Red and white roses

"One time I was seated near the door, as I was portress.  I was feeling somewhat hurt, as it seemed to me the older Sisters were not satisfied that the Prioress had placed me at the Turn, because I was still young, and I thought that they were right under the present circumstances. In this mood I saw in spirit our Lord showing me a withered rosebush in the courtyard, all covered with red and white roses; as it was dried up and it was not the season of roses, the Divine Master said to me:  ”these roses cannot be gathered without encountering the thorns.” He wished to make me understand, by that, that it is by suffering and contradictions that virtue is acquired."

-- Bl Anne of St Bartholomew, ocd

Gratitude for the Inestimable Benefit of our Redemption

"Let us now consider the supreme benefit of divine love, the redemption of man. But I feel myself so unworthy, so unfitted to speak of such a mystery that I know not where to begin or where to leave off, or whether it were not better for me to be silent altogether. Did not man, in his lethargy, need an incentive to virtue, better would it be to prostrate ourselves in mute adoration before the incomprehensible grandeur of this mystery than vainly essay to explain it in imperfect human language. It is said that a famous painter of antiquity, wishing to represent the death of a king's daughter, painted her friends and relatives about her with mournful countenances. In her mother's face grief was still more strongly depicted. But before the face of the king he painted a dark veil to signify that his grief was beyond the power of art to express.

Now, if all that we have said so inadequately expresses the single benefit of creation, how can we with any justice represent the supreme benefit of Redemption? By a single act of His will God created the whole universe, diminishing thereby neither the treasures of His riches nor the power of His almighty arm. But to redeem the world He labored for thirty-three years by the sweat of His brow; He shed the last drop of His Blood, and suffered pain and anguish in all His senses and all His members. What mortal tongue can explain this ineffable mystery? Yet it is equally impossible for me to speak or to be silent. Silence seems ingratitude, and to speak seems rashness. Wherefore, I prostrate myself at Thy feet, O my God, beseeching Thee to supply for my insufficiency, and if my feeble tongue detract from Thy glory, while wishing to praise and magnify it, grant that Thy elect in Heaven may render to Thy mercy the worship which Thy creatures here below are incapable of offering Thee.

After God had created man and placed him in the delights of the terrestrial paradise, by the very favors which should have bound him to the service of his Creator he was emboldened to rebel against Him. For this he was driven into exile and condemned to the eternal pains of Hell. He had imitated the rebellion of Satan; therefore, it was just that he should share his punishment.

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Having brought such misery upon himself, man became the object of the divine compassion, for God was more moved by the condition of His fallen creature than He was indignant at the outrage offered to His goodness. He resolved to restore man and reconcile him with Himself through the mediation of His only Son. But how was reconciliation effected? Again, what human tongue can express this mercy? Through our Mediator Christ such a friendship was established between God and man that the Creator not only pardoned His creature and restored him to His grace and love, but even became one with him. Man has become so one with God that in all creation there is no union that can be compared to this. It is not only a union of grace and love, but it is a union of person also. Who could have thought that such a breach would be so perfectly repaired? Who could have imagined that two beings so widely separated by nature and sin should one day be united, not only in the same house, at the same table, and in a union of grace, but in one and the same person [that is, in Christ]?

Can we think of two beings more widely separated than God and the sinner? Yet where will we find two beings more closely united? "There is nothing," says St. Bernard, "more elevated than God, and nothing more base than the clay of which man is formed. Yet God has with such great humility clothed Himself in this clay, and the clay has been so honorably raised to God, that we may ascribe to the clay all the actions of God, and to God all the sufferings of the clay." (Super Cant. Hom. 59 et 64)."

-- The Sinner's Guide by Ven Louis of Granada, op

The motive power behind gentleness is always love

"Gentleness is the virtue that restrains the passion of anger. Over the centuries it has been variously described. Sometimes poetically, sometimes theologically. Where anger flares up, gentleness calms down. Where anger is a bursting flame gentleness is a gentle rain. Where anger asserts itself and crushes, gentleness embraces and quiets and soothes yet as we hear these and similar descriptions of gentleness we are liable to make the mistake as I dare say so much of the modern world makes the mistake of identifying gentleness with weakness.

A gentle person is a meek person. So most people think that a gentle person is a weak person. It is just the opposite. In order to be truly gentle and that does not mean soft or sentimental, one must be strong. Only strong people can be gentle, because gentleness restrains strength by love. Whether its strength of body that could destroy physically or strength of will that could crush volitionally or strength of mind that could devastate intellectually. It’s only such people that can even begin to be gentle. And the reason of course is because they’ve got something to restrain.

But the motive power behind gentleness is always love. Love of the other for whose sake I restrain myself. There are then two qualities that belong to the meaning of gentleness and they are strength and love. As we turn to the Gospels and ask ourselves where and how has the Savior commended this virtue to our practice? At first sight we may be shocked to learn that there is only one expressed occasion when Christ explicitly told us to learn from Him; now of course He was teaching constantly. But only once did He formally tell us, command us to learn of Him. Learn of me He told us, for I am gentle and humble of heart. So the first and primary lesson that we learn from Christ’s own telling us, bidding us, to imitate him especially in His gentleness is that if we are to be gentle as He was we must be humble like He was. Gentleness or meekness which are synonymous are impossible in the absence of humility. Why? If we’ve ever asked ourselves why do we get irritated with people. Why do they bother us? Why all these inner and sometimes outer flares of passion isn’t because somehow though we may not even articulate the fact to ourselves that we, well, don’t like what the person is doing because we feel the person has no right to be doing this. At least in my presence or I wouldn’t do this. Who does she think she is talking that way to me? If we wish then in imitation of Jesus to be gentle we must become humble. So much so that I do not hesitate to say that the best single barometer of humility which by its nature is quite hidden and not so easy to identify, the best single barometer of how humble we are is how gentle we are. Only humble people will be gentle. Because only they will honestly say to themselves why should I get angry with her, come to think of it I’ve just done the same. Or why should I be irritated? If I’m really honest I know there must be things that are irritating to him or her. So why should one irritant be irritated with another irritant?

If we are humble, if we look into our hearts, and not just at times, but constantly, what do we see there? If we look, you know we don’t see except what we’re looking for. If we look into our hearts we see sin, passion, weakness, ineptitude, crudeness, self-conceit. You name it and we’ve got it. All it takes is a good hard look but that takes humility. We are so prone, as the same Jesus has been telling us, we are so prone to see the faults even the minorest of them, the littlest thing that Christ calls speck in our brother’s eye, and we don’t see the beam in our own. And do you know why because maybe the beam is so big in our own eyes we can’t even recognize the fact that the person does have virtue, does have fine qualities. Remember this: we always see others through our own eyes. And our eyes are sinful eyes. So much and more that could be said about Christ’s teaching about gentleness is practice. Christ practiced his gentleness from the womb of His mother. No objections recorded by Mary or Joseph for having to trek the long miles to Bethlehem."

-- Gentleness by Fr John A Hardon, SJ

We must be simple in spirit and action

"God is a simple Being in Whom there are no parts. Hence, if we want to become as much like Him as possible, we must strive to become by virtue, what He is by nature, that is, we must be simple in spirit and action, natural in speech and behavior, without sham or deception. Our exterior must always be in conformity with our interior and only and always we must have no other intentions in mind than to please God."


-- St Vincent de Paul

I want to imitate You in virtues

"Since, O my God, You inspire me to make myself like you in everything, as much as I can, I want particularly to imitate You in those virtues that are so pleasing to Your most loving Heart, namely: humility, meekness, and obedience."


-- From the Resolutions of St Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart, ocd (Redi)




Immaculate Mary, meek and humble of heart, Make our hearts like unto the Heart of Jesus. (From the Litany of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)


** Madonna of Humility icon by Simon Ushakov

Only love can overcome and draw good out of evil

“No circumstance in the world can ever prevent us from believing in God, from placing all our trust in him, from loving him with our whole heart, or from loving our neighbor. Faith, hope, and charity are absolutely free because if they are rooted in us deeply enough, they are able to draw strength from whatever opposes them! If someone sought to prevent us from believing by persecuting us, we always would retain the option of forgiving our enemies and transforming the situation of oppression into one of greater love. If someone tried to silence our faith by killing us, our deaths would be the best possible proclamation of our faith! Love, and only love, can overcome evil by good and draw good out of evil.”

-- Interior Freedom by Fr Jacques Philippe

Memorial of St Charles Borromeo

"Saint Charles Borromeo (1538-1584) was born at the family castle at Arona in Lombardy of a noble family in the year 1538. He studied at the Benedictine abbey at Arona and later studied civil and canon law in Milan receiving his doctorate in 1559 at the age of 21. The same year his uncle was elected Pope Pius IV. He was made Secretary of State to the Pope. In 1562 he was instrumental in having Pius reconvene the Council of Trent. Charles played a leading role in guiding it and in fashioning the decrees of the third and last group of sessions. He was ordained a priest in 1563 and consecrated bishop of Milan the same year. Charles oversaw the catechism, missal and breviary called for by the Council of Trent and instituted radical reforms, despite great opposition and was even wounded by an assassin. But he was so successful, his diocese became a model see. He put into effect measures to improve the morals and manners of clergy and laity, established seminaries, and founded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine for religious instruction of children. He increased assistance to the poor and needy and during his bishopric held eleven diocesan synods and six provincial councils. He helped mitigate the famine that struck Milan in 1570 by feeding three thousand people a day for months. When a plague struck Milan in 1576 Charles mobilized the clergy and religious to aid the stricken after the governor and other officials fled the city, and personally ministered to the afflicted. He was one of the towering figures of the Catholic Reformation, preaching against the heresies of Protestants all-the-while evidencing humility and personal sanctity in his efforts to reform the Church of the evils and abuses so prevalent among the clergy and nobles of the times. He died on November 3, 1584.

