Saturday of Our Lady

This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues unceasingly from the consent which she gave loyally at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up into heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation... Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.
Catechism of the Catholic Church #969

May she hold each child of God in the palm of her hand and in her heart.









(photos:statue in St.Colette Church, Brunswick, Ohio)

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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Three Ways of Prayer

Three Ways of Prayer:
Vocal, Meditation, Contemplation

Vocal Prayer: By words, mental or vocal, our prayer takes flesh. Yet it is most important that the heart should be present to him to whom we are speaking in prayer. Catechism #2700

Think of vocal prayer as a young flower, a few buds, but no full blooms.

Meditation: Meditation is above all a quest...The required attentiveness is difficult to sustain. We are usually helped by books...Catechism #2705

Think of meditation as a more mature flower, it has been nurtured and well-tended and has produced a beautiful bloom

Contemplation: What is contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: "Contemplative prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us." Catechism #2709
Think of Contemplation as the exquisite Rose, a symbol of God's beauty and purity shining through the soul. Now in full bloom, it's only requirement: to soak in the sunlight.

Vocal and Meditative prayer require human effort. It is difficult to pray when one does not "feel" like it. As Carmelites, we have made a commitment to 1/2 hour of mental prayer each day. This requires the taking up of our cross in being present to the Lord amid dryness, distractions,and a lack of sensible consolation. St. John of the Cross warns us about being attached to sensible consolations in prayer. And many souls who begin the life of prayer quickly give up when the consolations cease. The Lord desires faithful lovers, who love him because he is worthy to be loved and not for the favors he bestows upon the soul.


Here is a beautiful quote from the Catechism's section on prayer-#2711:

Entering into contemplative prayer is like entering in to the Eucharistic Liturgy: we "gather up:" the heart, recollect our whole being under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, abide in the dwelling place of the Lord which we are, awaken our faith in order to enter into the presence of him who awaits us. We let our masks fall and turn our hearts back to the Lord who loves us, so as to hand ourselves over to him as an offering to be purified and transformed.


Wow! What a beautiful description of the contemplative heart. A heart that all the faithful are called to. In this prayer, our whole being participates in the love and adoration of the Holy Trinity. As the Virgin Mary, our model exclaimed, "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord!"


Carmelites are a witness to the world of this call. A call that is stifled in our society. A society that is focused on material things, on sensible things, on my own things, on a number of things.


Who will climb the mountain of the Lord? Who will heed the call of the Lord? A call to intimate union, intimate friendship with him? We need the Holy Spirit to enlighten the hearts of the faithful. Remember, we too were once in the dark before the Lord opened our eyes to see him and to begin the pilgrimage up Mount Carmel.


St. John of the Cross began his pilgrimage in the dark night of faith.

One dark night,

fired with love's urgent longings

--ah, the sheer grace!--

I went out unseen,

my house being now all stilled.

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
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THREE WORDS OF WISDOM

COME FOLLOW ME

St. Peter-Our first Holy Father

In today's Gospel, we hear Jesus calling Peter to follow him. “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  As baptized Christians, we know that God is calling us to be "fishers of men",too. Do we live out this baptismal calling to evangelize and spread the Good News, or are we content to keep our faith to ourselves?

Jesus called Peter and his successors to be our spiritual leaders and holy fathers who teach us the faith and keep us on the true path to union with God through following his Son, Jesus Christ. We know that this path is narrow, painful, and difficult. We need the teachings of the Church to light our way and guide us.

We must be formed by the Holy Spirit in order to be his missionaries in spreading the Good News. We must be willing to learn and study our faith, the teachings of the Church. This mission of evangelization, the great commission of Jesus to "go and preach to all nations" is the core sacrament of the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

#738-Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity:  (the Catechism then quotes St. Cyril of Alexandria)

All of us who have received one and the same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father's and his own Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us though we are many, still the Spirit is one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us,...and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into spiritual unity.

As Secular Carmelites we are called to be witnesses in the world to  our charism of contemplative prayer. Why? I believe this question is answered directly by the teachings of the Church in the excerpt of the Catechism I have quoted above:

in her whole being and in all her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity.

Can you hear Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity telling us the same thing through her writings? We see her whole life caught up in this mystery, this indwelling of the Holy Trinity. She evangelizes and  spreads the Good News of this Holy Communion of the Trinity living and working in us, the members of the Church. 

Let us be faithful to our Carmelite calling of being witnesses in the world. Perhaps it is a quiet witness of being faithful to our Carmelite promises. Perhaps it's a quiet and gentle witness of sharing our Carmelite teachings with others. Let us remember, that whatever we do, we do in the name of the Lord. May it all be done in charity and with the grace and light and strength from the Holy Spirit, who forms us into one body and one Spirit in Christ.

COME FOLLOW ME

View previous posts on "Three Words of Wisdom"

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, ocds

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Catechism Quote

Catechism: #1393

Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is "given up for us," and the blood we drink "shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins." For this reason the Eucharist cannot unites us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins: For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord. If we proclaim the Lord's death, we proclaim the forgiveness of sins. If, as often as his blood is poured out, it is poured for the forgiveness of sins,I should always receive it, so that it may always forgive my sins. Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS