Spiritual Reading

Christ among the children, Emil Nolde, Musem of Modern Art, New York

Nothing is so beautiful as a child who falls asleep while saying its prayers, God says.
I tell you there is nothing so beautiful in the world.
And yet I have seen some beauty in the world.
And I am a judge of it. My creation overflows with beauty.
My creation overflows with marvels.
There are so many one doesn’t know where to put them.
I have seen millions and millions of stars rolling at my feet like the sands of the sea.
I have seen days blazing like flames.
Summer days in June, in July, in August.
I have seen winter evenings laid down like a cloak.
I have seen summer evenings as calm and gentle as the descent of Paradise
All sprinkled with stars.
I have seen the slopes of the Meuse and the churches which are my own houses.
And Paris and Rheims and Rouen and the cathedrals which are my own palaces and my own castles.
So beautiful that I shall keep them in Heaven.
I have seen the capital of the kingdom in Rome the capital of Christendom.
I have heard the singing of Mass and of triumphant Vespers.
I have seen those plains and valleys of France
Which are more beautiful than anything.
I have seen the deep sea, and the deep forest, and the deep heart of man.
I have seen hearts devoured by love
Throughout a life-time
Lost in charity.
Burning like flames:
I have seen martyrs so inspired by faith
Holding firm as a rock on the torturer’s frame
Between the iron teeth.
(Like a soldier holding firm all alone all his life
Through faith
In his General (apparently) absent).
I have seen martyrs flaming like torches
Earning palms forever green.
And I have seen gathering beneath the iron claws
Drops of blood which glittered like diamonds.
And I have seen the dropping of many tears of love
Which will endure longer than the stars of the sky.
And I have seen faces of prayer, faces of tenderness,
Lost in charity
Which will shine eternally through endless nights.
And I have seen whole lives from birth to death,
From baptism to the Viaticum,
Unroll like a fair skein of wool.
Well, I tell you, God says, I know nothing so beautiful in all the world
As a little child who falls asleep while saying his prayers
Under the wing of his Guardian Angel
And who laughs as he goes to sleep.

And who is already confusing everything and understanding nothing more
And who stuffs the words of the Our Father all awry, pell-mell into the words of the Hail Mary
While a veil is already dropping on his eyelids,
The veil of night on his face and his voice.
I have seen the greatest Saints, God says. Yet I say to you.
I have never seen anything so funny and in consequence so beautiful in the world
As the child who falls asleep saying his prayers
(As the little creature who falls asleep confidently)
And who jumbles the Our Father with the Hail Mary.
Nothing is so beautiful and it is even a point
On which the Blessed Virgin is of my opinion
About it.
And I can truly say it is the only point on which we are of the same opinion. For generally we are of contrary opinions.
Because she is in favour of mercy,
While it is necessary that I should be in favour of justice.
So, God says, how I understand my son. My son has said it again and again. (Because we must understand literally every word of my son.) Sinite parvulos. Let them come.
Sinite parvulos venire ad me. Let the little children come to me. The little children.
Then the little ones were brought to him so that he would lay his hands on them and pray. Now the disciples rebuked them.
But Jesus said unto them: Suffer the children, and do not forbid them to come to me: talium est enim regnum coelorum. In fact, the kingdom of heaven is theirs. To them, to those such as they belongs the kingdom of heaven.
And after having laid his hands on them, he departed.

The prayer of the mature who, by grace, have become children again

The fifteen promises of the Holy Rosary.
Thus Our Lady to Blessed Alan de la Roche

1. To all those who will recite my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and great graces.
2. Those who persevere in the recitation of my Rosary will receive some outstanding grace.
3. The Rosary will be a most powerful defense against hell; it will destroy vices, it will free from sin, it will sweep away heresies.
4. The Rosary will make virtues and good works bloom and will obtain for souls the most abundant divine mercies; it will replace in hearts the love of the world with the love of God, elevating them to the desire of heavenly and eternal bounty. How many souls will be sanctified by this means!
5. Those who entrust themselves to me with the Rosary, will not perish.
6. Those who recite my Rosary devoutly, meditating on its mysteries, will not be oppressed by misfortune. The sinner, will be converted; the just, will grow in grace and become worthy of eternal life.
7. The true devotees of my Rosary will not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who recite my Rosary will find during their life and at death the light of God, the fullness of His graces and will share in the merits of the blessed.
9. I will free quickly from Purgatory the souls devoted to my Rosary.
10. The true children of my Rosary will enjoy great glory in Heaven.
11. What you ask with my Rosary, you will obtain.
12. Those who spread my Rosary will be helped by me in all their needs.
13. I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Confraternity of the Rosary will have the saints of Heaven for brethren during their life and at the hour of death.
14. Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are all my most beloved children, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
15. The devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.