I can see why the Church recommends Retreats, it lets you see life in a whole new way again, its a bit like starting over. Anyway I was praying about what I should write about next on the Forum and it came to me in praying to Our Lady about it that I should write again and in much more depth on prayer, specifically the seven stages of prayer as put forth by St Teresa of Avila in her book , 'The Interior Mansions' {or Castles} and which will be good to write in conjuction with this series on the Seven Stages of prayer. All being well if I stick at it , it will be published later. Funny I felt this in prayer and then when I got back the first thing I saw was the Message from Medugorje form Our Blessed Lady at Medugorje which was ...a Teaching on Prayer!! Here is a link to St Teresa's book, I will not be following her writings too closely {as lets face it she is a Doctor of the Church and can't be improved on} but will foloow her general o utline, with my own thoughts on each stage, which will be described as Seven Gardens. To be honest when I write on prayer I find myself getting carried away. Sat Teresa says if we were to write on the depths contained on the Our Father alone all the libraries in the world could not contain her thoughts and also that it is possible for a soul to become a saint in the space of one Our Father well said....but I am going to spend several months on this to say quite a lot.
I had a dream the night before last. I dreamt I stood in the sky overlooking Jerusalem and the Holy Land. An intense war was going on , I saw folks with different uniforms and they were killing each other, especially with engines I could not recognise. They were totally ruthless, so bad was the fighting that JEwish people were actually killing Jews. Then I dreamt I stood in heaven at the Lat Judgement. Thousands of souls clothed in white stood before me in a huge crowd fading into the distance. I heard a stirring in the crowd and I felt a tremor of fear as I knew Jesus Christ had come to judgement and recalling my sins I was afraid how I would fair. I saw Jesus and in His hands He bore a very large and Magniicent Chalice or Ciborium. He stopped at each person and handed them something white, like a host and I could tell by e3ach persons joy that they had been gratend Salvation or entrance into the Kingdom. I have been curious about this and I think it may either be the piece of the Scroll hand to St John that tasted bitter at first but then like honey after he ate it. But on reflection I think it was the stone, the tablet mentioned in Revelation that is handed to the Elect with their name written on it. Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. Then Jesus approached me , He was clothed in robes so bright and shiny they looked like silver, with a great Golden jewel studded girdle at His waste and a great crown on his head like the ones the Eatern Rite , 'Popes of Priests wear. He handed me the white stone and then He laughed wagged His finger at me and siad, 'Now you know, NOW you believe'..referring to my numerous doubts on Earth. But as he turned from me to go to someone else, it suddenly struck me that no matter Christs granduer and magnificance He was still the little Jesus who had been my good friend through life. This was my dear friend and we were meeting for the very first time face to face and love made fear flee from me. I shouted out , 'Ah Jesus I love you!''..and He turned and we hugeed each other .. I think some of the others standing round about were astonished at my cheek and forwardness. This dream reminded me of the importance of prayer, for if we have made Jesus our frined thorugh a life of prayer, we need never fear meeting Him at the Jugement seat we we may not simply be judged but hugged . For as we have hugged Hm in life so too we shall hug Him in death. Love casteth out fear.
Thank you for sharing that. It is a beautiful dream. I hope someday, my own dreams will be blessed with such visions. I know I have a lot of praying to do before I am so blessed. What a joy! Kath
That is VERY neat. I could just visualize the whole thing as you described it. So, was there a name on the stone that you received?
I didn't get much further than the hugging Connie. My father years ago was a very Cathoic Catholic, he was always talking about and concerned with things religious , especially the Tridentine Mass. But he was a very strict Catholic alway concerned about the politics of the Church, i think maybe from what I have heard about him, a bit like Mel Gibson's father (which might to some extent explain Mel's current difficulties..too much anger and condemnation) I told me father more than a few times that all Our Faith boiled down to was love, everything, everything we do and are is about love. He thought this was 'mamby pamby' and emotional etc. But before he died in the Hospice he said to me in kinda shocked and surprised tones, 'Padriag you were right all along it IS all about love; everythings about love... At the end of the day as St John of the Cross, 'At the evening of life we shall be judged on love' . My dream reminded me of that. Jesus shall come to be Our Just Judge it is true but if the Jesus we meet at the End of Time is the dear Jesus, the dear little Jesus who has lived in our hearts all these years in prayer then we shall meet Him not as our Judge but as our Saviour and dear, dear friend. One thing I noticed about the folks around me as we hugged each other they seemed surprised and even offended that I should be so bold. But the path to God is to be very,very little. Little children ad very bold, trusting in love and throwing ourselves into his arms . Little well loved and loving children have no fear. Kathleen I think we all have such dreams, wther God grants that we should remember them or not. When we sleep and sleep in prayer we sleep in the arms of our angels,we walk in our sleep in Sacred Ground..as indeed we walk in Sacred ground in our waking hours. God is always near, God is never far away. He loves us to much to leave us; even for a second.
