Newsletter #90 – Our Lady of Mount Carmel USA

Dear Friends and Benefactors,

Saint Bernard de Clairvaux so completely identifies the Mother and the Son in the plan of God that he does not hesitate to assert that all creation is meant for her. “To conclude summarily,” he says, “of her, through her and for her has the whole Scripture been written; and for her has the whole world been created.”
Knowing the greatness of Our Lady (first part of this newsletter), as well as, some advice on how to avoid distractions during prayer (second part of this newsletter) will help us in our spiritual preparation during the holy season of Advent.

I. THE GREATNESS OF OUR LADY
In “The Mystical City of God”, the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as revealed by Our Lady Herself to Venerable Mother Maria of Jesus of Agreda (1602-1665), acclaimed by several Popes, cardinals and theologians, notice carefully how God’s creation of the universe was specifically accomplished for Jesus Christ and His Most Holy Mother Mary.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE DIVINE DECREES INTO INSTANTS – FIRST DECREE
I (Mother Mary Jesus of Agreda) understood this order comprises the following instants. The first instant is God recognizing His infinite attributes and perfections together with the propensity and the ineffable inclination to communicate Himself outwardly.
This knowledge of God as being communicative “ad extra” comes first. His Highness, beholding the condition of His infinite perfections, and the virtue and efficacy which in them He possessed in order to accomplish magnificent works, saw such an exalted good as most proper in His equity, and as it were a duty and a forceful inclination to communicate Himself in order to work according to His communicative inclination and exercise His liberality and mercy by distributing outside of Himself with magnificence the plenitude of His infinite treasures contained in the Divinity; for being entirely infinite it is much more natural for Him to give gifts and graces than fire to ascend to its sphere, or the stone to descend toward its center, or the sun to diffuse its light.
This profound sea of perfections, this affluence of treasures, this impetuous infinity of riches, all is directed and communicated by His own inclination, and by the desire and knowledge of God Himself, comprehending and knowing that to give gifts and graces is not to diminish them but increase them in the manner possible by giving an outlet to the inexhaustible origin of His riches.
All this God saw in that first instant after the communication “ad intra” by the eternal emanations. Seeing this He found Himself as it were obliged by Himself to communicate Himself “ad extra”, perceiving that it was holy, just, merciful and compassionate to do so; hence nothing could impede Him.
According to our mode of understanding, we can represent God to our minds as not being satisfied nor at rest with Himself until He reached the object of His desires, the creatures, where and with whom, by making them partakers of His Divinity and perfections, He seeks His delights (Prov. 8:31).
In this enlightenment and knowledge which I possess, two things hold my lukewarm heart in wonder and inflame it unto annihilation. The first is the inclination, urgent desire, and strong will which I see in God to communicate His Divinity and the treasures of His grace. The second is the unspeakable and incomprehensible immensity of the good gifts which I see He desires to distribute according to this decree, assigning them for this purpose and yet remaining infinite, as if He had yet given nothing.
In this desire and inclination which fills His Majesty, I see Him prepared to sanctify, justify, and overwhelm with gifts and perfections all creatures together and each one in particular for itself. He would be ready to give to each of the creatures more than what is held by all the Angels and Seraphim together.
Even if all the drops in the ocean and the grains of sand on their shores, all the stars, planets, elements, and all creatures were capable of reason and of His gifts, they would receive them without measure, provided they would dispose themselves and place no obstacle toward receiving them. O fearful malice of sin, which alone is capable of holding up the impetuous stream of such great and eternal gifts!

