Many posts today

 

Now that I have your attention....

Do not miss these posts, as some are part of the series on perfection.

Scroll down at your leisure.

An Example of the Lassus Scholars

Today, I met several members of the Dublin Choral Foundation-the Lassus Scholars- at breakfast. This very talented group of singers have sung at the TLM in St. Kevin's for a long time. Today, they did the Palestrina, Missa Aeterna Christi Munera  and the website is connected there. They are available for tours, even to the US, by the way.

I must say it was a joy to meet up with humble choristers. Those in the business will know what I mean. The leader is a personal friend of Cardinal Burke, who has said a high Mass at St. Kevin's for the past two years and hopefully will come this summer again. I am so glad to be back at the TLM after such a long time.

A Description of the Illuminative Stage from St. Paul

For the sake of the laity trying to understand the stages of perfection, may I point out that today in the TLM, the reading from Colossians of St. Paul is a description of the illuminative state.

Here it is.

EPISTLE Col. 1:9-14
Brethren: Therefore we also, from the day that we heard it, cease not to pray for you and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding: That you may walk worthy of God, in all things pleasing; being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God: Strengthened with all might according to the power of his glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy, giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins.

The beginning phrase describes the type of knowledge and wisdom and understanding which comes in the illuminative stage. The life of the virtues follows that. Such fruits as long-suffering and patience are indicators of the person in that stage. The metaphors of light here directly indicate to me that St. Paul was in the Illuminative Stage. 

Of course, he and other great saints would experience what God has called all of us to experience.

On the way to Bethlehem part two

There is a saying which goes something like this: "The more insignificant one is, the more easily it is to find a place." This used to be true before the Celtic Tiger made the inhabitants of the Green Isle besotted with money, or before the Protestant Work Ethic which has morphed into idolatry of the rich and famous. Now, those with practically nothing are despised, judged, deemed insane or slothful. I know from experience the judgement of men and women who do not want to face suffering. God had another way of judging. He sees the heart.

Christ was rejected by his own, even as a baby. Imagine the shock of St. Joseph, trying to understand why his charges by God, Mary and Jesus, had to endure the cold of the stable and the shut doors of the very people, the Jews, to whom the Messiah had finally come. Imagine. That is meditation. This is real stuff, not movie shots. How many hotels or b and bs today would take a poor couple about to have a baby?

One never knows when one is entertaining angels and all men are made in the image and likeness of God. But, people's hearts have shrunken to their own image and likeness.

winter, summer

The above phrase has to do with travelling light, as we said in our generation. The nuns at Tyburn have a 48 hour notice as to whether they will go to Columbia, Ecuador, Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, England or Rome. St. Paul had a skill in tent-making (yes, he worked as well as preached and wrote) which was a movable skill. I have three suitcases. One for summer, one for winter and one with books. I take one with me. I took one into the convent and left with one and a bag-of notes and diaries.

Most Catholics are so tied down to their places of living and employment that there is no room for travelling light. That may be good, as it is their vocation. But, for some, simplicity is a necessity.

And, it is very hard. However, as I have learned, there is no suffering without a quiet joy and that joy is being one with Christ as He joins Himself with my suffering. Hard is good, but the hard must be determined by God. We do not choose our suffering, God does. That is why it is important to discern a vocation.

Joseph and Mary, if we meditate, would have been planning their trip to Bethlehem at this time. Joseph would be temporarily closing down his shop in order to travel and be ready for the birth of Christ. Mary would have been planning what minimum things she could bring. Like me going on the plane, she did not have money for extra bags. One would suffice. Both had to trust in God the Father and the Holy Spirit who was leading them. Mary had the advantage of being in constant communication with the Indwelling of the Trinity-the first person to whom the Trinity was revealed. Father, Son and Holy Ghost would accompany them to Bethlehem, despite cold, derision, rudeness, and rejection. The Church does not know much about Joseph but he was a man of great faith. Scripture and Tradition give us no knowledge of his heart, mind, soul, except that he was obedient and humble. There are some private revelations, but I do not use those for teaching.

