Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION IX: Saint Joseph goes to Bethlehem with His Holy Spouse.
And Joseph also went up ... to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who
was with child (Luke 2:4).
God had decreed that his Son should be born not in the house of Joseph, but in a cavern and stable of beasts, in the poorest and most painful way that a child can be born; and therefore he caused Caesar to publish an edict, by which people were commanded to go and enroll them selves, every one in his own city whence he drew his origin.
When Joseph heard this order, he was much agitated as to whether he should take with him or leave behind the Virgin Mother, as she was now so near childbirth. My spouse and my lady, said he to her, on the one hand, I do not wish to leave you alone; on the other, if I take you with me, I am much afflicted at the thought of all that you will have to suffer during this long journey, and in such severe weather. My poverty will not permit me to conduct you with that comfort which you require. But Mary answers him, and tries to give him courage with these words: My Joseph, do not fear. I will go with you; the Lord will assist us. She knew, both by divine inspiration, and also because she was well versed in the prophecy of Micheas that the divine Infant was to be born in Bethlehem. She therefore takes the swaddling-clothes, and the other miserable garments already prepared, and departs with Joseph. And Joseph also went up . . . to be enrolled with Mary (Luke 2:4).
Let us now consider all the devout and holy discourses which these two holy spouses must have held together during this journey concerning the mercy, goodness, and love of the divine Word, who was shortly to be born, and to appear on the earth for the salvation of men. Let us also consider the praises, the benedictions, the thanksgivings, the acts of humility and love, which these two illustrious pilgrims uttered on the way. This holy Virgin, so soon to become a mother, certainly suffered much in so longa journey, made in the middle of winter, and over rough roads; but she suffered with peace and with love. She offered to God all these her trials, uniting them to those of Jesus, whom she carried in her womb.
Oh, let us unite ourselves also, and let us accompany Mary and Joseph in the journey of our life; and, with them, let us accompany the King of Heaven, who is born in a cave, and makes his first appearance in the world as an infant, but as the poorest and most forsaken infant that ever was born amongst men. And let us beseech Jesus, Mary, and Joseph that, through the merits of the pains which they suffered in this journey, they would accompany us in the journey that we are making to eternity. Oh, blessed shall we be if, in life and in death, we keep company with these three great person ages, and are always accompanied by them!
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My beloved Redeemer, I know that in this journey Thou wast accompanied by hosts of angels from heaven; but on this earth who was there that bore Thee company? Thou hadst but Joseph and Mary who carried Thee with her. Refuse not, O my Jesus! that I also accompany Thee. Miserable ungrateful sinner that I have been, I now see the injuries I have done Thee; Thou didst come down from heaven to make Thyself my companion on earth, and I by my frequent offences have ungratefully abandoned Thee! When I remember, O my Savior, that for the sake of my own cursed inclinations I have often separated myself from Thee and renounced Thy friendship, 1 could wish to die of sorrow. But Thou didst come into the world to forgive me; therefore forgive me now, I beseech Thee, for I repent with all my soul of having so often turned my back upon Thee and forsaken Thee. I purpose and hope, through Thy grace, nevermore to leave or separate myself from Thee, O my only love! My soul has become enamored of Thee, O my amiable Infant God! I love Thee, my sweet Savior; and since Thou hast come upon earth to save me and to dispense to me Thy graces, I ask this one only grace of Thee, permit me not to be ever again separated from Thee. Unite me, bind me to Thyself, enchain me with the sweet cords of Thy holy love. O my Redeemer and my God, who will then have the heart to leave Thee, and to live without Thee, deprived of Thy grace?
Most holy Mary, I come to accompany thee in this journey; and thou, O my Mother, cease not to accompany me in the journey that I am making to eternity. Do thou assist me always, but especially when I shall find myself at the end of my life, and near that moment on which will depend either my remaining always with thee to love Jesus in paradise, or my being forever separated from thee and hating Jesus in hell. My Queen, save me by thy intercession; and may my salvation be to love thee and Jesus forever, in time and in eternity. Thou art my hope; I hope everything from thee.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Christmas Novena - Day VIII
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION VIII: The Love of God manifested to Men by the Birth of Jesus.
The grace of God our Savior hath appeared to all men, instructing us that we should live . . . godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11).
Consider that by the grace that is said here to have appeared is meant the tender love of Jesus Christ towards men,—a love that we have not merited, which therefore is called "grace."
This love was, however, always the same in God, but did not always appear. It was at first promised in many prophecies, and foreshadowed by many figures; but at. the birth of the Redeemer this divine love indeed appeared, and manifested itself by the Eternal Word showing himself to man as an infant, lying on straw, crying and shivering with cold; beginning thus to make satisfaction for us for the penalties we have deserved, and so making known to us the affection which he bore us, by giving up his life for us: In this we have known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us (I John 3:16). Therefore the love of our God appeared to all men.
But why is it, then, that all men -have not known it, and that even at this day so many are ignorant of it? This is the reason: The light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light (John 3:19). They have not known him, and they do not know him, because they do not wish to know him, loving rather the darkness of sin than the light of grace.
But let us endeavor not to be of the number of these unhappy souls. If in past times we have shut our eyes to the fight, thinking little of the love of Jesus Christ, let us try, during the days that may remain to us in this life, to have ever before our eyes the sufferings and death of our Redeemer, in order to love him who hath loved us so much: Looking for the blessed hope and corning of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Thus may we justly expect, according to the divine promises, that paradise which Jesus Christ has acquired for us by his blood. At his first coming Jesus appeared as an infant, poor and humble, and showed himself on earth born in a stable, covered with miserable rags, and lying on straw; but at his second coming he will come on a throne of majesty: We shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and majesty (Matt. 24:30). Blessed then will he be who shall have loved him, and miserable those who have not loved him.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
O my holy Infant! now I see Thee lying on straw, poor afflicted, and forsaken; but I know that one day Thou wilt come to judge me, seated on a throne of splendor, and attended by the angels. Forgive me, I implore Thee, before Thou dost judge me. Then Thou wilt have to conduct Thyself as a just judge; but now Thou art my Redeemer, and the Father of mercy. I have been one of those ungrateful ones who have not known Thee, because I did not choose to know Thee and therefore, instead of being inclined to love Thee by the consideration of the love Thou hast borne me, I have only thought of satisfying my own desires, despising Thy grace and Thy love. But into Thy sacred hands I commend my soul, which I have lost; do Thou save it: Into Thy hands I commend my spirit Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth (Ps. 30:6). In Thee do I place all my hopes, knowing that, to ransom me from hell Thou hast given Thy blood and Thy life: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth (Ps. 30:6). Thou didst not condemn me to death when I was living in sin, but hast waited for me with infinite patience, in order that, having come to myself, I might repent of having offended Thee, and might begin to love Thee and that thus Thou mightest be able to forgive and save me Yes, my Jesus, I will please Thee. I repent, above every other evil, of all the offences I have committed against Thee; I repent, and love Thee above all things. Do Thou save me in Thy mercy, and let it be my salvation to love Thee always in this life and in eternity.
My dearest Mother Mary, recommend me to thy Son. Do thou represent to him that I am thy servant, and that I have placed all my hope in thee. He hears thee, and refuses thee nothing.
MEDITATION VIII: The Love of God manifested to Men by the Birth of Jesus.
The grace of God our Savior hath appeared to all men, instructing us that we should live . . . godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11).
Consider that by the grace that is said here to have appeared is meant the tender love of Jesus Christ towards men,—a love that we have not merited, which therefore is called "grace."
