Holy Blessings in the Monastery
Greetings on this rainy day from the Heart of the Church! As you know we pray very much and live in a spirit of prayer that Jesus Crucified may be more known and ever loved and we also pray for the needs of our Holy Mother Church, our nation and our world. The Lord sends us abundant blessings in the midst of our life of union with him. A recent blessing was the refurbishing of an old calvary scene and the creation of a "shadowbox" to protect it by Tim Wynn - Sr. Cecilia Maria's father.
Some months back Tim refurbished and created a backdrop for a Calvary scene which was donated a year or two ago by a dear friend Charlotte Oberst. We wanted a way to protect the scene and he did a fine job!
For the crucifixion scene he replaced the cross with walnut, the backdrop is maple burl and the frame is walnut. The shadowbox itself is also walnut with slip dovetail joints and the door has mitered corners - quite a work of art! Thank you Tim!
+++
This is a familiar sight : lots of needles flying at recreation! Crochet, darning, knitting, cross-stitch and more.
This month we also said goodbye to our dear aspirant Ruth. Her time with us came to an end after receiving special discernment graces during the Septenary prayed in preparation for the Solemn Feast of our Lady of Sorrows. Ruth returns to California and takes a bit of us with her as she seeks to follow God's call there and beyond. We miss you Ruth and keep you in our prayers!
+++
Spiritual Mothers of Priests
Fr. Jeff, Sr. John Mary's brother visited with us in August and he offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. We had wonderful visit and some belly-aching laughter as he shared his journey from good job, girlfriend and nice truck to seminary, ordination and priesthood. We continue offering the prayers and penances of our Passionist life for Fr. Jeff and all our priests!
I leave you with a quote from He is My Heaven, a life of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity. Although the book is written about a Carmelite Nun it can certainly be attributed to the life of a Passionist Nun as well. This is a good insight into what Spiritual Motherhood is all about:
The Carmelite prays and strives for closest possible union with God, not simply for her own holiness and salvation; she is aware that the more she is living in Christ, the more powerful she is in her prayer for others. Just as evil can pollute and corrupt, even more so can goodness and holiness transform. Elizabeth herself expressed this in the first letter she wrote to a seminarian for whom she was praying:
"Oh, how powerful over souls is the apostle who remains always at the Spring of living waters; then he can overflow without his soul ever becoming empty, since he lives in communion with the Infinite! I am praying fervently for you, that God may invade all the powers of your soul, that He may make you live in communion with His whole Mystery, that everything in you may be divine and marked with His seal, so that you may be another Christ working for the glory of the Father!
"You are praying for me too, aren't you? I want to be an apostle with you, from the depths of my dear solitude in Carmel, I want to work for the glory of God, and for that I must be wholly filled with Him; then I will be all-powerful: one look, one desire will become an irresistible prayer that can obtain everything, since it is, so to speak, God whom we are offering to God. May our souls be one in Him and, while you bring Him to souls, I will remain, like Mary Magdalene, silent and adoring, close to the Master, asking Him to make your word fruitful in souls. "Apostle, Carmelite," (Apostle, Passionist!) it is all one! Let us be wholly His, Monsieur l'Abbe, let us be flooded with His divine essence that He may be the Life of our life, the Soul of our soul, and we may consciously remain night and day under His divine action."