SECOND DECREE
The second instant was to confer and decree the object and intention of this communication of the Divinity “ad extra”, namely that it redound to His greater glory and to the exaltation of His Majesty and the manifestation of his greatness. This His own exaltation God saw in this instant as the end for which He would communicate Himself and make Himself known by His liberality in showering forth His attributes and using His omnipotence in order to be known, praised and glorified.
THIRD DECREE
The third instant was to know and determine the order and arrangement, or mode of this communication, in order to realize in an adequate manner the most exalted ends, namely the proper order to be maintained in regard to the communications of the Godhead and His Divine attributes so this activity of the Lord would have its proper reasons and objects and could proceed with the most beautiful and admirable sequence, harmony and subordination.
In this instant was decreed in the first place the Divine Word would assume flesh and become visible; hence the perfection and the composition of the most holy humanity of Christ our Lord was decreed and modeled in the Divine Mind.
In the second place were formed the ideals of the rest of men in imitation of Him. The Divine Mind prearranged the harmony and adornment of the human nature composed of an organic body and a vivifying soul, endowed with faculties to know and enjoy its Creator, to discern between good and evil, and with a free will to love that same Lord.
This Hypostatic Union of the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity I understood necessarily to have been the first incentive and object for which, before all others, the divine intellect and will issued “ad extra”, for most exalted reasons which I cannot explain. One of these reasons is God, having in Himself known and loved Himself, would according to right order know and love that which approaches most intimately to His Divinity, as is the case with the Hypostatic Union.
Another reason is the Divinity, having communicated Himself “ad intra”, would also communicate Himself “ad extra”, for thus the Divine will and intention would begin to execute its works with the highest end in view, and His attributes would be communicated in the most beautiful order.
The fire of the Divinity operated in its fullest measure upon that which was most immediately connected with Him, namely the hypostatically united humanity, and the Divinity communicated Himself in the highest and most excellent degree to Him who was to be closest to God in divine knowledge and love, and share the works and the glory of the Deity; for God (speaking according to our lowly comprehension) could not endanger the attainment of this end, since He alone could possibly possess the proportion and as it were the justification for such a marvelous work.
It was also appropriate and as it were necessary that if God would create many creatures, He would create them in such harmony and subordination as would be the most admirable and glorious within the reach of possibility; hence in conformity with this they must be subordinate to a supreme Head, who would be as far as possible united immediately with God so through Him they could have communication and connection with His divinity.
For these and for other reasons (which I cannot explain) the dignity of the works of God could be provided for only by the Incarnation of the Word; through Him creation would possess the most beautiful order which without Him was impossible.
FOURTH DECREE
The fourth instant was to determine the gifts and graces which were to be conferred upon the humanity of Christ our Lord in union with the Divinity. Here the Most High opened the hand of His generous omnipotence and attributes in order to enrich that most holy humanity and soul of Christ with abundance of gifts and graces in the highest plenitude and degree possible.
In this instant was determined what afterwards David said: The stream of the river of the Divinity maketh the city of God joyful (Ps. 45:5), directing the stream of His gifts upon this humanity of the Word, communicating to it all infused and beatific knowledge, and all the grace and glory of which His most holy soul was capable, appropriate for one who was both true God and true man, and Head of all creatures capable of grace and glory, so from this impetuous stream they would partake with the order in which it would happen.
To this instant also, and as it were in natural sequence, pertained the decree and predestination of the Mother of the Incarnate Word; for here I understand was ordained that pure creature before there issued any other decree to create any other creature.
Hence before all other creatures, She was conceived in the Divine Mind, in such a manner and such a state as belonged to and harmonized with the dignity, excellence and gifts of the humanity of her Most Holy Son. Upon Her was directed, at once and immediately, the entire impetus of the river of the Divinity and His attributes according to the capacity of a mere creature to receive it and as is becoming the dignity of the Mother of God.
In the knowledge of these exalted mysteries and decrees I confess myself ravished in admiration and transported beyond my own self. Perceiving this most holy and pure creature formed and conceived in the Divine Mind from the beginning and before all the ages, I joyfully and exultingly magnify the Omnipotent for the admirable and mysterious decree by which He formed for us such a pure and grand, such a mysterious and godlike creature, worthy rather to be admired and praised by all beings than to be described by anyone.
In my admiration I can say with St. Dionysius the Areopagite (Letter to St. Paul), “If faith would not instruct me, and if the understanding of what I see would not teach me, that it is God who has conceived Her in His mind, and Who alone could and can in His omnipotence form such an image of His Divinity, if all this were not shown to me at one time, I might begin to doubt whether the Virgin Mother contains in Herself divinity.”
O what tears flowed from my eyes, and what sorrowful astonishment possessed my soul, to see that divine prodigy not acknowledged, and that wonder of the Most High not manifest to all mortals! Much is known of Her, but much more is unknown, as this sealed book has not been opened. I am ravished in the perception of this tabernacle of God, and I perceive that her Author is more admirable in her creation than in the creation of all the rest of the world, although the diversity of the creatures manifests the wonderful power of their Creator.
In this Queen alone are comprehended and contained more treasures than in all the rest of creation together, and the variety and the preciousness of her riches honor the Lord above all the multitudes of the other creatures.
Here (according to our way of understanding) the promise and as it were the contract was made with the Word as to the degree of sanctity and perfection, and the gifts and graces, which were to be possessed by Mary His Mother, and the protection, support and defense which was to be provided for this true City of God, in whom His Majesty contemplated the graces and merits which this Lady was to earn for Herself, as well as the fruits to be gathered for His people by the loving returns She was to make to His Majesty.
In the same instant, and as it were in the third and last place, God determined to create a locality and an abode where the Incarnate Word and His Mother could converse and dwell. For them primarily did He create heaven and earth, with its stars and elements and all that is contained in them.
Secondarily the intention and decree included the creation of the members of which He was to be the Head and the vassals of whom He would be the King, so with kingly providence all the necessary and befitting arrangements would be made beforehand.
FIFTH DECREE
In this fifth decree the creation of the angelic nature, which is more excellent and more like unto the spiritual being of the Divinity, was determined upon, and first was foreseen and decreed their creation and admirable disposition into nine choirs and three hierarchies.
The primary intention for their creation was for the glory of God, to minister to His Divine Majesty, and so they might know and love Him; consequently, and secondarily they were decreed so they might assist, glorify and honor, reverence and serve the deified humanity of the Eternal Word, recognizing Him as Head and honoring Him also in His Most Holy Mother Mary, Queen of these same angels.
Commission was given to these angels to bear them up in their hands in all their ways (Ps. 90:12). In this instant Christ our Lord earned for them by His infinite merits, present and foreseen, all the graces which they were to receive. He was constituted as their Head, Exemplar and supreme King, of whom they would be subjects. Even if the number of angels had been infinite, the merits of Christ our highest Good would be abundantly sufficient to supply them all with grace.
To this instant also belongs the predestination of the good angels and the reprobation of the bad. God saw in this instant, by means of His infinite science, all the works of the former and of the latter, and the propriety of predestinating by His free will and merciful liberality those who would render Him obedience and reverence, and of reprobating by His justice those who would rise up against His Majesty in pride and disobedience due to their disordered self-love.
In the same instant was also decreed the creation of the empyrean heaven for the manifestation of His glory and the reward of the good, the earth and the rest for the other creatures, and in the center or depth of the earth hell for the punishment of the bad angels.
SIXTH DECREE
In the sixth instant was decreed the creation of a people and congregation of men for Christ, Who was already formed in the Divine Mind and Will, and according to Whose image and likeness man was to be made so the Incarnate Word would find brethren similar but inferior to Himself, and a people of His own nature of whom He would be the Head.
In this instant was determined the order of the creation of the whole human race, which was to begin from one man and one woman and propagate itself until the Virgin and her Son would be born in the predestined order. Because of the merits of Christ our Savior the graces and gifts were prearranged, as well as original justice if they would only preserve it. The fall of Adam was foreseen, and in him that of all others except the Queen, who did not enter into this decree (cf. Esther 15:13).
As a remedy it was ordained that the most holy humanity would be capable of suffering. The predestined were chosen by free grace, and the foreknown were reprobated with exact justice. All that was necessary and proper for the conservation of human nature and for obtaining the end of the Redemption and predestination was preordained without interfering with the free will of men, for such ordainment was more conformable to the nature of God and to divine equity.
There was no injustice done to them, for if by their free will they could sin, so also could they abstain from sin by means of grace and the light of reason. God violated the rights of no one, since He forsook no one, nor denied to anyone that which is necessary (cf. John 1:9). Since His Law is written in the hearts of all men (Ps. 4:7), nobody is excused for not knowing and loving Him as the highest Good and Author of all creation.
In the perception of these mysteries, I saw with great clearness and force the high motives which caused God to manifest and magnify Himself, and which should induce men to praise and adore the greatness of the Creator and Redeemer of all.
I also saw how tardy men are in the acknowledgment of these obligations and in making return for these benefits, and I was made aware of the complaints and indignation of the Most High due to this forgetfulness. His Majesty commanded and exhorted me not to be guilty of such ingratitude, but to offer Him a sacrifice of praise, and a new song, and that I magnify Him in the name of all creatures.
O most high and incomprehensible Lord! Would that I had the love and the perfections of all the angels and the just in order to confess and praise worthily thy greatness!…
My sole object has been to explain how the Virgin Mother was formed and preordained in the Divine Mind before the ages (Ecclus. 24:14). That which I have seen over and above concerning this highest mystery transforms my interior, and in silent admiration makes me praise the Author of such magnificence in company with the Blessed, saying: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts (Is. 6:3).

