Fourth Week in Ordinary Time

January is the month dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

January 28: World Leprosy Day

Catholic Schools Week: January 28-February 3, 3024 "Catholic Schools: United in faith and community"

February is the month dedicated to the Holy Family 

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 7:19-50 Humility

Come, let us bow down in worship.

JESUS, THE MIGHTY GOD,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, ARK OF THE COVENANT,

JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH, 

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

I should like you to be free of anxieties.

(1Cor 7:32)

Hi dear faithful readers, welcome to the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time. Even though we are still in anything but Ordinary Time, it is not too early to anticipate Ash Wednesday (February 14) and the holy season of Lent, coming soon to a theatre near you. Have you given any thought to how you might refuse to indulge in at least one evil habit and deny yourself of some food, drink, sleep, needless talking, also known as idle chit-chat, and so on (See Rule of Saint Benedict 49 The Observance of Lent)? Hmm.

Now by way of anecdote, I had the privilege of serving as hebdomadarian last week. Put simply, the sister who is assigned that "function" intones the Call to Worship at the Liturgy of the Hours, proclaims the proclamation, sings the Collect, leads the prayer before dinner, and so on. She also proclaims the reading at the midday prayer. It happens that on the day we commemorated the great Saint Francis de Sales (he was the oldest of 13 children how cool is that!), this was the reading:

Let us practice those ordinary virtues ... patience, forbearance toward our neighbor, service of others, humility, gentleness of heart, affability, tolerance of our own imperfections, and similar little virtues. I do not say that we are not to ascend by prayer, but that we do so one step at a time.

(Saint Francis de Sales, 1567-1622, Letters of Spiritual Direction)

So, as I boldly proclaimed, "slowly, clearly, and distinctly" as my dear dad of happy memory taught me, I stumbled over the phrase, "tolerance of our own imperfections." I thought I read "imperfection," so read the phrase again as "imperfections." As you might imagine, or not, there were a few glances thrown, as well as stirring about. A few days later, I learned that I did not read "imperfection" or even "imperfections," but rather "perfection" and "perfections"! Now how fitting is that? This true to life story caused me to think the last few days that, if a person has no tolerance for her own imperfections, she has even more intolerance for the imperfections of others. Or perhaps a person conveniently forgets her own imperfections and shortcomings and prefers to focus on everyone else's. Why on earth would Saint Francis de Sales include this call to action if it were not the case? I sometimes think of the business of perfectionism and imperfections as a plague of religious life, especially since a kind sister told me when I first entered the monastery some 24 years ago, "Welcome to the human race." However, since Saint Francis de Sales wrote primarily to the lay faithful, the plague must not be in containment. The business of perfectionism and imperfections must also be a plague of the married life, and surely the single life as I can attest. Otherwise, why would Pope Saint Gregory the Great have bothered to write this in the 7th century?

The married should not ... worry themselves so much about what they must endure from their spouse but consider what their spouse must endure on account of them. For if one really considers what must be endured on his account, it is all the easier to bear the things of others.

(Pope Saint Gregory the Great, d. 604)

And why would Grace, in the novel Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (Random House, 2011), have bothered to say this to Major Pettigrew?  "Oh, I deserved it completely," said Grace. "It's so much easier to tell other people how to do their job than fix one's own shortcomings, isn't it?" Hmmm. In any case, these are some things to reflect upon and pray about, or not, as we anticipate the holy season of Lent, coming soon, as I say, to a theatre near you.

Along the same line of thought, the Holy Father was on the business of evil and the devil at today's Sunday Angelus Address. He re-emphasized something he said at his November 27, 2023, General Audience catechesis. Pope Francis reminded us that, "There is no dialogue with the devil, because if you enter into dialogue with him, he wins, always. Be careful." When tempted then, to conveniently forget my own imperfections and shortcomings, and when I feel the chains of evil amid the devil's relentless attacks, it is best to call on the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth. That is what we do, folks, and that is our definition as Pope Benedict XVI tells us: "This is our definition: we belong among those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ."* Invoke the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus, come to my aid; help me! Then be silent and listen. "Quiet! Come out of her!" (See Mark 1:25). And it certainly doesn't hurt to call on Saint Michael the Archangel as well, to defend us in the battle. It's not a coincidence either, that I just started to re-read C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters. Be careful. Wormwood, mentored by his Uncle Screwtape, is on the prowl. 

