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Rule and Vows

RULE
Rule for Life January 12th, 2014

Rule for Life 

Preamble

For those who find themselves called by God to seek Him out in solitude , not belonging to a community,  yet otherwise free to be dedicated to God while not totally withdrawn from the life of the world:

Not everyone is called to live in a monastic community; but those called to seek God and be apart from the world to seek Him in contemplation, seek to know how to live the life to which He calls.  If you are called, then you already believe there is a God and that He involves himself in your life, and you have faith, hope and charity sufficient to obey Him. Likewise, you are present at Mass as often as possible, and are in obedience to the Holy Church, receiving the Sacraments by which you will be strong to succeed.

 St. Benedict has said, “We must hasten to do today what will profit us for eternity.”

God exists and He has a right to ask anything of us by virtue of having created us and keeping us in existence.  Let us resolve to seek counsel.

 In the Name of Jesus and the Name of Mary His Most Holy Mother Queen of Peace, in order to answer the insistent call of God to follow the path of those who have gone before me and enter into the way of perfection and self-emptying, I commit myself to surrender to His will unconditionally, and abandon myself into His Divine Providence.

 I commit myself to live a life of stricter separation from the world as a lay hermit, under this Rule and vows in the silence of solitude, in assiduous prayer, penance, and praise and to faithfully observe this rule.

The Rule is not greater than the needs of charity. 

 I set out to follow these precepts as a rule by which to guide my conduct as a lay hermit consecrated in the heart of Jesus Himself.

To commemorate His holy passion by my life, and desire to comfort Him, desiring to participate as He wishes, console Him in His desolation, and to comfort His brothers and sisters in the world by participating in their suffering. Offer devout and humble prayers to recommend His children to His Heart that they might know comfort of spirit. Offer prayers and sacrifices to the Lord to win conversion of sinners and unbelievers that they may know His love. Offer prayers and penance for atonement and reparation of sins. Accept and offer suffering for the souls in purgatory and those spiritually most in need, especially those near death.

Dedicate my life and sufferings to the spiritual support of priests and religious, and missionaries.

Remember that Jesus freely lay down on the cross and allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross for love; to enter into His will.

Renew my vows on December 8th, in order to be reminded of my obligations and commitment to Jesus, reminding myself to whom I have pledged my word and given my life and love.

To prefer that which is contrary to my preferences or against my will or discomforts or displeases me in order to empty myself so as to be full of my Lord instead.

Use the things of the world in order to make known the love of the Lord to His children, without claiming anything as my own.

Acquiesce to the will of God by accepting correction; acknowledge my faults and sins and endeavor to correct them.

Wear the habit where acceptable, representing myself as one whom Jesus has consecrated, acting as one loved by God, and to remind that it is necessary to do penance. It is permissible to take off the habit for work and cooking, mealtime and cleanup afterward to avoid unnecessarily soiling the habit. Let the habit be plain, consisting of a woolen Tunic, and Scapular of black cloth with hood and sandals. If desired, wear a ring to remind that I belong to God and to commemorate and give thanks for our joining.

In the case that it is not permissible or inappropriate to wear the habit, wearing the cross and the ring will constitute being clothed in the habit.

Refrain from eating meat more than once a day; Refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and Fridays in Ordinary time, and refrain from eating meat or more than two meals on Thursdays as well during Lent and Advent; and refrain from eating much, as a participation in the passion of Jesus and to offer Him a gift of love. Never eat from dinner the night before until after Mass each day except in case of illness. If a solemn feast day is to be observed on Tuesday, Thursday during Lent and Advent and Friday throughout the year, observe the feast and suspend fasting. In case of illness, it is permissible to eat meat once a day on a day of fasting. It is more beneficial to have the humility to accept disability than to insist on observing ascesis to the point of becoming ill and unable to render service to God in the observance of charity and the Rule.

Attend Mass as often as possible, and confess my sins and faults as often as  possible. Pray all of the decades and mysteries of the Rosary daily in accordance with the wishes of Our Lady at Medjugorje if possible; pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at three o’clock daily but say it at bedtime if it was not possible at the appointed time. Be present to God in prayer whenever possible.

In accordance with the necessity of exercising charity, if a call is received to render assistance during prayer time, it is permissible to interrupt prayer to render aid to one in need, since it must be regarded as the voice of God and an expression of His will to perform charitable works in His Name. The kindly attitude towards others constitutes a prayer in itself of a higher order than the mere enjoyment of personal comfort to be had in solitary prayer. If one conducts oneself in a charitable way, prayer has not been interrupted.

Pray Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer of the Divine Office.  Practice Lectio Divina and do spiritual reading.

Write down thoughts, poems, prayers and inspirations of the Lord, either in a handwritten log book or digital log or both.

Give thanks for all things to Jesus and His Mother and never cease imploring them for the strength and grace to be their holy child.

