I especially like the new saints Connie, the ones who have just been canonised, they are like new friends. But the saints I have known form childhood are like old friends. I have been lying in bed sleepless since 1 am until now, 3:30 an praying and my thoughts went to St Gemma Galgani and her very holy mother who died very young when Gemma herself was just a child. I particularly love to think of the wonderful picture of her with eyes on fire, raised to heaven ,looking like an angel. Gemma's mother was so devout and took her daughter to Church as a child for long periods of prayer. I sat prayerfully beside them praying and asked the mother for prayers. Then I prayed to Gemma. How wonderful to see mother and daughter praying like this alone in the chapel....
My prayers also went to Padre Pio and Pope John 23rd as children. Both give accounts of being misunderstood by their parents and family a bit like Jesus when He was lost in the Temple. Poor Pope John was home on leave from the seminary and someone reported him to a local priest for having a big head and being arrogant to his family. He got a telling off when he got back to the seminary . Poor John he was the simplest and kindest of souls, being arrogant was the furthest thing from his nature. But if busy bodies could rock his boat then they could rock anybodies. Yet this hurt him deeply. I am reminded of the saying of Isiah, he was like a lamb, dumb before the shearers. As for Padre Pio he seems to have been falsely accused almost as a career choice Again silent before his accusers. Much to learn here. That God should be our advocate and silence our speech. It is so foolish to expect justice or understanding from the world. Silent prayer is always our best defense. The saints, our dear friends and teachers... .Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
I for one, would love to hear your stories insearch. Maybe you could start a thread??? ..that is something we cannot imagine here in the U.S. We get rung out if the store doesn't have the toilet paper for the sale price on the day we go in! Then we demand a rain check to come get it later...we have a HUGE RUDE AWAKENING AHEAD!
Oh Padraig, reading your Garden of Prayer has moved my heart. We have to immerse ourselves in our nothingness. God never changes. Nothing is negotiable with God. One of the things I struggle with is my being so outgoing. I have a saying or Motto: Two things I'll never be is passive or petite...lol I just love to learn and speak and teach and like a good mother, order the house and those in it...but I talk to Jesus and Mary and the Angels ALL DAY LONG AND WAKE UP AT NIGHT PRAYING AND TALKING.... I have found that more and more I am retreating into myself with God. I understand that we HAVE to humble ourselves enough and ask God for forgiveness and say, "I am here to do your Will". AND LISTEN,LISTEN, LISTEN! In John 1:15--and I paraphrase; "The one who came after me is the one I am going to serve; but he is the younger and I am the older, but now he is the older and I am the younger and HE will serve ME! This is 'lowering yourself TO total Love'. Pope Francis is trying to show us this. He is the HIM that seeks to serve US. He is lowering himself to be taken to the heights of 'love and abandonment' which is to live in the spirit of love for mankind and be the servant of servants.... I am realizing I need to be with nature more and I need to have more fun. I used to pride myself in my ability to have the 'eyes of a child' and see things through those eyes. My seriousness has gotten the best of me I'm afraid. I need to get Gail here and ride some horses!! A pure heart is something that seems like I had it long ago and got too 'educated'. One one hand I feel like I know to much, on the other hand, I feel like wow--you are so damn prideful--you KNOW NOTHING!! I need to pray for that 'poverty of spirit', which I take to mean, that I will at any moment be ready to listen and do the will of God. I need to ask the Holy Spirit for that gift...