As we go forth this week, united in faith and prayer, here are a few other voices to consider. One step at a time. One step at a time. "For Scripture has it: 'Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved,' and again, 'Be brave of heart and rely on the on the Lord'" (Rule of Saint Benedict 7:36-37). 

Do not be anxious. Rouse yourself to serve the Lord with steadfastness, attentiveness, and meekness. That is the true way to serve Him. If you can refrain from trying to do all things, but instead attempt to do only some one thing, then you will do much.

(Saint Francis de Sales, 1567-1622)

The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus' message. Lovingly received day by day by the Church, it is to be preached with dauntless fidelity as "good news" to the people of every age and culture ... It is therefore a service of love which we are all committed to ensure our neighbor, that his or her life may always be defended and promoted, especially when it is weak or threatened.

(Pope Saint John Paul II, Evangelium vitae Gospel of Life, 1, 77). 

And a couple of lengthy quotations, well worth it though. Dear Jesus, thank you for the gift of faith and the tradition of the Church, the Body of Christ. 

All things have value if they are inspired and carried out by love, while without love nothing has value, at least not in life's final analysis. If this is our focus, we will be able to say of each of our actions, "this will remain." This holds true for our work, as it does for our relaxation, for educating our children, for our conversations with others, our travels, our way of dressing, our manner of eating, and for any other smallest of actions. It holds true for all the unexpected things that each day brings, the surprises God has in store for us. It even holds true-and this is very consoling-if any illness forces us to inactivity and confines us to bed with no apparent end in sights.

(Servant of God Chiara Lubich, 1920-2008)

My last word to you, by which I implore you even with my blood, is that you live in harmony, united together, all of one heart and one will. Be bound to one another by the bond of charity, esteeming each other, helping each other, bearing with each other in Jesus Christ. For if you strive to be like this, without any doubt the Lord God will be in your midst. You will have in your favor Our Lady, the apostles, all the saints, the angels, and finally all heaven and all the universe. God has so ordained from all eternity that for those who for His honor are united in doing good enjoy every prosperity, and what they do turns out well, because they have God Himself and every one of His creatures in their favor.

(Saint Angela Merici, 1474-1540)

And as always, there is one more thing before we invoke the glorious saints. I was surprised to learn that there may be more faithful readers out there than I thought. Give God the praise. Yes, I know that not everyone reads everything, or even a bit, but a world record of over 200 people have at least opened this reflection each of the last four weeks. Maybe there was one word, or a phrase, or the name of a saint, or a quotation, or anything else that might have served as an inspiration. After all, we are about spreading the Good News, in word and deed. I believe, help my unbelief. Mary, please cover all of us in your protective veil. Keep going!

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS,

SAINT ALBERT THE GREAT,

SAINT DAMIAN OF MOLOKAI,

SAINT MARIANNE COPE,

SAINT GILDAS THE WISE,

SAINT CONSTANTINUS,

SAINT PAPIAS AND MAURUS,

SAINT SULPITIUS SEVERUS,

BLESSED ARCHANGELA GIRLANI,

BLESSED VILLANA DE' BOTTI,

SAINT AEDAN OF FERNS,

SAINT HYACINTHA OF MARISCOTTI,

SAINT BRIGID OF IRELAND,

SAINT HENRY MORSE,

SAINT THOMAS GREEN,

BLESSED BENEDICT DASWA,

BLESSED CANDELARIA OF SAINT JOSEPH,

SAINT ANSGAR, BISHOP, THE APOSTLE OF THE NORTH,

SAINT BLAISE, BISHOP, MARTYR,

PRAY FOR US.

* Pope Benedict XVI, 1927-2002, General Audience, November 22, 2006.

Today's photo: This sweet little one and its companions (forthcoming) are some of the first in each year to appear. Oh, that today you would hear His voice.

© Gertrude Feick 2024

Third Week in Ordinary Time

January is the month dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

Sunday of the Word of God

January 18-25: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

January 22: Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children "It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish" (Saint Teresa of Calcutta).

January 27: Interviews Holocaust Remembrance Day

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 4:63 The Tools for Good Works - Ch 7:18 Humility

Good and upright is the Lord.

JESUS, OUR WAY AND OUR LIFE,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, VIRGIN MOST PRUDENT,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

The world in its present form is passing away.

