depressie †1

19 GEBEDEN 

OM DEPRESSIE TE VERSLAAN

†1

I am not born of natural descent 

nor of human decision or a husband’s will

but born of God [John 1:13]

Er trad een mens op... 

Een gezondene van God.

Zijn naam was Johannes [de Doper].

Deze kwam tot getuigenis.

Om te getuigen van het Licht.

Opdat allen door hem tot geloof zouden komen.

-

Niet híj was het Licht.

Maar hij moest getuigen van het Licht :

het ware Licht, dat íedere mens verlicht, kwam in de wereld.

-

Hij was in de wereld.

De wereld was door Hem geworden...

en toch erkende de wereld Hem niet.

Hij kwam in het zijne...

maar de zijnen aanvaardden Hem niet.

-

Aan allen echter die Hem wél aanvaardden...

aan hen die in zijn naam geloven...

gaf Hij het vermogen om kinderen van God te worden.

-

Zij zijn niet uit bloed, noch uit begeerte van het vlees

of de wil van een man, maar uit God geboren.


[Joh.1:6-13]

dewi sant 4-

waterman !
mirakelen...

dewi sant 3-

zoon van
'n heilige moeder :
Saint Non...

dewi sant 2-

St.-David leefde met zijn monniken volgens een uiterst strenge regel.

De gehele dag werd gewijd aan zwaar werk, waarbij geen gebruik mocht worden gemaakt van lastdieren om het werk te verlichten. Er werd voortdurend gebeden, afwisselend hardop of in stilte. Tegen het einde van de middag keerde men naar het klooster terug voor de geestelijke lezing, het koorgebed en de maaltijd.

Die bestond uit brood en wortelen, met wat zout als enige kruiderij. Daarbij dronken zij met water verdunde melk. Na het avondmaal werden drie uren besteed aan contemplatief gebed, en dan volgde een korte nachtrust. De vroege ochtend begon met koorgebed, totdat het tijd was voor de handenarbeid.

Wie wilde intreden...

moest tien dagen buiten de poort blijven, en telkens opnieuw om toelating vragen, en intussen de hatelijkste baantjes opknappen onder een onvriendelijke bejegening. Wie tenslotte binnengelaten werd, moest tevoren afstand doen van al zijn bezittingen: het klooster mocht daarvan niets aannemen.

Zover het maar enigszins mogelijk was, hield David zich ver van alle materiële problemen. Wel nam hij deel aan de synode ter bestrijding van het pelagianisme, de leer die het belang van Gods genade kleineerde en die juist in de Britse landen telkens weer nieuwe aanhang vond. Dit deed hij echter eerst nadat de besprekingen min of meer waren vastgelopen, en hij met de meeste aandrang werd uitgenodigd om zijn getuigenis te komen afleggen.

Zijn levend woord, vanuit de diepte der contemplatie gesproken, oefende een beslissende invloed uit. Bij acclamatie werd hij toen tot primaat van de Cambrische kerk uitgeroepen...

Dit wordt in de legende poëtisch tot uitdrukking gebracht: er wordt in verteld dat een sneeuwwitte duif uit de hemel neerdaalde, en zich op zijn schouder nestelde, terwijl de aarde onder zijn voeten omhoogkwam, tot hij op een verhoging stond, en zijn stem als een bazuin over de gehele bijeenkomst schalde.

De heilige David verzette zich eerst sterk tegen deze verkiezing...

Maar tenslotte aanvaardde hij het ambt, onder voorwaarde dat hij de zetel vanuit de drukke stad Caerleon mocht overplaatsen naar het rustige Mynyw. Dit zou het bisdom tegelijk beschermen tegen de steeds verder naar het westen opdringende heidense Engelse stammen.

De beroemde koning Arthur gaf daarvoor zijn toestemming.

-

Ondanks zijn teruggetrokken leven...

toonde David zich in dit nieuwe ambt als een krachtig en hard werkend bestuurder. In 529 presideerde hij wat later genoemd werd ‘de overwinningssynode’, waar de laatste resten van het pelagianisme werden weggevaagd. Er werden canons en regels opgesteld voor het bestuur van de Britse kerk.

In zijn bisdom Cambria maakte de kerk een grote bloeitijd door: het geestelijk leven verdiepte zich en alom verrezen kloosters, terwijl onder de leken broederschappen ontstonden die met vurige godsvrucht de heilige Mysteriën vierden. En allen zagen in David hun werkelijke vader, het levende voorbeeld ter navolging, zo geheel in overeenstemming met zijn meeslepend woord.

