Contemplative Haven

If you haven’t already found this, I think you will love it. The Order of Carmel Discalced Secular (OCDS) have a podcast: Meditations from Carmel. When you go to this site, click on “Meditations from Carmel Podcast” at the top of the screen, then follow the directions for a free download of iTunes and Quicktime, if you don’t already have them on your computer. Then you can choose the Meditation of your choice, click on “Listen”, and then click on the little arrow beside the volume control.

Many thanks to Julie D of Happy Catholic for this wonderful contemplative link.

I am hungry. I am the Canaanite woman, willing to take whatever crumbs fall to the floor.

Soon, they will fill a breadbasket. There will be more than enough for everyone.

Discerning “where we are” in our prayerlife and on our spiritual journey is often difficult, but necessary. It is not a narcissistic pastime; it is not navel-gazing.

In, “Fire Within”, Father Thomas Dubay speaks of how easy it is for all of us to judge normal growth in nature – plants, animals, humans – and when we witness normal growth coming to a premature halt, we immediately know something is wrong. He laments, “Many of us do not at all understand to be applicable on the supernatural level what we fully grasp on the natural level. We are not alarmed about truncated spiritual development.”

But we should be. Why aren’t we attuned to lack of growth in the spiritual life? Why do we not realize that we are coasting, or even regressing?

One main reason is that we are not aware of, or do not understand, the stages in prayer development. Or, if we do know and understand the stages, we have difficulty actually recognizing them in our own lives.

Study of the stages in prayer development is, therefore, a necessity. Without it, as Father Dubay states, “…many baptized persons depart this life without ever realizing that they were destined to a deep communion with God.”

Many. One is too many.

We were away for a few days exploring the Ottawa Valley and beyond. When I realized we were not far from Combermere, Ontario, a dream came true for me – a visit to Madonna House, founded by Servant of God Catherine Doherty.

If you have never read Catherine Doherty’s works, a few of her better-known ones are Poustinia, Sobornost, Urodivoi and Strannik. I highly recommend them.

Here are a couple of links for more information about the Madonna House Apostolate and for Catherine Doherty’s cause for canonization:
www.madonnahouse.org

www.catherinedoherty.org

In 1941, when Catherine had set up “Friendship House” in Harlem, New York, a young Thomas Merton was very attracted to her vision, and she recognized something very special within him as well. She tried her best to convince him to join in her work, but ultimately he decided against it, and pursued his course in becoming a Trappist.

Here are some of Catherine’s own words describing one facet of the Madonna House Apostolate: