St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) once said that women are, “God’s special weapon against evil.”
The graduates stand with Father Stuart Chipolina at St. Paul's Parish in Varyl Begg Estate, GibraltarLast month another group of ladies successfully completed their Women of Grace® course in St. Paul’s Parish, Varyl Begg Estate, Gibraltar.
Photo by Nheyob at WikicommonsTwo Morning of Grace events in Florida ushered in the month of May with a morning full of sacred sisterhood, spiritual formation, and delicious food, all topped off with the highlight of the day – the crowning of Our Lady.
O Mary! We crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May!These lyrics are a familiar component of the annual May Crowning, the Marian devotion which takes place in many parishes around the time when we celebrate Mother’s Day. This rite is one traditional aspect of the dedication of the month of May to Mary, the Mother of God, and also our Mother.
For those women who are tired of feeling defeated and overwhelmed by the darkening of our culture, the next Women of Grace retreat at the Malvern Retreat House may be just what they need to restore their hope and give them the courage to unleash their feminine genius and join womankind on their sacred mission to “save the peace of the world.”
While the annual Feast of Saint Joseph, celebrated on March 19th, is familiar in many parts of the world, the second date on the Church calendar dedicated to him is perhaps not quite so well known. Each year, May 1st commemorates another title of this beloved saint, that of Saint Joseph the Worker.
St. Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), a religious sister known as the “Apostle of Divine Mercy,” wrote this story about a priest in her spiritual diary:
Jack and I landed in Paris in the early morning today from Lourdes and drove into the city with our tour through 206 Tours. We visited Sacre Coeur and it was a graced experience. This Friday, Good Friday, we were to have visited the Cathedral of Notre Dame.I have never been to Notre Dame and like fellow Catholics from all over the world, I could not wait to experience her glory. Our visit will be tragically different now, like so many others who came here to see this magnificent witness to our Catholic Faith. But I know it will be no less poignant. To experience Notre Dame on Good Friday — battered and bruised as she is — will easily remind us of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Our Savior, and the salvation He offers to each of us if we choose to accept Him.
Just as the Crown of Thorns was spared from the inferno, so too does the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ spare us from the furnace of flames known as Hell.
In the end, Notre Dame is just a structure, albeit a stunning structure and sign in our fractured and broken world. And most likely she will be rebuilt. But, she is limited and can only reside in one city and in one country.
However, Our Lord’s promise of eternal life, breathed from the altar of Notre Dame for hundreds of years, is omnipresent, and can live in each one of us. And though the sorrowful reality of this loss cuts deeply, the miracle of Easter is alive in this earthly devastation, reminding us that all is made new in the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Easter Sunday message , as well as the message of Notre Dame’s horrible fire, is this: “Look forward and have hope! ”
Painting by Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin (Wikicommons)Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala (Jn 19:25)
On this Good Friday, I choose to be there, I want to be there, standing with Our Lady. I know she can rely on the other women and Saint John, but perhaps another loving presence will be a source of added comfort for her.
Great suffering brings great graces. Those words are etched permanently in my soul. It is those who have walked the path of suffering with Jesus at their side, that those words hold a treasured meaning. I, a sojourner on the path can assent that those words true. I also can encourage you with the blessed assurance that when we are too weary, He carries us.
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