1/30MGl>\ CxL pi

AOfWi





Almost everyone tries to keep a diary or notebook

during a retreat. Most of us have subsequent diffi-

culty reading our own handwriting - - - and somehow

the words we jot down rarely seem to recall the de-

veloped thoughts which meant so much to us when we

made the notes.

This booklet, “A Woman at Prayer”, will solve the
problem admirably for many devout retreatants. It

brings together in attractive, readable, succinct style

points for meditation which follow the pattern of the

best retreats. Many of its “suggestions” are sub-

stantially the suggestions made in all good retreats;

some supplement the usual suggestions. All are of

basic importance and will prove stimulating to mem-

ory and thought as retreatants strive to recall the les-

sons of their retreat or to build on these with further,

fruitful meditation.

Users of the booklet will be deeply grateful to Father

Qverman for his notes and to those who have made

them available in so convenient a form.

Episcopal Adviser

Lay Retreat Movement





PERFECTION FOR LAYFOLK

To be upward-reaching is a sign of life.

When Our Divine Saviour said, “Be ye per-
fect,” He was addressing Himself to all. It was

i very high perfection that He urged upon His

followers. “Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father

is perfect.” Consequently each Christian is bound

to two things: First, to strive for perfection, and,

second, to try to scale the heights without ever

being content with a second-best sort of holiness.

Since the model of our personal perfection is

the infinite perfection of God, the question nat-

urally suggests itself, how is God perfect ? God
is perfect in His boundless life of knowledge and

love. God the Father loves Himself and expresses
His love in the Word, His divine Son; God loves

Himself and breathes forth this love in the Holy

Spirit. This is God’s limitless perfect life.

Our perfection, then, consists in knowing and
loving God with all the power of our being.
Knowledge alone won’t sanctify us; we must
prefer God above all things and cleave to Him.
But an ever increasing knowledge of God is es-
sential if we are to grow in love to the perfec-
tion 'expected of us by Christ.

Two things we must avoid if we would be per-
fect: One, we must cease to know the world; and
two,- we must refrain from loving the passing
things of time. The life of multitudes today con-
sists in knowing creatures to the exclusion of a

knowledge of God. Many people have their minds
so filled with creatures of all descriptions—cock-
tails, cigarettes, TV, movies, food, best-sellers,

sex, headlines, gossip, clothing, ads, business,

etc., etc.—that there is no room in their heads

1



for the truths of God. And the same goes for their
wills. They have so attached themselves to
things, both animate and inanimate, real and

imaginary, that their wills are bound down to
earth. “Where your treasure is,” said Christ with
great psychological insight, “there is your heart

also.”

So, break your bonds! Practice recollection to

clear your mind of the mirage of creatures;

practice detachment to open your wills to the

attraction of Divine goodness.

Are we asking so much? Well, child, you’ll
have to make these two renunciations ultimately
anyhow. The angel of death will forcibly tear

you away from your toys and gewgaws; and your
will will be purged of its false loves in the search-

ing fire of Purgatory. It is much wiser to set
yourself to this painful process of recollection

and detachment now.

Know God! Put aside the slop that goes into,
your mind through the multiple channels of mod-

ern communication. Take up your New Testa-
ment, your Imitation, one of the good books about

the Saints or God’s revealed truth. Pull the shades

of your bedroom windows, get down on your

knees and ponder the great truths of the Faith.

Fill your mind with God.

Love God! To love means to prefer, to cleave

to. Stop trying to possess all the unnecessary

creatures that your eyes see; be content with

simple things. Turn to God. Love to be in His

presence at Mass. Love to remember his spiritual

presence within you: “Know you not that you are
the temples of God?”

2



GOD, OUR SECURITY

It is easy to be secure—if we know how.

There can be no question about the need

that each of us has for security. Robert Louis

Stevenson once wrote a phrase that shows us

why: “We are but older children, dear, who fret
to find our bedtime near.” Much of adult bravery
is merely whistling in the dark.

It is understandable that we should have fears
and moments of anxiety. Our little personality is

surrounded by the limitless unknown. We have
but a brief few minutes of life here on this earth

where time has dragged its slow length on for

countless centuries. And after life what? Tenny-
son reflected on the puzzle of eternity: “Twilight

and evening bell, and after that the dark . . .”

The candle of life is snuffed out and we are alone
in the dark.

And thus, standing on the sliding slope of time,
we clutch at all sorts of straws to get for our-
self a feeling of security. There are some that

grasp material possessions; and all that they

actually gain is further anxiety. Others grasp

at a partner in marriage; and they, in as much
as original sin has made human nature a broken
reed that pierces the hand, find further sorrow.

And yet others hold fast to reputation which is
a mocking scold at best. And all of these, because
they look to creatures for their security, build

on sand.

And there is yet another desperate expediency
to which many yield in their frantic search for
security. They look to their own inner resources
for security. But in as much as they themselves
are creatures they are only trying to draw water
from empty wells with broken pitchers.

The greatest secret that we can learn for our
peace of mind is the futility of creatures. It
took David a lifetime to learn this lesson. But he

3



learned it and wrote in his old age: “Omnis

homo mendax” (every man’s a liar). Neither
possessions, nor spouse, nor child, nor fame, nor

self, provides a firm foundation for our security.

It is only by admitting the limitations of creatures

—ourselves included—that we begin to have sense.
Then we can begin to turn to God.

God is our security. He is eternal and thus
unaffected by the mutability of time; He is in-
finite, and thus limitless; He is changeless, and
thus sure and steady; He is all merciful, and thus
possessed of unbounded compassion for weakness;

He is just, and thus appreciative of every spark
of good in us.

God does not love us because we deserve His
love; God loves us because He is God. “God hath
first loved us,” exclaimed St. John. God fell in

love with nothingness, with weakness and little-

ness. It is our very limitation that attracted God.

Our darkness called out to God’s light, because

light shows up best in darkness.

We are told that the Saints gloried in their
weakness, in their faults and failings. It is

true that they recognized the glimmerings of

virtue that were manifested in their lives. But

they gave credit for what goodness they possessed

to God. They welcomed their limitations because

thus they had no desire to steal any glory from

God. All that was good in themselves they

ascribed to God; their sins they claimed for their

own. “Thou dost but crown thy graces, O God,”
cried out St. Augustine, “when thou dost reward

our merits!”

The sincere acceptance of ourselves, and com-

plete dependence on God—this is the way to inner
security and peace of mind.

4



PEACE, IT’S WONDERFUL

We each make our peace or mar it.

We live in a confused, mad world. And if we
are not careful we shall all be mad. It will be
worth our while, therefore, to try to understand

what peace is and how we can acquire it for our-
selves.

The opposite of peace is chaos. When contrary
forces collide head on, when warring, hostile per-
sonalities meet, when pressures are applied from
many sides, the result is a state of disorder.
Lives are ruined, happiness destroyed, minds are

twisted, in an atmosphere of enmity and con-

fusion.

We were made for the enjoyment of peace.
Had there been no sin in the world, peace would
be our permanent environment. In a better world

undisturbed by sin, peace would come naturally

to us. But today, given the world as it is, we
must use intelligence and determination to ac-

quire for ourselves the peace we need to live in.

St. Thomas has given us the classical definition
of peace. “Peace,” says this great Doctor of the

Church, “is the tranquillity of order.” We can
transfer his definition into more familiar idiom:

Peace is having everything in its place. Once you

put things where they belong you begin to enjoy

the tranquillity and serenity of mind that we call
peace.

Peace is not dead, passive stagnation. St.

Thomas’ definition of peace allows for a full

measure of satisfying activity. It is possible to

have the interplay of great forces, of powerful

streams of thought and action, as long as they

are ordered, properly subordinated, that is, in

their proper places.

5



We all agree that peace is very desireable; we
admit, also, that we can live a full life under
the reign of peace; the question now is, how can
we acquire peace in our day. The answer is not
hard to find: Personal peace is the product of
the virtue of justice. This is what the Holy Spirit
meant in the Psalms by the verse: “Justice and
peace have embraced.” (Ps. LXXXIV 11)

Justice is the virtue that inclines us to give

to everyone what is due to them. Justice gives
us a calm view of everything; justice enables

us to have the proper perspective, to give the

right emphasis. What disturbs us most is that we
do not see things clearly. We over-value trifles,
we under-value essentials. And the result of such
confused thinking is restlessness, confusion,

wasted effort, the feeling of failure and frustra-

tion.

Most of us get the impression of peacefulness
from St. Joseph. In the pages of the New Testa-
ment he moves with quietness and sureness. He
had great problems and heavy responsibilities;

but he was ever in peace. What was the secret
of his peace? St. Matthew tells us: “For Joseph

. . . was a just man.” (I 19) Joseph was unafraid
and unconfused because his eyes were firmly fixed

on what was right, what was due to God and man.

Once we are persons of peace, then we can
begin to weave a pattern of peace around us. We
should make our own the prayer of St. Francis

of Assissi: “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy
peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon; where there is

doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where

there is darkness, light ; and where there is sad-

ness, joy.”

6



ON SARDINE CANS

Thought given to values can save worlds of grief.

There is a story told of a missionary in the

South Sea Islands. The only way that he could
win the good will of the natives was by practicing

medicine. It so happened that the son of the

Island chief fell ill of pneumonia. When the witch
doctors seemed unable to break the spell of the

disease, the chief called for the missionary. His

sound medical treatment saved the child. The

chief was immensely pleased and, in his gratitude,

determined to give the missionary the tribe’s most

precious possession. On the day determined amid
great pomp and ceremony the object most
treasured was presented to the missionary. He
could scarce keep from laughing: The treasure of

the tribe was a sardine can!

Perhaps this never happened; this story may
be only a modern parable. But it carries a pointed

lesson How many of us are like those South Sea
Islanders in our over-valuation of the things we
possess. Very few of us do not have our “sardine

cans.”

Values to be Examined

Much confusion is introduced into women’s lives
by wrong values. To esteem a trifle as a treasure

is the way to be unhappy. Why go to a lot of
trouble to do what is not worth doing? The poet

Lowell pointed out the tragedy of wrong values

when he wrote the lines: “In the devil’s booth all
things are sold; trifles are bought with a whole

soul*s tasking.”

It would do us all a great deal of good if from

time to time we would sit ourselves down and
examine our values. It may be that we think too
much of material possessions. Do we work and

7



skimp and save so that we can buy more clothes,
another appliance, new furniture ? The possession
of these things is not in itself a virtue. They may
not be worth the bother involved. Someone re-
cently spoke of people who are “so busy making
a career that they have no time to live.” That
could be applied to many of us; we are so busy
getting things for ourselves that we stop living.

Keeping up with the Joneses, staying abreast
of every fad, "trying to own each new product
as the persistent advertisers cram it down our
throats—all of this runs us ragged. Life becomes
a merry-go-round, a rat race, as a result of setting

up erroneous values.

Christ's Clarification

Our Divine Lord gave us a yard-stick for
measuring the true values of everything: “What
does it profit a man,” He said, “if he gain the
whole world and suffer, the loss of his soul? Or

what would a man give in exchange for his soul?”

In a well-ordered life the spiritual is most es-

teemed. We were put in life to achieve a spiritual
destiny. Therefore things of the spirit—prayer,
Holy Mass, the Sacraments, love of God and

neighbor, doing God's will—are most precious
because they directly contribute to our success

in life. Material things have their uses it is true,

but their value is relative: Only if material things

really contribute to our soul’s development are

they worth bothering about. Once we learn this

truth we’ll throw out all the “sardine cans” that

are cluttering up our life.

8



TODAY’S “V.C.”

A vicious circle can turn life into a tread-mill.

Every age has its own peculiar “V. C.” (vicious
circle). We have ours. It goes something like this:
People have no taste for the spiritual because

they are so attracted by material things. They
would learn to love the spiritual if they would

make a real attempt to live a more spiritual life;
but to live a more spiritual life they must cease
being so preoccupied with the material.

What can be done to break up this vicious
circle? Until people actually “taste and see that

the Lord is sweet” they will not be sufficiently

motivated to reduce their preoccupation with

material things. And the attraction of the senses,
of earthly satisfactions, hold them back from giv-
ing the spiritual a try. Perhaps education will

break the circle; perhaps people will accept the

word of authority and make a beginning. If we
could dispell the enchantment which material

things throw over the human spirit for just a
little while so that the individual could turn to

God and experience the “joy of the Lord”, that
would do the trick.

Strange Inversion

Isn’t it strange that creatures are allowed to

crowd out the Creator? We get so involved with
the trinkets that God has made and given us
that we forget the loving Father from whom they
come. It reminds us of the cuckoo bird. This bird

lays its eggs in another bird’s nest. The young
cuckoos, however, develop much more rapidly
than the young of the foster parents. The result
is that the baby cuckoos shove the young of their
foster parents out of the nest.

Isn’t that like us modems? We have one big
purpose in life: to develop spiritually. Food is to
keep us alive, houses to shelter us, clothes to

protect and adorn us, recreation to keep us in

good health—all this while we work out our

9



destiny of becoming saints. But what happens?
We act like children who, when given an all-day
sucker, ignore the candy and start chewing the

stick.

Inner Attraction

Whatever good there is in creatures to make us
want them has been put there by God. God is
the source of being, and beauty, and goodness.

If creatures, then, have the power of making us
happy, their infinite Creator has an infinitely

greater power of giving us joy. Thus it was that
the Psalmist cried out: “O taste and see that the
Lord is sweet; happy is the man that hopeth in
him.” (PS. 33, 9) The Holy Trinity dwells in
the soul of every justified person; when you are in
the state of Sanctifying Grace the Father, the Son

and the Holy Ghost, are present to you in a special

way. St. Thomas says that through the indwelling
the Trinity is with you, “to be enjoyed.”

And what joy is not the infinite God able to
impart to those that love Him

!

Why do not more of us enjoy the sweetness of
our companionship with the three divine Persons

of the Most Blessed Trinity? Because we are
so seldom aware of their presence, because we
so seldom turn inward to them, because our minds

and hearts are fastened on a million trivialities.

We are the slaves of creatures, and thus cannot
enjoy the leisure of the children of God. Our
greatest need, therefore, is simplicity in our liv-

ing, self - denial in our pleasures, recollection

throughout the day, and a spirit of detachment

from creatures. Only thus is liberty of spirit

bought; only thus can we “taste and see that the
Lord is sweet.”

10



ON FOOLING YOURSELF

The fool is the enemy principally of himself.

The most dangerous kind of deception is self-
deception. At first sight it might seem impossible
to fool oneself; but it is actually very easy. That’s

why the philosophers of Greece taught that the
first step toward wisdom is know oneself; that’s
why the Saints of Christendom teach that humil-
ity is the foundation of sanctity.

