Blessed Mary of the Passion (1866 – 1912) was favoured by many heavenly apparitions. During one of these apparitions Blessed Mary was overcome by the zeal towards Jesus and she said to him: “How I would like to go to the streets and the squares to make you known and loved by all.” On hearing this Jesus replied: “It is of no use for you to go to the streets and squares if I do not pour out the abundance of my grace. Stay in your room and pray for their conversion; for the outpouring of my grace.”
Pope Pius XII warned against the “heresy of the apostolate”, those moments when we become so busy that we have no time for God. We can lead no one to salvation if we do not make sure that we too are on the road to salvation. Just recently the Holy Father spoke about the necessity of spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, for priests at least an hour per day.
In our new Oxford movement we need to pay attention to this episode from the life of Blessed Mary of the Passion. It is no use for any of us to plan, plot, run the streets and squares if Jesus does not pour out his grace. This outpouring happens during prayer. We believe that Jesus can and that he will pour his grace, and so we ask with confidence, simplicity, few words that come from the heart and faith that he will do it.
Kneeling “Coram Domino” is the only place where any movement can start and grow, kneeling in front of the most blessed is the trumpet blast that will bring about the fall of any modern equivalent of Jericho. Kneeling in that Sacred Space where time meets eternity is the only place where silence is allowed to be eloquent. What an eloquent expression of this new movement when Anglo-Catholic parishes next to each other will start coming together to spend time adoring the Beloved, maybe every week or every month. What a blessing it is when Anglo-Catholic priests meet for adoration, if only it happened more often! It is only in these moments that we are filled with the spirit of Christ, lifted in humility and prepared to carry out the Father’s will. Without that spirit of Christ within us we are just a waste of everything.
Pope Pius XII warned against the “heresy of the apostolate”, those moments when we become so busy that we have no time for God. We can lead no one to salvation if we do not make sure that we too are on the road to salvation. Just recently the Holy Father spoke about the necessity of spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, for priests at least an hour per day.
In our new Oxford movement we need to pay attention to this episode from the life of Blessed Mary of the Passion. It is no use for any of us to plan, plot, run the streets and squares if Jesus does not pour out his grace. This outpouring happens during prayer. We believe that Jesus can and that he will pour his grace, and so we ask with confidence, simplicity, few words that come from the heart and faith that he will do it.
Kneeling “Coram Domino” is the only place where any movement can start and grow, kneeling in front of the most blessed is the trumpet blast that will bring about the fall of any modern equivalent of Jericho. Kneeling in that Sacred Space where time meets eternity is the only place where silence is allowed to be eloquent. What an eloquent expression of this new movement when Anglo-Catholic parishes next to each other will start coming together to spend time adoring the Beloved, maybe every week or every month. What a blessing it is when Anglo-Catholic priests meet for adoration, if only it happened more often! It is only in these moments that we are filled with the spirit of Christ, lifted in humility and prepared to carry out the Father’s will. Without that spirit of Christ within us we are just a waste of everything.
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