"Pray for us sinners...."

Matthew and I were praying a rosary together last night and I really focused in on the request "pray for us sinners". This line is always more powerful for me when I'm praying it in a group (pray for "us" this family, school, nation...etc) but since Matthew and I were praying together I was asking particularly for our relationship.
"Pray for us sinners so that we may love each other with a deep, Christ like love. Help us sinners see each other as Christ does and so love. Help us love each other more worthily. Mother, in your love for us sinners, please pray for us."
We may say that we love the other but it's impossible to love him as much as Christ does. Only He can teach us how to love as we ought.

Old English and Latin.

In Praise of Mary
-Anonymous-

Of one that is so fair and bright,

Velut maris stella,

Brighter than the dayes light,

Parens et puella,

I cry to thee: thou see to me!

Lady, pray thy son for me,

Tam pia,

That I mote* come to thee 

Maria

Lady, flower of alle thing,
Rosa sine spina,
Thou bore Jesu, heavenes king,
Gratia divina.
Of alle thou bearst the prize,
Lady, queen of Paradise,
Electa.
Maide milde mother is
Effecta.

Of care conseil thou art best,
Felix fecundata,
Of alle weary thou art rest,
Mater honorata.
Beseech him with milde mood*
That for us alle shed his blood
In cruce
That we moten come to him 
In luce.

All this world were forlore*
Eva peccatrice,
Till our Loverd* was y-bore
De te genetrice.
With 'Ave' it went away
Thuster* night, and com'th the day
Salutis.
The welle springeth out of thee
Virtutis.

Well he wot he it thy son
Ventre quem portasti;
He will not werne* thee thy boon,
Parvum quem lactasti.
So hende* and so good he is,
He haveth brought us to bliss
Superni,
That hath y-dit* the foule pit
Inferni.

* may * gentle heart * would have been lost * Lord * dark * deny * gracious * shut

Anchored.

"Dementia may be a process that eats away at who I am, leaving an emptiness. But I will never be empty, because God will continually fill the spaces with His presence; with love, mercy, forgiveness, peace." 

- Bruce Bane in his post "God is Within"

That post really comforted me and reminded me of something my mom said to my grandma when she was struggling with Alzheimers and getting frustrated because she couldn't remember anything. She was looking at the picture from her wedding day hanging on the wall but could not remember the day or even that she had been married or recognize herself in the photo. My mom -- through tears -- said, "But He has them (the memories) and you'll get them back. You'll never be lost to Him."

This reminds me of the comfort I find in the Glory Be "... as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be..." He ever shall be strong, loving, faithful and unchanging.  Just as an anchor holds a ship steady amidst wild storms and angry winds, so our God is our solid, unmoving anchor in whirling passions, changing emotions and unstable situations making up the storm of this world.

Wild.

I was falling asleep in one of my literature classes when my teacher said something that caught my attention: "God is wild. You never know what He's gonna do." 

...God? Wild? What? Wild in this case doesn't mean irrational, disordered, or random but extravagant, fantastic, wonderful and simply out of this world. Some may use 'uncontrolled' and 'reckless' interchangeably with 'wild', and in some ways this makes sense; to one who does not understand the way the universe works, a sudden thunderstorm or a funny looking animal would seem like a random mistake. As my teacher said, we never know what He's going to do; we can not fully understand the ways of the infinite One, but, we can know they are perfect. He can not fit into a box. He cannot be defined and restricted by us; He is wild, our God.

I thought of this during Mass. "Wow. The God of all creation allows us to consume Him; the most holy and perfect One appears as bread and wine. It's crazy...it's wonderful...it's wild." Our King -- because of a passionate, burning love -- breaks all bounds, restrictions and limits to be with His beloved. How wild is that?

St. Teresa's Bookmark

Yes.

"Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that's the whole art and joy of words."

- The Fox (Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis)

Wisdom & Gentleness.

Don't you just love when the readings of Mass speak perfectly to your current situation? That's what happened to me yesterday. 

"Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;... with revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience."

 -Wisdom 2:12&19

Anybody can be gentle in the calm times but it is not until one is pressed and prodded, tempted and attacked, can virtue be 'proven'. It's a gift, really. If God never gave us hard times -- never pushed us to the limit -- it would be very difficult to perfect and better ourselves.

"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. ... Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from?Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?" 

-James 3:16-17, 4:1

I do not know how loved I am. I do not know how precious each and every person is in Your sight. Your wisdom purifies and bring peace through clarity. Wisdom allows us to see the world as it really is; it allows us to understand Truths which lead us to a fuller understanding of the reality in which we live. The more we know of the laws that govern our world, the better we will be able to live in it. "..without inconstancy or insincerity." Who doesn't want that? This world is hectic and crazy; full of fallen, unreliable people. Truth is the beautiful, solid, untainted bond that holds everything together and makes it work. 

How incredible it is that we creatures are able to participate in such glory. How amazing that we are able to grasp bits and pieces of Truth. Wow. We are so fallen! We are dirt but we have been given the beautiful and glorious gift of an intellect. Knowledge raises up to the one we are knowing -- words cannot describe how awesome this is. ( I'll try to keep this in mind next time I am faced with a pile of homework :P )