115: The Angels and the Word of God

We imagine the invisible world as having God (the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit) and the Saints. Seeing the Saints as friends, filled with the love of Jesus, we understand that their friendship, prayer and help doesn't stop with their death.

Sometimes we tend to forget the existence of the Angels, with all their grades, while in fact they have a very important and constant role to play in our life and salvation. If you want to remove the Angels, then not only will you have to remove large portions of the Scriptures and Tradition, but as well, many things will be lacking.

We think that during our prayer the interaction is only about God and us. Our understanding of prayer and “intimacy” with God is thought of as something of a silent and empty world, which only God and us inhabit. Significantly, however, Zachariah was at Prayer when God sent him his Messenger, GABRIEL. Similarly Mary was very probably at Prayer when God sent her his Messenger, GABRIEL.

Intimacy with God is often seen as something exclusive. However, Saint John of the Cross gives us an important answer to this question (in the Spiritual Canticle):

1- The Angels will always continue to be present in our lives, from day one, till the last day, so it is better to pay attention to this spiritual Friend, sent by God to help us and protect us. If you doubt this, you can contemplate Jesus himself, who is in His Human Nature Holy, the Holiest, and see how the Angels are present ans serve and help him (when He is tempted in the Desert, and when He prays in the Garden before his Passion). Are we better than Jesus? Stronger than Jesus? More intimate with God the Father than the Son Incarnate? So, keep this in mind, you will have them and need them. Your Master did, as a man, so you will have to.. with all the more reason.

2- Saint John of the Cross says (in the Spiritual Canticle) that the Angels play an important role in the long first stage of Spiritual Life Growth. They Transmit to us God's Messages, God's Word. Do you have doubts about this? Well remember what Gabriel says about himself and what Elisabeth says about Mary:

“I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” (Luke 1:19-20)

“Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things [words] which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:45)

We see, then, that a Messenger is a being who transmits a Message, in our case, a Word from God. He carries something that doesn't belong to him, something sacred. This is what you see in the first quote from St Luke: Gabriel makes it clear: he is not doing something on his own, of his own personal private initiative: He is Standing in Front of God. No games, no tricks, this is SERIOUS. He is not doing or transmitting anything that is not From God, willingly sent by God himself. So the respect you owe to the Sender (God) is the same respect you owe to the Message his messenger is sending according to His order. This is why St Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, says that this is the way God governs the world: He sends orders, He sends Messengers, and they execute his orders. He uses myriads of Angels to govern the world. So, there is nothing wrong in considering that the Angels are God's Messengers, God's Transmitters. This is the meaning of the word Angel: messenger.

“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you […].” (Exodus 23:20-23)

But, when the spiritual person is growing, you reach a point where two things happen at the same time: one may confuse the messenger with the Sender, and the Message itself needed is becoming of greater significance. This is why St John of the Cross says to God at that spiritual juncture: “stop sending me Messengers of your beauty, the one I need is you Jesus”. It doesn't mean that from day one the Messengers are not serving this purpose. Not at all. It means only that the growth of the Soul, and the possible confusion this produces, make the Soul become wider and wider, more thirsty, and make her shout loudly: I want more, and the One I want is you Jesus.

As we said above, this doesn't mean that the person, now reaching a new step in her growth, will then forget completely about the Angels; no. It is just means a huge step forward is being taken. Remember as well, in order to be faithful to St John of the Cross, he thought that he was asking God not only to stop “fooling” him with smaller “messengers of his beauty” like Angels, but he mentions as well Nature, as a Messenger of God's beauty. You can apply this distinction and desire for Christ himself and His entirety to everything (think of the small things we stop to look at sometimes in the Bible, while at a certain point the soul is that purified and ready that its thirst for Christ becomes huge: thirst for Christ in a new way, i.e. in His entirety).

Small words (like crumbs) now are not enough, the soul wants THE WORD of GOD Incarnate: Jesus.

Now, let us remain in the long first stage of spiritual life (in the majority of persons is takes sadly years, and very few cross it, not that God doesn't want this to happen, but the “engines” that push for growth aren not well known and used): God Messengers are conveying to us His Word. Of course with the Holy Spirit.

Don't you think that like the word of God we have words that are not from God? The Word of God carries Divine Life, the Holy Spirit. The words that don't come from God, are carrying death, the reduction/shrinking, of our being. These words exist. There are hardly any neutral words. And if there are, they reduce our being to a small object of consideration. Take Science for example: Science is science, it is rampant, it doesn't fly to God. It needs God to open our soul, so that Science becomes the sign of a bigger Being. Science then belongs to a different level of contemplation! One has to go from it, and be elevated by God, in order to be able to see the beauty of God in it. This is illustrates the neutral words one can meet in one's life.

What about the rest of the words that nourish our mind, will, heart and freedom everyday? What about the words that shape our decisions everyday? From where do they come? Are they all from God?

Let us remember that we have three sources of words that are NOT Divine Life and Holy Spirit. Those sources are very well present to us, often unconsciously, but very well acting in us.

1- The world, 2- the flesh, and 3- the Devil/Satan and his angels. The three of them convey to us words, constantly, often unconsciously, but efficiently, and bear their fruits in us, through us.

