As a seven-year-old child in Avila in 1522, Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada convinced her older brother Rodrigo to take her down the road toward the land of the Moors (Spanish Muslims of North African descent), with the genuine desire and sincere hope that they would both have their heads cut off. Overtaken by an uncle and returned to her parents, Teresa said, “I went because I want to see God, and to see him we must die.” Rodrigo simply said that little Teresa had made him do it. She had been reading the lives of the Christian Saints and Martyrs. “Forever! O Rodrigo, think of it, the martyrs gaze upon God forever. We must become martyrs.”

Do we find Teresa’s childhood desire for martyrdom quaint, or shocking? Her life-long spiritual quest was to die to herself in order to see God. We can recognize that this ought to be the life-long spiritual quest of every Christian. Seeing God is not just a matter of understanding his nature, as is possible for us in this life through belief in the word of God, basic catechesis, and dogmatic theology. Seeing God in this life is essentially a matter of being gradually transformed by him and united with him in a personal communion of love. Using a Biblical analogy, Teresa eventually calls this existential union of the soul with God “Spiritual Marriage.”

Like the Desert Fathers before her, when martyrdom was denied her, Teresa pursued solitude and silence in order to see God in this life through personal growth in faith, hope, love, self-denial, and contemplative prayer.

The desire for martyrdom (i.e. the desire to see God through physical or spiritual death) was the specific desire that brought young Teresa to Carmel. Unable to obtain the consent of her father, on All Souls Day in 1535 at the age of 20, Teresa convinced her younger brother Antonio to take her to the Carmelite monastery of the Incarnation, after which he immediately went and entered the Dominican monastery of St Thomas. Their father came and removed Antonio from the Dominicans but left Teresa in the Carmelite monastery. Young men were expected to the serve the Spanish empire in the military. Rodrigo took a military post in the Spanish colonies of the Americas and died in conflicts with the native Americans in Chile. Antonio also went to the Americas, and he died in the Battle of Iñaquito in Ecuador. Teresa remained with the Carmelites, taking the name Teresa of Jesus, and spent the rest of her life reforming the Order of Carmel in Spain. She died on the memorial of St Francis (October 4), 1582. She was canonized in 1622, and her memorial was designated as October 15, because the ten days after her death were dropped due to the Gregorian calendar reform.*1

While Teresa was a novice in Carmel, God revealed himself to her in fleeting graces of contemplative union, the beginnings of the mystical life, which God offers to everyone who believes in him and loves him. Like St Augustine and many other saints, Teresa learned that by grace she could see God in this life in her own soul indirectly through the habitual practice of recollection, solitude, silence, self-denial, and contemplative prayer. She composed several spiritual works on prayer, out of obedience to her spiritual directors. She was able to teach others what she had learned from God about the mystical life.

St Teresa’s spirituality has three essential elements: (1) the foundational truth upon which Teresa’s doctrine rests is that God is present in the human soul; (2) the fundamental movement urged by Teresa’s doctrine is to draw close to God present in the soul and thus to be transformed; and (3) the specific goal of Teresa’s doctrine is to become perfectly united with God present in the soul.*2

The desire for the happiness of seeing God was St Teresa’s fundamental life-long aspiration. Teresa’s doctrine and example call us to put God first in our lives and to give ourselves to him unconditionally in order to enter into a personal communion of knowledge and love with him which will enable us to become more like him in this life and to have a greater happiness with him forever in the next.

*1 “Love for Love: The Life and Work of St Teresa of Jesus,” from The Hidden Life: Hagiographic Essays, Meditations, Spiritual Texts, by Edith Stein (St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, OCD), translated by Waltraut Stein (ICS Publications, 1992).

*2 A Practical Synthesis of Carmelite Spirituality - Volume One: I Want to See God, by Bl Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, OCD, translated by Sr M Verda Clare, CSC, Part One: Perspectives, Chapter II: “I Want to See God” (FIDES Publishers, 1953).

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Today is the Feast Day of Saint Bruno. I have always found him very relevant as it pertains to saying yes to God in the midst of trying to follow God’s will in all things, especially when desire is missing.

Bruno was the founder of a contemplative order called the Carthusians. He entered the solitude of prayer and contemplation near Grenoble around 1084. In 1090, Pope Urban II, his former pupil, called him to Rome for counsel. Bruno did not want to leave the silence of monastic life. The pope wanted to make Bruno a bishop. Bruno resisted. He was permitted to return to monastic life but not to Chartreuse, where Bruno desired to go. Providence returned Bruno to solitude but not on the terms he wanted.

I always thought of Bruno as a sort of Moses figure. Moses was called away from total obscurity. Moses did not desire what God called him to do. He felt inadequate and resisted God’s call. But nevertheless, God called him. Moses went. We know the rest of the story. The stuttering patriarch understood that the mission rests solely upon God.

The same pattern can be seen in the life of Bruno. He was called away from solitude. He did not desire to go to Rome. He resisted. He had an attachment to contemplative solitude. Yet ecclesial authority summoned him, and Bruno went out of obedience.

The lesson here, I think, is that obedience rests upon providence. Desire may disclose a vocation, but desire is not identical with vocation. I know that in my own life, God often leads through desire. But it seems more often than not that He leads us against our immediate desire in order to purify that desire, which itself is the vocation. There is always a natural reluctance, as if I am stomping my feet like an addled toddler whining, “I DO NOT WANT THIS...” Grace takes over, and somehow a supernatural consent comes over me, and I realize that I want what God wants more than anything else. Let’s be real. It’s all God, because in my brokenness, there is no way, left on my own, I could say yes. The will is enlightened by faith and moved by charity.

May we pray with Saint Bruno today. May God take away every excuse we hold in reserve. Of course, we are not ready. We are not adequate. We may not have the faintest idea of what He is asking of us. That is the point. So, if you are asking Lord, just help us say yes. Please.

What can you say yes to today?

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Today is the Feast Day of Thérèse of Lisieux.

St Thérèse’s spirituality can be summed up in two words: trust and mercy. Her life was a model of what Christ calls us to in the Gospel: to love God and to love our neighbor.

She reminds us that everything good that comes to us is because of mercy. Her desire to seek the most perfect thing to do (to love) and to forget self is the model of holiness we should all strive. She always looked at her life through the lens of how God gave her abundant graces.

