Thanks be to God!

 

So excited! The book is a story-driven spiritual self-help book that tells engaging anecdotes of the saints that reveal their temperaments and extracts concrete applications for our present-day lives.

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The House where the Word was made Flesh

(The marble encasement of the Holy House of Loreto, inside the Basilica)

This summer, we had the privilege of visiting the Holy House of Loreto, which we celebrate today: December 10th. The house at Nazareth, where the Annunciation took place and the Word was made Flesh, was miraculously moved to Loreto, Italy, on the Adriatic Sea. A church was built around the little house, and a marble rectangular chapel was built over the actual four walls to protect them. Because of this "flight" of the house, Our Lady of Loreto is the patron saint of aviation, especially flight attendants and pilots.

On December 10, 1294, the house was transported across the Adriatic to Italy. It was seen arriving in a glowing light by shepherds -- how appropriate!

I was jetlagged and exhausted on the day we visited, but I knelt in the little house (pilgrims are forbidden to take pictures in there) and prayed and struggled to absorb where I was. I felt as if I couldn't get my brain around it!

St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier and the other first Jesuits visited here together. St. Francis Xavier came back here when he was about to set out for the missions in Asia. When he was offering Mass in the Holy House, with the miraculous image of Our Lady facing him, Our Lady breathed into his heart wondrous zeal and courage for the missions. St. Charles Borromeo came here often to pray.

St. Francis de Sales, before he was a priest, went on FOOT from Rome to Loreto – the journey we made by air-conditioned motorcoach. He frequently kissed the walls that had been sanctified by the presence of the Holy Family. He went to Confession and Communion here and received great consolation and graces. Later, he visited again when he was appointed bishop.

Pope Pius II, and Cardinal Barbo before he became Pope Paul II were both cured by Our Lady of Loreto. By 1733, a list of 60 saints who had visited the House of Loreto was published. Pope Benedict XV tried to protect the House of Loreto during World War I, calling it “the gem of the earth.”

St. Alphonsus made a pilgrimage here in 1772. He spent 3 days here before his episcopal consecration, filled with consolation and joy.

A friend visited the Holy Land this year and brought us a rosary from Nazareth! She saw the cave where the house stood...from what I've read, the cave made up the back part, or continuation of the house. But in Loreto, we got to see the place where the Incarnation took place.

"The mystery of the Incarnation...is so exalted and so profound that we understand next to nothing about it. All that we do know and understand is very beautiful indeed, but we believe that what we do not comprehend is even more so. Finally, someday in Heaven above, we will grasp it fully. There we will celebrate with an incomparable delight this great feast of Christmas, of the Incarnation. There we will see clearly all that took place in this mystery. We will eternally bless Him who, from His exalted state, lowered Himself in order to exalt us. May God grant us this grace!"

~ St. Francis de Sales, "The Sermons of St. Francis de Sales for Advent and Christmas"

Inspiration from Jesuit Martyrs

Painting in the Chapel of the Venerable English College, Rome

Hello, dear friends! If you're following me on instagram -- @rosemary.writer, you saw a reel today from the chapel at the Venerable English College at Rome. This huge, gorgeous painting hangs in the sanctuary. 

The college was founded in the late sixteenth century as a seminary to train priests for England and Wales, because they couldn’t have their own seminaries due to the Elizabethan persecution. St. Robert Southwell, the poet, was educated here.

It became known as the "Venerable" English College because of the many alumni who were martyred or tortured, imprisoned and exiled for the Faith. 

The age of the martyrs was 1581–1679. 44 students were martyred for the Faith, and 130 suffered imprisonment and exile. This is why it is called the Venerable English College.

The College's first martyr was St. Ralph Sherwin. "His name stands first in the famous Liber Ruber (a list of students who took the missionary oath in Rome before returning to England), where he is recorded as saying that he was ready, 'today rather than tomorrow, at a sign from his superiors to go into England for the helping of souls'." (found online)

After four months in his mission in England, he was captured, and then tortured and killed at Tyburn on December 1, 1581. Many others followed. It became the custom for a student from this college to preach before the Pope every St. Stephen's Day (feast of the first Christian martyr) on the topic of Martyrdom. 

St. Philip Neri, who lived across the way from the college would greet the students saying, "Hail, Flowers of the Marytrs!"

The painting shown above is referred to as "The Marytrs' Picture". It was painted by Durante Alberti in 1580. In the lower left forefront, we see two early English martyrs, St. Thomas Beckett on the left, and St. Edmund, King of East Anglia, on the right. A cherub is holding up the college motto, "I have come to bring fire to the earth."

