The Intercession of Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ

I've written before of the good Father Ciszek and his cause for canonization. I've written about how I became aware of him after praying to the Unknown Saints, asking for any of them to reveal themselves.

Fr. Ciszek did. No, he is not canonized, but that week a friend introduced me to his book, "He Leadeth Me", and his subsequent book, "With God in Russia."  Oh, yes, indeed, the good Father was praying for me and I found much need to call upon his mechanical expertise in my years as a miserable and under trained claims investigator/adjuster.

This morning, on my way to work, his "Prayer of Surrender" kept coming to mind; certain portions of it stood out and his biggest adage, which is often set forth in the Liturgy of the Hours:  "Surrender to God and He will do everything for you."

Even though I didn't understand the random prayers, I prayed them sincerely, for I love them and they have guided me through some very serious trials.

This afternoon, I came across an article about Fr. Ciszek's cause for canonization, and sent it on to a few friends who know of him and also found great value in his spirituality, trials, and testimony.

Then, this evening, I went to leave work and sure enough, my car would not start. Two different co-workers using two different sets of jumper cables worked with me to start my car. The battery wouldn't hold a charge.As usual, I assumed the worst: alternator. Starter. All of it, all at once. And never mind the fact I'm overdue for a transmission flush and about due for an oil change. Oh, and one of the NEW brakes is grinding again.

Don't get me started.

After the last jump attempt failed, I walked around my car, knowing it would remain there until it was towed. I don't have the money. I have a credit card which, although I'm nowhere near the max, is high enough and I can barely pay it each month. (In fact, I have 2 cards that have attained the "barely-being-paid" status thanks to car problems, grad books over 3 years, and other random things my meager paycheck doesn't cover).

Facing this problem, I just sighed.  "Lord, Thy will be done."

I did all I could, my co-workers did all they could. I was grateful for their efforts, and grateful to have a ride home. God could do what He wanted with my car....I was bereft.

Surrender

I left work and called the tow driver from my pre-paid cell to give him the info. He couldn't get it until morning. Fine. I preferred an evening pickup, but it was what it was.

Tonight a friend called me and said he thinks he can fix my car. After some discussion, we realized that perhaps there was an applicable warranty, perhaps it is the battery and not the much more expensive alternator, and perhaps this situation isn't so bad as I thought.

Tomorrow morning I will be making some calls, but until then, I am praying to Fr. Walter Ciszek for his mechanical intercession, once again, and suspect he has been praying for this very issue for some time now.

Surrender to God, indeed. He knows how much we can take, and how much our finances can take.

Please pray for me, and pray for the canonization of Fr. Ciszek, who does his work behind the scenes and apparently, in the engines of cars owned by paupers like me.

PRAYER OF SURRENDER

Lord Jesus Christ, I ask the grace to accept the sadness in my heart, as your will for me, in this moment. I offer it up, in union with your sufferings, for those who are in deepest need of your redeeming grace. I surrender myself to your Father's will and I ask you to help me to move on to the next task that you have set for me.

Spirit of Christ, help me to enter into a deeper union with you. Lead me away from dwelling on the hurt I feel:

to thoughts of charity for those who need my love

to thoughts of compassion for those who need my care, and to thoughts of giving to those who need my help.

As I give myself to you, help me to provide for the salvation of those who come to me in need.

May I find my healing in this giving.

May I always accept God's will.

May I find my true self by living for others in a spirit of sacrifice and suffering.

May I die more fully to myself, and live more fully in you.

As I seek to surrender to the Father's will, may I come to trust that he will do everything for me.

With Ecclesiastical Approval


adapted from the spiritual teachings of Rev. Walter J. Ciszek, SJ.


The Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League, Inc.,
231 North Jardin Street
Shenandoah, PA 17976
(570) 462-2270


Official Organization for the Promotion of the Cause of Canonization of REV. WALTER J. CISZEK, S.J.

Prayer of Surrender

This is a re-post, and a prayer that is much needed for us all.

PRAYER OF SURRENDER

Lord Jesus Christ, I ask the grace to accept the sadness in my heart, as your will for me, in this moment. I offer it up, in union with your sufferings, for those who are in deepest need of your redeeming grace. I surrender myself to your Father's will and I ask you to help me to move on to the next task that you have set for me.

Spirit of Christ, help me to enter into a deeper union with you. Lead me away from dwelling on the hurt I feel:

to thoughts of charity for those who need my love
to thoughts of compassion for those who need my care, and to thoughts of giving to those who need my help.
As I give myself to you, help me to provide for the salvation of those who come to me in need.

May I find my healing in this giving.
May I always accept God's will.
May I find my true self by living for others in a spirit of sacrifice and suffering.
May I die more fully to myself, and live more fully in you.

As I seek to surrender to the Father's will, may I come to trust that he will do everything for me.

With Ecclesiastical Approval

adapted from the spiritual teachings of Rev. Walter J. Ciszek, SJ.

The Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League, Inc.,
231 North Jardin Street
Shenandoah, PA 17976
(570) 462-2270

Official Organization for the Promotion of the Cause of Canonization of REV. WALTER J. CISZEK, S.J.

Saint Meme

Terry at Abbey-Roads2 tagged me for a meme, and while I SHOULD be studying, it's Friday night and I'm goofing off. For shame!

The instructions from the originator of this meme, The Roving Medievalist, proceed as follows:

Those tagged will list their four favorite saints, their one favorite blessed, and one person they think should have been a saint.

I have many favorite Saints, so here goes:

St. Wenceslaus - He chose me for 2007, and his intercession has become known in small and large ways. He was a martyr, a catechist, and a king in more ways than one, and I pray for him to lead me in his footsteps through the drifts.

St. Joseph - Devotion instilled in me since I was a child, internalized as an adult, single woman, without an earthly father. He has made his intercession also known through small, everyday things. Thank you, St. Joseph.


St. Therese of Lisieux - Who doesn't love her? She's made her presence known to me in big ways, both through active requests of her intercession and without request. One night I was in the chapel, weeping as I struggled, waiting to speak to Father, praying, desperate for help. A woman stopped and nudged me, placing a homemade prayer booklet in my hands. She whispered discreetly that she'd brought the booklet for someone who wasn't there and she felt she was to give it to me. It consisted of several prayers for the intercession of St. Therese and a litany for private devotion. I have not seen that woman since, and other blessings have come to me from this Saint. I also have a bush that bloomed- 3 flowers - in October (in Minnesota!) on the 5th day of a Novena to St. Therese of Lisieux.

St. Anthony - Who doesn't need St. Anthony!

St. Therese of Avila - She was a debutante who left the life of materialism to become a humble woman of strong will and great intellect, such that she spoke for God and instructed Popes, calling them to conversion in some very dark times for the Church. She is the feminist of feminists (true feminism, that is!). She terrifies me for her instruction is unforgiving, but her intercession is one of great love for she desires that we all live up to our full dignity as human beings and become the Saints we have always been intended to become.

St. Peter, the Apostle - Because I am clueless most of the time, too, with a few moments of illumination, and I am constantly sticking my foot in my mouth even more deeply than he did. He gives me hope.

St. Thomas Aquinas - The Scholar, the Patron of my blog and my higher education, the Patron of the intellect I wish I had.

St. Faustina - Divine Mercy. Need I say more?

St. Padre Pio - My great-uncle was a friend of his, and added my brother and I to his list of Spiritual Children. He has revealed his intercession for me by using me as his hands to spread greater devotion to Christ in specific ways.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati - He interceeded for me in a sensitive matter last Fall, as I prayed a novena to him. He is known for his mischief, but also his helpfulness in dire consequences. He is "The Man of the Beatitudes." To all fellow Frassati members, "VERSO D'ALTO!"

Father Walter Ciszek, S.J. - He went to serve the Church in communist Russia and was sent to prison, where he served the "least" of God's children. His writings have been of great comfort to me in my own personal prison and I have since become aware of several conversions of those who kept his Prayer of Surrender close to them while incarcerated. May God will that he be canonized as a Saint. He has assisted me in many ways and I often plead for his intercession while working.

And my blog would not be honest if I did not add the other unofficial Saint:
John Paul II - Need anything else be said?


I have not quite followed the meme in numbers, and so if you are reading this, I tag YOU! Spread the mesage, let me know if you are posting on your blog, and if you do not have a blog, answer in the comments section.

God bless you, and may all the Saints pray for us!

Holy Innocents

On Sunday morning just before Mass, I was reading one of the last chapters of "He Leadeth Me", by Father Walter Ciszek, S.J., and it struck me that the following passage comes a bit too close to home - although, sadly, the United States, a "free" country, has sunk further down that slippery slope than even the Soviet Union did in the grips of Communism.

Abortion is legal in the Soviet Union. Anyone who wants one can have it performed. The government says it had to be legalized in order to prevent private abuses. The wages of husband and wife together make it hard to support more than one or two children, so everyone wants an abortion. Yet the question haunts them. The hallways of the clinics adjoining the abortion rooms were full of posters, not praising abortions but informing patients of the possible detrimental effects on both mind and body such an operation could have. The doctors, mostly women, and the nurses and other personnel would try to dissuade patients from the operation. Women confided years later that they could not rid themselves of feelings of guilt about it. And these were not “believers”, but women and girls who had received a complete atheistic education in Soviet schools.

Even for communism, it is a basic question of life and death, of wrong and right. If life at its very root can be treated so lightly, people would say, what is going to stop such a mentality from spreading? Society? Hardly. Society cannot even handle properly its present problems of crime and other social disorders. And when a society actually endorses evil, where will it end? Can man alone be trusted to solve mankind’s problems? Look at history, and the depths to which civilized countries have sunk, time after time.

