At long last

Often, I check the links on our church website to make sure they’re still viable, so a couple of days ago I clicked on the Word among us to read the day’s meditation and found myself voraciously scanning the page for delicious morsels.

At long last

“A Saint for Late Beginners” immediately sizzled.  My pea brain went off in all directions beginning with me (lost at age five) in first grade, and I was hooked.

For those of us self-proclaimed late bloomers who take a licking and go right on ticking; who possess a meticulous work ethic; who operate only in octopus mode; who run on Duracells; who dream it, believe it, and make it happen, St. Helena is definitely our hero.

For those of us who long ago discovered that we’ve gone through life breathlessly chasing our shadow and feeling out of synch somehow, Koenig-Bricker’s “A saint for late beginners” is a must-read.

       

Prayers

Most high, glorious God enlighten the darkness of my heart.  Give me true faith, certain hope and perfect charity, sense and knowledge that I may carry out your holy and true command (St. Francis).

O God, who willed that your only begotten Son should undergo the cross to save the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have known his mystery on earth, may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven.  Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

O Lord Jesus Christ, you revealed to blessed Helena the place where your cross lay hidden, choosing her as the means to enrich your Church with that precious treasure.  Please grant through her intercession that, by the price of the tree of life, we may attain the rewards of everlasting life.

Gloriosa y esclarecido Santa Elena, por aquel fervor, ansias, y devoción con que buscaste la cruz de Cristo, te ruego que intercedas ante Dios.  Ayúdame alcanzar la gracia para llevar con paciencia los trabajos de esta vida.  Con ellos y mediante tu intercesión y amparo, ayúdame buscar y hallar la cruz que Dios ha dispuesto darme.  Ayúdame servir a Dios con la cruz en esta vida y después gozarle en la gloria.

September 14, 2014

She worshiped not the wood, but the King, him who hung on the wood.  She burned with an earnest desire of touching the guarantee of immortality (St. Ambrose about St. Helena discovering the true cross).

September 14, 2015

“Every action of Christ and all his working of miracles were truly great and divine and wonderful, but of all the most wonderful is his honorable cross” (St. John of Damascus).

September 14, 2016

Your most important business is the care of your soul.  This is why, before leaving your room in the morning, you should spend at least a quarter of an hour in meditating on the life, the passion, and the death of Our Lord Jesus Christ (St. Paul of the Cross).

September 14, 2017

Among all the religious symbols in the world, none is more universal than the cross.  You see crosses everywhere: on walls, on hillsides, in churches, in houses, in bedrooms, on chains around peoples’ necks, on rings, on earrings, on old people, on young people, on believers, and on people who aren’t sure what they believe.

Not everyone can explain what the cross means or why they choose to wear one, but most everyone has an inchoate sense that it is a symbol— perhaps the ultimate symbol— of depth, love, fidelity, and faith (Ronald Rolheiser in The Passion and the Cross).

November 18, 2022

Everything is a reminder of the cross.  We ourselves are made in the shape of a cross (St. Jean Maria Baptist Vianney).

Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle – San Juan, TX

Our Lady of Perpetual Help – Corpus Christi, TX

Links of interest…  Autumn & transformation in life’s struggles…  Desperately seeking Sophia…  Divine romance: The pulpit of the cross…  Escrivá Option: An alternative to the Benedict Option…  Exalt the holy cross, love the sorrowful Mother…  Exaltation of the Holy Cross: fish eaters / Sept 14: feast – triumph…  Five saints who can help with the hardships we face as women…  Four essentials Mister Rogers keeps teaching us…  It’s a brave new world— embrace it…  Obedient to death…  Procrastinator’s prayer to the Holy Spirit…  Saint for late beginners…  Santa Elena: three prayers…  Setting your life to God’s time…  St. Helena: about / convert / feast (Aug 18) / mother of Constantine / prayer / eight relics…  St. Thérèse’s sister’s difficult path to sanctity…  True Cross: about / church / shrine / St. Helena (discoverer – how she found – story)…  Where did the wood of Jesus’s cross come from…  the Word among us…  Why do Catholics use crucifixes / middle age is prime time for creativity…

WP page…  Steven’s looking-glass…

WP posts…  Bearing one’s crosses…  Growing pains…  Morning exchanges…  One prayer…  St. Monica