ST JOSEPH'S ABBEY, SPENCER MA

A point worth pondering is the link between Scripture and contemplation. The Cistercian Fathers insisted especially on the link between Scripture and the Beatific Vision. And so Saint Bernard will say, “Reading is an anticipated vision of divine glory.” Our understanding of Scripture is ordained to that supreme contemplation where we shall see its Author face to face. The journey begins with the reading of the sacred texts in the darkness of faith, which is a kind of incipient vision. To the eyes of faith, God’s face shines dimly in the shadows, but it is not yet revealed in all its splendor. And so, we must continue to seek it in the pages of Scripture. As Augustine said so beautifully in his commentary on Psalm 104:   “When love grows, the search for what has already been found also grows.” If perfect contemplation is reserved for heaven, it is also true, according to the Fathers, that to understand with our mind the mysteries of Scripture and to live them is already to live in t...

  In the presence of the angels, I will sing your praises Lord. As we celebrate Saints Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and all the holy angels and archangels, these messengers of God Most High, we recall that as each day we chant our praise to God, we are joining them in their endless praise. Indeed, when we pray the heavens are thrown open, and we are one with the angels and saints in their ceaseless adoration.  And we invoke the help and protection of the angels. Because of their roles in salvation history, traditionally Saint Michael is known as the patron of police officers and guards; Saint Gabriel, as patron of messengers and mail carriers; and Saint Raphael, as patron of physicians. Praise the Lord, you angels and archangels! Detail of  The Assumption  by Fra Angelico.

I f your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna…   Mark 9 Jesus’ radical, seemingly ridiculous exhortation to us is meant to catch us off-guard. Jesus is speaking kingdom language here, spoken in the kingdom, that place where nothing whatever is more important than doing the Father’s will. So, Jesus speaks these crazy words to us: “Cut off your hand, your foot, poke out your eye if they cause you to sin.”  And the invitation is to get beyond the words,  beyond the obvious , to the heart of his message - God’s desire for our absolute holiness. Jesus is teachin...

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day; Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way! Mary the root, Christ the Mystic Vine; Mary the grape, Christ the Sacred Wine! Mary the wheatsheaf, Christ the living Bread; Mary the rose tree, Christ the Rose blood-red! Mary the temple, Christ the temple’s Lord; Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored! Mary the beacon, Christ the Haven’s Rest; Mary the mirror, Christ the mother’s Son. Both ever blest while endless ages run. Amen. Photograph by Father Emmanuel. Mary the Dawn , text by Paul Cross,1953 St. Pius X Hymnal.

  The characteristic Cistercian habit is the white cowl which is given to the monk at his solemn profession. It is a sign of his consecration and of the unity of the whole Order. As he blesses the cowl during the rite of solemn profession the abbot prays to the Lord Jesus, "May its ample folds be for our brother a daily reminder of the freedom which he received in baptism. May its form of a cross remind him of the life he is to lead in following you, and may he be clothed entirely in your unutterable mercy." The cowl is worn by the solemnly professed monks; the cloak is worn by novices and simply professed brothers. In the warmer months, we do not wear cowls or cloaks in church. But as mornings get chillier, we await the prior's announcement which appeared on the community bulletin board last evening: "Resume Cowls and Cloaks for Vigils, Lauds and Mass."

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”  Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” Mark 9 In the Incarnation, God has come down to us, to imitate us, his own creation and so himself become imitable in his lowliness, littleness. In Christ Jesus, our Lord, the Father has placed a dear Child, his only Son, in our midst to teach what God is really like. And If we are to be "imitators of God as his own dear children"- it is now possible because God in Christ first imitated his parents at Nazareth. God's Word learned to speak words from listening to Joseph and Mary. The Creative Word learned the trade of carpentry from Joseph. When we hear Jesus say, "I can only do what I see the F...

The mercy of God is limitless, and it is open to a soul to the last breath. But it must also be chosen by means of a cry for mercy coming from a heart repentant for sins.   Let us cry out incessantly. Lines by Father Donald Haggerty

  As the Church celebrates today's memorial in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows, we recall images of Our Lady collapsing in Saint John's arms as Jesus breathes His last on the cross. Perhaps she was braver than that.  As Mother of God, Mother of Jesus, she empathizes with Jesus' wounded Body even now. Even now Mary, given by Jesus to all his beloved disciples as their Mother, feels with us all the aches and sorrows of our hearts and minds and bodies. She is Mother of Compassion, with us always; His sorrows, her sorrows, and our sorrows are one. Painting by Safet Zec,