These are three messengers, carriers, of words that are not Life and Spirit, Divine Life, and Holy Spirit.

As we acknowledge the existence of Angels, as Messengers of God, daily carriers of His Words, we have to acknowledge the existence of three other carriers, who carry other words, that are very bad, carrying death, death of our mind, death of our will, making us shrink more and more, and fall into darker areas. Mind you, sometimes we are so used to those words coming from the world, the flesh, and the devil, that we are not aware anymore about what the Light is and what difference it makes. We get used to the darkness and to its light. It is like when you go out dancing: you are in a big room, that is dark, full of loud noise, and you spend hours there, and you are not aware at all of what is happening to you. On the contrary, you call this life, fun, entertainment! Well, for a while!

So, let us become more aware of these different messengers, and let us become aware of the words they send us. Let us open our minds to a deeper and more differentiated way to understand the word: “words”. What is that food that we feed our souls with? Are they good or poisonous? It is exactly like certain things we eat: we find the taste delicious but when we read about the ingredients, we find that a lot of will power is needed to decide to overcome that fake artificial taste and attraction to it, in order to refrain from that “rubbish” that you are eating and “liking”.

Yes it requires awareness, Grace of God, to stop eating dead words, and turn to God, and listen to His Messengers, and to the Message, Divine Word, they carry to you.

I am sure “you are with me”! Let us pray for each other, let us choose our friends, let the choice fall on the ones who took the determined decision to seek the Divine Words, that give Divine Life. Are you ProDivineLife? Are you ProDivineWords?

Let us pray for each other, let us ask the Prayers of the Angels, let us be attentive to their Constant Presence and service to our soul, searching our Good all the time, always available to help and rejoicing when we turn, determined, to God, and God's Words.

St. Padre Pio

Prayer to the Guardian Angel

"O Holy Guardian Angel,
take care of my soul and my body.

Enlighten my mind to know the Lord better

and love Him with all my heart.

Assist me in my prayers to do not fall into distractions

but you keep the greatest attention.

Help me with your advice, to recognise the good and perform it with generosity.

Rescue me from the snares of the infernal enemy
and uphold me in temptations to always win them.

Replace me in my coldness while worshipping of the Lord:

not cease to attend to my custody

until you will bring me to Paradise,

where together we will praise the Good Lord for all eternity."

Monastic and Scholastic Theology

Pope Benedict XVI

A natural friendship between faith and reason

On Wednesday, 28 October [2009], at the General Audience in St Peter's Square, the Holy Father reflected on the flourishing of Latin theology in the 12th century. The following is a translation of the Pope's Catechesis, which was given in Italian.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today I am reflecting on an interesting page of history that concerns the flourishing of Latin theology in the 12th century which occurred through a series of providential coincidences. A relative peace prevailed in the countries of Western Europe at that time which guaranteed economic development and the consolidation of political structures in society, encouraging lively cultural activity also through its contacts with the East. The benefits of the vast action known as the "Gregorian reform" were already being felt within the Church. Vigorously promoted in the previous century, they had brought greater evangelical purity to the life of the ecclesial community, especially to the clergy, and had restored to the Church and to the Papacy authentic freedom of action.

Furthermore, a wide-scale spiritual renewal supported by the vigorous development of consecrated life was spreading; new religious orders were coming into being and expanding, while those already in existence were experiencing a promising spiritual revival.

Theology also flourished anew, acquiring a greater awareness of its own nature: it refined its method; it tackled the new problems; advanced in the contemplation of God's mysteries; produced fundamental works; inspired important initiatives of culture, from art to literature; and prepared the masterpieces of the century to come, the century of Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure of Bagnoregio.

This intense theological activity took place in two milieus: the monasteries and the urban Schools, the scholae, some of which were the forerunners of universities, one of the characteristic "inventions" of the Christian Middle Ages.

It is on the basis of these two milieus, monasteries and scholae, that it is possible to speak of the two different theological models: "monastic theology" and "scholastic theology". The representatives of monastic theology were monks, usually abbots, endowed with wisdom and evangelical zeal, dedicated essentially to inspiring and nourishing God's loving design. The representatives of Scholastic theology were cultured men, passionate about research; they were magistri anxious to show the reasonableness and soundness of the Mysteries of God and of man, believed with faith, of course, but also understood by reason. Their different finalities explain the differences in their method and in their way of doing theology.

In 12th-century monasteries the theological method mainly entailed the explanation of Sacred Scripture, the sacra pagina to borrow the words of the authors of that period; biblical theology in particular was practised. The monks, in other words, were devout listeners to and readers of the Sacred Scriptures and one of their chief occupations consisted in lectio divina, that is, the prayed reading of the Bible. For them the mere reading of the Sacred Text did not suffice to perceive its profound meaning, its inner unity and transcendent message. It was therefore necessary to practise a biblical theology, in docility to the Holy Spirit. Thus, at the school of the Fathers, the Bible was interpreted allegorically in order to discover on every page of both the Old and New Testaments what it says about Christ and his work of salvation.

