Novena to St. Joseph

Today, March 10th starts the Novena to St. Joseph. The novena could also be started on March 11th. Consider the conclave in your intentions.

O Glorious St. Joseph, * faithful follower of Jesus
Christ, * to thee do we raise our hearts and hands * to
implore thy powerful intercession * in obtaining from
the benign Heart of Jesus * all the helps and graces
necessary * for our spiritual and temporal welfare, *
particularly the grace of a happy death, * and the
special intentions that have been committed to us.
O guardian of the Word Incarnate, * we feel animated
with confidence * that thy prayers in our behalf * will
be graciously heard before the throne of God.

(Then the following V. & R. are to be said seven times,
in honor of the seven joys or sorrows of St. Joseph.)

V. O glorious St. Joseph, through the love thou does
bear to Jesus Christ, and for the glory of His name,
R. Hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.

Let us Pray
O Glorious St. Joseph, * spouse of the
immaculate Virgin, * obtain for me a pure, humble, and
charitable mind, * and perfect resignation to the divine
will. Be my guide, father, and model through life, *
that I may merit to die as thou did * in the arms of
Jesus and Mary.

St. Joseph, friend of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.

(Novena Prayer [PDF] from Audio Sancto)

Novena for the election of the Supreme Pontiff

Starting today 1st of March, 2013:

Veni, Creator Spiritus Mentes tuorum visita Imple superna gratia Quae tu creasti pectora Qui diceris Paraclitus Altissimi donum Dei Fons vivus, ignis, caritas Et Spiritalis unctio Tu septiformis munere Digitus paternæ dexteræ Tu rite promissum Patris Sermone ditans guttura Accende lumen sensibus Infunde amorem cordibus Infirma nostri corporis Virtute firmans perpeti Hostem repellas longius Pacemque dones protinus Ductore sic te prævio Vitemus omne noxium Per te sciamus da Patrem Noscamus atque Filium Teque utriusque Spiritum Credamus omni tempore Deo Patri sit gloria Et Filio, qui a mortuis Surrexit, ac Paraclito In sæculorum sæcula. Amen.

Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Take possession of our souls Infuse with heavenly grace The hearts Thou hast created Thou Who art called the Paraclete Best gift of the Most High God Living fountain, fire, charity And spiritual unction Thou sevenfold gift Finger of God’s right hand Thou promise of the Father Teaching speech and understanding Enkindle the light of our minds Pour love into our hearts The infirmity of our body Confirm with perpetual strength Repulse the enemy even further And give peace in his stead May Thou so lead us That we evade all harm Through Thee grant us to know Father as well as Son And with Both Thee, Spirit, Trinity Forever may we believe in Let glory be to God the Father And to the Son, Who from the dead Has arisen, and the Paraclete Unto ages of ages. Amen.

O Lord, with suppliant humility, we entreat Thee, that in Thy boundless mercy Thou wouldst grant the most Holy Roman Church a pontiff, who by his zeal for us, may be pleasing to Thee, and by his good government may be ever honored by Thy people for the glory of Thy name. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son who with Thee livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
V. Most Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.
R. Pray for us who have recourse to thee!
St. Pius V, pray for us.
St. Pius X, pray for us.
St. Gregory the Great, pray for us.

Prayer for the election of the Sovereign Pontiff

V. Suscitabo mihi sacerdotem fidelem, qui iuxta cor meum, et animam meam faciet. R. Et aedificabo ei domum fidelem, et ambulabit coram Christo meo cunctis diebus. Orémus - Súpplici, Dómine, humilitáte depóscimus: ut sacrosánctæ Románæ Ecclésiæ concédat Pontíficem illum imménsa píetas; qui et pio in nos stúdio semper tibi plácitus, et tuo pópulo pro salúbri regímine sit assídue ad glóriam tui nóminis reveréndus. Per Christum Dóminum nostrum. Amen.

V. I will raise Me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to My Heart and My soul. R. And I will build him a faithful house: and he shall walk all day before My Anointed. Let us pray - We most humbly entreat Thee, O Lord, that Thy boundless goodness may grant as pontiff to the most holy Roman Church one who shall ever be both pleasing to Thee, by his loving zeal in our regard, and, by his beneficent rule, deeply revered by Thy people to the glory of Thy name. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

There is no one else...

We must turn to God.

Da Pacem, Domine; Psalm 121:7-9

Da pacem, Domine, in diebus nostris Quia non est alius Qui pugnet pro nobis Nisi tu Deus noster.	Give peace, O Lord, in our time Because there is no one else Who will fight for us If not You, our God.
Fiat pax in virtute tua: et abundantia in turribus tuis.	Let peace be in thy strength: and abundance in thy towers.
Propter fratres meos, et proximos meos, loquebar pacem de te:	For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of thee.
Propter domum Domini Dei nostri, quæsivi bona tibi.	Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee.
Rogate quæ ad pacem sunt Ierusalem: et abundantia diligentibus te.	Pray ye for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love thee.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto,Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, also now, and always, and to ages of ages. Amen.

Are You Praying, or Just Thinking?

In her book "The Foundations", which tells the story of the establishment of her monasteries, St. Teresa also takes many opportunities to teach on the spiritual life. Although she has many other works on prayer which go into more detail, there is one section in the book where she pauses in recording the history of her doings to talk about prayer in a way which is very helpful to those whom God calls to an active (as opposed to a contemplative) life.

2. First, I want to treat, according to my poor understanding, of the substance of perfect prayer. For I have run into some for whom it seems the whole business lies in thinking. If they can keep their mind much occupied in God, even though great effort is exerted, they at once think they are spiritual. If, on the contrary, without being able to avoid it, they become distracted, even if for the sake of good things, they then become disconsolate and think they are lost. Learned men will not fall victim to these misconceptions, although I have already met learned men who have had some of them. But it is fitting that we women receive advice with regard to all these misunderstandings. I do not deny that it is a favor from the Lord if someone is able to be always meditating on His works, and it is good that one strive to do so. However, it must be understood that not all imaginations are by their nature capable of this meditating, but all souls are capable of loving. I have already at another time written about the causes of this restlessness of our imagination, I think (cf. Life, ch. 17, nos. 5-7; Way of Perfection, ch 31, no. 8; Interior Castle, IV, ch. 1, no. 8); not all the causes -- that would be impossible-- but some. And so I am not treating of this now. But I should like to explain that the soul is not the mind, nor is the will directed by thinking, for this would be very unfortunate. Hence, the soul's progress does not lie in thinking much but in loving much.

3. How does one acquire this love? By being determined to work and to suffer, and to do so when the occasion arises. It is indeed true that by thinking of what we owe to the Lord, of who He is, and what we are, a soul's determination grows, and that this thinking is very meritorious and appropriate for beginners. But it must be understood that this is true provided that nothing interferes with obedience or benefit to one's neighbor. When either of these two things presents itself, time is demanded, also the abandonment of what we so much desire to give God, which in our opinion, is to be alone thinking of him and delighting in the delights that He gives us. To leave aside these delights for either of these other two things is to give delight to Him and do the work for Him, as He Himself said: What you did for one of these little ones you did for Me. (Mt. 25:40) And in matters touching obedience, He doesn't want the soul who truly loves Him to take any other path than the one He did: obediens usque ad mortem (Ph. 2:8, "Obedient unto death").

4. Well, if this is true, from where does the displeasure proceed which for the greater part is felt when one has not spent a large part of the day [or even a small part] very much withdrawn and absorbed in God, even though we are occupied with these other things? In my opinion, there are two reasons for this displeasure: The first and main one is the very subtle self-love that is mixed in here. This self-love does not allow one to understand what it is to want to please ourselves rather than God. For, clearly, after a soul begins to taste how sweet the Lord is, it is more pleasing for the body to be resting without work and for the soul to be receiving delight.

5. ....It would be a distressing thing if God were clearly telling us to go after something that matters to Him and we would not want to do so but want to remain looking at Him becuase that is more pleasing to us. What an amusing kind of progress in the love of God it is, to tie His hands by thinking that He cannot help us except by one path!

From The Foundations, by St. Teresa of Jesus, chapter 5, numbers 2-5, with my emphasis and brackets.

On the topic of Scandal...

...we recommend the following sermon from Audio Sancto titled: "Corpus Christi: Sacrilege, Scandal, and Souls." The sermon is relevant to the constant and penetrating news that has been vomited around the Catholic media sources lately.

Month of June...

This month keep close to your own the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O sweet Jesus, Whose overflowing charity for me is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Your alter (in Your presence) eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries, to which Your loving Heart is everywhere subject.

Mindful alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Your pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying for from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow You, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the vows of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Your Law. We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against You; we are determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holidays, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against You and Your Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Your Vicar on earth and Your priest are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very Sacrament of Your Divine Love; and lastly for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and teaching authority of the Church which You have founded. Would, O divine Jesus, we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Your divine honor, the satisfaction You once made to Your eternal Father on the cross and which You continue to renews daily on our altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Your Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Your grace, for all neglect of Your great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth we will live a life of unwavering faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent other from offending You and to bring as many as possible to follow You.

O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowing gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to You, so that we may one day come to that happy home, where You with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, world without end. Amen.

The Spiritual Practice of Detachment

So what is "detachment" anyway? In reading through the Carmelite doctors of the Church, one comes across this term constantly. At first, I was baffled by it. Well, I still am to a great extent. How does one go through life as a secular Carmelite (a seeming contradiction in terms if I ever heard one) practicing detachment? Aren't we SUPPOSED to do our best to attach ourselves to our families, our parishes, our work? How can we subject our loved ones to something so cold and unfeeling as "detachment"? The answer is in the way we view attachment. In my recent reading for my Carmelite formation, I was given this to ponder (the author was not named). It is a very helpful description of what St. John of the Cross means when he speaks of "detachment".

ATTACHMENT: a clinging to things, people, ideas, customs, etc., for the pleasure, comfort, or satisfaction they give us.

DETACHMENT: letting go of our need to find pleasure, comfort, or satisfaction in things, people, ideas, customs, etc., so that we seek God first in all things.