De kroniek van zijn dagen somt op:

‘Hij was de levende leer voor zijn toehoorders, een gids voor de geestelijken, een licht voor de armen, een steun voor de wezen, een beschermer der weduwen, een vader voor de wezen, een regel voor de monniken, en een weg voor de leken; in één woord: iemand die alle soorten mensen wist te brengen tot God’...

Hij stierf op bijna honderdjarige leeftijd, in 544.

Een onnoemlijk aantal legenden is gehecht aan zijn naam, die getuigen van de grote invloed die van hem is uitgegaan, en van de overweldigende kracht van zijn tegelijk zo lieflijke persoonlijkheid.


~bron~

dewi sant 1-

Dewi Sant, feestdag 1 maart as....

Heilige David, aartsbisschop van Menevia, patroon van Wales.

Geboren 446AD in Mynyw, dat sindsdien St.-David heet. Van koninklijke bloede‚ kleinzoon van de grote veroveraar van Noord-Wales. Van jongsaf bestemd voor de geestelijke stand, en ook in die richting opgevoed.

Na zijn priesterwijding zette hij zijn studie voort, en nadat hij zich nog tien jaar had verdiept in de heilige Schrift, trok hij naar de wildernis om zich in de eenzaamheid te wijden aan studie en gebed. Hij vond een geschikte plaats bij een rivier met bergweiden, waar eetbare planten waren te vinden, en daar bouwde hij een kapel met een kluis erbij.

Op die plaats werd later een klooster gesticht. David zelf echter trok zich, na een droomgezicht, terug naar zijn geboorteplaats om daar een klooster te grondvesten, waar nu de kathedraal van St.-David staat. Hij leidde hetzelfde strenge leven als tevoren: water als enige drank, en een absolute onthouding van elk dierlijk voedsel.

Hij wijdde zich geheel aan het gebed, aan de studie, en aan de opvoeding van zijn leerlingen. Er ging zoveel invloed van hem uit, dat hij al spoedig tot bisschop werd gewijd, zoals dat met vele abten in zijn tijd het geval was.

~bron~

candida -7

The great day finally came: May 3, 1771.

The ten women, together with Mother Mary Crucified, were given the Passionist habit and entered the new convent of the Presentation. The bishop and the entire town of Corneto celebrated. Father John Mary Cioni, Paul's confessor, preached the homily.

Some miles away in Rome Paul lay on his sick bed in the hospice of the Crucified.  He never got to Corneto to see Mother Mary Crucified and the first Passionists. He himself did not give her the habit.  Four years later he would be dead.

From his sick bed...

he assisted her with letters and with his prayers and sufferings.

Two years after the solemn opening, he wrote: "May you be the model for the Daughters of the Passion.  They should mourn perpetually for the love of the Crucified Lord, not only by the habit they wear, but even more so in their hearts, their minds, and their actions.  In this way, they shall heal His holy wounds by the continual practice of the virtues, since this is the purpose for the foundation of their Institute" 

In the founding of the Passionist Nuns' community Paul's role is clear.  The 'charism' was originally the Holy Spirit's gift to Paul. His was the task of arranging for the canonical foundation, by reason of his friendship with Pope Clement XIV.  He too had written the rule, which the pope 'welcomed' as God's gift to the Church.

Mother Mary Crucified had her own role to fulfill as the first novice mistress and superior.  It was left to her to explain the spirit of the rule to the first nuns. And it was her role to serve as model and example of the Passionist way of life for her small originating community, and for all Passionist Nuns in the centuries to follow. She was interpreter and model of the Passionist charism as shared and lived by these cloistered religious women.

And cloistered the Passionist Nuns were.

St. Paul insisted on this.

For according to the Canon Law of the time - since the Council of Trent - only cloistered women were truly 'religious'. Cloister was very important for Paul.  He knew the abuses in so many convents of his times. He knew the requirements of Canon Law. To assure that the female branch of his institute would be recognized as real religious and would perdure in the Church, he even inserted in the rule legislation for the vow of enclosure.

For Paul, however, the enclosure was more than a necessary legality. For he wanted the nuns to be truly contemplative. 'Brides of Christ', he calls them, 'daughters of the Sacred Passion', 'doves mourning over the wounds of Christ'. The cloister would enable them to devote themselves to contemplative prayer.

Paul also realized the needs of his times.