HOW IN THE CREATION OF ALL THINGS WERE INTENDED FOR JESUS AND MARY – AND HOW GOD CHOSE AND FAVORED HIS PEOPLE PREFIGURING THESE MYSTERIES
In chapter VIII of the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom says of Himself that in the creation of all things He was present with the Almighty forming all things (Prov. 8:30). This Wisdom is the Incarnate Word, Who with His Most Holy Mother was present in spirit when God resolved upon the creation of the whole world, for in that instant the Son was not only coexistent in divine essence with the Father and the Holy Ghost, but also the humanity which He was to take occupied the first place among all creatures foreseen and designed in the Divine Mind of the Father.
Conjointly with Him was also foreseen as present the human nature of His Most Holy Mother, who was to conceive Him in her most pure womb. In these two persons were foreseen all His works, so because of them (speaking in a human way) He overlooked all that could offend Him in the conduct of the men and angels who were to fall, for the conduct of the latter was an inducement rather to desist from the creation of the human race and of the things which were for their service.
The Most High looked upon His Only-begotten Son made man and upon His Most Holy Mother as models which He had formed by the grandeur of His wisdom and power so they could serve as the originals according to which He was to copy the whole human race.
Thus, by assimilating it to these two images of His Divinity all the rest of men could issue forth by means of these models made in the likeness of God. He created also the necessary material beings required for human life, but with such wisdom that some of them also serve as symbols to represent in a certain way these two beings which He primarily intended, and to which all others were to be subservient, namely Christ and Mary Most Holy.
For this reason, He made the luminaries of heaven, the sun and the moon (Gen. 1:16), so thus in dividing the day and the night they would symbolize Christ, the Sun of justice, and His Most Holy Mother, who is beautiful as the moon (Cant. 6:9), for these two divide the day of grace and the night of sin. The sun illumines the moon, and both, together with the stars of the firmament, illumine all other creatures within the confines of the universe.
He created the rest of the beings and added to them greater perfection, seeing they were to serve Christ and Most Holy Mary, and through them the rest of men, for whom before they issued from their nothingness, He set a most delightful table, abundant, secure, and more memorable than that of Assuerus (Esther 1:3), because He was to create man for His delight and draw him to the enjoyment of His knowledge and love.
Like a most courteous and bounteous Lord He did not desire the invited guests to wait, but rather both the creation and the invitation to the banquet of His knowledge and love to be one and the same act. Man was not to lose any time in that which concerned him so much, namely to know and praise his almighty Maker.
On the sixth day, He formed and created Adam as it were of the age of thirty-three years (Gen. 1:27). This was the age in which Christ was to suffer death, and Adam in regard to his body was so like unto Christ that scarcely any difference existed; also, according to the soul Adam was similar to Christ.
From Adam God formed Eve so similar to the Virgin that she was a copy of Her in features and person. God looked upon these two portraits of the originals with the highest pleasure and benevolence, and because of the originals He heaped many blessings upon them, as if He wanted to entertain Himself with them and their descendants until the time would arrive for forming Christ and Mary.
But the happy state in which God had created the two first parents of the human race lasted only a very short while. The envy of the serpent was immediately aroused against them, for Lucifer was impatiently awaiting their creation, and no sooner were they created than his hatred became active against them.
However, he was not permitted to witness the formation of Adam and Eve as he had witnessed the creation of all other things, for the Lord did not choose to manifest to him the creation of the man, nor the formation of Eve from a rib.
All these things were concealed from him for a space of time until both of them were joined. But when the demon saw the admirable composition of the human nature, perfect beyond that of any other creature, and the beauty of the souls and also of the bodies of Adam and Eve, and recognized the paternal love with which the Lord regarded them, and how He made them the owners and lords of all creation, and gave them hope of eternal life, the wrath of the dragon was lashed to fury, and no tongue can describe the rage with which that beast was filled, nor how great was his envy and his desire to take the life of these two beings. Like an enraged lion, he certainly would have done so if he had not known that a superior force would prevent him.
Nevertheless, he studied and plotted out some means which would suffice to deprive them of the grace of the Most High and make them the enemies of God.
Here Lucifer deceived himself, for the Lord had from the beginning mysteriously manifested to him that the Word was to assume human nature in the womb of Most Holy Mary, but not how and when; and thus, He had also concealed the creation of Adam and the formation of Eve so Lucifer would from the beginning labor under his ignorance concerning the mystery and the time of the Incarnation.
As his wrath and his watchfulness against Christ and Mary had been so signally anticipated, he suspected that Adam had come forth from Eve, and that She was the Mother and Adam the Incarnate Word. His suspicions grew when he felt the divine power which prevented him from harming the life of these creatures.
On the other hand, he soon became aware of the precepts of God, for these did not remain concealed from him since he heard their conversation in regard to them. Being freed more and more from his doubt as he listened to the words of the first parents and sized up their natural gifts, he began to follow them like a roaring lion (I Peter 5:8), seeking an entrance through those inclinations which he found in each of them.
Nevertheless, until he was undeceived in the course of the Redemption he continued to hesitate between his wrath against Christ and Mary and the dread of being overcome by them. Most of all he dreaded the confusion of being conquered by the Queen of heaven, who was to be a mere creature and not God.
Taking courage therefore in the precept which was given to Adam and Eve, and having prepared the snare, Lucifer entered with all his energy upon the work of entrapping them and of opposing and hindering the execution of the Divine Will.
