Meditations on the woman that I love, Mary, the Blessed Virgin
Disciples of Jesus and Mary
If you would like to receive meditations that we publish on St. John of the Cross please let us know. First week -- "Come, Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse" -- Act of Sorrow -- one Our Father -- three Hail Marys Say this prayer at the beginning of the week.
It is very important to say the morning offering daily to get the benefit of the prayer.
Remember the four pillars: Second week -"Come, Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse" - Act of Sorrow - one Our Father - three Hail Marys If we who say we are devoted and consecrated to her were, we would have peace by now. We have all failed. Examine yourself where you have failed, and be honest. Read the previous sentence that is inspired by Mary repeatedly and your failings will come to mind. Read each sentence here one line at a time and meditate on it. Imagine that you see God, full of majesty and seated on His throne and you hear a voice say,"I am the beginning and the end." (Apoc. 23:13) Do this meditation slowly. Imagine who God is and who you are. Every heartbeat and every breath you take is a gift from God. Third week -"Come, Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse" - Act of Sorrow - one Our Father - three Hail Marys Just as there are no two people alike, there are no two angels alike. Imagine that you see a vast ocean which represents the goodness of God from whom we come forth and hopefully will one day return to. This is how our life is. God has fixed the day and hour He will call us to eternity. How fortunate those who are devoted to Mary on that day and always! Very few are truly devoted to Mary from their heart. Those who practice lip service are many and Mary is very displeased with them. The Scripture says,"For those who find me find life and win favor from the Lord." (Song 2:10) St. Paul says,"If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Rom. 8:9) The same applies to Mary. If we have not her spirit in us, we have no part with her, and our consecration to her loses its meaning. Fourth week -"Come, Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well beloved spouse" - Act of Sorrow - one Our Father - three Hail Marys
In her beauty of life and her hands, we are a salutary binding (Eccl. 6:31), promoting the teaching of our holy faith that no one can merit the gift of final perseverance. We have to work on being and remaining in a state of grace. We have no insurance against our loss of grace. Today we can be in a state of grace but tomorrow we can be in a state of mortal sin. We carry our treasure of divine grace in the earthen vessel of a fallen human nature which is easily broken ever since the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and our personal sins have weakened its power of resistance. This moral weakness has led to the formation of bad habits. Bad habits are not easily rooted out and, while they remain, the state of grace is in peril (grave risk). In other words, all of us have formed evil habits outside of mortal sin. For example, slander, lies, gossip, etc. breaks the fifth commandment by killing people’s reputation. Bad habits of anger, impatience and complaining show that you have weak faith and a lack of trust toward God.
St. John of the Cross Jesus be in your soul First Stanza (Poem) 
Where have you hidden Beloved, and left me moaning? You fled like a stag. After wounding me, I went out calling, but you were gone. St. John of the Cross says in this first stanza the soul is enamored (in love) of the Word. (Remember that the Beloved has risen you from a higher state of life and He leaves you alone.) St. John says, "Her bridegroom, the Son of God, longs for union with Him through clear and essential vision." (The soul has now realized that her happiness is to be with Him, but she feels that He left her alone.) St. John of the Cross says, "She complains to Him of His absence, especially since His love wounds her." She no longer feels any sweetness, pleasure or delightfulness. You must understand that God gives you consolation to reach a higher state of love, but then you suffer aridity and dryness, and many people fall back as they suffer these pains. St. John says, "You cannot reach union with God by willing it." A soul has to suffer a harsh life. Beginners are drawn to relics, medals, reading one book after another, thinking they can reach holiness this way. This too fails. St. John says, only the Holy Spirit can transform a soul, by removing the fat from the soul. You must be purged from all attachments. Purging of the senses is terrifying and will go on until you are left void. The dark night of the senses, however, is only the beginning, more terrible is the dark night of the spirit. When the caravan is empty, the soul feels that God has left. Only few, says St. John, get to the dark night of the spirit. Most turn back from this suffering of temptation of the spirit and want an ending of this life. Feeling abandonment by God, they have physical, spiritual and mental suffering. St. John of the Cross says, "I am wounded with love, I die because I do not die." St. John is saying that it is a living death for the soul to remain in the body. She would rather die to this life in order to be united with God. The Little Flower (Doctor of the Church) In our previous issue we described the fifth characteristic of the little way of Saint Therese, Love of Neighbor. In this issue, we will describe