Where Two or Three

Panting: Carl Friedrich Lessing, Forest Chapel

I Will Tread the Threshold

I Confide to You a Secret

Someone once wondered why my earliest writings on The Cloistered Heart did not mention saints who'd had ideas somewhat similar to my own. Actually, I'd had no clue that anyone else ever thought such things... at least things with specifically 'cloistered' imagery.

Imagine my surprise, then, when I first read this from Elizabeth of the Trinity: 

'May the God Who is all love be your unchanging dwelling place, your cell, and your cloister in the midst of the world.'

Oh my goodness.  

She also had these things to say: 

'May nothing distract me from You, neither noise nor diversions. Oh my Master, I would so love to live with You in silence. But what I love above all is to do Your will, and since You want me still to remain in the world, I submit with all my heart for love of You. I offer You the cell of my heart; may it be Your little Bethany. Come rest there.' (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity)
 
'I confide to you a secret which has made my life on earth an anticipated Heaven: the belief that a Being Whose name is Love is dwelling within us at every moment of the day and night, and that He asks us to live in his company.' (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity)

'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.' (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity)

'What a joyous mystery is Your presence within me, in that intimate sanctuary of my soul where I can always find You, even when I do not feel Your presence. Of what importance is feeling? Perhaps You are all the closer when I feel You less.' (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity)

'It seems to me that I have found my heaven on earth, because my heaven is You, my God, and You are in my soul. You in me, and I in You - may this be my motto.' (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity)

'I think that in heaven my mission will be to draw souls by helping them to go out of themselves in order to cling to God by a wholly simple and loving movement, and to keep them in this great silence within.' (St. Elizabeth of the Trinity)
 

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, on this day of your canonization, please pray for us. May we each be given grace to love and adore the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May we provide a refuge of love for God always, in the Bethanys of our hearts.

For more information about our new saint, click here

Hold Firmly

Painting: Fra Angelico, St Thomas Aquinas

In Places of Praise

"They are happy who dwell in Your house! Continually they praise You." (Psalm 84:5)

Imagine living where we could praise God all day long. Imagine being where just a few footsteps would bring us into His Presence, and we could come before Him in adoration. 

'O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now.  Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you.' (Gregory of Nyssa)." 

Praise Him in the place where I am now? Wherever I may be, He will come to me? Now, that is a beautifully 'cloistered heart' idea, and a striking promise, and I know it is the truth. 

I do, however, need lots of reminding. So with this in mind, I hope to spend the next few days here visiting some of the places where God can meet with me. Would you like to come along?

The truth is: we live precisely where we can praise God all day long. Just a word of prayer can bring us into His Presence. 

We can come to Him in adoration, wherever we may be. 


Photo © C Wells

You are Mad, You Are Not Like Us

"Men will surrender to the spirit of the age. They will say that if they had lived in our day, faith would be simple and easy. But in their day, they will say, things are complex; the Church must be brought up to date and made meaningful to the day's problems.

"When the Church and the world are one, then those days are at hand because our Divine Master placed a barrier between His things and the things of the world.

"A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, 'you are mad, you are not like us.'"

St. Anthony of the Desert

Painting: The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer

A Time For Saints

Like a Little Candle

'I want to shine 
like a little candle
before His altar.'
St. Therese of Lisieux





















Photo: National Shrine of Divine Mercy, 
Stockbridge MA, by C Wells

In This Palace the Great King Lodges

'Within us there is a palace of immense magnificence. The entire edifice is built of gold and precious stones....truly there is no building of such great beauty as a pure soul, filled with virtues, and the greater these virtues, the brighter these stones sparkle... 

'In this palace the great King lodges, Who has been pleased to become your Guest...  He sits there on a throne of tremendous value: your heart.'  

St. Teresa of Avila
 

Painting at bottom by George Henry Boughton
Photo at top from Pixabay

The Place Apart

I was a child when I discovered the 'path in between' church and world. I had no idea, of course, that I was 'discovering' anything. I was simply a little girl who was sent off to school each weekday on a city bus.

My Catholic grade school was in the center of a small midwestern city, the kind that did not (yet) have looming skyscrapers but did have tall buildings. The world was safer then, and a child could board a bus alone in her neighborhood and hop off right in the middle of town. No one was concerned about a nine year old girl walking three blocks from bus stop to school in the early morning dark.

While the city was much smaller than, say, Chicago, it had a similar kind of bustling atmosphere. 'Downtown' was the center of business and shopping in those days. Early morning streets were filled with businessmen heading to offices in suits and ties, usually toting leather briefcases. Women clicked along sidewalks in high heels, wearing skirts or dresses (never pants; oh heavens no), most likely to work in one of the tall buildings. 

I took it all for granted. Rushing people, blaring horns, blinking lights, the swoosh of tires through rain or snow, lines of buses at every corner - these were not urban life to me. They were simply... life.

