56. The Catholic Mothers' Retreat: Day 4 - Freedom from Impatience - Patience and the Heart of Jesus

Day 4: The Retreat for Catholic Mothers - Freedom from Impatience 

We trace the path from “love is patient” to the Canadian shrine of Our Lady of the Cape, linking miracles and mission to the daily practice of gentleness at home. Stories of the Rosary Bridge and a statue’s open eyes ground a call to patient love in prayer and action.

• freedom from impatience as a path to love
• history of Our Lady of the Cape in Quebec
• the Rosary Bridge miracle on the St Lawrence River
• eyewitness account of the statue’s eyes opening
• prayer for patience and resilience in mission
• practical patience in parenting and marriage
• the Sacred Heart as the source of love and sending
• Litany asking Mary’s help for patient love

Chapters

• 0:00 Freedom From Impatience
• 0:12 Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind
• 0:13 Introducing Our Lady Of The Cape
• 0:26 History Of The Shrine
• 0:47 Miracles: The Rosary Ice Bridge
• 1:54 The Statue’s Eyes Opening
• 2:26 Opening Prayer And Intentions
• 3:19 Reflection On Love And Mission
• 4:30 Practicing Patience In Family Life
• 6:00 Litany And Closing Prayer

Transcript

Sheila Nonato: 0:00

Day 4 of the Retreat fro Catholic Mothers: Freedom from I mpatience Let us love with the heart of Jesus.

Sheila Nonato: 0:08

Reflection: "Love is patient, love is kind."

Sheila Nonato: 0:12

Dear Sisters in Christ, for day four, please allow me to introduce you to Our Lady of the Cape in Canada. Located in one of the oldest and largest Marian shrines in North America. It has 400 years of history in Quebec. Founded in 1659, Our Lady of the Cape is in the district of Cap de la Madeleine, halfway between Montreal and Quebec City in Quebec. In 1694, Father Paul Vachon, the first pastor, established the Brotherhood of the Rosary. The second church on the lot of the current Our Lady of the Cape Shrine is the oldest church in Canada, where Holy Mass is celebrated every day. A movie called "The Bridge of Roses" brings to life the story of Our Lady of the Cape and the miracles associated with our Blessed Mother. Its most famous miracle is of the ice bridge. In 1879, parishioners had prayed the Holy Rosary for the whole winter, asking Our Lady's intercession for solid ice to form on the St. Lawrence River, which did not freeze over that winter. An ice bridge was needed to allow them to build a third and larger church. The miracle occurred in the springtime, when thin pieces of ice came down the river and allowed the parish's vicar and parishioners to work on these very thin pieces of ice. From the Feast of St. Joseph to the Feast of the Annunciation, the ice bridge, which spanned the width of the St. Laurence River, affectionately called the Rosary Bridge, remained to allow the work to be completed, thanks to Our Lady of the Cape. Another remarkable miracle was attributed to a statue donated by a parishioner in 1854. During prayer, two priests and a parishioner saw the statue's eyes open for about five to ten minutes. Father Frederick Jansoon described this life-changing event. The statue looked like she had "the face of a living person, with her eyes being in perfect harmony with Our Lady's beautiful face", he had described.

Sheila Nonato: 2:24

Opening prayer:

Sheila Nonato: 2:25

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Sheila Nonato: 2:30

Dear Our Lady of the Cape, may we emulate the patience and resilience of the missionaries who began the work of evangelization in Cap de la Madeleine 400 years ago, and the priests and parishioners and the guardians of the shrine, the Missionary Oblates of Mary, who all helped build the shrine of Our Lady of the Cape to what it is today. A national Marian shrine that draws almost half a million pilgrims every year. We also ask for the intercession of Father Frederick Janssoon, a Franciscan friar who was the first director of pilgrimages at Our Lady of the Cape Shrine.

Sheila Nonato: 3:08

A saintly man and a remarkable preacher, he was declared blessed by the late Saint John Paul II in 1988, 100 years after Father Jansoon had witnessed the miracle of the opening of the eyes of Our Lady of the Cape statue. Please help us open our eyes to the beauty of patience. Reflection. In "Dilexit Nos," the encyclical written by our recently departed Holy Father, Pope Francis, he emphasized the love of God through the sacred heart of Jesus. "Dilexit nos," which means "He loved us in Latin," reminds us of the origin of all love and understanding from our Creator.

Sheila Nonato: 3:50

"In the beginning was the Word," St. John tells us in his gospel, "and the Word became flesh." This is when love took on a name, the holy name of Jesus. Jesus is calling you and sending you forth to spread goodness in our world. The late Pope Francis "wrote: Perhaps as a physician, a mother, a teacher, or a priest. Wherever you may be, you can hear his call and realize that he is sending you forth to carry out that mission. He himself told us, I am sending you out."

Sheila Nonato: 4:30

In her book, "Evangelizing Our Children with Joy" by Scepter Press, Catholic homeschooling mother and author of the Mercy for Martha's Catholic blog for homeschooling moms, Mary Cooney writes, "Growing in patience requires us to exercise self-control, to subdue our tempers, and to work hard at being kind when we want to snap at one of our kids or yell. It means correcting our children with firmness, yet kindness. When they are careless, forgetful, or flat out disobedient. Patience also means being patient with our husbands." Mary Cooney writes, "the very best thing a mother can do for her children is to love their father. The very best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. When we have a happy marriage and a happy home, we create a sense of security and model patience, kindness, compassion, and love," Mary Cooney writes.

Sheila Nonato: 5:27

Litany.

Sheila's daughter: 6:00

Dear Mary, Mother of Jesus, help me to be patient and loving to my children, rather than to be angry at them. Almost Holy Mother, help me to be patient too, as you were with Jesus. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.