Approaching Jesus

From today's Gospel.

After the five thousand had eaten and were satisfied,
Jesus made his disciples get into the boat
and precede him to the other side toward Bethsaida,
while he dismissed the crowd.
And when he had taken leave of them,
he went off to the mountain to pray...

When Jesus sent the disciples away, and while he dismissed the crowd - that is the time to approach him.  When no one can prevent you from approaching him - no one to condemn or scold you.  This is the moment of genuine prayer and healing.  

Poverty of spirit.

The convincing power of the Holy Spirit ...

Denuding, stripping away all that we cling to, making us even poorer -  is his gift.

A particularly important kind of denudation, through which the Holy Spirit prepares us for his 'decent,' is the process of stripping us of the false image we have of ourselves and freeing us from living a falsehood.  In the Gospel, St. John relates the promise of Christ to us that the Paraclete - the Holy Spirit - will convince the world about sin when he comes.  Thus one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to convince us of our sin, therefore bestowing upon us the grace of humility.  This is the fundamental grace of the Holy Spirit. - Fr. Tadeuz Dajczer

Holy Spirit, inspire me.
Love of God consume me.
Along the true road, lead me.
Mary, my good mother, look down upon me.
With Jesus, bless me.
From all evil, all illusion, all danger, preserve me. 

- Bl. Mary of Jesus Crucified, OCD

For a long time I wandered through many places ...

-source-

" The Christian is bound to perform many good works, but before all else what he ought to do is to pray, for without prayer no other good work whatever can be accomplished. Without prayer he cannot find the way to the Lord, he cannot understand the truth, he cannot crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts, his heart cannot be enlightened with the light of Christ, he cannot be savingly united to God. None of those things can be effected unless they are preceded by constant prayer. I say 'constant,' for the perfection of prayer does not lie within our power; as the Apostle Paul says, 'For we know not what we should pray for as we ought' (Rom. 8:26). Consequently it is just to pray often, to pray always, which falls within our power as the means of attaining purity of prayer, which is the mother of all spiritual blessings. 'Capture the mother, and she will bring you the children,' said St. Isaac the Syrian. Learn first to acquire the power of prayer and you will easily practice all the other virtues. But those who know little of this from practical experience and the profoundest teaching of the holy Fathers have no clear knowledge of it and speak of it but little." - Way of the Pilgrim

Virgen de los Desamparados

Our Lady of the Forsaken, patroness of the insane, 

the dejected, the forsaken and abandoned, 

the excluded and marginalized, pray for us!

Hope of the hopeless ...

This photo looks better on Tumblr.

When all is lost, you still have Our Lady.  She's refuge of sinners.  I think she must have a company of sinners with her - a huge company in this vale of tears.  People not completely cleansed - some who keep falling into sin, but also keep praying to her, maybe just lighting a candle.  I think it was Anthony Bloom who wrote about the prostitute who kept a candle burning before the icon of Our Lady in her apartment - a sign of prayer which eventually saved her.  I also seem to recall a myth about Our Lady going to hell to save sinners - or even setting hell free at the end of the world.  I'm told some Orthodox subscribe to that notion.  I don't know anything about that, although I believe what the Catholic Church teaches on hell - so I don't think too much about the myths.

Although, in a metaphorical sense, I can imagine something closer to reality - Our Lady descending into our misery - freeing sinners from their suffering.  Years ago, before my return to the sacraments, I used to dream - daydream or hallucinate perhaps - that I saw Our Lady, always dressed as she was at Fatima, but I could never see her face.  Her back was always to me.  Sometimes she seemed to be a statue, appearing to turn towards me, as if someone was turning the base of the statue towards me, but she never turned enough for me to even see her face - perhaps just her hands folded in prayer.  (I use that image frequently in my art.)

Anyway, I look back on that experience as a sign and a call.  A sign that Our Lady was with me even when I was far away.  I see it as an invitation to follow her, to strive to see her, and the only way was prayer - as she showed me by only revealing a glimpse of her hands folded in prayer.

Later, after I returned to the sacraments - I no longer tried to see her face - it wasn't necessary.

So anyway - never give up hope.

Now I'm old and I still have nothing except my confidence, my hope, in Our Lady of Mercy, Hope of the hopeless, who welcomes sinners and gives them refuge.

Make me entirely teachable ...

Our Lady of Solitude

O Eternal Word, Word of my God, I want to spend my life in listening to You, to become wholly teachable that I may learn all from You. Then, through all nights, all voids, all helplessness, I want to gaze on You always and remain in Your great light. O my beloved Star, so fascinate me that I may not withdraw from Your radiance. - Prayer of Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity

Show thyself a Mother ...

Hail Star of the Sea

Hail, thou Star of ocean,
Portal of the sky !
Ever Virgin Mother
Of the Lord most high !

Oh ! by Gabriel's Ave,
Uttered long ago,
Eva's name reversing,
Stablish peace below.

Break the captive's fetters ;
Light on blindness pour ;
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.

Show thyself a Mother ;
Offer Him our sighs,
Who for us Incarnate
Did not thee despise.

Virgin of all virgins !
To thy shelter take us :
Gentlest of the gentle !
Chaste and gentle make us.

Still, as on we journey,
Help our weak endeavor ;
Till with thee and Jesus
We rejoice forever.

Through the highest heaven,
To the Almighty Three,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
One same glory be. Amen.

Sometimes you need to make a novena ...

They caught me, sorrow and distress.

I called on the Lord's name. - Ps. 116

Non Compete Agreement

"Today we ask the Holy Spirit to teach us to say 'Father' and to be able to say 'our', and thus make peace with all our enemies. " - Pope Francis



 

Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon - some consider her a saint.

Mme. Guyon

source

June 9th is the anniversary of Mme. Guyon's death.

I decided to write a bit about Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon*, a French mystic and promoter of a little heresy known as Quietism, who died in 1717.  Mme. Guyon's story reminds me that idiosyncratic mystics have always been around in the Church - often getting in trouble - just like today.  It seems rather fortuitous that I'd come across Madame Guyon today, not just because it is the anniversary of her death, but because I've been thinking about the recently deceased M. Nadine Brown, foundress of the Intercessors of the Lamb as well.  (Like Mme. Guyon, many of M. Nadine's followers hold her in the highest esteem, and I have no intention, nor competence, to criticize that, much less denigrate M. Nadine's reputation.) 

That said, I often write about charismatic new monastic, religious groups, and or idiorrythmic hermits, mystics and contemplatives.  For one - I'm fascinated by them; two, I kind of sort of used to be attracted to such groups; three, I'm suspicious of such groups.  "Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me."

While reading about Mme. Guyon I was led to the religious phenomenon of the Beguines-Beghards, lay-religious folk:  a sort of school of mysticism developed around these folks throughout the 13th-15th centuries.  If you are looking for scholarship here, read no further - I'm not writing a study - just sharing my thoughts and making a few observations.  For brevity sake I will cut and paste information about who, what, and where.

Like this:

The Beguines and the Beghards  were Christian lay religious orders that were active in Germany and the Low Countries in the 13th–16th centuries. Their members lived in semi-monastic communities but did not take formal religious vows. 

They were influenced by Albigensian teachings and by the Brethren of the Free Spirit, which flourished in and around Cologne at the same time but was later condemned as heretical. - Read more here.

And this:

Madame Guyon was a French mystic and one of the key advocates of Quietism. Quietism was considered heretical by the Roman Catholic Church, and she was imprisoned from 1695 to 1703 after publishing a book on the topic, A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

After her husband's death, Madame Guyon initially lived quietly as a wealthy widow in Montargis. In 1679, through circumstances, she re-established contact with François La Combe, the superior of the Barnabite house in Thonon in Savoy . 

After a third mystical experience in 1680, Madame Guyon felt herself drawn to Geneva. The Bishop of Geneva, Jean d’Arenthon d’Alex, persuaded her to use her money to set up a house for “new Catholics” in Gex, in Savoy, as part of broader plans to convert Protestants in the region. In July 1680, Madame Guyon left Montargis with her young daughter and travelled to Gex. 

The project was problematic, however, and Madame Guyon clashed with the sisters who were in charge of the house. The Bishop of Geneva sent Father La Combe to intervene. At this point, Guyon introduced La Combe to a mysticism of interiority. While her daughter was in an Ursuline convent in Thonon as a pensioner, Madame Guyon continued in Gex, experiencing illness and great difficulties, including opposition from her family. She gave over guardianship of her two sons to her mother-in-law and renounced her personal possessions, keeping a sizeable annuity for herself. 

In consequence of the effects her mystical ideas produced, however, the Bishop of Geneva, D'Aranthon d'Alex, who had at first viewed her coming with satisfaction, asked her to leave his diocese, and at the same time expelled Father Lacombe, who moved to the Bishop of Vercelli. - Read more here.

[So.  As Frank Costanza might say:  "So what you got here is this: you got your mystics, your contemplatives, your hermits and your new orders and movements - you got trouble!  (He yells that - "YOU GOT TROUBLE!"  And Estelle gets upset.  That's how this blog works - but I digress.)]

Quietism.  What is it?

Centering prayer.  What?  Tongues then?  The Jesus prayer?  I'm just throwing that stuff out here to upset Estelle.  But the following is a brief description:

Quietism is the name given to a set of Christian beliefs that rose in popularity in through France, Italy, and Spain during the late 1670s and 1680s, were particularly associated with the writings of Miguel de Molinos (and subsequently François Malaval and Madame Guyon), and which were condemned as heresy by Pope Innocent XI in the papal bull Coelestis Pastor of 1687. The “Quietist” heresy was seen to consist of wrongly elevating ‘contemplation’ over ‘meditation’, intellectual stillness over vocal prayer, and interior passivity over pious action in an account of mystical prayer, spiritual growth and union with God (one in which, the accusation ran, there existed the possibility of achieving a sinless state and union with God.) - Read more here.**

I suspect things are crazier today because everyone is so 'learned' and mystical teddy bear books abound to teach people how to pray and become mystics - and imprimaturs are few and far between..   Likewise, there are charismatic visionaries and mystics popping up all over, and there are religious instructors and spiritual directors - some priests - who are there to guide the eager contemplative along their way. 

Beware...

So put your discernment caps on - not the 'sorting hat' - but the Roman Catholic discernment hat.  Don't go to strangers, trust only what is approved and authorized by the Church.  In Guyon's day, just as in our day, one was able to find priests and bishops who were just as misled as the souls they approved.  They too were sanctioned - some obeyed, some did not - some were called Protestants back then.  Today they are usually identified as dissenters.  One more reason to wary, and maintain a healthy skepticism.

The amazing thing about the earlier mystics and Quietists is they had a substantial following and influenced many religious and churchmen... just like today.  Errors are often deeply embedded in traditional teaching and observance - all heresies are like that - very easily mistaken for what is true.  We usually think of these leaders as saints - sometimes they may be.  Sometimes not.  One can't help but think of personalities such as Fr. Gino, and Fr. Maciel and others who have gone off the rails and perhaps unintentionally deceived others by their show of piety and 'schools of spirituality'.  Then of course there are so many seers and locutionists who purport to have a direct contact with God... what is one to do?

IMHO, more insidious are the false mystics who began well but drifted into quietist types of spirituality.  Think of some of the Cenacle nuns who run retreats, or traditional retreat houses and monasteries which host New Age retreats and speakers.  Then there are the charismatic leaders of spiritual movements, some good, some cult-like.  When the local ordinary finds a problem with them - you can be sure something is not right.  If it goes to a higher authority, such as the Vatican - you wait and see.

Don't go to strangers.  Oh.  And just because someone has a spiritual director that doesn't give them carte blanche to promulgate their personal meditations as 'teachings'. 

Random factoids:

Some see Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement as a sort of modern day Beguinage.

I would think L'Arche communities fit that description better.

I personally think Centering Prayer borders on Quietism and New Age spirituality.  I know many disagree with me on that.

If a blind man leads another blind man, both fall into a pit.  John of the Cross said something like that.

*Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte-Guyon died in the good graces of the Church as well.

**Yes, I used the Wiki descriptions because they are more succinct and are basic enough for my purposes here.

The Feast of St. Paschal Baylon

May 17 is the memorial of St. Paschal Baylon.

A Spanish Franciscan lay-brother devoted to the Blessed Sacrament.  St. Paschal is one of my favorite patrons, I have been blessed to be caretaker of at least three first class relics of the Saint.  I need his prayers more than ever these days.

The lovely thing about St. Paschal was the grace of infused recollection which often absorbed him as he went about his duties. Deeply united to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, he was on occasion favored with the grace of seeing the Holy Eucharist when unable to be present in church.

On infused recollection:

I still want to describe this prayer of quiet to you in the way that I have heard it explained and as the Lord has been pleased to teach it to me. . . . This is a supernatural state and however hard we try, we cannot acquire it by ourselves. . . . The faculties are stilled and have no wish to move, for any movement they make seems to hinder the soul from loving God. They are not completely lost, however, since two of them are free and they can realize in whose presence they are. It is the will that is captive now. . . . The intellect tries to occupy itself with only one thing, and the memory has no desire to busy itself with more. They both see that this is the one thing necessary; anything else will cause them to be disturbed (Teresa of Jesus, chap. 31).

The predominant characteristics of the prayer of quiet are peace and joy, for the will is totally captivated by divine love. The faculties of intellect and memory are still free and may wander, but the soul should pay no attention to the operations of these faculties. To do so would cause distraction and anxiety. Later on, in the prayer of union, it will be impossible for the intellect and memory to operate independently, because all the faculties will be centered on God. - Jordan Aumann OP

I Thirst

source

"Whenever you do open the door of your heart, whenever you come close enough, you will hear me say to you again and again, not in mere human words but in spirit:

'No matter what you have done, I love you for your own sake.  Come to me with your misery and your sins, with your troubles and needs, and with all of your longing to be loved.  I stand at the door of your heart and knock... open to me, for I thirst for you.'"
 

When you speak or write, do you sound like what you read?

Some thoughts on spiritual direction.

I once knew a cloistered nun whose deepest desire seemed to be the direction of souls, a desire which eventually led to her leaving her monastery.  During her term as superior of the community, she frequently invited visitors in to discuss their spiritual experiences at the grill in the monastery parlour.  She claimed Our Lady spoke to her and taught her certain prayers.  Another time she told me she had the gift of tongues - before the charismatic movement popularized the phenomena.  One day she said she found herself praising God in Slavonic, praying the orthodox 'Sanctus'.  She said she did not know Slavonic, nor had she ever heard their Sanctus.  If I remember correctly, I think it was only after a visiting Byzantine priest celebrating Divine Liturgy for the nuns, that she realized what she had prayed was something from the Eastern rite.   

Anyway - if sometimes I come off rather skeptical about extra-special-spiritual persons and their preoccupation with the stages of prayer and lofty mystical experiences, it is because of religious people like that nun.  She once had me convinced that I was a contemplative - indeed, at a high stage of prayer, when that was not at all true.  It did great harm for me to be convinced of such a thing when I was so young and newly returned to the sacraments. 

I mention my experience with this nun because in retrospect, I really believe she must have been  delusional.  One hallmark being, or so it seems to me now, is the way she spoke and wrote of spiritual things.  She expressed herself in the same style of language one reads in spiritual books and accounts of locutions experienced by some visionaries.  Ever since, that peculiar style of 'pious talk' has always raised red flags for me.  It is difficult for me to articulate the problem, but I recall something Thomas Merton wrote in in his little book on Spiritual Direction, which sheds some light on what I'm trying to express:

"Sometimes it seems that the so called 'interior life' is little more than a web of illusion, spun out of jargon and pious phrases which we have lifted from books and sermons and with which we conceal, rather than reveal, what is in us.  How often the director, listening to seemingly admirable religious souls, is saddened and chilled by the sense that a smug, unconscious complacency, armed with the cliches of pious authors, stands before him fully prepared to resist every advance of humility and truth.  His heart is contracted by a kind of hopelessness, a feeling that there is no way of breaking through and setting free the real person who remains buried and imprisoned under the false front that has been acquired, unfortunately, as a result of religious malformation.

Perhaps unwise direction is itself to blame for this spiritual 'warping' of the person." - Merton, Spiritual Direction and Meditation

Interestingly, this particular nun fostered an attitude of suspicion as regards other priests, as well as religious and lay people.  She was so convinced of her spirit, she felt she was well able to discern who was faithful, who was liberal, and so on.  Thus she remained closed or suspicious of anyone whose credentials didn't quite fit her criteria, and she fostered a similar near-paranoia amongst her 'followers', teaching them a sort of defensive detachment and interior reservation towards anyone who didn't approve of her style of mysticism, which relied heavily upon extraordinary phenomena, locutions, apparitions, and the like.


NB: Don't pay great attention to what I write here save for entertainment purposes.  All of what I write is based upon my personal opinion and personal experience.  Always check with your spiritual director or confessor if you have any questions regarding the spiritual life.

"You talkin' to me?"

The Novena for Pentecost.

Come Holy Spirit!

It's already in progress - no matter when you observe the Ascension. 

Taking refuge in the desert...

They said of a monk that the more bitterly anyone injured or assailed him, the more he was well disposed to that person, for he said, "People like this are a means to cure the faults of serious men. People who make them happy do their souls harm. For it is written. 'They who praise you deceive you.'"

Mark asked Arsenius, 'It is right, isn't it, to have nothing unnecessary in one's cell? I saw a brother who had a few cabbages, and he was rooting them out.'  Arsenius said, 'It is right, but each should do what is right for his own way of life.  If he is not strong enough to endure without the cabbages, he will plant them again.'


Photo; Simone of the Desert, Bunuel

If I should forget you Jerusalem...

Let my right hand wither...
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All Souls day... and the day after the new martyrs of Baghdad. 
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"By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat and wept,
remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there
we hung up our harps.

O how could we sing
the song of the Lord
on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!" - Ps. 137
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Three priests among those dead in Baghdad.

Sunday morning reflections...

The Hospitality of God.
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It seems to me that the prayer of Abraham in today's first reading has been perfectly fulfilled only through the fiat of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Abraham expresses mankind's longing to "abide in the shade of the Almighty" when he prays, "Sir, if I may ask you this favor, please do not go on past your servant..." [Gen. 18]  Yet God, at that time had not yet made his dwelling among men, as it were.  It was only through Our Lady's consent that Emmanuel, God with us, made his dwelling amongst us:  "The Word became flesh and dwells among us."  Thus Martha's sister Mary, recognizing the presence of God, remained in adoration with him, at his feet.  Later in the Gospels we see the disciples at Emmaus echoing Abraham's prayer, imploring him, "Stay with us Lord for it is nearly evening, and the day far spent."  Only after they had recognized him in the breaking of the bread did they come to understand this mystery hidden from ages and generations past, which has now been manifested:  it is Christ in you.
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The Presence of God.
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In today's Gospel, I don't think Christ was scolding Martha as we understand scolding.  I think he was teaching her something about living in the presence of God - but I'm not sure how to explain it without referring to Br. Lawrence of the Resurrection, whose simple spirituality was the practical expression of this teaching:  The practice of the Presence of God.  To be busy about many things doesn't mean one is distracted from the presence of God.  We can accustom ourselves to an awareness of God's presence through the prayer of recollection - which means nothing more than being aware of God's presence within ourselves.  It is a very simple prayer.  Making use of short prayers, frequent spiritual communions, or using holy reminders, helps us accustom ourselves to this practice - in this sense, the prayer can be 'acquired'.  Coupled with these practices, daily prayer, spiritual reading - lectio - Mass and Communion when able, grounds us in the Presence of God.
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*

"Happy the man watching daily at my gates,

waiting at my doorposts;

For he who find me finds life,

and wins favor from the Lord."

Proverbs 8:34-35

The Mother of God.
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Again Our Lady is the perfect example of the union of prayer and activity, specifically in the mystery of her visitation to St. Elizabeth, for the sanctification of St. John the Baptist while still in his mother's womb no less.  What a great mystery to ponder!  Two unborn, interacting in their mother's womb, all through the mediation of Mary, the Mother of God.  Ponder this mystery and you can perhaps better understand the prayer of recollection - as well as the evils of abortion.
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Our efforts towards the practice of the prayer of recollection, or 'acquired' recollection, actually can prepare us for the grace of 'infused' recollection.  (I'll give an example of that in a bit.)  Sort of like how the prayer we make in preparation for Mass and the reception of Holy Communion prepares us to receive with deeper recollection and devotion the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.  St. Teresa writes about these things, and I've also known lay people who have experienced such things.  Nevertheless, the favors of God are inscrutable and he bestows them upon whom he wishes - whenever he wishes.   
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For instance, my one friend, a really on again, off again kind of guy - as regards the spiritual life, told me how he once experienced, for nearly a week, an intense awareness of the presence of God.  (I think that may be what is called infused recollection, or the prayer of quiet.)
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He told me how he had been out grocery shopping one afternoon when suddenly a very sensible awareness of God seemed to envelope him and he was filled with joy and deep peace, somehow understanding that God was with him and in him.  He told me that no matter what he was doing, working, even watching TV, this recollection would not dissipate.  At first he wondered what he had done to merit the grace, although he quickly realized he had done nothing and became embarrassed and confused for having imagined he was even able to merit such a grace - yet even then the prayer did not cease.  He told me he had not prayed for any favor, and to his mind, much less properly prepared himself for it, telling me that it was sheer, undeserved grace obtained for him from the Blessed Virgin.  However, it occurred to him it was lasting much too long and he was afraid of becoming too attached, and suddenly it was gone. 
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Like I said - my friend is an on again, off again sort of guy, but it seems to me what he experienced was real since he told me later that he seems to be recollected all of the time now, albeit through faith, without any sensible consolation.  That is best of course.
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Anyway - these are just some thoughts on today's readings from Mass - I'm not sure it all ties together very well though.  For myself I just try to draw very near to Our Lady through the prayers of the Rosary and hope she will obtain for me the forgiveness of my sins and the grace to remain in the presence of God.
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Never Known to Fail Prayers

Prepare yourself.

For the first day of the novena to Our Lady of Mt Carmel I posted a prayer that carried the claim, "never known to fail".  The phrase was contained in the title of a prayer which I copied and pasted from another site.  I left it in because I have always seen that particular claim accompanying that prayer.  I can think of several other devotional prayers with similar claims attached.  Since my youth, I never really questioned such things, convinced they must be true - little children, like the virtue of charity, believe all things (1 Cor 13).  Perhaps whoever propagated the prayer originally, experienced these prayers in that way.  In other words - people who sought graces through such prayers must have received an answer they were happy with.  Does that mean if we use the prayer and do not receive an answer or one that accords with our desires that the claim is false?  Does it mean it didn't work for me?  Or for you?
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God's free gift.
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I don't know.  I'm not a theologian.  Nevertheless I will share some ideas I have about it.  First of all, prayer disposes us to receive God's grace and ultimately unites us to God.  However, God's grace is not dependent upon our virtue or good works, or being good enough to deserve his grace or mercy.  It is his free gift - which explains why irreligious people are often granted signal graces seemingly out of the blue.  So the answer to our prayer doesn't depend upon just the right formula used, the right words, the duration of the prayer, personal ceremony, private ritual, pious accoutrement's, etc..  Such means - in keeping with Catholic tradition - may be efficacious for some, others not so much.  (To be sure, I'm not saying official prayer(s) and devotions of the Church are not efficacious, or that a person does not need to be in the state of grace to please God and thereby gain his blessing - not at all.  We know these things to be true.  I'm speaking of private prayer and devotions with claims of "never known to fail".)
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"The Father is at work..."
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I think it is unfortunate when people say prayer "works" - but I know what they mean.  In truth it is God who works - "My Father is at work now and so am I" - Christ made that clear.  In fact Jesus taught us all we need to know about prayer.  The perfect prayer of course is embodied in the Lord's prayer, the Our Father... it is Christ's prayer and therefore the prayer of the Church.  Hence all true prayer is at once the prayer of the Church.  As such we have a guarantee, as it were, that it is "never known to fail" - more precisely, "the Gates of Hell shall not prevail".  And of course, Jesus promised, "whatever you ask in my name you will receive."  (Therefore we pray to Our Lady to "make us worthy of the promises of Christ."  Indicating there is a process involved... )
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Perseverance
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Thus when we pray according to God's will, and especially when asking the intercession of Our Lady, the Mother of God, our prayer cannot fail to reach the heart of God, the Father who cannot give his son a serpent when he asks for an egg.  Novenas are like the one who knocks - thus, like the widow in the Gospel, perseverance and persistence gains all.  If the answer to one's prayer is not immediately forthcoming, perhaps one must be persistent and persevere in praying the prayer "never known to fail".  I know this from experience.  I prayed for 30 years to be delivered from something - I went on numerous pilgrimages, prayed countless prayers, sought spiritual direction, prayed many rosaries, and then one day at Adoration I heard the words, "You are free."  My prayer had been granted.  Sheer, undeserved grace.  The prayer was heard the first time - but I needed to be prepared to receive the answer.  You see, sometimes our prayers are granted immediately and we in turn squander the grace and lose it through sin.  To recover it can sometimes take much effort and penance and suffering, accompanied by humble prayer - and even after all of that, it is only a preparation to receive God's free gift.  We have no right to it.
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"You don't know what you are asking."
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The Scriptures teach us all about prayer, it is God speaking to us.  The Word Himself instructs us, while the Holy Spirit intercedes for us since we do not know how to pray as we ought - in this we can understand how it is that God himself guarantees our prayer, as it were.  Our Lord demonstrated we do not know how to pray as we ought when he responded to the disciples request to sit at his right hand in glory, Jesus told them, "You don't know what you are asking."  One must think about that when one imagines his prayer has not been granted.  In many cases we do not know how a literal answer to this or that prayer would turn out for us.  For example, what if you prayed to win the lottery in order to pay the bills, save the house from foreclosure, or to do this or that?  And if you won, what if you did all of those necessary things, gave to charity besides, but indulged yourself in luxury as well, only to abandon your dependence upon God and the service you owe to Him.  Oftentimes success spoils the most virtuous man. 
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Another thing to consider regarding unanswered prayer is that what we ask for may not always be necessary for heaven, or more specifically, for our salvation.  It doesn't mean God did not hear it.
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It seems to me it is not the prayers that fail, it is often we who fail, especially in our understanding of what prayer is.  I have always found that humbly acknowledging that in sincere contrition and repentance sometimes gains for us far greater graces than we can ask or imagine.  Yet we often even need to ask for the fundamental grace of humility, contrition and repentance - to realize our utter and complete dependence upon God's mercy:  His love moved by our misery...
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That said, always, always trust in the mercy of God.  Confidence and love is what never fails - nor does Our Lady:  Never was it known that anyone whoever sought Our Lady's help or implored her intercession was ever left unaided.
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And - pray the rosary - it has never been known to fail.  For sure.

When there are no words...

"Our Blessed Lady is the true terrestrial paradise of the new Adam... This most holy place is composed only of a virgin and immaculate earth...  There are flowerbeds adorned with beautiful and varied blossoms of virtues, diffusing odors which delight the very angels.  There are meadows green with hope...  There is in this place an air of perfect purity." - St. Louis de Montfort

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The Holy Father on the writings of St. Bonaventure

Of these his writings, which are the soul of his government and show the way to follow either as an individual or a community, I would like to mention only one, his masterwork, the "Itinerarium mentis in Deum," which is a "manual" of mystical contemplation. This book was conceived in a place of profound spirituality: the hill of La Verna, where St. Francis had received the stigmata. In the introduction, the author illustrates the circumstances that gave origin to his writing: "While I meditated on the possibility of the soul ascending to God, presented to me, among others, was that wondrous event that occurred in that place to Blessed Francis, namely, the vision of the winged seraphim in the form of a crucifix. And meditating on this, immediately I realized that such a vision offered me the contemplative ecstasy of Father Francis himself and at the same time the way that leads to it" (Journey of the Mind in God, Prologue, 2, in Opere di San Bonaventura. Opuscoli Teologici / 1, Rome, 1993, p. 499).
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The six wings of the seraphim thus became the symbol of six stages that lead man progressively to the knowledge of God through observation of the world and of creatures and through the exploration of the soul itself with its faculties, up to the satisfying union with the Trinity through Christ, in imitation of St. Francis of Assisi. The last words of St. Bonaventure's "Itinerarium," which respond to the question of how one can reach this mystical communion with God, would make one descend to the depth of the heart: "If you now yearn to know how that happens (mystical communion with God), ask grace, not doctrine; desire, not the intellect; the groaning of prayer, not the study of the letter; the spouse, not the teacher; God, not man; darkness not clarity; not light but the fire that inflames everything and transport to God with strong unctions and ardent affections. ... We enter therefore into darkness, we silence worries, the passions and illusions; we pass with Christ Crucified from this world to the Father, so that, after having seen him, we say with Philip: that is enough for me" (Ibid., VII, 6). - Catechesis in Paul VI Hall
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Art:  Stigmata of St. Francis - I have no other information.