For a Strong Grille

My spiritual "grillwork" is in need of strengthening. The world around is not embracing the truth of God as revealed in Scripture, and we who want to discern and live God's will are facing increasing challenges. Our grillwork needs to be as sturdy as possible.

What strengthens my grillwork? Reading, praying, living scripture. Picking up a Bible and savoring it as the love letter it truly is. Going beyond reading scripture into making a conscious effort to live it. Studying the Word so that I can see and respond to life through it.

'The holy scriptures are our letters from Home.' St Augustine

If we need strengthening of our own "grillwork," the following links may offer some help:

Catholic Way Bible Study

Catholic Spiritual Direction - Bible Helps

Scott Hahn Tools for Bible Study

Lectio and Keyholes

Utterly for God

Sometimes
words are 
unnecessary ...























Hat tip to the Institute on Religious Life for passing along this beautiful video!

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)

Advent: We Begin in Song

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

In the Secrecy of the Soul

I would like to share with you a video I just came across. It's a look inside a Carmelite monastery... in 1959! Even though it was a bit hard for me (with my 'older ears') to hear, I found it a delight. How about you? Click here to see.

Revisiting St. Faustina

Several years ago, we looked briefly at a few saints who had a lot to say to 'cloistered hearts.' While these holy ones may never have thought of their hearts as 'cloistered,' indeed that was the reality.

One of these was St. Faustina Kowalska, whose feast we celebrate today.

'I find pleasure, not in large buildings and magnificent structures,' said Jesus to St. Faustina, 'but in a pure and humble heart.'  (Diary #532)

'In the dwelling of my heart is that wilderness to which no creature has access.  There, You alone are King.'  (St. Faustina, Diary #725)

'My heart is a permanent dwelling place for Jesus.  No one but Jesus has access to it.' (St. Faustina, Diary #193)

'Nothing terrifies me, even if the whole world should turn against me.  All adversaries touch only the surface, but they have no entry to the depths, because God, who strengthens me, who fills me, dwells there.'  (St. Faustina, Diary #480)

'Nothing disturbs my union with the Lord, neither conversation with others nor any duties; even if I am to go about settling very important matters, this does not disturb me.  My spirit is with God, and my interior being is filled with God, so I do not look for Him outside myself.  He, the Lord, penetrates my soul just as a ray from the sun penetrates clear glass.  When I was enclosed in my mother's womb, I was not so closely united with her as I am with my God.  There, it was an unawareness; but here it is the fullness of reality and the consciousness of union.'  (St. Faustina, Diary #883)

'My daughter, I want to repose in your heart, because many souls have thrown Me out of their hearts today.'  (Jesus to St. Faustina, #866 )

All quotes above are from Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul by St. Faustina Kowalska, Marians of the Immaculate Conception, Stockbridge, 1996.

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

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.'









thecloisteredheart.org

You're Invited on a Field Trip....

Thanks to a recent posting from Dan Burke, I've just found a delightful little video of a Community of Carmelite nuns in New Zealand. I was particularly struck by the atheist-to-nun journey of the Prioress, and I loved having glimpses of the routine, the monastery, the habit, the grilles.

Care to join me for a look inside the walls?





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

In A Monastery Garden

'The beginner must think of himself as setting out to make a garden in which the Lord is to take His delight, yet in soil most unfruitful and full of weeds.  

'His Majesty uproots the weeds and will set good plants in their stead.  

'We have now, by God’s help like good gardeners, to make these plants grow.  We must water them carefully, so that they may not perish, but may produce flowers which shall send forth great fragrance to give refreshment to this Lord of ours, so that he may often come into the garden to take his pleasure and his delight among these virtues.' 

St. Teresa of Avila






To our e-mail subscribers: this post features a 5-minute video, which may be seen by going to the blog itself. On a personal note: when I began viewing this, I thought it might be too long. By the time it was halfway through and the chant had begun, I wanted it never to end.

Painting: Albert Edelfelt

The Visit

The Eucharistic Visit

'The Visit is a meeting of our soul

and of our whole being with Jesus.

It is the creature meeting the Creator;

the disciple before the Divine Master;

the patient with the Doctor of souls;

the poor one appealing to the Rich One;

the thirsty one drinking at the Font;

the weak before the Almighty;

the tempted seeking a sure Refuge;

the blind person searching for the Light;

the friend who goes to the True Friend;

the lost sheep sought by the Divine Shepherd;

the wayward heart who finds Wisdom;

the bride who finds the Spouse of the soul;

the 'nothing' who finds the All;

the afflicted who finds the Consoler;

the seeker who finds life's Meaning.'