This love was, however, always the same in God, but did not always appear. It was at first promised in many prophecies, and foreshadowed by many figures; but at. the birth of the Redeemer this divine love indeed appeared, and manifested itself by the Eternal Word showing himself to man as an infant, lying on straw, crying and shivering with cold; beginning thus to make satisfaction for us for the penalties we have deserved, and so making known to us the affection which he bore us, by giving up his life for us: In this we have known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us (I John 3:16). Therefore the love of our God appeared to all men.
But why is it, then, that all men -have not known it, and that even at this day so many are ignorant of it? This is the reason: The light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light (John 3:19). They have not known him, and they do not know him, because they do not wish to know him, loving rather the darkness of sin than the light of grace.
But let us endeavor not to be of the number of these unhappy souls. If in past times we have shut our eyes to the fight, thinking little of the love of Jesus Christ, let us try, during the days that may remain to us in this life, to have ever before our eyes the sufferings and death of our Redeemer, in order to love him who hath loved us so much: Looking for the blessed hope and corning of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Thus may we justly expect, according to the divine promises, that paradise which Jesus Christ has acquired for us by his blood. At his first coming Jesus appeared as an infant, poor and humble, and showed himself on earth born in a stable, covered with miserable rags, and lying on straw; but at his second coming he will come on a throne of majesty: We shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and majesty (Matt. 24:30). Blessed then will he be who shall have loved him, and miserable those who have not loved him.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
O my holy Infant! now I see Thee lying on straw, poor afflicted, and forsaken; but I know that one day Thou wilt come to judge me, seated on a throne of splendor, and attended by the angels. Forgive me, I implore Thee, before Thou dost judge me. Then Thou wilt have to conduct Thyself as a just judge; but now Thou art my Redeemer, and the Father of mercy. I have been one of those ungrateful ones who have not known Thee, because I did not choose to know Thee and therefore, instead of being inclined to love Thee by the consideration of the love Thou hast borne me, I have only thought of satisfying my own desires, despising Thy grace and Thy love. But into Thy sacred hands I commend my soul, which I have lost; do Thou save it: Into Thy hands I commend my spirit Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth (Ps. 30:6). In Thee do I place all my hopes, knowing that, to ransom me from hell Thou hast given Thy blood and Thy life: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth (Ps. 30:6). Thou didst not condemn me to death when I was living in sin, but hast waited for me with infinite patience, in order that, having come to myself, I might repent of having offended Thee, and might begin to love Thee and that thus Thou mightest be able to forgive and save me Yes, my Jesus, I will please Thee. I repent, above every other evil, of all the offences I have committed against Thee; I repent, and love Thee above all things. Do Thou save me in Thy mercy, and let it be my salvation to love Thee always in this life and in eternity.
My dearest Mother Mary, recommend me to thy Son. Do thou represent to him that I am thy servant, and that I have placed all my hope in thee. He hears thee, and refuses thee nothing.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Christmas Novena - Day VII
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION VII: The Sorrow that the Ingratitude of Men has caused Jesus.
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not (John, 1:2).
In these days of the holy Nativity St. Francis of Assisi went about the highways and woods with sighs and tears and inconsolable lamentations. When asked the reason, he answered: How should I not weep when I see that love is not loved! I see a God become, as it were foolish, for the love of man, and man so ungrateful to this God! Now, if this ingratitude of man caused so great a sorrow to the heart of St. Francis, let us consider how much more it must have afflicted the heart of Jesus Christ.
He was hardly conceived in the womb of Mary when he saw the cruel return he was to receive from man. He had descended from heaven to enkindle the fire of divine love, and this desire alone had brought him down to this earth, to suffer there an abyss of sorrows and ignominies: I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I but that it be kindled (Luke 12:49). And then he beheld an abyss of sins which men would commit after having seen so many proofs of his love. It was this, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, which made him feel an infinite sorrow: "And therefore he sorrowed infinitely.
Even among us it is an insufferable sorrow for one man to see himself treated with ingratitude by another; for the blessed Simon of Cassia observes that ingratitude often afflicts the soul more than any pain afflicts the body: "Ingratitude often causes more bitter sorrow in the soul than pain causes in the body." What sorrow, then, must our ingratitude have caused to Jesus, who was our God, when he saw that his benefits and his love would be repaid him by offences and injuries! And they repaid Me evil for good, and hatred for My love (Ps. 108:5). But even at the present day it seems as if Jesus Christ was going about complaining: I am become a stranger to My brethren (Ps 68:9). For he sees that many neither love nor know him, as if he had not done them any good, nor had suffered any thing for love of them. O God, what value do the majority of Christians even now set upon the love of Jesus Christ? Our blessed Redeemer once appeared to the blessed Henry Suso in the form of a pilgrim who went begging from door to door for a lodging, but every one drove him away with insults and injuries. How many, alas! are like those of whom Job speaks: Who said to God, Depart from us. Whereas he had filled their houses with good things (Job 12:17).
We have hitherto united ourselves to these ungrateful wretches; but shall we always be like them? No; for that loving Infant does not deserve it, who came from heaven to suffer and die for us, in order that we might love him.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
Is it, then, true, O my Jesus, that Thou didst descend from heaven to make me love Thee; didst come down to embrace a life of suffering and the death of the cross for my sake, in order that I might welcome Thee into my heart, and yet I have so often driven Thee from me, and said, "Depart from me, Lord; go away from me, Lord; for I do not want Thee?" O God, if Thou wert not infinite goodness, and hadst not given Thy life to obtain my pardon, I should not have courage to ask it of Thee; but I feel that Thou Thyself dost offer me peace: Turn ye to me, saith the Lord, and I will turn to you (Zach. 1:3). Thou Thyself, whom I have offended, O my Jesus, hast made Thyself my intercessor: He is the propitiation for our sins (I John 2:2). I will there fore not do Thee this fresh injury of distrusting Thy mercy. I repent with all my soul of having despised Thee, O sovereign Good! receive me into Thy favor for the sake of the blood which Thou hast shed for me: Father, I am not worthy to be called Thy Son (Luke 15:21). No, my Redeemer and my Father, I am no longer worthy to be Thy son, having so often renounced Thy love; but Thou dost make me worthy of Thy merits. I thank Thee, O my Father I thank Thee and I love Thee. Ah, the thought alone of the patience with which Thou hast borne with me for so many years, and of the favors Thou hast conferred upon me after so many injuries that I have done Thee, ought to make me live constantly on fire with Thy love. Come, then, my Jesus, for I will not drive Thee away any more, come and dwell in my poor heart. I love Thee, and will always love Thee; but do Thou inflame my heart every day more and more by the remembrance of the love Thou hast borne me.
O Mary, my Queen and Mother, help me. Pray to Jesus for me. Make me during the days that are left me in this world live grateful to that God who has loved me so much, even after I have so greatly offended him.
MEDITATION VII: The Sorrow that the Ingratitude of Men has caused Jesus.
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not (John, 1:2).
In these days of the holy Nativity St. Francis of Assisi went about the highways and woods with sighs and tears and inconsolable lamentations. When asked the reason, he answered: How should I not weep when I see that love is not loved! I see a God become, as it were foolish, for the love of man, and man so ungrateful to this God! Now, if this ingratitude of man caused so great a sorrow to the heart of St. Francis, let us consider how much more it must have afflicted the heart of Jesus Christ.
He was hardly conceived in the womb of Mary when he saw the cruel return he was to receive from man. He had descended from heaven to enkindle the fire of divine love, and this desire alone had brought him down to this earth, to suffer there an abyss of sorrows and ignominies: I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I but that it be kindled (Luke 12:49). And then he beheld an abyss of sins which men would commit after having seen so many proofs of his love. It was this, says St. Bernardine of Sienna, which made him feel an infinite sorrow: "And therefore he sorrowed infinitely.
Even among us it is an insufferable sorrow for one man to see himself treated with ingratitude by another; for the blessed Simon of Cassia observes that ingratitude often afflicts the soul more than any pain afflicts the body: "Ingratitude often causes more bitter sorrow in the soul than pain causes in the body." What sorrow, then, must our ingratitude have caused to Jesus, who was our God, when he saw that his benefits and his love would be repaid him by offences and injuries! And they repaid Me evil for good, and hatred for My love (Ps. 108:5). But even at the present day it seems as if Jesus Christ was going about complaining: I am become a stranger to My brethren (Ps 68:9). For he sees that many neither love nor know him, as if he had not done them any good, nor had suffered any thing for love of them. O God, what value do the majority of Christians even now set upon the love of Jesus Christ? Our blessed Redeemer once appeared to the blessed Henry Suso in the form of a pilgrim who went begging from door to door for a lodging, but every one drove him away with insults and injuries. How many, alas! are like those of whom Job speaks: Who said to God, Depart from us. Whereas he had filled their houses with good things (Job 12:17).
We have hitherto united ourselves to these ungrateful wretches; but shall we always be like them? No; for that loving Infant does not deserve it, who came from heaven to suffer and die for us, in order that we might love him.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
Is it, then, true, O my Jesus, that Thou didst descend from heaven to make me love Thee; didst come down to embrace a life of suffering and the death of the cross for my sake, in order that I might welcome Thee into my heart, and yet I have so often driven Thee from me, and said, "Depart from me, Lord; go away from me, Lord; for I do not want Thee?" O God, if Thou wert not infinite goodness, and hadst not given Thy life to obtain my pardon, I should not have courage to ask it of Thee; but I feel that Thou Thyself dost offer me peace: Turn ye to me, saith the Lord, and I will turn to you (Zach. 1:3). Thou Thyself, whom I have offended, O my Jesus, hast made Thyself my intercessor: He is the propitiation for our sins (I John 2:2). I will there fore not do Thee this fresh injury of distrusting Thy mercy. I repent with all my soul of having despised Thee, O sovereign Good! receive me into Thy favor for the sake of the blood which Thou hast shed for me: Father, I am not worthy to be called Thy Son (Luke 15:21). No, my Redeemer and my Father, I am no longer worthy to be Thy son, having so often renounced Thy love; but Thou dost make me worthy of Thy merits. I thank Thee, O my Father I thank Thee and I love Thee. Ah, the thought alone of the patience with which Thou hast borne with me for so many years, and of the favors Thou hast conferred upon me after so many injuries that I have done Thee, ought to make me live constantly on fire with Thy love. Come, then, my Jesus, for I will not drive Thee away any more, come and dwell in my poor heart. I love Thee, and will always love Thee; but do Thou inflame my heart every day more and more by the remembrance of the love Thou hast borne me.
O Mary, my Queen and Mother, help me. Pray to Jesus for me. Make me during the days that are left me in this world live grateful to that God who has loved me so much, even after I have so greatly offended him.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Christmas Novena - Day VI
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION VI: Jesus a Prisoner in the Womb of Mary.
I am become as a man without help, free among the dead (Ps. 87:5-6).
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION V: Jesus Offered Himself for our Salvation from the Beginning.
He was offered because it was His own will (Is. 53:7).
The divine Word, from the first instant that he was made man and an infant in Mary s womb, offered him self of his own accord to suffer and to die for the ransom of the world: He was offered because it was His own will (Is. 53:7). He knew that all the sacrifices of goats and bulls offered to God in times past had not been able to satisfy for the sins of men, but that it required a divine Person to pay the price of their redemption; wherefore he said, as the Apostle tells us, When He cometh into the world He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou woudst not, but a body Thou hast fitted to me. . . . Then said I, Behold, I come (Heb. 10:5). "My Father," said Jesus, "all the victims hitherto offered to Thee have not sufficed, nor could they suffice, to satisfy Thy justice; Thou hast given me this passible body, in order that by shedding my blood I might appease Thee and save men: ‘Behold, I come;’ here I am ready, I accept everything, and I submit myself in everything to Thy will."
The inferior part felt repugnance, for it naturally was averse to this life and death, so full of sufferings and shame; but the rational part, which was entirely subordinate to the will of his Father, conquered and accepted everything; and Jesus began from that moment to suffer all the anguish and sorrows that he would have to suffer during all the years of his life. Thus did our Redeemer act from the very first moment of his entrance into the world.
But, O God, how have we conducted ourselves towards Jesus since we began, as adults, to know by the light of faith the sacred Mysteries of Redemption? What thoughts, what designs, what goods have we loved? Pleasures, amusements, vengeance, sensuality; these are the goods that have engrossed the affections of our hearts. But if we have faith, we must at last change our life and our affections. Let us love a God who has suffered so much for us. Let us represent to ourselves the sufferings which the heart of Jesus endured for us, even from his infancy; for then we shall not be able to love anything else but that heart which hath loved us so much.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My Lord, wilt Thou know how I have behaved towards Thee during all my life? Ever since I began to have the use of reason, I began to despise Thy grace and Thy love. But Thou knowest it much better than I do; nevertheless, Thou hast borne with me, because Thou still carest for my welfare. I fled from Thee, and Thou didst follow after and call me. The very same love that made Thee come down from heaven to seek the lost sheep has made Thee bear with me and not forsake me. My Jesus, Thou now seekest me, and I seek Thee. I feel that Thy grace is assisting me: it assists me with the sorrow I feel for my sins, which I abhor above every other evil; it assists me by making me feel a great desire to love Thee and to please Thee. Yea, Lord, I will love Thee and please Thee as much as I can. On one side I feel afraid, it is true, at the thought of my frailty and the weakness which I have contracted by my sins; but Thy grace gives me a greater confidence, and causes me to hope in Thy merits; so that I can say, from the bottom of my heart: I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me (Phil. 4:13). If I am weak, Thou wilt give me strength against my enemies; if I am infirm, I hope that Thy blood will be my medicine; if I am a sinner, I hope Thou wilt make me a saint. I acknowledge that I have hitherto cooperated to my own ruin, because I have neglected, on dangerous occasions, to have recourse to Thee. But from this day forth, my Jesus and my hope, I will always have recourse to Thee; and from Thee I hope for every assistance and every good. I love Thee above all things, and I will always love Thee alone. Have pity on me, and help me through the merits of all those sufferings which from Thy infancy Thou hast endured for me. Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ accept of my love. If I have offended Thee, let the tears of the Infant Jesus, who is praying for me, appease Thy wrath: Look on the face of Thy Christ (Ps. 83:19). I do not deserve favors, but this Thy guiltless Son deserves them, who offers Thee a life of sufferings, in order that Thou mayest be merciful to me.And thou, O Mary, Mother of mercy, cease not to intercede for me. Thou knowest how much I confide in thee; and I know well that thou dost not forsake him that has recourse to thee.
Consider the painful life that Jesus Christ led in the womb of his Mother, and the long-confined and dark imprisonment that he suffered there for nine months. Other infants are indeed in the same state; but they do not feel the miseries of it, because they do not know them. But Jesus knew them well, because from the first moment of his life he had the perfect use of reason. He had his senses, but he could not use them; eyes, but he could not see; a tongue, but he could not speak; hands, but he could not stretch them out; feet, but he could not walk; so that for nine months he had to remain in the womb of Mary like a dead man shut up in the tomb: I am become as a man without help, free among the dead (Ps. 87:5-6). He was free, because he had of his own free will made himself a prisoner of love in this prison; but love deprived him of liberty, and bound him there so fast in chains that he could not move: "Free among the dead! oh, great patience of our Savior!" says St. Ambrose, while he considered the sufferings of Jesus in the womb of Mary.
The womb of Mary was, therefore, to our Redeemer a voluntary prison, because it was a prison of love. But it was also not an unjust prison: he was indeed innocent himself, but he had offered himself to pay our debts and to satisfy for our crimes. It was therefore only reasonable for the divine justice to keep him thus imprisoned, and so begin to exact from him the due satisfaction.
Behold the state to which the Son of God reduces himself for the love of men! he deprives himself of his liberty and puts himself in chains, to deliver us from the chains of hell. What gratitude and love should we not show in return for the love and goodness of our deliverer and our surety, who, not by compulsion but only out of love, offered himself to pay, and has paid for us, our debts and our penalties by giving up his divine life! Forget not the kindness of thy surety; for He hath given His life for thee (Eccl. 29:19).
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
Forget not the kindness of thy surety (Eccl. 29:19) Yes, my Jesus, the prophet has reason to warn me not to forget the immense favor which Thou hast shown me. I was the debtor, I the criminal, and Thou the innocent one; Thou, O my God, hast chosen to satisfy for my sins by Thy sufferings and Thy death. But after all this kindness I have forgotten Thy favors and Thy love, and I have had the boldness to turn my back upon Thee, as if Thou hadst not been my Lord, and that Lord who has loved me so much. But if in times past I have forgotten Thy mercies, O my dear Redeemer, I will in future never forget them again. Thy sufferings and Thy death shall be the constant subjects of my thoughts, because they will always recall to my mind the love that Thou hast borne me. Cursed be the days in which, forgetting what Thou hast suffered for me, I have made so bad a use of my liberty. Thou hast given it to me to love Thee, and I have used it to despise Thee. But I now consecrate entirely to Thee this liberty which Thou hast given me. I beseech Thee, my Savior, deliver me from the misery of seeing myself again separated from Thee, and again made the slave of Lucifer. I implore Thee to bind my poor soul to Thy feet by Thy holy love, so that it may never again be separated from Thee. Eternal Father, by the imprisonment of the infant Jesus in the womb of Mary, deliver me from the chains of sin and of hell. And thou, O Mother of God, help me! Thou hast in thy womb the Son of God imprisoned and confined; as, therefore, Jesus is thy prisoner, he will do everything that thou tellest him. Tell him to pardon me; tell him to make me holy. Help me, my Mother, for the sake of the favor and honor that Jesus Christ conferred upon thee by dwelling within thee for nine months.
MEDITATION VI: Jesus a Prisoner in the Womb of Mary.
I am become as a man without help, free among the dead (Ps. 87:5-6).
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION V: Jesus Offered Himself for our Salvation from the Beginning.
He was offered because it was His own will (Is. 53:7).
The divine Word, from the first instant that he was made man and an infant in Mary s womb, offered him self of his own accord to suffer and to die for the ransom of the world: He was offered because it was His own will (Is. 53:7). He knew that all the sacrifices of goats and bulls offered to God in times past had not been able to satisfy for the sins of men, but that it required a divine Person to pay the price of their redemption; wherefore he said, as the Apostle tells us, When He cometh into the world He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou woudst not, but a body Thou hast fitted to me. . . . Then said I, Behold, I come (Heb. 10:5). "My Father," said Jesus, "all the victims hitherto offered to Thee have not sufficed, nor could they suffice, to satisfy Thy justice; Thou hast given me this passible body, in order that by shedding my blood I might appease Thee and save men: ‘Behold, I come;’ here I am ready, I accept everything, and I submit myself in everything to Thy will."
The inferior part felt repugnance, for it naturally was averse to this life and death, so full of sufferings and shame; but the rational part, which was entirely subordinate to the will of his Father, conquered and accepted everything; and Jesus began from that moment to suffer all the anguish and sorrows that he would have to suffer during all the years of his life. Thus did our Redeemer act from the very first moment of his entrance into the world.
But, O God, how have we conducted ourselves towards Jesus since we began, as adults, to know by the light of faith the sacred Mysteries of Redemption? What thoughts, what designs, what goods have we loved? Pleasures, amusements, vengeance, sensuality; these are the goods that have engrossed the affections of our hearts. But if we have faith, we must at last change our life and our affections. Let us love a God who has suffered so much for us. Let us represent to ourselves the sufferings which the heart of Jesus endured for us, even from his infancy; for then we shall not be able to love anything else but that heart which hath loved us so much.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My Lord, wilt Thou know how I have behaved towards Thee during all my life? Ever since I began to have the use of reason, I began to despise Thy grace and Thy love. But Thou knowest it much better than I do; nevertheless, Thou hast borne with me, because Thou still carest for my welfare. I fled from Thee, and Thou didst follow after and call me. The very same love that made Thee come down from heaven to seek the lost sheep has made Thee bear with me and not forsake me. My Jesus, Thou now seekest me, and I seek Thee. I feel that Thy grace is assisting me: it assists me with the sorrow I feel for my sins, which I abhor above every other evil; it assists me by making me feel a great desire to love Thee and to please Thee. Yea, Lord, I will love Thee and please Thee as much as I can. On one side I feel afraid, it is true, at the thought of my frailty and the weakness which I have contracted by my sins; but Thy grace gives me a greater confidence, and causes me to hope in Thy merits; so that I can say, from the bottom of my heart: I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me (Phil. 4:13). If I am weak, Thou wilt give me strength against my enemies; if I am infirm, I hope that Thy blood will be my medicine; if I am a sinner, I hope Thou wilt make me a saint. I acknowledge that I have hitherto cooperated to my own ruin, because I have neglected, on dangerous occasions, to have recourse to Thee. But from this day forth, my Jesus and my hope, I will always have recourse to Thee; and from Thee I hope for every assistance and every good. I love Thee above all things, and I will always love Thee alone. Have pity on me, and help me through the merits of all those sufferings which from Thy infancy Thou hast endured for me. Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ accept of my love. If I have offended Thee, let the tears of the Infant Jesus, who is praying for me, appease Thy wrath: Look on the face of Thy Christ (Ps. 83:19). I do not deserve favors, but this Thy guiltless Son deserves them, who offers Thee a life of sufferings, in order that Thou mayest be merciful to me.And thou, O Mary, Mother of mercy, cease not to intercede for me. Thou knowest how much I confide in thee; and I know well that thou dost not forsake him that has recourse to thee.
Consider the painful life that Jesus Christ led in the womb of his Mother, and the long-confined and dark imprisonment that he suffered there for nine months. Other infants are indeed in the same state; but they do not feel the miseries of it, because they do not know them. But Jesus knew them well, because from the first moment of his life he had the perfect use of reason. He had his senses, but he could not use them; eyes, but he could not see; a tongue, but he could not speak; hands, but he could not stretch them out; feet, but he could not walk; so that for nine months he had to remain in the womb of Mary like a dead man shut up in the tomb: I am become as a man without help, free among the dead (Ps. 87:5-6). He was free, because he had of his own free will made himself a prisoner of love in this prison; but love deprived him of liberty, and bound him there so fast in chains that he could not move: "Free among the dead! oh, great patience of our Savior!" says St. Ambrose, while he considered the sufferings of Jesus in the womb of Mary.
