In Search of Holiness?

Great holiness consists in carrying out the little duties of each moment

St Josemaria Escriva

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.'   
  

In the Depth of Center

'For my part I keep myself retired with Him

in the depth of centre of my soul as much as I can; 

and while I am so with Him I fear nothing; 

but the least turning from Him is insupportable.'

Brother Lawrence

Holy in the Midst

'Live on the divine Eucharist, like the Hebrews did on the manna. 

Your soul can be entirely dedicated to the Eucharist, 

and very holy in the midst of your work and contacts with the world' 

St. Peter Julian Eymard

While I Live for You Alone

'Come my loving Redeemer, and dwell within me during the day and night...
Take the beats of my heart as adoration, love and gratitude throughout my life.
Oh! May I breathe in Your courage, Your strength, 
Your charity, humility, obedience, patience and purity. 

May I draw in Your Love, Your Spirit, Your Life.
May You live within me while I live and toil and suffer for You alone.'

from The Living Pyx of Jesus by A Religious, Pelligrini, 1941, p. 534

Painting at top: Enoch Wood Perry, Jr
Painting at bottom: Winslow Homer

The Divine Guest of my Soul

"He is with us always, within the depths of our souls always, listening to us and asking us to speak to Him, at least at intervals. 

"Is this quite true? Yes, the Eternal God, my Loving God, is within me, He is the Divine Guest of my soul. I must live my life with Him as much as my weakness, my misery, my meanness, my lukewarmness, my cowardice will allow. 

"This will not deter me in my other occupations nor separate me from others; it will take only a moment of time; only instead of being alone, I will have a Companion in my work and in my duties. 

"Now and again I will lower my eyes to my heart and remain in recollection for a few seconds, thinking 'You are here, my God, and I love You.' Thus I will develop the habit, and I will end by always feeling the sweet Companionship of the God of my heart."

(from The Living Pyx of Jesus by A Religious, Pelligrini, 1941, pp. 208-209)

Painting at top: Henriette Browne

Painting at bottom: Gifford Beal; Elevated,Columbus Avenue, NY, 1916

The Fundamental Truth

Lent stimulates us to let the word of God penetrate 

our life and in this way to know the fundamental truth: 

who we are, 

where we come from, 

where we must go, 

what path we must take.  

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

The Cloistered Heart

"The heart is the dwelling place where I am, where I live ... the heart is the place 'to which I withdraw.' The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others; only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully." 

Catechism of the Catholic Church #2563

Painting at bottom: Vlaho Bukovac

Bless Us, O Lord, and These Thy Gifts

'You say grace before meals. All right. 

But I say grace before the concert and the opera, 

and grace before the play and pantomime, 

and grace before I open a book, and grace 

before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, 

boxing, walking, playing, dancing; 

and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.

GK Chesterton

Painting at top: Josef Wagner-Höhenberg Lesender, Mönch
Painting at bottom: Caillebotte, Jeune homme au piano

While Crowds Pass

'Jesus lives in the solitude of the Tabernacle. 

Crowds pass, eager or despairing, in the conflict of human existence, 

in the persistent or reckless pursuits of pleasure. 

All are occupied with their material concerns, with the affairs of home. 

Few give thought to the Divine Lover who dwells amongst them.
Those alone know His divine charm who, like Mary and Joseph,
interweave human activity with the divine activity of self-surrender.
For them, the Tabernacle is the actual meeting place of lovers of Jesus with Himself.
There, they find abundance of spiritual energy and fullness of life.'

from 'Listening to the Indwelling Presence' by a Religious, Pelligrini, 1940, pp. 399-400

Enclose My Heart

'Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee, but so enclose it in Thee that it may never be separated from Thee. Heart of Jesus, I am all Thine; but take care of my promise so that I may be able to put it into practice even unto the complete sacrifice of my life.'  

Blessed Miguel Pro

We Give Thanks

'In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' 

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Painting of monks: Wilhelm Riefstahl
Painting of family: Von Bornin

Unceasingly

'For my heart is always with Him; day and night it thinks unceasingly 

of its heavenly and divine Friend, to Whom it wants to prove its affection.'

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity

God's Invitation

'God's invitation to become saints is for all, not just a few. Sanctity therefore must be accessible to all. In what does it consist? In a lot of activity? No. In doing extraordinary things? No, this could not be for everybody and at all times. Therefore sanctity consists in doing good, and in doing this good in whatever condition and place God has placed us. Nothing more, nothing outside of this.' 

Blessed Louis Tezza

Painting at top: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Maestà
Painting at bottom: Gari Melchers, Young Mother

And To The Next Generation

'What we have heard and know, things our ancestors have recounted to us. 
We do not keep them from our children; we recount them to the next generation, 
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and His strength...'
Psalm 78:3-4

So Your Whole Day Will Turn into Worship

'Keep struggling so that the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar 

really becomes the center and root of your interior life, 

and so your whole day will turn into an act of worship - 

an extension of the Mass you have attended 

and a preparation for the next. 

This will then overflow in aspirations, 

visits to the Blessed Sacrament, 

and the offering up of 
your professional work 

and your family life.'

St. Josemaria Escriva

My Secret Closet

'To enjoy interior peace, we must always reserve in our hearts amidst all affairs, as it were, a secret closet, where we are to keep retired within ourselves, and where no business of the world can ever enter.'

St. Antonino Peirozzi

True Pilgrimage

'To live by the day and to watch each step is the true pilgrimage method, 

for there is nothing little if God requires it.'

Fulton J Sheen

Outside, the Busy Hum

        'Yes, Lord, I've come. Too long hast Thou
        been waiting for me here alone,
        yearning to make my heart Thine own,
        whilst I - well, I am with Thee now...

        Here dwellest Thou unseen, by stealth,
        to hear our prayers and hush our sighs,
        and warm our hearts and dry our eyes,
        and lend the pining spirit health.

        Without:  the stir, the busy hum,
        the empty laugh, the heavy sigh,
        Thy creatures passing heedless by,
        like me too oft - but now I've come.

        I come and go, while through the night
        and through the day Thou mak'st Thou home
        beneath that little marble dome,
        which hides e'en Thy Disguise from sight...

        I go and come. Now bid me go
        with fuller grace and firmer will,
        though fain I'd linger near Thee still -
        but work must be our lot below.

        Thou, Lord, wilt smile upon my track
        throughout the busy hours, I know;
        Then bless me, Father, ere I go -
        Alas! I go - oh! draw me back.'

        (The Living Pyx of Jesus by A Religious, Pelligrini, 1941, pp. 503-504)

The Cloistered Heart, Illustrated

The video below captures, more than anything I have ever found, The Cloistered Heart as I have 'seen' it. I do not have words for how this video grabs me. When he stands in the midst of the crowd and begins to raise his hands, my heart is raised as well, and I come face to face with the absolute essence of what I have so long 'seen.'

'The Cloistered Heart is a city sort of vision. We must learn to sing the songs of God in a land removed from Him. To sing the Magnificat even as we live the Pieta. Ours are gentle melodies in a land that has forgotten the song...'

No matter where we are, no matter how dense the crowds or chaotic the traffic, in the cloisters of our hearts we can sing. In the cloisters of our hearts we can praise. In the cloisters of our hearts, we can remember the Savior's loving song.

To our e-mail subscribers: this post contains a video, which can be viewed by going to the blog itself.

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









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