When we are grateful (for whatever God chooses to give us), He will multiply blessings to us and fill us with a greater capacity to love. Her constant focus on Jesus gave her the grace to embrace virtue and holiness. We are called to participate in the redemptive work of Jesus by receiving whatever He decides to send to us. This willingness to say YES to Christ in all things is a true act of surrender and learning to live in His perfect will.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church […] Colossians 1:24 RSV

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 RSV

Overcoming worldliness can be an exhausting task. Thérèse always thought the way to overcome habitual sin was to think more about death. May we have the wisdom to realize that all things come from God and all things lead back to Him.

Thérèse is the patron saint of our family. Her intercessions have showered us with many blessings, answers to prayers and is a constant guide who watches over us.

Ask for her intercession today. Sweet Thérèse, we love you. Blessed Feast Day to you, our Little Flower.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

The word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature

You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels. And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.

Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform. In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known. But personal names are assigned to some, not because they could not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they came among us. Thus, Michael means “Who is like God”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy.”

Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High. He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment. Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: A battle was fought with Michael the archangel.

So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle. Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy.

Ask Your Guardian Angel for Protection

From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.”Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, §336

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Today’s Mass Collect

O God, who dispose in marvellous order ministries both angelic and human, graciously grant that our life on earth may be defended by those who watch over us as they minister perpetually to you in heaven.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Happy Birthday Mom.

Oh, the grief of loss. Ugh.

You died on May 10, 2026. Mother’s Day.

When I say I miss you, it sounds so cliche. But…I don’t know what else to say.

On the visit to my 85 year old mom

by Lawain McNeil

I think my mom is dying

she shuffles across the kitchen

with stooped back her head is parallel with the floor

there’s a thousand yard gaze on her face

wishing that things were what they used to be

the psalmist was right that our day

come to an end like a sigh—

days of toil and trouble

I’m breathing different here as if there is a lack of oxygen

things of the past flash by as I can’t get my footing—

why can’t things stop for just a second

as we go barreling towards the end.

-March 2026

The Loved Ones - Wendell Berry

The loved ones we call the dead

depart from us and for a while are absent. And then as if

called back by our love, they come

near us again. They enter our dreams.

We feel they have been near us

when we have not thought of them.

They are simply here, simply waiting

while we are distracted among

our obligations. At last

it comes to us: They live now

in the permanent world.

We are the absent ones.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

This is an excerpt of a homily given by Benedict XVI on Sept 7, 2008 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Bonaria

It is the Lord’s Day, but - given this special circumstance - the Liturgy of the Word has proposed to us the Readings for the celebrations dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. These are in particular texts planned for the Feast of the Birth of Mary which for centuries has been fixed on 8 September, the date of the consecration of the basilica built in Jerusalem above the house of St Anne, Mother of Our Lady. They are Readings which effectively always contain the reference to the mystery of her birth. First of all there is the Prophet Micah’s marvelous oracle concerning Bethlehem, in which the birth of the Messiah is announced. The Messiah, the oracle says, was to be a descendant of King David, like him a native of Bethlehem but a figure who would exceed human limitations: his “origin”, it says, are “from ancient times”, lost in the most remote ages, at the frontier of eternity. His greatness would reach “to the ends of the earth”, as would also be his peace (cf. Mi 5,1-4). The coming of the “Lord’s anointed”, who was to mark the beginning of the people’s liberation was described by the Prophet with an enigmatic expression: “until the time when she who is in travail has brought forth” (Mi 5,3). Thus the Liturgy - which is a privileged school of the faith - teaches us to see in Mary’s birth a direct connection with that of the Messiah, Son of David.

The Gospel, a passage from the Apostle Matthew, proposed to us precisely the account of Jesus’ birth. However, the Evangelist introduces it with a summary of his genealogy, which he sets at the beginning as a prologue. Here too the full evidence of Mary’s role in salvation history stands out: Mary’s being is totally relative to Christ and in particular to his Incarnation. “Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (Mt 1,16). The lack of continuity in the layout of the genealogy immediately meets the eye; we do not read “begot” but instead: “Mary, of whom Jesus was born who is called Christ”. Precisely in this we perceive the beauty of the plan of God who, respecting the human being, makes him fertile from within, causing the most beautiful fruit of his creative and redeeming work to develop in the humble Virgin of Nazareth. Then the Evangelist brings on stage the figure of Joseph, his inner drama, his robust faith and his exemplary rectitude. Behind Joseph’s thoughts and deliberations is his love for God and his firm determination to obey him. But how is it possible not to feel that Joseph’s distress, hence his prayers and his decision, were motivated at the same time by esteem and love for his betrothed? God’s beauty and that of Mary are inseparable in Joseph’s heart; he knows that there can be no contradiction between them; he seeks the answer in God and finds it in the light of the Word and of the Holy Spirit: “The Virgin shall be with child and give birth to a son, and they shall call him Emmanuel (which means, God with us)” (Mt 1,23 cf. Is 7,14).

Thus, once again, we can contemplate Mary’s place in the saving plan of God, that “purpose” which we find in the Second Reading, taken from the Letter to the Romans. Here the Apostle Paul expresses in two verses, unusually dense with meaning, the synthesis of what human life is from a meta-historical viewpoint: a parabola of salvation that starts from God and returns to him; a parabola entirely motivated and governed by his love. This is a salvific design totally permeated by divine freedom, which nonetheless awaits a fundamental contribution by human freedom: the creature’s corresponds to the Creator’s love. And it is here, in this space of human freedom, that we perceive the presence of the Virgin Mary, without her ever having been explicitly mentioned: she is in fact, in Christ, the first fruits and model of “those who love him [God]” (Rm 8,28). The predestination of Mary is inscribed in the predestination of Jesus, as likewise is that of every human person. The “here I am” of the Mother faithfully echoes the “here I am” of the Son (cf. He 10,6), as does the “here I am” of all adoptive children in the Son, that of us all, precisely.

[We] are called to be integrated in the spiritual “genealogy” of the Gospel. Christianity did not arrive […] with the swords of conquerors or by foreign imposition but germinated from the blood of the martyrs who gave their life […] as an act of love for God and for men and women.