(1 Cor 7:31)

Welcome to the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, on the Sunday of the Word of God, still in the week of prayer for Christian Unity, with January 22 as a day of prayer for the legal protection of unborn children, all in the month of January dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, and the inauguration of a Year of Prayer in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee Year! Whew. And if that is not enough, beloved Jonah is on the move through the enormously large city of Nineveh (Jonah 3:1-5, 10). May we, great and small alike, follow the people of Nineveh and believe God. May the dear Lord see by our actions that we are about turning from our evil ways. It is never too late to repent and believe in the Gospel, as Saint Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258) tells us: "To him who remains in the world, no repentance is too late. The approach to God's mercy is open." 

United in faith and prayer, we untangle the nets that ensnare us, abandon everything and follow the Lord. May Our Lady cover us in her protective veil.

And now a word from our sponsors in the manner of voices for the week:

Harbor neither hatred nor jealousy of anyone.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 4:65-66)

Silence is good for the soul, essential to recollection, and conducive to humility. Remember Our Lord's silence throughout His life and during the hours of His Passion.

When I am in the company of others, for their good, I will talk freely on exalted and serious subjects, the discussion of which cannot fail to enlarge and strengthen both my own soul and theirs.

I will talk about nothing trivial and mean, and no petty grievances. My speech shall be recollected, and my silence living.

(Servant of God Elisabeth Leseur, 1866-1914)

There is a time to keep silence and a time for speech. Christ, the wisdom of God, has given us an example of both. We must not speak, so as to give advantage to cavils, we must not be silent as to betray the truth.

(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

Run, jump, shout, but do not sin.

(Saint John Bosco, 1815-1888)

We must speak to them with our hands before we speak to them with our lips.

(Saint Peter Claver, 1580-1654)

There is no love without renunciation.

(Saint Josemaria Escriva, 1902-1975)

There can be no doubt that for us who love Jesus, prayer is the great pain-reliever.

(Saint Josemaria Escriva, 1902-1975)

We need not do a great deal of thinking to appreciate what Jesus has been for us. We need only recall some of the happy memories of our lives and, full of gratitude and love, we shall realize some of what we owe Him ... God grants His grace to souls not because they merit it, but because He wants to.

(Blessed Concepcion Cabrera de Armida, 1861-1937)

And a couple more on the importance of reading, and writing too!

I’ve always loved to read, long before I began to write. If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write.

(Stephen King, b. 1947)

I kept always two books in my pocket: one to read, one to write in.

(Robert Louis Stevenson, 1815-1894)

SAINT MARIA GABRIELLA SAGHEDDU,

SAINT AGNES,

SAINT NINO,

SAINT PUBLIUS,

BLESSED ANTHONY DELLA CHIESA,

BLESSED HENRY SUSO,

SAINT TITUS AND TIMOTHY, BISHOPS,

SAINT ANGELA MERICI,

SAINT VINCENT, DEACON,

SAINT MARIANNE COPE,

BLESSED BENEDETTA BIANCHI PORRO,

SAINT DAMIAN OF MOLOKAI,

SAINT ILDEPHONSUS

SAINT EUGENIUS,

SAINT LEOCADIA,

SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES, BISHOP, DOCTOR,

SAINT JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL,

SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE,

SAINT ALBERIC, ROBERT, AND STEPHEN, ABBOTS, FOUNDERS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: It was raining cats and dogs when this one appeared, from July 10, 2019. By the way, it is still raining cats and dogs. 🐈🐶

© Gertrude Feick 2024

Second Week in Ordinary Time

January is the month dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

January 18-25: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 2:30 Qualities of the Abbot - Ch 4:62 Humility

He stooped toward me and heard my cry.

JESUS, LOVER OF US,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, FULL OF GRACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

(1 Cor 6:19)

Welcome to the anything but ordinary Second Week in Ordinary Time, during the month of January dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, and the commencement of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. During this week, we turn to Saint Maria Gabriella Sagheddu of Unity (1914-1939), to intercede for us. In the papal encyclical Ut Unum Sint The call for Christian unity, Pope Saint John Paul II wrote this: "Sister Maria Gabriella, called by her vocation to be apart from the world, devoted her life to meditation and prayer centered on chapter seventeen of Saint John's Gospel, and offered her life for Christian unity. This is truly the cornerstone of all prayer: the total and unconditional offering of one's life to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. The example of Sister Maria Gabriella is instructive; it helps us to understand that there are no special times, situations or places of prayer for unity. Christ's prayer to the Father is offered as a model for everyone, always and everywhere" (27). Saint Maria Gabriella Sagheddu's remains are at the Cistercian monastery in Vittorchiano, Italy; I have been there. For this, I give thanks to God. 