The womb of Mary was, therefore, to our Redeemer a voluntary prison, because it was a prison of love. But it was also not an unjust prison: he was indeed innocent himself, but he had offered himself to pay our debts and to satisfy for our crimes. It was therefore only reasonable for the divine justice to keep him thus imprisoned, and so begin to exact from him the due satisfaction.
Behold the state to which the Son of God reduces himself for the love of men! he deprives himself of his liberty and puts himself in chains, to deliver us from the chains of hell. What gratitude and love should we not show in return for the love and goodness of our deliverer and our surety, who, not by compulsion but only out of love, offered himself to pay, and has paid for us, our debts and our penalties by giving up his divine life! Forget not the kindness of thy surety; for He hath given His life for thee (Eccl. 29:19).
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
Forget not the kindness of thy surety (Eccl. 29:19) Yes, my Jesus, the prophet has reason to warn me not to forget the immense favor which Thou hast shown me. I was the debtor, I the criminal, and Thou the innocent one; Thou, O my God, hast chosen to satisfy for my sins by Thy sufferings and Thy death. But after all this kindness I have forgotten Thy favors and Thy love, and I have had the boldness to turn my back upon Thee, as if Thou hadst not been my Lord, and that Lord who has loved me so much. But if in times past I have forgotten Thy mercies, O my dear Redeemer, I will in future never forget them again. Thy sufferings and Thy death shall be the constant subjects of my thoughts, because they will always recall to my mind the love that Thou hast borne me. Cursed be the days in which, forgetting what Thou hast suffered for me, I have made so bad a use of my liberty. Thou hast given it to me to love Thee, and I have used it to despise Thee. But I now consecrate entirely to Thee this liberty which Thou hast given me. I beseech Thee, my Savior, deliver me from the misery of seeing myself again separated from Thee, and again made the slave of Lucifer. I implore Thee to bind my poor soul to Thy feet by Thy holy love, so that it may never again be separated from Thee. Eternal Father, by the imprisonment of the infant Jesus in the womb of Mary, deliver me from the chains of sin and of hell. And thou, O Mother of God, help me! Thou hast in thy womb the Son of God imprisoned and confined; as, therefore, Jesus is thy prisoner, he will do everything that thou tellest him. Tell him to pardon me; tell him to make me holy. Help me, my Mother, for the sake of the favor and honor that Jesus Christ conferred upon thee by dwelling within thee for nine months.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Christmas Novena - Day V
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION V: Jesus Offered Himself for our Salvation from the Beginning.
He was offered because it was His own will (Is. 53:7).
The divine Word, from the first instant that he was made man and an infant in Mary s womb, offered him self of his own accord to suffer and to die for the ransom of the world: He was offered because it was His own will (Is. 53:7). He knew that all the sacrifices of goats and bulls offered to God in times past had not been able to satisfy for the sins of men, but that it required a divine Person to pay the price of their redemption; wherefore he said, as the Apostle tells us, When He cometh into the world He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou woudst not, but a body Thou hast fitted to me. . . . Then said I, Behold, I come (Heb. 10:5). "My Father," said Jesus, "all the victims hitherto offered to Thee have not sufficed, nor could they suffice, to satisfy Thy justice; Thou hast given me this passible body, in order that by shedding my blood I might appease Thee and save men: ‘Behold, I come;’ here I am ready, I accept everything, and I submit myself in everything to Thy will."
The inferior part felt repugnance, for it naturally was averse to this life and death, so full of sufferings and shame; but the rational part, which was entirely subordinate to the will of his Father, conquered and accepted everything; and Jesus began from that moment to suffer all the anguish and sorrows that he would have to suffer during all the years of his life. Thus did our Redeemer act from the very first moment of his entrance into the world.
But, O God, how have we conducted ourselves towards Jesus since we began, as adults, to know by the light of faith the sacred Mysteries of Redemption? What thoughts, what designs, what goods have we loved? Pleasures, amusements, vengeance, sensuality; these are the goods that have engrossed the affections of our hearts. But if we have faith, we must at last change our life and our affections. Let us love a God who has suffered so much for us. Let us represent to ourselves the sufferings which the heart of Jesus endured for us, even from his infancy; for then we shall not be able to love anything else but that heart which hath loved us so much.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My Lord, wilt Thou know how I have behaved towards Thee during all my life? Ever since I began to have the use of reason, I began to despise Thy grace and Thy love. But Thou knowest it much better than I do; nevertheless, Thou hast borne with me, because Thou still carest for my welfare. I fled from Thee, and Thou didst follow after and call me. The very same love that made Thee come down from heaven to seek the lost sheep has made Thee bear with me and not forsake me. My Jesus, Thou now seekest me, and I seek Thee. I feel that Thy grace is assisting me: it assists me with the sorrow I feel for my sins, which I abhor above every other evil; it assists me by making me feel a great desire to love Thee and to please Thee. Yea, Lord, I will love Thee and please Thee as much as I can. On one side I feel afraid, it is true, at the thought of my frailty and the weakness which I have contracted by my sins; but Thy grace gives me a greater confidence, and causes me to hope in Thy merits; so that I can say, from the bottom of my heart: I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me (Phil. 4:13). If I am weak, Thou wilt give me strength against my enemies; if I am infirm, I hope that Thy blood will be my medicine; if I am a sinner, I hope Thou wilt make me a saint. I acknowledge that I have hitherto cooperated to my own ruin, because I have neglected, on dangerous occasions, to have recourse to Thee. But from this day forth, my Jesus and my hope, I will always have recourse to Thee; and from Thee I hope for every assistance and every good. I love Thee above all things, and I will always love Thee alone. Have pity on me, and help me through the merits of all those sufferings which from Thy infancy Thou hast endured for me. Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ accept of my love. If I have offended Thee, let the tears of the Infant Jesus, who is praying for me, appease Thy wrath: Look on the face of Thy Christ (Ps. 83:19). I do not deserve favors, but this Thy guiltless Son deserves them, who offers Thee a life of sufferings, in order that Thou mayest be merciful to me.And thou, O Mary, Mother of mercy, cease not to intercede for me. Thou knowest how much I confide in thee; and I know well that thou dost not forsake him that has recourse to thee.
MEDITATION V: Jesus Offered Himself for our Salvation from the Beginning.
He was offered because it was His own will (Is. 53:7).
The divine Word, from the first instant that he was made man and an infant in Mary s womb, offered him self of his own accord to suffer and to die for the ransom of the world: He was offered because it was His own will (Is. 53:7). He knew that all the sacrifices of goats and bulls offered to God in times past had not been able to satisfy for the sins of men, but that it required a divine Person to pay the price of their redemption; wherefore he said, as the Apostle tells us, When He cometh into the world He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou woudst not, but a body Thou hast fitted to me. . . . Then said I, Behold, I come (Heb. 10:5). "My Father," said Jesus, "all the victims hitherto offered to Thee have not sufficed, nor could they suffice, to satisfy Thy justice; Thou hast given me this passible body, in order that by shedding my blood I might appease Thee and save men: ‘Behold, I come;’ here I am ready, I accept everything, and I submit myself in everything to Thy will."
The inferior part felt repugnance, for it naturally was averse to this life and death, so full of sufferings and shame; but the rational part, which was entirely subordinate to the will of his Father, conquered and accepted everything; and Jesus began from that moment to suffer all the anguish and sorrows that he would have to suffer during all the years of his life. Thus did our Redeemer act from the very first moment of his entrance into the world.
