My Mother Mary

+JMJ+

My Mother Mary

Conceived by Grace,

All Grace in Grace.
Purity whole and Love to welcome
All Love in Love, your heart awaits.

To you, all innocence and beauty,

God’s messenger beckons, and
Your yes heaven awaits.
His Love He gives and you receive.

All Beauty while Incarnation rests,

You give yourself complete to Love.
Proceeding in haste to where He calls,
His Glory magnified by your willing heart.

Oh, the gift of His life,

As you await His sweet embrace
To hold His hand Divine while
Pondering His sweet face.

He depends on you,

His mother He trusts.
You give Him all of your mother’s heart
As you await the Cross Divine.

By your consent

His Heart opens to mine.
And you give your sorrowful heart
To him who knows his Love’s heartbeat.

By your yes again, you invite His bride

To rest in your Motherly Love
And in His grace Divine,
Make our hearts like unto thine.

His Fire in you, He gives us too.

All Love in Love,
All Grace in Grace
That we may ponder His sweet face.

And when your earthly walk dims

You surrender yourself wholly
And He brings you home
To dwell with Him.

~KS

Pope Benedict XVI: The Pieta completes the picture of the Cross

From Pope Benedict XVI, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, in Mary:  The Church at the Source by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Hans Urs von Balthasar, translated by Adrian Walker :

Michelangelo's Pieta

The Pieta completes the picture of the Cross, because Mary is the accepted Cross, the Cross communicating itself in love, the Cross that now allows us to experience in her compassion the compassion of God.  In this way the Mother's affliction is Easter affliction, which already inaugurates the transformation of death into redemptive being-with of love.  Only apparently have we distanced ourselves from the "rejoice" with which the narrative of Mary begins.  For the joy announced to her is not the banal joy clung to in forgetfulness of the abysses of our being and so condemned to plunge into the void.  It is the real joy that gives us courage to venture the exodus of love that pain does not destroy but first brings to its maturity.  Only the joy that stands the test of pain and is stronger than affliction is authentic.

St. Louis Marie de Montfort: Treasures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Hymn No. 40, from Hymns of St. Louis Marie de Montfort (pdf)

Treasures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus


1. Here is the greatest marvel
Expressed in my verses.
Chosen souls, listen
And mingle your voices with mine.

2. Rising far above myself,
I ascend even to the saints,
Higher still, to the Great High King,
Higher than all the heavens.

3. What do I see? All heaven admires it,
All heaven’s astonished!
I see what cannot be described.
Come, come and gaze, chosen souls.

4. Angels, tell me, I entreat you,
What is this lovely blazing fire?
It is the Heart of Mary’s Son,
And of the only Son of God.

5. Mortals, adore with angels
This Heart, which we too must adore,
Cry out and sing praises
To a Heart that love has rent.

6. O great mystery of glory
Not grasped here below!
Faith is needed to believe it
If a heart has yet to taste it!

7. This Heart, as man approaches,
Exalts God its Creator,
Glorifying His mercy,
Offering perfect homage.

8. How startling! The Heart is humble
At all times before its Father;
It praises, adores, entreats,
Speaking for us mightily.

9. O overwhelming marvel!
O Heart Most Divine,
Infinitely adorable,
Within the Trinity all holy!

10. O! What flames rise to the Father
From this Heart night and day!
O! how it loves man, his brother,
With pure and burning love!

11. O great Heart! O burning furnace!
O miraculous inferno
Shooting forth abundant flames
To set earth and heaven afire!

12. Since it is Heart, it loves us
Without ceasing for an instant;
It loves us as much as itself,
Exceedingly, infinitely.

13. It is the Heart of hearts sublime,
The Heart of the truly chosen,
The greatest of their victim souls,
Through Him, our sins are pardoned.

14. In this Heart, the holiest souls,
The best friends of the Savior
Have found their purest flames,
Their most inexpressible fervor.