I well know that Mary is in your hearts. A hundred years later, let us thank her today for her protection and renew our trust in her, recognizing her as the “Star of the New Evangelization” at whose school we may learn how to bring Christ the Savior to the men and women of our time.

May Mary help you to bring Christ to families, little domestic churches and cells of society, which today more than ever are in need of both spiritual and social trust and support. May she help you to find appropriate pastoral strategies to ensure that Christ is encountered by young people who by their nature bring new dynamism but often fall prey to the widespread nihilism, thirsting for truth and ideals precisely when they seem to deny them. May she render you capable of evangelizing the world of work, the economy and politics which need a new generation of committed lay Christians who can seek competently and with moral rigour sustainable solutions of development. In all these aspects of Christian commitment you can always count on the guidance and support of the Blessed Virgin. Let us therefore entrust ourselves to her maternal intercession.

Mary is the harbor, refuge and protection for [those] who have within them the strength of oak. When the storm has passed the oak stands strong; fires rage and it sends out new shoots; the drought comes and it wins through once again. Let us therefore renew joyfully our consecration to such a caring Mother. […]May Mary Queen of Peace and Star of Hope intercede for us. Amen!

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Today is the Feast of St. Raymond. He is also the patron of pregnant women. If you are acquainted with any expectant parents, a short prayer to St. Raymond may bring comfort and peace to the mothers-to-be.

Raymond is often called “not-born” since his mother died in labor and he was taken from her. He entered the religious order of Our Lady of Mercy, also known as the Mercedarians. The order had a simple, singular purpose: they bought captives out of slavery in North Africa.

Besides the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, the Mercedarians also assumed a fourth vow. They gave themselves as hostages to the slaveholder if ransom money ran out. In Algiers, Raymond’s money ran out. He kept his vow, and gave himself over so that others could go home.

One cannot help but recall the words of Jesus that “no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” (John 15:13, NRSV). There is a tradition that his captors padlocked Raymond’s lips to stop him from preaching the Gospel. Eventually, he was ransomed back to Rome and made a Cardinal by Gregory IX.

Raymond’s singular charity was redeeming those in slavery. The Gospel truly frees one from the slavery of sin. Raymond’s perfect resignation to God’s will reminds us that, in Christ, we are freed from the bondage of sin.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” That was the phrase that cost John the Baptist his life. John directly confronted Herod Antipas with the fact that he had taken his brother’s wife, Herodias.

By stating this simple truth, John was arrested and subsequently imprisoned at Machaerus, a bleak fortress on the eastern side of the Dead Sea.

As we learn from the account given in Mark, Herod had respect for John because “he knew him to be a righteous and holy man.” He even enjoyed hearing him speak, though he always left him feeling confused.

Then came the birthday banquet. While all eyes were on her, Herodias’s own daughter was the main attraction, doing a lively dance for Herod and his entourage. All these men were utterly mesmerized by her and so impressed with her dancing that Herod made a careless vow before all the men at the feast: “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you—up to half my kingdom.”

Prompted by her mother, she asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod was distressed. But rather than lose face before his guests, he ordered John beheaded. His head was brought into the banquet on a platter.

Josephus, writing independently of the Gospels, also records that Herod imprisoned and executed John at Machaerus. He gives a political reason: Herod feared John’s influence over the people.

But the Gospel takes us deeper. John died because he would not remain silent about the truth. He did not lead an army against Herod. He did not organize a revolt. He did not threaten the throne. He simply looked at a powerful man living contrary to the law of God and said: “It is not lawful for you.”

Herod could imprison John. He could silence his voice. He could even take his head. But he could not make what was unlawful lawful. And John would not pretend otherwise.

That is why the Church remembers his martyrdom. There are times when fidelity to God requires very few words, sometimes only one sentence: “It is not lawful for you.” For John the Baptist, that sentence cost him his head.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

True happiness and pure joy are not found in cheese coneys, chocolate fudge, fame, fortune, power, wine, beer, bourbon, scotch, cocaine, marijuanna, LSD, rock music, rap music, country music, classical music, motion pictures, digital devices, cell phones, shopping sprees, sporting events, military conquests, runner’s euphoria, venereal pleasures, sexual orgasms, dopamine, anandamide, endorphins, endocannabinoids, or any other good of the body or the senses.

They are found in God alone.

We can learn this difficult lesson by experience and reason, as St Augustine did, or we can learn it far more easily by education and faith in a reliable source of wisdom, such as a good mother, like St Monica or the Catholic Church, or a good book, like the Confessions or the Bible.

But those who fail to learn it ultimately find only sadness and sorrow.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Today is the feast day of St Monica, the mother of St Augustine. We are all familiar with the story of how St Monica pursued her son’s conversion with tears, prayers, and sacrifice. Augustine tells us that Monica wept for him more than mothers weep for the bodily death of their children. (Confessions III.11) Her prayer was not passive. She carried the salvation of her son before God with persistence. With suffering. She refused to stop hoping in grace. St Augustine records St Monica saying in his book, Confessions.

For my part, my son, I no longer find pleasure in anything that this life holds. What I am doing here still, or why I am still here, I do not know, for worldly hope has withered away for me. One thing only there was for which I desired to linger in this life: to see you a Catholic Christian before I died. And my God has granted this to me more lavishly than I could have hoped, letting me see even you spurning earthly happiness to be his servant. What am I still doing here?

Love is laying down one’s life for another. Life, with all its promises and material gain, is empty when it is not resting in the heart of Jesus. Monica’s great mission was to offer herself, in union with Christ, through prayer and sacrifice, for Augustine’s conversion. When God granted this, her mission was complete.

God calls all of us to enter into this sort of mission on behalf of those we love. You could call this a cruciform evangelization because it demands the giving of our life for another. This is the life of Christ and what he calls us to. When those we love return to him, we will be able to say with St Monica, “What am I still doing here?”

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Today the Carmelite Order celebrates the Memorial of the Transverberation of the Heart of Saint Teresa of Jesus (Avila). See The Book of Her Life, Chapter 29, in which she describes the experience and a vision of an angel with a fiery dart, which has been represented in various famous pieces of art.