Its certainly a gift to recall them. God knows I love him, and I don't need the dreams to continue that love, but I yearn for more tangible contact (don't we all?). I shouldn't complain though...I do get my God connection regularly through helping others- basically when I know that an idea came through me from the Holy Spirit on how to help someone else- its a great joy. It makes me giggle, cuz I know it wasn't me doing the work and making the connections. I try to give credit where credit is due but the heathans around me don't understand. Keep dreaming and sharing. They are beautiful dreams. Kath
It has been so long since I've had a vivid or revealing dream, or anything religious in a dream that I recall. I have had some in my lifetime but not too many really. However, when it comes to the Holy Spirit I have been feeling his influence often within the last couple years - when I write emails or forum posts, when I chat with some people...I can't even get the the words out fast enough sometimes. It is exciting and joy-filled, I agree Kathleen. I get "signs" in my real everyday life sometimes, and messages through the words of others. Once or twice I thought I actually met an angel, though not the flying kind...the messenger kind...the old man who walked through our campsite once and chatted with us like we knew him our whole lives, the young woman at the Medj. conference a few years ago...but no dreams lately. So I love to hear about the dreams that others have...keep posting them everyone!
Sigh . I wrote a big huge post on dreams and it has dissappeared. I will try to write it again but not in so much detail. I think a good tip to remember dreams is to try and recall them as soon as you wake up. Even keep a dream journal. We in the West rush about so much we just don't do this. We shouldn't WE SHOULD PAY ATTENTION. We rush about far to much. I read a lovely definition of dreams as , 'Having a conversation with oneself' . True, from a psychological perspective . But from a mystical ,spiritual perpective I believe we talk to angels, Our Lady, Our Lord, the Holy Souls, other praying souls, the Holy Souls in purgatory ,we travel to Holy places and yes even the devil sticks his cloven hoof in. :wink: :lol: God has no favourites. We are all loved equally because we are all loved infinitely. Another tip is to regard the time before sleep as a precious prayer time if we go into dreams praying we will carry on..at least to an extent praying as we sleep. Well that's my theory anyway. But there is a but. God does not permit we always recall them for we must to a great extent live by pure faith and too much of a helping hand might decrease merit. But still I think we might recall more than we presently do. Again this is only my theory. :wink: It seems to me mystically true dream impact deeply, they have a real WOW factor. We recall some for a very long time; many for ever. For instance the first time I dreamt about the devil I was about two or three years old. I was walking in the most beautiful garden you have ever seen, ohhing and ahhing all over the place. Then I saw the most beautiful butterfly huge and in gorgeous colours. The butterfly landed on me and stung me, I turned black and was burnt all over, I was in intense agony and woke up crying. Only many , may years later I discerned that it was the devil. I say thankfully as it would ahve given a two year old the heebeee geebies. But that dream was 53 years ago and I recall it like it was last night, if you get my drift...
I too recall dreams from childhood. I dreamt I was being chased and stung by big bumble bees as a youngster and I ran to my parents' bed screaming, and ducked under their covers, but I was CERTAIN that one of the bees got unter there with me and I couldn't be consoled for a while...I never associated it with anything evil, but to this day I remember how I felt. I think I was 6 or 7. And I have a really vivid dream of purgatory that I am certain was someone showing me something. Dreamt that one in the "80's. It takes a half hour just to explain it all. I used to have tornado dreams that really were scary and would stick with me, but then I figured out that they happened when I was in a turmoil with a loved one...after I figured this out, they lessened and even went away for a while. Sometimes I still get them, but they are not so frightening, in fact sometimes now they are "cool"! So, I am not an alien to vivid dreams, but it just seems that I have been devoid of any really significant ones for a number of years now. Maybe it is because I hurry around too much, as you say, and I don't write them down. I have done that in the past for a few dreams (I wrote down the purgatory one). Maybe it is the medication I take for health issues that interferes with my dreaming now, or maybe it is something else. I don't know. It has been a very long time since I have been awakened by a vivid dream.
I think Connie, children who have just come,as it were from heaven, have an innocense that permits them to see across the divide. I think also thats why its so important for us to get them to say their night prayers. It is so traditional and noticeable in the prayers we teach to say at evening ,especially for chldren how foten we pray for protectio nfrom evil and the Evil One. Even in the prayers of the Church at night prayer, prayers for protection from evi lare very prominent. But its not only children ; in the Hospice I was very,very impressed at the dreams and visions of the dying. I love the stroy of the German Philospher Goethe's mother when she was dying. A lady friend came to visit her when she was 'Busy dying' and had no time to talk. CHildren nad the dying have the time to see things we are rushing about too much to see. But maybe we should take time. Theree is a little building across from me in work , suddenly I noticed the toher day the charry trees and mimosa trees outside it in full bloom, I was amazed at their beauty , but I had never noticed them coming forth..I had just paid no attention. How amny folks in this city look at the clouds in the sky..yet they are always there..how many see the sunrise and sunset every day...yet they always happen.....its the same for the spiritual. ....and how many folks when they encounter a beautiful or handsome person see, with spiritual eyes the seething evil that crawls beneath and the danger that may face them, they only see the outer carpace and are deceived thereby... Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psa 91:2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Psa 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. Psa 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Psa 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Psa 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. Psa 91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Psa 91:8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Psa 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; Psa 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Psa 91:11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Psa 91:12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Psa 91:13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Psa 91:14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. Psa 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. Psa 91:16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
What a wonderful dream, Padraig. I'd say it was even more than just a dream; it was indeed a special grace from God. I am amazed sometimes about dreams. I dream all the time. Sometimes, I might as well take a bucket of popcorn to bed with me. :lol: Somenight, I'll dream about eating a giant marshmallow. Then I'll wake up the following morning and the pillow will have disappeared.... :lol: :lol: But I do wonder why I never dream of Jesus or Mary, and all the thinking and praying I do about them; you'd think they'd be ideal candidates for 'Screen 1' every night.
Sean, Maybe you've missed your calling and should take up directing movies! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
I thiink its true ,Sean a lot of dreams are pop corners. I had a dream the other week that I was standing outside a lady from works house. She had ordered a large automobile from work a landrover which arrived from Scotland on a large wooden pallet. She looked it over ,said it was the wrong model and had to be returned. So a group of us picked it up and placed it on her garage for collection. :shock: As we did so one of the men slacked of carrying it and I got very angry and shouted at him. :lol: I suppose the dream was for the pop corn. But the lady whom I dreamed about is a very, very hard worker, she never stopped and in my dream we were doing...hard work. In the Story of a Soul with St Therese of Liseaux we can see her dreams were about thing like little bunny rabbits and picking flowers, kids dreams even when she got older. I think this was because she retained her baptismal innocense in a real sense St Therese of the Child Jesus always remained a child... Also she says one of the things she says she missed in Carmel was walking in the meadows picking flowers..so in her dreams she is in the meadows ..with the bunny rabbits...picking flowers..which is lovely. Matthew 18:3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
I think Deanna I have been praying a lot about this dream for it is teaching me a lot. In the Medieval paintings of the Last Judgement we have pictures as King and just Judge sititing on a Throne weighing souls, some to Hell some to Heaven. But this is not quite how I saw Him in my dream. Yes he had a great jewelled Crown and girdle and yes He was awe inspiring and yes I frightend or at least stomach churning. But he was not remote. He walked right among the crowd and judged each person face to face, not from a throne but face to face. It is this personal loving thing that touched me. To recollect that the Jesus we shall meet at the final Judgement is the very same little Jesus we talk to each day in the tabernacles of our hearts, the very same one we have grown to know and love. I am struck remembering it too how people drew back in kind of shock as I reached out to hug him. They didn't understand this and thought it somehow improper. This it seems to me teaches us that we can go to Jesus as a remote Kingly figure someone maybe whom we respect and are in awe of. But I see now more than ever that the very best way is to grow in knowledge of the very little Jesus, the God of our hearts . For which is better to have a High King whom we respect and distantly love or a very little Jesus who is our dear friend. A King on a Throne or the King of our hearts? But , then again how can Jesus be our friend if we have here on Earth not taken time to play with Him? This hugging of Jesus to our hearts does not in any way at all detract from the Majesty of God, for GOd is always God, God wants to rush to us and hug us back. His love in a sense makes Him utterly insane. :wink: Luke 17:21 nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." 'Everything I have ever learnt, I have learnt from love'. Tolstoy