The stable was not a nice place. Animals are not clean. Cute, maybe, but not clean. I grew up in Iowa. One of my uncles had a farm. Cows do not smell nice. Neither do sheep, or dogs, or chickens, or geese. Only cats are clean. At the end of my pregnancy, I would not have wanted to be near a cow.

Bethlehem rejected the Christ and the Queen of Heaven and Earth and her Guardian. Do not reject Christ, Mary or Joseph. Do not pretend they were middle-class and looked well-heeled. Meditate and the Holy Spirit will show you many things upon which to ponder.

A sign of caritas in the soul, mind and heart

Matthew 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.'

5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

5:45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.


And a little phrase which reminds us of Advent coming up and the miracle of Christ's Incarnation

"The one who bears God finds no room."

More on the third step of the cloister stair-prayer

Here is a great quotation from St. Gregory, which is in my heart, "No sacrifice is more acceptable to God than is zeal for souls." Perfect love involves giving, teaching, reaching out to others.  "St. Thomas writes that the love of our neighbour for the sake of God is more perfect than is the love of God alone," writes Humphrey using Suarez. He adds that the love of others includes the love of God Himself. The love of God for the service of others is as the Jesuit says, "a sign of greater love for a man to serve others also for his friend's sake than for him to be willing to serve his friend alone."

Wow, this truism has been lost among Catholics. We can only love others if we love God first. We can only love others if it is for the sake of Christ Himself and not our own, or even the sake of the other.

So, if one is married, one loves one's spouse for the sake of Christ. The stage of prayer which St. Bernard speaks of includes intercessory prayer. This is a work of mercy and involves loving others in Christ enough to pray for them, even do penance for them.

Catholics are starving for the Truth, for the real Catholic teaching. Unless I and others feed the lambs, people will go to hell. I could go to hell for not feeding, sharing my two fish or five loaves, and prayer opens me up so that I can do this. The third step is prayer; and the fourth step in the stair is contemplation.

To be continued....

The Third Step in Bernard's Cloister Stair-Prayer

St. Bernard stated that the third step towards contemplation is prayer. At this point, the person should really beg God for the graces, all the graces of purification and humility. Such gifts as indifference and a heightened sense of sin occur at this time. One sees the horror of the smallest sin, making repentance easier and faster, in a way. Prayer at this stage is begging for the completion of the purity of heart necessary to see God.  St. Bernard makes an interesting comment that seeing a holy man may cause one to greater compunction, as one sees one's own sin more clearly in the face of holiness. How nice it would be if we saw this type of holiness daily, or even on a regular basis. Alas, such is rare. Prayer becomes more and more silent at this stage as well, but still, as all the great saints tell us, we sin and need to ask God for help in changing our hearts. I ask God for His Heart instead of mine.  He waits at the door and knocks. We have the free will to let Christ in...or, to be more exact, to realize He is with us constantly. That is the goal of prayer-repentance and the intense awareness of the Presence of God. The imperfections of our mind, heart, and soul need to be destroyed, and our being needs to be purified to accept the fullness of the Indwelling of the Holy Trinity, which we receive at baptism.

Modest Wedding Dresses

Here is the blog site of a talented young lady who makes lovely, modest wedding dresses. She is busy until after Christmas, of course.

http://zeliesroses.blogspot.co.uk/p/wedding-dresses.html

Meditation Example

A young person who is interested in Catholic meditation asked me for an example. The Gospel of the day in America yesterday was the chasing of the money changers out of the Temple in Jerusalem. Now, St. John places this immediately after the Wedding Feast at Cana, placing it at the first passover in his gospel and at the beginning of Christ's public life, while the synoptic writers place it after the Entry into Jerusalem, Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week.

In a meditation, one imagines or places one's self in the scene, but the Holy Spirit may indicate some knowledge regarding the meditation which is personal. For me, in meditation, the Temple was revealed as my soul and my body, and the money changers are the unsavoury desires of my heart for worldly things. One can give up all for the sake of Christ, but still have the internal desires.  God has to purify my heart, and mind, and soul so that I no longer desire anything but Him and His Will. That would be an example of a meditation based on Scripture.

The Next Step in Bernard's Cloister Stair-Meditation

For the lay person, as well as for the monk, nun, or priest, daily reading of the Scriptures is an essential part of the life of the soul.

