20 June 2010: ‘Nuestra Señora de la Correa’

Our Lady of the Consolation also known as the‘Our Lady of the Cord’. Like the scapular, the cord or belt, is a symbol of Mary’s promise to save from perdition whoever seek her protection. (Fr Charles Belmonte, “Aba Ginoong Maria”, 1990, p141)

Tradition has it that Our Lady appeared to St Monica holding a black cincture (‘correa’, Spanish) as a sign that her son, Augustine will be converted and become a great saint. (“A Marian Pilgrimage”, Sinag-Tala Publishers, Inc, Manila, p2)

The Heart of Jesus -- ‘The meekness of His words’

Every page of the Gospels bears witness to this trait. “I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep.” (Jn 10:11) Again: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! ... How often would I have gathered your children, yet you refused.” (Mt 23:37) And to Judas in his very act of betrayal: “Friend, do what you came for.” (Mt 26:50) "Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” (Lk 22:48) Above all, he prayed on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Lk 23:34)

If 'from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks’, how do our hearts compare with our Saviour’s? We are so harsh in judging others or exaggerate their faults. Jesus answers with such meekness when unjustly accused. And we react with sarcasm when told of our real faults. Jesus finds an excuse for his executioners. We are angry even if the perceived hurt is justified.

Ref: cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp327-8

Wanting to be a saint

“For what will profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?” (Mt 16:26) This question forces us to examine our life to which only God gives final meaning. “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” (Ps 41) The saints greatly desired to belong to God completely despite their defects.

We must start by making the desire for holiness flourish in our soul, telling Our Lord: ‘I want to be a saint’; or at least “When I experience my softness and weakness, I ‘want’ to want to be a saint.”

To banish doubt and make holiness truly meaningful, let us look at Christ-- “The Lord Jesus, divine teacher and model of all perfection, preached holiness of life (of which he is author and maker) to each and every one of his disciples without distinction: ‘You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.’” (Mt 5:48) (Second Vatican Council, “Lumen Gentium”, 40)

He has taken the initiative. Otherwise, desiring to be a saint would be improbable to us. Jesus commands: “... be perfect!” And so it is not surprising that the Church makes sure her children hear the following resounding words: “Therefore, all the faithful are invited and obliged to holiness and the perfection of their own state of life.” (“Lumen gentium”, 42)

Souls who embark on the path of holiness must first really want to be saints “whatever may come, whatever may happen to them, however hard they may have to labour, whoever may complain of them, whether they reach their goal or die on the road”. (St Theresa, “The Way of Perfection”, 21, 2)

“Allow your soul to be consumed by desires: desires for loving, for forgetting yourself, for sanctity, for heaven. ... Let your desires be operative, and put them into practice in your daily tasks.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 628)

Therefore, we must examine our conscience to see if our desires of holiness are sincere and effective; if we take them as obligatory for a faithful Christian. This examination could reveal the reason for so much weakness and apathy in interior struggle.

“You tell me, yes, you want to. Very good: but do you want as a miser longs for gold, as a mother loves her child, as a worldling craves for honours, or as a wretched sensualist seeks his pleasure? No? Then, you don’t want to!” (Ibid, “The Way”, 316)

Let us develop these desires with the virtue of hope. Effectively desiring something goes with hope of attaining it. Our theological hope rests on God.

Ref: cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 2:429-31

Interior Life

“We have need of a rich interior life -- a sure sign of friendship with God and an essential condition for any kind of work with souls.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, 31 May 1943)

All the values of this world just disappear if compared with the least of supernatural values. St Thomas Aquinas expressed this idea in a metaphysical way: ‘a single grace is a greater good than all the natural good of the entire universe’.

The heart of of a man is like a cradle in which Jesus is born again. That is why, in all the hearts which have chosen to receive him, Jesus grows in age, in strength and in grace according to a person’s capacity to receive him. He shows himself in the life of men as a child, or as an adolescent in full development, or as a mature man.

Christ’s desire is to be born and to grow in the heart and in the life of Christians. Thus, he wants to make each Christian, another Christ. We should all respond to this calling of grace, repeating the words of the Precursor [St John the Baptist]: “He must become more and more, I must become less and less.” (Jn 3:30)

This fruit of interior life affects everything we do and makes us enjoy the consoling parable of the vine and branches: “He who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)

Ref: cf Salvatore Canals, “Jesus as friend”, 1981, pp21-2, 24

Our Lady -- ‘Help of Christians’, says the litany of Loreto with confidence. Have you tried to repeat that aspiration in time of difficulty? If you do it with faith, with the tenderness of a daughter or a son, you will discover the power of the intercession of your Holy Mother Mary, who will lead you to victory. (St Josemaria Escrivá, “Furrow”, 180)

Our Lady of Blachernae, in the harbor of Constantinople, where they possess the winding-sheet of Our Lady, given by the Empress St Pulcheria, who had received it from Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem. — Nicophorus, lib. xv, c. 14. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; http://www.bethlehemobserver.com)

Our Lady of Blaquernes (At Constantinople). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html) / Our Lady of Blaquernes Basilica.(www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (MaryLinks Calendar.htm)

Our Lady of Consolation (Luxembourg, 1624).(http://www.divinewill.org/feastofourlady.htm); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)

Our Lady of Consolation Shrine in West Grinstead, England. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)

Our Lady of Pious Schools. (Piarists. Also known as 'Poor Clerks of the Mother of God', an educational Order. (Moveable feast-- 3rd Sun of June). (www.piaristusa.org/html/spirituality.html); (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (http://www.starharbor.com/santiago/m feasts.html)