Monthly Archives: March 2017

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Mar252017

Compline: Night Prayer

Now that the daylight dies away,
By all thy grace and love,
Thee, Maker of the world, we pray
To watch our bed above.
Let dreams depart and phantoms fly,
The offspring of the night,
Keep us, like shrines, beneath thine eye,
Pure in our foe’s despite.
This grace on thy redeemed confer,
Father, co-equal Son,
And Holy Ghost, the Comforter,
Eternal Three in One.

Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
–Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
-You have redeemed us, Lord God of truth.
–Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
– Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit.

Save us, Lord,
While we are awake;
Protect us while we sleep;
That we may keep watch with Christ
And rest with him in peace.

Now, Master, you let your servant go in peace.
You have fulfilled your promise.
My own eyes have seen your salvation,
Which you have prepared in the sight of all peoples.
A light to bring the Gentiles from darkness;
The glory of your people Israel.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.

Come to visit us, Lord, this night,
so that by your strength we may rise at daybreak
To rejoice in the resurrection of Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.

Hail, Queen of Heaven
Hail, Lady of the Angels.
Root of our salvation,
And our gateway to heaven,
The light of the world was born to you,
Be joyful, Virgin of Glory,
Most beautiful of all in heaven.
We greet you now, true beauty,
Pray for us to Christ.

Good night Holy Mother.
Lord, Jesus Christ,
Son of God,
Have mercy on me a sinner.

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Mar242017

The start of a Lenten novena

Most holy St. Jude–apostle, martyr and friend of Jesus, today I ask that you pray for the relenting of my thorns! You are the patron of the impossible. Pray for me! O St. Jude, pray that God’s grace and mercy will soothe my thorns. If it is God’s Will, pray for the impossible. Pray that I may have the grace to accept God’s holy will even if it is painful and difficult. St. Jude, you loved our Lord, help me to love Him more. O St. Jude, pray for me that I may grow in faith, hope and love and in the grace of Jesus Christ. Pray for the easing of my thorns. Implore Our Lord to remove the thorns, expose the wound, and let the scars be reminders. Not for the sake of comfort, yet for the opportunity to preserve peace, to abide within the silence of security, providing the opportunity to grow stronger in prayer and purity, becoming a channel of Christ’s love. I have known strife throughout my life. Pray St Jude that it is God’s Will to ease my burdens, granting the sanctifying grace to allow a humble harmonious prospering for the salvation of souls. Plead that Our Lord supplements personal freedom with the wisdom and understanding to concentrate upon an ever-growing devotion to Him and the strength to remain simple. Above all my concerns, pray that I may join you in heaven with God for all eternity. Amen.

O St. Jude, holy Apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, you are honored and petitioned by the universal Church, as the patron of desperate, hopeless and impossible cases. Pray for me. I am so helpless and alone. Intercede for me that Almighty God may bring swift aid where it is needed most. Come to my assistance in my great time of need! Pray for me that I may be given the comfort and help of Jesus. Most importantly, pray that I may one day join you and all of the saints in heaven to praise God in consolation, rest and joy for all eternity. Amen

I was searching for an image of St Jude when I came across the profound stare of this boy.  The sadness within innocence, the charm within suffering, everything was perfect in opening my heart, mind, and will to the determination to seek God’s assistance in confronting the thorns still digging into my life. A resolution to become a greater prayer warrior, a man of simpler demeanor and desires, further formation on into holiness.  Researching the photo it turns out the hospital is in New Haven, Connecticut, synchronizing with the significant other’s upbringing and our visit to the area. Allowing God to present Himself through others, I felt it appropriate to post the image.

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Mar232017

Seven final words

Now you may consider the seven words pronounced by Our Lord from the Cross.  Of these, the first was: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’.  The second was addressed to the thief: ‘This day thou shalt be with me in paradise’, in the third to His Most Holy Mother: ‘Woman, behold thy Son’.  The fourth: ‘I thirst’.  The fifth: ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’  The sixth: ‘It is consummated’.  The seventh: ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’.

