Here is a beautiful poem By Kathleen Raine found in the Liturgy of the Hours. Enjoy this Advent meditation on the mystery of the Annunciation and the Incarnation. 

Photo: (C) Spirit Singing, R. Massaro, St. Hilary Church Akron, Ohio

Northumbrian Sequence IV

Let in the wind,
Let in the rain,
Let in the moors tonight,

The storm beats on my window-pane,
Night stands at my bed-foot,
Let in the fear,
Let in the pain,
Let in the trees that toss and groan,
Let in the north tonight.

Let in the nameless formless power
That beats upon my door,
Let in the ice, let in the snow,
The banshee howling on the moor,
The bracken-bush on the bleak hillside,
Let in the dead tonight.

The whistling ghost behind the dyke,
The dead that rot in the mire,
Let in the thronging ancestors,
The unfilled desire,
Let in the wraith of the dead earl,
Let in the dead tonight.

Let in the cold,
Let in the wet,
Let in the loneliness,
Let in the quick,
Let in the dead,
Let in the unpeopled skies.

Oh how can virgin fingers weave
A covering for the void,
How can my fearful heart conceive
Gigantic solitude?
How can a house so small contain
A company so great?

Let in the dark,
Let in the dead,
Let in your love tonight.

Let in the snow that numbs the grave,
Let in the acorn-tree,
The mountain stream and mountain stone,
Let in the bitter sea.

Fearful is my virgin heart
And frail my virgin form,
And must I then take pity on
The raging of the storm
That rose up from the great abyss
Before the earth was made,
That pours the stars in cataracts
And shakes this violent world?

Let in the fire,
Let in the power,
Let in the invading might.

Gentle must my fingers be
And pitiful my heart
Since I must bind in human form
A living power so great,
A living impulse great and wild
That cries about my house
With all the violence of desire
Desiring this my peace.

Pitiful my heart must hold
The lonely stars at rest,
Have pity on the raven’s cry,
The torrent and the eagle’s wing,
The icy water of the tarn
And on the biting blast.

Let in the wound,
Let in the pain,
Let in your child tonight.

-by Kathleen Raine

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

THREE WORDS OF WISDOM

I LOOK FORWARD

Today, as we celebrate the end of the liturgical year in the church, we will now turn our attention to the season of Advent and prepare for the coming of the Lord. The Church helps us to prepare to celebrate Christmas by having the people of God enter into a time of retreat, the Advent season.  As a point of reflection we may ask ourselves, Do I look forward to Advent and the time of prayer and reflection it offers? If not, what do I look forward to?

We can tell something about a person when we find out what sorts of things they look forward to. I'm sure we all have relatives and friends who tell us they are looking forward to watching their favorite sports team, or some people look forward to a shopping trip or seeing the latest movie. Some look forward to seeing children and grandchildren. These can all be good things to look forward to.

Let's look at this desire on a deeper and spiritual level. Spiritually, what do we look forward to?  Do we look forward to going to Mass, Adoration, or Confession?  Or each Sunday, is it an effort to drag myself out of bed to go and worship the Living God?  Have I looked forward to spending one hour in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament? Or do I find myself attached to the tv and not able to pry myself from my comfort zone, to go and pray before the Living God? Do I look forward to Confession? Or do I find myself putting off, week after week after week, the opportunity to seek mercy and forgiveness from the Living God, present in the Sacrament of Confession?

As Secular Carmelites, we can examine our conscience by asking some questions about the desires of our heart:  

*Do I look forward to the daily period of meditation?

*Do I look forward to praying the Liturgy of the Hours?

*Do I look forward to attending Mass and receiving the Holy Eucharist?

*Do I look forward to the next meeting and prepare by studying my formation materials?

*Do I look forward to the days of fast and the celebration of the Carmelite Saints?

*Do I look forward to making Temporary or Final promises?

*Do I look forward to going to Confession?