The nuns were to take the vow 'to promote devotion to the Passion of Christ' as did the fathers and brothers.  Of course, they could not fulfill this vow by preaching. Paul wanted them to fulfill it by their life of contemplative prayer and penance. Their prayer would continue throughout the day and into the middle of the night. Their penance consisted in perpetual fasting and abstinence, in going barefoot, and in other austerities.

The Second Vatican Council almost seems to be speaking of Mother Mary Crucified's fervent community when it states: "Let no one think, that by their consecration religious have become strangers to their fellow men and women, or useless citizens of this earthly city. In a more profound sense, these same religious are united with them in the heart of Christ, and cooperate with them spiritually"

-

Zealous man that he was, Paul also discovered other ways for the nuns to fulfill the Passion vow.  He left norms for one of the sisters to teach Christian doctrine to young girls seven years of age or older, to prepare young girls for the reception of their First Communion (then normally received at the age of 12).  He provided however, that those to be thus instructed would remain outside the cloister.

-

Paul's zeal led him further.  He knew that women, as well as men, need the helps of the spiritual exercises.  He had already provided for rooms to be set aside in his monasteries for men to make a retreat from time to time.  He put this same provision in the nuns' rule, even allowing such women to enter within the enclosure with the permission of the bishop.

All this St. Paul of the Cross did to establish the Passionist Nuns in the Church.  Paul is indeed the founder.  Mother Mary Crucified as the superior and guide of the first convent has earned the title of foundress of the first convent. Through this role. and precisely because of her profound sharing in Paul's charism, she is also called 'co-foundress' with St. Paul of the Passionist Religious Family.

-

Mother Mary Crucified died November 16, 1787.

In 1982 Pope John Paul II approved the document declaring that she had practiced heroic virtue and should be called "Venerable."  Passionists everywhere await the day of her beatification.


~bron~

candida -6

Paul continued to wait for solemn vows.

When a Portuguese priest, Don Joseph Carboni, invited Mother M. Crucified to establish a community devoted to the Passion in a convent he was building in Rome, she thought it was time to move. Paul warned against such an action.  Eventually Don Carboni's request fell through.

At this time, her younger brother was killed by robbers in the family home.  Her two brothers, Dominic and Canon Nicholas, decided to build a convent in the memory of their slain brother.  But when the family became involved in the writing of the rule for "their" convent, Paul washed his hands of the whole affair.

Solemn vows were denied Paul in 1760 by Pope Clement XIII.   Paul's community would never become an Order with a female branch.  If the convent of nuns devoted to the Passion was to be founded, Mother M. Crucified felt that she herself should go to Rome to present her case to the Pope.

Paul wrote back that this is not how one proceeds.  Had he forgotten his own insistence on going to Rome in 1721? Or had he learned from that experience? Mother M. Crucified did not go to the Pope.  In fact she did not have to go, for at the death of pope Clement XIII, the new pope would be most kind to Father Paul.

Pope Clement XIV invited Paul to visit him.

Paul told him of his many trials all these years in attempting to found a convent for the Passionist Nuns. The Pope listened with fatherly concern. In a short time, Clement XIV issued a papal bull giving Paul's congregation all the rights and privileges of a religious order, even jurisdiction and papal exemption.

He arranged that the Monastery of Sts.John and Paul be given to the Passionists.  Finally, he approved the rule Paul had written for the Passionist Nuns, and decreed the opening of the convent at Corneto.  Mother Mary Crucified was allowed to transfer from the convent of St. Lucy to this new convent, together with the other women whom Paul had been directing.


~bron~

candida -5

Paul continued to direct her as one very special.

Years later, Paul recalled their first meeting. In his Christmas letter of 1764, he wrote of it: "I hope to see you clothed in the same habit of the Most Holy Passion of Jesus Christ which I wear.  God entrusted your soul to me many years ago."

Later he wrote again:

"If God will give me life and strength to see the foundation through, it is most certain that you shall be the first to be clothed in the habit of the most holy Passion. I hope to give it to you with my own hands, for the glory of Jesus Christ and Holy Mary. However, keep this as a secret in your heart..."

-

Paul saw the convent of the nuns as belonging to the Institute of the Passion.  He wanted the Passionist Nuns to be the 'Second Order' of his institute - as the Poor Clares are with the Franciscans, and the Carmelite Nuns among the Carmelites.

