Help
With Your Rule
Immersing Ourselves in Our Motherhood...
"I wish for the apostolate of motherhood to begin very soon... [Mothers] will rise to holiness through this means(:)
They will learn to offer up their daily duty in a most efficacious way and help to atone for much of the sin in the world. They will learn to use their time wisely and it will be well spent in prayer, not superficial or superfluous prayer, but prayer that will pierce the Heart of [Jesus] because of it's genuineness and love. They will love their children and their husbands and their homes above all else except God... and they will be shining examples to all those around them. Their interest will be in the home, and they will not seek to aspire to anything except perfection in this most noble way. They will put their children far before themselves and all others, and they will love their husbands deeply in a holy Christian love. They will love the Church and seek to do all for the salvation of souls...They will work for peace by their example and prayer, but not through activism which would detract from the purity of their vocation... They must be self-sacrificing examples and models of love and kindness to all whom they meet."
Apostolate of Holy Motherhood, Riehle Foundation, Milford, OH, 1991, pp33-34
posted by Holly at 8:54 AM
12 Comments:
On the other side of beginning a mother's rule - ie, after the rejection of the selfishness which makes us neglect or ignore our vocation - and the decision to commit to our vocation and live it fully and consciously - there remains only one thing: joy!
We are meant to walk in joy. And the only thing hampering our joy is our sin. For even in suffering, we can experience a type of joy if united to Christ.... in knowing we remain safely on the path to him.
By attentiveness to our vocation and dedication to our motherhood, we enable the Lord to enter in and use our very vocation as our means to holiness. And as we progress in holiness, we progress in pure joy. If we are not walking in joy, there remains room for much improvement in our lives.
But as Pope John Paul II once said, "Joy is a victory". It is the result of a sometimes-upward-climb against our selfishness, our sloth, and our neglect of God's will. Let's dedicate ourselves to God's call in our lives today. Let's not let negative attitudes keep us from experiencing the purest joy of motherhood God has planned for us.
I want to have joy in my motherhood. However, regarding "Their interest will be in the home, and they will not seek to aspire to anything except perfection in this most noble way." Where does this leave room for development of any interests outside of the home? What about developing any talents that might, in the pursuit of which, take relatively mininal time away from our mothering and self-sacrificing?
I think that Mary is speaking generally here. For me, I play music in my parish on Sundays, write articles, do a hip hop class with my teens... but my general interest remains in the home. I am dedicated to my family - little things don't interfere
Dear Holly,
This may seem like a strange question. What ties you "The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood?" This was my conversion book several years ago and it means so much to me.
And with this latest post that you wrote, it seems as if all the questions I've had over the past few years as to how to implement Our Blessed Mother's requests in the Apostolate are now answered in your book. This connection is profound to me. I've seen you write about the Holy Motherhood book before, but the connection never hit me like just now.
God Bless. This is beautiful.
Dear Anonymous
You ask me a deeply personal question here, one very close to my heart.
I had always been struck dearly by The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood, but had not connected it to my rule in a conscious way as I was working it out.
However, when I began to write MROL, I felt there was a correlation of sorts. It was after I had published MROL that I felt this particular quote on p33-34 about mothers 'learning' to offer their daily duty as a means of holiness related quite nicely to a Mother's Rule.
So - I see a mother's rule of life as a way to fulfill our mission as requested by the Blessed Mother. IN my opinion, A Mother's Rule book is the practical how-to manual corresponding to the fulfillment of the daily duty & lifestyle spoken of in the Apostolate. And that just makes me love the Blessed Mother even more. She is so good, isn't she! Praise God.
One little note about things outside the home - I have been thinking this week that, devotedness to our vocation and immersion in our mothering is not something we do in and of itself, but BECAUSE we are attentive to God. I believe it is our hearts complete commitment to God and His Will in our lives that provides the healthy attention to our families - and removes any of the extremes or unhealthy dependencies which may come if we put our family in the place if God.
So, we follow the vocation 'because God asks it of us, out of love FOR HIM." And guess what - he may also have something else for us to do outside the home from time to time - but because we are so totally focused on God's WIll, none of this jars us or disturbs our focus , for it remains the 'duty of the moment' as manifested in the moment - and that falls most usually within the 5 Ps of our vocation.
Holly,
The book, Apostolate of Holy Motherhood has been life changing for me in regards to my vocation as a wife and mother. As catholics, we are blessed to have a relationship with our Blessed Mother if we choose. A small womens group that we have in our parish is thinking of using this book in the fall for a study. The day that we talked about it, I checked your site and you quoted the book! One of those "thank-you Jesus" moments. My question to you or anyone else, have you ever come across any study questions for the book? The mother who is our "teacher" in our group is expecting her 7th child in Feb. This would help the leadership team greatly. Blessings+
Hi
I have never used standard questions for any book discussion or teaching group. Perhaps you might be interested in using a set of questions I DO use which tend to birng out the individual person's insights and also gives room for the Holy Spirit to inspire.
With any text, use these questions:
1. Have I heard about this before in church teaching or scripture or my experience?
2. What did I think of automatically when I read this section?
3. What is different about this compared to what I usually do/think/am?
4. Do I agree with this or not, and explain why. What questions do I have?
5. What is personally striking me about this passage?
6. What changes do I feel drawn to implement as a result of this?
Holly,
Where can we find this book on the Apostolate? My usual sources for religious reading do not seem to have it.
God Bless you for all the help you have given me!
As far as I know, it is presently out of print. My attempts to find out more have been unfruitful. Perhaps some prayers for the Blessed Mother to hasten its return to print!
Holly, thanks for answer about study questions for the book. Every couple of months I place an order directly to a post office box in Geneva Ohio. I am under the understanding it is to the seerer herself, Mariamante. Though she undertandably remains "hidden". There are a few items offered other then the book. Here is the address. The last time I placed an order was about 4 months ago. Good luck! (I like to have the book on hand to give to different women that the Holy Spirit prompts me to)
The Apstolate of Holy Motherhood PO BOX 227, Geneva, Ohio 44041 USA
I send $10 per book that I order. It takes about a week. When I receive the books, there will be a small order sheet for the other items that are offered with the Apostolate. Blessings+ May our dear Mother shed Grace on you and your family!
Thank you Alli - this is valuable information! I think I am going to stock up a bit - I;d like one for me (as my copy is falling apart!) and for each of my kids & future wives.
Holly
Post a Comment
<< Home