"Let us reverentially contemplate with the eyes of faith the Infant Babe. What sublime mysteries rise up before the soul! The Son of God is clasped and confined in Mary's arms, yet planets and systems revolve in His immensity. The Babe appears weak and helpless, yet He is the Omnipotent by Whom all things were made; His tiny Hand sustains, as it was He that produced, the universe."
~ Rev. T. H. Kinane, P.P., The Lamb of God, imprimatur 1880 Dublin.

(Photo found on the Internet)

I recently helped my daughter with a science experiment about the planet Neptune. Did you know that it's 2.795 BILLION miles from the sun? Looking up these facts inspired and amazed us with the enormity of the universe that God created. And the above quote kept ringing in my head - "yet planets and systems revolve in His immensity."

A tiny Babe in a manger...looking like any other newborn (except for His Infinite Beauty), and yet "His tiny Hand sustains the universe." Food for thought, eh?

(Statue in the Stone House built by Mother Cabrini's spiritual daughters in Golden, Colorado) STATE OF COLORADO PROCLAMATION: WHEREAS, Mother Cabrini came to Denver in 1902 to help Italian immigrants who worked in mines and on railroads; and WHEREAS, Mother Cabrini opened the Queen of Heaven Orphanage to care for girls ages 2-15 in Denver from 1905 through 1967; and WHEREAS, Mother Cabrini purchased 900 acres of land in Mount Vernon Canyon with spectacular views of Denver to serve as a summer camp for the girls from the Queen of Heaven Orphanage, and often expressed her love for Colorado and the Rocky Mountains; and WHEREAS, the summer camp in Mount Vernon Canyon was said to have no source of water on the property, but Mother Cabrini told her sisters who accompanied her to the foothills, “move that rock and you will find water clean enough to drink,” and the spring of water still flows today, with many giving testimony to the water’s impact in helping relieve their suffering and ailments; and WHEREAS, Mother Cabrini Shrine is a Colorado landmark, with a 22-foot statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, offering a quiet place of meditation and prayer for people to come; and WHEREAS, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the religious order founded by Mother Cabrini, have served and ministered to Coloradans since 1902; and WHEREAS, Mother Cabrini opened 67 schools, orphanages, and hospitals in her relatively short lifetime and was canonized as America’s first citizen saint in 1946 and named the Patroness of Immigrants; and WHEREAS, Mother Cabrini died 100 years ago on this day, and Coloradans are encouraged to reflect on the positive contributions she gave to the poor, immigrants, and children in need; Therefore, I, John W. Hickenlooper, Governor of the State of Colorado, do hereby proclaim, December 22, 2017, as MOTHER CABRINI DAY in the State of Colorado. John W. Hickenlooper Governor

GIVEN under my hand and the Executive Seal of the State of Colorado, this twenty-second day of December, 2017

This is a view from Slemish Mountain in Northern Ireland. It is sacred to the memory of St. Patrick, who spent seven years here as a slave tending swine.

This solitary era for St. Patrick was a time of great spiritual growth, in which he realized that God is our ultimate beginning and end. Hungry, cold, exposed to the elements, Patrick possessed the one thing necessary: God's grace. Thus he learned to love God.

"The school of Christ is the school of love. In the last day, when the general examination takes place...love will be the whole syllabus."

~ St. Robert Bellarmine

 Happy Feast of St. John of the Cross!

Here are photos of the monastery of St. John of the Cross in Segovia, Spain.

And here is his grave:

I think it's rather ironic that the saint who most exemplifies detachment from all worldly things finds his feast day falling on Black Friday this year! Black Friday, in the United States, is the epitome of attachment to worldly things. But his feast also falls on the day after Thanksgiving  this year. St John of the Cross had this to say about prayers of gratitude:

One act of thanksgiving, when things go wrong with us, is worth a thousand thanks when things are agreeable to our inclinations. — St. John of the Cross

Many of us remember to thank God when things are going great, (especially on the fourth Thursday of November), but how many of us remember to thank Him when we are disappointed, sad, or discouraged? The next time we are feeling "down-in-the-mouth", let us remember to thank Almighty God. His plan is perfect, and He shapes a cross for each one of us with Infinite Wisdom and Indescribable Love.

