ST. TERESA OF PORTUGAL - Feast Day: June 17

Today is the feast day for Saint Teresa of Portugal.  She was married to my 26th Great Grandfather, King Alfonso IX of Leon, and they were FIRST COUSINS! She is also a distant cousin of mine.

After having several children together, the church dissolved the marriage because it was too close in blood relation (consanguinity.)  It was common at one time for relatives to marry one another among nobility because, God forbid, one couldn't marry a commoner.  Their world would fall in. Consequently, since I am descended from a bunch of royal lines, I am a cousin to myself a hundred times over, maybe more!

After the marriage was dissolved, Teresa returned to her estate at Lorvao in Portugal and funded a monastery on her property.  Later, she replaced the monks with 300 nuns following the Cistercian Rule, and she lived with them, though she did not take vows until later.

In 1231, her former husband's second wife, Berengaria of Castile, asked Teresa to return to Leon to arbitrate a dispute between their children about the throne and inheritance of Alfonso IX, who had died in September of the previous year. Imagine the confidence that Berengaria would have had to have in our Saint Teresa in order to call on her for assistance with something as weighty as this. As is the case with so many of the female saints, we have to infer her virtuous qualities from the limited amount of information passed down to us over the years.

After settling this dispute, she returned to Lorvao and lived as a nun for the rest of her life, ruling over hundreds of Cistercians in her convent (pictured below) which HAD been a monastery of Benedictine MEN. She replaced them with her Cistercians, which I find incredible, because it is usually the men that are throwing out the women! She must have been remarkable.

This too tells me something about her attributes, since I cannot imagine the men obeying her edict to get lost and then hundreds of women following her in religious life without that woman having had an unusual character. She would have to inspire devotion and obedience in all those women, overcoming the pettiness and infighting that could easily occur among a community of people who have been told since childhood that they are worthless in comparison to the male sex. I pray to be imbued with some of that inspiration myself!

Many of my Sainted ancestors and cousins have started convents and monasteries. I have also long wanted to start a convent geared toward disabled and retired ladies, but that sort of thing requires a huge amount of funding.  My sainted ancient ancestors were wealthy, most of them, or at least had quite a bit of land, and they had the freedom to dedicate it to the church so as to establish convents and monasteries "for the glory of God." If you had no money, you had little or no chance of a religious vocation - unless, of course you were young, exceedingly healthy, and able to wait on and serve everyone else. 

Abbey of Lorvao

Photograph by Vitor Oliveira

from Torres Vedras, Portugal

This is a view of the old Abbey cloister and of the

lantern tower of the Abbey Church.

It was originally occupied by Benedictine monks, from

about 1070 to 1206, and then housed Saint Teresa's Cistercian

nuns from 1206 to 1887

The great importance of prayer, whether intercessory prayer, glorification, or contemplative prayer in which one simply inclines the mind to God, cannot be underestimated, but I find that, even some very devout people don't see the sense of it and are not likely to support contemplative vocations.  They expect visible production in the form of social programs on the part of the religious, but fail to calculate that Martha AND Mary are necessary.  Some are jealous of the peaceful, protected life of contemplative monastics, despite the lack of mobility and choice about almost anything in a nun's life. When I was a nun in the Vedanta convent, I overheard a few "close devotees" speak with bitterness about the supposed ease of the lives of the nuns, when they knew nothing at all about the tremendous amount of physical labor that was required of them. My body was destroyed by the physical work and I ended up in a wheelchair for a couple of weeks, at least.

Why do I care if I am related to this saint or that saint?  The thing is this:  The saints are not really dead. They have exited the physical world and moved on to another, spiritual realm and if I am related to any of them, I like to direct requests for intercessory prayer to them.  Hey...I need all the help I can get, and I am counting on them to be interested in their descendants and relations.

In addition, the lives of the saints give tremendous inspiration to process along the holy path they trod before me. Their examples prove it can be done. It is possible to conquer the lower urges and approach the Lord, if we observe, imitate and correspond with the glorified ones.

Granted, it is more difficult to be inspired by the saints like Teresa of Portugal who have been ignored by the church and for whom there is so little information, but when we meditate on the events of their life and spend some time considering the implications of their history, we can mine jewels from it.

Teresa had two sisters who were ALSO sainted - Sancha and Malfalda. I have seen this tendency of saints appearing in the same family like this, and it gives me something to think about. Is there some DNA aspect to sisters given to saintliness, or is it entirely a "nurture, rather than nature" situation? Therese of Lisieux immediately comes to mind. Her sisters, you will remember, were also nuns.

Today I commune with Teresa of Portugal and I recommend her to you, as well. 

God bless us all.

Silver "Rose" S. Parnell

Sannyasini Kaliprana

Silver Cottage Hermitage

Albuquerque, New Mexico
(c) 2015

SOLEMNITY OF THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS - JUNE 11, 2021

 

The daily practice of researching, studying and contemplating the day's saint, Marian observance, or other feast day has become a deeply satisfying spiritual practice for me. I can feel a sparkling happiness washing over me the moment I begin. It is hard to describe, but because it is so rewarding, I am given the sense that, if there is any little thing that I am destined to perform for the lovers of God,  presenting these little meditations on my modest blog may be it.

