Let Us Pray! – To be souls filled with God Renounce all things Be attentive to God Lovers of the Cross Docility to the Holy Spirit – So that all things may be renewed Prayer – To be true servants of God Fidelity in the little things – May the designs of God be fulfilled Faith in the action of Providence Prayer and Penance Adoration of Jesus Host – To live in intimacy with God The reading of the Gospel – May God’s Kingdom come! Prayer – To hasten the hour of salvation for the Church and the world Invitation to fight – May God find these generous souls Be true – With grace and truth Patience – Graciously! Do violence to ourselves – To attain holiness The summit of Adoration No one can serve two masters The anguish of God What is most pleasing to God Aging is a Grace Secret of Happiness – The Beatitudes The true essence of the Holy Church of Jesus Christ ADVENT Prepare the Way of the Lord ADVENT Prepare the Coming of Jesus ADVENT Awaken Thy Power, O Lord, and come! CHRISTMAS Beside the manger CHRISTMAS He came unto His own and His own received Him not… EASTER Jesus, Light of the World Purgatory, an instrument of Divine Mercy A page from the Gospel – Jesus lost and found in the Temple The Feast of the Visitation and of the Magnificat The Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Secret of the Rosary Mary, Mother of God and our Mother Glorious Saint Joseph, our Model Saint Michael the Archangel, Champion of Humility

A page from the Gospel

Jesus Lost and Found in

the Temple

by Father Mathurin of the Mother of God And the Child grew and became strong. He was full of wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. His Father and Mother went every year to Jerusalem for the solemn celebration of the Passover. According to the custom of that feast, the entire family went up when Jesus had reached the age of twelve. After the holy days, they began their journey back. Now the Child Jesus had remained in Jerusalem without His parents’ knowing it. Assuming that He was in one or the other’s company, they went a day’s journey. Then they looked for Him anxiously among their relatives and acquaintances. Not finding Him, they returned to Jerusalem, still in search of Him. After three days they found Him in the Temple. He was sitting in the midst of the Doctors, listening to them and asking them questions. All those who were listening to Him were astounded at His wisdom and His answers. When they saw Him thus, His parents were very surprised. His Mother said to Him, “Son, why have You acted in this way with us? Behold, Your father and I have been looking for You in bitter anguish.” – “Why were you looking for Me?” He replied. “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand these words that He spoke to them. Going down with them, He returned to Nazareth, and was subject to them. As for His Mother, She kept all these things carefully in Her heart. Gospel of Saint Luke 2:40-52 THE Gospel says explicitly that Mary and Joseph did not understand. Here we see the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, who did not understand. We can easily imagine that the more eminent a person is and the closer he lives in God’s intimacy, then the more he knows His designs. On the one hand, yes! The Virgin Mary was, more than any other, informed concerning the plan of Redemption. She knew the Thought of God. And yet... She did not understand!... Let us imagine the anguish of Mary and Joseph a little. This Child, who is the Son of God Himself, had been entrusted to them by Heaven and they lost Him! When they finally found Him, the divine Mother exclaimed: “My Child, Your father and I have been looking for You in the most bitter anguish. Why did You do this?” – “Why were you looking for Me?” answered the Child. “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” And the Gospel takes the trouble to specify, But they did not understand these words that He spoke to them. They went back to Nazareth together and He was subject to them. As for His Mother, She kept all these things carefully in Her heart. The Virgin Mary experienced many such sorrowful moments. The Gospel relates this one as an example. All Her life, She had to practice faith in a supereminent manner. Faith is what gives supernatural value to all the virtues; it surpasses all of them. To walk in the light when everything is clear – anyone can do that. But to count on God in moments of lassitude and suffering, in the most crucifying trials and destabilizing circumstances, to keep absolute faith in God’s promises when you no longer understand anything... The act of faith in trials is the greatest proof of love that God awaits from us. He wants His child to believe in Him, rely on Him unconditionally.

God is glorified by the faith of His creature

The Virgin Mary, the most elevated of creatures, Immaculate in Her Conception, full of grace prior to Her birth, would glorify God through consummate fidelity. Faith and fidelity are one and the same thing. Who could ever measure the fidelity of Mary? The practice of faith is sometimes very painful. Faith is a gift of God; but also, on the part of the soul, it is a costly voluntary act that wrenches the entire being. The Virgin Mary did not understand, but She submitted without reasoning. The more God fills a soul with His lights, the more He expects a great spirit of faith. See the holy man Abraham. In his time, he was the one to whom God communicated Himself the most; and it is of him that God asked for the greatest trial of faith. Abraham trusted fully in God. His response was always, “Yes, my God!” Nevertheless, although it was immense, the faith of Abraham is nothing compared to that of the Holy Mother of God. If everything were clear, faith would not be practiced. Faith consists precisely in trusting without understanding. Put to the test, human reason must remain in suspense. The soul does not understand God’s conduct towards him, but he bows down before His Will which is manifested to him, and blindly obeys. That is faith. All the Saints had to live by faith, following the Virgin Mary, who lived by faith with unparalleled perfection. What immense glory God receives from His creature in this way! If the Blessed Virgin had not been put to the test, what glory would She have given to God? Throughout all eternity, we will see that the Blessed Virgin, created superior to all other beings, was also tried in a superior manner. She practiced faith in a heroic, supereminent fashion. By Herself, She made more acts of faith than all the Saints in Heaven taken together. I have sometimes heard the comment: “God really failed when He created humans. Look at what is happening on the earth...” No, God did not fail. Even if the earth had produced only the Virgin Mary, and even if there had been no Saint besides Her, She alone would justify all of creation, so greatly did She glorify God in an inconceivable manner. Let us remember this well: it is Her humility that produced Her faith. The proud person does not have faith. Sure of himself, he counts on his reason, his intelligence; he relies on his own judgment. He thinks he knows it all, so he does not make any acts of faith. Just as the Blessed Virgin was the greatest monument of humility, so was She the greatest monument of faith. I think often about this page from the Gospel. The Virgin did not understand... She was living with the Son of God incarnate, and at this moment of trial, the Gospel insists that She did not understand. And we, poor insignificant creatures, we want to understand everything! Following the example of the Holy Mother of God, the life of every Christian ought to be a life of faith. Today more than ever, pride which rules the world has destroyed the faith. God is scorned by His children. Let us give God this witness of love that He is expecting of us. Whatever happens, let us always remain in peace, in the very depths of our soul, knowing that we are in the hands of God, and above all, let us remain confident in His paternal goodness. Nothing is more pleasing to God than unshakeable faith and confidence in the midst of darkness. Practice making many acts of confidence even when you feel nothing. It is precisely in such moments of dryness and darkness that these acts are most meritorious, pleasing to God and useful for your soul. Ordinary souls that have not given themselves unreservedly to God do not find it hard at all to make acts of love and confidence in God in times of consolation and success. But it is typical of souls that God calls to a more intimate union and familiarity with Him to be obstinate in hoping in Him despite all appearances which might incline them to doubt in the divine promises. These souls say, along with the holy man Job, “Though He might kill me, I will hope in Him.” (Job 13:15) These souls say to God: “My God, You are my Father. Your Son Jesus told us that You are our Father, that You love us, and that You never refuse us anything we ask of You in His name. My God, I believe all this. Although the world, the devil and all of hell may tell me the contrary, I believe in Your word simply because You have said it.” Dom Columba Marmion, Letters of Direction