Meditation is exactly that-reading the Scriptures and allowing the imagination to enter into the mysteries of the Life of Christ. St. Ignatius, in his exercises, which were given to him by the Holy Spirit, and form the basis of seminary training for the Jesuits, gives the laity means to meditate.

If one is not meditating on Christ and His Life, one is in trouble. That is the first warning. One cannot meditate on one's self or on nothing.

To take a passage and enter into the scene is easier for us in this century as we had seen many Biblical movies, including The Passion of the Christ. However, such interpretations of the mysteries in the Life of Christ can also be misleading or a distraction.

St. Ignatius encourages us to imagine ourselves in the story, such as the Woman at the Well. We should feel the heat, the dust, see the village well, the woman and her jug, and the tired Christ. This is the beginning of meditation.

Many, many Catholics do this with the rosary, meditating on the mysteries as they say the prayers. I know good Catholics who get stuck on one mystery for months. This is meditation. Meditation involves remembering, recollecting, giving time to God, in the Holy Spirit, to work through meditation. We can, with grace, make a habit of meditation.

This second step must be in the context of the Church's Teaching Magisterium and not based on private revelations. That is a second warning. The riches, the treasures of the Church revealed through the Bible and in Tradition are enough to keep us meditating for a very long time-all of our lives.

Some of the things I have offered on this blog, such as the reference to Our Lady a few days ago come from meditation. Many saints have shared their meditations with us in their writings. Some of these personal revelations are not part of the Deposit of Faith, but may be aids. However, it is better to enter into meditation directly from Scripture.

Those of you who say either the American or British version of the Breviary have readings built into your day. I use various verses, sometimes from the Mass readings of the day, as my Monastic Diurnal does not include readings.

Find a good spiritual director.

On religious orders, marriage, and types of priests, continued

It breaks my heart when I go into a used book store and find books from defunct convents and orders of priests. If I had money and a place to put these books, I would buy them all. How sad that the gems of the past sit gathering dust while we are starving for good spiritual direction.

Thanks, Wiki

One such book is De State Religionis by Suarez. A version of his treatise

 was done by a Rev. William Humphrey of the Jesuits. Many nuns used Jesuit spirituality in the past and this is largely lost.

I want to continue by information on the different types of priests for this posting. Suarez, via Humphrey notes that St. Thomas Aquinas writes about the means and the ends of religious orders. The perfection of charity is ALWAYS the end and should be ours, as lay people as well.

Diversity of orders comes from the particular call of the founder. For example, St. Benedict and St. Stephen Harding used the same means to come to the same end. So too, the original military orders, of Alcantra and Calatrava, the Knights Templar and the Knights of Malta used similar rules for the same ends.

When I was in the monastery for two months, I was conforming to the Rule of Benedict as interpreted by the Cistercians in the Tyburn mold. The goal should be perfection through meditation and contemplation, in community. That community constitutes a corporate unity. Divine Providence and the directions of the Holy Ghost, states Humphrey, create this variety of ways of the orders, to the perfection of charity.

Marriage would be the normal way for the laity to arrive at such a height of perfection of charity. I was moved by the paragraph of Humphrey where he quotes Scripture..in My Father's House are many mansions.

The entire verse, from John 14.2 is this: In my Father's house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you.

In 1977, I had a mini-dream regarding this passage. I was struggling being in a lay community which I was in from 1973 to 1979. I had been involved in multiple activities and was burnt out. I was living in common in a large group, broken up into households. The community at that time was over 2,000 people. This was in Minneapolis. The dream revealed a busy urban scene with the building of a skyscraper, very common in the Twin Cities at the time. The steel girders were in place and I saw a crane trying to take a rare, beautiful Louis Quatorze chair up to the top of this unfinished building. Then, I heard this Bible verse clearly. The point was that one does not put an expensive antique chair in an unfinished building. This was not my community, and it took me another 18 months to decide to leave. I am very persistent and committed. Also, my entire life had been given to this for many, many years.  I transferred to another community, and ended up doing my graduate degree at Notre Dame. From there I moved to England as I had fallen in love with the country on a visit in 1980. This, as part of Europe, was my spiritual home. 

