Prayer of Saint Bonaventure ~Meditation II

"...Let my heart ever hunger after Thee,

upon Whom the angels desire to Look.

And my my inmost soul be filled

with the sweetness of Thy savor.

May my soul ever thirst after Thee, the fountain of life,

the fountain of wisdom and knowledge,

the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure,
the richness of the house of our Blessed Lord."

 
 Saint Bonaventure said, 

"He who wishes to go on advancing 

from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, 

should constantly meditate upon 
the passion of Jesus Christ."

Imitating God's Love

     Our Heavenly Father's love for us infinitely surpasses any human comprehension. As parents, loving our children is and always will be our unifying priority. Our children are a singular Divine gift. In this role, we are blessed with the sublime obligation to imitate His love for us.

     Awaiting the results of our daughter's medical procedure zapped everything into perspective. The monumental significance of our being with her, united, and peacefully caring for her, undeniably radiated from her countenance. Our God given responsibility to love and protect our children can only be measured in Heavenly terms. Whatever pursuits have captured our attention during this life's journey, we are first and foremost our children's parents. This will never change. 

         God's love letter to us commands us to forgive, love and pray for one another. We are assured by our Almighty Father of the power of intercessory prayer and angelic protection. As Christians, we firmly believe in the eternity of our souls. 

       As events unfolded, beloved and "mommy"  prayer warriors were contacted. Holy men and women of God, deceased family members included, were implored for their intercession. 

        Atheists and nay sayers be cautioned: the supernatural presence of Jesus, Mary and all the angels and saints was intensely tangible throughout this familial crisis. At each moment, no minute detail was untouched by the indefatigable direction of the Holy Spirit as he supernaturally orchestrated every thought, word and action. Catastrophic imaginings and hours of waiting mystically dissolved into gentle seas of grace filled, trusting, gratitude, as hearts were lifted up in tranquil, obedient worship and prayer. Blessed be the Holy Name of Jesus forever!

Wood carving of Saint Kateri, 

Saint Anne Shrine, VT

      I recently met an amazingly holy woman. She told me that she was so grateful to God that her children's needs continually drew her heart more intimately into the Sacred Heart of Jesus through adoration and prayer. 

May our most ardent prayer be 

to peacefully and entirely accept and conform ourselves 

to the Will of our Almighty God. 

May all that Our Father sends us, draw our souls safely 

into His eternal embrace! 

The outcome of all spiritual tests belongs to God. 

God is love.

Fifteen Promises of the Rosary~The Thirteenth Promise

     The Thirteenth Promise that Mary has obtained from her Divine Son to those who are faithful advocates of the Rosary prayer shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death.  An angel comforted with Jesus at the time of His fast and strengthened Him during His agony in the garden. An angel greeted Mary Magdalene in the garden after His resurrection.

 

     Jesus said, "For where there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them".(Matthew 18:20 DRB) Whenever we pray, we are personally accompanied by our guardian Angel who is always with us.  We are told in the Psalms that there is no where that we can "flee" from the presence of the Spirit of God (Psalm 138:7)  Furthermore, as Christians we believe in the Communion of Saints and that our souls are eternal. Therefore, all of the saints and martyrs who have gone before us continually pray for us. Our Blessed Mother is the Queen of all of the Angels and Saints. Having been the closest to Jesus throughout his life, she is the powerful intercessor on our behalf. We are never alone. Jesus has promised us that He will never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) 

    

Mothers and Prayers

     Our Blessed Mother's constant intercession is a beautiful example of praying throughout all circumstances.

     Watching the late Mother Angelica's facial expression as she prayed the Saint Michael's Chaplet, I realized the power of every determined, praying mom. Birth moms, adoptive moms, spiritual moms, grand moms, aunts, sisters, Mother Superiors and mentors are all women whose prayers are more powerful than we realize. I am sure that the adversary does anything possible to distract, divert and derail the prayers of these most powerful warriors. When we pray we are on the "front lines" of battle. That's why so many times, our best efforts seem to be thwarted by the unexpected. Saint Teresa of Avila advised "In time of sorrow and trouble cease not from the good works of prayer and penance which thou art in the habit of doing, for Satan is striving to make thee uneasy, and then to abandon them: on the contrary, do thou apply thyself thereunto more earnestly than before, and thou shalt see quickly our Lord will come to thy succor."

A Very Special Novena

A very special Novena

St. Therese's life of humble sacrifice

her devotion to Jesus

her passion for His Mission 

 gentle reminders

of her prayerful intercession

Saint of "the little way"

About Wisdom...

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

 and the knowledge of the holy is prudence."

Proverbs 9:10

Douay Rheims Roman Catholic Bible

      "And all such things are hid and not forseen, I have learned: for wisdom, which is the worker of all things taught me. For in her is the spirit of understanding, holy, one, manifold, subtile, eloquent, active, undefiled, sure sweet, loving that which is good, quick, which nothing hindereth, beneficient, gentle, kind, steadfast, assured, secure, having all power, overseeing all thingsm and containing all spirits, intelligible, pure, subtile. For wisdom is more active than all active things, and reacheth everywhere by reason of her purity. For she is a vapour of the poser of God and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God, and therefore no defiled thing cometh into her. For she is the brightness of eternal light and the unspotted mirror of God's Majesty, and the image of His goodness. And being but onem she can do all things, and remaining in herself the same she reneweth all things and through nations conveyeth herselfo into holy souls, she maketh the friends of God and prophets. For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom. For she is more beautiful than the sun and above all the order of the stars, being compared with the light, she is found before it. For after this cometh light, but no evil can overcome wisdom."

Wisdom  7: 21-29

Douay Rheims Roman Catholic Bible

hermanas

 

Humility, Love, Obedience

  Mary's humility, love and obedience to Our Blessed Lord are unparalleled. God's design leaves no other avenue of fully imitating Jesus without Mary. If God wanted Jesus to simply appear to us, He'd have just dropped Him off on a mountaintop. We have been so blessed by the wondrous journey of Mary's Immaculate Conception, the miraculous conception of Jesus, the Nativity, the upbringing of Jesus and Our Lady's never interfering with His becoming the Sacrificial Lamb. We too, are molded by Mary. It is impossible to truly obey Jesus without imitating Mary.

(Icon written by a Secular Carmelite) 

     The life changing power of praying the Hail Mary is immeasurable. This ancient and beautiful prayer, the words of which we find in scripture, keeps the focus away from the ego and directs the soul to Our Blessed Lord. I am certain that the sound of these lovely words, spoken by the Archangel Gabriel and Saint Elizabeth~even when we pray the Hail Mary mentally~causes the devil to cringe. This prayer pokes holes in his agenda to distract us from God's love.

   We are never without help whenever we pray the Rosary. Our guardian angels even help us to pray. Through this prayer, we experience God's miracles in our lives...the greatest miracle being a personal relationship with Jesus!

Hail Mary full of grace

The Lord is with thee

Blessed art thou among women

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God

Pray for us sinners

Now and at the hour of our death.

Amen