Angels in the Hermitage

I thought that the angels abandoned me a long time ago, but looking at these pictures, someone is still hovering over the hermitage. My guardian angel always had blue light, so its funny that he is there. And the one of the Holy Family has purple over Joseph.

 

Miracle of the Sun:

 

Padre Pio and St. Joseph used to send random donations and make them multiply, but lately its being boxed (blocked). Hence, I really need a nice job with children... : 

 Beauty:

 Fiacre was almost covered...

Squirrels

The squirrels regularly come to my window, knock and then venerate Jesus' wounds on this crucifix -no kidding -three kisses for each hand and the feet and then run off. I guess if I have to depend on squirrels to pray with me... St. Columbian had squirrel friends too.

John Paul II says, "Mary does not win with a sword in Her hand, but with a sword in Her Heart."

I've always had a devotion to the Infant weeping Heart of Jesus. Yesterday I read in St. Alphonsis Liguori (a saint I rarely read) a beautiful meditation on the Infant Jesus' suffering. He wrote:

"The tears of the Infant Jesus were very different than the tears of other new-born babes. These weep through pain, but Baby Jesus wept through compassion and love."

And I am sure that His Mother's Heart wept along with Him. How many times did His Father, St. Joseph, kiss those Baby tears in Eucharistic adoration and love? May we be like Mary and Joseph in our love for Baby Jesus.

May the suffering Infant Christ be our salvation.

Out of the mouths of children...

My nephew was coloring a picture of Jesus on the cross and he said, "I wish those soldiers were Republican..."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He said, "Well, it was the Democrats who killed Jesus-if they had been Republican than they wouldn't have done that."

He, by the way, doesn't really know about politics- he just overheard conversations somewhere and drew his own conclusions. But I thought it was funny.

Wouldn't it be incredible to be sought for and loved by Jesus as this woman?
Or to be the answer to someone's prayer?
To reach the ones most needing you? In that we can create love in the world...

Sometimes hearts and a presence of love can speak to each other louder than texts and words.

Come Holy Spirit- create life like this conversation in the places where others are most set on their own agenda and tearing down with words instead of loving like You.

An October reminder from 2006

originally WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006

The Power of a Child's Prayer

October 6th is the Annual Worldwide Children's Day of Prayer. Fr. Antoine of the Community of the Brothers of St. John invites the children of the world to unite with him in prayer before all the tabernacles of the world on Friday, October 6th, 2006, in honor of "Our Lady of the Rosary." This Eucharistic and Marian Holy Hour is to be specifically offered for world peace and for all families.

We all know that children hold an especially close place to Jesus' Heart. Because of this, popes in the past have entrusted the most dire of intentions to the prayers of children. Pope Benedict XV called out to children to pray for an end to World War I. In 1916 he said, “And who ever hugs Jesus Christ, if not a child? And who, if not they, could choose a life that would not impede one from getting close to him? And who is it we are to resemble in order to enter into Heaven? ...Stretch out your hand, O beloved and omnipotent children, to the Vicar of Christ, and give the consolation of the incomparable victory of your precious prayers. Do your parents, your brothers and sisters, and all the adults of your family respond to your humble demands? Yes, they do what you ask; because it is irresistible, and for God, the way that you speak to him and ask, is also irresistible... You know what it is We want. We want that the human society stop the hate and the massacres, and, after being of the wickedness of Cain, to convert, to be like Abel in the activities of peace, good works and forgiveness.”

Shortly after this Our Lady appeared to three young children in Fatima, asking them for prayers and sacrifices to help bring peace to the world and to save souls. Pope John Paul II reminded all the children of the world of this important task at the Beatification ceremony of Francisco and Jacinta. He said, “Dear boys and girls, Our Lady needs you to be like the little shepherds of Fatima. She needs you to console Jesus, Who is sad because of the bad things done to Him. He needs your prayers and your sacrifices to help change the world.”

Later in a Christmas Letter to Children, Pope John Paul II once again entrusted the intention of prayer for peace to children saying:
"What enormous power the prayer of children has! This becomes a model for grown-ups themselves: praying with simple and complete trust means praying as children pray.
And here I come to an important point in this letter: at the end of this Year of the Family, dear young friends, it is to your prayers that I want to entrust the problems of your own families and of all the families in the world.And not only this: I also have other intentions to ask you to pray for. The Pope counts very much on your prayers. We must pray together and pray hard, that humanity, made up of billions of human beings, may become more and more the family of God and able to live in peace.At the beginning of this letter I mentioned the unspeakable suffering which many children have experienced in this century, and which many of them are continuing to endure at this very moment. It was while I was thinking about these facts, which fill our hearts with pain, that I decided to ask you, dear boys and girls, to take upon yourselves the duty of praying for peace. You know this well: love and harmony build peace, hatred and violence destroy it.
You instinctively turn away from hatred and are attracted by love: for this reason the Pope is certain that you will not refuse his request, but that you will join in his prayer for peace in the world with the same enthusiasm with which you pray for peace and harmony in your own families."
Help your child become a Child of Hope!

