It
all began when Ven. Maria Celeste Crostarosa received a revelation while she
was still a novice to, “Stamp on your spirit the features of his life and the
resemblance of him that comes from imitation. Be on earth living and inspired images of my
beloved Son. Carry him about as the life
of your heart and as the goal of your existence and as the Master of your
spirit.” Intent of the Father “This instruction was for her soul like a polished
mirror into which, she remained gazing continually at the dazzling light of the
sun (Son) and found herself at once drawn into the divine splendor of her
Well-Beloved.” Autobiography Celeste, and the Order which she was to
found, was called from the beginning to be for the world a Mirror of God’s
Love.
Likewise, we are called to fix our gaze on the Son and, as if gazing in a mirror, see not only the splendor of His Being but in our own being a living reflection of God’s eternal love. “It is in this that the Redeemer is able today to accomplish His work of salvation in us and through us.” Const. 5 For, “The more we strive to live the love of Christ, the more the thoughts and feelings of Christ will fill our spirit and our heart, the more we will become His faithful images.” Const.6
Like a double exposure of a photograph, one superimposed on the other, we endeavor to be Christ the Redeemer to one another: “To be a living copy and faithful portrait of Jesus so that he might find himself in you, and you recognize yourself in him, your God through faith.” Florilegium 6.
Ven. Celeste had a creative spirit. Just reading her works gives us insight into the richness of her inner life by the way she uses imagery in her writings. She was also pliable in the hand of God by opening her heart and allowing God to shape and mold her, transform her into the image of the Son.
Everyone is called to remain moist and be shaped by God. And by that transformation, we follow the Redeemer and make his saving action alive in our own time and place. This became clear to Bl Celeste when she marveled, “I no longer saw myself, but I saw You in my very self and myself transformed into You, my Most Pure Love.”
Jesus invited Celeste, and us, with these words, "If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross each day and follow me." (Luke 9:23) Celeste’s response was, “Oh with what love I embraced the cross, loved it, desired it and took pleasure in it -- all for your love.” She continues, “Likewise those who love bind themselves to the cross…savor the true and solid sweetness of God and the true peace found therein.” Florilegium 118.
Celeste describes Jesus the Redeemer as the mirror of the Father. She invites us to look into this mirror of the Son, saying, “Those who are pure of heart know the Father because they look upon the Redeemer fixedly with a gaze of love.” and adds: “They are children of the light because with the vision of right intention, they gaze into the mirror of the divine perfections of their God.” The Mystic Who Remembered’ by Joseph Opptiz, CSsR Let us be Mirrors of Love, of the Redeemer, of our God.
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