they said, “We see
nothing.” And after the water in the basin had ceased to
move, he said to them a second time, “Look into the water,”
and they looked, and he said unto them, “What do ye see?”
And they said unto him, “We see our own faces distinctly”;
and he said unto them, “Thus is it with the man who dwelleth
with men, for by reason of the disturbance caused by
this affair of the world he cannot see his sins ; but if he live
in the peace and quietness of the desert he is able to see God
clearly.”"

- Compiled by Saint Athanasius (c. 297 - 373). From: Paradise or Garden of the Holy Fathers: Volume 1 Containing the Counsels of the Holy Men and the Questions & Answers of the Ascetic Brethren Generally Known as The Sayings of the Fathers of Egypt.

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I recall hearing the following informational before concerning the “titles” for each of the “hours”. Perhaps this happened years ago when I began my practice of the Liturgy of the Hours prayer and integrated it into my life, but I had since forgotten it. I will say that the good thing about lacking a proper memory and forgetting what you have already been taught is that you can get very excited about learning something wonderful all over again! It never even occurs to you that you have forgotten something and so you don’t feel bad about yourself!

I’m sure many, many people already know that praying the Divine Office is a way of participating in the salvation won in the death and resurrection of Christ. This prayer is a public and common prayer by the people of God and it is rightly considered to be among the primary duties of the Church. Now, notice, we say primary duties of the Church - not just Priest, nuns and consecrated religious! This prayer is for everyone!

Through the formation of the church prayer in common gradually took the form of a set cycle of hours. Now, in praying these hours, we find them a way to recall Christ’s passion. Each of the “seven hours” is linked to an aspect of Christ’s Passion:

• Matins — Office of Readings - The Agony in the Garden
• Laudes — Morning Prayer - Jesus is Condemned to Death
• Terce — Mid-morning - Scourging & Crowning with Thorns
• Sext — Mid-day - The Way of the Cross
• Noon – Mid-afternoon - The Crucifixion
• Vespers — Evening Prayer - Jesus taken down from the Cross
• Compline — Night Prayer - Jesus placed in the Tomb

So maybe you do not have time to participate in the liturgy by taking time out to recite the psalms, but you can always take a moment for reflection and meditation with your breviary and just think about Christ’s passion during these times of the day…

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Continued…..

Palladius, the author of the “Lives of the Fathers of the Desert,” experiencing great disgust in prayer, went seeking advice from the abbot Macarius. The saintly abbot gave him this counsel: “When you are tempted in times of dryness to give up praying because you seem to be wasting your time, say: ‘Since I cannot pray, I will be satisfied just to remain on watch here in my cell for the love of Jesus Christ!’ “Devout soul, you do the same when you are tempted to give up prayer just because you seem to be getting nowhere. Say: “I am going to stay here just to please God.” St. Francis de Sales used to say that if we do nothing else but banish distractions and temptations in our prayers, the prayer is well made. Tauler states that persevering prayer in time of dryness will receive greater grace than prayer made amid great sensible devotion.

Rodriguez cites the case of a person who persevered forty years in prayer despite aridity, and experienced great spiritual strength as a result of it; on occasion, when through aridity he would omit meditation he felt spiritually weak and incapable of good deeds. St. Bonaventure and Gerson both say that persons who do not experience the recollection they would like to have in their meditations, often serve God better than they would do if they did have it; the reason is that lack of recollection keeps them more diligent and humble; otherwise they would become puffed up with spiritual pride and grow tepid, vainly believing they had reached the summit of sanctity.

What has been said of dryness holds true of temptations also. Certainly we should strive to avoid temptations; but if God wishes that we be tempted against faith, purity, or any other virtue, we should not give in to discouraging lamentations, but submit ourselves with resignation to God’s holy will. St. Paul asked to be freed from temptations to impurity and our Lord answered him, saying: “My grace is sufficient for thee[6].”

So should we act when we find ourselves victims of unrelenting temptations and God seemingly deaf to our prayers. Let us then say: “Lord, do with me, let happen to me what thou wilt; thy grace is sufficient for me. Only never let me lose this grace.” Consent to temptation, not temptation of itself, can make us lose the grace of God. Temptation resisted keeps us humble, brings us greater merit, makes us have frequent recourse to God, thus preserving us from offending him and unites us more closely to him in the bonds of his holy love.