The transverberation, or spiritual piercing of the heart, is a personal grace of Pentecost and Mission that is typically received in the Sixth Mansions and the dark night of the spirit after many years of spiritual growth in faith, hope, and charity. St Teresa probably received it in 1559, at the age of 44. She died in 1582, and when her body was exhumed, there was very little decay, and her incorrupt physical heart had an actual physical puncture wound in it.

St Teresa and St John of the Cross taught that every baptized Christian is called to imitate the sacrificial life of Christ and to receive the stigmata spiritually, but it is an extraordinary grace to receive the stigmata physically, including the piercing of the heart.

The sacraments of the Church impart the indwelling of the Holy Spirt to all the faithful, and when a member of the faithful becomes sufficiently mature to sacrifice themselves unconditionally for the Mission of the Church, the spiritual piercing of the heart produces an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1129)

We must distinguish the ordinary grace of spiritual transverberation and outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which we should all desire, from the extraordinary vision and extraordinary physical piercing of the heart, with miraculous manifestations of Holy Spirit, which we should not desire. Only a few of the faithful are called to be miracle-workers in the Mission of the Church.

But having our heart spiritually pierced and set on fire by the Holy Spirit, thus becoming a living flame of divine love by participation, is something that we should all desire. We already have the Holy Spirit hidden in our hearts through the sacraments of the Church. We should pray for a spiritual wounding to pierce our hearts and to manifest the presence and love of God, who dwells there.

Such a wounding is a communication from God that transforms us and unites us to God more perfectly, but since transformation is difficult and painful, most people resist it. As Flannery O’Connor puts it, “All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful” (The Habit of Being).

To communicate is to produce something in common, such as ideas, thoughts, emotions, longings, delights, affections, or volitions, but the communication proper to transverberation is ineffable, thus a trans-conceptual and non-propositional participation in God’s own knowledge and love, which is received by not knowing and not desiring, at least not in a human mode of knowing or desiring.

Pseudo-Dionysius in his Mystical Theology calls it a secret and hidden “supersubstantial radiance of divine obscurity,” which leaves it rather mysterious, as it should be. If you want to understand this apophatic Christian goal better, a good place to begin is with The Dark Knowledge of God by Charles Journet (Sheed & Ward, 1948, or Cluny Media, 2020).

To emphasize the external, miraculous, or extraordinary manifestations of it is to misunderstand it from the start.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

My dear son, in the first place I teach you that you must love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your strength; unless you do so you cannot be saved. You must guard yourself from everything that you know is displeasing to God, that is to say, from all mortal sin. You must be ready to undergo every kind of martyrdom rather than commit one mortal sin.

If God sends you tribulation, you ought to endure it, giving thanks, realising that it is for your good, and that, perhaps, you have deserved it. If however the Lord confers some benefit on you, you must humbly thank him, and be on your guard not to become the worse for it, either through vainglory or in any other way. You must not offend God with the very gifts he has given you.

Assist at the Divine Office of the Church with joyful devotion; while you are present in church do not let your gaze wander, do not chat about trifles, but pray to the Lord attentively, either with your lips, or meditating in your heart.

Be compassionate towards the poor, the destitute and the afflicted; and, as far as lies in your power, help and console them. Give thanks to God for all the gifts he has bestowed upon you, so that you will become worthy of still greater gifts. Towards your subjects, act with such justice that you may steer a middle course, swerving neither to the right nor to the left, but lean more to the side of the poor man than of the rich until such time as you are certain about the truth. Do your utmost to ensure peace and justice for all your subjects but especially for clergy and religious.

Devotedly obey our mother, the Roman Church, and revere the Supreme Pontiff as your spiritual father. Endeavour to banish all sin, especially blasphemy and heresy, from your kingdom.

Finally, my dear son, I impart to you every blessing that a loving father can bestow on his son; may the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and all the saints, guard you from all evil. May the Lord grant you the grace to do his will so that he may be served and honored by you, and that, together, after this life we may come to see him, love him and praise him for ever. Amen.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

In a letter dated May 30, 1889, St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus encouraged her cousin Marie Guérin to resist the natural power of fear and to return to the frequent reception of Holy Communion. In that letter, Thérèse makes it very clear that Jesus wants to enter the hearts of his disciples frequently through Holy Communion, and that he is filled with sorrow whenever someone who believes in him is deprived of this grace. Jesus is not only concerned that all Christians would believe in his real substantial presence in the Holy Eucharist; he also wants to enter the hearts of all those who do believe, through frequent Holy Communion. As Thérèse sees it, one of the devil’s main goals is to prevent the faithful from receiving Holy Communion frequently. At one point she says to her cousin, “The devil…wants to deprive Jesus of a loved tabernacle, and, not being able to enter this sanctuary, the devil wants, at least, that it remain empty and without any Master! ...Alas, what will become of this poor heart? ...When the devil has succeeded in drawing the soul away from Holy Communion, he has won everything. …And Jesus weeps!”

When Pope Pius X read this letter after Thérèse’s death, he said, “This is most opportune! It’s a great joy for me.” Then he opened the process for her canonization and recommended her letter in support of the practice of frequent reception of Holy Communion by the Catholic faithful. The fervent letter of Thérèse to her cousin confirmed what he already sensed: that Jesus wants to enter the hearts of the faithful frequently, even daily if possible. Jesus weeps whenever his disciples are deprived of the grace of frequent Holy Communion. Wherever the Eucharist is being celebrated validly, he remains substantially present in the tabernacles of those churches and desires to be received frequently in the tabernacles of the hearts of those who believe in his real substantial presence.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

In Christian theology, there are two fundamental and complementary ways to grasp something of the mystery of God – the positive way and the negative way – which can then be reconciled through the analogical way of eminence and transcendence (Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Revised Edition: Baronius Press, 2018, Book One – “The Unity and Trinity of God,” Part One – “The Unity of God: His Existence and Nature,” Section Three – “The Nature of God,” Chapter I – “The Knowledge of the Nature of God”). Positive theology proceeds by way of the dogmatic affirmations which can made about God, while negative theology proceeds by way of the difference between God and created beings and emphasizes the ineffable knowledge that existential union with Christ by faith, hope, and love brings to the human heart. Think of the difference between Boethius and Pseudo-Dionysius, or between Peter Lombard and St Bernard of Clairvaux. These two ways are complementary and should be integrated. Integrations are offered by St Thomas Aquinas, Bl John Duns Scotus, St Edith Stein, and St John Paul II, for example. The abstract language of dogma and the mystical language of poetry are both valid means of knowing God and should never be set in false opposition. In the gradual ascent of our minds and hearts to the presence of God in our souls by nature and grace, the positive and negative modes of theology work together to help us to grow in holiness and to receive a higher knowledge of God through the transformation of our capacity to participate in his divine Wisdom and Love. This higher mystical knowledge is attained only when God begins to reveal his divine Presence to us in our souls through infused contemplation, which is a non-conceptual and non-propositional mode of cognition and affectivity.

