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Etsy Rosary Guild Team: December Give Away Contest: "December Give Away Prize Donated by Brealie of Full of Grace Rosary Merry Christmas and many blessings for the New Year. Welcome to our D..."

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Etsy Rosary Guild Team: November Give Away Contest: "November Give Away PrizeDonated by Linda of The Beaded Lady Welcome to our November Give Away Contest. As the Holidays approach our minds t..."

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With God Alone

When words are of no avail...speak of such things with God alone.

- St. Teresa of the Andes

Etsy Rosary Guild Team: August Give Away Contest

Etsy Rosary Guild Team: August Give Away Contest: "August Give Away Prize Donated by 15 Promises Heritage Rosaries and Jewelry This month’s give away prize was donated by Debbie of 15 Promis..."

...and when I said in my alarm: "No Man can be trusted." Psalm116:10

"In this love-besides everything else-there is greater security than with earthly loves; in loving God we are certain that He loves us."

- St. Teresa of Avila

From the Foundations

"Prayer...is the place where the Lord gives the light to understand truths."




-St.Teresa of Avila

From A Woman Wrapped In Silence by John W. Lynch

"O, be it done to me.  He was her last
Of answers, After Him no more was left,
And She'd be emptied, and the soul could seek
No further full annihilate to add
For more surrendering of more.  He was
Her end of Giving, and the grant that God
Would have of Him, signed in the opened Side,
Would reach to her, to take as utterly!
And there'd be nothing then, and in her heart,
No more to give for more."


- John W Lynch

The Path to True Humility

"Never take others for your example in the tasks you have to perform, however holy they may be, for the devil will set their imperfections before you. But imitate Christ, who is supremely perfect and supremely holy, and you will never err."

- St. John of the Cross


How can we help but find true humility if we but gaze on the Lord.  For it is not what we do or how we imitate the good souls on this earth but how we keep our eyes fixed on God and wish to do His will that brings us closer to Him.

St John of the Cross on Prayer

"You should strive to be incessant in prayer and in the midst of your corporal practices do not abandon it."

- St John of the Cross




This quote from St John of the Cross speaks to me, in that it seems most difficult to keep praying and the in presence of God when the little trials of daily life and work distract me.  It takes practice and will to keep distractions at bay. 

What Could We Do If It Were Not For God Doing It For Us?

"The very moment God sees us fully convinced of our nothingness, He reaches out His hand to us."

-St. Therese of Lisieux

Therese's Gratitude

"O if souls, who are as feeble and imperfect as I, could feel as I feel, no one would despair of attaining the summit of the Mountain of Love; for Jesus does not ask great deeds, but only self surrender and gratitude."

-St Therese of Lisieux

Love Freely Given

"Jesus wishes to receive charity from us like a poor man.  He places Himself, as it were, at our mercy.  He wishes to take nothing from us unless we give it freely, and our least gift is precious in His sight."


-St Therese of Lisieux

On the Feast of the Good Shepherd

Today in mass my prayers were for those who have a special devotion to the image of Our Lord as the Good Shepherd.  Especially for Pat and Ben. 

Jesus said:  "My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.  No one shall snatch them out of my hand.  My Father is greater than all, in what He has given me, and there is no snatching out of His hand.  The Father and I are one."

The Holy Gospel according to John 10:27-30

Do you know another who cares so greatly?

 

"God knows every human soul from eternity, with every secret of its being and every lapping of the
waves of its life."

                                                            

-St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross  (Edith Stein)

How Comforting

"Jesus has shown me the only way that leads to the fire of divine love: it is that of a little child who, full of trust, falls asleep in its father's arms."

-St. Therese of Lisieux

Pray continuously

"Be deeply sorry for anytime that is lost or passes without your loving God."

-St John of the Cross

Our recourse in dryness

 "There is no other remedy for this evil of giving up prayer than to begin again..."

-St. Teresa of Jesus

The Voice of Spring

The weather is so beautiful and the flowers are putting on a pretty show for us.  When I found  this quote from the Carmelite saint, Teresa Margaret Redi, it seemed like the perfect way to express how marvelously blessed we are to be able to enjoy God's lovely creation.



"All these growing things remind us to love their Creator.  In them God speaks."

- St. Teresa Margaret Redi

Our Help in Times of Distress

I went to the dentist today.  First let me say that ,I am a real baby when it comes to the Dentist.  I thought it was going to be a simple in and out visit.  I was very wrong.  Needless to say that some time into the visit I ask God to give me strength to handle this gift he had given me.  It amazed me how the rest of the visit passed much easier.  I know I deserved treatment worse than I was getting for the times I had failed God.  But He had such sweet mercy on me.

Let us place all our trust in God, and let us remember that it is of faith that God gives us strength in proportion to the work.

- St. Teresa Margaret Redi

Compunction

Quite often in prayer or at mass when I think about God's great love  for us I am sad, for I can see how completely helpless I am to do anything good through my own will or strength.  When I compare myself to our Great God I find myself totally lacking.  Even in loving God I fail.  I came upon this paragraph on compunction in the introduction to Teresa of Avila's 'The Book of Her Life' and found some understanding and comfort in it.  Strange, isn't it, that in our society the word compunction is rarely used and usually devalued as a quality we should possess.

