INSPIRATION FROM THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

Remember that Jesus has gone before you bearing His cross and has given His life for you upon that cross, so that you may bear your own cross and long to die on it for the love of Him. For if you die with Him, you will also live with Him; and if you have shared His suffering, you will also share His glory.

Behold how in the cross there is all and how all depends on our dying there; for there is no other way to life and interior peace except by way of the cross and by daily mortification. You can go anywhere you will, seek whatever you wish, but you will not find a higher road above nor safer road below than the road of the holy cross. 
Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chap. 12, No. 3



Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Prayer to Our Lady Health of the Sick

Photo: R. Massaro (c) Spirit Singing-St. Rose Church Girard, Ohio

Our Lady, Health of the Sick,
I look to you for the comfort of a mother's love,
I pray to you on behalf of those who are suffering
and for my own healing needs.

Mary, your love strengthens me
and brings me peace.

Our Lady, Health of the Sick,
embrace all who are emotionally and physically ill that they may return to
good health under your tender care. And please intercede for my very
special needs. (mention your needs here).

Mary, your love strengthens me and brings me peace.

Our Lady, Health of the Sick, pray for us.  Amen.


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro-Our Lady of Cedars Church Akron Ohio (C)2020 Spirit Singing

This is an ancient prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary called the “Sub Tuum Praesidium.” It is the oldest known prayer to Our Lady asking her intercession. This prayer is older than the Hail Mary prayer.This ancient prayer is attributed to the discovery of a 3rd century Egyptian papyrus, a small scrap of papyrus with brown ink, dated between the years 250 AD-280 AD.

Here is the prayer:

We fly to Thy protection,
O Holy Mother of God;
Do not despise our petitions
in our necessities,
but deliver us always
from all dangers,
O Glorious and Blessed Virgin.
Amen.

Most Holy Mother of God, Mother of the Church, pray for us!


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

The Prayer of St. Padre Pio

Photo: R. Massaro (c)2020 Spirit Singing

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life and without You I am without fervour.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much and always be in Your company.

Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes, death, judgment and eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You. Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more. With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.

(Prayed by St. Pio after he received Holy Communion)

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

INSPIRATION FROM THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

Photo: R. Massaro (c)Spirit Singing

Lift up your eyes to God in heaven and beg His forgiveness for your sins. Abandon idle things to idle minds and concern yourself only with what is God's will for you. Close your door and call to your beloved Jesus. Remain with Him in your room, opening your heart completely to Him; for nowhere else will you find so much peace.

Imitation of Christ Book 1:8.






Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

INSPIRATION FROM THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

Photo: R. Massaro (C)Spirit Singing

In silence and stillness the devout soul advances and learns the hidden truths of Scripture. There it finds the salutary tears that wash away the guilt of sin, so that it grows more intimate with God as it severs itself from the clamor of the world. The more you keep away from friends and acquaintances, the more our Lord and His Angels will draw near to you.

The Imitation of Christ, Book 1:6.







Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Stained Glass Scapulars-Reflections on the Secular Carmelite Rule

Please enjoy this post from the archives of Spirit Singing

Photo: R. Massaro (C) 2017 Spirit Singing

From Poustinia by Servant of God, Catherine de Hueck Doherty:

If we are to witness to Christ in today's marketplaces, where there are constant demands on our whole person, we need silence. If we are to be always available, not only physically, but by empathy, sympathy, friendship, understanding and boundless caritas, we need silence. To be able to give joyous, unflagging hospitality, not only of house and food, but of mind, heart, body and soul, we need silence.

True silence is the search of man for God.

True silence is a suspension bridge that a soul in love with God builds to cross the dark, frightening gullies of its own mind, the strange chasms of temptation, the depthless precipices of its own fears that impede its way to God.

True silence is the speech of lovers...

What wonderful words of wisdom from Servant of God, Catherine.  As Secular Carmelites,  we should exclaim, "Spoken like a true Carmelite, Catherine."  Although her book was published in 1975, her writings are certainly prophetic in nature. She understands clearly the spiritual problems that can arise in a technological society. She understands the current age; the attachment to materialism, individualism, relativism and a deep lack of desire for solitude and prayer.  The first line of the excerpt above speaks right from the heart of St. Teresa of Jesus who teaches us that prayer and contemplation are gifts given to strengthen us for service.

She is also very Carmelite in nature when she writes of the desert and the poustinia as a state of being. She writes that poustinia is a condition of the heart and soul of a man or woman. How do we find this place of the heart where God dwells? Her teaching is that we need to stand still. "Stand still, and allow the strange, deadly restlessness of our tragic age to fall away like the worn-out, dusty cloak that it is...the restlessness was considered the magic carpet to tomorrow, but now in reality we see it for what it is: a running away from oneself..."

We can now turn to our Carmelite saints and their teaching for more on this "standing still" spirituality. Who, but Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity, the holy Carmelite of the "Indwelling of the Trinity," speaks of this "chapel of the heart" where we can enter anytime and find intimate friendship with God. It is the chapel that is always available to us through prayer and contemplation.  It is the place where we enter to adore the living God present in our soul. 

She writes: I think that in Heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within which will allow God to communicate Himself to them and to transform them into Himself.

"To keep them in this great silence..." this is the teaching of Catherine also: at first such silences will be few and far between. But if nourished with a life of liturgical prayer, mental prayer, with the sacramental life of the Church, slowly, slowly, like a seedling of a mighty tree, silence will grow and come to dwell in a soul more and more often. Then suddenly, it will come to stay one day.

Yes, this is what we are seeking: union with God. The union of Martha and Mary. The union of the active and contemplative life. We are called to be missionaries in the marketplace while possessing the silent heart of a contemplative. These two are joined by the Holy Spirit who go about their daily activities united with the Beloved, so that all things are done through Him, with Him, and in Him.

Secular Carmelites are called to a little "poustinia" each day. We are called to 1/2 hour of mental prayer. Many followers of Carmelite spirituality will confess that they have a difficult time being faithful to the time of prayer that is required of us.  We need to stop looking at this requirement as an obligation (although it is) and look at it as a joyful entrance into silence where God meets us face-to-face, where we can, in Catherine's words, "shed the cloak of restlessness" and experience the peace of heart that God offers to us in prayer.

Let us pray for each other, that we be faithful to our commitment to prayer. Remember, this gift is not for ourselves alone, but for the entire Body of Christ.  It is our gift to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Please, let us be generous givers of God's gifts.

Catherine Doherty is the founder of Madonna House.  Here is a movie about this foundation entitled "The People of the Towel and Water:






Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds