Sorrows of the Heart of Jesus.
"It was not the lance that first wounded the Heart of Jesus; He had been wounded by love from the first moment of His life, and this was His first and deepest wound which He could not Himself conceal. ‘You have wounded my heart my sister, my spouse, you have wounded my heart.’ Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, sponsa (Cant. iv. 9)" (Nouet).
"It was not the lance that first wounded the Heart of Jesus; He had been wounded by love from the first moment of His life, and this was His first and deepest wound which He could not Himself conceal. ‘You have wounded my heart my sister, my spouse, you have wounded my heart.’ Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, sponsa (Cant. iv. 9)" (Nouet).
The Heart of Jesus was again wounded by His compassion for our miseries, which inflicted on Him as many wounds as He beheld evils in us.
He was wounded by sorrow for our sins, bearing in His Heart sorrow and contrition for the crimes of the whole world, as He afterwards bore their punishment in His Body. This was a far heavier cross than that of Calvary, on which He died, for it began with His life, and ended only with His death.
St. Angela of Foligno tells us:"The suflferings in store for Him, presented themselves to His mind, and saddened His Heart, from the first moment of His existence, and this not confusedly, but in the clearest and most distinct manner. He foresaw that after a sad and toilsome life of thirty-three years, all the circumstances of which were ever present before His eyes, He should be sold and betrayed by one of His disciples, denied by another, abandoned by all, chained, struck, buffeted, accused, blasphemed, calumniated, scourged, crowned with thorns, led to Calvary, loaded with His cross, crucified, put to death, and pierced with a lance; this He saw and meditated upon during His whole life. Such a prospect could not but be attended by a bitter sadness, and an inconceivable grief of heart and mind." You may judge by this how lively and constant were the sorrows of the Heart of Jesus.
Let us hear St. Margaret Mary, or rather Jesus Christ Himself, on this subject: "One day, as I was praying before the Blessed Sacrament, which was exposed upon the altar, Jesus Christ, my divine Master, presented Himself to me all radiant with glory. His five wounds shining like five suns. Flames issued on every side from His Sacred humanity, but especially from His adorable breast, which resembled a furnace; in the midst of this burning furnace He showed me His amiable Heart, which was the source from whence those flames burst forth. It was then that He discovered to me the inexplicable wonders of His love, and to what an excess He had carried it towards men, from whom He received in return only forgetfulness and ingratitude. It is this, He said, which afflicts me more than all that I suffered in my Passion, so much so that if they did but make me a return, I should count but little all that I have done for them, and I would willingly, were it possible, do more still; but they show me only coldness and aversion, in return for all my eagerness to do them good."
The Heart of Jesus suffered not only every hour, but every instant of His mortal life; for, as He taught St. Margaret Mary, His whole life was passed in love and privation, and consumed in sacrifice. Oh! what courage this sight should give us! How light, and how short are our sufferings, when compared with those of the Heart of Jesus! I am no longer astonished, O Lord, that St. John of the Cross, who had meditated upon them, on Thy demanding what He desired in recompense for his services, should have replied "To suffer and to be despised for You" pati et contemni pro te; that St. Theresa, animated with the same sentiments, should have exclaimed: "To suffer or die!" If the barren soil of my heart does not yield such generous sentiments, at least, O Jesus, let me practice a perfect resignation amidst all the sufferings Your love shall provide for me.
Practice: Our Lord Himself begged St. Margaret Mary to set apart the first Friday of each month for the remembrance of the sorrows of His Heart. Form the resolution, then, to offer a Communion to the Heart of Jesus, as far as may be in your power, on the first Friday of every month, with the act of reparation, in atonement for all the negligences which may have attended the Communions you have made in the interval. It would also be very pleasing to our Lord, if you formed the intention of making reparation, not only for your own negligences, but also for those of all Christians.
Ejaculatory Prayer: Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with insults, teach me to bear with patience contempt and contradictions.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
1 comment:
Strange how I can desire to be,where I know I don't deserve to be.Close to Jesus' Heart.I do though. Thank you for these posts Father.
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