To Carry Him As You Did

'Teach us, O Mother, to carry Him as you did, completely oblivious of material things, with the eyes of your soul fixed unceasingly upon Jesus within you, contemplating and adoring Him in continual wonder.

'You passed in the midst of created things as in a dream, seeing everything that was not Jesus as though in a mist, while He shone and scintillated in your soul as resplendent as the sun, and encompassed your heart and enlightened your mind.

'Teach us to act on our little excursions in this world and indeed on our whole journey through life so that we may walk as you did, on your travels and every day, seeing external things as though they were plunged in deep darkness, with our eyes fixed only on your Jesus Who illuminates our souls like a flash of fire.'

Charles de Foucauld

Painting: Chiesa de S. Pietro, Madonna del Parto

How To Find Christmas Peace?

'How to find Christmas peace in a world of unrest? You cannot find peace on the outside but you can find peace on the inside, by letting God do to your soul what Mary let Him do to her body; namely, let Christ be formed in you.... 

'As He was physically formed in her, so He wills to be spiritually formed in you. If you knew He was seeing through your eyes, you would see in every fellowman a child of God. If you knew that He worked through your hands, they would bless all the day through.'

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

Painting:George Bernard O'Neill, A Christmas Kiss

Unlock Your Soul

'Let your door stand open to receive Him, unlock your soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind...

Throw wide the gate of your heart, stand before the everlasting Light that shines on every man...  He does not want to force His way in rudely, or compel us to admit him against our will….

Our door is faith; if it is strong enough, the whole house is safe. This is the door by which Christ enters….
It is the soul that has its door, its gates.

Christ comes to this door and knocks;

He knocks at these gates. Open to him; He wants to enter, to find His bride waiting and watching…'

   

St. Ambrose

Painting: Carl Vilhelm Holsoe

In My Garden, A Cross of Roses

'Plant Jesus Christ
crucified
within your heart,
and all the crosses
of this world
will seem to you roses.'

St. Francis de Sales


















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A Primary Apostolate

'A cloistered heart
accepts God’s grace
to love Jesus Christ
in the midst of a world
that does not love Him;
to embrace His will
in a world which
does not embrace it.
Thus the cloistered heart
becomes a place of refuge
not only for us,
but for Christ Himself.
To create such a refuge
is a primary part of
the cloistered heart’s apostolate.'

(from book The Cloistered Heart, NS)

public domain photo

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A New Life Begins When...

Over the next several weeks, I hope to look into the 'whys' and 'hows' of cloistered life.  Why is there such a thing as monasticism?  What is it for, what does it mean, what draws a person to it?  What can monasticism teach those of us who live in the midst of the world?

The monastic life starts not with an idea.  It starts with a Person.  It is only with Him at the center of our explorations that we can begin.... 

'Although God dwells in every soul which is in the state of grace, yet the intimacy between the soul and its Divine Guest may be very great or merely ordinary, or even less than that.  It is possible for two human beings to dwell under the same roof and not to be intimate; they may live thus and yet be almost strangers to one another.

'But it is possible for this state of things to change; it is possible for them to become friends, even intimate friends....

'A change comes in the soul when it begins to recognize Who it is that dwells in her.

'A new life of affection begins, a new life of real intimate friendship.  Intimate friends are characterized by mutual benevolence: each one makes the interest of the other the subject of his thoughts and of his plans.  The interest of the other becomes his own interest, and he pursues it with as much zeal as if it were his own personal interest... In such manner should we live in the intimacy of our Divine Guest..

'Some may think that such a life of union with God is only for saints, that a life of intimacy in which the soul constantly turns to God as to a loving and beloved guest, is not for the ordinary faithful.  This view is not correct.

'Intimacy with God is not for the saints only.  It is for all of us.'

(from "Listening to the Indwelling Presence," compiled by a Religious, Pellegrini, Australia, 1940, pp. 61-64)

Painting:  Pilgrims of Emmaus, James Tissot, detail

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His Undivided Property

"In the home we prepare for Our Lord,

 it must be His own undivided property,

 consecrated and set apart for Him.

He must be our ALL - 

not merely a guest, a stranger, a passing visitor.  

Dearest Jesus!  Take full possession of me

 and live Your Own Life within me.

  Decide, arrange and settle everything in my life Yourself,

so that You will secure that I love You so tenderly,

so intensely, as to make up for all the years lost.

  Only You can do this, my loving God."

                            (from THE LIVING PYX OF JESUS, Pelligrini, Australia, 1941, pp. 209-210)

Throw Wide the Gate

“Let your door stand open to receive Him, unlock your soul to Him, offer Him a welcome in your mind...

