Contemplative Haven

Today is the feastday of St. Catherine of Siena. For any of you who are not familiar with her, I will put a link here to my post of last year.

Anne the Lay Apostle received two messages from St. Catherine of Siena, both of which I would like to share with you today. I would like to highlight three blogger friends today as well:

• Cathy (A Bit of the Blarney), whose patron saint is St. Catherine
• Aeternus
• Marie-Cecile (Soulful Longings and God’s Wonderful Love)

In Cathy’s post today, she quotes St. Catherine of Siena:  “Your neighbors are the channel through which your virtues are tested and come to birth…”  We hear/read the same in The Message dated July 27, 2004 where St. Catherine says:  “So from now on, when you are having difficulties with other souls, thank Jesus.  Continually work on your own soul and ask yourself what this opportunity could help you with spiritually.  Should you practice humility?  Are you too fond of the esteem of others?  Should you practice detachment?  Is the world an alluring pull for you?  Should you practice trust?  Are you having difficulty trusting Jesus?  Are you seeking to fill your needs through other avenues?….This is a time for grace.  This is a time for spiritual growth.  There are great spiritual opportunities available now.  Use every one.”  Cathy also reminds us in her post about St. Catherine of Siena’s “…Dialogues (written accounts of her revelations from God) and her Letters which initially gave spiritual instruction and encouragement…”   We see how God has always and will always use whomever He chooses for this type of work.   St. Catherine received from the Lord primarily in ecstasy; Anne the Lay Apostle received The Messages through interior locutions.

In her post today, Aeternus shares an excerpt from The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, part of which I quote here:  “Oh! Supreme and Eternal Goodness of God, who am I, miserable one, that You, Supreme and Eternal Father, have manifested to me Your Truth, and the hidden deceits of the Devil, and the deceitfulness of personal feeling, so that I, and others in this life of pilgrimage, may know how to avoid being deceived by the Devil or ourselves!”  I am reminded of something that Anne the Lay Apostle wrote in her book, Climbing the Mountain (page 78); she tells us that as a messenger, she is only another “fellow slave of heaven”.

Marie-Cecile of Soulfull Longings and God’s Wonderful Love always came to mind every time I listened to or read the Message I put up in my previous post.  Each time I heard Anne and Dr. Miravalle speak of consistency of service, Marie-Cecile’s work is what I thought of. As she indicated in a previous comment, MC always places herself in the background in comparison to the greatness of God, because it is God she wishes to glorify and certainly not herself; but I can tell you, MC, your quiet service does not go unnoticed by Him or others. There have been many occasions over the last three years where I might have gone to sleep a little down or distraught, except for having checked in with you before bedtime and read some of your faithful and uplifting posts, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and as St. Catherine of Siena said in her Message of July 26, 2004: “You might not believe this, thinking you are not that important, but I assure you that through even the quietist, most humble service, Jesus can save many souls.”

And now, on to the Messages from St. Catherine of Siena:

Volume Seven: Message dated July 26, 2004

Volume Seven: Message dated July 27, 2004

A number of months ago I came across an apostolate, the mission of which has impacted my life in so many ways it is difficult to know where to start or how to go about sharing it.  So, I will just begin with some general information in this introductory post, but will continue on an ongoing basis to share more, both here and at my other blog, Consecrated to Mary.

The apostolate had its origin in Messages which were given by interior locutions to “Anne”, who is a wife, mother of six, Secular Franciscan, and an American now living in Ireland.  Anne went through several years during this present decade receiving and writing down Messages from God the Father, Jesus, Mary and certain of the saints.  These Messages were formed into ten Volumes (two of which have not yet been released) and a series of booklets entitled, “Heaven Speaks”.   Anne has written other books concerning her experiences as well.

Out of this grew Direction For Our Times, and the apostolate, The Lay Apostles of Jesus Christ the Returning King.  Anne has been told that this apostolate is a continuation of Saint Faustina’s mission of Divine Mercy, and we will explore that aspect in more detail here in the future.  Among many other things, we are told that the second coming of Christ is a process, that the process has begun, that it begins in each of our hearts, and that we can help Jesus save souls during this time (which is a time of renewal and transformation) as we bring His light to our brothers and sisters on earth.

This apostolate and its mission are in complete obedience and submission to Anne’s local bishop, and to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.  The Messages are currently being studied by the Vatican.

These Messages are filled with the tender, gentle love of God for each person on earth, with mercy, peace, instruction and guidance.  They are filled with hope for ourselves and our children, and will give you peace concerning your families and your loved ones already departed.  They will inspire you to courage, faithfulness and complete calm during this time of transformation, as we await the return of Christ the King and serve Him, each in our own way, during the process of renewal He has begun.

There were so many segments from the Apostolate’s YouTube channel that I wanted to start with in this introductory post I had a very difficult time choosing.  (Each YouTube is approximately eight to ten minutes long; Dr. Mark Miravalle reads the Message, and then he and Anne discuss it.)  I finally decided to begin with a Message that, once I had absorbed it as fully as I could and began trying to live it, has definitely produced fruit in my own life over the past months.  We find in many of the Messages very caring advice from Jesus as He shows us He is aware of the difficulties we face in our daily lives.  So I will leave you with this for the moment, but greatly look forward to sharing much more with you over the months to come.

