Thank you Padraig, very much appreciated! I take it you are saying it is some kind of dark night of the soul?
And today is the Feast of the Holy Rosary! The Rosary conquers, at Lepanto and today. Prayed a family Rosary for all of you and your families.
It might be of a Spiritual Nature of some sort. It might be good to be open to the possibility. Doctors, unless they are very special indeed will not even consider spiritual possibilities in events. Depression may have a Pathology, but then again they may not. They may be a sign of inner growth rather than inner decay. It's good to keep doors of understanding open. The fact that you a good Catholic leading a good life might eliminate some of the Pathological causes and point more towards the Spiritual. A for instance not being out of your head on drugs and drink.
All this brings me back to years and years ago the last time I was speaking to the Abbott of my Monastery who in his lat interview with me gave his opinion that I needed, 'Mental help'. When I asked him in what regards he thought I needed such help he said that I was, 'Praying too much'. Monasteries are best described as , 'Schools for prayer'. Suggesting to a a monk that he is mentally ill because he is praying too much is rather like suggesting to a farmer that he is away in the head because he is farming too much, or to a Doctor that she is practicing medicine too much or to Lawyer that she is at Law too much. It occurs to me that what they are saying to these nuns amounts to the exact same thing. That they are praying too much. A crazy accusation. No one can pray too much, just as no one can breath too much. St Paul himself gives the injunction that we should never stop praying. Was he too away in the head? 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Our goal is for every second or every action be a prayer. The eternal moment focused on God. Easier said than done. Strange those contemplatives are saving souls. And they are telling them they don’t have apostolate. sad sad sad
I know of this priest, Fr Maximilian Mary Dean. He became a hermit priest with the permission of his Bishop. He lives by himself in a room with an altar where he offers the TLM. He offers Mass for the Carmelites. Several times a year he sends out emails to see if people want to enroll in a novena of Masses which he will offer. I just enrolled in the All Souls novena. I had no idea things were this bad.
54 Day Rosary Novena led by Fr. Maximilian M. Dean with responses by the Carmelite Nuns in Fairfield. CDs can be purchased in the Sanctus eShop and the Rosaries are available for streaming/download on all major platforms. Fr. Maximilian can be supported through this effort.
Fr. Maximilian Mary of Jesus Crucified making his Solemn Vows as a hermit in the hands of Bishop Ronald Gainer, Diocese of Harrisburg, on Sept. 26th, 2020.
Although it's true there can be dangers in being a hermit too, if people are not careful. The then Pope back in the 1930's made a law that Carthusians have a communal walk every so often for a conversation after a monk killed his Prior in Italy in a dispute over a chicken. When the monks started the walks they could not talk to each other because they had lost the art of conversation. They had to call in the head shrinkers in to teach the monks the long lost art of having a chat. Even too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. This is why in very strict Orders they try to build in , 'Fuse breakers' like relaxing the rules a little on Great Feast Days. I have read that the great temptation of the hermit is anger; anger at oneself, there being no one else to loose one's cool at. There are stages of the Spiritual Life which can induce over much enthusiasms, many of them strange, like too much Fasting and Penance and strange practices.. ..and this of course is true of lay folk too. If people start to stare at you this should be a warning Sign.
I think, and this may sound strange, that this persecution of the contemplative orders is a good sign. God tends to try His most beloved in the furnace. Their sufferings are pure gold. The prayers of contemplative nuns are worth so much for the rest of us in the Church...but the sufferings of contemplative nuns being unfairly thrown out or subjected to unpleasant or even cruel authority is worth far, far more...if they persevere in humility and charity. The fact that God is allowing this suffering to come upon His traditional, most treasured contemplative orders is a sign that He is obtaining great graces for us and them. I hope and pray they are aware of this and are somehow encouraged by His drawing them to the Cross with Himself. We must pray hard for them, because we in the world will benefit from their lovingly-offered suffering and owe them so much gratitude.
It doesn't sound strange at all, it sounds very Catholic Thank you for saying this, I will try to remember to include the nuns in my prayers.
During previous persecutions such as the Protestant reformation and the French Revolution ii is true they put the Contemplatives to the Wall first. In England under Henry VIII it was the Carthusians and in Paris in 1794 the Carmelite Nuns.
'Monks, monks, monks' - the mythical last words of Henry VIII - but how I wish this were true! Martin Luther & Henry VIII - two madmen
It really pains my heart and blows my mind the attempt by the Church to rehabilitate Martin Luther since Vatican II - the man was a complete scoundral - Revisionism at its worst. If Amoris Letitia had been written at the time of Henry VIII he would not have had to break with the Church. Perhaps, Pope Francis might want to rehabilitate Henry VIII as a 'defender of the faith' as he has with Martin Luther. It is certainly true both Henry VIII and Martin Luther would be at home at the Novus Ordo Mass.
Martin Luther to me seems at least ten times better than our present reigning Jesuit Pontiff. I have run out of words as to how I might describe him. Lower than a snakes belly comes to mind...
How to describe someone who is going all out to eliminate Traditional Contemplative communities while letting the German Synod propose getting rid of the Priesthood? Permitting blessing sexual perverts getting married? Having women priests? Martin Luther may have been burning in hell a long time, but he never ever dreamt of such things...nor of allowing communion to mass baby murderers.
