His love is true and totally reliable

"Confidence and trust are almost synonymous, but not quite. Confidence usually bears the connotation of self-reliance or self-confidence, while trust as a supernatural virtue entails primarily a warm personal reliance on the Lord. It can be said that confidence is trust in self, while trust is confidence in God.

Faith assures us that a true love like God's is totally trustworthy, that his love is true and totally reliable. He will never forsake us, though we may forsake him. If we really trust God, we're willing to have our confidence in God put to the test to prove its genuineness and maturity. This type of trust features a quality of readiness for the trials of conflict, frustration, loss, or failure - all under God's guiding hand.

Yet, when fear of failure is the issue because of lack of confidence, experience shows that the soul who trusts the Lord will fail far less frequently than one who distrusts him.In the words of the saintly preacher Mcduff, 'Trust God where you cannot trace him. Do not try to penetrate the cloud that he brings over you; rather, look to the rainbow that is over it. The mystery is God's; the promise is yours.'"

-- Pathways of Trust: 101 Shortcuts to Holiness by John H Hampsch, CMF

God is the keeper of his servants

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.

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"Peace and unwavering trust in God pervades this psalm [120/121]. It puts to rest all disquietude in the soul and even in our days inspires us to peacefulness; for what the psalmist says of his sanctuary on Sion and of the throne of God in the Holy of Holies may be said in a greater measure about the tabernacle of the Catholic house of God. The psalmist begins with a confession of confidence (verses 1-2). The Israelites when far away from the sanctuary were accustomed to pray facing Jerusalem on the Judean mountains, the Mount Sion on which the temple was built. So also the psalmist directs his view to the holy heights that greet him from the distance. There the Lord lives among his people; there his eyes are always watching the affairs and needs of those who pray to him; there his ears pay heed to their petitions. There the God-fearing man in faith and confidence may expect help in every visitation; for the God who broods there over the Ark of the Covenant is Yahwe, the invisible King and Father of Israel who has obligated himself to his people by a solemn covenant; it is the kind and eternal God, the almighty Creator of heaven and earth, for whom there are no impossibilities. If he has created the universe with one word, then he knows also how to banish the needs of men with one word. 


From the house of God or from his own deeply pious soul the psalmist hears the divine Amen to his confession of confidence (verses 3-7). The Lord will not let him stagger and fall who in the confidence of his love takes hold of his hand. God supports everyone who in humility does not rely on his own strength alone, but in the consciousness of his weakness seeks support from God. The good Lord continually watches over such a one. God's eyes do not tire; he does not fall asleep; he does not overlook the stumbling petitioner. It is unthinkable that Yahwe who has taken upon himself the protection of Israel will forget and be unmindful of what he voluntarily undertook. It is therefore out of the question that the enemy will sow destruction while the Lord sleeps. Whatever happens under the watchful eyes of God happens with his will and permission. The thought that God does not bother about the sufferings of the just should never enter one's mind. Indeed, God protects his children at all times and in everything that occurs. He is not far away but stands protectingly at our right. He is mightier than the guardian angel whom he has told to carry the just in their hands that they may not stumble upon a stone. He guards them against all evil by day and night, from the heat of the sun during the day and from lunacy at night. In the Orient those who became ill because of the chill evening temperature were said to become sick through the influence of the moon. There is no suffering from which the Lord cannot keep us; there is no danger from which he cannot save us. Under his protection is the going and coming of man; that is, man's doings and omissions are under God's powerful protection now, in the future, and throughout an entire life."


-- Herder's commentary on the psalms edited by Edmund Kalt

Confidence in His liberality honours Him

"The good God is powerful enough to grant us all the graces we ask of Him without any need of our offering Him compensations, as, for instance that we should ask for desolations for ourselves in order that others may be consoled. The Master is kind and merciful enough to console all of us. Confidence in His liberality honours Him far more than petty bargaining."


-- From the writings of Mother Isabel of the Sacred Heart, ocd

The one true thing: that we may contemplate the joy of the Lord for ever

"Perhaps you may still ask why the apostle said, We know not what to pray for as we ought, for it is wholly incredible that either he or those to whom he wrote were ignorant of the Lord's Prayer. He could not say this either rashly or falsely; what, then, do we suppose to be his reason for the statement? Is it not that vexations and troubles in this world are for the most part profitable either to heal the swelling of pride, or to prove and exercise patience, for which, after such probation and discipline, a greater reward is reserved, or to punish and eradicate some sins; but we, not knowing what beneficial purpose these may serve, desire to be freed from all tribulation? To this ignorance the apostle showed that even he himself was not a stranger (unless, perhaps, he did it notwithstanding his knowing what to pray for as he ought), when, lest he should be exalted above measure by the greatness of the revelations, there was given unto him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him; for which thing, not knowing surely what he ought to pray for, he besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from him. At length he received the answer of God, declaring why that which so great a man prayed for was denied, and why it was expedient that it should not be done: My grace is sufficient for you; my strength is made perfect in weakness.

Accordingly, we know not what to pray for as we ought in regard to tribulations, which may do us good or harm; and yet, because they are hard and painful, and against the natural feelings of our weak nature, we pray, with a desire which is common to mankind, that they may be removed from us. But we ought to exercise such submission to the will of the Lord our God, that if He does not remove those vexations, we do not suppose ourselves to be neglected by Him, but rather, in patient endurance of evil, hope to be made partakers of greater good, for so His strength is perfected in our weakness. God has sometimes in anger granted the request of impatient petitioners, as in mercy He denied it to the apostle. For we read what the Israelites asked, and in what manner they asked and obtained their request; but while their desire was granted, their impatience was severely corrected. Again, He gave them, in answer to their request, a king according to their heart, as it is written, not according to His own heart. He granted also what the devil asked, namely, that His servant, who was to be proved, might be tempted. He granted also the request of unclean spirits, when they besought Him that their legion might be sent into the great herd of swine. These things are written to prevent any one from thinking too highly of himself if he has received an answer when he was urgently asking anything which it would be more advantageous for him not to receive, or to prevent him from being cast down and despairing of the divine compassion towards himself if he be not heard, when, perchance, he is asking something by the obtaining of which he might be more grievously afflicted, or might be by the corrupting influences of prosperity wholly destroyed. In regard to such things, therefore, we know not what to pray for as we ought. Accordingly, if anything is ordered in a way contrary to our prayer, we ought, patiently bearing the disappointment, and in everything giving thanks to God, to entertain no doubt whatever that it was right that the will of God and not our will should be done. For of this the Mediator has given us an example, inasmuch as, after He had said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, transforming the human will which was in Him through His incarnation, He immediately added, Nevertheless, O Father, not as I will but as You will. Wherefore, not without reason are many made righteous by the obedience of One.

But whoever desires from the Lord that one thing, and seeks after it, asks in certainty and in confidence, and has no fear lest when obtained it be injurious to him, seeing that, without it, anything else which he may have obtained by asking in a right way is of no advantage to him. The thing referred to is the one true and only happy life, in which, immortal and incorruptible in body and spirit, we may contemplate the joy of the Lord for ever. All other things are desired, and are without impropriety prayed for, with a view to this one thing. For whosoever has it shall have all that he wishes, and cannot possibly wish to have anything along with it which would be unbecoming. For in it is the fountain of life, which we must now thirst for in prayer so long as we live in hope, not yet seeing that which we hope for, trusting under the shadow of His wings before whom are all our desires, that we may be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of His house, and made to drink of the river of His pleasures; because with Him is the fountain of life, and in His light we shall see light, when our desire shall be satisfied with good things, and when there shall be nothing beyond to be sought after with groaning, but all things shall be possessed by us with rejoicing. At the same time, because this blessing is nothing else than the peace which passes all understanding, even when we are asking it in our prayers, we know not what to pray for as we ought. For inasmuch as we cannot present it to ourminds as it really is, we do not know it, but whatever image of it may be presented to our minds we reject, disown, and condemn; we know it is not what we are seeking, although we do not yet know enough to be able to define what we seek."

-- From a letter of St Augustine to Proba

Feel bold confidence of becoming a great saint

“Then I received a grace which I have always looked upon as one of the greatest in my life because at that age I wasn’t receiving the lights I’m now receiving when I am flooded with them. I considered that I was born for glory… After seven years in religious life, I still am weak and imperfect. I always feel, however, the same bold confidence of becoming a great saint because I don’t count on my own merits since I have none, but I trust in Him who is Virtue and Holiness. God alone, content with my weak efforts, will raise me to Himself and make me a saint, clothing me in His infinite merits.”

-- Story of a Soul by St Thérèse of Lisieux

He never ceases from giving us proofs of His goodness

"Who is He That watches over us with solicitous love and disposes of us by His Providence? It is the good God. He is so good that He is essential Goodness and Charity Itself, and in this sense "none is good but God alone" (Luke xviii, 19). There have been Saints who participated to a wonderful degree in the Divine goodness. Nevertheless, even the very best of men have possessed only a rill, or a stream, or at most a river of goodness, whereas God is the ocean of all goodness, goodness limitless and inexhaustible. When He has poured out upon us benefits almost innumerable, let no one think Him either wearied from giving or impoverished by His munificence. He has still an entire infinitude of goodness to dispense. In truth, the more He gives away the richer He becomes, for He gains the glory of being better known, loved, and served, at least by generous hearts. He is good to us: "He maketh His sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust" (Matt. v, 45). He never ceases from giving us proofs of His goodness, opposing to the multitude of our sins "the multitude of His tender mercies" in order by His goodness to conquer our malice. Sometimes He has to punish, because He is not alone infinitely good but infinitely just also, yet "even in His anger He is not unmindful of His mercy" (Hab. iii, 2).

This God, so infinitely good, is our Father Who is in Heaven. Just as He delights in this title of "the good God," and recalls to us His ancient mercies over and over again; in the same way He loves to proclaim Himself our Father. Because He is so great and holy and we so little and sinful, we might well have been afraid to approach Him. Therefore, to win our confidence and our affection He never tires of repeating in Sacred Scripture that He is our Father and the Father of mercies. It is "from Him all paternity in Heaven and earth is named" (Ephes. iii, 15), and there is no father like our Father in Heaven. He is a father in His devotedness, a mother in His tenderness. There is nothing on earth comparable to a mother's heart for self-forgetfulness, profound affection, and inexhaustible mercifulness; hence, nothing that inspires so much confidence and abandonment. And yet God's tenderness for us immeasurably surpasses that of the best of mothers. "Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee" (Is. xlix, 15). What can He refuse us "Who hath so loved the world as to give us His Only-begotten Son?" (John iii, 16). He knows well, much better than we, what we require for soul and body; and He commands us to ask it of Him, and only reproves us for not asking enough. Nor will He give a stone to His child when he asks Him for bread. And if He sometimes has to exercise severity in order to prevent us from ruining ourselves, it is always the love of the Father that wields the rod. He measures the force of each blow, and when He judges the chastisement sufficient dries our tears and pours soothing balm into our wounds. Let us have confidence in God's love for us, and never doubt His Heart of a Father." 


-- Holy Abandonment by Dom Vitalis Lehodey, OCR

Remain tranquil and recollected at the feet of Our Lord

"Lack of confidence, whatever be its cause, does us much harm and deprives us of great blessings.

When Saint Peter, in his eager desire to meet Our Lord, jumped from his boat into the lake, he walked upon the waters with an assured step. But the wind blew violently. Soon the waves rose angrily, threatening to engulf him. Peter trembled with fear. He hesitated …and began to sink. ‘O thou of little faith,’ Jesus said to him, ‘why didst thou doubt?’

