Dear KB: AD MULTOS ANNOS!

Today's post recalls the birth of KB in 1979. She excelled in all her studies and was destined to enjoy a distinguished career, earning a doctorate and enjoying the title of "multi-disciplinary mathematician," no less. 

'...great was the fall thereof'

This is one page from an exercise book in which K proved herself to be an adept and diligent student of her Faith, at only five years of age (1985-6). The writing in pencil is hers, as are the drawings.

The page illustrates the story Our Lord told in His Sermon on the Mount:

[24] Every one that heareth these my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, [25]And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock.[26] And every one that heareth these my words, and doth them not, shall be like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand, [27] And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof. [Matthew 7]

How tragic for all concerned that so many of us have followed the example of the foolish man in Verse 26.  'Great was the fall thereof'. Great indeed.

St Louis-Marie suggests the reasons for such a fall:

TRAITE DE LA VRAIE DEVOTION A LA SAINTE VIERGE
St Louis-Marie de Montfort

Ah! combien a-t-on vu de cèdres du Liban et d'étoiles du firmament tomber misérablement et perdre toute leur hauteur et leur clarté en peu de temps! D'où vient cet étrange changement? Ce n'a pas été faute de grâce, qui ne manque à personne, mais faute d'humilité: ils se sont crus capables de garder leurs trésors; ils se sont fiés et appuyés sur eux-mêmes; ils ont cru leur maison assez sûre, et leurs coffres assez forts pour garder le précieux trésor de la grâce, et c'est à cause de cet appui imperceptible qu'ils avaient en eux-mêmes (quoiqu'il leur semblât qu'ils s'appuyaient uniquement sur la grâce de Dieu), que le Seigneur très juste a permis qu'ils ont été volés, en les délaissant à eux-mêmes.

Ah, how often have we seen great cedars of Lebanon fall wretchedly and stars in the firmament lose all their sublime brightness, and so quickly! How does this strange transformation occur? Not through lack of grace, lacking in no person, but through lack of humility: they thought that they themselves were capable of keeping their treasures; they trusted in themselves and counted on themselves alone; they thought their house was sturdy enough and their chests strong enough to keep safe the precious treasure of grace; and it was because of this reliance they placed on themselves, barely perceptible to them (because it seemed to them that they were relying solely upon God's grace), that the most just Lord permitted the theft of their treasures, leaving them to themselves.[Eng. transl. by PB]

Update: 4 November: 

Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall. Itaque qui se existimat stare, videat ne cadat. [I Cor. x. 12]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.