People are self-deceived because they want to
be deceived. It is a bit painful to be stripped of

our illusions and to face the truth. It seems

more satisfactory to live in a world of haze and
unreality. But it only seems more satisfactory;

actually self-deception is a very great personal

misfortune. Would you say that a person who
does not feel the cold because of a slowly creeping

paralysis is fortunate because he does not feel

the cold ?

There are several ways in which self-deception
operates. Great quantities of people deceive them-
selves by making religion a luxury. They pray
in order to feel good; they go to church so that
they may have the satisfaction of appearing pious;
they give to charity so that they may have that
“fine inner glow”. Instead of being truly religious

they are rotten selfish.

Then there are the people who use religion for
their own ends. They want to be big fish in their
own little pond, so they jump into religious ac-
tivity. They get to be head of sodalities and
organizations. They work like Trojans; Ulysses
cleaning the Aegean stables would seem to be
resting compared to them; and their activity does
more harm than good. They are hypocrites. They
are promoting themselves and claiming credit for

being servants of God.

Finally, there are those who tacitly adopt the
principle that the end justifies the means. These
people look so long at the reason that they have
for doing something that they overlook the fact
that the action is sinful. For instance, a woman
who won’t talk to her husband because he won’t

11



let her buy a new hat may completely exonerate
herself of any fault in her lack o‘f duty to her
spouse. “He’s mean,” she says over and over
again until she has convinced herself that what
she is doing is all right.

And in every one of these cases of self-decep-
tion the individual is hurting himself. The religion
-is-a-luxury people grow lukewarm and frequently

fall away from their fervor and even from their
Faith itself as soon as they feel that spiritual

practices are burdensome; the self-promoters by-

religious-activity people become uncooperative and

even enemies of the organization as soon as they

can’t have their own little way any longer; the
it’s-all-right-because-I’m-hurt people bring sorrow

into the lives of everybody including their own.

Self-deception doesn’t pay. It is much better to
be free of illusions. The suffering we do in
facing the truth is much less than the pain and
anguish that smashes us like the delayed action

of a block buster. Therefore, we suggest two
things: First, be unselfish; second, purify your

intention constantly.

Be unselfish. This is important because self-

deception is the product of selfishness. Think of

God; love Him and work for Him in all your
activities. It doesn’t matter who does the work,

or who gets the glory as long as the work gets

done. You won’t lose out ever by being unselfish.

Purify your intention constantly. Unworthy

motives have a way of infiltrating our actions if

we are not constantly alert. Even works that have

been begun with a pure intention of glorifying

God can be spoiled by a lowering of aim.

There is no better way of preparing for heaven

than in striving not to deceive ourselves on earth.

In fact, Purgatory is the process whereby we are

undeceived. It is a lot wiser to do the job on

earth and save ourselves the pain.

12



ON PEACE OF MIND

There is a pearl of great price to be had.

Two eminent scholars in a recent book make
much of the unhappiness of contemporary

women. Never before in the history of the world,

say the writers, has there been more unhappiness

among women. And this, they go on to state, in
an age when women’s rights, freedom, the fem-

inine suffrage have won the day.

We shall not quarrel with these eminent schol-
ars, nor question their statistics, nor object to

their solution of the problem. We mention the
book to point up the fact that there are unhappy

women in the world today.

What can be done about unhappiness? Well,
first we can understand whence comes unhappi-
ness. In every case we find that the unhappy
person is the victim of wrong emphasis. The
person assigns too great a value to some one

factor of human living; or undervalues some
other factor that ought to be highly regarded.

We can say that the unhappy person is out of
touch with reality. She lives in a dream world,
and the dreams turn out to be all nightmares.

By way of illustration, suppose that a person
feels that it is absolutely essential always to

have her own way. That is what she lives for.
She will not, as she boasts, play second fiddle to

anybody. Can you imagine a more unhappy per-
son? To have one’s way always is to want to be
God; and that is impossible.

13



We have said that unhappiness is the product
of placing the wrong emphasis. We can enum-
erate several possibilities for this wrong em-
phasis: Material possessions, power over our fel-

lowmen, unlimited pleasures, worldly success,

peace at the expense of principle. Anybody who
places too high a value on the items in this list

is courting unhappiness.

Our Divine Saviour came into this world to
show us the way to happiness, both in this life
and in the life to come. And thus at the begin-
ning of his public ministry he gave us His “form-

ula for happiness.” This formula is found in the

fifth chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel. It is com-

monly known as the Eight Beatitudes.

Instead of the colorless word “blessed,” the

original Greek text uses “makairos” which means

happy. So Christ actually said: “Happy are the
poor of spirit . . . Happy are the meek ... Happy
are they that mourn . . . Happy are they who
hunger and thirst after justice ... Happy are
the merciful . . . Happy are the clean of heart .

.

Happy are the peacemakers . . . Happy are they
who suffer persecution for justice’ sake . . .”

The Beatitudes are Christian points of empha-

sis. If we stress in our lives what Christ men-
tions in the Beatitudes we will enjoy happiness.
There will be no confusion of mind for us. We
will know with the greater certitude of Faith
what is best for us.

14



WHO MAKES THE RULES?
There is great wisdom in knowing how a

thing works best.

There is nothing that gets us into more
trouble than our attempt to make our own
rules. Eve attempted to make rules for her-
self and look what happened to her. God had
made the rule she was to observe in regard
to the fruit of the Tree of Life. But she knew
better and thus opened the Pandora Box of
Original Sin.

What motivates women to make their own
rules is their unwillingness to face reality. It

takes humility and great good will to say:
“This is what God wants; and this I will do.”
There is in each of us a fatal attraction to do
our own will. Was it not Queen Elizabeth, the
illegitimate daughter of Henry VIII and Anne
Boleyn, who said: “Rather to rule in hell than
to serve in heaven”?

And trouble, trouble, trouble is the result of
making our own rules. The ideas we have in
our own heads do not change what is outside
us. A person may decide to abolish the law
of gravity. But the law of gravity does not
thereby cease to exist, even for that individual.
Behold her climbing out on the ledge of a
20-story window; behold her muttering with
determination, “I refuse to be bound by the
law of gravity;” and now behold her smashed
to jelly on the pavement below. And what
happens in the physical order from making
our own rules in defiance of God’s rules, hap-
pens as well in the moral order.

One might say that God’s rules for us are
the “Directions” that come with the human
appliance. Wise housewives are scrupulous in
observing the set of directions which come

15



with the new washing machine. They know
from past experience that wrong use of a deli-

cate machine results in repair bills and in-

convenience. Now, since God has been good
enough to set down the directions we must
observe for the use of the human machine, is
it not wise to observe them?

The manufacturer is trying to help the
purchaser with the directions he includes in

the package with the appliance. And God is
being kind to us when He makes the rules
for us. The human being is so complicated,
so delicately adjusted, so intricately related to

other beings, that only the wisdom of God
Himself is adequate to make rules for us.
It is sheer madness to make our own.

Why is it that we grow hostile to God for
giving us the rules we must follow? We ought
to be eternally grateful that He thought
enough of us to set the pattern for us. It is
easy to lead a useful, contented, happy life
on earth if we tailor ourselves to God’s ideas
for us. God is our Heavenly Father; God
knows what will hurt us, and what is best
for us both in time and in eternity. Fortun-
ately for us God has revealed His Will for us
and continues to guide us safely in the vital
teaching of the Church. How foolish to resist
the restraining Hand of God and to jump
off the deep end!

Much of our success in being women lies
in accepting God’s Will for us. Humility to dis-
trust our own will and obedience to do what
God wants of us are the two great feminine
needs. With all our heart the question in our
title must be answered: “God makes the rules!”

16



WITNESS TO GOD

To be rather than to seem is essential for the
apostolate.

Certain men are favored by God with vivid
insights into His truth. The late Cardinal Suhard

was one of them. In his pastoral letter on the

priesthood, issued April 14, 1949 he makes an

important contribution to our thinking on Catho-

lic Action by defining for us what a “witness” is.

“It has been truly said,” writes the Cardinal,

“that to be a witness does not consist in engaging

in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up,

but in being a living mystery. It means to live

in such a way that one’s life would not make
sense if God did not exist.” It was in this way
that Christ was a witness; it is in this way that
we all must become witnesses.

It is safe to say that Christ’s words would

today be respected had He not died in confirma-
tion of His teaching; but, without His death on

the Cross, the Christian message would not have

transformed the world. Christ was a witness, a
“living mystery”. It is impossible to understand

Christ, and especially the crowning act of His

life on Calvary, unless you think of God.

The historical fact that Jesus Christ died on
the cross is a maddening puzzle unless you accept

Christ for what He is. The truth of the Creator-
creature relationship is involved with the dead

Christ. To read aright the Book of Books (thus

St. Thomas Aquinas named the Crucifix) you
must glimpse God’s sovereign rights over the

human race, the malice of sin, man’s obligation
to serve the Almighty, the infinite love of the

Creator for His erring creatures. These truths

are borne in upon the mind inescapably by the

impact of what Christ on the Cross is.

17



To be a witness “means to live in such a way
that one’s life would not make sense if God did
not exist.” The application of that principle to
Catholic life would work a revolution. Is it not
true that at the first mention of Catholic Action,or

the apostolate, people think of what they can do?
What they ought to consider is what they can be!

Words are cheap. “What you are shouts so .
loud,” wrote Emerson, “that I can’t hear what

you say.” We have right here the explanation
of the failure of so many projects for the honor
and glory of God. People talk too much, and spend

too little time in making themselves a “living

mystery”. The trouble with most of us is that

we are too easily understood. People see right
through us.

They say that every man has his price for
which he can be bought. What is our price? Do
we practice our religion for what we get out of

it? Is self our God? Are the Catholic activities

in which we engage merely a form of subtle self-

ishness? Are we serving God or serving our-

selves?
‘

We must answer these questions if we want to
be a witness. When all the motivation for what
we do is natural and easily understandable by the

most worldly of our friends, we are far from

being a witness. Only when people say to us:

“I can’t understand you. You don’t act like the

rest of us. You are different,” only then do we

begin to qualify as a witness.

We must become like Christ on His cross

—

inexplicable to the natural man, but easily under-

stood by those who know God.

18



ORDER OR CHAOS

A small practice with great potentialities.

Women have an innate liking for orderliness.
The reason for this is probably because there is a
close relationship between order and beauty. St.

Thomas defines beauty as “the clarity of order.”
When things are in their proper place and blend
and harmonize properly we have beauty. And, of
course, beauty is the woman’s sphere.

Since order is so close to the woman’s heart, the
absence of order (chaos, that is) is distasteful to

her. When nothing matches, when everything is
out of place, when people, places and things, are
all topsy-turvy the woman feels distressed and
unhappy. Therefore, she should be pleased that

this leaflet is presenting her with a recipe for

order. It is as easy to have orderliness (and

therefore beauty) in one’s life as it is to make
good apple pie simply by following directions. We
won’t attempt at this time a recipe for apple pie,

but we do emphatically recommend our suggestion
here set down for achieving life with order.

Now, in order to bring orderliness into your life
you’ve got to start out with an over-all plan. You
can’t try to have both pea green and pastel pink
as the decor of your new parlor at one and the
same time and expect to get anything but a mess.
You’ve got to decide right off whether you want
to make chicken dumplings or chocolate cake be-
fore you start mixing your ingredients. So apply
this to your life: What do you want to make of it ?

19



You’ll answer immediately: I want to make my
life truly Christian and pleasing to God. Good!
Now you’ve got an over-all plan. It won’t be
too hard to arrange all the components of your

life if you just stick to that one idea. But you
will not ask: “But what’s the secret; what’s the
recipe of such a good life; how do I make every
thing—work and worry, play and pleasure, song
and sorrow—mix in proper proportions so that a
good life comes out of it all?”

The secret, my dear lady, is THE MASS. Unless
you go to daily Mass, I hold out little hope for

you. If you go to daily Mass I’ll be willing to
wager that you’ll become a woman after God’s
own heart, that is, a saint.

You see, the Mass is like a great magnet; and
all the details of your life are like scattered iron

fragments. When you apply the Mass to them
they all gather together and become orderly.

Look what happens when you go to Mass of a
morning: You kneel there and through the priest
offer to God the gift of Christ Jesus Himself;
with Jesus you offer yourself—your body and
soul, your dear ones, your home, your hopes and

fears, and all that you are. Do you see how that
would bring orderliness into your life? You are
now turned to God and have but one purpose: to
please Him. You have an over-all idea of what
you are to do that day. You’ll be able to mix the

ingredients of your life in the right proportions.

Please, do go to daily Mass, and see how won-
derfully it works.

20



ON BEING GRACE-FUL

It is much better to have Sanctifying Grace in
your soul than to win a beauty show

God’s greatest gift to mankind is Sanctifying

Grace. Here are some of the reasons for this

statement: It gives us a share in God’s own life
and thus is participated Divine Life; It makes

us members of God’s own family; as members of
God’s family we are by Grace children of God
and heirs of heaven; It makes our souls pleasing
to God, beautiful in His sight; It is our means of

getting into His wonderful heaven of glory and

happiness for all eternity.

In view of all this you can see what ought to
be the first and foremost occupation of every

individual. We ought to think of nothing else
but to retain and increase this marvelous treas-

ure. This Sanctifying Grace is the treasure hidden

in the field of our Faith; It is the pearl of great

price for love of which we ought to sell all that
we have to possess ourselves of It.

The martyrs had this idea about Grace. They
endured tortures, they were imprisoned, burnt at

the stake, fed to hungry lions, killed. And they
could have escaped all tins so easily. They merely
had to renounce their faith. All they would have
lost thereby was their Sanctifying Grace. But
they thought that nothing—absolutely nothing
in this whole wide world—was as valuable as
this precious spiritual quality that made them
live by God’s own life and be His well-loved
children.

21



Would that all Catholics had the same esteem
for their gift of Grace! A new day would dawn
in the history of the Church. And so many of
the problems that plague people would be solved!

This Sanctifying Grace can be increased by
us. Every good deed performed by us while in
the state of Grace can be meritorious of more
Grace. This participated Divine Life that was
given us in our re-birth at Baptism can grow. We
can constantly be more and more alive with Di-
vine Life. And for each increase of Sanctifying
Grace through the practice of virtue, by our re-
ception of the Sacraments, we are entitled to an
added increase of reward and happiness in

heaven. This is what Christ meant when He said:
“Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven,
where moth or rust cannot corrode or thieves
break through and steal.”

The acquiring of new Grace for ourselves by
our good actions is called condign merit. It is a

consoling truth to realize how valuable for eter-
nity are our efforts to love and serve God. But

there is also another kind of merit. It is called

congruous (fitting or extra) merit. This is the

effect that our good actions have on others.