Happy Feast of St. Teresa of Avila! Over the past couple of months, I've posted pictures from Avila a few times, but here is another:

Irish Mom Writer is on the left, with my husband on the right. :) I wish my hand was not on top of the statue's writing hand (see her quill pen?) -- I should have her hand over mine, that she may guide me!

Here is the door through which she entered the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation at Avila to become a nun:

Here is the block of wood she used as a pillow. Would it be disrespectful to comment, "No wonder she was subject to headaches?" Makes me feel like quite a sissy!

This is the chapel of the monastery...the Sisters lived behind the grille, and looked through it at the main altar for Mass:

 Here is the main altar of their chapel. St. Teresa spent 27 years here, then left to found stricter convents that adhered more closely to the original Carmelite idea. She later came back here as Prioress:

 She died in the reformed Carmelite Convent of the Annunciation at Alba de Tormes, shown here:

Here is her tomb, and the separate reliquary containing her arm:

This reliquary contains her heart:

It's hard to know what thoughts to offer, on such a great saint's day! A Doctor of the Church, an expert on mental prayer, a "bestselling" woman writer, a reformer when the world had become lax, a woman full of courage and ingenuity, a lover of Jesus Christ? There is simply too much to say about her!

So instead, I'll offer this very simple and sweet explanation of how to begin to meditate, from the great lady herself:

"As you know, the first thing must be examination of conscience, confession of sin and the signing of yourself with the Cross. Then, as you are alone, you must look for a companion -- and who could be a better companion than the very Master who taught you the prayer that you about to say? Imagine that this Lord Himself is at your side and see how lovingly and how humbly He is teaching you -- and, believe me, you should stay with so good a friend as long as you can before you leave Him. If you become accustomed to having Him at your side, and if He sees that you love Him to be there, and are always trying to please Him, you will never be able, as we put it, to send Him away, nor will He ever fail you...Do you think it is a small thing to have such a Friend as that beside you?"

100 years ago today....The Great Miracle of the Sun at Fatima took place here in this plaza...which was then a field where the three children grazed their parents' sheep. You can see people doing the thanksgiving pathway on their knees...

"As the cloud gradually melted from sight Lucia cried out: 'Look at the sun!' Those within sound of her voice turned their gaze upward and soon seventy thousand pairs of eyes were scanning the Heavens. The vast crowd saw the sun change in color from golden to silver hue and also found that they could look without shading their eyes. The rain suddenly stopped and there, before the astonished gaze of that great concourse of people, the sun, like a gigantic magic lantern, began to emit long beams of multi-colored light, green, red, purple, yellow and blue. As they stood, awed by the incredible spectacle that painted earth, cloud and sky with sunshine such as human eye had never beheld before, the sun began to revolve speedily, performing a whirling dance in this maze of multi-colored light. Three times it paused and three times the whirling was resumed. For twelve minutes in all, that crowd of 70,000 people was privileged to witness the stupendous and incredible miracle of the sun...
"Then came the awe-inspiring finale. Like a gigantic wheel that had been torn loose by its dizzy whirling, the sun suddenly came hurtling towards the earth, closer and closer with every terrifying second. Down, down, towards the crouching and terror-stricken crowd from whom fervent acts of supplication and pleas for mercy were mingled with acts of genuine contrition. All thought that this was the end of the world but the end was not yet. Stayed by the Divine Hand, the sun suddenly stopped in its headlong flight to earth and, as the multitude looked on, resumed its accustomed place in the Heavens, whence it shone forth peacefully as before."

~ Rt. Rev. William C. McGrath, P.A., Fatima: Hope of the World, imprimatur 1945.

Now, thousands gather here for nightly processions...and we got to participate in one in June.

I would like to share the thought today, that, on October 13, 1917, Our Lady had utter confidence in Her Son's unlimited power. She couldn't make the sun twirl of her own human strength. But she leaned on His Omnipotence with perfect faith, and He performed this miracle through her.

We too, can lean on Him. He can do anything, and if it's for our ultimate good and happiness, He will do anything. Now, does that mean that I can go out in the backyard, point out the sun, and it will begin wildly flailing about the sky? Maybe not, but it would only be because God, in His Infinite Wisdom, knew that this was not what was best for me and my family.

St. Teresa of Avila tells us that we are assured of success in our search for Him and eternal life, as long as we (the weak link in this chain) never give up!

