Canadian Pilgrimage

 

 

SAINT BROTHER ANDRÉ

Oratory of Saint Joseph

 

He was a small man – not overly educated –

always delicate – precarious health.

He knew his weaknesses –

but always told people – he prayed without cease.

With the years, prayer overcame

weaknesses. People noticed something –

came to talk with him – shared

their problems of life – looked for advice.

Many came physically sick – Brother André

healed them. With time, many healings occurred.

He became known as a healer. Those healed, left their

crutches – medical wrappings behind.

Brother André had a dream –

he loved St. Joseph – wanted a basilica

in his honor.

For years, he travelled far and wide –

amassing funds for a basilica.

He never saw it finished – but

knew it would be one day.

It was completed after his death – I am sure

he is happy to see his dream

come true. Each year, thousands

come to visit and honor St. Joseph –

touch the tombstone of Brother André.

Newspapers estimate – one million people

came to his wake and funeral.

Brother André touched many

people’s lives – still does today.

Crowds come to the basilica – touch his

tombstone. He continues his work –

sign of life in a desperate world.

Robert Trabold

 

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CANADIAN PILGRIMAGE

Robert Trabold

 

 

            At the beginning of September, I had the opportunity to make a two week pilgrimage to Québec, Canada visiting the various shrines along the St. Lawrence River. It was a contemplative pilgrimage because I went by myself and not with a group; I tried to be for most part silent in my visits to the various shrines. I repeated my usual mantra and watched my breathing in order to touch God’s presence. In Québec city, I visited the burial chapel of Mary of the Incarnation, a remarkable and relatively unknown mystic who reached the heights of contemplative prayer. To me she was the Theresa of Avila of North America. I spent two days of silence there not saying too much because I knew that Mary knew all the problems that I brought on this trip and the problems of my world. I then drove to Trois Rivières where I visited the famous shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary who appeared there to several people in the 19th century. Over the years, the place became very famous and many people went there. The shrine was situated on the vast and mighty St. Lawrence River. The sky is very blue in that part of the world and makes the river also deep blue. For this reason, I have called this area Mary’s country because of the intense blue in nature. I was silent and felt God’s presence in the lovely setting of the church on the banks of the river. I spent many hours of silent prayer in the ancient chapel where the apparitions of the Virgin took place. I felt her presence acutely which gave me confidence that she was happy that I made such a long trip and would remember my concerns and the problems of the world and bring us more peace. The interior of the basilica on the grounds was very beautiful and the dim atmosphere from the deep red and blue stained glass windows gave an aura of mystery which led me into silent prayer.

            The last leg of my pilgrimage was five days spent in Montréal where I visited various shrines. I went to one of the most celebrated Canadian ones, the Oratory of Saint Joseph, which had the burial chapel of St. Brother André. The latter was a remarkable man. People came from all over the world to talk to him about their problems and he had the gift of healing them from their physically aliments. The church walls had many of the crutches that people have left behind upon their cure. At the time of his death, the newspapers reported that one million people came to his wake and funeral. I felt the power of this saint when I was in his burial chapel and touched with other people the marble of his tomb stone. There was an acute silence in that room which lead me to believe that Brother André was there and was aware of all my problems and those of the world. I did not say many words but just let the silence touch me and lead me into the presence of the divine. In contemplative prayer, silence is the language of God. I also had the opportunity to visit a lovely chapel devoted to St. Padre Pio, a modern structure and very beautiful in the interior. Like the Marian shrine in Trois Rivières, it was situated in lovely grounds which added to its sense of holiness. I was very touched by the statue of Padre Pio to the right of the altar and felt a great silence coming from it. He was a man like Saint Brother André who touched many people helping them with their problems and healing them of their infirmities. I sat there many hours in silence repeating my mantra and watching my breathing. I intensely felt the presence of the saint and Jesus. It gave me confidence that they have not forgotten us and would bring more justice and peace to our world.

            In making this pilgrimage to a foreign country and distant from my home in New York City, I was physically away from my daily life and concerns.  In this distance, a space opened up where Jesus then was able to enter into and was with me in silence. Prayer was not too difficult and although distractions never left me, I was able to rest in silence and meet the Beloved Jesus who was happy that I made the effort to visit these holy places in a distant land. He entered this space which the pilgrimage made and both of us met. It was presence meeting presence and I met Jesus, the Virgin and the saints in a special way.