An illustration may be better than further
explanation. Here is a mother of a wayward son.
Her words seem to have no influence over him.

But she wants him to save his soul and ulti-

mately get to heaven with her. Now if this good
woman acquires great union with God and by
the heroicity of her life gains great merit by
her prayers, good deeds and sacrifices, God will

see to it that this son of hers benefits from the

overflow of her merit. As that woman becomes
dearer and dearer to God by the sanctity of her
life, God’s will to give her her dearest wish causes

Him to send the boy the efficacious graces that
pull him out of the swamp of sin.

That’s why we say that no saint ever goes to
heaven alone.

22



GOD’S SHORTCUT

Efficiency-minded Americans ought to be sold on

the Sacraments

All the world loves a shortcut. This is proved

by the paths that scar otherwise trim lawns, by

the laws on city books that prohibit crossing the

street in the middle of the block. It seems so silly

to people to go around when they can get there

faster by going directly across.

Well, the world’s love for shortcuts ought to

endear the Sacraments to people. That is exactly

what a Sacrament is—a spiritual shortcut that
gets us to God the quick way. Theologians use
ponderous terms to say this. They explain that
the sacraments work “ex opere operato” (accord-
ing to the work done). Our other good deeds are
“ex opere operantis” (according to the work of
the worker).

Simply, the explanation means that we get out
of receiving the Sacrament much more than we
put into the receiving of the Sacrament. Thus,

when as an act of private devotion you kneel at
the communion rail, you do not get near the grace
that you obtain when you receive Holy Com-
munion. You don’t put forth any more effort to
go up to the rail; you may not have any more
love or faith when you open your lips to receive
the Sacred Host; but in your act of private devo-

tion you were on your own, while Christ’s power
worked specially in you when you received the
Eucharist.

23



The Sacraments are often called “channels of
grace.” They are conduits through which flow
the merits of the Saviour; they are sacred signs

that “convey what they signify.” Let us dwell
for a moment on that idea of channel, or conduit.

Suppose you live on a farm and have no run-
ning water in your house. To get water you must
drop a bucket down into the rain-filled cistern
and then draw the bucket up by the power of your
good right arm. You have water, it is true, but
at the expenditure of hard work. Nor can your
water supply be described as abundant.

Then along comes the city to install running
water. You now have all the water you desire
right at your finger tips. Thus, the hand-drawn

water is like the grace you merit by your acts of

laborious virtue; the water pouring out of the tap

in your kitchen sink is like the grace you receive

from the reception of a Sacrament.

Of course, effort on your part is required in the

reception of a Sacrament; but it is more of the

nature of cooperation with God than hard labor.
The water company will keep pressure in the

pipes, but they won’t send out a man every time
you want to fill the tea pot. And just as the flow
of water is conditioned on how much you turn the
handle of the faucet, so you get more or less grace

from a Sacrament as you are more or less per-

fectly prepared.

But the big point in all this is the inherent

power of the Sacraments to sanctify the recipient.

The Sacraments contain the grace they signify.

It’s all there— tremendous sanctifying power,
leading across God’s own shortcut to rapid union
with God.

24



WOMAN’S SWEETEST VIRTUE

You do not have to spend a lot of money going

to a charm school

What color and fragrance is to a flower, what

lilting melody is to the song bird, what the stars

are to a glorious June night, that humility is to

the woman. She may be a Venus de Milo on the
outside, but if she lacks humility she is a gaunt

scarecrow on the inside. And, fortunately or un-

fortunately, the soul has a way of showing itself
when we least desire it.

The chief ingredient for a truly lovely person

is humility. A woman without humility is some-
what like the Canadian thistle. This flower, grow-

ing profusely in the fields of Texas, looks beau-

tiful at a distance, but should you try to pluck

the white satiny flower you find that your hands

are full of hundreds of sharp painful thorns.

Women were never made to be show pieces, set
out in the country fields; they were meant to be
the joy, the strength and the consolation of man.

Humility is the virtue that makes us honest
with ourselves. The proud person is always kid-
ding himself; he won’t admit his limitations, and

he won’t give anybody else credit for knowing
more, or being more able, than he. And conse-
quently the proud individual is a bore, a bottle-

neck in any organization and a torture to himself.

A proud woman is something that God and man
abhors. She thinks she knows it all, she feels that
she is commissioned to run the whole universe,
she bullies others, including her men-folks at

home, to such a degree that they avoid her when

25



they can’t let her have her own way. She is a
pretty poor speciman of humanity.

We must not confuse humility with an inferi-
ority complex. The woman with a complex is un-
sure of herself; she is hesitant and afraid. This

perplexity and fear is poles away from true
humility.

Humility is a serene virtue. St. Teresa used to

say that humility is truth. We see things clearly
when we have humility. When it is time to take
a back seat, the humble person takes a back seat

with perfect composure—and enjoys the back
seat. But when it is time to step forward, the
truly humble steps forward even though she may
suffer terribly in doing so.

The truly humble woman is not a prima donna.
She is not out for headlines, notoriety, commen-
dation. She is acutely conscious of her many
shortcomings; she is deeply aware that whatever

talent she might have is given her by God and
that He ought to have the credit for it. But when
she realizes that she has some ability and that

there is an obligation resting upon her to use

that ability for the honor and glory of God, she

unhesitatingly volunteers for the job.

The woman of humility is not anxious that
people listen to her opinions. She may be right,
and she may have the feeling that another is talk-
ing like a fool, but she knows that God has not
commissioned her to correct the ideas of every-

body on the face of the earth. She will suggest

what she thinks is right, but if there is no reason

for her insisting on her way, she is quite con-

tented to see others contend for their opinions.

There is a quiet reality, a genuineness about

the humble woman. That is the secret of her
charm. She has been wise enough to acquire

woman’s sweetest virtue.

26



TESTAMENT OF LOVE

Love is the fulfilling of the Law

There is no evidence in the whole of the New
Testament that Christ was betrayed by a wom-

an. All of the unpleasant people in the Gospel

Story are men. Pilate and Herod and Caiphas

and Judas and other men gave our Divine Sav-
iour some rough times. But the women of the
Gospels, from Mary His Mother, to Mary Mag-
dalen who recognized Him in the garden on
Easter morning, were solidly on His side. Why
was this?

Could it be that the women who met Christ
instinctively understood the role He was play-
ing in the history of the race? Christ’s mission

on earth was to bring men to love. “I am come
to cast fire on the earth,” He said, “and what
will I, but that it be accomplished?” (Luke XII

49). Hatred had congealed the hearts of men;
darkness had taken over their minds. The world
was a savage jungle as a consequence. To remedy
this sad situation the Second Person of the

Most Holy Trinity took flesh. “To save us He
descended from heaven and was made man by
the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary.”

Our salvation is accomplished only through
love. This is to be understood in two ways:
First, it was God’s love for His erring creatures
that moved Him to become Incarnate and to
redeem us; second, only if we love, do we bene-
fit from the graces won by Christ.

Love is the giving of self out of the inner
urging of our own goodness. Thus the devil can-
not love, because there is no good in him. Nor
can the completely selfish person love, nor the

totally depraved. God can love because He is
infinite goodness. The philosophers try to ex-
press this by saying that good is diffusive of
itself. You do not have to buy the services of
a person who is genuinely generous and kind.

27



We can say that there is a curiously illogical
quality about the whole of Our Lord’s teaching
and actions. Since He is infinite wisdom incar-
nate He might have given us the most cogently
reasoned dissertations on virtue that were ever
written. He did not do so because He was
primarily appealing not to men’s intellects but

to men’s hearts. The poet pointed out the under-
lying reason for such an appeal: “A man con-
vinced against his will, though vanquished does

but argue still.” In a certain way love must
precede belief.

So God would overwhelm us with love. We
would be stripped of our defenses, deprived of

arguments, before the tremendous fact of God’s

infinite love. Creation, the breath of life, the

stupendous horizons of the supernatural, all of

this is evidence of God’s love of His creatures.

You do not have to ask what God gets out of
His gifts. His love motivates Him to give. God
draws beings out of nothing, puts life where
before there was death, light where before
there was darkness, joy where there was sad-
ness, peace where there was conflict. Love is
its own explanation.

The torch of human love is lit at the quench-
less fire of God’s love. And thus love is the only
instrument on earth that elevates and deifies

man. Without love the members of the race
divide themselves into hostile camps, into haves

and have-nots, into mad dogs quarrelling over
a bone. There is only one law that can satis-
factorily replace the jungle code of tooth and
fang, that is the law of love.

28



THE CHARM OF SILENCE

Silence is golden in more than one way

Many a woman today is weary. Her weariness is
more of the soul than of the body. She doesn’t

work as hard as her grandmother did in the old

days, but she is more deeply fatigued. Modern

woman is tired from the constant pressure
brought to bear upon her. Here we discuss just
one phase of this problem and offer a remedy.

Much of feminine fatigue today is caused by
the woman’s failure to limit her distractions. At

one time the woman could retire within the four
walls of her home and find seclusion and solitude;

there she could find the “inwardness” that her

soul needs. But no more. Today the world with all

its jangling discords and ugly insistence comes

flooding into the home.

What is responsible for this state of affairs?
Women have not tried to think this matter
through. They have used an over-simplified stand-

ard of values. They have acted on the principle

that if something is not evil in itself it is there-

fore all right to welcome it into their homes and
their lives. Tobacco, drinking, movies, novels,

magazines, newspapers, radio, television, etc., have

been accepted in this way. I say that the principle

is an over-simplification. It is true that this litany

of modern distractions and recreations are not
evil in themselves; but that is no reason for tak-

ing them unreservedly to our hearts.

It often happens that a thing that is good in

itself is not good for an individual. By accepting
all new inventions and developments on the basis
of this easy standard the woman has lost her
freedom of soul. She is chained down, burdened,

fettered by the noise, confusion and emotional
strains that are brought to bear upon her.

Put it another way: The individual has only so
much awareness; the woman can direct her atten-

29



tion to a limited number of objects. If all of these
objects are material, temporal and worldly, she
obviously has to eliminate from her life what is
spiritual, eternal and heavenly. Her senses and
her emotions may be occupied, but her intellect’s
hunger for truth and her will’s hunger for the
beautiful and good are dissatisfied.

God is crowded out of the lives of countless
American women. From the moment early in the
morning when the radio-clock snaps on until late
at night when the telephone stops ringing and the
last flicker of TV is mercifully extinguished, the
woman hasn’t a moment she can call her own. Is
it any wonder that so many women today are
stunted spiritually?

' What is needed is silence! It is question of a
hard alternative: She can have the fatiguing dis-

tractions of the world; or she can have the peace-

giving, joyous presence of God. She can’t have

both. If she wants the awareness of God then

she must reduce the noise round-about her and

within her to silence. This is not easy. Sister

Elizabeth of the Trinity calls it an “ascesis” or

a discipline. But it is well worth the effort.

First work for exterior silence. Rigorously limit

your distractions: Read the magazines and news-

papers at a set time and briefly; keep the radio

and TV turned off except for a short period of
recreation each day; reduce telephone conversa-

tions. The noise the children make won’t hurt

you; but the noise made by worldliness will.

Then try to increase your interior silence. Keep

your imagination under control—no useless day
dreams; watch your memory—don’t dwell on mat-
ters in the past that keep you upset; control your

intellect—think of God and His truth rather than
spend your time in constant analysis of yourself

and neighbor; master your will—seek sincerely to
do God’s will instead of incessantly plotting how

to do your own.

That will take work. But it will reduce your

weariness and give you a taste of peace and inner

joy that you had not dreamed of.

30



THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

Ponce de Leon did not find it; but we have it.

Never to grow old, never to die—this is a dream
that has haunted the human race since the begin-

ning. Ponce de Leon tried to find the fountain of

youth and failed.

Amazingly enough the fountain of youth is in

the Catholic Church. We call it the Holy Euchar-
ist. If one uses this marvelous source of life, one

will never grow old or die. This we know from
the divine lips of Jesus Christ Himself. “If any

man eat my flesh and drink my blood he shall not
taste death forever.” It was of the soul that Christ
was speaking. It is much better to have the soul
live forever, than to prolong this present life in-

definitely.

The special effect of the Sacrament of the
Eucharist is to confer eternal life upon the re-
cipient. We learn this from the very words used
by the priest in conferring the Sacrament. “May
the Body of Jesus Christ keep thy soul unto life
everlasting. Amen.” Thus each reception of Holy
Communion is a further guarantee that the re-
cipient will get to heaven to enjoy life without
end.

In what way does the reception of Holy Com-
munion give us assurance of eternal happiness?

First, Holy Communion gives us a taste for
God and the things of God. When we receive the
Body of Christ frequently we are able to with-
stand the poisonous environment of the world.
The world, whose prince is the devil, makes a
powerful appeal for our allegiance. “All that is

31



in the world,” says St. John, “is the concupis-

cence of the eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh

and the pride of life.” The appetite for pleasure,

profit and power is strong. But we shall never be
overcome by the seductive satisfactions of the

world as long as we feed our souls on the food
that gives us spiritual satisfaction.

Again, Holy Communion acts as an antidote to
the seeds of sin within us. Due to Original Sin
there are seven downward tendencies in us: Pride,
envy, anger, sloth, covetousness, gluttony and

lust. These act very much Like Jiostile germs in
our blood-stream. If they multiply, illness and

finally death will ensue. But the Eucharist reaches

within us. The sanctity, the virtue, the grace of

Christ is poured into us by Holy Communion.

And the fever of death given us by the first
Adam, is allayed by the second Adam.

Finally Holy Communion causes a rapid growth
in the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Char-
ity. It takes great faith to receive the little wafer

that looks like bread, but is actually the Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ. And faith grows by exer-
cise. To receive Holy Communion makes us put
our confidence in God and His grace rather than
in the goods of this world. This causes an increase

of Hope. But most of all does the reception of

Holy Communion increase our Charity. This Sac-
rament is the Sacrament of love. In it two lovers,

Christ the Divine Lover, and His faithful fol-

lower, the human lover, meet in a life-giving
union.

And the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity,
Will inevitably conduct the Christian to Heaven.

Faith and Hope make the Catholic look up to
God and strive to love and serve Him; Charity
draws him on ever more rapidly until finally the
soul is caught in the great, eternal embrace of
the Beatific Vision.

32



THE PEACE-GIVING VIRTUE

There is a way to enjoy peace of mind through

the practice of a single virtue.

Each of us loves to have our own way. It is

very human to be restless and ill at ease when

things are not going as we want them to. So, if

we could have our own way all the time and always

experience the sweetness of seeing things follow

the pattern we wish for them, a great deal of our
discontent would disappear.

Believe it or not, the way to accomplish this
desirable end is a practice of the virtue of obedi-

ence. Christian obedience is not degrading, it is

not servility, but it is actually the freedom of the

sons of God.

