Monthly Archives: December 2017

Dec032017

Advent commence

O Savior, rend the heavens wide;
Come down, come down with mighty stride;
Unlock the gates, the doors break down;
Unbar the way to heaven’s crown.

O Morning Star, O radiant Dawn,
When will we sing your morning song?
Come, Son of God! Without your light
We grope in dread and gloom of night.

Sin’s dreadful doom upon us lies;
Grim death looms fierce before our eyes.
Oh, come, lead us with mighty hand
From exile to our promised land.

There shall we all our praises bring
And sing to you, our Savior King;
There shall we laud you and adore
Forever and forevermore.

An Advent Wreath I put together. The candles were purchased from Root Candle outlet store in Medina, Ohio. The wreath and candle holders were bought at Seconds City, a consignment store in Middleburg Heights. Everything cost under $20.

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Dec032017

The Three Enemies

poem by Christina Roaaetti

THE FLESH

“Sweet, thou art pale.”
“More pale to see,
Christ hung upon the cruel tree
And bore His Father’s wrath for me.”

“Sweet, thou art sad.”
“Beneath a rod
More heavy, Christ for my sake trod
The winepress of the wrath of God.”

“Sweet, thou art weary.”
“Not so Christ:
Whose mighty love of me suffic’d
For Strength, Salvation, Eucharist.”

“Sweet, thou art footsore.”
“If I bleed,
His feet have bled; yea in my need
His Heart once bled for mine indeed.”

THE WORLD

“Sweet, thou art young.”
“So He was young
Who for my sake in silence hung
Upon the Cross with Passion wrung.”

“Look, thou art fair.”
“He was more fair
Than men, Who deign’d for me to wear
A visage marr’d beyond compare.”

“And thou hast riches.”
“Daily bread:
All else is His: Who, living, dead,
For me lack’d where to lay His Head.”

“And life is sweet.”
“It was not so
To Him, Whose Cup did overflow
With mine unutterable woe.”

THE DEVIL

“Thou drinkest deep.”
“When Christ would sup
He drain’d the dregs from out my cup:
So how should I be lifted up?”

“Thou shalt win Glory.”
“In the skies,
Lord Jesus, cover up mine eyes
Lest they should look on vanities.”

“Thou shalt have Knowledge.”
“Helpless dust!
In Thee, O Lord, I put my trust:
Answer Thou for me, Wise and Just.”

“And Might.”—
“Get thee behind me. Lord,
Who hast redeem’d and not abhorr’d
My soul, oh keep it by Thy Word.”

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Dec022017

A Mother’s point of view

You’ll Find It Very Handy

When the guestmaster asked me what my spiritual practice was, I told him, “The Rosary. I’ve been saying that every day for years. I have a great devotion to Our Lady.”

“Would you like to meet her?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she’s right over there, the door at the end of the cloister.”

“You mean I could have an appointment?”

“No appointment, just go in.” I did. There she was, no mistaking it. She remained in her chair, but her eyes and face embraced me as if I were her infant. Then she spoke my name. That surprised me. Why did that surprise me, when I had been praying to her for so many years? I was speechless. She took my head to her heart.

Then after a bit she began to speak. It was reminiscing. She went back to my infancy, told me about my parents, my childhood, adolescence, then went right up to the present. But she saw it all so differently. It was a total reinterpretation of my life. Finally, she said, “Before you go, I want to give you something. It’s my Amen. You’ll find it very handy. You can use it in all sorts of situations. You can apply it to persons and memories. It will grow with use, and hopefully some day you will say the Great Amen.”

I live now in the embrace of those eyes. Daily I use her Amen. Please pray for me that some day I may dare to say the Great Amen.

‘Tales of a Magic Monastery’ Theophane the Monk

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Dec012017

Moving out into the world

Unknown author supplied by a man from the Sacred Heart men’s group.

…spend time in the presence of the One. We simply allow ourselves to fill with the presence of God. In this process where our thoughts, actions, and beliefs vis-à-vis the world are our text, we do the same: Having offered up our awareness, and having listened in contemplative prayer for guidance and for gentle invitation, we can simply rest in a place of gratitude for the presence of the Divine in our lives and in the world. Emerging from this contemplation, compassion can fill our being as we become one with the broken world. In his works on lectio divina, the late Trappist monk and priest M. Basil Pennington notes, “In this encounter with God our whole being is opened up to experience the brokenness of all creation. We find ourselves united not only with God but with all who live”. This inner work (breathing in) is necessary and important preparation for the next phase of operatio, the external work of breathing out and moving into the world.

Operatio: Acting on God’s Word

This is the stage where we take our inner work into the world. “It is the moment…when we end our prayer and return to daily life”….this return to the world and to daily life is not so much ending our prayer as it is moving to a different form of prayer. It is, to continue the analogy of the breath, the completion of the breath cycle. As we move off cushion, what is Spirit inviting us to do or to be differently in response to the lectio process?…It is the time for prayer action. As a spiritual director, I cannot tell my directees what standing differently in the world might involve for them. I cannot tell them what they should do or be. I can only invite them into a process that opens them to Spirit to illumine the path…my work is simply to facilitate my spiritual directees’ openness to the invitation of Spirit to engage in the external world however the Divine invites, as part of their contemplative practice.

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