Review and revise this rule as Jesus inspires and directs so that it may benefit my soul.The Rule is to be observed with love, as the Will of God, to the best of my ability. In case I have not, to confess the deficiency when it is possible and amend my life to more closely observe the Rule, approaching my life as the means of pleasing God.

Amen

Schedule

5:00am                        Rise        

5:00am-6:00am         Breakfast

6:00am-7:00am          Weblog or Lectio Divina

7:00am-8:00am          Rosary or prayer, go to Mass
    
8:00am-9:00am          Spiritual Reading
    
9:00am-10:00am        Free time

11:00am-12:00am      Rosary

12:00am-15:00pm     Work (cleaning,  shopping other necessary business)

15:00pm-16:00pm      Chaplet of Divine Mercy

16:00pm-18:00pm      Dinner

18:00pm-19:00pm      Rosary or prayer

19:00                           Retire


VOWS

I Michael Miller,for one year's time,

In order to make my life holy, vow to my Lord Jesus Christ and to His Holy Mother Mary Queen of Peace, to live my life in poverty of spirit, in need of Him, living on His Divine Providence for all my needs spiritual and secular;

I vow to live my life as one promised to Jesus given in purity and as His sole possession and to no other;

I vow to live my life by the will of Jesus as far as I can know it preferring His will to mine as much as I am able;

I promise simply and personally to live by these vows with the help of Jesus and Mary and the Holy Catholic Church.

As His servant, and as much as I can be a servant of the Church, I beg my Lord’s blessing, and the blessing of the Church to fulfill these vows.

Amen.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

New Seeds of Contemplation Thomas Merton New Directions Book  Abbey of Gethsemane 2007

Das Weinachts –Oratorium 2004 edel CLASSICS GMBH Hamburg Germany

The Little Flowers of Saint Francis Dover Thrift Editions Dover Publications

St. Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle Study Edition ICS Publications 2010

The Imitation of Christ Thomas A Kempis Dover Thrift Publications

The Cloud of Unknowing edited by Evelyn Underhill

Abandonment fo Divine Providence Jean Pierre de Coussade

The New American Bible St. Joseph Edition Catholic Book Publishing

The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross ICS Publications 1991

The Rule of St. Benedict Liturgical Press Collegville Minnesota 1981

The Way of Perfection Kieran Kavanugh Study edition ICS Publications 2000

The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila Volume Three Kieran Kavanaugh OCD ICS Publications 1985

Padre Pio the Stigmatist rev. Charles Carty tan Books 1963

Conjectures of an guilty Bystander Thomas Merton Image 2014

The Philokalia The Complete Text Volume Two GFH Palmer 1981

Thomas Merton The Seven Story Mountain Harvest Books Harcourt Inc. 1998

Toward God Michael casey Liguori 1996

Behold the Pierced One Joseph Ratzinger Ignatius Press 1984

Mother Theresa IN My Own Words Grammercy Books New York 1996

St. Therese of Lisieux Story of a Soul Marc Foley OCD ICS Publication 2005

A Holy Life St. Bernadette of Lourdes Ignatius Press 2005

The Magnificent Prayers of Saint Bridget of Sweden Tan Books 1940

Therese Neumann Adalbert vogl 1987 Tan Books

Autobiography & Diary of Saint Gemma Galgani

Sister Wendy’s Book of Saints Dorling Kindersly 1998

Journey of Faith The Story of the Archdiocese  Editions du Signe Ersel, Laughlin 2013

 

Lamentation

Day's Saints
Albert of Sicilly, Carmelite

Donato of Imola

Gospel MT 15:21-28

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
“O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
And her daughter was healed from that hour.

+

Jesus, love me, and I will be well, and all my tormentors will fall back on themselves.

I am your servant, and not a hired hand. Do justice for me that I may carry  out my
duties in praise to You.

Lamentation

Day's Saints
Albert of Sicilly, Carmelite

Donato of Imola

Gospel MT 15:21-28

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.”
But he did not say a word in answer to her.
His disciples came and asked him,
“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”
He said in reply,
“I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.”
He said in reply,
“It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.”
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
“O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish.”
And her daughter was healed from that hour.

+

Jesus, love me, and I will be well, and all my tormentors will fall back on themselves.

I am your servant, and not a hired hand. Do justice for me that I may carry  out my
duties in praise to You.

Aware

 We should be aware, that the marks of the passion are not pretty boo-boos that don't mean much. They mean the salvation of every human being that ever was or will be.

Jesus endured all His wounds publicly and with compassion for the human race, mercy and peace.

We as Christians can participate in His sufferings by offering our sufferings to Him and to His Mother whose Heart is pierced like Her Son Jesus Heart. He has become fond of suddenly overwhelming me in consolation, even as I suffer other ways that nevertheless affect me deeply. I give thanks for the consolations, and offer all my little sufferings for His Love and the Love of Mary Our Mother.

I am glad that He accepts my small troubles, and is grateful for them, and I am glad I may console His Mother's Heart. Perhaps you could express your love as well ?

