Book Review: These Women Walked With God

Happy Wednesday friends!  If you know me in person or on social media, you may have heard me rave about this book already, but I wanted to do a little bit of a deep dive on why I love it so much.  

So here ya go! (:

It was just a normal Sunday when I meandered into the small church hall after Mass.  To my left was just a normal bookshelf.  On it was held our parish's small "Lending Library," a collection of good spiritual reads from St. Augustine to St. Therese and lots in between.  As I scanned the titles casually looking for something that might catch my eye, I saw a sun-beaten dust jacket with a dainty font on the spine that piqued my interest.

"These Women Walked With God"

If you know me, you probably know a title like this would be right up my alley.  I'm always on the hunt for a good book on vocations, religious life, nuns, convents, and good Catholic women who lead exemplary lives.  I've been disappointed by similar titles such as "The Springs of Silence," "The Song at the Scaffold," and "In This House of Brede."  They were well written as books, but they did not always paint a favorable picture of religious life.  Maybe they painted an accurate, if sad, portrait of a time in history, but they're not exactly encouraging for young women discerning a religious vocation.

We need more stories like "The Story of a Soul," St. Therese's own autobiography, which shows a struggle and trials, but ultimately uplifts the soul at the end with a true victory and leaves the reader filled with hope and inspiration.  This book, my friends, is one of those at its finest.

From the beginning, in the Foreword, I was captivated.  Here's a quote from the Foreword that sums up the whole book quite nicely,

"You do not live until you love.  You do not love until you give your heart away.  You do not give your heart away until you have found GOD.  Then you live and love because you walk with Him who is Life and Love, and you know the happiness for which you were made.  But such love demands deep humility, utter simplicity, and an obedience that amounts to complete surrender of self."

I could hardly put the book down.  It reads like a novella or a collection of short fiction stories but is infinitely better because it's real!!  These are 10 stories of 15 incredible women.  I cannot fully express my love for this book.  Let me tell you, I wish I had a million copies of it to give away!!  This book teaches you about a small period of Catholic history.  It gives young women and Catholics of all ages role models to follow in the spiritual life.  It provides inspiration with graces from Our Lord Himself to the sisters.  This book also bolsters your courage by telling of the hard and even repulsing trials these women faced with complete trust and abandonment to Our Lord.  

So who were these incredibly inspiring women?  Well, they all had one thing in common; they were connected to the monastic order of Citeaux.  Some were only indirectly influenced by the order, others were fully professed religious but they all loved God and walked with Him.  I had never heard of most of these women before, most of them are Saints and a few are Blessed.  I don't want to spoil too much of the book in case you get the opportunity to read it, but I would like to briefly introduce them to you.

St. Lutgarde

"God needed hearts whose systole and diastole would be prayer and penance; ...  He knew one such heart beat in the breast of this eighteen-year-old girl to whom He had His Son bare His own breast that she might see what she was to love and how."

Lutgarde was a young woman betrothed to be married and infatuated with love but God had other plans for her to love sine modo - without measure.

Blessed Mary and Blessed Grace

'Down by the pool in the garden, Bernard baptized them.  Zaida asked to be named "Mary" after God's own Mother.   Zoraida showed readiness to protest.  She, too, wanted to bear the name of the Immaculate One.  But when Bernard smiled and said, "You shall bear her name, my houri, but we shall pronounce it 'Grace' -- for that fits you perfectly, both naturally and supernaturally," she agreed with her usual enthusiasm.'

Having a sister of my own, the story of these two Moslem sisters converted to Catholicism by their Cistercian convert brother, Bernard, was moving and inspiring.

Blessed Asceline 

'Frederick William Faber has said that one motto lived is enough to make a saint.  Asceline proves

him correct. ... Speaking to her confessor one day late in life, she very honestly declared, "I know nothing good of myself except this: I have always had God present in my mind."' 

She lived her life simply always in the presence of God.  Apparently, she is now a Saint and is also called Ascelina.  I just discovered her feast day is actually on my birthday!  Who knew?!

Blessed Aleyde 

"She gladly gave her life with all its possibilities to Him and Him alone.  She did it by an act of the will.  She did it by a vow.  And that tells us exactly what real love is -- it is a union of wills!"

