Friendship and Union with God

Deep human friendship is a powerful contribution, arguably the most powerful, to a loving union with God.

Philip Sheldrake

Spiritual Friendship

Here we are, you and I, and I hope a third, Christ is in our midst...
God is friendship... But still what is true of charity, I surely do not hesitate to grant to friendship, since "he that abides in friendship, abides in God, and God in him.

Aelred of Rievaulx

La Vida!

Words from the Desert

"Never look down on anyone. You do not know whether the spirit of God prefers to dwell in you or in them."


- Sayings of the Egyptian Fathers

Dedicato a tutti quelli che hanno il coraggio di VEDERE

Love explained all for me, all was resolved by love, so this love I adore wherever it may be.

Rispondere all'Amore si può!

Pie Jesu

Pie Jesu, pie Jesu, pie Jesu, pie Jesu
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona eis requiem, dona eis requiem
Pie Jesu, pie Jesu, pie Jesu, pie Jesu
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona eis requiem, dona eis requiem

Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei
Qui tollis peccata mundi
Dona eis requiem, dona eis requiem
Sempiternam
Sempiternam
Requiem

The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from all my sin.

For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.

Against you only have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are proved right when you speak

and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth;

Surely I was sinful at birth.

Surely you desire truth,

thruth in the inward parts;

And you teach me wisdom,

wisdom in the innermost place.

With hyssop make me clean,

wash me whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, O LORD

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors you ways

and sinners will turn back to you.

Save me from the guilt upon me,

LORD who saves me,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness

O LORD the God who saves me.

Open up my lips,

and I will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifices,

or surely I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in offerings, O LORD

but the sacrifices of God are a

broken spirit and a contrite heart.

The LORD will never despise a broken spirit

and a contrite heart.

In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;

build up the walls of Jerusalem.

Then there will be righteous sacrifices,

whole burnt offerings to delight you;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Psalm 51 A Broken Spirit and a Contrite Heart - Sons of Korah

Man of Sorrows

Fil-ħlewwa ta' Mejju

Fil-ħlewwa ta Mejju, 
Omm tagħna Marija
O kemm idoqq ħlejju dak ismek sabiħ
Kemm toħroġ qawwija 
Dil-kelma minn qalbna
Bit-tama li talbna jagħtik l-akbar ġieħ.


Rit: 

Int l-għaxqa tas-sema
Ix-xemx tal-ħolqien
Int l-omm ta min ħalqek
Bik mimli kull żmien.


Jekk tiftaħ fil-ġonna il-warda Maltija
Tfakkarna o Madonna fil-lewn ta ħaddejk
Jekk tidħak id-dija tal-kwiekeb irżina
Tfakkarna o ħanina fid-dawl ta għajnejk Rit:


Minn dejjem bint Alla, nadifa mill-ħtija
Infrixt bħal qawsalla fuq ras il-bnedmin
Int ftaħt o Marija l-għejun ta kull ħniena
Fuq l-aħwa ħosbiena, fuq l-aħwa ħatjin. Rit:


Għalhekk ja sultana tal-ħlewwa Marija
Int biss tama tagħna, int qawwa tar-ruħ
Bil-grazzja mimlija kull waqt insellmulek
Bil-ħrara ngħajtulek fis-siegħa tad-dmugħ Rit:


Dun Karm Psaila

Prayer

Prayer is nothing else but friendly conversation; frequently, talking alone with him, whom we know loves us.

Prayer consists not so much in thinking a great deal but loving a great deal.

Teresa of Avila

What is the compassionate heart?

The heart that is inflamed in this way embraces the entire creation – man, birds, animals and even demons. At the recollection of them, and at the sight of them, such a man’s eyes fill with tears that arise from the great compassion which presses on his heart. The heart grows tender and cannot endure to hear of or look upon any injury or even the smallest suffering inflicted upon anything in creation. For this reason such a man prays increasingly with tears even for irrational animals and for the enemies of truth and for all who harm it, that they may be guarded and be forgiven. The compassion which pours out from his heart without measure, like God’s, extends even to reptiles.

St Isaac the Syrian

Love

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."

And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.

And with a great voice he said:

When love beckons to you follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant;

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet

Spiritual Friendship

Your friend  is your needs answered
He is your field
which you sow
with love
and reap
with thanksgiving.

And he is your board
and your fireside.
For you come to him
with your hunger,
and you seek him
for peace .

When your friend
speaks his mind
you fear not
the ‘nay'
in your own mind,
nor do you ‘withhold
the ‘ay'

And when he is silent
your heart
ceases not
to listen
to his heart;

For without words,
in friendship,
all thoughts,
all desires,
all expectations
are born and shared,
with joy
that is acclaimed.

When you part
from your friend
you grieve not;
For that
which you love most
in him
may be clearer
in his absence,
as the mountain
to the climber
is clearer
from the plain.

And let there be
no purpose  in friendship
save the deepening
of the spirit.

For love
that seeks aught
but the disclosure
of its own mystery
is not love
but a net cast forth:
and only
the unprofitable
is caught.

And let your best  be
for your friend.
If he must know
the ebb of your tide,
let him know
its flood also.

For what is your friend
that you should seek him
with hours to kill?

Seek him always
with hours to live
For it is his
to feel your need,
but not
your emptiness.

And in the sweetness
of friendship
let there be laughter,
and sharing of pleasures.

For in the dew
of little things
the heart finds
its morning
and is refreshed .

Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet

What a blessing there is in humour!

Lord, deliver us from sour faced saints!

Teresa of Jesus