The Fruits of the Holy Spirit-Second Hymn of Virtue: Peace

Photo: R. Massaro (c)2017SpiritSinging St. Rita Church Solon, Ohio

On the evening of that first day of the week, even though the disciples had locked the doors of the place where they were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood before them. "Peace be with you," he said. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. At the sight of the Lord the disciples rejoiced. "Peace be with you," he said again.
John 20:19-21

St. John goes on to say that Jesus imparted the Holy Spirit to the disciples and gave them the power to forgive sins. They were given the gift of the Holy Spirit to impart forgiveness, mercy, and peace to the soul in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

We could say that true peace of soul is the capstone of the spiritual life. It is only found at the summit of Mt. Carmel after much labor and co-operation on our part with the Holy Spirit. It is the true gift of peace that the world cannot give, and no man can take from us. It is the crowning virtue of the spiritual marriage.

In this state there are no more ecstasies or raptures, or at least very few; these have now disappeared almost completely in order to make room for such peace and quiet rest as are enjoyed by married persons who are sure of each other's love.
Fr. Tanquerey, The Spiritual Life #1470

In this high state of mystical contemplation in which the soul is completely at peace with the beloved-this state that is possessed by the blessed and the saints, inspire us to reach the heights of prayer, too. Listen to how Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. the noted mystical theologian explains this fruit of peace:

A contemplative soul not only possesses peace;it can communicate it to others. A contemplative soul does not allow itself to be troubled in its higher part by painful, unexpected events; it receives all from the hand of God...Wisdom bestows a radiant peace, leading us to love our enemies.

This certainly brings to mind St. John of the Cross who saw the hand of God in his brother Carmelites who were persecuting him during the reform. He described the persecution as coming from God, "who ordains all."

We can ask ourselves to what degree do we possess this treasured gift of peace? Is my peace disturbed at any mere annoyance or trial? Do world events and every day problems try to steal my peace of soul? Or, does nothing disturb my interior peace and communion with the Lord?


When the raging winds and the storms of our life do their best to frighten us and deter us from our path of total trust in God-we only need to turn to Jesus, who, with one word, can rebuke the anxiety in our minds and calm the troubled waters of our soul.

Peace is the fruit of authentic contemplative prayer. Let's keep in mind that any virtuous act is a fruit of the Spirit. If our acts are pure they will produce good fruit in which we find spiritual sweetness. This sweetness is the consolation of the Holy Spirit from whom these fruits emanate. St. John of the Cross explains the effects of true acts of virtue:

Any act of virtue produces and fosters in the soul mildness, peace, comfort, light, purity, and strength, just as an inordinate appetite brings about torment, fatigue, weariness, blindness, and weakness. Through the practice of one virtue all the virtues grow, and similarly, through an increase of one vice, all the vices and their effects grow.
St. John of the Cross, Ascent of Mt. Carmel, Chap. 12, #5.


The Fruits of the Spirit blossom forth from the branches of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. Peace is the glorious fruit displayed on the sturdy branch of Wisdom.

Blest too are the peacemakers; they shall be called sons of God.
Matthew 5:9.

The Beatitudes are the perfection of the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. These blessed and delectable Fruits of the Spirit are of such lofty sweetness and purity that they give us a foretaste of heaven.

As Carmelites, we promise to live according to the Beatitudes. When we love and show mercy as Christ does, the Holy Spirit invites us to partake of this delectable fruit that is enjoyed by the Communion of Saints.

Come to the Feast!

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie,  OCDS

FEAST DAYS OF OUR LADY

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Photo: R. Massaro Lourdes, France

(Please enjoy this most requested post on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Our Lady reveals herself to St. Bernadette:  

" I Am the Immaculate Conception"

Lourdes-Live Webcam

It has been written that St. Bernadette desired to be a Carmelite nun but because of her poor health was not able to enter the Order. She eventually entered the Sisters of Charity at Nevers, France.

During the apparitions at Lourdes, very few words were spoken between St. Bernadette and Our Lady. Bernadette seemed to be a natural contemplative, she was quiet and reflective, she had an open heart and listened-ready to do the will of God. 

At the first apparition on Feb. 11, 1858, Bernadette heard the call of Our Lady, not only in the physical sign of Our Lady's impending appearance by the wind shaking the the trees, but in her heart. Bernadette described that she felt a "call" to go to the Grotto. It was an interior spiritual prompting of the Holy Spirit that attracted her to the Grotto to meet Our Lady in the later apparitions. Bernadette had to be a person of prayer to be attentive to this "call" and to respond to it.

Bernadette's meeting with Our Lady of Lourdes reflects the experience of the Prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel. The holy Prophet encountered God in a soft whispering sound that spoke directly to his heart. For Bernadette, the Grotto becomes the mountain where she meets God through Our Lady, where she learns to pray, where she is given the gift of contemplation.

