12th December

Spiritual Women

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Proverbs 31:30

The following report was recorded on the death of Saint Hilda of Whitby.
“One of her nuns perceived how angels brought her spirit to heaven and it glittered in the midst of the angels like the shining sun or a glossy new gown. The same nun heard at the same time as she departed the sound of a wonderful bell in the air and she also saw that angels raised against her spirit a very large and wonderful cross of Christ and it shone like a star of heaven. With such joy was St. Hilda’s spirit brought to the heavenly glory, where she now sees our Lord without end, whose will she did before as long as she was alive in the flesh.”
Old English Martyrology

Mercy is a compassionate quality. Grace is worthy of praise, too, because it is a quality that belongs to god’s magnificent power in that same love.
Mercy protects, endures, energizes, and heals, and is every tenderness of love.
Grace is mercy’s helper. It raises, rewards, and always exceeds what our love and labor deserve.
Julian of Norwich, Revelations

The Lord asked me to make His feet my hallway, His hands my workshop, His mouth my living room, His eyes my library for sitting and reading, and his ears my confessional.
Gertrude the Great, The Herald of Divine Love

Hope so fills us with holy and humble devotion that the impotence of the heart
rings in song beautifully before God, and God loves the notes that sing in the heart.
whoever sings along with Hope will share her success in celestial love.
Mechthild of Magdeburg, The Flowering Light of the Godhead

Lord, let Your love enlighten the eye of my understanding with the light of trusting in You. Help me see Your truth as You reveal it to me. Make my memory big enough to hold Your kindness. Set my will on fire in Your Love
Catherine of Siena, Dialogue