God's Correction Is for Our Good

[Rich]

God's Correction Is for Our Good

"Manifestly, it is not true that the screams of someone undergoing
a painful operation should hold back the hand of the surgeon who is
skillfully operating! Is the surgeon cruel for continuing in order to
heal the patient?
Seek nothing but God's help whenever you are corrected by him. See
to it that you do not perish, that you do not depart from the Lamb and
be devoured by the lion!"
--St. Augustine--Sermon on John 7, 12

Prayer: Lord, you are the virtue dwelling in my mind and the hiding
place of my thoughts!
--St. Augustine--Confessions 1, 13

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September 15th - The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

As the octave of the Nativity of Our Lady ends, the consideration of
her suffering would not normally come to the mind of the faithful. But
if someone would ask about the future of this child, we would recall
that before being proclaimed blessed by all nations, Mary would suffer
with her Son for the salvation of the world.

The voice of the liturgy invites us to consider her sorrow: “O all ye
who pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my
sorrow.” This applies to her.

The sorrow of Our Lady is a work of God. He was the One who destined
her to be the Mother of His Son. Therefore, He indissolubly united her
to the Person, life, mysteries and sufferings of Jesus in order to
make her His faithful companion in the work of Redemption. Suffering
has to be a great gift, because God gave it to His Son and to the
creature He loves more than any other after Him, Our Lady. He gave it
as a most precious gift.

For Mary the suffering did not start at Calvary, but with Jesus, “that
incommodious child,” as Bossuet called Him, because wherever He went,
he entered with His Cross and with His thorns which He distributes to
those He loves.

The prophecy of the aged Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of
the Divine Child in Jerusalem, the carrying of the Cross, the
Crucifixion, the taking down from the Cross, and the burial of Jesus:
these are the seven mysteries into which are grouped the well-nigh
infinite sufferings which made Our Lady the Queen of Martyrs, the
first and loveliest rose in the garden of the Spouse.

Above all, this solemn day shows us Mary on Calvary, and reminds us of
that supreme sorrow among all the sorrows that ran through the life of
Our Lady. The Church gave this feast the title of Seven Sorrows
because this number expresses the idea of totality and universality.

To understand the extent and intensity of the suffering of Our Lady,
we need to understand the extent and intensity of her love for Jesus,
because her love increased her suffering. Nature and grace concurred
to produce in Mary’s heart profound impressions. Nothing is stronger
by nature than the love a mother has for her son, and by grace the
love one has for God.


Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)

There are so many excellent thoughts in this selection by D. Guéranger
that I could be tempted to prolong these comments. I will not do so,
but will just select some ideas that he offers us.

The first is that since God loved His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, with
an infinite love and loved Our Lady with a lesser love, but still
greater than His love for any other creature, He reserved for them His
highest love. For this reason He gave them that vastness of crosses
represented by the number seven. Seven sorrows is understood as all
sorrows. Our Lady could be called the Lady of all sorrows because she
suffered everything.

All generations call her blessed, but all generations also could call
her sorrowful.

If this is so, we should understand better that when sorrow enters our
lives it is a proof of the love God has for us. We should also realize
that if sorrow does not enter our lives, we do not have this proof of
His love for us. Therefore, we should not complain when sufferings
come to us--nervous problems, difficulties in our apostolate,
misunderstandings with our friends, problems at home, poor health,
business troubles. We should accept these things as normal, as a proof
of the love of Divine Providence for us.

When I see a person without maturity, stability, rationality,
elevation of spirit, I think that what he is lacking is suffering.
These qualities only come with suffering--much suffering.

If we receive such trials, certainly we should pray for them to end.
But to the measure that they remain, we should thank God and Our Lady.

I would also like to stress those extraordinary words of Bossuet who
called Our Lord: “that incommodious child.” All those who follow Our
Lord are incommodious. When you give a good counsel, offer a good
example, ask for a sacrifice, the face of the person you are
addressing will let you know that he considers you bothersome. It
would be easier and more pleasant to tell a joke, to tease a bit, and
close the matter with a pat on the back, dispensing the person from
his duties.

Sometimes we have to command. How easy it would be to command if we
did not have to ask a subordinate to take things seriously, to see
reality at its most profound depths and in its most elevated aspect.
How simple it would be if we did not have to ask him to face his own
spiritual life without cowardice and keep careful watch over his
defects. All this causes bother. The burden of being incommodious is
one of the heaviest weights we have to carry.

Maintaining joyful resignation in face of the annoyance we cause
because we represent Catholic duty, and having the courage to be
incommodious in every circumstance is the path we are called to take
in order to follow Our Lord.

These are the virtues that on the day of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady
we should ask her to give us.

See :
http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j195sd_OLSorrows_9-15.html


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O Holy Mary
By St Aloysius de Gonzaga (1568-1591)

O Holy Mary, my mistress,
into your blessed trust
and special custody
and into the grasp of your mercy
I this day, everyday
and in the hour of my death,
commend my soul and my body.
To you, I commit,
all my anxieties and miseries,
my life and the end of my life,
that by your most holy intercession
and by your merits,
all my actions may be directed
and disposed according to your will
and that of your Son.
Amen