            This intense encounter with the divine and the saints reminded me also that this journey would end after two weeks and that I would continue in the future my pilgrimage of life. I came back home and my life with all its joys and concerns were there. I realized that my years on earth were a pilgrimage and I was travelling on to my eternal home. The earth was not my true home but a temporary one. I hope that in my journey on earth, the encounters that I had with Jesus and the saints in Québec, Canada, will give me the strength and faith to continue on this trip. I need to be faithful each day to my practice of contemplative prayer and be active to make our world more of a place of justice and peace.

 

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Prayer in the Summer

 

PASSING OF TIME – SPRING

 

Lovely clear day – sunshine

is finally warm – winters

are long – we long for them

to end. Foliage is rich –

from much rain – snow.

First flowers are lovely – white

alyssums – blue bells.

It is delightful to sit in the garden –

just taking it all in.

We live in four seasons –

they come – go – start again.

Such is time –

such is life. Life is a big

mystery – where does it all go?

Life is a river – just flows on.

My life flows too – many

things happened to me – some good -

bad - others indifferent.

So my life flows on – mysterious

as the four yearly cycles.

Life in the world goes on –

painful to me – American Empire –

endless wars – bombing –

cover ups – lies – violence -

killing done in the name of

democracy – liberty.

I do not know when it will end -

God only knows.

So I sit in spring sun light –

garden – my life – life

of the world are beyond me.

I put all into Jesus’ hands –

hoping that the wheel of time

will some way be positive –

turn out good.

 

Robert Trabold

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QUIET IN THE SUMMER TIME

 

Robert Trabold

 

            In the hectic life we lead in the big cities, the summertime can be a time of slowing down. The warmer weather allows us to be outdoors and if we have a garden or live near the seashore or mountains, we can relax and enjoy the loveliness of nature.  Being in contact with God’s creation can have a calming effect on us and be an opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the flowers, seashore, etc. I have a garden and do find that it is a place of meditation when I can sit in its quiet and be present to the flowers and trees. The ocean shore and the mountains have always been a contemplative experience where their beauty and quiet allow me to enter into the silence of God. The summer can be a less busy time because other people are away and some of our usual business slows down due to their absence. People look to take a break which helps us be free of some of our usual activities. New York City was particular hot this July and I had to stay in the air conditioned room a good part of the day and doing my chores or work in the morning and evening when it was cooler. This gave me more time to reflect on the silence of our contemplative prayer and where it should lead us.

            In our meditation, its quiet and the repetition of the mantra, we attempt to touch the presence of the divine, but not by thinking about God, conjuring up images or using many words. These are put aside and we try to be in the presence of the Lord who is. Our contemplative prayer is a journey to reach, know and love the unknown and transcendent one. Our faith teaches us that the divine knows and loves us and invites us to reciprocate the same. This is done in naked presence and we do not rely on many images, words or explanations. Our contemplative prayer is an exercise to develop the discipline of attentiveness to the divine who is, is personal and lives at our center and still point. There is a stepping out of our absorption with our self-importance, selfishness and involvement with the infinite cares of our daily life. The focus now is on the source of our life on earth and around whom we want to orientate ourselves.

            Our journey into contemplative prayer is an attempt to develop the discipline of presence.  We are present to ourselves and not running away from anything but through this self- presence, there is a touching of the Lord who is at the deepest part of our being. No one can be present to us as the divine at our center and still point. This is then the challenge of contemplative prayer. Through the years, we want to be faithful to this process which requires patience, faithfulness and discipline and putting aside our self-importance and sitting in our poverty. We are touching the infinite source of life – the ultimate mystery calling us by our name and wanting us to call his/her name in knowledge and love.

            Hopefully, the quiet and relaxing time we have in the summer will help us reflect on our journey into mystical prayer and realize what is involved. This extra time can be like a retreat where we deepen our experience of the Lord and renew our faithfulness to the discipline of meditation.

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STIGMATICS

 

 

 

 

MARIE-ROSE FERRON:

STIGMATIC

 

Sunday morning, quiet reigns

over the cemetery grave of

 

Marie-Rose Ferron.

 

Silence that haunts –

 

full of mystery – presence.

 

Silence is not empty –

 

touches me

at my center – still point.

Silence watches over me as

a gentle cool morning breeze.

