Sacred spaces that calm

Good Evening Dear Family of Love!

Happy Keeping the Faith Friday Fearlessly Without Fretting. I'm home from Mount Calvary Monastery in Santa Barbara. It used to be known as St. Mary's Retreat house. I spent many years there on retreat when I was an Associate of the The Sisterhood of the Holy Nativity. Back in the early days when I was a member of the Order I did wear a veil. So wearing monastic head coverings weren't foreign and seeing women with their heads cover are commonplace to me. Anyway It was nice to go to another home that felt peaceful, sacred, and alive with the Holy Spirit. I was there for a meeting retreat with the Daughters of the King. We did take time to pray and give thanks and live on the sound of bells that told us when to eat and when to pray. How many of you have sacred spaces that calm and give you the feeling of a prayer shawl and a wonderful peace of mind? I hope all of you do. I felt the same way when I went down to the church to hand out shelf stable lunches this afternoon. I'm hoping that I will be able to carry these feelings throughout the weekend and a little longer. However I do know that these precious moments of transfiguration or mountain top experiences are just the beginning not an ending.  Tonight I want to share with you pictures from these past few days and then enter into vigil and prayer time. Today we feature the Feast of St. Scholastica the sister or St. Benedict of Nursia. The readings and prayers come from Liturgies.net

COLLECT
As we celebrate anew the Memorial of the Virgin Saint Scholastica,
we pray, O Lord,
that, following her example,
we may serve you with pure love
and happily receive what comes from loving you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

FIRST READING          Song of Solomon 8:6-7
Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.
Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love,

he would be roundly mocked. 

RESPONSORIAL PSALM           Ps 148:1bc-2, 11-13a, 13c-14

R. (see 12a and 13a) Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord. or; R. Alleluia.
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
praise him in the heights;
Praise him, all you his angels,
praise him, all you his hosts. 
R. Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord. or; R. Alleluia.
Let the kings of the earth and all peoples,
the princes and all the judges of the earth,
Young men, too, and maidens,
old men and boys,
Praise the name of the LORD,
for his name alone is exalted. 
R. Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord. or; R. Alleluia.
His majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has lifted up the horn of his people.
Be this his praise from all his faithful ones;
from the children of Israel, the people close to him. 
R. Young men and women, praise the name of the Lord. or; R. Alleluia. 


ALLELUIA          Jn 14:23
Si quis díligit me, sermónem meam servábit, dicit Dóminus et Pater meus díliget eum; et ad eum veniémus.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we will come to him.

GOSPEL          Luke 10:38-42 
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her."

Canticle 15
The Song of Mary Magnificat
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in you, O God my Savior, *
for you have looked with favor on your lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
you, the Almighty, have done great things for me,
and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you *
from generation to generation.
You have shown strength with your arm *
and scattered the proud in their conceit,
Casting down the mighty from their thrones *
and lifting up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry with good things *
and sent the rich away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel, *
for you have remembered your promise of mercy,
The promise made to our forebears, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.


From the books of Dialogues by Saint Gregory the Great 
(Lib. 2, 33; PL 66, 194-196) 

She who loved more could do more 

Scholastica, the sister of Saint Benedict, had been consecrated to God from her earliest years. She was accustomed to visiting her brother once a year. He would come down to meet her at a place on the monastery property, not far outside the gate.

One day she came as usual and her saintly brother went with some of his disciples; they spent the whole day praising God and talking of sacred things. As night fell they had supper together.

Their spiritual conversation went on and the hour grew late. The holy nun said to her brother: “Please do not leave me tonight; let us go on until morning talking about the delights of the spiritual life.” “Sister,” he replied, “what are you saying? I simply cannot stay outside my cell.”

When she heard her brother refuse her request, the holy woman joined her hands on the table, laid her head on them and began to pray. As she raised her head from the table, there were such brilliant flashes of lightning, such great peals of thunder and such a heavy downpour of rain that neither Benedict nor his brethren could stir across the threshold of the place where they had been seated. Sadly he began to complain: “May God forgive you, sister. What have you done?” “Well,” she answered, “I asked you and you would not listen; so I asked my God and he did listen. So now go off, if you can, leave me and return to your monastery.”