Also known as St. Alice of Schaerbeek, she is venerated as the patron of the blind and paralyzed because at the age of 20 she was struck with leprosy and later blindness and finally paralysis.  But this terrible affliction and all the trials that come with it allowed her to prove her deep love and resignation.  In exchange for her complete gift of self, Our Lord Himself said to her, "Aleyde, you will never want.  I shall be your Cellarer."  Her story was particularly striking to me.

St. Francha 

As she lay dying she addressed the Abbot and her community, "Continue to walk in the fear of God, ... Be ever grateful to God for the grace of your vocation. ... Aim always at ever higher perfection in the observance of the Rule and the Statutes of Citeaux.  Admit of no compromise with either. ..."

Saints Teresa, Sancha, and Mafalda

"What Spain, Portugal, and all Europe need, Mafalda, is love of God.  What we have lacked, and what is bringing on all these feasrs, is the God of love.  We believe, Mafalda, but not intensely enough.  That is why I say religious are more necessary than knights,..."                                                                                                                                   These women were sisters, princesses, religious, and crusaders.  Their life story is pretty epic.

St. Hedwig 

"I've lived so long, and known so little!  I've missed so very much all my life.  I wonder if any of my charities have been charity."

St. Hedwig of Silesia was nearly charity herself.  She lived a remarkable life dedicated to her family, her country, and her Lord.  She did not have marvelous visions but she lived faithful to her vocation and practiced incredible abandonment to the will of God in all things. 
 

Ida of Nivelles, Ida of Léau, and Ida of Louvain

"She entered and found that this seemingly loveless place, with its life that was so rough, harsh, and forbidding in its external appearance, was the one place in all the world that a woman, made for love was perfectly at home.  She immediately saw why.  She found these women living for and with God alone.  They had foregone all other intercourse that they might devote all their energies to One, and only One.  ... Detached from everything on earth, they were attached to the earth's Creator."                                                                                                                                                                  These three women aren't very closely connected but since they have the same name, the author grouped them together.  There were some absolutely beautiful and delightful stories in this chapter.  My absolute favorite out of the whole book is a story from the life of Ida of Léau in the section titled 'God-intoxication'.  Maybe I'll share it at a future date.  (I'm sorry for such a low-quality picture.  Has anyone seen one like this clearer?  I just love the story that goes with it from the life of Ida of Nivelles.)

St. Mechtilde and St. Gertrude the Great 

"Even more than Lutgarde, who was the first we saw walking with God, Mechtilde and Gertrude, who
shall be the last in this book we shall see doing the same thing, teach us how easy it is to understand God, and how utterly free from difficulty is life with Him, if we will be simple enough to do our assigned duties with the intention of pleasing Him."                                                                                                                                 I knew nothing of St. Mechtilde and very very little about St. Gertude but their account was truly inspiring and I want to learn more about both of them.  St. Mechtilde was basically St. Gertrude's tutor in the Cistercian life.  Both of them in turn are our tutors in the school of the Sacred Heart.

I know you will make at least one friend among these holy women.  I have made several new heavenly friends through this book.  You will laugh, you might cry, and you will certainly be moved to grow closer to God.  The examples and prayers of these holy women will certainly assist you.

Have you ever heard of any of these women?  Have you read any other books by Fr. Raymond?  Please do let me know what you thought in the comments below!

Blessings!!

A Recipe for Resurrection Cookies

Hello friends!  A blessed Holy Saturday to you.  On this day in the holiest time of the year, we wait in silence and prayer outside the tomb of Our Lord.  It is a most sombre day, but like our Mother Mary, we are also hopeful because we know that the death of Christ is not the end.  Today we prepare our hearts for the Christ's triumph.

When I was a child, we found this cookie recipe to be made Holy Saturday night in anticipation of Easter morning.  They are absolutely delicious and have a great story to go with them.  Even though I'm no longer a child, I still love making and eating these cookies and I really like contemplating Our Lord's Passion, Death, and Resurrection while assembling them.  This is a very straightforward recipe (unlike the Laetare Sunday Simnel Cake I made last year) so I know anyone will enjoy making them!

The recipe wants you to look up scripture and calls for a Bible in the list of ingredients.  This was like a fun treasure hunt for scripture when I was a child but I have included the Bible verses here from the Douay-Rheims Bible for your reading convenience.