Obedience can be defined as follows: “A super-
natural moral virtue which inclines us to submit

our wills to that of our legitimate superiors in as

much as they are the representatives of God.”
Now, the possession of a virtue gives facility and
even sweetness in doing good actions. That is why
the definition says that Obedience “inclines us to

submit our wills”. This virtue makes us want to
do what our legitimate superiors tell us to do.

And right here we see the value of the virtue
of obedience. When we harbor in our minds an
hostility to authority, when we are always “agin’
the government”, our lives are always distressed.

There is always some law or regulation we don’t
like, some person A lling us what to do, and we
keep ourselves in a fighting mood most of the
time. That is bad for the nerves.

33



The acceptance of authority is the solution.

St. Paul tells us that legitimate authority is the

expression of God’s right to tell us what to do.

“Let every soul be subject to higher powers,”

writes the Apostle to the Romans, “for there is

no power but from God: and those that are, are

ordained of God. Therefore he that resisteth the

power, resisteth the ordinance of God; and they

that resist, purchase to themselves damnation.”

That is strong language; but it shows clearly that

we must accept the fact that we are bound to obey
legitimate authority.

The result for us in a spirit of obedience is
peace of mind. When we do what our legitimate
superiors tell us to do we can be sure that we are
doing the Will of God. Superiors are representa-

tives of God and express His will in our regard.
We may possibly be fooled when we figure things
out for ourselves; but when we obey we do not
make a mistake.

Obedience, then, points out to us the sure way
of our sanctification. “Not every one that says to
me, Lord, Lord! shall enter into heaven,” says

Christ Jesus, “but he that doth the will of my
Father who is in heaven, he shall enter the
kingdom of heaven.” Doing God’s Holy Will is the

absolute requirement for achieving our eternal

destiny. And obedience puts this absolute require-
ment in our grasp.

Of course, all this depends on Faith. The person

without faith can only see the reasonableness of

having someone in charge in order to avoid chaos.

But the teaching of our Faith takes us deeper

into the matter. The person of living Faith sees
each legitimate superior as God’s own representa-
tive, and obedience as compliance with God’s Will.

This is the reason why so much tranquility and
peace results from this wonderful Christian virtue.

34



THE “MARY” WAY

The pattern of Mary’s life is best for us

after all

“Behold thy mother,” said Jesus on the Cross.

And ever since then the eyes of Christians have

been fixed on Mary. But it is not merely to ad-

mire that we look at Mary; her life ought to be

the pattern of ours.

Perhaps Mary’s simple, unassuming practice

of virtue is the most outstanding quality of her

years on earth. Theologians tell us that Mary was
given more grace than all the other creatures of

God combined. Her sanctity started where that of
the greatest saints and the highest angels ended.

But for all her great graces, for all her amazing

privileges, she lived a simple and hidden life.

Mary was a contented woman. She had joy in
the wonderful Son that God had given her; and
she had sorrow because of the sword that was to
pierce her heart. She did not want to have—or
to be—anything but what God wanted for her.
So many women spend their time in fruitless
longing for what they are not.

Mary’s life was God-centered. I presume that
there was such a thing as advertising in her day*
But Mary was not diverted. She lived for God, in
the thought of God, for the honor and glory of
God. This filled her life with purpose. She had
something worth while to do—to love and serve
God. This is what filled the little home of Naza-
reth with happiness.

35



No doubt, there were larger homes around that
little Galilean town. Certainly there were women
who had a larger income, a more successful hus-
band, better clothing, more opportunities to mingle

with the social set. But that did not cast a cloud

over Mary’s life. She had something much more
satisfying, something more real and enduring.

Mary’s life is a clear demonstration of the

value for feminine happiness of simplicity, hu-

mility, obscurity, industry, prayer, and the over-

all objective of living for God. There can be no

question but that only through the interior life

can women find contentment. The more a woman
leaves the environment of her home, the more

things she finds to do outside the home, the more

she tries to impress others by display or mascu-

line achievement, the more miserable she becomes.

We do not advocate locking Christian women
up in their houses and keeping them uneducated.

Their freedom to come and go, their opportunity

to achieve full personality development is as im-

portant to them as it is to man. But the woman
lives at the heart of the human race. She finds
her happiness, her full development and her great-

est sphere of influence when she tends inward
toward the home circle rather than outward
toward the world of social life and business.

The great danger is that a woman will grow
stagnant in the little circle of her home. If she

wills to live in idleness, in mental torpitude, in

spiritual sloth, then she is doomed. The woman
closes out the world for one reason alone: so

that she can create a new world of her o\vn, a
world of unselfishness, of peace, of prayer, of

awareness to true spiritual values, a world of

deep and tranquil union with God. This is her an-

swer to the chaos of the world outside. This is her

“Pool of Bethsaida” where all that love her come

to bathe to be cured of their diseases and thus to

gather strength to clean up the mess outside.

36



WORK FOR MERIT

Work Need Not Be Unrewarding Drudgery

The necessity to labor comes from the origi-

nal fall of our first parents. No matter how
favored a person may be some work is an inevit-
able necessity. Work, however, is not an un-

mixed curse. It can be a great blessing.

Our viewpoint in regard to labor generally

determines whether it is pleasant or not- Some
work, nowever, is so laborious that no amount

of thinking will take the suffering out of it. It

is well for us, therefore, to have a Christian phi-

losophy of work.

One contribution that labor can make us is
the opportunity it affords to do penance. In

order that our work have the nature of penance
and thus atone for past sin, it must be accepted

willingly and performed generously. It need not

be liked; we might much prefer to be doing
something else. The fact is, however, that
scrubbing floors and washing dishes and clean-

ing Venetian blinds can shorten our purgatory.

Secondly, since honest labor is a good action,

it enables us to merit. Each day’s chores ful-
filled to the best of our abilities can increase

our sanctifying grace and add to our eternal re-
ward. Here again, a willing spirit is necessary.
Work that is done grudgingly and imperfectly
is not transformed into merit and reward.

Possibly the greatest attraction that work
can have for us is the opportunity it provides
for the practice of charity. St. Augustine says

love takes the unpleasantness out of hardship

and difficulty. “One who loves does not labor or
if he labors it is a labor of love." Somebody has
to do the work necessary for family living and
daily sustenance. If we don’t do it, somebody
else will have to do it. Our necessary work,
therefore, is a service. Again we repeat that in

37



order for work to be an act of charity, the right
spirit must inform it.

Today people at large do not like to work..
They try either to avoid it or to turn it into play
by means of gadgets and machinery. The “do it

yourself" craze seems to be rooted in this mod-
ern form of escapism. We do not here make a
plea for work that is senselessly done, but a
Christian attitude that accepts the hard neces-

sity of labor is much more satisfying than any
effort to take the suffering out of work.

Anything that enables us to get our purga-

tory done with here on earth, that increases our

union with God through merit, and adds to our
heavenly happiness, anything that gives us a

constantly recurring opportunity for the prac-

tice of charity, is a blessing. St. Benedict un-

derstood this clearly and wrote the famous line
“to labor is to pray.”

38



ORDERLY WEEK-ENDS

Take care of the week-end and the week will

care for itself.

Recently the Holy Father has been stressing

the sanctification of the Sunday. He feels most

keenly that a return of the people to God depends

on the use they make of the day of rest. If they

plunge into distractions and frivolous recreation,

giving God just the minimum service to which

they are held under pain of serious sin, our Cath-

olic people will grow increasingly worldly. The

result will inevitably be that their faith will be

weakened, they will succumb to temptation and

will adopt the paganism that lies all about them.

Sunday must be given back to God. To be mind-

ed so to do, it will be well to reflect on the spirit-

ual significance of Sunday.

The first Pope, St. Peter, change the day of rest

from the Sabbath to the first day of the week.

The Sunday was to remind the faithful of the
Resurrection. Thus each Sunday was to be a
“little Easter” for the Church. Our joy in the day
was to come principally, not so much from laying
aside the burden of the week’s work, as from our
realization that Christ rose from the dead to give
us new life and new hope. Even though we might
be greatly borne down by the hard toil and the
unrelenting struggle of the other six davs, on

Sunday our spirit was to be refreshed lit the light
and peace of the Resurrection.

Sunday had moreover a further significance: It
looked to the eternal rest of heaven. This life is

our six days of toil; paradise after death is to be
our eternal Sunday. Thus the Church says to us
on Sunday: “Lift up your hearts! You have not
here an abiding city. Live not for time and the
world’s prizes, but for the life to come.”

39



What to do?

How can we make our Sundays what the Holy
Father wants them to be? First of all, consider

Saturday as the vigil of Sunday. Do your house-
work in advance; prepare as much of the Sunday
meals as is possible. You and the children ought
to feel an air of preparation, of anticipation for

Sunday. It is the “big day” of the week, the day

of joy, the day to look forward to. The material
preparation for the Sunday rest is important,

something like a Sacramental.

Secondly, prepare spiritually. Go to Confession
on Saturday. Reserve the evening as a time of

recollection. Unless forced by necessity do not

plan any recreation such as shows or dances for

Saturday night. Try to bring into your home an
atmosphere of spiritual tranquility. Read through
the Mass of the Sunday from your Missal

;
say the

family Rosary; read a few passages from the New
Testament, or from the Imitation of Christ, aloud

with your husband or/and your family. And go
to bed early so that you and the family can go to

an early Mass together and all kneel together at
the Divine Breakfast-table of the Eucharist.

Of course, we would not deny you the Sunday
newspaper and moderate recreation. But what you
do on Sunday ought to be as un-worldly as pos-

sible. A family outing, if the children are young
enough to fall in with such a thing; a visit to

like-minded friends who will give you the happi-
ness of good conversation, rather than another

dose of TV; a few chapters read together from

The Little World of Don Camillo or some such
book. The possibilities are legion. People, and
ideas, and God—-that is the Christian formula for
a spiritually vitalizing Sunday.

40



THE GREATEST SPIRITUAL
CLASSIC

A Source of Spirituality that has out-lasted
the Centuries

An obscure monk sat pondering and writing in
his cell many centuries ago. And what he wrote

has been the inspiration of millions of souls.

We don’t even know what this monk’s name
is. Most people have called him Thomas A
Kempis. Some today say that he is really a man

by the name of De Grout. But it doesn’t matter

what we call him. He wrote a book that has be-
come a spiritual classic, second only to the Bible.

The Imitation of Christ* by Thomas A
Kempis is so valuable because it is a deeply per-

sonal appreciation of the spirit of Christianity.

This man felt a great attraction for God; his
soul hungered for truth and goodness and beauty.

But he experienced keenly how grievously his
spirit was weighted down by the earthiness of
the flesh. The struggle was great. His book
makes our heart warm to the man because we
also are human.

A Kempis was a great psychologist. He was
pitiless in analyzing his hidden motives. There is

often a wry humor in his remarks about himself.
He seems to regard himself as a wayward child,
a child whose small tricks and concealments are
quite transparent. He sees his own limitations
clearly, but he does not despair. God’s grace is

sufficient for him.

A lay person may wonder, however, just how
pertinent to herself this book is. If the Imitation
of Christ was written by a monk living a monastic
life may it not be unsuitable for the ordinary
person? No, the book is not unsuitable. There is
a universality about the Imitation that stamps it

41



as great literature. A Kempis was a real person
dealing with the problems and complexities of
life, anybody’s life, anywhere, any time.

Fr. Garrigou Lagrange, the famous Dominican

Theologian in Rome, has pointed out that the

approach to perfection taken by A Kempis is the
traditional one. There are not two ways of acquir-
ing holiness, but one only. And every soul must
mount the same path, go through the same ex-
periences, in order to attain high union with God.

Self-knowledge, meditation, recollection, resist-

ance to the irregulated passions, an effort to be

unworldly and mortified—this is the sum and
substance of every program of perfection.

But—and here we repeat again—the Imitation
is not a collection of precepts and counsels for

living a better life. Rather the book is the wise

fruit of a life of living the precepts and counsels

for a better life. A Kempis seems always to be
talking directly about ourself. Listen:

“We frequently judge that things are as we
wish them to be ... If God were the sole object

of our desire, we should not be disturbed so easily
by opposition to our opinions . . . Many, un-

awares, seek themselves in the things they do.

They seem to enjoy peace of mind when things

happen according to their wish and liking, but

if otherwise than they desire they are soon dis-

turbed and saddened ...”

But his knowledge of the science of sanctity

is just as thorough as his understanding of

human nature: “He does much who loves much.
He does much who does a thing well. He does
well who serves the common good rather than
his own interests . .

There is nothing that will do more to quiet the

fever of modern life and warm our heart and in-
spire us to seek spiritual perfection than this wise

and vibrant voice from the past.

•The Imitation of Christ, newly translated by Croft and

Bolton: Bruce Publishing Company. Milwaukee, 1940.

42



ON BARGAINS

It is wise to do smart buying

even in spiritual things.

Women are careful shoppers and have a good

eye for bargains. Men are apt to buy the first

piece of merchandise they see. But not the

ladies! They want their money's worth and will

hold to the trail until they find a real bargain.

This is why the retreat movement ought to

appeal to the women. In no activity does a per-

son get more returns for the effort expended

than in the retreat movement.

With so many demands being made upon us

today, with so many needs—more schools, more
churches, recreational centers and other things

—

there is a real necessity to conserve our energy,

to put effort in what will have the most lasting

and wide-spread effect. Let us first consider what

a retreat is, and then try to discover how it is

so influential in the life of the Church.

What a Retreat is

A retreat is a period of time spent by an
individual in relative solitude during which he

has time to think, time to pray, time to do a bit

of study about his -religion, and time to listen

to some sermons delivered by an experienced

retreat master. A retreat brings souls into con-
tact with Christ, the source of all wisdom and

happiness. A retreat is an opportunity to start
living a more intelligent, a more fervent Christian

life.

A retreat starts with Holy Mass, proceeds with
the Rosary, sermons, the Stations of the Cross,

and ends with the Papal Blessing and Benediction

of the Eucharistic Savior. In between times, the

retreatant has the chance to read about God, and

to plan for the future.

43



What Retreats do

1. Retreats help the individual to live a more

Christian life. Thus the person’s union with God
is perfected and he experiences the joy, the peace

and strength that God gives.

2. Retreats provide laborers for the Lord’s

vineyard. Today every project for the honor of

God is hamstrung because of lack of willing

hands. The awareness of spiritual values, the

greater love of God and fellowman, which is the
product of retreat, moves the retreatant to step
forward. The parish, the diocese and the Church

in general experiences a general awakening of

zeal through retreats.

