Here's St Catherine, second from left in a Gerard David painting from around 1510 in London's National Gallery. The two figures to the right of the Virgin and Child are St Barbara and St Mary Magdalene. The man on the left is the donor.
The Christ Child is putting a ring on St Catherine's finger to represent their Mystic Marriage.
There's so much more to this picture, but I'll confine myself to saying I love it.
#Art #GerardDavid #Painting #VirginAndChildWithSaintsAndDonor #StCatherine #StMaryTheVirgin #StBarbara #StMaryMagdalene #ChristChild #EarlyNetherlandish #NorthernRenaissance
Quote of the day, 26 January: St. Thérèse
Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me within Carmel’s cloisters. But here again, I feel that my dream is a folly, for I cannot confine myself to desiring one kind of martyrdom. To satisfy me I need all….
O my Jesus! what is your answer to all my follies? Is there a soul more little, more powerless than mine? Nevertheless even because of my weakness, it has pleased You, O Lord, to grant my little childish desires and You desire, today, to grant other desires that are greater than the universe.
During my meditation, my desires caused me a veritable martyrdom, and I opened the Epistles of St. Paul to find some kind of answer. Chapters 12 and 13 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians fell under my eyes. I read there, in the first of these chapters, that all cannot be apostles, prophets, doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot be the hand at one and the same time [1 Cor 12:29, 21].
The answer was clear, but it did not fulfill my desires and gave me no peace. But just as Mary Magdalene found what she was seeking by always stooping down and looking into the empty tomb, so I, abasing myself to the very depths of my nothingness, raised myself so high that I was able to attain my end [cf. St. John of the Cross, Poetry 6]. Without becoming discouraged, I continued my reading, and this sentence consoled me: “Yet strive after THE BETTER GIFTS, and I point out to you a yet more excellent way” [1 Cor 12:31, 13:1]. And the Apostle explains how all the most PERFECT gifts are nothing without LOVE. That Charity is the EXCELLENT WAY that leads most surely to God.
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
Manuscript B, 3r–3v
Thérèse & Foley, M 2005, Story of a Soul: The autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Study edn, translated from the French by Clarke, J, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: Photographer Thomas Hawk captured this graffiti mural on concrete in San Francisco on 17 December 2008. Featuring a well-known quote by the Servant of God Dorothy Day—“Love is the only solution”—this mural illustrates the life-changing discovery of St. Thérèse: Charity is the excellent way that leads most surely to God. Image credit: Thomas Hawk / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
#charity #gifts #humility #little #love #MysticalBody #StMaryMagdalene #StThérèseOfLisieux
Spiritual Gifts - Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
While I was on earth, I took her for my friend; but now that I am in heaven, I have chosen you.
Diego de Yepes
Biography of St. Teresa (1615)
On the feast of St. Mary Magdalene the Lord again confirmed in me a favor He had granted me in Toledo, choosing me in the place of a certain person who was absent.
Spiritual Testimonies, 28
Monastery of the Incarnation, Avila, 22 July 1572
On the feast of St. Mary Magdalene while I was reflecting on the friendship with our Lord I’m obliged to maintain and also on the words He spoke to me about this saint [cf. Spiritual Testimonies, 28,] and having insistent desires to imitate her, the Lord granted me a great favor and told me that from now on I should try hard, that I was going to have to serve Him more than I did up to this point. This favor gave me the desire not to die so soon, that I might have time to be occupied in His service, and I was left with strong determination to suffer.
Spiritual Testimonies, 37
22 July (year and place uncertain)
Note: Translator and editor Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. explains that Spiritual Testimonies, 28 is a probable reference to an event reported by Diego de Yepes in his life of St. Teresa (1615, Madrid). Fr. Kavanaugh writes: “One day in Toledo, Teresa was envying St. Mary Magdalene for the love our Lord had for her. The Lord then appeared to Teresa and said: ‘While I was on earth, I took her for my friend; but now that I am in heaven, I have chosen you.’ “
Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.
Featured image: Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection is an oil on canvas painting executed in 1835 by Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov (Russian, 1806–1858). It is part of the Russian Museum’s collection of 18th–19th c. paintings. Image credit: Russian Museum via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/07/21/stj-testims28-37/
#Avila #chosen #FeastDay #FrKieranKavanaughOCD #God #JesusChrist #love #mysticalExperience #StMaryMagdalene #StTeresaOfAvila #ToledoSpain
Think But logically
Jonathan Emmesedi
Carmelite Quotes