Our Glorious Saint Joseph

Yesterday was the feast of St Joseph. Let us listen to the words of a few saintly souls and then end with a prayer.

He (St Joseph) was head of the divine household on earth with, as it were, fatherly authority; he has the Church dedicated to his loyalty and protection. Such a person possesses so surpassing a dignity that no honor exists which should not be paid him. – Pope Leo XIII

We may well call St. Joseph the martyr of the hidden life, for no one ever suffered as he did. But why so much sorrow in his life? Simply because the holier a person is, the more he must suffer for the love and glory of God. Suffering is the flowering of God’s grace in a soul and the triumph of the soul’s love for God. Therefore, St. Joseph, the greatest of saints after Mary, suffered more than all the martyrs. The source of his suffering lay in his deep, tender, and enlightened love for Jesus and in his veneration for the Virgin Mary. All the elect must climb the hill of Calvary, and it is only through the wounds in His hands and feet that they reach the heart of Jesus. It is not so much a question of penitence as of love; penitence only pays a debt, but love goes further and crucifies itself with Jesus and for Jesus. It is a truth then that the more a soul loves, the more it suffers. That is why St. Joseph’s Calvary lasted thirty years with no respite whatever. When he was honored with the dignity of foster-father of Christ, the Cross was set up in his heart and he labored in its shadow for the rest of his life. – St Peter Julian Eymard

Devotion to St. Joseph is one of the choicest graces that God can give to a soul, for it is tantamount to revealing the entire treasury of Our Lord’s graces. – St Peter Julian Eymard

Be in good spirits under the fatherly mantle of St. Joseph, a place of safest refuge in trials and tribulations. – St Joseph Marello

O Glorious Patriarch and Patron of the Church! O Virgin Spouse of the Virgin Mother of God! O Guardian and Virginal Father of the Word Incarnate! In the presence of Jesus and Mary, I choose you this day to be my father, my guardian, and my protector. O great St. Joseph, whom God has made the Head of the Holy Family, accept me, I beseech you, though utterly unworthy, to be a member of your “Holy House.” Present me to your Immaculate Spouse; ask her also to adopt me as her child. With her, pray that I may constantly think of Jesus, and serve him faithfully to the end of my life. O Terror of Demons, increase in me virtue, protect me from the evil one, and help me not to offend God in any way. O my Spiritual Father, I hereby consecrate myself to you. In faithful imitation of Jesus and Mary, I place myself and all my concerns under your care and protection. To you, after Jesus and Mary, I consecrate my body and soul, with all their faculties, my spiritual growth, my home, and all my affairs and undertakings. Forsake me not, but adopt me as a servant and child of the Holy Family. Watch over me at all times, but especially at the hour of my death. Console and strengthen me with the presence of Jesus and Mary so that, with you, I may praise and adore the Holy Trinity for all eternity. Amen.

All quotes and the consecration from Consecration to St. Joseph by Fr Donald Calloway, MIC

He is Risen, as He said!

Surrexit Dominus Vere!! The Lord is risen indeed!! Alleluia, Alleluia!

In the same instant in which the most holy soul of Christ entered and gave life to his body the joy of her immaculate soul…overflowed into her immaculate body. And this overflow was so exquisite in its effects, that she was transformed from sorrow to joy, from pain to delight. From grief to ineffable jubilation and rest. It happened that just at this time the Evangelist John, as he had done on the previous morning, stepped in to visit Her and console Her in her bitter solitude and thus unexpectedly, in the midst of splendor and glory, met Her, whom he had before scarcely recognized on account of her overwhelming sorrow…

In this new joy and under the divine influences of her supernatural vision the great Lady began to prepare Herself for the visit of the Lord, which was near at hand. While eliciting acts of praise, and in her canticles and prayers, She immediately felt within Her a new kind of jubilation and celestial delight, reaching far beyond the first joy, and corresponding in a wonderful manner to the sorrows and tribulations She had undergone in the Passion…

The blessed Mary being thus prepared, Christ our Savior, arisen and glorious, in the company of all the Saints and Patriarchs, made his appearance. The ever humble Queen prostrated Herself upon the ground and adored her divine Son; and the Lord raised Her up and drew Her to Himself. In this contact, which was more intimate than the contact with the humanity and the wounds of the Savior sought be Magdalen, the Virgin Mother participated in an extraordinary favor, which She alone, as exempt from sin, could merit. Although it was not the greatest of the favors She attained on this occasion, yet She could not have received it without failing of her faculties, if She had not been previously strengthened by the angels and by the Lord himself. This favor was, that the glorious body of the Son so closely united itself to that of his purest Mother, that He penetrated into it or She into his, as when, for instance, a crystal globe takes up within itself the light of the sun and is saturated with the splendor and beauty of its light. In the same way the body of the most holy Mary entered into that of her divine Son by this heavenly embrace; it was, as it were, the portal of her intimate knowledge concerning the glory of the most holy soul and body of her Lord. As a consequence of these favors, constituting higher and higher degrees of ineffable gifts, the spirit of the Virgin Mother rose to the knowledge of the most hidden sacraments. In the midst of them she heard a voice saying to Her: “My beloved, ascend higher!” By the power of these words She was entirely transformed and saw the Divinity clearly and intuitively, wherein She found complete, though only temporary, rest and reward for all her sorrows and labors. Silence alone here is proper, since reason and language are entirely inadequate to comprehend or express what passed in the blessed Mary during this beatific vision, the highest She had until then enjoyed. Let us celebrate this day in wonder and praise, with congratulations and loving and humble thanks for what She then merited for us, and for her exaltation and joy.

Excerpts from The Mystical City of God by the Venerable Mary of Agreda. Book III The Transfixion Chapter XXVI numbers 758-760.

Image: The Risen Christ appears to the Virgin
Giovanni Francesco Guercino, 1623

Gee Whiz…! No Toilet Paper!!!

Everyone knows finding toilet paper in the store would be a modern day miracle. But wait, did I just say that? You must have read it wrong. Nope. You read it correctly. Finding toilet paper would be a miracle. People went into panic mode weeks ago and started stocking up on all manner of things. Those of us who weren’t panicking are left with empty shelves to fill the needs of our households when those needs arise. Why is this? Where did this frenzy come from?

I would like to propose a possible reason or two. Firstly, perhaps we should do that which is now anathema to our culture and remember our history. It is only in the last hundred years or so we have come to depend solely upon the grocery store to provide the necessities of life. We have been spoiled in a big way. When our grandparents or great grandparents were growing up, people lived and worked on a farm. Even during a stressful time, such as the one we are facing, they would have their chickens, their livestock, their gardens. Men worked hard to provide these things and women worked hard to preserve them for the winter months. We were not dependent on some gigantic chain of stores who doesn’t know or give one jot about us.

Furthermore, in ages past there was more a sense of community. They knew they had to work hard to survive and that they needed to support each other. The church bells would float across the fields and villages reminding people not only to pray, but that they were called to help each other as members of Christ’s body, the Church. If a villager or fellow farmer was in need, supplies and food would be brought to them. Help would be provided on the farm etc. There was no need to worry about having toilet paper or a pantry plum full of canned goods, because of the knowledge that neighbors and family would help when the need arose.

This no longer exists. With the industrial revolution, people have become more and more withdrawn from their neighbors and even their families. There is no longer a sense of duty towards aging relatives or neighbors next door. It is a culture where the I and me take precedence over all and if that I and me can make a dollar by taking advantage of someone else, then it will be done. And done as often as another dollar can be made. Those of us who don’t have the means or desire to gouge another are left trying to provide for our families and often forget about the countless others who make up our city, town, county, state, nation and world.

We are becoming robots who focus only on that which we were programmed for. Making money for ourselves, improving our own lives, and mistrusting the other robots living around us.