Last year, The Synod of Bishops on the "Word of God in the life and mission of the Church" reminded us of the importance of the spiritual approach to the Sacred Scriptures. It is useful for this purpose to take into account monastic theology, an uninterrupted biblical exegesis, as well as the works written by its exponents, precious ascetic commentaries on the Books of the Bible.

Thus monastic theology incorporated the spiritual aspect into literary formation. It was aware, in other words that a purely theoretical and unversed interpretation is not enough: to enter into the heart of Sacred Scripture it must be read in the spirit in which it was written and created. Literary knowledge was necessary in order to understand the exact meaning of the words and to grasp the meaning of the text, refining the grammatical and philological sensibility. Thus Jean Leclercq, a Benedictine scholar in the past century, entitled the essay in which he presents the characteristics of monastic theology: L'amour des lettres et le désir de Dieu (Love of words and the desire for God). In fact, the desire to know and to love God which comes to meet us through his words to be received, meditated upon and put into practice, leads us to seek to deepen our knowledge of the biblical texts in all their dimensions. Then there is another attitude on which those who practise monastic theology insist: namely an intimate, prayerful disposition that must precede, accompany and complete the study of Sacred Scripture. Since, ultimately, monastic theology is listening to God's word, it is impossible not to purify the heart in order to receive it and, especially, it is impossible not to enkindle in it a longing to encounter the Lord.

Theology thus becomes meditation, prayer, a song of praise and impels us to sincere conversion. On this path, many exponents of monastic theology attained the highest goals of mystic experience and extend an invitation to us too to nourish our lives with the word of God, for example, through listening more attentively to the Readings and the Gospel, especially during Sunday Mass. It is also important to set aside a certain period each day for meditation on the Bible, so that the word of God may be a light that illumines our daily pilgrimage on earth.

Scholastic theology, on the other hand — as I was saying — was practised at the scholae which came into being beside the great cathedrals of that time for the formation of the clergy, or around a teacher of theology and his disciples, to train professionals of culture in a period in which the appreciation of knowledge was constantly growing.

Central to the method of the Scholastics was the quaestio, that is, the problem the reader faces in approaching the words of Scripture and of Tradition. In the face of the problem that these authoritative texts pose, questions arise and the debate between teacher and student comes into being. In this discussion, on the one hand the arguments of the authority appear and on the other those of reason, and the ensuing discussion seeks to come to a synthesis between authority and reason in order to reach a deeper understanding of the word of God. In this regard St Bonaventure said that theology is "per additionem" (cf. Commentaria in quatuor libros sententiarum, I, proem., q. 1, concl.), that is, theology adds the dimension of reason to the word of God and thus creates a faith that is deeper, more personal, hence also more concrete in the person's life. In this regard various solutions were found and conclusions reached which began to build a system of theology.

The organization of the quaestiones led to the compilation of ever more extensive syntheses, that is, the different quaestiones were composed with the answers elicited, thereby creating a synthesis, the summae that were in reality extensive theological and dogmatic treatises born from the confrontation of human reason with the word of God. Scholastic theology aimed to present the unity and harmony of the Christian Revelation with a method, called, precisely "Scholastic" — of the school — which places trust in human reason. Grammar and philology are at the service of theological knowledge, but logic even more so, namely the discipline that studies the "functioning" of human reasoning, in such a way that the truth of a proposal appears obvious. Still today, in reading the Scholastic summae one is struck by the order, clarity and logical continuity of the arguments and by the depth of certain insights. With technical language a precise meaning is attributed to every word and, between believing and understanding, a reciprocal movement of clarification is established.

Dear brothers and sisters, in echoing the invitation of the First Letter of Peter, Scholastic theology stimulates us to be ever ready to account for the hope that is in us (cf. 3:15), hearing the questions as our own and thus also being capable of giving an answer. It reminds us that a natural friendship exists between faith and reason, founded in the order of Creation itself. In the incipit of the Encyclical Fides et Ratio, the Servant of God John Paul II wrote: "Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth". Faith is open to the effort of understanding by reason; reason, in turn, recognizes that faith does not mortify her but on the contrary impels her towards vaster and loftier horizons.

The eternal lesson of monastic theology fits in here. Faith and reason, in reciprocal dialogue, are vibrant with joy when they are both inspired by the search for intimate union with God. When love enlivens the prayerful dimension of theology, knowledge, acquired by reason, is broadened. Truth is sought with humility, received with wonder and gratitude: in a word, knowledge only grows if one loves truth. Love becomes intelligence and authentic theology wisdom of the heart, which directs and sustains the faith and life of believers. Let us therefore pray that the journey of knowledge and of the deepening of God's Mysteries may always be illumined by divine love.
 

Taken from:
L'Osservatore Romano
Weekly Edition in English
4 Novembeer 2009, page 12

Newsletter: "Bible and Spiritual Life" Course

IMPORTANT MESSAGE

Dear All,

This is a special email regarding the Intermediate Course: The Bible and Spiritual Life

1- The course on "Bible and Spiritual life" is important in strengthening our personal practice of Lectio Divina. With this course it is as if Jesus was giving each one of us the Bible in his hands, as His Word.

