"Persevere!"

Inch Abbey, Downpatrick, Northern Ireland

My heart has been taking me back to Ireland in this month of St. Patrick. This is a memory from the ruins of Inch Abbey, near the grave of Saints Patrick and Brigid in Downpatrick. You take a quiet little walk into the countryside to see the ruins. 

Anyone who travels to Ireland can't help but notice the ruined churches and abbeys, attacked by those who were trying to rob the Irish of their Faith. But the Irish persevered. They hung on through persecution and conquests of every kind, always refusing to give up their greatest treasure - their Holy Catholic Faith.

Last Sunday, we celebrated the feast of St. Gregory the Great. He offers us this reflection about St. Mary Magdalene and her example of perseverance. It reminds me of a good priest I know, who always says at the end of Confession, "Persevere!"

St. Gregory the Great: "When Mary Magdalen came to the tomb and did not find the Lord’s Body, she thought it had been taken away and so informed the disciples. After they came and saw the tomb, they too believed what Mary had told them. The text then says: 'The disciples went back home,' and it adds: 'but Mary wept and remained standing outside the tomb.' We should reflect on Mary’s attitude and the great love she felt for Christ; for though the disciples had left the tomb, she remained. 

"She was still seeking the One she had not found, and while she sought, she wept; burning with the fire of love, she longed for Him whom she thought had been taken away. And so it happened that the woman who stayed behind to seek Christ was the only one to see Him. For perseverance is essential to any good deed, as the voice of truth tells us: 'Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved.'"