Suffering With Joy

St. Jane of Valois

February 4, 2010

St. Jane of Valois

Today we honor St. Jane of Valois, surely an example of humility, persistence in prayer and also great charity. She was born in 1464 and died in 1505. A daughter of King Louis XI and Charlotte of Savoy, she was hated by her father from birth because he wanted a boy. Not only did he not get a boy, Jane was sickly and had some physical handicap. The king banished her to a country place where she was raised in a condition of grave neglect. But God had plans for His spurned and despised creature.  She developed a deep devotion to the Blessed Mother, especially in the mystery of the Incarnation.  The Angelus was her favorite prayer.  One day Our Lady revealed to her that she would found a religious community dedicated to her.

St. Jane could not escape being a pawn in the hands of her father.  Although he despised her, in a political scheme he betrothed her to his second cousin, Louis, Duke of Orleans, at the age of two months. They were married when Jane was nine.  She remained his loyal and devoted wife for twenty-two years.  Unfortunately, the Duke did not return her devotion.  He had not wanted the marriage and hated her even though she was instrumental in obtaining his release from prison for treason. Upon taking the throne as Louis XII, he publicly humiliated her by treating her ill in front of the court, repudiating her and seeking an annulment of his marriage from Rome. He got the annulment on the grounds that the marriage had not been consummated and that he had not consented to it. St. Jane saw this as a great blessing and used her situation to found the Order of the Annunciation.

The charism of her order is to practice the ten virtues of Our Lady as found in the Gospels.  They are:

• Most Pure (Mt 1:18, 20, 23; Lk 1:27,34)
• Most Prudent (Lk 2:19, 51)
• Most Humble (Lk 1:48)
• Most Faithful (Lk 1:45; Jn 2:5)
• Most Devout (Lk 1:46-7; Acts 1:14)
• Most Obedient (Lk 1:38; 2:21-2, 27)
• Most Poor (Lk 2:7)
• Most Patient (Jn 19:25)
• Most Merciful (Lk 1:39, 56)
• Most Sorrowful (Lk 2:35)

St. Jane also charged her community to pray for her husband, her father, and her brother as her legacy.  Such forgiveness after the cruel treatment she received is awe-inspiring.  St. Jane would be a great patron to ask for help in mastering the virtue of forgiveness. When she died, she was buried with the royal purple and a crown under her habit.

The Angelus, 1857, oil on canvas, Jean-Francois Millet

During St. Jane’s lifetime the Angelus prayer spread throughout France, helped by Pope Sixtus IV who was the first to attach an indulgence to it in 1475.  Devotion to this prayer continues today, and is enshrined in the great Impressionist painting of  Jean-Francois Millet (1814-1875) of the Barbizon school of landscape painting. 

It is interesting that almost  two-hundred years after Pope Sixtus encouraged the praying of the Angelus a painter named Jean-Francois created a work expressing the devotion to Our Lady that St. Jane (Jeanne) of Valois, whose spiritual directors were Franciscans, practiced.

We cannot escape suffering in this world so we might as well profit from it spiritually as did St. Jane, who though queen, was humiliated repeatedly by the very people who should have loved and cherished her.  She is a great example of suffering with joy.

If you would like to know how to pray the chaplet of the Ten Virtues of the Blessed Mother, go here.

Tags: Blessed Virgin, joy, suffering

Frost and Cold Bless the Lord

February 3, 2010

Hoar frost on viburnam

This morning when I woke up, what did my wondering eyes behold but spectacular hoar frost on everything.  This phenomena occurs every now and then in the Ozarks and thanks to my very nice husband, I have some photos to share with you.

On clear, frosty nights, God works His wonders, readying winter beauty to greet the dawn.  If vegetation or objects have been chilled below freezing by radiation cooling, ice crystals form and the fragile pointy thorns create a fantasy world we glimpse only until the sun melts them with its warmth.  Radiation cooling is the process by which a body loses its heat by radiation and that’s enough science for today.

Gods gift this morning reminded me of the canticle of Daniel in the Divine Office hour of Sunday Lauds (praise).  The third chapter, verse 69 calls out:

Frost and cold, bless the Lord; praise and exalt Him above all forever.

Through Daniel we find ourselves realizing that our poor efforts at praise need the help of all creation. Beginning with verse 57 through verse 90 we call upon the heavens, the earth, the angels, spirits of the just and men to praise and bless the Lord, ending with joyful thanks for deliverance from the powers of hell and death through the salvation Jesus brings.

