Passiontide

There's been so much excitement with the barbershop competition, it's been hard to maintain some of my Lenten devotions. It is already a busy time preparing for the liturgies so I am grateful that next year the competition will be in May. It was a shock to my system going for Adoration one day, where I could feast my eyes on the Blessed Sacrament and the Altar and then the next, with the statues covered up. Not only is the Gloria gone, but the Gloria Patri as well, and now some of the visual beauty. 

I've been praying the Stations of the Cross privately using Tina Jost's One Hour for My Priest. It might be my most favorite section along with Help Him! Our parish has been praying the Stations every Wed, followed by a soup supper. What I love about the corporate prayers is that the priest recites this beautiful prayer after Benediction:

O Jesus Christ, remember,

when Thou shalt come again,

upon the clouds of heaven,

with all Thy shining train;

when every eye shall see

Thee in deity revealed,

who now upon this altar

in silence are concealed.

Remember then, O Savior,

we supplicate of Thee,

that here we bowed before Thee

upon our bended knee;

that here we owned Thy Presence,

and did not Thee deny,

and glorified Thy greatness

though hid from human eye.

Accept, Divine Redeemer,

the homage of our praise;

be Thou the light and honor

and glory of our days.

Be Thou our consolation

when death is drawing nigh:

be Thou our only treasure

through all eternity. Amen.  

We're in the middle of Holy Week and preparing beautiful music for all the liturgies for the Sacred Triduum. Spring is here and I'm loving the warm weather and the promise of renewal. We had such a lovely weekend, riding our bikes to Waterfront park and providing some background music for the 379th birthday of Capt. Robert Daniell (our island town is named in his honor).  

One Hour for My Priest

I am so excited to share with you the newest book from our critique group: One Hour for My Priest by Tina Jost. It is a prayer companion for when we offer an hour of prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament for our beloved priests, without whom we wouldn't have the Mass or the Holy Eucharist. We began this practice a couple of years ago through the Seven Sister Apostolate and I cannot even begin to express to you the shower of graces, not only upon the priests we pray for, but in our own lives. I've known Tina since we moved to Charleston--she brought us a most delicious lasagna--and one of the things I discovered is that not only is she a fantastic cook, but a prayer warrior extraordinaire. I can always ask her to pray for an intention and when I feel weak and discouraged, I can rely on her to pray for me. I am so blessed to have a network of strong prayerful women in my life.

So, when Tina showed me some of the prayers she was writing during her Holy Hour, I knew she had to make these available for the rest of us. It's not easy making a Holy Hour for a single person. Too many concerns distract and when the mind wanders it's so helpful to have a book to turn to. Tina's prayer companion can easily be adapted for anyone you want to make a Holy Hour for or for your own self. It is going to become a permanent resident of my Adoration bag to help me turn my thoughts on Him instead of the responsibilities of the day. A Holy Hour is one of the greatest gifts in this life.

I'm also excited that I get to share a few copies at the Marian Eucharistic Conference. Our critique group--Charleston Christian Writers--has purchased a table. We hired Gabriel Shahid to make a banner for us and we just love how beautifully he rendered our vision. We also made flyers--yes, we are learning to do what we can to share our books! 

Adoration Chapel

It was so lovely to pray in the Adoration Chapel, which is behind the main Altar of St. Clare of Assisi. The stained glass windows are beautiful--we have St. Joseph, St. Francis, St. Elizabeth with child St. John the Baptist; St. Anne with the child Mary; King David and St. Peter. And up above, there's the pelican, a symbol of Christ, who gives His own self as food.

Despite the torrential rain from Debby, our first 40 hours of prayer in preparation for the Feast of St. Clare of Assisi, in the chapel was able to proceed as planned. She loved Jesus in the Eucharist so I know she's praying along with us to have Perpetual Adoration! Deo gratias! 

 

 

A Conversation with Michael Seagriff and Giveaway

Dear Michael, I received a copy of STIRRING SLUMBERING SOULS for my birthday last year. And here I am, more than a year later, and far richer. It’s the BEST companion for Adoration. I love it. So, thank you for writing this book and for taking the time to have this conversation.