And so it is with us. In our moments of fervor, we remain tranquil and recollected at the feet of Our Lord. When the tempest comes, the danger engrosses our attention. We turn our eyes away from Our Lord to fix them anxiously on our trials and our dangers. We hesitate… and then we sink.

Temptation assails us. Our duties seem tiresome and disagreeable. Disturbing thoughts take possession of us. The storm rages in our intellect, in our sensibility, and in our flesh. Passion overcomes us; we fall into sin; we give way to a discouragement more pernicious than the sin itself. Souls without confidence, why do we doubt?

Trials come to us in a thousand forms. Our temporal affairs are in a dangerous state; we worry about the future. People slander us, and our reputation is injured. Death breaks the ties of our deepest, most tender affections. We forget then the fatherly care that Providence has for us. We murmur, we rebel; thus we increase our difficulties and the bitterness of our suffering. Souls without confidence, why do we doubt?

If we had clung to Our Lord with a confidence that grew in proportion to the apparent desperation of our situation, we would have suffered ho harm. We should have walked safely and calmly on the waves; we would have reached the tranquil and safe gulf without accident. Soon we would have found ourselves on the sunny shore that is illuminated by the light of heaven.

The saints struggled against the same difficulties; some of them committed the same faults. …More humble after the fall, they rose without delay, relying henceforth only on God’s assistance. They preserved in their hearts the absolute certainty that, trusting in God, they could do all things. And their hope did not confound them. Begin, then, to be confident souls. Our Lord exhorts you to this. Your interests demand it. And, at the same time, your souls will have light and peace."

            -- The Book of Confidence  by Fr Thomas de Saint-Laurent

Fear not - have confidence in God

Few Christians, even among the most fervent, possess that confidence which excludes all anxiety and all doubt.

The Gospel tells us that the miraculous draft of fish terrorized Saint Peter. With his habitual impetuosity, he measured at a glance the infinite distance that separated his own littleness from the greatness of Our Lord. He trembled with holy fear and prostrated himself with his face to the ground, crying out: ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’

Like the Apostle, some souls have this terror. They feel their sinfulness and their misery so keenly that they scarcely dare approach Him Who is Holiness itself. To them it seems that the all-holy God must experience revulsion upon inclining Himself toward them. This unhappy impression hampers their interior life and at times paralyzes it completely.

How mistaken are these souls!

Immediately, Jesus approached the frightened Apostle and said to him, ‘Fear not,’ and made him rise.

You also, Christians, you who have received so many proofs of His love, fear not! Above all, Our Lord is concerned that you might fear Him. Your imperfections, your weaknesses, your most serious faults, your repeated relapses, nothing will discourage Him, so long as you sincerely wish to repent. The more miserable you are, the more He has pity on your misery, the more He desires to fulfill His mission as Savior in your regard. Was it not above all to call sinners that He came to the earth?

-- The Book of Confidence by Fr Thomas de Saint-Laurent

Memorial of St Gertrude the Great

"Gertrude of Helfta was a highly intelligent woman. She was born on 6 January 1256 in the little town of Eisleben in Thuringia. At age 5, Gertrude went to the Cistercian monastery school of Helfta in Saxony, and since then has always been known as "Gertrude of Helfta". She dedicated herself to study, and it was not long before she surpassed all her companions.

She also discovered Christ in the monastery, and the beauty of living for him and with him in the intimacy of love. But the divine Teacher remained in the background of her life for some time while she used all her faculties to improve her education, becoming proficient in literature, philosophy, song and the refined art of miniature painting.

After several years, Gertrude moved from the monastery school to the novitiate, taking the veil and becoming a nun. For her Jesus was "Someone", but her studies were still her all. But she was not on the wrong track, for knowledge, when it goes hand in hand with humility, does not distance people from God. And he was waiting on her path.

