Quote of the day, 24 February: Blessed Pepa

Take time for prayer each day, and everything will become bearable and light.

Blessed Josefa Naval Girbés

Saint Teresa says that to give ourselves to God is to give ourselves to prayer, because in prayer the soul enters into conversation with God, comes to know Him more deeply, and grows inflamed with His love. When we persevere in this practice, the Lord grants the gift of prayer, which makes interior communion with Him more simple and intimate. This is precisely what occurred in the blessed soul of Josefa.

From childhood she began, together with her good mother, the practice of vocal prayer, especially the recitation of the holy Rosary. Soon she added mental prayer. It was not an isolated pious exercise, but something begun in the morning and sustained throughout the day through the practice of the presence of God, frequent aspirations, and spiritual communions. At first this required effort; later it flowed spontaneously from her soul. It is not surprising, then, that as a reward for her perseverance, the Lord granted her the gift of prayer.

A clear sign of this was the habitual recollection and elevation of spirit in which she lived, even amid her external occupations. As Saint Teresa says, “The Lord walks even among the pots and pans.” At times Josefa had to withdraw to her room to give free rein to her fervor. At other moments, in the midst of her work, she would suddenly become deeply recollected.

While she adapted herself to her disciples and formed them in piety through vocal prayer, she herself was given over to mental prayer and came to live in profound recollection and love.

Servant of God Father Bernardo Asensi

La Beata Josefa Naval Girbés, la oración y Santa Teresa de Jesús

Note: Blessed Josefa (Pepa) Naval Girbés died on 24 February 1893 after a life spent in the service of her parish and the catechesis of youth in her small town. A member of the Third Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Teresa of Jesus (today known as the Discalced Carmelite Secular Order), she made a private, perpetual vow of chastity on 4 December 1838. She was beatified by St. John Paul II on 25 September 1988.

Translation from the Spanish text is the blogger’s own work product.

Featured image: A contemporary portrait of Blessed Josefa Naval Girbés. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (By permission).

#BlessedJosefaNavalGirbés #faithfulness #peace #prayer #vocalPrayer

Marie du jour, 27 May: Holy Martyrs of Compiègne

Before mental prayer

My God, I offer unto Thee the prayer which I am now about to make, and I unite it to that which my Saviour ceaseth not to offer Thee for me in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. I beseech Thee to grant me the grace to make it in a manner worthy of Thee.

After mental prayer

My God, I give Thee thanks for the grace which Thou hast deigned to bestow upon me, in permitting me to abide in Thy holy presence. I implore Thy pardon, O my God, for all the distractions into which I have suffered myself to fall during this time of prayer. I offer unto Thee the resolutions which, by Thy mercy, Thou hast inspired within me. I entreat Thee to grant me the graces needful for their fulfillment, through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin, of Thy holy angels, and of all the saints.

Saint Teresa of St. Augustine and Companions

Prayers written on the inside cover of the Psalter of the Virgin

Note: These prayers appear to have been handwritten on the inside cover of a printed Psalter of the Virgin, possibly used by the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne. These devotional books, often attributed to St. Bonaventure and widely printed in the 17th–18th centuries, offered a Marian framework for mental prayer and spiritual offering. According to Father Stéphane-Marie, o.c.d., the volume is preserved today in the Archives of the Carmelite Monastery of Le Havre (Archives du Monastère des Carmélites du Havre), where these prayers were found on the pages de garde.

Morgain, S 2023, Les Carmélites Martyres De Compiègne : Pour La Paix De L’église Et De L’état, Nouvelle édition revue et augmentée, Éditions du Carmel, Toulouse.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Christ in dialogue with the Virgin Mary, illumination from the Chartres Bible, Chartres, 1146–1155. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Latin 116, fol. 12r. (Public domain). You can learn more from the British Library’s Medieval Manuscripts Blog.

⬦ Reflection Question ⬦
Which prayers do I habitually offer before and after my time of mental prayer? Or, what prayers might help me to begin practicing Carmelite mental prayer?
⬦ Join the conversation in the comments.

#MartyrsOfCompiègne #mentalPrayer #MotherOfGod #offering #StTeresaOfStAugustine #thanksgiving #vocalPrayer

Quote of the day, 11 March: St. Teresa of Avila

Now, then, let us speak again to those souls I mentioned that cannot recollect or tie their minds down in mental prayer or engage in reflection. Let’s not mention here by name these two things, since you are not meant to follow such a path. As a matter of fact there are many persons seemingly terrified by the mere term “mental prayer” or “contemplation,” and perhaps one of these might come to this house, for as I have also said not everyone walks by the same path.

Well what I now want to counsel you about (I can even say teach you, because as a Mother, having the office of prioress, I’m allowed to teach) is how you must pray vocally, for it’s only right that you should understand what you’re saying.