("He Leadeth Me", p. 193-194)



Today is the feast day of the Holy Innocents; those children who were murdered at the order of King Herod to spare him the inconvenience of worrying that his life might change at some point in the future. During Advent, we reflected upon, not the actual birth of Jesus, but upon Mary's fiat and Elizabeth's unborn child leaping in her womb when the Mother of the Lord came to visit her. It is now, even as we celebrate the birth of our Savior that we must also consider the message of life; not just present human life, but life as an unborn child, God incarnate, carried in the womb of the Blessed Mother. We consider the life of St. John the Baptist, unborn in Elizabeth's womb, a miracle child, leaping for joy at the presence of his King.

And so we MUST consider the evil of Abortion, and isn't it ironic that in a Communist nation, so long ago, abortion was legal, even encouraged by the atheist regime...and yet women in clincs adjoining abortion centers counseled the women as to the dangers of abortion on MIND AND BODY! These were women who were schooled and indoctrinated by atheists, where God was looked upon as myth, where believers were ridiculed as part of everyday Communist propaganda. And yet these women still recognized the inherent truth; that life was precious, and that the violence done to women to destroy that life would also destroy them.

Yet here, in the United States, a smug, wealthy nation of "freedom", a democratic and capitalistic society, not only do the medical clinics NOT warn against abortion, but they ENCOURAGE it! And here, we are free to believe, we are free to practice our faith, and we do not have to suffer the institutionalized ridicule and persecution Soviet Catholics and other Christians suffered. Yet more babies are killed here every year than ever under atheist Russia, and these abortions are encouraged and promoted by our government and other educational institutions.

Thus, let us not forget those children, those Holy Innocents of our own time, who did not even have the opportunity to see the light of day, thanks to the institutionalized deaths ordained by the culture of death that surrounds us. Let us remember to thank God for those children who have been born this year and will be born next year, thank God for the "yes" given to God at the announcement of their pregnancy; and let us beg God for mercy upon us all and to remove the evil of abortion from our midst.

Words of Wisdom from Father Ciszek

A dear friend sent me these blessed and comforting words last evening, and perhaps one of you out there needed to hear this message just as much as I;



Do Not Worry
Fr. Walter Ciszek


Now with almost blinding clarity and simplicity, I realized I had been trying to do something with my own will and intellect that was at once too much and mostly wrong. God's will was not hidden somewhere "out there" in the situations in which I found myself; the situations themselves were His will for me. What He wanted was for me to accept these situations as from His hands, to let go of the reins and place myself entirely at His disposal. He was asking of me an act of total trust, allowing for no interference or restless striving on my part, no reservations, no exceptions, no areas where I could set conditions or seem to hesitate. He was asking a complete gift of self, nothing held back. It demanded absolute faith in God's existence, in His providence, in His concern for the minutest detail, in His power to sustain me, and in His love protecting me. It meant losing the last hidden doubt, the ultimate fear that God will not be there to bear you up. It was something like that awful eternity between anxiety and belief when a child first leans back and lets go of all support whatever—only to find that the water truly holds him up and he can float motionless and totally relaxed.

Father Walter Ciszek

I have, of late, been praying a lot for guidance, asking for the intervention of the Saints, and last night, I said a small prayer....I asked to be notified of any Saints, known or unknown, to let me know if they are intervening for me on my behalf so that I may recongize them.

Today, I went to St. George's Christian Books and Gifts, and there, the owner gave me a prayer card for Father Walter Ciszek. He discussed a book by this priest which was recently given to many priests, some of whom have revealed that the insights within had changed their lives.

I have done a search on the web for more information on the priest, finding nothing. So if any of you out there are familiar with Father Ciszek, please post whatever information you can provide!

PRAYER OF SURRENDER

Lord Jesus Christ, I ask the grace to accept the sadness in my heart, as your will for me, in this moment. I offer it up, in union with your sufferings, for those who are in deepest need of your redeeming grace. I surrender myself to your Father's will and I ask you to help me to move on to the next task that you have set for me.

Spirit of Christ, help me to enter into a deeper union with you. Lead me away from dwelling on the hurt I feel:

to thoughts of charity for those who need my love
to thoughts of compassion for those who need my care, and to thoughts of giving to those who need my help.
As I give myself to you, help me to provide for the salvation of those who come to me in need.

May I find my healing in this giving.
May I always accept God's will.
May I find my true self by living for others in a spirit of sacrifice and suffering.
May I die more fully to myself, and live more fully in you.

As I seek to surrender to the Father's will, may I come to trust that he will do everything for me.

With Ecclesiastical Approval

adapted from the spiritual teachings of Rev. Walter J. Ciszek, SJ.

The Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League, Inc.,
231 North Jardin Street
Shenandoah, PA 17976
(570) 462-2270

Official Organization for the Promotion of the Cause of Canonization of REV. WALTER J. CISZEK, S.J.



UPDATE!!!

Thanks to Jennifer F.. who provided this link about Father Ciszek! Please read the whole thing...it will make you cry!