Some might be tempted to overlook the nature and value of the "Bible and Spiritual Life" course as well as the subsequent workshops on Lectio Divina and the Prayer of the heart. They might solely focus on attending the Second Level Course and this would be a huge error. One has to grow spiritually in order to reach the point where one would need the food of the Second Level Course - and this course helps us grow in Lectio Divina. Otherwise the "learning process" becomes too intellectual/theoretical.

We implore you to register for the ‘Bible and Spiritual Life’ course, in order to benefit fully from the Second Level Course.

2- Presentation of the Course:

September-October 2014: 4 Saturdays

Since 2007 many people in London have been attending the First Level Course, "Initiation into Spiritual Life". As a result, many have been encouraged to use their Bible more fervently and to practice Lectio Divina. However, support is still needed, as finding "food" in the Bible is not an easy task. This is why the "Intermediate 1 Course" is about deepening the relationship between the "Bible" and our "Spiritual Life": in a word, it aims at helping us view the Bible as the source of our daily nourishment.

What makes this course unique is, first, the choice of topics(important, "juicy" and rarely addressed topics) and, secondly,relating them to our Spiritual Life! As always, Our Lady continues to lead us on our journey.

A Certificate will be awarded to all those who attend the entire four days.

The dates are: Sat 27th Sept, Sat 4th Oct, Sat 18th Oct, Sat 25th Oct, from 10.00 am to 4:30 pm. Venue: St Mary of the Angels Parish hall, Moorhouse Road, W2 5DJ, Notting Hill. Spaces are limited for this course. The cost is £ 25.00 per day. Should there be any places remaining, we can accept those who did not follow the First Level Course.

To secure your place, a non-refundable deposit of £ 50.00 should be paid by cheque or bank transfer. Please send an email or call to confirm payment. Email: schoolofmarylondon@gmail.com or call 07908513762.

The Topics are:

1st Saturday:

Structure and meaning of the Gospel in relation to our Spiritual Life.

Reading and analysing essential and fundamental texts from the Gospel in relation to our spiritual life.

2nd Saturday:

The relationship between the Theory of Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures and our spiritual life. Explanation of the action of God in the human author and its practical consequences for us.

The new prophetical life inaugurated by Jesus for every human being: God makes of us a friend and wants to talk to us.

The practical meaning and the fruitfulness of this new prophetism.

3rd Saturday:

Exegetical questions: the Holy Spirit Exegete of the Bible; the intelligence of the Scriptures in the Fathers of the Church; the example of the Fathers of the Church; the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament; exegetical Rules for our spiritual life.

The Bible is the soul of God's Revelation to us, and is a treasure whose riches we can draw upon on a daily basis. Practical advice.

4th Saturday:

Difficulties when confronting an archaic text, a different language and culture. What is to be done with "modern" exegesis?

The Bible: doubt, power, pleasure and possession.

Conclusions.

3- Those who can't attend a full day on some of the Saturdays but would be able to make it either in the morning (10 to 1:30) or in the afternoon (2:20-4:30), can still come and attend. But one needs to commit to the entire course.

4- If you cannot attend half a day or an entire day you may still attend. An audio recording will be available at the end of the Course. So it is important to "commit" to the entire Course.

We look forward to seeing you and continuing the Journey toward Union with Jesus, led by His Mother.

In Her,

School of Mary

Newsletter: Coming Courses in the School of Mary

Dear All,

We hope this post finds you well. We have some exciting announcements regarding some courses which will be taking place over the next months.

1. Bible & Spiritual Life Course

This is the intermediate course between the 1st level course, Initiation into Spiritual Life, and the 2nd level course. It will help to strengthen our knowledge and practice of Lectio Divina, which we gained in the 1st level course. The course is highly recommended!

This course will start on Sat 27th September and will continue on Sat 4th October, Sat 18th October and Sat 25th October. The venue is St Mary of the Angels Parish Hall, Moorhouse Rd, Notting Hill, W2 5DJ.

Spaces are limited and it is important to book!

Please open this link as it contains more information on the course including payment and contents of the course.

2. Lectio Divina and Prayer of the Heart Workshops

The School of Mary will run some workshops on Lectio Divina and Prayer of the Heart. These will be held on Sat 8th November, Sat 15th November, Sat 22nd November and Sat 6th December. We will provide more information on these soon.

3. 1st Level Course - Initiation to Spiritual Life

The Initiation into Spiritual Life course is being held on Mondays, starting on 6th October. The course will be from 10.00am to 12.15pm. The venue is St Mary of the Angels Parish Hall, Notting Hill. If you may know somebody who would be interested in attending, please ask them to contact us.

In Easter 2015, the course will be offered again but this time over 7 Saturdays. We will provide further details on this course before the end of the year.

4. 2nd Level Course

The 2nd level course will be held in Lent 2015 and will take place over 7 Saturdays. We will provide further details before the end of the year.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the Bible and Spiritual Life course. We could not recommend the course highly enough!

Please do contact us should you have any questions on the forthcoming courses.