15. Here is the real treasury
Of the grace of Jesus Christ,
Here is the admirable fount
Of all the Holy Spirit’s gifts.

16. Here is the fount of life
From which all the saints have drunk,
Here is the marvelous fire
Where their hearts became enflamed.

17. We find in this Heart all weapons,
It is the great arsenal;
We find in it the holiest delights
To charm, and conquer evil.

18. Here is the holiest hideaway
Where we avoid all sin,
Where even the imperfect soul
Becomes holy, at bargain prices.

19. Here is the town of refuge
Where no one is ever hurt,
And the true ark of deluge
Where no one ever drowns.

20. This pierced Heart enchants
And disarms the God of vengeance,
Its wound forms its divine mouth
Which victoriously pleads.

21. In this Heart, God the Father
Never strikes the sinner,
This Heart calms his anger,
Obtains his grace and favor.

22. Here is the sacred entrance
To the Spouse’s inner chamber,
Where the pure soul is inebriated
With love’s most pleasing wine.

23. In this Heart the soul is laced
With perfume’s sweetest scent.
In this Heart the soul is lit
With extraordinary fire.

24. This Heart is our living ark
Containing the entire law,
The innocent soul’s secrets
And the mysteries of the faith.

25. In this Heart our Master planned
All the secrets of his love,
Before disclosing them to us,
Before bringing them to light.

26. His Heart formed His oracles
Before He ever uttered them,
His Heart formed His miracles
Before He ever performed them.

27. In this fount of all light,
The favorites of Jesus Christ
Have drawn the deepest mysteries,
The Holy Spirit’s greatest gifts.

28. In this pure treasure of innocence
All the saints have been formed,
It is there that they were born
And accomplished all their plans.

29. This Heart is the rock’s cleft
Where gentle peace is found,
It is earth’s paradise
Where dwell all the elect.

30. This Heart is the bed of rest
For Jesus’ intimate friends;
In this Heart they acquire
Their most sublime virtues.

31. O great Heart, O deep abyss
Of profound humility!
O great Heart, O sublime throne
Of perfect charity!

32. Oh miracle of the world, great Heart
Which truly contains everything,
Heaven, earth and sea,
All the Holy Trinity!

33. Praising this adorable Heart,
I praise in proportion
The Heart of His admirable Mother,
So intense is their union.

34. It is you alone whom I adore,
Heart of my God, glorious Heart,
But, adoring you, I also honor
The Heart of heaven’s Queen.

35. Christians, by Mary’s Heart
We love the Heart of Jesus,
Since Jesus took life
In her most virtuous heart.

36. From the blood of her flaming heart,
The Heart of Jesus was formed;
They have but one heart, but one soul,
One and the other should be loved.

37. Soul, lose yourself entirely
In these two miraculous hearts,
One and the other convince you
To see but one in the two.

38. Dear soul, mount secretly,
By this tender heart to the Heart Most High.
You will soon become perfect,
Loving this Heart as one should.
GOD ALONE

From Collected Works of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, Hymns of Montfort

St. Louis Marie de Montfort - Benefits of Almsgiving

Hymn No. 17 - Benefits of Almsgiving (pdf)
St. Louis Marie de Montfort

1. I see a light descending,
Approaching, shining near.
Ah! Truly, it is charity,
It is heartfelt mercy.
She yearns to espouse us,
O! how kind she is,
We must not refuse her
For she is too charming.

2. Although awesome in her greatness,
Although God be her throne,
Because of her gentleness,
Almsgiving is her name.
She is compassion
For the wretched,
The tender abundance
Of a loving hand.

3. This queen seems forgetful
Of her divine birth.
She sacrifices herself
For the suffering poor;
She gladly clasps to her breast
The greatest miseries,
And how gently she dresses
The most repulsive wounds.

4. You miser with one foot in hell,
You would rather not believe;
But dear chosen soul, trust me,
For it concerns your glory.
Gently lend your ear
To everything I’ll now explain,
So you may believe it perfectly
And put it into practice.