Silence is full – presence of the

divine – the Beloved –

full of presence of Marie-Rose –

full of mystery of life –

death – wars – violence – injustices.

Marie-Rose wounds bleed from these.

I sit in the silence

letting mystery touch – overwhelm me.

It overwhelmed Marie-Rose –

her wounds bled from it.

Such is our journey in life –

we carry a heavy load – our sins –

sins of the world.

I made a pilgrimage

to the grave of Marie-Rose.

I will never understand life – its dark side –

Marie-Rose did not either.

She carried that burden –

wounds show it.

She will give me strength

To carry burden of living.

 

Robert Trabold

 

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PILGRIMAGE OF SILENCE:

STIGMATICS

 

Robert Trabold

 

When we think of stigmatics, we usually believe that they are people and a phenomenon of Europe, such as, Theresa Neumann of Germany and Padre Pio of Italy. But if we do our homework, we will find that there have been four Americans who have been stigmatics in recent times. Marie-Rose Ferron, a French Canadian who immigrated to Woonsocket, RI and died in 1936. Little Audrey Santo was a native of Worchester, Mass. and passed away in 2007. The two others were Veronica Lueken, Bayside, New York, 1923 - 1995 and Rhoda Wise, Canton, Ohio, 1888 - 1948. During the year, I frequently attend the various prayer sessions of the V. Lueken Movement and visit her gravesite which is not far from where I live. Recently, I decided to make a pilgrimage to the places in southern New England where M. R. Ferron and A. Santo lived and are buried.  In that area, another visionary and stigmatic, Marie Esperanza from Venezuela, worked and was instrumental in the founding of house of prayer, Betania 2, in Medway, Mass. These places are a holy corner of the globe which was blessed with the presence of three saintly people.

I made the pilgrimage by myself and wanted it to be one of silence and meditation. The highlights of the trip were the times of prayer at the gravesites of Marie-Rose and Little Audrey and having the privilege of seeing the latter’s little chapel and room and the bed where she suffered. The visits to the graves touched me very much because I felt a silence which was so deep that it was not only an indication of the stigmatic’s presence but also that of Jesus. The two stigmatics led me into the presence of the divine. I usually visited the graves for up to an hour resting in the quiet and mentioned certain petitions of the needs of myself and the world. I had the privilege of being able to enter the chapel and bed room of Little Audrey and I felt a deep silence there. Audrey led me into the presence of Jesus and I was deeply touched. These two rooms had statues of Jesus which in recent years have had blood and oil coming out of them. Upon investigation, the blood is true human blood and the oil is genuine.  This is truly a miraculous phenomenon since these statues are made of plaster of Paris. In all, the heavens opened up for a moment and preformed wonderful signs which should strengthen our faith and give us confidence that God has not forgotten us.

In praying at the graves of the stigmatics and visiting the chapel and room of Audrey Santo, I was confronted with the great mystery of why certain people manifest the wounds of Christ on their body. This phenomenon has been around for a while and St. Francis of Assisi was the first one recorded in history. Stigmatics are people who have a very intense love of Jesus and a desire to be attached and united to him. This unity with the beloved Jesus leads them to share in his sufferings and as a result, the wounds of the Lord appear on their bodies. This is the great mystery of love which confronts us on visiting their places of residence and burial sites and which we will never completely understand while we are on earth. We should remember however that we are called to this unity with and love of Jesus in our life time. Our daily faithfulness to contemplative prayer puts us into the presence of the Lord who calls us to a deep union with him although we may never share his physical wounds.

While praying at the various sites of the stigmatics, I believe that we do participate in the wounds of Jesus by our living. Our world is full of violence, hatred and endless wars and many innocent lives are lost in such violence. Wars just go on and do not seem to end. The stigmatics also lived in this world and carried the burden of its endless violence and conflicts.  They intensely felt this and it was part of the pain of the wounds of Jesus. On top of this, we humans have the pain of seeing and carrying our own sins and failings and have this burden until our death. We may never have on our bodies the physical wounds of Jesus but we have those interior wounds of suffering under the injustices and violence of our world and our failings which never end. We are stigmatics burdened with our world and a pilgrimage to Southern New England hopefully will help us not get discouraged. It reminds us that we have to keep our eyes on Jesus who is our hope and despite it all, had his Easter Sunday. He will let us share in this victory.

 

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Love of God

LOVE

 

 

All is quiet – just a soft breeze

touches my face.