3. Retreats bring Christ into the home, into the

economic and social sphere. This is so because

retreats produce alert, intelligent Catholics. The

most perfect form of adult education today is,

probably, the retreat. It is silly to spend millions

on children and to neglect the grown-ups.
‘

Conclusion

All this leads us to one conclusion: Retreats are

mighty important. Pope Pius XII said they were

necessary. “These kinds of spiritual exercises,”

he said on November 20, 1947, “are truly useful,
nay even necessary for instilling in souls a sin-

cere piety.”

44



ON BEAUTY AIDS

Why not plan on a beauty inside
as well as out?

The cosmetic industry is the second largest

business in the United States. The production and

sale of “beauty aids” is outranked only by steel,

according to the statistician. It would seem, there-

fore, that the women of our land have a high

esteem for personal loveliness.

We wouldn't want it otherwise. Only a man
bereft of his senses would wish that the ladies

go around with snaggle teeth, stringey hair and

rings in their noses. And if hair-does and pre-

parations in bottles help to supply what nature

was remiss in, God bless the inventors of such

preparations!

But—apd this is a very important restriction

—

we would like to see women realize that beauty
is more than skin deep. Christ had some very

harsh words to say for the Pharisees of His day

who put all the emphasis on the external. “Woe
to you,” He said, “because you are like whited
sepulchres which outwardly appear to men beau-
tiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones

and all rottenness.”

One of our finest modern thinkers has coined
the expression “S.O.” The advertisers have pop-
ularized the letters “B.O.” and have, through

insinuation, gotten people to fear it. But “S.O.”

(soul odor) is much worse. Not even your most
intimate friends will tell you that your soul is

unpleasant.

Beauty comes from within, from the virtuous
soul, and shines out through a person's features,

through his words and deeds. And, marvellous
to relate, this sort of beauty, the only real beauty,

can be ours if we want it. We can't change the
set of our eyes, or the shape of our chin, but we
can make our souls perfect as our Heavenly
Father is perfect.

45



The retreat movement ought to have great
appeal to the women. A retreat is much like a
spiritual beauty parlor. A person sees the faults
and blemishes that make her unacceptable to God
and unpleasing to men. (Examination of con-

science). Direction is given that will enable the

retreatant to avoid sin and lead to the practice

of virtue. (Sermons and conferences). Help is

given from God to plan for the future and to hold

to resolutions that will result in soul beauty.

(Prayer and reception of the Sacraments).

This little talk on beauty aids would not impress

the majority of our Catholic women, if we did
not stress the fact that soul beauty is a power

for good to others. Sin is ugly and the woman
with evil habits destroys the beauty that may
exist in the lives of those she lives with. The

woman with a lovely soul, however, the woman
who has acquired the virtues of Christ, is forever

adding to the happiness of her surroundings.

Let it be understood, then, in conclusion, that

women have everything to gain by the effort
they are making to beautify themselves with

a retreat.

46



THE POWER OF WOMAN

She is the pivot on which history turns.

As a general rule women underestimate their
power. And because the modern woman fails to
realize her power she frequently apes the men.

That means just one thing—failure!
The retreat movement aims to make woman-

hood the power in human relations that God
intended it to be. The poet who said, “The hand
that rocks the cradle rules the world,” was

mostly right. There are other fields in which

women must exercise 'their influence, of course,
although the home will always remain their
chief sphere of action.

Some might question the statement that women
possess power. There is still in existence the

popular fallacy that women are the weaker sex.
But tradition and history are against the popular

fallacy. It was a woman wrho plunged the human
race into sorrow in the garden of Eden; it was

a woman who brought us the Saviour and all the
good that is ours through Him. “Dux femina
facti,” is how Virgil expressed it; and the French
say: “Cherche la femme!” There is always a
woman at the bottom of every cause, large and
small, noble and dastardly.

There are two reasons why many women never
realize the power that could be theirs: First, a
failure to understand in what woman’s power
consists; second, failure to equip themselves for

their role in human relations.

In What Woman’s Power Consists

The so-called feminists are convinced that wo-
men, in order to achieve their full stature, must
take direct action in the affairs of the community.

47



The feminists are wrong. Of course, when oppor-
tunity presents itself (as for instance, voting in

elections) women must step forward; again when
need requires, a woman may have to take up a
profession. But direct action would seem to be

the exception. The feminists waste woman-power

and, according to a recent authoritative study,

increase feminine unhappiness.

The woman’s power consists primarily in the

influence she exercises over men. The woman
molds her sons and they mold history. Every

tragic and beneficial event in the course of

history is traceable to mothers who fulfilled or
failed their opportunity beside the cradle. Sec-

ondly, the woman raises up, or handicaps, the
man who is her husband. There is a saying to
the effect that it takes two good women to make
one good man—his mother and his wife.

Preparation For Power

The second reason why many women never
realize the power that could be theirs is their

lack of preparation. When a woman is solely
interested in herself she becomes a slave of her

own selfishness. Thus bound by personal anxiety,
thus limited by narrow horizons, thus turned in

upon herself, she has no capacity for action. She

is rather a drag upon the cause of truth and

goodness, than a power.

Retreats, therefore, are tremendously important

for women. There is great power for good locked
up within womanhood; the retreat, by developing
unselfish Christian character, releases this power

for the welfare of the world.

48



PROGRAM FOR WOMEN

Unless there be order a life may well be wasted.

This program is for those women who will not be

content to lead a mediocre Christian life. The

Spirit of God is stirring in the souls of countless

women today. And consequently, there are many
who want something more than the thread-bare

existence of minimum attention to the spiritual.

But be not deceived. To adopt a more intense

living of the Christian life demands determination.

The world is insistent. False values that drive

women relentlessly in the quest of “tremendous
trifles,” distractions that assault the mind and
heart from all sides, the restlessness of the
senses, the pressures of social position and human
respect, all present fierce adversaries to a more
spiritualized life. However, if the woman wants to
live a life in which the waste of her time and her

immortal faculties is largely eliminated, she will

find the effort necessary to put this program into
effect very much worth while.

The purpose of this program is to knock out
of the woman’s life wasted, useless activities. As
she puts the following into effect, she must
thereby give up some of the things that now fill
her day. This is a problem of using time for the
“one thing necessary.”

1. Start the day with the Morning Offering in
union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

2. Daily attendance at Mass and reception of
Holy Communion. Let’s face the facts: Nothing
is more important than the Holy Sacrifice of the
Mass. Go to bed at a reasonable hour at night
so that you can begin your day at the altar of God.

3. Confession weekly, if possible to a regular

confessor. Pope Pius XII has inaugurated the
“age of frequent Confession” just as Pius X
had started the age of frequent Holy Communion.

4. A daily Holy Hour of full sixty minutes.
Ideally this is spent before the Blessed Sacrament.

49



This is the auiet hour of the day and is to be

used for mentaT prayer and spiritual reading.

Vocal prayers are to be kept at a minimum. Calm
attention to God by means of a spiritual book
and simple acts of love, faith and adoration is

what is intended here.

5 and 6 are included above: Spiritual reading

and mental prayer. If the woman has the time
available these two activities can be given special
times and the Holy Hour devoted entirely to
prayer.

7. The practice of exterior and interior silence.
Let’s have some quiet in our lives. Turn off the
radio and the TV; put down the magazines and
the newspaper; answer but don’t make calls on
the telephone except necessary ones. This is the

greatest need of our age. Avoid constant talking.

All this is part of exterior silence. Interior silence

consists in the frequent turning to God by means

of acts of faith, confidence and complete abandon-

ment to His Holy Will. Silence as outlined above

will promote recollection and the awareness to

God’s presence.

8. Model your life in general on that of Our

Lady by aiming in all things at a) simplicity,

b) humility, c) confidence in God, and d) self-

surrender to His Holy Will.

The above 8-point program is not an easy one.

But it is of great urgency. We are not going to
have among us women of outstanding holiness
unless they take a hard-and-fast stand against

the noise, ease, worldliness and vulgarity of our

mad world. "This is eternal life,” said Our Lord,

"that they may know Thee and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent.” We know the world too well; now
we must replace this knowledge by learning God

and His Incarnate Son by means of self-discipline

and a determined program of Christian action.

50



FORMULA FOR LEADERSHIP

How to become what each of us ought to be.

It is not Christian to exclaim with Cain after

the murder of his brother: “Am I my brother’s
keeper?” Christ in teaching us about the Mystical

Body, of our one-ness in Him, has emphatically

stated that each of us must edify our neighbor

and lead aright those who are stumbling in the
dark.

In this matter of -leadership we will be wise to
take a page from the Old Testament. The Prophet

Moses is undoubtedly one of the greatest leaders

of all times. His achievements were sensationally

successful, as well as lasting. The difficulties

that he faced were tremendous; and yet he solved

problem after problem brilliantly. He had to deal
with cowardice among his own; treachery from
his enemies; rebellion and temporary set-backs.

But he was always constructive, always idealistic,
always determined.

A fact that is probably not sufficiently recog-
nized is the source whence came the power that
Moses had. It is true that Moses was well
educated; a princess of Egypt had made his rear-
ing one of her royal whims. But the best of edu-
cations cannot explain the accomplishments of

Moses. Where did Moses find the formula for
leadership ? The most casual reading of the Pook
of Exodus proves that Moses’ power lay in prayer.

In many ways leadership in public life is the
most difficult of achievements. A musician works
with sounds; an artist works with lines and colors;

an architect works with space and masses ; but a
leader works with the most difficult of. material,
human wills. A leader has to conciliate those
that are hostile to him; strengthen those that are
weak; inspire those that are indifferent.

51



Moses was a leader, not a demagogue. Time
and time again the people grew weary of the high
standard that he held up for them. He wanted
them to be sane and reasonable, desirous of the
better things; not greasy animals digging with
both hands in the flesh pots of Egypt. This re-
clamation of the chosen people was an even
greater achievement than their liberation from
the tyrant. The grandeur of this achievement
dwarfs what the greatest artists and poets have

r

done.

And the method used by Moses to do so much
was prayer!

In what way was Moses a man of prayer?
Moses talked with God; he was given to under-
stand certain truths by God; he asked specific

favors of God. That is prayer. The awareness

which Moses had of God was much greater than
is normally given to us. As we see in the Book of
Exodus Moses talked to God as a man talks to his
friend. We can say, then-, that the prayer of Moses
was of a very special kind. But the main qualities
of Moses’ prayer ought to be duplicated in ours.

First of all, Moses was deeply convinced of
God’s reality. Secondly, Moses believed whole-

heartedly in God’s willingness to help His neople.

And thirdly, Moses believed in God’s power to help
His people. And thus Moses turned to God in-
cessantly. What wisdom this great leader had to
utter for the people, what displays of power he

had to make, were the direct result of his prayer.

Our day is fraught with danger. The hour of

crisis has struck. But we must not despair. Each

of us must step forward to lead the people up

from the abyss. And we shall do that if we are
ceaselesslv in contact with God through prayer.

52



HOW TO BE WORTH MORE

Happiness begins with a well-ordered love of self.

It has been pointed out, not without some truth,

that what makes marriage fail is woman. Mar-
riage is, of course, a fifty-fifty deal; but the

above statement does make sense. If a woman
is so shallow that her depths have all been

fathomed during the honeymoon, the marriage is

beginning to split before the first anniversary.

The couple may stay .together because of social
or religious pressures, but they can hardly make

a success of their union.

What the woman must bring to marriage in
order to guarantee its success is not physical

beauty alone, or a chest full of linens, or a bank

full of legal tender, but a well developed soul.

The woman is chiefly responsible for keeping
marriage interesting. And that she does with her
soul. Her physical charms can be duplicated a
hundred times over by many Eves found in every
walk of life; but her soul is hers and no one else’s.

If she has a soul that possesses charm, and

beauty, and radiant vitality, and a deep wisdom,

she enriches the lives of her husband her children

with treasures that are found in no shop any-

where.

Why women spend so much time improving
their looks and let the blackheads and hangnails

accumulate on their souls is mystery number one
of the twentieth century.

Well, you say, what do you suggest as a soul

beauty treatment? Mental prayer, is our sugges-

tion. There is absolutely nothing that will do

more to improve the soul’s complexion, add curves

to the spirit, than mental prayer. Try it for thirty

days, and see if it does not work wonders.

53



Women need inwardness. A man can be fairly
happy by having achievements to rest on; but a
woman’s happiness comes from being a fully
developed personality. Men make their mark on
history by manipulating events; but women
achieve their temporal destiny by influencing
people. Therefore it is supremely important that

a woman be not a cipher. That is why women
ought to make mental prayer.

The easiest way of making mental prayer is to
read a book slowly. This is the method recom-
mended by St. Paul of the Cross; and it is espe-
cially useful for busy neonle whose minds are

filled with a million and one distractions* Such a
book as Mary Coakley’s Fitting God Into the
Picture, or Fr. Plus’ Radiating Christ, or The
Imitation of Christ, or, best of all, the New
Testament—any one of these is ideal for such
mental prayer.

Mind you now, the purpose of such reading is
not to say that you read the book, but to obtain

spiritual enlightenment. You are to read slowly,
with pauses when you are inspired to address
yourself to God. The success of this type of
exercise is not the number of pages you read at
a sitting, but the amount of prayer that you have
managed to do.

If you are interested in this suggestion, if you

want to be worth more, why not try it for a
month. Set aside fifteen minutes or a half hour

during the less disturbed portion of each day.

You’ll be surprised at the peace and inner satis-

faction that it yields. Don’t tell your husband—if
you’re married—and see if after a month of this
he doesn’t remark on the change he notices in

you. Or are you the perfect woman already, the
kind that no man could possibly ask for more?

54



A GREAT NECESSITY

Something that people can’t get along without.

One of the greatest necessities for the living

of a Christian life is prayer. “Pray,” said our

Saviour, “lest you enter into temptation.”

In our day it would seem to be specially im-

portant to perform what is known as mental

prayer. Vocal prayer is made by using our lips

to pray; mental prayer is the action of our minds

whereby we ponder divine truth and address our-

selves to God without forming words on our lips.

Mental prayer is so necessary today because of

the distractions which flood in upon us from all

sides.

It is not easy to be a Christian in our day. The

condition of the world is very much like that which

existed before the flood. People had surrendered

to worldliness and had forgotten God. “They were

marrying and giving in marriage, until the flood

came and destroyed them all.”

It is necessary, therefore, for those women who
wish to develop a real Christian life to learn the

art of prayer. To do that one must assign a fixed

period of fifteen or twenty minutes each day for

prayer. Furthermore, it is also necessary to adopt

a “method” of prayer. Fr. Tanquerey states the

case thus: “If one has not a fixed time and a

determined method for reflecting on the great

truths of Faith, one allows himself to be pulled

backward by dissipation and the examples of

worldlings and so slips insensibly into sin.”

