Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: May 2022

Wednesday, May 25, 2022

Bride of the Word - the Ecstatic Virgin

Today is the feast of a little known Carmelite saint who was a famous mystic, known as the “Ecstatic Virgin” - St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

She experienced visions of God and her emphasis was on Jesus the Incarnate Word revealing himself to her, with her as the “Bride of the Word”.

She is the patron of Third Order Carmelites and like St Catherine of Siena she also prayed for Church reform and write letters to the hierarchy.

In her famous words - “let us love Love!”

Saturday, May 14, 2022

New Saints - the white robed army of martyrs praises you Lord

Tomorrow is an exciting day in the Church where we will have 10 new Saints of God proclaimed! 3 of them specifically stand out to me and these 3 were killed and/or martyred.

1) Titus Brandsma - my brother in Carmel. Professor of mysticism and journalist who preached against the Nazi’s, killed in Dachau for refusing to collaborate with the Nazi’s.

2) Charles Foucault - hermit who struggled to find his vocation, and eventually had to create his own way of living his calling. Lived a simple life in the desert among people, killed by marauders

3) Lazarus Devasahayam Pillai - Indian layman. Imprisoned for 3 years, tortured and martyred for refusing to deny Jesus.

Holy Martyrs of God - pray for us to be faithful followers of the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world!

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Blessed Titus Brandsma - Carmelite mystic & martyr

This beautiful prayer of Bl Titus Brandsma has all the characteristics of Carmelite spirituality - gazing on Jesus, friendship with Jesus, affectivity, union with God in silence & suffering, and the Presence of God.

Blessed Titus Brandsma, soon to be Saint - Pray for us to be modern mystics and prophets of Jesus to the world 🙏

To learn more about him, see the letter from the Carmelite Prior General here

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Mary the true Contemplative

In Carmelite Mariology, Our Lady is the true Contemplative who guides us to Jesus. She is our Mother and also our sister on the journey to God.

Mary is the fruitful mystic who was filled with God. Daughter of the Father, Mother of Jesus & Spouse of the Holy Spirit.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel - pray for us

The holiness of labor and work - authentic Catholic manhood

Today 1st May is the feast of St Joseph the worker, but because today is Sunday we do not celebrate it liturgically.

We often imagine Jesus & St Joseph as carpenters, but the Greek word in the Gospels is “tektōn”(τέκτων) which can also mean builder or craftsman. So the work they did was more varied than what we imagine today that carpenters do. This is why Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St Joseph the Worker on 1st May, to counter balance the influence of Socialism and Communism, to recognise the dignity and holiness of manual labor.

St Joseph is the true model of authentic Catholic manhood.

“The spirit flows to you and to all men from the heart of the God-man, Savior of the world, but certainly, no worker was ever more completely and profoundly penetrated by it than the foster father of Jesus, who lived with Him in closest intimacy and community of family life and work.” - Pope Pius XII

Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.