With the triple blessing of All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day upon us, I find myself crazy busy. You know the feeling: you make list upon list upon list and still you feel you’re forgetting something! (Because you probably are.)
What better day than today, then, to just stop what you’re doing and…pray. Leonie is hosting The Loveliness of Prayer at Living Without School; stop by for a visit and check out all the beautiful, prayerful entries.
Here is my own brief reflection, written too late to submit but (I hope) still timely! (Because when is prayer ever not timely?)
If ever there was a good investment of our time, it would be making a Holy Hour. For someone like me, though, who tends to go go go and who basically needs to be held down to sit down, committing to a weekly Holy Hour is crucial to my actually making it.
Which is ridiculous, when you think about it.
Why would we not want to spend an hour with Our Lord?
I know you agree, so I’ll just leave you to your prayer now. First, though, will you indulge me the telling of two quick tales?
We were in Rome over Palm Sunday, my college friend and I. (This was years ago—1994, to be exact.) We went to St. Peter’s for Mass and were two of quite a few people, not surprisingly. You’ve seen the pictures of St. Peter’s square on a great feast day. You may well have even been there for one yourself.
Frankly, I have an aversion to big big big group settings. I prefer the quieter encounters. Sometimes you can’t avoid them, though, and a visit to St. Peter’s Basilica is just such a time. So we took it all in as best we could: the statue of St. Peter, the Pietà, the tourist shuffle that they put you through to get to the Sistine chapel. And then after all that came the Vatican galleries: room after room after room filled with a million objets d’art and paintings, and seemingly the same number of people there to view them.
We took in an awful lot of art, my friend and I. It was, when all was said & done & read & pondered, quite frankly, totally overwhelming.
Our path was a circular one and we ended up back in the Basilica. At that point I noticed a heavy blue curtain off to the side and read the small sign beside it: Adoration Chapel. Quietly I slipped behind the curtain…
And quietly I knelt.
When I looked up, there He was in the monstrance. The peace that He extended to me, the weary tourist, was so complete and so powerful that the tears flowed hot down my face and the stress of the past two hours evaporated. How good He is; how sweet and how comforting a friend.
The second story is an even quicker one and I tell it all the time. When John Michael was a baby I took him into the perpetual adoration chapel for a quick Eucharistic visit. (This was out in Massachusetts. Did you know we lived in Massachusetts?) We had no sooner entered and were standing quietly at the back when my little fella looked directly at Our Lord in the monstrance and he waved.
Have a blessed day, everyone! Don’t forget to pray!
Your first story is beautiful and your second story is sweet. What a great start to my day!
Your stories were wonderful, the 2nd brought tears to my eyes, because of the innocence of children. When I go, my baby smiles at Him and her eyes sparkle!
12 years ago, my family and I went to Medjugorje and after being there a week, on the last day, I found the Adoration chapel, I did not know they had one, no one had told us. Immediately tears just streamed, I had realized that we did not “need” to go on a pilgrimage, Jesus is in every Catholic church everywhere and all we need is HIM. (don’t get me wrong, the pilgrimage was wonderful)
Thank you Margaret, for the great reminder to pray today this busy busy of Mondays!
I just sent my two oldest into the city for a Holy Hour with the Missionaries of Charity, followed by Mass and helping out in their soup kitchen. The opportunity came up suddenly, so we set aside “school” for the day and went with it. I know they will be blessed…and wish I could’ve joined them.
Why is it so hard to make time for the One we need the most? Whenever I feel pushed to the brink, I walk down to our neighborhood Flemish church and just kneel in His presence and I am immediately flooded with His peace. All the graces we ever need, right there, waiting.
Loved your stories. So sweet.
Maybe My Gaurdian angel helped me do it at such an early age!But I can’t remember the church we were in.Plus you have a very nice blog !
I really enjoy your blog, but today’s stories I think you wrote just for me! Thank you!
Glenn
Beautiful, Margaret. Now that I’m finding a few minutes here and there to dip back into my favorite blogs again, it’s such a treat to read your posts. Thanks.
What great stories, Margaret!
I hate the crowds, too. It’s always such a big decision for dh and me to endure the crowds for a big occasion…Josemaria’s canonization was one that we were glad we dealt with it. And we both had that same wonderful experience in the Adoration Chapel at St. Peters. It was just Awesome!
Thank you for this post today, and sharing your stories. I teared up reading them.
I love coming here and reading your blog. It’s like Christ Himself speaks through you and tells me exactly what I need to hear.
Jen
Thank you so much, everyone!
Your sons made a Holy Hour with the Missionaries of Charity, Diane? That’s so cool! And Jenn, I would have loved to have been at St. Josemaria Escriva’s canonization! Oh my goodness. He’s just awesome.
God bless you all. Enjoy the rest of the Fair!
Margaret, coming here and finding this post is like a retreat experience. The feelings and sense of complete recognition you describe in your story of Rome are magnificent.
God bless you and that dear little boy of yours!
Your stories were great, especially the wave. Thanks for sharing them.