Heavenly Father, help me control my need to argue and grace me with the virtue of harmony. I know the need to argue is rooted in pride. Many times in my life I have argued to defend myself or to promote myself. When others challenge my beliefs and actions I tend to become agitated and feel the need to defend myself. Help me learn from you, Jesus, because you are meek and humble of heart.
Heavenly Father, you know that I have also struggled within my own mind and have wrestled with the persuasive arguments of the devil to keep me from being one with the Holy Trinity and One with the Church. Please grace me with the virtue of harmony so that I can overcome all disquietude in my mind. I know these errant thoughts and beliefs are put into my mind to help me justify sinful habits and they result in me developing thoughts of discord and false beliefs that are against your holy will.
Lord, let me have enough humility to see that not all disagreements should be argued, and that thoughts of disquietude are not worthy of my attention. Please help me be at peace with the virtue of harmony and humble enough to assent to the authority figures you have placed over me in my life. Nothing happens to me that is not of your will, and so any discord that I experience from others is also not beyond your will for me in this life. Let me be in a state of harmony when the storms arise in my relationships with others and within my own mind. I thank you and praise you for every cross you give me to bear.
You are all knowing and all powerful. You seek the hearts of men and you know them. You know our thoughts and everything we need before we ask. Help me know when it is prudent to discuss matters of faith and morals with others and when my need to argue will do more harm than good. Lord, please quiet my mind and give me peace and harmony when I pray in times of disquietude. Please gift me with faith, hope, and an increase in love for you and others.
Let my faith and my testament to the truth be made known not just in my words but also through my loving actions. Let me have control over my tongue and my mind for the sake of harmony. Help me overcome all impulsivity and the urge to respond while in an emotional state of mind.
Lord, please help me be aware of how you want me to speak to others, and when necessary grace me with the Holy Spirit so that my words are your words and my actions are your actions. I want so badly to be one with you.
I ask all this in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
AM
“I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.”
Control My Need to Argue with Virtue of Harmony
On the whirlwinds engendered by the Devil's persuasion
by St. Hildegard von Bingen
Alas for me, a pilgrim! How can I survive among these dangers?
And what happens when the Devil’s persuasion invades me, saying, ‘Is a thing good which you do not know and cannot see and cannot do?’ and again, ‘Why forsake what you do know and do understand and can do?’ What shall I do then?
Full of sorrow, I will answer, ‘Ach miserable me! for harmful poisons were instilled into me through Adam, when he disobeyed God and was cast out into the world and joined his tabernacle to carnal things. For in the taste of the fruit he knew by disobedience, a harmful sweetness poured itself into his blood and flesh, producing the corruption of vice. And therefore, I feel the sin of the flesh in me, and intoxicated by this sin, I neglect the Most Pure God.
But I must not follow the taste my tabernacle has in it. For since Adam was pure and honest when God created him and he first appeared, I fear God, knowing that I too was created pure and honest. But now, through the evil habits of vice, I dwell in disquietude. Oh, in all these ways I am a pilgrim!
“Therefore, the whirlwinds tell me lies in many voices, which rise up within me, saying, ‘Who are you? and what are you doing? and what are these battles you are fighting? You are indeed unhappy, for you do not know whether your work is good or bad.
Where will you go? and who will save you? and what are these errors that are driving you to madness? Are you doing what delights you? Are you escaping what distresses you? Oh, what will you do when you know this and are ignorant of that? For what delights you is not lawful for you, and what distresses you God’s precept compels you to do. And how do you know whether these things are so? It would be better for you if you did not exist!’
And after these whirlwinds have risen up thus within me, I begin to tread another part that is hard for my flesh to bear, for I begin to practice righteousness. But then I doubt as to whether or not the Holy Spirit has given this to me, and I say, ‘This is useless.’ And I wish to fly above the clouds. How? I wish to fly above my faculties and start things I cannot finish. But when I try to do these things, I only stir up great sadness in myself, so that I do no works, either on the heights of sanctity or on the plains of good will; but I bear within me the disquietude of doubt, desperation, sadness and oppression in all things.