In Mary

Leonora and Rufaro

Intermediate Course: “Bible and Daily Spiritual life”

“to my friend I say everything” (see John 15:15)

_____

Lecturer: Jean Khoury

September-October 2014 : 4 Saturdays

Since 2007 many people in London have been attending the First Level Course, "Initiation into Spiritual Life". As a result, many have been encouraged to use their Bible more fervently and to practise Lectio Divina. However, support is still needed as finding "food" in the Bible is not an easy task. This is why the "Intermediate 1 Course" is about deepening the relationship between the "Bible" and our "Spiritual Life": in a word, it aims at helping us view the Bible as the source of our daily nourishment.

What makes this course unique is, first, the choice of topics (important, "juicy" and rarely addressed topics) and, secondly, relating them to our Spiritual Life! As always, Our Lady continues to lead us on our journey.

A Certificate will be awarded to all those who attend the entire four days.

The dates are: Sat 27^th Sept, Sat 4th Oct, Sat 18th Oct, Sat 25th Oct, from 10.00 am to 4:30 pm. Venue: St Mary of the Angels Parish hall, Moorhouse Road, W2 5DJ, Notting Hill. Spaces are limited for this course. The cost is £ 25.00 per day. Should there be any places remaining, we can accept those who did not follow the First Level Course.

To secure your place, a non-refundable deposit of £ 50.00 should be paid by cheque or bank transfer. Please send an email or call to confirm payment. Email: schoolofmarylondon@gmail.com or call 07908513762.

The Topics are:

1st Saturday:

Structure and meaning of the Gospel in relation to our Spiritual Life.

Reading and analysing essential and fundamental texts from the Gospel in relation to our spiritual life.

2nd Saturday:

The relationship between the Theory of Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures and our spiritual life. Explanation of the action of God in the human author and its practical consequences for us.

The new prophetical life inaugurated by Jesus for every human being: God makes of us a friend and wants to talk to us.

The practical meaning and the fruitfulness of this new prophetism.

3rd Saturday:

Exegetical questions: the Holy Spirit Exegete of the Bible; the intelligence of the Scriptures in the Fathers of the Church; the example of the Fathers of the Church; the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament; exegetical Rules for our spiritual life.

The Bible is the soul of God's Revelation to us, and is a treasure whose riches we can draw upon on a daily basis. Practical advice.

4th Saturday:

Difficulties when confronting an archaic text, a different language and culture. What is to be done with "modern" exegesis?

The Bible: doubt, power, pleasure and possession.

Conclusions.

Looking forward to seeing you. Continuing the Journey toward Union with Jesus, lead by His Mother.

www.AmorVincit.com

114: Intercessory Prayer

Question: If we are not to petition during the Prayer of the Heart (PH) and Lectio Divina (LD), when and how should intercessory prayer happen/take place?

Answer: As an allocated moment (time and space), intercessory prayer should happen at a special time, as a specific type of prayer. During Mass we have a time for it, as we do during the Divine Office (I am sure that in our personal prayer as well we do pray for others).

Your may ask the same question for other types of prayer as well: Prayer of Praise and Prayer of Thanksgiving, "when shall we say them?".

Here I would like to explain more clearly the deep relationship between LD & PH on the one hand and Intercessory Prayer on the other.

It is important to remember that LD is a key unavoidable type of prayer today. It is by far the most transformative type of prayer. Why? Because it allows a part of Christ (today's part of Christ-Word Bread) to become incarnated in us and transform us in Him. The more we are transformed in Christ the more powerful our intercession becomes (acts on God). Jesus explains the relationship between Lectio Divina and the efficiency of our prayer (which has been answered) in the Gospel of St John where He says: if you do my Will (keep my commandments) ask me all what you want (because you'll BE in my Name) and you will receive it, i.e. the Father will grant it to you (see John 15:7).


If LD is done properly, all its transformative power will be enacted. Then PH becomes much more fruitful and even more transformative. Otherwise, if you practise PH without LD, its transformative power is dramatically decreased.


Now let us consider what happens during the PH. While we are practising the PH, the Power of the Holy Spirit is working in our depths and through us will help Lift the entire World to God the Father in the Son, through the Holy Spirit. This is done automatically. The more we are transformed in Jesus, the better it works - automatically. St Therese explains that wonderfully at the end of her Manuscript C, in the Story of the Soul.

She says:

"All the saints have understood this, and more especially those who filled the world with the light of the Gospel teachings. Was it not in prayer that St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. John of the Cross, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis, St. Dominic, and so many other famous Friends of God have drawn out this divine science which delights the greatest geniuses? A scholar has said: “Give me a lever and a fulcrum and I will lift the world.” What Archimedes was not able to obtain, for his request was not directed by God and was only made from a material viewpoint, the saints have obtained in all its fullness. The Almighty has given them as fulcrum: HIMSELF ALONE; as lever: PRAYER which burns with a fire of love. And it is in this way that they have lifted the world; it is in this way that the saints still militant lift it, and that, until the end of time, the saints to come will lift it."

Intercessory prayer has different levels of power and action. What is more powerful than to pray for somebody or - if it was given to you by the grace of God - to take this person and lift him/her to God and introduce him/her into God's Fire of Love? Here St Therese presents to us the most powerful version of Intercessory Prayer.

It is a duty of love for us to pray for everybody. St Paul says that we have to pray for one another all the time, without excluding any other person. St James in the end of his Letter, mentioning the Prophet Elijah speaks about the power of a prayer that is heard/answered by God. This should grab our attention and invite us to deepen our understanding of Intercessory Prayer.