Please share something of your background. Did you always have a love for our Eucharistic Lord from your childhood or is it something that grew as you grew older? Did you ever have doubts? 
I grew up in the public projects in Brooklyn, New York in an Irish Catholic Family. My parents had seven children; two of my brothers died shortly after my twin sister and I were born. My father, who did not have a high school diploma, worked multiple jobs to support the family and to send us to Catholic school.

My earliest recollection of my childhood all centered around Church. I was an altar boy as soon as I met the minimum age and mastered the Latin Mass responses. While I was too young to fully appreciate the magnificence of the Eucharist, I treasured it as a child and fondly remember many a Holy Hour spent on my knees in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I particularly recall the magnificence of the Holy Thursday liturgy.

YES!!! It never ceases to amaze me: the bells at the Gloria, the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood—they go hand in hand.


I entered a minor seminary and left two years later. After graduating from high school and spending half a year in college, I dropped out and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, serving a tour in Vietnam. Foolishly I walked away from my Eucharistic Lord and His Church. God in His infinite mercy spared my life.

Deo gratias! I know exactly how you feel—tremendous gratitude—I’m always thanking my guardian angel for keeping me alive; now I have the hope of heaven! 

I “returned” to the Church just long enough to get married, to have our first two children baptized and then again when it was time for First Communion preparation. But it was not until my Mom died that I gave God any meaningful thought. I remember being angry with Him over her suffering and death and recall a visit to the local Catholic Church. There, for the first time in my life, in front of the tabernacle, I actually spoke to God. I poured out my heart to Him. And in an instant, I saw very clearly how He had chosen to spare my life during those years when I had foolishly turned my back on Him. It was time to return permanently and take my Faith seriously.

Your mother must be smiling from heaven. Mine too!

God placed my family in the hands of a wonderful priest and fellow parishioners who  encouraged us to grow in our Faith. We progressed from Sunday Mass attendees to participants in RENEW, Cursillo, the Charismatic Renewal, and a Prison Ministry.
But it is was not until an elderly Italian matriarch and friend from our parish approached my wife and I before Mass one Sunday that an overwhelming sense of love for the Eucharist manifested itself in our lives. She simply said: “I have the perfect time for you.” 
“What do you mean?” we asked. 
“Adoration at 2 AM on Friday mornings.”

I love this! Her confidence that you will do this! 

For 10 years my wife and I shared a holy hour on the First Friday of every month. We came to treasure that time with God, and never during the 10 years of First Fridays were we ever tired or unable to complete our normal routines the following day.

My interest in and attraction toward the Eucharist only increased. After a year of persistent promptings, I got the courage to ask our Pastor if we could start Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. “We can’t even fill 12 hours on the First Friday of each month,” he said. “How do you expect to cover 168 hours a week?” 

“I have no idea Father, but am convinced God wants us to try.” It has been more than 17 years since our Chapel of Perpetual Adoration opened. We are struggling now to cover all the hours but know God will provide. If there was ever any doubt about our Lord wanting this Chapel in our little town of 8,500, it was removed when a total stranger approached us and offered us a monstrance blessed by Pope St. John Paul II on the Sunday before he died if we would place it in our Chapel.

That is beautiful! We are building a new church—St. Clare of Assisi on Daniel Island—and are so excited at the possibility of having Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration! See https://www.clare.church/ for details.

You are a lay Dominican. Please tell us how this came to be. 

I had never heard of the Lay Dominicans. I had lived in the Syracuse, New York area for more than 25 years and did not even know there was a Monastery of cloistered Dominican nuns there. That is not until I met a unique soul at a preparatory meeting for a Prison Retreat we were planning. At the time, this gentlemen was living out of his car. He told me that he had always wanted to visit and perhaps join the Lay Dominican community in Syracuse but lacked transportation. He asked me if I would take him to their next meeting. I did. He never joined the community but I stayed. Astonishing how God works. How thankful I am that God placed this man in my life. He was the vehicle through which it has been forever changed.