Aware

 We should be aware, that the marks of the passion are not pretty boo-boos that don't mean much. They mean the salvation of every human being that ever was or will be.

Jesus endured all His wounds publicly and with compassion for the human race, mercy and peace.

We as Christians can participate in His sufferings by offering our sufferings to Him and to His Mother whose Heart is pierced like Her Son Jesus Heart. He has become fond of suddenly overwhelming me in consolation, even as I suffer other ways that nevertheless affect me deeply. I give thanks for the consolations, and offer all my little sufferings for His Love and the Love of Mary Our Mother.

I am glad that He accepts my small troubles, and is grateful for them, and I am glad I may console His Mother's Heart. Perhaps you could express your love as well ?

Consolation

 Day's Saints

John Viannay

John of the Cross

Gospel 

Jn 6:24-35

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
"Rabbi, when did you get here?"
Jesus answered them and said,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
you are looking for me not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."
So they said to him,
"What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."
So they said to him,
"What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
So Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world."

So they said to him,
"Sir, give us this bread always."
Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

He blesses all you do.

+

Anna, a saint

The Lord God made Manna for the Isrealites raining it down for them to collect. Then He sent His Only Son, and they nailed Him to the cross. Sometimes, joining Him, I am pierced by sudden pains, origins unknown, and I am left hurting and wondering what has happened to me. Then, it passes away, and the Lord remains, and I am able to function again. I give thanks to Him for providing something to offer Him to atone for sins and to console the Heart of the Mother of God.

Whatever He does to me, I am unworthy, and I can only do what He enables me to do, and others are given enviable talents that heal the sick and the desolated children of the Lord God.

One ought to cultivate a gratitude within themselves for all the Lord provides, and all He does. The Israelites lacked that piety which makes humility spring up in the garden of the soul and refreshes and consoles the weary and hard-pressed.

He leads us into the wilderness, and withdrawing for a time, He watches over us lest we lose faith and despair. Then He shows Himself, when, stripped of everything that could blind, He reveals Himself in His consolation to the weary one, tired of the battle and sleepless in countless nights of darkness.

I am old, and my hand trembles and I become dizzy and I wonder how I got this way. Then I show Him my hands, with holes in them which can hold nothing securely, and in response to His urging, I offer what seems so useless to Him, and He blesses me for my gift. We may think we need to be punished, but the Lord sees what we truly deserve, and what He has hidden away for us so it may be safe and not subject to evil or  malevolence.

Peace comes at the hand of the Lord, in the confession of our sins, and our efforts to do His Will. He gave us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink, and His blood makes us live. Let us given thanks, and pray that He bless priests and those consolers of the people of God in exile and surrounded by the shrieks of the afflicted. He reassures them that all is well, and soon they rest in His arms like a child and they dream a dreamless sleep.

Consolation

 Day's Saints

John Viannay

John of the Cross

Gospel 

Jn 6:24-35

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
"Rabbi, when did you get here?"
Jesus answered them and said,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
you are looking for me not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."
So they said to him,
"What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."
So they said to him,
"What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?
What can you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:
He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
So Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world."

So they said to him,
"Sir, give us this bread always."
Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

He blesses all you do.

+

Anna, a saint

The Lord God made Manna for the Isrealites raining it down for them to collect. Then He sent His Only Son, and they nailed Him to the cross. Sometimes, joining Him, I am pierced by sudden pains, origins unknown, and I am left hurting and wondering what has happened to me. Then, it passes away, and the Lord remains, and I am able to function again. I give thanks to Him for providing something to offer Him to atone for sins and to console the Heart of the Mother of God.

Whatever He does to me, I am unworthy, and I can only do what He enables me to do, and others are given enviable talents that heal the sick and the desolated children of the Lord God.

One ought to cultivate a gratitude within themselves for all the Lord provides, and all He does. The Israelites lacked that piety which makes humility spring up in the garden of the soul and refreshes and consoles the weary and hard-pressed.

He leads us into the wilderness, and withdrawing for a time, He watches over us lest we lose faith and despair. Then He shows Himself, when, stripped of everything that could blind, He reveals Himself in His consolation to the weary one, tired of the battle and sleepless in countless nights of darkness.

I am old, and my hand trembles and I become dizzy and I wonder how I got this way. Then I show Him my hands, with holes in them which can hold nothing securely, and in response to His urging, I offer what seems so useless to Him, and He blesses me for my gift. We may think we need to be punished, but the Lord sees what we truly deserve, and what He has hidden away for us so it may be safe and not subject to evil or  malevolence.

Peace comes at the hand of the Lord, in the confession of our sins, and our efforts to do His Will. He gave us His Body to eat and His Blood to drink, and His blood makes us live. Let us given thanks, and pray that He bless priests and those consolers of the people of God in exile and surrounded by the shrieks of the afflicted. He reassures them that all is well, and soon they rest in His arms like a child and they dream a dreamless sleep.