Resurrection Cookies

To be made the evening before Easter:

Ingredients:

1 c. whole pecans

1tsp. vinegar

3 egg whites

Pinch of salt

1 c. sugar

Zipper baggy

Wooden spoon

Tape

Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  

Place pecans in zipper baggy and beat them with a wooden spoon to break them into small pieces. 

After Jesus was arrested, the Roman soldiers beat him.

“Then therefore, Pilate took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platting a crown of thorns, put it upon his head; and they put on him a purple garment. And they came to him, and said: Hail, king of the Jews; and they gave him blows.” -John 19:1-3

 

Smell the vinegar and put it into a mixing bowl.  When Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink.

“Afterwards, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said: I thirst. Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar. And they, putting a sponge full of vinegar and hyssop, put it to his mouth. Jesus therefore, when he had taken the vinegar, said: It is consummated. And bowing his head, he gave up the ghost.” -John 19:28-30

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life.  Jesus gave His life to give us life.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep.” -John 10:10-11

Taste a little bit of salt and sprinkle the pinch of salt into the bowl.  The salt represents the salty tears that were shed by Jesus’ followers and the bitterness of our sin.

“And there followed him a great multitude of people, and of women, who bewailed and lamented him.” -Luke 23:27

Add the sugar.  Sugar is added to show that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He wants us to know and belong to Him.

“O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him.” -Psalm 34:8

“For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.” -John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff meringue peaks are formed.  The color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

“And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool.” -Isaiah 1:18

"And there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night, and said to him: Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God; for no man can do these signs which thou dost, unless God be with him. Jesus answered, and said to him: Amen, amen I say to thee, unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." -John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts.  Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet.  Each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.

"And when it was evening, there came a certain rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate, and asked the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded that the body should be delivered. And Joseph taking the body, wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth. And laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument, and went his way." -Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.  Use a piece of tape to seal the oven door just as Jesus' tomb was sealed. 

"Pilate saith to them: You have a guard; go, guard it as you know. And they departing, made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting guards." -Matthew 27:65-66

Go to bed!  We may be sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.  Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

"Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. ... So also you now indeed have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice; and your joy no man shall take from you." -John 16:20,22

On Easter morning, open up the oven and look at the cookies.  Notice the cracked surface and take a bite.  The cookies are hollow inside!  On Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

"And in the end of the sabbath, when it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre.  And behold there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and coming, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.  And his countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow.  And for fear of him, the guards were struck with terror, and became as dead men.  And the angel answering, said to the women: Fear not you; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he is risen, as he said. Come, and see the place where the Lord was laid.  And going quickly, tell ye his disciples that he is risen: and behold he will go before you into Galilee; there you shall see him. Lo, I have foretold it to you.

And they went out quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy, running to tell his disciples.  And behold Jesus met them, saying: All hail. But they came up and took hold of his feet, and adored him." -Matthew 29:1-9

Resurrexit, sicut dixit!  He has risen, as He said! 

Credit for our copy of the recipe goes to catholicmom.com (which no longer has the recipe that I can find.  We printed it out in 2006! XD)  Photos are my own.  Have you seen or made this recipe before?  Aren't they just delicious?  If you haven't made them, I highly suggest doing so tonight! (Or anytime, really.)  I hope you enjoy!  Let me know what you think!

Remember, O Thou Man, ... Unto Dust Thou Shalt Return - Embracing Death

Here's my next installment in the "Remember, O Thou Man" tag that The Grim Writer is hosting.

"Remember, man, thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return."

We hear these words every year as the priest traces a cross of ash on our foreheads.  But how often do we think of this reality or how well do we really understand it?  How often do we pass by a cemetery without praying for the hundreds of souls buried there?  Do we even stop to think of those mortal bodies buried beneath the earth returning to that which they came from?  One day, we will come to that same reality.  Our souls will leave our bodies which will be buried to decay.  But our souls will not decay.  They will go to be judged by their maker.  And how will He judge us?  Will He be sad that we took more care of our mortal bodies than our immortal souls?  I hope not.  This is why we must contemplate our end often so that we don't forget what awaits us.  