My Dominican vocation has nourished an insatiable hunger to know, live, share and defend the Truths of our Catholic Faith; to love and treasure the Eucharist;  to make it the source, center and  summit of our daily lives; to promote greater belief in and reverence for this magnificent Gift; and to have zeal for the salvation of souls, not only our own, but the souls of every one whom we encounter on this earthly journey. It provides a framework through which we can effectively live out our vocation as lay Catholics. I never would have had the courage to pursue Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration had it not been for the graces I have receved as a Lay Dominican. Your readers can find out more about the Lay Dominican vocation here. https://laydominicans.org/

How long did it take you to compile the 250 Reflections? How did you go about sorting and sifting through what I imagine an immense treasure trove?

It took me nearly a year to complete this book. I have been collecting quotes on the Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration since at least since May of 2011 and have hundreds. I printed all the quotations I had saved and prayerfully reviewed them, deciding at one point to select 250 of them. I prayed and tried to assemble those quotes that would really challenge our hard hearts and which were hopefully words that were not overly familiar to the book’s readers. I truly believe, as did St. Vincent Ferrer, O.P., that we cannot be timid when addressing problems in our Church and the lukewarm manner in which many of us live out our faith. St. Vincent was direct and confronted people with the Truth since it is only the Truth that will set hearts and souls free. 

While the response to this book has been overwhelmingly positive, I have received two conflicting types of criticism:  there are not enough quotations or 250 quotations are a bit much. 

Ha! Everybody has an opinion! Please share a couple of your favorite quotations and the reason why.

Wow, every time I reread the book, I find another favorite. 
Grin! This is why SSS will remain in my Adoration bag at all times. 
Let me share four.

The following words reminded  me that it is only by and through God’s grace, not by our devices, that we will be able to do anything of value:

“All you have loved in me comes from the time I spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament. All that has disappointed you in me comes from the time I should have spent in front of the Blessed Sacrament.”  (From Could You Not Watch with Me One Hour?)

The next three quotations address the problem of man’s ingratitude for the Gift of God’s Presence. This is a Truth we have been afraid to share for fear of offending the listener. But these are exactly the words that we must share if we are to reawaken so many lost souls:

“Ah, how it hurts to see in what manner our Savior is treated! There He is in the tabernacle, the Prisoner of Love, waiting for souls to come and visit Him. But whoever gives Him even a thought, one only thought? …It would cause so very little trouble to go to Him...for just a sweet moment. It would be so very easy to cast a tender glance upon that tiny door...to send a loving thought a-speeding towards that tabernacle...to breathe a few whispered words of affection...but, alas! When it comes to doing something for Jesus that something, no matter how small, becomes at once irksome and grievous-so weak are we!”” (Eucharistic Whisperings - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.) 

“How many among the best Catholics never pay a visit of devotion to the most Blessed Sacrament to speak with Him from the heart, to tell Him their love? They do not love our Lord in the Eucharist because they do not know Him well enough. But in spite of knowing Him and His love and the sacrifices and desires of His heart, they still do not love Him.

 What an insult!   Yes, an insult.

 For it amounts to telling Jesus Christ that He is not beautiful enough, not good enough, not lovable enough to be preferred to what they love.

What ingratitude!" (St. Peter Julian Eymard) 
“Why art Thou left alone in this Most Holy Sacrament? Where are Thy adorers and Thy friends? Has Thy Church failed to announce Thy Gospel to the world, and to make Thy presence known? Why art Thou so ignored, forsaken, and left alone in Thy tabernacles, without honor and with no one to thank Thee for the gift of Thy Real Presence? Why is the world kept in the dark concerning Thee in this Most Holy Sacrament, when Thou art all that this world needs, and all that souls desire?” (Dom Mark Daniel Kirby, OSB the author of Vultus Christi)

Ouch! You are right! These are hard to read; they convict me. You will see from my favorites that I am still a newbie when it comes to loving our blessed Lord. 

The first by St. Peter Julian Eymard (p. 109-110): Go to our Lord just as you are. Make a simple meditation. Exhaust your own fund of piety and love before you make use of books…Remember that our good Master prefers the poverty of our heart to the most sublime thoughts and affections borrowed from others… This reminds me how much God loves me just as I am and He will bring me to perfection. 

The second by Rev. Mateo Crawley-Boevey (p. 125-126) shed so much light on our Lord’s Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. See, I always thought my sins made Him weep. But there’s even a greater reason.  For centuries, I have carried in My Heart a sorrowful cross. How many souls are there redeemed by My Blood, yet, definitely lost! …My Heart was breaking in the Garden of Gethsemane, for they were all My children! It makes me pray more fervently for conversions knowing how close I was to choosing hell in my youth. I can’t thank you enough for writing this book. Not only has my prayer life deepened, but you’ve introduced me to new saint-friends and I look forward to getting to know them better. 

Your choices are excellent. Your words of support are most humbling.

I think my next book will be In Sinu Jesu—I finally realized (because of SSS) that the beautiful blog Vultus Christi is maintained by the same priest. What a treasure! How did you get to know him? Have you made a retreat with him?

Vijaya, you must read In Sinu Jesu. Every priest and every Catholic must read that book. It is an absolute treasure trove of Truth. I would love to make a retreat at the Silverstream Priory in County Meath Ireland but don’t see that becoming a reality. In lieu of meeting Dom Mark Daniel Kirby. O.S.B and his community personally, I will reread his book and visit his blog, Vultus Christi, regularly. I highly recommend Father’s blog to your readers. It was there that I first discovered excerpts from In Sinu Jesu before it became a published book.  
Over the years I have contacted Father via e-mail seeking his permission to use some of his work. He has always been most generous in giving me permission to do so. I cannot more highly recommend a priest or a religious community than Father Kirby and the Benedictine Monks of Perpetual Adoration of the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Altar. It has also been my privilege to share a portion of the proceeds realized from the sale of I Thirst For Your Love with them.

I've just begun! Is there anything else you would like to share, Michael?

Please let us love God as we ought and as He deserves. Let us come to Church to worship and adore Him and to reverently, with great humility and gratitude, receive His most precious Body and Blood. Let us do everything within our power individually and as a Church to reinstate reverence, sacredness and silence in our Churches. Let us visit and spend time before and with our loving Lord in the Blessed Sacrament every week. And let us quench His thirst to be loved and adored.

There are so many devotionals to bring to Adoration but SSS will remain my favorite. 

Vijaya, you have been so kind and helpful in promoting Stirring Slumbering Souls. I pray that you will also find I Thirst For Your Love, a fitting addition to your devotional collection. If either of these books have any value, it is because of the wise souls whose words and entreaties I have shared. To God forever be the Glory!

AMEN! I sing Non nobis Domine!!!
God bless you and your readers!

Thank you, Michael, for sharing your life and work so generously. God bless you for all you do! My friends, you will find a wealth of devotional aids on Michael Seagriff’s blog: https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/  To have a chance at winning your own copy of STIRRING SLUMBERING SOULS, leave a comment before the end of this month. I also urge you to make a Holy Hour Maundy Thursday. Many Catholic churches will have an Altar of Repose until midnight.

My dear readers, I conducted this interview before the terrible fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and couldn't have known how timely it would be. Just like the Jewish people were chastised, so are we, for turning away from God. "Yet even now," declares the LORD, Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning;" ~ Joel 2:12 

Abelmontf [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]

Credo: I Believe

Our priest, Msgr. McInerny, is doing a series of homilies on the Nicene Creed, which we recite every Sunday. You can listen to them by clicking on Latin Mass homilies. He packs a lot just in 10 minutes. Here are some notes I took on the first four words: 

I believe...

What is belief?
1. It is accepting something is true on the authority of someone else.
2. Belief is not the same as understanding. We might not understand how electricity works but we believe that if we toggle the light switch, the light will come on. 
3. Belief is a free act of the will. It has a basis in trust. Can we trust God? He is the author of Truth. He cannot deceive. 
4. It is reasonable to believe. Faith without reason is superstition.
5. It is for everybody. You don't have to be educated or smart to have it. It is free. 
6. You'll never understand everything. There is a supernatural mystery. 
Paganism is trying to reach God through imagination. In Catholicism, God unveils Himself. He opens Himself to us. Jesus Christ comes down to us, becoming completely vulnerable. He suffers and dies to save us. We are fallen creatures, redeemed.  

St. Augustine said, "I believe, that I might understand." 

I believe in God...
We can believe in the Creator by looking at creation. It is reasonable. 
Here I must recommend an amazing book by Fr. Thomas Dubay: The Evidential Power of Beauty.  
Goodness points to God, the fact that we have a sense of right and wrong. 
Philosophical pride--the temptation to put God into a science box.

Obstacles to faith: our own sin and that of others, that which causes scandal (ex. clergy sex abuse).
Tell me about the God you do not believe in.--when our spiritual fathers fail us. 

Evelyn Waugh used to very caustic in his remarks. People asked, "How can you be Catholic?" And he'd reply, "I'd be so much worse if I weren't." That always makes me smile because whenever anybody grumbled about me, I'd say, "I could be much worse." As a recent convert, I can assure you I really was much, much worse.

Today, many have no interest in religion at all. We are surrounded by Unbelief. 

Atheism on the rise. No reference to God at all. When asked, "What religion do you practice?" the answer is often, "None." Unbelief grows as more and more people are born into it. Yet, young people are hungry for what's missing and religion is being restored into their lives. And if they don't fill that hole in their heart with God, they'll fill it with something else. 

It's as Augustine says, "My heart is restless until it rests in You, O Lord." 

We can counter unbelief if we meditate upon the mystery of our own existence. 
What does it mean to be born, to live and to die as a human being? 

I love our church so much. Even the architecture points to God. Michael and I love to make a date for nocturnal Adoration. It is a peaceful and beautiful time, two hearts to Heart.
Let me close with Missa Brevis in F--I hope we get to sing it again. This is often called the Credo Mass for the many times we sing Credo Credo Credo during the Credo. I believe! I believe! I believe! Lord, help my unbelief.

  

Adoration--Stirring Slumbering Souls

Jesus my Lord, my God, my all.

I am so grateful to have Adoration right here on Daniel Island. Today was the first time in several years that I came close enough to the altar to really see the lovely monstrance and the small consecrated Host within. I know it must sound strange--transubstantiation--how we Catholics worship. I think of Mary cradling Him in her arms, of Mary washing His Feet with her tears, anointing His Feet in sweet perfume, and this is the same Jesus now enclosed in all the tabernacles in the world. And I *feel* His gaze upon me. It is indescribable.  

A couple of months ago, I received my very own copy of Stirring Slumbering Souls: 250 Eucharistic Reflections by Michael Seagriff and it's been my companion whenever I make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. I'm so grateful because I can mark it up as I wish :) I only use it at Adoration to make it last. 

Here are some quotations:

"...I remember once having two hours between trains in Paris. I went to the Church of Saint Roch to make my holy hour. There are not ten days a year I can sleep in the daytime. This was one. I was so tired, I sat down at 2:00 pm--too tired to kneel--and went to sleep. I slept perfectly until 3:00 pm. I said to the Good Lord: 'Did I make a holy hour?' The answer came back: 'Yes! That's the way the Apostles made their first one.'" ~ Blessed Ap. Fulton J. Sheen.

I loved this so much because I confess to having dozed too many times during Adoration, but if I can't rest in Him, then when? I love knowing that I'm surrounded by holy angels who are all adoring our dear Jesus.

"...You see the same Body, not in a manger, but upon the altar; not carried in His Mother's arms, but elevated in the priest's hands. Let us, therefore, be roused, and tremble, and bring with us more devotion to the altar than those Eastern kings did to the manger, where they adored their newborn Savior." ~ St. John Chrysostom.

