. Contemplative Haven: February 2007

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Lend Me Your Flashlight


You may be wondering where the posts on detachment are. And the Lectio. Not to mention, God forbid, a prompt response to an email or a comment.

Look down. Look way down. Into the abyss. Do you see me? Yes, that's me, waving my calculator at you. The abyss of the fiscal-year-end, accompanied, ever so thoughtfully, by income tax season.

But wait! There's one good thing I must share with you. A fellow at the coffee shop today called me "Miss". Yup. Maybe all this hard work agrees with me. Or maybe, maybe it's just one-too-many large Vanilla Hazelnuts.

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posted by Gabrielle at 1:19 AM |

Thursday, February 22, 2007

A Blessed Lent to All


Lay aside your passing pleasures
Look beyond what cannot last
Shallow hopes are mere distractions
Earthly comforts soon are past
See in Christ a grand horizon
Find a life more rich and vast.

Raise your eyes and see the Savior
Feel His love, and hear His call
Follow Him in self-denial
Find your Father all in all
Take the cross, accept the suffering
Soon the cost will seem so small.

Gladly trade your crumbling treasure
Gain the pearl of greatest price
Life is more than pain and pleasure
Life in Him is true delight
Find your freedom, find your glory
Find yourself in Jesus Christ.

El Greco's "Penance of Mary Magdalene", c. 1587-97

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posted by Gabrielle at 12:10 PM |

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Satyagraha (Truthforce)

When Pope John Paul II visited India in February of 1986, he described his visit as a, "pilgrimage of good will and peace, and the fulfilment of a desire to experience personally the very soul of your country."

One of his stops was at the funerary monument of Mahatma Gandhi, whom Pope John Paul II referred to as the, "apostle of non-violence." In his address on this occasion, the Pope stated that the, "figure of Mahatma Gandhi and the meaning of his life's work have penetrated the consciousness of humanity." He went on to say this:

 "...I wish to express to the people of India and of the world my profound conviction that the peace and justice of which contemporary society has such great need will be achieved only along the path which was at the core of his [Gandhi's] teaching: the supremacy of the spirit and Satyagraha, the "truthforce", which conquers without violence by the dynamism instrinsic to just action."

What is "Satyagraha"? It can be broken down into "Satya" (Truth) and "Agraha" (Firmness). Truth, Gandhi said, implies Love, and firmness can be seen as a force. He stated, "I thus began to call the Indian movement Satyagraha, that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or non-violence..."

In his address at Gandhi's funerary monument, Pope John Paul II stated that, "leaders of peoples, and all men and women of good will, must believe and act of the belief that the solution lies within the human heart." He went on to recall to the people the words of Jesus, the Beatitudes, of which he attested that Gandhi, "was very familiar and in which he found the confirmation of the deep thoughts of his heart." It was Pope John Paul II's desire that the Beatitudes, as well as, "other expressions in the sacred books of the great religious traditions" of India, "be a source of inspiration to all peoples."

And so we have Pope John Paul II instructing us that, "the solution lies within the human heart", and we can also call upon another of Mahatma Gandhi's oft-quoted teachings: "Become the change you seek in the world."

Something to ponder - what would I like to see changed in the world? An end to war and other violence, addictions, poverty, sin, disease, pollution, global warming, discrimination and hatred?

How will it happen? Can I,

Become Peace **** Become Freedom **** Become Generosity ****Become Purity **** Become Health **** Become Perfect Creation **** Become Compassion **** Become Love

Become. Become. Become. I must become, or how shall I ask it of anyone else?

[Quotations from Pope John Paul II are found in, "Address of John Paul II on Occasion of the Visit to the Funerary Monument of Raj Ghat Dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi", on the Vatican website.]

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posted by Gabrielle at 3:00 PM |

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Feastday of Our Lady of Lourdes

This image can be found in the underground
basilica at Lourdes (Basilica of St. Pius X),
which also houses the Indoor Way of the Cross.


As always with our Blessed Mother, even at Lourdes she turns our gaze directly towards Her Son, Jesus.

Among the many other activities at Lourdes between the months of April and October, there is a daily Procession of the Blessed Sacrament.

As described on the website Lourdes-france, it is "one of the oldest traditions of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, to which has been added the Blessing of the Sick." The website goes on to tell us that "this celebration affirms three things: the Real Presence of Christ in the Sacred Host consecrated, our need to see the One who loves us, and that the Son of God is always among us in our joys and sorrows."




Ave Regina Caelorum

Traditionally used from the Feast of the Purification (February 2nd) until Wednesday in the Holy Week.

Hail, Queen of heaven;
Hail, Mistress of the Angels;
Hail, root of Jesus.
Hail, the gate through which the Light rose over the earth.
Rejoice, Virgin most renowned and of unsurpassed beauty,
and pray for us to Christ.

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posted by Gabrielle at 11:05 PM |

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Huge, huge apologies

I just got a big shock. I switched the blog over to the new blogger, and in blue, beside many of my former posts, there was the word "comment" appearing. When I clicked on these comments, they were from people over the months whose comments I had never seen. They never appeared on my Haloscan, nor on the blog. I know this happened a couple of times when I first started to blog, and people told me their comments didn't appear, but I had no idea it was continuing to happen. These fine people must have thought I deleted their comments, but in fact, I never even saw them. Where were they? That's what I'd like to know.

So, now all sorts of people out there think I never responded to their comments. I have absolutely no idea how this happened, and I am very sorry. I'm going to go through the list and try to contact everyone to apologize. I feel just terrible.

I guess I'll be upgrading the template soon, in which case I think all of my design/comments will be lost anyway. I have printed them all out though, since April, so I can go back and read them on hard-copy and smile whenever I'm feeling blue.

In case I entirely disappear by accident, I just want to tell you all how much I've loved being here since last April.

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posted by Gabrielle at 2:05 PM |

Sunday, February 04, 2007

A Trappist Gift


I would like to share with you today one of the most beautiful websites I have ever come across, that of the Trappist monks of Our Lady of the Prairies Monastery, situated in western Canada, in Holland, Manitoba.

The website was created with the help of the St. Norbert Arts Centre and the Canadian federal government department of Canadian Heritage, for the Virtual Museum of Canada. Called, A Day in the Life of a Trappist Monk, the site is, in my opinion, a work of art on every level, be it spiritual, aesthetics, information, music, history - a place I will return to time and time again.

Among other things, you will find overviews of the seven prayertimes the monks participate in daily, with a short video clip for each, as well as overviews of the main components of the monastic life, with video clips as well as diagrams/printed instructions of the pertinent Trappist sign language. As well, there is information and audio clips/videos of chant, in both Latin and French.

All this, and so much more. A treasure trove of the Cistercian/Trappist life. Enjoy. Spend a few hours sometime, if you can. I think you may want to.

posted by Gabrielle at 1:10 PM |

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Five Things You Don't Know About Me

I was tagged for this meme by my friend forget-me-not a few days ago, so let's see...

- I am fascinated by crop circles.

- I have no sense of direction, so please don't take me to see a crop circle and then abandon me.

- My one dream before I die is to see the Northern Lights. I know I'm Canadian, but I've never seen them.

- I enjoy whistling, and am quite good at it. I sound particularly fine in a large room with no furniture.

- I love old movies. Like this, and this.

Well, that's five, and I'm glad it's over. You know, these kinds of things are nervewracking when you're a very private person. Oh, there is something else, in the interest of full disclosure:

posted by Gabrielle at 10:35 AM |