The point is this. God has a place for us and only He can lead us. Just as the religious are called to a specific order, so too, we laity are called to a certain spirituality. The means are different, but the goal the same. I have suggested in this blog many times that charity, that is perfected love, cannot be found usually on one's own, living alone. Which is why I have encouraged commitment especially for the young.

My son has said that one of the problems with the generation of youth is that these youth have too many options. I think that is about to change.

I shall go back to the post on contemplation later. As lay people we must enter into some discipline of such in order to be perfected. This is difficult, but the only way to see God. As our state in life is not the objectively perfect state of the monastic orders, or the desert fathers, who as solitaries were still under obedience to their bishops, according to Suarez/Humphrey, we must enter into a perfection without being in the place where this happens most readily.

As Christ said to his disciples, With men this is impossible: but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19.26.

Caritas and recommended books

Rubens The Triumph of Divine Love

Christ did say ask and you shall receive. We are to approach Divine Providence with our needs. Sometimes, we just get into the slot-machine mentality of prayer where we ask, ask, ask for things and events, rather than merely enjoying the Presence of God. However, I want to mention today that real prayer is simply loving God. Mother Teresa was asked one time what happens to her and what does she pray when she goes to Adoration. I have written this before. She answered that she looks at God and He looks at her. This indicates a love relationship.

Now, I would never marry for money or status. I am an idealist. When one is in love, one does not mind just sitting in the same room as the beloved. Just to be near the loved one is enough. To communicate in silence is the mark of real love.

We meet God in silence in Adoration. We meet God in silence when we receive Him in the Eucharist. But, He is not a God of silence. He is The Word. He Himself longs to communicate with each one of us, personally. This practice of the presence of God, and I highly recommend Jean Pierre de Caussade's book on this topic, Abandonment to Divine Providence or The Sacrament of the Present Moment, a book I read over thirty years ago but have just appropriated in my life as a total reality. This is a grace, but one must know what graces are possible and ask for those graces.

I you can find this book, get it. It is applicable to our lives as laity. Again, this is not Quietism, which I have explained on this blog earlier. You can use the search button for those posts.

Father de Caussade wrote that every moment is like a sacrament if we realize that we are in the Presence of God. The only way to accomplish this is through grace, and the complete abandonment to the Divine Will. This is possible for us lay persons as well as religious. All are called to be in the Presence of God, all.

I cannot guarantee this translation, as I have the book, but the entire work in on-line. I suggest reading this slowly over the next few months. The real meat of the book is towards the end.

There are two other books I do not have, the first which I have read entirely and the second which I have read in part, which I can recommend now. The Perfection of Man by Charity by Father Reginald Buckler. I cannot stress how important this book is enough. I wish I had it. Father Buckler explains the entire path of perfection through Caritas, in a scholarly and pastor manner. If you find it, read it and cherish it.

The second one is longer and in two or three volumes depending on the publisher. I have not finished this book, nor do I have it. That is The Practice of Christian and Religious Perfection by Father Alphonsus Rodriguez. This book and the one by Buckler were, in the good, old days, standard reading for religious formation. Sadly, this is no longer true. The same ignorance of the laity which has been caused by dumbing down in schools and parishes has effected some of the orders. The young coming in need basic catechesis.

However, treat yourself to these books, but here is a warning. We should never read and assume what we read is our experience. Only read these with a competent spiritual director. I was introduced to de Caussade by a spiritual director I had in the early 1980s. I am eternally grateful to this priest. But, do not suppose you can read without really allowing God to change you from a slot-machine pray-er to a lover of God.

That movement is in the will and the heart, as well as the intellect. By the way, the Jesuits used Rodriquez in formation in the old days. I wonder if they do now.

The other books I have recommended recently are Lord of the World and None Other Gods, by Robert Hugh Benson. I have read the first three times in one year. The other is excellent. I do not have copies of these, either, yet.

God bless you all. And, here is Robert Anderson's explanation of the famous painting by Rubens on Caritas.

