The Most Holy Name of Jesus

On this feastday, we continue with the theme of the last few posts – the nativity, the divine child, and the birth of Jesus within us.  Why, you may ask.  What connection is there between the Holy Name of Jesus and ourselves giving birth to Christ daily?
Well, the name of Jesus was given by an angel to [...]

Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Today is a Marian “optional memorial” wherein we commemorate several things:  Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the Marian spirituality of the Carmelites, the scapular and consecration of oneself to Mary.
Picking up on the theme from my previous post, I would like to share a little bit from the Dictionary of Mary :
“The commemoration of Our Lady of Mount [...]

Mary, Mediatrix of Contemplation

We have, moreover, considered the external conditions that favor contemplation and union with God.  They are:  a certain solitude, silence, sufficient time given to prayer, no overburdening, no useless reading, no preoccupations foreign to our vocation.  To these external conditions must be added natural aptitude and also enlightened direction.  If many of these exterior conditions [...]

Mary’s Detachment

An excerpt from “The Other-Centeredness of Mary”, by Dom John Main, O.S.B.:
At the core of Mary’s detachment, even from what is dearest and most precious, is the continual projection of her consciousness away from herself.  This is indeed the condition of her pilgrimage.  On every occasion where Jesus is shown addressing her in the gospel [...]