First stop every school day was the church, for our days began with Mass. I would open one of the tall, heavy old doors and slip into a world apart. The Sisters didn't have to tell us to be quiet; the church itself did that. To speak above a whisper would have been to violate an ancient hush. I did not have to think such a thought to know it. I was entering a vestibule of heaven.

City sounds could still be heard, but as though far off in the distance. In here, no one rushed. In here were no fumes, no traffic lights, no conversations. Just incense and beeswax, a flickering of candles, the soft hum of Latin from the altar. It was a place apart.

Only in the last few days have I realized: my early experience of going from world into 'place apart' was a perfect preparation for having a cloistered heart. The church building, which (thank God) is still there, has been set apart as a place where Jesus can be loved and worshiped in the midst of the world. In the middle of what is now considered 'inner city,' it is a dedicated, consecrated, holy space.

And no matter what goes on around, Jesus Himself dwells within.  

'The Indwelling in me of the Holy Spirit implies that like the Church, the Altar, the Tabernacle, I am consecrated to be the temple, the house, the home of God Himself... My body is the Spirit's chosen dwelling place, a privileged altar.... Gladly I accept this great vocation, this high honour, this immeasurable dignity, to be Your temple, Your altar, Your house, Your home. (from "Listening to the Indwelling Presence," compiled by a Religious, Pellegrini, Australia, 1940) 


Text not in quotes © Nancy Shuman
 thecloisteredheart.org

When You Witness Error

'Divine assistance for the Church is not restricted to the first centuries of the Church, but is continued and will be continued to the end of time. This reflection has calmed my spirit on more than one occasion. May it serve to calm yours when you witness error worming its way about.'

Blessed Dominic Barberi

How Shall I Love God?

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:1-2)

"Don't be afraid to call Our Lord by His Name, Jesus, and to tell Him that you love Him." (St. Josemaria Escriva)

"Love Him totally, Who gave Himself totally for your love." (St. Clare of Assisi)

"The more we love God, the more we will want to love Him." (St. Joaquina)

"Some torment themselves seeking ways of discovering the art of loving God. These poor souls do not know that there is no method of loving Him other than doing what is pleasing to Him." (St. Francis de Sales)

"Because we start with the Person of Christ, the basis of our obedience is not fear, it is love. You cannot love dialectical materialism, but you can love a Person. Between our Lord and us there is the bond of love. These two are inseparable."(Venerable Fulton Sheen)

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength... you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:30-31)

"The love of God consists in this:  that we keep His commandments." (1 John 5:3)

"You will live in My love if you keep My commandments, even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and live in His love"' (Jesus, in John 15:10)

"What is the mark of a love for God?  To keep His commandments for the sake of His glory." (St. Basil)

"Love of God is acquired by resolving to work and suffer for God and to abstain from all that displeases Him when the temptations arise. The better to do this in great things, one must grow accustomed to it in little things." (St. Teresa of Avila)

"I do not have any other means to prove my love to You, but to throw flowers. That is, to let no sacrifice, no look, no word pass, to take advantage of all the littlest things and to do them out of love... Hence, I pluck every flower I find on my way, for Jesus." (St. Therese of Lisieux )

Paintings:   'Faith' by Federic Leighton
                 'Carità' by Schedoni
                 'By Grandmother's Sickbed' by Michael Ancher
                 All in US public domain due to age

As Long as We Have That Map

'There's a tremendous satisfaction in having a map. That is what the truth of Christ is like in the Church. We may get off the road; we may get off it by sin; we may get off it by error. But as long as we have that map, we can get back on the road.'

Archbishop Fulton Sheen



















Painting: Julius Sergius Klever, 1908

Blessings of Your Holy Temple

'Blessed is he whom You choose to call to dwell in Your courts -

we are filled with the blessings of Your house, of Your holy temple.'

Psalm 65:5

Paintings in US public domain; right click on images for more information

Right Before My Eyes

Studying Art history in college, I wondered why we spent a good chunk of the semester concentrating on Catholic church architecture. This was especially puzzling because I was in a State University, and the teacher was outspoken about her own atheism.

In time, I understood. Churches are built to "speak." They are meant (or they were once upon a time) to proclaim the Word of God to all who enter their spaces. They are intended to offer, along with the printed or spoken words uttered within them, a special language of their own. Even the youngest and least educated among us should be able to in some way "get" this language, for in large part it is visual. It communicates to us the Truth that we have entered a sacred space, where we're invited to participate in the life of the world to come. Stained glass windows block distractions from the world outside. Statues help us realize the fact that we live, day to day, surrounded by saints and angels.  Paintings remind us of truth we cannot perceive with eyes of flesh.

Heaven knows, we need reminders. In this distracting, hurried, confusing world, we need reminders.

I think of these reminders as "visual lectio."

Not being in a geographical situation where I "see" this visual lectio often anymore, I miss it.  But I like knowing that someday, somewhere, I might just walk into a church building and look up at a magnificent window and - lo and behold! - find a subject for meditation.  Right before my very eyes.