You'll notice that Our Lord is *not* hanging on the Cross, though we can tell He's been crucified. Someone referred to it as "another Pieta" because it is God the Father, holding the Body of His Crucified Son. Alberti painted the Precious Blood falling from His Side onto England on the globe. What a beautiful image!

As I mentioned on Instagram, whenever the instructors and seminarians received notification that one of their alumni had been martyred, they would gather before this painting, and sing the "Te Deum" in thanksgiving. 

Above the painting is the gallery filled with frescoes of Niccolo Circignani, showing the history of the Catholic Church in England from the very beginning, through the stories of the college students who were martyred during the Elizabethan persecution.

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Here is a list of the martyrs (not including those who were imprisoned, tortured, and/or exiled) that are honored as alumni of the Venerable English College at Rome. We prayed it as a litany while we were there....

·        Ralph Sherwin, 1581

·        Thomas Cottam, 1582

·        Luke Kirby, 1582

·         John Shert, 1582

·       William Lacey, 1582

·        William Hart, 1583

·        John Munden, 1584

·        Thomas Hemerford, 1584

·        George Haydock, 1584

·        John Lowe, 1586

·        Christopher Buxton, 1588

·        Edward James, 1588

·        Richard Leigh, 1588

·        Robert Morton, 1588

·        Edmund Duke, 1590

·        Christopher Bales, 1590

·        Polydore Plasden, 1591

·        Eustace White, 1591

·        Joseph Lambton, 1592

·        Thomas Pormort, 1592

·        John Cornelius S.J., 1594

·        John Ingram, 1594

·        Edward Thwing, 1594

·        Robert Southwell S.J., 1595

·        Henry Walpole S.J., 1595

·        Robert Middleton, 1601

·        Thomas Tichborne, 1602

·        Robert Watkinson, 1602

·        Edward Oldcorne, 1606

·        John Almond, 1612

·        Richard Smith, 1612

·        John Thules, 1616

·        John Lockwood, 1642

·        Edward Morgan, 1642

·        Brian Tansfield S.J., 1643

·        Henry Morse S.J., 1645

·        John Woodcock O.F.M., 1646

·        Edward Mico S.J., 1678

·        Anthony Turner S.J., 1679

·        David Lewis S.J., 1679

·        John Wall O.F.M., 1679

 

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us!

 

The Pieta, by Michelangelo. Picture taken at St. Peter's Basilica, July 31, 2023

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Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. I'd never had a devotion to Our Lady under this title, until I attended a parish by this name in Phoenix, Arizona, and the priest taught us about it. The seven sorrows of Our Lady, all found in Scripture, are: he Prophecy of Simeon, the Flight into Egypt, the Loss of Jesus in the Temple, the Meeting on the Way to Calvary, the Death of Jesus, the Piercing of His Side and the Taking Down from the Cross, and the Burial of Jesus. 

Under this good priest's guidance, I realized that Our Lady's Sorrows all relate to her motherhood. If you are a mother, you can comprehend a little sliver of what she is going through on these seven occasions. When our mother-hearts are aching, she understands. We can ask her to intercede with her Divine Son for us.

"Oh Mother, for the love of this Son, accept me for thy servant, and pray to Him for me." ~ St. Alphonsus de Ligouri

A witty mother once said, "Yes, but she only had one Child, and He was perfect!" Yes, but on the Cross, that One Son gave her all the rest of us as her unruly, disobedient children, and her heart bleeds for all of us. "Behold thy Mother," He said to John, and to her, "Behold thy son."

I remember reading that St. Dismas was the first spiritual child she helped to save. She had just been given to us as our mother, and she prayed fervently for the dying Dismas. Her loving prayers for his salvation merited for him the words,

"This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." Oh, may she pray for us so that we may hear those words someday too!!!

St. Augustine and his mother

Basilica of St. Augustine in Rome, where his mother St. Monica is buried

I hope you've been checking out my posts on Instagram! I'm sorry I haven't been posting here as much, but I have been posting several times a week on Instagram. My handle is @rosemary.writer. 

Today is the Feast of St. Augustine. The other day, TAN Books posted to their Instagram feed about his mother St. Augustine. I keep thinking about the excerpt they posted, from one of the books they've reprinted. It's such a beautiful miracle, as well as an encouragement to every one of us.