In order to understand the nature of the infused gift of contemplation, we first need a definition of the essence of contemplation as such.

Many definitions have been given of contemplation. The following one is from Richard of Saint Victor: “Contemplatio est perspicuus et liber contuitus animi in res perspiciendas. Contemplation is an attentive synthetic view, penetrating and loving, which attaches the mind to the realities that it is beholding.”

Saint Thomas defines it: “Simplex intuitus veritatis. A simple gaze on truth.”

The Carmelite theologians of Salamanca, the Salmanticenses, commentators of Saint Thomas, added a word to that definition. They say: “Simplex intuitus veritatis sub influxu amoris. A simple gaze on truth, under the influence of love.” (Blessed Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, OCD, A Practical Synthesis of Carmelite Spirituality – Volume One: I Want to See God, FIDES Publishers, 1953, Part Three: “Mystical Life and Contemplation,” Chapter VII: “Contemplation”)

Thus contemplation is a kind of intellectual knowledge that is produced by love and terminates in love. The human gaze has often been subjected to philosophical analysis and both honored and condemned. Intellectual knowledge is here understood in the Aristotelian sense of a formal conceptual union between the knowing subject and the object known, which presupposes hylomorphism (matter-form metaphysics) and immediate realism. The specific difference about contemplation as a form of intellectual knowledge is that it is an act of understanding mediated by loving attention. As an attending to what is known and then comprehending it through love, contemplation is a reflexive and secondary form of intellectual knowledge, which is posterior to the will (the rational appetite for the good which is understood by the intellect). Philosophy (the love of wisdom) is the dialectical art of understanding clearly what we already know implicitly. This reflexive art, made possible by the natural power of the intellect and gradually perfected by grace, attends not merely to subjective ideas but also to things themselves present in cognition. Contemplation may be aesthetic (art), intellectual (science), theological (dogma), or supernatural (infused).

As emphasized by St Thomas Aquinas, “Quidquid recipitur ad modum recipientis recipitur. Everything received is received according to the mode of the receiver.” The purpose of Christian prayer under the effects of divine grace is to surrender completely to the difficult but delightful spiritual transformation of the mode of the receiver. Corresponding to the positive and negative modes of theology are the two fundamental modes of prayer: the effable kataphatic (Gk. “according to speaking”) way and the ineffable apophatic (Gk. “away from speaking”) way. Both ways are essential to the transforming union of the soul with God. Kataphatic prayer is active and proceeds by way of percepts, imaginations, concepts, memories, words, devotions, creation, truth, goodness, beauty, and discursive reason. Apophatic prayer is passive and proceeds simply by way of the loving wisdom that God infuses in our souls through Christ and the Holy Spirit. The integrated practice of the active and passive modes of prayer in union with Christ ordinarily gives rise to mystical prayer, which is fully contemplative and directly infused by God. The ultimate goal of Christian prayer is a continuous loving trinitarian communion with God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. A transformation of the heart is required because in the conditions of sin and attachment to sensible goods we do not naturally or easily attend to God in loving communion with his Presence in the soul. The transformation of the heart is possible only by personal effort and the help of grace. The spiritual life of prayer is therefore a battle, for we must struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Spiritual marriage between Christ and the soul is the Biblical and analogical representation of the struggle to overcome temptations and vices, to acquire self-mastery and virtues, and to remain faithful and attentive to God and his inspirations. This is the supernatural goal of every true disciple of Christ. Ultimately it is Christ who makes this goal attainable, and he offers his help to everyone who sincerely seeks God above all things in every state and walk of life.

“When the soul is called the Bride of God, there is not only a relationship of similarity between two things which permits one to be designated by the other. There is, much more, such an intimate union between the image and the reality that it is almost impossible to speak of them any longer as a duality. Turned around: the meaning of the expression, being engaged [to be married] has nowhere as fitting and perfect a fulfillment as in the love relationship of God with the soul. That is the hallmark of a symbol-relationship in the strict and actual sense. The relationship of the soul to God as God foresaw it from all eternity as the goal of her creation, simply cannot be more fittingly designated than as a nuptial bond. Once one has grasped that, then the image and the reality directly exchange their roles: the divine bridal relationship is recognized as the original and actual bridal relationship, and all human nuptial relationships appear as imperfect copies of this archetype – just as the Fatherhood of God is the archetype of all fatherhood on earth. By reason of this copy-relationship, the human bridal relationship becomes useful as a symbolic expression of the divine, and in view of this function that which is a purely human relationship in actual life takes second place. Its actual reality has its highest reason for existence in that it can give expression to a divine mystery (Ephesians 5:23 ff).” – St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), OCD, The Science of the Cross, translated by Sr Josephine Koeppel, OCD, ICS Publications, 2018

“By this likeness of charity…the soul is wedded to the Word, when, namely, loving even as she is loved, she shows herself, in her will, likened to Him to Whom she is already likened in her nature. Therefore, if she loves Him perfectly, she has become His bride. What can be more sweet than such a likeness? What can be more desirable than this love, whereby thou art enabled of thyself to draw nigh with confidence to the Word, to cleave to Him steadfastly, to question Him familiarly, and to consult Him in all thy doubts, as daring in thy desires as thou art receptive in thy understanding? This is in truth the alliance of holy and spiritual wedlock. Nay, it is saying too little to call it an alliance: it is rather an embrace. Surely we have then a spiritual embrace when the same likes and the same dislikes make of two one spirit. Nor is there any occasion to fear lest the inequality of the persons should cause some defect in the harmony of wills, since love knows nothing of reverence. Love means an exercise of affection, not a showing of honor…. Love is all sufficient for itself. Whithersoever love comes, it keeps under and holds captive to itself all the other affections. Consequently, the soul that loves, simply loves and knows nothing else except to love.” – St Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist., Sermons on the Canticle of Canticles, LXXXIII, 3, Migne, P. L., CLXXXIII, 1182-c, d (quoted in Doctor Mellifluus, Encyclical of Pius XII, 1953, https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xii_enc_24051953_doctor-mellifluus.html

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

St. John Eudes (1600s) was a saintly priest in France at a time when the Church suffered corrupt clericalism among the rich and powerful. Many Catholics had turned to the heresy of Jansenism, which, stating that human nature was depraved, claimed that perfection was necessary to enter Heaven.

