Heartbreakers:The Seven Sorrows of the Saints

Photo: R. Massaro St. Luke Chuch, Danville, Ohio

Recently, on September 15, we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. There is a beautiful devotion to Our Lady under this title that one can pray on rosary beads, it's the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows. Although I'm sure our Blessed Mother had many more sorrows than the traditional seven that are listed below, the Church asks us to meditate upon these while saying this Chaplet.

1.  The Prophecy of Simeon
2.  The Flight into Egypt
3.  The Loss of Jesus in the Temple
4.  Mary meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary
5.  The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus
6.  The taking down of the body of Jesus from the Cross (Pieta)
7.  The Burial of Jesus

Here is a website that will help you to learn to say the Chaplet that is also known as the Servite Rosary:

http://www.rosaryandchaplets.com/chaplets/seven_sorrows_prayer.html


When we read the lives of the saints, we learn that many things in life made them sorrowful. Similarly, in today's society, there are many issues that cause Catholics, Christians, and good people to be sorrowful.  The saints are people who strive to console the heart of God by living a holy life and in some way try to make up for those who offend Him. Let us consider how the saints would be spiritually wounded in light of today's society (these are in no particular order):

1. God is Not Loved in the World; He is Rejected By Man.

The Prophecy of Simeon is the First Sorrow of Our Lady. While holding the Christ Child, the holy man raises his eyes to heaven and states, Now, Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace; you have fulfilled your word, for my eyes have witness your saving deed displayed for all the people to see... (Luke 2:29-31).

God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, as our Redeemer, and He is rejected over and over again by people who desire to live as they please. There is no sense of sin or thought of offending Almighty God. Even among the faithful, there are those who reject him and the Church's teachings.


2.  The Lord's Day is Not Kept Holy.

On Sunday, it's business as usual in the marketplace and in our homes. Long gone are the "Blue Laws" our country once observed. While most Blue Laws or "Sunday Closing Laws" have been repealed, some laws such as the sale of alcohol remain in effect. The laws that were established in the age of Puritanism were not enacted to give people a day of rest, but were written to respect the Sabbath.

The lack of keeping the Lord's Day holy must have been a sorrow for St. Pope John Paul II, because he wrote an Apostolic Letter on this very subject. Here is a quote from his letter:

Unfortunately, when Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes merely part of a "weekend", it can happen that people stay locked within a horizon so limited that they can no longer see "the heavens". Hence, though ready to celebrate, they are really incapable of doing so. 

 It is clear then why, even in our own difficult times, the identity of this day must be protected and above all must be lived in all its depth. (Dies Domini, No. 4, 30).


3.  Abuse, torture, and killing of God's children.

The Second Sorrow of Our Lady is the flight into Egypt.  Herod desired to kill the Christ child.  In our society, there are many, many, who desire to kill children while they are still living in their mother's womb. Children are abused, tortured, and starved on a daily basis in some homes. In the Middle East, Christians are being persecuted and beheaded for their faith in Jesus Christ.

4.  The worship of false gods.

The third sorrow of Our Lady is the loss of the child Jesus in the temple.  When Jesus was found, he boldly declared,  Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?  In our society, it seems that the Father's business is none of our business. We live in an age of materialism, individualism, and relativism, spiritual illnesses in which we worship ourselves and not God.

5.  Presuming on God's mercy.

One has only to speak to a neighbor, relative, or friend, or pick up the local newspaper and read the obituaries to learn that absolutely everyone is going to heaven. And not just going there by way of Purgatory, but going there directly when they die-the condition and state of being of a saint. 

In our society there is a deep lack of a sense of sin, and no desire to be accountable or purified of the sins one has committed during his or her life. Then,when one dies, a funeral becomes a eulogy in which the deceased is lifted on a spiritual pedestal and canonized by the family.

6.  Blasphemies against the Holy Eucharist.

Today, our Lord has many enemies. There are those who wish to desecrate the most Holy Eucharist. Churches are vandalized. Statues and religious articles are destroyed or desecrated by those claiming artistic freedom. Even among the faithful, sacrilegious communions take place.

7.  The Blessed Mother is not duly honored in the world.

St. Louis de Montfort, in his spiritual masterpiece, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, writes:

It was through the blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world, and it is also through her that he must reign in the world. (True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, Introduction, No. 1).

I admire good Catholics who never seem to tire of defending Our Lady and explaining her role in the Church: to bring each soul to her Son, Jesus Christ. She is our model of prayer, humility, and obedience. 

At the beginning of this article, I listed the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. Sadly, we could update and lengthen this list in light of how Our Lady is treated in the world today. 

Our Lady of Lourdes spoke these tender words tinged with sorrow to St. Bernadette:  I do not promise to make you happy in this life, but in the next. 

