52 Saints ~ Introduction and a Few Suggestions

Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Van Eyck

The 52 Saints series begins this Sunday with Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity. If you did not know about this series before now, a group of friends and I are going to write posts about a different Saint each Sunday in 2016. All the weeks are not taken, so if you are interested in joining us, please let me know.

When you read the post about Bl. Elizabeth, you will see that the entire first section is about how I came to choose this saint--well, about how I didn't exactly choose her. The reason I wrote about this at such length is so that you might see that there are more possibilities to this series than perhaps you have imagined. It's fine to write about a saint with whom you are already familiar, and whose story you want to share--especially if your experience with the saint is part of the story--but you might also consider praying about who you ought to choose and keep your eyes open for someone new. So, while I will need to know about a month, or so in advance who is writing about whom and when, I'm not asking anyone to commit to every saint now. Of course, if you know whom you want to write about, let me know so someone else won't get there first.

There are two pages on the sidebar, one with a list of the people who have said they will write and the saints they have chosen, and the one with the definite schedule. You will see that the first four weeks are covered. You can't leave comments there because I have found that it is when people comment on the pages (as opposed to posts) that the comments quit working right. If you want to tell me something you can leave a comment here, or email me.

AMDG

52 Authors Complete

As many of you know, for the the past 52 weeks, a group of those who frequent Maclin Horton's blog, Light on Dark Water, have been writing about a different author every week. Here is the complete index.

Week 1: Flannery O'Connor

Week 2: Thomas Howard

Week 3: Salman Rushdie

Week 4: Mark Helprin

Week 5: Henri de Lubac

Week 6: Robert Scheckley

Week 7: P. G. Wodehouse

Week 8: Hans Urs von Balthasar

Week 9: Ronald Blythe

Week 10: Larry McMurtry

Week 11: Imre Madach

Week 12: J. R. R. Tolkien

Week 13: Dean Koontz

Week 14: Rosemary Sutcliff

Week 15: Hilaire Belloc

Week 16: Madeleine L'Engle

Week 17: Christopher Derrick

Week 18: T. S. Eliot

Week 19: Etienne Gilson

Week 20: Penelope Fitzgerald

Week 21: Elizabeth Goudge

Week 22: Laura Ingalls Wilder

Week 23: Gillian Allnut

Week 24: Anne Pellowski

Week 25: Josef Skvorecky

Week 26: E. B. White

Week 27: Ross MacDonald

Week 28: W. S. Merwin

Week 29: Josephine Tey

Week 30: William Butler Yeats

Week 31: John Henry Cardinal Newman

Week 32: Thomas Mann

Week 33: Marion Montgomery

Week 34: G. K. Chesterton


Week 35: Sydney Taylor

Week 36: Charles Dickens

Week 37: Alexander McCall Smith

Week 38: Chaim Potok

Week 39: Graham Greene

Week 40: Mary Douglas

Week 41: Louise Fitzhugh

Week 42: Gerard Manley Hopkins, S. J.

Week 43: Madison Jones

Week 44: Rumer Godden

Week 45: Jane Austen

Week 46: Leo Tolstoy

Week 47: Walker Percy

Week 48: Mary Renault

Week 49: Thomas Merton

Week 50: George Orwell

Week 51: David Hume

Week 52: Jean Daniélou

AMDG

Reed of God ~ The Lost Child

The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple, stained glass by Mary Lowndes,
after William Holman Hunt

When my youngest daughter was a child, she used to ask me why The Finding in the Temple was a mystery. I never had a very good answer to that question. Then the first page of this chapter made it clear to me. Why was it that Jesus let his mother think that He was lost?

Why did Christ treat Our Lady in this way?

Well, that is a mystery indeed.

We all lose our children in some way. As they grow up we lose those lovely, cuddly babies who teach us things about love and fear that we never understood before. We lose those hysterically funny three year olds, masters of comedy and philosophy both. We lose those wonder-filled early school aged children. We lose them for a time, or maybe for the rest of our lives, when some tragedy, physical or emotional, separates us. And, Miss Houselander explains, Mary suffers the loss of her son so that she can share this with us. She, the perfect model of her Son, undergoes a purification she does not need.