Hi Marti, I found your post touching and it made me think and pray a lot the last couple of days, my thoughts especially going to the Mother of God and her won personality. In Scripture we don't hear so much about Mary. This is natural and correct because the New testament focuses on Jesus and the Coming of the Kingdom. On the other hand I think it can leave us with wrong idea that Mary was something of a shrinking violet, seen and not heard so to speak. Also I think sometimes our Catholic art , wonderful as it is can place the Queen of Heaven somewhere up there with the sugar plum fairy. Beautiful but kind of untouchable , dainty, refined, distant which is a great pity. I noticed recently in a film of the life of St Bernadette how often Mary laughed..and laughed quite heartily at some of the things Bernadette and others get up to. Yet where, in Catholic art and literature do we ever see Mary doing something as human and heart warming as laughing....for that matter where do we ever see Jesus laugh? Rarely. Very rarely. However type into google, 'Jesus laughing' and you will come up with many wonderful pictures. Type in 'Our Blessed Lady laughing' and you will come up with zero, zilch. nada. What a pity. What a great pity. When we do look at portraits of Mary we see a kind of mooney, abstacted syruppy sweet expression, which is fine as far as it goes. But two spoonfuls of sugar in the coffee is fine but twenty spoonfuls and it gives you stomache ache. I was surprised in talking to Mary how human she is. Yes a real life down to Earth WOMAN. Yes WOMAN in capital letters, very, very human, very ready and able to relate, very down to Earth. Yet why should this have surprised me? Well I guess because much of our Catholic culture has conditioned me to put her up on a pedestal far, far, far too much. For after all she is our Mother. She really, really is. She takes the greatest interest on all our little goings on. None of our faults and failings comes as any shock or surprise to her , for she is a mother, she knows her kids. So I saw her smile and know she has a good sense of humour. I would also say she is outgoing and very,very good at relating. She listens carefully to what is said and answers fully. She knows our needs and is able and willing to respond to them , a real super mom, able to respond to them abundantly. When Pope JP 2 was still la young priest, studying in Rome, he called down to see Padre Pio in San Giovanni. He comments that he expected to see a pale thin mystic, wan , thin and otherworldly ; instead of which he met a tall, stocky , outgoing guy who was always throwing his head back roaring with laughter. You know , Marti you remind me a lot of Mary as I met her.. I can just imagine getting to heaven and seeing the two of you together, heads down, then throwing the heads back roaring with laughter. Meeting Mary taught me there is nothing wrong with being outgoing and nothing at all wrong with having a sense of humour. Now where or where can I find a picture of the Mother of God laughing?
NO, YOU REALLY CAN'T FIND ANYTHING OF MARY SMILING. I, too know she smiles{ and even pets your cat when she climbs on you when you're praying} All I could find was the story of Our Lady of Smiles, the story of the cure of St. Terese of the Child Jesus. But , you know I never realised the date of St. Terese's cure. View attachment 958 On MAY 13'th 1883, Our lady of the smile healed Terese.
Did you notice, Hope how before the intervention of the Blessed Virgin the devil subjected the child Therese to a constant barrage of demonic assault? Now why did the devil concentrate on Therese..and from such a very early age? In part the family itself might have drawn his attention. Both parents were themselves saints and will probably be canonised. However it was Therese herself he bent his efforts to. There is no evidence the other girls got hit in this fashion. So in some wise he KNEW ..had worked out that this particular kid was special , chosen, one of the predestinate great saints. I think this is very instructive as is the intervention of the Blessed Mother.... Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Notice then that in the miraculous statue, Mary is shown crushing the head of Satan, portrayed as a snake.... One thing I always notice in the saintly is that they are great smilers. Our Holy Pontiff, Francis never seems to stop smiling. Blessed Pope John x111 my great favourite was also a great smiler and also , delightfully a great wit: 'Shortly after his election, a reporter asked him how many people work in the Vatican. Pope John replied, “About half of them.” While passing through a crowd he overheard a woman exclaim, “He’s so fat!” The pope stopped and said, “Madame, the conclave is not a beauty contest.” During a visit to a Roman prison, Blessed John passed a cell where the prisoner turned his back on the pope. “What is his crime?” the pope asked the warden. “He murdered his wife,” the warden answered. Then John asked that the cell door be opened. He stepped inside, put his hand on the convict’s shoulder and said, “If I had a wife, I might have killed her, too.”' On the other hand there is another way of things. Sometimes people have false aura of, 'Holiness' this is based on a false idea of what it is to be 'holy' .A kind of sickly sweet saccherine false mode of behaviour which is as deceptive as it is dangerous as it is based on inner pride and very difficult to shift. I know such a Lady who has a deep devotion to Our Blessed Lady. Her house is like a palace, modelled on the blues of the virgin, gorgeous tiles and statues and she has a huge reputation for holiness in the prayer groups. She has a very pious manner ,very sweet and mild, always talking of very holy pious subjects. Yet having known her a while and I have discovered that as a buisness woman she is very,very dishonest in her dealings. Also although she seems very mild and sweet there is a will like steel lying underneath and if contradicted she turns into a real angry tiger. It also reminds me of the story of the wonderful Sr Briege McKenna. A very pompous, pious Abbot of the type I am talking about got up a big delegation to meet her when she visited his monastery. It was to be a grand occasion..the holy nun meeting the saintly Abbot. But when got out of the car she was clutching herself and cried, rushing past him, ' I am dying for a pee , where's the toilets?' Leaving the unfortunate pious Abbot gaping. I always though that the Holy Spirit had led her well in this instance.
I wasn't aware that St Therese was hit? Maybe I have forgotten reading this. I know that she had a great relationship with her father and she herself admits that she was very spoilt as a child. However she became very sensitive after her mother died (hardly surprising). She was also very wilful, which when urged in the right direction can actually be a good thing.
I meant 'hit' in a loose metaphorical sense. As in 'hit' ..attacked by the devil. 2cause harm or distress to:the area has been badly hit by pit closures it hit him very hard when Rosie left (of a disaster) occur in and cause damage to (an area) suddenly:the country was hit by a major earthquake [no object] make a strongly worded criticism or attack:he hit out at the club’s decision to place him on the transfer list informal, chiefly North American attack and rob or kill:if they’re cops, maybe it’s not a good idea to have them hit
Yes Elizabeth you do. Souls remind me of all the colours of the rainbow. We are all have different spiritualities, personalities ,virtues ect. St Gertrude and her spiritual daughter St Mechtilde used to have visions of souls in heaven and they describe how different souls wore differing robes according to the state of their souls. I used to love to read these accounts. For instance a martyr would wear a red sash, someone who was a virgin, white and so on.....with different jewels for virtues. Now Our Lady is of course Queen of Heaven , the Angels and the Saints and so perfectly reflects all goodness that each of us reflects Our Mother in many regards...as indeed all kids reflect their mother...its only right. I would say with you your search for truth and forthrightness and a disconcerting humility. But above all I think you remind me of Our Lady of Sorrows in the experience of a deep inner suffering...which on the whole you put up with with very laudable silence. You have been put through and are going through the mill, so to speak, to an extraordinary extent.
Oh that has humbled me. Thank you Padraig. I am open about my experiences in life in the hope of reaching out to others who have experienced similar things. It isn't easy to talk about, when I think of others in similar positions, then I am open about my experiences. We are all here to help each other on this journey and that includes sharing our experiences and what we have learnt from them. I shall now go away silently... I was kidding in the last post. But even my sense of humour has been silenced in your response.