Blessed James Alberione

From Two Bent Knees

'Neither theological knowledge nor social action alone is enough to keep us in love with Christ unless both are preceded by a personal encounter with Him. Theological insights are gained not only from between the covers of a book, but from two bent knees before an altar. 

The Holy Hour becomes like an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the foul and fetid atmosphere of the world.'

Venerable Fulton Sheen

Here, We Can Sing

How many times have I posted the video below? Four? Five? Nine?

Whyever in the world (you ask) would I share the same thing over and over?

Because this 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.




  



Text © 2015 Nancy Shuman. 
thecloisteredheart.org     

Gaudate Sunday

We
rejoice, 
for
The Time 
draws 
near

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Hide Me

Over these last weeks, I am appreciating more than ever the Refuge we have available to us in this torn, aching, wounded world.  If we don't realize that parts of our planet are in great distress just now, we have been living under a rock.

And whether or not we know of the distress around, we may be sure of this:  we can live on and under and within THE Rock.  Jesus is our Rock, our Refuge.  He is our Hiding Place, our fortress, our one true cloister.

I see the truth of this when I consider so many saints gone before us... martyrs who much preferred death to the possibility of turning away from Christ.  What grace they received - exactly when they needed it.  This gives me hope.

In Acts 16, for instance, we read of Paul and Silas thrown into jail after having been given many lashes.  Their feet were chained to a stake.  Surely they were miserable.  I can imagine myself there, whining and grumbling and feeling sorry for myself.   But were Paul and Silas wailing, angry, groaning?  No.  They were praying and singing hymns to God.

And consider St. Ignatius of Antioch, as he was on his way to be fed to lions.  "Leave me to the beasts," he wrote, "that through them I may be accounted worthy of God.  I am the wheat of God, and by the teeth of the beasts I shall be ground, so that I may be found the pure bread of God.  Greatly provoke the wild beasts so that they may be my grave and leave nothing of my body, so that I won't be a burden on anyone.  Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ."    

What grace!  The same grace that was given to St. Stephen as he was being stoned.   The same grace (we can believe it) that is offered to people undergoing persecution for Christ today. 

I see Stephen as a perfect patron for those of us who strive to view life "through the grille."   He fearlessly spoke the truth of God, and those who listened were stung to the heart (Acts 7:54).  And then, as we know, they stoned him (Acts 6 and 7).

If  anyone ever "viewed and responded to circumstances 'through the grille,'" it was Stephen.  Even as his persecutors were preparing to kill him, he boldly exclaimed "'Look!... I see an opening in the sky, and the Son of Man standing at God's right hand."

I am sure this acute view of reality buffered the saint's agony as stones were hurled at him.  "As he was being stoned, he could be heard praying, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'  He fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.'"  (Acts 7:54, 59, 60) 

"The cloistered heart."  I wrote some years ago, "is the heart of David dancing before the ark; of Mesach, Shadrach and Abednego in the fiery furnace; of Paul in prison, Daniel in the lions’ den, John on Patmos, Peter in chains.  The world is not safe from evil – even the body isn’t safe from harm – but within the cloistered heart there is refuge.  The Lord is with me, He is within my cloister.  My heart, as long as He is in it, is safe."  (from the book The Cloistered Heart). 

I must remember this.  In the madness all around, I must remember....

Within the cloistered heart there is refuge.  The Lord is with me.  

My heart, as long as He is in it, is safe. 

To our e-mail subscribers:  this post contains videos, which can be viewed on the blog itself.  As always, advertisements on these are not chosen nor endorsed by me.  

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Linkup Blitz 

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By Deed of Gift

The thing that draws me most about monasticism is its absolute totality.  The person entering such a life gives ALL. 

As I've written before, a potential postulant does not stick her head inside the enclosure and leave her arms and legs dangling outside.  It just won't work.

Yet how often do I give God "only so much," holding little corners of my life in reserve for myself?

Absolute totality is a process.  It's a process even for those in the physical monastery, for while they've pulled their bodies inside, surely parts of their hearts linger for awhile outside the walls. 

"Choose this day whom you will serve."  (Joshua 24:15)

How I have wished I could just step over a threshold, dividing world from cloister, and be done with complacency and compromise forever.  I am not so naïve as to think it’s that simple, certainly. 

