The Name of Our Redemption

'How happy we will be if, 

at the hour of our death, 

as well as during the whole 

of our lives, we pronounce 

the Sacred Name of our 

Savior with due respect. 

It will be like a password 

with which we freely enter 

into heaven, for it is the 

name of our redemption.'

St. Francis de Sales

 

Painting: Baciccio, 'The Triumph of the Name of Jesus'

This is a repost from the archives of 8/7/16.  

The Breath of Home

My goal is to go through the world carrying Jesus in my heart.  To remain cloaked in an atmosphere of prayer wherever I may be, whatever I happen to be doing.

Not unlike an astronaut, I carry the oxygen of my Homeland with me, breathing it in and out with every silent prayer.

And I wonder: can it change a family, a workplace, a city, if a person is praying in the midst of it?
 
Of course it can; of course it inevitably does.  Such is an apostolate of a cloistered heart, carried to a family, into rush hour traffic, onto a bus.

It is “living Jesus” no matter where one happens to be. 

"Always remember… to retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others. This mental solitude cannot be violated by the many people who surround you since they are not standing around your heart but only around your body. Your heart remains alone in the presence of God.” (St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life).

This is a repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'   
  

And We Will Make It Well

And May He Set it Aflame

A Blog Slipped Under the Door

I like to imagine that, were he living in our age, St. Francis de Sales would be a blogger.  After reading the following on Catholic Online, I suspect my idea may not be all that far-fetched.... 

"Francis' unusual patience kept him working.  No one would listen to him, no one would even open their door.  So Francis found a way to get under the door.  He wrote out his sermons, copied them by hand, and slipped them under the doors.  This is the first record we have of religious tracts being used to communicate with people." 

It is primarily because of his tracts, copied tirelessly by hand and slipped under doors, that Francis de Sales has been named patron of Catholic journalists.

I cannot imagine a more appropriate saint for bloggers.

May he pray for all who slip faithful, God-honoring, blog posts through today's cyber-doors.


More about St. Francis de Sales (and some lovely photos) can be found on the following video, which was posted in honor of his feast today on the Visitation Nuns' blog Honey For The Soul...




(the text of this post is from our archives)

Do You Not See?

How beautiful is the poor little Babe!   

I beg you to take your repose close to Him,

  because He will not fail to love your heart just as it is,

  with all its lack of tenderness and of feeling.

 Do you not see how He receives the breath of the oxen

and the ass, which have no feeling at all?   

How will He not appreciate the operations of your poor heart,

which, even though it lacks tenderness, yet throws itself

 resolutely and firmly at His feet, pledging itself

to be always a faithful servant of His divine Heart.

                                                                                 St. Francis de Sales


Painting:  Arthur Hughes, The Nativity

This Solitude Cannot Be Violated

'Always remember… to retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart 

even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others.  

This mental solitude cannot be violated by the many people who surround you 

since they are not standing around your heart but only around your body.  

Your heart remains alone in the presence of God.'

St. Francis de Sales 

Painting: Carl Larsson, 1904

This Tranquil Morning

Painting: Vilhelm Hammershøi, 1890

Without Forcing Your Mind

Do not be distressed if sometimes, or very often,

 you are not consoled by your meditations.

Persevere gently, humbly, patiently,

without forcing your mind.

Read a book when fatigued; 

read a little, then meditate, 

then read a little again, and again meditate... 

St. Francis de Sales

Painting: Friedrich von Amerling, 1835 

                                                                

1,000 Darts

'As soon as worldly people see that you wish to follow a devout life, they aim a thousand darts of mockery and even detraction at you. The most malicious of them will slander your conversion as hypocrisy, bigotry, and trickery. They will say that the world has turned against you and being rebuffed by it you have turned to God. Your friends will raise a host of objections which they consider very prudent and charitable. They will tell you that you will become depressed, lose your reputation in the world, be unbearable, and grow old before your time, and that your affairs at home will suffer and you must live in the world like one in the world. They will say that you can save your soul without going to such extremes, and a thousand similar trivialities.' 

St. Francis de Sales

Painting: Stefano Novo, The Gossips

But Only When We Do

A Devotional Bouquet

Painting: Lucas Cranach, 1530

And He Raised Her to the Highest Heaven

The Name of Our Redemption

'How happy we will be if, 
at the hour of our death, 
as well as during the whole 
of our lives, we pronounce 
the Sacred Name of our 
Savior with due respect. 
It will be like a password 
with which we freely enter 
into heaven, for it is the 
name of our redemption.'

St. Francis de Sales





 









Painting: Baciccio, 'The Triumph of the Name of Jesus'

Revisiting The Hidden Staircase

You and I have the same basic, fundamental, always-and-forever root vocation. We are called to be saints.

To be with God in Heaven is sainthood, and we are called to nothing less. The world will not put the designation 'Saint' before our names, but that's of no importance. God will know. God knows now. He sees every little step we take, every hidden hint of progress toward holiness. 'By holiness we mean the absence of whatever sullies, dims and degrades a rational nature; all that is most opposite to sin and guilt.' (Blessed John Henry Newman).