the sixth characteristic, Spirit of Renunciation and Sacrifice. In consequence of original sin, we find in ourselves a tendency to seek ourselves in all things. It is this inordinate self-love that prevents the full unfolding of our love of God and our growth in Christ. Whoever desires to love God as He deserves to be loved must reject everything that might impede or weaken that love. That is why Jesus demands of those who wish to be his disciples that they deny themselves. Jesus said "If you want to come after me you must deny yourself, pick up your cross each day and follow me." Saint Therese resolved to love God alone and to practice a radical renunciation. What is this renunciation? It is above all an interior disposition, a spiritual attitude. Renunciation consists principally in mortifying that self-love which makes us seek our own pleasure and satisfaction in everything we do. It means that we practice self-forgetfulness. We renounce ourselves because we love God and want to love him progressively more. Therese once said to a novice "Jesus fills your soul according to the measure in which you get rid of your selfishness and imperfections." Therese practiced renunciation during her entire life. As a child she said "once I was told a thing was not right, I no longer had any desire of committing that fault a second time." If she was falsely accused, she preferred to keep silent instead of offering excuses. She also applied herself to the task of curbing her self-will. On the day of her First Holy Communion, she declared "I felt my heart being filled with love and with the desire of forgetting myself in order to give pleasure to others. From that time on, I have been happy." Therese said "On earth we ought not to attach ourselves to anything. It is only that which is eternal that is capable of satisfying our heart." In her desire to become a Saint, Therese said "Oh God, I fear one thing only, that is clinging to my own will. My choice is do what you wish me to do. Take away from me all self-will." Therese taught her novices to endure as much as you can before you make any complaint. She attached great importance to minor acts of renunciation. The little sacrifices that she offered to God so frequently were small acts of loving self-denial or mortification which thwarted the natural demand of self and gave her endless hidden opportunity of expressing her deep love of God and of practicing virtue. In the novitiate she accepted the oldest and most darned clothes and never complained about any food served even if she disliked it. She took every opportunity for mortification that came her way. She chose for herself the most painful and disagreeable tasks. During her painful illness, she never complained and kept her sufferings and sorrows to herself. She stifled her curiosity, never entered into gossip and only asked question about things that it was her duty to know. Therese said "It seems to me that we cannot accomplish any good while we indulge in self-seeking. True love is found only in complete self-forgetfulness." One of her novices asked her how she managed to always be calm and cheerful, she replied "I was not always that way but from the time that I gave up self-seeking I have been leading the happiest life one can imagine. "Therese always saw the bright side of things. "Jesus," she said, "loves cheerful hearts; he loves a soul that is always smiling. To love means to forget ourselves for the one whom we truly love." Between now and the next issue, let us open our minds and hearts to the spirit of renunciation and self sacrifice. In our next issue we will discuss the seventh characteristic of The Little Way of Saint Therese, Abandonment. In the presence of the Blessed Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Angels and Saints, I wish to follow the way of St. Therese of Lisieux. I wish to gather the blood that is going to waste in Jesus crucified. I wish to use it to save souls who are going to hell. I wish to sacrifice my life to Jesus crucified through Mary, the Blessed Virgin and to offer it for priests, the conversion of sinners, especially those in my family and to assist the souls in Purgatory. My mission is to do all out of love. I sacrifice all my daily duties, my prayers, my sufferings to Jesus through Mary that she may purify all my thoughts, words and deeds. I offer every breath, every heartbeat as an act of love to Jesus through Mary and to follow St. Therese? little way of love. Remember the Four Pillars:
1. Pray, especially the Mass and the Holy Rosary Douay-Rheims Bible
Scapular of Mt. Carmel
The Teachings of We would like to thank each of you who have sent a donation to help us publish our newsletter and to distribute prayer cards, rosaries, scapulars, miraculous medals, etc. PRAYER REQUESTS All prayer requests are placed under the feet of our statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and we offer our daily prayers and a rosary for your intentions. CHANGE OF ADDRESS We have an extensive member list and find that some of our bi-monthly mailings are returned to us. Please be sure to notify us of any change or correction of your address by writing or calling us at (908) 234-0488. SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS If you would like to receive meditations that we publish on St. John of the Cross please let us know.
Rocco Colontuono, O. C. D. S. Disciples of Jesus & Mary Box 183, Peapack, NJ 07977 908-234-0488
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