"I will now allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her." --Hosea 2:14





Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Mary, Master Gardener...
John Waterhouse Painting
'The Virgin Mary appeared to Saint Bridget and said to her this:
     "I, who speak to you, am the Queen of Heaven.  I am, as it were, a gardener of this world.  For when a gardener sees the rise of a strong wind harmful to the little plants and the trees of his garden, at once he runs to them quickly and binds them fast with sturdy stakes as well as he can.  And thus he comes to their aid, in various ways according to his ability, lest they be broken by the rushing wind or wretchedly uprooted.
     "I, the Mother of mercy, do the same in the garden of this world.  For when I see blowing on the hearts of human beings the dangerous winds of the devil's temptations and wicked suggestions, at once I have recourse to my Lord and my God, my Son Jesus Christ, helping them with my prayers and obtaining from him his out-pouring of some holy infusions of the Holy Spirit into their hearts to prop them up and savingly confirm them that  they may be kept spiritually uninjured by the diabolic wind of temptations lest the devil prevail against human beings, breaking their souls and plucking them up by the stem in accord with his wicked desire.  And thus when, with humility of heart and active compliance, human beings receive this said stakes of mine and my assistance, at once they are defended against the diabolic onslaught of temptations; and remaining firm in the state of grace, they bear for God and for me the fruit of sweetness in due season."
                                                                                      Saint Bridget of Sweden.


Sweet Mary, thank you for always coming to the aid of your weak little daisy when I am forever, blowing this way and that!  Do not allow me to be completely uprooted, however hard the devil tries to do so!  Instead, nourish your miserable little weed and cultivate me into the beautiful flower, your Son intended me to be!  

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

1967 Message of Paul VI to the Carmelites...

La Bruna
"From now on, may the most Holy Virgin comfort you in your Carmelite vocation.  May she preserve in you the taste for spiritual things; obtain for you the charisms of the holy and arduous ascents to the knowledge of the divine world and the ineffable experiences of its dark nights and luminous days; may she give you the yearning for holiness and the eschatological witness of the kingdom of heaven; may she make you models of fraternity in God's church; may she lead you one day to the possession of Christ and His glory, to whom the whole of her life was consecrated."

Monday, July 14, 2014

"My yoke is easy"...

"To take the yoke of Christ is to associate and  identify  ourselves with him;
 our destiny with His destiny, our vision with His vision and our mission with His mission. 
 It is to know that we are not pulling the yoke alone and by our own power but, together with Christ  and by the strength that comes from Him.
The yoke, in fact, belongs to Him and He only invites you to team up with Him."
www.standrewsdumfries.org

The above quote was read to secular Carmelites at a silent retreat this past weekend.  How comforting it was for me to hear it explained like this! 

 Heavenly Father, I can do ANYTHING if I know that You are right beside me!  Teach me to remember that when I am struggling with the yoke, that I only have to turn to You, and see that you do not expect me to do it alone...you are there to encourage me to pace myself with You...not ahead of you or even behind you but, side by side WE will get through all together!  
Jesus, I trust in You!
The Garments of God...
Painting by Frank Holl

"God sits on a chair 
of darkness in my soul.
He is God alone,
 supreme in His majesty.
I sit at His feet, 
a child 
in the dark beside Him;
my joy is aware of His glance
 and my sorrow is tempted
to nest on the thought
 that His face 
is turned from me.
He is clothed in the robes of His mercy,
 voluminous garments
not velvet or silk
 and affable to the touch,
but fabric strong
 for a frantic hand to clutch, 
and I hold to it fast 
with the fingers of my will.
Here is the cry of faith, 
my deep avowal
to the Divinity
 that I am dust.
Here is the loud 
profession of my trust.
I will not go abroad
to the hills of speech
 or the hinterlands of music
for a crier to walk in my soul 
where all is still.
I have this potent prayer 
through good or ill:
Here in the dark
 I clutch the garments of God.
(Jessica Powers)

Friday, July 11, 2014


"The places we live are so many Mount Carmels, and we consecrate them with a very lively, a very fervent, and a very active desire for holiness.”  Blessed John of Saint Samson

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Isaiah 62:3


"The Lord will hold you in His hand for all to see, a splendid crown in the hand of God."
Being the Temple of God...



"My Father and I will come and make our home with him.  Let your door stand open to receive Him,
unlock your soul to Him.  Offer Him a welcome in your mind, and then you will see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the joy of grace.

Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the Sun of the everlasting light that shines on every man, this true light shines on all,




 but, if anyone closes his window he will deprive himself of eternal light.  
If you shut the door of your mind, you shut out Christ.  Though He can enter, He does not want to force His way in rudely, or compel us to admit Him against our will."
(From an exposition on Psalm 118 by Saint Ambrose, Bishop, todays Office of Readings).

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Gospel Gaze...