In addition, one has to remember the relationship between Intercessory Prayer and the  Priesthood of the Faithful. A Priest "prays for" others, like St Paul invites us to do all the time. (This is why we have the Divine Office. But it is something that becomes second nature to us, it is part of the "fabric" of the New Creature that we become in Christ. Being "in Christ" makes the Fire of the Holy Spirit that dwells in Him, pray in us and through us. The Holy Spirit knows how to pray and knows what we should ask for, and the way God wants it. What depends on us is not to pay attention to all that multiplicity of things to pray for. Our duty is just to get closer and closer to Jesus and to the Fire of His Love and be transformed by IT.

St Therese developed those important questions in two different places in that same Manuscript C, in the Story of the Soul:

"Since I have two brothers and my little Sisters, the novices, if I wanted to ask for each soul what each one needed and go into detail about it, the days would not be long enough and I fear I would forget something important. For simple souls there must be no complicated ways; as I am of their number, one morning during my thanksgiving, Jesus gave me a simple means of accomplishing my mission.

He made me [34r°] understand these words of the Canticle of Canticles: “DRAW ME, WE SHALL RUN after you in the odour of your ointments.” O Jesus, it is not even necessary to say: “When drawing me, draw the souls whom I love!” This simple statement: “Draw me” suffices; I understand, Lord, that when a soul allows herself to be captivated by the odour of your ointments, she cannot run alone, all the souls whom she loves follow in her train; this is done without constraint, without effort, it is a natural consequence of her attraction for You. Just as a torrent, throwing itself with impetuosity into the ocean, drags after it everything it encounters in its passage, in the same way, O Jesus, the soul who plunges into the shoreless ocean of Your Love, draws with her all the treasures she possesses. Lord, You know it, I have no other treasures than the souls it has pleased You to unite to mine; it is You who entrusted these treasures to me, and so I dare to borrow the words You addressed to the heavenly Father, the last night which saw You on our earth as a traveler and a mortal. Jesus, I do not know when my exile will be ended; more than one night will still see me singing Your Mercies in this exile, but for me will finally come the last night, and then I want to be able to say to You, O my God:“I have glorified you on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do. And now do you, Father, glorify me with yourself, with the glory I had with you before the world existed.“I have manifested your name to those whom you have given me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have learned that whatever you have given me is from you; because the words you have given me, I have given to them. And they have received them, and have known of a truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.“I pray for them, not for the world do I pray, but for those whom you have given me, because they are yours; and all things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep in your name those whom you have given to me.

“But now I am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, in order that they may have joy made full in themselves. I have given them your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not pray that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

“Yet not for these only do I pray, but for those who through their word are to believe in me.

“Father, I will that where I am, these also whom you have given me may be with me, that they may see my glory which you have given me, because you loved me from the foundation of the world. And I have made known your name to them, and will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.”" (Manuscript C)

In fact Thérèse is explaining the Common Priesthood of the Faithful, received in Baptism, in Jesus-Priest. And a few pages afterwards she gives a further explanation of her new way of praying, her new way of practising the Prayer of the Heart:

“Mother, I think it is necessary to give a few more explanations on the passage in the Canticle of Canticles: “Draw me, we shall run,” for what I wanted to say appears to me little understood. “No man can come after me, unless the FATHER who sent me draw him,” Jesus has said. Again, through beautiful parables, and often even without using this means so well known to the people, He teaches us that it is enough to knock and it will be opened, to seek in order to find, and to hold out one’s hand humbly to receive what is asked for. He also says that everything we ask the Father in His name, He will grant it. No doubt, it is because of this teaching that the Holy Spirit, before Jesus’ birth, dictated this prophetic prayer: “Draw me, we shall run.”

What is it then to ask to be “Drawn” if not to be united in an intimate way to the object which captivates our heart? If fire and iron had the use of reason, and if the latter said to the other: “Draw me,” would it not prove that it desires to be identified with the fire in such a way that the fire penetrate [36r°] and drink it up with its burning substance and seem to become one with it? Dear Mother, this is my prayer. I ask Jesus to draw me into the flames of His love, to unite me so closely to Him that He live and act in me. I feel that the more the fire of love burns within my heart, the more I shall say: “Draw me,” the more also the souls who will approach me (poor little piece of iron, useless if I withdraw from the divine furnace), the more these souls will run swiftly in the odor of the ointments of their Beloved, for a soul that is burning with love cannot remain inactive. No doubt, she will remain at Jesus’ feet as did Mary Magdalene, and she will listen to His sweet and burning words. Appearing to do nothing, she will give much more than Martha who torments herself with many things and wants her sister to imitate her. " (Manuscript C)

All that Thérèse is describing happens in the same movement of the Prayer of the Heart. Jesus attaches people to us (without us doing it or knowing it), so when we do the PH we perform, as well, our Priestly duty of intercession. In the Prayer of the Heart we offer our being to Jesus and are immersed in Him. The more we are transformed in Jesus the more we are like a sponge, unknowingly absorbing all the persons Jesus wants us to carry. They are like our mystical body ("Union with Jesus" is union with a portion of his Body). So whenever we do the Prayer of the Heart (The more we are transformed in Jesus, the more PH becomes more and more constant in us), and we are then immersed (with them) in His Fire. The Power of the Holy Spirit in us is lifting not only us but all our mystical body.