It can be hard to contemplate our earthly end when we hardly know what death looks like.  Sure we've seen it acted out in movies, on stage, and in novels but they're just that, acting.  Have we actually seen death with our own eyes?  In this day and age, it is more than easy to look the other way.  Our elderly are placed in homes and out of our sight.  How often do we visit the elderly, let alone, care for them?  It is so important to visit the elderly often, and even more important, to care for them because when we have this beautiful fullness of life before our eyes, we can more easily picture ourselves there.

And do we assist the sick and the dying?  It can be a very uncomfortable thing but I believe that is because we just aren't used to it; we aren't exposed to it enough.  Again, it's not enough in dramatized movies with dramatic soundtracks and scenes that last but minutes.  We need to be exposed to old age and death in real life.

"Remember, o man!"

 To assist the dying with your prayers, presence, and physical care is a sure way of obtaining grace for yourself and for them.  We must learn to sit in the uncomfortable silence, in the pain, and in the darkness.  We must pray because someday soon, it will inevitably be our turn.  We should pray now that we are blessed with those same favors of prayer, company, and assistance when it is our turn.  No one goes to Heaven alone.  He is brought there by the prayers of the saints, his friends, and his family.  And he too will assist souls to Heaven both in his lifetime and in eternity.  

Finally, to really be able to remember our death, we need to experience death and enter into it.  Not only does the dying person need our prayers in their final days on earth, but once the soul has left the body.  Then he most certainly needs our prayers and assistance, for he can no longer help himself.  We must pray that Our Lady and all the saints and angels will accompany him on his journey to Heaven.  We must pray that God has mercy on this soul and that He would take it very soon to be with Himself.  We must enter into death by praying by the bedside of our departed loved one, by viewing the body and having before the eyes of our soul the image of Christ's body taken down from the cross, laid in His mother's arms, and placed in the stone-cold tomb.  

We must bury the dead by attending the graveside service.  It isn't always usual to remain at the graveside to see the casket lowered and the earth piled on top, but there is a beauty and completion as well as a little dying to self that takes place when the mourner sees the fulfillment of this prophecy,

"Remember, man, thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return."

Drop your flower into the grave, watch the dirt shoveled in on top, and let a part of yourself be buried in thought and prayer with your loved one.  To contemplate the body, feet below the surface under the dark earth waiting for its Master to call it forth is a sobering thought.  One day, we too will be buried in the earth from which our first parents were formed and the things of this earth won't matter in the slightest.  So as this Lenten season comes to a close, let us not forget the admonition we received upon starting this journey.

"Remember!"

"Requiem aeternam dona eis, domine et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Fidélium ánimæ per misericórdiam Dei requiéscant in pace. Amen."

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen."

My Favorite Lenten Meditation for Passiontide

 Hello dear friends,

A blessed Passion Week to you.  I think Lent is one of my favorite seasons of the year as far as liturgical music goes.  But where meditations are concerned, I absolutely love Christmas meditations.  Except, during Lent, I fall in love again with meditations on the passion, death, and resurrection of Our Lord especially close to Passiontide.  I reread this meditation before Confession the other day and boy was it moving in a whole new way!  So today I'd like to share with you my favorite meditation from Fr. Lasance's Catholic Girl's Guide that I read every Holy Thursday in front of the Altar of Repose.  

Sursum Corda! -- Lift up Your Hearts!

Shortly after the beginning of the last century, Napoleon the Great was sent as a captive to the lonely island of St. Helena.  On one occasion he is said to have endeavored to while away some of the weary hours of his exile  by passing in mental review the great men who accomplished the most heroic deeds in the world's history.  While he was considering Christ, he is said to have exclaimed: 

"Behold, He has drawn all mankind to Himself!"

And thus indeed it is.  The name of Jesus Christ sounds beside the cradle of the new-born infant and the grave of the aged man, in the hovel and the palace, among the powerful and the wak, in the depths and on the hights, on sea and on land, by day and by night.  Jesus alone is the hope and consolation of the unhappy, the pledge of pardon for the guilty.  For the love of Jesus how many have renounced, and still renounce, the pleasures of the world!

Thus have his own words been fulfilled:

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself." 

With the gentle cords of love He has drawn all things to Himself.  He has done all that it was possible to do, in order to win for Himself the love of the whole human race, and to hold it fast as long as time shall endure.  He has given to us, miserable mortals though we are, the most signal proofs of His divine and ever-abiding love.  Let these proofs encourage us; therefore

"Lift up your heart!"

