Anyhow, Terry, thats that. However when I was praying about your post I saw in my heart and old door with the word, 'Holy' written on top of it in Hebrew and my attention was drawn to a passage of scripture. Numbers 18 29 Out of all that is given you ye shall set apart all of that which is due unto the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it . By which I think the Lord is asking for more quality , time set aside for Himself, a Holy and acceptable sacrifice to the Lord. He reminds me that such time is often hard won but promises that as He multiplied the loves so too He can multiply time itself and so you will not be the loser. Which come, to think of it may also refer to your, 'Lost time' Hope this helps!! Byeeeeeeeeeeee
Padraig replied: Prayer is a bit like a river, running through the land of the heart to the sea of God's love. At the start it can be quite dramatic with waterfalls and rapids running so swiftly and carving waterfalls and rapids, with much noise and foam... Actually, this analogy fits quite well with the time around my key conversion in the 1970s. The context was the Charismatic Renewal; there were manifestations of great praise, joy, and even miracles. One of the other members of this forum pm'ed me and offered the description of "an infilling of the Holy Spirit" for my prayer experience. The New Testament closely links the Holy Spirit and water. So that ties in, also! Then you shared: The soul itself too is in darkness, for this is the deep prayer of faith and darkness. Now like a little bird it looks to the sky in hope for the dawn, with eyes of pure love and faith. Like the watchman who waits for the coming of day break it waits for the morning. Though my love and faith lack the purity you describe, the longing of the watchman for the dawn resonates within. Finally: ...and a sea of water burst forth in a mighty fountain, up, out of the dark right to the sky, in a mighty geyser startling the onlooker... I certainly was surprised!! I have decided to attempt to set aside more time for my Lord, as you suggest. Thank you for your feedback. Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
Well very interesting!! I have never experienced this time of prayer myself, though it is very well documented in Catholic spiritual literature. Another case I recall was with Saint John Bosco and the child-saint Dominic Savio. St John found Dominic one time in a Church praying away and discovered on questioning him that he had been there a few hours....St Dominic thought he had been there a few seconds.............. 'Don Bosco himself was an eyewitness to extraordinary events concerning Dominic Savio. Don Bosco wrote, "I am recording things I have seen with my own eyes. I assure you I am adhering strictly to truth …" When Dominic received Communion or when he made a visit to Church he became completely absorbed in prayer. One day Dominic was missing from breakfast, from class, and from lunch. No one knew where he was. On being informed, Don Bosco guessed that he was in church as he had been at other times. His guess was right. He went into the sanctuary behind the main altar. There was Dominic, standing as immovable as a rock. One foot was over the other; one hand rested on a bookstand, the other was pressed against his heart. His face was fixed toward the tabernacle. Don Bosco called to him, "Dominic." He looked at Don Bosco and asked, "Is Mass over already?" "Look, Dominic," said Don Bosco as he showed him the time. "It's two o'clock in the afternoon." Dominic apologized. Don Bosco then sent him for something to eat, adding, "If anyone asks where you were, say you were doing something for me." Another time, Don Bosco had just finished his thanksgiving after Mass and was about to leave the sacristy when he heard someone talking in the sanctuary. He found Dominic alone but speaking as if in a conversation with some invisible person. Don Bosco heard Dominic say, "Yes, Lord, I have said it before, and I will keep on saying it, I love you and I want to love you all my life. If you see that I am about to commit a sin, make me die first! Yes, death first, but not sin!" Don Bosco asked Dominic what was happening. "I don't know," was his answer. "I get distracted and lose track of my prayer, and then I see such wonderful things that the hours fly by like seconds!" One night after all had gone to bed Dominic rushed into Don Bosco's room, waking him, "Don Bosco come with me! "What," asked Don Bosco? "Please Don Bosco, hurry!" With Dominic's insistence, Don Bosco dressed quickly and followed him. They left the Oratory, hurried down one street, into another, and up a third, without saying a word, and then into another street. They walked quickly along a line of tenements, and finally Dominic stopped before one. He ran up the stairs to the third floor with Don Bosco following. Dominic stopped at one door, knocking on the door and told Don Bosco, "Here!" The door of the apartment opened, and a woman stood before Don Bosco. "Thank God!" cried the woman, "There's little time. My husband is dying. He left the Church, but now he wants to die a good Catholic!" The man made his peace with God. Don Bosco heard his confession and blessed him. The man died a few moments later. Days later, Don Bosco asked Dominic how he knew about that dying man. His face clouded over with a look of distress, and tears came to his eyes. Don Bosco did not insist. "Innocence of life," wrote Don Bosco, "love of God, and the desire of heaven had so elevated his soul that he could be said to be living always absorbed in God…" Dominic's sister, Theresa, testified that on the morning of September 12, 1856, Dominic rushed into Don Bosco's room. "Please, Father," he asked, "may I go home?" "Why?" "My mother is very sick, and Our Lady wants to take care her. " "How do you know?" "I just know, that's all." "Has someone written to you?" "No, but I know just the same." Don Bosco gave him permission because, as he later told Mr. Savio, "When your son insists on anything, I do well to agree with him." Don Bosco gave Dominic fare for the coach to Chieri and then a carriage to