Taken from Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence by Father Jean Baptiste Saint-Jure:

"It took St. Monica sixteen years to obtain the conversion of Augustine, but the conversion was entire and far beyond what she had prayed for.... She had only wanted him to be baptized and become a Christian, and she saw him a bishop. She asked God to turn him aside from heresy, and God made him a pillar of the Church and its champion against heretics. Think what would have happened had she given up hope after a couple of years, after ten or twelve years, when her prayers appeared to obtain no result and her son grew worse instead of better, adding avarice and ambition to the wildness of his life and sinking further and further into error. She would have wronged her son, thrown away her own happiness, and deprived the world of one of the greatest Christian thinkers."

This also makes me think about what Sarah Mackenzie of readaloudrevival.com said in one of her podcasts. She encouraged her listeners to think of what they are worried about and then realize that "God isn't anxious about this, and it's not a surprise to Him." We are all in the Palm of His Hand!

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Aix-en-Provence, France

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Off to Heaven

 

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the Basilica at Loyola, Spain

St. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits, and so many saints we all know and love were Jesuits. Today, we celebrate the 22-year-old Jesuit St. Aloysius Gonzaga. He became ill and died after caring for a poor sick man. 

He actually felt guilty about how happy he was to die young and fly off to Heaven! He didn't purposely infect himself, but once he learned he would die, he couldn't wait.

"'We are off, Father Provincial!' exulted Aloysius [to his superior], his face already cold and gray, but his eyes shining.

"'Off? Where?'

"'To Heaven,' smiled the saint, 'If my sins do not stop me.'"

~ Rev. Edward F. Murphy, SSJ Hand Clasps with the Holy, imprimatur 1941.

Bring Light and Warmth!

 

Light and Warmth from an Irish sunset

Saint Juliana Falconieri, whose feast is today, was the first Servite Third Order nun...her statue stands in St. Peter's with the other foundresses of Orders.

Whether we are single, married, or religious, we can learn from her example in showing light and warmth to others.

"Like a sun, she gave light and warmth to her Sisters as the spiritual health of each required and by her angelical modesty, her admirable sweetness and self-forgetfulness, led them to the love of God. From the first her government was that of a perfect mother, zealous but not impetuous; thoughtful but not slow; simple but wise; affectionate without affectation; diligent without eagerness; grave without depressing others. Her very presence made her loving children forget or bear cheerfully the discomfort of their painful vigils, long fasts and poor food." ~ Father Bernardi, Storia delle B. Juliana, quoted in St. Juliana Falconieri: A Saint of the Holy Eucharist by Marie Conrayville, imprimatur 1914.

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Tuam Cathedral, Co. Galway

When Our Lord appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (seen above), He asked for a special feast in honor of His Sacred Heart. It occurs on the Friday after the Sunday within the Octave of Corpus Christi, which is June 16th this year.

"God alone can fill our heart. We need to be understood, to be loved; Jesus alone can fully understand us, can love us as we need to be loved. He is the God of infinite Charity Who has placed love in the heart of all mothers, of all loving hearts... All these great loves united are only as a drop of water in comparison with the ocean of love, which is the Heart of Jesus!" 

~ Lieutenant-Colonel M. de S. Draw Near to Jesus: Turn to His Heart, imprimatur 1923.

Saint Anthony's Day!

 

Lisbon, Portugal (Photo Credit: Ron McGuire)

Do you see the building on the left? That is the home of St. Anthony of Padua, today's saint. In the center of the picture, you can see his parish church, where he was baptized. How convenient it must have been for his family to live so close to the church!

When we visited Portugal in 2017, I learned that the Portuguese call him St. Anthony of Lisbon because that's where he was born, and the Italians call him St. Anthony of Padua because that's where he's buried. Both the Portuguese and Italians claim him as their own.

St. Anthony is best known as the intercessor before the Throne of God for lost items. Once, on an airplane, I sat next to a Jewish lady from New Jersey, who mentioned that she prays to St. Anthony when she loses something. She told me proudly, "I bet I'm the only Jewish woman with a devotion to St. Anthony!"

Prayer: "St. Anthony, since God has given you the power of recovering objects gone astray, I come to you with confidence to aid me in the search for all that I may have lost. Above all, let me find sanctifying grace and the friendship of God if I've had the misfortune of losing them; give back to me my former fervor in the Divine service and in the practice of Christian virtues; obtain for me, finally, what I am most wanting in: lively faith, perfect docility to the inspirations of grace, distaste for the vain pleasure of the world and an ardent desire for the ineffable joys of a blessed eternity. Amen."

A Valiant Woman

 

Artwork Credit: Ave Maria Press

Tomorrow is our wedding anniversary, and the feast day of a great woman saint who exemplified the woman of Proverbs 31. "Who shall find a valiant woman? Far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her."

