Teresa's meditiations on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary - Third Mystery

Soul of a sinner - subject to a Lord
For Thee once mock'd & crown'd & yet adhorr'd;

Come to this coronation; lo! the scorn
With which they weave His diadem of thorn!

Eye the vile splendour of that scarlet robe
Vesting the veil'd Creator of the globe!

Hear the rude jest - behold the bended knee,
The mirth infernal - and the homage see:

That Hand - once reach'd to each one in his need,

Now spurned by all - and scepter'd with a reed;

That Brow of majesty and might divine,

A throne of woe - with love in every line!

Here let me linger through life's pensive day,
Till this poor heart in tears shall melt away;

And death approach with liberation sweet
To let me fall - and worship at His feet!

Cause of Teresa, Catholic Herald, 25th October 1936

CAUSE OF TERESA HIGGINSON

A New Movement in London

The Catholic teachers of the Metropolitan district are now organising on a par with their compeers in the North and Midlands, to seek the Beatification of Teresa Higginson as " Patron of School-teachers."

A general committee with several branch sub-committees has been formed, and associates are being enrolled in all parts of Greater London. The Training Colleges, St. Mary's and St. Charles's, and the Mount Pleasant Association of London, are joining in the work, which is actively promoted by the several congregations directing them.

Among the officials are the recently elected President of the National Federation of Catholic Teachers; and the Vice-President of the Sirnmarian (St. Mary's) Association. At the first meeting of the General Committee, Mr. W. J. Ridge (hon. sec. of the M.C.T.A.), was elected as its president.

A Forthcoming Meeting

A meeting in Westminster Cathedral Hall (with the blessing and support of the Archbishop), is being prepared. The Vice Postulator, Mgr. O'Brien, of Bootle. Liverpool, will attend and give an account of the progress of the cause; and Lady Cecil Kerr of Edinburgh, Teresa's biographer and advocate, has promised to give an address. Representatives from the other local committees above-mentioned are expected to be present.

The movement in the Metropolis has been no doubt quickened by an address from Mgr. Thomas Adamson, secretary of the Archbishop of Liverpool. To the teachers of the archdiocese, he congratulated them on taking up the work so sincerely and enthusiastically, but adding:

"There will be difficulties. It is not an easy matter to get the Church formally to declare a person a saint. Witnesses have to be interviewed, documents and writings have to be collected and examined, the votes of theologians, bishops, and cardinals taken, before the Holy Father makes his final decision. Consequently, you must not expect to ace your efforts crowned with success within a few months. Moreover, in addition to the delay unavoidable in the formal process, you must not expect to be entirely free from irritations and vexations at home.

You will have criticism, plenty of it, as every good cause has. Much of it you will be able to ignore. On the other hand a kindly offer to explain the difficulties to your critics may often convert them to your cause. Personally I believe that the majority of the critics of Teresa Higginson are those who know least about her. Though we do not wish for a moment to anticipate the decision of the Church and assert definitely that she is truly a saint, nevertheless the fact that the authorities of the archdiocese have officially supported the Cause and have already forwarded it to Rome for examination is sufficient to justify our credibility."

United Efforts

There can be little doubt that these united efforts of the North and the South will encourage the advocates of this Cause in hoping to bring it to a successful issue at a not too distant date. It is also encouraging that interest in Teresa Higginson and her alleged revelations, is spreading rapidly all over the world. In the United States two of the Cardinal Archbishops, those of Boston and Philadelphia, like our own Archbishops are stimulating the eagerness of the Faithful to see Teresa beatified.

Teresa's meditiations on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary - Fourth Mystery

Soul of a sinner - here without a home,
Art thou a pilgrim for the world to come?

See, then, thy Great Exemplar on His way
A path of dolours - cloth'd in red array!

The sight of Calvary His heart inspires
And lights eternal love with ardent fires.

Lo! where His Holy Mother stands opprest,
The sword of sorrow piercing through her breast!

See where the Cross - that purchase of the Crown

Weighs on His wounded frame, and sinks it down!

See when yon woman wipes His sacred face,

And wins a likeness of the King of Grace!

Hear where the daughters of sad Salem wail,

While Siloa's brook sighs softly through the vale;

These with sweet sympathy dissolve'd in fears,

That to be shortly swollen with their tears!

Lord! let each eye o'erflow with contrite grief,

And in the road to Calvary, seek relief!