Methods of Prayer

Fr. Tanquerey thinks that a fixed method of

prayer is a requirement for people today. He
was an experienced director of souls. It does
seem that a person ought to have some plan for

55



his thoughts when he kneels himself down to
spend fifteen minutes in prayer. Otherwise he

wool gathers and wastes his time. So we here
suggest a method that has been widely used and

which might be called “The method of the senses

and the powers.” Don’t let the name scare you;
the plan- is simple enough.

You have five senses and two spiritual powers,
namely, intellect and will. This enables you to

take seven steps in prayer. By applying each of
your senses to the scene from Christ’s life; and

by using your intellect and will to reap the full

fruit of the mystery, you can make a very easy
and profitable prayer.

For example, let us suppose that you are medi-

tating on the Crucifixion of Christ. First apply

your sense of hearing: You hear the voices of

the Jews, the ring of the hammer, the words of

Christ. Then apply your sight to regard in detail

the events and persons in the sorrowful drama;

your taste to sample the gall; your feeling to ex-

perience the pain; your sense of smell to catch

the stench of sin, and the sweet odor of the charity

of Christ.

The scene is very vivid before you now. So

apply your intellect and try to understand what

is happening: Who, why, what ? And finally your
will: What must you resolve in view of the great

love of your Saviour?

St. Teresa was aware of the importance of

constant mental prayer. “Give me fifteen minutes

of prayer a day,” she said, “and I’ll give you

heaven.”

56



THE ART OF PRAYER

There is no achievement greater than perfection

of soul.

Today many women are setting themselves to
make progress in the spiritual life. An increas-
ing number is discontented with the worldliness of

their surroundings and the emptiness of the

monotonous round of small pleasures and social

duties. These women want something more vital,
something deeper and more lasting. And in their
hunger for the worth-while they are turning to

prayer.

Mental prayer is a must for steady growth in

union with God. To put it negatively for em-
phasis: It is impossible to develop in Faith

and Charity and thus practice high virtue within

the framework of one’s state of life unless you

give time daily to mental prayer. The 15 to 30
minutes which you devote to this exercise is the

coin you must pay for consistent progress in
holiness.

The simplest form of mental prayer is slow
reading of some spiritual book—the New Testa-
ment, for instance, or the Imitation of Christ, or

something of Bishop Sheen or Fr. Edward Leen,
etc. St. Paul of the Cross recommends this. And
it is especially useful for those who are starting
out on the path of a more spiritual life. Don’t
try to read much; but read for understanding.

Pause frequently and focus your attention on

what you have read so that you will grasp the
idea, presented by the author. Instruction and in-
spiration will be the result.

The serious soul ought, however, to try to push
out into the depths of mental prayer—occasional-
ly, at least—without the help of a book. Here is a
simple method:

57



Introduction: Make an act of Faith, Hope and
Charity. Bring to mind the subject of your
prayer. (A Mystery of the Rosary; one of the
Stations of the Cross; an article of the Creed; a
phrase from the Our Father)

1. Use your imagination: Try to picture the]
scene which is to serve as your subject of

prayer.

2. Use your memory: Try to recall all the ,
things that you know about the subject.
You’ll find that you gradually remember /
more and more.

3. Use your understanding: Ask yourself, I
what’s it all about ? What goes on ? Why is
this happening ? Who are these people in
the scene I am considering? Why? What?
Who ? For what reason ?

4. Use your will: The will is the faculty of love.
Make acts of love, of gratitude, of praise
and worship. Ask yourself, what ought this
truth of faith to do for me practically ? What I
can I do? Be more humble, less distracted,

J

more resigned, less given to anger, more

detached ?

Conclusion: Thank God for His grace during the
prayer. And beg Him for the help to put your I
good resolutions into practice.

Remember now, prayer is an art. To acquire
]

an art practice is necessary. If you practice men-
j

tal prayer daily for 15 or 30 minutes you will be

thrilled by the spiritual change in yourself. It’s

much like coming to the top of a hill and having
|

the fresh breeze blow in your face while you look
j

down on the dusty road and fog-choked val- -

ley beneath.

58



THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD

Meditation on the first mystery of the Rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres*

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to
help us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten
us. We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with
His love. We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask
her to help us to understand this first mystery

of the rosary.

The Scene: We find ourselves in the peace-
ful home of Mary at Nazareth. It’s a spring day
and the bright sunshine floods through the open

window. The birds have just awakened and are
greeting the new day with their best songs. The
Virgin of Nazareth is at prayer. She opens her

eyes to see before her the radiant form of the

Angel Gabriel. She is not surprised since the
Queen of Angels is perfectly at ease with her

subjects.

"Hail full of grace,” the Angel says.

The new Testament records fully the conversa-
tion between Mary and the Angel. Mary was
given to understand that she was to be God's
mother. She was to give birth to the promised
Messiah, the Saviour of the world. As soon as
she understood how it was to be accomplished,
she accepted the holy will of God without reser-
vations. She said, "Behold the handmaid of the
Lord, be it done unto me according to thy
word.”

Reflections: 1. Mary had prepared herself for
this moment by life-long fulfilling of God's will
in all things. Unlike most people, Mary was not
self-willed. Although she had her own tastes
and preferences, she nevertheless looked always

to what God wanted. Once she knew God’s will,
she followed it simply and patiently. Thus, when
the big moment came and the Angel stood be-
fore her with the greatest news ever heard by
human ears, she was ready for it.

59



2. Mary very clearly understood God’s
right to her complete obedience. Mary recog-
nized God as her Creator. She realized, clearly
that as God's creature, she was obligated to do
what God wanted of her. This was the thing
that made Mary the perfect and docile instru-
ment of His will. This was what sanctified her
so quickly and so completely. :

Colloquies: We first ask our Heavenly Father
for the great gift of docility, such as Mary had.
We beg the Divine Word to enlighten us on the
subject of our compliance with God’s will. We
ask the Holy Spirit to give us the love necessary

to always do what pleases Him. We go, then,
to our Blessed Lady. She was so perfectly will-
ing at all times to do what God wanted of her
that we are encouraged to beg her to give us
a like readiness. We turn, then, to St. Joseph
whose obedience to God’s will was his outstand-
ing characteristic. We ask him to give us the
grace to have this family trait.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some
minutes in meditation. We resolve to imitate
our Blessed Lady more closely. To the best of
our ability we shall say whenever God’s will is
revealed to us, "Behold this handmaid of the
Lord.”

60



APOSTOLIC VIRGIN

Meditation on the second mystery of the rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to help
us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten
us. We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with
His love. We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask
her to help us to understand this second mys-

tery of the rosary.

The Scene: We picture to ourselves our Lady
traveling from her home into the hill country

to visit her cousin, Saint Elizabeth. Mary’s

bright subject, the Angel Gabriel, had given to

his Queen an extra bit of news. He told her

that her cousin, a woman advanced in years,
was to have a child. So Mary knowing that her

cousin would wish her help hastened to her

home

The meeting of Mary and Elizabeth
was affectionate. This was the occasion for a

special revelation given to Elizabeth. God al-
lowed her to know that Mary was carrying in
her womb the Incarnate Son of God. At the
moment of Mary’s sweet embrace, Elizabeth’s
child was justified. Thus it was that John the
Baptist was bom without original sin. “Whence
is it to me,” said the humble Elizabeth, “that
the mother of my God should come to me?”

Reflections: 1. Mary gives the true formula for
apostolic action. The apostolate does not mean
to do something Catholic. A true apostolic ac-
tion is bringing Christ into the lives of others.
This means that we must first bring Christ,
through our knowledge and love of Him and
through the imitation of His virtues, into our
own souls. Then, when we have conceived Christ
in ourselves, so to speak, we are ready to do
good to others.

61



2. It was a great thing that hap-
pened at the visitation. St. Elizabeth was given
special enlightenment by the Holy Ghost,and her

unborn son was sanctified. These effects were
accomplished because Mary was so closely united
with her Divine Son. As St. Thomas tells us the
true apostolic action is the over-flowing of con-

templation. The loving knowledge of God which
is ours through diligent practice of virtue,

through recollection, and through persistent
meditation on divine things, is the only sure

preparation for the apostolate. We build on
sands unless we bring Christ into ourselves by
intensive practice of the interior life.

Colloquies: We first ask our Heavenly Father
for the gift of zeal, such as Mary had. We beg
the Divine Word to help us to see the primacy
of spiritual activity. We ask the Holy Spirit to
burn out of our souls all the deadening selfish-

ness that stands in our way. We go, then, to our
Blessed Lady. She is the Queen of Apostles,
Queen of those who attempt to bring God into
the lives of their neighbors. We beg her to pre-
pare us for our own little apostolate by deepen-
ing our interior life. We turn, then, to St.
Joseph who spent his whole life in his unself-
ish service of his neighbor. We ask him who was
so constantly prayerful to give us a love for

meditation.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some min-
utes in meditation. We resolve to imitate our
Blessed Lady more closely. To the best of our
ability we shall place first emphasis on our own
spiritual exercises, thus to prepare ourselves to
be apostolic as was our Lady.

62



POWER OF LITTLENESS

Meditation on the Third mystery of the rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to help
us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten us.
We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with His
love. We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask her
to help us to understand this third mystery of

the rosary.

The Scene: We take ourselves to the stable of
Bethlehem. It is the midnight hour and the

angels have just appeared to the shepherds in

the hills. Mary kneels in adoration before her
new born babe wrapped in swaddling clothes,
lying on the straw of the manger. Joseph stands

in the shadows, his face grave with awe and
adoration. A light seems to radiate from the
Incarnate Word. It touches the face of His
mother, it shows the poor interior of the stable,
it reveals the gentle, dumb beasts that stand
silently.

Reflections: The Baby lying in that Bethelem
stable is not an ordinary child. Although He
has an earthly mother in Mary, He has nv
earthly Father. God, the Eternal Father, is th
ope from whom He took His being. Before th
Christmas night Christ, our Lord, had a previou s
generation in the bosom of the Trinity. From a,

t

eternity He was begotten by the Father. His is
a divine nature taken from the Eternal Father
as well as a human nature taken through the
instrumentality of Mary. This is the first great
fact that we must be impressed with in regard to
the Infant Saviour. He is God. In spite of His
littleness, His helplessness, He is the infinite,
eternal and all holy God.

2. In the birth of Christ, we see
the value of littleness. It was pride that de-
stroyed the human race in the Garden of Eden.
Our chief enemy, therefore, is our desire to be

63



big, to be important, to have standing in the

eyes of our neighbors. God knew this and want-
ed to give us a powerful medicine for the ill-

ness in our fallen nature: So the great God
worthy of all adoration and praise came down
to earth as a tiny, helpless baby. The inflated
human ego must be cut down to size in the sta-
ble of Bethlehem. If the great God dared to be
little, cannot we love obscurity, indifference,
neglect, and ill repute?

Colloquies: We first ask our Heavenly Father
for the gift of humility. We beg the jDivine
Word to enlighten us on the subject the value
of littleness. We ask the Holy Spirit to give a
ready will to take the last place, as Christ ad-

vises us. We now go to our Blessed Lady. Mary
understood the value of humility perfectly. She
realized that only by the recognition of our own
poorness in God’s sight can we fit ourselves to
serve God and win heaven. We turn, then, to
St. Joseph who was a completely humble man.
We beg him to obtain for us the grace never to
seek a higher esteem than we deserve.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some min-
utes in meditation. We resolve to imitate the
littleness of our Saviour. We shall live our life
simply. We shall do our work sincerely. We
shall think always of God’s gifts to us, never of

any assumed importance that we may have.

64



JOY OF GIVING

Meditation on the fourth mystery of the rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to help
us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten us.
We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with His
love. We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask
her to help us to understand this fourth mystery

of the rosary.

The Scene: The poor surroundings of the sta-

ble of Bethlehem yield to the gilded glory of the

Jerusalem temple. In obedience to the Mosaic

law, Mary comes to be purified and to present

her Son to the Lord. We see Mary walking
slowly, her baby in her arms, into the temple.

Joy fills her heart as she hands the Infant to

the ministering priest. She rejoices that she has

something worthy of God to give to God. The
First Born of the nations, born in eternity and

now born again in time, is being presented to
the Heavenly Father. The sun shines brightly
the birds sing. There is an atmosphere of fes-

tivity in the air.

Reflections: Mary realizes keenly that Jesus
was God’s gift to her. God had regarded her
fondly and had picked her out from among all
the daughters of Eve to be the mother of His
Son. Mary’s mother-love as well as her deep
spirit of adoration makes her deeply grateful
to God for the Son that He had given her.
These were her thoughts as she gave back to
God what He had given to her.

2. We double the value of the gifts
that God gives when we give them back to God.
We give God’s gifts back to Him in various
ways. The mother who gives her son permission
to go to the seminary is giving him back to
God. The invalid who accepts chronic illness
cheerfully is giving health back to God. Persons

65



possessed of outstanding talents in music or art

or science who use their talents for God’s hon-
or are giving them back to God. Those
who thank God for the benefits and graces they
possess are giving them to God. Thus to direct
God’s gift’s back to God is doubling the enjoy-
ment we have in them and making them mer-
itorious for eternity.

Colloquies: We first ask our Heavenly Father
for an understanding of His goodness to us.

We beg the Divine Word to help us understand
that we are always in the protecting hands of
God. We ask the Holy Spirit to give us a
grateful will, the ready desire to give thanks

for all our gifts and graces. We now go to
Mary. We ask her help always to give God’s
gifts back to God. The enjoyment she had in
her Son was doubled when she presented Him
in the temple. We beg of her to have the same
joy. We turn, then, to St. Joseph who shared
the happiness of the Presentation. He turned
everything, his work, his obscurity, his anxiety

back to God by acceptance and gratitude. We
ask him to intercede for us.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some min-
utes in meditation. We resolve to live in the
spirit of the Presentation. All that we are, all
that we have, all that we do,, our joys as well
as our sufferings, shall be joined to Mary’s of-

fering of Jesus. Along with our Lord through
the hands of Mary, we shall give all back to
God.

66



CHRIST AND HAPPINESS

Meditation on the fifth mystery of the rosary

Introduction! Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to
help us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten
us. We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with
His love. We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask
her to help us to understand this fifth mystery

of the rosary.

The Scene: We see our Blessed Lady at the
moment of her joyous reunion with her Son in

the temple. He had been lost to her for three
days. Mary had gone with the women and Jo-
seph had gone with the men. Each had thought

Jesus was with the other. When they found
that He was not with either party, Mary and
Joseph went seeking Him along the way. Final-
ly after three days separation, Mary found her
divine Son in the temple of Jerusalem. We are
told that Jesus, then, went back, with them to
Nazareth and was subject to them.