Volume Ten: Message dated September 25, 2004

Direction For Our Times YouTube Channel

“What Flowers Indicate”, by Father F. Lasance [taken from "My Prayer Book"]

“I  have always noticed that wherever you find flowers, no matter whether in a garret or in a palace, it is a pretty sure sign that there is an inner refinement of which the world is not cognizant.  I have seen flowers cultivated and cherished by some of the lowest and poorest of our people.  Where these emblems of purity are found, you may rest assured that they represent a hope, and speak of a goodness of heart not to be found where they are absent.”

“Making the Desert Bloom”, by Catherine Doherty [adapted from her book, "The People of the Towel and the Water", reproduced in the Madonna House Restoration Newsletter, July-August 2008]

“God so loved us that he sent his only Son to redeem us, and in his immense tenderness he keeps on expressing himself to us in a thousand ways. Flowers are just one example of his pouring out his beauty to us.

Flowers give hope, returning each spring as they do. Flowers give courage. Flowers heal. Flowers are harbingers of joy.

Long before the gentle Christ came to earth, flowers were part of every religion, used as symbols to express faith. And when he came, he referred to them to teach us about poverty, love, and trust in Divine Providence.

Flowers speak the silent language of lovers.”

[For Catherine Doherty's beautiful article in its entirety, please visit here, at the Madonna House website, and perhaps also consider subscribing to the Restoration Newsletter for yourself or a friend; it's only $10.00 a year, and is one way of helping the Apostolate.]

When you looked at me
your eyes imprinted your grace
in me;
for this you loved me ardently;
and thus my eyes deserved
to adore what they beheld in you.

[St. John of the Cross, The Spiritual Canticle, Verse 32]

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath:

it is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.

[From:  The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I.  William Shakespeare]

From: The Sign of Jonas [Thomas Merton], pgs. 297-298 – Easter Sunday, 1950

“The grace of Easter is a great silence, an immense tranquility and a clean taste in your soul. It is the taste of heaven, but not the heaven of some wild exaltation. The Easter vision is not riot and drunkenness of spirit but a discovery of order above all order – a discovery of God and of all things in Him. This is a wine without intoxication, a joy that has no poison hidden in it. It is life without death….

If Mass could only be, every morning, what it is on Easter morning! If the prayers could always be so clear, if the Risen Christ would always shine in my heart and all around me and before me in His Easter simplicity! For His simplicity is our feast, this is the unleavened bread which is manna and the bread of heaven, this Easter cleanness, this freedom, this sincerity. O my God, what can I do to convince You that I long for Your Truth and Your simplicity, to share in Your infinite sincerity which is the mirror of Your True Being, and is Your Second Person! Only the little ones can see Him. He is too simple for any created intelligence to fathom. Sometimes we taste some reflection splashed from the clean Light that is the Life of all things: Baptism, First Mass; Easter morning. Give us always this bread of heaven. Slake us always with this water that we may not thirst forever.”

“Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.”

You can read more about Christ’s descent to the dead on the Vatican website.

The Crucifixion (by Georges Rouault, French Impressionist, 1871-1958)

In English

In French

Seigneur tu me cherches
Tu me connais
Et si je t’oubliais
Je sais que tu m’aimes

Ta sainte présence
Elle m’environne
A chaque moment
Je sais que tu m’aimes
Je sais que tu m’aimes

A la croix je me prosterne
Où ton sang coula pour moi
Aucun amour n’est plus grand
Tu as gagné sur la mort
Ta gloire remplit les lieux très hauts
Rien ne peut nous séparer

Tu marches devant moi
Tu gardes mes pas
Ta main me soutient
Je sais que tu m’aimes

Tu déchire le voile
Tu traces un chemin
Car tu as tout accompli (x2)

Si tous s’éffondrer
devant mes yeux
Et tu te tiens devant moi
Je sais que tu m’aimes
Je sais que tu m’aimes

The Last Supper
(by Rainer Maria Rilke)

They are assembled, astonished and disturbed
round him, who like a sage resolved his fate,
and now leaves those to whom he most belonged,
leaving and passing by them like a stranger.
The loneliness of old comes over him
which helped mature him for his deepest acts;
now will he once again walk through the olive grove,
and those who love him still will flee before his sight.

To this he has summoned them,
and (like a shot that scatters birds from trees)
their hands draw back from reaching for the loaves
upon his word: they fly across to him;
they flutter, frightened, round the supper table
searching for an escape. But he is present
everywhere like an all-pervading twilight-hour.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On the night he was betrayed,
he took bread and gave you thanks and praise.
He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples, and said:

Take this, all of you, and eat it:
this is my body which will be given up for you.

When supper was ended, he took the cup.
Again he gave you thanks and praise,
gave the cup to his disciples, and said:

Take this, all of you, and drink from it:
this is the cup of my blood,
the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all
so that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me.