Thoughts Out of Solitude
by b.Mark
Hermits of St. Giles
When I receive Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in Holy Communion, I am receiving the Creator of the Universe into my body and into my soul. I pray and offer my Eucharist to Our Blessed Mother by saying “I offer You Lord Jesus, into the heart of our Loving Mother Mary, there Jesus, She will receive You lovingly, She will adore You profoundly, She will embrace You closely, She will love You perfectly, She will place You honorably, She will render to You in Spirit and in Truth many homages that are unknown to me in my thick darkness.” It was written by St. Louis DeMontfort. I learned this pray over 30 years ago and each time I receive Christ Jesus in the Holy Eucharist I recite this prayer. I do this because in my thick darkness believe I am not alone. I have my Blessed Mother right next to me, guiding me and protecting me from the darkness that does seek to consume me. For you see, the soul can never die. The soul is eternal. The darkness that surrounds us, that is embedded in our world, hates you and I. This darkness seeks every occasion to destroy the Peace that Christ offers us. Darkness seeks to bring chaos into our life. To bring fear, to bring suffering any way it can. It’s sole purpose is to torture the soul, because the soul can never go out of existence. When I hand over the blessings of the Holy Eucharist to our Blessed Mother, I believe She will protect this bond between me and Christ. She will keep me safe from the darkness. A good mom always protects her child. Mary, our Mother, is no different. In fact, She is better than any mother, for She is purity itself. There is nothing in Her that will bring any form of darkness close to us, if we ask Her to keep us safe, protecting us under Her mantle. Knowing this and believing this, I trust our Blessed Mother and I ask Her to bring me closer to Her Son every day. She accepted Her Son when the Arch-Angel Gabriel came to Her and asked Her to be the Mother of the Savior and the Holy Spirit overshadowed Her, and She gave birth to Him. (Luke 1:26; 2:1-20) Roman Catholics celebrate this coming each Christmas. The Season leading up to this great event is called Advent. Advent means “waiting” It is a time of preparation, reflection on our life, and changing the areas of our life that perhaps pushes Christ Jesus away and out of our life. If we have chaos in our life, we ask for peace, if we have hatred in our life we ask for love and forgiveness. Advent prepares us to accept mercy into our life. All of these gifts: peace, love, forgiveness, mercy is Christ Jesus. We re-create the coming of Christ into our world each Christmas because it is the most amazing event our world has ever experienced. Chaos is replaced with Peace. Hatred is replaced with Love. Forgiveness is a gift offered to us. Mercy is now ours. Balance in our life is now available to us. If you don’t know Christ Jesus, maybe you can open yourself up to Him. Invite Him into your life and just see. Explore this Advent Season. See for yourself what it all means. Let Christmas reveal its true face to you. I promise you, your life will change for the better. Your daily suffering will have meaning to you. Light will replace the darkness. Love will replace the hatred. Mercy and forgiveness will be yours if you allow Christ Jesus into your life.
Have a most Blessed Advent Season & Merry Christmas.
Your brother in Christ,
Mark
Hermits of St. Giles