Image of St. James with Our Lady of the Pillar in Burgos Cathedral, Spain

Happy Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar! I just love this story...of how St. James was feeling discouraged in his mission, and Our Lady appeared to him to cheer him! It is actually not an apparition, but a manifestation...because the Blessed Virgin was still living in Ephesus in the home of St. John at the time. She "merely" bilocated to Saragossa, Spain to encourage James to keep working for the salvation of souls. She showed herself on top of a pillar, and that pillar is preserved in that place to this day!

There is also a tie-in to today's American holiday of Columbus Day. When Christopher Columbus's sailors were becoming discouraged on that long first voyage across the Atlantic, he made a deal with them. If land was not sighted by the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar (today), he would turn back. To the great benefit of many Americans, they found land at 2 a.m. on October 12th, and the rest, as they say, is history! Our Lady thereby encouraged her faithful son Christopher Columbus in his desire to bring the light of the Faith to the Indies (or new lands), as she had encouraged St. James.

A Basilica has been built over the site of Our Lady's coming to Spain:

And I had the privilege of kissing the small exposed oval of the pillar in this basilica, in 2005:

And finally, a few words of encouragement for us today:

"The desires of the Heart of Mary are likewise concerned about our own individual improvement in spirit; for this, above all else, is the wish of her Beloved Son...And these aspirations of the Queen of Heaven can easily be fulfilled. Nothing extraordinary, nothing great or melodramatic is required. Just a simple performing of daily tasks, but into this performance is injected a verve, an eclat, which perfects these duties and renders them simple and easy in the extreme. This enthusiasm arises from our imitation of Mary -- our own dear Mother."

~ David P. McAstocker, SJ, Herself, imprimatur 1934.

(Statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Alba de Tormes, beside the tomb of St. Teresa of Avila)

St. John of the Cross talks in his "Ascent to Mount Carmel" about how we are tormented by our self-will, often we are angry and frustrated (or stressed) because things don't go the way we had planned.

On the other hand, Our Lord told St. Catherine of Siena of the benefits of abandoning our self-will and uniting ourselves to the Divine Will:

"I desire thee to know that all pains which afflict men in this world depend on their wills; for if the will were regulated by and conformed to My Will, the pain would in a sense disappear. And although he whose will is thus sanctified and regulated, may feel labors and sorrows; yet what he suffers cheerfully for love of Me, is borne by him almost without pain, for he endures it most willingly, considering it and knowing it to be My Will that he should suffer....Affliction or pain proceeds from the will, and entirely depends upon it, since man is afflicted by having what he wishes not to have, or not having what he wishes. Therefore, if his self-will be removed, the spirit of man is tranquil and enjoys peace."

~ from Consoling Revelations from the Writings of 

SS. Gertrude, Mechtild, Bridget and Catherine of Siena 

collected by The Ven. Benedictine Abbot Blosius.

"Contemplative souls realize perfectly the nothingness of the things of this world, and so attach no great value to transitory matters. 

They may, it is true, experience a momentary feeling of vexation at some great wrong or severe trial. Immediately, however, reason comes to their aid, and overcomes the feeling of distress. Their chagrin is then completely dispersed by a joy that overwhelms them, when they see that Our Lord offers them this opportunity to gain more favors and eternal merits in one day than they could have earned by ten years of self-chosen trials."

~ St. Teresa of Avila

St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross, shown above in statues in Segovia, Spain, mastered the art of detaching themselves from earthly things - "transitory matters" - and so found great peace. They kept the eyes of the spirit focused on doing God's Will without being attached to what did or didn't happen in this life. God's Will is perfect, and in this they found their joy. And as she says above, they particularly exulted if they had some sacrifice to offer Him, that would bring Him pleasure, and gain merit for themselves in Heaven.

St. Teresa continues:

"While others seek gold and precious stones, these souls value and prize only the crosses, which they know will bring them true riches."

See the fortress of St. Ignatius Loyola's home in Loyola, Spain:

Do you ever feel discouraged that you're struggling against the same faults and shortcomings? The saints sometimes did too! Sometimes it seems as if we are banging our heads against a stone wall like the ones above.

One day when St. Gertrude was mentally scolding herself for a fault, and begging Our Lord to free her from it, but:

"The Lord replied lovingly, 'Wherefore dost thou wish that I should be deprived of much honor and thou of a source of merit? For thou gainest a great reward every time that thou, acknowledging this, or a similar defect, resolvest to avoid it for the future; and when any one for love of me strives to overcome his faults, he offers to me as much honor and loyalty as a soldier would offer his king, by strenuously opposing his majesty's enemies in war, and by manfully resisting and overthrowing them.'"