*Do I look forward to the crosses God will send me for my sanctification?

On a more general examine, we can ask ourselves:

*Do I look forward to helping someone, or performing acts of charity?

*Do I look forward to spending time with my spouse?

*Do I look forward to studying holy Scripture?

*Do I look forward to reconciling with someone I have hurt, or with someone who has offended me?

Each Sunday, at Mass, during the recitation of  the Creed, we state, as the Body of Christ, what we look forward to:

" I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come..." Do we really? Do we really look forward to meeting Christ face-to-face? Do we really look forward and desire to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? If we really desired and looked forward to entering into the presence of God, our lives would reflect it. We would be more charitable, we would be more helpful, we would be less selfish, we would look forward to many other things instead of worldly pastimes, to sinful pastimes. 

Our world is in great need of prayer, for there are many people who look forward to hurting and even plotting to kill their neighbor. There are people who, each day beat, torture, and starve children and receive pleasure from it.  The enemies of the Church want to destroy our churches and kill in the name of God, and they look forward to this with great pleasure. God help us!...what sinful and evil things enter the mind and heart of man!

If we are truly on the road of perfection, we will look forward to the Holy Spirit's work in us to make us holy.  If we are truly looking forward to the the life of the world to come, we would be working to see the Kingdom reflected in our lives, now. We would look forward to being merciful instead of being easily offended and holding a grudge. We would look forward to being peacemakers instead of troublemakers. We would truly mourn over our own sins instead of looking for an opportunity to rejoice over the faults of others.

The Saints are the people God gives us as examples. They went through life always looking forward to His coming, always looking forward to the resurrection and the life to come...They always looked for an opportunity to forget themselves and serve their neighbor. But most importantly, they always looked forward to glorifying God in all that they did and to have others do the same.

Let us look forward to the coming of Christ in our lives at each moment of our existence. The time of quiet prayer and reflection in our Advent retreat helps us to be aware that Emmanuel, "God is with us." Let us look forward to meeting him each day and uniting ourselves with him so that we can be holy in thought, word, and deed.  Becoming Christlike is what prepares us for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come...

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, ocds

The O Antiphons-O Emmanuel

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

Advent-O Antiphons-Key of David

Peace be with you!

Advent Meditation on the O Antiphons

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds

The Season of Advent: A Time of Waiting upon the Lord in Faith...
Let us keep watch with Mary, Our Mother!

The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Prayer

Pope Benedict XVI Declares a "Year of Faith"

Pope Benedict XVI has declared a Year of Faith, beginning on October 11, 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.

I have decided to announce a Year of Faith. It will begin on 11 October 2012, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and it will end on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King, on 24 November 2013. The starting date of 11 October 2012 also marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a text promulgated by my Predecessor, Blessed John Paul II, with a view to illustrating for all the faithful the power and beauty of the faith. This document, an authentic fruit of the Second Vatican Council, was requested by the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in 1985 as an instrument at the service of catechesis and it was produced in collaboration with all the bishops of the Catholic Church...

The Year of Faith, from this perspective, is a summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Savior of the world. In the mystery of his death and resurrection, God has revealed in its fullness the Love that saves and calls us to conversion of life through the forgiveness of sins (cf. Acts 5:31). For Saint Paul, this Love ushers us into a new life: "We were buried ... with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Rom 6:4). Through faith, this new life shapes the whole of human existence according to the radical new reality of the resurrection.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, ocds

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Be On Guard!

Death comes like a thief in the night, Our Lord tells us. Be on the watch for when your life may be required of you. In the spiritual life we could say: be on the watch for any opportunity to die to self!

There is cause for rejoicing here. You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials,:but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire tried gold, may by its genuineness lead to the praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ appears. 1 Peter 1:6-7

Anyone who is striving for spiritual perfection knows how painful it is to die to self.

Let's challenge ourselves to not only look at the "big picture" of being prepared for our bodily death, but be prepared each day to bury our ego six feet under.