And when the Devil’s persuasion disturbs me then, oh, how great a calamity overtakes me! For I am overcome in my unhappiness by all the evils that are or can be in blame, malediction, mortification of body and soul and shameful words against the purity, healing and loftiness that are in God.
And then wickedness suggests to me that all the felicity and all the good which is in Man as well as God will be to me harmful and oppressive, offering me death rather than life. Ach! How unhappy is this struggle, which forces me from labor to labor, from sorrow to sorrow, from discord to discord, depriving me of all happiness.
Scivias, Book 1, Vision Four, Paragraph 5
Week 30 of the Virtue Meditations Series
Control My Need to Argue with Virtue of Harmony
Reflection:
Have you ever encountered someone who wanted to argue with you about the faith, or some situation, or a belief that you hold to be true? What do we do when we are faced with discord, either in relationships with others, or worse, within our own minds?
The virtue of harmony is tied to humility and peace. As we have journeyed over the past several months we have been introduced to almost all of St. Hildegard’s virtues, and they have been presented to us in a certain order. This is because some virtues lay a foundation for later ones; they build upon each other.
Humility teaches us our station in life and how to relate to God and others, with obedience and loyalty. It helps us grow in charity toward God and our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as those who are in opposition to us. Peace helps us focus on the tranquility of order. It is a work of justice. We gain peace the more we can imitate Christ and be filled by him. These virtues help us act with harmony when we are faced with neighbors who do not think like us and who want to attack our beliefs and what we hold to be true.
We want to always put Christ first, and as the head of our Church he is our model. Jesus modeled harmony throughout the Gospels. He showed us in both word and deed. We see his love for the poor, for the outsider, for the sinner, the marginalized, and those who society shunned. We see how he taught his disciples to wash the feet of the people they served. Jesus also showed love to the soldier who came to arrest him by healing his ear after a disciple impulsively cut it off.
Harmony.
If we understand how deeply God loves us then we can see how much he wants our conversion. He wants it so badly that he wills to bring us to him with a gentle and constant flow of grace. Most of us are unaware of this constant presence. The deeper we fall into sin the darker our intellects become, so much so that we fail to see what is right before our eyes. We argue and justify and entertain all sorts of errant thoughts about truth and justice and the way of life that is best.
But in an instant, when we are open to grace, Jesus just comes and gives us a gift from the Holy Spirit and all that disquietude washes away, replaced by harmony. We can be at peace even when we do not know the future, or the outcome of our efforts regarding a thing we are working hard at. This is because when we have harmony with God and with our brothers and sisters, we are at peace regardless of the situation we find ourselves in.
It’s all about our capacity to love, after all.
Going Further:
Contemplate Romans chapter 12 if you’d like to meditate further on the virtue of harmony this week in your daily prayer. Verses 9-21 talk about having mutual love for one another and ways to respond to disquietude and discord. You may want to journal with the Lord about what touched your heart. If you do this, be sure to give the Lord time to respond to you by listening in silence.
Let us Pray:
Now that we understand the virtue of harmony, let’s begin with a prayer of petition for it.
Control My Need to Argue with Virtue of Harmony
Prayer of Petition
Eternal Father, I am the work of your creation, made in your image and likeness but too weak to conquer the devil by my own power. I ask you for the grace to grow in virtue, surrendering all my thoughts, words, and deeds to you. Please help me resist the devil and all his tricks. Jesus says that whoever believes in him will do the works that he does and that whatever we ask in Jesus’ name he will do so that You may be glorified. Heavenly Father, you sent us your Son to show us what it means to have perfect virtue in life. Jesus is fully human and fully divine and has perfect virtue. Father, have mercy on me and please give me the grace I need to grow in the virtue of harmony so that I might grow in holiness and imitate Christ in my thoughts, words, and deeds. AMEN.
