Come Lord Jesus

Hey readers! This might be a tad late in recommending, but truly this book would be awesome for any time of year as a means of preparation and understanding how sanctifying waiting can be. I wanted to write a book review on Mother Mary Francis' Meditations on the Art of Waiting.

I learned so much from this treasure. The book is composed of daily reflections about growing in patience, seeking out Confession to cleanse our hearts, daily dying to self, giving our hearts to God at every moment, how grace works in the big and little things, finding joy amidst suffering, expecting everything from God, and so much more. 

My favorite chapter was from Thursday of the Second Week of Advent, titled "Great Moments." She wrote on interior martyrdom. Some great lines that I will let Mother speak for herself:

"There are times when we don't feel like praying, and we pray. There are times when we don't feel like doing our chores, our work, and we do it. And that's holiness." 

"Sometimes we miss the really great moments that are interior. . . . we think of the martyrs. Their holiness lies not so much in the moment when they approached the executioner's block to be decapitated for the love of Christ and for the Faith, as in all the hidden moments when perhaps the heads of their plans, their hopes, their trust, had been cut off. Those were the hidden moments of choice that they would go on. Before any martyrdom, many little martyrdoms have gone before."

"We will undoubtedly discover some great and hidden moments that brought us so much closer to Christ, to our Beloved."

"Nothing great is ever achieved without suffering. Believe that the heart is never really purified for Christ to take complete possession until many hidden martyrdoms of the heart have been undergone."

"When you go over the times that, by God's grace, you have recognized the moment of choice and responded to it, you will remember that there was an inner joy that cannot be described. . . . In these little martyrdoms of the heart is the little crown of martyrdom, in which we derive peace from our great moments."

Happy reading!