Each holy day has its own special charism, and some are particularly affecting. Today's solemnity holds up an icon of great spiritual symbolism - the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

As with all icons, this one has its specific required imagery, rife with meaning. We are called to gaze on the loving heart of the Lord that is on fire with impassioned Love for all of us. The crown of thorns represents the injuries and pain that we cause Him by our failure to follow his commandments, which speaks to our ingratitude for the graces given us. Crowned with the cross, we are reminded how much He suffered for us, further emphasizing the great divide between his gifts and our thankfulness and perception of them. The rays surrounding his Sacred Heart are a promise of the graces and blessings that await us when we turn our attention to His loving heart. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is one of the most moving of all the Christian devotions and one which has generated many beautiful images.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Devotion to the Lord's Sacred Heart has a typical set of recommendations or requirements that involve going to confession and receiving communion often, especially on the First Friday of the month, doing so with the specific intention to make atonement, and to REJOICE in it.

I love it that our joy is mandated. How marvelous.

Attached to the devotion are 12 promises that were given to Sister Margaret Mary Alacoque, who was gifted with the task of furthering this devotion. Evidently, many more promises were made, but those 12 are the ones calculated to naturally increase our love for God. I won't go into them here because I am not all that familiar with this devotion, and there are many articles already written by those much more educated than I, so I will include some links at the end of this blog post for you to explore them yourself.

I will be reading up on the devotion to the Sacred Heart, right along with you, because this is what I do with my daily research into the various feasts and observances. It may be a shotgun approach, but I seem to be able to retain more of the information when I do it this way. I would love to hear from you and get your thoughts about this observance - or any of the others that I write about. Indeed, even the contemplative life, in general.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a very popular and commonly practiced devotion by many Catholics, but you don't have to take on all of the practices to get a lot out of the imagery and meaning of the Sacred Heart. Memorizing a picture, such as the one above, or placing a photo of it in the meditation and prayer corner, to gaze on during prayers is something that I love to do. The beauty of the image makes an impression on the heart and mind.

I feel a kinship with sister Margaret Mary Alacoque. She had a hard time getting traction with her own sisters in the convent with her. She was an amazing mystic and visionary, but there was much skepticism surrounding her visions and mystical experiences, and it wasn't until 75 years after her death that this devotion took hold. 

Her fellow sisters were critical of her and complained that she didn't do her tasks very well. (This is somewhat of a common theme when it comes to the reception of the saints among their contemporaries.) I also relate to THAT situation, as I received constant criticism when I was in the Hindu convent. Housekeeping tasks weren't easily accomplished. I was a very expensive and messy cook (albeit enthusiastic); and when I tried to help one of the nuns in charge of making garlands with which to decorate the shrine, she yelled at me and stomped out of the room because, apparently, I used dark pink flowers instead of red flowers - or vice versa (I never did understand what she wanted, as all the flowers looked the same to my eyes!)

Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque preferred silence and prayer from the time she was a child. I myself remember being very attracted to the Carmelite nuns, even though my family was not religious and my mother hated the Catholics. I engaged in a correspondence with a group of Carmelite nuns in Carmel, when I was eleven years old, for about a year - until my mother put an end to it. (She REALLY hated Catholic nuns.)

Reading about the nuns and seeing even the slightest of similarities or ordinariness between them and us gives encouragement to anyone devoted to the monastic path, specifically the path of contemplation. I recommend it to my readers who are similarly engaged because, as we all quickly learned, this type of life is not easy and there is precious little support (if any at all.) Our sisters and brothers in Heaven are probably going to be more sympathetic to our efforts than anyone on earth, so I recommend taking the hand of any with whom you feel some similarity, and learn as much as you can about them, then call upon them, on occasion, as you have need. I find it very helpful.

I haven't been writing this blog very often as I am currently absorbed with a book I am trying to finish, and I am also having a lot of problems with my health, with numerous doctor visits. BOTH eyes have now been severely affected by macular degeneration. The right eye has followed the example of the left and is now exhibiting signs of having gone "wet," which means I need to start having shots in BOTH eyes in an effort to put off blindness as long as possible.

This is particularly challenging for me. I have to rely upon others to drive me to and from these appointments because I am unable to see after the doctors and technicians are finished with me. Having been an independent person my whole life, it discomfits me to have to call upon friends to cart me around in this way - but I suppose it is an exercise in humility to have to ask. I don't want to be a bother but taxis are not common in this town, nor could I afford them.

In connection with all that, I beg you please to pray for me so that this eye disease is conquered. When I lose my vision, I lose some ability to care for myself, as well as do the various artistic pursuits I love.

Also, I ask for you to please pray for my good friend in heaven, our dear reader Iris, who passed away not long ago. We did not realize that she had stage 4 liver cancer, as she had not told any of us of the doctor's diagnosis and her refusal to accept treatment. Once she ended up in the hospital, she wasn't able to communicate, and the end was swift. I was upset not to be able to say goodbye to her, but I pray for her soul. She was a lovely person, a sincere spiritual aspirant, and an avid meditation student. She had many talents, including that of a writer of poems and beautiful prose. Even in her 70's, she had much more to do with her life.

I hope you enjoy what little information I was able to give you about today's solemn holy day. Really, I touched upon very little of it. If you have interest in learning more, refer to the links that I've listed below.

In the meantime, God bless you all and keep you. Please pray for me as I pray for you.

Silver Rose

LINKS ABOUT THE SACRED HEART FROM VARIOUS SOURCES:

SISTERS OF CARMEL

SIMPLY CATHOLIC