Our own little Doctor of Love, St. Therese, went through the same excruciating process of dying to self. She knew what situations and people would "press her buttons" so to speak. And she prepared herself with prayer. She knew she would have to experience day after day the nun who rattled her rosary in the choir chapel. She probably wanted to turn around and give her a big stare. But she controlled herself and offered up the suffering of self.

I'm sure most of us are familiar with the story of the nun who splashed her with dirty laundry water when they gathered to do the wash. St. Therese found spiritual perfection in accepting these small sufferings. We know that since she was faithful in small things, Our Lord entrusted her with greater love and grace to suffer with love.

In the above scripture passage, St. Peter tells us there is cause for rejoicing here. Rejoicing? Amid trials? While many in the spiritual life simply resign themselves to accept the cross, listen to how St. Therese embraced the cross with joy:

I will sing. I will always sing, even though I have to pluck my roses from amidst the thorns; and the sharper and the longer the thorns, the sweeter shall be my song."

We know from her life that these were not mere words filled with romantic ideas on her part. She suffered horribly in the final stages of her illness.



Advent is a great time to work on our one particular weakness, and try with God's grace to improve on the corresponding virtue. So, if we are impatient, let us pray for the Holy Spirit to infuse us with patience.

Be on your guard! Whether you are waging battle with yourself or outside influences, know that the Lord is testing us. Like St. Therese, let us arm ourselves with prayer. And let us pray to the great Angelic Guardian, St. Michael. May he defend us in our daily battle of dying to self!

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS
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KEEPING VIGIL-The Spirit of Advent

On our way home after visiting family for Thanksgiving we passed by a strip mall and saw people pitching tents to wait for the the store to open at 4am.


Wouldn't it be wonderful to come across this same scene at our parish church? Wouldn't it be wonderful to see people pitching tents and lining up waiting for the doors to open in great anticipation to spend time with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament? We can ask ourselves the same question: Would I wait in line for hours to receive the Eucharist? To receive the Sacrament of Penance?

The early Church Fathers, especially those Fathers of the Eastern Rite speak about keeping vigil. They speak of sleeping part of the night and praying part of the night. In this short excerpt they talk about the soul living the life of the Spirit which includes fasts and vigils.

From the Philokalia, Volume IV, pg. 109:

Those who cleave to the Spirit and are totally committed to the spiritual life live in accordance with God's will, dedicated to Him as were the Nazirites. At all times they labour to purify their souls and to keep the Lord's commandments, expending their blood in their love for Him. They purify the flesh through fasts and vigils, they refine the heart's dross with tears; they mortify their materialistic tendencies through ascetic hardship; they fill the intellect with light through prayer and meditation, making it translucid; and by renouncing their own wills they sunder themselves from passionate attachment to the body and adhere solely to the Spirit.

There are many religious who keep constant vigil for our needs and the needs of the world.

In our own family of Carmel, the cloistered sisters keep vigil on our behalf throughout the day. Please remember them in your prayers.

The Carthusians especially keep the night watch on our behalf. Here is a short description of their prayer life:



Our monastic days begins at 1.00 a.m. with a prayer to Our Lady, who never ceases to engender spiritually the life of Christ in us.

At 1.15 a.m., we hasten to church for the night office. A time of singular importance in the Carthusian liturgy, the night vigils are a clear sign of the orientation of our life: for through them is expressed the watchful expectation for the Savior, and the prayer that a dawn of resurrection may rise over the darkness of the world.During this Advent Season let us keep watch with Our Lady. May She help us to be vigilant in our prayer for the coming of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit give us the grace to be holy sentinels--souls constantly on guard looking for Our Savior wherever he may wish to reveal himself to us.
______________________________________________