Teresa's meditiations on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary - Fifth Mystery

Soul of a sinner - turn with me once more
Upon a scene excelling all before!

And as the mighty Moses, when he saw
The Burning Bush with overwhelming awe,

Put off his shoes before the fire of God,
That he might worship on the sacred sod;

So thou from sin, and self, and sense set free,
Ascend the Holy Hill of Calvary!

Behold the Cross, in wreaths of sable furl'd,
The atoning Altar of a guilty world!

Look on thy Jesus in His final hour,
Till the look thrills thee with transforming power:

Hear His last words - the prayer - the bitter cry
That rends the Veil - and rocks the earth and sky:

Lo! how He Bows - when He resigns His breath,
That Head - which holds the crown of life and death.

And now the spear hath pierc'd His rifted side,
Whence flows for sinful man a double tide:

Oh! Glorious Cross! the "Tree of Lover" art Thou!
To Thee I kneel - beneath Thy shade I bow:

To Him - whom thou didst lift from earth to heaven;
Be my whole heart in sweet affection given!

Report on retreat on Teresa Higginson held at Pantasaph retreat centre

Recently a retreat was held at Pantasaph in North Wales from 28th - 30th June 2013. 

REPORT OF TERESA HIGGINSON RETREAT AT PANTASAPH 28th - 30th JUNE 2013

A group of twenty-one people interested in the promotion of the Devotion to the Sacred Head of Jesus, Seat of Divine Wisdom, as revealed to the nineteenth century Servant of God, Teresa Higginson, met at Pantasaph Monastery from June 28-30, under the chairmanship of Fr Keith Windsor OFM. Some of the group shared their particular interests in the background to the devotion. Several spoke of their long standing inherited family interest. It was explored that throughout Church history, the role of chosen souls given extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit at times when the culture required heavenly intervention:witness St Margaret Mary Alocoque and the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The group prayed theprayers and litanies to the Sacred Head of Jesus during this dedicated retreat. 

This was an inaugural meeting which realised that as the Sacred Head Devotion is not yet accepted into the Cultus of the Church it must therefore remain Private Devotion. The group felt that the acceptance of the Devotion would enhance Teresa Higginson’s Cause and the two together will be a means of evangelisation to save souls. 

Teresa Higginson (1844-1905) was privileged to receive many visions, favours and private revelations from Our Lord. As early as Good Friday 1874, Jesus requested His Sacred Head be universally worshipped as the Seat of Divine Wisdom as a completion of the Devotion to His Sacred Heart and given as an antidote to the intellectual pride and increasing dominance of the scientific rationalism of her times. This makes itespecially timely today when the secularist agenda never ceases in its efforts to overshadow, drown out and intimidate the Christian witness to the moral truth of the Natural Law of God. 

Teresa was born and baptised in Holywell, North Wales, third child of eight, into a middle class pious family. Her precocious holiness was recognised by Blessed Dominic Barberi and Fr Ignatius Spencer, both frequent visitors to the family whose home was the local Mass centre in Gainsborough, Lincs. After Teresa spent ten years in a Convent in Nottingham, the family experienced financial hardship and moved to the North West, eventually settling in Neston on the Wirral, where Teresa was buried in the family grave at St Winefride’sChurch. Teresa stepped in to teach at St Alexandra’s Bootle during an outbreak of cholera and subsequently qualified as a teacher. In all her teaching positions, Teresa was a shining example of how to be holy whilst living as a lay person in the world. She was commanded under obedience by her spiritual director Fr Edward Powell of St Alexandra’s Bootle to give a detailed written account of her hidden life. This continued under her next director Canon Alfred Snow for the last twenty two years of her life. Canon Snow believed that she would eventually be proved to be one of the greatest Saints of the Church. 

There is much literature detailing the many extraordinary charismatic gifts given by God to Teresa Higginson: prophecy, bilocation, the stigmata, healings, ecstasies, mystical Communions, living almost completely on the Eucharist. She was frequently physically attacked by Satan hence the title of the most recent biography- The Devil in Bootle by Richard Whittington Egan. The definitive biography by Lady Cecil Kerr entitled Teresa Helena Higginson originally published in 1927 has recently been reprinted with an introduction by Rev Dr Paul Haffner, a Theology Professor in Rome. So much information about Teresa Higginson and the Devotion to the Sacred Head of Jesus is available on the Internet, an excellent website being www.sacredhead.org which provides links to the official information channel and www.teresahigginson.blogspot.co.uk and Facebook etc. Cecil Kerr’s book may be read online through links on these sites. 

Teresa’s Cause was presented to Rome in 1937 and declared Non-Expedire in 1938 but is still listed at the 

Vatican in the Causes of Saints and may be opened at a future date. The devotees pray that if it is God’s Will, the Church will soon absorb the Devotion to the Sacred Head of Jesus, Seat of Divine Wisdom and God Willing, Teresa’s time will have come. 

A Child of Mary

This poem was found in Teresa's notebooks.  It can be sung as a hymn to the tune of St. Columba.

O favour'd mortal Mary's Child

Can tongue reveal thy bliss?

The spotless Angel round Her throne

Know not a name like this.

They hail Her as their sovereign Queen

The Mother of their Lord.

They are but servants kneeling there

To wait Her gracious call.

But thou cans't say, as Jesus said

O Mary Mother mine,

For He Himself on Calvary's hill

Has made his Mother thine.

Our Lady, the Child Jesus and St. Mary Magdalen

Twas in that hour beneath the Cross

At Jesus dying prayer

That first Her sinless hands were raised

And Mary blessed thee there.

Ah!  Yes and yet still She loves thee

Heaven's glorious Queen above

Looks down upon Her lowly child

With more than Mother's love.

When storms arise that fain would blast

And Satan wields his power

If you but hope and trust in Her

She'll shield you in that hour.

She'll guide and guard thy every step

In life's long rugged way

If thou but trust and cling to Her

Thy foot shall never stray.

Fear not, thy soul is in Her hand

She knows the price it cost

Fear not: it never yet was known -

That Mary's child was lost. 

 Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Aphorisms of Teresa, recorded by her friend Susan Ryland (later Sr. Barbara)

The mortar is only as useful as the bricks.

Make stepping stones of stumbling blocks.

Small straws shew which way the wind blows.

It is not the work of God to destroy feeling, but to overcome it.

(when washing oneself) Jesus, wash me with Your Precious Blood.

(when dressing) Jesus, clothe my soul with the virtues.

Do not worry.  Have confidence and He in whom you trust will cause the sun to shine and the storm to cease, and lull you to repose in the sure haven of His Sacred Heart.

and most important of all, in the humble opinion of the blog author:

The Mercy of God is greater than all His Works.

Teresa's prayer in honour of the Sacred Head, Seat of Divine Wisdom

My Lord and my God, humbly prostrate before Thee, I adore Thy Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, the Shrine of the Powers of Thy most Holy Soul and Intellectual Faculties, and the centre of the five Senses of Thine adorable Body.

When I gaze into the depths of this fathomless abyss of Goodness, Power and Wisdom, which has contrived and instituted such unheard of ways and means of proving Thine infinite Love, and lavishing Thy choicest gifts upon me, Thy poor child, I am lost in astonishment and admiration.

O Light of lights, in whose glorious rays I see fresh mines of Wealth in the Sacred Heart; O Sun of Justice, in whose intense heat I feel the burning Love that consumes the Sacred Heart.

O Will, which was always in meek subjection to Thy Heavenly Father's, control me in all things, as Thou didst govern all the affections and motions of the Sacred Heart of the God made Man.

O Understanding, which knows all things, ever guide me with Thy Light.

O Memory, in which past, present, and future are at once reflected, which is ever mindful of me, and always seems to be studying some new means of giving fresh favours, force me to love Thee more and more.

Oh!  By the shining light of Thine Eyes, teach me to see Thee in all things; and by Thine Ears, which are ever open to the prayers of the needy, grant that I may ever hear the voice of Thy Church, and listen to Thy holy inspirations.  Oh, give me always a love and a relish for what is right and just.  Let me taste how sweet Thou art.  Let me drawn by the odour of Thy Virtues, and feel forever the intense joy of seeing, loving, praising, blessing and glorifying Thee for all eternity.

O Flood of Light!  Mine of Wealth!  Ocean of Goodness!  Sea of Mercy!  Fountain of Living Waters!  Fire of Love!  Source of all Good!  To Thee I consecrate myself with that I am or have.

O Sacred Head, Seat of Divine Wisdom, Tabernacle of God with man; in Thee I behold at once a celestial and terrestrial Paradise, a new Heaven, and a new Earth; the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared and adorned as a bride glowing with light and glory, in whose sparkling crystals I behold all the attributes of the Godhead reflected as a sea of glass.