This meant that the first convent could not be built until the male branch was firmly established as a religious order with solemn vows, clerical jurisdiction and exemption, subject only to the Holy See.  Until solemn vows were granted, Paul did not take steps to found the Passionist convent for his many spiritual daughters.

But God had other plans.

When Mother Mary Crucified was sick in the infirmary in 1741, Jesus appeared to her and said: "Rise up now, I will restore your health. But on the condition that in due time you found a monastery of nuns, who will have as their purpose the honoring of my sorrowful Passion.  You yourself will have to enter it, and you must cooperate in its foundation."


~bron~

candida -4

All this, she told Father Paul.

Years later, she remembered that wonderful day:

"A few years after my profession, I got to know the Venerable Paul of the Cross, on the occasion when he came to give the spiritual exercises to the religious of the convent of St. Lucy. 

After Paul gave the retreat, especially the first one, one could see the great reform of life in the convent.  All the religious began to treat one another with greater charity, to perform more frequent acts of humility, to stay away from the parlor-window, and to observe greater silence."  

She added:

"The first time the Servant of God came to give the spiritual exercises at the convent of St. Lucy, he was wearing a very poor rough tunic, with a mantle, but barefoot and without a hat or berretino [pet]. Just to see him, moved one to compassion and devotion." 

From that date onward...

Mother Mary Crucified - as she was now called - began a frequent and long correspondence with Father Paul.  Only 32 letters have been preserved and recently published in an English translation.  Most have unfortunately been lost.  Mother M. Crucified, testified that she even burned some lest others read about God's gifts to her.


~bron~

candida -3

Hoor, daar is mijn lief!

Kijk, daar komt Hij aan!

Springend komt Hij over de bergen, over de heuvels komt hij aangesneld! Mijn lief is als een gazel, Hij lijkt wel het jong van een hert! Daar staat Hij, achter de muur van ons huis. Hij ziet door het venster, en kijkt door de tralies naar binnen.

Nu roept mijn lief, en zegt tegen mij:

"Sta op, mijn liefste! 

Kóm toch, mijn schoonste! 

Kijk maar, de winter is heen, de regentijd voorgoed voorbij!  Op het veld staan weer bloemen, de tijd om te zingen breekt aan, de roep van de tortel klinkt over het land! De vijgeboom draagt zijn eerste vruchten al, en wat ruikt de bloeiende wijnstok heerlijk. Sta op, mijn liefste, kom toch, mijn schoonste! 

Mijn duif, verscholen in de spleten van de rots, in de holten van de bergwand, laat mij je gezicht zien, laat mij je stem horen! Want je stem is zo mooi, je gezicht zo lieftallig! Vang ons de vossen, de geniepige vossen, die de wijngaard vernielen, onze wijngaard die in bloei staat!"  

[Hooglied 2:8-15]

candida -2

On August 18, 1713....

the very year St. Paul of the Cross had experienced his conversion...

a daughter was born to the Costantini family of Corneto [nTarquinia].  She was baptized Faustina. When she was fourteen, she too felt the call to a life of prayer and penance. But she had to help her father raise the family, after the early death of her mother.

Later, when she wanted to enter an austere convent, her father told her that the only convent she could enter was the Benedictine convent of St. Lucy in Corneto. This she did, even though she felt the Lord really wanted her in a stricter monastery...

Sister Candida made profession of her vows...

on November 22, 1734 - the 14th anniversary of Paul's reception of the Passionist habit.

As she handed the signed document of her vows to the Mother Prioress, she whispered to Jesus: "In virtue of your most holy Passion, accept me as a victim of your holy love."  She prayed to Jesus to share in his Passion.

She often repeated to him: "You are a spouse of blood. I want to be your true follower." When tempted with fierce temptations, she heard the invitation 'to enter into the Sacred Heart', with the moving words of the Song of Songs: "Come, my love, hidden in the cleft of the rock"...


~bron~

candida -1

In the course of a retreat...

one of the nuns, known then as Sister Mary Candida of the Crucified, opened her heart to him, to tell him the story of her life, and the interior graces God was giving her. Paul recognized in this young nun one whom God was calling.

He told her of his own dream of one day founding a convent of Passionist Nuns, who would spend their life in prayer and penance. in memory of the Passion of Jesus.

- -

Paul had in fact for many years realized that women as well as men were called to live his spirituality of the Passion. 

One of his first converts was a young woman of the Grazi family of Orbetello, Agnes by name. Under Paul's direction Agnes advanced in prayer to mystical union with the Crucified Christ.  Paul felt that perhaps one day she would join his convent for Passionist Nuns.

