MARY, MOTHER OF THE BREAD OF LIFE

Photo: R. Massaro-St. Peter Church Mansfield, Ohio

 If we wish to rediscover in all its richness the profound relationship between the Church and the Eucharist, we cannot neglect Mary, Mother and model of the Church. In my Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae, I pointed to the Blessed Virgin Mary as our teacher in contemplating Christ's face, and among the mysteries of light I included the institution of the Eucharist.¹⁰² Mary can guide us towards this most holy sacrament, because she herself has a profound relationship with it.
St. Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia


While meditating on the great gift of the Eucharist, and reading the account of the Last Supper, I've often wondered about the bread that Jesus provided on that last night with his Apostles. I wonder and secretly hope that Our Lady herself provided the bread.

There is no definitive teaching on this subject, but to this devoted Catholic and lover of the Holy Eucharist, it makes perfect theological sense to me that Mary herself could have provided the bread for the Last Supper. It makes sense that She, who was chosen as the pure vessel in which our Lord was formed in her womb, would then, later, lovingly and with pure hands and heart, form the bread to be used by Our Lord to institute the Holy Eucharist, his very body and blood. 

Our Blessed Mother was the mediator in that first public miracle of her Son,when, at Cana, she stated, "they have no more wine."  And Jesus responded and turned the water into wine, and not just any wine, but the choicest wine.  And, again, it makes sense that Our Lady becomes mediator for the greatest of miracles, by providing the bread that will become the Lord's body and blood: The Most Holy Eucharist, the awesome miracle in our life in which he remains present with us in all the tabernacles throughout the world. He promised not to leave us orphans, and I like to believe that our Lady, Mother of the Church, provided that first bread of offering for her children.

Scripture is clear that Our Lord asked Peter and John to prepare the Passover supper. Details about the food and wine are a mystery. This leaves room for speculation in which we have to be most careful. Again, I am only offering here my thoughts and meditations on this subject.

Photo: R. Massaro-St. Albert the Great Church North Royalton, Ohio

Our Lady has a devotional title concerning the Eucharist, "Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament," I humbly propose a new title, Our Lady, "Mother of the Bread of Life!" Just as Our Lady has titles reflecting the Eucharist, the Church has various names for the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives descriptions of these beautiful titles:


Eucharist

The Lord's Supper

The Breaking of the Bread

The Eucharistic Assembly

The Memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection

The Holy Sacrifice

The Holy and Divine Liturgy, 

Holy Communion

Holy Mass
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pg. 335, 1328-1332.)

The Church teaches us that Mary is the new Eve. In light of this, it makes sense that she provides the "manna" in which Our Lord will transform this earthly bread of the Old Covenant into his very self-the New Covenant: The Living Bread that comes down from heaven.  

Let us pray for each other, that we have a great love, devotion and reverence for the Most Holy Eucharist.  Let us be ever-grateful to Our Lady for her total Yes to God, for giving birth to Christ, our Savior, the Bread of Life.



May the most blessed Virgin Mary, from whom Christ the Lord took the flesh that "is contained, offered, received" (81) in this Sacrament under the appearances of bread and wine, and may all the saints of God and especially those who were more inflamed with ardent devotion toward the divine Eucharist, intercede with the Father of mercies so that this common belief in the Eucharist and devotion to it may give rise among all Christians to a perfect unity of communion that will continue to flourish. 
 Pope Paul VI Mysterium Fidei



Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

HAPPY FEAST DAY TO ALL CARMELITES!
JULY 20
THE FEAST OF ST. ELIJAH

CARMELITE PROPER
(scroll down to July 20)
________________________________________

HAPPY FEAST DAY TO ALL CARMELITES!
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF 

MOUNT CARMEL

FEAST DAY: JULY 16

Spiritual Direction with St. Teresa of Avila

Our community has been studying St. Teresa's work, The Meditation on the Song of Songs. Today, I share with you my teaching on Chapter 4.


The introduction to this chapter states:

Speaks of the prayer of quiet and of union and of the sweetness and delight they cause in the spirit; in comparison, earthy delight are nothing.
The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, Vol. 2, Translated by Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. and Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D.

Teresa begins this chapter by telling us that the experiences of deep contemplative prayer, in particular, the gift of the Prayer of Quiet, is very difficult to explain.  Anyone who has read St. Teresa is very familiar with this statement, for she says it often! In fact, she warns us again in the 2nd paragraph that she hopes she can explain this type of prayer as the Lord wishes. And only those who experience this prayer will be able to understand her teaching.

In this chapter there are two points to consider. The first point is that of the petition of the bride. What is the petition of the bride?How long has she been petitioning the Beloved? We know it must have been a long time, for she says he answers her in his mercy. Later, she will tell us what is the petition of the bride, for now, St. Teresa states in point #1:

When His Majesty, through his mercy, desires to answer the petition of the bride, He begins to commune with the soul in so friendly a way that only those who experience this friendship will understand it...

The second point of this chapter is the response of the bridegroom: Christ bestows the gift of deep contemplation on his bride.