Reflections: 1. The light and joy of Mary’s life
was Jesus. She rejoiced more in Him than she
might have in all the riches and pleasures of
earth. His goodness, His spirit of kindness and
consideration fill her days with great peace and
contentment. Furthermore,Jesus was not only the
best Son a woman ever had. He also was Mary’s
God. All the adoration of her heart could be

centered upon Him. As He grew to maturity
He was able to help her in her prayer life. As
He would be the doorway for countless millions
in the ages to come, so He was the Way, the
Truth, the Light to His mother.

2. There is no real joy or content-
ment of heart possible on earth without Jesus.
As Thomas a Kempis says, “Without Jesus,

67



life is a relentless hell and with Jesus life is a
sweet paradise.” This essential truth is for-

gotten by many people. They are attracted by
the false goods of earth and turn from God,
the only source of true happiness.

Colloquies: Heavenly Father, give us the grace

to realize where true happiness can be found.
Divine Word, enlighten our understanding that
we may never seek our joy in what is displeas-
ing to God. Holy Spirit enable us to desire what
is pleasing to God. Dear mother, Mary, you un-
derstood perfectly when you found Jesus that
only in Him could your heart taste happiness.
Send us the grace we need to place our happi-
ness in your Son. Take from us our attractions
to sin; give us a firm resolve to practice virtue

always. Humble St. Joseph, since your life was
lived so close to our Lord, intercede with Him
for us. Beg for us the grace to seek God in
everything.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some min-
utes in meditation. We resolve to live in closer
union with God. We shall put aside the occu-
pations of earth from time to time and shall
deny ourselves legitimate pleasure in order to
have time for prayer and spiritual reading.

68



CUP OF SUFFERING

Meditation on the first Sorrowful Mystery

of the rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to
help us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten
us. We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us
with His love. We turn to Mary, our mother,
and ask her to help us understand this first

sorrowful mystery of the rosary.

The Scene: In imagination we go into the
Garden of Olives with our Divine Saviour. It is

close to midnight and the full paschal moon
casts black shadows on the rocky soil. Christ

has left His apostles behind, some at the gate
of the garden and three of them a stone’s throw
away. He is all alone. In His terrible loneliness
He faces the cup of suffering that is presented
to His lips by His Heavenly Father. He drops
to His knees and then falls flat on His face in
the intensity of the mental suffering He en-
dures. His heart labors so painfully that it
forces His blood through the pores of His body.
He prays to be released, but nevertheless ac-
cepts His Father’s will. He seizes the cup of
the passion and drains the suffering to its bitter
dregs.

Reflections: 1. Three elements went into the
Agony of our Lord in the garden. The first was
loneliness. In assuming the sins of mankind He
became, as it were, an outcast from God. He
had the feeling of being isolated and alone. The
second cause of Christ’s suffering was fear. It
was revealed to Him how terrible would be the
sufferings He would have to endure to atone for
the sms of mankind. His human nature revolted
at the thought. The third reason for His agony
was bitter discouragement. In spite of all that
He would do out of love for men, men would
reject Him and scorn His grace. He was temp-
ted to exclaim, what’s the use?

69



2; The significant fact in Christ’s
agony in the garden is His acceptance of the

cup. He had the courage of His convictions. He
knew that only in God’s will was there hope
or pardon or peace. Thus, bitter as the cup of

suffering was to Him, He said “Not My will, O
God, but Thine be done.’’

Colloquies: Heavenly Father, give us the grace

always to do Your will. Divine Word, send us the
light to understand that only in the will of God
can we find true peace of soul. Holy Spirit, in-
flame us with divine charity so that we may
always be true to our convictions. Dear Mother,

Mary, you understand our weakness. You know
how filled with fear of pain we are, how lone-
liness repels us and how discouragement bears
us down. Give us a measure of your Son’s
strength that we may say when the cup of suf-
fering is put to our lips, Thy will be done! St.
Joseph, intercede for us.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some min-
utes in meditation. We resolve to live constantly
in the will of God. We shall put aside our own
will, we shall be brave in the face of suffering
to accept always God’s will for us.

70



TORTURE BY THE LASH

Meditation on the second Sorrowful Mystery

of the rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to help
us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten us.
We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with His
love. We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask her
to help us to understand this second sorrowful

mystery of the rosary.

The Scene: This mystery can hold our imagi-

nation securely. It is a terrible scene that is

presented to us. We betake ourselves to the
courtyard of the Praetorian palace. It is a noisy,

untidy place. The square is filled with jostling,

swearing, uncouth soldiers. Our Lord is led in-

to their midst like a lamb thrown among wolves.
His back is bared, and He is made to stoop
while they tie His hands to a ring in a low stone

pillar. Two brawny executioners, one tall and
the other short, stand to either side of Him with
leather whips tipped with bits of bone in their

hands. At the signal of their officer, they begin
a rhythmic brutal whipping of their prisoner.

Not a moan escapes His lips although His blood
begins to flow, and He finally sinks exhausted
at the feet of His torturers.

Reflections: 1 . Our heart would be moved with
pity were we to see the most hardened criminal
so beaten, but the man being scourged is no crim-
inal but the All-holy Son of God. Because He
is divine as well as human, He has the right to
the worship, reverence, and adoration of all
men. The angels bend low in acknowledgment
of His divine prerogatives. Why does He suffer?
Not for Himself, but for us.

2. In the scourging of Christ at
the pillar, we realize more clearly than possibly
in any other way the evil of sensuality. God in
His wisdom prescribed this suffering of Christ

71



so that we would know the malice of sins of the
flesh. At no time in history was the lesson of
the scourging so necessary as today. We live in
a cloying atmosphere of comfort, luxury, and

worship of the flesh. Even high-minded Catholics
are insidiously assaulted by appeals to unholy

pleasures. We need the strengthening that
comes from the scourging.

Colloquies: Heavenly Father, give us the grace

to look steadily on the pain-filled face of Christ.

Dear Incarnate Word, we worship You in the
bitter suffering you are enduring under the Ro-

man lash. Help us, we beseech You, whenever
temptation assails us to remember the terrible
punishment that You took to atone for sins of
the flesh, Make us strong to punish our bodies
by necessary mortification and self denial. Dear
mother, Mary, shield us under the mantle of

your purity. Give us the grace to have always

a delicate conscience in matters touching on the

angelic virtues. Teach us your own modesty.
St. Joseph, you whose self control was so heroic,
help us in these difficult times to live sinless

lives

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some min-
utes in meditation We resolve to live in the
world as one not a part of the world. We shall
not succumb to the bad example given by the
godless. We resolve to live a life of simplicity,
of industry, of frugality and self restraint.

72



CROWN OF SORROW

Meditation on the third Sorrowful Mystery

of the rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to
help us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten
us. We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with
His love. We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask
her to help us to understand this third sorrowful

mystery of the rosary.

The Scene: After the soldiers had scourged

our Lord, they threw a purple cloak around His

shoulders, gave Him a box to sit on for a throne
and proceeded to a mock coronation. The crown
they put upon Him was made of thorns. The
ceremony consisted in roughly pushing the sharp

points into His sacred head. All the soldiers

then came up before Him one by one, osten-
tatiously bent their knee and straightening

themselves spat into His face. The rest stood
around and joined the fun. Their harsh laugh-

ter, ribald comments echoed throughout the
palace. It was great fun.

Reflections: 1. Our mind reels when we re-
flect that this man so ridiculed and mocked
was the Incarnate Word of God. He was wor-
thy of all honor, reverence, and praise. Yet, here
He is submitting Himself to the most inhuman,
humiliating behavior. Why should He accept
such suffering? Nobody likes to be made a fool
of. Christ could have terminated the abuses by
one act of His will, hurling His tormentors in-
to hell. He did not do so. He accepted the blows,
the taunts, the insulting spittle that defiled His
Sacred Face. Here is a mystery indeed.

2. The answer to this mystery is
Christ’s love for us. Christ submitted Himself
to the indignities of the crowning with thorns
in order to help us. Our principal weakness lies

73



in our pride. We are too prone to stand on our
own dignity. We are tempted at times to ques-
tion God’s authority when His precepts con-
flict with our own ideas. We have within us
the baleful tendency to echo the words of Luci-

fer, “I, will not serve.” It was to give us “medi-
cine” to cure our pride that Christ endured

this mockery. Certainly God must think that
our pride is terribly strong to move to pre-
scribe so frightening an antidote.

Colloquies: Heavenly Father, make us humble.
Give us the courage to recognize our limitations.

Dear Saviour, so humiliated in the crowning,

give us a little of your own sweet humility. You
were God and yet You suffered indignity
patiently out of love for me. Help me to put up
with forgetfulness, neglect and loss of good

name out of love for You. Too often in the past
I have become discouraged and have refused

to do good because of my pride. Let this not
happen again. Dear mother, Ma,ry, you were
always humble. Your beauty of soul came from
your acceptance of your creatureship. You gave
to God all the glory for the virtues and graces
that you possessed. Help me to be a true child
of yours by practicing the virtue of humility.
St. Joseph, intercede with God that I may never
hurt others or myself by assuming a superior
attitude.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some min-
utes in meditation. We resolve to forgive those
who neglect us and think ill of us. We shall
not ever seek recognition and glory merely be-

cause we want to feed our ego. We are deter-
mined to do good and serve others for God’s
sake and not for any recognition we may desire.

74



THE WAY OF THE CROSS

Meditation on the Fourth Sorrowful

Mystery of the Rosary

Introduction: The introduction or prayer must

be in the presence of God. We call on God, the
Father, to help us. We beg the Eternal Word to
enlighten us. We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame
us with His love. We turn to Mary, Our Mother,
and ask her to help us to understand this

Fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the rosary.

The Scene: Pilate has condemned Our Lord. He

has yielded to the pressure exerted upon him by

the leaders of the Jews. He has taken water and
washed his hands before them all, saying

“I am innocent of the blood of this just man.
Look you to it.” Jesus is led out of the Praetor-

ium and is made to shoulder His Cross. He takes
it lovingly upon His shoulder and carries it along

the road and up the hill to Calvary. Three times

He falls under it. But each time He struggles
again to his feet and continues His painful way
to Calvary. Only when He has reached the
height of the Mount does He relinquish His hold
upon it. And then, He is nailed to it.

Reflections: 1. Jesus felt the Cross. The Cross
was heavy—the Cross was a symbol of shame
and dejection. Since our divine Saviour had hu-

man feelings and sensibilities, the Cross was un-
welcome to Him. Our Divine Saviour hated its
weight—He hated the unfairness and injustice
that it represented. He hated the death that lay
at the end of the Way of the Cross. It is no
shame to feel the cross—in fact, only when we
feel the cross can it become an instrument of
salvation.

2. Two things gave Christ the courage and
determination to bear the Cross: the first was
His willingness to accept God’s Will. The Cross
for Christ was His Father’s Will. God wanted
Christ to redeem the world. The redemption of

75



the world was to be accomplished only through

the Cross. Consequently since Christ loved the

Will of His Heavenly Father. He carried the
Cross in spite of the fact that He didn’t like it.
The second consideration that motivated Christ
in carrying His Cross was His love for mankind.
Christ loved His neighbor and wanted to benefit
him. The greatest good that Christ could do was
not by preaching, not by working miracles, not

by being sympathetic and understanding, but
by suffering and dying on the Cross. And thus it
was—Love gave Christ the courage to carry the
Cross.

Colloquies: Dear Heavenly Father, give us the

courage to carry our cross. Help us to have faith

so that we might see Your Divine Will in the
trials and troubles that come our way. O Christ
Jesus, so heavily burdened by the Cross, give us

a share in your own great-hearted courage. Help
me to be interested in the spiritual affair of my
neighbor. This old world of ours is so much in
need of Your Grace, so much in need of repara-
tion and atonement, that I ought to be glad to be

asked to suffer a little bit in order to achieve

these great purposes. O Mother Mary, whose
heart was torn by the sight of Jesus burdened
with the great Cross, help me to have a fellow-
ship with Him in this painful mystery. You stood
there along the Way and gave Christ the moral
support that He needed to carry on. I beg
you, Mary, to stand along the way of my life to
give me the courage to go on. I realize my weak-
ness, my helplessness, and I know how much I
need your grace.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some
minutes in meditation. We resolve to be courage-
ous in the carrying of our cross. We shall take
the supernatural viewpoint at all times and
see in the trials and difficulties that come our
way, a symbol of God’s Holy Will.

76



THE DAY GOD-MAN DIED

Meditation on the Fifth Sorrowful

Mystery of the Rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the presence

of God. We call on God, the Father, to help us.
We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten us. We
beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with His love.

We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask her to
help us to understand this fifth sorrowful mys-

tery of the rosary.

The Scene: When Jesus arrives on Calvary, the
soldiers tear from Him His garments, throw Him
rudely upon the Cross, and spike Him there with
great nails through hands and feet. Each

blow of the hammer seems to Mary to strike
her heart. The blood flows from the wounds of

Our Lord down to the ground. The soldiers raise

the Cross with Jesus upon it and allow it to

drop with a thud into the hole prepared for it in

the rocks. Jesus is suspended between Heaven
and earth—His whole body is on fire with pain

—

His muscles knotted under the tension exerted

on them—His throat is parched with thirst, His
Head throbbing with pain. He hangs there for
three hours, and then drops His Head, and dies,

Reflections: 1. The true measure of the malice of
sin is what it did to Christ on Calvary. To the sin-
ner, sin seems mostly like a bagatelle, a trivial-

ity, something unimportant. But to Christ on the
Cross, sin was a terrible evil. In order to atone
for the sins of mankind, Christ had to endure
three terrible hours of agony. A sinner studying
the Cross can never say that sin is a small
thing.

2. The death of Christ on Calvary is the

measure of God’s love for each of us. We might
have doubted God’s love for us if there were

not a Calvary. Can it be that the great God who
has the care of the universe on his mind can be

interested in the little molecule of being that is

77



myself? But now we need not question or doubt.
Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, died on the

Cross for love of me. It is true He died for all
men, but our faith assures us that if I were the

only individual in existence, He would have died
for me.

Colloquies: O Heavenly Father, who sent Jesus
into the world to redeem us, help me to return
love for love. I am so thoughtless, so self-cent-
ered, so given to self-pity. Dear Heavenly Fa-

ther, give me the grace to love you as you love
me. O Christ Jesus, I beg your pardon for all
my sins. I want very much to live for you and
to die for you. Give me your grace to be strong,
to overcome temptations, and always to practice
virtue. Dear Mother Mary, you stood beside the

Cross and saw your Son die. Help me, Mary, to
love your Son with just a little of the love that
you had for Him. Give me just a little of your
horror of sin. Make me a child of the Cross.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
this opportunity to spend some minutes in medi-
tation. We resolve to have a horror for sin and
to avoid all proximate occasions of sin. We
shall live in the love of Christ, willingly serving

Him to show our appreciation for what He did
for us on Calvary. ^

78



THE DAY OF TRIUMPH

Meditation on the First Glorious
Mystery of the Rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the presence
of God. We call on God, the Father, to help us.
We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten us. We
beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with His love.
We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask her to
help us to understand this first glorious mystery
of the rosary.