He first approached the woman and not the man, because he knew her to be by nature more frail and weak, and because in tempting her he would be more certain that it was not Christ whom he was encountering; moreover, he had the highest indignation against her ever since he had seen the sign in heaven and heard the threat which God had made against him through that Woman.
All this drew and carried him first toward Eve rather than Adam. Before he manifested himself to her, he aroused in her many powerful and disordered thoughts or imaginations in order to approach her in a state of excitement and preoccupation; yet since I have written about this elsewhere, I will not enlarge here upon the violence and inhumanity with which he tempted her.
It is enough for my purpose to mention what Scripture says, that he took the form of a serpent (Gen. 3:1), and thus speaking to Eve drew her into a conversation which she should not have permitted. Listening to him and answering him, she began to believe him; then she violated the command of God; and in the end she persuaded her husband that he should likewise break the command, causing damage to them and to all other mortals, and losing for them and us the happy state in which the Most High had placed them.
When Lucifer saw the two fallen and their interior beauty, grace, and original justice changed into the ugliness of sin, incredible was the elation and triumph which he demonstrated to his demons. But he soon fell from his proud boasting when he saw, contrary to his expectations, how kindly the merciful love of God dealt with the delinquents, and how He offered them a chance of doing penance by giving them hope of pardon and return of grace; moreover, he saw how they were disposing themselves toward this forgiveness by sorrow and contrition, and how the beauty of grace was restored to them.
When the demons perceived the effect of contrition, all hell was again in confusion. His lamentation grew greater seeing the sentence which God pronounced against the guilty ones, in which he himself was implicated. More especially and above all was he tormented by the repetition of that threat: The Woman shall crush thy head (Gen. 3:15), which he had already heard in heaven.
The offspring of Eve multiplied after the fall, and so arose the division and multiplication of the good and the bad, the elect and the reprobate, the ones following Christ our Redeemer and Master and the others following Satan. The elect cling to their Leader by faith, humility, charity, patience, and all the virtues, and in order to obtain victory they are assisted, helped and beautified by the divine grace and gifts which the Redeemer and Lord of all merited for them.
But the reprobate, without receiving any such benefits from their false leader, or earning any other reward than the eternal pain and confusion of hell, follow him in pride, presumption, ambition, impurities and wickedness, being led into these disorders by the father of lies and the originator of sin.
Notwithstanding all this the Most High in His ineffable kindness gave our first parents His benediction so the human race would grow and multiply. His most exalted providence permitted Eve to bring forth in the unjust Cain a type of the evil fruits of sin, and in the innocent Abel, both in figure and in imitation, the type of Christ our Lord (Gen. 4:3ff.); hence in the first just man the law and doctrine of Christ began to exert its effects.
All the rest of the just were to follow it, suffering for justice’ sake, hated and persecuted by the sinners, the reprobate, and by their own brothers (Mt. 10:21-22). Accordingly, patience, humility and meekness began to appear in Abel, and envy and all wickedness in Cain, for his own perdition and for the benefit of the just. The wicked triumph and the good suffer, exhibiting the spectacle which the world in its progress shows to this day in the composition of the two cities, namely the Jerusalem of the just and the Babylon of the reprobate, each with its own leader and head.
The Most High also desired the first Adam to be the type of the second in the manner of his creation, for just as before the creation of the first man He created and ordered for him the republic of all the beings of which he was to be the lord and head, so likewise before the appearance of His Only-begotten, He allowed many ages to pass so in the multiplied numbers of the human race His Son would find prepared for Himself a people of which He was to be the Head, the Teacher, and the King. He was not to be even for a moment without a people and without followers. Such is the wonderful harmony and order in which the Divine Wisdom disposed all things, making that later in execution which was first in intention.
Hence, the Word could descend from the bosom of the Father and clothe Himself in our mortality, as the world progressed in its course God selected and prepared a chosen and most noble people, the most admirable of past and future times. Within it He also constituted a most illustrious and holy race from which He was to descend according to the flesh.
I will not linger in detailing the genealogy of Christ our Lord, for the account of the holy Evangelists has made that unnecessary (Mt. 1:1-16; Lk. 3:23-38). I will only say, in praise of the Most High, that He has shown to me many times the incomparable love which He bore toward His people, the favors shown to them, and the sacraments and mysteries which He entrusted to them, as was afterwards made manifest through His Holy Church; for at no time has He slept or slumbered Who has constituted Himself the watcher of Israel (Ps. 120:4).
He made most holy Prophets and Patriarchs, who in figures and prophecies announced to us from far off that which we now have in possession. He desires us to venerate them, knowing how they esteemed the law of grace and how earnestly they yearned and prayed for it. To this people God manifested His immutable being by many revelations, and they again transmitted these revelations to us by the Scriptures, containing immense mysteries which we grasp and learn to know by faith; however, all of them are brought to perfection and are made certain by the Incarnate Word, Who transmitted to us the secure rule of faith and the nourishment of the Holy Scriptures in His Church.
Although the Prophets and the just ones of that people were not so favored as to see Christ in His body, they nevertheless experienced the liberality of the Lord, Who manifested Himself to them by prophecies and Who moved their hearts to pray for His Coming and for the Redemption of the whole human race.
