'...we risk suffocating...'

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The title of this thread is from Wednesday's audience of Pope Benedict XVI on Prayer and Ministry. I thought of how Mary is the perfect Mother and Model of Prayer and Ministry for the whole Church. She is all we are called to be. A small excerpt from the Pope's words:

In the last catechesis, I showed that from the beginning of her journey, the Church found herself having to face unforeseen situations, new questions and emergencies, which she sought to respond to in the light of faith, by allowing herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit...

...If the lungs of prayer and the Word of God fail to nourish the breath of our spiritual life, we risk suffocating in the middle of a thousand daily cares: prayer is the breath of the soul and of life. And there is another precious reminder that I would like to emphasize: in our relationship with God, in listening to His Word, in conversation with God, even when we find ourselves in the silence of a church or in our room, we are united in the Lord with so many brothers and sisters in faith, like an ensemble of instruments that, though retaining their individuality, offer to God one great symphony of intercession, of thanksgiving and of praise

.
May Our Lady of Good Counsel, whose Feast we celebrate Apr. 26, continue to teach us by her example to remain in God’s Love, to be faithful to prayer and in listening to the direction of the Holy Spirit given to us in Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. By His Grace, may we listen prayerfully and do His Truth lovingly, as Mary did in her life on this earth.
Full text of Pope’s audience is HERE

 

[Carolus_Martell]

from the rosarychurch.net on the feast of OLOGC…

…‘Pope Saint Pius V credited victory in the Battle of Lepanto to Her intercession’…

So I’m thinking we should follow suit and also pray the Rosary to save the world from further radical Islamic aggression.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Carolus,

Thanks for your reply. Praying the Rosary is a wonderful way to grow in holiness ourselves and also to intercede for the good of others.

Today is the Feast of St. Louis De Montfort, a great Saint who has been called an “Apostle of Mary for Today” by Father John Hardon, SJ. See Here for a wonderful article on St. Louis.

St. Louis lived a life of prayer as Pope Benedict XVI is urging all of us to do. Especially in our devotions to Mary, we need to go beyond externals --to quote Father Hardon:

…Interior Devotion

St. Louis warns Catholics against identifying devotion to Mary with outward Marian forms of piety.

Of course we human beings are a composite of body and soul. We are to externalize our practice of prayer. We are to use our hands and our lips and move our bodies when we engage in the Liturgy and in personal acts of piety. The problem, de Montfort would say, is that devotion to the Blessed Virgin consists in much more than these externals.

Interior devotion to our Lady means many things, but it means especially the imitation of her virtues, and among these especially her unshaken faith, her absolute confidence in God and her utterly selfless charity toward others.

By God’s Grace, let us “nourish the breath of our spiritual life” as the Pope has encouraged us to do, and saints like St. Louis truly did.

 

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

Oh, so that’s why mood and attitude is up lately most of the time. I have recently started praying interiorly the Hail Mary with adding phrases after “Jesus” continually, kinda like how our Eastern brethren pray the Jesus Prayer continually.

My spirit was suffocating, and now it’s breathing well again!

 

[MariaChristi]

+JMJ+

Oh, so that’s why mood and attitude is up lately most of the time. I have recently started praying interiorly the Hail Mary with adding phrases after “Jesus” continually, kinda like how our Eastern brethren pray the Jesus Prayer continually.

My spirit was suffocating, and now it’s breathing well again!

Dear nuntym,

Mood and attitude can vary widely, it seems to me. When we, by God’s Grace are able to turn toward Him in prayer, our hearts lifted toward Him then we allow Him to change us. Sometimes, we need to struggle in our spiritual battle against temptations to give up prayer when it becomes “dry” and yet that is perhaps the time we need God most.

The Hail Mary is a beautiful prayer, as is simply the word “Jesus”. The prayer Jesus Himself taught us, the Our Father, when prayed slowly and with greater attention to the words we pray can help us breathe very deeply and experience all the graces we need.

The Catechism defines prayer as a covenant relationship with God and I believe that is our aim in prayer: to grow in our relationship with Him. St. John Vianney wrote that prayer is nothing other than union with God. By His grace, we can look to Mary our Mother and Model and see a human person who prayed perfectly – whether she washed dishes or was praying in the Temple. Her union with God was unceasing.

May God help us all to recognize those things which can “suffocate us” so that we may not become so involved but take time to “breathe deeply” and experience God living in us as Mary did.