Ad Majorem Gloria Dei

What struck me were his eyes: grave, compassionate, and peaceful. And the profound power of silence and "simple" prayers. Then to take the name of Francis, our patron! Similarly, may he rebuild the Church, on sure foundation. Deo gratias!

A Man of Prayer

"This is a place in which man opens to God in a special way. A place where, far from everything, but also at the same time close to nature, one can speak confidentially to God Himself....He must announce the 'magnalia Dei,' the great works of God and, at the same time, express himself in this sublime relationship with God, because in the visible world only he can do so....Prayer, which expresses in various ways man's relationship with the living God, is also the first task and almost the first announcement of the Pope, just as it is the first condition of his service in the Church and in the world." (John Paul II at Mentorella, two weeks after his election as pope in 1978.)

May the Holy Spirit aid the College of Cardinals in discerning the man of prayer in their midst.                                                                                                                                                               

The Haven of Lent

 ..."by fasting, reading, and prayer in these forty days we ought to store up for our souls provisions, as it were, for the whole year. Although through the mercy of God you frequently and devoutly hear the divine lessons throughout the entire year, still during these days we ought to rest from the winds and the sea of this world by taking refuge...in the haven of Lent, and in the quiet of silence to receive the divine lessons in the receptacle of our heart." --from a Lenten sermon of St. Caesarius of Arles, d. 543

Lent II

"...I am an orphan

And yet wherever I go angels come

To show me the path of that strange father

Whose heart is softer than a human father's heart." 

(Antonin Artaud)

Lent

And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while."  (Mark 6:31)

... let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  (Isaiah 1:18)

Even now, says the Lord,
return to me with your whole heart. (Joel 2:12)

Even now.

But somehow my blind alleys ended here,
And for each good thing I get,
Truly I am grateful;
This feels like winter,
Yet strangely blessed...
                                                        --r. scssrs

The Aftermath of Conversion

"To make the start is one thing, perseverance another....'Perseverance' doesn't mean merely a kind of jog-trot which will get us there in the end if we stick to it. It is a progress, a growth; giving yourself up more and more to God, fitting your life more and more into His pattern." (Ronald Knox)