Afternoon delights

Steven and I attended Christmas Eve Mass at the Capuchin St. Joseph chapel in Alamo, TX and, much to the delight of Sr. Luz and Sr. Marta, I promised to send them copies of the photographs I took that evening— but time got away from me!

January 25, 2017

       

     

April 18, 2017

With so much going on in our daily lives, being that we’d undertaken a three-month training program that had us both exhilarated and exhausted, I could only work mentally on “the project for the Sisters”— that is, until I began in earnest here and there the second week of April when we graduated from the Texas Master Naturalist program.  Then, since the monthly Texas Tropical Trail monthly partner event was happening at the San Manuel Ranch on April 18, we agreed to stop by the Capuchin monastery to deliver the booklets on our way home.

         

     

What a wonderful surprise to be greeted by Sr. Betty who, soon after, called Sr. Luz, Mother General, to speak with us instead.  “Have you visited the chapel yet?” asked Sr. Luz.

“We’re going there next,” I smiled.

Sr. Luz told us about their beautiful Easter service and invited us to their three o’clock Divine Mercy chaplet prayers, considering that we’d arrived in perfect time.  And, oh, the altar.  I could’ve sat there for hours, immersed in peace and good.

       

       

       

               

    

       

April 22, 2017

Saturday afternoon we drove to the monastery for an impromptu visit with the Sisters.  Just days before, when we’d last spoken to the Sisters, we’d received a text (while still at the chapel) that our youngest granddaughter was in the midst of a medical crisis, so I’d requested prayers.  And, within a couple of hours, Karina’s health had rebounded.  We wanted to personally thank the Sisters, but the gate to the monastery was locked, so Steven and I headed to the chapel instead.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when we entered.  The chapel was empty except for us.

Were you waiting for us, dear God?  How special to have you all to ourselves.

       

        

Afternoon delights

In one week’s time we’d been blessed with two afternoon delights at the chapel— the first to pray with others; the second, by ourselves.  We luxuriated in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and gave thanks and praise for all God’s blessings: good health, an abundance of gifts and talents shared with others, friendships with like-minded individuals, spiritual fulfillment.  Could we ask for anything more?

Prayers from St. Faustina’s writings

Healing…  Jesus, may your pure and healthy blood circulate in my ailing organism; may your pure and healthy body transform my weak body; and may a healthy and vigorous life throb within me if it is truly your holy will (Diary 1089).

St. Paul the Apostle – CCTX

Hope…  O my Jesus, my master and director, strengthen and enlighten me in these difficult moments of my life.  I expect no help from people, all my hope is in you.  I feel alone in the face of your demands, O Lord.  Despite the fears and qualms of my nature, I am fulfilling your holy will and desire to fulfil it as faithfully as possible throughout my life and in my death.  Jesus, with you I can do all things.  Do with me as you please; only give me your heart and that is enough for me (Diary 650).

Intercession…  O Jesus, you inspired St. Faustina with profound veneration for your boundless mercy.  Deign, if it be your holy will, to grant me, through her intercession, the grace for which I fervently pray (state petition).  My sins render me unworthy of your mercy; but be mindful of St. Faustina’s spirit of sacrifice and self-denial and reward her virtue by granting the petition which, with childlike confidence, I present to you through her intercession.

Our Father…  Hail Mary…  Glory be….

Thanksgiving...  O Jesus, eternal God, I thank you for your countless graces and blessings.  Let every beat of my heart be a new hymn of thanksgiving to you, O God.  Let every drop of my blood circulate for you, Lord.  My soul is one hymn in adoration of your mercy.  I love you, God, for yourself alone (Diary 1794).

Quotes

Mary, mother of mercy, help us always to have this trust in your Son, our redeemer.  Help us too, St. Faustina, whom we remember today with special affection.  Fixing our weak gaze on the divine savior’s face, we would like to repeat with you: “Jesus, I trust in You!”  Now and forever (St. John Paul II).

When I am before the Blessed Sacrament I feel such a lively faith that I can’t describe it.  Christ in the Eucharist is almost tangible to me.  When it is time for me to leave, I have to tear myself away from his sacred presence (St. Anthony Claret).

April 25, 2017

I want to be a woman whose faith in God’s promises holds no matter how long there is no visible evidence of it— a woman who uses her voice to bring hope to the weary and to rejoice with those who rejoice.  I want to proclaim God’s goodness and faithfulness steadily, with great joy, regardless of what the world around me looks like— because, when it is darkest, that is when my voice is most needed (Colleen C. Mitchell in Who Does He Say You Are?).

May 8, 2017

Hope is an eminently practical virtue; it is the virtue that drives far from our heart the specter of discouragement, the most frequent dangerous temptation in the spiritual life.  As the inseparable companion of suffering, it confirms and strengthens peace in our soul (Abp. Luis M. Martinez in When God is Silent).

May 10, 2017

“It is at the foot of the altar that we find the strength we need in our isolation” (St. Damien).

May 21, 2017

The courage to live the call to share Jesus with others comes from a hope that gives way to the discipline of prayer.  Prayer inspires a life of joyful dependence on the Lord, which allows us to see and recognize him at work in the most surprising of ways.  And from a heart focused on God blossoms the thanksgiving that overflows into sharing Christ with a waiting world (Colleen C. Mitchell in Who Does He Say You Are?).

May 22, 2017

When one finds themselves with Jesus, they live the wondrous awe of that encounter and feel the need to look for him in prayer, in the reading of the gospels.  They feel the need to adore him, to know him and feel the need to announce him (Pope Francis).

June 18, 2017

If you wish to adore the real face of Jesus, we can find it in the divine Eucharist where, with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, the face of our Lord is hidden under the while veil of the host (St. Gaetano Catanoso).

June 23, 2017

“Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams” (Pope John XXIII).

July 21, 2017

“We ascend to the heights of contemplation by the steps of the active life” (Pope St. Gregory I).

July 28, 2017

“My past, O Lord, I entrust to your mercy; my presence, to your love; my future, to your providence” (St. Padre Pio).

August 11, 2017

Our labor here is brief, but the reward is eternal.  Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world, which passes like a shadow.  Do not let the false delights of a deceptive world deceive you (St. Clare of Assisi).

September 22, 2017

Always bear in mind as a safe general rule that, while God tries us by his crosses and sufferings, he always leaves us a glimmer of light by which we continue to have great trust in him and to recognize his immense goodness.  I urge you, therefore, not to be entirely disheartened in the face of the cross… heaven bestows on you, but to continue to have boundless confidence in the divine mercy (Patricia Treece in The Joyful Spirit of Padre Pio: Stories, Letters, and Prayers).

Links of interest…  40 hours devotion: Spending personal time with the Lord…  Alamo, TX:  Capuchin Poor Clares / chapel / cloistered life (more) / history / monastery…  Blessed Sacrament prayers…  Catholic Harbor of faith & morals (index of saints)…Cloistered nuns want to pray for you…  Difference between meditation & contemplation…  Does the Eucharist change us…  Dwelling of faith, hope, & love…  Evening prayer as a way to honor the cycle of time…  Eucharistic adoration…  Fatima & Divine Mercy are eternally linked / & Faustina offer striking, frightening visions of hell / surprised…  Fr. Romano Guardini: Meditations on the Christ…  Gift of silence: How to pray without words…  Have you ever lost faith…  Hope: A misunderstood virtue…  How Jesus makes heaven present to us today…  Is Mary praying the rosary to herself…  Litany of trust (Sisters of Life)…  Move to religious life…  No mercy without conversion…  Perpetual adoration…  Power of silent prayer…  Prayers: all occasion – Eucharist – intercessory – thanksgiving…  Silence: A challenging but valuable discipline…  St. Faustina: 17 things revealed to her / about / message / prayer / prophet of God’s mercy…  St. John Chrysostom (hourly)…  Susan Tassone: St. Faustina Prayer Book for the Holy Souls in Purgatory (prayer)…  Trust in Jesus: Four reasons Catholics are full of hope…  Tune into silence…  What is Divine Mercy…

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