Sunshine is strong – telling me

spring is on its way.

 Vast sea seems calm – I see

no violent waves.

Sand is motionless – no

wind blowing it in my face.

I do not move – lay quiet

in my big chair.

 Tears come to my eyes – pangs –

desire fills me –

I chock but no sound.

Mystery of yearning – desire overcomes

me – silent – absolute –

nothingness grips me – touches me.

Divine – transcendent one

overwhelms me –

tears are my response.

 Late winter beauty of seashore

 lead me gently to an encounter –

 one of love – mystery.

 On earth, I cannot get further than that –

 I must live in the ecstatic moment –

waiting – some day -  full embrace.

 

Robert Trabold

 

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LOVE OF GOD

 Robert Trabold

             In our journey into contemplative prayer and in our faithfulness to the discipline of silence which enables us to be constant to our daily meditation, we become aware of the love of God for us and the world. This divine love is a great mystery and it takes time on our part to fathom it. God created us and chose us to be human. All during the years of our life on earth, the Lord continues to love us and help us on our long or short existence on earth. It is a challenge on our part to appreciate this and to realize that it answers a deep need. At times, we can feel very alone in our human journey. Things can go wrong causing us to wonder where we are. If we keep in mind that the divine really loves us, we realize that we are not alone in life but that the Lord calls us to an ‘I –Thou’   relationship with him which helps us also love and be attentive to our neighbor. We are no longer separate and alone but in a deep communion with the divine and each other. We have found a home.

            God calls us to this great dignity of being his/her children and so we are able to build bonds with our neighbor. One of the great paradoxes is that we can reject this. We are humans with free will and can reject the vocation to which we are called. We can turn our back and lead an isolated and selfish existence. This comes to play in the many decisions that we make each day, some leading us to deep union with the divine and the neighbor or others which lock us into a selfish stance. One of the great mysteries is that the Lord is always waiting for us to return to the vocation he calls us to. In the gospels, the father was waiting for the prodigal son to return and welcomed him back when he saw him coming home.

            This challenge and vocation to respond to the love of God in our lives carries its risks and can make us vulnerable. We all have experienced that many times we have reached out to people but have been rejected and this can be painful. At this point, we have to remember that Jesus also suffered but in the end, had his Easter Sunday.  In one sense, the sin and evil of the world do not have the ultimate power but the Lord’s love is stronger and will overcome the selfishness and evil happenings in the world.

            When we try to respond to the vocation of love to which we are called, we take a risk. We take this because we have faith that God loves us more than the world which can inflict harm. The Lord gives us the grace to take this risk and so we can be comfortable with our vocation and can relax into what we are called to. It encourages us to be faithful to our schedule of daily meditation and to live our vocation in the world with good actions and standing up for justice and peace in a war torn and violent world. In our daily meditation, no matter how dry it is and full of distractions, we should keep our eyes on the vocation of love with the Lord and one another to which we are called. It is a life’s journey which ultimately has us feel at home in the world and assures us of place in our true home in eternal life.

 

 

 

 

 

Black Madonna

 

PILGRIMAGE INTO THE DARK NIGHT: BLACK MADONNA

Robert Trabold

            In the spring of 2011, I made a pilgrimage of silence to Castilla y León, Spain where the two great mystics, John of the Cross and Theresa of Avila lived and died. It was a pilgrimage of silence in so far that in visiting these holy sites and spaces, I was lead into contemplation trying to touch the presence of the divine at my center and still point. I did not bring along books to read but did bring one of the poems of John of the Cross.  While on the trip, I read slowly his major poems which helped me focus on the presence of the divine. The poem of John, ‘A Dark Night,’ helped me feel that this inward journey of contemplation to meet God at our center and still point is one that is always wrapped in mystery. It leads us to an encounter with God who is transcendent and completely other from ourselves and the natural world around us. In that sense, it is very different from relationships we have with other humans. In spite of this dimension of transcendence and otherness, this relationship is much closer and deeper to us than other relations can be. In human relationships, the other is always in front of us and exterior to us. But in this encounter in contemplation and silence, we feel the divine presence deep within us where no one else can enter. So this relationship has a dimension of mystery and darkness which John of the Cross so well celebrates in his poem. We note also that although this relationship is completely different from our ordinary experiences, it is an encounter of love where the divine touches and reminds us that He/She loves us and asks us to respond to this invitation.  As John of the Cross so well puts, it is an encounter in darkness but one that is also burning with fire of love. We are meeting our Beloved who takes us by the hand and asks us to respond with our love. While I was on pilgrimage to Segovia where John lived and is buried, his poem about the dark night was always present to me and helped me feel the presence of the divine within me.