But I would like to make, in one moment of time, at least a concrete beginning.  A consecration of self to God.  And so I pray: 

'O God.... I ask You to forgive my carelessness, my irreverence, my infidelity.  Gladly I accept this great vocation, this high honour, this immeasurable dignity, to be Your temple, Your altar, Your house, Your home. Joyfully I consecrate to You my body, with all its members and all its senses, my hands and feet, my eyes and ears and tongue, its powers of seeing and hearing and speaking, my impulses and instincts, and appetite and desires.  I make them over to You, by deed of gift; to be absolutely and forever Yours, to be employed always in Your service, never to be used against Your will.  O God, take this body of mine, consecrate it, let it never be defiled by sin.   Let it never be employed in the service of Your enemy, the devil!  Let it never become the abode of evil, nor be used against the best interests of any of Your children!'  (from "Listening to the Indwelling Presence," compiled by a Religious, Pellegrini, Australia, 1940, pp. 24-26)

To our e-mail subscribers:  this post contains a video, which can be viewed by going to the blog itself.
As always, ads on videos here are neither chosen nor endorsed by me.

Parts of this post are from our older writings.  Text not in quotes is © Nancy Shuman. 
thecloisteredheart.org      

Painting at top of post:  Rostislav Felitsin

This post is liked to Catholic Bloggers Network Linkup Blitz


For more about our own commitment to God, click this line

Their Moments of Yes

The ceremony of a person entering consecrated life is (I find) beyond the reach of mortal words.

I dare not touch it with description. 

Instead, I will allow those who have made such commitments to show you their moments of yes.

I hope we will all
do ourselves a favor,
and click on the links below.....


















Click on lines to view:
Profession Ceremony

Entering Carmel











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Photo at top of post by Connie Wells, of a Sister signing vows (digitally altered with  permission)


For more about our own commitment to God, click this line

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel

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As always, ads on videos here are neither chosen nor endorsed by me.

Their Vocation

A religious habit, as we read several days ago, is a sign of an inward consecration.

Without this consecration, I could wear every sort of wimple and every length of veil, and still I would not be a nun.

God called me to a different vocation, and He has given me grace to respond to that one.  Is there anything I can learn, however, from looking at the call to religious life?   How does that particular call come, and how does a person respond?

The following stories are ones I have found inspiring.  I hope they will touch you as well.

"The love of God is the strongest driving force on earth. Thousands upon hundreds of thousands have given up their lives simply because they loved Him so much that breath and heartbeat slipped into the inconsequential by comparison.  Hundreds upon thousands of young girls have walked into cloisters and never walked out of them because their youth and liberty were the very least to give the One they loved so much."  (Mother Mary Francis PCC, A Right to be Merry,  Click here for more about this book)

Links to (beautiful) personal stories by individuals who have answered a call to cloistered life:

Vocation 
A Rose Transplanted
Totally Yours, Jesus   
Prom Queen to Cloistered Nun






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Painting at top of post:  Olga Boznanska, 1890,in US public domain due age


To read about our own call to commitment, click this line

Sing in the Secret Recesses

"O My dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let Me see you,
let Me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely...."

Song of Songs 2:14









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public domain photo


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Out of the Turmoil of Life

"We know but too well that we deteriorate by our friction with the world.  Our clothes get worse for the wear, and so do our souls.  The trees and flowers lose their bloom in the midst of large cities, and become sickly and easily die; so the spirit becomes tainted with the atmosphere around it - often indeed, it falls into serious disorder with complications.  What hubbub, what warfare, what tumult it has to live in!  Who shall stand unscathed, loyal to faith and generous self-sacrificing love in the midst of it?  Men of business, in the forge and working-house of thought, get away to the pure air of the country to recoup their powers.  Must we not do likewise - get out of the turmoil of life, and enjoy the spiritual atmosphere of the retreat, to restore and renew our spiritual life and vigour?" (from Fervorinos from the Lips of the Master, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1940, pp. 240-241)

While we shall stick to the 'adventure' we began over a month ago, this week we're doing things a little differently.  Taking a cloistered break, perhaps.  Not moving away from the monastery....  oh, indeed not.... but instead (hopefully) sinking more deeply into it.  I will be looking out, this week, for things to help us do just that. 

In my part of the world, we're in the thick of summer.  Summer heat, summer gatherings, summer noise.  Picnics, reunions, sports, weddings, children's activities.... while these may be enjoyable, they can produce a hubbub and tumult in which we come face to face with the challenge to "stand unscathed, loyal to faith and self-sacrificing love."

Even those inside monasteries go on retreat - right where they are.  They go into seclusion (normally once a year) for their own spiritual refreshment.  

I found three minutes of refreshment by watching the following video.  But I didn't merely watch it.  I "settled into it" and let it simply wash over me.  Then I did so again.  

Got three minutes?  That's all this takes........






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To continue this brief 'retreat,' click this line