King Malcolm III, Margaret's husband, literally could thank the coasts of his native Scotland for bringing Margaret. The British princess, niece of King St. Stephen of Hungary, and her party were shipwrecked in the year 1068, and he offered them hospitality. That is how they met.

Painting of Malcolm meeting Margaret, by artist William Hole

By all accounts, Scotland at that time was barbarian, rough and untamed. Her new husband couldn't even read. But he knew how Margaret loved her illuminated manuscript of the Gospels, so he would kiss it, and once he even absconded with it so as to have his goldsmith and jeweler cover it in gold and jewels and return it to her as a gift. Margaret and Malcolm had six sons and two daughters.

Once a busybody courtier tried to cause trouble between them by telling Malcolm that Margaret was seen to sneak off to a cave and speak to someone, accusing her by implication of unfaithfulness. Malcolm charged over there, sword drawn, but found his wife on her knees in the cave, imploring God for the sanctification of her husband. After that, he punished the meddlesome courtier and was more in love with his sweet wife than ever.

She helped to civilize and convert her adopted country, accomplishing much for the people in the way of a better life both physically and spiritually. At the age of 46, she became very ill, and four days before she died, she received word that her husband and oldest son had been killed in battle.

"The dying queen's reply was a memorable one. Raising her eyes and her hands to Heaven, she exclaimed, 'I return Thee praise and thanks, O Almighty God, for inflicting on me so grievous a calamity in my last moments; it is the effect of Thy Will to purify me, by bearing it, from some sinful imperfections." ~ from Sainted Queens by a secular priest, circa 1900.

Imagine if we could respond that way to suffering in our lives! St. Margaret of Scotland, valiant woman, intercede for us before the Throne of Glory that we may imitate you by bringing God's light and love to those around us!

'Tis Himself

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, in St. Bridget's B&B, County Wicklow, Ireland

June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and for that reason, it is one of my favorites! In 2017, on a visit to Ireland, we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in County Wicklow near the shrine of St. Kevin at Glendalough. The nice couple that had opened their home to guests had named it, "St. Bridget's B&B". 

As we came down the hallway from our room to the breakfast nook, I stopped to stare at this picture on the wall, pondering the quiet faith of the couple who owned the house. As she passed me with full plates of toast, the woman of the house said, "Is everything all right, then?" I told her I was admiring the picture.

"Well," she said matter-of-factly, "'Tis Himself, isn't it?" And she continued down the hall with the toast.

There's no arguing with that. He is who He is, and we know who He is. "I know Mine, and Mine know Me," He said.

During this month of the Sacred Heart, and as we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi), I hope we are able to make time for "Himself." Make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, go to Mass during the week, or at least make some time to visit Him spiritually by prayer and meditation.

"How kind is our sacramental Jesus! He welcomes you at any hour of the day or night. His love never knows rest. He is always most gentle towards you. When you visit Him, He forgets your sins and speaks only of His joy, His tenderness, and His love. By the reception He gives to you, one would think He has need of you to make Him happy." ~ St. Peter Julian Eymard

Another Gift of the Holy Ghost

 

Corpus Christi Church, Athlone, Ireland

Another gift of the Holy Spirit we stand in need of is: "amid the perplexities of life, a sure means of solving our doubts: the gift of counsel."

"By this gift we feel impelled to turn to the Holy Spirit, to obtain from Him light in our anxieties, and a clear knowledge of what it behooves us to do, in order to please God and save our souls. The Holy Spirit hearkens to the cry of our heart, and in His infinite bounty sends a ray of heavenly light to illlumine our soul, to dispel its darkness, to show it the way it should follow, and to fill it with a sense of security and peace."

The Blessed Mother showed us a great example of this at the Annunciation, when she gave herself over to the will of God. Sometimes I pray at the Agnus Dei of the Mass, grant us peace - the true peace of knowing the holy will of God, and doing it wholeheartedly.

O Holy Ghost, give the gift of counsel, "that I may know and perform in all things the holy will of God, and that I may therein find perfect peace." ~ Very Rev. Alexis M. Lepicier, OSM, The Fairest Flower of Paradise, imprimatur 1922.

May 30 - St. Joan of Arc

St. Joan of Arc, Carcassone, France

 

On May 30, 1431, "After having saved France and restored the King to his throne, Joan was abandoned by the very people for whom she had done so much and given over into the hands of her enemies who, out of extreme hatred, condemned her to be burned at the stake... But the saintly heroine gave abundant testimony of her faith, protesting that she had only been obedient to the command of God."

