The Twenty-Sixth Day of May

The Divine Spouse and King of the Heart.

I.

In her adoration, Mary aimed at honoring all the conditions of Jesus, at exalting Him under titles most dear to Him, and which establish most perfectly His empire over men’s hearts.

She adored Jesus under His title of Spouse of Souls. Union is the perfection of love. Jesus, in giving Himself substantially in the Eucharist, unites Himself to our soul as His cherished spouse. As Spouse, He gives us all His riches, He gives His very name, His Heart, His whole Self, but it is by right of return. The soul, His spouse, must live only for Him. Jesus is a jealous God. Woe to him that steals from Him the spouse of His Heart!

Now, Mary, like a good mother, would have the nuptials of her Beloved Son celebrated happily. As formerly at Cana, she prevented the confusion of the young couple, so does she adorn the faithful soul with her own virtues, that Jesus may find it deserving of Him. O yes!—the best preparation for Communion is that which Mary makes. Is it not the mother’s duty to clothe her daughter for the wedding day? On that day she despoils herself. Who can say the care that this good Mother takes of the spouses of the Eucharistic God, above all, of the purity of their hearts, that they may make the delight of their well-beloved Spouse?

But Jesus is also the Spouse of the Church, whose fruitful virginity makes Him the Father of the new generation of God’s children. Mary adored Him, also, as the Spouse of the Church, and she loved the latter as her daughter, indissolubly united to her very dear Son. Mary would have willingly given her life for the Church. She protected it, defended it by her incessant prayers. She gladly Watched over its progress and shared its dangers, suffering with it and for it. Though the Mother of the Church, she was at the same time its daughter. Like the most submissive of its children, she obeyed Peter and John and all other priests. She honored the holy ceremonies, she adored Jesus by the Church, by its worship, its liturgical prayers, its priesthood, and all its children. O what beautiful adoration was that which united Mary and the Faithful at the foot of the Blessed Sacrament! Heaven could not be jealous of it, for Mary was in the Church as the sun among the stars. God might well love the earth, and Jesus His tabernacle! It was the heaven of love.

II.

Again, Mary adored Jesus in His quality of King, for the Holy Eucharist is the Savior’s royalty. By it He reigns in hearts and over society. Truth, to triumph over men, must needs pass through the Eucharist, in order to catch some of Its sweetness, and to become persuasive and touching. As long as a man has not communicated, he has only the faith of truth, he has not yet the faith of love, the joyousness, the sweetness of faith. He has met Jesus on his way, he has conversed with Him without knowing Him well. The Eucharist alone will reveal to him, in all His power and light, Jesus Christ and all the secrets of Faith. By the Eucharist, then, Jesus is King of truth.

As of truth, so of the other virtues. The Eucharist is necessary in order that they may reign definitively in the heart. Communion is necessary to refine, to soften, to beatify them in the love of Jesus. Jesus must give Himself to me, in order to subjugate me by His love, and be able to say to me: "My child, give Me thy heart." In the Eucharist alone, the love of Jesus Christ is royally served, since in It He has a palace, a court, and adorers.

Mary, then, adored Jesus as her King, no longer in His poor and fugitive royalty of Bethlehem or of Egypt, nor as her Crucified King on Calvary, but in His permanent royalty, seated on His throne of glory, all veiled as He is, invulnerable to the darts of His enemies, invincible in His victory, glorious in the triumph of His love. Mary saw, realized the words of the angel: "He shall reign over the House of Jacob, and of His reign there shall be no end." She saw the Eucharistic thrones daily multiply. Every city, every village, becomes His court, and of fers to Him a palace. She beheld all virtues flourishing in the world by means of the Eucharist, and they are the royal crown of the God who Himself inspires and fosters them.

O what sighs, what prayers for the Eucharistic reign of Jesus, issued from Mary’s heart in the Cenacle! She asked, and she saw in the course of the ages, the Eucharist spreading, and the love of Jesus everywhere triumphing. In fine, Jesus will be loved, His Eucharist will find sympathetic hearts, and Its fire will envelop the world to renew it.

O Divine King! Yes, reign as Sovereign over my heart and my life as Thou didst over Thy Blessed Mother! May Thy truth be my ensign of honor, Thy virtues my arms, Thy love my word of command, and Thy greater Eucharistic glory the fruit of my victory!

This is the ardent prayer of my heart, which I offer Thee through Mary, the Queen of the Cenacle, and the Mother of adorers.

Practice: Pray to Mary constantly to extend the Eucharistic reign of Jesus Christ throughout the whole world.

Aspiration: O Immaculate Heart of Mary, nuptial couch, upon which the Spouse finds His delights, inflame us with the love that consumes thee!