It is only in the union with our Lord’s humanity, where salvation is to be found, that true perfection of living is realized.

St. John Eudes was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He was one of the first people to promote this devotion. Why? Because the Sacred Heart of our Lord is the source and salvation of life.

He once wrote:

While we live, we are responsible to the Lord, and when we die, we die as his servants. Both in life and death we are the Lord’s. That is why Christ died and came to life again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Finally, you are one with Jesus as the body is one with the head. You must, then, have one breath with him, one soul, one life, one will, one mind, one heart. And he must be your breath, heart, love, life, your all.

These great gifts in the follower of Christ originate from baptism. They are increased and strengthened through confirmation and by making good use of other graces that are given by God. Through the holy Eucharist they are brought to perfection.

There is much to learn from St John Eudes. It’s so easy to convince ourselves we are living in a the worst of times and the case is already lost. The fact is that holiness is the cure for a wounded society. It is the cure for our own sinfulness.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a place of peace in which if we stay, we can be faithful in a world that is lost.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Today the Carmelite Order remembers and honors the Blessed Martyrs of Rochefort. The resolutions drawn up by the priests imprisoned on the ship Les Deux Associés teach us how to suffer and conduct ourselves in difficult and unjust situations. Christ is the model of perfect love and perfect obedience to God the Father.

In order to imitate Christ as his blessed Mother and other faithful disciples have done, we must accept the evil and unjust things that happen to us and we cannot avoid, and all the unfortunate difficulties that we encounter, knowing full well that God could have prevented them and spared us of the suffering that they cause us, but also knowing that in permitting them God will bring some greater good out of it, both for ourselves and for others.

This acceptance does not mean that we should ever condone unjust acts or abusive conduct in others, but it does mean that we must strive to forgive those who trespass against us as Christ forgives those who trespass against him.

We must often judge the unjust actions of others, hold them accountable, and call them to true contrition and a firm purpose of amendment, but at the same time we must never presume to judge or condemn their hearts, and we must always strive to forgive even those who should have known and done better.

Then we must be generous to them as God has been generous to us. This is the heroic path of mercy, to which Christ has called all his faithful disciples.

Optional Memorial - From the Supplement to the Carmelite Proper of the Liturgy of Hours, Rome Institutum Carmelitanum 1993:

Fr. Leonard Duverneuil (b. 1737 at Limoges), Fr. Michael-Aloysius Brulard (Michel-Louis) (b. 1758 at Chartres), and Fr. Hubert of Saint Claude (b. 1753 at Frolois), were among a group of 64 Martyrs beatified 1st October 1995, victims of the French Revolution who came from 14 French dioceses and from various religious Orders. In their loyalty to God, the Church and the Pope, they refused to take the oath of the Civil Constitution for the Clergy imposed by the Constituent Assembly of the Revolution. As a result, they were imprisoned, massed like animals, on a slave-trader ship in Rochefort Bay, waiting in vain to be deported into slavery. During 1794, the first two Carmelites died on board ship: Fr. John-Baptist on 1st July, and Fr. Michael-Aloysius on 25th July, both being buried on the island of Aix. After the plague broke out on the ship, those remaining disembarked on the island of Madame, where Fr. Hubert died and was buried on 10th September. Noted for their loving ministry to their fellow prisoners and their patience in accepting every type of outrage, privation, and cruelty, not to mention the vicissitudes of weather, hunger and sickness, our three Discalced Carmelite priest martyrs and their companions in martyrdom gave unsurpassed Christian witness to their faith and love.

From the Common of Martyrs - The Second Reading

Resolutions drawn up by the priests imprisoned on the ship Les Deux Associés:

They bore in silence the cross that was placed on them.

They will never give themselves up to useless worries about being set free. Instead they will make the effort to profit from the time of their detention by meditating on their past years, by making holy resolutions for the future, so that they can find in the captivity of their bodies, freedom for their soul.

If God permits them to recover totally or in part this liberty nature longs for, they will avoid giving themselves up to an immoderate joy when they receive the news. By keeping their souls tranquil, they will show they support without murmur the cross placed on them, and that they are disposed to bear it even longer with courage and as true Christians who never let themselves be beaten by adversity.

If there is question of receiving back their personal effects they will show no eagerness in asking for them; rather, they will make the declaration that may be required of them with modesty and strict truth. They will receive without lament what is given to them, accustoming themselves, as is their duty, to despise the things of the earth and to be content with little, after the example of the apostles.

They are not to satisfy curious people they might come across. They will not reply to superficial questions about what happened to them. They will let people glimpse that they have patiently supported their sufferings, without descending into detail, and without showing any resentment against those who have authored and been instrumental in their suffering.

They will sentence themselves to the severest and most absolute silence about the faults of their brothers and the weaknesses into which they happened to fall due to their unfortunate situation, their bad health and the length of their punishment. They will preserve the same charity towards those whose religious opinion is different from their own. They will avoid all bitter feeling or animosity, being content to feel sorry about them interiorly and making the effort to stay on the way of truth by their gentleness and moderation.

They will not show grief over the loss of their goods, no haste to recover them, no resentment against those who possess them….

From now on they will form but one heart and one soul, without showing distinction of persons, and without leaving any of their brothers out, under any pretext. They will never get mixed up in the new politics, being content to pray for the welfare of their country and prepare themselves for a new life, if God permits them to return to their homes, and there become subjects of edification and models of virtue for the people, by their detachment from the world, their assiduousness in prayer and their love for recollection and piety.

