
Yesterday the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows book reached a milestone. It has sold 1000 copies! While that of course is not a blockbuster, it is a great start. It is appropriate that this milestone occurs during Passion week – the week in which we are most encouraged to meditate on Our Lady’s sorrows.
I hope that Father Faber is smiling down from heaven knowing that his words, written almost 170 years ago, continue to bring the faithful closer to Our Sorrowful Mother. I hope the Sorrowful Rosary book has led others to read his complete work, The Foot of the Cross: The Sorrows of Mary. It is packed with gems – “precious one-liners” that provide ample seed for meditation.
One of these gems is from the second sorrow, The Flight into Egypt. The line that keeps coming back to me, almost hauntingly is, “Poverty has few preparations to make.” There are so many layers and directions that this one line could take a soul, but I’ll start with the most obvious.

Our Lady and Saint Joseph were not of a wealthy class so it makes sense that as soon as the angel directed Joseph to flee “with heaven’s best treasures on earth,” the preparation to leave was minimal. They didn’t have time, much to take, nor did they have the ability to carry much. Would we be able to say the same thing if we suddenly had to “bug out”?

We have so many earthly things to care for, that we have a newer social category of people called “preppers.” I am almost embarrassed to admit that I am somewhat of a prepper. I of course want to take care of my family’s needs in a crisis, but why am I embarrassed to admit that I am “prepping”? It’s because during Lent, I have been struggling with my “busy-ness.” It is a constant battle to stay focused on prayer, reading, Mass, . . .because my mind has so many preparations to make! What the Lord and Our Lady keep asking me is, “Are you prepping for eternity the way you are prepping for an earthly crisis?”
I wish I could say yes. But at least they have gotten my full attention and I’m in the conversation. I’m trying to relax about all the events that may come which is not to say that I am relaxed – I have a long way to go – I am way more Martha than Mary. But I am asking for mercy and the grace to better prioritize my day so prepping for heaven comes first.
It is no accident that I write a post today after being away from posting for too many months. There are many posts already written in my head and Lent is almost gone, but I haven’t prioritized sitting down and making that happen.
What got me to write today was a session I had yesterday with someone who I am tutoring for school and counseling on motivation. He shared that at a retreat last week one of the talks discussed, “Delayed obedience is still DISOBEDIENCE! Whoa! Who is teaching whom? A long time ago I heard the saying, “We often teach what we need to learn.” Got me! I knew I was being called to write more, so I finally sat down to write.
I have even more to say on this “one-liner, but I am going to save that for tomorrow. I pray I continue to keep my priorities focused above as St. Joseph and Mary always did. It is no accident that the word “disciples” is derived from the word DISCIPLINE.
Have a blessed remainder of Passion Week and Holy Week.