 Today, the two of us were together alone for a while (usually there are 2 or 3 more adorers at any time) and I read this: "Here--all alone, He and I--He with all His greatness, and I with all my miseries--He, all fire; and I, burning in the midst of His Divine Passion!...My darkness is lost in the midst of His light...and my icy heart melts inside of His. Here my sins are forgiven and my sorrows--O! my sorrows are united to His own, giving them value...How many treasures are enclosed in this holy place, consecrated through the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament! Heaven is here, because He is here!" ~ Concepcion Carbrera de Armida.

This is a gem of a book! Truly, these reflections do more than stir this slumbering soul; they set my heart on fire. I thought I'd write a while with Jesus but I was lost in my daydreams, just the two of us together, the only necessary thing. Because Seagriff has compiled these reflections from many, many sources, I now have a bibliography of over a hundred saints or saints-in-making. For instance, the author of the third quote is a new discovery. I highly recommend this book.

Adoration

Adoration of the Magi by Bassano Jacopo and Francesco

A few people have asked me what Adoration is. The short answer is: worship. The  consecrated Host is Jesus, all of Him: Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. And so we fall on our knees in adoration like the Magi did when they worshipped the new-born Babe.

The long answer is my personal experience: I anticipate this date a week beforehand. Like a lover, I think about what I might wear, what I might talk about, what He might reveal to me. The night before, I am excited. And when the day finally comes, I can't wait to finish my morning chores so that I can go meet Jesus. I dress nicely, bring my veil, rosary, some spiritual reading, and my notebook. I read, write, pray, just be. My biggest challenge is staying awake especially in the afternoon or night. I get very, very sleepy. I suppose I'm not a very good lover. But it is lovely to rest in the Lord.

I've been doing this now monthly for about 2.5 years, ever since St. Clare of Assisi parish on Daniel Island was formed. The pastor at the Anglican church has graciously allowed us to use their church for daily Mass and Adoration. Weekend Masses are at Bishop England. I pray that when we have our own church building that we'll have a perpetual Adoration chapel. All it takes is a willingness to commit to spending time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, even if it's at 3 am. And it's so wonderful to be able to pop in for a few minutes. Even if Jesus isn't exposed, you can still visit with Him if the lamp near the Tabernacle is lit.

So I encourage my readers to go visit Jesus. You don't have to be Catholic or even Christian. Just sit with Him. And I can guarantee you that you will receive graces. Some illumination or insight into the spiritual world. Maybe even an epiphany!

Here's a directory.

During our conversion, I used to wonder why Jesus was all locked up in the tabernacle, but it is for His own safety. Many satanic groups will steal the Blessed Sacrament to desecrate it. I've even read stories of people in the satanic groups who can identify a consecrated Host from one that isn't. I find this amazing since even many Catholics have lost the sense of the Real Presence of Christ.

I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that the Lord of the universe comes to us in humble bread. This is why I love the hands of priests, because it is only through them we receive Jesus in a substantial way. One would have thought that Jesus couldn't do anything more humble than to come down to earth as a helpless baby, at the mercy of humans, to save us. Even one drop of His Precious Blood would've saved us all, but He loves us so much He suffers and dies for us. That's Passion!

The fruits of Adoration are many. The quiet time is a blessing. And there is something wonderful that happens being still. Many Masses, psalms and hymns come to mind but when I'm deeply in prayer, there are no words. It's heart to Heart. Last year I meditated upon the Hours of the Passion as recorded by Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta. Having seen Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, many of the images that come to mind are from his movie (He based it on the visions of Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich). It's amazing how many of the details match both of these saints, separated by time and space.

Well, these are just some of my thoughts on Adoration.  And here are a couple of quotes from a dear saint, Mother Teresa. 

When you look at the crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then. When you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now.

Jesus has made Himself the Bread of Life to give us life. Night and day, He is there. If you really want to grow in love, come back to the Eucharist, come back to that Adoration.

Sweet Sacrament is one of my favorite hymns and I love both this particular arrangement and the pictures that Msgr. Pope compiled for this video.