Now let’s contemplate the Lord by listening to him speak to us in the Gospels. Slowly meditate on the following passage, reflecting on what it means to be in harmony. Take your time. Pause over a word or phrase that speaks to your heart. Reread the passage again, and then ask Jesus to show you how you can imitate him in harmony and better overcome your need to argue and any disquietude in your mind. Choose a word or phrase from this passage to write in your journal, and add your thoughts. Go back and prayerfully re-read it throughout the week.
Control My Need to Argue with Virtue of Harmony
The Prayer of Jesus
from the Gospel of John Chapter 17
[Jesus said] “Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.
But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.
They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
Let us Pray:
Jesus, you love us, each and every one of us. You gave us the Holy Spirit and you feed us your Body so that we can have an abundant life of faith.
You prayed that we would be one like you and the Father are one. Jesus, you consecrated yourself for us so that we will be consecrated in the TRUTH.
You are the way, the truth, and the life. I come to the Father through you. Jesus, I thank you and praise your Holy Name for every grace you have ever given me in my life. I thank you for every suffering, every test I have had to endure, for every time I have spent wandering in the desert. I ask you to fortify me in the truth and to give me the grace to overcome all disquietude in my mind and with those in my life who challenge me in the faith.
Let me have the virtue of harmony especially when I am put to the test. I love you and I want to serve you all the remaining days of my life. Jesus you are my Lord and Savior and I thank you for everything from the bottom of my heart.
AMEN.
Virtue of Harmony
A Prayer for an Increase in Virtue for Others
Lord Jesus Christ, you say that when two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us. Jesus, in your name I lift up every person who has joined this prayer challenge or will join it in the future. I ask you to give us all the grace we need to grow in virtue and holiness so that we may love and serve you in our lives and through the people we love and care for. Help us in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Guide us all by your Holy Spirit and give us the strength to overcome every temptation from the evil one. We ask all this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Together as a group we will pray for each other and strive to make good resolutions and keep them. Remember, it’s your heart that God wants to capture. Your efforts are out of love for him and a desire to imitate him as best you can in holiness.
If you fail, do not quit trying. Be merciful to yourself and learn to love the process of striving to be more like Jesus every day. Just take it one day at a time, and stay in the present moment with Jesus. Keep your gaze on Jesus. Being virtuous is a process. No one is perfect, so just start anew every time you fail to be in harmony when faced with discord or disquietude.
How do I Practice Virtue?
You’ve learned about the 30th Virtue, and you’ve prayed for God to give you grace. Now what? Let’s take a look at the Catechism for some guidance on how we can make Week 30 a successful effort.
In this one and only Church of God from its very beginnings there arose certain rifts, which the Apostle strongly censures as damnable. But in subsequent centuries much more serious dissensions appeared and large communities became separated from full communion with the Catholic Church—for which, often enough, men of both sides were to blame.”
The ruptures that wound the unity of Christ’s Body—here we must distinguish heresy, apostasy, and schism—do not occur without human sin: Where there are sins, there are also divisions, schisms, heresies, and disputes. Where there is virtue, however, there also are harmony and unity, from which arise the one heart and one soul of all believers (Origen).
Making Resolutions
Take a moment to reflect on the virtue of harmony. What are the ways you can freely practice this virtue this week? Ask the Lord to give you opportunities, and when you feel the Holy Spirit prompting you, take action. Write down your resolutions for this coming week in your prayer journal. Remind yourself to complete these resolutions daily for this entire week, and as the Spirit prompts you, feel free to write about your experiences with this virtue throughout the week.
In My Thoughts:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my thoughts by… (make your intention).
In My Words:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my words by… (make your intention).
In My Actions:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my actions by… (make your intention).
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Week 31 Mental Prayer Meditation
Virtue of Reverence will Combat the Spirit of Scurrility
“Virtue of Reverence will Combat the Spirit of Scurrility” – join us for our 31st meditation on the 35 virtues of St. Hildegard of Bingen.