You who looked at our Candlemas Day post have seen this painting here before. However, I've just had a request to re-post it, and my wholehearted discernment is that yes... it goes along quite well with what I'd had in mind for today. This is actually a perfect "cloistered heart picture," in my opinion.
Along with her request for a re-post of this painting, our friend Anita writes: "many miracles are needed now for so many wounded physically and mentally in Boston.... The Body of Christ is wounded.....we need to grasp our rosaries and pray for the parts wounded now."
Indeed.
And why do I consider this the perfect cloistered heart picture? Because it illustrates some key elements of what I think of as the cloistered heart's "apostolate." Namely:
Prayer. The woman holds a prayerbook (perhaps it's a small Bible, a missal, a breviary). She also holds a rosary. As a cloistered heart, I know that my primary apostolate is to pray. I have the task and the privilege of forming a habit of prayer, of engaging in this apostolate throughout the day and in various situations. My outward actions are (ideally) based upon prayer, for in this way I am carrying the love of Jesus (not merely my own meager love) to the world around.
Grillwork. The woman stands beside what represents, to me, a grille. As we'll talk more about in days just ahead, we are invited to view and respond to every situation through the "grillwork of the will of God." We do not have to see situations such as the recent tragedy in Boston with only our human understanding unaided by grace. Scripture and the teachings of the Church bring things into the proper perspective.
Fire. We have written here several times of "carrying the Fire of God's truth and love" into the world around us. Rather than repeating what we've said about this, I will again provide this link to an earlier post: "To Carry the Fire"
Serenity. Note how utterly serene is this woman as she practices the apostolate of prayer! If any painting represents, to me, the look of someone enclosed in the most secure "cloister" of all... the Heart of Jesus... it is this one.
Yes, Anita, the Body of Christ is wounded, with a few scars we can see... and so many we cannot.
It is our task, our apostolate, our call to pray for the parts wounded now.
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