 

Throw wide the gate of your heart,

stand before the sun of the everlasting Light

that shines on every man...

He does not want to force His way in rudely, 

or compel us to admit him against our will….

Our door is faith; if it is strong enough, the whole house is safe.

This is the door by which Christ enters….

It is the soul that has its door, its gates. 

Christ comes to this door and knocks; 
He knocks at these gates. 
Open to him; 
He wants to enter, 
to find His bride waiting and watching…"

                        - St. Ambrose; excerpted from today's Office of Readings

The Monastery

As someone desiring to live as a "cloistered heart," I look at my life as a monastery.  After all, a monastery is a place consecrated to God, a place of prayer, a place where God is loved and served.  I can certainly be all of these things.  I can be a place for God.  

This is more than a nice daydream.  It is simply truth.   

"Even now we are called to be a dwelling for the Most Holy Trinity.  'If a man loves Me,' says the Lord, 'he will keep My word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.' (John 14:23)"  (Catechism of the Catholic Church #260)

"O my God.... grant my soul peace.  Make it Your heaven, Your beloved dwelling, and Your place of rest.  May I never abandon You there, but may I be there, whole and entire, completely vigilant in my faith, entirely adoring, and wholly given over to Your creative action."  (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church # 260)

Looking for a picture to put with this post, I was stopped in my tracks by the one I wound up choosing.  It was not my favorite from among the possibilities, but I could not ignore the Scripture that immediately sprang to mind....

"Anyone who hears My words and puts them into practice is like the wise man who built his house on rock.  When the rainy season set in, the torrents came and the winds blew and buffeted his house.  It did not collapse; it has been solidly set on rock."  (Matthew 7:24-25) 

I look at the painting and envision floodwaters surging all around, washing away vegetation and turning soil into oozing brown rivulets.  I think of waters rising, rising, carrying within them all sorts of trash and polution... yet the house stands firm, for it is built upon a massive rock.

"He alone is my Rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all."  (Psalm 62:2-3)

I pray that we may stand firm and strong upon Our Lord Himself.  As imperfect as we are, He actually desires to live within us.  

Imagine. 

"Humility and charity are the two main parts of the spiritual edifice.  One is the lowest and the other the highest, and all the others depend on them.  Hence, we must keep ourselves well founded in these two, because the preservation of the entire edifice depends on the foundation and the roof."  (St. Francis de Sales)

(Andrea Mantegna painting, public domain) 

Text © 2012 Nancy Shuman. 
thecloisteredheart.org   

Lord, Here is My Heart

"I want to repose in your heart, because many souls have thrown Me out of their hearts today."  (Jesus to St. Faustina)

Since typing the above words into yesterday's post, I cannot stop thinking about them.  Imagine throwing Jesus Christ, my Lord and King and Savior, out of my heart!  Imagine Him living within me, and my suddenly saying one day: "I don't want You here, there's no room for You in my life anymore... here's the door."

Such a horrible thought.  It's tough for me to even write the words.   Yet, people push Jesus out of their hearts every minute.  Maybe not with full consciousness of what they're doing (although that does happen, of course).  But every time one of us makes a decision to ignore God's serious commands in favor of our own, Christ is being shown the door.  

How great is the mercy of Our Lord, for He persists, He comes back, He knocks and knocks again. 

Here I stand, knocking at the door.  If anyone hears Me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with Him, and he with Me.”  (Revelation 3:20)

In spite of His amazing persistence, however, there are some who never open (or re-open) the door.  It is a tragic, sobering thought.  As a "cloistered heart," I take Jesus' desire to find repose in hearts quite seriously.  I pray for the individuals in whose hearts He is longing to dwell.  

Primarily, knowing that He is unwelcome in the hearts of many, I offer Him a place of loving refuge in my own.  

"I want to repose in your heart, because many souls have thrown Me out of their hearts today."  

Lord Jesus, here is my heart.  In it, may You find a refuge of love and praise.

(for our earliest posts about creating a refuge for Jesus in our hearts, click here 
and here)

Text not in quotes © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

Heart in Heart

"I want to repose in your heart, because many souls have thrown Me out of their hearts today."  (Jesus to St. Faustina)

"Make your home and hiding place in the cavern of His open side.."  (St. Catherine of Siena)

"When I return into my heart, I find Thee there, so that I cannot complain that Thou hast left me even for a moment."  (St. Gertrude the Great)

"Come, open unto me the portal of salvation of Thy most beloved Heart.  Beloved, I no longer have my own heart with me, but Thou, O my dearest Treasure, dost keep it with Thee in Thy closed chamber."  (St. Gertrude the Great)

"Our hearts must now certainly be consumed incessantly in this burning furnace of the Sacred Heart of our adorable Jesus!"  (St. Margaret Mary)

Caused by Love Alone

'You must receive through love that which Love alone caused to be given to you.