~ Consoling Revelations from the Writings of Saints Gertrude, Mechtild, Bridget and Catherine of Sienna collected by the Ven. Benedictine Abbot Blosius.

Keep up the good fight, defending the castle of our soul against the assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil, for we gain merit and give God glory!

(Statue of St. Teresa of Avila at her birthplace. She is shown contemplating the Infinite.)

We had talked a while back about meditating each day...taking some thought about God or the spiritual life, and taking the time to really dwell on it. The benefits of this daily practice are almost limitless.

"Let not, therefore, him, [or her 😇] who is of good will become over-anxious, because of the unsteadiness of his thoughts, but let him while he prays, peacefully do what he can, and persevere humbly and patiently in his prayer; for thus will he be most pleasing to God. Respecting this Our Lord once said to St. Gertrude, that when any one fixes his mind and his thoughts piously on God, in prayer, meditation or contemplation, he presents as it were before the throne of His Glory, a mirror of marvelous splendor, in which the Lord, the Giver of all Good, beholds with delight His own image. And when his ever-wandering thoughts or other hindrances make it difficult for him to do this, the more earnestly and patiently he labors the fairer and more resplendent does that mirror appear in the sight of the adorable Trinity and of all the Saints."

~ Consoling Revelations collected by the Ven. Benedictine Abbot Blosius (1506-1566)

This statue stands in Valinhos, the place where Our Lady appeared in August, 2017

to the three children of Fatima.

"Jesus wishes to make use of you to make me known and loved. He wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. I promise salvation to those who embrace it, and those souls will be loved by God like flowers placed by me to adorn His throne."

~ Our Lady's words to Lucia dos Santos, at Fatima, on June 13, 1917.

Valinhos is a quiet, bucolic nook, near the village of Aljustrel where the children lived. The gentle silence of a few chirping birds and rustling branches lends itself to meditation on the beautiful words of Our Lady....

Baby Girl in Heaven

My only sister went to Heaven 28 years ago today, in her baptismal innocence. (She was almost two years old.) My heart aches today for all those who have lost a loved one. I was reading a spiritual book about Our Lord and His Love for us, and came across this quote today:

"Our Lord, in speaking to St. Gertrude of a certain devout and amiable virgin, whose death had caused no small grief to the Saint's community, said, 'When any one of you wishes to have the departed yet with you because of the pleasure she gave by her sweet manners, and you then offer her up to My Will, you present to Me by so doing, a most fragrant lily, and I will in My Goodness repay it in a hundredfold manner.'"

~ Consoling Revelations collected by The Ven. Benedictine Abbot Blosius.

I came out of the church at the end of Mass today, and saw a little girl, about the right size, whose name is "Lily." I think Our Lord graciously accepted the "lily" I offered Him this morning...

"How good, how kind, Thou art to us, sweet Jesus!"

This brilliant golden room, in which the "Black Madonna" of Montserrat is enthroned, is called the Virgin's Chamber. It is meant to commemorate the little place in which Our Lady lived. The Monastery of Montserrat, in the mountains of Spain, was built in honor of the Annunciation.

St. Ignatius of Loyola made an all-night vigil over his sword and armor at the Monastery of Montserrat, before the "Black Madonna", and William Thomas Walsh writes, "in the spirit of the most exalted chivalry [he] resigned his sword forever -- resolved to devote himself thenceforth to holier pursuits."

Montserrat had been a place of pilgrimage for centuries before St. Ignatius, and continued after his death.

"As the ages rolled away, the fame of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Montserrat increased more and more. Pilgrims flocked in vast numbers from all parts of Europe to lay the homage of their devotion at Mary's Shrine. Those were the days of faith, and many were the privations and sufferings endured even by those of the highest rank to reach the favored spot, -- some trudging barefoot and bleeding over the hard rocks. Kings and queens esteemed themselves fortunate in making the pilgrimage, and carried with them, as votive offerings, lamps and vessels of gold and silver adorned with jewels...It would not be possible to enumerate the wonders wrought at this shrine. In all ages the sinful, the suffering, the sorrowful, have laid their woes at the feet of Our Lady of Montserrat, and none have ever gone away unheard or unaided."