But, O God, how have we conducted ourselves towards Jesus since we began, as adults, to know by the light of faith the sacred Mysteries of Redemption? What thoughts, what designs, what goods have we loved? Pleasures, amusements, vengeance, sensuality; these are the goods that have engrossed the affections of our hearts. But if we have faith, we must at last change our life and our affections. Let us love a God who has suffered so much for us. Let us represent to ourselves the sufferings which the heart of Jesus endured for us, even from his infancy; for then we shall not be able to love anything else but that heart which hath loved us so much.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My Lord, wilt Thou know how I have behaved towards Thee during all my life? Ever since I began to have the use of reason, I began to despise Thy grace and Thy love. But Thou knowest it much better than I do; nevertheless, Thou hast borne with me, because Thou still carest for my welfare. I fled from Thee, and Thou didst follow after and call me. The very same love that made Thee come down from heaven to seek the lost sheep has made Thee bear with me and not forsake me. My Jesus, Thou now seekest me, and I seek Thee. I feel that Thy grace is assisting me: it assists me with the sorrow I feel for my sins, which I abhor above every other evil; it assists me by making me feel a great desire to love Thee and to please Thee. Yea, Lord, I will love Thee and please Thee as much as I can. On one side I feel afraid, it is true, at the thought of my frailty and the weakness which I have contracted by my sins; but Thy grace gives me a greater confidence, and causes me to hope in Thy merits; so that I can say, from the bottom of my heart: I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me (Phil. 4:13). If I am weak, Thou wilt give me strength against my enemies; if I am infirm, I hope that Thy blood will be my medicine; if I am a sinner, I hope Thou wilt make me a saint. I acknowledge that I have hitherto cooperated to my own ruin, because I have neglected, on dangerous occasions, to have recourse to Thee. But from this day forth, my Jesus and my hope, I will always have recourse to Thee; and from Thee I hope for every assistance and every good. I love Thee above all things, and I will always love Thee alone. Have pity on me, and help me through the merits of all those sufferings which from Thy infancy Thou hast endured for me. Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ accept of my love. If I have offended Thee, let the tears of the Infant Jesus, who is praying for me, appease Thy wrath: Look on the face of Thy Christ (Ps. 83:19). I do not deserve favors, but this Thy guiltless Son deserves them, who offers Thee a life of sufferings, in order that Thou mayest be merciful to me.And thou, O Mary, Mother of mercy, cease not to intercede for me. Thou knowest how much I confide in thee; and I know well that thou dost not forsake him that has recourse to thee.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Christmas Novena - Day IV
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION IV: The Passion of Jesus lasted during His Whole Life.
My sorrow is continually before me (Ps. 27:18).
Consider that in the first moment that the soul of Jesus Christ was created and united to his little body in the womb of Mary, the Eternal Father intimated to his Son his will that he should die for the redemption of the world; and in this same moment he presented to his view the entire dreadful scene of the sufferings he would have to endure, even unto death, in order to redeem mankind. He brought before him in that moment all the labors, contempt, and poverty that he would have to suffer during his whole life, as well in Bethlehem as in Egypt and in Nazareth; and then all the sufferings and ignominy of his Passion, the scourges, the thorns, the nails, and the cross; all the weariness, the sadness, the agonies, and the abandonment in which he was to end his life upon Calvary.
When Abraham was leading his son to death, he would not afflict him by giving him notice of it beforehand, even during the short time that was necessary for them to arrive at the mount. But the Eternal Father chose that his Incarnate Son, whom he had destined to be the victim of his justice in atonement of our sins, should suffer then all the pains to which he was to be subject during his life and at his death. Wherefore, from the first moment that he was in his mother’s womb, Jesus suffered continually that sorrow which he endured in the garden, and which was sufficient to have taken away his life: My soul is sorrowful unto death (Matt. 26:38). So that from that time forth he felt most vividly, and endured the united weight of all the sorrows and contumely that awaited him.
The whole life, then, of our blessed Redeemer, and all the years that he spent, were a life and years of pains and tears: My life is wasted with grief, and My years in sighs (Ps. 30:11). His divine heart never passed one moment free from suffering. Whether he watched or slept, whether he labored or rested, whether he prayed or spoke, he had continually before his eyes that bitter representation which tormented his holy soul more than all their sufferings tormented the holy martyrs. The martyrs have suffered; but, assisted by grace, they suffered with joy and fervor. Jesus Christ suffered; but he suffered with a heart full of weariness and sorrow; and he accepted all for the love of us.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
O sweet, O amiable, O loving Heart of Jesus, even from Thy infancy Thou wert full of bitterness, and Thou didst suffer agonies in the womb of Mary without consolation, and without having any one to look upon Thee and to console Thee by their sympathy. All this Thou didst suffer, O my Jesus, in order to satisfy for the eternal sorrow and agony which I deserved to endure in hell for my sins. Thou didst then suffer, deprived of all relief, to save me, who have had the boldness to forsake God, and to turn my back upon him, in order to satisfy my miserable inclinations. I thank Thee, O afflicted and loving Heart of my Lord! I thank Thee, and I sympathize with Thee, especially when I see that whilst Thou dost suffer so much for the love of man, these very men do not even pity Thee. O love of God, O ingratitude of man! O men, O men, behold this little innocent lamb who is in agony for you, to satisfy the divine justice for the injuries you have committed against him. See how he prays and intercedes for you with his eternal Father; behold him and love him. O my Redeemer, how few are those who think of your sorrows and your love! O God, how few are those that love Thee! But unhappy me, for I also have lived so many years in forgetfulness of Thee! Thou hast suffered so much in order to be loved by me, and I have not loved Thee. Forgive me, my Jesus, forgive me, for I will amend my life and love Thee. Ah, wretched me, O Lord, if I still resist Thy grace, and in resisting it damn myself! All the mercies that Thou hast shown me, and, above all, Thy sweet voice, which now calls me to love Thee, would be my greatest punishment in hell. My beloved Jesus, have pity on me, let me not live any longer ungrateful to Thy love; give me light, give me strength to conquer everything, in order to accomplish Thy will. Grant my prayer, I beseech Thee, for the merits of Thy Passion. In this is all my confidence.
O Mary, My dearest Mother, help me; it is thou who hast obtained for me all the favors I have received from God: I bless thee for them; but if thou dost not persevere in helping me, I shall persevere in being faithless, as I have been in times past.
MEDITATION IV: The Passion of Jesus lasted during His Whole Life.
My sorrow is continually before me (Ps. 27:18).
Consider that in the first moment that the soul of Jesus Christ was created and united to his little body in the womb of Mary, the Eternal Father intimated to his Son his will that he should die for the redemption of the world; and in this same moment he presented to his view the entire dreadful scene of the sufferings he would have to endure, even unto death, in order to redeem mankind. He brought before him in that moment all the labors, contempt, and poverty that he would have to suffer during his whole life, as well in Bethlehem as in Egypt and in Nazareth; and then all the sufferings and ignominy of his Passion, the scourges, the thorns, the nails, and the cross; all the weariness, the sadness, the agonies, and the abandonment in which he was to end his life upon Calvary.
When Abraham was leading his son to death, he would not afflict him by giving him notice of it beforehand, even during the short time that was necessary for them to arrive at the mount. But the Eternal Father chose that his Incarnate Son, whom he had destined to be the victim of his justice in atonement of our sins, should suffer then all the pains to which he was to be subject during his life and at his death. Wherefore, from the first moment that he was in his mother’s womb, Jesus suffered continually that sorrow which he endured in the garden, and which was sufficient to have taken away his life: My soul is sorrowful unto death (Matt. 26:38). So that from that time forth he felt most vividly, and endured the united weight of all the sorrows and contumely that awaited him.