What has happened? This is far too big a topic to cover in one post, but I’ll attempt an opener. 🙂 Allow me to get a little more counter cultural and ask: has anyone studied Catholic Social Teaching? Even one of us? Have we ever heard it preached?

Please understand that I am not condemning anyone, but asking questions which I hope are thought provoking. When men do start talking about the Social Teachings of the Church, they are often labeled as haters of Capitalism and as Communists. Goodness gracious! What is the meaning of this?!

After having only touched the very outer shell of this little known aspect of the teachings of the Church, I have begun to realize that much in our culture is not as it should be. Now, now, just wait. I know you are saying, “well of course we all know there is much that isn’t right. This doesn’t mean that we aren’t following Catholic Social Teaching. I mean look at how much people’s lives have improved in so many aspects!” True…to some extent.

One of the many facets of the Social Teaching of the Church is that the law “should favor ownership, and its policy should be to induce as many as possible of the people to become owners.” For “…men always work harder and more readily when they work on that which belongs to them.”¹ Just think about it. If we all lived, or at least had the ability to live on property that belonged to us, without being in debt to usurers for the majority of our lives, we wouldn’t be in panic mode about the necessities of life right now. We would be confident in the fact that we would be able to feed our families from the food we produced. We would also know our neighbors shared the same security.

Perhaps the words of C.S. Lewis, in a letter written to Arthur Greeves on June 22, 1930, will lend more credence to this.

“There is certainly something attractive about the idea of living as far as may be on the produce of the land about you: to see in every walk the pastures where your mutton grazed when it was sheep, the gardens where your vegetables grew, the mill where your flour was ground, and the workshop where your chairs were sawn—and to feel that bit of country actually and literally in your veins.

Tolkien once remarked to me that the feeling about home must have been quite different in the days when a family had fed on the produce of the same few miles of country for six generations, and that perhaps this was why they saw nymphs in the fountains and dryads in the wood—they were not mistaken for there was in a sense a real (not metaphorical) connection between them and the countryside. What had been earth and air and later corn, and later still bread, really was in them. We of course who live on a standardised international diet (you may have had Canadian flour, English meat, Scotch oatmeal, African oranges, and Australian wine to day) are really artificial beings and have no connection (save in sentiment) with any place on earth. We are synthetic men, uprooted. The strength of the hills is not ours.”

I am not condemning the goods of a nation per se. But perhaps stepping back and taking a look at the broader picture at this time would do us good. And since many of us are forced to stay at home and quarantine, maybe now would be a good time to start delving into the Social Teaching of the Church. You never know, you just might find a pearl or two.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published by the USCCB, is a gem. Containing comprehensive information about the Social Teaching of the Church, it includes teachings and writings from Pope Leo XIII in Rerum Novarum, Lateran Council IV, the First Vatican Ecumenical Council and various saints including Sts Augustine, Thomas, John Chrysostom and Pope Saint Gregory the Great. A highly recommended work for both lovers of the Traditional Mass and the Ordinary Form. http://store.usccb.org/compendium-of-the-social-doctrine-of-the-p/5-692.htm

1Pope Leo X111 Rerum Novarum paragraph 46 and 47

Music is Evil!

So, music is completely evil and all bad…unless it is very specific hymns or Gregorian Chant.

A trend I have seen in some places is that music of any sort, other than the type sung in reverent Masses, should be condemned. I would hesitate to agree with this. Music of many kinds has been used throughout history. Who are we to condemn it outright? And what about the different music used in the various rites of the Church? Should these be condemned as well? I think a danger is to pendulum swing. To see certain types of music as not what they should be and condemnable, and to take the short step from there to condemning all or most music.

{Full disclosure: I went down this path myself after having left the convent. I did it for the reason stated above and also because I was used to the silence of the cloister. When we listened to music on “free days” days of celebration, it was always good and wholesome music. Talk about culture shock when I left and having to relearn most everything. It has only been in the last couple of years that I have allowed myself to listen to music again. I have found much peace in doing so. What God creates is good. He created music. He is also limitless, unlike us, and I am pretty confident he doesn’t limit himself to one form of music.}

Don’t get me wrong. I love many old hymns and cherish Gregorian Chant. I enjoy listening to the chant and find that it helps me focus on the presence of Our Lord in my soul. I do not however, think that all other forms of music are bad. Some music should be avoided. Total agreement here. However, music is a very powerful medium that God has provided for our benefit.

