Contemplative Haven

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

“Humanity is the veil of Veronica. It is, so to speak, the suffering Face of Christ on the Via Crucis, impressed upon man, His face covered in blood and sweat and tears, just as we do literally see so many human faces now. This disfigurement is caused by sin, exactly as Christ’s historical Passion was caused by sin, so is His Passion in us. It is He Whom we meet every day and in every house and every street, and were it not that His love has transformed even the wounding and bruising of sin, we should meet the ugliness of despair everywhere. As it is, Christ, by giving Himself to our humanity as He gave the impression of His Face to the veil of Veronica, has given His own mysterious beauty and significance to every tear on man’s face, to every drop of blood shed from his veins.”
(Frances Caryll Houselander: This War is the Passion)

Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry His Cross

“The Holy Spirit, who is totally devoted to the work of the Incarnation of the Son and his task on earth, to whom the Father and the Son had entrusted the hour of the birth and so the task of overshadowing and who keeps to the hour fixed by the Father for the Son’s death: this Holy Spirit takes care that the Son does not die from exhaustion before his time but receives the necessary assistance to help him reach the Father’s hour, which is also the Son’s. He inspires Simon, not yet a believer, not to refuse giving help, and through this act the Holy Spirit can take possession also of his soul.” (Adrienne von Speyr: The Passion from Within)

Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

Words spoken by Jesus to Sister Josefa Menendez during Lent of 1923:

“Come a little further with Me.  There you will see My blessed Mother, whose heart is pierced with grief.

Consider the martyrdom of these two hearts. What does this Mother love more than her Son? And far from being able to help Him, she knows that the sight of her anguish increases His.

And I, what do I love more than My Mother? Not only can I offer her no comfort, but I know that the terrible plight in which she sees Me pierces her heart with a sorrow like My own; for if I suffer death in the body, she suffers death in her heart.

See those eyes fixed on Mine, as Mine dulled and blinded with blood are fixed on hers! No word is spoken, but what a world of intercourse our two hearts exchange in one heart-rending glance.”

(Sister Josefa Menendez: The Way of Divine Love)

Jesus Falls the First Time

(Under the weight of my sin. Mea culpa.)

“What each of us must learn in the experience of our meditation is that the power for the pilgrimage is in fact inexhaustibly present.  It takes only one step of faith for us to know that from our own experience.  The important thing to remember is that one faltering but actual step is more valuable than any number of journeys performed in the imagination…

As we begin to tread the path that unites surface and depth, we have to recognize that we are limited, that we are sinners.  What all this means is that we must understand that although we are setting out, we are only setting out, we have not yet arrived.”  (Dom John Main OSB:  The Present Christ)

Jesus Carries His Cross

 * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“We are fonder of consolations than we are of the cross.  Test us, Lord – for You know the truth – so that we may know ourselves.”

St. Teresa of Avila
Interior Castle

Jesus is Condemned to Death

“Jesus Christ has taken the lead on the way of the cross.  He has suffered first.  He does not drive us toward suffering but shares it with us, wanting us to have life and to have it in abundance.”

Pope John Paul II
From: In My Own Words
“Meeting with the Sick and Suffering”

Welcome!  I have not moved anything over from my previous site yet, and have not figured out too much here so far, but I’d rather concentrate on Lent right now.  I’m sure you understand! 

In the previous post I gave a link to St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal. For any of you who may be interested in learning more about the Oratory and Brother André in particular, the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) has eight short clips (from both t.v. and radio) in its archives which you might enjoy.

St. Joseph was named the patron saint of Canada in 1637 by Pope Urban VIII.

St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal is dedicated to this humble, silent saint, husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and foster-father of Jesus.

The Oratory is filled with unused crutches, similar to at Lourdes; they are wooden and metal witnesses to the miracles that have taken place there.

St. Teresa of Avila was a recipient of just such a miracle. As a young woman she was paralyzed for more than two years following an illness. In her autobiography, she tells us that it was St. Joseph who was responsible for her cure, that he, “was true to his own nature when he cured my paralysis and gave me the power to rise and walk…”

St. Teresa of Avila had a very special devotion to St. Joseph. She writes, “To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succour us in some of our necessities but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succours us in them all…” She explains that Jesus, in Heaven, wishes to do everything that his guardian and foster-father asks of Him, just as He did on earth.

St. Teresa tells us that, “those who practise prayer should have a special affection for him always”, and that if, “anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious saint as his master and he will not go astray.”