When preparing for today with today's Gospel, what came to mind when I read, "... as he watched Jesus walk by ..." (John 1:36), were the passages that I marked in my Magnificat this past week: "As He passed by the Sea of Galilee" (Mark 1:16); "On leaving the synagogue Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew ..." (Mk 1:29); A leper came to Him and kneeling down begged Him and said, 'If you wish, you can make me clean" (Mk 1:40); ... it became known that He was at home. Many gathered together ..." (Mk 2:1-2); and "As He passed by ..." (Mk 2:13). I took note of Jesus' movement, and if He wasn't on the move, people went to Him. I asked myself if I notice when Jesus walks or passes by, or when He is sitting or standing at home or anywhere else, do I go to Him. The straight answer is, no, I do not. What a pity. However, it is time to be more alert and pay attention. Jesus is always on the move, and He is always present in our midst. It is time to get up and follow Him more closely. Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. We are not our own; it is time to glorify God with mind, heart, soul, and in body. May we make known the name of the Father, so that the love with which the Father loves us, may be in all others. Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.

The voices this week come from Helen Simonson, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel (Random House, 2011). There are more than a few keepers in this engaging work. And the first one speaks of the importance of reading, no matter what.

You are right, of course, but I tell myself that it does not matter what one reads-favorite authors, particular themes-as long as we read something. It is not even important to own books.

(Mrs. Ali to Major Pettigrew, p. 63)

Memories are like tomb painting, thought the Major, the colors still vivid no matter how many layers of mud and sand time deposited. Scrape at them and they come up all red and blazing.

(p. 64)

"The world is full of small ignorances," said a quiet voice. Mrs. Ali appeared at his elbow and gave the young woman a stern look. "We must all do our best to ignore them and thereby keep them small, don't you think?"

(P. 66)

"You know my wife used to laugh at me in just the same manner," he said. "She said if I maintained my aversion to change I risked being reincarnated as a granite post."
(Major Pettigrew to Mrs. Ali, pp. 110-111)

"I don't believe the greatest views in the world are great because they are vast or exotic," she said. "I think their power comes from the knowledge that they do not change. You look at them and you know that they have been the same for a thousand years."

(Mrs. Ali to Major Pettigrew, p. 111)

"But on a spiritual level, there is something about the edge of the land that does make one feel closer to God. A sobering sense of one's smallness, I think."

(Major Pettigrew to Mrs. Ali, p. 193)

"A letter unposted is a heavy burden."

(Major Pettigrew to Mrs. Ali, p. 194)

"But I think a life of faith must start with remembering that humility is the first virtue before God."

(Major Pettigrew to Abdul Wahid, p. 203)

He had always assumed gossip to be the malicious whispering of uncomfortable truths, not the fabrication of absurdities. How was one to protect oneself against people making things up? Was a life of careful, impeccable behavior not enough in a world where inventions were passed around as fact."

(Major Pettigrew, p. 253)

"It is funny, isn't it? she said in a quiet voice. "A couple may have nothing in common but the color of their skin and the country of their ancestors, but the whole world will see them as compatible."

(Mrs. Ali, p. 265)

She hurried down the driveway and as she disappeared, blue dress into deep night, he knew he was a fool. Yet at the moment, he could not find a way to be a different man.

(Major Pettigrew, p. 266)

"You have no idea, Major, how hard it is to keep up with the world sometimes-just to keep up with ourselves. I guess I let myself dream I could get out for a while."

(Sandy, p. 280)

"Oh, I deserved it completely," said Grace. "It's so much easier to tell other people how to do their job than fix one's own shortcomings, isn't it?"

(Grace to Major Pettigrew, p. 288)

"You are mistaken, Ernest," she said at last. "There is only the passionate spark. Without it, two people living together may be lonelier than if they lived quite alone."

(Grace to Major Pettigrew, p. 291)

"Unlike you, who must do a cost-benefit analysis of every human interaction," he said, "I have no idea what I hope to accomplish. I only know that I must try to see her. That's what love is about, Roger. It's when a woman drives all lucid thought from your head; when you are unable to contrive romantic stratagems, and the usual manipulations fail you; when all your carefully laid plans have no meaning and all you can do is stand mute in her presences. You hope she takes pity on you and drops a few words of kindness into the vacuum of your mind."

(Major Pettigrew to his son Roger, p. 298)

"How can we not all feel it? We are small-minded people, creeping about the earth grubbing for our own advantage and making the very mistakes for which we want to humiliate our neighbors."

(Major Pettigrew to Abdul Wahid, p. 341)

"But it's not enough to be in love. It's about how you spend your days, what you do together, who you choose as friends, and most of all it's what work you do."

(Amina to Major Pettigrew, p. 351)

SAINT FELIX OF NOLA,

SAINTS MAUR AND PLACID,

POPE SAINT MARCELLUS,

SAINT ITA,

SAINT REMIGIUS,

SAINT PAUL OF THEBES,

SAINT FURSA,

SAINT JOSEPH VAZ,

SAINT ANTHONY, ABBOT,

SAINT MARGARET OF HUNGARY, OP,

SAINT CHARLES OF SEZZE,

THE JESUIT MARTYRS OF THE REFORMATION,

SAINT WULSTAN,

SAINT FAOLAN,

SAINT HENRY OF UPPSALA,

SAINT CANUTE,

BLESSED ANDREW PESCHIERA,

POPE SAINT FABIAN, MARTYR,

SAINT SEBASTIAN, MARTYR,

MARY, QUEEN OF MARTYRS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: I spotted this on a walk with my beloved sister. A hymn to our God. 

© Gertrude Feick 2024

First Week in Ordinary Time

January is the month dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

Readings for the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Prologue 45 - Ch 2:31 Qualities of the Abbot

From the River to the ends of the earth.

JESUS, THE MIGHTY GOD,

HAVE MERCY ON US.

MARY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

Seek the Lord while He may be found, call Him while He is near.

(Isaiah 55:6)

It is most certainly a busy day and a busy week at the beginning of the still New Year 2024 fully immersed in January the month dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. Welcome to the Epiphany of the Lord, the Baptism of the Lord, and the First Week in Ordinary Time. And not a few saints to commemorate and guide us on our way. Whew. The life of a Christian is exhausting. It is true something Willie Graf (1918-1943) said: "To be a Christian is perhaps the hardest thing to ever become in life." However, we keep going, and heed the words of Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582), who wrote, "Let the Christian be valiant." United in faith and prayer, then, and all in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth, we are valiant in word and deed. 

Speaking of baptism, do you know the date of your baptism? It is an important day, the most important day in your life. As is customary, the Holy Father baptized 16 infants today in the Sistene Chapel. As Pope Francis said to the families gathered in the Sistene Chapel, we should see our baptism as a sort of "birthday." It is the day that the faith was received, a day to be celebrated. After all, it is the day we became a beloved child of God. So, celebrate the date of your baptism. If you do not know the date, contact the parish where you were baptized and find out. I was baptized November 29, 1964, when I was just 20 days old. For this, I thank my parents and godparents, and give God the praise for the gift. I believe, help my unbelief. 

And now, we let the people speak. ☺

The object of the new year is not to have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.

(G.K. Chesterton, 1874-1936)

The obedience of the star calls us to imitate its humble service: to be servants, as best we can, of the grace that invites all men to find Christ.

Dear friends, you must have the same zeal to be of help to one another; then, in the kingdom of God, to which faith and good words are the way, you will shine as children of the light: through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

(From a sermon by Pope Saint Leo the Great, in Office of Readings, Epiphany)

Christ is bathed in light; let us also be bathed in light. Christ is baptized; let us go down with Him, and rise with Him ... 

Today let us do honor to Christ's baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom His every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of Him who is the light of heaven.

(From a sermon by Saint Gregory of Nazianzen, bishop, in Office of Readings, Baptism of the Lord)

The soul is regenerated in the sacred waters of baptism and thus becomes God's child.

(Saint Maximilian Kolbe, 1894-1941)

May the God of love and peace set your hearts at rest and speed you on your journey; may He meanwhile shelter you from disturbance by others in the hidden recesses of His love, until He brings you at last into that place of complete plentitude where you will repose forever in the vision of peace, in the security of trust and in the restful enjoyment of His riches.

(From a letter by Saint Raymond of Penyafort, priest, in Office of Readings, January7)

I am well aware, almighty God and Father, that in my life I owe you a most particular duty. It is to make my every thought and word speak of you ... 

Impart to us, then, the meaning of the words of Scripture and the light to understand it, with reverence for the doctrine and confidence in its truth. Grant that we may express what we believe. Through the prophets and apostles we know about you, the one God the Father, and on Lord Jesus Christ. May we have the grace, in the face of heretics who deny you, to honor you as God, who is not along, and to proclaim this as truth.