[Many more things occur during the PH, and this is just to reply to your question and show the deeper levels of Intercession and their relationship with our level/degree of transformation in Jesus and with the practice of the PH.]


In conclusion we can say that it is not really possible to separate deep powerful intercession from our being, from our PH.

When somebody asks us to pray for him/her, or we just remember to pray for a certain person/intention, let us not forget that (in my eyes) the most powerful, perfect and pure way to do it is to entrust this intention to Our Lady, by saying one "Hail Mary" and that's it. If your remember again this person/intention, you may just redo that again: say the "Hail Mary", entrusting this person to Mary. St Therese used to say that Our Lady knows better the will of God (what to say to God and how to say it), we don't. In this sense she is called "Throne of Wisdom", because the Wisdom of God, Jesus, is dwelling in her in His absolute perfection while it is not the case for us. We either carry too much the person, or worry too much, or are busy too much in dealing and arranging the life of others, forgetting our utter ignorance. And all this is not intercessory prayer, but impurity added to our way of dealing with God.

I hope this helps.

113: Christ's Yoke

As I mentioned in the previous post, in one of his letters, Saint Antony says that Christ's Yoke is the Holy Spirit. It is not difficult to accept this reading. The Jewish tradition – and St Paul is part of it – does talk about the “yoke of the Law” (“yoke of the Torah”) (see Galatians 5:1 and Acts 15:10). Our New Law is the Holy Spirit in our heart (see Jeremiah 31:33, Romans 8,...). So one can easily accept the reading St Antony advances of this image of the Yoke given by Christ.

If we look at a yoke we can see it is a piece of wood that binds together two animals. Normally one would spontaneously think that carrying Christ's yoke means that the yoke will surround Jesus' head and ours, so we would be walking together.

We need to understand who are the two persons put under the same yoke. One of them is Christ, who is the second? We find a couple of persons in the Song of Songs. The Jewish tradition says that if the Bible were to be compared to the Holy of the Temple [the room before the Holy of Holies], the Book of the Song of Songs should be considered as the Holy of the Holies. The Catholic interpretation of the Song of Songs offers at least three different levels of readings: the Groom in the book is of course always seen as Christ but the Bride is either the Church, or the Soul, or the Blessed Virgin Mary.

If we put things in order: we should put the Mother of the Church (Mary) first, the one who gives birth to the Church, then the Church and its members. The Church is Virgin and Mother like Mary and because of Mary. The Church sees in Mary its Archetype (its best and highest realisation). This is why we see in Mary the perfect Disciple of Jesus, and its embodiment. Therefore, theologically, we should see the Archetype of the Groom and the Bride in the Song of Songs, as being: Jesus and Mary.

The Marian Spiritual Catholic Tradition underlines the unique relationship that exists between Christ and his Mother, Mary. As we previously explained, in Baptism, God doesn't give us only the object of our belief, Jesus-God, He gives us, as well, the capacity and the means to Belief: Mary's. He gives us not only the Divine Seed, He gives us, as well, the “Good soil” in order to receive that Divine Seed and bear fruit. He doesn't give us only the New Wine, but the New Skin in order to contain it, otherwise, with our poor capacity for retention we will lose God's graces. Mary's capacity to believe is given to us. This teaching is the Holy of the Holies of Revelation, Scriptures and Theology. It sheds, in addition, an amazing light on the question of Christ's Yoke.

Christ's Yoke doesn't consist only of Christ (as one of the animals) and the Holy Spirit (the piece of wood). No. It encompasses much more: it has Christ, the physical Yoke (the Holy Spirit) and Mary, as being the embodiment of the Perfect Disciple.

In her and with her, one becomes the Perfect Disciple of Jesus.

This would imply that taking Jesus' Yoke means to enter into Mary, to receive Mary's capacity to know and love Jesus. This is why, if we go back to the diagram of the Sea, we see that when we receive Jesus' Yoke, in fact we are taking the place of Mary, or better said: we receive our New Being from her, in her image.

She is “flesh of Jesus' flesh”, the New Eve, the Woman, taken from the Man, Jesus. She is bone of his bones, she is capable of containing all of Christ, in fullness, without losing any grace. Christ dwells in His Fullness in Her... therefore, if we want Him in His fullness, we need to take Mary to ourselves, receive her, in other words: Receive Jesus' Yoke.

This is why, the fruitful Prayer of the Heart is indeed to receive Jesus' Yoke, taking the place of Mary, in the sense of being transformed in her, of being transformed by the Holy Spirit.

112: The Prayer of the Heart Explained by Jesus

I hear the objection: 'If the Prayer of the Heart is that important, vital, radically vital, how come Jesus never talked about it?'

Well He talked about it plenty of times, the most obvious one being: "dwell in Me as I dwell in you" (John 15).

