Statue at Lourdes of St. Therese of Lisieux

Photo courtesy of Ron McGuire

Fr. Pichon was the gifted spiritual director who helped to guide St. Therese of Lisieux to great heights of sanctity. If his advice worked for her, will it not work for us? Here is today's simple but profound thought from this Jesuit retreat master:

"You are designed for perfection -- 

[have] patience, perseverance." 

~ Almire Pichon, S.J., Seeds of the Kingdom, imprimatur 1961.

(The Pyrenees)

"Conquer yourself and the world lies at your feet." ~ St. Augustine.

The supply of quotes about self-mastery is endless, but sometimes short and sweet (from a saint) is best! :) Lent is a wonderful time for us to work on our self-mastery. If we are faithful in the small things, Our Lord will give us strength and perseverance for the big things. Let's choose one small way in which to conquer ourselves today.

(The miraculous image in Segovia, Spain, of Our Lord carrying His Cross)

"The Cross is the way to Paradise, but only when it is borne willingly." ~ St. Paul of the Cross

How blessed we are that Our Dear Lord came and showed us in Person! He didn't stay on His throne in Heaven and send us an angel to tell us to suffer for our sins with willingness and cheerfulness. He came and suffered for us first, to show us the Way. Let us take up our cross daily and follow Him!

Our Lord giving His banner to St. Ignatius, Loyola, Spain. Photo by Ron McGuire.

The following quote of encouragement for Lent sounds like something St. Ignatius, the warrior-turned-priest, would have said. Take courage, Christian soldiers!

"Woe to me if I should prove myself but a halfhearted soldier in the service of my thorn-crowned Captain." ~ St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

(The rectory of the Cure of Ars)

"To suffer lovingly is to suffer no longer. To flee from the cross is to be crushed beneath its weight. We should pray for a love of the cross - then it will become sweet." 

~ St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars.

(One of my daughters drew this image)

Three men had to carry their crosses to Calvary and die on them. Do we want to carry ours like the thieves did, kicking and screaming and swearing, or like Our Lord did, with courage, love, and serenity, meriting great graces?

(The bed of St. Bernadette in her first home: her father's mill)

Last Sunday was the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes; this Sunday is the feast of St. Bernadette. In this picture, we see that her bed was by the window because of her asthma. She was the least proficient in her class, she was poor, she was asthmatic. But she LOVED. That's why she was chosen for the glorious mission of seeing Our Lady and relaying her message to the world.


"I shall spend every moment loving. One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them." ~ St. Bernadette Soubirous

 (Her shoes, veil and rosary, revered in the Cachot, the poverty-stricken home where she lived at the time of the apparitions.)

(The fireplace in the Cachot)

Yesterday was the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

One hundred and sixty years ago (yesterday), Our Lady appeared in the grotto at Lourdes. A priest recently said that today's healings at Lourdes are mostly of the heart and soul, instead of the body. Although there are still physical healings taking place occasionally at Lourdes, many more souls experience a renewed sense of peace and resignation to the will of God. Many experience a feeling of greater strength and encouragement in the spiritual atmosphere of comfort and peace there.

The best adjective I can give for how I felt when I was there, was "mothered." Our Blessed Mother's presence can be felt strongly in this mountain village, even to this day.

"There are men who, when they are at home, would not dare to salute a church or to say an Our Father in public, because they are so much under the spell of human respect; at Lourdes they are to be seen on their knees in prayer, with their arms held out in the form of a cross, kissing the ground and singing the Creed, for they have again become free men. Many of them, unfortunately, once they have gone home, become slaves yet again, but even so they have gained by this hour of profit, for they will be left with a healthy sense of remorse. You see, if this world goes all wrong, it is because the good people have less courage than the bad. Because, as Pope Pius XII said, you have lost the spirit of the martyrs."

~ St. Bernadette Speaks, by Fr. Albert Bessieres, SJ, 1956.