Music can help us when we are sad, depressed, worried, happy, insanely exuberant or epically victorious. Really, you name an emotion or situation and there is music to help or augment it.

Classical music is of course a go to. Folk music can’t be forgotten. Irish folk music and pub songs are so fun! Ragtime music like Maple Leaf Rag is so enjoyable to listen to and play! Bing Crosby has to be in the top 10. And the list goes on…

And then there’s the epic genre of music. Ahhhh I love this genre. When I am sad, worried, happy or feeling victorious, whether in the physical or spiritual realm, the epic genre helps me. It picks me up and gives me courage when I am in need of it and lends a voice to my joy. Walking through the field singing at the top of your voice to this genre (or others) is very therapeutic. You should try it sometime.

I took piano lessons for almost ten years growing up, but have barely started touching the surface of this beautiful art form, and only just now am I beginning to study the ways that it helps us in the spiritual realm. Since this is the case, I won’t say much more in this post. I do however, want to point out a gem of a scripture passage my husband brought to my attention recently.

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line upon it? Upon what are its bases grounded? Or who laid the corner stone thereof, when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?” Job ch 38 vs 4-8 Douay-Rheims Version

If you aren’t falling off of your seats right now, there may be something wrong with you. Just kidding, just kidding. But isn’t this a beautiful section? God is speaking to Job in this passage about the creation of the world. We could have food for many meditations just trying to imagine what the morning stars and the sons of God, or angels, were singing as God created the various parts of creation. I bet each thing God created had a different song in honor of the one who was creating it. Getting to Heaven and hearing that soundtrack someday will be so amazing!!

Using music to help us in this particularly stressful time might just be what we need to lift our spirits and give us the impetus to keep going with a jaunty step.

I’m going to put a few links to some of my favorite epic music just in case that genre speaks to you the way it does me. Please don’t judge the name of the group. I know the name Two Steps From Hell will probably turn certain of you off and get the blood boiling. But let’s begin giving the benefit of the doubt instead of condemning immediately. And perhaps the title refers to being pointed towards Heaven and the struggle that we all face to climb the Mountain of God…

(I do admit though, that they have many pieces of music and I haven’t listened to all of them. So, I am not recommending them with absolute dependence.)

Victory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKRUPYrAQoE This is one of my all time favorite’s and the one I sang to as I walked in the field during a particularly difficult time. 🙂 No matter what we are facing, God will triumph!!

Autumn Love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRT_dSN_Z0k&list=LLqIHe-SKb3bhYNdY5q0W8KA&index=38&t=0s Simple and beautiful. Classical in nature and uplifting.

Impossible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qTghUgMOeY This one helps me remember nothing is impossible with God.

Unbreakable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK-lwIGwp9Y With God, nothing can break us, nothing can stop us.

Pegasus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoQApwEk6Uw Just amazing. And I’ve always liked Pegasus. 🙂

That’s all for now. As I said, I am just delving into the importance of music for the soul. God willing, I will be able to post more about it in the future.

I hope you enjoy one or two of the songs. 🙂

No Mass: A Curse or … a Blessing?

For the Faithful in Italy and many places in the United States, Mass has been forbidden. The Hierarchy of the Church have deemed it necessary to withhold the Mass from their children during the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. What pain for the laity!! We are deprived of the most powerful prayer on earth and of participating in the only form of worship that gives God the worship that is his due. The Catholic sun seems to have been totally eclipsed. Many blame and outright condemn the decision of the Bishops and some are losing their faith in the power of the Most Blessed of Sacraments.