Did I accept God's grace today to conquer some temptation, perhaps in a tiny, hidden moment?  Did I stop myself from lashing out at someone in anger? Have I accepted what came my way without grumbling? Did I go graciously to a crying baby, or a spouse who wanted attention, or a neighbor in need?

If I haven't made any recent steps upward, I can be sure there are plenty of opportunities ahead. I don't have to look up the staircase and around the bends of it; there will be grace for those steps when I'm there. 

In the meantime, I have this next little step in front of me. And now this next.....

'Little by little we must acquire that dominion over ourselves which cost the saints many decades of years.' (St. Francis de Sales)

What hope this quote from St. Francis gives me!  

'Little by little.' 

Step by step.

'...which cost the saints many decades of years.'
 

Through the profound grace of God, there is much hope. 

This is a slightly edited respost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

© Nancy Shuman.
thecloisteredheart.org       

Painting: William McGregor Paxton

In a Most Particular Manner

Revisiting a Cry of Charity

Most people don't realize who they're quoting when they speak of catching more flies with honey than with vinegar.  I was well into adulthood when I learned that this bit of wisdom had come from one of my favorite saints. 

"You can catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than with ten barrels of vinegar." (St. Francis de Sales)

I often think of this in connection with another quote from this Doctor of the Church.

"It is an act of of charity to cry out against the wolf when he is among the sheep"  (St. Francis de Sales) 

These two thoughts may not appear to have much to do with one another.  But in my mind, they work together.  In fact, I often strive to "navigate between them," as one might drive between two lines painted on a highway to keep vehicles moving safely.

As one of Our Lord's sheep, I am seeing wolves among us.  I'm not thinking of people, but of ideas and ungodly "values" that creep in, usually in sheeps' clothing.

These generally enter in the name of freedom, tolerance, rights, pleasure, peace, fairness, love, correctness, justice for all.  Not wanting to be unkind, we can let them prowl freely among our families and nations and parishes without our uttering so much as a whisper of protest.  We don't want to rock boats, ruffle feathers, stir waters, or cause anyone to be uncomfortable.  We'd like to be charitable.

It takes a lot to cry out against wolves.  But if we know the truth and do not speak up for it, are we acting in genuine charity toward the sheep?

Francis de Sales would say no.

However, there are a couple of ways of speaking.  We can lash out in anger, in sharp words that can sting and personally wound our "opponents"... in other words, we can dish out the vinegar.  Or we can speak in honeyed tones.  Not fake ones, but in words and actions spoken from a heart of love.

How do we have such a heart when we feel anything, perhaps, but loving?  We pray.  We seek God.  We fast and sacrifice.  We ask for wisdom.  We dive into Scripture as if our very lives depended on it; because, really, they do.

We trust that God will show us when and how to act, when and how to speak, when and how to offer truth.  We do well to remember that ears tend to turn off at the sound of vinegar.  The truth we're trying to communicate can pass by totally unheard if we allow frustration and anger to "vinegar-ize" what we say.

We are seeing wolves among us. We find them in the media, in politics, in laws and schools and so many "areas of et cetera" that this page isn't long enough to list them.  They rob children of innocence, families of stability, societies of integrity, preborn babies of life, and individuals of eternity spent with God.  The cost of our silence could be staggering. 

But we dare not speak without honey.

We dare not speak without love.

This is a respost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'

© 2016 Nancy Shuman.
thecloisteredheart.org       

 Painting: Charles Sprague Pearce

Consider What God Does

"During the course of the day, recall as often as possible that you are in God's presence. Consider what God does and what you are doing. You will see His eyes turned toward you and constantly fixed on you with incomparable love. Then you will say to Him, 'O God, why do I not look always at You, just as You always look at me? Why do you think so often of me, O Lord, and why do I think so seldom of You?'"

St. Francis de Sales

Painting: George Elgar Hicks, in US public domain due to age

No Matter...

At Least Your Hair

 'So long as God's Providence does not send you these great and heavy afflictions,
so long as He does not ask your eyes, at least give Him your hair.
Take patiently the petty annoyances,
the trifling discomforts,
the unimportant losses which come upon all of us daily;
for by means of these little matters, lovingly and freely accepted,
you will give him your whole heart, and win His.
I mean the acts of daily forbearance; 
the headache, or toothache, or heavy cold;
the tiresome peculiarities of husband or wife,
the broken glass, the loss of a ring, a handkerchief, a glove;
the sneer of a neighbor,
the effort of going to bed early in order to rise early for prayer or Communion,
the little shyness some people feel in openly performing religious duties;
and be sure that all of these sufferings, small as they are, if accepted lovingly, are most pleasing to God's goodness,
which has promised a whole ocean of happiness to His children in return for one cup of cold water. And, moreover, inasmuch as these occasions are forever rising, they give us a fertile field for gathering in spiritual riches, if only we will use them rightly.'

St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

Painting: Guy Orlando Rose, Warm Afternoon, 1910