Where are you at the foot of the cross?
A short devotional on the Precious Blood of Christ
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him; but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, “Not a bone of him shall be broken.” -John 19:32-36
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to stand at the foot of Jesus’ cross.
Me and my friends who meet weekly for Bible study has been working our way through Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich’s account of Jesus’ Passion as He gave her in a series of many extremely descriptive and detailed visions (we’re calling it “Passion Girl Summer,” lol!). As we read and discuss various chapters of her account, we often find ourselves looking to Mary, imaginatively placing ourselves in her view as she walked the way of the cross in real time and space.
In my wildest dreams of holiness, I stand at the foot of the cross right next to her. The blood from His side wound gushes over me, pouring into my eyes—I picture exactly this scene in The Passion of the Christ movie. I can’t see anything except the crimson of His Precious Blood, shed and spewing out in the most violent death in human history—all because He loves me just because I exist.
When the lizard scales of sin and worldly desires are in my eyes, everything is distorted. It’s like a kaleidoscope of chaos, and I can’t make sense of anything with a straight mind.
But when Jesus’ blood is in my eyes, dripping from the cross as I gaze up at His beautiful face bent in agony, I can see with perfect clarity. Everything is okay. There’s perfect peace, perfect joy, perfect love.
July is the month our Church dedicates to the Precious Blood of Christ, poured out for us in perfect love for the salvation we cannot earn for ourselves. Just like our Blessed Mother, I want to keep His blood in my eyes for the rest of my days. I want to follow His will, where true freedom and joy is found.
Truly, this is what life is all about.
In Him,
-Eliza
*Blessed Anne Catherine’s visions of the Passion are accounted in the book The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ—get it for $7 at Thriftbooks here or read the free PDF here.
I have something big to ask y’all:
Eliza Writes Things on Instagram and here on Substack is growing quickly (we recently hit #19 rising in the Faith & Spirituality category, and just passed 60k on IG! so exciting!!), not only in the number of those who follow, subscribe, and read what I write, but in the quantity and quality of written essays and social media content I’m able to produce. I’m blessed to have the time and energy to pour hours of dedicated work into EWT every day, all for the mission of sharing a message of encouragement and joy in the Lord for Catholic women.
But I’m not a priest or member of religious life who has their basic needs taken care of by the Church, able to pray and work without needing to save their cash to take care of future children someday. As EWT grows, it requires more and more of my time. I must always put my time towards the best use for my family, and as EWT grows more and more, it needs to provide for my family so that I can continue to justify all of the time spent. I’m painfully aware that whenever the Lord blesses me and Will with our first child, I’ll have to put a halt to writing and creating for EWT as I am able to right now, unless it’s reasonably providing for our family’s financial needs.
This got me thinking about the Renaissance-era practice of art patronage, in which one or a few families with the means to do so would financially support an artist so he or she could create public and private art with a reasonable salary. These patrons understood the value of art personally and for public culture, saw their ability to play an integral part in supporting it, and acted. Writing is art. Social media content creation is art (my friend
reminds me of this all the time!). I’m an artist in service of the Church’s mission to share God’s beauty, and I’m proud that my mediums are a keyboard and video editor.I’m looking for patrons to support the mission of EWT and help turn my dream of making this ministry a full-time job and blessing for our future family into a reality.
Here are seven ways you can help, regardless of your income:
I really need patrons who are able to give significant and generous amounts as custom in the arts patronage model. I’m wondering if there are any churches or older couples who have the flexibility to make this happen—are you this person? Do you know someone? Do you know someone who knows someone? This is a far more nuanced thing than just clicking a subscription button in Substack—if you are interested in talking to me about this or can introduce me to someone who would like to, please shoot me an email at elizamontspr@gmail.com. Know that I would be thrilled beyond belief to have this conversation with you.
Founding members of EWT are those who support my work with a generous annual pledge, and they are critical to my ability to keep writing at this capacity and quality. A founding membership goes an incredibly long way toward supporting my writing, and I’d be honored if you prayerfully considered supporting EWT’s Catholic ministry in this capacity, and you can do so at the link below.
Every time I see a new monthly paid subscriber in my Substack dashboard, I smile big knowing my dream of running this ministry full-time is coming closer! Paid subscribers have the benefit of reading my full Friday posts, which are journalistic deep-dives into culture from a Catholic perspective and more vulnerable into me and Will’s own experiences of the faith. If you haven’t become an upgraded subscriber yet…please take a moment right now to really, truly consider it. For the cost of one coffee a month at your favorite, cozy café, you can support my work with more impact than you know.
Ask a parent or significant other to give you a gift subscription. I always smile when I notice an extra gifted subscriber in my inbox—it makes me happy to think about the generosity of one loved one to another at play right here!
Get together with a few friends to save money on a group subscription. The more, the merrier—in terms of savings on Substack subscriptions, at least!
I know not everyone has extra cash. But I also know each and every one of you has a good heart and wants to support my work—your subscription alone and willingness to read this entire email both tell me that. I’m asking you to share EWT with at least 3 friends. Text them the link to your favorite article of mine and tell them why it impacted you. DM them your favorite post on my Instagram—or to reach even more friends, post your favorite reel of mine to your stories and share why you like it. Forward this email to their inbox and tell them why you enjoy reading what I write. These personal connections make a huge difference and are so appreciated.
Pray for me—I, and all of your favorite Catholic writers and content creators, need it more than we’re letting on. Please pray that the Lord will provide what Will and I are asking for, for Him to fill my cup with Himself so that I can better share His glory and beauty with others, for Him to spare me from burnout. Please pray against anxiety for the future, that when I consider life ahead I see Him alone. Please pray that one or a few critical patrons will support my work financially in the ways I need. Please pray that I will write and say only what the Holy Spirit desires me to write and say, knowing that His beauty saves the world.
I wouldn’t be where I am now without y’all taking the time to read what I write—I am so, so thankful to each one of you for your support. I’m asking for big things here, but I stand tall knowing Christ is with me and that my hopes for my future family are not in vain. I get a little teary-eyed when I think about the 21-year-old publishing her poetry about Jesus to Instagram, wondering if anyone besides her college friends would read it—she’d be in disbelief to see where Jesus has brought her five years later.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you for supporting Eliza Writes Things.
Mary, Help of Christians, pray for us.
Let’s commit it to memory:
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Begin:
“At once there came out blood and water.”
I love this! I need to start a Passion Girls Summer! haha Curious for your book meetings, do you have reflection questions for your discussions or do people just share their thoughts?