  No, you cannot consider our Savior in an action more full of love 

or more tender than this.  In it He abases Himself, if we may so express it,

 and changes Himself into food, so that He may penetrate our souls 

and unite Himself most intimately to the heart and to the body of His faithful.'

  (St. Francis de Sales)

Visitations

The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth is one of my favorite feasts.  On so many levels, it speaks... I would even say it sings... to my life as a cloistered heart.

As we've said in the last few days, Mary visited Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56) because she had BEEN Visited by God.  She didn't go to Elizabeth alone - she went with the Presence of Christ inside her.  As one living "cloistered for Jesus" in the midst of the world, I carry Christ inside me as well.  Oh, not in the same unique way, certainly.  But according to Scripture and Church teaching, I indeed carry Him within. 

Mary went on a simple visit to Elizabeth.  It was an occasion that I'm sure went unnoticed by many.  A woman went to visit her kinswoman; something that happened all the time.   No one would have cried out: "look, there goes Mary on mission!" or "how about that!  This visit will be written of in the Bible!"  From the merely human perspective, it was simply a time of normal interaction between two women, two relatives.  

And so it is with us. You and I have opportunities every single day to visit people with the presence of Christ.  In the everyday activities of life, we visit family members, neighbors, store clerks, e-mailers, callers on the phone. 

I find it extremely helpful when I make a conscious effort to visit these persons with the love of Our Lord.  That is - with an awareness of Christ within me.  I have found that it makes quite a difference in my attitude when I think of things this way. 

It is the essence, in my estimation, of living in the world as a cloistered heart.  

I could go on and on about this topic, for I have two directions in mind.  I hope to share those over the next few days, for each by itself is a specific thought.  For now, however, I want to leave us with a question.

What might happen if I make a conscious effort to go through today "on visitation?"  

What if I first visit the Lord in prayer, and then specifically visit every person I encounter with the love of Christ?  This does not mean I have to say or do anything that will draw attention.  It can mean that I pray a silent aspiration for the mailman, smile at a harried store clerk, relate to family members with patience.  I might even write a note to a sick friend, send an e-mail of encouragement, call a lonely relative.  

My visitations can be simple and unnoticed.   But as I carry the love of Christ to those around me, I have a feeling that all of heaven will rejoice.

Text not in quotes © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

To Be Visited

To be Visited by God Himself.  

It is what Pentecost was all about.  

It is what receiving Our Lord in Holy Communion is all about.  

It's what my life and your life are about.  We have the opportunity... at Mass, at adoration, in prayer, at every moment in which we seek Him,  to be Visited by God Himself.   

On this eve of the Feast of the Visitation, I'm reflecting upon opportunities I have to carry Jesus to those around me.  But I cannot visit WITH Him if I have not first been Visited BY Him.  A "cloistered heart" without the Presence of Christ would be, in fact, no such thing.  And so I ask, for each of us, that we will have grace to open our hearts to a deeper infilling of the Holy Spirit.  

May we seek Him, trust Him, visit Him in prayer.   

May we have new eyes to recognize His Visitations in every area of our lives.  

“Are you not aware that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

"When anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him and he in God."  (1 John 4:15)

“Most beautiful of creatures, who desires so ardently to know the dwelling place of your Beloved in order to seek Him and be united with Him, you are yourself the refuge where He takes shelter, the dwelling place in which He hides Himself. Your Beloved, your Treasure, your one Hope is so close to you as to live within you." (St. John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle)

Text not in quotes © 2012 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

is there room?

Sometimes, at this time of year, a question drifts into my mind.  It's always the same. 

"Is there room in Your heart for Me?" 

I immediately think of innkeepers.  I think of a house in Bethlehem where travelers once lodged, where no room was found when the time came for Jesus to be born.

As a cloistered heart, I have said that my primary "apostolate" is that of making my heart a refuge for Jesus in the midst of a world which does not, on the whole, love and honor Him.  Christ is in my heart; this I know.  But sometimes I wonder.  What sort of "refuge" am I offering to Him?  Am I providing a place of welcome and adoration?  Or could it be that I've allowed my heart to become cluttered with so many other things that I have little room in my life for Christ Himself.

The inn in Bethlehem was not filled with "bad" people on the night Mary and Joseph arrived seeking shelter.  It had no room for the holy family only because others had gotten there first.