Finally, we should be united to God’s will in regard to the time and manner of our death. One day St. Gertrude, while climbing up a small hill, lost her footing and fell into a ravine below. After her companions had come to her assistance, they asked her if while falling she had any fear of dying without the sacraments. “I earnestly hope and desire to have the benefit of the sacraments when death is at hand; still, to my way of thinking, the will of God is more important. I believe that the best disposition I could have to die a happy death would be to submit myself to whatever God would wish in my regard. For this reason I desire whatever kind of death God will be pleased to send me.”

to be continued…..

Uniformity With God’s Will

Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri Chapter 6 — Spiritual Desolation.

“Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God: ‘Charity is the bond of perfection;’ and perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God’s.”

– St. Alphonsus

Translated by Thomas W. Tobin, C.SS.R

• [5] Eccli. 6:10.[6] 2 Corinthians 12:9.

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The time of spiritual desolation is also a time for being resigned. When a soul begins to cultivate the spiritual life, God usually showers his consolations upon her to wean her away from the world; but when he sees her making solid progress, he withdraws his hand to test her and to see if she will love and serve him without the reward of sensible consolations. “In this life,” as St. Teresa used to say, “our lot is not to enjoy God, but to do his holy will.” And again, “Love of God does not consist in experiencing his tendernesses, but in serving him with resolution and humility.” And in yet another place, “God’s true lovers are discovered in times of aridity and temptation.”

Let the soul thank God when she experiences his loving endearments, but let her not repine when she finds herself left in desolation. It is important to lay great stress on this point, because some souls, beginners in the spiritual life, finding themselves in spiritual aridity, think God has abandoned them, or that the spiritual life is not for them; thus they give up the practice of prayer and lose what they have previously gained. The time of aridity is the best time to practice resignation to God’s holy will. I do not say you will feel no pain in seeing yourself deprived of the sensible presence of God; it is impossible for the soul not to feel it and lament over it, when even our Lord cried out on the cross: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me[3]?” In her sufferings, however, the soul should always be resigned to God’s will.

The saints have all experienced desolations and abandonment of soul. “How impervious to things spiritual, my heart!” cries a St. Bernard. “No savor in pious reading, no pleasure in meditation nor in prayer!” For the most part it has been the common lot of the saints to encounter aridities; sensible consolations were the exceptions. Such things are rare occurrences granted to untried souls so that they may not halt on the road to sanctity; the real delights and happiness that will constitute their reward are reserved for heaven. This earth is a place of merit which is acquired by suffering; heaven is a place of reward and happiness. Hence, in this life the saints neither desired nor sought the joys of sensible fervor, but rather the fervor of the spirit toughened in the crucible of suffering. “O how much better it is,” says St. John of Avila, “to endure aridity and temptation by God’s will than to be raised to the heights of contemplation without God’s will!”

But you say you would gladly endure desolation if you were certain that it comes from God, but you are tortured by the anxiety that your desolation comes by your own fault and is a punishment for your tepidity. Very well, let us suppose you are right; then get rid of your tepidity and exercise more diligence in the affairs of your soul. But because you are possibly experiencing spiritual darkness, are you going to get all wrought up, give up prayer, and thus make things twice as bad as they are?

Let us assume that this aridity is a punishment for your tepidity. Was it not God who sent it? Accept your desolation, as your just desserts and unite yourself to God’s holy will. Did you not say that you merited hell? And now you are complaining? Perhaps you think God should send you consolations! Away with such ideas and be patient under God’s hand. Take up your prayers again and continue to walk in the way you have entered upon; for the future, fear lest such laments come from too little humility and too little resignation to the will of God. Therefore be resigned and say: “Lord, I accept this punishment from thy hands, and I accept it for as long as it pleases thee; if it be thy will that I should be thus afflicted for all eternity, I am satisfied.” Such a prayer, though hard to make, will be far more advantageous to you than the sweetest sensible consolations.