And because it can happen that those who are unable to think about God may also find long prayers tiring, I don’t want to concern myself with these. But I will speak of those prayers we are obliged as Christians to recite (such as, the Our Father and the Hail Mary) so that people won’t be able to say of us that we speak and don’t understand what we’re speaking about—unless we think it is enough for us to follow the practice in which merely pronouncing the words is sufficient. I’m not concerned with whether this is sufficient or not; learned men will explain [the matter to those persons to whom God gives light to ask the question. And I’m not meddling with what doesn’t belong to our state.]

What I would like us to do, daughters, is refuse to be satisfied with merely pronouncing the words. For when I say, “I believe,” it seems to me right that I should know and understand what I believe.

And when I say, “Our Father,” it will be an act of love to understand who this Father of ours is and who the Master is who taught us this prayer.

What we ourselves can do is to strive to be alone; and please God it will suffice, as I say, that we understand to whom we are speaking and the answer the Lord makes to our petitions. Do you think He is silent? Even though we do not hear Him, He speaks well to the heart when we beseech Him from the heart.

And it is good for us to consider that He taught this prayer to each of us and that He is showing it to us; the teacher is never so far from his pupil that he has to shout, but he is very close. I want you to understand that it is good for you, if you are to recite the Our Father well, to remain at the side of the Master who taught this prayer to you.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection, chap. 24, nos. 1–2, 5

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: Jude Beck / Unsplash (Stock photo)

#contemplation #LordSPrayer #mentalPrayer #OurFather #recollection #solitude #StTeresaOfAvila #understanding #vocalPrayer

How did Our Lady pray?

We could say almost the same thing about her prayer as about Our Lord’s.

Prayer is a request, a lifting up of our soul to God. But in the Virgin’s case, this union with God is constant, and even her outward activity in no way detracts from this union. Could it be an expression of need? But she found everything in her union.

Yet the Virgin prayed.

She prayed, too, to pay God her homage of dependence, but above all she prayed because she was a mother: the mother of humankind.

The Virgin bore an immense grace that united her to the Word. She prayed for this grace of her Son to pass into souls and be realized, for his reign to come and for the Mystical Body to be constituted.

Under what conditions did Mary pray? Did she need and seek silence?

Yes, but she needed it so much less than we do! Her union with God removed her, almost as a matter of course, from the noise and bustle of external events. For the Annunciation, the Virgin was in the solitude of Nazareth, and later she returned there, far from the noise.

This is a lesson for us: we must seek solitude and silence to pray.

How did the Virgin pray?

Vocal prayer, most likely, with all the people, singing the psalms. It was an act of submission to God. But we need to go further to understand her prayer: we need to return to Our Lord.

Blessed Marie-Eugène of the Child Jesus

La prière de Marie (excerpt)

Marie-Eugène de l’Enfant-Jésus 2019, La Vierge Marie Toute Mère, edited by Institut Notre-Dame de Vie, Éditions du Carmel, Toulouse.

Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.

Featured image: Henry Ossawa Tanner created this stunning painting of Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures, seen here in detail, around the year 1908. Executed in oil on canvas, it comes from the Dallas Museum of Art. Image credit: Dallas Museum of Art (Public domain)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/08/13/grialou-virginpray/

#BlessedMarieEugeneOfTheChildJesus #grace #MysticalBody #OurLady #prayer #Psalms #silence #solitude #unionWithGod #VirginMary #vocalPrayer

It is only right that we consider these two points [on mental prayer and vocal prayer] since, because of his humility, this King listens to me and lets me approach Him; and His guards do not throw me out, even though as an uneducated person I don’t know how to speak to Him.

The angels who assist Him know well the attitude of their King, for He delights more in the unpolished manners of a humble shepherd who He realizes would say more if he knew more than He does in the talk of very wise and learned men, however elegant their discourse, if they don’t walk in humility.

But just because He is good doesn’t mean that we should be rude. At least, in order to thank Him for the bad odor He must endure in consenting to allow one like myself to come near Him, we should strive to be aware of His purity and of who He is.

It’s true that upon approaching Him one understands immediately, just as with lords here below; for when they tell us who their father was and about the millions they get in rent and of their title of dignity, there’s no more to know. In fact, here below people in paying honor don’t take into account the persons themselves, however much these persons may deserve the honor, but their wealth.

O miserable world! Praise God very much, daughters, because you have left something so wretched, where men pay attention not to what they have within themselves but to what their tenant farmers and vassals have; and if these men lack subordinates then no honor is paid them. It’s something amusing to relax over when you all have to take some recreation.

