Tag Archives: St Josemaria

Devotion to the Holy Spirit

Stained glass image of Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit, whom St Josemaria called “The Great Unknown”, dwells in our soul as its “sweet guest”. Yet we seldom think of him, and could hardly call him our friend. In this meditation we strive to grow in devotion to the Holy Spirit, considering three of his principal roles in our life.

The Holy Spirit:

  • Is the Sanctifier,  helping us to grow in love for God, helping us to pray better, prompting us to say aspirations, reminding us that we are children of God…
  • Leads us into the truth, in our professional life or study, in understanding the truths of the faith…
  • Assists us in our work of evangelisation, as he did when he came down on the apostles on the feast of Pentecost.

Prayer for the holy souls

A depiction of purgatory

November is the month in which the Church traditionally intensifies her prayers for the souls in Purgatory. But every day should be for us a day of prayer for the holy souls. There are many souls there now suffering greatly but at the same time exceedingly happy. In this meditation we use texts from Scripture, the Catechism and saints to consider how:

  • The holy souls suffer from the pains of sense, likened to fire, and of loss, of being deprived of union with God
  • The souls in Purgatory are happier than we are on earth, because they are assured of heaven and they love God more than we do
  • We can help the souls in Purgatory by offering our prayers, works and sufferings for them
  • The souls in Purgatory are powerful intercessors for us and we can entrust our intentions to them
  • The holy souls should be able to consider us their “good friends”

Mary, our Mother

From the moment she conceived Jesus in her womb, Mary became the mother of his Mystical Body, the Church, and of all of us. In this meditation we use texts from Sacred Scripture, Pope St John Paul II, Pope St Paul VI, St Josemaria Escriva and St Bernard to consider how:

  • Mary gave birth to Jesus and to the Church in Bethlehem
  • From the Cross at Calvary, Jesus gave Mary to St John, and to each one of us, as our mother
  • Because of the pain she suffered when Christ’s body was pierced with a lance and the Church flowed from his side on Calvary, Mary has a special love for all her children
  • Mary exercises her motherly role in many moments related in the Scriptures
  • We can show our gratitude to Our Lady and honour her through such practices as the Rosary, the Angelus, Marian aspirations and pilgrimages

United in the Communion of Saints

A depection of the Communion of Saints

Communion of Saints

One of the most consoling truths of our faith is the reality of the Communion of Saints – the Church triumphant in heaven, the Church suffering in purgatory, and the Church militant on earth, all helping one another. In this meditation we use texts from Scripture, the Catechism, St Bernard, St Thomas More, St Therese of Lisieux and St Josemaria to consider how:

  • The saints in heaven “fix the Church more firmly in holiness” by their example and prayer for us
  • We should have as the goal of our life to be with them for all eternity
  • The souls in purgatory suffer greatly and are exceedingly happy, relying on our prayer for them and interceding for us before God
  • In the Church militant, we are helped by the prayers of all in this Communion and we should feel responsible to help the others by our struggle for holiness and our prayers and works.

Devotion to the Souls in Purgatory

Purgatory is a reality but because we cannot see the souls being purified there we tend to forget them. In this meditation we pray about the importance of having great devotion to the holy souls. Using texts of Scripture, the Catechism, Pope Benedict XVI, St Thomas More, St Josemaria, St Augustine and others, we consider that:

  • It is difficult to go straight to heaven when we die because the soul must be perfectly purified
  • The souls in purgatory suffer greatly from the pain of fire and from not being able to be with the God they love so much
  • At the same time they are exceedingly happy
  • From the earliest days, the Church has prayed for those who have died
  • Our devotion to the souls in Purgatory helps them and makes it easier for us to avoid going there ourselves

The cross, pathway to heaven

Our Lord invited us, if we would be his disciples, to take up our cross and follow him. A few days later he manifested his divinity to three of his apostles in the Transfiguration, as we will see him in his glory in heaven.  In this meditation, using texts from Scripture, St Josemaria and St John Vianney, we consider how:

  • Our pathway to heaven passes by way of the cross
  • The cross is truly a blessing, in that it purifies us and it can be offered up for others
  • The cross is a manifestation of God’s love for us
  • When we have a cross to bear, we can think that Christ suffered more than we ever will, and that many others are suffering more than we are
  • If we love the crosses life brings, we will find joy in them and they will unite us with Christ
  • We should seek the cross too through mortification and penance

Rechristianising society

 

With God and Christian values being pushed more and more out of our laws, culture and lives, people agree that the world is not in a good place. But what can be done to change this? In this meditation we use texts of the Second Vatican Council, St John Paul II, St Josemaria and Edmund Burke to consider how:

  • Christ sent twelve apostles out to the whole world and they transformed the Roman Empire
  • Society is transformed through man, through each person
  • God will do the work but he needs us to help him
  • We begin by struggling for holiness
  • We can help parents to bring up their children in faith and values
  • We can help politicians, journalists, teachers and others to have good values
  • We can join political parties, professional associations and pro-life groups

Learning patience

We all have situations in which we find it difficult to be patient. In this meditation we use texts of Scripture and St Josemaria Escriva’s book The Way to consider:

  • How patience is part of the virtue of fortitude
  • How there are degrees of patience
  • How difficulties in life can help sanctify us
  • How love for God is essential to grow in this virtue
  • How we can grow in patience if we consider how patient God is with us

The meaning of Christmas

 

Everyone loves Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. In this meditation we use the Catechism of the Catholic Church and texts of St Josemaria to pray about why God became man and the consequences this has for us. According to the Catechism, God became man for four reasons:

  • to save us by reconciling us with God
  • so that we might know God’s love
  • to be our model of holiness
  • to make us partakers of the divine nature

Love for our neighbour

 

 

St Paul tells us that the greatest of the virtues is charity. If we are to live this virtue well, we must first grow in love for God so that his love fills us and overflows into those around us. In this meditation we consider how:

  • The more we love God, the easier it will be to love our neighbour
  • We can learn charity from saints like Mother Teresa of Calcutta and St Josemaria, who loved God with their whole heart and their neighbour as themselves
  • We can grow in four aspects of charity: patience, love for people of all backgrounds, forgiveness and kindness