St Clare of Assisi - Selected Verses for Meditation and Contemplation - Christian Mystics
_ "Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance! And transform your whole being into the image of
the Godhead itself through contemplation!"
~ St. Clare of Assisi_
What a praiseworthy exchange: to leave temporal things for those that are eternal, to choose heavenly things for earthly goods, to receive a hundredfold instead of one, and to possess a life, blessed and eternal.
Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.
Our body is not made of iron. Our strength is not that of stone. Live and hope in the Lord, and let your service be according to reason.
Loving one another with the charity of Christ, let the love you have in your hearts be shown outwardly in your deeds so that compelled by such an example, the sisters may also grow in the love of God and charity for one another.
_Look at the edges of this mirror, and see the poverty of Him who was placed in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then looking at the surface of the mirror, dwell on the holy humility, the blessed poverty, the untold labors and burdens which He endured for the redemption of all humankind. Then, in the deep center of the mirror, contemplate the ineffable charity which led Him to suffer on the wood of the Cross, dying on it the most shameful kind of death. Therefore, that mirror hanging on the wood of the Cross urged those who passed by to consider, saying: “All you who pass by the way, look and see if there is any suffering like My suffering!” _
Love that does not know of suffering is not worthy of the name.
_Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory! And transform your entire being into the image of the Godhead Itself through contemplation.
_
“I Come, O Lord, Unto your Sanctuary To See The Life And Food Of My Soul. As I Hope In Thee, O Lord, Inspire Me With That Confidence Which Brings Me To your Holy Mountain. Permit Me, Divine Jesus, To Come Closer To you, That My Whole Soul May Do Homage To The Greatness Of your Majesty; That My Heart, With Its Tenderest Affections, May Acknowledge your Infinite Love; That My Memory May Dwell On The Admirable Mysteries Here Renewed Every Day, And That The Sacrifice Of My Whole Being May Accompany yours.”
We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to become vessels of God's compassionate love for others.
Our labor here is brief, but the reward is eternal. Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world, which passes like a shadow. Do not let false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.
Never forget that the way which leads to heaven is narrow; that the gate leading to life is narrow and low; that there are but few who find it and enter by it; and if there be some who go in and tread the narrow path for some time, there are but very few who persevere therein.
Therefore, dearly beloved, may you too always rejoice in the Lord. And may neither bitterness nor a cloud of sadness overwhelm you.
Place your mind before the mirror of eternity! Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance!
And transform your whole being into the image of the Godhead itself through contemplation!
So that you too may feel what His friends feel as they taste the hidden sweetness which God Himself has reserved from the beginning for those who love Him.
Happy the soul to whom it is given to attain this life with Christ, to cleave with all one’s heart to him whose beauty all the heavenly hosts behold forever, whose love inflames our love, the contemplation of whom is our refreshment, whose graciousness is our delight, whose gentleness fills us to overflowing, whose remembrance makes us glow with happiness, whose fragrance revives the dead, the glorious vision of whom will be the happiness of all the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. For he is the brightness of eternal glory, the splendor of eternal light, the mirror without spot.
Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my mind, give me right faith, a firm hope and perfect charity, so that I may always and in all things act according to Your Holy Will. Amen
#Saints #Prayer #meditation #words #poverty #selfawareness #healing #avasilencia
narrated by Samaneri Jayasāra :🔗 https://youtu.be/6teo__d9JdQ