Does Jesus find little space in some of my days simply because the hours fill up with everything else first?

Do I get up in the morning and put off prayer until I get one thing accomplished, and then one more thing - and do I ever find that the day has sped by without my spending any time at all in communication with God?  I am deeply ashamed to admit that more often than I care to mention, this has been the case.

My heart appears to me, today, somewhat like a cluttered desktop.  Or perhaps like a cluttered manger, in which there is no room for even a tiny Babe.

I am ashamed of the clutter in my heart.  I'm much more ashamed of this than of the clutter that accumulates, piece by piece, upon my desktop.  And so I come today to Jesus, asking HIM to clear out all the distractions and (especially) the sin.  I ask our Blessed Mother, who so tenderly prepared a place for Jesus, to help prepare my heart to be a fitting refuge for my Lord.  May she re-arrange my priorities as one might arrange pieces of straw in a manger.

As my Christmas gift this year, I ask that the same be done for you.  I ask that all our hearts be prepared as places of loving refuge for the King and Messiah Whose birth we are about to celebrate.  The world did not welcome Him when He came to earth as an infant; the world does not welcome Him still.  You and I have the opportunity of welcoming Him in a world which does not do so.  You and I have the opportunity (and I think we would fall on our faces if we could see the full reality of it) to lovingly embrace Him.

Let our hearts prepare Him room.

Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org      

Only a Manger

Mangers are not standard equipment inside monasteries.  As Christmas draws near, however, one begins to see them everywhere, even inside the monastery chapel. 

Once, long ago, there was a simple manger.  It was not unique among mangers; it was surely made of the most ordinary of materials.  Yet today this lowly manger is celebrated throughout the world in art, literature, music.  Why?  Because that un-unique manger was offered to God. It was thus transformed from a feeding trough into the very first resting place of our Savior upon His entrance into the world.  The manger so honored was unlikely to have been a brand new one.  Surely it was not altogether clean.  It may have been damaged from months or years of animals bumping against it, crowding around it, perhaps even chewing its edges as they ate.

My heart is not the most spotless, worthy, unmarred place that Christ could find in which to dwell. Yet He, Whose first resting place after birth was a lowly manger, has chosen to find a home therein.  As a “cloistered heart,” I want to create for Jesus a loving place of refuge in this world where He is so often resisted, forgotten, ignored.  I know I am a refuge unworthy of so great a King.  I am a person made of flesh, and my flesh has been tainted by the stains of sin. 

Imagine the tenderness with which Mary and Joseph prepared a humble bed of straw to receive the new Babe.  It was only a manger, but it was what they had.

It is only a heart, but it is what I have.  I can offer it to Jesus as once a manger was offered.  In this world there are hearts much greater and nobler than mine; hearts more valiant, courageous, sinless, unselfish.  But I cannot give anyone else’s heart to our Savior - I can only give my own.

At this holy time of year, I pray that Jesus can find refuge in hearts that, tattered and broken and stained though they may be, are willing to receive Him. 

May every heart prepare Him room.

“Narrow is the mansion of my soul; enlarge it that you may enter in.  It is all in ruins; do you repair it.  There are things in it which must offend your eyes; I confess and know it.” (St. Augustine)

Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org     

to face the dark

Sometimes I look out “through the grille” toward a great deal of darkness.  I find war, confusion, poverty, godlessness, persecution, my own difficulties, anxiety, and a shocking celebration of sin.  I may be distressed that such things even exist.  I can feel terrified by the dark.  However, if Jesus is in my soul, I have the Light.

If I am in a physical cloister filled with light, what happens when I look out through the grille into a darkened foyer? 

Does darkness flood in through the "grillwork," turning my light into dark? 

When dark and light encounter one another, there is really no contest. 

Light is always the winner. 

"There is One greater in you than there is in the world."  (1 John 4:4) 

“The Light shines on in darkness, a darkness that did not overcome it.”  (John 1:5)

the chapel

One night I found myself alone in a chapel during a thunderstorm.  Except for flashes of lightning coming through a stained glass window, only the glow of a sanctuary light provided illumination.  Yet how secure I felt!  How secure I was.  In the midst of the storm, I was in the Presence of Christ and I was safe. 

In the midst of personal storms, where do I find security?  When adversity strikes, when fear bares its fangs, where do I go for safety?   In the chapel, a sanctuary light told me: “Christ is here.”  Golden Tabernacle - glowing light - “Christ is here.”  I saw no visions, felt nothing out of the ordinary.  But my faith assured me: “Christ is here.” 

