Sword-fighting with love...

I've never been much for fighting, especially with swords, but when I visited Georgia and the family I stayed with had 5 little boys who fenced, I started to reflect on it. And I remembered sword fighting with high grass in Texas. I had only one way to get rid of the grass circling my hermitage and that was taking a sword (okay, large knife thing) and using my golf-lessons from childhood to swing it back and forth. It worked. I used this:

To cut this:

.

And then I began to reflect on fencing in the spiritual life -how I was supposed to sword-fight to protect myself from evil. So often I find myself stuck in a deep forest with no other weapon than the cross as my sword. I feel like I'm constantly cutting away temptations and distractions in order to keep going forward. Then one day I came across the following quote and I was super excited -it held my answer completely. What would my Mama do? Here's what the Holy Spirit told me (through a saint, I don't remember who right now):

Mary doesn't win with a sword in Her hand,

but instead with a sword in Her Heart...

So that inspired me to paint this icon. Mary doesn't fight evil by swinging a sword as much as by suffering well in union with Her Son. Satan hates -I mean absolutely hates -pure suffering united in virtue and love with the Cross of Christ that conquered all evil for good. So, the answer was clear... take the sword when I get stuck and 'just fiat'... anchor my heart to the cross and then no matter what the tempest is that comes my way, the Cross as my sword keeps me anchored to Christ in the midst of it. That's powerful stuff. Its the power of Mary's co-redemption and our entering in to 'make up what is lacking in the perfect suffering of Christ'. God can do any work in the world better than we can, but He cannot love or fiat (especially in the pit of suffering) for us... that is an act of selfless virtue that only we can do for Him by ourselves. So I got my answer... how does fencing relate to the spiritual life?

Mary doesn't win with a sword in Her hand,

but instead with a sword in Her Heart...

Jesus, I trust in You. +