Consider, O my soul, with what charity He, in these words, commends His enemies to the Father, with what mercy He welcomes the thief who recognized Him, with what immense love He recommends His pious mother to the beloved disciple, with what thirsting zeal He witnesses to His longing for the salvation of man, in what sorrowful tones He pronounces His prayer and lays His griefs before the divine Majesty, how to the end He remains in the most perfect submission to the Father, and how finally He recommends His soul to Him, and resigns Himself completely into His most holy keeping.  –St Peter of Alcantara ‘Treatise on Prayer & Meditation’

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Mar222017

Advancing Forward

Even when occupied with the ordinary duties of daily life, the soul should be interiorly gazing upon God and loving him (Jesus prayer). The presence of God should be especially felt during liturgical prayer and in the recitation of vocal prayer. The examination of conscience should be so implicit that a rapid glance reveals the faults and imperfections of the day: All external works should be performed with the spirit of prayer and with the ardent desire of giving glory to God, and even the most commonplace tasks should be permeated with the spirit of faith and love.

All the advantages of affective prayer over simple meditation are found as well in the prayer of simplicity, but noticeably increased. As affective prayer is an excellent preparation for the prayer of simplicity, so the latter is a disposition for infused contemplation. With much less effort than before, the soul achieves magnificent results in the practice of prayer. Thus, each new grade of prayer represents a new advance in the Christian life.  –Father Jordan Aumann ‘Spiritual Theology’

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Mar212017

Mary–Mother and Mediatrix

As long as you háve not leamed to know Mary and háve not given her your heart, you will remain in darkness because you can receive the Holy Spirit only in her and through her….Keep the exceptional teaching I am giving you hidden in the depths of your soul, and it will make you glow before the Lord like a magnificent torch. You will feel, you will understand that inasmuch as the Word made flesh, Jesus the Redeemer, was given to the world by Mary his Mother, it follows necessarily that we who are his members and his brothers, must be brought forth by her, not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. The Church, whose language is ordinarily mysterious–since she is obliged to speak in the manner in which God himself has spoken–teaches us that no grace, no power, no love, indeed nothing, absolutely nothing comes to us from God except through Mary….And that is an admirable, a sublime truth. –Father Jordan Aumann ‘Spirituál Theology’ O.P.

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Mar202017

Camaldolese: Simplicity and Soundness

Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  –John 15:13

…..Blessed Paul Giustiniani (regarded as a “second Romuald”) gathered followers about him to withdraw into solitude and silence and to engage in spiritual combat with the world, the flesh, and the devil for the salvation of souls. His reform of the eremitic life in Italy resulted in the formation of the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona…..underlying the Camaldolese hermit’s special call to perfection, a call that belongs to the very essence of the Church’s mission……”under the influence…many people will find the time and place for a desert experience in their lives. They then will not only discover God anew but will also discover the road to another person, to a husband, to a wife, to one another, to the community.”

“the desert (biblically speaking) has always been a shelter for all those sincerely seeking the truth” and who need to find their identity in Christ. “The desert indicates a decision to leave everything that is banal, hollow, and sinful in human existence… The fervent desire for our own conversion and salvation is the first condition of going out into the desert”. It is to “leave the paper world”, to reject the “vulgar illusions that tempt the modern world”, and to be freed from the superficialities of a “McDonald’s civilization”.

…..His penances and sufferings are united with those of Christ and the hermit “follows His Master on the Way of the Cross” for the salvation of souls. In his solitude, however, he is not severed from the temporal concerns of his fellow men; rather he remains vitally concerned with their social concerns and his “way of the desert” does not lead to the negation of authentic values in the world or of other people. The precious “gift of tears” may be vouchsafed him by the Holy Spirit who “allows his eyes to be filled with tears when he becomes aware of the painful lack of love and faith among Christians.”

“Someone who is empty cannot stand up to the emptiness of the desert… Nobody goes to the desert in order to look for prestige, acceptance, success or fame. Such reasons would quickly lead to madness or demonic possession”.

The Camaldolese vocation is rather for the psychologically balanced, for those who seek union with God, the “Absolute Presence”, and are “fascinated with the Lord’s beauty, which becomes perceivable and clear only for a heart transformed by the power of grace”. There are some wise cautions regarding the temptation to seek “the land of pure spirituality”. The hermit is not a gnostic…..

“Catholic mysticism has never meant contemplating one’s own self… The hermit does not try to use any mystical techniques of breathing, mantras, visualizations, or the tantra… When the hermit wants to pray, he does not follow any specific procedures such as taking certain body positions, regulating his breath, or purging his mind. His method of prayer is not to have any method at all. He closes the door of his cell and begs God for the gift of the Word and the Spirit that would enable him to perceive in faith the merciful and simple presence of the Father.”  A Camaldolese 

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