First Friday - Aug. 3

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

First Friday Devotions have been in the Church for centuries. Even before St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and St. Claude de la Columbiere were graced to encourage this devotion specifically, there have been saints beginning with the Blessed Mother and St. John the Beloved disciple at the Foot of the Cross, seeking to offer love and reparation to the Heart of Jesus.

This morning, I read a beautiful letter from one saint to another which I hope may inspire all of us to remember every Friday, and especially on First Fridays, the great love of Jesus revealed to us in His Heart, Pierced upon the Cross.

My dear daughter in Jesus Christ,

May Jesus and his Cross reign forever!

I worship the justice and love with which divine Wisdom is treating his little flock, allowing you to live in cramped quarters here on earth so that later you may find spacious dwelling in his divine heart which was pierced for you to enter. How pleasant and safe is this sacred refuge for a soul truly possessing Wisdom! Such a soul came forth with the blood and water which flowed when the lance pierced the divine heart, and it is here that it finds a refuge when persecuted by its enemies. Here it can remain hidden with Jesus Christ in God, more victorious than any hero, crowned with more laurels than any king, shining with greater splendour than the sun and raised higher than the very heavens.

If you truly seek to be a disciple of divine Wisdom and one chosen among so many, then this unkind treatment you are suffering, the contempt, the poverty, the restrictions, all these should be pleasing to you since they are the price you have to pay to obtain Wisdom and true freedom and become partakers of the divinity of the heart of Jesus crucified.

If I were to look at these setbacks from a human standpoint, I would be tempted, like the foolish people of this corrupt world, to complain and be anxious and worried, but that is not how I look at things. Let me tell you that I expect more serious setbacks, more painful ones to test your faith and confidence. We will then found our community of the Daughters of Wisdom, not on quicksands of gold and silver which the devil is always using to adorn his house, nor indeed on the strength and influence of any human being, for no matter how holy and powerful man may be he will always be no more than a wisp of straw. We want to found our congregation on the Wisdom of the Cross of Calvary. This adorable Cross has been stained with the blood of a God and chosen by Jesus to be the spouse of his heart, his heart's only desire and inspiration, the only object worth his toil, his only arm in combat, his only crown of glory, his only guide in his judgements. It is hard to understand that this great Cross was lost, scorned and hidden in the earth for more than four hundred years.

My dear daughters, apply this to the state in which you find yourselves. I think of you always, especially during Holy Mass. I will never forget you, provided you love the precious Cross. I am united with you in bearing the cross as long as you follow the holy will of God and not your own. In this holy will I am all yours... ( Letter of St. Louis de Montfort to Bl. Mother Marie-Louise of Jesus, 1716 (Co-Founders of the Daughters of Wisdom)

I underlined specific references to the Heart of Christ. St. Louis de Montfort wrote a beautiful book also on Jesus, entitled [The Love of Eternal Wisdom](http://montfortspirituality.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Love-of-Eternal-Wisdom.pdf). I believe it was from Jesus' Heart, that St. Louis learned to love our Blessed Mother.

 

[Bravo_6]

This is “Tier 3” Spirituality,up their with St John of the Cross and other mystics.I hope to reach your level some day.As for now,this is way out of my league.I can barely contemplate the fourth Glorious Mystery.

God bless you!

JMJ

 

[MariaChristi]

This is “Tier 3” Spirituality,up their with St John of the Cross and other mystics.I hope to reach your level some day.As for now,this is way out of my league.I can barely contemplate the fourth Glorious Mystery.

God bless you!

JMJ

Dear Bravo 6,

Please do not think my “level” is more than at the bottom of the climb upward. I am far from where St. Louis was when he wrote this letter to Bl. Mother Marie-Louise of Jesus! Nevertheless, the wisdom of the saints encourages me to keep climbing, trusting Jesus to take me, one step at a time, closer to His Pierced Heart.

There is no standing still in the spiritual life, of that we can be certain, so the important thing is to keep going forward rather than cease striving for the holiness to which each of us is called. No two saints are identical. Each one is unique and unrepeatable.

Today is the Feast of St. Jose Maria Esciva a great protagonist for the Universal Call to Holiness. Here is an encouraging excerpt from his writing. St. Jose Maria and St. Louis can help us to climb the hill of Calvary with Great Love in seemingly “ordinary” ways:

Monday of the Seventeenth week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day
Saint José Maria Escriva de Balaguer (1902-1975), priest, founder
Sermon in Amigos de Dios

“Until the whole batch was leavened”

I should like to recall the divine greatness of faithfully fulfilling one’s everyday obligations, made up of struggles that fill our Lord with joy and that he alone knows about in the case of each one of us. Be sure of this, you won’t usually have to accomplish stunning feats, particularly because the chance won’t as a rule present itself. On the other hand, occasions will never be lacking for proving your love of Jesus Christ in little things, in the routine…

When we reflect over Our Lord’s words, “I consecrate myself for them, so that they, also, may be consecrated in truth” (Jn 17,19), we perceive clearly our sole object: sanctification, that is to say our duty of being saints in order to sanctify. At the same time, the subtle temptation may perhaps assail us of thinking that very few of us have determined to respond to this divine invitation, without taking into account that we ourselves testify we are no more than very imperfect instruments (cf. Lk 17,10). We are, it is true, very few in number in the sight of the rest of humanity and, of ourselves, we are worth nothing. But the Master’s statement carries authority: Christians are the light, the salt, the leaven of the world and “a little yeast leavens the whole batch of the dough” (Mt 5,13-14; Gal 5,9).

Thanks for your reply. Let us please pray for one another and for all those in most need of His Mercy.

 

[Bravo_6]

Dear Bravo 6,

Please do not think my “level” is more than at the bottom of the climb upward. I am far from where St. Louis was when he wrote this letter to Bl. Mother Marie-Louise of Jesus! Nevertheless, the wisdom of the saints encourages me to keep climbing, trusting Jesus to take me, one step at a time, closer to His Pierced Heart.

There is no standing still in the spiritual life, of that we can be certain, so the important thing is to keep going forward rather than cease striving for the holiness to which each of us is called. No two saints are identical. Each one is unique and unrepeatable.

Today is the Feast of St. Jose Maria Esciva a great protagonist for the Universal Call to Holiness. Here is an encouraging excerpt from his writing. St. Jose Maria and St. Louis can help us to climb the hill of Calvary with Great Love in seemingly “ordinary” ways:

Thanks for your reply. Let us please pray for one another and for all those in most need of His Mercy.

Amen.

 

[Nimzovik]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

First Friday Devotions have been in the Church for centuries. Even before St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and St. Claude de la Columbiere were graced to encourage this devotion specifically, there have been saints beginning with the Blessed Mother and St. John the Beloved disciple at the Foot of the Cross, seeking to offer love and reparation to the Heart of Jesus.

This morning, I read a beautiful letter from one saint to another which I hope may inspire all of us to remember every Friday, and especially on First Fridays, the great love of Jesus revealed to us in His Heart, Pierced upon the Cross.

I underlined specific references to the Heart of Christ. St. Louis de Montfort wrote a beautiful book also on Jesus, entitled The Love of Eternal Wisdom. I believe it was from Jesus’ Heart, that St. Louis learned to love our Blessed Mother.

Thank you. I always need this reminder. I always forget about a 1st Friday. Guess I will start yet once again to complete this devotion.

 

[MariaChristi]

Thank you. I always need this reminder. I always forget about a 1st Friday. Guess I will start yet once again to complete this devotion.

Dear Nimzovik,

Thanks for your reply. I grew up making the Nine First Fridays soon after my First Holy Communion. Spiritual reading has increased my desire to offer Reparation on both First Saturdays and First Fridays. HERE is an article on Reparation that is worth reading.

Ultimately, for me, First Friday and First Saturday devotions are ways to return love for Love. We cannot love Jesus and Mary enough for all their love of us, yet they receive our little efforts and are consoled. Even if I am unable to get to Mass on the First Friday or Saturday of each month, I still offer them myself in union with the Mass being offered somewhere in the world and I ask the Lord to come into my heart spiritually when I cannot receive Him sacramentally. If you forget, tell them you love love them anyway.