Experiencing a 'new birth'

In 1280, she was 24 years old and a half-hearted and distracted nun. Towards the end of the year, she went through an inner crisis that lasted several weeks. She felt lonely, lost and depressed. Her human plans disintegrated like shattered idols. This might have been the end of everything, but instead, it was a new beginning.

On 27 January 1281, Gertrude saw Jesus in person in the form of a marvellous adolescent who said to her, "I have come to comfort you and bring you salvation". Remembering that day, she was to write: "Jesus, my Redeemer, you have lowered my indomitable head to your gentle yoke, preparing for me the medicine suited to my weakness". From that moment, she was solely concerned with living in full union with Jesus.

In her writings, she established the date of her newfound unity with Christ as 23 June 1281: all her life she must have seen that day as the day of her new birth, the birth of the true Gertrude in the image of Christ.

She abandoned the study of profane subjects and dedicated herself entirely to the study of Scripture, writings of the Church Fathers and theological treatises. She found extraordinary delight in reading the letters of Augustine, Gregory the Great, Bernard and Hugh of Saint-Victor.

From a scholar specialized in the humanities, she became a "theologian" filled with God and his fragrance. Her life was truly filled with the Lord alone.

But Gertrude did not want to be the only one to enjoy this supreme "Pleasure"; so she began to write short treatises for the Sisters in the monastery and those who approached her in which she explained the most difficult passages of Scripture, true spiritual treasures written in a clear and lively style.

The monastery parlour was also often filled with people in search of her words, comfort and guidance. She exercised a great influence on souls.

A confidant of Jesus

Since her conversion, she had become the confidant of Jesus, who revealed to her the infinite Love of his divine Heart and charged her to spread it among human beings with love for the suffering and for sinners. Gertrude's ecstasies with Jesus prompted her to write those ardent pages that would bring souls to him.

Humble, always happy and smiling, with a loving heart for all, she sparkled with trust, joy and peace, and led everyone to the Lord. To her soul, Jesus was like a spring day, vibrant with life and scented with flowers: Love par excellence, the one overwhelming Love. This is why she is known on the one hand as the "Teresa of Germany" and on the other, the "theologian of the Sacred Heart".

One day, Jesus said to Gertrude: "It would be good to make known to men and women how they would benefit from remembering that I, the Son of God and of the Blessed Virgin Mary, always stand before God for the salvation of the human race, and that should they commit some sin through their weakness, I offer my unblemished Heart to the Father for them".

She truly became one with Jesus and transmitted him to her brethren in the many works she has bequeathed to us, some of which have been lost.

In 1298 her health deteriorated but she transformed her sufferings into love, an offering with Jesus to the Father and a gift for humankind.

During her long and painful illness, she decided to recount the "adventure" of her conversion and to tell of the wonderful revelations with which Jesus had favoured her: "Until the age of 25, I was a blind and insane woman . . . but you, Jesus, deigned to grant me the priceless familiarity of your friendship by opening to me in every way that most noble casket of your divinity, which is your divine Heart, and offering me in great abundance all your treasures contained in it".
On 17 November 1301, at age 45, she rejoined her Bridegroom for ever. Interestingly, she is the only woman among the saints to be called "the Great": St Gertrude the Great.

-- Gertrude: The Only Female Saint to Be Called 'The Great'  by Paolo Rossi
© L'Osservatore Romano

St Gertrude the Great, pray for us!

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Three lessons given by the Heart of Jesus to St Gertrude with regard to confiding abandonment

1. One time, when St. Gertrude was discouraged at prayer, Our Lord encouraged her to have great confidence in His Divine Heart, inviting her to present herself before Him, like Esther before Assuerus:

"What dost thou command, My sovereign?" The Saint answered: "I ask, O Lord, that Thy most amiable Will may be fully accomplished in me." Then Jesus, naming to her one after another the persons who had recommended themselves to her prayers, said: "What dost thou ask for this soul and for this, and for that other, who claim more especially thy prayers?" Gertrude answered: "I only ask, O Lord, that Thy Will may be perfectly accomplished in them. All my desire and my delight is to see Thee fully satisfied in me and in all Thy creatures." "My Heart," replied Jesus, "is so touched with that confiding abandonment of thy heart to My holy Will, that it will itself supply for whatever may have hitherto been wanting in thy life in this respect, and will henceforth love thee as if thy whole life had been perfectly conformed to My good Pleasure."

