I was happy to discover that today's "Moment with Mary" was a text of Blessed Charles of Jesus on Our Mother of Perpetual Help. (If you are not familiar with the daily "Moment with Mary" and the International Centre of Mary of Nazareth that offers it as a free service to subscribers, do visit the Centre's beautiful site.)
Last week, at the beginning of the retreat I preached to the Bridgettines in Connecticut, I blessed a magnificent reproduction of the original icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Gazing out at us from her icon, Our Mother of Perpetual Help graced the retreat with her presence from beginning to end.
Blessed Charles of Jesus (Charles de Foucauld) was greatly devoted to Our Mother of Perpetual Help. His favourite place to pray in Rome was the Church of Sant'Alfonso, the Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. There he renewed his consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Blessed Charles painted two images of Our Mother of Perpetual Help: one while he was living in Jerusalem, and the other while living in Nazareth.
Blessed Charles of Jesus wrote:
In a time of great sorrow, not knowing where to take refuge, fearing to be misled by the devil, I remembered the heart of the Mother of Perpetual Help, and I placed myself between her hands, like her child, like her property.
I begged her, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, to carry me, as she carried Jesus when He was a child, and to make me become, not what I would like to become, but what she herself would like for the greatest glory of her Son, according to His will, according to what she read in His heart. Since that time, I consider myself as yours, O Mother of Perpetual Help!
His Excellency, Bishop Edward J. Slattery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma has given
Father Mark a special mandate to live under the Rule of Saint Benedict in adoration before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus, offering thanksgiving, intercession, and reparation for all his
brothers in Holy Orders. In this way, Father is preparing the foundation of the new Diocesan Benedictine Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle. Father Mark is available to the
priests and deacons of the Diocese for spiritual and sacramental support in their pursuit of holiness. He is also charged with the spiritual formation of women who desire to dedicate themselves to spiritual motherhood in favour of priests.
This is the second time today I have come across a reference to Blessed Charles. In Caryll Houselander's book, The Reed of God, she explains how Blessed Charles was comforted very much when in the desert, knowing that in his priestly role, the Host was where he was. His prayer is lovely.