The fence post is cropped from a larger photo and colored sepia.  the hoary tentacles reminded me of the head of Medusa, hence the title of the picture.

Hoar frost on fence with honeysuckle behind.

This image makes a brilliant graphic statement.  Roger has a real eye for this kind of thing.

Greenbridge

Frosty trees  set off a country bridge near home.  Locals call it “Greenbridge”.  You can see the river underneath on the right.

Forming a perfect background for the hoary branches, still water mirrors the trees on the river bank at the city park.  Cropped from a larger image.

Branch over the river

Lastly, a view from the bridge upriver.  The trees appear to be embracing all the sky.  Cropped image from a larger composition.

On the river bank

These images are copyrighted, but if you want to use them  you may as long as you credit Barb Schoeneberger and Roger Prai and if you would, please donate a little to this site.

Tags: Divine Office, joy

Friday Lauds and God’s Snowy Blessing

January 29, 2010

Snow-covered honeysuckle in our back yard

Friday’s hour of Lauds, meaning “praise”, in the Divine Office celebrates deliverance from the Babylonian captivity in Psalm 147 (147 B) and Jerusalem’s God-given privilege.  In a short verse from Romans following the psalms we receive an instruction about how to live in this deliverance.

As I looked out the window watching the snow falling, I thought that although it is cold and gray outside, how perfect is this time to praise with the psalmist the power and glory of God.  So after I finished morning prayers I stumbled out into the gently falling snow and took a few pictures to share along with this  psalm.

Psalm 147

Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Sion.

For He has strengthened the bars of your gates; He has blessed your children within you.

He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat He fills you.  He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs His word!

He spreads snow like wool; frost He strews like ashes.

He scatters His hail like crumbs; before His cold the waters freeze.

He sends His word and melts them; He lets His breeze blow and the waters run.  He has proclaimed His word to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.

He has not done thus for any other nation; His ordinances He has not made known to them.  Alleluia.

"He spreads snow like wool..."

Looking at the allegorical meaning of these scriptures, after the winter of sin comes the springtime of salvation.  Beneath the snow lies the promise of new life – Redemption.  The all-powerful Father sends His Word to melt the cold of our hearts, bringing us the warmth of spiritual peace, joy and prosperity. He fills us with the best of wheat – the Holy Eucharist and the graces It brings.

With His commandments and His blessings (the Beatitudes), He strengthens the bars of the gates of our hearts against Satan and the world. He shows us how to live as people redeemed, laying aside the works of darkness and putting on the armor of light, walking becomingly as in the day (Rom. 13:12-13).  We are a privileged people (“praise your God, O Sion…He has not done thus for any other nation”) with an obligation of lighting the way for those still in winter who do not yet know him or who have fallen away.

Tags: Catholic Church, conversion, psalms

Guaifenesin vs. Iodine in Treating Fibromyalgia

January 20, 2010

Many people suffering from fibromyalgia have stumbled upon the guifenesin protocol pioneered by Dr. Paul St. Amand explained in his book What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Fibromyalgia.* It apparently works well for some people although the restriction of avoiding all salicylates can be difficult for some to follow as salicylates are hidden in many items commonly used in the home and for personal hygiene such as toothpaste and lotions.

The use of iodine in treatment of fibromyalgia shows consistent success and is much easier to accomplish, but some people may need both to get well enough to live anything close to a normal life.  Karen Frandsen’s website has a lot of really useful information about treating fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, the accompanying brain fog and depression, hypoglycemia and other bad symptoms.  The holistic approach shows the greatest promise because it gets to the root of the problem and “fixes” it rather than the application of pharmaceuticals which may relieve symptoms but don’t cure.

Karen has a good list of the similarities and differences in the guaifenesin and iodine protocols here.  Be sure to read this because if you need to increase your knowledge, this will be a good reference.

If you don’t have a doctor willing to work with you on a holistic approach (mine moved away), you might be able to find a good family practice doctor who will be open-minded enough to help you as I have.  It’s not a good idea to have to do everything by yourself, but you, the patient are still the only one who can say whether a particular combination of supplements, hormones, exercise, and drugs, if necessary, make you feel better.

*Clicking on the book title above will take you to Amazon.