(From a sermon On the Trinity by Saint Hilary of Poitiers, bishop, in Office of Readings, January 13)

I want you to know that in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has always been the Rosary.

(Our Lady to Saint Dominic)

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us.

He does nothing in vain. He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me - still He knows what He is about.

(Saint John Henry Newman, 1801-1890)

But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God's commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, Prologue 49)

SAINT RAYMOND OF PENYAFORT,

SAID APOLLINARIS,

SAINT NATHALAN,

SAINT PETER THOMAS,

SAINT ADRIAN OF CANTERBURY,

SAINT ANDREW CORSINI, OP,

BLESSED GONSALVO OF AMARANTE, OP,

BLEESED BERNARD SCAMMACCA, OP,

SAINT THEODOSIUS,

SAINT AELRED OF RIEVAULX,

SAINT WILLIAM OF BOURGES,

BLESSED MARGUERITE BOURGEOYS,

SAINT BENEDICT BISCOP,

BLEESED ANN OF THE ANGELES MONTEAGUDO,

SAINTS AGATHA YI AND TERESA KIM,

SAINT GREGORY OF NYSSA,

SAINT HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP, DOCTOR, 

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: I nearly lost it while getting this shot. Flow river flow. You will draw joyfully from the springs of salvation.

© Gertrude Feick 2024

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God/Week before the Epiphany of the Lord

December is the month dedicated to Advent and Christmas and the Immaculate Conception

January is the month dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus

World Day of Peace

Readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 73 This Rule Only a Beginning of Perfection - Prologue

Glory in His holy name.

MARY, CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

JESUS, SON OF THE LIVING GOD.

HAVE MERCY ON US. 

And in whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to Him through God.

(Col. 3:17)

Welcome to the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, World Day of Peace and entry into the New Year 2024, all on the week before the Epiphany of the Lord. Alleluia. And that is not all, faithful readers. On January 4, we commemorate "wholly American," first born in the USA American citizen, wife, mother, foundress of the Sisters of Charity, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton. For all this we give God the praise. And remember that a grateful person is a happy person and happy person is a grateful person. We are God's chosen ones, so we put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bear with one another and forgive one another. Over all these, though, we put on love, that is the bond of perfection, and be thankful. May peace control our hearts (see Col 3:12-21). Lord, give us the grace. Mary, Queen of peace, pray for us.

And now, since we also begin our first read through of the year 2024 of the Holy Rule of Saint Benedict, why not consider our holy father's first words and spend this year by listening. "Listen carefully," says Saint Benedict, "with the ear of your heart" (Prologue 1). 

The coming forth is from the days of eternity.

But at the end of the ages

His coming forth

is from the womb of the woman

who encompassed Him.

If the Lord wrought something

new upon earth

still the fragrance of this wonderful news

filled the heaven.

A woman will encompass a man

as a crown encompasses the head.

For the head of the Church is Christ.

(Gilbert of Hoyland, 1110-1170)

God far exceeds all words that we can here express. 

In silence He has heard, in silence worshipped best.

(Angelus Silesius, 1624-1677)

Different men have different names, which they owe to their parents or to themselves, that is, to their own pursuits or achievements. But our great pursuit, the great name we wanted, was to be Christians, to be called Christians.

(From a sermon by Saint Gregory of Nazianzen, 330-389/390, bishop, in Office of Readings, January 2)

Write what you will, I shall not relish it unless it tells of Jesus. Talk or argue about what you will, I shall not relish it if you exclude the name of Jesus. Jesus is to me honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, On the Song of Songs, 15, III, 6)

God will provide; that is all my comfort.

(Mother Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

We are never strong enough to bear our cross; it is the cross which carries us. Nor are we so weak as to be unable to bear it, since the weakest become strong by its virtue.

(Mother Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

In whatever distress you may be, I beg you to let me know. 

And I will help you according to my ability.

(Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, prayer from his diary)

One must never dialogue, brothers and sisters, with the devil. Never! You should never argue. Jesus never dialogued with the devil; He cast him out. And with the wilderness, [the] temptations, He did not respond with dialogue; He simply responded with the words of Holy Scripture, with the Word of God. Be careful: the devil is a seducer. Never dialogue with him, because he is smarter than all of us and he will make us pay for it. When temptation comes, never dialogue. Close the door, close the window, close your heart. And so, we defend ourselves against this seduction, because the devil is astute, intelligent. He tried to tempt Jesus with quotes from the Bible! He was a great theologian there. With the devil you do not dialogue. Do you understand this? Be careful.  We must not converse with the devil, and we must not entertain ourselves with temptation. There is no dialogue. Temptation comes, we close the door. We guard our heart ...