When she died at an early age, Paul accepted God's will but the dream remained.

-

Later he began the direction of a Poor Clare Nun of Piombino, Sister Cherubina Bresciani.  Again he mentioned to her the possibility of a community of women, dedicated to the Passion. 

Another holy woman whom Paul was directing, received a vision of the 'doves', mourning over the wounded Christ on the Cross.  Paul saw this as a vision of his future daughters. 

But nothing eventuated, although Paul continued to hope.

- -

As she listened to Father Paul, Candida realized that it was he of whom the Lord had spoken to her.  With tears in her heart she told him of her dream, of how God had been working in her life.


~bron~

della croce (2)

After a short course in pastoral theology...

the brothers were ordained to the priesthood...

by Pope Benedict XIII on 7 June 1727, in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. After ordination, they devoted themselves to preaching missions in parishes, particularly in remote country places, where there were not a sufficient number of priests pastorally involved.

Paul was known as one of the most popular preachers of his day, both for his words and for his generous acts of mercy. Their preaching apostolate and the retreats they gave in seminaries and religious houses brought their mission to the attention of others, and gradually the community began to grow.

The first Retreat - the name Passionists traditionally gave to their monasteries - was opened in 1737 on Monte Argentario. the community now had nine members. Paul called his monasteries 'retreats' to underline the life of solitude and contemplation, which he believed was necessary for someone who wished to preach the message of the Cross.

In addition to the communal celebration of the divine office, members of his community were to devote at least three hours to contemplative prayer each day. The austerity of life practised by the first Passionists did not encourage large numbers. But Paul preferred a slow, at times painful, growth to something more spectacular.

More than two thousand of his letters, most of them letters of spiritual direction, have been preserved.

He died on 18 October 1775...

at the Retreat of Saints John and Paul.

By the time of his death, the congregation founded by Saint Paul of the Cross had one hundred and eighty fathers and brothers, living in twelve Retreats, mostly in the Papal States. There was also a monastery of contemplative sisters in Corneto (today known as Tarquinia), founded by Paul a few years before his death to promote the memory of the Passion of Jesus by their life of prayer and penance.

Saint Paul of the Cross was beatified on 1 October 1852...

and canonized on 29 June 1867, by Blessed Pius IX.

Two years later, his feast day was inserted in the Roman calendar, for celebration on 28 April as a Double. In 1962 it was reclassified as a Third-Class feast, and in 1969 it became an optional Memorial and was placed on 19 October, the day after the day of his death, 18 October, which is the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist.


~wikipedia~

della croce (1)

Saint Paul of the Cross...

originally named Paolo Francesco Danei...

was born on 3 January 1694, in the town of Ovada, Piedmont, between Turin and Genoa in the Duchy of Savoy in northern Italy. His parents were Luca and Anna Maria Massari Danei. His father ran a small dry-goods store, and moved his family and store from town to town near Genoa, trying to make ends meet. Paul was the second of sixteen children, six of whom survived infancy, and learned at an early age the reality of death and the uncertainty of life.

Paul received his early education from a priest, who kept a school for boys, in Cremolino, Lombardy. He made great progress, and at the age of fifteen, he left school, and returned to his home at Castellazzo. In his early years, he taught catechism in churches near his home.

Paul experienced a conversion to a life of prayer at the age of 19.

Influenced by his reading of the 'Treatise on the Love of God' by Saint Francis de Sales and the direction he received from priests of the Capuchin Order, it became his lifelong conviction that God is most easily found in the Passion of Christ.

In 1715, Paul left his work helping his father, to join a crusade against the Turks, who were threatening the Venetian Republic, but soon realized that the life of a soldier was not his calling. He returned to help in the family business.

On his way home, he stopped at Novello, where he helped an aging childless couple until the end of 1716. They offered to make him their heir, but he declined. His uncle, Father Christopher Danei, tried to arrange a marriage, but Paul had no plans to marry. When his uncle died, he kept for himself only the priest's Breviary.

-

When he was 26 years old...

Paul had a series of prayer-experiences...

which made it clear to him that God was inviting him to form a community, who would live an evangelical life, and promote the love of God revealed in the Passion of Jesus. A legend tells that in a vision, he saw himself clothed in the habit he and his companions would wear.

The first name Paul received for his community was "The Poor of Jesus". Later they came to be known as the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ, or the Passionists.

