Reconstructed monk’s cell at the Evangelization Museum

of San Miguel

Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico

It thus appears that, as regards to prayer, our union with Christ is of more importance than our fluency or feeling of fervor,

and matters more than our freedom from distraction.

 

If distractions therefore, are involuntary, but are accepted as a trial permitted by God for His own wise ends, then,

in so far as they unite us to Christ by suffering in accordance with the will of God, they are a

help rather than otherwise to our prayer. 

 

Actually if a soul goes to prayer in order to give itself to God, with it’s mind made up to attend to God and to nothing else as far as it can do so and is resigned to whatever trials or aridity or distraction that Providence permits, it’s prayer,

even though it seems to be a complete failure and almost waste of time, is nevertheless a most pleasing holocaust in God’s sight, which will bring down many graces upon the soul and advance it much towards union with God.

 

—Difficulties in Mental Prayer, Dom Eugene Boylan  p 82

 

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 Benedict XVI

“In our prayer, the Holy Spirit grants us the glorious freedom of the children of God, the hope and strength to remain faithful to the Lord amid our daily trials and tribulations.”

He also called for a personal reflection, by saying that people often want what’s best for them, but they don’t necessarily act in a way that promotes what’s best.

—Rome Reports

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Pentecost

Hans Multscher

                  c. 1437

“So God may move the hearts of the powerful and bring them to a better understanding!” These are the words of the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), inviting contemplative religious orders and Christians worldwide to pray for peace in Sudan.”

The call to prayer for peace in Sudan applies to the nine days leading up to this year’s Feast of Pentecost.

 

Starting on May 17, thousands want to pray for this matter of vital concern.

 

Pentecost Novena is oriented to the gathering of Mary, the Mother of God, and the Apostles 2000 years ago. They asked for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which also means peace for all peoples.

 

Sudan needs this peace more urgently than ever, as the retired Bishop of Torit in South Sudan, Msgr. Paride Taban, emphasized to Aid to the Church in Need: “The clashes of the past weeks threaten the development of South Sudan and the reconstruction work of the international community.”

 

“The people have suffered long enough. They want peace at last!”

Aid to the Church in Need invites Christians and people of good will to join the campaign.

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Now brethren, we urge you to praise God. That is what we are all telling each other when we say,

 Alleluia.  

—St Augustine      

When I’m surrounded by the beauty of creation with no distractions, it’s easy to see how even the plants and animals are fulfilling in their natures everything they are created to be and returning it all to God. The beauty is in the ease of their instinct. There is no deliberation, no angst about what God has made them to be. They just…..are.

You founded the earth on it’s base to stand firm from age to age,

and wrapped it with the ocean like a cloak.

—Ps 104: 5-6a

 

 

• swimming in the crystal clear blue green waters of the Gulf….wrapped in it’s coolness like a cloak {191}
• seeing one white ghost crab slip past my feet {192}
• waiting for the dolphins to show up for their morning feeding {193}
• red beaked American Oystercatchers conspicuously poking along the shore for …. what their name says {194}
• hearing the innocence of joy in laughter from children on the beach {195}
• the black algae bloom that washed ashore and non Floridians thought was oil {196}
• praising the Lord on the beach at sunset, with the western sky on fire {197}
• curly hair…and I don’t care {198}
• learning the history of the island…  500 years ago, Ponce de Leon founded and named the island Ana-Maria-Cay in honor of the Virgin Mary and her Mother, Anne {199}
• giving myself permission to rest–nowhere to be, no one to minister to, no laptop {200}
• finding the remote restaurant recommended by the locals. It looked like a haunted hut dangling from the edge of a pier, but it was the best fish ever {201}

The great principle of the interior life is this peace of the soul and it must be preserved with such care, that the moment it its attacked all else must be put aside and every effort made to regain this holy peace, just as, in an outbreak of fire everything else is neglected to hasten to extinguish the flames….