The consonance and harmony of all these prophecies, mysteries and aspirations of the ancient Fathers were a sweet music to the Most High which resounded in the secret recesses of the Divinity, and which regaled Him and shortened the time (to speak in a human manner) until He would descend to converse with men (cf. Baruch 3:38).
Genesis contains that which concerns the beginning and the creation of the world for the human race; the division of the lands and peoples; the chastisement and the restoration; the confusion of tongues, and the origin of the chosen race, brought low in Egypt; and many other great sacraments revealed by God to Moses so we may be led to know His love and justice towards men from the beginning, drawing them to His knowledge and service and foreshadowing that which He had resolved to do in the future.
The Book of Exodus contains what happened in Egypt with the chosen people; the plagues and punishments which God sent in order to rescue them; their departure and march through the sea; the written law given with such great preparations and wonders; and many other great sacraments which the Lord provided for His people, afflicting sometimes their enemies and other times themselves, chastising their enemies as a severe Judge and correcting the chosen people as a most loving Father, teaching them to know the benefit of labors.
He worked great wonders with the staff of Moses, which prefigured the Cross upon which the Incarnate Word was to be sacrificed as the Lamb, a remedy for some and ruin for others (Lk. 2:34), like the waves of the Red Sea which shielded the chosen people and annihilated the Egyptians. By all these mysteries He advanced His chosen people, interweaving their lives with joys and weeping, with labors and comforts, and with infinite wisdom and providence He symbolized in them the Life and Death of Christ our Lord.
[Most Rev. Samaniego in note XX of Part I of his Spanish edition explains that Ven. Mary is here speaking of the children of Israel as superior to all other temporal peoples, whereas Christians are a spiritual people and hence superior in this regard]
In Leviticus He describes and ordains many sacrifices and ceremonies of the law for placating the Divinity, for they were to point out the Lamb Who was to be immolated for all men; and they pointed out also ourselves, immolated to His Majesty by the true execution of these figurative sacrifices. It also describes the vestments of Aaron, the high priest and type of Christ, though Christ was not to be of that inferior order but of the order of Melchisedech (Ps. 109:4).
The Book of Numbers describes the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert, prefiguring what was to happen with the Holy Church, with the Only-begotten as man, with His Most Holy Mother, and also with the rest of the just, who in different aspects were prefigured in the column of fire, the manna, and the rock giving forth water. It contains also other great mysteries which are included in the events there recorded, and likewise the mysteries pertaining to numbers, in all of which deep secrets are hidden.
Deuteronomy is like a second law, a repetition of the first, but given in a different way and prefiguring more closely the law of the Gospels; for since the Incarnation of the Son was to be deferred, according to the hidden judgments of God and the propriety known to His wisdom, He renewed and rearranged these laws so they would be more like to those which He was to establish through His Only-begotten Son.
Jesus Nave or Josue conducts the people of God into the promised land. He divides the Jordan to allow the passage of the multitudes and achieves great things, typifying plainly the Redeemer as well in name as in deed. His history represents the destruction of the kingdoms which the demon possessed, and the separation and division of the good and bad which will happen on the last day.
After Josue, when the people had already come into the possession of the promised and desired land, which primarily and appropriately signifies the Church acquired by Jesus Christ through the price of His Blood, comes the Book of the Judges ordained by God for the government of His people, especially during the wars which because of their sins and idolatries were waged against them by the Philistines and other neighboring enemies. From these God freed and delivered them whenever they returned to Him by penance and amendment of life.
In it are also related the deeds of Debbora while judging the people and liberating them from great oppression, and also those of Jahel, who helped them to victory, mighty and courageous women both. All these deeds of history prefigure and illustrate what was to happen in the Church.
After the generation of the Judges came the Kings for whom the Israelites petitioned in their desire of imitating the government of the surrounding nations. These books contain great mysteries concerning the coming of the Messias. Heli the priest and Saul the king pre-figure in their death the reprobation of the Old Law.
Sadoc and David typify the new reign and priesthood of Christ, and also the Church with the small number which were to belong to it in comparison to the rest of men in the world.
The other kings of Israel and Juda and their captivities pre-signify other great mysteries of the Holy Church.
During the aforesaid times lived the most patient Job, whose words are so mysterious that there is not one without its profound sacramental meaning concerning the life of Christ our Lord, the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgment in the same flesh in which each one lives, and concerning the violence and astuteness of the demons and their warfare against men.
Above all has God placed him (Job) as an example of patience for us mortals, for in him we all may learn how we are to bear our adversities, especially as we have before our eyes the Death of Christ, whereas this saint saw Him only at such a distance and yet imitated Him so closely.
In the writings of the many and great Prophets whom God sent in the time of the kings to provide for special necessities, not one of the great mysteries and sacraments pertaining to the coming of the Messias and His law remained undeclared or unrevealed. The same thing, although more at a distance, God accomplished in the ancient Fathers and Patriarchs. In all this, He multiplied the likenesses and as it were the patterns of the Incarnate Word, and prearranged and prepared for Him a people and the law which He was to teach.
In the three great Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He deposited great and precious pledges, calling Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He desired to honor Himself in this Name at the same time that He honored them, manifesting His dignity and His excellent virtues and sacraments, and confiding them to their care so they could furnish so honorable a Name to God.
