See parts 1, 2, and 3 below. This is part 4. I want to talk to people going through extreme hardship, in which desolation outweighs consolation, in which those who are prejudiced or even worse indifferent to helping you through your plight far outnumber those who look at you in a fair and balanced way, and do care. Not merely with a word or two, but with consistent action.
You want to fly like an eagle but feel imprisoned in a dark dungeon under the Earth, in part by those problem people, the crows. There is a way out.
First and foremost there is the way of Christ. To offer your cross daily, in remission of the punishment due to sin, but even more to store up eternal treasures and rewards in heaven. But especially to follow His example in dealing with enemies. To be patient with them, to fraternally correct them but not excessively, to accept the crosses they cause you which God allows through the virtue of meekness, and most of all to forgive them.
That will lead to escape from their torments, by Rising Above them, setting you free. From them, and their effect on your mind.
Rise Above them and your dark place. Last summer my wife and I interviewed the traditional Benedictine sister who had cared for Sr. Whilhelmina in the last years before she died. I asked the sister “Considering the readers of the blog will be reading this interview (which the Mother Superior had approved), and some of them may be going through extreme suffering in their life, especially those having severe pain, if Sister Whilhemina were alive right now sitting here, what would she say to those people?” Keep in mind Sr. W is now widely considered to have a miraculously incorrupt body, to be a saint, and the cause of many medical miracles.
The Sister answered without hesitation as if she immediately knew the answer, saying “She would say to go to your Mother, to Mary.” She then paused a moment and said that Sr. W would also say to be devoted to prayer itself, to have a devotion to a daily schedule of prayer.
She said she remembers when caring for Sr. W in her last period of life, asking her for one piece of advice to help her at the time being a novice to become a good nun. She said she expected her answer to be something like focus on humility or charity, but instead she advised her to focus on daily piety, that this seemed profoundly wise. This sister was telling us, and you the reader, and me, especially those going down a dark tunnel,, so to speak, that the key to dealing with it all is not only prayer, it is a devotion to a daily prayer schedule itself, like a monk or nun, or priest, but of course tailored for the lay state.
The third order of the SSPX gives a good structure for its members: daily rosary, daily 15 minutes of mental prayer or spiritual meditation, and twice daily praying the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But at the least, prayers right out of bed, morning prayer, prayer before and after meals, ejaculatory prayers (like the eastern Jesus Prayer, or the Hail Mary), crossing yourself passing a cemetery or a Catholic church, evening prayer, and prayer right before you sleep. Ideally, following Catholic tradition and not novelty.
For me, this interview, what this nun said she thought the sainted Sr W would tell people going through extreme hardship, hit home as a revelation. Everything we need, including the ability to Rise Above the hardest of situations, comes from God’s grace. And God’s grace comes from a personal relationship with Him in which we submit ourselves in trust of Him through prayer. But human nature tends to not commit itself daily to a structure of prayer; in other words, we all tend not towards just following a good routine by making good daily choices everyday, against the weak inclinations of our fallen state. So we need a pre-planned, consistent daily, schedule, but also to subordinate ourselves to that schedule as a daily Rule of life.
The result is you will be able to Rise Above all hardship at least internally if not also externally. It’s a hard fact of life, not strictly taught to me growing up, or in my adulthood by the Church (traditional side vs. the navus ordo side), that this is key to Rising Above hardship. Without it, it is very difficult to Rise Above. With it, it is much easier to Rise Above, if not a certainty you will.
There may be some of you currently gravely grieving the loss of a family member, going through severe illness, or severe financial hardship. You might be confined to a bed or chair. You might be forced to live in a nursing home. You might feel utterly alone on this planet.
Rise Above. Through prayer. Through a daily schedule of prayer. Through devotion to that schedule. That is a lesson I’ve recently more maturely learned, thanks to Sr. Whilhelmina.