Cherished

'What is 'ecclesiastical legislation' regarding papal enclosure?  It is precisely the arms of the Church cherishing her contemplatives.  And thus, if an enclosed nun is encouraged to rebel at 'strictures,' she will let her smiling silence itself best explain that she is not incarcerated but cherished.  For her, 'legislation' pertains to the realization that the arms of the Church are around her.  And she rejoices, as any normal woman rejoices, to be held in loving arms.  She has penetrated beneath the level of 'legislation' as restrictive or prohibitive to the understanding of how love, of its nature, seeks to safeguard the beloved.  Thus her understanding of ecclesiastical legislation on her cloistered life is expressed in the cry of the psalmist:  'how I love Your law, O Lord!' (Psalm 119).' (Mother Mary Francis PCC, 'The King's Rooms,' copyright Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  This booklet may be ordered by clicking this link)   

The will of God is the safest, most secure place in which a person can dwell.  In order to live within this place of refuge, however, we must accept Our Lord's invitation to embrace its boundaries.  The primary perimeters of God's will are not hard to find.  They are revealed in Scripture and outlined clearly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.   

Because God loves us, He has set these boundaries in place for our security, and He has generously revealed them to us.  
 
We are cherished.

Painting:  William Adolphe Bouguereau, The Proposal, 1872


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What a Joyous Mystery

                                                 

'What a joyous mystery is your presence within me, in that intimate sanctuary of my soul where I can always find you, even when I do not feel your presence.  Of what importance is feeling?  Perhaps you are all the closer when I feel you less.'

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Marksy photo; click here for full attribution

Our Prie Dieu

I need help.  I need a lot of help.  Yes, I know that Our Lord makes His home within me - even within sinful, distracted me.  But oh, how easy it is to forget this as I go through my day to day life.

Wouldn't it be lovely to have a little "prayer closet" to duck into from time to time, something with reminders of Our Lord's presence?  A place where I could steal away from chaos and distractions and focus my mind on the reality of God?

As a child, I'd occasionally slip away from the playground during school recess and visit Our Lord in the Church next door.  I would often be alone, there, with God.  I'd just sit, in semi-dark, surrounded by windows that showed me the life of of Christ in stained glass. Years later I became an Art student, and learned (in a secular University) that churches have a language all their own.  They are not just pretty for pretty's sake.  The best of them teach with every column and icon and golden shimmer.  Set your eyes not on things of this world, they tell us; you were made for something higher.  Reach for it; reach and don't settle.  Pray and seek and spend your life for God.

In this busy, crazy world, I can't just rush off to a chapel any time I'd like.  And oh, I find it so hard to remember that Jesus is really, truly in the cloister of my heart.

If you, too, could use help remembering this truth, I invite you to come visit our new prayer spot.  We have long had a Parlor where we can meet with one another.  Now we have a "chapel" where we are welcome to spend time alone with God.  Our real chapel, of course, is where Jesus waits under the appearance of Bread in a nearby Tabernacle, and our real chapel is where He resides in our hearts.  But this can hopefully be a place where we can come apart for a few minutes now and then if we care to do so, where we can find a few helps to focus our attention on Our Lord.

Besides, I love finding chant videos, icons, and paintings of stained glass windows.  Now I shall have a place to share them!  I thought of making this a page here, but I really wanted a dark background (I've missed our dark background)... so it is another blog.  Not one where there will be much to read, ever, but where I hope to keep "hanging paintings" and posting music and helps for prayer.  I will put a link to it on the sidebar here, and for now I invite you to click this line to visit Prie Dieu.

And may I ask a favor?  Would you please offer a prayer of praise to God while you're there? 
 

We Pray for Light

Sistine Chapel, God Dividing Light from Dark

'The light shines on in darkness,

a darkness that did not overcome it.'

John 1:5

Father, we pray for Your Cardinal Electors 

to be filled with the Light of Christ

The Hush Approches

click this link for photo attribution

I have been (as you know) thinking about walls.  My mind was originally on personal walls: both the kind that block our path to God, and the kind that keep us from roaming outside His will.

Now I am aware of an entirely different kind of wall.  As the Conclave of Cardinals is about to begin, I'm thinking of the walls these men will be going behind.  They will be cut off from the rest of us; no information in, no information out.

The Cardinals will be, in the strictest sense, cloistered.

Their ears will be closed to the world's input, so they can hear as clearly as possible the Voice of God in their hearts.  Once the doors have been shut on the chapel, every Cardinal inside will have the responsibility of listening intently for the whisper of the Holy Spirit.

During the Conclave eight years ago, I felt as if a hush had fallen over the Church.  Once again, as I write this, I feel that hush approaching.

'Quiet, world,'  I want to whisper.   'Shhh; our Cardinals are listening.'   And we, in the midst of our lives and duties, have the high privilege of praying that they hear clearly.  May they listen as one, as with one sanctified 'ear,' with obedient spirits, with purity of heart.

Speak, Lord, Your servants are listening.

And Your Church shall await the sound of Your Voice.

Text not in quotes © 2013 Nancy Shuman.  All Rights Reserved.
thecloisteredheart.org    

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