Let us recall that the gift of contemplation is just that, complete gift.  We cannot work ourselves up into a state of contemplation. This gift is infused prayer, bestowed on those who have been faithful in laboring in vocal prayer and meditation. This is the state of the soul who has reached the 4th mansion and higher according to St. Teresa's Interior Castle, for this is where infused prayer begins.

Now, in point #2 Teresa begins to describe this type of prayer.  But before we get to her current description, let's go back to what she says about it in her book The Way of Perfection, Chap. 31:

This prayer is something supernatural, something we cannot procure through our own efforts. In it the soul enters into peace, or, better, the Lord puts it at peace by his presence...so that all the faculties are calmed.

A person feels the greatest delight in his body and a great satisfaction in his soul. 

They don't want the body to move because it seems they would thereby lose that peace...

Sometimes in this prayer of quiet the Lord grants another favor which is very difficult to understand. When this quiet is great and lasts for a long while, it seems to me that the will wouldn't be able to remain so long in that peace if it weren't bound to something. For it may happen that we will go about with this satisfaction for a day or two...-these faculties are dull and at times as though in a stupor.

The above description is certainly hard for most people to comprehend unless they are living a deep prayer life and have experienced this type of deep contemplation. This teaching from St. Teresa in the Way of Perfection is her great teaching for us as Secular Carmelites.  She tells us that we can be so bound to the Lord in prayer, in effect, going about in a stupor, yet taking care of our daily business, thus, she says, Martha and Mary walk together. The active and contemplative nature of the human being are joined as one in a spiritual marriage.

Getting back to our lesson at hand, chapter 4-after we heard St. Teresa's description of this deep prayer, she states, The Lord now shows the soul that he loves it in so particular a way that there is nothing separating the two.

Then she goes on to explains that this type of divine love leaves the soul in a spiritual intoxication. And this experience of divine love leaves the soul with great determination to serve the Lord.  In fact, she tells us in The Way of Perfection, that this deep consolation from God gives the soul rest and strength for the journey that is doubled! So if one were previously able to perform great works of charity and suffer trials patiently, even more will the soul be able to accomplish after this experience of love. This is getting into the territory of the saints.  We only have to read the lives of the saints to see the great works they accomplished for God. 

In point #7 of this chapter 4, Teresa begins an exhortation that lasts until the end of the chapter.  She begins the exhortation by addressing her daughters:

Oh my daughters, may the Lord give us understanding or, to put it better, a taste-for there is no other way of being able to understand-of what the soul's joy is in this state.

Next she addresses Christians and her daughters:

Oh, Christians and my daughters! Let us now, for love of the Lord, awake from this sleep and behold that He does not keep the reward of loving Him for the next life alone. The pay begins in this life...

And here is where she tells us what is the petition of the bride:

I repeat, my God, and beg You through the blood of your Son that you grant me this favor: Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth.

This is the great petition of the bride, to be one with the Beloved (Spiritual Union). This is the metaphor of the kiss of the Bridegroom: Spiritual Marriage.

After she reveals the petition of the bride. St. Teresa addresses the Lord in a very beautiful prayer:

Oh, my Lord, my Mercy, and my Good! And what greater good could I want in this life than to be so close to You, that there be no division between you and me?...Now I see, my Bridegroom, that you are mine. I cannot deny it. You came into the world for me; for me You underwent severe trials; for me You suffered many lashes; for me You remain in the most Blessed Sacrament; and now You grant me so many wonderful favors. Well then, O most holy bride, with what ardor I have said what you say: "What can I do for my Spouse?"

Let us end our consideration of this chapter here. Let us ponder this statement "What can I do for my Spouse?"  

May the Lord give us the gift of deep prayer so that we may accomplish great things for his Kingdom.

Let us pray for each other.

St. Teresa of Jesus, pray for us!

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

The Our Father for the Souls in Purgatory

This prayer is attributed to St. Mechtilde

OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN: I beseech you, O Heavenly Father, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not love you sufficiently, nor render to you all the honor which is your due, due to you their Lord and Father, Who, by pure grace, have adopted them as your children. By their sins, rather, have they driven you from their souls, where you, none the less, wished always to live. In reparation for these faults, I offer you the love and veneration which your Incarnate Son showed you all during his earthly life, and I offer all the acts of penance and satisfaction which he performed and by which he effaced and atoned for the sins of men.

HALLOWED BE THY NAME: I beg you, O father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not honor, always and fittingly, your Holy Name, but often they took it in vain and proved unworthy of the name "Christian," by their lives of sin. In reparation for their faults, I offer to you all the honor which your Well-Beloved Son rendered to Your Name by his words and deeds.

THY KINGDOM COME: I pray you, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not always seek or adore your Kingdom with enough fervor and diligence; this Kingdom, the only place where true rest and peace reign. In reparation for their omissions, through indifference to do what is good, I offer you the Most Holy Desire of Your Son, by which he wished that they also might become heirs to his Kingdom.

THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN: I pray you, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not always submit their will to your will. In reparation for their disobedience, I offer you the perfect conformity of the heart, full of love, of your Divine Son with your holy will and the most profound submission which he showed in obeying you unto death on the Cross.