The 18th and final apparition of Our Lady to Bernadette took place on July 16, the feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Our Lady remained silent during the final meeting with Bernadette. They looked at each other with love. This holy exchange is a beautiful example of perfect contemplation, where love needs no words.

As Carmelites, the main point of our rule is allegiance to Jesus Christ, and an offshoot of that main point is to imitate the Virgin Mary who pondered the Word in her heart. We can see in the life of St. Bernadette how Mary led her to contemplation.

Let's start at the beginning: In the first apparition, Mary shows herself to Bernadette, smiles at her but remains silent.

Do you remember your first encounter with Christ? The moment he first called you to intimate friendship with him? How difficult was it to pray from the heart for the first time?

Second Apparition: Bernadette throws holy water at the apparition. People tell her it could be the devil.

After the invitation from Christ, we begin to doubt that we are worthy to be loved by Him. We ask ourselves, "Is this from God?" Family members and friends wonder what is going on with us!

Third Apparition: Our Lady asks Bernadette, "Would you do me the kindness of coming here for fifteen days?" "I do not promise you happiness in this life but in the other."

Our Lady asks us to remain faithful in prayer, faithful to our commitment as Carmelites to seek the face of God in prayer on behalf of the Church. We must die to ourselves and experience joy in God alone. Worldly things no longer attract us.

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Apparitions: Bernadette and Our Lady deepen their friendship. They pray together and even laugh together.

In the life of Carmel, our prayer life becomes deeper when we trust in the Lord as little children. We run to him and tell him everything; the joys and sorrows of our life. He is there to cry and laugh with us.

Eighth Apparition through the Twelfth: Our Lady with an air of sadness repeats: "penance, penance, penance." "Pray to God for sinners. " She asks Bernadette to kiss the ground for sinners...to eat the grass for sinners.

Now that our relationship with our Beloved has grown stronger he asks us to suffer with him, to take up our cross after him. The life of a Carmelite is a penitential one. Sometimes as Secular Carmelites we forget this aspect of our rule. We may adhere to the required prayer and spiritual reading, but do we really desire to mortify ourselves for the love of Christ?

Our Rules states:
The Secular Carmelite highly esteems the invitation of the Lord to deny himself and willingly to take up his cross daily and follow Him; he will, therefore, gladly mortify himself in union with the sacrifice of Christ, remembering, too, our Holy Mother Teresa's remark that "prayer cannot be accompanied by self-indulgence."

The Secular Carmelite will be especially faithful to the Church's penitential discipline. He will also, in accordance with the promptings of grace, and as far as circumstances will allow, make use of other means of mortification, particularly on those days and at those seasons that have a distinctive penitential character.

The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Apparitions: Our Lady asks Bernadette to "go tell the priests that people should come here in procession and that a chapel should be built here."

Bernadette is sent on mission. We, too, as Carmelites, through our individual and community apostolates, share in the missionary life of the Church. Whatever that may be, making rosaries, helping the poor and the sick, teaching others about our Catholic faith-we must step outside of ourselves, for our vocation is not just for our personal sanctification. Our gifts are given to us to benefit the entire Church.

Sixteenth Apparition: Feast of the Annunciation. Our Lady reveals her name: "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Bernadette has been faithful to Our Lady's request, to her commitment to meet our Lady for fifteen days. She is rewarded.

Bernadette reminds me of the apostle John at the foot of the Cross in which Our Lord entrusts Mary, his mother, to his home. Now, Bernadette, stands before Our Lady at the Grotto on behalf of the Church ready and eager to hear her beautiful name: Immaculate Conception!


Seventeenth Apparition: Miracle of the candle. Bernadette experiences spiritual ecstasy.

Our Lady has led Bernadette on a spiritual pilgrimage, the road of deep prayer. Now the little pilgrim, Bernadette, experiences God with her whole being, she experiences spiritual ecstasy. She has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.

In their writings, St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa explain in great detail about deep mystical experience in prayer. We know that this type of gift is just that-pure gift, infused by God. As St. Teresa says, it cannot be produced by one's own effort. St. Bernadette experienced deep prayer through the help and guidance of Our Lady. Let us imitate the humble virgin, Bernadette, and let Our Lady lead us safely up the mountain, to perfect contemplation, to union with Christ. 

