Contemplative Haven

 I am reminded once again, by prayer requests in my inbox, of the incredibly difficult and often painful lives of our elderly; also, of the enormous amount of strength and dedication required of their caregivers.

And once again, I am profoundly moved by the powerful life, spirituality and writing of Servant of God Catherine Doherty, who, in her book, “Molchanie.  Experiencing the Silence of God”, gives us a whole chapter entitled, The Silence of Old Age.

Catherine speaks of her own experience of aging in this chapter, and I would like to share just a few passages with you here:

• “Somehow it never occurs to us that tomorrow or the day after, our steps will falter, that we will be too weak to do what we would like.  And yet, I think this ‘unfreedom’ of old age is also an entry into the silence of God.”

• “…the silence of old age, with its accompanying lack of exterior freedom.  My own heart must learn to accept this lack of freedom….This is good, because now I enter a new depth of silence, and the very essence of poverty, for which I have so longed.  Now I am exceedingly free.”

• “The earth is becoming a narrow sliver, of no more importance.  Heaven is opening before me.  This is the goal I always wanted to attain.  No wonder earthly landscapes pass out of view. God has given me a new key to the landscape of his heart, and nobody can stop me from entering it.”

A new key, a new landscape, a deeper poverty, silence and union.  Let us pray for our elderly, for their caregivers and for ourselves.  No matter whether we are young or old, able to move or not, speak or not, swallow or not, let us pray that we will enter the landscape of God’s heart, and be as Catherine Doherty - although “bound” exteriorly as she advanced in age, able to shout with joy, “I am lost in the tenderness of God.” 

A brief pause here to catch up on some bloggy-business. Although I’m not one for awards or things of that nature (a kindred spirit with Owen along these lines), I do wish to acknowledge the dear people who have thought of me lately, when some of these awards popped up.  I know the spirit in which they are intended, and I appreciate that immensely. First, a thank-you goes out to Paula, of Receiving Light and to Marie Cecile of Soulful Longings, for presenting me with a “Nice Matters” award. 

Also, a sincere thank-you to AutumnRose of Christ’s Rose, for the beautiful bouquet she recently gave me.

And a heartfelt thank-you to Ukok, of Ukok’s Place, for naming me as one of her selections for the Mathetes Award, described as follows: “It’s a brand new award being passed out. It is the Mathetes Award, created by Dan King, of Management by God, to recognize those who take to heart the Great Commission and further God’s Kingdom by creating more disciples for Him. According to Dan, mathetes is the Greek word for disciple. The rules for the award, as posted by its creator, are as follows: In the spirit of this award, the rules are simple: Winners of this award must pick five other “disciples” to pass it on to. As you pass it on, I just ask that you mention and provide links for (1)this post as the originator of the award (Dan King of Management by God), (2) the person that awarded it to you, and then (3) the names and sites of the five that you believe are fulfilling the role of a disciple of Christ.”

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“To follow Jesus in discipleship, writes Joyce Rupp in, Fresh Bread and Other Gifts of Spiritual Nourishment, means that we, too, will be a people of great love.  We too will lay down our lives for others.  This is the price to be paid in discipleship – the giving away of our very selves.  We will expect some emptying to go on in our lives, some ‘eating up’ to take place.  But it will not destroy us because we know that, like Jesus, we are about our Father’s business.  We can be sustained and strengthened by our love of God and our faith in his ever-abiding presence.  We can have problems, frustrations, difficult situations and not allow them to embitter, disillusion or destroy us.”

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I have been blessed by the discipleship of all those in my sidebar, and some who may not be there simply due to oversights on my part.  But whether they care for awards or not, I’d like to specifically mention:

• Owen, of Luminous Miseries and Terry, of The Road to Kingdom Come – two men whose faith has humbled me since I began blogging, and continues to do so;

• Kristen, of Small Treasures and Suzanne, of Blessed Among Men – two young women I don’t get a chance to visit as much as I’d like to, but who exemplify, for me, a quiet beauty and holiness of discipleship within the Domestic Church and in the world.  By now they may have already been mentioned for this award by other bloggers, but I wanted to name them just the same;

• Deacon Dan, of Deacon Dan Wright, who despite his many responsibilities as husband, father, teacher and deacon, continues to steadily nourish and edify us with his homilies and reflections.

There’s just one more little thing, and I wouldn’t feel right if I kept you in the dark about it.  So here it is, in all its glory, for all the world (well, maybe twenty of you) to see:

My blog is worth $0.00.

 How much is your blog worth?

     (Hat tip to Suzanne, of Blessed Among Men)

To Jesus through Mary.  This is what we commonly hear or read; it is a phrase, a devotion, and a spiritual path followed and cherished by many of the faithful.  It is, as Adrienne von Speyr tells us in, Handmaid of the Lord, a path for those, “who must attain to God through what is human, because God seems to exalt them in himself.” Von Speyr states that this path through Mary is not a detour, but a, “simple approach, prepared and planned by God himself.”

It was that of St. Joseph, who, already on the path of holiness, was “bound directly to the human person, Mary, in order to become through this bond a servant of the Incarnate Lord.”  Joseph grew in obedience, for example;  von Speyr writes:  Mary is, “so completely in obedience that her obedience is like an overflowing spring which draws Joseph into itself.”