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I admit that we are all weak, but if we want help, the Lord God has given us the means to find it easily. One priest may wish to lead a good, holy life, as he knows he should. He may wish to be chaste and to reflect heavenly virtues in the way he lives. Yet he does not resolve to use suitable means, such as penance, prayer, the avoidance of evil discussions and harmful and dangerous friendships. Another priest complains that as soon as he comes into church to pray the office or to celebrate Mass, a thousand thoughts fill his mind and distract him from God. But what was he doing in the sacristy before he came out for the office or for Mass? How did he prepare? What means did he use to collect his thoughts and to remain recollected?

Would you like me to teach you how to grow from virtue to virtue and how, if you are already recollected at prayer, you can be even more attentive next time, and so give God more pleasing worship? Listen, and I will tell you. If a tiny spark of God's love already burns within you, do not expose it to the wind, for it may get blown out. Keep the stove tightly shut so that it will not lose its heat and grow cold. In other words, avoid distractions as well as you can. Stay quiet with God. Do not spend your time in useless chatter.

If teaching and preaching is your job, then study diligently and apply yourself to whatever is necessary for doing the job well. Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head.

Are you in charge of a parish? If so, do not neglect the parish of your own soul, do not give yourself to others so completely that you have nothing left for yourself. You have to be mindful of your people without becoming forgetful of yourself.

My brothers, you must realize that for us churchmen nothing is more necessary than meditation. We must meditate before, during and after everything we do. The prophet says: I will pray, and then I will understand. When you administer the sacraments, meditate on what you are doing. When you celebrate Mass, reflect on the sacrifice you are offering. When you pray the office, think about the words you are saying and the Lord to whom you are speaking. When you take care of your people, meditate on the Lord's blood that has washed them clean. In this way, all that you do becomes a work of love.

This is the way we can easily overcome the countless difficulties we have to face day after day, which after all, are part of our work: in meditation we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in other men."
 
-- From the Liturgy of the Hours

Surrender everything to arrive at union with God

"Under the influence of these virtues [faith, hope and love] the soul lives a truly supernatural life. However, St John of the Cross assigns another role to these virtues in the practice of the contemplative life. By contemplation, the soul tends to union with God. Now there is no proportion between God and His creatures. It follows that no created thing can be a means of union with God; no natural activity of our intellectual powers can unite us to Him. Hence the soul, in order to arrive at union with God, must despoil and empty itself of all created things and must cease all its natural modes of activity in its search for God. It must detach itself from everything that comes to it through the senses, empty itself of all distinct or particular knowledge even though it be clearly supernatural, and establish itself in obscurity and in a complete freedom of these things. This purification of the faculties of the soul is accomplished through the exercise of the theological virtues.

Faith purifies the intellect. By adhering to faith, by replying upon it alone on its journey to God, the soul is purified and enlightened and takes hold of God, as it were. Faith, indeed, 'is the only proximate and proportionate means for union of the soul with God.' 'The Son of God,' says St John of the Cross, 'communicates Himself to the soul only through faith. Between faith and God the resemblance is so great that there is no other difference than that which exists between seeing God and believing in God.' It is therefore 'in the obscurity of faith that God is found hidden, and it is with the aid of darkness that the mind is united with God.' Further, 'the more faith a soul has, the more it is united to God.'

Just as faith purifies the understanding, so hope empties the memory of the remembrance of earthly things to turn the soul towards the things that we hope for. 'To arrive at the union of love,' says St John of the Cross, 'the soul must despoil itself of everything and walk without any other support than hope in God alone.' 'God, indeed, so greatly values the hope of a soul which is always turned towards Him without ever lowering its gaze on anything else, that we can say in truth: it obtains all it hopes for.'

Finally, charity must free the will of all affection or attraction for created things so that it loves God alone. This love of God, St John of the Cross insists, must be absolute and continuous. The soul that desires God to give Himself wholly to it must give itself wholly and unreservedly to Him. It must be content with Him alone and surrender everything to Him. Consequently the soul must keep itself from loving anything as much as it loves God, because to put into the balance with God what is infinitely below Him is really to belittle Him. It must even avoid seeking itself in God. It must live for Him in complete detachment."

-- The Spirit and Prayer of Carmel by François Jamart, ocd