The Bridegroom Speaks

"Come then, my love, my lovely one, come!" This is the invitation, the call of the Bridegroom. Can you hear it in the beauty of the world He has created for you? Can you hear Him calling to you to come to Him, the One Whom your heart is seeking, in the Eucharist, in the Scriptures? He is always singing to you and inviting you to come to Him and be His love. And He will patiently wait for you to be ready to come to Him, to respond to His invitation. 

Ashley Parker, a member of Hope's Garden and participant in our Brides of Christ study, joins Laura for this episode.

We are all seeking the One Whom our hearts love. St. Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary have much to teach us about seeking, finding, and holding fast to Jesus, the Divine Bridegroom.

Laura invites you to rest in Jesus' love and let Him sing His divine love song to your heart as she reads the Jerusalem Bible translation of The Song of Songs. This translation of The Song is used by Father Blaise Arminjon in his book The Cantata of Love: A Verse by Verse Reading of The Song of Songs. The Cantata of Love is our guidebook in the Hope's Garden Brides of Christ Heart-led Study of The Song of Songs.

Learn more about the Brides of Christ and the Hope's Garden Consecration to Christ the Bridegroom at hopesgarden.com.

Marian West, a member of Hope’s Garden, shares her story of how the Lord healed her fears and confusion about Him being her Bridegroom and embraced the spousal relationship He was offering her.

The story of St. Mary Magdalene is a celebration of the Bridegroom’s Merciful Love. She was truly a Bride of Christ and has so much to teach us about intimacy with Him. May St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us and be our model of seeking, finding, and holding fast to the One Whom our souls love.

In this episode of The Bridegroom Speaks, Laura talks with Hope’s Garden member Karen Baglieri and Father Michael Stalla, spiritual advisor of Hope’s Garden. Father Michael was spiritual director for both Karen and Laura during seasons of tremendous personal suffering. He also prayed for and witnessed the miraculous healings they both received. They got together to talk about the role of spiritual direction in the journey out of the darkness of depression and abuse and into Christ's Light.

Why are all souls feminine? Because the Bridegroom desires to marry every soul and impregnate hearts with His Love. All Christians, male and female, are called to give birth to the love of Christ in their homes, their work places, their parishes, their world. May all hearts be set on fire with the Love of God!

Jesus the Bridegroom desires to reveal His Heart to you. The essence of spousal love, human and divine, is a mutual sharing of hearts. How beautiful and awesome it is that our Lord desires intimacy with each one of us!

The Song of Songs is a poetic, image-filled description of our life with the Bridegroom. One of the prominent images is that of grapes and wine, the vineyard. In this episode, Laura shows us how the maturing of the vines, the ripening of the grapes and the pressing into wine that occurs in nature and is described in The Song of Songs is analogous to our spiritual life. 

"Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with thee." Mary is truly full of and perpetually being filled with the life-giving grace of God. And as the Mediatrix of All Grace, she shares God's gift with us. In this episode, dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mary Mystical Rose of God, Laura connects The Song of Songs, Mary's Immaculate Conception, and the Bridegroom's desire to fill each of us with His dew drops of grace. May we, too, become full of grace!