Our Patrimony and Returning Home.

Meditations Before Mass.

Guardini, Romano (2013-12-08).

Sophia Institute Press. Kindle Edition.

"Stillness is the tranquility of the inner life, the quiet at the depths of its hidden stream. It is a collected, total presence, a being all there, receptive, alert, ready. There is nothing inert or oppressive about it. Attentiveness — that is the clue to the stillness in question, the stillness before God." (Kindle Locations 156-159)

 One of the experiences of life for me these days, one which oddly enough I guess I kind of savor, is noting the way that my age experience and memory separates me now from the movers and shakers of the adult community, that is, from most anybody under fifty-five years of age. Take the reviews online of this lovely little book by one of my favorite authors as a point in case. These younger ones all seem to marvel at the freshness and relevance of the book. The observation is absolutely correct, but it is not mine. Guardini says better that with which I was nourished as daily fare as a school child in the 1950's. Why are so many of my crotchety old contemporaries ungratefully dismissive of a liturgical spirituality, if you will, which younger folk today mark a fresh discovery?

I pray lots these days asking the Lord to grace us with a recovery of that wealth which is our patrimony. Maybe the discovery of Guardini's "Meditations Before Mass" is part of the answer to this old man's prayers? Take and read!