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)

Making the Connection

Hold Onto the Map

'There is always hope for the man who knows that he is doing wrong, 

but there is no hope for the man who is doing wrong and calls the wrong right. 

The Catholic gets off the road like anyone else, but he never throws away the map.'

Fulton J. Sheen, from the Wartime Prayer Book

Our map can be found here or here. And here or here.

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

Possible Prayer