Image from shopcatholic.com

Rest in the Lord for he is your refuge

Let us take refuge from this world. You can do this in spirit, even if you are kept here in the body. You can at the same time be here and present to the Lord. Your soul must hold fast to him, you must follow after him in your thoughts, you must tread his ways by faith, not in outward show. You must take refuge in him. He is your refuge and your strength. David addresses him in these words: I fled to you for refuge, and I was not disappointed.

Since God is our refuge, God who is in heaven and above the heavens, we must take refuge from this world in that place where there is peace, where there is rest from toil, where we can celebrate the great sabbath, as Moses said: The sabbaths of the land will provide you with food. To rest in the Lord and to see his joy is like a banquet, and full of gladness and tranquillity.

Let us take refuge like deer beside the fountain of waters. Let our soul thirst, as David thirsted, for the fountain. What is that fountain? Listen to David: With you is the fountain of life. Let my soul say to this fountain: When shall I come and see you face to face? For this fountain is God himself.

Saint Ambrose

Trinity w Mary & John the Baptist
icon by Gallery Zograf Nadia

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.

We are to become vessels of God’s
compassionate love for others.

Saint Clare

He pours light into our minds, arouses our desire and gives us strength
As the soul is the life of the body, so the Holy Spirit is the life of our souls.

the wisdom of the spirit brings life and peace.

The high holiness of the Seraphim themselves
is overshadowed by the brilliance of Mary’s virtues.

St Peter Damian

the Youngest Saints of the Church

Francisco and Jacinta Marto are among the youngest saints of the Catholic Church. Francisco was 9 and Jacinta 7 when Our Lady of Fatima appeared to them in 1917. Francisco died only two years later and Jacinta the following year—one hundred years ago today. Despite their young age, they lived incredibly holy lives after seeing Our Lady. Known today as the Fatima children, they show us that even young children can live extraordinarily holy lives and do great things for God.

Francisco and Jacinta Marto were the youngest siblings in a Portuguese family of seven children. Along with their cousin Lucia, they took care of their family’s sheep. Francisco had a placid disposition, some musical talent, and enjoyed being alone. He also liked playing games with other children but wasn’t competitive, and often gave up treasured possessions rather than fight for them. He liked animals, playing with snakes and lizards (to his mother’s horror), and once buying a captive bird for a penny to set it free.

Jacinta was affectionate, emotional and spoiled, and also enjoyed music and dancing. She pouted if she wasn’t given her own way and was jealous of Lucia’s attention. When Lucia was sent out to watch the sheep, Jacinta moped until she was allowed to go with Lucia and the sheep too. She loved flowers, often gathering armfuls to make garlands for Lucia. She also loved their sheep, naming them and playing with the lambs.

In 1916, Jacinta, Francisco and Lucia were watching their sheep when an angel appeared to them. He said he was the Angel of Peace and asked them to pray with him. He taught them to pray, “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You!”

Lucia later said that “the presence of God made itself felt so intimately and so intensely that we did not even venture to speak to one another” (Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words). They remained enveloped in this supernatural atmosphere for some time, and still felt it the next day. They didn’t mention it to anyone, for the Apparition felt too intimate, too hard to speak about.

The Angel of Peace appeared to them again and told them to pray much and to make sacrifices. When Lucia questioned him about how they were to make sacrifices, he said, “Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners.” The children then began to give their lunch to the sheep or to poor children, and to pray for hours at a time, and to offer other mortification to God .

Koala Mom . WEB

Prayer the highest good

The highest good is prayer and conversation with God, because it means that we are in God’s company and in union with him. When light enters our bodily eyes our eyesight is sharpened; when a soul is intent on God, God’s inextinguishable light shines into it and makes it bright and clear. I am talking, of course, of prayer that comes from the heart and not from routine: not the prayer that is assigned to particular days or particular moments in time, but the prayer that happens continuously by day and by night.

Indeed the soul should not only turn to God at times of explicit prayer. Whatever we are engaged in, whether it is care for the poor, or some other duty, or some act of generosity, we should remember God and long for God. The love of God will be as salt is to food, making our actions into a perfect dish to set before the Lord of all things. Then it is right that we should receive the fruits of our labors, overflowing onto us through all eternity, if we have been offering them to him throughout our lives.

St John Chrysostom

.

We should be humble in mind, putting aside all arrogance, pride and foolish anger. Rather, let him who glories glory in the Lord by seeking him and doing what is right and just. Recall especially what the Lord Jesus said when he taught gentleness and forbearance. Be merciful, he said, so that you may have mercy shown to you. Let these commandments and precepts strengthen us to live in humble obedience to his sacred words. As Scripture asks: Whom shall I look upon with favour except the humble, peaceful man who trembles at my words?

Sharing then in the heritage of so many vast and glorious achievements, Let us hasten towards the Goal of PEACE, set before us from the beginning. Let us keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Father and Creator of the whole universe, and hold fast to his splendid and transcendent gifts of PEACE and all his blessings.

Pope St Clement
Letter to the Corinthians

the Morning Star

We possess the prophetic message as something altogether reliable. Keep your attention closely fixed on it, as you would on a lamp shining in a dark place until the first streaks of dawn appear and the morning star rises in your hearts.

You have tasted that the Lord is good.* Come to him, a living stone,*.. chosen and precious in the sight of God and like living stones, let yourselves be built* into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

2nd Letter of Peter