{"id":9570,"date":"2026-05-15T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/?p=9570"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T23:04:23","slug":"day-7-the-ascent-of-the-heart-to-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/day-7-the-ascent-of-the-heart-to-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 7: The Ascent of the Heart to God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

READING 1<\/strong>
Psalm 86:11-13<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teach me, O Lord, your way, so that I may walk in your truth, single-hearted to fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your name forever. Your mercy to me has been great; you have saved me from the depths of Sheol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading 2<\/strong>
From The Journey of the Mind to God by St. Bonaventure<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Blessed is the man whose help is from you; in his heart he has prepared to ascend by steps in the valley of tears, in the place which he has set. Since happiness is nothing other than the enjoyment of the highest good and since the highest good is above, no one can be made happy unless he rise above himself, not by an ascent of the body, but of the heart. But we cannot rise above ourselves unless a higher power lift us up. No matter how much our interior progress is ordered, nothing will come of it unless accompanied by divine aid. Divine aid is available to those who seek it from their hearts, humbly and devoutly; and this means to sigh for it in this valley of tears, through fervent prayer. Prayer, then, is the mother and source of the ascent. Dionysius, therefore, in his book Mystical Theology<\/em>, wishing to instruct us in mystical ecstasy, places a prayer at the outset. Let us pray, therefore, and say to the Lord our God: Lead me, Lord, in your path, and I will enter in your truth. Let my heart rejoice that it may fear your name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFLECTION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

St. Bonaventure encourages us to seek the greatest happiness which comes from arriving at the highest good. This requires us to rise above ourselves which is only possible if One above us lifts us up. The desire to reach the highest good is already welling up from the depths of our hearts. It can only arrive at its destiny with the help of God. Sometimes we struggle with ambivalence when we feel this desire. It puts us in a place of dependency, because we cannot realize our desire on our own. That ambivalence may lead us to shut down our desire. Sometimes this is why we numb ourselves with distractions. In other cases we try to fulfill that desire on our own, which leads to other forms of self-indulgence and sin. To feel the desire is also to feel our powerlessness to fulfill it. It is truly to sigh, as St. Bonaventure said, crying out to God, asking His help and waiting for His timing. This stretches our hearts. Let us ask ourselves, \u201cAm I in touch with my deepest desire? Do I allow cry out for God from that deep desire? Do I let myself feel my helplessness in this vale of tears? Lead me, Lord, in your path, and I will enter in your truth. Let my heart rejoice that it may fear your name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRAYERS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Litany of the Wounded Heart
Radiating Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consecration to the Heart of Jesus Through the Hearts of Mary and Joseph<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 by St. Vincent Archabbey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

READING 1Psalm 86:11-13 Teach me, O Lord, your way, so that I may walk in your truth, single-hearted to fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart, and glorify your name forever. Your mercy to me has been great; you have saved me from the depths of Sheol. Reading […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7bfMR-2um","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":335,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/spiritual-practices\/marian-consecration\/day-21-knowledge-of-mary\/","url_meta":{"origin":9570,"position":0},"title":"Day 21 – Knowledge of Mary","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"March 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Day 21 - Mary - abandoned to God becomes our Mother A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marian Consecration"","block_context":{"text":"Marian Consecration","link":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/category\/spiritual-practices\/marian-consecration\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Virgin-and-Child-Domenico-Corvi-oil-painting-Edit.jpg?fit=860%2C1062&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Virgin-and-Child-Domenico-Corvi-oil-painting-Edit.jpg?fit=860%2C1062&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Virgin-and-Child-Domenico-Corvi-oil-painting-Edit.jpg?fit=860%2C1062&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Virgin-and-Child-Domenico-Corvi-oil-painting-Edit.jpg?fit=860%2C1062&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9552,"url":"https:\/\/www.fatherboniface.org\/wordpresshome\/consecration-to-the-hearts-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph\/day-5-god-reveals-himself-to-those-with-childlike-hearts\/","url_meta":{"origin":9570,"position":1},"title":"Day 5: God Reveals Himself to Those With Childlike Hearts","author":"Father Boniface Hicks, O.S.B.","date":"May 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"READING 1Matthew 11:25-27 At that time Jesus declared, \u201cI thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 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