I often think that there is only one thing in this base world which can soothe the most acute pain which pierces the heart when we see ourselves far from God, the source and consolation of distressed souls. That one thing is solitude, for here the soul enjoys sweet rest in the One who is its true peace. I want the heavenly Father to grant you the grace of stability in all your resolutions, not least of all your resolution to grow in holiness and to be silent and reduce to silence everything around you, so that you may hear the divine voice of the Beloved and establish with Him a tranquil and everlasting dialogue.
Recollect yourself continually, and may your whole life be hidden in Jesus and with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, that is to say, in the silence of meditation and prayer.
Try to be always more docile to grace and more and more generous with Jesus, making absolutely everything around you and within you to be silent. Don’t worry; rest trustfully in the divine Mercy.
Silently adore the delicacy of the workings of divine grace.
I am greatly comforted and very content in Jesus’ company, and who could describe the help it is to me to have Him continually by my side? This company makes me much more careful not to do anything which would displease God. It seems to me as if Jesus is constantly watching me. If it sometimes happens that I lose the presence of God, I soon hear Our Lord calling me back to my duty. I cannot describe the voice He uses to call me back, but I know that it is very penetrating, and the soul who hears it finds it almost impossible to refuse what He asks.
(Sermo in dom. infra oct. Assumptionis, 14-15: Opera omnia, Edit. Cisterc. [1968], 273-274)
His mother stood by the cross
The martyrdom of the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual story of our Lord’s passion. The holy old man said of the infant Jesus: He has been established as a sign which will be contradicted. He went on to say to Mary: And your own heart will be pierced by a sword.
Truly, O blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart. For only by passing through your heart could the sword enter the flesh of your Son. Indeed, after your Jesus – who belongs to everyone, but is especially yours – gave up his life, the cruel spear, which was not withheld from his lifeless body, tore open his side. Clearly it did not touch his soul and could not harm him, but it did pierce your heart. For surely his soul was no longer there, but yours could not be torn away. Thus the violence of sorrow has cut through your heart, and we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering.
Or were those words, Woman, behold your Son, not more than a word to you, truly piercing your heart, cutting through to the division between soul and spirit? What an exchange! John is given to you in place of Jesus, the servant in place of the Lord, the disciple in place of the master; the son of Zebedee replaces the Son of God, a mere man replaces God himself. How could these words not pierce your most loving heart, when the mere remembrance of them breaks ours, hearts of iron and stone though they are!
Do not be surprised, brothers, that Mary is said to be a martyr in spirit. Let him be surprised who does not remember the words of Paul, that one of the greatest crimes of the Gentiles was that they were without love. That was far from the heart of Mary; let it be far from her servants.
Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely. Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his.
COLLECT
O God, who willed
that, when your Son was lifted high on the Cross,
his Mother should stand close by and share his suffering,
grant that your Church,
participating with the Virgin Mary in the Passion of Christ,
may merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
The Virgin Mary, who believed in the word of the Lord, did not lose her faith in God when she saw her Son rejected, abused and crucified. Rather she remained beside Jesus, suffering and praying, until the end. And she saw the radiant dawn of His Resurrection. Let us learn from her to witness to our faith with a life of humble service, ready to personally pay the price of staying faithful to the Gospel of love and truth, certain that nothing that we do will be lost.
— Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus – September 13, 2009
Collect:
Father,
as Your Son was raised on the cross,
His mother Mary stood by Him, sharing His sufferings.
May Your Church be united with Christ
in His suffering and death
and so come to share in His rising to new life,
where He lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Devotion from the revelation to St. Bridget of Sweden:
I implore you to be faithful and humble and always to keep the great Mother of God before your mental gaze, she who humbled herself more profoundly the more she was exalted. Never, ever be exalted at your virtues but repeat that everything comes from God, and give Him the honor and glory.
The most common cop-out against God, religion, or Christianity is “all the evil in the world.” What about the evil in me? Doesn’t the evil in me deserve acknowledgment and punishment? Doesn’t my selfishness help cause and perpetuate “all the evil in the world”?
God allows suffering partly because humanity’s evil works it and deserves it, but He redeems suffering to reveal something else. “He has shown strength with His arm” means He has bared His arm. The image is God baring His muscle to use His power. What is He doing?
He is revealing Himself, which turns everything on its head, and shows us reality is not defined by human reasoning, but by God’s Is-ness – which is very different from our own. God is establishing His Kingdom in an evil world: He treats me better than I deserve and teaches me to do the same for others. Mary recognizes His revolutionary presence, and her Magnificat reminds me that in the turmoil of evil and suffering, God is quietly turning everything right-side up with sacrificial love.
And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts, 52 he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever.”
This week’s LOVE the Word exercise (interactive scripture meditation, or lectio divina) is based on an Ignatian* personality approach. Go on! Try it!
Listen (Lectio)
Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself’ … And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them” (Gen 3:7-10, 20).
Observe (Meditatio)
Imagine you are in the Garden of Eden, as Adam or Eve, just before these verses. What do you see around you? Are there animals? How does it feel in your skin? What’s the climate like? What do you hear? What are you thinking? What does it feel like to walk with each other and with God “in the cool of the day”? What do you smell? What does that fruit taste like as its juice bursts onto your tongue?
