This may be something that happens somewhere between middle and old age but, increasingly, I find myself recalling things read when I was in my teens. Thinking about Saint Mary Magdalene today, I remembered how much this passage impressed me when I came upon it in William T. Walsh's Life of Saint Teresa of Avila.
"I had a very great devotion to the glorious Magdalene, and very frequently used to think of her conversion--especially when I went to Communion. As I knew for certain that our Lord was then within me, I used to place myself at His feet, thinking that my tears would not be despised. I did not know what I was saying; only He did great things for me, in that He was pleased I should shed those tears, seeing that I so soon forgot that impression. I used to recommend myself to that glorious Saint, that she might obtain my pardon." (Autobiography of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Chapter IX)
My friend from long ago, Trappist Father Bernard Bonowitz, may not remember this, but back in the 1960s we both delighted in this passage. In some way it kindled a fire in our hearts.
His Excellency, the Bishop of the Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma has given
Father Mark a special mandate to live in adoration before the Most
Blessed Sacrament, in a spirit of thanksgiving and intercession, that he
might make reparation before the Eucharistic Face of Jesus for all his
brothers in Holy Orders. At the same time, he is available to the
priests and deacons of the Diocese for spiritual and sacramental
support in their pursuit of holiness.
Leave a comment