The Patriarch Abraham, in order to prefigure vividly that which the Eternal Father was to do with His Only-begotten, was tempted and tried by the command to sacrifice his only son Isaac (Gen. 22:1). But when this obedient father was about to complete the sacrifice, the same Lord Who had given the command impeded its execution, for such a heroic sacrifice was to be reserved to the Eternal Father, Who alone was to sacrifice in reality His Only-begotten.
Only in a symbolic manner can Abraham be said to have done the same, for thus it will appear that the zeal of divine love is strong as death (Cant. 8:6). However, it was not appropriate for such an expressive figure to remain altogether unaccomplished, and therefore the sacrifice of Abraham was fulfilled by the killing of a ram, being likewise a figure of the Lamb Who was to pay for the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29).
To Jacob was shown that mysterious ladder, full of sacraments and hidden import (Gen. 28:12), principally to represent the Incarnate Word as the way and the means of ascending to the Father and of His descending to us. On it also ascend and descend the angels who illumine and guide us, bearing us up in their hands so we might not stumble over the rocks of the errors, heresies and vices with which the path of mortal life is strewn (Ps. 90:12). In the midst of them we pass securely up this stairs in the faith and hope of His Holy Church, which is the house of the Lord and the only portal of heaven and sanctity.
To Moses, in order to constitute Himself the God of Pharao and leader of His people, He showed the mystical bush which burned without being consumed (Ex. 3:2), and which foreshadowed the Divinity covered with our humanity, leaving the Divinity intact by the humanity and the humanity unconsumed by the Divinity. At the same time, it also signified the perpetual virginity of the Mother of the Incarnate Word, not only of her body but of her soul, such that although She was a daughter of Adam and came vested in the sin-tainted nature derived from Adam, She nevertheless was without stain or offense.
He raised also for Himself David according to His own Heart (I Kg. 13:14), who worthily sang the mercies of the Most High (Ps. 88:2), comprehending in his Psalms all the sacraments and mysteries not only of the law of grace, but of the written and natural laws (Ps. 118 and 18).
The testimonies, judgments and works of the Lord which were pronounced by his lips, David also treasured up in his heart, meditating on them day and night. In pardoning his enemies he was an express image and figure of God forgiving us. Thus, all his promises concerning the Coming of the Redeemer were made more certain to the world.
Solomon, the king of peace, and by this a figure of the true King of kings, showed his great wisdom in manifesting by diverse kinds of writings the mysteries and sacraments of Christ, especially in the metaphor of the Canticles, wherein is enclosed the mysteries of the Incarnate Word, of His Most Holy Mother, and of the Church and the faithful. He taught also right behavior in different ways, opening up a fountain of truth and life-giving knowledge for many other writers.
But who can worthily magnify the benefits He provided for His people in the praiseworthy host of holy Prophets? Through them the Lord has spread the light of prophecy, lighting up as from afar the Holy Church, and commencing in advance to shed the rays of the Sun of justice and of the efficacious law of grace.
The two great Prophets, Isaias and Jeremias, were chosen to preach to us, in a sweet and exalted manner, the mysteries of the Incarnation of the Word, His Birth, Life and Death. Isaias promised us a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and His Name shall be called Emmanuel (Is. 7:14); that a Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us, and the government is upon His shoulder (Is. 9:6).
All the rest of the life of Christ he proclaims with such clearness that his prophecies are like a Gospel. Jeremias announces the unheard-of wonder that God will cause a woman to bear in her womb a man, Who is at the same time to be God and perfect man, Who alone can be Christ (Jer. 31:22).
He announced His Coming, His Passion, Ignominies and Death (Lam. 3). Wonder and suspense fill me in the consideration of these Prophets. Isaias asks the Lord to send the Lamb, Who is to rule the world, from the rock of the desert to the mountain of the daughter of Sion (Is. 16:1); for this Lamb, the Incarnate Word, calls the heavens a desert, whereas God He dwelt without the society of men.
Isaias calls Him a rock due to the stability of His throne and the unaltered rest of eternity which He enjoys. The mountain from which He is asked to come is, in the mystical sense, the Holy Church, and first of all Most Holy Mary, the Daughter of the vision of peace, which is Sion.
The Prophet interposes Her as the Mediatrix to induce the Eternal Father to send the Lamb, His Only-begotten, for in all the rest of the human race there was nothing to influence Him so much as to have such a Mother, who was to clothe this Lamb with the fleece (cf. Ps. 71:6) of the Most Holy Humanity. All this is contained in that most sweet prayer and prophecy of Isaias.
Ezekiel also saw this Virgin Mother in the figure and likeness of the closed gate (Ez. 44:2) which was open only for the God of Israel, and through which no other man could enter.
Habacuc contemplates Christ our Lord on the Cross, and in most profound words prophesies the mysteries of the Redemption and the wonderful effects of the Passion and Death of our Redeemer (Hab. 3).
Joel describes the land of the twelve tribes, prefiguring the twelve Apostles, who were to be the heads of all the sons of the Church. He also announces the descent of the Holy Ghost upon His servants and handmaids (Joel 2:28), foretelling the time of the Coming and the Life of Christ.
And all the other Prophets announced in part the same thing, for God desired all His great works to be announced, prophesied and prefigured far in advance, and so completely that they would testify the love and care which He had for men and with which He enriched His Church. He desired also to reprehend us and convict us of our lukewarmness, since these ancient Fathers and Prophets, seeing only the shadows and figures, were inflamed with divine love and broke forth in canticles of praise and exaltation of the Lord, whereas we, who enjoy the truth and the bright day of grace, remain buried in forgetfulness of such great benefits, and forsaking the light continue to seek the darkness.