(Click on the headline for more information)

Do hermits celebrate birthdays?

Well this hermit did! I am a person who always lived extremes -like concentrate lemonade people could only take so much of my intensity -yet that is why the life I was living as a hermit was perfect. Jesus never gets sick of intensity -the more fiery and radical our love is for Him, the happier He is -for its just a share in His Own Heart's Fiery Love. As a hermit I spent lots of time -TONS of time -in prayer and solitude... but when I was with people I gave them my full, 100% attention as if they were the only person in the world. People (and love) before anything else was my rule. Its a lesson I learned from studying the roots of the eremetical life. Reading about (and speaking directly with one) old Russian hermit about their idea of God's call deeply formed how I lived this here in America. And so, my time of solitude and silence and prayer was intense for Jesus. But my love for those He brought to me was fierce as well. When I fasted, I fasted. When I feasted, I feasted... there was a time for everything. Even birthdays. Year after year after year...

See, hermits aren't hermits for themselves... they embrace a life of deeply radical prayer, fasting, silence, solitude, poverty, chastity and obedience for others... Catherine Doherty in her book Poustinia explains this well. In the East (Russia, Greece, etc.) a hermit would leave their people and go out to meet their God -but their door was always left open. At a moment's notice the God they gave their life to would greet them by sending a child or an old neighbor needing a word of encouragement, a help with their potatoes, a glimmer of love and hope through a shared piece of bread (or some good brownies as I did for people). Well I see God's genius in planting me after years as a radical hermit (there were times I literally talked to no one for weeks on end -except Jesus in my hermitage) in the heart of America at the time when almost no one understood the hermit life. I would soak daily for incredible hours with His Eucharistic Heart -but only to bring that love out to the world. Sometimes it was simply when I went for a walk/run in the afternoon and prayed for the neighbors who I knew especially needed it. Sometimes it was by welcoming my nieces and nephews to the house to play outside for an hour with Aunt Mary. These things formed people in love... something quintessential in the eremetical life -its why I was called to live as a diocesan hermit and not in a Carmel -the solitude and prayer was more intense then I could live there, and yet ironically my presence to help form deep hearts for Jesus in the children (and adults, but especially children) he brought to me. I had a Carmelite friend in Poland who told me on more than one occasion that her biggest struggle in the Carmel was not having enough time for individual prayer with Jesus. As a hermit, private prayer was main focus of my life. And after soaking with Jesus, yes, I would allow the children to visit me -especially for my birthday! What a scandal! But what mattered most to God is that it was for them, not for me... and it wasn't every day... it wasn't even every week... but somehow it made the Jesus who Aunt Mary gave her whole life to (Jesus Crucified at that!) really attractive to those He loves the most (the little ones). They said they wanted to be missionary hermits and love Jesus with me for the rest of their lives... why... because God used nothing crazy aunt Mary to show them His Face of Love. So yes, I celebrated birthdays. Johnny would have loved it:

And sometimes during my 'work period' took them to visit the poor:

And prayed in adoration with them:

And even made an appearance at a saint party:

And once I even got a hermit make-over:

And once in a while would stop at their house on their birthday (in between adoration and Mass) so that they knew that even if Aunt Mary was married to Jesus and loved Him crucified, that love could give joy.

Everyday? No... every week... no... but there was nothing against that in my rule. Some hermits welcome retreatants or give retreats... I did that too on occasion, but I was called to form young souls. And my first crucifix cake at the age of 4 turned into a family tradition... once a year all the kids (who often didn't see me at all) would gather at Grandma and Grandpa's and Aunt Mary would bust back out her guitar and we would all eat pizza and cake. And they could all visit my hermitage and say a prayer to Jesus. Birthdays are good -we celebrate Jesus' (Christmas). And if I hadn't been born, I couldn't be a hermit.

So any of you hermits out there getting grief for eating a piece of cake with small children wanting to celebrate  your birthday, take a deep breath. St. Teresa of Avila once ordered steaks for all her sisters because she said they were too gloomy and gloomy saints made Jesus sad too.

And let us never forget, that although rules and schedules and all of that is important for an ordered life (God is a God of order) -the greatest saints (including sweet John of the Cross) always said:
"At the end of life, we will solely be judged on love..."