I believe that all of us, at one time or another, have found ourselves praying the Rosary, only to find our minds blank, our hearts empty and our souls discouraged. I believe, too, that we have all been guilty of at one time or another of looking for "a better way" than those we knew from our youth, because we have found that way so dry, so hard, so difficult to tread.

There is something, I think, that we should all remind ourselves of occasionally, because it is a very important thing for us to appreciate in a deep and true way in our minds and hearts. That is, of the efficiency and benefits and goodness of following those ways of our Catholic Faith which so often seem so hard and so desolate to us. If we find our hearts thirsty, and reaching out for some better way, it is perhaps because we have not really understood, or else we have forgotten (which we frequently do out of human weakness), how beautiful, how wonderful, how magnificent... in short, how extraordinary are those "ordinary" ways of attaining our salvation and holiness!

For instance... do we seek or envy visions? We have only to remember that there is no greater vision on earth ever given to men (perhaps since the time Jesus walked the earth with His disciples, anyway), than the singular vision or miracle we witness every time we look at the Blessed Sacrament! How we take it for granted, when our minds and hearts forget what it is our eyes really see! People are in raptures with hundreds of supposed visions of Mary or Jesus, most of which are obviously pure imagination... yet they forget that the Sacrament is God Himself! And not only a mere VISION of Jesus (like a dream, or some miraculous image), but Jesus in the FLESH! He is wholly and completely there, before our eyes! We may SEE what SEEMS to be bread... but it is the Lord, not bread!

We go week from week to confession, while desiring in our hearts the comfort and company of men. We nourish our worldly friendships almost feverishly at times, and are all bent out of shape if at any time we offend them. We couldn't dare forget a birthday, or excuse a transgression. But do we remind ourselves, that behind the screen of the confessional, is the greatest, truest Friend of our souls?

Or do we fear the priest, and what he may think of us, and forget our tender Father, waiting with love and mercy to receive us, if only we will be sincere with Him in both telling what we've done, and meaning to amend our ways? Do we forget that a friend who has never and can never be parted from us (He is everywhere), or Who has never stopped loving and desiring our souls and real good for us, is waiting for us there, to heal us and rescue us from the plight of our sins?

Another thing so rarely thought of or spoken of, is our Confirmation. When did we last remind ourselves what it ought to have meant to us and to our lives? We should stop now and then and remember that even as the Bible in it's final chapters puts before our eyes an image of Christ going forth to claim His kingdom, like a king at the head of His army, marching out to the battle...

"... and the armies that are in heaven followed him... And he hath on his garment, and on his thigh written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS..."

We are his soldiers after confirmation, to fight for our souls and the souls of others. Have we done this? Have we impressed upon ourselves the image of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Captain, Whom we ought to follow in the war of this life, for our sakes and the sakes of others? We should remind ourselves often that as His soldiers, we have a duty to be more diligent in our war against our flesh and vices. We must truly make war upon them, not just repenting our sins, but thinking of ways to overcome them and get out of them! And then we must DO those things, not merely THINK of doing them, or simply always just lamenting our sins.

In our Confirmation, we received the Holy Ghost. Now we must remind ourselves to actually USE His help, and to call upon Him and upon our Divine Captain, Jesus, when we are fallen in the battle.

Another means to our salvation is prayer. So many fill up their time with countless devotions, said out of duty and without much thought or love, looking for an easier or "better" way, than the repetitious Rosary. How much can be said, however, of THAT holy devotion!

Given to us by Our Mother, from God and by His will, the Rosary is a most beautiful means for our sanctification and salvation. If we find it dry and difficult, it becomes the more meritorious, if we still say it because we love God and Mary, and desire to please them. Which is better? To do our will, or the will of God? Mary said to pray the Rosary. Can we then sincerely think that some other prayers are going to be better, when we both ignore our Mother's (and God's) request, and the most excellent prayer that she has given us?

St. Therese (the Little Flower) said that the rosary took out of her more than a hair shirt would have! She said she just couldn't meditate on the mysteries. Yet she still made herself say it, rather than abandoning it for some other prayers. This is a beautiful example of the spirit we ought to have toward this most excellent prayer. It is a gift of Mary, and a gift of God through her hands. Attached to it is awesome power, and incredible degrees of merit. Because it is so difficult for some, it can be a superb form of penance, especially if the person says it out of motives of love for God and Mary, and perfect contrition for their sins.

There are many good and uplifting and beautiful prayers on this earth. However, God and Mary did not command us and ask us time and time again to say those other prayers. Mary, our most holy Mother, and our greatest gift and friend from God, has asked and commanded us repeatedly to say this devotion. If we can only impress upon ourselves the beauty, riches and graces of it, we can learn all virtues by it, and especially humility and obedience.