Lift it up to the sacred mountains, up to the cross, up to heaven! 

To Mount Olivet, to Gethsemane!

There, amid the shades of night illumined by the Paschal moon, under the boughs of the olive-trees, you will see a Man prostrate on the ground, bowed down, crushed as it were by some heavy load, convulsively wringing His hands, His countenance pale as death.  He breathes heavily, deep sighs escape His tortured breast, a sweat of blood exudes from His pores and trickles down His pallid face.  And His dearest friends, the friends whom He loved as no friend ever loved his most beloved friend, no other her darling child,-- they leave Him alone in His agony; they have no word of comfort for Him; they are asleep; they could not watch with Him one hour, although only one brief hour had elapsed since they assured Him of their willingness to follow Him to prison and to death!

But all is not yet told!  His foes are approaching, like bloodthirsty wolves; one steps forward who was formerly a friend, a disciple, and imprints the hideous kiss of betrayal on the colorless lips of the Sufferer --- the patient Sufferer, whose pale face wears an expression of gentleness and of loving admonition, even while He gazes on this shameless man.

They lead the innocent Lamb, the incarnate Son of God, to Jerusalem; they treat Him, the sinless One, more barbarously than the vilest criminal; they mock Him and blaspheme Him; they courage Him, and place a crown of sharp thorns upon His head.

 

Now begins the ascent of Mont Golgotha.  Tottering and exhausted, His bleeding and lacerated shoulders laden with a heavy cross, the Man of sorrows climbs the steep and stony mountain!  Three times He sinks upon the ground and each time He is rudely lifted  up and dragged forward by His brutal executioners.  When the summit is reached, they strip the garments from His sacred body, and thus tear open His wounds afresh.  They stretch Him upon the cross, drive large nails through His hands and feet, in order to fasten Him to it, and elevate the infamous gibbet.

My dear child,

"Lift up your heart!" 

Lift it up to Mount Olivet, to Golgotha!  Behold the love of your God! 

But you must raise it higher still, you must raise it to the cross!  There you see the Lamb of God, hanging on the tree of shame, suspended between heaven and earth, His sole support being the large, rude nails of iron, which pierce His hands and feet, so that the slightest movement aggravates His unspeakable sufferings.  The blood is trickling down upon the cross from innumerable wounds, His tongue is parched by feverish thirst, and from His lips proceeds the piteous cry: 

"I thirst." 

Add to this the anguish which fills his soul at the sight of His beloved Mother, whom to behold thus standing at the foot of the cross causes His tender heart to well-nigh break with compassion.  To this add the mockery and blasphemy of the impious men by whom He was surrounded, wholse obduracy all His Passion, all His cruel sufferings, did not avail to subdue; yet on whose behalf He breathed forth the touching petition:

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 

The chalice of His Passion was filled to overflowing; then deprived of all consolation, He utters the heart-rending cry: "My God! My God! why hast Thou forsaken Me!"  Sum up all this; raise your heart to the cross;

"attend and see if there be any sorrow like to His sorrow"

see if there be any love which can compare with His love!

But look higher still; lift your heart up to heaven itself!  Though no mortal eye is able to gaze upon the glories of that celestial abode which is the dwelling-place of the blessed, though you cannot approach the eternal God for He "inhabiteth light inaccessible," be not disheartened on this account; lift up your heart to heaven, for the gleam of light which God will shed upon your oul may perchance enable you to form some faint conception of its splendors.

There the Son of God, not as yet incarnate, sat from all eternity at the right hand of the Father who "when the fullness of time was come" sent Him down to earth, in order toat He might suffer, and die upon the cross.  But what was His object in doing this?  He called Him His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased.  Why then send Him to endure the death of the cross?

The crucified One Himself gives the solution of the problem in the words He addressed to Nicodemus: 

"For God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting."

Thus againdo we see that it was love--O sweetest, fairest, greatest and most heavenly word--yes, it was sove that moved our gracious God to perform an act which neither earth nor heaven could have deemed possible, an act which alone would  suffice to justify the exclamation of the Apostle of Charity: "God is charity!"

Therefore let not your heart, O Christian maiden, be enslaved by any mere earthly, still less by any sinful, affections.  Lift up your heart to heaven!  There alone is an object truly worth of your love.