And we must ask for this grace of learning to guard the heart. It is a form of wisdom, how to guard the heart. May the Lord help [us] in this work. But he who guards his heart, guards a treasure. Brothers and sisters, let us learn to guard the heart.

(Pope Francis, General Audience Catechesis, December 27, 2023)

We go forth, united in faith and prayer, and pray for each other, that we learn to guard our hearts. Mary, Mother of the Word Incarnate, please cover us in your protective veil. We join the Holy Father and pray: "May Mary, Queen of the family, help us marvel every day at the good, and to know how to see it on the faces of those nearest to us" (Angelus Address, December 31, 2023)

MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD,

THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH,

SERVANT OF GOD JEROME LEJEUNE,

SERVANT OF GOD ELIZABETH LESEUR,

POPE SAINT SYLVESTER I, 

SAINTS BASIL THE GREAT AND GREGORY NAZIANZEN, BISHOPS AND DOCTORS,

SAINT MUNCHIN,

SAINT GENEVIEVE,

SAINT KURIAKOSE ELIAS CHAVARA,

BLESSED STEPHANA QUINZANI,

MOTHER SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON,

SAINT JOHN NEPOMUCENE NEUMANN,

SAINT ANDRE BESSETTE,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Mary, the Holy Mother of God, with Her child Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. "You too are mothers of the Child who has been born for you and in you ... Keep watch in your care for the newborn Child" (Guerric of Igny, 1070/80-1157)

© Gertrude Feick 2023/2024

The Nativity of the Lord

December is the month dedicated to Advent and Christmas and the Immaculate Conception

Readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 66 The Porter of the Monastery- Ch 72 The Good Zeal of Monks

A light will shine on us this day; the Lord is born for us.

MARY, CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN,

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

(Romans 16:27)

Welcome to a packed day and week. If life is full and busy and occupied with many things and you think that Christmas is here too soon it is no wonder since we don't even get four full weeks of Advent! Whew.  However, so goes it this year. And you can always keep in mind something Mother Teresa once explained to her nuns:

What did Mary do, after she heard that she was to bear the Savior? Did she stay at home and meditate on the great mystery? No, when she heard that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was also with child, she immediately got up to go on a long journey - a very long journey to help her. To wash the pots and pans and do whatever needed to be done.

(Mother Saint Teresa of Calcutta, 1910-1997)

So, we carry on united in faith and prayer and do whatever needs to be done while remembering some words of Saint Peter Canisius (1521-1597): "If you have too much to do, with God's help you will find time to do it." If still overwhelmed with all the things Our Lord and Savior is asking you to do, then ask His blessed Mother Mary to cover you in her protective veil as you respond with her, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). 

For our voices for the week, may we listen with the ear of our hearts. 

Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness.

(From a sermon by Pope Saint Leo the Great, in Office of Readings, Christmas)

Whenever we are kept waiting a while for something we greatly long for, when what we love does come it seems sweeter to us. It is up to us then to follow the example of the holy Fathers and to recall their longings and so set our minds on fire with love of and desire for Christ.

(Aelred of Rievaulx, 1110-1167)

When the human spirit is ready, God enters without hesitation or waiting. You need not look either here or there. God is not farther away than the door of the heart.

(Meister Eckhart, 1260-1328)

No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God except by kneeling before the manger of Bethlehem and adoring Him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child.

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 563)

It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the audacity to believe that God loves us, 

and the power to love Him back.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153)

All the way to heaven is heaven.

(Servant of God Dorothy Day, 1897-1980)

Let us imitate blessed Stephen as far as God gives us the grace to do so. Let us not only love our friends but also our enemies, because there is nothing whereby we can so well redeem our sins, overcome the devil, and please God.

(Saint Caesarius of Arles, 468/470-542)

Our Lady stands before us in all her glory to show what marvels God will accomplish in us, what heights, what nearness to Himself, if we but give ourselves to Him as she did, and allow Him to work in us. She is God's most perfect design, the most perfect image of Christ Jesus ... God is in the simple, the routine, the uneventful, the drab things of life. It is there that we encounter Him and can, if we will, embrace Him as Mary did, for He is Emmanuel, God with us. Our task it to be with Him - always.

