safe haven

It is typical of newborn goat kids to wander off from their mother and find a safe place to take a nap. This used to worry me because often the mother wouldn’t have a clue how to find them! Mayhem would send me running as mama’s frantic bellowing echoed through the woods. Believe me, goats say much more than baa to communicate! I spent a lot of time hunting the babies down, always to find them snuggled under a briar patch or a log. They hadn’t a worry in the world! They were smart enough to find a safe haven in which to rest.It was keeping this in mind that I began to get the idea that I could create safe havens for myself. To be specific, safe havens from committing sin. Sounds a bit odd, I know, but it occurred to me one day that prayer and liturgy were the vehicles for that safe haven.

The rosary is a particular example of a safe haven. If I am praying it and concentrating on the mystery or my petitions I am virtually sin free. I enter the safe haven of God’s grace not by fighting my inclinations or failures or selfishness but by replacing them with prayer. Of course the rosary is the master of safe havens. It transformed my driving mania into something as peaceful as a nook in the woods. It has made my daily chore of cleaning fields a haven of prayer that I eagerly seek. Besides being one of the most effective weapons in the spiritual kingdom, I have found great comfort in knowing that while praying it, I don’t sin. It is wonderfully reassuring to find I just spent a half an hour not sinning!

In my years as a mother - thirty four and counting - there have been many times I was the safe haven for my frightened or tired child. The Blessed Virgin has extended her loving arms to me in that same way by giving me not only the rosary, but the Hail Mary. It has formed the scaffold of my thought life and a prayer my soul flies to in dire need. In times of fear this has always been true. Whether in an MRI tube, fighting claustrophobia, or simply feeding the animals, the rosary transforms my thoughts.

I realized this years ago when I was walking my aged dog in the park. She was so decrepit I quit using a leash on her and just let her sniff around in places where no one walked. I wasn’t paying much attention the day a lady came up to me and castigated me in no uncertain terms. I was an irresponsible person for letting my dog off the leash and threatening the life of people in the park. Now, she was right about the leash, however it hasn’t anything to do with the story. I collected my dangerous beast and as I walked to the car I burst into the Hail Mary - in Latin! I didn’t realize it until much later, as I was comforted by the prayer. I hadn’t studied the prayer in Latin since my days as a young child. Since then I have used it very effectively in creating safe havens not only of refuge but a successful weapon against retaliation. Again, the rosary saving me from sin!

As I prepared for and entered into the Mass I realized that it, too, was a safe haven from sin. When I participate for that hour as “heaven meets earth” and concentrate on it, truly submit my heart and mind, I am without sin. I cannot sin or, better put, I will not sin. This isn’t to mean I am not capable of it - but the “safe haven” gets stronger and stronger as I use the Mass or the rosary for this purpose.

The goal, of course, is to extend these safe havens and it would be lovely to report that I go for days without offending God. But that just isn’t so. I know that until I draw my last breath, I will still depend upon mercy, grace, forgiveness, patience as well as the wonderful sacrament of Reconciliation! But it has empowered me and comforted me vastly to look back on any given day and know that I have at least spent part of a day in that “safe haven” found in rosary and Mass.

Harriet Kety Sabatini is a lifelong Catholic and mother of five grown children. Her home is in Alabama where she lives at Marygate Farm with her husband Leo. As a consecrated member of the Missionary Cenacle Apostolate, her mission is to urge all Catholics to live as apostles. She has written two children’s books. The first, Joseph’s Hands helps children understand vocations and the second, Isabel’s Sister, is a pro-life book for all ages. Harriet’s books have been featured on Catholic radio and are endorsed by such Catholic authors and clergy as Archbishop Foley of Alambama and Bert Ghezzi. You can visit her at her blog, Marygatefarm.blogspot.com, or email her at Marygate.books@gmail.com . Her next book, Lessons from the Round Pen relates the story of God working with her through her relationships with horses.