            On this pilgrimage also to Castilla y León, I made it a point to visit several Marian shrines with statues of the Black Madonna and I wanted to enter more into their symbolism. Statues of the Black Virgin are all over Europe and are centers of pilgrimage for many people. I was able to visit such statues in the Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha in Madrid. I made a trip also to Toledo and in the cathedral, I visited the chapel of Our Lady of the Sanctuary and the beautiful statue of the ‘La Virgen Blanca.’ These two statues are very famous and attract many visitors to the church. I sat in meditation in front of these and the dark complexion of the mother and child had an aura of mystery. Because the faces and skin were black, I had the feeling that the Virgin was leading us into the mystery of the dark night that John of the Cross speaks about in his poem. With this dark color of the face and skin, Mary directs us in our inward journey to meet the transcendent God who is completely other than we are but loves us and wants to have our friendship. I believe that these Black Madonna pilgrim shrines not only in Europe but in many places in the world attract people for this reason.  Darkness is a symbol which draws and leads us into mystery of God to whom we want to orientate our life. Our daily life is full of many things, interests, occupations, concerns, etc, and it is a challenge to find the central focus which will push our life in the right direction. This focus is God and we have the challenge through our faith and prayer to know and love God better so that the divine can be the center of our activities and relationships and put them into the right direction. This is the challenge of our life and the Black Madonna is in these pilgrimage shrines reaching out to many people and assisting them in this journey of faith.

            The color black is also symbolic of the earth and fertility which are deep human realities.  We come from the earth and our mother’s womb. Looking at the Black Madonna, we ask her to help us with the many problems of our life and the world we live in. In a pilgrimage, we go to a holy space where we have a special encounter with the divine.  We bring the problems and cares of our daily life back home to this holy place asking God his help with these things. The Black Madonna celebrated and honored at these particular shrines can be an intercessor in this regard.

            In conclusion, in making the pilgrimage of silence to Castilla y León, I am always drawn to visit the place where John of the Cross lived and is buried.  I read his poems which set the tone for the trip and this year, I read many times his poem ‘In a Dark Night.’  We are on an inward journey of contemplation to meet God in silence and darkness. It is a meeting of love where the divine invites us into a relationship of friendship.  This year, I also coupled this pilgrimage with a visit to three chapels with statues of the Black Madonna. The darkness of the statues exudes mystery and invites us to take the hand of Mary who will lead us into the presence of the transcendent God who awaits our friendship.  Since this is a journey to meet God who is completely other and different, we must be content to make this trip in mystery and darkness. The poems of John of the Cross and the statues of the Black Madonna will help us find our way to this beautiful meeting with the Lord.

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Easter Time

SUNSHINE - EASTER MORNING

 

Bright - clear sunshine - early

Easter morning - lovely

blue sky - hardly a cloud.

Sun brightens spring garden -
smiling yellow daffodils - mysterious
blue - pink - white hyacinths.

Aroma touches you a mile away.

Pink - yellow primrose -
small but not the least.

Gentle breeze - daffodils shake
their heads in joy.

Sunshine covers all - colors
blend together like a concert.
I am happy in the sunlight -
light is celebrating

                                               the Risen Lord.

Jesus' life - death - resurrection
overwhelm me. Such a good man -
caught in the web of evil intentions.

Such a good man - Why such an end?
Jesus' passion repeated many times in
suffering of good people -

innocent but devastated -

endless wars – violence – hatred.

Sunlight is quiet – strong -   clear -

 

overcame darkness of the night.

Light – day – night – darkness -

big mystery.

Life has many turns -
clear sunshine gives me hope.

Lovely – beautiful –

giving a good ending to a sad story -
our story too!

The Father wanted a happy ending
despite it all!

 

Robert Trabold

 

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CONTEMPLATIVE PEACE

 

Robert Trabold

 

 

            During the 1960’s, there has been a rebirth of mystical prayer in the West because at that time, Western people encountered the contemplative paths of the Far Eastern religions. This led to the spread of New Age spiritualities from the East and also enabled Western Christians to discover their mystical prayer tradition that had been lost since the Protestant Reformation. This rediscovery facilitated spiritual seekers to encounter God – the divine - at their center and still point and brought many fruits, not the least, a sense of peace with life.