This picture is allegorical in that it contains a grandiose procession which celebrates a victory - the defeat of evil in the world by religious or divine love. This divine love is personified by Charity, who is the foremost of the three 'theological virtues' and who in this painting resembles the Virgin Mary. Charity is linked to the classical Mother of the Gods, Cybele, by the two lions who pull her chariot. In this implied reference Charity, as Mother of the Gods is seen as Mary, the Mother of God. A reference is made to Christ's sacrifice for the world by depicting the pelican piercing her breast in order to feed her young. Snakes represent evil and are overcome by the religious ardor of the flaming heart and the arrows of sacred love.

Caritas or Charity stands on a small chariot drawn by two lions. She holds one of her children in a tender embrace while two others stand by her side. In front of her stands a pelican, piercing her breast to feed its young. In the air around her fly twelve (12) putti, one of whom holds a flaming torch. On the ground are three more putti. One rides a lion with an arrow in his hand; one stoops to burn two intertwined snakes; the third raises a flaming heart in one hand and a bow in the other. These motifs of love ( sacred and profane) are repeated in various decorative elements. In the center of the chariot's wheel is a carved seraph from which radiate alternating arrows and shafts of flame as spokes.

A garland of fruit and flowers is strung above the tapestry which is hung between two doric columns. In the center between two crossed torches hangs a cartouche inscribed "Amor Divinus" . Below the bottom ledge, in the center, is placed a flaming heart pierced by two crossed arrows encased in an ornamental shell adorned with flowers. On each side is a cornucopia from which emerge flames and smoke and on which sits a dove, another emblem of love.

While members of Ruben's workshop painted much of the final cartoon we can discern Ruben's own hand in the painting of the face of the putto riding the lion.

The cycle of eleven paintings of The Triumph of the Eucharist was commissioned by the Archduchess Isabella who was the daughter of Philip II of Spain and the Governor of the Spanish Netherlands. It was planned as a gift for the convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid in 1625 where it still hangs today. This Franciscan Order of Poor Clares was one with which Isabella was closely associated.

The series is a mixture of allegory and religious propaganda intended to promote the worship of the Eucharist (ie the bread and wine consecrated as the body and blood of Christ and distributed at communion) which had been strengthened recently by the Council of Trent and which constituted an important element in Counter Reformation Catholicism.

This was a time of great concern on the part of the Catholic church as it attempted to correct not only the abuses of the clergy but also to reaffirm its tenets / dogma in the face of attacks by the Protestant Reformation. http://ringlingdocents.org/divine.htm

The Golden Rose

I was doing some research on Gibraltar and came across a fact which escaped me in 2009. Pope Benedict XVI gave the coveted Golden Rose to the Shrine of Our Lady of Europe in that country. To date, the Pope has given twelve Golden Roses to shrines, including one to the National Shrine in Washington D.C. in America.

Most recent popes have given the Golden Rose to shrines, but in the past, such a prized, blessed gift was also given to people. Some popes only gave a few, such as Blessed John Paul II, who only gave four. The list of shrines may be found on Wiki.

An incomplete list of people who have been given the Golden Rose may be found in the Catholic Encyclopaedia on-line. Here it is and I left the links on purpose so one can follow some of these popes. I have also highlighted the ones I consider important.

