More Meditations on the Beauty of Creation

At the sight of the sea many beautiful thoughts and feelings arise within one. The sky is blue and the horizon is vast. It is the image of the love of God when it takes possession of a soul and makes it capable of an immensity of holy deeds.

Yes! Grace is an infinite treasure of God and those who receive it, and make good use of it, are truly partakers of the friendship of God. Is it not precious for the immense increase which at every hour it makes in our souls? It is true, then, that the ocean is a beautiful image of grace.

Let us try, oh, my daughters, to attract the grace of God to our souls, by perfect detachment of all and from all, even from our most ardent desires that may disturb the peace and quietness of soul, which are the fruits of grace.

I write after having assisted at a spectacle quite new to myself and also new to some of the sailors. About eleven o'clock we saw ourselves surrounded by enormous masses of ice. At first they appeared to be things of no importance, like white doves resting on the water, but afterwards, little by little, they grew much larger. They took enormous proportions, and when we got nearer to them we saw that they were about twelve times larger than our ship. The Captain reduced the speed of the engines and took a different route to avoid them, but for all that at one moment we were only a distance of about sixty yards from them. Now we see some of them in the distance. We feel afraid of the coming night. Perhaps, then, there will be danger, but we leave ourselves in the Hands of the good Jesus.

The marvelous spectacle, which is continually present to our vision, offers us a good preparation for Holy Communion, as we all see this is the work of Him, Whom we so ardently desire to welcome in the small Sanctuary of our souls.

It is true the weather is cold just like an April morning, but the air is pure and it is a pleasure to breathe it. It is healthy and inspires sublime thoughts, just as a celestial ray would surround us and raise our minds to that God, so good, so dear, and so great. He has made so many beautiful things for us, poor creatures, the work of His omnipotent Hand.

This devotional was inspired by the life and writings of Mother Francesca Cabrini in collaboration with Sophia Institute Press. Find out more about her writings and the new film about her life at Angel.com/watch/cabrini.