~ William Thomas Walsh, The Apparitions and Shrines of Heaven's Bright Queen volume 1, 1904.

This stained-glass window now in the home of St. Ignatius of Loyola depicts his fall in battle (mentioned yesterday). He was considered a hero, and was treated well by both his opponents in battle and his own men.

Today is the feast of St. Peter in Chains. St. Ignatius of Loyola writes this of his early days at Loyola recovering from his cannon wounds:

"The doctors gave up hope of his recovery, and he was advised to make his confession. Having received the Sacraments on the eve of the feasts of Saints Peter and Paul, toward evening the doctors said that if by the middle of the night there were no change for the better, he would surely die. He had great devotion to St. Peter, and it so happened by the goodness of God that in the middle of the night he began to grow better. His recovery was so rapid that in a few days he was out of danger."

~ from the Autobiography of St. Ignatius of Loyola, 

dictated in the third person, finished in December, 1555.

This second stained-glass window in Loyola shows the death of St. Ignatius...showing the difference after his change of life. The standard under which he fights is shown in both windows. In the first, he is treated as a hero by men, and in the second, he is honored by angels!

Happy Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola! This striking statue stands in his bedroom in the family home at Loyola. His room is now called the "chapel of his conversion" because, through spiritual reading here, he converted to a holier life.

St. Ignatius, as many of you know, was a brave and illustrious soldier until he was severely wounded in a battle. He returned to his family home in Loyola, Spain, to recover. See it here:

"As Ignatius had a love for fiction, when he found himself out of danger he asked for some romances to pass away the time. In that house there was no book of the kind. They gave him, instead, 'The Life of Christ', by Rudolph, the Carthusian, and another book called the 'Flowers of the Saints', both in Spanish. By frequent reading of these books he began to get some love for spiritual things. This reading led his mind to meditate on holy things, yet sometimes it wandered to thoughts which he had been accustomed to dwell upon before...but...in the meantime the Divine Mercy was at work substituting for these thoughts others suggested by his recent readings. While perusing the life of Our Lord and the saints, he began to reflect, saying to himself: 'What if I should do what St. Francis did?' 'What if I should act like St. Dominic?'"

~ from the Autobiography of St. Ignatius of Loyola, dictated in third person, 

finished in December, 1555.

(St. Teresa of Avila statue in the Cathedral of Avila)

St. Teresa offers us encouragement, in the middle of our busy days, that we can still communicate easily with Our Lord:

"In the midst of our occupations, we ought to withdraw into the interior of our souls, even though it be but for an instant, by reminding ourselves of Him who keeps us company. This practice is extremely profitable. In brief, we ought to accustom ourselves to appreciate this truth, that it is not necessary to speak aloud to Him, because His Majesty will make us feel His presence within us. In this way, we shall be able to recite our vocal prayers not only in peace, but without weariness as well."

~ St. Teresa of Avila

(Birthplace of St. Teresa, at Avila)

(Depiction of the marriage of Saints Anne and Joachim, in Burgos Cathedral, Spain)

Happy Feast of St. Anne, mother of the Mother of our Savior!

"A lady from California came to spend a few days with Good Saint Anne [at the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre]. She came to implore light and courage. She craved interior peace especially. On returning home, she wrote to the Shrine: 'That peace which I sought vainly has at last returned. I see myself clearly now. I know where to direct my efforts. I realized at St. Anne's that my life must be gift, devoted to the happiness of others. I am now the happiest person in the world!...Smiling is once more easy for me. Singing, too. For I sense the presence of St. Anne. At Beaupre, what I sought most from the dear Saint was to be consumed by the love of God. I know that this prayer must have been heard. I am trying to supernaturalize everything I do....I thank the Good God for all that He has done for me...May Good Saint Anne keep me always in the friendship of my God!'"

~ Eugene Lefebvre, CSSR, A Land of Miracles for Three Hundred Years,1958.

This excerpt, taken from a book about the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre, in Quebec, Canada, shows how people make pilgrimages for spiritual healing, at least as often as they do for physical healing. On a recent pilgrimage which included Lourdes and Fatima, I saw my share of people who had traveled there for relief from physical ailments. But there were also many more who came to find answers to their inner problems. How encouraging it is to read these stories, and therein find light and peace in our own difficulties!