Surprising Grace in a Time of Universal Suffering

The past few months have been apocalyptically challenging. For all of us. My life of late has been like leaping across a raging river, hopping from one slippery stone to the next, trying not to fall in. My only source of strength has been Jesus, especially Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Like many people, I often pray the Anima Christi prayer after receiving. In English, the first verse is "Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me." In Latin: "Anima Christi, sanctifica me. Corpus Christi, salva me. Sanguis Christi, inebria me. Aqua lateris Christi, lava me."

The video below has been in my YouTube feed for months and months. I did not listen to it until a few minutes ago. I do not know who the nuns in this video are, where they live, or what Order they belong to. Nor do I care. All I know is, until a few minutes ago, nothing short of pharmaceutical drugs has heretofore been able to calm my relentlessly lacerated emotions. Until now.

Listen and weep and thank God for the surprisingly beautiful and poignantly holy things in this world. They still exist. We still exist. Be amazed, and be thankful. Even now. Especially now...