"Compunction is a basic sentiment running through the entire Life.  To the undiscerning or inexperienced, Teresa's outpourings of compunction might seem like exaggerated guilt feelings.  But for Teresa, true sorrow does not disquite, does not agitate.  Her compunction consoled her; permeated with humility, it was a gift-quiet, gentle, and in the light.  The Desert Fathers, in fact, constantly exhorted their disciples to pray for the gift of compunction, the gift of tears.  These Fathers felt that when the soul was softened by this interior weeping, God would five the experience of His light; in the shadow of sorrow was to be found the spiritual joy of enlightenment.  And so it was with Teresa.  In addition, her feelings of compunction later became more intense through the mystical experience she had of God's transcendent majesty, and of the shabbiness of sin beside His boundless outpouring love.  Spiritual humiliations preceded her spiritual exaltations.  "I don't recall His eer having granted me one of the very notable favors of which I shall speak if not at a time when I was brought to nothing at the sight of my wretchedness".

-The Collected Works of St. Teresa Of Avila, Volume One, The Book of Her Life

A Little Enlightenment from the Little Flower

"At times the little bird's heart is assailed by the storm, and it seems it should believe in the existence of no other thing except the clouds surrounding it; 
this is the moment of perfect joy for the poor little weak creature.  And what joy it experiences when remaining there just the same! and gazing at the Invisible Light which remains hidden from its faith!"

- St. Therese of Lisieux

Ever Wonder What to Pray For?

I have always relied on the Lord's Prayer when I am in need or doubt.  I am especially drawn to the lines "Thy will be done".  I know I'm not wise enough to know what I need even though I sure know what I want!  Here is some sage advise from Teresa of Avila on the subject.

"There is no need for us to be advising Him about what He should give us, for He can rightly tell us that we don't know what we're asking for."



- St. Teresa of Avila

The Way to Heaven

"Suffering is the way to heaven.  In the cross is salvation, in the cross is victory.

God willed it so.  He Himself assumed the obligation of suffering in view of the glory of redemption.  St. Paul makes it clear to us how all the disasters of this earthly life are insignificant, how they must be considered as nothing and passing, in comparison with the glory that will be revealed to us when the time of suffering is past and we come to share in God's glory".

-Bl. Titus Brandsma

Pray Constantly

     "Our principal obligation in Carmel is to converse with God in all our actions". 

Fr. Raphael of St. Joseph, OCD

Her "Little Way" to Holiness

"I am too little to perform great actions and my own folly is this:  to trust that Your love will accept me as a victim... I feel that if You are able to find a soul weaker and littler than mine, which is impossible, You would be pleased to grant it still greater favors, provided it abandoned itself with total confidence to Your infinite Mercy." 

"I made a resolution to give myself up to a serious and mortified life.  This is not to give the impression that I perform acts of penance.  I never made any.  My mortification consisted in breaking my will, always so ready to impose itself on others, in holding back a reply, rendering little services without recognition.  I practice 'nothings' to prepare myself for Jesus".


- St. Therese of Lisieux

Praying with St. Therese

"It is more important to talk to God than to talk about Him."

-St. Therese of Lisieux

To Madame De Sourdon

 






 This better part, which 
seems to be my privilege in my beloved,
 

Solitude of Carmel, is offered by God to every baptized soul.

 

He offers it to you...  in the midst of you cares and maternal concerns...  Surrender yourself and all your preoccupations to Him.

- Bl. Elizabeth of the trinity

Pure Gift

We come to the great King of Heaven with empty hands, in debt to Him for everything: life
itself, and grace, and all the gifts He lavishes on us.  Yet all we can say is, 
'Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all I owe,' while all the time we could never pay anything towards the remission of our own debts, if God did not put into our hands the means to do so.  And then, how often do we go away and refuse pardon for some slight fault in our neighbors, withholding our love, remaining aloof, or even nursing a grievance against them, and building up grudges that cool charity.


-St Teresa Margaret Redi

God's Perspective

Think not that pleasing God lies so much in doing a great deal as in doing it with good will, without possessiveness and human respect.

- St. John of the Cross

Is Life Too Hectic?

One ought to be careful not to devote oneself wholly and with too much solicitude to exterior occupations, to which it is expedient only to lend oneself as much as is necessary, keeping the rest (namely the mind and heart) for God.

- St. Teresa Margaret Redi

Take time to pray today.

God's Love

"And I saw the River over which every soul must pass to reach the Kingdom of Heaven, and the name of that River was suffering.... And I saw the Boat which carries souls across the River, and the name of that Boat was Love " - 

St John of the Cross

Happy Easter to All!

Dying to Self and Living in Christ

One does not die carrying the cross.  And (yet) to pass completely through the night, the man of sin has to die.  He can abandon himself to crucifixion, but he cannot crucify himself.  That is why the operation has to be brought to completion by God Himself.

- St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein)

What Can We Do?

"Keeping Christ present is what we of ourselves can do." 

St. Teresa of Jesus

Humility

Humility doesn't consist in refusing a favor the King offers you, but in accepting such a favor..and delighting in it.

-St. Teresa of Avila