  This ancient sign of horror and excruciating torture has become for us a tree of life. For the precious blood of Jesus, our Lord has  drenched its  branches . We rejoice under the cross because by his cross Jesus has rescued us from sin and shame and death. And so we chanted this morning, "We should glory in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ!" Saint Paulinus of Nola will speak to the cross, "You have become for us a ladder for us to mount to heaven." And in an anonymous Easter homily inspired by Saint Hippolytus, the tree of the cross reverses the destruction wrought by the tree of Eden:  For me, this tree is a plant of eternal health. I feed on it; by its roots I am rooted; by its branches, I spread myself; I rejoice in its dew; the rustling of its leaves invigorates me...I freely enjoy its fruits which were destined for me from the beginning. It is my food when I am hungry, a fountain for me when I am thirsty; it is my clothing because its leaves are the spirit...

  This morning’s Gospel contains one of Jesus’ hardest sayings: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.” This is one of those passages most of us could do without. We prefer passages like “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest,” or “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Those are comfortable, safe passages, words that provide some cushion in a sharp and often frightening world. But “deny yourself and take up your cross”? When Jesus predicts his own death for the first time, Peter rebukes him. In Matthew’s version, Peter even explodes: “God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” Peter has a way of saying what the rest of us are thinking, and here he is trying to dissuade Jesus from ...

The 14 th century mystic Julian of Norwich recorded the following vision: “I understood Christ's passion as the greatest and overwhelming pain. And yet it was revealed to me in an instant, and then it quickly became a consolation. For our good Lord would not have us frightened by this ugly sight... but because of the tender love which our good Lord has for each of us, he comforts us readily and sweetly. And the meaning is this: It is true that sin is the cause of all this pain, but all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well. These words were revealed most tenderly, showing no kind of blame to me or anyone...”  No blame. Taught so well and so often that difficult was better - you know, no guts, no glory; no pain, no gain; taught that there is no easy grace - the readiness of Christ's forgiveness may embarrass us. Like Saint Peter when Jesus wants to wash his feet, the sense of Jesus' condescension can be disorienting. But his passion and resurrection are ...

   All through the lawns and along the Abbey pathways the weed called  broadleaf plantain  grows in profusion. We were amazed to find it pictured at the very bottom of this painting of  The Rest on the Flight into Egypt  by Gerard David. We learned that the broadleaf plantain  has long been used medicinally. The "bruised" leaves supposedly have a healing effect when placed on small cuts, insect bites, stings, and blisters. Fittingly then the artist paints the plantain below the Christ Child as a reference to the healing that he comes to bring us. As we celebrate Mary's birthday we recall that she is the gateway for us to all the healing that only Christ can give.   The Rest on the Flight into Egypt,  Gerard David (Netherlandish, ca. 1455–1523) ,  oil on wood ,  20" x 17.”   The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Used with permission.

  Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis.  And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him.  He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue;  then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” - that is, “Be opened!”  And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.  He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it.  They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and [the] mute speak.”   “Whose fault was it? Whose sin was it, his or his parents?” The eerie possibility was that, without even realizing it, he himself maybe even while still in his mama’s womb, had done som...

  Once upon a time, there was a lovely, vibrant older woman named Julia who would often visit our monastery. She was a good friend of our monks. And one day I got to have a long chat with her. At one point in our conversation, she grew suddenly somber and began to tell me about her childhood. “We were so poor,” she said. “We really had nothing. It was the Depression. But we managed somehow. My mother was very resourceful.” Then this tiny, sacred tale emerged. “I had no toys of course, but each night when I was a little girl, I always had a doll to fall asleep with. It amazed me. My mother would tuck it into my folded arms, in the dim light, just as I was falling asleep, but somehow like magic it always disappeared by morning. I was mystified. Then one day when I was only about three, I was sitting on my mother’s lap leaning against her arm, and I smelled the doll; I mean I smelled her sweater. I recognized the touch and the feel and the smell. And I realized- the sweater was the do...

  I know many things but I do not know how to explain them. I know that God is everywhere and I know that he is everywhere in his whole being. But I do not know how he is everywhere. I know that he is eternal and has no beginning. But I do not know how. My reason fails to grasp how it is possible for an essence to exist when that essence has received its existence neither from itself nor from another. I know that he begot the Son. But I do not know how. I know that the Spirit is from him. But I do not know how the Spirit is from him….His judgments are inscrutable, his ways are unsearchable, his peace surpasses all understanding, his gift is indescribable, what God has prepared for those who love him has not entered into the heart of man, his greatness has no bound, his understanding is infinite. Are all these incomprehensible while only God himself can be comprehended? What excessive madness would it be to say that?   Saint John Chrysostom Saint John Chrysostom reminds us that...