Responsory

God and his angels look down upon us;
Christ, too, looks on as we do battle in the contest of faith.
—What great dignity and glory are ours,
what happiness to struggle in the presence of God,
and to be crowned by Christ our judge.

Let us be armed with a great determination and,
pure in heart, sound in faith, and full of courage,
be prepared to face the combat.
—What great dignity and glory are ours,
what happiness to struggle in the presence of God,
and to be crowned by Christ our judge.

Prayer

Lord God,

to the martyrs Blesseds Leonard, Michael Aloysius,
Hubert of Saint Claude, and their companions,
you gave the grace to remain faithful and to pardon others while suffering dismaying hardship.

Through their intercession grant also to us,
to be always willing to remain faithful to your Church
and to be reconciled
with one another.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, forever and ever, amen.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Today we celebrate and meditate on the Assumption of Mary body and soul into heaven at the end of her life on earth. The doctrine of the Assumption is a divinely revealed truth that has always been implicit in Catholic Tradition. It is also the fourth Glorious Mystery of the Rosary, and in 1950 it was explicitly defined by Pope Pius XII as a dogma of the Catholic Church. Dogmas give us certainty. All sciences have dogmas. In arithmetic, it is a dogma that 2 + 2 is 4. In geometry, it is a dogma that triangles have three interior angles. In chemistry, it is a dogma that water is H₂O. In the Christian faith, it is a dogma that Jesus is God. Karma cannot change dogma. All dogma is written in stone. Dogma is man’s best friend. Thank God for the dogmas of the Catholic Church. No one honors their Mother more than Christ and the Catholic Church. What do we believe about Mary?

In 1968, Pope St Paul VI formulated it in the Credo of the People of God:

We believe that Mary is the Mother, who remained ever a Virgin, of the Incarnate Word, our God and Savior Jesus Christ, and that by reason of this singular election, she was, in consideration of the merits of her Son, redeemed in a more eminent manner, preserved from all stain of original sin, and filled with the gift of grace more than all other creatures.

Joined by a close and indissoluble bond to the Mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, the Blessed Virgin, the Immaculate, was at the end of her earthly life raised body and soul to heavenly glory and was likened to her risen Son in anticipation of the future lot of all the just.

And we believe that the Blessed Mother of God, the New Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven her maternal role with regard to Christ’s members, cooperating with the birth and growth of divine life in the souls of the redeemed.

The four Marian dogmas are her Motherhood of God, her Perpetual Virginity, her Immaculate Conception, and her Assumption into Heaven. As the Mother of Christ, Mary is the Mother of God. That truth of the Catholic faith necessarily follows from Christ’s divinity. Every Christian who denies it falls into a contradiction. The Council of Ephesus in 431 explicitly defined that Mary is the Mother of God because Christ is God. She is the Daughter of God the Father, the Spouse of God the Holy Spirit, and the Mother of God the Son.

Mary is the model of faith and Christian discipleship. To become the Mother of God the Son, she had to be immaculately conceived. Since she was immaculately conceived, she was taken body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life. There is a pious tradition that Mary chose to die because she wanted to be like her Son in all things. But we do not know for certain that Mary died, because that is not part of the dogma. It has not yet been defined. So perhaps Mary was assumed directly into heaven without dying. That’s what many Eastern Orthodox Christians believe, so they call her passing a dormition, like falling asleep. Neither Christ nor his Mother was obligated to die. If she died, then she chose to die in imitation of the sacrifice made by her Son. She would have died for love of her Son and for love of us. Mary shows us our destiny. We are destined for heaven. Christ desires to make us like his Mother, to some degree or another.

Christ gave his Mother to us to be our Mother. Do we love and honor our Mother? What are the signs?

• Seek the intercession of Mary for your pressing needs and concerns. It works. Cast your cares on her, because she cares for you. Try it and see what happens.

• Pray the Rosary and meditate on the mysteries, joining mental prayer to vocal prayer. Mary has asked us repeatedly to pray the Rosary, especially for world peace, which we need worse than ever.

• Tell others about the graces and blessings you have received through Mary’s intercession. Give witness and recommend Mary’s intercession to others, especially to non-Christians. To give a testimony freely and joyfully is not proselytism. It is part of Christian discipleship. It is part of being a good son or daughter of Mary.

• Today we honor our Mother Mary in the highest way possible, with the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Mass Collect

Almighty ever-living God, who assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of your Son, body and soul into heavenly glory, grant, we pray, that, always attentive to the things that are above, we may merit to be sharers of her glory.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

Maximilian Kolbe was arrested by the Gestapo in 1941 for sheltering refugees, among them Jews. He was sent to Auschwitz as prisoner 16670.

That July, after a man escaped, the commandant condemned ten prisoners to death by starvation. One of the prisoners cried out for his wife and children. Kolbe stepped forward and asked to take his place. It was in the starvation bunker he led them in prayer and hymn.

On August 14, 1941, the vigil of the Assumption, he was killed by an injection of carbolic acid. John Paul II canonized him a martyr of charity in 1982.

Maximilian Kolbe once wrote:

See then, […] the tremendous honor of the position that God in his kindness has placed us in. Through obedience we transcend our own limitations and align ourselves with God’s will, which, with infinite wisdom and prudence, guides us to do what is best. Moreover, as we become filled with the divine will, which no created thing can resist, so we become stronger than all others.

Kolbe’s sacrifice is not only a story of human courage. It is a story of supernatural love that becomes possible when a person’s will is perfectly surrendered to God.

When we surrender our will to God’s will, we become more open to His grace. That grace changes and strengthens us, enabling us to love and act beyond our natural abilities, even to the point of laying down our lives for another. This may be what St. Peter means when he says that through God’s grace we become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). The more our will becomes united with God’s will, the more His life and love can work through us.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

There is a strong analogy to be made between our own times and the times of Pontian and Hippolytus. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Pontian was the Pope—a humble man considered to be too lax. Hippolytus was the anti-pope and a popular theologian considered to be too rigorous.

Hippolytus believed that the authentic papal magisterium of Pontian lacked rigor and was too tolerant, and therefore needed to be resisted and corrected. So he took a public stand against it and led people into schism.