The Scene: It is the dawn of a new day. Early,
as the east is brightening, and dawn begins to
break, Our Divine Saviour rises from the dead.
There is an earthquake and the great stone that

covers the opening of the tomb is rolled away.
The soldiers, who have been guarding the tomb,
are thrown to the ground.

A second later they are amazed to see a
brilliant, white-clad figure emerge from the

tomb. It is the third day and Christ is risen

from the dead, as He said He would. All that
day, Christ appeared to His friends and disciples.

Tradition has it that He appeared to His Mother
first of all so that she might share His great

joy. Then He appeared to Mary Magdalen and to
others. That evening when He appeared to the
apostles, he greeted them with “Peace be to
you.” He then gave them the mighty power of for-
giving sins

—
“Whose sins you shall forgive, they

are forgiven them.”

Reflections: 1. It is important that we connect the
resurrection of our Saviour from the dead to His

Sacrifice on Calvary. The death of Christ does
not make sense unless we see that it ended in
His glorious resurrection. Jesus was obedient

to His Heavenly Father and died out of love for

mankind. His action, then, was a good deed done
from the highest possible motives. It was done
for God, to honor Him, to give Him glory. God
is not outdone in generosity. Nobody ever raised
a finger for God, nobody had a good wish, no-
body said one good word or did the simplest
little good deed for God, but God saw—and re-
warded.

2. It is important that we keep before us

79



always the reward of our Christian living.
Christian life is not an exercise in stoicism. We
keep the commands of God, we are obedient to
regulations of the Church, we practice self-
denial and mortification, not because we like
these things but because we like God more. And
consequently God will recognize and remember
and reward. The thought of sharing Christ’s
resurrection will give us enthusiasm to live our
Christian life to the full. We may fail in the
work that we try to do for God—we may meet
with unconquerable obstacles in working out
some great project for the welfare of our
neighbor—we may fail miserably in the eyes of
men. But that is not the whole story. There is
an epilogue that will be written only after our
death. That epilogue will show the true value
of what we try to accomplish, what we suffer
for the love of God.

Colloquies: Heavenly Father, give us the virtue

of Hope. We know that this life is not the end.
We realize that our sufferings, disappointments,
discouragements, are thus the first few chapters
of a story that will be concluded in Heaven. As
Christ rose from the dead, so we shall rise glor-
ious from our failures and sufferings of earth.

O Christ Jesus who rose glorious from the tomb,
give us the saving grace of optimism. Let us never

be so discouraged that we want to lie down and
quit. Give us grace to hope against hope. Dear
Mother Mary, who was made so happy by the
resurrection of your Son, help us to have the

courage to live our Christian life to the full. We
shall have a resurrection in God’s good time

Dear Mary, help us to live in the joy of the res-
urrection.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity We have had to spend some
minutes in meditation. We resolve to dismiss all
discouraging thoughts from our minds. We shall
try to have enthusiasm for God and for the
things of God. We resolve not to let our dis-
couragements, sufferings and failures make us
despondent. We know that out of the defeat of
Good Friday came the triumph of Easter Sunday
it is in that belief that we shall continue to work
for God and souls.

80



CHRIST’S HOMECOMING

Meditation on the Second Glorious

Mystery of the Rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pre-

sence of God. We call on God, the Father, to help
us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten us.
We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with His
love. We turn to Mary, our Mother, and ask her
to help us to understand this second glorious mys-

tery of the rosary.

The Scene: For forty days Our Divine Saviour

appeared to His apostles, strengthening them

and instructing them in His Kingdom. Then He
led them out of the City of Jerusalem, as fal-

as the town of Bethania. He lifted His hands,
then, and blessed them. And even as He blessed
them, He departed from them and was carried
up to Heaven. His apostles and dear ones

watched Him until a cloud concealed Him from
their sight. Jesus—who had won the victory
through His death and resurrection—went to
Heaven to be seated at the Right Hand of His
Heavenly Father in glory for all eternity.

Reflections: 1. Our true home is Heaven.
Through Baptism, we are members of Christ.
Our Head, Christ Jesus, the Lord, is in Heaven.

Where the Head is, there also must the mem-
bers be. We must therefore not attempt to make
this earth our home. It is impossible for us to

have everything as we should wish on earth. It
would be a great mistake to spend too much time,
to give too much attention, and to care too much
for the things of earth. It is good to be com-
fortable. It is good to have friends. It is good
to have our innocent pleasures here on earth.
But we must remember that Heaven is our true
home.

2. Jesus went to Heaven to prepare a place
for us. That does not mean that he will do it all.
We very definitely must work at getting our

81



place in Heaven ready for ourselves. Jesus ex-
pressed this in another way. He said: “Store
up your treasure in Heaven where rust does not
consume, nor thief break through and steal.”

Our chief concern here on earth should be to
send before us good deeds, acts of virtue, the

merits of a life unselfishly for love of God
and love of neighbor. Our chief effort therefore
should be not to make a habitation for ourselves
here on earth, but to prepare a place in Heaven
that is destined to receive us for all eternity.

Colloquies: Heavenly Father, give me the spirit
of detachment from this world. Let not my heart
cleave to the things of earth. I am very con-
scious of the attractions of this life. But I

realize that it would be a mistake to put my
trust in them. O Christ Jesus who has gone be-
fore me to prepare a place for me in Paradise,
help me to love the things that are above. My
poor human heart is ever tending downwards.
Grant me the grace to love Thee, dear Jesus,
so that my heart will tend to Heaven. As Jesus
said, “where your treasure is, there is your heart

also.” Let me make Thee, O Christ, my chief
treasure so that my heart will always have
wings for Heaven. O Holy Mother Mary, help
me to love Heavenly things and to be indiffer-
ent to the things of this earth.

Conclusion: I resolve to have a holy indifference

to the pleasures and prizes of earth. Although I
cannot stop caring, I shall try not to let my
affections be too completely centered on the
things of earth.

82



OUTPOURING OF THE SPIRIT

Meditation on the Third Glorious

Mystery of the Rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to
help us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten
us. We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with
His love. We turn to Mary, our Mother, and
ask her to help us to understand this third

glorious mystery of the rosary.

The scene: After Our Divine Saviour ascended

into Heaven, the apostles with Mary, secluded

themselves in an upper chamber in Jerusalem

to await the coming of the Holy Spirit. Our
Divine Saviour had told His apostles that it was
of extreme importance that He send them the
Paraclete, who would instruct them, and bring
to their minds all the things that He had taught
them. And so they waited to make the first
Novena and the first Closed Retreat. On Pente-
cost Sunday, their prayers and their patience
were rewarded with the outpouring of the Spirit.

The Holy Ghost with a noise as of a roaring
wind, came down upon them. His presence was
made visible by symbolic tongues of fire that
rested on the heads of each of them. And im-
mediately they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
They were transformed men now,no longer fear-
ful, no longer confused, no longer indecisive.
They threw open the doors of the cenacle and
went forth to convert the world.

Reflections: 1. The Holy Spirit is as necessary
for us today so that we might live the Christian
life as it was necessary for the apostles that
they might plant the faith and start the Church.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. If we
have Christ’s Spirit, we will think as He did,
act as he did. Without the Paraclete sent by
Christ, it will be impossible for us to live up to
the ideal of our faith.

83



2. The Holy Spirit is called the Gift of God.
The Holy Spirit is also called the Sanctifier.
Therefore, if we would be holy, if we would
overcome our faults and practice virtue, if we
would be able to accept the challenge of
Christian living, then we must have the Holy
Spirit. Since He is a gift God gives Him to
those that appreciate Him. Since He is the
Sanctifier, we cannot do without Him. It is
necessary for us, therefore, to appeal to Our
Divine Saviour constantly, beseeching Him to
send us the Spirit. This is the greatest gift that

can be given—the Spirit of Jesus.
Colloquies: Heavenly Father, give us the under-

standing necessary to appreciate your great gift,

the Holy Spirit. Dear Jesus, you went to Heaven

and you promised that you would send us a

Sanctifier. We beg you, then, in virtue of that
promise, to send us your Spirit. Without the

Holy Spirit, we are weak and poor and cold and
indifferent. Dear Jesus, send us the Holy Spirit,

to set our hearts on fire that we may love you
and live for you alone. Dear Mother Mary,
spouse of the Holy Spirit, intercede with the
Blessed Trinity so that the Holy Spirit may be
poured out on me abundantly and I* may be
worthy of the trust that God has put in me.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
this opportunity we have had to spend some
minutes in meditation. We resolve to look to the
Holy Spirit for our Santification. We shall not
put our trust in ourselves, in our resolutions, in

our determinations and natural goodness, but we
shall trust in the Holy Spirit. We beg for this
great gift every day of our lives.

84



MARY GOES HOME

Meditation of the Fourth Glorious

Mystery of the Rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-
ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to help
us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten us.
We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with His
love. Wp turn to Mary, our mother, and ask her
to help us to understand this fourth glorious

mystery of the Rosary.

The Scene: Mary, so tradition tells us, died from

an excess of love of God. However, she did not

remain under the spell of death for long. Jesus

saw to it that her immaculate soul was rejoined
to her body, and then, He took her to Heaven
with Himself. It was indeed a glorious day for
her, a day of reunion with her Son, a day on

which she went home. The next day the apostles
came to pay a last tribute of honor and love to
their mother. The tomb was opened and her
body was found to be gone.

Reflections: 1. The Assumption of Our Blessed
Lady into Heaven is a witness to the great truth
that God never forgets a good deed performed.
Mary was the beautiful instrument through

which the Incarnate Word came into the world.

It was from her body that the human nature of

Christ was drawn. It was her love that nurtured

Him, her holiness that formed the setting for

His outstanding sanctity. And thus, because

Mary had been a dedicated person and had

lived body and soul for God, God would not

allow her to see corruption. Although she died

by having her soul separated from her body, God

would not wait for the day of the general resur-

rection from the dead, but would bring her back

to glorious immortal life quickly. God never for-

gets the good that is done.

2. We see in Mary’s assumption into Heaven a

85



foreshadowing of the happiness that will be ours

on our resurrection day. Our poor bodies of flesh
and blood are insistent in their demands. St.
Paul says that the law of his members fought
against the law of his mind. This is the history

of each member of a fallen race. It is a struggle
to direct our senses, our emotions, to God. It

demands sacrifice to put our bodies under the
rule of law. But it is worthwhile. These bodies
will ultimately disintegrate, no matter what we
do. And consequently, it is wise to use them for
the honor and glory of God so that we may lay
up to ourselves a glorious resurrection on the
last day.

Colloquies: Dear Heavenly Father, give us the

grace to love you sincerely. O Christ Jesus, Our
Lord, by the love that you bear your own sweet
Mother, forgive us our sins and help us to follow

you. You have said, unless a man take up his
cross daily, he cannot be your disciple. Dear

Christ, help us to gain the virtue of self sacri-

fice. Enable us to serve you perfectly, directing,

all that is ours, our senses, our emotions, our

hearts, our bodies and our souls, to you. Dear

Mother Mary, you enjoyed the glorious experi-

ence of resurrecting from the dead and being'
united with your Son in the light and joy of
Paradise. Make us, Dear Mary, children of the
resurrection, so that we, too, may ^jiave our as-
sumption and be reunited to your Son.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some
minutes in meditation. We resolve to live a
heavenly life on earth. We will always do God’s
Will and keep his Law no matter what the cost
to us. In that way we will have peace and joy on
earth and we will be winning for ourselves a
glorious resurrection in the life to come.

86



THE QUEEN OF HEARTS

Meditation on the Fifth Glorious

Mystery of the Rosary

Introduction: Our prayer must be in the pres-

ence of God. We call on God, the Father, to help
us. We beg the Eternal Word to enlighten us.
We beg the Holy Spirit to inflame us with His
love. We turn to Mary, our mother, and ask her
to help us to understand this fifth glorious

mystery of the rosary.

The Scene: It was a glorious day in Heaven

when Mary was crowned Queen of Angels and

Saints. Although it is impossible for us to

imagine what took place, we know that it was
something glorious and triumphant. Mary was

coming to Heaven as a Queen. She had given

birth to Christ, the King. She had merited so

much grace during her lifetime that now she
had more, holiness in her soul than all the Angels

and Saints put together. And so, God gave her
the honor of being the Queen of Heaven and
earth. The Angels pay their respect to her and
honor her as their sweet and gracious sovereign.

On that day when Mary was crowned Queen of
Angels and Saints, the Heavens re-echoed with
the music, the song and the triumphant voices

of the innumerable multitudes Of heavenly spirits.

Reflections:- 1. Mary is our Queen. "What is an
objective fact ought also to be a personal con-

viction. We should make Mary the Queen of our
hearts. Mary ought to rule over us. Since she is
so sweet and gracious, her rule will not be one of
force. Rather, she will rule us with her influ-

ence and with the graces she obtains for us.
>We will be able to have a firm hope in our ulti-
mate salvation if we Surrender ourselves to the
loving rule of Mary.

2. The fact that Mary, our Queen, is the
Mother of God, must give us great confidence.
She is next to the Throne of Mercy. We are not

87



6/4
s~

Si^

1

afar off from our Heavenly Queen, however, be-
e, cause she is also our Mother. What she wants

most isi for us to love her Son and to give God
honor. She knows that in this lies our peace and
happiness both in time and in eternity. There
need be no fear, no anxiety, in our hearts because
we have Mary, our Mother and our Queen.

Colloquies: Heavenly Father, we thank you for
giving us Mary to be our Queen. Help us to

* honor her and to love her as good subjects ought
to love their sovereign. Dear Jesus, Mary was
the woman that you loved best in the whole

r,
world. We beg you, therefore, to help us to love
her sincerely. Give us great confidence in her so
that the example of her life will be a dominant
influence in our thoughts and actions. O Mother

f Mary, this day we accept you as our Queen. Rule
over us. To you we give our minds and hearts,
our bodies and our souls, our emotions and our
senses. Dear Mary, rule over us so that we may
serve God sincerely and some day take our place
in the number of your devoted subjects in Para-
dise.

Conclusion: We thank the Blessed Trinity for
the opportunity we have had to spend some
minutes in meditation. We resolve frequently to
consider Mary as our Queen and to beg her
to rule over us. We shall try to realize that we
do not belong to ourselves, but rather, to Mary,
Our Queen. Therefore, we shall use our time,
our gifts, our talents, all the opportunities that
are afforded us, to honor her and to glorify God.