II. HOW TO DEAL WITH DISTRACTIONS DURING PRAYER

Saint Bernard was traveling with a poor, uneducated farmer, who noticed that the abbot kept his eyes cast downward. When the farmer asked why the saint was not looking at the beautiful countryside, Saint Bernard explained that he wanted to avoid distractions while praying.
In response, the farmer boasted, “I am never distracted when I pray.”
Saint Bernard objected, “I do not believe it. Now let me make a bargain with you. If you can say the Our Father without one distraction, I will give you this mule I am riding. But if you do not succeed, you must come with me and be a monk.”
The farmer agreed and began praying aloud confidently, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name . . .” Then, after pausing for a moment, he asked St. Bernard, “Does that include the saddle and the bridle, too?”
Saint Teresa of Avila, speaking about her own wrestling with distracted prayer, says, “I was more anxious for the hour of prayer to be over than I was to remain there. I do not know what heavy penance I would not have gladly undertaken rather than practice prayer….the intellect is so wild that it does not seem to be anything else than a frantic madman no one can tie down….All the trials we endure cannot be compared to these interior battles…[Yet,] do not imagine that the important thing is never to be thinking of anything else and that if your mind becomes slightly distracted all is lost…think of distractions as mere clouds passing in the sky, momentarily taking your gaze from the Sun of Righteousness…”

A BRIEF CATECHISM ON PRAYER ATTENTION
Saint Thomas Aquinas (cf. “Guide to the Spiritual Life”, Father John Baptiste Scaramelli, S.J., 1902) says that the attention which we may have in our vocal prayers is threefold:
The first kind is that which we pay to the words, as in the recitation of the Divine Office, during which we are bound to read the words carefully, and to pronounce them distinctly, so as to avoid making mistakes in the exact pronunciation of the prescribed words. But that this attention may be of real advantage, the person must have begun by placing himself in God’s presence with the purpose to pray by the recital of this particular form of prayer.
The second kind of attention is that paid to the meaning of the words uttered, as when those reciting the Psalms, the Our Father, Hail Mary, or other like prayers, all of which abound with devout affections, reflect meanwhile on the sense of what they say, and unite to the verbal recitation the devout feelings of their hearts. If the person making use of such prayer, instead of going always forward as is done when reciting the Canonical Hours prefer to stop at every verse and make devout reflections, nourishing his mind with the various meanings which occur; then the prayer will be something more than merely vocal; it will be mingled with mental prayer, and may be styled (to use the expression of St. Ignatius in his Spiritual Exercises) the “Second Method” of prayer.
The third kind of attention is that given not to the words merely, nor to their import only, but to God Himself, to Whom all prayer is addressed directly or indirectly, as when, in prayer, we keep ourselves recollected in the presence of God, and adore, love, and thank Him, or entreat Him in our hearts to grant us the graces of which He sees us to stand in need.
The first sort of attention suffices; the second is good, and may be very profitable; the third is the best, and may become most advantageous to such as earnestly apply to it. And we may here observe, that St. Thomas calls this last-mentioned application of the mind most necessary, especially to such as by their ignorance of the Latin language are unable to enter into the sense of the Psalms, the “Pater Noster”, or other prayers approved by Holy Church; for thus, while with their tongues they recite words which they understand not, instead of allowing their thoughts to wander in every direction, they can and should fix their minds on God, and occupy themselves with devout and profitable affections.