• Falcone, Count of Angers, who received it from Urban II (1096);
• Alfonso VII, King of Castile (Eugene III; 1148);
• Louis VII of France (Alexander III; 1163);
• Louis I of Hungary (Clement VI; 1348);
• Joanna I, Queen of Naples (1368);
• Emperor Sigismund (Eugene IV; 1435);
• Henry VI of England (Eugene IV; 1444);
• Casimir IV, King of Poland (Nicholas V; 1448);
• Emperor Frederick III and his wife Empress Eleonora, who were crowned on Lætare Sunday (1452) and received the Golden Rosenext day from Nicholas V;
• Charles VII of France (Callistus III; 1457);
• James III of Scotland (Innocent VIII; 1486);
• Isabella I, Queen of Spain (Alexander VI; 1493);
• Alexander I of Poland (Julius II; 1505);
• Emanuel I of Portugal (Julius II; 1506);
• Henry VIII of England, who received one from Pope Julius II, one from Leo X, and one from Clement VII in year 1524;
• Frederick, Duke of Mantua (Paul III; 1537), because of his kindness towards the Fathers of the Council of Trent;
• Mary, Queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII (Paul IV; 1555);
• Henry of Anjou, King of Poland (Clement VIII; 1592);
• Margaret of Austria, Queen of Spain, on the day she was married to Philip III by proxy in presence of Pope Clement VIII (1598);
• Henrietta Maria, Queen of England, at Amiens (Urban VIII; 1625);
• Maria of Austria, Queen of Hungary (Urban VIII; 1630);
• Maria Theresa, Queen of France (1668), for her infant son, the Dauphin, for whom Pope Alexander VII was godfather;
• Eleonora, Queen of Poland (Clement X; 1671);
• Mary Casimir, wife of John III, King of Poland, Saviour of Vienna (Innocent XI; 1684);
• Amelia of Brunswick, empress (Innocent XII; 1699);
• Maria Louisa Gabriele of Savoy, Queen of Spain (Clement XI; 1701);
• Francesco Loredano, Doge of Venice (Clement XIII; 1759);
• Maria Christina, Archduchess of Austria (Pius VI; 1776);
• Maria Theresa, widowed Queen of Sardinia (Leo XII; 1825);
• Maria Anna, Queen of Hungary, afterwards empress (Gregory XVI; 1832);
• Maria II, Queen of Portugal (Gregory XVI; 1842);
• Maria Pia of Portugal, on the day of her baptism (Pius IX, her godfather, 1849);
• Isabella II of Spain (Pius IX; 1868);
• Maria Christina, Queen Regent of Spain (Leo XIII; 1886);
• Isabella, Princess Imperial of Brazil, then Regent of the Empire (Leo XIII; 1880);
• Maria Amélie, Queen of Portugal (Leo XIII; 1892);
• Marie Henriette, Queen of the Belgians (Leo XIII; 1893).

Sniff...

I just talked to the Mother Prioress and she said something was missing in my absence. Sniff...but one cannot pretend to do what one cannot do physically. God bless those Spiritual Marines.

St. Bernard and the Four Steps of the Cloister Stair-Contemplation Continued

I am writing to encourage the laity to a personal relationship with Christ which will lead each lay person to union with Christ. This is not only possible, but God's Will.

The reason I encourage reading is that is the first step on the chair to Contemplation as taught by St. Bernard of Clairvaux.

We must read the right books, however. Some people get bogged down in conversion stories. That is only a beginning. Let me encourage the daily reading of Scripture, or the Lectio Divina.

Here is what Suarez states about Bernard's first step, which overlaps with what St. Thomas Aquinas writes, is important on the life of those seeking contemplation.

Reading...is the first elevation of the mind to God, for by reading we learn and receive that which by meditation we preserve and digest, and so by degrees the soul is inflamed towards God; or, to quote St. Bernard, it is the first step of the four steps of the cloister stair, which are reading, meditation, prayer and contemplation. ...Reading seeks, meditation finds, prayer begs, and contemplation relishes.

Yesterday, I had a fairly long conversation with a holy young man who is seeking God daily. He was defending those in his generation who do not know their faith, nor take, or "have" time for the Catechism, or other reading, such as the Scriptures. They will be lost. A priority for finding out the faith is essential for every Catholic adult. And, one over 18 is an adult. Whether someone decides to be in the psychological state of a child and not take responsibility for spiritual growth or not, each one of us is responsible. The graces of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, aid us on our way.

I pointed out that without a philosophical grounding in Catholic thought and an understanding of their faith, these young people will not make good decisions for their lives. Without discernment based on reading and the moral framework of the Catholic Church, these youth will flounder.

St. Bernard writes, Reading without meditation is arid, meditation without reading is exposed to error, prayer without meditation is tepid, meditation without prayer is unfruitful; prayer with the devotion of contemplation is  acquisitive, while the attainment of contemplation without prayer is either rare, or it is miraculous.

Suarez in good logical form states these are the beginning, the middle and the end of contemplation. This is why I list books on this blog. I shall continue later with the other three steps.

