A Holy Fear and Distrust in Self
Hi! How is each and every one? I had been thinking how could I spend every day of the month of May with the intention of loving Our Lady at every moment during this month that is dedicated to her? I have learned from St. Josemaria, Founder of Opus Dei about the May pilgrimages to Our Lady in her different shrines nearby or farther away. These pilgrimages are characterized by the intention of showing love and devotion towards our Lady. Firstly, by praying her most beloved and recommended prayer, the Holy Rosary in all its four mysteries, Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful and Glorious. This is preferably done with a friend or a group of them with the intention of bringing one another to Our Lady. Moreover, there is the mortification of walking to a shrine dedicated to her from a certain distance and back while praying the mysteries. The entire mystery of the day is prayed inside the shrine complete with the litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a prayer for the Holy Father and a prayer for the Prelate of Opus Dei.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila writes that
on March 25, Antipolo Cathedral was declared International Shrine of our Lady
of Peace and Good Voyage by the Vatican making it the first in the country and
Southeast Asia. In an earlier article by Radio Veritas, the leadership of the
said shrine believes that this will bring the growth of the devotion and bring
the devotees closer to Christ and Mary.
The International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, Antipolo
Aware of the above plus
the usual crowd of devotees from different places in Metro Manila walking to
Antipolo every year at the beginning of May, I decided to visit Our Lady from
my visit to Morong farm on the last day of April, the day before May 1. Along
the way to the entrance of the Cathedral grounds there were all the vendors adjacent
to each other all prepped up on both sides of the narrow streets and around the
Cathedral grounds. The Cathedral reredo/the
large altarpiece behind the main altar is all elegantly and freshly trimmed
with gold and silver. Our Lady is a
beauty, ever regal and queenly in her royal purplish blue and salmon gown and the
presbytery looked all prepped up with the usual crowd of Sunday Mass goers and
attendees inside the Church. No signs yet of the big crowd that is usual every year
at the break of dawn on the first day of the month of May. There she is.
Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage
But still I planned to go to another shrine on May 1, Feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It is a public holiday, Labor Day. This time I went to Our Lady of Guadalupe in General Trias, Dasmariñas, Cavite. I invited my sister, Ester and Judy. There she is. I must say that since the time the Church was constructed in December 2008, the Church has been well installed and maintained; facilities around the church grounds have also been well maintained.
I pray you too will also find the time and company to go to Our Lady in her shrines or churches dedicated to her and express your love and gratitude towards her for giving herself completely to be the mother of Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God. Let us go to her for anything and everything we need. She is a mother and the best mother of all. She will heed our petitions. She is our strongest intercessor and mediatrix of all graces.
Following is another
excerpt on learning how to have a holy fear and distrust in our self
(From Joseph Tissot, How to profit from
your faults pp. 97-99).
One finds the basis of all these thoughts in the
writings of our most lovable Saint Francis de Sales.
“Take your
heart and place it gently in the hands of our Lord, begging him to cure
it. On your side, do all that you can by
renewing your resolutions: through
reading books and other appropriate means suitable to cure you. If you do this, you will gain much from your
loss and live a more healthy life through the experience of your illness”
(Letter to a lady 835).
“Self-love, self-esteem, false liberty of the mind,
cannot be easily eradicated from the human heart. But we can prevent sins, which are their
fruits, from being committed. As long as
we are in this mortal life, we cannot absolutely prevent their thrusts, their
blows, their new shots—that is to say, their first offensive. We can, however, moderate them and diminish
their frequency and ardor by the practice of the contrary virtues, and
especially the love of God. We need to
be patient and gradually to correct and cut out our bad habits, tame our
aversions, and overcome our inclinations and ill-humor as they arise.
On the whole, my dear daughter, this life is a
continual war, and there isn’t anybody who can say: I was never attacked. Rest is reserved for heaven, where the palm branch
of victory awaits us. On earth we should
always fight as though we are between fear and hope. But we must do so, knowing that hope will
always be the stronger, bearing in mind the power of the One who comes to our
aid” (Letter to a nun 734).
“My God, how joyful is the inner kingdom, when this
saintly love reigns there! How blessed
are the powers of our soul that obey so saintly and wise a king! No, my dear cousin, under his obedience and
in this state, he doesn’t allow great sins to dwell there, or any attachment
toward the smallest of them. It is true
that he allows them to approach the frontier, so as to exercise the inner
virtues in the war and make them more valiant.
He permits spies—that is to say, our venial sins, our imperfections—to
run here and there in his kingdom; but that is only to make known that without
him we would fall prey to all our enemies” (Letter 764).
“What do you want me to say, my dear daughter, on
your relapse into misery, if not that it is a return to the enemy? It is necessary to take up arms again and
pluck up the courage to fight harder than ever…
But, my God! Guard against falling into any kind of discouragement.
Heavenly kindness will not allow these failings to
be the occasion for abandoning you, but to humiliate you and draw you closer
and more firmly into the hands of his mercy” (Letter to a lady 275).
“You see, my
dear sister, it often happens that thinking we are entirely free of these old
enemies whom we have overcome, we find them approaching from a direction we least
expected. Solomon, that singular wise
man of the world, worked so many wonders in his youth. But he became
overconfident, with his great virtues and his past. When he seemed to be out of danger from
attack, he was surprised by the enemy whose appearance he least feared.
“From this we can learn two lessons: One, that we must always distrust ourselves
and walk in holy fear, continually asking heaven for help, and live a simple
devout life. The other, that our enemies
may be pushed back, but they are not killed.
They sometimes leave us in peace; but this is only a lull before the
storm.
“But, my dearest sister, you must not be discouraged
by this at all. The small shocks make us
look deeper into ourselves, to accept our weakness, and then to run back more
quickly to our protector. St. Peter
walked on the waves with a little too much self-assurance. The wind rose and the waves seemed to swallow
him. Then he cried out: ‘Lord, save me!’ And our Lord, taking him by the arm said to
him: ‘O man of little faith, why did you
doubt?’ It is in the midst of our troubles and our passions, in the winds and
storms of temptations, that we call out to the Savior. He permits us to be troubled only to provoke
us into invoking him more ardently” (Letter to a lady 802).
Yes, Jesus allows troubles
to come our way to help us mature in our faith and trust in Him and not in
ourselves. Because without Him you and I
can do nothing no matter how intelligent and talented He has made you and me. You and I cannot be proud of anything. We owe everything we are and have to Him. The best way to have a holy fear and distrust
in oneself is to have a loving relationship with Jesus. And this you and I can develop and cultivate
by spending quiet times with Him in the silence of your heart and mind allowing
Jesus to talk to you as you listen and talk to Him too about your life, your
concerns, your plans, your relationships, joys and sorrows, about everything. Ask His
mother Mary this month of May and always to bring you closer to Jesus. She will do it.
See in the next post, “May tomorrow be a perfect day; may you find love and
laughter along the way; may God keep you in his tender care; ‘til He brings us
together again.”
Affectionately,
Guadalupinky
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