Reluctant as he was to stay of his own will, he remained against his will. So it came about that they stayed awake the whole night, engrossed in their conversation about the spiritual life.

It is not surprising that she was more effective than he, since as John says, God is love, it was absolutely right that she could do more, as she loved more.

Three days later, Benedict was in his cell. Looking up to the sky, he saw his sister’s soul leave her body in the form of a dove, and fly up to the secret places of heaven. Rejoicing in her great glory, he thanked almighty God with hymns and words of praise. He then sent his brethren to bring her body to the monastery and lay it in the tomb he had prepared for himself.

Their minds had always been united in God; their bodies were to share a common grave.


RESPONSORY
When the saintly nun begged the Lord that her brother might not leave her,
 - she received more than her brother did from the Lord of her heart
because she loved him so much.

How good, how delightful it is
for brothers and sisters to live in unity.
 - she received more than her brother did from the Lord of her heart
because she loved him so much.


COLLECT
As we celebrate anew the Memorial of the Virgin Saint Scholastica,
we pray, O Lord,
that, following her example,
we may serve you with pure love
and happily receive what comes from loving you.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. 

Creator and sustaining God we give thanks for mountaintop experiences that empower us to serve you in the world .

Breath giver we thank you for breathing your Spirit into our lungs when we were born  and enlivening our souls to follow where you are leading us.

Pain freer, we pray that you heal all who are ill and may we always remember that in life we must be prepared for life eternal and that journey into the Thin Places. 

Peacemaking God, empower  us and all our family members to bring peace to your broken world.

Mediator we pray that divisions may cease and that we may be united as one.

Holy Painter and Artist we thank you for all the amazing vistas you provide for us each and every day.

Music Maker of the Spheres we offer our praises in not only words but song so that they may reach heavenward.

Teacher may we sit at your feet an learn from you the ways in which to live, move, and just be.

God of Many Names we pray for all faith communities who have been touched by violence and extremism. May we listen and learn what each of our faiths are and what they believe.

 Lover of all the universe teach us to love without limits and open our heart homes to the vastness of love and may we find it ever expanding to make room for more and more and more love for all family members and living beings.

God may we this night be transfixed on you, transformed into your likeness more and more, be transfigured to radiate the changes in us that only you can bring.

Jesus who is our teacher, savior, friend, brother, healer and mother we pray and offer these our prayers to you in your Name. Amen.

Or these:

May we be at prayer and find our lives this night being transfixed, transformed, and transfigured into new bodies, minds, and spirits, and that we are new wine skins.

Jesus, we thank you that on the day of Your Transfiguration that your chosen apostles became witnesses this event in your life. May we all witness to Your goodness, love, and mercy. 

Jesus, transform our lives that we may serve you in both words and in deeds. May our words and deeds transform the lives of all the least of these our family members.

Jesus, may we always have our minds, hearts, and spirits transfixed and focused on You. 

Jesus, plant in our hearts seeds of love, joy, hope, peace, mercy, and grace that we may live our lives ever fixed on you and the work you are calling us to do.

Jesus, may peace prevail upon earth and that the world may be transfigured into one united family of love, mercy, justice, and service.

Jesus, heal  and calm all those who are awaiting surgery, have major illnesses, and all those who have any illness of  the body, mind, and spirit.

Jesus, We give thanks for all caregivers and  pray that they may receive the self-care they need/

Jesus, we pray for anything or anyone who is on our heart and in our mind remembering especially____________

Jesus. give us the courage every day to be transfixed, transformed, and transfigured  when we need to make changes in our lives.

Jesus, we pray for all who mourn losses of any kind. May we show love and compassion.

Jesus, we offer these our prayers to you in Your. Name. Amen.

A Prayer attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is

hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where

there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where

there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where

there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to

be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is

in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we

are born to eternal life. Amen.

Lord, you now have set your servant free *

to go in peace as you have promised;

For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *

whom you have prepared for all the world to see:

A Light to enlighten the nations, *

and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Good Night Dear Ones ! I love you and give thanks for you always!

Love and prayers!

Sara