5. Almsgiving is necessary,
Our faith itself attests,
Everything confirms this truth
Even nature itself.
Our neighbor has the good fortune
Of having the same father as we,
So we must help him with all our heart,
As our own brother.

6. Almsgiving is the commandment
Of Jesus, our Master,
Only the truly blind
Are ignorant of this.
Give and it will be given unto you,
That is my commandment.
Without it, you will be condemned,
No exceptions granted.

7. Transform iniquity
And transitory goods,
Into treasures for eternity
And friends, without a doubt;
Then no thief can pilfer
By force or by cunning,
Nor will the wealth ever spoil
From rust or from years.

8. Everything grants alms for God,
Each in its own way:
The air, the sea, the earth, the fire
And all nature itself.
Look at all the animals:
One gives us food, another carries us,
They all assist us in our needs
By lending strong support.

9. But what greater blessings
When it comes to grace:
The Father sends His Son
In spite of our disgrace,
The Son gives Himself all to all
Right up to the Eucharist,
The Holy Spirit comes upon us.
Oh! What alms so infinite!

10. When I see heaven’s Queen,
(She is our only hope),
Put in this world’s poor
All her confidence,
Give all things to us in charity,
And become our Mother,
I say: Almsgiving, in truth,
Is great and necessary.

.
.
.
Read more here (pdf)


From Collected Writings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort,
Hymns of Montfort, No. 17

Ave Maris Stella

Pope Benedict XVI on Prayer

From Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth:

If being human is essentially about relation to God, it is clear that speaking with, and listening to, God is an essential part of it.  This is why the Sermon on the Mount also includes a teaching about prayer.  The Lord tells us how we are to pray.  

In Matthew's Gospel,  the Lord's Prayer is preceded by a short catechesis on prayer.  Its main purpose is to warn against false forms of prayer.  Prayer must not be an occasion for showing off before others; it requires the discretion that is essential to a relation of love.  God addresses every individual by a name that no one else knows, as Scripture tells us (cf. Rev 2:17).  God's love for each individual is totally personal and includes this mystery of uniqueness that cannot be divulged to other human beings.

This discretion, which is of the very essence of prayer, does not exclude prayer in common.  The Our Father is itself a prayer uttered in the first person plural, and it is only by becoming part of the "we" of God's children that we can reach up to him beyond the limits of this world in the first place.  And yet this "we" awakens the inmost core of the person; in the act of prayer the totally personal and the communal must always pervade each other, as we will see more closely in our exposition of the Our Father.  Just as in the relationship between man and woman there is a totally personal dimension that  requires a zone of discretion for its protection, though at the same time the relationship of the two in marriage and family by its very nature also includes public responsibility, so it is also in our relation to God:  The "we" of the praying community and the utterly personal intimacy that can be shared only with God are closely interconnected.

 The other false form of prayer the Lord warns us against is the chatter, the verbiage, that smothers the spirit.  We are all familiar with the danger of reciting habitual formulas while our mind is somewhere else entirely.  We are at our most attentive when we are driven by inmost need to ask God for something or are prompted by a joyful heart to thank him for good things that have happened to us.  Most importantly, though, our relationship to God should not be confined to such momentary situations, but should be present as the bedrock of our soul.  In order for that to happen, this relation has to be constantly revived and the affairs of our everyday lives have to be constantly related back to it.  The more the depths of our souls are directed toward God, the better we will be able to pray.  The more prayer is the foundation that upholds our entire existence, the more we will become men of peace.  The more we can bear pain, the more we will be able to understand others and open ourselves to them.  This orientation pervasively shaping our whole consciousness, this silent presence of God at the heart of our thinking, our meditating, and our being , is what we mean by "prayer without ceasing."  This is ultimately what we mean by love of God, which is at the same time the condition and the driving force behind love of neighbor.

Fr. Barron: The Key to Joy