"For God, to gaze is to love - a gospel gaze which blazes its way into the person's heart.  He does not simply look at the beautiful; His look makes a person beautiful.
(Taken from 'The impact of God, Sounding from St. John of the Cross)

"You looked with love upon me
and deep within, your eyes imprinted grace;
this mercy set me free,
held in your love's embrace, 
to lift my eyes adoring to your face."  (Canticle stanza 32, St. John of the Cross)

I am learning to be aware that I am always under the gaze of Jesus.  When I am cleaning  or ironing my husbands shirts, instead of listening to music, I use this time to pray.  I remind myself that I am being watched by the One who loves me...and I can go 'within' my little sanctuary, all the while still doing my work and meet the eyes that are so intently watching me!  At first I had to really concentrate on REMEMBERING to do this...it's so easy to get caught up with thinking of everyday things...what am I going to make for dinner, errands I need to run, etc.  But, slowly I found how comforting it is to be under Jesus' gaze!  He loves me so much that everything I do interests Him.
"I am my Beloved's and His desire is for me."  (Song of Solomon 7:10)
Painting by Edmund Charles Tarbell
" To come to possess all, desire the possession of  nothing."
St. John of the Cross

Tuesday, July 8, 2014



"He who feeds the birds of the air and who clothes and nourishes the lilies of the field will not leave you without clothing or food until he comes himself to look after you for ever."
Pope Gregory IX to St. Clare of Assisi








(Photo from Google)
Sunflowers in the Garden of Carmel...

'Le Soleil'  Raphael Kirchner

"The devotion to Mary is one of the most delightful flowers in Carmel's garden.  I should like to call it a Sunflower.  This flower rises up high above the other flowers.  Born aloft on a tall stem, rich in green leaves, the flower is raised yet higher
 from among the green foliage.
It is characteristic of this flower to turn itself towards the sun and moreover it is an image of the sun.  It is a simple flower; it can grow in all gardens and it is an ornament to all.  It is tall and firm and has deep roots like a tree.  In the same way, no devotion is firmer than that to Mary.  The fresh foliage, the green leaves point to the abundance of virtues, to which the devotion of Mary is surrounded.  The flower itself represents the soul created after God's image in order to absorb the sunlight of God's bounty.  Two suns shining into each other, one radiant with an unfathomable light, the other absorbing that light, basking in that light and glowing like another sun, but so enraptured by the beams of the Sun which shines on it, that it can not turn itself away from Him, but can only live for Him and through Him.  Such a flower was Mary.  Like her, so may we, flowers from her seed, raise our flower buds to the Sun, who infused Himself into her, and will transmit to us also the beams of His light and warmth."

Taken from 'Carmelite Mysticism Historical Sketches',  by Blessed Titus Brandsma

Heavenly Father, like Your beautiful mother, I too want to bask in Your light; always facing You...following You, GROWING under Your gaze!  I long to be Your cheerful little
SUNFLOWER!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

(Painting by Marcia Baldwin)
"Open to me the gates of holiness:  I will enter and give thanks."
 (Sunday Morning prayer, week II, from Psalm 118)

Friday, July 4, 2014

Friday Fishing...

"It is instructive that the root of the word happiness is hap, meaning "to happen."  This suggests that happiness is our capacity to find joy in what is happening.  For most of us, being happy is future tense.  We are caught up in a mad pursuit of some illusive goal that is forever just beyond our reach.  We are blinded "like a fish dazzled by the light" chasing a glittering lure."
                                                                                                                (From the book, The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Saint John of the Cross, REFLECTIONS, By Marc Foley, O.C.D.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Silence...

"What we need most in order to make progress

 is to be silent before this great God, 

with our appetite and our tongue,

 for the language He hears

 is silent love." 

St. John of the Cross








             


The Principal Weaver...

                            

"Mission, like growth,
 is a journey into darkness,
 It rests on TRUST;
 trust that while at times 
we may not see a way,
 the Holy Spirit has a way, 
and will not 'fail in his care'. 
 It is like viewing a tapestry from behind
a mess of threads. 
 Only
 the principal weaver
 has access to the 
whole pattern it is making.
 Night demands
 we rely on His dexterity."
                                                                 (Excerpt from 'The Impact of God, Soundings from St. John of the Cross)

                                          ( Christine de Pisan)

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Laundry helper....

My son is on retreat at Holy Hill and texted me the picture above today.  The quote below reminded us of the picture.  Little Therese is inspecting his folding technique!  

"Another time I was working in the laundry, and the sister opposite, while washing handkerchiefs, repeatedly splashed me with dirty water.  My first impulse was to draw back and wipe my face, to show the offender I should be glad if she would behave more quietly; but, the next minute I thought how foolish it was to refuse the treasures God offered me so generously, and I refrained from betraying my annoyance.  On the contrary, I made such efforts to welcome the shower of dirty water, that at the end of half an hour I had taken quite a fancy to this novel type of assertion, and I resolved to come as often as I could to the happy spot where such treasures were freely bestowed."
St. Therese, Story of a Soul

Tuesday, July 1, 2014



"It is impossible that God fail to play his part, by communicating himself, at least in a hidden way.  It is more impossible for the sun not to shine in a tranquil, open place.  The sun is up early and shining on your house, ready to shine in if you open the curtains.  So God, who never sleeps nor slumbers as He keeps watch over Israel, will enter the empty soul and fill her with divine blessings.  God is like the sun, shining over souls, ready to communicate himself to them."
                          St. John of the Cross


Painting by Edoardo Tofano
"Clasp Him to your breast as a fragrant bouquet."
                                         St. Francis de Sales

Painting: Femme dans un bateau, Renoir
"Stay in the boat in which He has placed you, and let the storm come.  Long live Jesus!  You will not perish.  He may sleep, but at the opportune time he will awaken to restore your calm."

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. 

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