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Photo: R. Massaro Loyola Retreat House Clinton, Ohio

Here is an excerpt from one of my all time favorite books: Poustinia (desert) by Catherine de Hueck Doherty

Often people say that they have no time for prayer. Where is the place for prayer? Prayer is inside. I am a church. I am a temple of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They came to me. The Lord said that he and his Father would come and make their dwelling with me. I don't have to go anywhere. Neither does this mean that you shouldn't render glory to God in church where everybody else comes to pray, but it means that you should pray constantly. There should be no break in our prayer. There is a poustinia of the heart. Why should my heart be removed from God while I am talking to you? When you are in love with someone, it seems that the face of the beloved is before you when you drive, when you type, when you are taking out insurance, and so on. Somehow or other we can encompass these two realities, the faces of the beloved and whatever we happen to be doing. 

My friends, prayer is like that. If you fall in love then it's impossible to separate life and breath from prayer. Prayer is simply union with God. Prayer does not need words. When people are in love they look at each other, look into each other's eyes, or a wife simply lies in the arms of her husband. Neither of them talks. When love reaches its apex it cannot be expressed anymore. It reaches that immense realm of silence where it pulsates and reaches proportions unknown to those who haven't entered into it. Such is the life of prayer with God. You enter into God and God enters into you, and the union is constant.

The day I was baptized my little feet made the first step toward that union with God for which I was born. I can walk through my life and never remember. Such will be an arid life. It will be an unhappy life. But no matter what happens to me, if I remember that I exist to be united with God, and that I am united with God every minute, all I have to do is think about it. In fact, I don't even have to think. His face is always before me.




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Sunday with the Saints

ST. TERESA OF JESUS (AVILA)

Teresa was born at Avila in Spain in 1515. She entered the Carmelites and made great progress in the way of perfection and was granted mystical revelations. Wishing to share in the spiritual renewal of the Church of her time, she began to live her religious life more ardently and soon attracted many companions, to whom she was like a mother. She also helped in the reform of the friars, and in this had to endure great trials. she wrote books which are renowned for their depth of doctrine and which showed her own spiritual experiences. She died at Alba in 1582.
From the Carmelite Proper









READ THE INTERIOR CASTLE ONLINE


Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, ocds

Five Traits of Contemplation

Spirit Singing is experiencing technical difficulties. Please enjoy this post orginally published in 2008.

St. John of the Cross: Five Traits of Contemplation

This excerpt comes from The Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 15, #24. St. John is describing the light and heights of contemplation using the image of a sparrow based on Psalm 102:7. "I have kept watch and am become like a solitary sparrow on the housetop."

First, the sparrow ordinarily perches on the highest things. And so the spirit at this stage is placed in the highest contemplation.

Second, it always turns its beak toward the wind. Thus the spirit ever turns the beak of its affection toward the Spirit of Love, who is God.
Third, it is usually alone and allows no other bird close to it; when another perches nearby, it flies away. Thus the spirit in this contemplation is alone in regard to all things, stripped of them all, nor does it allow within itself anything other than solitude in God.

The fourth trait is that it sings very sweetly. And so does the spirit sing sweetly to God at this time, for the praises it renders him are of the most delightful love, pleasant to the soul and precious in God's eyes.

The fifth is that it possesses no definite color. So neither does the perfect spirit, in this excess,have any color of sensible affection or self-love; it does not even have an particular consideration in either of its lower or higher part, nor will it be able to describe the mode or manner of this excess, for what it possesses is an abyss of the knowledge of God.

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds
___________________________

Spiritual Life Dictionary

Today's Term: Contemplation

The communication of God untied to the senses, of the particular, received passively by the spirit in an attitude of faith an love, of general loving attention. Also called mystical theology. May be referred to as infused because the soul receives it passively, just as one receives sunlight by doing no more than opening the shutters. Takes away the satisfaction associated with discursive prayer.

Matthew 7: 14 - How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.

Many people are intrigued by contemplative prayer. They think it is very complicated. We who study the teachings of St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Jesus have come to learn that deep union with Christ in contemplation is a very simple prayer of the heart. So, as we are progressing in the spiritual life, our prayer should become more simple.

St. John of the Cross tells us that many people begin the road of prayer but few there are who follow through once the hard work of dying to ourselves begins. As the scripture above states, few there are who accept the Lord's invitation to take up our cross and follow him.

St. John of the Cross gives three signs that the Holy Spirit is leading a soul out of meditation and into the gift of contemplation.

Sign #1: An inability to practice discursive meditation or receive satisfaction from it as before. Meditation must be discontinued only when the soul is placed in that peace and quietude to be spoken of in the third sign.

Sign #2: An awareness of a disinclination to fix the imagination on other objects, exterior or interior.

Sign #3: The third and surest sign is that a person likes to remain alone in loving awareness of God, without particular considerations, in interior peace and quiet and repose, and without the acts and exercises of the intellect, memory and will. Such a one prefers to remain only in the general loving awareness and knowledge we mentioned, without any particular knowledge or understanding.

To leave safely the state of meditation and sense and enter that of contemplation and spirit, spiritual persons must observe within themselves at least these three signs together.