The good God has given to men the Catholic Religion as His one, true Faith. He has given to men not only doctrine... those things we must believe... but means for us to use to attain the perfection He has asked of every one of us. The chief of those means are the Sacraments, penance and prayer, especially (we may easily conclude) the Holy Rosary, to which He by His dear mother, Mary, has attached so much importance and merit. Often these means become no more than routine for us... something we do without thought, and even grudgingly. Quickly the things we learn about them to begin with, pass out of our minds, leaving only the exterior motions behind. Then, when spiritual dryness or feelings of desolation come, we are discouraged, and seek alternative remedies either in stead of, or in addition to those "ordinary" means... "remedies" which may, for a time, stir our emotions (mere feelings), and seem to make us closer to God, while in truth we have left the better, more prefect and divinely authored means, for lesser or even false and dangerous means (like false visions and superstitions).

The thing we must remember is that these "ordinary" means are actually anything but empty or common! They were given to us because God made them a perfect, suitable means for all men to use, to attain holiness, virtue and eternal life. They are all excellent sources of contemplation and schools of virtue. They are the most perfect way. If we let ourselves forget what each of them really means, we will loose sight of that most perfect and most beneficial and meritorious way. But the truth is that there remains no other, better way for a soul to reach God than these. If we feel them to be wanting, the want or lack is in ourselves, not in the means themselves. It is only because we have not contemplated and understood them, or because we have allowed ourselves to forget again what we should appreciate about them, that we fall into that kind of thinking.

I was reminded again this morning how important this "ordinary" way is for all of us. The devil would have us abandon it by any means, if he can convince us of it's apparent "dullness", "insufficiency" (telling us that ONLY the sacraments or ONLY the rosary is not good enough) or whatever other lie he can propose to us, because he knows and fears these excellent means will indeed end up saving us. By them were hearts and minds of the saints forged in the grace of God. They remain our surest hope of escaping the enemy, and hell. If we loose sight of their greatness, the mysteries they represent, the lessons they teach, the school of holiness and virtue they are to us, or the supreme level of merits and graces they can obtain for us, it will be easy to abandon them, or not to use or benefit from them.

But the soul who impresses upon itself the beauty and knowledge and merit of a single Hail Mary, will probably have little desire to look anywhere else for devotions. The soul that sees life as it's battlefield, will not easily become lukewarm. The ones who can kneel before the Blessed Sacrament, and respond in their hearts and minds to Who and what it really is, will have no thirst for visions and special graces, because they will fully appreciate that before them is a grace and a miracle without equal. And one who knows the beauty and meaning of sacrifice, will surely cultivate a truer love of God and neighbor in their hearts.

This is also the importance of spiritual reading... to remind us of these things!

I wrote this because I wanted to remind myself and others, that although these "ordinary" means may sometimes be to us hard, dry and difficult, they are nevertheless the chief means of our sanctification and salvation. As such, it is a grave mistake if we allow ourselves to stop appreciating them, or if we leave off using them (like the Rosary) to chase other things or vain, useless things. In them we learn every virtue, and by them the soul finds it's very life. We should never let ourselves forget then, every now and again, to remind ourselves of the truths and meanings and magnificence of these most perfect, most excellent means, so that we can not only continue to use them firmly and with faith and devotion, but also so that we can get the most benefit from them, and learn their true power, and open to ourselves the immeasurable treasure of the graces and merits and benefits they contain and obtain for us and for others. And when we understand the excellence and perfection of these means, I am sure we will no longer feel the need or desire to go looking outside of them!

I hope that in reminding myself in this way, I have also helped others to remind themselves, too. Let us always try to remind ourselves and understand the truths of our holy Faith, and so to obtain the ardent desire to practice it, and to use these means more perfectly! They are a school of virtue... but we must enter into that school, learn it's lessons, and begin to live what they have to teach us! We cannot fully unlock their treasures, until we first enter into that school of virtue they represent, by trying to understand what they teach us, and living accordingly.

These means are the way God has given us. They can be humbling to our pride, because they seem so "ordinary" and so "common" in that they have been given to all men, and not to us, as though we were anything special. The simple Hail Mary, or the brief act of kneeling before a bishop and receiving a slap on the cheek, or giving up a meal in the name of a fellow sinner... these things seem so simple in some ways. They are simple enough for every man, in fact. And yet they are unfathomably magnificent, because they are the perfect way God has given us. Let us be sure not to underestimate them or fail to appreciate them! Let us not forget nor leave them! Let us instead remember, contemplate and impress the truths and secrets of them in our minds and hearts, because God wants it, and stop thinking all the time of what WE want, or think would be easier.

+ Holy Ghost, guide us! +