But during her whole life she accepted everything which in our case is a necessary purification but in her case was the proof that she loved us with Christ's love.

And she did not suffer only the loss of a child, she suffered the loss of God, and as Miss Houselander says:

Everyone experiences this loss of the Divine Child. Everyone knows it in different ways, and in different degrees.

Mary experienced this not only when Jesus was lost at the age of twelve, but at times throughout her life when He was traveling and preaching and she did not know where He was. She suffered His loss at the foot of the cross, and yet again when He ascended into Heaven. And so, when He seems so very far away from us, we know that she has been there before us. As she trusted Him completely in this darkness, she can teach us to trust Him likewise.

This is going to be the last post in this series this year. I may finish up the book at some other time, maybe in Lent. I'm sure next week will be too busy for me to write much and probably too busy for anyone else to read.

All of the posts in this series can be found by clicking HERE.
Unfortunately they are in reverse order, so you have to scroll down to get to the beginning.

AMDG

Dwell on These Things ~ Third Saturday of Advent

A few more pictures from last weekend. Taken on the Second Saturday of Advent. You can click on a picture once (not twice) and see a slideshow of all of them.

I'm pretty sure this is St. Francis, since it's in an area dedicated to him, but he is holding a dove, which, since the name of the retreat center is St. Columba, is quite appropriate.

Twelth station. 

I really love all these gray and brown shades of winter with just an occasional touch of color.

Lonely little berry

If you want to see all of the posts in this series, click HERE.

AMDG

Novena to St. Martin de Porres

Prayer to St Martin de Porres (Begin with this prayer every day.)

Most humble Martin de Porres, your burning charity embraced not only the poor and needy but even the animals of the field. For your splendid example of charity, we honour you and invoke your help. From your place in heaven, hear the requests of your needy brethren, so that, by imitating your virtues we may live contentedly in that state in which God has placed us. And carrying our cross with strength and courage, may we follow in the footsteps of our blessed Redeemer and his most sorrowful mother, so that at last we may reach the kingdom of heaven through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.


First Day
St Martin’s Humility
St Martin imitated our Lord Who was meek and humble of heart. There was no pride or vanity in Martin, who realized that God is our Creator and that we are His creatures. Martin understood that God loves us as children and only wants us to be happy. So he had the wisdom to surrender entirely to the holy will of God. Let us imitate St Martin by humbly doing the will of God in all things.

Prayer: St Martin, ask our Lord and his Blessed Mother to give us the grace of true humility that we may not become proud, but may be contented with the gifts that God gives us. Obtain for us the light of the Holy Spirit that we may understand, as you did that pride is an obstacle to union with God, and that true happiness comes only from doing the will of God. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.


Second Day
St Martin’s Love of God
St Martin was entirely filled with the fire of God’s love. He knew that God sent His Son into the world to suffer and die on the cross for our sins. This thought stirred Martin’s heart with deep affection for so loving a Redeemer, and his whole life gave evidence of his sincere gratitude. May we, too, learn to love our Saviour more and more and show our love by our good works.

Prayer: St Martin, why are our hearts so cold and lacking in love for the Son of God, who became a little child for our salvation? Why are we so slow to love Jesus, who loved us so much that he gave his life for us? Ask God and Our Lady of Sorrows to make us realize that the only way to happiness is by loving and serving God with our whole heart and soul. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.


Third Day
St Martin’s Love for the Poor
St Martin was called “The Father of the Poor.” He saw the poor, the sick, and the dying as children of God, and he helped them in a thousand practical ways. He studied medicine that he might know how to cure the sick. Every day he distributed alms to the poor. He built an orphanage for children. Let us imitate the charity of St Martin, that God may bless us as He blessed him.

Prayer: St Martin, teach us to be generous with the gifts that God has given us. Make us sympathetic toward those who are suffering and afflicted. Pray to our Redeemer and to Our Lady of Mercy that we may always be kind and generous to our neighbours because they are the children of our heavenly Father. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.


Fourth Day
St Martin’s Faith

St Martin had a lively faith in all the teachings of the Catholic Church. He knew the Church was founded by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who came to teach us the way to the Father. God rewarded St Martin’s humble faith by enlightening his mind so that he could understand the mysteries of our holy religion. May God give us the grace always to believe the truths which he has revealed.

