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October 25, 2006

Comments

Dear Alice,
This is a beautiful prayer. Thank you for posting it. I wonder if Mother Angelica (a Poor Clare) is using the term "fool" the way many Franciscans do? St. Maximilian Kolbe encouraged all to become a "fool for the Immaculate." It could be a Franciscan "family term."
I will remember your friends in prayer today.
Love,
Helen

I will also pray for your friends. Words fails me.

Is Mother Angelica a Poor Clare?

Alice, thank you for posting this beautiful prayer. I will be praying today for all who have lost a little one.

Yes, I believe Mother Angelica is a Poor Clare. Still, I did not perceive her to be using term "fool" in the Franciscan context, because the prayer says, "I speak as a fool--forgive me."

I hope I did not sound at all critical of my beloved Mother Angelica and her wonderful, hope-filled prayer. I pointed it out because I think the prayer speaks to one side of the miscarriage issue (Why, why did this happen?). I feared it might sound harsh to a faithful mother who is not questioning God's will or the beauty of the heavenly reward promised to her child, but just feeling the deepest kind of sorrow and emptiness. I guess what I mean is that, although I love the prayer, I was unsure if it precisely fit the specific women I was praying for.

Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful prayer. My husband and I lost our first baby nearly seven years ago at ten weeks of pregnancy, and it was a loss from which I'll never fully recover. I'm praying today especially for your friends, and for all mothers who have ever lost a baby.

Alice, what a beautiful and moving prayer....what a blessing to know that two of my five children already see the face of God. Thank you.

I must admit that I think about the little ones I've lost so often. Thank you for posting this prayer; I will pray it today for those who have lost babies this week.

In dealing with miscarriage, I am not sure I ever felt like a "fool" in the way the term is usually used, but instead I know I felt so totally ignorant and helpless. It's so hard to have faith in those situations, and yet that is exactly what we need. I remember with my first miscarriage that, sobbing, I went to the Bible. It felt open to a description of the Resurrection, and it was only clinging to those passages that I was able to make it through the next few days.

Beautiful, Alice. I had not seen this prayer, and I thought I'd read everything on miscarriage ... your sharing will be a comfort to so many today. What a blessing your thoughtfulness is to us all.

What a beautiful prayer! Three years ago we lost our daughter Mary (she was stillborn at 36 1/2 weeks). Mother Angelica's are true. We mourn for ourselves because we will not know that child here on earth. However, we do not mourn for that child because she is in the arms of Jesus.

Alice, it can be so healing to wrap our grieving hearts in a beautiful prayer like this one. And I agree with you. I'd just like to change or omit the line asking for forgiveness. I believe that an especially tender heart is God's gift to mothers. Grief requires no apology. It's all a part of the healing, even for the most faithful mother.

Oh Alice! You never sound critical. There’s good reason everyone loves you so much. I had to come back to make sure my words didn’t sound too critical (The agony of comments) Your explanation in your cmment makes so much sense. In your effort to console dear friends in this time of grief, you didn’t want this word to cause them further suffering. I was only trying to do the same thing.
Many find The Imitation of Christ difficult to read because of the way Thomas a Kempis uses the word “worm” to describe himself. (On the other hand, St. Therese said this was the only book, aside from the Gospels, that she could read.) I was also trying to soften the sound of “fool” by saying it might have different connotations for a life long, fully professed, penance embracing, zealous for souls Franciscan/Poor Clare like Mother Angelica.
Love,
Helen

>I was also trying to soften the sound of >“fool” by saying it might have different >connotations for a life long, fully >professed, penance embracing, zealous >for souls Franciscan/Poor Clare like .Mother Angelica.

That is such an excellent point, Helen. It makes sense that, for a Franciscan, this term does not have the same negative connotation it has in general speech--in fact, if anything, it is actually a term of endearment and honor. It reminds me of St. Louis de Montfort calling himself the "slave" of Our Lady. Normally slave is such a terrible term, but for those familiar with Montfort's True Devotion, it is one of the noblest callings a person could ever strive to reach.

Thank you for your insight! (And you could never sound critical either, by the way!)

Alice said:"One by one, a little row of lights went out, giving way to the darkness of disappointment and loss."

This image is so appropriate and so sadly beautiful.

We also lost our first child to miscarriage.Thank You for reminding me of that child today, Alice.

Alice,
Your post is beautiful and very thoughtful.

Thank you for posting this prayer Alice.

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