Our Lady of Ashes

 From An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum, 1941-1943 Etty Hillesum at her desk “ I keep talking about God the whole day long, and it is high time that I lived accordingly. I still have a long way to go, oh yes, a long way, and yet sometimes I behave as if I were there already. I am frivolous and easy-going and I often look on things that happened as if I were an artist, a mere observer. There is something bizarre and fickle and adventurous in me. But as I sit here at my desk, late at night, I also feel a compelling, directive force deep down, a great and growing seriousness, a soundless voice that tells me what to do and forces me to confess: I have fallen short in all ways, my real work has not even begun. So far I have done little more than play about.” —25 SEPTEMBER, 11.00 P.M.

Andrew the Apostle, First-Called  Today is the feast of St Andrew, the Apostle, and I'm rather struck by on this feast's place at the head of Advent. Advent always begins on the Sunday closest to the feast of St Andrew, November 30, and so we might call Saint Andrew the Apostle of Advent. Looking to Andrew and his mission as Apostle, we learning something key to living the spirit of Advent. Advent is a season of preparation for the coming of Jesus in a two-fold way. The first is a joyful preparation in expectation of Christmas when we celebrate the first coming of the Son of God, incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in the city of King David to be our Messiah. The second way of preparation is in expectation of when Jesus comes again in his glory to bring forth the Kingdom of God in its fulness.  How we prepare for this Second Coming is where Andrew and the other Apostles come in. Now the word "apostle" means one who is sent. The Apostles are those ...

The Prayer of the Servant of God Metropolitan Andrey for Divine Wisdom O Great and Almighty God, send down upon me from Your high and holy heavens and from the throne of Your holy glory, Your holy wisdom, that sits at Your side. Grant me the wisdom of Your good pleasure so that in my life I may know how to desire fervently, seek wisely, acknowledge in truth and fulfill perfectly that which is pleasing to You, to the glory and honour of You holy Name, “to the praise of the glory of Your grace.” Grant me, O God, the wisdom of my state, so that I may do what You desire; grant that I may understand my obligations, grant me the wisdom of my duties, and grant that I may do them as they ought to be done and as is fitting of Your glory and for the benefit of my soul. Grant me the wisdom of Your ways and the wisdom to walk the paths of Your holy will. Grant me the wisdom of success and failure so that I would know how not to exalt myself in the former and not to be downcast in the latter...

In, The Seven Sacraments: Entering the Mysteries of God,  Stratford Caldecott explores the spiritual connections between the Seven Sacraments of the Church with other sets of seven in the faith: Seven Last words of Christ, Petitions in the Our Father , Theological + Cardinal Virtues ,  Gifts of the Holy Spirit , Days of Creation , etc. Neither the writers of scripture, nor the Fathers of the Church found sets sharing numbers as these to be coincidental, but reflective of a sacred order to Creation, especially when so ordered by the tradition of the Church. These organic spiritual links between all things bring a depth of understanding when meditating upon these sacred things and cause them to settle more firmly into our hearts, and minds and souls. This book of Ven. Fulton Sheen, (included in Caldecott's Bibliography as The Seven Capital Sins) focuses on two of those sets, the Last Words of Christ on the Cross and how those words demonstrate Christ's Victory over the ...

Someone asked me recently what to  do  as a Christian with all the violence and atrocities found in the Old Testament, many of them seemingly sanctioned if not commanded by God through the Law or the prophets. Even when not directly described there can be an apparently blood-thirst, especially in some of the Psalms (137 being of the worst) which is distasteful to our contemporary morality. How do reconcile that with "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness" ( 1 Tim:3:16 )? First, it's important to do what the person who asked was already starting to do: always read the Old Testament in light of the new, especially in light of the words and actions of Jesus Christ. One text my questioner mentioned was that Jesus said he came to fulfill the law not destroy it, which for him could mean a condoning of the violence within the Law. He's right about Jesus' saying as crucial to in...

The Octave of Easter is Drawing to a close, and throughout the week, the liturgy has focused on the mystagogy of the Neophytes and the newly initiated into the Mysteries of the Church. But drawing deeper into the Faith is a lifelong journey, and for the newly initiated, it can seem like there's either too little, or too much in the way of suggested direction. The book The Four Signs of the Dynamic Catholic by Matthew Kelly [ https://dynamiccatholic.com/the-four-signs-of-a-dynamic-catholic-free-copy ] would not be a bad place to start. It gives you a "program" so to speak of how to stay engaged in your Faith through Prayer, Study, Generous Giving, and Evangelization on top of regular participation in the Sacraments. After that, start reading the daily Mass Readings online [http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/index.cfm] which draws you into the liturgical rhythm of the church and will feed your prayer with the Word of God. For spiritual reading and study her...

Part three of my reflections on Coventry Patmore's short religious thoughts in  The Rod, The Root, and the Flower  [ Part I ,  Part II  and Part III ] From Magna Moralia: IV - 'Merit', as the word is used in Scripture and by the Church, means rather capacity  than right . Faith 'merits' because, without faith, there can obviously be no capacity. Christ took upon Himself the flesh and human nature of the Blessed Virgin, 'through whom we have deserved ' (or been made able) 'to receive the Author of Life.' Emptiness of self is the supreme merit of the Soul because it is the first condition of her capacity for God. 'My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.' The Soul's boast and merit, as it were her vanity, is the God-seducing charm of her conscious nothingness. She becomes through her Mere emptiness of self, the female twin Of Fullness, sucking all God's glory in. The Secret of obtain...