But what of those who are already in a strong union with the Lord, who have a deep, contemplative prayerlife, who experience an intimate relationship with Jesus, but have not yet experienced a deep Marian devotion?   

These are they, like the beloved John, says von Speyr, who are, “led to the Mother through the Son.”  Like John, they are, “first claimed by the Lord for himself and only then brought together with Mary and given over to her.”  von Speyr writes:  “If Joseph attains to God and to holiness only through Mary, God draws John immediately into his friendship and binds him as the Lord’s friend to the Mother of the Lord.”

“There will always be many, like John, who are led to the Mother through the Son; but also many others, like Joseph, who are led to the Son through the Mother.  These two movements, which in the beginning are very clearly emphasized in certain individuals, will later be the paths on which many can wander.”

Abbot Joseph, of Word Incarnate, has a beautiful and thoughtful post up, entitled: On the Mystical Life.  Abbot Joseph writes:

“Simply put, what the Church (and all humanity) needs most urgently and fundamentally is genuine mysticism. That is the lifeblood of souls and of the Church, the hidden “river of life” essential to spiritual vitality and the fulfillment of God’s dream for the perfection of his Bride.”

And what is genuine mysticism?  Well, off you go now, and read the whole post!  
 

St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179):

Hildegard of Bingen was a mystic extraordinaire.  She was gifted in so many different areas:  music, art, natural history and medicine, poetry, the political/religious arena, scholarship, mysticism and prophecy.

Some of St. Hildegard’s writings include:

• Scivias
• Book of Life’s Merits
• Book of the Divine Works

St. Hildegard said:  “The body is truly the garment of the soul, which has a living voice; for that reason it is fitting that the body, simultaneously with the soul, repeatedly sings praises to God through the voice.” 

Refresh your spirit with one of Hildegard’s compositions, Spiritui Sancto (it will probably take a few minutes to load), or go directly to the website of the Oxford Girls Choir. 

 

  An excerpt from Handmaid of the Lord (Adrienne von Speyr):

“Because the Son suffers for everyone and because Mary’s co-suffering — the physical as well as the spiritual — is a part of the Son’s suffering, her suffering is accomplished for everyone and is usable by everyone…

Into the space between her and the Son she admits everyone for whom he will suffer, everyone for whom she already now receives the sword of the Son.  And because everyone is admitted here, everyone comes through the Mother to the Lord.

The meaning of the piercing of the Mother is this:  ‘that the thoughts of many hearts should be revealed’.  If the Mother did not suffer, then these thoughts would never be released from themselves.  The Lord would be too strange; people would not understand his suffering.  But, suffering as a simple human and yet raised up to the state of grace and in it participating in the Son’s sufferings, the Mother is understandable for everyone.  And everything that lives in hearts as an unclear longing for God can, at the sight of the Mother’s suffering, take on form and become conscious and evident to the heart itself.  Thus, through her suffering, she mediates hidden hearts to the Son; she opens them, because her own heart had been opened by the sword.”

This is just a little reminder to my bloggy poet friends.  Now don’t make me list you all!

It’s time to head over to The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living and print yourselves off a copy of the contest guidelines for the Merton Prize for Poetry of the Sacred. 

I’m serious.  Go.  Go. 

Go now.

“Then, as St. Gertrude reflected on the approaching Festival, and ardently desired that her heart might be prepared to solemnize it, she said to the Mother of God:  Since the glory of your Assumption moves the souls of those who meditate on it so deeply, I desire much to know what the Angels think of the Feast of your Nativity in Heaven, that our devotion may be increased thereby on earth.  The Blessed Virgin replied:  The angels commemorate the ineffable joys which I experienced while in the womb of my mother when they offer me their hommage with the deepest reverence.  The Archangels also contemplate in the mirror of the Blessed Trinity the eminent favors and graces which God bestowed on me above all creatures, and minister to me also; while all the heavenly orders unite in serving and assisting me for the glory of God; and for this they are now recompensed with special joys.”   (From:  The Life and Revelations of St. Gertrude the Great, c. 1256-1302)

Artwork:  Tabernacle of the Visitation:  Birth of Mary (Benozzo Gozzoli, 1491) 

Benedictus qui est venit
In nomine Domine
In nomine
In nomine
In nomine Domine
In nomine Domine
In nomine
In nomine
In nomine Domine.

Blessed are those who have come
In the name of the Lord
In the name
In the name
In the name of the Lord
In the name of the Lord
In the name
In the name
In the name of the Lord.

“Benedictus”, by Simon and Garfunkel, directly at YouTube is HERE.

Unh unh.  Nope.  No, no, no, no, no.  (That’s how many times I had to say it before they left me in the soap shop).

Silly me, I forgot my wetsuit.  And my raft. Oh, we can rent them?  Really?  How lovely, but I have to run and mail the postcards.

Never occurred to me.  Never.

No, I don’t think so.  Flexibility doesn’t count for much during a rock slide.  And where are the bathrooms?  Just where are the bathrooms? No, I don’t think so.

Well, this shouldn’t even be allowed.  Are there no rules?  I need rules. 

I did this!  The canyon walk!  (With only the teeniest, tiniest panic attack, lasting only about forty-five minutes). 

Well, I’m home.  Mountains of laundry await – hah!  Doesn’t bother me at all.