The first place a potential nun or monk is likely to go upon entering a monastery is the chapel.  It is here that we find the center of monasticism, because Jesus is the Center of cloistered life.  To miss this truth is to miss the point of the cloistered heart.  

Jesus is with me.  I must simply cultivate ways to remind myself throughout the day that:  “Christ is here.” 

"Faith tells us that our heart is a Sanctuary, because it is the Temple of God, the dwelling-place of the Holy Trinity.  Let us often visit this Sanctuary, and see that the lamps are alight - that is to say, Faith, Hope and Charity - and frequently stir up our faith when we are studying, working, or eating, when we go to bed, and when we rise, and make aspirations to God.” (St. Paul of the Cross)

“We are, each of us, a Living Cathedral.  Each is his own chapel.  And provided we are in a state of grace, God lives and dwells within us… we must live and act as if we were dwelling in a church in the presence of the Tabernacle.” (The Living Pyx of Jesus, Pellegrini & Co., Australia,  1941)

(photo in this post was taken by “RG” in chapel of Toledo Visitation Monastery, Ohio, 1992)

Text not in quotes © 2011 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org    

a refuge for Him

I was seven years old when I learned I had a soul.  This was where Jesus would come when I received Holy Communion, and I was to prepare the place carefully.  Sweep it clean and tidy, Sister instructed; no sin allowed.  I pictured this “item” of my personhood quite vividly.  I saw it as oval shaped, pearly white, and resting in the center of my chest.  A venial sin would spot it, a mortal sin (heaven forbid) would turn it black as a lump of coal.  It was like a little house inside me, where Jesus could come and rest.

I’m now many years past seven.  I no longer envision a white oval, shining like a pearl.  I do, however, marvel at the truth embedded in this simple childhood picture. “Here I stand, knocking at the door.  If anyone hears Me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with Him, and he with Me.”  (Revelation 3:20)

“Anyone who loves Me will be true to My word, and My Father will love him; We will come to him and make our dwelling place with him.”  (John 14:22)

What an astonishing reality.  There really IS a dwelling place inside me, set aside for God Himself.  A cloister of the heart, a sanctuary.  And it’s not a refuge for me alone. 

In the days when He walked the earth, Jesus found places of refuge.  Certainly He was in need of them, as He was hunted down, mocked, misunderstood, beaten, spat upon, and finally killed.  He found refuge in a womb, a manger, the arms of Mary and Joseph, with friends, and in a little house in Bethany.  In such places Jesus was cared about and loved.

As we know, misunderstanding of Jesus did not cease with His crucifixion.  The world has never, as a whole, reached out to embrace Christ and His teachings.  He is still “spat upon.” He’s discounted, laughed at, shunned in various ways – often before our eyes.  I may hear Him mocked this very day..  or dismissed as unimportant.  I might hear His Name used as a swear word. 

If that happens, can I remember to take a moment to offer a prayer of praise and love to Him in the solitude of my heart? 

“A cloistered heart accepts God’s grace to love Jesus Christ in the midst of a world that does not love Him; to embrace His will in a world which does not embrace it.  Thus the cloistered heart becomes a place of refuge not only for us, but for Christ Himself.  To create such a refuge is a primary part of the cloistered heart’s apostolate.” (from The Cloistered Heart (book), NS)

“Jesus, here is my heart; let it be a little cozy resting place for yourself.”  (St. Faustina)

“Make my soul…Your cherished dwelling place, Your home of rest.  Let me never leave You there alone, but keep me there all absorbed in You, in living faith, adoring You.”  (Elizabeth of the Trinity)

May we take every opportunity to embrace Christ in the refuge of our hearts – today.

© 2011 Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org    

sanctuary

“Thank God, there still remains one sanctuary, the sacredness of which no earthly power may violate… it is the sanctuary of the human heart.  It needs no fixed place for its confines, no stated time for the opening of its gates, no particular hour of silence for its prayer.  A thought, a word, a moment of reflection, and by faith and by love, the soul is within the blessed refuge, and the gates are closed on the confusion of life with all its noise and tumult.  It is secure against the bitterness and the pain of persecution, or hardship or trial, or hurt of body, or wound of earthly pride, or failure of worldly ambition, for there she is inviolable, sacred, impregnable in the fortress of her own spirit.  ‘Entering into solitude,’ we sometimes call the seeking of this sanctuary.  But it is not entering into a lonely solitude.  It is hearkening to the alluring accents and appeal of a Voice that will never, in time, be stilled, but will ever sound gently in the hearing of them that love: ‘come apart with Me and rest awhile!” (from The Living Pyx of Jesus, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini and Co, Australia, 1941, p.101)