But before addressing today's point, let us remember that "of entering the Kingdom" of God is a fairly common indication on the movement itself of the Prayer of the Heart. Entering the Kingdom is in fact entering into God's area, God's domain, where He acts in a sovereign way; in a word it is to enter into Jesus' being (Jesus is the Furnace of Love), to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus makes the conditions to enter of entering into the Kingdom: "If you do not become like children you can't enter into the Kingdom". God is like a child [pure, simple,...], and if we want to enter within Him, we need to become like Him, by choosing to trust Him, totally, without any conditions: and also we need to entrust ourselves (The best way to love is to give everything and give oneself).

In this post, I would like to point out one of the most beautiful, yet discreet, descriptions of the Prayer of the Heart (Matthew 11:28-30): 
"Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Let us read it with its own oral swinging rhythm:


"- Come to Me,

all you who are weary and burdened,

and I will give you rest.

- Take my yoke upon you

and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find for your souls rest,

for my yoke is easy

and my burden is light."

- "come to me" is the key expression that shows us what we have to do in order to do the Prayer of the heart, in order to be introduced into Jesus-Furnace-of-Love. Or at least it indicates the first part of what we have to do. In fact we need to use our free will (by choosing to give ourselves to Jesus), otherwise God/Jesus will not force Himself into us.

First we need to get rid of our yoke: i.e. all that we are carrying, the idols we have, the other gods in whom we trust, our worries, concerns, difficulties, problems..., we need to give all that to Jesus: He removes them, He takes away the weight from us, so we become free and able to move and fly... we can be in His hands... under the Action of the Holy Spirit.

- "weary and burdened": Jesus describes our inner state when we are not dwelling in him: we are 'weary and burdened'. Our yoke is our worries and burdens. Instead of carrying our actual Yoke, we are invited to take His one. In fact, we are not invited to remain yokeless...

The Yoke is seen as well in the Jewish Biblical and Talmudic exegesis as the symbol of  Marriage. Husband and wife will carry the same yoke, they will be married (tie the knot) and they will be bound to the same yoke.

Please have a look at a yoke (see below), how it is built and its purpose: it is a piece of wood made for two animals, and its purpose is to keep them tightly linked in their movement and journey. Where one goes, the other will go.

Jesus wants us to dwell in Him, constantly, wherever we go. He wants us to be where He is. In fact he says:  "that you also may be where I am" (John 14:3). Here is the entire sentence: "My Father’s house [Jesus himself (see John 2)] has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:2-3)

This is achieved by taking His Yoke. The purpose of the Yoke is to be where He is.

Burdens make us heavy, distance us very far from God...

- "take my Yoke": This is the second indication Jesus gives us in order to achieve the Prayer of the Heart: "take my Yoke". By offering ourselves to Him, and wanting to do all that He wants, with no restrictions... something will happen: we will be introduced into Him, we will receive REST or, if you prefer, TRUE PEACE... an overflowing of the Holy Spirit.

This is why Saint Antony the Great, Father of all Monks, says in one of his letters that the Yoke of Christ is the Holy Spirit...  being tightened by Jesus' Yoke, we then constantly receive His Holy Spirit.

Let us see now on the following diagram how it works:

Jesus' goal is to welcome us into the Sun (Himself). Our heart is initially heavy and weary, carrying burdens, carrying another yoke: our heart is sinking in the water of our being, sensations, emotions, imagination, thoughts.

Where is Jesus? Is He like the Sun high up, waiting for us to fly to Him? No, God became incarnate, and Jesus is at the door of our being (at the surface of the water/sea), knocking at the door of our free will inviting us to give Him our yokes and receive His.

By making this act of trust, by entrusting, surrendering, abandoning ourselves into His Hands, being tied to Him, He then takes us and introduces us into His being (the sun in the drawing), so that we receive Peace, we receive the action of the constant outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Here is the key: "come to me" means: come to the surface of the water, rise above yourself in order to love, and give me yourself. This is key to the success of the Prayer of the Heart and the only way Jesus will be able to take us and lift us ("He took-with-Him [...] and went-up" (Matthew 17:1)). Jesus won't force us, so he awaits for us to love Him: give ourselves to Him. "take my yoke" means: allow me to take you, believe in the Power of my Holy Spirit, capable to take you and lift you, introduce you into the depth of My Heart.

Conclusion: there is something that Jesus offers. He knows where we are (immersed in the water, under the weight of our yokes); He comes to us (He doesn't await us high up in the sun, where He normally is); He comes to us and offers to free us from our burdens, yokes, tiredness, and offers us a lightweight, His Yoke, the Action of the Holy Spirit, that takes us, with its power, and puts us in Him.

Let us experience His Action, how it makes our life lighter and easier, putting speed and power into our relationship with God, easing our prayer, easing our daily life.

Why delay taking up His Yoke.

Some people might say: well His Yoke is His Cross... and it is heavy. Well this is an erroneous understanding of His Cross, because Jesus' Cross is the centre of the manifestation of the all-powerful transformative action of God, action that lifts us - Crucified Christ is the only 'place' where evil is transformed into a superior Good... the power that lifts the World...

Here again, with a correct understanding of the Power that flows from Jesus on the Cross, we experience that amazing uplifting power that transforms our life into His.