Annex 22.1
LITURGICAL AND FRANCISCAN MEDITATIONS
1. TITLE
The title highlights two elements: a) the liturgy in its daily orientation and moveable feasts,
b) Franciscan spirituality.
These two elements are important: the Meditations do not offer a sentimental spirituality, but a solid spiritual nourishment for the spiritual growth of the FMM.
2. STRUCTURE
They consist of five volumes: Vols. I-IV contain meditations for a three month period,
Vol. V contains meditations for the moveable feasts.
3. DATE OF COMPOSITION: From 1889 to 1897.
We can follow the process of composition as well as the progress in writing them through the correspondence of Mary of the Passion. She often alludes to this work in several of her letters, especially those addressed to M. M. de Ste. Cecile.
4. DATE OF PUBLICATION
1896 - Vol. I
1897 - Vol. II
1898 - Vol. III - V. The first edition is the most authentic. Because of the changes brought about by the new liturgical calendar, M. Marguerite du S.C. later on made some changes in certain Meditations.
1937 - Second Edition of Vol. V.
1960 - Second Edition of Vol. I to V.
5. PURPOSE
In writing the Meditations Mary of the Passion had three goals in mind, which are still valid today:
1. To preserve the Gospel and Franciscan spirit.
2. To help the sisters centre their prayer on the liturgy of the day, to live with the Church, to love the Church and thus celebrates its life.
3. To give some practical orientations about how to live the charism; to put prayer at the centre of one’s life and not on the margin; prayer in life and not beside life.
Mary of the Passion felt the need to give a common spiritual orientation to the sisters who will find themselves scattered in the four corners of the globe. In spite of the principle of uniformity which prevailed in the 19th century, she knew that only a common spirituality could bring about unity in the Institute.
6. MOTIVATION
1. The request of the sisters.
Mary of the Passion had been formed in the Society of Marie Reparatrix, one of whose main works was to give retreats and spiritual direction. As Local and Provincial Superior, she was used to doing this. During the first months of the foundation in Rome, she had the custom after the evening recreation, of preparing the sisters for the next morning’s meditation, presenting and elaborating an idea taken from the spirituality of the saint of the day, or from the liturgical time. In community, some sisters took notes as she was speaking; these were later sent to other houses. For this reason some sisters asked Mary of the Passion to put these meditations in writing so that they could be circulated to the whole Institute.
In a letter of February 20th, 1891, Mary of the Passion writes:
“For some time now you have been asking your poor mother to give you meditations for every day of the year. It was your wish that the reflections I suggested from time to time as evening preparations, should be collected in a volume.
After having prayed for light, I felt that God was asking more from me”.
These evening preparations for prayer are more attractive for our mentality than the written meditations. Why? Because they take into account the community to whom they were addressed. They are often the result of the practical observations of Mary of the Passion about a community of which she forms part; often they are also the result of her personal prayer.
Some of these evening meditations are to be found in Rome my Spiritual Homeland, pg. 212-223.
2. The advice of Fr. Raphael
Fr. Raphael, her spiritual director, encouraged her to carry out her desire, considering its immense spiritual value for the sisters. He himself had written Meditations for the friars of his province.
7. SOURCES
1. The spiritual life of Mary of the Passion.
Mary of the Passion lived a deep experience of God and of mission, an experience of suffering and of total self-giving. She knew the feminine mentality, its spiritual orientation...
2. The liturgy.
She wanted to give a solid spirituality to the sisters who did not have access to the Divine
Office. She assimilated and adapted The Church’s Liturgical Year of Dom Gueranger. She did not copy him; she knew how to choose from his writings leaving out unnecessary details. Her style is concise and simple, accessible to the sisters who had limited theological knowledge. These meditations are oriented to deepen our charism - for this reason there is always some mention of one or other aspect of our charism, e.g. victim, missionary, adorer.
3. Saints of the Seraphic Order.
This work was written by P. Leon de Clary, a Franciscan, and consists of four large volumes about the lives of all the Saints of the Franciscan Order. Mary of the Passion shows her capacity to summarise in half a page the life of the saint, always making some application to the spirituality of the Institute. Sometimes she cites, without quoting, the writings of St. Francis which she had assimilated.
4. The Fathers of the Church.
She was familiar with the writings of the Fathers of the Church due to her formation as a
Reparatrice Sister, and also through the spiritual direction received from Fr. Raphael.
