Yesterday, I’d listed a slew of holy books I’d surrounded myself with these past couple of days.
I’ve decided to dive back into Francisco de Osuna’s The Third Spiritual Alphabet – while keeping In Sinu Jesu, my New Testament, my Breviaries accessible for the next several weeks.
The Third Alphabet was the first thing I cracked open when I settled down to read this morning. This is what I first saw:
Guard your heart with all vigilance, for all life issues forth from it.
Proverbs 4:23
I needed to hear this.
Purity of heart & poverty of soul are very, very dear to my soul, one of the few tenets I’ve discovered, defined & clung to over the years.. but it’s something I’ve forgotten over the rush of life & ongoing onslaught of culture, corruption, & social media.
These past several months, there’s been countless takes with every news story, every crisis event – every single day. As a conscientious observer of what concerns my friends, my mind & heart try to process what passes before my eyes, but usually there’s just not enough time before the next viewpoint arrives. I’m stuck between filtering & responding. And then I forget purity of heart. This is probably how it slipped my mind.
Thusly, I will dutifully admit purity of heart isn’t something I haven’t specifically prayed for or asked for the intercession of others in about 7 months – since the turn of the year.
It doesn’t matter. Therein lies the point.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. Sts. Cyril & Methodius, Bishops & Confessors, July 7, 2020
Veronica, it is the Lord.. 