"Love is Strong as Death"

[Abba]

I was recently participating in a thread that was removed and I walked away from it appreciating very much a point that was made. A person posted that some reverts have the notion that the people who were loyal and never left the Church are somewhat more pious and holy. Then, they may come to realize that it is actually an idealization, since at the end we are all in our individual journey.

This point got me thinking about how people like me do not have a name, like the ‘reverts’ or ‘Cafeteria Catholics’. I am sure I am not the only person who has never left the Church but due to circumstances, ignorance or what have you; ended up living in the periphery of the Church or as a ‘Cafeteria Catholic’ for what may have been decades. Yet, with the grace of God - some of these people are marching to the heart of the Church.

People like me should get a group name so we can share our individual experiences which are unique to such a group. Well, we can call it the Marching to the Heart Catholics for now. I just realized that one notion that the Marching To the Heart Catholics may share and would share with reverts is the idealization of the ones that never left.

There are things that are unique to the Marching To the Heart Catholics (by the way if you want to suggest a better name please do) , such as for instance, ignorance of the scriptures and teachings of the Church. It’s just peculiar. Allow me to share my experience this afternoon as a Marching To The Heart.

This afternoon I was doing the Office of Reading. I somehow ended up on page 1240 of Book I. It is the reading for December 12 but it was not assigned this year, for December 12 the reading assigned was of Our Lady of Gualdalupe. What caught my attention was the title of the reading: Love is as strong as death. I don’t think that I could have read a better reading for today.

I thought; what is* that *doing there? I, of course, read the whole thing; and it is very enriching and enlightening. I was surprised to see the phrase there as I up to today have erroneously attributed the phrase to Elizabeth Barrett Browning in poems number 27 (and is in the themes of others e.g. No. 43) of: Sonnets from the Portuguese. The reading I read which is for December 12 is for: JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, RELIGIOUS and her date of death was 1641. I was surprised as that means she used the phrase almost three centuries before Browning. And, not just that, but, in the text the phrase is in italic as though it was being quoted from, yet, someplace else. I Googled it and Chantal was quoting King Solomon! Wonderful! Sonnets of the Portuguese:
classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/ebbrowning/bl-ebbrown-sp-27.htm ]

Even when I saw the Carrie Tower which a mourning widower dedicated to his beloved; I thought that he just adjusted the words of Browning.


I just think that filtering what we know and going through little purgations and sometimes big ones, are some of the experiences of Marching To The Heart Catholics which can be particular to them as they never left the Church. Of course, what I shared here could be said that it is pure lack of knowledge which caused the quote to be attributed incorrectly. Yes, but these are the kinds of things that happen to people who are Marching to the Heart of the Church exactly because we are enjoying the richness of the Church. We do a lot of filtering and purging.

To be clear, on this thread I have wanted to share my thoughts on the Catholics that are marching to the heart of the Church and I just basically said what I wanted about that on this post. The second thing I wanted to share is the wisdom of Chantal. I will do so on another post.

Any thoughts?

 

[bcuster]

Thank you for sharing this.

 

[Abba]

You are welcome, bcuster.

+++

The Wisdom of Chantal
“Love is Strong as Death”



[Jane Frances was born in Dijon, France in 1582. She was married to the nobleman de Chantal, and had six sons to whom she carefully taught the Christian faith. When her husband died, she wholeheartedly embraced the religious life under the guidance of Saint Francis de Sales and performed works of mercy especially for the poor and the sick. She founded the Visitation Order which she directed wisely until her death in 1641].

In the Office of Reading I refer to of December 12 (Book 1, page 1240) which regards JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL, RELIGIOUS, words of hers are quoted which she spoke to the sisters of the Order she founded: Daughters of the Visitation. I say Wisdom of Chantal because I have never heard of what she is expressing before and it is wisdom. Let’s start with her own words:

"My dear daughters, many of our holy fathers in the faith, men who were pillars of the Church, did not die martyrs. Why do you think this was?..Well, I myself think it was because there is another martyrdom; the martyrdom of love. here God keeps his servants and handmaids in this present life so that they may labor for him, and he makes of them both martyrs and confessors…

One sister asked what form this martyrdom took. The saint answered: “Yield yourself fully to God, and you will find out! Divine love takes its sword to the hidden recesses of our inmost soul and divides us from ourselves. I know one person whom love cut off from all that was dearest to her, just as completely and effectively as if a tyrant’s blade had severed spirit from body.”…

“From the moment when we commit ourselves unreservedly to God, until our last breath. I am speaking, of course, of great-souled individuals who keep nothing back for themselves, but instead are faithful in love. Our Lord does not intend this martyrdom for those who are weak in love and perseverance. Such people he lets continue on their mediocre way, so that they will not be lost to him; he never does violence to our free will.”

“We should not worry about equality, I do think, however, that the martyrdom of love cannot be relegated to a second place,*** for love is as strong as death***. For the martyrs of love suffer infinitely more in remaining in this life so as to serve God, than if they died a thousand times over in testimony to their faith and love and fidelity.”

Indeed, the dark night of a soul may years if not a life time. Probably Mother Theresa would agree. I can really appreciate her analogy of the tyrant’s blade and of being torn apart, but it is from the ‘self’ and it is all good but, painful and extremely difficult.

What do you think?

Peace

 

[Abba]

I spent the afternoon reading about Jane Chantal and, she is the one I read about in passing while exploring Saint Francis de Sales. Today, she is standing out all by herself and shining with her own light. Yes, I like her spiritual understanding and I think it is her own, or could it be that Saint Francis taught her that understanding regarding the martyrdom of love?

Now I understand the connection of the trio together; Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Jane de Chantal and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque who was a sister of the Order of Visitation of Mary. Interesting.





http://www.marypages.com/MargaretMaryAlacoque.jpg

I just watched a video of Father Pacwa interviewing Sr. Susan Marie, President of the Second Federation of the Visitation of Holy Mary. It’s interesting to learn about the monastic life and they welcome people in the monastery in Brooklyn for retreats. Who knows, maybe I will go one day.

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Feastday: October 17
1647 - 1690

Daughter of Claude Alacoque and Philiberte Lamyn, Margaret was born on July 22, at L’Hautecour, Burgundy, France, was sent to the Poor Clares school at Charolles on the death of her father, a notary, when she was eight years old. She was bedridden for five years with rheumatic fever until she was fifteen and early developed a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. She refused marriage, and in 1671 she entered the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial and was professed the next year. From the time she was twenty, she experienced visions of Christ, and on December 27, 1673, she began a series of revelations that were to continue over the next year and a half. In them Christ informed her that she was His chosen instrument to spread devotion to His Sacred Heart, instructed her in a devotion that was to become known as the Nine Fridays and the Holy Hour, and asked that the feast of the Sacred Heart be established.
catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=443

Peace