When
I started this blog in April 2013, I never intended to make it a vehicle for
anything other than spreading the word about, and celebrating, the beauty of
the traditional Office of the Order of Preachers. The furthest thing from my mind was to make it
a blog about me. I am still holding to
this principle, but I am making an exception to the latter, in that this post
has to do with me.
In
July, my wife of 12 years filed for divorce.
This was not entirely a surprise, as she has been estranged from me (and
to a large extent our two children) for over a year now, but it was still a
shock to hear those ugly words and have a process server serve me with an
Action for Divorce in front of our home.
The grief and stress, brought on by the struggles of raising an Autistic
child took their toll on her, and she fell away from the Faith a few years
ago. In this spiritually defenseless
state, she fell prey to a “spiritual advisor” (read spiritual predator) who
introduced her to the New Age. The rest
is history. She rapidly lost her closest
friends, as the poisonous doctrines that she consumed turned the once loving
and devoted family woman into a sophomoric narcissist, who has no need of
anyone since “everything I need for happiness is within me.”
I
do not want this…not at all. Our
problems are minor compared to many other couples that we know. However, a holy and orthodox Catholic priest,
who was recommended to me by a friend, told me (among other things) to begin a
devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows, because under the diabolical “no-fault”
divorce laws of our State, the destruction of our family and the rending of our
children’s gentle and innocent hearts is inevitable. There is absolutely nothing I can do to stop
it…save praying for a miracle (which I am doing).
Therefore, as tomorrow is the Feast of the Seven Dolors of the B.V.M., I ask anyone who
reads this blog to pray, first and foremost for our children, who will bear the
brunt of the suffering as this tragedy unfolds.
Secondly for my wife, who has fallen into such utter spiritual darkness that I doubt she is capable of finding the path to the Church, even if she wanted to return. Lastly, for me, that Our Lady of Sorrows will
sustain me with her prayers, as I stand with her at the foot of the Cross,
offering my suffering for my family.
If anyone is interested in learning more about devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows, this website sells pamphlets and prayer cards for that devotion, among many others.