Comfort in Trials

(Photo credit: Patricia Hiatt) 

In this photo of the grave of St. Jane de Chantal in Annecy, my reflection is visible in the glass. 

I'm begging the saint to pray for me in my own life.

St. Jane de Chantal is praised in the Mass for her feast as excelling in all states of life: she was a wife, a mother, a widow, and a foundress of an order. Today's Words of Encouragement are taken from a letter she wrote to the superior of one of her convents when the convent was undergoing terrible trials and conflict from within and without:

"O my dearest daughter, how precious this state of things ought to be to you! Though all the world should rise up against you, you must put your strength in God and lose not a particle of your peace or tranquil submission to His will. Have courage and confidence. After this storm, calm will return."

~ St Jane de Chantal, in a letter to one of her spiritual daughters. 

Quoted in Monseigneur Bougaud's St. Chantal and the Foundation of the Visitation, 1895.

(Photo taken in Rome)

For many years, I've taken pictures of images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in various places. They are often so appealing, and so moving. Here is another one, somewhere in Rome...although I'm afraid I don't remember which church. Did you know there are over 300 churches in Rome?

It is but one week until the start of Lent. Many of us find this an opportune time to make a good Confession and prepare for a holy Lent.

"Our Lord said to St. Mechtild, 'There is no sinner so wicked, but that if he repents sincerely, I will pardon him all his sins immediately, and incline My Heart to him as graciously and sweetly as if he had never sinned.' O unspeakable goodness of God! Should any one therefore, (writes a saint), deny that God is ready to forgive the truly penitent, as often as there are moments in time, he would make a direct attempt to rob God of great glory."

~ Consoling Revelations collected by the Ven. Benedictine Abbot Blosius

"Death to Self"

(Painting of St. Jane de Chantal being guided to Heaven by St. Francis de Sales, Annecy, France)

In our modern culture, we read about "self-image", "self-awareness", "self-esteem", and a whole bunch of other "selfs". We never hear about "death to self". What is it? It's not something morbid or suicidal. It's not something unhealthy or unnatural. It simply means detachment from our own will, and attachment to God's Will.

Came across a beautiful quote about this today:

"The most striking feature in [Founders of Religious Orders'] character, that which finishes and perfects it, is detachment, defined by pious writers as death to self. Chosen instruments in the hands of God, they must be mere tools, unresisting and devoid of self-guidance. The less they rely upon self, the greater their value. As soon as they renounce self, God takes possession of them, and finding them supple and submissive, ready for everything, dead to everything, He does great things with them and in them."

~ Monseigneur Bougaud, Bishop of Laval. St. Chantal and the Foundation of the Visitation, 1895.

The saints put themselves under the guidance of a good Catholic spiritual director, and then put aside their own wishes in order to fulfill the Will of God. Once they got "self" and "selfishness" out of the way, they were able to accomplish their glorious mission in God's Plan.

(The walled city of Carcassone, France)

Our souls are like fortresses...we lock the gates against Satan and his temptations, we avoid near occasions of sin, and we watch the windows of our five senses that we may not allow sin to enter. But sometimes within our souls we struggle with our emotions, thoughts, feelings, and anxieties. Do you ever feel that there is a battle going on inside?

This beautiful prayer refers to our soul as Our Lord's Kingdom, and asks Him to restore peace to it, and the triumph of His Love:

"Come, O my Lord Jesus Christ, take away all scandals out of Thy kingdom, which is my soul, that Thou mayest reign in it alone. Pride, lust, envy, detraction, anger, and other passions fight in my heart, to usurp portions of it to themselves. Through Thy grace, I watch and resist with all my strength: I cry out that I belong to Thee alone, and I am all Thine; and stretching out my hands to Thee, I say I have no king but the Lord Jesus. Come, therefore, O Lord, disperse Thy enemies in Thy mighty strength, and Thou wilt reign in me, because Thou art my King and my God."
~ A prayer attributed to Thalerus in a sermon, by Rev. T.H. Kinane, P.P. in his 1880 book, The Lamb of God