The whole life, then, of our blessed Redeemer, and all the years that he spent, were a life and years of pains and tears: My life is wasted with grief, and My years in sighs (Ps. 30:11). His divine heart never passed one moment free from suffering. Whether he watched or slept, whether he labored or rested, whether he prayed or spoke, he had continually before his eyes that bitter representation which tormented his holy soul more than all their sufferings tormented the holy martyrs. The martyrs have suffered; but, assisted by grace, they suffered with joy and fervor. Jesus Christ suffered; but he suffered with a heart full of weariness and sorrow; and he accepted all for the love of us.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
O sweet, O amiable, O loving Heart of Jesus, even from Thy infancy Thou wert full of bitterness, and Thou didst suffer agonies in the womb of Mary without consolation, and without having any one to look upon Thee and to console Thee by their sympathy. All this Thou didst suffer, O my Jesus, in order to satisfy for the eternal sorrow and agony which I deserved to endure in hell for my sins. Thou didst then suffer, deprived of all relief, to save me, who have had the boldness to forsake God, and to turn my back upon him, in order to satisfy my miserable inclinations. I thank Thee, O afflicted and loving Heart of my Lord! I thank Thee, and I sympathize with Thee, especially when I see that whilst Thou dost suffer so much for the love of man, these very men do not even pity Thee. O love of God, O ingratitude of man! O men, O men, behold this little innocent lamb who is in agony for you, to satisfy the divine justice for the injuries you have committed against him. See how he prays and intercedes for you with his eternal Father; behold him and love him. O my Redeemer, how few are those who think of your sorrows and your love! O God, how few are those that love Thee! But unhappy me, for I also have lived so many years in forgetfulness of Thee! Thou hast suffered so much in order to be loved by me, and I have not loved Thee. Forgive me, my Jesus, forgive me, for I will amend my life and love Thee. Ah, wretched me, O Lord, if I still resist Thy grace, and in resisting it damn myself! All the mercies that Thou hast shown me, and, above all, Thy sweet voice, which now calls me to love Thee, would be my greatest punishment in hell. My beloved Jesus, have pity on me, let me not live any longer ungrateful to Thy love; give me light, give me strength to conquer everything, in order to accomplish Thy will. Grant my prayer, I beseech Thee, for the merits of Thy Passion. In this is all my confidence.
O Mary, My dearest Mother, help me; it is thou who hast obtained for me all the favors I have received from God: I bless thee for them; but if thou dost not persevere in helping me, I shall persevere in being faithless, as I have been in times past.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Christmas Novena - Day III
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION III: Jesus made Himself a Child to gain our Confidence and our Love.
A child is born to us, and a son is given to us (Is. 9:6).
Consider that after so many centuries, after so many prayers and sighs, the Messias, whom the holy patriarchs and prophets were not worthy to see, whom the nations sighed for, "the Desire of the eternal hills," our Savior, is come; he is already born, and has given himself entirely to us: A child is born to us, and a son is given to us.
The Son of God has made himself little, in order to make us great; he has given himself to us, in order that we may give ourselves to him; he is come to show us his love, in order that we may respond to it by giving him ours. Let us, therefore, receive him with affection; let us love him, and have recourse to him in all our necessities.
"A child gives easily," says St. Bernard; children readily give anything that is asked of them. Jesus came into the world a child, in order to show himself ready and willing to give us all good gifts: In whom are hid all treasures (Col. 2:3). The Father hath given all things into His hands (John 3:35). If we wish for light, he is come on purpose to enlighten us. If we wish for strength to resist our enemies, he is come to give us comfort. If we wish for pardon and salvation, he is come to pardon and save us. If, in short, we desire the sovereign gift of divine love, he is come to inflame our hearts with it; and, above all, for this very purpose, he has become a child, and has chosen to show himself to us worthy of our love, in proportion as he was poor and humble, in order to takeaway from us all fear, and to gain our affections. "So," says St. Peter Chrysologus, "should he come who willed to drive away fear, and seek for love."
Jesus has, besides, chosen to come as a little child to make us Jove him, not only with an appreciative but even with a tender love. All infants attract the tender affection of those who behold them; but who will not love, with all the tenderness of which they are capable, a Gcd whom they behold as a little child, in want of milk to nourish him, trembling with cold, poor, abased, and forsaken, weeping and crying in a manger, and lying on straw? It was this that made the loving St. Francis exclaim: "Let us love the child of Bethlehem, let us love the child of Bethlehem." Come ye souls, and love a God who is become a child, and poor; who is so amiable, and who has come down from heaven to give him self entirely to you.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
O my amiable Jesus! whom I have treated with so much contempt, Thou hast descended from heaven to save us from hell, and to give Thyself entirely to us; how can we, then, have so often despised Thee, and turned our backs upon Thee? O my God! how different is the gratitude of men towards their fellow- creatures! If any one makes them a gift, if any one comes from afar to pay them a visit, if any one shows them a particular mark of affection, they cannot forget it, and feel themselves obliged to repay their benefactors. And yet they are so ungrateful towards Thee, who art their God, and so worthy of their love, and who, for their sake, didst not refuse to give Thy blood and Thy love. But, alas! I have been worse than others in my conduct towards Thee, because I have been more loved by Thee, and more ungrateful towards Thee. Ah, if Thou hadst bestowed those graces with which I have been favored on a heretic, or an idolater, he would have become a saint; and yet I have done nothing but offend Thee. O my Savior I pray Thee, forget the injuries I have committed against Thee. But Thou hast indeed said that when a sinner repents, Thou rememberest no longer the injuries Thou hast received from him: All his iniquities I will not remember (Ezech. 18:22). If in times past I have not loved Thee, in future I will do nothing else but love Thee. Thou hast given Thyself entirely to me, and I give Thee my whole will; O Lord, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee; and I will continually repeat to Thee, I love Thee, I Jove Thee! While I live, I will constantly say this; and when I die, I will yield my last breath with these sweet words on my lips, "My God, I love Thee;" and from the moment of my entrance into eternity, I will begin to love Thee with a love that shall last forever, without ever again ceasing to love Thee. And in the mean time, O my Lord! my only good and my only love, I intend to prefer Thy will to every pleasure of my own. Let the whole world offer itself to me; I will refuse it; for I will never cease to love him that hath loved me so much; I will never again offend him who deserves from me an infinite love. Do Thou, O my Jesus! aid my desire with Thy grace.
Mary, my Queen! I acknowledge all the graces I have received from God through thy intercession; cease not, then, to intercede for me. Do thou obtain for me perseverance, thou who aft the Mother of perseverance.
MEDITATION III: Jesus made Himself a Child to gain our Confidence and our Love.
A child is born to us, and a son is given to us (Is. 9:6).
Consider that after so many centuries, after so many prayers and sighs, the Messias, whom the holy patriarchs and prophets were not worthy to see, whom the nations sighed for, "the Desire of the eternal hills," our Savior, is come; he is already born, and has given himself entirely to us: A child is born to us, and a son is given to us.
The Son of God has made himself little, in order to make us great; he has given himself to us, in order that we may give ourselves to him; he is come to show us his love, in order that we may respond to it by giving him ours. Let us, therefore, receive him with affection; let us love him, and have recourse to him in all our necessities.
"A child gives easily," says St. Bernard; children readily give anything that is asked of them. Jesus came into the world a child, in order to show himself ready and willing to give us all good gifts: In whom are hid all treasures (Col. 2:3). The Father hath given all things into His hands (John 3:35). If we wish for light, he is come on purpose to enlighten us. If we wish for strength to resist our enemies, he is come to give us comfort. If we wish for pardon and salvation, he is come to pardon and save us. If, in short, we desire the sovereign gift of divine love, he is come to inflame our hearts with it; and, above all, for this very purpose, he has become a child, and has chosen to show himself to us worthy of our love, in proportion as he was poor and humble, in order to takeaway from us all fear, and to gain our affections. "So," says St. Peter Chrysologus, "should he come who willed to drive away fear, and seek for love."