Prayer: O St Martin, we need strong faith in God and His holy Church, especially in these days when religion is often considered unimportant. Bring all people to a knowledge and love of the true Church, that they may find the way of salvation and happiness. Ask Christ and Our Lady of Good Counsel to make us faithful disciples of Jesus Christ in life and in death. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.


Fifth Day
St Martin’s Confidence in God

St Martin put all his trust in the goodness and promises of God. He hoped to obtain an eternal reward, through the grace of God and the merits of Jesus Christ. We know that St Martin’s trust in God was not in vain. We, too, are confident that God will forgive us our sins if we are truly sorry, and that he will give us everlasting life if we serve Him faithfully, by obeying His commandments.

Prayer: St Martin, help us to have a great confidence in almighty God. Make us understand that He is one friend Who will never desert us. Keep us from foolishly presuming that we will be saved without doing our part, but keep us also from despair, which forgets the mercy of God. Ask Jesus and His Mother to increase in our hearts faith, hope and charity. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.


Sixth Day
St Martin’s Devotion to Prayer

St Martin kept his mind and heart always lifted up to the Creator of all things. His prayer came from the depths of his being, not just from his lips. He naturally turned to praise and thank God, and to ask Him for help. St Martin prayed with humility and perseverance, and God answered his prayers in miraculous ways. Martin will pray for us before the throne of God in heaven.

Prayer: St Martin, help us to have great faith in Christ’s promise: “Ask and it will be given you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you” (Mt 7:7). Make us faithful in participating in Holy Mass and in devoting time to personal prayer every day, to obtain the blessings of God. Ask the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary to intercede for us too. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.


Seventh Day
St Martin’s Spirit of Penance

St Martin was a hard worker who dedicated all his energies to his ministry. He did not seek an easy comfortable life. Even though he laboured so hard, he also imposed on himself severe penances for his sins and the salvation of others. If so holy a man did penances, how much more should we, who have seriously offended God by our sins!

Prayer: St Martin, from you we learn how to be dedicated and unselfish. You teach us to avoid idleness and self-seeking. Give us some of that spirit of penance which you had, so that we may be constant in the struggle with temptation. Ask Jesus crucified and Mary, the Queen of Martyrs, to give us the grace to fight the good fight. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.


Eighth Day
St Martin’s Reward

St Martin died a holy and peaceful death. He had spent his life doing good as a humble brother of the Dominican Order. But whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. Soon his heroic life became known all over the world, and on 6 May 1962 Pope John XXIII solemnly proclaimed him St. Martin de Porres. Let us rejoice that we have such a powerful intercessor among the saints of God!

Prayer: St Martin, you have been raised up by God to show us the way to our true home. You have given us the good example and the encouragement that we need. We now realize from your life that all we have to do to win the reward of glory is to love and serve the best of Masters. May we ever be humble that we, too, may be exalted unto everlasting life. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.


Ninth Day
St Martin’s Miracles

St Martin performed many miracles during his life and after his holy death. We can go to him with confidence for he will obtain our petitions if they are for our true welfare. His great heart loves to help us in every way. We have only to tell him our troubles and to ask him to help us. If we do our part, we can be sure that our friend St Martin will do his part.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Who inflamed the heart of St Martin with an ardent love of the poor and who taught him the wisdom of always surrendering to God’s holy will, grant that, like him, we may be ever truly humble of heart and full of Christ-like charity for suffering humanity. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, ten Hail Marys, one Glory Be.
St Martin de Porres, pray for us.

Dwell on These Things ~ Third Tuesday of Advent

A few pictures from my weekend.

Where I was. I spent most of my time when I wasn't walking around on that screened-in porch. You can see a larger version of the pictures if you click on one. Just click once.

The view from inside the porch.

When I came back to the hermitage after walking Saturday afternoon, it was very noisy. Both the sky and this tree were filled with starlings. Miraculously, I managed to take five pictures in which there are no birds. I did get a few here.

I really like these. They were growing all around the Stations of the Cross. 

I'll post some more colorful stuff in a couple of days.

If you want to see all of the posts in this series, click HERE.

AMDG