Many people are still afraid of going to confession face to face. I remember being afraid of this too, but my best confessions have all been that way. My mom and I have been going to a "parish mission" this week, and a big part of it is the priest is trying to get folks to go to confession. Last night, one priest was in the confessional and one was in the sacristy...my mom only heard him say that the one was in the sacristy, and I saw that wave of fear come over her, "Oh. I'm not going in there"... This reminds me of your dream...people are afraid to touch or hug a priest in confession...or to have him see their face...so it would stand to reason that they would be afraid, even more afraid, to do this with Jesus himself. I loved YOUR response to Jesus though. I hope I have an opportunity to do that someday. When forgiven, I feel like I could hug the priest sometimes. It is the process of becoming intimate with Jesus that is very hard for us to recognize sometimes. But every time we receive him in the Eucharist, we become as intimate with him as possible on this earth. Once again, the other sunday, our priest reminded us of this. He walked up for the Homily, and the first thing he said was, "So, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?" (in the manner of many Protestant evangelists - ) We all gave a sheepish "yes"...to which he replied, "NO, you have an INTIMATE relationship with Jesus Christ!....because every time you participate in the Mass, you RECEIVE him within you! That's way better than "personal"...that is intimate! So next time someone asks you, "Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ"...what will you say?" Say No, I have an INTIMATE relationship with Jesus Christ!" So, of course you should want to hug him... :lol:
Very nice Connie! Every time I am asked by the, 'Born againers' if I am a Christian I always say es and if they ask if I am born again I always say yes too. This really, really annoys many people who wish to claim exclusively the name Christian for themselves. We had a wonderful old lady at wordk, Sadie, last year who did her best to convert me by inviting her to her own Church. I would have gone but never seemed to find the time. I would especially love to visit a Black Gospel CHurch, I love the singing. But it annoys me that often they consider themselves as Christians and we not. I always have admired Billy Graham. In his early days he seems to me to have been very exclusive but he made a real journey towards holiness during his life towards inclusiveness. I think it must be very, very hard for our Protestant sisters and brothers without the Eucharist. I also thin without Confession , 'Back sliding' is a real problem for them. For us sin is and coping with it is dealt with. For them it is a real obstacle.
I too always say yes to those questions...and I love the phrase our priest has now given us to use. If they ask me when I was "born again" I say, "when I was Baptised!". If they really react negatively to that answer...then I say, "And again publically in 1974, at my Confirmation...and again and again every time I receive Jesus in the Eucharist at our Holy Mass, and every time I go to confession!" We love Billy Graham too, his old shows have been on TV a lot lately, on TBN mostly, I think. Whenever he is on, my husband stops channel surfing and watches the whole thing! LOL He was so close to Catholic views in many of his preachings...imagine if he had ever experienced the real receiving of Jesus in the Eucharist! Yes, some think that being Catholic is different than being Christian. I have heard that question many times - "are you Christian, or are you Catholoc?" I say..."yes"...so funny sometimes but a great conversation opener.
We get taught so many, many things as we are growing up. The one thing we are never taught, at least directly is the path of love, the pilgrim path of prayer. However when I was 15 I first read St Teresa of Avila's , 'Interior Mansions' and followed this up by all her other books (I was a great reader} I was at once hooked on her and have been ever since. Why? Well Teresa explains this attraction at the vert start of this book. She says there are three great graces of prayer. The grace of prayer itself. The grace to understand ones prayer. FInally the grace to describe prayer to others. Mother Teresa had all three in abundance and overflowing. I don't know if you've ever read any of the medieval mystics like say St Gertrude of her spiritual daughter St Mechtilde. For they are in many ways typical of the type of writing previous to St Teresa and St John of the Cross. Here is an account she gives of meeting with Jesus in her convent: “Since the preceding Advent my heart had been filled with an indescribable longing and unrest, whose salutary effects were to give me a disgust for the frivolities and levity of youth. This was the first step of Thy love in preparing my heart for Thyself . . . I was in the dormitory, just at the beautiful hour of evening twilight. According to the rule, I inclined toward an aged Sister in token of respect. Raising my head, whom should I behold but Thyself, O my Beloved, my Redeemer, the most beautiful among the children of men! Thou didst appear as a most charming youth, who in a friendly and pleasant manner didst approach me. “Standing before me, Thou didst say in accents of indescribable sweetness: ‘Thy salvation is at hand! Why art thou consumed by grief?’ Then I felt myself transported to the choir and heard these wonderful words: ‘I will save thee and deliver thee; fear not. Thou hast sucked honey amidst thorns, but return now to Me—I will inebriate thee with the torrent of My celestial delights.’ “Thou didst open Thy arms invitingly. I endeavored to approach—but, lo! a great hedge of sharp thorny bushes barred the way. Dismayed, I stood there, bewailing my sins and defects. In a moment, Thou, O Lord, didst extend Thy hand to me, and immediately I was beside Thee and reposed on Thy Heart. My gaze fell upon Thy hands and feet, and I saw, good Jesus, those five glorious Wounds with whose Blood Thou didst pay the ransom of the whole world. “From this moment,” adds the saint, “I commenced to taste only Thyself, O my God. With new spiritual joy I began to follow in Thy footsteps, and I found Thy yoke sweet and light.” Though hitherto Gertrude had been very pious and a model of religious observance, after the above mentioned grace she considered the previous time lost, and believed that, as the prodigal son, she had just returned to her God. From this hour she discontinued all secular studies. I particularly liked their descriptions of things like heaven , hell and purgatory; I found and still find such accounts fascinating, as I see did Bob and Penny Lord who mention St Gertrude in a recent book: ] Here again , for instance is a vision Gertrude was granted on Holy Communion: Once again, when Gertrude was praying for a person who abstained from Communion through human respect, fearing to scandalise those who knew her faults, our Lord showed the saint the weakness of this excuse by the following comparison. <( A man who sees a stain upon his hands washes them, and not only removes the stain but cleanses both his hands perfectly. In the same manner it sometimes happens that I allow My elect to fall into certain slight faults of which they at once repent, and so become more pleasing to Me by their humility. " But there are some who, in return for My favours, do not correspond with My designs, neglecting after their act of contrition to adorn their souls in which I take so much pleasure ; and thinking only of their exterior reputation. This happens whenever, without scruple, they deprive themselves of the graces they would receive in Holy Communion lest others might say they were not sufficiently prepared." Our Lord went so far as to tell His servant on another occasion that the more unworthy the soul to which He stoops to communicate His favours, the more His mercy is exalted before all His creatures. These words almost frightened her, and she urged that those who abstain from Holy Communion because their conscience re proaches them with being wholly unworthy, do so out of reverence. Our Lord replied, " He who receives Me I think this openess to traditional Catholic mystics and mysticism has one great effect and that is to encourage a steady traditional Catholic devotionlism to form of meditation and worship that date back in many cases for centuries. For instance on the Holy Rosary we have the 15 Promises of the Blessed Virgin to those who say the rosasry. Although scholars have found no evidence in the writings of St Dominic to support this private revelation to Blessed Alan de la Roche (c.1428-1475) that is now legendary, the promises themselves are held to be theoretically probable following the apparitions of Fatima where Mary has appeared holding a string of Rosary beads. In one such appearance at Portugal, Fatima, Mary told the three young visionaries: "I am the Lady of the Rosary. I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and to ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend Our Lord any more, for He is already too grievously offended by the sins of men. People must say the Rosary. Let them continue saying it every day." The Fatima apparitions were approved by the Church, and are declared authentic and of a supernatural character. PROMISE 1: Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the Rosary shall receive signal graces. PROMISE 2: I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the Rosary. PROMISE 3: The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against Hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. PROMISE 4: It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means. PROMISE 5: The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish. PROMISE 6: Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just, he shall remain in the grace of God and become worthy of eternal life. PROMISE 7: Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church. PROMISE 8: Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death, they shall participate in the merits of the saints in Paradise. PROMISE 9: I shall deliver from Purgatory those who have been devoted to the Rosary. PROMISE 10: The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit high degree of glory in Heaven. PROMISE 11: You shall obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the Rosary. PROMISE 12: All those who propagate the Holy Rosary shall be aided by me in their necessities. PROMISE 13: I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors the entire Celestial Court during their life and at the hour of death. PROMISE 14: All who recite the Rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only Son, Jesus Christ. PROMISE 15: Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
There is so much I have not read! I watch a lot of EWTN though and whenever a Saint documentary is on, I watch it. I have so many books I am trying to read, so many books I have bought and have not read yet, and so many I want to read...when will I ever have time? I pray there is a great library in heaven and I can take eternity to go through it all, at my leisure, without any concern that I will not have enough time...with my birds on my shoulders, my kitties playing at my ankles, and my dogs sleeping at my side.