With the encouragement of his bishop...

who clothed him in the black habit of a hermit...

Paul wrote the rule of his new community - of which he was, as yet, the only member - during a retreat of forty days at the end of 1720. The community was to live a penitential life, in solitude and poverty, teaching people in the easiest possible way how to meditate on the Passion of Jesus.

His first companion was his own brother, John Baptist.

In the belief that it was necessary to reside in Rome...

in order to secure approval of the Rule...

Paul and John Baptist accepted an invitation of Cardinal Corradini to help establish a new hospital being founded by the Cardinal. The brothers devoted their energies to providing nursing care and ministered to the pastoral needs of both patients and staff.


~wikipedia~

marcucci -3-

She wrote extensively...

to promote the ideal of holiness of life.

Her autobiography, entitled 'The Apostle of Love', is described by the Dominican theologians of Salamanca as 'the most sublime work that has ever been written about God’s love for all creatures'. In the introduction to his book, 'La santità è amore' [Holiness is Love], Fr. Max Anselmi (CORM) writes:

“One thing that somewhat surprises scholars about her spirituality, is the amount and quality of the work that Mother Magdalene wrote to spread devotion to the Passion of the Lord and the spirit of joyful holiness. 

She did this unbeknownst [zonder medeweten] to anyone other than her spiritual director. Writing tirelessly, but all in secret, until her death. She can rightly be considered to be one of the greatest writers of Passionist spirituality, and also a pearl among the authors of twentieth century mysticism.

A very particular phenomenon, so much so that great theologians, after her death, have felt justified and motivated in urging that she be promptly given the title of Doctor of the Church”...

~bron~

marcucci -2-

On March 18, 1913...

at the age of 25, together with five other nuns...

she left Lucca to found a Passionist monastery in Mexico, a project that could not be realized because of the revolution. On January 13, 1916, together with two other Sisters she left Mexico City, because she felt called by the Lord to go to Spain.

For two years...

they resided at Lezama, a village a few kilometers from Bilbao, and then finally in 1918 moved to Deusto near Bilbao, where they founded the first Passionist monastery in Spain.

In 1935 she was called by the Sacred Congregation for Religious to assume the role of superior of the Passionist community of Lucca. During the five years that she held this position, she as a native of Lucca had the joy and honor to build the new Passionist monastery as well as the Shrine of her compatriot, St. Gemma Galgani in the area of the city known as 'Fuori Porta Elisa'.

She also prepared the celebrations for her canonization, which took place on May 2, 1940.

On July 15, 1941...

she left Lucca to return to Spain...

where, strengthened by an ardent love for the Passion of the Lord, and for the salvation and holiness of his people, she founded a monastery in Madrid. Here, in the Passionist monastery she founded, she died on February 10, 1960, shortly before her 72nd birthday.


~bron~

marcucci -1-

Ven. Maria Magdalena Marcucci...

entered the world on April 24, 1888 in San Gemignano di Moriano, near the Italian city of Lucca. She had great devotion to the Passion of the Lord, a devotion which she subsequently zealously promoted.

At the age of 18, on 10 June 1906, together with her sister Elisa, she entered the Passionist monastery of Lucca which was still in the process of being founded. On June 27, 1907, the day of her vestition, she received the name Mary Magdalene of Jesus; but the name by which she is generally known is 'J. Pastor'.

This pseudonym was given to her by her spiritual director the Dominican, Fr. Juan González Arintero, in order to hide her from people’s curiosity and to protect her humility. She later became a valuable and assiduous collaborator of the magazine he founded in 1921.

~bron~

gabriele vii

en zo leidt Gabriele dell'Addolorata...
Gabriel van de Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-van-Smárten...

me, tot slot, via het bidprentje in het vorige artikel
nog naar een tweede verwante heilige, behalve Gemma:

het twaalfjarige, eveneens Italiaanse, meisje Maria Goretti !

een mooi verhaal wederom
van lijden, BDE en...
vergiffenis !

gabriele vi

ik wist...

dat ik hem al kende !

hij verscheen immers regelmatig
aan die andere heilige: Gemma Galgani !

"Throughout her life...

saint Gemma Galgani suffered from several illnesses. She joyfully offered these sufferings to God, with great patience. On one occasion, saint Gemma was miraculously cured from spinal tuberculosis, or spinal meningitis.

She had become gravely ill, and nothing could be done for her. From one of her schoolteachers, she was told to pray a nine-day novena, to saint Margaret Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for the grace of being cured, or to enter heaven immediately. But saint Gemma kept forgetting to finish it.