O Rainbow of peace!  O Burning Bush!  O Peerless Pearl!  Storehouse of the Treasures of God!  O Lamp, ever burning!  Brightness unfading!  Sun for ever shining!  O Tree of Life!  Life and Light of those who are Thine!  O Seal of the Elect.

O Wisdom without beginning or end!  Boundless knowledge!  Love so great that we cannot understand it!  To Thee I raise my prayer of love, reparation and thanksgiving from the centre of the Sacred Heart, where I safely hide; and I beg of Thee to accept, O my Jesus, all the treasures of this infinite mystery of love and riches, in atonement for my coldness, misery, and poverty.

O Jesus, my beloved Jesus.  I love Thee far more than I can tell; Jesus, my Spouse, and my treasure, I grieve that Thou art so little known and so much offended.  Jesus, my Life and my Light, may all minds know Thee, all hearts love Thee, and all tongues praise Thee, now and for ever more.  Amen.

Jesus!  Jesus!  Jesus!  O Seat of Divine Wisdom, have mercy on me, O Sacred Head and loving Heart, guide me with Thy Light, and consume me with Thy fire.  Amen.

Teresa's prayer to the Soul of Jesus sorrowful unto death

REMEMBER, O most sorrowful Soul of my Jesus, the fearful agony that Thou didst endure, when plunged into the depths of Thy Father's Justice and Wrath, Thou didst cry out, "My Father, if it be possible, let this bitter Chalice pass from me, nevertheless not My Will but Thine be done;" and when overwhelmed in deepest woe, Thou didst complain that "Thy Soul was sorrowful, even unto death;" and when agonising, dying and deserted by all, even by Thine eternal Father, these words of wondrous mystery were wrung from Thee, "My God!  My God!  Why hast Thou forsaken me?"

Remember the sighs, the groans, the anguish of soul, the agony of mind, and the braking of Thy Loving Heart.  Remember the many stripes, the blows, the insults, the blasphemies, the thorns, the Blood, the Tears, the stripping of Thy garments, the shame, the prayers, the separation of Thy Holy Soul from Thine adorable Body.

Remember the Wisdom of Thy Sacred Head that had contrived so much suffering, and would thus prove the Love of Thy Sacred Heart, for the souls of Thy children.  Remember, too, what Mary suffered.

Remember the price I have cost Thee, and when Thou beholdest all these fearful tortures, have mercy and pity on my soul, and forgive me through Thy Precious Blood.

Why O my crucified, loving Jesus, are so many souls in darkness and sin?  Art thou not the Almighty God?  The God of Wisdom, of Knowledge, of Light?  Art Thou not our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sanctification, our holy and strong God?  Why then is our enemy and Thine so bold?  

O Lord, for the love Thou hast for souls, for the price we have cost Thee, for the glory of Thy Name, arise and show that Thou art the Living God.  Lighten up every darkness by the Light of Thy Divine Wisdom; expel all heresies by spreading the truth of Thy doctrines, and the beauty of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith throughout all nations.  Consume all hearts with the burning fire of Thy Love.  Draw all souls to Thy Soul, that we console and comfort Thee here, by weeping over sin, which is the cause of Thy intense sorrow.  Hide us, dear Jesus in Thy wounds; bathe our souls in Thy most Precious Blood.  Stamp Thy Sacred head and Face deeply in our hearts and souls that we may never forget Thee, nor the sorrow we have caused Thee.

Remember us, Lord, in Thy Kingdom, Grant us pardon and peace here and eternal happiness in the world to come.  Let us keep near Thee, Jesus, in Thy sorrow, that we may be found worthy to dwell for ever with Thee, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, One God in three distinct Persons, in the world without end.  Amen.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph.  Amen.

Memorare to the Divine Soul

REMEMBER, O most Holy Soul of my Jesus, all Thou hast done and suffered for my soul, and let it not perish.  I beseech Thee, through the anguish that forced Thy very Heart's Blood from Thy Sacred Veins, and I conjure Thee to bathe mine, and all poor sinners, in that precious Stream, which ran down in ruby drops upon the ground.  Remember the deep and boundless love Thou hast shown to it, and drive not away from Thee this soul which comes back to Thee, fainting under the weight of its miseries and sorrows.  O deign to feel for its weakness; behold the dangers which encompass it on all sides, the evils which cause it to sigh and groan.

Full of trust and love, it comes to Thee, O most tender and compassionate of all souls; receive it in Thy Mercy and Goodness; cause it to feel the effects of Thy most plentiful Redemption, and the excess of Thy burning Love.  Show Thyself its advocate with Thy Heavenly Father, in the name of all Thy merits, Thy humiliations, and sufferings, and grant it strength in all its struggles, and grace to love and console Thee in time, that it may possess, praise, and thank Thee for all eternity.  Amen.

Soul of Jesus, sorrowful unto death, would that I could console Thee in Thy bitter anguish and grief.

Complaints of the Soul of our Blessed Lord

My Soul is not known.  My Soul is not loved.  Night and day I see lamps burning before My Altar.  My Sacrament of love finds worshippers and victims; but My Soul does not meet with sympathising souls.

Every day I give Myself to My creatures, and, swallowed up in this union, they praise everything in Me, but My Soul and My Sacred Head crowned with thorns, the Seat of Divine Wisdom.

Each day My Cross is bathed with tears, and the daughters of Zion cannot be comforted, because they see Me without brightness and beauty, but few there are who compassionate the anguish of My Soul, sorrowful unto death.

My Heart has found thousands of hearts, but My Soul remains solitary, and My Thorn-crowned Brow unhonoured, My Face besmeared, and My Eyes and Mouth filled with congealing Blood, and no one is there to wipe It away and refresh My parched Lips and swollen Tongue.

"My Soul is sorrowful even unto death, and I have looked for some one to comfort Me and there is none."

Prayer of Teresa to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

O DIVINE Jesus, lonely to-night in so many Tabernacles, without visitor or worshipper, I offer Thee my lonely heart, and may its beatings be a prayer of love to Thee. Thou art ever watching under Sacramental veils; in Thy Love Thou never sleepest, and art never weary in Thy vigil for sinners.  O loving Jesus, O lovely Jesus, may my heart be a lamp, the light of which shall burn for Thee alone.  Watch, Sacramental Sentinel, watch for the weary world, for the erring soul and for Thy poor lonely child.  Amen.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus that I could water with my tears those places where the marks of Thy Love have been received only with contempt and indifference.  In reparation for such injuries, I offer Thee the love of all just souls, the ardour of the angels, and above all, the tender sentiments of thine Immaculate Mother.  Permit me to unite with that offering the affections of my heart.  Amen.

Prayer of Teresa for the conversion of England

O Lord Jesus Christ, infinite Goodness, Who by the Divine Sacrament of thy body and Blood dost regenerate, strengthen, and nourish Thy Church, and daily offerest Thyself a sacrifice of praise and propitiations to Thine Eternal Father, look propitiously upon our beloved country, which is excluded from the Sweets of Thy Banquet.  All that is in this land has been done and said through impiety or ignorance against these most Holy Mysteries, mercifully pardon - inspire the minds of all men with faith and reverence for this beloved Sacrament, so that all in this land may become Thy children, like olive plants round Thy Table, through the same Jesus Christ out Lord.  Amen.

Benedict XVI: Thy will be done.

Today on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes our Holy Father Benedict XVI has announced his resignation due to reasons of declining health and increasing incapacity to carry out the duties of supreme pontiff, coming into effect on Thursday 28^th February at 7.00pm GMT.   Through the intercession of the servant of God Teresa Higginson let us ask that the wisdom of the Sacred Head may grant a worthy successor to ascend to the Chair of Peter.

 

Father of all, we fain would say, as did Thy only Son,
In every hour of every day, Oh let Thy Will be done.

In thought, in word, in deed, in death, things finished or begun,
Let every transitory breath whisper: Thy Will be done.

In daily cares to thousands known, or known perchance to none,
Let this request be heard above: Oh! Lord, Thy Will be done.

In sickness though some stroke unseen may oft the senses stun,
Let grace suggestive intervene to feel Thy Will be done.

In health, when in its full career the race of man is run,
Let joy be taught by holy fear to pray: Thy Will be done.

Amid the rocks and shoals of life which few can ever shun,
Let peace compose each spark of strife and cry: Thy Will be done.

And when the bow of hope shall blend all colours into one,
Time with eternity shall end with: LORD, THY WILL BE DONE.