The key to detachment in the spiritual life can be quickly summed up in the admonition to "seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you."

Detaching ourselves from something or someone can range from very difficult to impossible, unless a greater love overshadows our attraction or affection. The key, then, to detachment, is to center our efforts on seeking to know God better, to love Him more, and to serve Him better. If this becomes our highest priority, as it should, detachment from our lesser gods will follow.

Detachment does not mean that someone or something has to be taken away from us, but that our relationship to the person or things must be purified. In detachment we learn to love people and things in right measure and for the glory of God. Sometimes, however, the Lord does step in and take away our created loves, or allows them to become disappointing to us, sot hat we find it easier to turn to him for what is lacking in our lives.

In the case of our problems, failures and concerns, to which we can also be attached, we will grow in our ability to turn these over to the Lord as we ourselves grow in love of Him, and develop a deeper trust in His loving providence. However, if we spend more time dwelling on these things than we do on loving and serving God, we are not seeking Him or His Kingdom first. But if we can keep these things "on the back burner" while we continually focus our loving gaze upon the Lord, He will certainly take care of them all in the best possible way. Our part in this process is to present our needs to Him in prayer, but without anxiety, trusting that He will hear us and do what is best.

Finally, we need to periodically make a careful examination of how we are spending our time in thoughts and actions. this will quickly help expose whether or not we are really seeking God first and foremost, and provide the key to further detachment.

It is only by detaching ourselves from our carnal and worldly (and therefore selfish) ideas of what is good and fostering a proper and holy attachment to God first that we will be able to form proper and holy and helpful attachments to our loved ones. As I understand it, this is what is meant by the command to love as God loves.

Well, anyway, happy Feast of St. Teresa of Jesus!

Since my fellow bloggers have current (sad) events pretty well covered, they free me up to post about the Feast of St. Teresa of Jesus, also known as St. Teresa of Avila. The Discalced Carmelites claim her as their Mother, as indeed she is, after Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, of course.

An excerpt from St. Teresa's "Life", taken from the Carmelite Office of Readings for this feast:

Whoever lives in the presence of so good a friend and excellent a leader as is Jesus Christ can endure all things. Christ helps us and strengthens us and never fails; He is a true friend. And I see clearly that God desires that if we are going to please him and receive his great favours this must come about through the most sacred humanity of Christ, in whom he takes his delight.

Many, many times have I perceived this through experience. The Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate if we desire His sovereign Majesty to show us great secrets. A person should desire no other path, even if he be at the summit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely. This Lord of ours is the one through whom all blessings come to us. He will teach us these things. In beholding his life we find that he is the best example.

What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side, who will not abandon us in our labours and tribulations, as friends in the world do? Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious St. Paul: it doesn't seem that any other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, as coming from one who kept the Lord close to his heart. Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered that lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they hadn't taken any pther path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God's hands. If His Majesty should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept gladly.

As often as we think of Christ we should recall the love with which he bestowed on us so many favours and the great things God showed in giving us a pledge like this of his love; for love begets love. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to waken ourselves to love. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the favour of impressing this love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall carry out our tasks quickly and without much effort.

What does it mean to "live in the presence" of Jesus? I'm not sure I know how to go about carrying this out, practically speaking. Prayer? I think that is what St. Teresa would say. Of all kinds-- most especially a certain amount of every day given in meditative prayer. Simple? Yes, but hard for me to do. I'm very attached to "my" time. But if I never give Him my time, when will the opportunity come that of the Lord "impressing this love on my heart"?

St. Teresa, pray for us, especially that we may be strong enough to give up the illusion that we are masters of our own "time".

September 15th: Our Lady of Sorrows

Today is the feast for our Lady of Sorrows. Our Blessed Mother's sorrows remind us of the bond she has with her Son. Mary suffered and shared the passion of our Lord. The feast is a call to reflect on Our Blessed Mother's personal suffering, and her compassion. Today, please consider praying and meditating on the Stabat Mater, The Seven Sorrows, and the Litany of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.

Other links of interest:
-Our Lady of Sorrows
-The Seven Sorrows Devotion
-Devotion to the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary

Do you know the corporal and spiritual works of mercy?

Can you recite corporal and spiritual works of mercy without looking at a list? Do you practice them when the opportunity is presented?

The corporal works of mercy:

• To feed the hungry
• To give drink to the thirsty
• To clothe the naked
• To harbour the harbourless
• To visit the sick
• To ransom the captive
• To bury the dead

The spiritual works of mercy:

• To instruct the ignorant
• To counsel the doubtful
• To admonish sinners
• To bear wrongs patiently
• To forgive offences willingly
• To comfort the afflicted
• To pray for the living and the dead

Flower of Carmel

Flos Carmeli,
Vitis florigera,
Splendor coeli,
Virgo puerpera,
Singularis.
Mater mitis,
Sed virinescia,
Carmelitis esto propitia
Stella Maris. (Alleluia.)

In English...

Flower of Carmel
Flowering vine,
Splendor of Heaven,
Child-bearing Virgin
Singular.
Gentle Mother,
But unknown to man,
To the Carmelites
Be favorable,
Star of the sea.