Advent in Everyday Life

'It is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an 'advent,' a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ. To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord who, as we say in the Creed, one day will come to judge the living and the dead, we must learn to recognize Him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward Him Who already came, Who will come, and Who comes continuously.'

Pope St John Paul II

Painting: Martin von Feuerstein, US public domain due to age

The Loveliest Beauty of All

'To eyes which know how to find it, there is in the least luxuriant season of the year a beauty which is entirely sufficient. And to the perception of a nun, the quiet and solemnity of a convent contain all the loveliness she needs. Just as there is no season without its particular beauty, so there is no health of soul without beauty; and the beauty of holiness is the truest and loveliest of all.' (Lathrop, A Story of Courage, p.2; punctuation slightly edited)

Click this line for information about A Story of Courage.

Painting: Carl Friedrich Lessing, Klosterhof im Schnee 


This post is part of our series 'A Story of Courage.' To continue in chronological order, click this line.

And Give Him Thanks

'In all created things discern the providence 

and wisdom of God, and in all things give Him thanks.'

St. Teresa of Avila

Painting of Thanksgiving: Norman Rockwell
Painting of monks: Konstantin Stoitzner

Trained to Beds of Roses

'Our master, 'the world,' has trained us to beds of roses - if we can afford them, or get credit for them. He has taught us to follow luscious waltz tunes and broken rules; he has loaded us with wasted hours, with muscles relaxed, and with flesh tender with indulgence.' (A Story of Courage, p.4)

Entering cloistered life is refusing to be mastered any longer by the world. It is turning ourselves over to another Master. This act of turning is what has long drawn me. Can I, a woman whose vocation is in the world, truly make such a turn?

I've asked that question for years now. Have I found the answer? I can only say: I am finding.

I consider these things today and ask myself:

- Do I identify with being 'trained to beds of roses?' What does this mean to me?
- What enchanting, mesmerizing 'tunes' of the world am I following?
- Am I emulating those (perhaps in the media) who make it seem okay to break God's rules?
- How am I wasting time? What steps can I take to change this?
- How are my prayer-muscles? What can I do to tone up my prayer life? 

'God trains.... to laws that cannot be broken; to a system that holds back from sin... to hours devoted to the good of the many... and to a sight which can see, whenever the spirit hungers and thirsts for it, Christ upon the cross, dying to save mankind.' (A Story of Courage, p.4)

Click this line for information about the book A Story of Courage.

Painting: Jan van Beers, In The Hammock


This post is part of our series 'A Story of Courage.' To continue in chronological order, click this line.

A Story of Courage

This is a post to be linked back to, in order to provide information on the following book:

A Story of Courage: Annals of the Georgetown Convent of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
by George Parsons Lathrop and Rose Hawthorne Lathrop.
Original publication date: 1894.

Nabu Public Domain Reprints states: 'You may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.'

Information on Rose Hawthorne Lathrop can be found by clicking here. 






My copy of this book is a bound paperback, given to me by a friend. I am sorry that I know of no links for downloading the text. 



To begin our 'series' of posts using this book, click this line. They will then link from one to another in chronological order.







Painting: Noel Halle, Francis de Sales Giving Visitation Rule to St. Jane