Eremitic Life: An Overview

A new "stand alone page" with this title is in the menu under the heading of this blog.

With the help of some pictures I'm publishing a little introduction to the Eremitic Life and the Diocesan Hermit Vocation, which I prepared some time ago as an attempt to present some general aspects of this lifestyle and its connection to a wider tradition.

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross - M. Maria Celeste Feast Day

The Cross is the altar of the sacrifice of Christ who is always present also in our crosses. Through faith we can transcend the negative aspect of the suffering we meet in our way and allow God to make it an avenue of Grace not only for ourselves but for the Church and the world.

        The Cross is the superabundance of God's Love poured out upon this world and the great sign of Christ's saving presence. Love of the Cross is essentially love and imitation of Jesus Christ.  (Rule of Life #30 - Constitutions OSsR, 57)

On this liturgical feast day of the Triumph or Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Redemptoristine daughters of Mother Maria Celeste -including this hermitess- celebrate also her triumph and passing into Glory as Jesus himself promised her:

Know, My daughter, that in this world, you will not be separated from My Passion, but will have an abundance of troubles and infirmities, because you cannot acquire love without sufferings. Thus, whatever I dispose and ordain for you, it is all love! Therefore, you must have patience and I promise you, on My word, that the moment your soul leaves your body, I will lead it into heaven where it will enjoy Me for all eternity.  Dialogue IX

Mother Maria Celeste, the Holy Prioress of the Monastery of the Most Holy Savior in Foggia, Italy, was nearing her 59th birthday when on September 14, 1755, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross:

.  She had taken communion that morning in the community Mass and the day began as one more day in conventual life.  But, feeling very ill, she had the confessor called, Father Nicholas Lombardi, who administered the viaticum to her and holy unction.  Then, she requested him to read her the Passion according to St. John, and when the confessor arrived at the words “Consummatum est” (‘everything is completed’, Jn. 19:30) Mother Maria Celeste quietly died.  It was at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. (Autobiography, Apendix) 

As we praise and thank God for the great gift of the life and death of M. Maria Celeste, we pray through her intercession for her glorification, and for the future of her legacy, the Order and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. We also pray for the new forms in which her spirituality is lived out in various ways around the world, particularly the Redemptoristine eremitic life. Most especially we pray that her very rich doctrine on the transformation of the human person into Christ, which she herself lived and experienced, may be made accessible through publications in different languages, and that many daughters and sons of her spirit be called to live the Christian vocation to the depth of intimacy with God that she was called to mediate.

Receive, My daughter, the spirit of your Institute so that you may instil it into every soul willing to receive it, and through you, be united to Me in love. (Dialogue IX)

Venerable Mother Maria Celeste, pray for us!

Birthday of Mary, Mother of God

Nine months after the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception -December 8th- today we celebrate the birth of Mary Mother of Jesus and Mother of God, and our Mother.

With joyful gratitude we sing our praises to our Mother and rejoice at the great things that the Lord has done with her.

Happy Birthday, Blessed Mother. Bring us closer to your Son, and teach us to love and trust God as you did. Amen.

Novena to Ven. M. Maria Celeste of the Most Holy Savior

O God, 

who bestowed on Mother Maria Celeste 

the grace of a most intimate communion

in the mystery of your beloved Son's 

death and resurrection, 

we beg you

to glorify your handmaid,

to grant us the request we make to you 

through her intercession,

and to teach us to cooperate, as she did,

in the fulfillment of 

your admirable Plan of Redemption.

Grant this

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

"Glory be to the Father ..." (three times)

"Hail Mary" (once)

Alternate prayer:

O Most Holy Trinity,

I adore You from the depth of my nothingness

and I thank you 

for the gifts and privileges

bestowed on your servant Mother Maria Celeste.

I pray you

to will her glorification even here on earth

and for this, I beg you to grant me,

through her intercession,

that grace which I humbly desire

from your paternal mercy.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

"Glory be to the Father ..." (three times)

"Hail Mary" (once)

United to all Redemptoristines throughout the world during these days of preparation for her feast on September 14th, let us pray through the intercession of our Mother Maria Celeste that we may receive a double portion of her spirit in order to become, like her, living portraits of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer in today's world.