Let us follow her example and desire only the accomplishment of the Will of God in ourselves and in others; in our own affairs and in those of the Church; in our works of zeal and in all that we have at heart. Let us have this sweet and all-abiding confidence and in abandonment to Our Lord's Divine mercy as St. Gertrude received from the Heart of Jesus: that He Himself will supply all that has been wanting in us in this regard, "and accept all our past prayers as if they had been in perfect conformity with His holy Will; all our past actions as if they had been performed only to accomplish His desires; and all our past sufferings as if they had been accepted with perfect resignation."

 2. One night, St. Gertrude was suffering more than usual from a fever; she was anxious about the course of this malady. Jesus appeared to her, carrying health in His right hand and sickness in His left, offering her both that she might choose that which she preferred. Gertrude leaned towards His loving Heart, in which she knew the plenitude of every good resided, and answered: "Lord, I choose nothing, I desire only the good pleasure of Thy Heart." Then Jesus, causing a fountain, as it were, of grace to spring from His Heart, made it flow into that of Gertrude, saying: "Since thou renouncest thy own will to abandon it entirely unto Mine, I pour into thee all the sweetness and all the joy of My Divine Heart.

Like this great Saint, us choose nothing, ask nothing, having all confidence in the all-wise, all-loving will of Our Lord Jesus. For He will choose what is best for us, and fill us with the sweet joy of His Heart; for there can be no greater happiness for a creature "than to give pleasure to His Creator, to be guided by His most amiable Will; and to confide all to His watchful Providence."

3. One year, on the Feast of the Circumcision, when asked for spiritual New Year's gifts for her community, Our Lord told her: "If anyone will generously renounce his own will to seek only My good Pleasure, My Divine Heart will illuminate him with a vivid light to know My wishes. I will show him in what he has failed with regard to his Rule, which is the expression of My Will; and will atone with him for all his shortcomings. Like a good master instructing a dearly loved child, I will let him lean on My Heart, will gently point out to him his faults, will kindly correct what he has done amiss, and supply what he has neglected. And if, as a heedless child, he pays no attention to some points, I will attend to them for him, and make up what he has passed over. The New Year's gift most conducive to My glory that I can bestow on these souls is the desire to Please Me in all things, and confiding abandonment to My Divine Heart. I will grant them, with the atonement for all their failures of the past year, light and strength to conform themselves henceforward entirely to My holy Will."

-- Love, Peace and Joy by Fr André Prévot

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St Gertrude's prayer to her Guardian Angel

O most holy angel of God, appointed by God to be my guardian, I give you thanks for all the benefits which you have ever bestowed on me in body and in soul. I praise and glorify you that you condescended to assist me with such patient fidelity, and to defend me against all the assaults of my enemies. Blessed be the hour in which you were assigned me for my guardian, my defender and my patron. In acknowledgement and return for all your loving ministries to me, I offer you the infinitely precious and noble heart of Jesus, and firmly purpose to obey you henceforward, and most faithfully to serve my God. Amen.

Confiding Abandonment

"Let us also desire only the accomplishment of the Will of God in ourselves and in others; in our own affairs and in those of the Church; in our works of zeal and in all that we have at heart. Let us hope with confidence to obtain by our fidelity in abandonment a mercy like that which St Gertrude obtained from the Heart of Jesus - viz., that He Himself may deign to repair all that has been wanting in us in this respect, and accept all our past actions as if they had been performed only to accomplish His desires; and all our past sufferings as if they had been accepted with perfect resignation." From Love, Peace and Joy: Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus According to St Gertrude by Fr André Prévot