Now, read the passage again.
Where, lately, have your “eyes opened” to sin? What do you feel now, that you did not feel moments before you recognized or felt the consequences of that sin? What is different? Why are you afraid? As you hear God approaching for His daily walk with you, why are you hiding? What are you hiding? Do your fig leaves help? Hear Him call your name. What will you do, now, with the death that follows sin?
Verbalize (Oratio)
What thoughts and emotions bubble to the surface as you read and meditate on this passage? Have you allowed God to clothe you with His sacrificial forgiveness? Talk to Him about your thoughts and feelings. What does He want you to do?
Entrust (Contemplatio)
Tell Him what you will do. End your meditation by offering Him the fruit of this LOVE the Word exercise – what He wants you to do and what you resolve to do. Ask Him for the grace to obey and to continue in obedience, and to leave outcomes to Him.
.
*Interactive scripture meditations, LOVE Exercises, vary weekly according to the four personalities, or “prayer forms,” explored in Prayer and Temperament, by Chester Michael and Marie Norrisey: Ignatian, Augustinian, Franciscan, and Thomistic.
Jesus Keeps nothing for Himself of what is done for love of Him, and He will repay us very lavishly, Don’t let us make our happiness depend on enjoying wonderful health, or else we should be just like those foolish worldly people to whom it is not given to know the secrets of heaven…. Continue to love Jesus, and make an effort to love Him more and more, without wanting to know anything else He alone will steer us to the haven of salvation.
St. Padre Pio Communion Prayer:
Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have you present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life and without You I am without fervor.
Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness.
Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.
Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much and alway be in Your company.
Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.
Stay with me, Lord, as poor as my soul is I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of Love.
Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close and life passes, death, judgment and eternity approach. It is necessary to renew my strenth, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!
Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers, I need You.
Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.
Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by Communion, at least by grace and love.
Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.
The novena is offered by Msgr. John Esseff with Kris McGregor
A big “THANK YOU” to Ignatius Press for this excellent 2nd edition of the classic “Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved?: With a Short Discourse on Hell” by Catholic theologian Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar. The newer edition contains an outstanding forward by Fr. Robert Barron. The conversation with Mark Brumley sheds even greater light on why this is such an important work. Mark also corrects the misrepresentations that have been put forward about it’s contents in recent years, including the false characterization of von Balthasar as an advocate of “universalism”. An exceptional work! Once again, a great discussion with Mark Brumley.
“Truly deep theological questions can rarely be answered with a simple yes or no. Rather, they are approached by the careful theologian, who circles around them, making distinctions, bringing essential aspects to light. The issue of who and how many will be saved is surely one of the thorniest theological puzzles in the Catholic tradition, and I don’t know any theologian-classical or contemporary-who performs the nimble task of bringing out the complexity and profiles of this issue better than Hans Urs von Balthasar. In this short but rich text, you will hear of grace, punishment, mercy, the awful self-absorption of sin-but above all of hope.” – Bishop Robert Barron, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Having just returned from Rome, Msgr. Esseff reflects on his experience of the canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta.
“The Touch of Love” was a standout experience of the day, as well as the abiding presence of the saint, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Carrier of God’s Tender Love and Mercy
Lord Jesus, merciful Face of the Father, you came to give us the Good News of the Father’s mercy and tenderness.
We thank you for the gift of our dearest Mother, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, who will be canonized in this Jubilee Year of Mercy. You chose her to be your presence, your love and compassion to the brokenhearted, the unwanted, the abandoned and the dying. She responded wholeheartedly to your cry, ‘I Thirst,’ by the holiness of her life and humble works of love to the poorest of the poor.
We pray, through her intercession, for the grace to experience your merciful love and share it in our own families, communities and with all our suffering brothers and sisters. Help us to give our “hearts to love and hands to serve” after the example of Mother Teresa. Lord Jesus, bless every member of our family, our parish, our diocese, our country, especially those most in need, that we all may be transformed by your merciful love. Amen.
Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30th 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to Blessed Mother Teresa. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the missionaries of charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical missions, a Catholic organization established by Bl. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.
To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book byvisiting here
Eternal and merciful Father, I give You thanks for the gift of Your Divine Son Who suffered, died and rose for all mankind. I thank You also for my Catholic Faith and ask Your help that I may grow in fidelity by prayer, by works of charity and penance, by reflection on Your Word, and by regular participation in the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.
You gave Saint Monica a spirit of selfless love manifested in her constant prayer for the conversion of her son Augustine. Inspired by boundless confidence in Your power to move hearts, and by the success of her prayer. I ask the grace to imitate her constancy in my prayer for [name(s)] who no longer share(s) in the intimate life of Your Catholic family. Grant through my prayer and witness that (he/she/they) may be open to the promptings of Your Holy Spirit, and return to loving union with Your Church. Grant also that my prayer be ever hopeful and that I may never judge another, for You alone can read hearts. I ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Faith
O glorious St. Monica, transfixed with sorrow when you saw your beloved child Augustine living in the dark and gloomy abyss of error and vice, and straying far from the right path which leads to true fidelity in the possession of God and his holy grace, hear our prayer, O afflicted mother.
