And to Lose Myself

Painting: Nikolai Bogdanov Belsky

The Language of Divine Love

Encounter

With Eyes Fixed on the Sun

‘Although the desert is fearful, 

I walk with lifted head and eyes fixed on the sun; 

that is to say, on the merciful Heart of Jesus.’ 

St. Faustina, Diary 886

 Painting:  Swynnerton, Sense of Sight, detail; in US public domain due to age {{PD-1923}}

No Heart to Fly

'I cannot sing and soar, my Lord and Love,
nor eagle's wings have I,
no power to rise and greet my King and Love,
no heart to fly.
Creative Lord Incarnate, let me lean
my heavy self on Thee:
nor let my utter weakness come between
Thy strength and me....

'I cannot love, my heart is turned within,
and locked within (ah, me!
How shivering in self-love I sit) for sin
has lost the key.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus!  Flame divine,
ardent with great desire,
my hope is set upon that love of Thine
deep well of Fire!'

(from Fervorinos From Galilee's Hills, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1936, pp. 252-253)

Painting: Pained at Heart, A Hughes

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Linkup

When the Road Runs Through Rough Places

              'Often... the road of life runs through rough places,
              and trials fall crushingly upon us,
              our path becomes steep,
              and the music that was in our hearts is quite hushed.
              It is then that the tendency is strong to sink slowly back into
              the abandoned valley of half-hearted service,
              or at least to stand and make no effort to cling to Him
              and love Him more and more.
              Let us then pause upon the roadside of our daily lives
              to gain new strength and vigour from Him Who has weighed each load.
              Let us take our hearts, ragged and torn and bleeding,
              and place them close to His, that they may be transformed,
              that their every beat may be an act of adoration and of love.'

                   (from Fervorinos From Galilee's Hills, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1936, p. 252)

Painting:  Johan Edvard Bergh, Skogslandskap, 1853

This post is linked to Catholic Bloggers Network Monthly Linkup

He will Clasp Me

                      
                         "I stay inside the stronghold:  that is, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus."
 
                        "His goodness no one has fathomed, no one can measure,
                         His compassion is untold.  
                         Every soul that approaches Him experiences this.  
                         He will shield her and clasp her to His merciful bosom."  

(St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Marians of the Immaculate Conception, #s 1287 and 1652)

Painting: Our Lord Jesus Christ, James Tissot, detail 

A Fitting Consecration

"Since there is in the Sacred Heart a symbol

and a sensible image

of the infinite love of Jesus Christ

which moves us to love one another, therefore:

it is fitting and proper

that we should consecrate ourselves

to His most Sacred Heart -

an act which is nothing else than an offering 

and a binding of one's self to Jesus Christ, 

seeing that whatever honor, veneration and love

is given to His divine Heart

is really and truly given to Christ Himself"  

Pope Leo XIII

Click here for more about St. Margaret Mary's revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

This post is linked to O Sacred Heart of Jesus, First Friday Linkup

Though all My Ships at Sea

I will not doubt;
though all my prayers return
unanswered from the still,
white realm above;
I shall believe it is an all-wise love
which has refused
those things for which I yearn;
And, though at times
I cannot keep from grieving,
yet the pure ardor
of my fixed believing 
undimmed, shall burn.  

I will not doubt,
though sorrows fall like rain,
and troubles swarm
like bees about a hive;
I shall believe
the heights for which I strive
are only reached by
anguish and by pain;
And though I groan and tremble
'neath my crosses,
I shall yet see
through my severest losses
the greater gain.

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I shall believe the Hand that never fails,
from seeming evil worketh good for me;
And though I weep because those sails are battered,
still will I cry, while my best hopes be shattered:
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee!

(from In Love With The Divine Outcast, compiled by A Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1934, pp. 538-539)

Carl Bille Painting

And Hide Me There

O Jesus,
place me in Your Sacred Heart
and hide me there.
Protect me from evil;
Free me from the grasp of sin.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I place all my trust in You.





Painting:  James Tissot;
Notre-Seigneur Jésus Christ; detail

Sufficient

We must abandon ourselves
to the loving providence
of the Sacred and lovable
Heart of Jesus
and let Him guide 
and rule us as He wishes.
He will be sure to furnish us
with all that is necessary
for our sanctification
if only
we are careful to receive it
according to His designs.
That is sufficient.

             St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

My Food in Exile

"My heart, longing for God, feels the whole misery of exile.  I keep going forward bravely - though my feet become wounded - to my homeland and, on the way, I nourish myself on the will of God.  It is my food.  Help me, happy inhabitants of the heavenly homeland, so that your sister may not falter on the way.  Although the desert is fearful, I walk with lifted head and eyes fixed on the sun, that is to say, on the merciful heart of Jesus."  (St. Faustina, Diary #886)

Caspar David Friedrich painting public domain

Living Solely For...

"I need 

the closest

possible union

with Jesus, 

as if I were

spending my

whole life before 

His tabernacle... 

I must think of myself 

as living solely 

for the Sacred Heart of Jesus." 

                  

                      - Blessed Pope John XXIII