From the Heart of St. Paul of the Cross

Considering a few "cloistered hearts" gone before us, I quickly think of St. Paul of the Cross. “The world lives unmindful of the sufferings of Jesus..." wrote this saint; "we must arouse the world from its slumber.” 

Through a great number of letters and sermons, Paul of the Cross indeed helped awaken the world.   Founder of the Passionists and a tireless worker for Christ, Paul walked from town to town, church to church, for over 40 years, preaching "the loving memory of the passion and death of Jesus Christ..." (from "In the Shadow of His Wings")

The saints were the ideal "cloistered hearts," although most would not have thought in such terms.  Looking at the following words by St. Paul of the Cross, however, I have a feeling he was one of those who did....    

"Build an oratory within yourself, and there have Jesus on the altar of your heart. Speak to Him often while you are doing your work." 

"Rest tranquilly in the loving Heart of our dear Savior; do not lose peace, even though the world turn upside down."

"Faith tells us that our heart is a Sanctuary, because it is the Temple of God, the dwelling-place of the Holy Trinity.  Let us often visit this Sanctuary, and see that the lamps are alight - that is to say, Faith, Hope and Charity - and frequently stir up our faith when we are studying, working, or eating, when we go to bed, and when we rise, and make aspirations to God.”

"Take the holy, gentle will of God as your spouse, wedded each moment by the ring of faith in which are set all the jewels of hope and love."

“Nourish yourself with God’s Holy Will.  Drink of this Chalice of Jesus.  Close your eyes and do not seek to know what it may contain.  It is enough to know that Jesus offers it.”

"Celebrate the feast of Christmas every day, even every moment, in the interior temple of your spirit."    

For more about St. Paul of the Cross, click on this link                                                       

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In the Inner Cloister of Her Heart

      "We absorb more and more of His Spirit until - in the midst of crowds or secluded in our cells - we are alone with our Master and inseparable Guide.  Jesus Christ is very nigh to the soul that seeks and loves Him, and she speaks to Him in the inner cloister of her heart.

      No one can measure how precious a thing this is, who has not experienced the strength and power, the joy and peace that is derived from it.  The soul talks familiarly with God in her own words and her own way.  She has no set form of speech, for none is needed.  She is at home with God, and He with her.  Jesus Christ is no far off Divinity, but very nigh, dwelling in her heart.  There is nothing she cannot tell Him about, whether it be joy or sorrow, success or failure.  It is all poured into His ears."   

                   (from Sheltering the Divine Outcast, by a Religious, Peter Reilly Co., Philadelphia, 1931, pp. 14-15)

Painting: Almeida Júnior  - Moça com Livro, US public domain   
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The Cloistered Heart of St. Margaret Mary

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque's was a heart filled with fire.  Jesus chose to reveal to this Visitation nun a Heart ablaze - His own Sacred Heart.  I think it's accurate to say that the saint encountered the Fire of Jesus' love and reflected it back to Him.  Love met love, Heart met heart, Fire met fire.  But the story did not end there.

Jesus entrusted to Margaret Mary a mission:  to spread the message of His fiery love.

"My Divine Heart," Christ said in an apparition to this humble nun in 1673, "is so passionately fond of the human race, and of you in particular, that it cannot keep back the pent-up flames of its burning charity any longer. They must burst out through you."

St. Margaret Mary later wrote: "Jesus asked for my heart, which I begged Him to take, and He placed it in His adorable One, in which He showed it to me as a tiny speck consumed in this burning furnace. Then, taking it out as a burning flame shaped like a heart, He replaced it in the place from which He had taken it."  

St. Margaret Mary said many things that strike at the very core of my "cloistered" heart.  I have room here for a few examples....

"Our Lord frequently told me that I should keep a secluded place for Him in my heart, where He would teach me to love Him."  

"I beg the Sacred Heart of Jesus to deign to consume ours in the flames of His holy love, so that they may live and breathe only to love, honor and glorify Him." 

"Jesus Christ is the true friend of our hearts, and they are made for Him alone.  They cannot find rest, joy, or satisfaction except in Him."

"He wants your heart without reserve."

Jesus wants my heart without reserve.  He desires my love in return for His.  

How will I respond?

Detail of painting by Georges de la Tours, cropped and digitally altered.  In public domain

to learn more about St. Margaret Mary, click here

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The Habit Speaks

Armand Gautier, Three Nuns in the Portal of a Church

What does a Religious habit say to me when I see someone wearing it?  

"I have found God to be worth the gift of my whole life," it tells me. "Nothing on earth is as important as He." 

I thought of this, of the witnessing power of the habit, today when I saw the video I'm sharing on this post. I share it with hope that you have a few minutes to prayerfully witness this clothing of someone making a total gift of self to God.  

As we know, each part of the monastic habit is deeply symbolic. 

Can I identify, in a spiritual way, with any of the habit pieces placed on Sister?  

I ask God to show me.  I ask Him to clothe me in His love and His grace.
                                 
                                                                                                                                      



Visit this Passionist Monastery at http://www.passionistnuns.org/     

A Touch of Wind

I've been in need of a fresh spiritual breeze in my (admittedly dusty) cloister.  A look into the basics of what it means to live cloistered in heart has been just what I've needed to swoosh a few cobwebs away.   

I am now sharing the fruits of this fresh wind with you.  We have new stand-alone pages.  A click on any topic will open up a basic explanation, although not all follow the same exact "pattern."  Content will be added and changed in these pages as time goes on

The intention is to enable new readers to see quickly, as much in a nutshell as possible, what the basic cloistered heart idea is about. There are also a few "refreshers" for those of us who are not new to this spot.