"Happy the husband of a good wife,
twice-lengthened are his days;
A worthy wife brings joy to her husband,
peaceful and full is his life.
A good wife is a generous gift
bestowed upon him who fears the Lord;
Be he rich or poor, his heart is content,
and a smile is ever on his face.
A gracious wife delights her husband,
her thoughtfulness puts flesh on his bones;
A gift from the Lord is her governed speech,
and her firm virtue is of surpassing worth.
Choicest of blessings is a modest wife,
priceless her chaste person.
Like the sun rising in the Lord's heavens,
the beauty of a virtuous wife is the radiance of her home.
Like the light which shines above the holy lampstand,
are her beauty of face and graceful figure.
Golden columns on silver bases
are her shapely limbs and stady feet." Sirach 26: 1-4, 13-18
As a man who wishes to be married, who wishes to find a good and spiritual wife who is young enough to have possibly four children, those above words are simply beautiful. As I was typing them, my heart was deeply moved. She who is being described truly is a good and beautiful wife. I pray to meet such a woman every day. I made a 120 day novena to meet her, -- for her to find me and me to find her. Here is my prayer said today after Mass before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament:
"Dearest Holy Spirit, You are the Power that baptizes us and makes us children of God. You change bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus at Mass. You confirm us and give us your 7 gifts. You forgive us in Holy Confession. You annoint us in the Sacrament of Healing. You ordain men to become priests. Please grant to me this one great Sacrament of Holy Matrimony to unite my wife and me into a holy union that Jesus said: "What God has joined, let no man put assunder." Please unite me and my wife to be, the woman that God the Father has chosen for me and me for her so as to help one another to get to heaven. Let our love be a foretaste of love in heaven. Please console her right now and tell her that her husband to be is coming, is on his way - from the hands of God. All this I ask in Jesus' Name."
I love children. I have 6 grown children. I wish to have 4 more. I have already picked the names of them which I hope my wife will love as well: Pio Antonio Raphaeli, Pia Antonia Raphaela, Gemma Marie Bernadette, Joannes Paulus.
The Prophet Isaiah gives us a deeper look at the images of woman who is both wife and mother. Let us look at a few to understand the vocation a woman has to be feminine, nurturing and loving:
"No more shall men call you 'Forsaken,' or your land 'Desolate,'
But you shall be called 'Espoused.'
For the Lord delights in you, and makes your land his spouse.
As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you;
As a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so shall your God rejoice in you."
That is beautiful and comforting, too, because these images of marriage are what Isaiah uses to show how God is in love with us and marries us spiritually. It's the model of how we should love one another.
Isaiah goes on to say: "Once you were forsaken...Now I will make you the pride of the ages, a joy to generation after generation. You shall suck the milk of nations, and be nursed at royal breasts; You shall know that I, the Lord, am your savior, your redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob." Isaiah 60: 15-16.
Isaiah again uses the femanine symbol of woman's breasts as God's abundance: "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her, all you who love her; Exult, exult with her, all you who were mourning over her! O, that you may suck fully of the milk of her comfort, That you my nurse with delight at her abundant breasts!" Isaiah 66: 10-11. Well, those words of Isaiah are personally my favorite words of his whole book. I love to see that a man of God, the great Isaiah seems to be a man who valued large breasts and uses those images as God's abundance of love for us. I hope and pray that my wife whom God sends me also has very abundant breasts which will be for me all the days of my life a sure sign and symbol of God the Father's "abundant love" for me. This is only a particular grace for me; other men will have other signs God's love for them. In thruth, the whole wife is God's love for us - a generous gift from Him. In these feminine images Isaiah is really speaking of God's "abundant" love for us while poetically using feminine images. He uses many images, but the image of "abundant breasts" is my farvorite. I love this image because God's beauty, nurturance, abundance and love for us are so tenderly imaged in this abundant feminine tenderness and love.
St. Paul uses the marriage image as well in 2 Corinthians 11: 1-11: "I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."
Also, the most beautiful image of human and divine love is Solomon's the Song of Songs: 2, 4, 5, 7: The Bridegroom says: "How beautiful you are, my love, how very beautiful! ....Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies....I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh...You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes, ...Open to me, mysister, my ove, my dove, my perfect one...Your belly is a heap of wheat, encircled with lilies. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle. ..O may your breasts be llike clusters of the vine, and the scent of your brath like apples, and your kisses like the best wine that goes down smoothly, gliding over lips and teeth." The Bride says: I am my beloved's and his desire is for me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields, and lodge in the villages; let us go early to the vineyards....There I will give you my love!" The excitement and joy of marriage can been seen in this line by the author of the Song of Songs: The Bride says: "The voice of my beloved! Look, he comes, leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag!" What happier can a Bridegroom be!
All of this is intense poety, intense love. This is what God intended human love to be. St. John of the Cross used these passages from Solomon's Book to refer to the intense of the love between God and the soul. So, Solomon's Book is about human and divine love.In all of Solomon's book, God is never mentioned because "God is love, and wherever there is true love, there is God."
I also very much love these words from the Book of Tobit, we read" "But do not be afraid, for she was set apart for you before the world existed. You will save her, and she will go with you." Tobit 6: 18.
Those words from Tobit show that with all our trying and looking for the right person to marry, God has one - just one special person - in His mind for us. This person is set apart for one man. To be set apart is the actual translation of someperson or something that is consecrated - set apart for God.
We should rest in this knowledge that there is someone special God has in store for us. How to find that person can be inspired by the Holy Spirit. We should pray that the one God has for us will find us and we find them. How? PROVIDENCE! We must pray and then let Providence take over. We must follow the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He is the Comforter, Consoler, Author of all Love!
(6-15-11)
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When I wrote the above in June of 2011, I wrote about PROVIDENCE!
At that time I did not know what God had in store for me by His Providence...but now, in October of 2012, I can see! God did have someone special in store for me...and some one special in store for Margaritka of the Ukraine. He has us in store for each other. A loving friend of mine in the Ukraine, introduced me to her girlfriend "Margo" who is Margaritka, now my fiancee. I could never have imagined Margaritka coming in my life. But it was the love of Katya for Margo and for me..that caused her to generously and unselfishly introduce us. There is no one like Margaritka..she is beautiful beyond my imagination. Now I know how Adam felt when he firs saw Eve. She is a mystic in ability to love and express herself and appreciate God's Love and Beauty around her. She is articulate, poetic, and so loving and affectionate...and appreciative. She is from God! God only sends the BEST if we would just wait. She waited...she is a virgin at 30 years old. God's Providence is amazing. I prayed 130 days for the right woman to marry; and God answered me even if He had to go around to World to find her..for me! I love you, Father! We - Margo and me - give You our love in thanks:
"We thank You, Father with all our hearts for You have heard the words of our mouth..in the presence of Angels we thank you..and give praise to Your Name .because of Your love which is greater than we ever knew of you..."
Psalm: 138.
So much Love and Gratitude, Pio and Margo xo
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