As lay women, what are we to do? Shall we join the outcry? Raise our voices against our Bishops? Perhaps even allow this decision to shake or destroy our Faith? After all, what historical precedent do we have to look to for guidance? What do we tell our children, grandchildren, friends?

Let’s take a step back for a minute and breathe. Calm our emotions. Pray an Ave and allow ourselves just to ‘be’. In other words, place ourselves in the presence of Our Lord and his Mother and step away from the cacophony of voices drowning out that still small voice.

Have you prayed your Ave?

For myself at least, having lost the ability to attend Mass caused me to realize just how much I depended upon it to help me grow in virtue. And it was more than that. Above all, it was the realization that I have grown to equate attending Mass on Sundays with thefeeling that I was a good Catholic and gaining virtue. Goodness gracious! That was a humbling realization. Having that knowledge and with the help of Our Lord and his Mother, I have set to work meditating, praying and endeavoring to practice virtue with more zeal. I hope that some of these thoughts and methods may be of use.

Losing the Mass is indeed so very painful. It is the greatest source of grace and strength that has been given to us, and being able to receive Our Lord is in many ways entering the antechamber of Heaven. But why dwell on the negative? Too many these days do just that and easily spiral into anger, rebellion, hate, or abject sadness, depression and even despair. Why not look at this as the grace that it can actually be? Why not make spiritual communions? Let’s use this time to meditate, read and strengthen our love for Our Lord, the Church and the Mass, so that when we are able to go to Mass again we appreciate it more and never take it for granted. Let us be able to look back on this time in years to come and retain a sense of gratitude and awe for the Mass and reception of the Blessed Sacrament.

We aren’t alone in this struggle. Many of our Catholic forebears experienced the loss of the Mass. Whether it was the first Christians being without the Mass and in hiding, the martyrs down through the ages who were bereft of the Mass, or even the Catholics in Japan who did not have a priest for 300 years!! Honestly, we have it easy. Using this time to unite ourselves and our sufferings with those who have lived and suffered before us will reap much fruit and a greater realization of the gift and power of the Communion of Saints.

Obedience is one of the highest virtues, as it causes us to humble ourselves and our own personal judgment. This is a perfect opportunity to practice obedience by simply submitting to the decision of the Bishops. The letter from the Bishop of our diocese was full of fatherly concern for his flock. He told us how difficult it was for him to make this decision and that priests would still offer the Mass and pray for us while doing so, as well as making sure that we could make visits to the Blessed Sacrament and have our confessions heard. This is not the voice of a man bent on martyring us. An error of the modern mindset is to resist authority, regardless of who it is or what they say, and to immediately start judging their decision and determining for ourselves whether or not the decision is right. We then go on our merry way happy in the knowledge that ‘we’ have struck upon the truth, even is this means being in direct opposition to the Hierarchy of the Church established by Christ Himself. We should submit our judgment to that of the Church and obey it’s legitimate authority if not always with alacrity, at least with a semblance of fealty. Our Lord was obedient unto death and imitating this obedience brings not only grace, but true joy and peace.

Let us further humble our modern selves by trusting someone other than the ‘me’ and ‘I’. God knows what he’s doing. If he has allowed this, it is for our good and he will not leave us without his grace. In fact, if we are truly faithful and obedient during this time, he will reward us with even more grace than we would have gotten had we attended Mass in our lethargic stupor of heretofore.

One more thing will suffice for this post as I am nearing the ‘this is too long’ mark. Our submission to the Bishops and our acceptance of our situation, even if it is not full of joy, can and certainly will gain many graces for ourselves, our families and the whole Church. It is the special calling of women as the heart of the home, the heart of the Domestic Church, to gain grace and protection for those she loves. We will not be granted these graces if we grumble and show a discontented spirit. Let us try to keep a sense of holy joy in the midst of our sorrows. Even Our Lord did that, otherwise he wouldn’t have had nicknames for any of his disciples, and what nicknames they were!!

God bless you all and grant you the grace to bear the difficulties of this time as true women of the Church!

Prayer to make a Spiritual Communion: My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.