—-Jean-Pierre de Caussade

Today begins the St Rita Solemn Novena, from Sunday May 13th- May 21st. St Rita of Cascia was known as a healer, reconciler and peacemaker. She is a model of obedience to God’s will and on this Mother’s Day a special example of what it means to live a life of untiring patience as a Christian mother and wife.

Antonio and Amata Lotti, natives of Roccaporena, a tiny village in the Umbrian Hills of the republic of Cascia, were well-respected peacemakers in their town who welcomed their only child, Margherita in 1381.  In the local dialect, her name meant “pearl” and she was known as Rita.  Baptized in the church of St. Augustine in Cascia, Rita became acquainted with the local Augustinian nuns of St. Mary Magdalene and was attracted to their way of life.  But her parents arranged a marriage for her in order to provide safety and security, and so Rita obediently married Paolo Mancini with whom she had two sons.

 

In the climate of the times, there was often open conflict between families, and her husband Paolo was murdered.  Her sons were young, but the expectation would be for them eventually to avenge the murder of their father to defend family honor.  Rita, influenced by the peacemaking example of her parents, pledged to forgive her husband’s killers.  She faced a steep challenge, however, in convincing her sons to do the same.  Tradition has it that she often pointed out to them the image of the crucified Christ and the fact that he forgave those who killed him.  Within a year, however, both sons succumbed to a deadly illness leaving Rita not only a widow, but also childless.  Following these tragedies, Rita placed her trust in God, accepting them and relying on her deep faith to find her way.  After eighteen years of marriage, Rita felt called to a second but familiar vocation, to religious life in the Augustinian convent.

—More

Novena Prayers to St Rita

St Rita is also an advocate of impossible cases.  In these uncertain times in which we live may our plea for her intercession help all mothers be heroic in love and sacrifice for their families.

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Of all the fishes in the sea our Lord chose the lowly sailcat to remind us of his misery. His body on the cross is outlined, the hilt of the sword which was plunged into his side is clearly defined. Look at the back of the fishes bone where the Roman shield is shown. When you shake the cross you will hear the dice being tossed for our Lords blood stained dress, those who can hear them – will be blessed.

—Conrad S. Lantz

 

I saw one of these on my recent vacation. The wonders of created beauty never cease to amaze me. From the bones of the lowly sailcat the Lord reached out to me in my present sufferings. He reminded me that to trust Him is a sacrifice, and rather than worry about things that are out of my control, give them gently to God for His providential love can bring good out of the most difficult circumstances.

Jesus, You deserve my trust, so I bring you all my fears and insecurities about the future. You have brought me through trials much more difficult than what I now have to bear.

We don’t have to shake the cross and hear the dice being tossed.

We can just stand under it and trust–because of the blood that was shed for us.

We will be blessed.

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May 10, 2012. (Rome  Reports) Even though Hildegard of Bingen was already on the list of Catholic saints, she had not been officially canonized. So to remove all doubt, Benedict XVI extended the liturgical cult of St. Hildegard of Bingen, to the Universal Church, which automatically inscribes her in the catalogue of saints.

Hildegard of Bingen was  a German Benedictine nun born in Bermershein in 1089 and who died in Rupertsberg on 17 Septemeber 1179.  She’s mostly known for her religious visions and prophecies. She lived in the XI and XII century, but even so, her message is still quite alive. The Pope has talked about her and her message in two general audiences.

Also, in coming months, the Pope is considering declaring her a Doctor of the Church for her high intelligence and feminine sensibility.

St. Hildegard was one of the most active women of her time. She wrote about theology and morals, but also about medicine and science. She even found the time to compose 78 musical pieces.

 

 

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 No More Camouflage Catholics

American Bishops from states as diverse as Montana, Oregon and Alaska are in Rome this week for their regular visits ad limina apostolorum, ‘to the threshold of the Apostles’. “The ad limina apostolorum is a time for each Bishop to re-connect with the Holy Father and the See of Peter,” said Bishop George Leo Thomas of Helena, Montana. He said the visit reminds Bishops of the “apostolic foundations” of their ministry, and serves as a retreat for the prelates.