5. The Breviary.
Mary of the Passion possessed the Breviary. While writing the Meditations for the Sisters, she often makes references to the liturgical texts found in the Breviary, especially for Vol. V.
6. Lives of the Saints.
8. CONTENT
It is very rich and still has to be discovered. There is a unity in each meditation consisting of three aspects or parts:
a) The liturgical context: at times historical, at other times liturgical. This part is important because it places the saint in his/her historical context, where he/she was born, the year of birth, what he/she did, etc. It was very useful for the sisters who did not have books of exegesis as we have today, who did not have the possibility of reading the Fathers of the Church, and had a limited knowledge of theology and Church History.
b) Contemplation of the mystery of the day or of the life of the saint: This is the heart of the
prayer, properly so called - a “heart to heart conversation” addressing ourselves to the Heart of Jesus.
What method does Mary of the Passion proposes?
She does not insist on a method, but:
· allows freedom to develop this part as one wishes :
“Each one is free to follow the subject in her book”;
“Each one may dwell upon whatever may attract her in the body of the meditation, multiply the petitions and form a resolution according to the needs of her soul”. (MD, 3)
· prayer can be more reflective or affective according to the spirituality of the sister:
“Certain souls labour in reflection while others are more given to contemplation and the exercise of the affections. Some have great aridity and others receive sweet consolation. Let each one cling to whatever may attract her and lead her to Jesus”. (MD, 3)
· suggests many times, “an interior listening to the Word of God” which produces more contemplative prayer.
· invites the sisters to seek a real Gospel interpretation of the lives of the Saints and not the miraculous aspects. She wishes that contemplation of Christ should take precedence over the lives of the Saints during the important liturgical seasons, especially during the Advent season, which is her favourite liturgical time, when she emphasises the missionary orientation of our vocation.
c) Application to life, to our charism.
Beyond praise and intercession, prayer should bring us to the practice of the virtues, should promote personal conversion! This last aspect is present in all the Meditations, but is more evident in the first four volumes.
At times this exhortation takes on a moralistic tone which is not acceptable today. However, it does show us the desire of Mary of the Passion to bring the sisters to the Lord. The Meditations were a means of formation for the sisters orienting them to live their religious consecration as FMM in a dynamic unity of mission and contemplation.
9. APPRECIATION
The Meditations were very much appreciated, not only by the sisters, but also by outsiders: ecclesiastical authorities, lay people, etc.
** Decurtins describes them as, “deep ecclesial piety in which there is nothing sentimental;
they remind one of the great Catholic writers of France in the 17th century”.
** George Goyau, after reading the Meditations, considers Mary of the Passion as, “teacher of spirituality and missionary life”.
Actually the Meditations belong to another era:
- the vocabulary is outdated
- they mention liturgical aspects of a past century
- they have theological expressions which are unacceptable after the doctrine of the
Vat. II.
TODAY: The Meditations of Mary of the Passion show one way of doing meditation, while today we have several methods of prayer, e.g. object meditation, nature meditation, etc.
There are new spiritualities and new forms of prayer ... and we feel the influence of these. It is necessary, however, to get back to the solid doctrine of our spirituality, to re-read it and make it real for our day.
10. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY
1. The Meditations are being looked at again by the sisters for a biblical study:
one can look for the biblical symbols:
- the tree of salvation (MD, 758)
- the boat of Peter
- the dove - symbol of purity in the sense that nothing should interfere with or disturb
communion with God!
- the lamb - symbol of the consecrated person (MD, 772, 776)
a study can be made of the biblical places:
- the mountain - signifying our constant gaze towards God
- the desert - denoting spiritual aridity
study of the biblical figures:
- Abraham - who leaves his country, symbol of Faith
- Magdalen - in search of Jesus, symbol of Love
- Esther - the one who intercedes for her people
- Samaritan Woman - symbolises our thirst for God
- Good Shepherd - who lives of love and duty, ready to sacrifice his life for others.
2. Apply some selected texts to our charism:
- the Visitation - demonstrates our missionary vocation
- the Octave of the Epiphany - highlights our missionary spirit
- the Octave of Pentecost - the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our life.
3. A comparison could be made between some texts from the Meditations and the Spiritual Notes. A profound unity between the two will be noted since Mary of the Passion wrote the Meditations in prayer.
- The Annunciation in the MD/ 25th March and He Speaks, No. 210.
- The Transfiguration in the MD/ 6 August and He Speaks, No. 41.
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