150th Anniversary Of Our Lady of Lourdes

1858-2008

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes
1st Day
Our Lady of Lourdes, Immaculate Virgin, pray for us. Our lady of Lourdes, at your feet I ask for the grace of (mention your request) my trust in your power is unshakable, you can obtain all from your divine Son.
You who kindly accepted to come down on earth to bring us the graces of this same Son, obtain for us the grace to merit them.
Hail, Wonder of the Most High, we praise you for your glorious privilege, and joyfully repeat a thousand times: She is Immaculate. Our Lady of Lourdes, who graciously accepted to visit us!
Resolution: Purity of intention in all our actions. Queen of Virgins, pry for us.
2nd Day
Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest yourself shining with light, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes,saying to the child St. Bernadette: " I am the Immaculate Conception!" O Mary Immaculate, inflame our hearts with one ray of the burning love of your pure heart. Let them be consumed with love for Jesus and for you, in order that we may merit one day to enjoy your glorious eternity. O dispenser of His graces here below, take into your keeping and present to your Divine Son the petition for which we are making this novena. (mention your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.

Day 3
"You are all fair, O Mary, and there is in you no stain of original sin." O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. O brilliant star of sanctity, as on that lovely day, upon a rough rock in Lourdes you spoke to the child Bernadette and a fountain broke from the plain earth and miracles happened and the great shrine of Lourdes began, so now I beseech you to hear our fervent prayer and do, we beseech you, grant us the petition we now so earnestly seek. ( make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother, be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Day 4
Our Lady of Lourdes, to whom Jesus can refuse nothing, pray for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, you have power over your divine Son's Heart, prevail upon Him to be favourable to us. Ask, Heavenly Queen, and you will be heard. See our misery and our need, and have pity on us. O Mother of goodness! Bestow generously the treasures of heaven on those who pray before your altar.
Virgin most powerful, pray for us.
Day 5
Our Lady of Lourdes, you who cure the sick,pray for us. Our Lady of Lourdes, health of the sick, you who heal bodies and even more heal souls, be favourable once again to our fervent prayer. Be the hope of our dear sick, may their confidence in you be rewarded. Merciful Virgin, whose very name recalls wonderful cures, show us that you are once again our hope. Intercede for us and for our dear ones, Our Lady of Lourdes, help of the sick, pray for us.
Day 6
Our Lady of Lourdes, Immaculate Mother, it has never been known that anyone called on you in vain, Those in distress, the unhappy, all who suffer: broken-hearted, wounded souls, sick bodies yearn for your loving care, most kind Virgin! If you so wish, no one will be left forsaken, and leave without feeling the effect of your powerful intercession. If we imitate your virtues you will intercede for us.
Our Lady of Lourdes, help of Christians, pray for us.
Day 7
Our Lady of Lourdes, who wept over our sins, grant us true repentance for our faults,. Help us to detest all that can wound the Heart of your divine Son. Make our contrition perfect by a sincere resolution not to offend Him again. Give us that Christian force which does not hesitate before any sacrifice in Order to merit the forgiveness of sins committed and the grace not to fall again.
Our Lady of Lourdes, refuge of sinners, pray for us!
Day 8
Our Lady of Lourdes, protect our Holy Father the Pope...,fill him always with the light of the Holy Spirit, may we always have for him a filial love. may we always be faithful to his voice, may those who have gone astray come back to the Church to console the heart of our beloved Pontiff.
Our Lady of Lourdes, bless all priest, especially all those who make you known and loved.
Our Lady of Lourdes, Queen of Apostles, pray for us!
Day 9
Our Lady of Lourdes, do not forget the children of the Church Militant, nor those of the Church suffering. Give them "rest, light and peace." The church, our Mother, asks this each day in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Hear their cry for help, and answer the prayers of those who pray to you for them. We wish to expiate for the souls of our relatives: father, mother, husband, wife, friends. For these dear departed grant grace an d mercy, Our Lady of Lourdes, so that they may sing your praises in Heaven.
Our Lady of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception, pray for us!

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS