SATURDAY OF OUR LADY

Photo: R. Massaro Lourdes, France

Mary's closing visit to Lourdes was on July 16th the feast which honors her under the title of Carmel. She came at sunset. Her choice of day must not have been an accident. the very name Carmel must have filled her with fond memories.

She would have remembered many a sunset when she and her Son rested their eyes on the beauty of that mountain as the day faded. In its pure and lonely grandeur it stood out of this world. It recalled memories of a great past. She would have known it as a place of prayer and silence and the witness of mighty battles in the plains below.

When she sang her Magnificat she was the meeting-place of two worlds, a world stretching back to Abraham and forward to generations yet unborn. She recalled the past mercies of the Lord; she foresaw the praise future ages would give her for the great things God had done in her.

And in a sense, Carmel linked two worlds, east and west, past and future. A mountain hallowed by prayer before she was born, a place that would do her honor from age to age. There are flowers on Mount Carmel when there are none elsewhere.

The Ascent of Mount Carmel is a well-worn path, traveled down through the centuries by countless members of the Order which glories in the title of Carmel who have been richly rewarded for the ardor of the ascent, for in their souls have blossomed flowers of holiness of rarest quality. In the majestic grandeur of the mountain of God they have lived through dark nights, and have seen glorious dawns.There in the silent companionship of Mary they have pondered the word and remained with her in prayer. They have enriched the Church with a shining example of silent worship, unending contemplation, and pure love. The beauty of Carmel might tempt us to follow them at least from afar. Any day, at any moment, we may go on pilgrimage to Carmel, we may climb the heights to pay her our tribute of praise and love. 

But before we start we have something to do. Before we ascend to honor her who had her roots in Jacob we must take the advice once given to Jacob before he ascended to Bethel. "Put away the foreign gods that are among you,, and purify yourselves and change your clothes. (Gen. 35,2) Three things to do. Put aside the gods made with hands, the worldly attachments which hold us in their spell; cleanse ourselves of the dross of this world; robe ourselves anew in the innocence of our baptismal garment, and then we will be capable of a new love, a new song that will have all the freshness and beauty of spring flowers on Carmel. Let St. John of the Cross lead us in this song for the ascent:

Let us rejoice, Beloved. And let us go forth to behold ourselves in your beauty, to the mountain and to the hill, to where the pure waters flows...There you will show me what my soul has been seeking.
Pilgrims With Mary by John Moloney P.P.



Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Sunday with the Saints

SOLEMNITY OF 
ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS
DECEMBER 14 (Transferred to the 15 this year)
Happy Feast Day to all Carmelites!

Born in Spain in 1542, John learned the importance of self-sacrificing love from his parents. His father gave up wealth, status, and comfort when he married a weaver's daughter and was disowned by his noble family. After his father died, his mother kept the destitute family together as they wandered homeless in search of work. These were the examples of sacrifice that John followed with his own great love -- God.

When the family finally found work, John still went hungry in the middle of the wealthiest city in Spain. At fourteen, John took a job caring for hospital patients who suffered from incurable diseases and madness. It was out of this poverty and suffering, that John learned to search for beauty and happiness not in the world, but in God.

After John joined the Carmelite order, Saint Teresa of Avila asked him to help her reform movement. John supported her belief that the order should return to its life of prayer. But many Carmelites felt threatened by this reform, and some members of John's own order kidnapped him. He was locked in a cell six feet by ten feet and beaten three times a week by the monks. There was only one tiny window high up near the ceiling. Yet in that unbearable dark, cold, and desolation, his love and faith were like fire and light. He had nothing left but God -- and God brought John his greatest joys in that tiny cell.

After nine months, John escaped by unscrewing the lock on his door and creeping past the guard. Taking only the mystical poetry he had written in his cell, he climbed out a window using a rope made of strips of blankets. With no idea where he was, he followed a dog to civilization. He hid from pursuers in a convent infirmary where he read his poetry to the nuns. From then on his life was devoted to sharing and explaining his experience of God's love.

His life of poverty and persecution could have produced a bitter cynic. Instead it gave birth to a compassionate mystic, who lived by the beliefs that "Who has ever seen people persuaded to love God by harshness?" and "Where there is no love, put love -- and you will find love."

John left us many books of practical advice on spiritual growth and prayer that are just as relevant today as they were then. These books include: Ascent of Mount Carmel , Dark Night of the Soul and A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom Christ .
(From Christian Classics Ethereal Library)

Some of the Literary works of St. John of the Cross include:

The Ascent of Mount Carmel

Dark Night of the Soul

The Spiritual Canticle

The Tomb of St. John of the Cross




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, of the hearts of Jesus and Mary ocds

SPIRITUAL LIFE DICTIONARY

TODAY'S TERM: MEMORY

Our Lady remembered the good things
 the Lord had done for her

 

At first glance this word seems very simple and easily explained. Perhaps you're thinking that I've lost my mind to spend time on posting something that is common knowledge for all of us as human beings.

I would like us to think "outside the box" if you will, about what is a common experience for many of us: remembering the events, circumstances and details of every day living, past and present.

It is a common joke among Carmelites that when one gets older and forgetful, that we excuse ourselves by saying, "God is purifying my memory."  Well, as we say, nice try, but that's not the case!

St. John of the Cross teaches us that the soul is comprised of three distinct powers:

1.  Intellect

2.  Memory

3.  Will

The person who is seeking union with God must leave behind the attachment to the senses that we experience through the memory: sight, smell, taste, and touch.

"There is no way to union with God without annihilating the memory as to all forms. This union cannot be wrought without a complete separation of the memory from all forms that are not God...and since God has no form or image comprehensible to the memory, the memory is without form and without figures when united with God.
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Chap. 2,  No. 4

The person who is given the gift of contemplation is led step by step into prayer of the heart where there are no images or forms because the intellect ceases to function in this infused state of prayer. At first, this new prayer experience is frightful to the person who is being led from meditation, where the mind was in its comfort zone in using the intellect and the memory to pray.

When God is truly purifying a person's memory, he may be fearful as well that he is losing a part of his mind.

...Then, owing to the union, the memory is emptied and purged of all knowledge, as I say, and remains in oblivion, at times in such great oblivion that is must occasionally force itself and struggle in order to remember something.
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Chap. 2, No. 5

This statement from St. John of the Cross may bring to mind the lives of the saints. I remember reading about certain saints who had to be led by the hand or shown how to do normal tasks of everyday living. They  became completely absent-minded to the things of this world because they enjoyed union with God.

Owing to the absorption of the memory in God, a person will show many deficiencies in exterior behavior and customs, forgetting to eat and drink or failing to remember if some task was done, or a particular object seen, or something said.
The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Chap. 2,No. 8

If we are serious about our prayer life and seeking a greater love of God and union with him. We should be very careful about the images we allow in our mind.  For example, we should be careful about what we watch on television.  Satan likes to use these images and bring them to our memory when we least expect it.  Perhaps, we're quietly praying and minding our own business, and like lighting, he brings to mind something we've seen, something that is not holy. Something that has no business on holy ground-in prayer. He uses worldly images to distract us in prayer. He uses this tactic especially in beginners. However, even the Saints, such as St. (Padre) Pio experienced the assaults of the devil tempting him while he prayed. No one is above this temptation.

The gift of memory has always intrigued me.  It amazes me that we are given the ability to recall events that happened years before. And combined with the imagination, one could live in this fantasy world of remembrance. This is not God's will for us. God gives us this faculty to learn from our past sins and mistakes. We can remember very clearly how we've offended God or hurt someone.  Hopefully, we learn from our past sins that sometimes remain ingrained in our memory for years.  It is God's mercy that allows us to forgive ourselves and let go of the past.

God also uses the memory to unite himself to us in the spiritual betrothal and spiritual marriage. He may speak a word to us that calms our soul, or we may experience his love in such a way that cannot be described but is ingrained in our memory for years and perhaps for the rest of our lives.  St. Teresa of Avila speaks of this grace frequently in her writings. She speaks of the intellectual visions that never faded with the passage of time.

The Eastern Church has a way of speaking about the memory in their mystical teachings. They refer to it has holy remembrance of God.  In our Roman tradition, we have a beloved Carmelite, Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection who was a proficient in explaining how to remember God throughout the day. His book, "Practicing the Presence of God" is a spiritual classic. This little book was a big help to me in the beginning of my spiritual life. I highly recommend it.

Let us pray for each other, that we use the faculty of our soul, the memory, for the honor, praise and glory of God. Let us strive to forget ourselves, the sins of others, the things that don't matter, the very little things we are want to remember as part of our human nature. Let us be brave and courageous souls, leaving the safe territory of the memory and living in the spirit, in the dark night of faith.



Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds