Feast of St. Bruno

[ For the Solemnity of Saint Bruno, twelve Readings were proclaimed at the Carthusian night Office (Matins). Here are two excerpts of eight of those twelve from the Apostolic Constitution, Umbratilem, by Pope Pius XI. Read more at Secret Harbor blog.]

"All those, who, according to their rule, lead a life of solitude remote from the din and follies of the world, have chosen the better part, like Mary of Bethany. They contemplate the divine mysteries and the eternal truths, and pour forth ardent and continual prayers to God that His Kingdom may flourish and be daily spread more widely. They also atone for the sins of other men still more than for their own by mortification, prescribed or voluntary. For no more perfect state and rule of life than that can be proposed for men to take up and embrace, if the Lord calls them to it. Moreover, by the inward holiness of those who lead the solitary life in the silence of the cloister and by their most intimate union with God, is kept brightly shining the halo of that holiness which the spotless Bride of Jesus Christ holds up to the admiration and imitation of all. No wonder, then, that ecclesiastical writers of former ages, wishing to explain and extol the power and efficacy of the prayers of these same religious men, liken their prayers to Moses.
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... If ever it was needful that there should be anchorites of that sort in the Church of God it is most especially expedient nowadays when we see so many Christians living without a thought for the things of the next world and utterly regardless of their eternal salvation, giving reign to their desire for earthly pelf and the pleasures of the flesh and adopting and exhibiting publicly as well as in their private lives pagan manners altogether opposed to the Gospel. And there are perhaps some who still deem that the virtues which are misnamed "passive" have long grown obsolete and that the broader and more liberal exercise of active virtues should be substituted for the ancient discipline of the cloister. This opinion our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII, refuted, exploded and condemned; and no one can fail to see how harmful and baneful that opinion is to Christian perfection as it is taught and practiced in the Church." - Pius XI. 
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My regrets...
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This feast day always reminds me of the many graces I have squandered and lost throughout my life, the many times I refused God the little he asked of me...  Please pray for me.  For "life is so short, the path leading to eternal life quite narrow, and we know the just man is scarcely saved, while the things of the world are vain and deceitful, and all comes to an end and fails like falling water.  The time is uncertain, the accounting strict, perdition very easy and salvation most difficult...  My life has vanished, I know well I must render an account of everything - from the beginning of my life as well as this later part - unto the last penny, when God will search Jerusalem with lighted candles, and it is already late - the day far spent - to remedy so much evil and harm..." [Adapted from John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle, Stanza 1; Introduction.]
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Please pray for me.
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