Woman of Light

The Virtue of Hope of Blessed Alphonse Marie

"The heaven is not empty!" (Wrote Benedict XVI in his encyclical letter about hope
"Spe Salvi", 5). There are people who put their hope in Jesus Christ.

A life of a Christian is filled with a hope. Christians "have a future: it is not that
they know the details of what awaits them, but they know in general terms that their
life will not end in emptiness. Only when the future is certain as a positive reality
does it become possible to live the present as well" (cf. Spe salvi, 2).
"True Christians are never sad, even if they have to face trials of various kinds"
(Benedict XVI: Message for the XXIV World Youth Day).

What is the object of our hope? The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains
hope with the words: "Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom
of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises
and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit"
(CCC 1817). "The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God
has placed in the heart of every man" (CCC 1818).

The desire after happiness, although not the one the world offers, but the true man’s
happiness, we see in Blessed Alphonse Marie from her childhood. She places her
hope entirely and unconditionally in God. She expresses her attitude of trusting hope
in prayers. Even as a little girl, little Elizabeth confidently asks for the grace to avoid
everything that offends God or is sinful, "My Jesus, You won't allow me to insult You
seriously, will You?" She constantly expresses the desire to become holy, "Jesus, You
will help me to become holy, won't You?" We know many such statements from her
autobiography, especially from the time when Elizabeth was ill: "Jesus, I want to remain
faithful to your grace above all else. You are my support, I put my trust in You." Here we
can see the certainty with which Elizabeth turns to Jesus. This familiar certainty is
a characteristic feature of Elizabeth's (later Mother Alphonse Marie) prayers.
As Superior, she constantly asks the Lord to give her the light to fulfill her duties.
Father Reichard emphasizes in his writings, the constant confidential conversations
of Mother Alphonse Marie with the Lord, "In every matter she has to resolve,
she asks God for help and presents it as her personal request. She shows Him her
weakness and ignorance..." When she receives visitors, guides postulants or has
to sort something out in the cloister, she speaks to her Divine Bridegroom with courage,
"My Jesus, take this matter in Your hands. You know I can do nothing.
It is Your business." Her teaching to the Sisters and Novices are full of instructions for
trust and hope, "Place all your confidence in the Divine Mercy, and alone in the merits
of Jesus Christ, our Divine Redeemer." We certainly know several events from her life
when Blessed Alphonse Marie placed her hope in God with full trust and asked for
God's intervention when the cloister was in financial difficulties.
And the answer always came.

The prayer of supplication itself is a strong expression of hope, as it is based on the
trust that God can help man and grant him the graces of the coming Kingdom of God.

What Blessed Alphonse Marie recognized as essential on her long journey of spiritual
life, namely to become like Jesus and to be permeated by His Spirit, she also
recommends to us as the foundation of our faith, our hope, and our love.

When she spoke about prayer, she always expressed her inner desire to stand before
Jesus and "to glorify and praise His name all day." And she also entrusts this message
of her inner attitude to us, the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer. 

The central part of the Original Rules is, "The spirit of the Daughter of the Divine
Redeemer should be the Spirit of Jesus Christ, their God and Model. It is according
to this Model that the members of the Order are to direct their entire lives. Yes,
the Spirit of Jesus should so totally animate and penetrate them that it
becomesapparent in all their being; and thereby, in the words of the Apostle,
'the life of Jesus is made manifest in their mortal bodies'" (cf. 2 Cor. 4:11).

Of course Father Reichard wrote this text, but we know that he always faithfully
reproduced all statements of Mother Alphonse Marie. It is unthinkable that he would
not have taken into account the discussions he had with Mother Alphonse Marie
about the founding of a new congregation. It is also inconceivable that he would have
strayed from what has so far constituted the core of the spiritual experience
of Mother Alphonse Marie, whose spiritual path he has observed so carefully.

When we speak about the virtue of Blessed Alphonse Marie's hope, we can say
that the basis of her hope was God, who has a human face and loves people
to the utmost. A special place in her heart was held by the poor, the sick,
the abandoned, and all those who needed help. Yes, this is what Mother Alphonse
Marie wanted to show by her life also to us, by testifying that the Kingdom of God
is where God is loved and where His love touches us, where we experience
His love and where we reciprocate this love. It is Jesus Christ and His love,
which is shown through the sacrifice on the cross for every person.

Blessed Alphonse Marie not only tells us, but also shows us how to follow Jesus.
We must limit ourselves exclusively to the first meaning of human emulation, namely,
"walking the way of Christ" or "following Christ's example." We could be in danger
of becoming outward relationship between Jesus and those who want to imitate
or follow Him. The text goes beyond the meaning and says that the Sisters
of the Divine Redeemer "are to direct their inner and outer lives." This means that they
shape their spiritual life according to the life of Jesus Christ and live in accordance with
the way of life and actions of Jesus, while being united with Him. Text continues and
goes to a mystical level in the true sense of the word, "The Spirit of Jesus should
constantly and powerfully vivify them, that His Spirit should be evident in their entire
being; and thereby, in the words of the Apostle, 'the life of Jesus is made manifest
in their mortal bodies.'" The Spirit of Christ thus becomes the active basis of spiritual
life, behavior, and action. In this sense, the quotation from Gal 2:20 is in full harmony
with this idea, " The life I live now is not my own; Christ is living in me."
  One could express it this way: It is no longer my spirit that penetrates me,
but the Spirit of Christ that penetrates me. It is no longer my spirit, but the Spirit
of Christ that permeates my actions. Unity in Christ is based on that that the Daughter
of the Divine Redeemer live in Jesus Christ and that Jesus Christ lives
(and works) in them.

The true stars of our lives are people who have managed to live right. They are lights
of hope. One of them is also a woman of light (that is how Professor Winling calls her),
Blessed Alphonse Marie. Why shouldn't we also be among these lights of hope?

Sources (other than those mentioned):
Raymond Winling: Woman of Light
Raymond Winling: Talk for the Sisters at the 2006 General Chapter in Oberbronn