Yes, Our Lady confirms what we have come to know, that life and striving for holiness is, at times, a "Valley of Tears." But in God's mercy and goodness, he gives us joys to balance our afflictions. He gives us the joy of receiving him in the Holy Eucharist. The joy of having good and holy friends to imitate, the Communion of Saints. The joy of having a Holy Mother who never abandons us, even when we are sorrowful to the point of despair over our sins. As Catholics, we have the "best of both worlds." Why? Because we have Our Lord present with us in the Blessed Sacrament and we can receive him daily if we wish. And, if we are faithful, we will be with him forever.

We have discussed the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady and of the saints. If you have the courage, consider the  "Seven Sorrows" of your own personal life. Whatever our sorrows, or our great sins, if we are truly sorry, the Lord forgives us through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. When we have repented, he then consoles us. The Holy Spirit is the great Consoler. Our Lady of Sorrows, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, pray for us!

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R. Massaro-Lourdes, France

An excerpt from Pilgrims With Mary by John Maloney, P.P.


Round the whole life of Mary there is the serene calm of a great silence. The great things of God are done in silence. When the night was on its way and all the world was asleep the Savior was born. Right through the story Mary was ever present, but nearly always silent.

She must have loved the silence of the hills, the lovely calm of those hidden years. Jesus also loved the quiet of the hills. There in the early morning and through the nights He found refreshment, alone in the prayer of God.

Ours is a world of noise; and we tend to need the companionship of noise. And unless we are careful our souls become like a crowded inn, and the gentle knocking of God at the door is drowned in a babel of voices clamoring for attention. 

Prayer:

Immaculate Virgin, grant me something of that silence full of love and peace which always filled your soul. Make my ear always attentive to God's word. 


Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Saturday of Our Lady

Photo: R. Massaro Our Lady of Consolation, Carey, Ohio

Mary is the supreme masterpiece of Almighty God and he has reserved the knowledge and possession of her for himself. She is the glorious Mother of God the Son who chose to humble and conceal her during her lifetime in order to foster her humility.
St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

SORROWFUL MOTHER SHRINE BELLEVUE, OHIO

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie

SPIRITUAL LIFE DICTIONARY

 Today's Term: Punctuality

The Call to Prayer: Be on time

Photo: R. Massaro St. Agnes Church Orrville, Ohio

Punctuality? Really? You may be thinking, what does this have to do with the spiritual life? Well, I think it is a very important part of the spiritual life.  Punctuality may not be one of the most recognized gifts of the Holy Spirit, but it truly is a gift from God.

You may live in a divided household; your spouse may be the punctual one, or perhaps it's the other way around.  Do you know someone who is habitually late for an appointment? Are you the person who tries to keep the other person accountable for being on time?  Yes, it's a challenge for many of us in our busy lives as we try to juggle errands, activities, and appointments.

Think of the many times we rely on the punctuality of another person. We go to our doctor and he's running late. His lack of punctuality causes us stress, unless we have the gift of patience where the lack of punctuality on the part of another does not disturb the calm of our heart.

How many times have we been "run off of the road" by someone who is probably running late for work or an appointment? Their lack of punctuality and their response to it threaten the lives of others on the road. Yes, a lack of punctuality can be dangerous, especially in the spiritual life.

Being punctual for Mass, prayer time, and religious activities says a lot about who we are and the desire we have to be at attention and "ready for service" to the Holy Spirit. In the monastic setting,  the manner of punctuality effects the keeping of the rule. For religious persons, those in monasteries and religious communities must be punctual so that the prayer life of the community is not disrupted. The punctuality of all the members is essential for unity and peace, which reflects the common vision of their charism.

 St. Therese of the Child Jesus is an example of a saint who tried to be punctual. She writes about this in her Story of a Soul. She says that she wanted to be obedient, even in small things. When she was writing her memoirs and heard the bell, the call to prayer, she would stop writing in mid-sentence. That small act of self-denial took great effort on her part until she matured in the virtue of punctuality.

Here is what one of my favorite writers, Fr. Adolphe Tanquerey, in his great work The Spiritual Life says about punctuality:

Punctuality is an integral part of the observance of a rule of life. Not to begin an exercise at the prescribed moment, and that without a reason, already constitutes an act of resistance to grace, which admits of no delays; it is to run the risk of omitting or at least shortening this exercise from lack of time. If it is question of some public exercise of the ministry, a delay often means considerable inconvenience to the faithful; on the part of a teacher lack of punctuality sets before the students a bad example which they are but too prone to follow.

The Spiritual Life. The Very Reverend Adlophe Tanquerey, SS.,D.D.. Society of St. John the Evangelist, Desclee & Co., Imprimatur, Michael J. Curley, Archbishop of Baltimore, May 24, 1930.