The Supernatural Builds on the Natural-Continued

I grew in a family which identified things in nature: we knew and still know the names of trees, flowers, both wild and cultivated, birds and other animals, type of rocks and so on.

That is because we were outside a lot. We grew up going outside, for walks, hikes, camping trips, historical pilgrimages and religious pilgrimages.

We knew we were part of nature.

In the past two months at the monastery, I went walking in the beautiful Bible Garden daily. The nuns have their own, secluded garden which adjoins the more public one. In all that time, there was only one other nun who I saw taking regular exercise outside and she is English.

Somehow, nature must be part of the life of the religious. St. Bernard knew this, and St. Benedict encouraged outside work. This is missing from so many monasteries. There are some which still farm and have orchards, plant vegetable gardens and herbal gardens. But, because of the dropping of vocations, so many orders can no longer maintain the farms and orchards of the past. Five healthy nuns cannot maintain a farm, or even a large garden.

This, to me, causes a lack of communion with God through nature.

One of the flowers in the garden was the gladiolus, or the Roman sword, as it is sometimes called. I love this flower and the one in this particular place was bright coral. I have written a poem about it.

I watched that flower endure high winds, fog, slashing rain and cold. Yet, it bloomed up to November 12th and another set of flowers was coming up behind the stem I saw. God teaches us through nature and in this case I learned several things. One, plants need certain things to grow-water, good soil, sunshine. God gives them what they need. Two, plants persevere through harsh weather, if the roots are good. Third, beauty is from God to be enjoyed and to cause us to praise Him.

The younger nuns sing the verses referring to Orion and the Pleiades. These are in Amos and Job. I wanted to bring them outside at night to show them which stars were in the psalm, but |that would have been impossible with the rules of the monastery. Would they not praise their God better if they knew the references merely by looking up at the sky at a certain time of the night, in this case, at that time, just before, during and after Nocturnes, and see the work of God?

As I wrote last week, the supernatural grows out of the natural. The Medievals knew this, as their lives were intimately chained to the seasons, the skies, the plants. But, our modern life separates from nature, from God's creation, of which we are a part.

We are not disembodied spirits, but flesh and blood. The Church, rooted in history, and our God, a God of history, give us the sacraments, singing, sacred signs and efficacious words and symbols to become holy. I pray that all who desire perfection start with the natural and move to the supernatural. The laity and religious alike must start with a relationship with the Creator, Who is Father of us all. I pray for more vocations, which would allow more time for God's outside work.

St. Bernard and St. Mary Magdalen

Here is the quotation from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, from a homily of his at Easter.

"We look for God where He is not to be found, or rather, we do not look for Him where He is chiefly to be found; hence, all the confusion, all the delay, and a lot of marking time. Woman, why are you weeping? You possess Him , the One your are searching for, and you do not know it? You look for Him without, but you have Him within. You stand outside the tomb in tears. Why? Where am I. Why, within you. This is My resting place; I am not dead but alive for evermore. You yourself are My garden.  You did well to call me the Gardener. I, too, the Second Adam, am in charge of a garden, the Garden of Paradise. My task is to raise a crop of desires in this garden of your soul. What? You love Me, you possess Me within yourself  and you do not know Me? That is why you see Me outside. Well, here I am. I appeared to you outside so that I might bring you inside. It is there inside yourself that you will find Me...Ah, I am not absent. I am not far away as you think. I am close at hand. Tell Me what is nearer to anyone than his own heart? Those who find Me, find Me there in their hearts. That is where I live."

Thanks, Wiki

On the Various Types of Priests

Clarification on a simple point.

Many Catholics do not understand the difference between a priest who is a member of an order and a secular or diocesan priest. The vocation is very different. I hope for those who do know the difference, this is not too pedestrian.

An order, such as the Benedictines, Dominicans, Franciscans, Fraternity of St. Peter, or the Institute of Christ the King have various things in common. I shall list those: first, an order has a spirituality unique to that group of men. Second, most are missionary in scope and call. Third, the members make unique vows to the order.

By the way, even some Benedictine orders are missionary, having a vow of stability to the order and not to a monastery, such as the Tyburn nuns. Fourth, the members of an order live in community, unless they are Jesuits in certain areas, or have at least one other priest with them in their work.