EXAMPLES OF ATTENTION AT PRAYER
There is a well-known instance of this in the “Chronicles of the Cistercian Choir”. Saint Bernard, while at choir one night with his monks, had the following vision: He beheld, by the side of each of the religious, an Angel with pen and paper in hand, taking down every psalm, verse, and word that was recited. There was this difference, nevertheless, that some Angels wrote in letters of gold, others of silver; others again used ink, others dipped their pens in water; while some stood holding their pens in their hands, without taking down anything.
While the Saint was beholding this spectacle with the eyes of his body, God Almighty opened those of his mind, and, by a ray of heavenly light, caused him to seize the true meaning of this vision.
He now understood that the letters of gold signified fervour of spirit, the inward charity that animated the prayers of some; those of silver denoted devotion, sincere in itself, but joined with a less degree of fervour.
The letters in ink indicated the scrupulous exactness wherewith some recited the words of the psalms, but with very little devotional feeling.
The prayers written with water indicated the negligence of such as, overcome with drowsiness, indolence, or idle thoughts, did not give careful attention to what they were reciting with their tongue. The Angels who wrote nothing represented the indolence and malice of those who were asleep or voluntarily distracted.
We may gather from this incident that our Guardian Angels will write down our vocal prayers in divers characters, according to the measure of the attention, fervour, and devotion, with which we pronounce the words.
But we may wish to know who takes note of the prayers which the Angels do not register, and whether they are wholly forgotten, and left both unrewarded and unpunished. I may direct them for an answer to another vision, from which it appears that such prayers are written by the demons in dark characters, indicative of the severe punishment in store.
A holy priest, after having celebrated Mass for the people, beheld standing by the altar, a demon, who, with pen and large skin of parchment in hand, was busily writing. The servant of God, without feeling any fear, commanded him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to show what he was so carefully noting down.
The fiend replied, “I am taking note of all the sins committed by the people while assisting at Mass.”
Upon this the priest, with a courage befitting his calling, snatched the long scroll from the enemy’s hands, and read out before all the people the list of the faults each one had committed that morning at Mass. On hearing themselves thus publicly convicted of all the acts of immodesty and irreverence of which they had been guilty in Church, in time of prayer and during the Holy Sacrifice, they conceived a great sorrow, and hastened to confess with sincere contrition.
When the Confessions were concluded, all trace of the infernal handwriting had vanished from the parchment; a sure token of the pardon God had granted.
We shall then do well, when we begin to say our Rosary, the Office, or other pious prayers, to figure to ourselves our Guardian Angel standing on one side ready to note down our prayer in the ‘Book of Life’, if it be worthy of reward ; and on the other side, the devil ready to mark it in the ‘Book of Death’, if it deserve punishment.
And that we may gain merit and not incur chastisements from our prayers, I will say with St. Cyprian:
“When we are at prayer, dearly beloved, let us be watchful and apply ourselves with all the earnestness of our hearts. Far from us, at that time, be every worldly and carnal thought. The mind should then be intent upon nothing save upon the matter of our prayer alone.”
The same holy martyr proceeds to inculcate such attention by the words of the priest, who, at the Preface of the Mass, says to the people, “Lift up your hearts” to which all used to reply, “We have them lifted up to the Lord.” Whereby we are reminded that in time of prayer, our thoughts must be wholly fixed on God alone.

PRACTICAL HINTS ON VOCAL PRAYER
It must be borne in mind, however, that what has hitherto been said applies only to willful distractions either purposely sought for the sake of amusement, or admitted with advertence; whether these proceed from the inconstancy of our fancy, or from the suggestions of the enemy of all good. Distractions such as these are alone sinful, St. Thomas teaches, and alone deprive our prayer of all fruit.
But in no sense do I allude to those involuntary wanderings which may happen to any pious person quite against his will, when, in placing himself before God in order to implore help with all earnestness, he finds himself transported elsewhere by importunate imaginings; provided these be driven away directly, and the sense of God s presence be renewed. Such distractions, as we learn from the same holy Doctor, though they return a hundred times, are by no means incompatible with true prayer.
Nay, he further adds, for the encouragement of certain timorous consciences, that even persons raised to the highest pitch of contemplation, are, at times, borne down by human frailty to thoughts of earth, by the involuntary wanderings of the mind. Those, then, who are in earnest about their spiritual progress, must in time of vocal prayer keep strict guard over their minds and hearts, and they must take heed not deliberately to admit any thought foreign to prayer. When they do this, they need be under no alarm that their petitions will be advantageous to themselves and very pleasing to God.

OTHER ADVICE FROM THE SAINTS
Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi recommends the following before prayer: “Almighty Father, I place the Most Precious Blood of Jesus before my lips before I pray, that my prayers may be purified before they ascend to Thy divine altar.”
Saint Thérèse of Lisieux stated, “I have many distractions, but as soon as I am aware of them, I pray for those people, the thought of whom is diverting my attention. In this way, they reap the benefit of my distractions.”
Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori advises: “The devil is never busier trying to distract us than when he sees us praying and asking God for grace. And why? Because the enemy sees that at no other time do we gain so many treasures of heavenly goods as when we pray… If you have many distractions at prayer, that prayer of yours may well be upsetting the devil a great deal.”
Saint Teresa of Avila suggests that, at the beginning of prayer, we close our eyes “in order to open wider the eyes of the soul,” thereby lessening the chance of distractions. She also says very simply: “Do not think a lot, love a lot!”
Saint Ignatius of Loyola recommends: “After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if Satan’s temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he will have an incentive to leave you alone.”
Saint Francis de Sales says: “When your mind wanders or gives way to distractions, gently recall it, and place it once more close to its Divine Master. If you should do nothing else but repeat this during the whole time of prayer, your hour would be very well spent, and you would perform a spiritual exercise most acceptable to God.”
“We must be thoroughly convinced of the fact that all God asks of us, in this conversation, is good will. A soul pestered by distractions, but who patiently comes back, each day, like a good child, to talk with God is making first-rate mental prayer. God supplies all our deficiencies.” (Dom Chautard).
“When you have distractions, do not distract yourself still more by stopping to consider the why and the wherefore.” (Padre Pio of Pietrelcina).

AVE MARIA!
Father Joseph Poisson

P.S. If you would like to be added to our subscription list, please reply to the general email below with your phone number, contact information, and what major city you are near as well.
(Ourladyofmtcarmelusa@gmail.com)

Consecration of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to Immaculate Heart of Mary
http://ourladyofmountcarmelusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Consecration-to-Immaculate-Heart-by-Our-Lady-of-Mt.-Carmel-SSPX-Marian-Corps.pdf

Featured Sermon
Given By His Excellency Bishop Pfeiffer

Posted in Newsletters and tagged 2022, Father Joseph Poisson, Newsletter, November