When she tried for a third time to start the novena, saint Gabriel Possenti - a saint of the Passionist Order, who appeared to her often and assisted her in trials - appeared by her bed, and helped her to pray the novena. He appeared every night, and prayed it with her until it was completed.

At its conclusion, saint Gemma was completely cured."

gabriele v

de 41 resoluties die hij 

voor zichzelf maakte

I will 

1. keep my rule, even the smallest thing
2. not neglect any of my spiritual exercises
3. shun idleness
4. be punctual
5. obey the sound of the bell as though it were the voice of God

6. receive all things from the hand of God
as being sent by Him for my own personal benefit
7. profit by every occasion for mortification that may occur
8. fulfil exactly my ordinary duties
mortifying self in whatever would prove an obstacle to perfect obedience
9. mortify my eyes and my tongue
10. not leave my cell without necessity

11. not inquire after anything through curiosity
12. check my desire to talk
13. increase the number of such like acts daily
14. not take any food outside of mealtime
15. I am poor and I should act accordingly

16. I should be willing to put up with any inconvenience gladly
17. I will not eat with avidity
but rather with reserve and with modesty
subjecting my appetite to reason
18. I will mortify myself in ordinary things and whatever I feel inclined to do
saying in my heart: “O my God, I will not do this thing through mere inclination
but because it is thy will”
19. I will be reserved toward those to whom I feel most inclined
prudently avoiding their presence and conversation
20. I will not utter a word that might, in the least, turn to my praise

I will...

21. not take pleasure in any praise bestowed upon me
22. never excuse myself when I am blamed or corrected
nor even resent it interiorly, much less put the blame upon others
23. never speak of the faults of others, even though they may be public
nor ever show want of esteem for others, whether in their presence or in their absence
24. not judge ill of anyone
25. show the good opinion I have of each one by covering up his faults

26. consider everyone my superior, treating all with humility and reverence
27. I will rejoice at the good done by others.
28. not permit myself to become interested in vain and useless things
29. rejoice at the success of others
30. practice charity and kindness, assisting, serving and pleasing all

31. shun particular friendships, so as to offend no one
32. every morning and evening, practice some act of humility
and gradually increase the number
33. close my heart against disquiet [onrust] of any kind
34. suppress immediately all emotions of impetuosity [onstuimigheid, heftigheid]
and all affections that might cloud my mind, even lightly
35. obey the voice of the Superior as if it were the voice of God himself

36. in my obedience, I will neither examine the why nor the wherefore
37. conform my judgment to that of my Superior
38. not employ time in conversing about purely worldly matters
39. 'Faithfulness in little things' is the motto, I will... 
always follow in my efforts to reach holiness
40. try to reproduce in myself whatever I see edifying and virtuous in the conduct of others
41. give to God the best that I have: the entire affection of my heart

gabriele iv

mooie nieuwe - mariale - details in het verhaal

verteld door hedendaagse Passionisten
uit Nairobi, Kenia !

gabriele iii

in het Maltees...

gabriele ii

Hij werd geboren als Francesco Possenti, te Assisi...

In zijn jeugd was hij, net zoals zijn begoede leeftijdgenoten, zeer gericht op de wereld en de maatschappij. Ging naar theaters, zat achter de vrouwen aan, ging jagen met rijkere mensen, en men gaf hem de bijnaam 'danser'.

Maar nadat hij getroffen was door tuberculose, en zijn oudste zuster gestorven was aan cholera, trad hij in in het klooster bij de congregatie van de paters Passionisten in Morrovalle, waar hij door Maria zelf heen werd geleid. Hij nam daar de naam aan van de aartsengel Gabriël die Maria de Blijde Boodschap bracht, en voegde er dell'Addolorata [van Smarten] aan toe.

Zijn leven werd niet gekenmerkt door grote gebeurtenissen...

maar door gebed, overgave en devotie tot de Moeder Gods en de contemplatie over Haar smarten bij het lijden van Haar Zoon. Hij stierf aan tuberculose in Isola del Gran Sasso in de regio Abruzzen. Hij werd zalig verklaard door Paus Pius X op 31 mei 1908. Zijn heiligverklaring, door Paus Benedictus XV, volgde op 13 mei 1920. Zijn feestdag wordt gevierd op 27 februari.


~wikipedia~

gabriele i

vandaag H. Gabriele dell'Addolorata
Gabriel van de Moeder van Smarten

in mijn Missaal van 1961 lees ik:

Een heilige van onze tijd. Na in zijn jonge jaren de vermaken van de wereld te hebben nagejaagd, werd hij door de genade getroffen. Trad in de Orde van de Passionisten, en gaf zijn medebroeders het voorbeeld van alle deugden. Stierf jong, in geur van heiligheid, de 27e februari 1862. Pais Pius XI heeft zijn feest tot de hele Kerk uitgebreid...

međugorje 10-

Dear children!

In this time of grace, I desire to see your faces transformed in prayer.

You are so flooded by earthly concerns, you do not even feel that spring is at the threshold. You are called, little children, to penance and prayer. As nature fights in silence for new life, also you are called to open yourselves in prayer to God.

In Whom you will find peace and warmth of the spring sun in your hearts.

Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.02.2020]

međugorje 9-

Dear children!

Today I am calling you to pray even more.

Until you feel the holiness of forgiveness in your heart. There must be holiness in the families, little children. Because there is no future for the world, without love and holiness. Because in holiness and joy, you give yourselves to God, the Creator, who loves you with immeasurable love.

This is why He sends me to you.

Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.01.2020]

međugorje 8-

Dear children!

I am carrying my son Jesus to you, for Him to bless you, and reveal to you His Love, which comes from Heaven.

Your heart yearns for peace, of which there is less and less on earth. That is why people are far from God, and souls are sick, and heading towards spiritual death. I am with you, little children, to lead you on this way of salvation to which God calls you.

Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.12.2019]

međugorje 7-

Dear children!

Today I call you to prayer. May prayer be a balm to your soul. Because the fruit of prayer is joy, giving, and witnessing God to others, through your life. Little children, in complete surrender to God, He will take care of everything, and will bless you. And your sacrifices will have meaning.

I am with you, and bless all of you, with my motherly blessing.

Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.10.2019]

međugorje 6-

Dear children!

Pray, work and witness with love for the Kingdom of Heaven, that it may be good for you here on earth. Little children, God will bless your effort a hundred fold. You will be witnesses among peoples, souls of unbelievers will feel the grace of conversion, and Heaven will be grateful for your efforts and sacrifices.

Little children, witness with the Rosary in hand, that you are mine, and decide for holiness.

Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.08.2019]

međugorje 5-

Dear children!

I am thanking God for each of you. In a special way, little children, thank you for having responded to my call. I am preparing you for the new times, that you may be firm in faith, and persevering in prayer. So that the Holy Spirit may work through you, and renew the face of the earth.

I am praying with you for peace, which is the most precious gift, even though satan wants war and hatred. You, little children, be my extended hands and proudly go with God.

Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.06.2019]

međugorje 4-

Dear children!

This is a time of grace.

As nature renews itself for a new life, you also are called to conversion. Decide for God. Little children, you are empty and do not have joy, because you do not have God. Therefore pray, until prayer becomes your life.

In nature, seek God who created you. Because nature speaks and fights for life, and not for death. Wars are reigning in hearts and nations because you do not have peace. And you do not see, little children, a brother in your neighbor.

Therefore return to God, and to prayer.

Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.03.2019]

međugorje 3-

Dear children!

Today, as a mother, I am calling you to conversion.

This time is for you, little children, a time of silence and prayer. Therefore, in the warmth of your heart, may a grain of hope and faith grow, and you, little children, will from day to day feel the need to pray more. Your life will become orderly and responsible.

You will comprehend, little children, that you are passing here on earth, and you will feel the need to be closer to God, and with love you will witness the experience of your encounter with God, which you will share with others.

I am with you, and am praying for you, but I cannot without your ‘yes’.

Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.01.2019]

međugorje 2-

Dear children!

This is a time of grace. Little children, pray more, speak less, and permit God to lead you on the way of conversion. I am with you, and love you, with my motherly love. Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.08.2018]

međugorje 1-

Dear children!

Also today, my prayer is for all of you.

Especially for all those who have become hard of heart to my call.

You are living in the days of grace, and are not conscious of the gifts which God is giving to you through my presence. Little children, decide also today for holiness, and take the example of the saints of this time, and you will see that holiness is a reality for all of you.

Rejoice in the love, little children, that in the eyes of God you are unrepeatable and irreplaceable, because you are God’s joy in this world. Witness peace, prayer and love. Thank you for having responded to my call.


[25.10.2015]