I am doing the consecration to Mother Mary according to St. Louis Marie de Montford from 13 July (Fatima secret day) to 15 August (Assumption day). Please, dear forum members, be so kind and pray that I may persevere and carry through with the consecration this time.
PF... I am also very weary of of all and on the verge of despair from the weight of it all ( the cross?). And... yet ... as PF has so perfectly summarized it...."Patient, long-suffering, and ready to use whatever sufferings lie ahead to win the biggest return of the prodigals the world has ever seen." I think this is the path we must follow in order to do our part in the will of God! It seems to get more difficult each day however...SIGH
Mark 15:21 And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyre'ne, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. It has been said by commentators, that the mention of his sons by name implies that Simon became a believer through his experience as well as his family in turn. May the acceptance of our crosses help win estranged relatives to the Love of Christ! I'll try to be Simon of Cyrene for you today, ellen. Safe in the Mercy of Jesus!
Ellen you are not alone in this discouragement. The cross has felt very heavy to me these past weeks but I am trying to put one foot in front of the other and keep making offerings. My prayers are a shambles---two little children who never stop--so dear and such a blessing to have them with us but I seem too exhausted to get a whole prayer said. I fall asleep at night before I finish. Sigh. So uniting my offerings to yours Ellen for all the prodigals we love and those we don't know who have no one to pray for them.
I know from whence you come !! Our crosses are finely tuned just for us. We will hold each other up in prayer so as to persevere on this seemingly endless trek our Lord has set us on !
Padraig, your eloquence in appreciation of our mothers astounds and moves me. I wish I could give voice in a similar way to my enduring love for my mother, but, no matter, you do it so well for us all with your thoughts on this thread. My own sweet mother has been gone for five and a half years now, and there is never a day goes by without a fond and treasured memory of her beautiful presence in my life coming to mind. Her Christian name was Philomena, and her family were from Cork, leaving there and coming to England around the time of the Potato Famine. The odd thing is, that when I look at images of Saint Philomena, all I ever see is my mother’s dear face.
The Devotion of the Cure of Ars to St Philomena, the little virgin Saint is ever moving, they became Spiritual Sister and Brother.
Mention of the Cure Of Ars reminds me of a remark made by one of my priests in his sermon on Mothers' Day earlier this year. St John Vianney once said that we should never remember our mothers without tears, although it is not always possible, of course.
I am not a great one for crying myself. After the funeral of my brother Colum who died aged 26 there occurred the funeral of my brother Cormac aged 26. his wife Teresa (26) and their baby daughter Shona (2) on the way to Dublin airport to catch a flight to New York. Their funerals would have made a stone cry. I asked my mother why she did not cry at all these funerals and she said she could not. She wished she could , but she was not able to. I think this was because of her grand father who was the most shocking man and scared them all to death emotionally. I am a pretty hard case myself. I went to the mortuary to identify my brother, sister in law and the child who were all under black rubber sheets having being hit by a large truck and being very beaten up and did not cry. Rather I went into total shock. Rather like turning into an ice cube. Frozen with sorrow and grief. It reminds me of a vision St Terese of Avila had of Our Lady after the Resurrection of her Son . Teresa says that Jesus had to hug Mary back to life by embracing her. Some things are beyond grief. Somethings are ice cubes. Freeze tears Some things just shut down tears...and every thing else besides. De Profundis. I always like the way Our Lady was portrayed in the 'Passion of the Christ' , on this account , that she was seen as beyond tears... See your heart... touched by sorrow..the heart that has not been touched by sorrow in this sad life can never know God Vide Cor Meum. Open my heart oh God to thy gentle sorrow.
No one who has not stared into the depths of their own heart, in sorrow and joy, can ever stare into the Heart of God or that of His Most Sorrowful Mother. The only way we can climb to heaven is upon the hill of Calvary. Nailed upon the Cross as He was. Do not listen to the False Liars There is no other way. The Cross, the Cross, the Blessed Cross, our one True Ladder to heaven.
Sigh. I have seen friends die at the hands of my enemies. .and I have seen enemies die at my own hands in Time of War. It never left much time for tears. Maybe later. But maybe , I think these present times require a certain fierceness. Certainly for my own part never having been in least afraid of dying , I would never in least way be afraid of defending our Holy Mother the Church. I know I may appear hard at times , but life itself has taught me to be hard. I do try to be loving, but I confess I am very,very hard indeed. I think to be very, loving you have to be very,very hard indeed. Witness the Sorrowful Virgin , who gave up her Son. That requires a certain hardness, doesn't it? A wicked nasty Pope requires a good, sound swipe of the old Irish battle hardened sword. ..and he'll get one. Revelation 3:16 5I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! 16So because you are lukewarm— neither hot nor cold— I am about to vomit you out of My mouth! 17You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.…
Would you have a spare sword for the Papal biographer? Austen Ivereigh, meanwhile, praised the pope’s decision to curtail the Latin mass on Twitter as, “A historic day. A bold move. A prophetic act.”
Thank you for this. You have really helped figure out what happened..where she went. For quite some time I received interior messages and once I actually heard her voice. But then it stopped until this past year and that was for a few months and then again stopped. I have often wondered and then concluded I am no longer worthy which has been a huge struggle because I am trying harder than I ever have. But you make perfect sense. I am now so close to Jesus- more than ever before. So yes she has led me to her Son and stepped back. But comes when she sees I really need her help. Wow..I'm so grateful to you as it was almost a torment for me..I just didn't know why she was no longer giving me messages and answers- she's given me more answers. God bless you!
Faith is like walking on a kind of tightrope. A kind of gentle uncertainty. Faith is Hope in the things that are unseen. In a certain kind of way folks that are do too firmly believe in total certainty, make me a little uneasy. True Faith rests upon a certain kind of dark doubt. A certain kind of if, or maybe... God hides Himself doesn't He? Well then doesn't He hide Himself for a reason? Never consider you have to believe in earthly certainties. Faith is purest gift.
Certainly knowledge and reason can take us to a certain vista, but from there purest grace and Faith raises us up... Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! John 8:24 unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.
"A wicked nasty Pope requires a good, sound swipe of the old Irish battle hardened sword. ..and he'll get one." Don't "sugar coat it"Padraig!! LOL
After a life time of Devotion to Our Lady it might have been thought I 'd run out of surprises in discovering new and wonderful things about her. But not at all. She is the Well that never runs dry. In fact lately on meditating on her I start to feel that I have never really known her at all, that I am just at the very edge of starting to know her. I suspect when we have been in heaven a billion years in heaven admiring her, kneeling at her feet, lost in admiration and joy we will still be at the very,very edge of getting to know Our Mother. Wonderful thought. Someone once wrote that if we were to combine all the virtues of all the saints and angels and blessed together that they would not even begin to compare to those of the Blessed Virgin. This reminds me of what St Louis Grignion De Montford wrote at the start of, 'True Devotion', that it not really possible to praise Mary too highly. You just can't overstate her case. She is awesome , totally awesome.