 

            At the heart of the Western mystical tradition is the reality that in contemplative prayer, we have an experience of the presence of the absolute at our center and still point. This is a very dramatic experience and occurs in the silence. Contemplatives cultivate a discipline of silence so that they can enter into the depths of their person to have an encounter with the divine. This meeting with God has two defining characteristics. On the one hand, it is a very close and intimate encounter at our center touching us with its intimacy. In all human friendships, even in such a close one as marriage, the other is always opposite to us but in mystical prayer, the divine is totally within us and we feel this difference from other types of relationships. On the other hand, as we grow in our contemplative path, we note that this intimate presence has a sense of mystery; it is something we cannot completely grasp and is like sand slipping through our fingers. This is because we are in relationship with God who is transcendent and absolute and so beyond our comprehension. As a result, there is a sense of darkness and unknowingness despite such intimacy. For this reason, John of the Cross in his beautiful poem ‘The Dark Night’ speaks about the closeness and fire of this friendship as always taking place in the night.

 

“In a dark night

filled with fires of love”

                                  (my translation)

 

            Because the intimacy of this mystical experience of the presence of God, we realize that we are not alone on the pilgrimage of on earth; at our center and still point is the divine accompanying us through the years and ups and downs of our human life. This sense of accompaniment gives us a sense of peace which the world cannot give and is special because it comes from the absolute. John Main (9-10) mentions that as we grow in this peace and friendship, we encounter God as the ground of our being and in this relationship, we find our true selves. We are spiritual beings open to the transcendent who completes us. We are not taken up entirely with the things of the world and their fleetingness but center our life on the presence of the divine within us; we define ourselves as human in this new relationship with God. We have found ourselves and a sense of peace comes into our lives because we now have a true picture of ourselves. This helps us very much find security in facing the trials and difficulties of our human life and of the world we live in.

 

            In this inner contemplative journey to discover the presence of God at our center and still point and in which we discover our true selves, we realize that the divine is calling us to a relationship of love. In one sense, the absolute is running after us and inviting us to have an intimate friendship. God, the ground of our being, is compassionate, cares for us and deeply loves us. In the writings and poetry of the mystics, they express amazement at this initiative of the divine to reach out to us. The last few lines of the beautiful poem of John of the Cross, “Flame of Love” describe this well.

 

“How gently and lovingly

you rest on me,

where you alone dwell;

in your beautiful breath

full of goodness and beauty

you gently entice me to love you.”

                                                 (my translation)

             This realization on how much the divine loves us brings a needed peace in our lives. Because we are human and the world we live in is filled with injustices, violence and constant turmoil, we feel insecure in the universe.  The philosopher, Martin Heidegger, mentions that we are thrown into the universe at our birth and it is a place of contingencies. We have to face our humanity, sicknesses, the violence of the world and our death. The world and the universe in which we live are unfriendly places and make us feel uncomfortable. But as we grow in our contemplative path and this relationship of love with the divine, we have a sense of peace that despite it all, there is a hand that is holding us and will guide us through the difficulties of our life and world.  Confidence takes hold of us. We know that life and the universe that we live in are beyond us; we are not in control and never will be.  However, we are called to rest in the love of God; we know that the divine is in control and this gives to us a sense of confidence and peace. John of the Cross expresses this beautifully in the last lines of the beautiful poem, “Dark Night.”

 

“Everything is ceasing,

I forget myself.

I leave all my cares

forgotten among the lilies.”

                                                  (my translation)

  

            In conclusion, Western people are living in the renaissance of mystical prayer originating in the creative times of the 1960’s. It is a great richness and the many contemporary contemplative prayer movements, both eastern and western, make this available to us. We should take advantage of them and grow in the sense of peace which mystical prayer gives us. Our human life and the world we live in have more than enough of problems and crisis. The divine – Our Beloved, however, is present at our center and still point and we are called to cultivate a relationship with Him/Her, grow in and enjoy the contemplative peace that arises from it.

 

“I will seduce my love, lead her into the desert and speak to her heart.”

Hosea, 2, 16.

 

Main, John. The Heart of Creation. New York: Continuum, 1998.

 

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