Fr. Metoděj Minařík, O.Carm.
Father Metoděj in his humility would probably be surprised if he saw that excerpts from his private letters are to be published in a magazine. But on the other hand: we are selecting non-confidential passages that he wrote to his sister, who was burdened by illness, old age, and the pain of loss among relatives and friends. I believe he would agree that we seek encouragement and spiritual guidance from his words, which he wrote to her, to strengthen ourselves as well.
And it may bring us even more benefit: at home, no one is a prophet. We often find it most difficult to speak of spiritual matters to our closest ones. Here we have in front of us very simple yet profound words from an educated Carmelite, a priest, and at the same time a humble brother to his sister.
Graceful things are always associated with sacrifices, with trials. But that is part of the matter. For example, the way you had to experience those gracious days of Christmas at home, without a church and without the joy of communal worship in church. The Lord God can compensate for that in other ways when He demands it from us. And it is, among other things, also atonement for those who could go but do not, for that emptiness they have in their hearts, and sometimes from some of them, we gain the light of grace so that they may eventually recover in the day of visitation.
From a letter to Sister Maria dated February 2, 1982
And do not think that your life is not of great value, that you can no longer do as much and take care of everything as you did before. There are also spiritual matters, and they are actually the most precious. You now deserve many graces for yourself and others and have a great share in God's redemptive work, that of Jesus Christ, and be aware of that and grateful to the Lord God for it.
From a letter to Sister Maria dated December 13, 1982
