AN UNFAILING SOURCE OF SUPPORT

Eugene concludes his letter to Jourdan by urging him to pray each day and especially to take the Eucharist as his source of support.

Beware of staying a single day away from the holy altar; it is there you must replenish your strength. At the moment of communion, tell him lovingly about all your sorrows: “vim patior, responde pro me” [ed. Is. 38, 14: “O Lord I am oppressed be my security!”].
Embrace his feet in spirit, protest that you will never separate yourself from him, that you wish to love him for ever, then take him into your heart and be not troubled about anything. That is what the Lord inspires me to say to you. Adieu, I embrace you very tenderly while commending you to our good mother Mary.

Letter to Jacques Antoine Jourdan, 30 March 1823, EO VI n 99

 

When you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms.“       Francis de Sales

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2 Responses to AN UNFAILING SOURCE OF SUPPORT

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    This writing reminds me of how very much we are the same and of our connectedness for it comes at a time, when I personally need to hear it and be reminded of how we, of how I am loved.

    Such tender love. Simply to read the letter written to another, it is an invitation to stop, reflect and enter into that very spirit of love and joy. This love that is shared while at the same time remaining intensely personal. The both and. Am not sure that we so much share it with each other as that we recognize what is already there and learn to see it in each other, to draw it forth.

    I love what God inspired Eugene to say to Jourdan, all of it. I am thinking there may be some who will say it’s old fashioned but I find myself responding to it. To be embraced with such tenderness and commended to Our Lady. Wow.

  2. John Mouck says:

    There were times in my life, dark times, when I attended mass every day. It seamed to help.
    Then there was one of those dark times when it was not possible to go to mass but there was (you’ll think this is crazy but…) a Catholic cemetery nearby that I was able to visit on my lunch hour. I was on holy ground and I could feel God’s presence there every bit as much as at mass even though there was no Eucharist, of course. This too saw me through.
    Now, I go to mass frequently; certainly not every day but often.
    Now, I feel like God is right with me always.
    I think, for myself at this point in my journey, if I were to go mass every day, it would become routine and not “special,” and I certainly don’t want that.
    ….just a reflection….

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