Excerpts from The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book II, Chapter 13
From the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross Translated by Kieran Kavanugh

Let us pray for each other: that we be given the gift of true contemplation.

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Dec. 8, 2007 through Dec. 8,2008

150 Anniversary of the Apparitions at Lourdes

It has been written that St. Bernadette desired to be a Carmelite nun, but because of her poor health was not able to enter the Order. She eventually entered the Sisters of Charity at Nevers, France.

The 18th and final apparition of Our Lady to Bernadette took place on July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Our Lady remained silent during the final meeting with Bernadette. They looked at each other with love. This holy exchange is a perfect example of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel as our role model of perfect contemplation.

As Carmelites, the main point of our rule is allegiance to Jesus Christ, and an offshoot of that main point is to imitate the Virgin Mary who pondered the Word in her heart. We can see in the life of St. Bernadette how Mary led her to contemplation.

Let start at the beginning: In the first apparition Mary shows herself to Bernadette, smiles at her, but remains silent.

Do you remember your first encounter with Christ? The moment he first called you to intimate friendship with him? How difficult was it to pray from the heart for the first time?

Second Apparition: Bernadette throws holy water at the apparition. People tell her it could be the devil.

After the invitation from Christ, we begin to doubt that we are worthy to be loved by Him. We ask ourselves, "Is this from God?" Family members and friends wonder what is going on with us!

Third Apparition: Our Lady asks Bernadette, "Would you do me the favour of coming here for fifteen day?" "I do not promise to make you happy in this life but in the other."

Our Lady asks us to remain faithful in prayer, faithful to our commitment as Carmelites to seek the face of God in prayer on behalf of the Church. We must die to ourselves and the world. We begin to mortify ourselves and experience joy in God alone. Worldly things no longer attract us.

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth & Seventh Apparitions: Bernadette and Our Lady deepen their friendship They pray together and even laugh together.

In the life of Carmel, our prayer life becomes deeper when we trust in the Lord as little children. We run to him and tell him everything; the joys and sorrows of our life. He is there to cry and laugh with us.

Eighth apparition through the Twelfth: Our Lady with an air of sadness repeats: "Penance, penance, penance." "Pray to God for sinners." She asks Bernadette to kiss the ground for sinners...to eat the grass for sinners.

Now that our relationship with our Beloved has grown stronger, he asks us to suffer with him, to take up our cross after him. The life of a Carmelite is a penitential one. Sometimes as lay Carmelites, we forget this aspect of our rule. We may adhere to the required prayer and spiritual reading, but do we really desire to mortify ourselves for the love of Christ?

Our rule states:

The Secular Carmelite highly esteems the invitation of the Lord to deny himself and willingly to take up his cross daily and follow Him; he will therefore gladly mortify himself in union with the sacrifice of Christ, remembering too Our Holy Mother Teresa's remark that "prayer cannot be accompanied by self-indulgence"

The Secular Carmelite will be especially faithful to the Church's penitential discipline. He will also, in accordance with the promptings of grace, and as far as circumstances will allow,make use of other means of mortification, particularly on those days and at those seasons that have a distinctive penitential character.

The thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Apparitions: Our Lady asks Bernadette to "go tell the priests that people should come here in procession and that a chapel should be built here."

Bernadette is sent on mission. Our Carmelite vocation calls us, too, to evangelize by our way of life and our witness of prayer on behalf of the Church. We are also called to have a particular apostolate in which to share in the missionary life of the Church. Whatever that may be, making rosaries, helping the poor and the sick, teaching our Catholic faith-we must step outside of ourselves, for our vocation is not just between me and God.

Sixteenth Apparition: Feast of the Annunciation. Our Lady reveals her name: "I am the Immaculate Conception."

Bernadette has been faithful to Our Lady's request, to her commitment to meet our Lady for fifteen days. She is rewarded.

Bernadette reminds me of the apostle John at the foot of the Cross in which Our Lord entrusts her to his home. Now Bernadette stands before Our Lady on behalf of the Church ready and eager to hear her beautiful name: Immaculate Conception!

Seventeenth Apparition: Miracle of the candle. Bernadette in ecstasy.

Our Lady has led Bernadette on the road of deep prayer. Now she experiences God with her whole being. She has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.

St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa explain in detail about deep mystical experience in prayer. We know that this type of gift is just that-pure gift, infused by God. As St. Teresa says, it cannot be produced by one's own effort.

St. Bernadette experienced Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Our Lady of Silent Prayer at the Grotto in Lourdes. Let us pray for each other that we imitate the humble virgin Bernadette and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel , to be open and available to listen to the Word of God, proclaim it to the world, and meditate on it in our hearts day and night.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, ocds