When we go to Mass we expect the celebration to begin on time. When the priest is late, we begin to worry that something may be wrong. It gives us spiritual security to know that the Mass is going to take place each day at a specific time. We should make every effort to be on time for Holy Mass.


A lack of punctuality can lead to a greater fault that is hard to cure: procrastination!  Sometimes procrastination is caused by laziness, sometimes it's a state of denial when we find a difficult situation hard to confront, or there is a difficult task we put off over and over again. If we are not careful, this becomes a habit and a way of life in dealing with difficult situations.

Jesus tells us that death comes like a thief in the night. Death will not delay at the prescribed moment. Therefore, we must be vigilant and spread the Gospel without delay. We must be found at all times doing the will of God, so that when death arrives, we are prepared and ready to meet Our Lord face-to-face.

As Secular Carmelites, we are required to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. We should make every effort to keep the designated hours of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. We should be on time for these prayers and say them at the proper hours. Many of us delay these prayers, take shortcuts, then try to make it up later in the day. 

In the spiritual life, we fail many times by being late or even absent from prayer. However, we are very demanding that God be punctual. We want him to answer our prayer, now! Or, at prayer, we think, I'm here, God. Where are You?

Let us pray for each other, that we be punctual, diligent, faithful, and respond quickly to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, OCDS

Spiritual Direction with St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila)

GOOD ROOTS OR BAD ROOTS-IT'S UP TO US

Photo: R. Massaro

In the Life of St. Teresa, she writes that after her conversion, she was so intent on pleasing the Lord that she did everything possible to avoid venial sin.  For most people in the spiritual life, who are striving to be perfect, we usually find ourselves in the territory of committing venial sins, the same venial sins, over and over again. 

Perhaps we go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and repeat the same sins month after month, even though we have a firm desire to overcome even these venial sins. St. Teresa exhorts us to overcome these sins, so that we don't repeat the same sins to our confessor, she writes:

There are some persons who have already attained friendship with the Lord because they have confessed their sins well and have repented, but two days don't pass before they return to them. Indeed, that is not the friendship the bride is asking for. Always strive, O daughters, so that you don't go to the confessor each time to confess the same fault.

We must be careful and not be alarmed by the words of St. Teresa. We shouldn't be alarmed if we, at times, confess the same sin over and over again.  Did not Our Lord tell St. Peter that we should forgive seventy times seven times?

Then Peter came up and asked him, "Lord, when by brother wrongs me, how often must I forgive him? Seven times?" "No," Jesus replied,  "not seven times; I say, seventy times seven times."

(Matthew 18:21)

If we, as his lowly creatures are called to such mercy, will not the Lord be very merciful toward us who are struggling with the same sins? And forgive us over and over again, if we are truly sorry? Pope Francis has said in his teaching, that the Lord never tires of forgiving us: 

“God never tires of forgiving us; 

we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.”

(Pope Francis)

St. Teresa, in her Meditation on the Song of Songs is speaking to the "bride-to-be." She is speaking to the soul who desires spiritual perfection so that she can be joined with the Bridegroom.  She writes:

It's true that we cannot live without faults, but at least there should be some change so that they don't take root. If they take root, they will be harder to eradicate and even many others could arise from them. If we plant an herb or small tree and water it each day, it grows so strong that afterward you need a shovel and a pickax to get it out by the roots. Committing the same fault each day, however small, if we do not make amends for it, is like watering a plant each day. And if one day it is planted and ten more pass by, it can still be easily rooted out. In prayer you must ask help from the Lord, for we of ourselves can do little; rather, we add faults instead of taking them away. Reflect that in that frightful judgment at the hour of death we shall see that this was no small matter especially for those the Judge took for His brides in this life.  (Meditation on the Song of Songs, Chap. 2, No. 18)

Our Statutes state the importance of the member receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation on a frequent basis:

Called to continual conversion, Secular Carmelites will seek to identify and place before God any obstacles and impediments to union with him. Confident in God's loving mercy, they will:

a) Engage in a daily examination of conscience, ideally just before retiring or at the beginning of Night Prayer.

b) Participate frequently in the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).                  
(Daily Life, No. 5)


Let us pray for each other that the Holy Spirit inspire us to desire to please the Lord in all things. Let us guard the door of our heart, to prevent even the smallest sin from entering it. 

Most Pure Heart of Mary, Mother and Queen of Carmel, pray for us!

Rosemarie, OCDS

CARMELITE SAINT OF THE DAY

SAINT MARY OF JESUS CRUCIFIED, OCD
Canonized May 17, 2015 by Pope Francis

Read more about this holy Carmelite:

https://carmelourladysdovecote.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/video-of-bl-mary-of-jesus-crucified-virgin-stigmatist-and-mystic/


Peace be with you!
Rosmarie, OCDS

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