Tags: chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, guaifenesin, iodine

A Fairly Cheap Way to Feel Better – Iodine

January 20, 2010

Since the 1990s considerable research on the use and benefits of iodine has been going on among clinical practitioners who treat fibromyalgia, fibrocystic breast disease and thyroid deficiencies. Doctors Abraham, Brownstein, Flechas and Mercola (See my bloglist) are all M.D.s who are really on to something here.  They have all published books and papers on their research and have helped many patients correct thyroid deficiencies which has been fundamental in reducing pain levels, ending depression and anxiety, managing blood sugar levels and a host of other symptoms that afflict many Americans today.

The following presentation was a major eye-opener for me when I saw it last spring. Thanks to Karen Frandsen at the Fibromyalgia Recovery Group, everyone can see what the conference attendees saw.  She added some additional slides regarding her condition.

Since the Iodine Medical Conference in 2007, research has brought even more information to the fore which we should all know about.  First, the PDF presentation.  You will learn a lot and probably need to look at it more than once if you are not a medical professional (I’m not).  I have seen it more than 10 times and still learn from it.

The use of iodine in the treatment of my fibromyalgia has been a major factor in managing the disease.  I took the iodine loading test through my doctor in November of 2008 and reached my current dosage in March of 2009.  Iodoral is a little more expensive than other supplements I’ve talked about in this blog (vitamin D and niacinimide), but it is not out of reach and for what it does, worth the sacrifice, especially if it gets you off prescription drugs as it did me. Investigating iodine deficiency is to me one of the first places to start in a wellness program.

Lugol’s solution is less expensive but is in liquid form and not as convenient to take.  However, it can be very useful diluted as a swab for a sore throat.  Swanson’s Health Products catalogue labels Lugol’s as a “folk remedy.”  It’s been around and used effectively since some time in the 1800s and was used by medics treating veterans during and after World War II.

I will go into iodine in more depth in future posts.

Tags: fibromyalgia, iodine, wellness

“God’s sign is that he makes himself small, he becomes a child”

January 1, 2010

After Mass today I visited Chiesa to do my monthly catch-up on Sandro Magister’s news reports which are always interesting and informative concerning the Catholic Church. There I found Pope Benedict’s Christmas sermon which made a good follow-on to yesterday’s post concerning childlike simplicity in our relationship with God. This spirituality seems increasingly inviting the more helpless and dependent we become as our bodies fail us.

The Holy Father also pointed out something I have been pondering for some time – the intrusion of the world through so many means that God comes last in our lives, not first.

Can we build a habit of seeing God, referencing God in the small things of life? When I read the quotes from the poor in brochures and solicitations from Food For the Poor, I am ashamed that I am not more grateful for the smallest sign of God‘s love as they are because they recognize what I do not: I am not seeing Him in what is present before my very eyes.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from Pope Benedict’s sermon which seemed a perfect answer to my musings:

To awake, then, means to develop a receptivity for God: for the silent promptings with which he chooses to guide us; for the many indications of his presence. There are people who describe themselves as “religiously tone deaf“. The gift of a capacity to perceive God seems as if it is withheld from some. And indeed – our way of thinking and acting, the mentality of today’s world, the whole range of our experience is inclined to deaden our receptivity for God, to make us “tone deaf” towards him. And yet in every soul, the desire for God, the capacity to encounter him, is present, whether in a hidden way or overtly. In order to arrive at this vigilance, this awakening to what is essential, we should pray for ourselves and for others, for those who appear “tone deaf” and yet in whom there is a keen desire for God to manifest himself. The great theologian Origen said this: if I had the grace to see as Paul saw, I could even now (during the Liturgy) contemplate a great host of angels (cf. in Lk 23:9). And indeed, in the sacred liturgy, we are surrounded by the angels of God and the saints. The Lord himself is present in our midst. Lord, open the eyes of our hearts, so that we may become vigilant and clear-sighted, in this way bringing you close to others as well!

The last sentence above is the fundamental purpose of this web site and blog.  We who are hidden away through illness or adversity of whatever kind can form the habit of responding to the music of God’s call, and by offering our lives teach others to hear Him as well, helping cure the “tone deafness” of the world.  All we have to do is ask Jesus for this grace.