And how did God providentially heal this schism in the Church? The Roman Emperor Maximinus Thrax exiled both of them to the salt mines of Sardinia, where they found themselves laboring side by side and slowly dying together.

There they reconciled and became friends. They both renounced their claims to be the Pope and allowed a new Pope (St. Anterus) to be elected.

They both died martyrs for the faith, although only Pontian was the true Pope.

The moral of the story is clear: we must never direct our rigor and our intellectual gifts against the authentic magisterium of the Pope. It is a perennial temptation within the Church, but to give in to it is to become an agent of schism.

Schism is healed by learning to suffer together. If we do not learn the lessons that the history of the Church and the lives of the saints teach us, then God will teach us these lessons again, providentially, by allowing us to suffer through them again.

The choice is ours to make. In the end, Hippolytus repented of disobedience. It is much easier simply never to abandon the authentic papal magisterium, no matter how lax it may appear to us.

Today’s Mass Collect

May the precious long-suffering of the just, O Lord, we pray, bring us a great increase of love for you and always prompt in our hearts constancy in the holy faith.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.

We are all called to perfect union with God through Christ. “Be perfect,” Christ tells us, “as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

The Greek word τέλειός, often translated “perfect,” carries the sense of being complete and is analogical or relative to one’s nature.

Our desire for perfection may be good or evil. What is the difference between desiring the perfection or completion of spiritual union with God and desiring instead the perfection of never making any mistakes or doing anything wrong?

In the former kind of desire we are convinced and peacefully accept that we have limited powers and make mistakes necessarily by nature, even apart from sin. We thus are content with our finitude.

In the true way of perfection we are happy that we essentially are not God and are not essentially good, and by grace we are striving to do his will. We are happy that we are only human and only contingently good. We desire to be one with God only contingently, not essentially. We do not divinize ourselves and our own judgments and desires. We habitually practice self-accusation and self-abnegation.

But the other kind of desire—the desire never to be in error—is the desire to be God essentially. Such a desire is a product of the original sin which rejects God’s will and self-divinizes one’s self and one’s own will. It is the intellectual desire that also led to the fall of the angels.

In the false way of perfection we cannot stand to be wrong, and thus we habitually practice self-justification and self-affirmation.

In the true way of perfection we are happy to be wrong, to be weak, to try and fail and try again, and to be recognized as imperfect. Indeed, we are even happy to be misjudged and to have our virtues overlooked, as Christ was.

In order to advance along the true way of perfection, we must receive the grace of infused contemplation and pass through the dark night of the senses and the dark night of the spirit, described by St John of the Cross (1542-1591) and other Christian saints and mystics. The dark nights are levels of participation in the Cross of Christ. They are similar to a long slow martyrdom and dying to self.

When asked what form this martyrdom takes, St Jane Frances de Chantal (1572-1641) answered:

“Yield yourself fully to God, and you will find out! Divine love takes its sword to the hidden recesses of our inmost soul and divides us from ourselves. I know one person whom love cut off from all that was dearest to her, just as completely and effectively as if a tyrant’s blade had severed spirit from body.”

“From the moment when we commit ourselves unreservedly to God, until our last breath, we suffer the martyrdom of love. I am speaking, of course, of great-souled individuals who keep nothing back for themselves but instead are faithful in love. Our Lord does not intend this martyrdom for those who are weak in love and perseverance. Such people he lets continue on their mediocre way, so that they will not be lost to him. He never does violence to our free will.”

Born in Dijon, France, St Jane Frances de Chantal was a Christian saint who received good spiritual instruction and direction from St Francis de Sales (1567-1622) and possessed the courage and generosity to pursue the way of perfection to its completion.

She committed herself unreservedly to God and kept nothing back for herself. She persevered in the practice of charity and passed through the dark nights of the soul. She surrendered herself completely to the will of God and suffered greatly in union with Christ.

Her mother had died when she was only 18 months old. At the age of 21 years old, she married Baron de Chantal. They had six sons, and three of them died young.

She was habitually generous to the poor and the sick. After only seven years of marriage, her husband was killed in a hunting accident, and she struggled to forgive the man who was responsible.

She was forced to move in with her father-in-law, an unkind man, but she bore the difficult circumstances with love and patience.

She sank into grief and deep dejection for four months, overwhelmed by the loss of her husband. She faced many periods of illness and experienced interior anguish and spiritual dryness.

She raised and provided for her remaining sons and then entered religious life.

Amid great opposition and resistance, she founded the Visitation Order and worked tirelessly during the plague to help the victims, putting her convent at their disposal.

Many of her companions and friends died, including her director St Francis de Sales. There was nothing weak or mediocre about her love and perseverance.

What about us? The way of perfection is open for us, but do we have the courage and generosity to take it?

Do we ask God to help us grow in holiness, or do we prefer to continue on our mediocre way?

Do we abandon ourselves to divine providence, or do we keep many things back for ourselves?

In her first apparition (May 13, 1917), Our Lady of Fatima asked the shepherd children, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, “Do you wish to offer yourselves to God to endure all the sufferings that He may be pleased to send you, as both an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and an act of supplication for the conversion of sinners?”

Lucia responded for all three of them, “Yes, we do.” And Our Lady said, “Well then, you will have much to suffer. But the grace of God will be your comfort.” Immediately her words began to come true in their lives.

Are you a faithful Christian who is continually faced with many trials, tribulations, and sufferings? Have you already been given much to suffer?

Then consider that by this means God is working for your perfection and completion. He is calling you to sainthood. He does not want you to be weak and mediocre.

If you respond with love and generosity and surrender yourself completely to the will of God, then the grace of God will be your comfort. And there is no greater comfort.

By the grace of God, you will grow in holiness. You will become strong and heroic in union with the Cross of Christ.

You will be a blessing to your loved ones and even to people whom you have never met.

Like St Paul, in your challenges and in your flesh you will “complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church” (Colossians 1:24).

May the prayers of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Jane Frances de Chantal, and the shepherd children of Fatima help us to offer ourselves unreservedly to God and say “Yes” as they did.

COLLECT

O God, who made Saint Jane Frances de Chantal
radiant with outstanding merits in different walks of life,
grant us, through her intercession,
that, walking faithfully in our vocation,
we may constantly be examples of shining light.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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© 2026, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.