A Pathway Under the Gaze of Mary.

I have experienced this very thing.

 

Yep. I call them the mortifications God graciously gives me because I fail to practice much mortification on my own.

 

This is what Sr. Lucia of Fatima said about penance:

"Many persons," Sr. Lucia explained, "feeling that the word penance implies great austerities, and not feeling that they have the strength for great sacrifices, become discouraged and continue a life of lukewarmness and sin." Then she said Our Lord explained to her: "The sacrifice required of every person is the fulfillment of his duties in life and the observance of My law. This is the penance that I now seek and require."

The Fatima Message

 

Thank you for posting this. I have read it before but it is really pertinent now.

 

Wow, this is so important for me. Thank you so very much. I will print this off and stick on my wall in front of my desk.

God bless!!!

 

First time to hear this. Thank you!

 

I'm just going to look at this for a while...under the gaze of Mary. Everything else is stressing me out.

 

Beautiful picture of Our Lady.

 

When I was very, very young I used to love reading the lives of the saints, especially those who had been granted special supernatural graces, like seeing Our Lady, working miracles, having the stigmata, seeing visions, experiencing wonderful things in prayer and so. I guess it was the Catholic form of wanting to be a Pop or Movie star. Everyone thinking you are special, being set apart, people admiring you and ohhing and ahhing when you walked into a room. This is a dream not only of the young, I guess for the vast majority of people it would be a dream come true.

But looking at folks who did see Our Lady we see a very different picture. They had the wonderful gift of seeing and talking to Mary but they paid for it, often, in a very heavy price of incredible sufferings.

We see this so well in photos taken in cases , for instance of St Therese of Liseaux and Venerable Sister Lucia when we look in their eyes we see dark wells of pain. Deep, deep, deep suffering.

 

Sauce for the goose, sauce for the gander. Perhaps the time we must be most concerned for our Spiritual Health is not when we are suffering but when we are not suffering.Then it would be time to take a cool hard look at ourselves. The proper place for the good Christian is to hang on the Cross with Christ.

Its ironic but in the case of Sister Lucia the very things I longed for most as a child, to be thought a Saint, to see Our Lady, to have visions, to be very spiritually famous and admired and talked about, those are the very things Lucia wanted least. The very same things that nailed her to her Cross.

 

There is an interesting account in the book of the death of a woman who was Lucia's Religious Superior and who treated Lucia very badly indeed. When this nun knew that death was approaching she started talking to Lucia and showed great signs of guilt but also a very great fear, almost terror of the fact that she would soon be appearing before the Judgement Seat and have to give an account of her terrible goings on. In an attempt to get out from under she tried to fix the wrongs she had done, very much at the last minute. Her great hope was that Lucia would be at her death bed to console and intercede for her with Our Lady. But as it turned out Lucia was not there and according to the account of one nun who was present at the death bed she had a very sad, worrisome end.

This reminds me of the life of St Margaret Mary Alocoque. There was one nun whose name I think was Suarin who pretty well tortures the saint for a good part of her life, including physically beating her. At the death bed of this nun devils appeared at her bedside and she more nor less died shrieking in fear. St Margaret Mary said that she prayed for this nun, that she would be saved but be deep in Purgatory until the end of the world.

It reminds me that God's Justice is inexorable, we cannot flee from it. Actions have consequences. What goes around comes around. That there is a natural balance in all things.

I would never gloat at the fate of these women, but at the same time I can't help feeling a certain grim satisfaction that they didn't just get away with it all.

That if Justice is not served in this life, it will most certainly be served in the life to come.

 

This is a wonderful reminder. Thanks for posting.

 

Yes, beautiful!

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

 

Instead of the standard rosary...
When our children were younger we said the family rosary daily, together. But as they've gotten older, we lost that unfortunately. We really need to restart...

 

How about trading, jackzokay! Geralyn and I pray a daily Rosary. So I'll see about adding the Rosary of the 7 Sorrows and you can reignite the Traditional Rosary. Mary will be doubly happy! After the New Year we can share how things worked out!

Dear Lord, expand our time with prayers!

 

'Some people are never going to believe, even when they stand in the presence of God'

Our Lady of Fatima.

 

One strange thing in the book. Sister Lucia's mother never could really believe that Our Lady had actually appeared at Fatima. As a child her mother,Rosa Maria, actually physically beat Lucia in an attempt to force her to say she was lying. She really put her daughter through the ropes. At their last meeting Lucia asked her mother if she now believed Rosa Maria confirmed she could not. Lucia asked her why to which her mother replied that things like that do not happen to people like them. Rosa Maria died not long after this so we can safely assume she never believed in Fatima. At this stage her mother had actually witnessed the Miracle of the Sun personally, for she was present. Not only this but the apparitions were accepted in the highest quarters of the Church and Fatima had become a huge pilgrimage site. She knew and loved her daughter probably better than anyone else in the world and Lucia adored her. She never had anything but the highest praise for her.

It reminds me of the Scripture, 'A Prophet is never accepted in their own country'. So much so that the people of his own town, Nazareth tried to kill Him.

So it is a puzzle. Why did her own mother never fully believe Lucia , though she loved her so very,very much?

Truth to tell I have no idea. None whatsoever. It is a real puzzle. It was the same with Jesus in Nazareth. The very people who knew Him best rejected Him. It is also something we see again and again with visionaries. It is such a puzzle.

 

Sister Lucia once revealed her defects things that she needed to take to confessions - I recognise all of these in myself!!


Resentments which do not allow me to forget the defects of others.
– Faults against charity which these resentments lead me to.
– Egoism which leads me so many times to choose the best for myself.
– Self-love which leads me to have my view prevail.
– Excessive propensity to be grieved with trifles.
– To remain quiet many times in order not to have my opinion rejected with people who I know beforehand have to win the argument, even without good reason.
– Lack of respect and disdain for those who contradict me.
– Sadness and weariness produced by wounded self-love.
– Consenting to complaints of self-love.
– Concentrating on the faults of others without seeing my own.
– Curt replies to the Sisters.
– Not valuing the work of others.
– In my eyes I think my work better than others.
– To want others to esteem my work.
– Resistance to Grace.
– Distractions which diminish insights of faith and touches of grace.
– Curiosities.
– Useless words in moments of silence.
– Uncharitable thoughts and words.
– Omissions of charity.
– Carelessness in the practice of small sacrifices.
– Lack of patience in unforeseen events.
– Lack of an ability with others.
– Lack of respect for the opinion of others.
– Not valuing the others’ opinions.
– The difficulty in allowing others’ opinions to prevail.
– Allowing myself on many occasions to be very happy or very sad.
– Not being punctual enough.
– Not taking correction willingly.
– Unwillingly to assume my own feelings.
– Being rude to those who displease me.
– Failing of devotion in my spiritual duties and visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
– Failing to be diligent in obedience.
– Failing to be pleasant with others.
– Failing to use ejaculatory prayers during the day to maintain my union with God.
– Failing to visit the Blessed Sacrament in my free time.

+

 

Quite the check list! Lord have Mercy.