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD:I pray you, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, for they did not always receive the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist with enough desire, but often without contemplation, or love, or even unworthily, or they neglected to receive it. In reparation for these faults, I offer you the outstanding holiness and the great contemplation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Divine Son, addressed to you in favor of his enemies when he was on the Cross.

FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US: I pray you, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, all the faults of which they have been guilty through succumbing to the seven capital sins and also in not having wished either to love or pardon their enemies. In reparation for these faults, I offer you the outstanding holiness and the great contemplation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Divine Son, addressed to you in favor of his enemies when he was on the Cross.

AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION: I pray you, Father Most Good, pardon the Souls in Purgatory, because too often they did not resist temptations and the passions, but they followed the enemy of all goodness. In reparation for all these sins, in thought, word, and deed. I offer you the glorious victory which Our Lord won against the world, as well as his most holy life, his work and sorrows, his suffering and his most cruel death.

BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL: and from all punishment through the infinite merits of your well-beloved Son and lead us, as well as the Souls in Purgatory, into your Kingdom of eternal glory. Amen.


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

CARMELITE QUOTE

St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila):

...On one of these same days, the feast of the Assumption of our Lady, while at a monastery of the order of the glorious St. Dominic, I was reflecting upon the many sins I had in the past confessed in that house and many things about my wretched life. A rapture came upon  me so great that it almost took me out of myself. I sat down; it still seems to me I couldn't see the elevation or hear Mass, and afterward I had a scruple  about this. It seemed to me while in this state that I saw myself vested in a white robe of shining brightness, but at first I didn't see who was clothing me in it. Afterward I saw our Lady at my right side and my father St. Joseph at the left, for they were putting that robe on me. I was given to understand that I was now cleansed of my sins. After being clothed and while experiencing the most marvelous delight and glory, it seemed to me then that our Lady took me by the hands. She told me I made her very happy in serving the glorious St. Joseph, that I should believe that what I was striving for in regard to the monastery would be accomplished, that the Lord and those two would be greatly served in it...

The Life, Chap. 33, No. 14

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, ocds

LITANY OF MERCY

Here is a beautiful Litany of Mercy I found on YouTube. Here is the text (From the diary of St. Faustina):


Divine Mercy, gushing forth from the bosom of the Father,
I trust in You

Divine Mercy, greatest attribute of God, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, incomprehensible mystery, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, fountain gushing forth from the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, unfathomed by any intellect, human or angelic, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, from which wells forth all life and happiness,
I trust in You

Divine Mercy, better than the heavens, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, source of miracles and wonders, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, encompassing the whole universe, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, descending to earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, which flowed out from the open wound of the Heart of Jesus, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, enclosed in the Heart of Jesus for us, and especially for sinners, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, unfathomed in the institution of the Sacred Host, 
I trust in You

Divine Mercy, in the founding of the Holy Church, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, in our justification through Jesus Christ, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, accompanying us through our whole life, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, embracing us especially at the hour of death, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, endowing us with immortal life, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, accompanying us every moment of our life,
I trust in You

Divine Mercy, shielding us from the fire of hell, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, in the conversion of hardened sinners, 
I trust in You

Divine Mercy, astonishment for Angels, incomprehensible to Saints, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, unfathomed in all the mysteries of God, 
I trust in You

Divine Mercy, lifting us out of every misery, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, source of our happiness and joy, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, in calling us forth from nothingness to existence,
I trust in You

Divine Mercy, embracing all the works of His hands, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, crown of all God?s handiwork, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, in which we are all immersed, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, sweet relief for anguished hearts, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, only hope of despairing souls, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, repose of hearts, peace amidst fear, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, delight and ecstasy of holy souls, I trust in You

Divine Mercy, inspiring hope against all hope, I trust in You

Prayer:

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us 
and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, 
but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.








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

CHRIST IS RISEN!

From the writings of St. John of the Cross:

God never works these marvels except when they are a necessity for believing. Lest his disciples go without merit by having sensible proof of his resurrection, he did many things to further their belief before they saw him. Mary Magdalene was first shown the empty sepulcher, and afterward the angels told her about the resurrection so she would, by hearing, believe before seeing. As St. Paul says: Faith comes through hearing (Rom. 10:7). And though she beheld him, he seemed only an ordinary man, so by the warmth of his presence he could finish instructing her in the belief she was lacking (Mt 28:1-6;Lk 24: 4-10; Jn. 20:11-18). And the women were sent to tell the disciples first; then these disciples set out with two of his followers, he inflamed their hearts in faith before allowing them to see (Lk 24: 15-32). Finally he reproved all his disciples for refusing to believe those who had told them of his resurrection (Mk 16:14). And announcing to St. Thomas that they are blessed who believe without seeing, he reprimanded him for desiring to experience the sight and touch of his wounds( Jn. 20:25, 29).

Thus God is not inclined to work miracles. When he works them he does so, as they say, out of necessity.

The Ascent of Mount Carmel,  Bk III, Chap. 31, No. 8,9 from the Collected Works of St. John of the Cross Translated by Keiran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. * Otilio Rodriguez, O.C.D.




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