(Ruth Burrows, 1923-2023)

Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may He bring us all together to everlasting life.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 72:11-12)

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL SAINTS,

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL APOSTLES,

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL MARTYRS,

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL EVANGELISTS,

SAINT STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR,

SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST,

SAINT THOMAS BECKET,

SAINT THOMAS MORE,

ELIJAH AND ELISHA,

SAINT THOMAS,

THE HOLY INNOCENTS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Sunrise over Mt. Hood. Heaven drops dew from above. Let the earth open up and the Savior spring forth.

© Gertrude Feick 2023

Third Week of Advent

December is the month dedicated to Advent and Christmas and the Immaculate Conception

Readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 62 The Priests of the Monastery- Ch 65 The Prior of the Monastery

My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

MARY, CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN,

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, 

PRAY FOR US.

O Sapientia! Come and teach us the way of prudence.

O Adonai! Come and redeem us with outstretched arm.

O radix Iesse! Come to deliver us, and tarry not.

O clavis David! Come and lead to freedom the prisoner who sits in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Oriens! Come and illuminate those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

O Rex gentium! Come and save mankind, whom you fashioned from clay.

O Emmanuel! Come and save us, O Lord our God!

Welcome to the Third Sunday of Advent and the days of the glorious "O" Antiphons that help us prepare in a more direct way for the Nativity of the Lord. Come, Lord Jesus! So how about we join Saint John the Baptist and cry out in the desert or city or country, or wherever we find ourselves and say, "make straight the way of the Lord!" Let's start with ourselves though and make straight the way of the Lord in word and deed. What is it you might do this week to prepare for the Lord? And some of our voices of the week just may lend a helping hand. Keep going!

In the hymn "On Jordan's Bank," we sing Let us lay down a road for Him who is drawing near. So as we prepare for Him who is drawing near, let's hear what Anthony Esolen has to say:*

That's some work. Clear the land, get rid of the rocks, dig down for a foundation, and lay the paving stones. And while we're at it, we must get to work on our hearts, furnishing them making them clean and sweet, so that there will be a fit room there in the inn for the Lord at His birth, and He may abide in us, and we in Him (Jn 15:4).

Strive to preserve your heart in peace; let no event of this world disturb it.

(Saint John of the Cross, the Mystical Doctor, 1542-1591) 

Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?

(Saint Gerard Majella, 1726-1755)

The direction of oneself toward God and toward solitude in Him prepares the soul for the acquisition of that peace that helps us in the most distracting, most active external work ... Man's silence makes room for God's word. When man is silent, God is heard. And once we listen intently to God we maintain our silence even in the midst of our speech.

(Blessed Stefan Wyszynski, 1901-1981)

The greatest things are accomplished in silence-not in the clamor and display of superficial eventfulness, but in the deep clarity of inner vision; in the almost imperceptible start of decision, in quiet overcoming and hidden sacrifice. Spiritual conception happens when the heart is quickened by love, and the free will stirs to action. The silent forces are the strong forces.

(Romano Guardini, 1885-1968, in The Lord)

None of the great things in human life spring from the intellect; every one of them issues from the heart and its love. If even human love has its own reasoning, comprehensible only to the heart that is open to it, how much truer must this be of God's love!

(Romano Guardini, 1885-1968, in The Lord)

We know that God gives us every grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.

(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

Faith lifts the soul; hope supports it; experience says it must and Love says ... let it be!

(Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, 1774-1821)

Unless your faith is firm you shall not be firm.

(Isaiah 7:9)

Whatever you do, think not of yourself but of God.

(Saint Vincent Ferrer, 1350-1419)

As we go forth this week, united in faith and prayer, we heed the words of Saint Paul:

Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. 

In all circumstance give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

(1 Th 5:17-18)

And at the same time, we receive Saint Paul's blessing:

May the God of peace make you perfectly holy and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved blameless for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will also accomplish it.

(1 Th 5:23-24)

BLESSED SCUBILION,

SAINT GATIAN OF TOURS,

BLESSED POPE URBAN V,

SAINT FACHANAN OF KILFENORA,

SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS,

SAINT PETER CANISIUS,

SAINT JOHN OF KETY,

SAINT CHAEROMON,

PRAY FOR US.

*A. Esolen, The Poetry of Praise "He is Near," in Magnificat, December 2023, p. 206.

Today's photo: As the earth brings forth its plants and a garden makes its growth spring up, so will the Lord God make justice and praise spring up before all the nations.

© Gertrude Feick 2023