The people we try to help sometimes turn on us, like Our Lord in His Passion, like St. Joan of Arc at the end of her life. But Joan gives us a brilliant example, in this Pentecost week, of one of the gifts of the Holy Ghost - fortitude.

 "Whithersoever we turn our gaze, we behold around us dangers, difficulties, and calamities of all kinds. The virtue of fortitude is therefore of supreme necessity for the Christian. By strengthening the soul, this cardinal virtue puts it in the way of avoiding dangers, surmounting difficulties, and conquering or, at least, bearing patiently the ills of life....

"Oh, how valuable is the virtue of fortitude, and of how great necessity to the Christian, who would fight the good fight of the Lord!" ~ Very Rev. Alexis M. Lepicier, OSM, The Fairest Flower of Paradise, imprimatur 1922.

Philip of the Joyous Heart

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Today is the feast of St. Philip Neri, an effervescent, loving Roman whose heart, after he died, was discovered to have swelled and burst his ribs with the quantity of his love. 

When I was a teenager, I read a book called Mystic in Motley by Theodore Maynard about this jovial, irrepressible saint, and I never forgot it. My other favorite saint book when I was a teen was Blessed Friend of Youth by Neil Boyton, about St. John Bosco.

(Please note I found a picture of this saint with a book too, like our last post. READ!)

Here are some words of wisdom from this saint for today:

"A joyful heart is more easily made perfect than one that is cast down." ~ St. Philip Neri

Saint Rita and Reading

 

Found on the Internet, Artist Unknown

Today is the Feast of St. Rita of Cascia, Patron Saint of Impossible Causes. This picture appealed to me because she is reading....and I have loved books and words since early childhood. It would be fun to create a collage of women reading...or saints reading...or writers reading. Remember when they had a series of posters with movie stars and other celebrities, with the word: "READ"? I can imagine this picture with that headline.

All of the inhabitants of Heaven, I think, would encourage us to read good things. My writing coach at framedinjoy.com calls it "input". Ramona Zabriskie of WifeSavers.org calls it, "Inspiring your Best Imagination." When we fill our minds with inspiration and goodness and beauty and light and joy and holiness, then that is what we think about and bring about. When we fill our minds with sorrow and fear and anger and outrage and horror, it can only bring more darkness.

Will you take a moment to scroll through some of the past posts here and do some quick little tidbits of reading? Maybe you can even comment and tell me which ones you like the best! I hope they bring joy and light to your day!

Have confidence!

Side Altar, St. Conleth's, Co. Kildare, Ireland

Our Lord gave us His Sweet Mother as a last gift when He was suspended, dying on the Cross. She comforts and strengthens us, interceding with Her Divine Son for our needs. 

She once said in a vision to St. Catherine Laboure, referring to calamities that were to come upon Paris in Catherine's day:

"The moment will come when the danger will be enormous; it will seem that all is lost; at that moment, I will be with you; have confidence....Have confidence. Do not be discouraged. I shall be with you." 

~ "Saint Catherine Laboure of the Miraculous Medal" by Joseph I. Dirvin, C.M. 

    

Love and Light

The Ascension Window in St. Conleth's, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, Ireland

"O my God, sweetness and joy of my heart, behold how my soul, for love of Thee, will occupy itself with these maxims of love and light....O my Lord, Thou lovest discretion, and light, but love more than all the other operations of the soul; so then let these maxims furnish discretion to the wayfarer, enlighten him by the way, and supply him with motives of love for his journey."

~ St. John of the Cross, as a prologue to his "Spiritual Maxims".

Let us hope that these inspirational excerpts may do the same for us!

Pointing Heavenward

Basilica at Fatima, Portugal

Six years ago, we had the blessing of visiting Fatima during the 100th anniversary year of Our Lady appearing there. See how the Basilica points Heavenward, reminding us of our final destination? As pilgrims, we make journeys that represent our progress through life. 

The key is to remember that Heaven is our eternal home, and we journey thither. When we arrive, we will be welcomed by the Triune God, the sweet Virgin Mother, and all the angels and saints, who will rejoice!

"Lift up the eyes of thy soul and consider thine own country the heavenly paradise. On earth thou art only a stranger, an exile, a pilgrim. Therefore, as a pilgrim hastens home, where his beloved friends await him with great eagerness and loving expectation, so oughtest thou to hasten to that heavenly country where all desire most earnestly to see thee. From the depths of their hearts they are looking forward to thy happy coming, longing to welcome thee with love, to receive thee most courteously, and to admit thee into their joyful society for ever." ~ Blessed Henry Suso, O.P.