Today is the 14th of September and on this day we celebrate that which is called, in the Church’s liturgical calendar, The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This day is not only a day that is revered by the Passionist monks but it immediately precedes that other feast day dear to the Servite order, The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. And it is most fitting to point out that these two feast days are intimately connected just as are, the Two Hearts of our Lord and our Blessed Mother most sublimely united in that the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is inextricably linked to the Immaculate Heart of His mother Mary considering too, the fact of Mary’s Transverberative experience – we are inclined to think not only of the prophetic instance during the Presentation of the holy Child in the Temple but also in the various moments interspersed throughout Mary’s life when she actually lived-out experientially, all that which was spoken to her by Simeon when he said:

“Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.” (Luke 2 : 34b – 35)

And this experiential living-out in Mary’s life of those Acedias or Sorrows quintessential to not only the impartation of divine mysteries about the sorrows of her’s Son’s future in conjunction with His Passion and death but these also point to her immersion in these sorrows of her Son in union with those of all mankind and indeed, all creation. These experiences, not only assisted Mary in being “prepared” as it were, for what was to come but they also gave her the ability to remain anchored steadfast in her own mission as the Immaculata, that is, a Mother who is so grace-filled that she is able to see through, comprehend, and be with us in all our own sorrows and griefs. Hence, what an awesome spiritual mother we have in her and O how powerful is her intercession for us!

At this point you may be wondering why is it that I am talking at length here about our Blessed Mother when today’s feast is really all about the awesome significance of our Lord’s Passion? Well, what I’m really trying to point out here is how these two feasts of The Exaltation of the Holy Cross and The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, are just so illuminatively connected and therefore it is no coincidence that they are placed side by side in the liturgical calendar.

Around two weeks ago now, I had received an awesome unexpected surprise gift in the mail. It was one of those complementary gifts that good-willed online sellers sometimes send alongside an order that one places with their store and the package was also from Turkey as it was an order for an oriental rug for the entrance hallway floor in my house…Now, I got the utter “surprise of my life” so to speak upon opening it to discover not just one but two complementary gifts inside, and one of them was a small round rug that was black & white, and was really nice!! It had geometric design in white around the perimeter, the kind of square geometric design you see either on black glazed Grecian pottery or Oriental lacquered furnishings or Chinoisse. And the rest of that small rug was black. The other complementary gift was totally amazing, absolutely out of this world!!! It was a woven tapestry depicting the Transverberation ! I had never before seen anything like it and the closest I had seen to this was an icon of Our Lady of Sorrows, which I have in the loungeroom, and the odd picture here & there on the internet, of St Teresa of Avila undergoing this phenomenal thing! The whole time after receiving this most stunning gift, I researched the topic and discovered many interesting insights into this whole subject area. No doubt, both the experiences of Blessed Mother and St Teresa of Avila are related too in that they are both instances of the Transverberative experience and correspond directly too, to an immersive sharing in Christ’s Passion. Most interesting to note is the word transverberation stems from the Latin root word transverbere, which means “to pierce through”². Hence we can see the parallels too between the “piercing through” of Mary’s soul, in her Seven Sorrows and the Supreme act of Christ having been “pierced through” for our sins, for our trangressions on Calvary. I would like to point out also that the Divine Mercy devotion holds particularly dear this “piercing through” of our Lord’s heart to bring forth the Blood and Water that form the exultant substance of our own being as the latter is re-created anew by the Atonement. Not that we are exalted in and of ourselves because we aren’t and can’t be since it was God Who formed us, and so it is about Him re-instating, in that place of rightful inheritance as children of God, our existences, which were once completely dead in their sins and trespasses but have now, since the outpouring of the Divine Mercy upon them, become renewed and reappointed as heirs with Christ, to be seated with Him in the Heavenly Places for all eternity. For in the introductory prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, it says:

You expired Jesus but the Source of Life gushed forth for souls and an ocean of Mercy opened up for the whole world. O font of life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us. O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, we trust in You!

And so, today’s feast is fundamentally a reminder to us about the triumphant nature of Our Lord’s ascent to Calvary and from there His exercise of the Divine Will in making all things new that were previously made worn, tattered, and scarred by the death brought upon creation through Adam & Eve’s Original Sin in the Garden of Eden. Since we are in September and a great part of the year has passed since Eastertide, the Church in her wisdom, considers it fitting to bring us once again into an exuberant reminder of the Easter Season so that we do not become too lulled into a kind of spiritual inertia or forgetfulness about the ultimate reason for our hope, and with the changing of seasons, there’s nothing more re-invigorating than being brought into a bountiful recollection of what the Easter Promise has in store for us today, and always.

Today too, is incidentally the birthday of someone very special to me, that is my darling pet cat, Baby Ray! He was born on the 14th of September 2020 and I adopted him from my local animal shelter as a 3-month old kitten on New Year’s Day in 2021 😸💖 He turns 5 today.

I love you Baby Raymond! I love your beautiful pink colour-points and your gorgeous medium-haired coat. You are such an adorable cat! I am everso grateful to God for having made you and then given you to me. Little One, you are the Heaven-sent joy in my life that helps me get through the days. May the Lord bless you and keep you and may His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, and may you dwell in the House of the Living God all the days of your precious humble life!….and that means too, forever AMEN 🙏

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other References
¹ Salvador Dali’s “Christ of St John of the Cross” –  source: Google Commons Electronic Media Licence
² The Firey Love of Christ: StTeresa of Avila and the Wound of Divine Love  – by Sensus Fidelium. This video can be accessed via theYouTube link here: https://youtu.be/RMR1IlKC14I?si=BeWACckPteCcUL44