In reaching this last Garden of prayer the pilgrim is rather like someone who has climbed the slope of a plateau. Growth in prayer does not cease at this point, rather in a real sense it is only beginning (as a matter of fact I believe growth in prayer is Eternal...we will never stop growing, never cease to be a pilgrim} . What does change here is the fact that there are no more clearly recognisable stages as there were in the other six gardens. For instnce the Dark Night really stands out as a stage it has so many recognisable attributes. Entrance into Contemplative prayer as well ,very clearly stands out..and so on. The enduring characteristic of Spiritual Marriage I would say is that it has no characteristic. Prayer has resolved itself into such utter simplicity that it no longer appears to be present at all. If for instance one looks at the life of St Therese of Liseaux ( a girl who was in the Seventh Garden if anyone ever was) ...after her death the sisters discussed what they could write about her in the little pamphlet sent round the Carmels to give a little bio of recently deceased sisters. So we could say of St Therese that she was like the wongs of the humming bird. Praying so hard that she appeared not to be praying at all. Runing so fast that she appeared to be standing still. This I know appears to be a paradox but so much ofthe mystical can only be contained and expressed in terms of paradox. In this it reminds me of the cherubim, the angels who are the Throne of God..portrayed on the Ark of the Covenant. I am afraid since paradox is often the only way to express these truths is for the readers to experience them themselves....but what can be understood I pray will be understood.
Jesus I think expressed this simplicity so well when He warned that , 'Unless you become like children you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven' . How many of ever hear our own heart beat? Perhaps once every few years, yet it is always there constantly beating. How many of us notice ourselves breathing? yet we are constantly exhaling and inhaling. So it is with prayer at this stage, it become so constant it becomes a very spiritual heart beat a constant breath of the SPirit, but so all pervasive so part of the being that it no longer is noticed. In the other stages of prayer we may say, 'Oh I must pray, i Must pray for half and hour or an hour or whatever' But now at this stage this end garden the soul can no longer talk about praying for, effectively the soul has become prayer itself...one can no longer talk of saying the rosary for she has become the rosary. Nor is this an exageration or purely figurative language, the soul has becoem rpayer, insted of visitng the chapel, the heart has become the chapel.
I have just seen this reply of yours, Mothersuperior7, that's why I did not reply immediately. I can start a thread of the memories like that but it will be difficult to explain - it was difficult to grasp this for my all-American son, who never lived through those times, never questioned what it was, but he still could not understand the reality where one does not have any right or any possibility to live if one is not permitted by the government - it might not be felt in everyday life in a family ( families were our refuges), since the scope of the reality is just unimaginable for somebody not used to it.
The Mother of God is herself is the great exemplar of the seventh Garden she who is herself the perfect Spose of the Holy SPirit. She is the living humming birds wings moving so swiftly that they do not appear to move at all. a good example of this rapid movemnt is when she peaks in Scripture. When she does so all that she says is like a tapestry of previous Scripture texts. A very good example of this being the Magnificat, which is drawn in its entirety from Scripture. Mary has in fact entered into such close communion with the Word of God that she has become the Word of God, What she has eaten, so to speak she has become.... In a similiar way all the sacraments are simply prefigures of this Marriage. Baptism, in the marriage between the soul and the Church, COmmunion the marriage of the soul with Jesus , marriage itself a shadow of the Eteranl Marriage...all pointing towards the Eteranl MArriage of teh ALst Garden of Prayer. This the actuality of the Pearl of Great Prive for whcih the oilgrim soul has sold all she has in order to attain to..in emptying herself of the world she has opened the door of her heart to the coming of heaven... Not only the Sacraments but al of our pilgrimage through life is a mere shadow of what is to come in the great Eteranl Pray, the very heart beat of God.
Padraig, I can't say how much I've enjoyed the seven gardens. Your imagery here has spoken volumes. No slipping away! Prayer can be looked on as an elastic band that pulls us back to God. Now the more we pray the stronger the elastic band become the greater the pull towards God becomes. We are a little like sheep who become less and less wild and more and more loving pets of the Good Shepherd. At the last Garden of Prayer Jesus gathers the faithful lamb to His heart and never permits it further to stray and the elastic band hag grown so powerful that the heart is forever stuck fast, heart to heart. Safe in the Father's Arms!
Padraig...these last responses of your gardens of prayer really moved me. So I assume that by your being able to write so eloquently on these seven gardens or mansions as St Teresa of Avila put it, you have also entered into the seventh garden? You are currently living your life in this seventh garden?