 

 

Bishop Thomas spoke to Christopher Wells about the efforts made in his diocese to promote the New Evangelisation. “We’re beginning, first of all, by mobilising the diocesan clergy. They’re really the key to bringing the vision of the New Evangelisation to the people. So our presbyteral council – our priest council in our own diocese – and I are working together to create a very concerted plan in this upcoming Year of Faith, that would help each Catholic reclaim his or her own baptismal promise and identity as a Catholic, and then to very courageously invite others to see and taste the goodness of the Lord.”

 

 

He said, “My message, of course over and over again, is: No more ‘camouflage Catholics’ in our diocese! Mediocrity, the lukewarm spirit, is an enemy of the Church.” But, he added, his message is a very positive one: “The Church in the Northwest is very intentional, very dynamic… So I see it as a springtime in the Church.”

 

 

Bishop Thomas concluded with a call to Catholics throughout the world: “One thing that I would certainly want to share with the people of our own diocese, but certainly across the country and the world, and that is to take seriously your own individual call to holiness your personal encounter with Christ, and to remain very steeped in the sacramental life of the Church. It is an emancipating and joyful life as a Catholic.”

 

 

—Via ~ The Vatican Today news.va

 

My husband is taking me to an island somewhere for a few days. Ask me–do I want to come back?…The answer is yes…and no. That’s when I know it’s time to get away; when I know I need some time to pray and clear my head. There are times I’d love to camouflage myself and just go along to get along. It would be a lot easier….but, the Lord allows His servants to feel weariness in the battle as long as we don’t grow weary of doing good. (Gal 6:9) It all depends on His grace anyway and it’s all for His Glory.

Mediocrity, the lukewarm spirit, is an enemy of the Church.

Lord help me to come back rested and ready to live a truly emancipated, authentic, joyful Catholic life, without any sophisticated disguises.

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The “Little Crown” of the Blessed Virgin: A May devotion

 

May is set aside as Mary’s Month, a time in which we honor the various privileges given the Mother of God by the three Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity. In the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, this month concludes with the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which we recall the Coronation of our Lady as the Queen of heaven and earth, the Queen of all hearts.

A once common devotional prayer, known as the “Little Crown” of the Blessed Virgin Mary, honors the triple crown of twelve stars which our Lady received from God upon her bodily assumption into heaven (cf. Revelation 12:1).  This little prayer takes only a few minutes to pray (it is much shorter than the Rosary) and would be a wonderful way for a devout soul to honor the Mother of God in the month dedicated to her.

—-Read More

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Know and Impart the Faith

 

“If you want to teach and train your children, you must know your faith. You must grasp and understand the faith. Read the 14th Chapter of St. Matthew where our Lord tells the parable of the sower sowing seeds. Seeds fell on four kinds of ground. The first three kinds were unfruitful. As Jesus said, birds came along and picked up the seed, and nothing grew. The disciples asked Jesus for the meaning. The Lord explained that the seeds falling on the wayside are those persons who have received the Word of God into their hearts and fail to understand it, and therefore the evil one comes along and steals it from their hearts.

 

That is why America now has millions of ex-Catholics. They have never understood their faith.

 

I have strong encouragement from the Holy See to train parents. You are all welcome to learn your faith so that you grasp and understand your faith. Then God will use you to teach your children as a channel of faith. Teach, not only by rote memory, but to grasp the faith.

 

Many Catholics, before they finish college, discard their faith as a remnant of childhood. They don’t understand. I myself had 16 years of Jesuit education, and 15 more years before I started teaching. There are oceanic depths to our faith, and you must learn as much as you can, so that God will use you as an effective channel of grace so you can communicate your faith to your offspring.”

 

—via ~Archives Father John Hardon, SJ

 

 

For this very reason,

make every effort to add to your faith virtue;

and to virtue, knowledge;

and to knowledge,

self-control; and to self-control,

perseverance;

and to perseverance,

godliness;

and to godliness,

brotherly kindness;

and to brotherly kindness, charity.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

—I Peter 1:5-8

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