A secular or diocesan priest is under obedience to his bishop and works in a diocese, usually. The call to be a diocesan priest is not a missionary call, although a bishop may send a secular to Rome to teach, for example, or to a capital to work in the archdiocesan or national offices.

The spirituality of such men varies greatly according to the order, or the diocese. Some diocesan priests would be more Ignatian in their spirituality, as St. Ignatius wrote a rule for the active life. However, the spirituality of a secular priest is that of the apostle working in the world under authority, but without a specific rule. The secular must say daily Mass and his breviary, but he is under no obligation to sing the hours, or to have the type of strict obedience which a monk owes his abbot, for example. A secular priest has the right to say no to something and discuss possibilities with his bishop. The fraternity of secular priests is built up by friendships and groups in the deaneries.

Most diocesan priests wear blacks, though not all, and few wear soutanes (cassocks). Their life is very active, and these priests need great care from their parishes, which sadly in most places is lacking. The live alone, mostly, except in large urban areas, and are overworked. But, their call is that of the original twelve apostles. Their community is that which they make, and not ready made, as in the great orders. Also, secular priests do not make a vow of poverty. Living in the world can be expensive and harsh. Many dioceses give a minimum to their priests, and I know some countries where families help out the priests in their families out of necessity.

God's call to a young man is specific. One either has a religious vocation in addition to a priestly one or not. This is determined with spiritual directors, or vocations directors, or even abbots. One can discern through self-knowledge where one's talents and temperament fit into the Church.

It is very hard to be a diocesan priest in these days. Pray for your priests. Do not judge them too harshly. Pray for the seminarians. Pray for more vocations. I know many parents who would not want their boys to be priests. I personally believe this is sinful-to stand in the way of God's call to a son is a serious thing.

There are not a lot of canonized saints who are diocesan priests. One reason is that the established orders have had more means, such as influence and monies, in Rome, in order to push the process. This is not a cynical statement, but simply a matter of process and ease. St. Jose Maria Escriva, who I consider a great saint, had a relatively easy time becoming canonized as his order was organized. This is the same reason why there are so few lay saints formally canonized. One needs, as it were, sponsorship in Rome. St. John Vianney is the patron saint of diocesan priests.

Many trad young men become diocesan priests as that is their call from God. They want to bring the Latin Mass into the community. The blogging priests are mostly secular, such as Rev. Timothy Finigan , Rev. Ray Blake, and Rev. John Zuhlsdorf, but not all. Some monasteries do not allow the Internet at all for the community. Some do.

I hope this helps those who were wondering about this question.

This is superb--watch this today: Santorum clarifies the issues

No Fear

I did not understand the phrase that love drives out fear until I experienced it. Now, as an intellectual, one would think that I could have reasoned this point out in my life-but no.

The Perfect Love that drives out fear is not our love, puny and incomplete and impure as that is, but the Love of God Himself. Once He has revealed that Love to one, or to be more exact, once a person is open to that Love, fear disappears. I can say this is a truism.

Not that one is foolhardy, but a quiet knowledge takes over which is stronger than fear. This knowledge is that God dwells within me and is always, yes, always with me. 

How can one fear under that circumstance? St. Paul states, in Romans 8:31, What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who is against us?

Does one experience pain? Yes, and sickness and poverty and ridicule and sufferings of all sorts.

It no longer matters. 

God is there is all of the negative experiences. All is redeemed in Christ. 

Totally trusting in Divine Providence is a gift and for me, a healing. I begged God for this for a long time. He has been merciful. Original sin, the sins of others against me and my sin have been swallowed up in the knowledge that God is within me. Sadly, the new agers and especially the TM people have taken this phrase up as a mantra. Do not be fooled. 

The God within is Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit and there is only one way to discover Him and that is through the Crucifixion. There is nothing magical or easy or fair about the process. St. Paul makes a list of the sufferings he endured. Why? To brag? No he did not, but to show us the way.

Why do we have to go through all this suffering? Because of our self-will and impurity. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8.

As God is Pure, we must become like Him and if we allow Him, He will do this. Pray, listen, watch, beg, repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.