Adoration of the Shepherds, c. 1707, Antonio Balestra, oil on canvas, San Zaccaria, Venice

Today too there are simple and lowly souls who live very close to the Lord. They are, so to speak, his neighbors and they can easily go to see him. But most of us in the world today live far from Jesus Christ, the incarnate God who came to dwell amongst us. We live our lives by philosophies, amid worldly affairs and occupations that totally absorb us and are a great distance from the manger. In all kinds of ways, God has to prod us and reach out to us again and again, so that we can manage to escape from the muddle of our thoughts and activities and discover the way that leads to him. But a path exists for all of us. The Lord provides everyone with tailor-made signals. He calls each one of us, so that we too can say: “Come on, ‘let us go over’ to Bethlehem – to the God who has come to meet us.

The Holy Father’s words remind me that every day is a “Come to Bethlehem” day when we have learned to see and hear God’s manifestations of Himself to us.  We cannot help inviting others to go with us in joy.

P.S. Friends, I love this Pope!  He is the Pope of Hope.

Tags: Christmas, joy, Pope Benedict XVI, The Nativity

Prayer to Our Lady for Souls in Trouble

 Efficacious Consecration of Persons to the Pierced and Immaculate Heart of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary

– thou whom the Precious Blood of JESUS didst render immaculate and all-beautiful, even before that same Blood was formed in thy virginal womb and poured out upon the altar of the Cross,

– thou whom the HOLY SPIRIT didst fill full with every grace in view of the glorious motherhood of the Son of God for which thou wast created,

– thou art she who crusheth the head of the ancient serpent, thou art she who alone overcometh the evil that is in us and around us.To thee, O Mary, thy Son hath entrusted the liberation of souls enchained by sin, the healing of wounded souls, and the sanctification of souls who have suffered evil’s worst ravages.

Thou hast only to open thy immaculate hands over them, and they are shot through with the rays of thy purity.  Through thee, entereth the light to shine in the darkest places. Through thee, souls are washed in a downpour of graces. Through thee, the Holy Spirit succoureth the weakest souls and giveth to the sterile a wonderful fecundity.

Thou, O Mary, art the only hope of thy children scarred by sin and poisoned by its venom. To those whom the enemy hath made to go astray in bitterness and in fear, thou openest the path of life and of beatitude.

This is why, impelled today by the boldness that cometh of the Holy Spirit, and by a confidence that is altogether that of a son, [and when the consecration is made by a priest: and in virtue of my priesthood,] I entrust to thee N. and N., in consecrating them to thy pierced and immaculate Heart.

Show thyself the Mother of mercy. Show thyself our all-powerful Queen, for there is nothing that resisteth thy supplication in the presence of Jesus, the King of Love.

Mediatrix of all graces, save these souls from the tentacles of evil. Heal them, even in those secret and painful wounds, that only thy most gentle motherly hand can touch without adding to their pain. From this moment on, these souls are consecrated entirely to thee. Do thou for them whatsoever thy maternal Heart will suggest to thee. Purify them in the Precious Blood of thy Jesus, the Lamb without stain, so that now, and even unto the ages of ages, they may live for the praise of the glory of the Father + and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Tags: Blessed Virgin, Catholic Church, Christ

Finding Purpose Beyond Our Pain by Paul Meier, M.D. and David L. Henderson, M.D.

This book helps people understand and act on the potential for growth through seven common sources of pain in life.  Biblically based but with practical approaches to dealing with injustice, rejection, loneliness, loss, discipline, failure, and death, the authors challenge us to discover the lessons a loving God is teaching. 

Readers can grow in appreciation of how God works in their lives, drawing closer to Him through the unpleasant and sometimes devastating circumstances we all suffer because of our fallen nature.  Think: building virtue, avoiding despair.

Smoothly written and logically composed, it offers the flexibility of going directly to sections of interest, losing nothing when bypassing previous sections.  Moreover, the “Finding Purpose Beyond…” suggestions and challenges at the end of each section help to focus on moving toward real happiness through the suffering we cannot escape. I found the content of this feature very thought-provoking and helpful.

Engaging stories of individuals the authors have treated in their practices illustrate their points and enliven the subject along with appropriate Biblical quotes.  I highly recommend this book to people looking for answers to circumstances troubling them, wondering where God is in all of it, and how life can be better. 

I am a member of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger program: http://brb.thomasnelson.com/.  In exchange for posting reviews I received this book free.

Tags: joy, pain, suffering, virtue, wellness