Hearing His Voice

Posted on April 26, 2012 by the Sisters

When We Hear the Voice of Our Beloved

How often do we search for God with the same perseverance as St. Mary Magdalene? She accompanied the Blessed Virgin throughout the Passion of Our Lord and was a witness to all the sorrowful events of that day. She was at the Foot of His Cross during His Crucifixion and Death. And when she visited the Tomb early on that first Easter morning, she stayed there, weeping, not permitting herself to rest or be diverted from finding His Body. She was so caught up in this desire that even the sight of angels could not distract her from seeking the One Whom her heart desired. Instead, amidst her anguish and pain, she turned to someone she believed to be the gardener and begged him to help her.

And when He pronounced her name, she recognized him as Jesus. Immediately, her sorrow turned to joy, her pain to delight, her grief to jubilation ~ and she cast herself at His Feet. At that moment, with her cheeks still wet with tears, did she remember the last time she wept at His Feet? Did she recall that banquet in which she humbly walked through the crowd that scorned her to approach Jesus ~ at which point she paid Him homage, bathed His Feet with her tears and wiped them dry with her hair?

Did she remember that last gathering, after Lazarus was raised from the dead, when she poured a vase of fragrant oil over Jesus, anointing Him for His burial? She withheld nothing from this act of love and devotion, emptying the entire vase of its precious contents. That beautiful gesture symbolized her own self-donation: in her repentance and conversion, she emptied herself completely for love of Him. And now, Jesus rewards her persistence and faithfulness, calling her tenderly and shining His Face upon her.

The Risen Jesus calls us by name, as well, to give us joy and consolation in our lives. He calls us in the situations presented to us, in the people He places on our paths, and, of course, in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. And He calls us to be like St. Mary Magdalene: willingly emptying ourselves for love of Him so that He can fill us with Himself. Speaking to Sr. Benigna Consolata, one of the mystics of our Order (1885-1916), Jesus said, “The measure of thy mortification will be the measure of thy capacity for receiving graces. … When I find a heart that receives My graces, I inundate her with them. My Benigna, with mortification thou whilt give me empty vases, which I will fill with oil; the more thou wilt give me, the more I will fill them.”

He is truly alive ~ and His Resurrected Life is not merely a philosophy or set of teachings about how to live. It is a Life that enlightens, that heals, that transforms us. Let us, like St. Mary Magdalene, persist in seeking our Lord despite any difficulties or setbacks. Let us work at becoming empty vases that Jesus can fill with His fragrant oil of grace, of joy, of adoration. And let us visit Him in the Blessed Sacrament with love-filled hearts and praise on our lips.

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A Lenten Journey

Posted on March 13, 2012 by the Sisters

Forgive them, Father...

In his Lenten sermons of 1622, our wise Founder and Doctor of the Church, St. Francis de Sales, reminds us that God created us in His image and likeness. Therefore, he tells us, we ought to love and honor God’s image in everyone, even our enemies, as God has commanded us. He goes on further by stating, “For really nothing is lovable in us which is of us, since not only does it not enhance this divine image and likeness, but it actually disfigures, defiles, and stains it so that we are scarcely recognizable.” And yesterday’s first Mass Reading (from 2 Kgs 5:1-15) gives us a classic example of how “stained” we can be. Upon receiving a letter from the king of Aram, which expresses clearly the reason Naaman has come to his country, the king of Israel completely misinterprets the letter. Even in the face of the facts ~ Naaman’s arrival with a peaceful retinue ~ the king fabricates his own tale of what’s occurring, ascribing malicious motives to the king of Aram. The text asserts that Naaman is a valiant man who is disfigured exteriorly from his Leprosy, hence, his trip to Israel to be cured. Yet the harsh and false judgment of Israel’s king manifests his own interior disfigurement.

Alas, such is the human condition: we can be so quick to attribute negative or spiteful motives to the behaviors of people with whom we live or work, forgetting that they carry the precious image of God within them. We have all had that happen to us, and we know how painful that can be. After all, how often has anybody ever been correct when they’ve imputed harsh intentions to our actions?

In these last few weeks of Lent, let us work on being more gentle in our thoughts towards one another. Let us ascribe the best interpretation we can on the deeds of those with whom we work and live. And while God has given us the intellect to judge actions, we can never judge a person’s motivations. So if we see an action that is purely evil in and of itself, let us turn to God and utter our Savior’s words on the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Posted in Lent | 1 Comment

A Most Blessed Feast Day!!!

Posted on January 24, 2012 by the Sisters

St. Francis de Sales Giving Our Constitutions to St. Jane de Chantal and Our First Sisters

On the Feast of our holy Founder, St. Francis de Sales, we give thanks to God for the tremendous gift He has given us in our beloved Father and Doctor of the Church.  Through his great wisdom, humility, and charity, he guides us along the path of our monastic calling to great intimacy with God.  We remember you, our friends and family, in our prayers and offerings as we pray:

O glorious St. Francis de Sales, model of the interior life and full of zeal for the salvation of souls, obtain for us the grace to use all our faculties, not only for our own salvation, but also for that of our neighbor, that continually spreading abroad the sweet odor of Jesus Christ by our prayers, words, and works, we may obtain with you the blessedness promised to the merciful, and that we may one day have a share in the glory which you enjoy in Paradise with the angels and the saints.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Posted in Salesian Feast Days | 2 Comments

Christmas in the Cloister

Posted on December 26, 2011 by the Sisters

Glory to Our Newborn King!

The Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary wish you a most Blessed and Joy-Filled Christmas Season!  We continue to hold all of you, and the needs of our world, in our prayers and offerings ~ especially during our Christmas Novena, which we pray nightly at our Creche.

During this most Blessed Season, our Infant King has given us the gift of a new Postulant, whom we received into our Community on the Solemnity of the Mother of God, January 1, 2012.  God be praised!

Our Newest Postulant!

Posted in Christmas | 7 Comments

Seasonal Reminders

Posted on November 29, 2011 by the Sisters

God's Colorful Artistry

As Autumn descends upon us, those of us in the Midwest and East enjoy watching God’s glorious symphony of color.  The leaves on our deciduous trees have burst into vivid shades of yellow, orange, and red before turning brown and cascading to the ground.  As branch after branch sheds its leaves, oftentimes there will be one single leaf still clinging, refusing to let go, even as it flutters in the crisp breeze.  These beautiful seasons can be a reminder that our spiritual lives, too, can have ‘seasons’.  Each day, for that matter, can bring with it an entire year of ‘seasons’, through which God can fashion ~ or rather, refashion ~ us.  Like these trees, full of green leaves in the Spring and Summer, the minute we are confronted with what feels like a sudden change of temperature around us, a bright yellow passion can quickly stem from within, turning into a brilliant orange and then fiery red.  And as St. Francis de Sales tells us, if we do not quickly look at Jesus in these moments and ask Him for help, our passions can burst into a monumental firework display. But if we turn to Him promptly and focus our attention on Him, and not on our thoughts or feelings, His calming Love will flow into our hearts, and He will help us respond in love or remain silent, even while the “inferior part of our soul” flares within us.  Only over time ~ with habitual effort, grace, and perseverance ~ will each passion, each leaf, detach from the branch of our self-love and fall to the ground.  This divesting of self-love can leave us feeling exposed and vulnerable; but if we wait in the silence and stillness of winter, even if that winter lasts but a few hours, we will eventually feel the tender rays of the Sun again and, with it, a rebirth arising until one day, we will flourish in the courts of our God, still bearing fruit, still green, proclaiming that The Lord is upright. (Ps 92)

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St. Francis de Sales ~ a Radical Saint!!!

Posted on September 27, 2011 by the Sisters

 

Our Holy Founder, St Francis de Sales

When thinking about the saints who lived our Catholic faith most radically, many people immediately think of St. Francis of Assisi, St. John of the Cross, or St. Anthony of Egypt ~ saints known for their great asceticism.  But St. Francis de Sales, he is much more known as the saint of meekness, gentleness, and humility.
 
St. Francis de Sales lived a life of great asceticism and poverty, but his emphasis was primarily on the interior rather than the exterior. He focused mainly on a TOTAL renunciation of self, in loving trust and surrender to God’s Will and Good Pleasure. This interior asceticism, over time, strips away from a soul its own will, desires, and, of course, self-seeking. However, this self-abandonment is to be done in a gentle, humble, and meek way in keeping with His motto, “Ask for nothing, refuse nothing, desire nothing.” To St. Francis de Sales, a Visitandine is the “Will of God in her.” Rest assured that this utter surrender to God is not a form of Quietism or Passivism. Our will and intention are, indeed, engaged ~ on God, Others, and His expressive Will.
 
Above all, St. Francis de Sales wants us to be contemplatives, women of deep prayer. His writings explain clearly that we are to live our horarium faithfully and plan our day’s work. But, when God intervenes throughout the course of our day ~ through our superiors, the unforeseen events that occur, and the annoyances that inevitably crop up while living and working in community ~ we lift our eyes, hearts, minds, and wills to God and say, as Our Lady did, “Fiat; your Will be done.” As easy as it sounds, it is very difficult, and it takes most of us our entire lives to yield our wills and fully embrace God’s Will, especially His Permissive Will.

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May God Let His Face Shine Upon Us

Posted on August 1, 2011 by the Sisters

The Heat of the Summer Sun

In the sweltering heat of the summer, it is easy to reflect on Jesus as the Light of God’s Infinite Love, the Sun of the Universe. We know that the rays of the sun do not become defiled or diminished based upon what they shine.  They are pure and equally distributed to everything that falls within their light ~ the mountains and the ocean, the countryside and the city.  And these natural rays do more than just give heat: before modern appliances, washed clothes were hung on clothes lines not merely as a means of drying them but also to whiten them naturally by the rays of the sun.  Everything caught in the sun’s glimmer sparkles; even dust, when caught in the rays of sunlight, can appear to glisten like tiny gems.  Likewise, the Sacred Heart of Jesus continually pours forth His Light and Warmth, shining on all, the good and the bad alike.  We, too, can glow and become purified by turning toward the Sun (the Son) and remaining in His Love.  So on those days when we are feeling the intense heat of the summer sun, and all of our best efforts seem to turn into dust, let us sit before the Son in Adoration ~ or in the Tabernacle ~ and let His Radiance whiten us so that we may ‘sparkle’ with His Love.

Posted in Ordinary Time, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

God’s Hidden Love is Revealed

Posted on July 1, 2011 by the Sisters

Sacred Heart of Jesus, We Place Our Trust in You!

A blessed Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to all of you!!! On this glorious day, we are united with every Monastery of our Order and with the entire Body of Christ, as we celebrate the Tender and Burning Love of our God for us. This Love is eternal and was enfleshed in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, God-made-Man. His entire Life, Passion, and Death is a revelation of Love to us ~ an incomprehensible Love, because it has no boundaries as does our feeble love. He never said, “Enough; I will suffer a life of poverty but not humiliation and rejection” or “I am willing to suffer the Scourging but not the Crucifixion.” His Love knew no limits while He was on earth; and it knows no limits now that He sits at the Right Hand of God the Father in Heaven. And, through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, this Love was revealed in a tangible way through His Sacred Heart, which is an image, an icon, of His Burning Love for us. It is not a Love that seeks retribution or calculates our tiny acts of love and sacrifice into a heavenly spreadsheet. It is a Love that seeks only our love ~ our hearts ~ which were created for that very purpose. We were made for Love, and we were made to love. And at the core of love is sacrifice and selfless generosity. Love is not a feeling, it is a decision we make with our will; and it expresses itself through our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

Many people live their vocations of love out in the world: loving one another as spouses, parents, children, friends. Some people live their vocations of love in religious life. And today we celebrate that particular love in a special way, as we welcome a new Postulant to our community. We ask you to join us in our joy and to hold her ~ and all of our sisters ~ in your prayers. May our Blessed Mother help each one of us to enter more deeply into the Silence and Solitude of the Divine Heart of Her Son, Jesus.

Posted in Monastery News, Ordinary Time | 4 Comments

Resurrection Mysteries

Posted on May 9, 2011 by the Sisters

Worthy is the Lamb to take the Scroll and open its Seals.

Our Triduum and Easter was a glorious and eventful one ~ we had a Capuchin Friar celebrate the Masses and Rituals of these Holy Days. The Chapel slowly being engulfed in the Paschal Light, the chiming of our Church Bell, the incense blending with our prayers being raised to God: all of these outward expressions helped absorb our hearts within the great Mysteries of our Salvation.

The joys of the Resurrection were intermingled with the sorrows we felt at having one of our elderly Sisters return Home to God within the Easter Octave.  She had spent 76 years as a Nun within our Monastery; and while she was born with physical ailments that continued throughout her life, her countenance was always joyful and serene, a source of edification to all of the members of our Community.  The Sisters took turns in vigil around her bedside, praying rosaries and chaplets, ensuring that she had their prayers and presence with her during her last moments on earth.  Our experience with her was a profound one ~ almost seeming to punctuate the Liturgies and prayers in which we had so recently participated.  

As death gives way to new Life, a week following Sister’s Funeral Mass, we had the delight of being present at the Mass where the Second Grade girls from our Academy received Jesus for the First Time in Holy Communion.  We pray for these beautiful daughters of the Church, that they will continue to grow in their love for Jesus.  How blessed we are to be able to help prepare our students to receive the Holy Sacraments of our Church!

And now we look forward to yet another celebration: the 50th Jubilee of one of our Sisters.  The year 2011 has already seen two of our Sisters celebrate their Golden Jubilee, and this Saturday will see another. We ask you to rejoice with us in thanking our most Loving God for the beautiful gift of our vocations.

Posted in Easter, Monastery News | 2 Comments

May your Triduum and Easter be greatly Blessed

Posted on April 12, 2011 by the Sisters

A Crucifix in our Cloister

St. Francis de Sales founded our Order “spiritually on Mount Calvary to serve Jesus Christ crucified, whom all the sisters are to follow by crucifying their senses, inclinations, passions, imaginations, aversions, and fancies, for love of their Father in Heaven.”  As we draw closer to Mount Calvary ~ to the beginning of the Holy Triduum ~ we prepare to enter more deeply into the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Our Lord.  During this time of stillness and silence, rest assured that we carry you and your intentions with us in our prayers.  As we lay the sorrows of the world at the foot of the Cross to be healed by the Triumph of God’s Love and the Glory of His Resurrection, we pray that your Easter will be filled with the jubilant hope of His Victory.

“Keep your eyes fixed on the Master; work together with Him.  Look into His Eyes until you forget your own ideas and learn to think, act, and work in Him, through Him, and for Him alone.” ~ St. Jane de Chantal

Posted in Lent, Uncategorized | 1 Comment