Mondonio. When Dominic arrived he met his father, who was on his way to find a doctor. "What are you doing here?" he asked his son. "I'm going to see mother. She's very sick." "Go to grandma's!" insisted Mr. Savio and rushed on. Dominic ran home. His mother was in labor. The neighboring women were doing what they could for her but could not help her. Dominic suddenly rushed into the house. Disregarding the objections of the women he ran upstairs to his mother, saying, "I know she's sick. That's why I came!" His mother was alone. "Dominic, what are you doing here?" she asked. "I found out that you were sick, and I came to see you." Forcing herself to sit up, she replied, "Oh, it's nothing. Go downstairs. I'll see you later." "I'll go, Mama, but first I want to hug you!" He quickly embraced his mother and kissed her. Then he left the house and returned immediately to Turin. A few minutes later Brigit’s labor pains reached their climax and subsided. It was at five that evening that Dominic's baby sister, Catherine, was born. By the time Charles returned with a doctor the birth was over. The women who assisted Mrs. Savio noticed she was wearing a green scapular. Not having seen it before, they asked where she got it. She too was surprised but then replied, " Dominic must have put this scapular on me as he embraced me, because I've never had one like this before. That is why I have been safely delivered!" On his return to the Oratory, the only answer Dominic gave Don Bosco was, "My mother is all right. I gave her a scapular of our Blessed Mother." That same scapular later saved the life of Theresa herself in a similar condition, as well as the lives of several women. While Dominic was at home, during his last illness, he told his mother, "Do you remember the time I came to see you when you in labor with my sister? I left a scapular of Our Lady around your neck? It was Our Mother Mary who eased your Labor. Take good care of the scapular and lend it to other women in the same condition. Our Blessed Mother will take care of them also." The scapular, however, was lost. "I had very many requests for this miraculous scapular," testified Theresa. "It was lent to many women in labor who were in danger of death. To my regret, it has been lost."
Anyhow I think I've said all I want to about this Spiritual Marriage for the time being or I'll end up writing a book. I will only say that it is the Pearl Beyond Price. It is such an incredible source of Joy, of Peace of Love, I really can't tell you. Imagine for a moment you were to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament for several hours and a deep , deep sense of the presence of God were to come over you, so much so that you never wanted to leave this place but like St Peter at the Transfiguration were to exclaim , 'Let us build tents and stay here'. Now imagine this feeling of closeness was to continue for ever and ever................. What it is not like is the comparison some Catholic writers have been with Eastern religions like Budhissim and 'Enlightenment'. Prayer is never an escape from the cross , it is in fact a superb preparation for the Cross the two are not the same. We are not angels we are human beings. Prayer does not make us less human but more human. St John Bosco, by the way also warned St Dominic of this, that our spiritual life must never set us apart from those round us by making us seem unusual or abnormal. There is a lady who often goes to mass when I am there, when she goes up to receive the host she has a dramatic pause, genuflects very slowly and stops several times on the way back, causing a large line behind her and many annoyed looks. I often have the terrible temptation to kick her backside for her. Prayer becomes more and more simple, more and more natural, more and more like the clothes we wear..and when I look at the Budhha under the Banyan tree with the blissful smile of Enlightenment on his face I think of the pious lady who holds the whole Church up....
I have read this entire post for the first time [I waited to savour what Padraig had to say!] and I am overwhelmed. My reflection for what it is worth! 1. How profoundly grateful that I am for having found this forum, for Padraig's courage in sharing [we Irish are quite private!], and being so generous to us all here. Thankyou Padraig, and I consider you to be a brother!! [an older brother, of course ] 2. How generous God is in giving us mere creatures his sanctifying grace. 3. It is a love affair - He is an inferno of love, like the burning Sun, and human love is like a candle in comparison 4. We should fear nothing for God the Father loves us so much and we are in the palm of His mighty Hand. 5. He is most patient and merciful and is the God of the 'last chance'. 6. I have so much to learn but I am a slow learner [spritually speaking] 7. It is by grace, grace, grace that we are saved, supernatural grace that transforms us into living images of Jesus, and transforms our love into the very lessence and love of God. 8. Those who pray from the heart will be saved. 9. The desire of God is the foundation of all holiness, 'as the deer pants for the water so my soul longs for you'. If we seek God with a pure intention and with holy desires he listens to us. As Padraig wrote - if we seek the graces we will be given them. 'Ask and ye shall receive', therefore ask for great graces and God will respond in His own time. But we must desire and love God more than anything else. 10. Mystical marriage is attainable in this life. We are living in a 'special time'., the Marian age and a 'short-cut' to holiness lies in fidelity to the Virgin of all graces - if we let our Blessed Mother bear us into holiness we will truley be born anew in the image and likeness of her Divine Son. Like Mary, I am going to ponder this post. It is like food from heaven, manna in the desert. I have felt that one day that I too will experience spiritual marriage and always have imagined that it will happen at the end of my life when I am old or on my deathbed. But I need to kneel more and pray more and like Moses on Mt Sinai seek the face of God.