For this is a good pastime: to notice how blindly those who are in the world spend their time.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection, chap. 22, nos. 4–5

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: Photographer Father Lawrence Lew, OP captures this image of Christ the King in a beautiful stained glass window by Charles Eamer Kempe in St. Michael’s Church, Cumnor, England. (Some rights reserved)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/06/27/stj-way22n4/

#ChristTheKing #goodness #humility #mentalPrayer #misery #praise #prayer #StTeresaOfAvila #vocalPrayer

Realize, daughters, that the nature of mental prayer isn’t determined by whether or not the mouth is closed.

If while speaking I thoroughly understand and know that I am speaking with God and I have greater awareness of this than I do of the words I’m saying, mental and vocal prayer are joined.

If, however, others tell you that you are speaking with God while you are reciting the Our Father and at the same time in fact thinking of the world, then I have nothing to say.

But if you are to be speaking, as is right, with so great a Lord, it is good that you consider whom you are speaking with as well as who you are, at least if you want to be polite. How can you call the king “your highness” or know the ceremonies to be observed in addressing a highest ranking nobleman if you do not clearly understand what his position is and what yours is?

For it is in conformity with these facts that you must show respect, and in conformity with custom—because you also need to know even the customs. If you don’t know them, you will be sent away as a simpleton and will fail to negotiate anything.

In the Escorial manuscript, St. Teresa adds: And what’s more, if you don’t know these things well, you will need to find out and even rehearse what you must say. Once it happened to me [when visiting Doña Luisa de la Cerda] that, not having been accustomed to speaking with lords and ladies I had to speak with someone who was to be addressed as your ladyship; and so they had to show me how to say it. Since I am dull and was not used to these titles, I didn’t get it right when the time came. I decided to tell her what happened and, laughing at myself, asked her to allow me to address her with the ordinary form “you;” and so I did.

Well, what is this, my Lord? What is this, my Emperor? How can it be tolerated? You are King forever, my God; Your kingdom is not a borrowed one. When in the Creed the words, “and His kingdom will have no end,” are said, it is almost always a special delight for me.

I praise You, Lord, and bless You forever; in sum, Your kingdom will last forever. Well then, may You never permit, Lord, that anyone who is about to speak to You consider it good to do so only vocally.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection, chap. 22, no. 1

Note: Translator and editor Father Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. tells us that there are two autograph manuscripts of The Way of Perfection. One is on display in the Royal Library of the Escorial in Madrid; the other is carefully preserved by the Discalced Carmelite nuns in Valladolid and is seen in our featured image.

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: Original autograph manuscript of the Way of Perfection preserved in the Discalced Carmelite monastery of Valladolid | Photo credit: Ángel Cantero / Iglesia en Valladolid (Some rights reserved)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/06/26/stj-way22n1/

#eternity #God #KingOfKings #KingdomOfGod #mentalPrayer #prayer #respect #StTeresaOfAvila #vocalPrayer

What is this, Christians, that you say mental prayer isn’t necessary? Do you understand yourselves? Indeed, I don’t think you do, and so you desire that we all be misled.

You don’t know what mental prayer is, or how vocal prayer should be recited, or what contemplation is, for if you did you wouldn’t on the one hand condemn what on the other hand you praise.

I shall always have to join mental prayer to vocal prayer—when I remember—so that others don’t frighten you, daughters. I know how this criticism of mental prayer will end up, for I have suffered some trials in this matter, and thus I wouldn’t want anyone to disturb you.

It is harmful to walk on this road with fear. It is very important for you to know that you are on the right road. When a traveler is told that he has made a mistake and lost his way, he is made to go from one end to another, and all his searching for the way tires him, and he wastes time and arrives late.

Who can say that it is wrong when we begin to recite the Hours or the rosary, to consider whom we are going to speak with, and who we are, so as to know how to speak with Him?

Now I tell you, Sisters, if before you begin your vocal prayer you do the great deal that must be done in order to understand these two points well, you will be spending a good amount of time in mental prayer.

Yes, indeed, for we must not approach a conversation with a prince as negligently as we do one with a farm worker, or with some poor thing like ourselves for whom any manner of address is all right.

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection, chap. 22, nos. 2–3

Note: Translator and editor Father Kieran Kavanaugh, O.C.D. mentions that in the first redaction of The Way of Perfection, St. Teresa wrote: “Do you understand yourselves? For, though being what I am, I would like to shout and argue with those who say mental prayer is not necessary.”

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: Photographer Jeffrey Bruno captured this image of religious women who attended the Beatification of Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark, New Jersey on 4 October 2014. Image credit: Jeffrey Bruno / Flickr (Some rights reserved)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/06/24/stj-way22n2/

#contemplation #conversation #fear #LiturgyOfTheHours #mentalPrayer #prayer #Rosary #StTeresaOfAvila #vocalPrayer