I am a morning person. If I can live according to my own
schedule, not other household’s, I am in bed between 10-11 and up at 6. I love
going to morning mass, (not possible in the land of cars) and praying outside
in the early morning sun.
My favorite animals are birds, and they love the morning as
well. The morning chorus is their daily song of praise to God for their
creation. They take joy in the morning.
This morning, the chickadees reminded me that the garden
belongs to them. The solitary hummingbird came up to the pink hanging petunias.
The roses are moving into their second bloom, the last, as in the Midwest , most roses only bloom twice, or even once. This
is hard to see, as roses bloom into October in England
Morning is the time for introverts, as we have time to
reflect, listen, watch, think of the day. One can begin the day in silence, and
today, most people are enjoying the long weekend, sleeping in, which they
should do, after a long week of work.
The robins, which descend in flocks, slowly disappear in the
heat of the summer. Where they go, I do not know, but they will fly up here
again towards the north, flock and leave again.
But, today, a few stragglers eat the worms which have been
flushed out onto the sidewalks from the copious amount of rain.
This morning was the first time I heard the wing-song of the
locusts, the ebbing and flowing of their call, another sound of praise to the
Creator, who, unlike us, they do not know. I love the locusts’ song from their
large wings in the oaks and elms which surround this property. Growing up with
locusts and tree frogs serenading me most during most of my childhood, I love
the soothing sound of the insects and amphibians, which point to earlier days,
before men and women settled these lands.
This morning, I discovered, for the first time in my long
life as a Catholic, in the 1962 Missal, the memorial, “The Interior Life of The
Blessed Virgin”. In my many years of attending Mass on April 12th, I
do not think I have ever assisted at one which honored this memorial.
I refer to it because the overlap with Garrigou-Lagrange’s
superb chapter “The Will and Holy Love of God” will be obvious.
First of all, let me quote the introductory paragraph.
“Mary was created
immaculate, and therefore the grace of God streamed into her sould without
check or hindrance. She began her journey along the road to perfection at a
height to which other Saints arrive only at the end of a long life of saintliness.
An intimate union with God, a continual and joyful remembrance of His presence,
a perfect agreement of will with Him was the beginning of His gifts to Mary.”
Our first model on the road to perfection is, of course,
Mary.
The Tract for this day also gives us insights into the
entire chapter of Garrigou-Lagrange on God’s love.
The Tract is from the Song of Songs, (Cant. 2:3-5, 16;5:8,6;
6:2).
“I sat down under his
shadow whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet to my palate. He brought me into
the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me. Stay me up with flowers,
compass me about with apples, because I languish with love. My beloved to me
and I to him; my soul melted when he spoke. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem
The phrases I want to attempt to explain in light of
Garrigou-Lagrange’s work are these:
I sat down under his
shadow…
he set in order
charity in me..
that you tell him that
I languish with love
First of all, like Mary of Bethany, one must sit before
Christ, under his shadow. One must set time aside to reflect, such as early in
the morning, listening, watching.
The shadow of God is all we can see until we are taken up
into the Beatific Vision.
Second, Christ sets in us and sets us in an order of love.
This order of love is not merely the Ten Commandments, but the higher walk of
living the life of the virtues. This walk is absolutely an “order” and not
chaos, or relativistic emotion.
That love orders us is part of the work of Divine
Providence. In the next post, I shall go back to Garrigou-Lagrange for more on
this point.
Third, we can invoke the saints to remind God that we are
waiting for His love. We wait, in patience, and sometimes never experiencing
for a long time consolation, but merely the assurance in faith, hope, and love,
that He will come to us….
To be continued…