illumination of grace. There is a "spirituality of Nazareth," at the school of the hidden life of Jesus in his parents’ house This grace, on account of the mystery of mercy that governs the destiny of mankind [...] never fails men of good will. This is what we call "the spirit." Here, at this school, we understand the necessity of having a spiritual discipline if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become [...] the silence of Nazareth, teach us the recollection, the interiority, and the disposition to listen to the good inspirations and the word of the true masters; teach us the need and value of preparation
the sea of history, often dark and stormy, a voyage in which we watch for the stars that indicate the route. The true stars of our life are the people who have lived good lives. They are lights of hope. [...] sacred scriptures of Israel which spoke of hope, of the promise made to Abraham and his descendants (cf. Lk 1:55). In this way we can appreciate the holy fear that overcame you when the angel of the Lord appeared [...] dark sayings of the prophets about the suffering of the servant of God in this world. Shining over his birth in the stable at Bethlehem, there were angels in splendour who brought the good news to the shepherds
feelings of affection she has towards God, inspired by the gift of piety, at all the moments of her most holy life. The Gift of Fortitude The gift of fortitude is the perfection of the virtue of courage [...] gift of fear of the Lord is the perfection of both the virtue of hope and the virtue of temperance: the virtue of hope, by making us fear to displease God and to be separated from him; the virtue of temperance [...] one has had a finer "sense of who Christ was." The Gift of Wisdom The most perfect of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the gift of wisdom. It is the perfection of the virtue of charity, and resides at the
after the darkness of Good Friday, awaited the morning of the Resurrection. On their difficult path through history, between the "already" of salvation received and the "not yet" of its fulfilment, the [...] the community of believers know they can count on the help of the "Mother of Hope". After experiencing Christ's victory over the powers of death, she communicates to them an ever new capacity to await God's [...] events of his earthly life. It is this silence as acceptance of the Word, this ability to meditate on the mystery of Christ, that Mary passes on to believers. In a noisey world filled with messages of all
solemn tone: "In the year 15 of the government of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, Philip his brother tetrarch of the country of Iturea and Trachonitis, Lysanias [...] from the city of Ur at God’s prompting, 4,000 years ago. The wait for the Messiah ended in that very land of Palestine, with the birth of Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph from Bethlehem of Judea, who had [...] tion of Pontius Pilate (the Roman procurator of Judea, including the city of Jerusalem), Palestine had been in the tight grip of Rome for 90 years. However, Latin wasn’t the official language of the land
sketches out the face of Mary in a veiled and symbolic way: Ark of the Covenant, Noah’s Ark, Burning Bush, Tabernacle of the Most High, Temple of God, Daughter of Zion, the Virgin of the Book of Isaiah, the Beloved [...] (Acts 8:31) the whole significance of the Word of God. Jesus said that we must judge a tree by its fruit and that the goodness of the fruit is a measure of the goodness of the tree (Mt 7:20, 12:33; Lk 6:43) [...] 1:42) of the womb of the extraordinary tree which is Mary. Therefore, it is only in looking at Christ Himself that we can have an idea of the grandeur and goodness of the Mother of God. Hugh of St. Victor
Gospel of John, or with detailed analysis in the writings of Saint John of the Cross. And Our Lady of Mount Carmel is indeed the same mother of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of John. That Saint John of the [...] evil in the eyes of God. And, even as wickedness comprehends not goodness, even so such a soul cannot be united with God, Who is supreme goodness." Saint John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel I [...] roots in the Gospel of John is sometimes made evident by a direct quotation, but more often it is through a common spirit. At the beginning of the "Ascent of Mount Carmel," Saint John of the Cross evokes
Queen of Martyrs, our dear Coredemptrix (Padre Pio) St. Pio of Pietrelcina bore the living and bleeding stigmata for fifty entire years, from 1918 to 1968. He became an "imprinted reproduction of the wounds [...] wounds of the Lord," according to the happy expression of Pope Paul VI [1] . In this exceptional mystical experience he were also assimilated to Mary. He wrote himself : « Now I seem to be penetrating what [...] martyrdom of our most beloved Mother (...). Oh, if all people would but penetrate this martyrdom! Who could succeed in suffering with this, yes, our dear Coredemptrix? Who would refuse her the good title of
Queen of Martyrs, our dear Coredemptrix (Padre Pio) St. Pio of Pietrelcina bore the living and bleeding stigmata for fifty entire years, from 1918 to 1968. He became an "imprinted reproduction of the wounds [...] wounds of the Lord," according to the happy expression of Pope Paul VI [1] . In this exceptional mystical experience he were also assimilated to Mary. He wrote himself : « Now I seem to be penetrating what [...] martyrdom of our most beloved Mother (...). Oh, if all people would but penetrate this martyrdom! Who could succeed in suffering with this, yes, our dear Coredemptrix? Who would refuse her the good title of
Queen of Martyrs, our dear Coredemptrix (Padre Pio) St. Pio of Pietrelcina bore the living and bleeding stigmata for fifty entire years, from 1918 to 1968. He became an "imprinted reproduction of the wounds [...] wounds of the Lord," according to the happy expression of Pope Paul VI [1] . In this exceptional mystical experience he were also assimilated to Mary. He wrote himself : « Now I seem to be penetrating what [...] martyrdom of our most beloved Mother (...). Oh, if all people would but penetrate this martyrdom! Who could succeed in suffering with this, yes, our dear Coredemptrix? Who would refuse her the good title of