It is well to remember, however, that aridity is not always a chastisement; at times it is a disposition of divine providence for our greater spiritual profit and to keep us humble. Lest St. Paul become vain on account of the spiritual gifts he had received, the Lord permitted him to be tempted to impurity: “And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me[4].”

Prayer made amid sensible devotion is not much of an achievement: “There is a friend, a companion at the table, and he will not abide in the day of distress[5].” You would not consider the casual guest at your table a friend, but only him who assists you in your need without thought of benefit to himself. When God sends spiritual darkness and desolation, his true friends are known.

More tomorrow…

Uniformity With God’s Will

Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri Chapter 6 — Spiritual Desolation.

“Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God: ‘Charity is the bond of perfection;’ and perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God’s.”

– St. Alphonsus

Translated by Thomas W. Tobin, C.SS.R

• [3] Matthew 27:46.

  [4] 2 Corinthians 12:7.

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  2 Corinthians 12:9
  View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek

  9And he said to me: My grace is sufficient for thee; for power is made perfect in infirmity. Gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
  Matthew 27:46
  View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek

  46And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying: Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani? that is, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
  2 Corinthians 12:7
  View in: NAB NIV KJV NJB Vulg Greek

  7And lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.

“Because of the great,
infinite love which God has for all humankind,
he makes no distinction in love between the blessed soul of Christ
and the lowliest of the souls that are to be saved . . . .
We should highly rejoice that God dwells in our soul
and still more highly should we rejoice that our soul dwells in God.
Our soul is made to be God’s dwelling place,
and the dwelling place of our soul
is God who was never made.”

- Julian of Norwich

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AND hast thou left us, Sister, Mother, Wife,
Without a message or a brief farewell;
With work unfinish’d, with thy days untold,
With all thy redden’d fruitage hanging ripe I
Art thou so weary of the dusty road,
That though th’ allotted span is out of sight,
Thou needs must lie beside the way to sleep ?
I would not grudge thee, dear, to rest, but 0,
My heart is pierced to know that rest for aye!
I cannot lose thee, Sister; thou hast been
My refuge, staff, and comfort through rough ways,
When clouds and darkness swept across the stars,
And all my reckoning in thick gloom was lost.
We cannot lose thee, Mother. Who will lead
Thy children upward on the heavenly way;
Lead gently, firmly, with that guiding hand
Which moulds with wisdom, softens still with love I
Who shall inform thy sons with knightly mind,
Observance to all women, tenderness
With weak and fragile things—the patient strength
Of manhood? Who thy daughters hourly tend
With influence, refinement, knowledge, grace;

Till every natural gift perfected shine
With added culture, crown’d with woman’s crown
Of strength and meekness, framed with loving heart,
And pure religious earnestness of will ?
O, how to lose thee, loyal, loving Wife !
Or who shall gauge the loss of wedded love
Which thou, above all women I have known,
Distill’d from thy great heart in flowing streams !
Thy husband was thy lord, thy law, thy life;
To serve him was thy honour, thy best joy,
His will unspoken, spoken, still fulfill’d,
And all thy aim to bear the larger load.
Well may he praise thee, wifely, noble heart;
Thy children bless thee, Mother!
Yellow leaves
Are falling through the rain as thus I bid
Thy calm white face farewell. Again I tread
Life’s narrow road, and miss thee to the end.

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

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I came across this quote today which was attributed to St. Therese of Lisieux (though I can not find it translated directly this way). I guess it does not matter so much who wrote the words, what is beautiful ARE the words…

“Virgin full of grace,
I know that at Nazareth you lived modestly,
without requesting anything more.
Neither ecstasies, nor miracles, nor other
extraordinary deeds
enhanced your life,
O Queen of the Elect.

The number of the lowly, “the little ones,” is
very great on earth.
They can raise their eyes to you
without any fear.
You are the incomparable Mother
who walks with them along the common way
to guide them to heaven.

Beloved Mother
in this harsh exile,
I want to live always with you
and follow you every day.
I am enraptured by the contemplation of you
and I discover the depths of the love of your Heart.
All my fears vanish under your Motherly gaze,
which teaches me to weep and to rejoice!

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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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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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