By that cruel sorrow which, with so much patience, you bore; and by those earnest sighs and bitter tears with which you appealed to God to change the heart of your prodigal son; by your wondrous confidence in God, which was never shaken, O grant to us, that we may, like you, place all our trust in God, and in our trials and troubles be ever resigned to His holy will; while we ask you, O glorious St. Monica, to supply for us our special needs, we here earnestly ask you to pray for the erring children of Jesus, so many Augustines, straying from God and hurrying to ruin. Let that earnest prayer of yours go forth once more for us and for sinners, that we may live in the light of divine grace, and be united again thereafter to bless the bounty of a loving God for eternity. Amen.
Followed by:
Our Father . . . Hail Mary . . . Glory Be . . .Saint Monica, pray for us.
Prayer for Hope
O glorious, St. Monica, who, despite the many means you employed to accomplish the conversion of your son Augustine seemed fruitless, though for a long time God himself appeared deaf to your earnest prayer and unmoved by your ever-flowing tears, did never lose confidence in obtaining the long-sought grace for Augustine.
You did lovingly and tenderly admonish your erring son; you did watch over him ever with all a mother’s love, and fearless of danger and heedless of fatigue, followed him from place to place in his weary and wayward wanderings; in a word, all that a mother’s tender love could suggest, all that a mother’s anxious solicitude could inspire, all that a wondrous prudence and true wisdom could dictate, you, O great St. Monica, cheerfully did to effect the return to God of your firstborn and darling child.
By all these generous efforts, so happily crowned in the end, hear, O St. Monica, the petitions we make to you. Pray for us, too, and pray especially for those who are unmindful of and ungrateful to God. To you, we are especially dedicated; look upon us, then, as your children, and win for us the grace we need. Regard mercifully the most destitute amongst us, that sin being diminished, the number of the faithful may increase, and greater glory may be given to Him who is the best of friends, the truest of benefactors, our first beginning and last end, the source of all our hope, our Savior, our God. Amen
Followed by: Our Father . . . Hail Mary . . . Glory Be . . . Saint Monica, pray for us.
Prayer for Charity
O glorious St. Monica, who can conceive the consolation that abounded in your heart, so long the home of brooding sorrow, when you saw your child Augustine rising in the light of grace and giving himself generously to God; when you held your converted son in your arms, and as tears of joy streamed forth to tell the glowing jubilee of your heart.
Oh, how in that moment God in his mercy recompensed your years of sorrow and anxiety, your long and weary days of racking suspense. It was impossible that a child of tears like yours should perish; and when your son Augustine heard the call of God, he obeyed it, and his life and his deeds flung a luster all their own on you, St. Monica.
O fortunate mother, twice mother of your child, deign to listen to our prayers and present our petitions to God; look lovingly, and with all a mother’s interest on us, under your protection, to honor you. We love you; let us become, as St. Augustine of old, the objects of your maternal love. Pray that we, too, like St. Augustine, may have strength to cling to God, and triumph over sin and temptation. By your prayers break the fetters of sin that hold in cruel bondage the souls of your sinful children in this world.
O St. Monica, pray that the miracle of grace in the heart of Augustine may again and again be repeated in these days of universal sin, and that the erring children of Jesus may be led back to the fold; that, united here on earth, we may securely go through the dangers of life and be united with you and all the Saints in heaven for ever. Amen
Followed by: Our Father. . . Hail Mary . . . Glory Be . . . Saint Monica, pray for us.
Concluding Prayers
O God, look graciously down upon your children who sigh in this valley of tears. Hopefully we pray for our daily bread, for the forgiveness of our sins, for the never-failing help of your grace, and for the faithful fulfillment of your promises: to find life everlasting and a happy abode with you in heaven, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer.
May God, through the merits and intercession of Saint Monica, increase our faith, strengthen our hope, and enkindle the fire of charity in our hearts.
From the writings of St. Pio:
The Virgin Mary, who believed in the word of the Lord, did not lose her faith in God when she saw her Son rejected, abused and crucified. Rather she remained beside Jesus, suffering and praying, until the end. And she saw the radiant dawn of His Resurrection. Let us learn from her to witness to our faith with a life of humble service, ready to personally pay the price of staying faithful to the Gospel of love and truth, certain that nothing that we do will be lost.
Saved?: With a Short Discourse on Hell” by Catholic theologian Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar. The newer edition contains an outstanding forward by Fr. Robert Barron. The conversation with Mark Brumley sheds even greater light on why this is such an important work. Mark also corrects the misrepresentations that have been put forward about it’s contents in recent years, including the false characterization of von Balthasar as an advocate of “universalism”. An exceptional work! Once again, a great discussion with Mark Brumley.
Having just returned from Rome, Msgr. Esseff reflects on his experience of the canonization of St. Teresa of Calcutta.
Lord Jesus, merciful Face of the Father, you came to give us the Good News of the Father’s mercy and tenderness.