Jesus has, besides, chosen to come as a little child to make us Jove him, not only with an appreciative but even with a tender love. All infants attract the tender affection of those who behold them; but who will not love, with all the tenderness of which they are capable, a Gcd whom they behold as a little child, in want of milk to nourish him, trembling with cold, poor, abased, and forsaken, weeping and crying in a manger, and lying on straw? It was this that made the loving St. Francis exclaim: "Let us love the child of Bethlehem, let us love the child of Bethlehem." Come ye souls, and love a God who is become a child, and poor; who is so amiable, and who has come down from heaven to give him self entirely to you.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
O my amiable Jesus! whom I have treated with so much contempt, Thou hast descended from heaven to save us from hell, and to give Thyself entirely to us; how can we, then, have so often despised Thee, and turned our backs upon Thee? O my God! how different is the gratitude of men towards their fellow- creatures! If any one makes them a gift, if any one comes from afar to pay them a visit, if any one shows them a particular mark of affection, they cannot forget it, and feel themselves obliged to repay their benefactors. And yet they are so ungrateful towards Thee, who art their God, and so worthy of their love, and who, for their sake, didst not refuse to give Thy blood and Thy love. But, alas! I have been worse than others in my conduct towards Thee, because I have been more loved by Thee, and more ungrateful towards Thee. Ah, if Thou hadst bestowed those graces with which I have been favored on a heretic, or an idolater, he would have become a saint; and yet I have done nothing but offend Thee. O my Savior I pray Thee, forget the injuries I have committed against Thee. But Thou hast indeed said that when a sinner repents, Thou rememberest no longer the injuries Thou hast received from him: All his iniquities I will not remember (Ezech. 18:22). If in times past I have not loved Thee, in future I will do nothing else but love Thee. Thou hast given Thyself entirely to me, and I give Thee my whole will; O Lord, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee; and I will continually repeat to Thee, I love Thee, I Jove Thee! While I live, I will constantly say this; and when I die, I will yield my last breath with these sweet words on my lips, "My God, I love Thee;" and from the moment of my entrance into eternity, I will begin to love Thee with a love that shall last forever, without ever again ceasing to love Thee. And in the mean time, O my Lord! my only good and my only love, I intend to prefer Thy will to every pleasure of my own. Let the whole world offer itself to me; I will refuse it; for I will never cease to love him that hath loved me so much; I will never again offend him who deserves from me an infinite love. Do Thou, O my Jesus! aid my desire with Thy grace.
Mary, my Queen! I acknowledge all the graces I have received from God through thy intercession; cease not, then, to intercede for me. Do thou obtain for me perseverance, thou who aft the Mother of perseverance.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Christmas Novena - Day II
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION: Bitterness of the Heart of Jesus in the Womb of his Mother.
Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldest not; but a body Thou hast fitted to Me (Heb. 10:5).
Consider the great bitterness with which the heart of the Infant Jesus must have felt itself afflicted and oppressed in the womb of Mary at the first moment when his Father proposed to his consideration all the series of contempt, sorrow, and agonies which he was to suffer during his life, to deliver men from their miseries: In the morning He wakeneth my ear, . . . and I do not resist; I have given my body to the strikers (Is. 1:4,6).
Thus did Jesus speak by the mouth of the prophet: In the morning He wakeneth my ear; that is to say, from the first moment of my conception my Father made me feel that it was his will that I should lead a life of sorrows, and in the end should be sacrificed on the cross: And I do not resist; I have given my body to the strikers. And all this I accepted for your salvation, O ye souls of men, and from that time forth I gave up my body to the scourges, to the nails, and to the death of the cross.
Consider that whatever Jesus Christ suffered in his life and in his Passion, was all placed before him whilst he was yet in the womb of Mary, and he accepted every thing that was proposed to him with delight; but in accepting all this, and in overcoming the natural repugnance of sense, O my God, what anguish and oppression did not the innocent heart of Jesus suffer! Well did he understand what he was first of all to endure, shut up for nine months in the dark prison of the womb of Mary; in suffering the shame and the sorrows of his birth, being born in a cold grotto that was a stable for beasts; in having afterwards to lead for thirty years an humble life in the shop of an artisan; in considering that he was to be treated by men as ignorant, as a slave, as a seducer, and as one guilty of death, and of the most infamous and painful death that ever was allotted to the most worth less of criminals.
All this did our dearest Redeemer accept every moment; but each moment that he accepted it he suffered at once all the pains and humiliations that he would afterwards have to endure even unto death. The very knowledge of his divine dignity made him feel still more the injuries that he would have to receive from men: All the day long my shame is before me (Ps. 43:16). He had continually before his eyes his shame, especially that confusion which he should one day feel at seeing himself stripped naked, scourged, and suspended by three iron nails; and so to end his life in the midst of the insults and curses of those very men for whom he was to die: Becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). And for what? To save us miserable and ungrateful sinners.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My beloved Redeemer, oh, how much did it cost Thee, even from Thy first entrance into the world, to raise me from the ruin which I have brought on myself by my sins! Thou hast consented to be treated as the lowest of slaves, in order to deliver me from the slavery of the devil, to whom I had willingly sold myself by sin; and yet, knowing all this, I have had the boldness to afflict continually Thy most amiable heart, which. has loved me so much! But since Thou, who art so innocent, and art my God, hast accepted such a painful life and death, I accept for Thy love, O my Jesus, every trouble that shall come to me from Thy hands. I accept it and embrace it, because it comes from those hands which were once pierced through, in order to deliver me from the hell which I have so often deserved. Thy love, O my Redeemer, in offering Thyself to suffer so much for me, does more than oblige me to accept for Thy sake every sorrow, every humiliation. O my Lord, for Thy own merit’s sake, give me Thy holy love; Thy love will render all sufferings and ignominy sweet and pleasant to me. I love Thee above everything: I love Thee with my whole heart; I love Thee more than myself. But during Thy whole life how many and what great proofs of Thy love didst Thou not give me; and yet, ungrateful that I am, how many years have I not lived in the world without giving Thee any proofs of my love. I dread appearing before Thee when Thou shalt come to judge me, poor as I now am, without having done anything for the love of Thee. But what can I do without Thy grace? I can do nothing but pray that Thou wilt succor me; but even this prayer comes simply from Thy grace. O my Jesus, help me through the merits of Thy sufferings, and of the blood Thou hast shed for me.
Most holy Mary, recommend me to thy Son, for the love that thou bearest him. Behold, I am one of those sheep for which thy Son has died.
MEDITATION: Bitterness of the Heart of Jesus in the Womb of his Mother.
Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldest not; but a body Thou hast fitted to Me (Heb. 10:5).
Consider the great bitterness with which the heart of the Infant Jesus must have felt itself afflicted and oppressed in the womb of Mary at the first moment when his Father proposed to his consideration all the series of contempt, sorrow, and agonies which he was to suffer during his life, to deliver men from their miseries: In the morning He wakeneth my ear, . . . and I do not resist; I have given my body to the strikers (Is. 1:4,6).
Thus did Jesus speak by the mouth of the prophet: In the morning He wakeneth my ear; that is to say, from the first moment of my conception my Father made me feel that it was his will that I should lead a life of sorrows, and in the end should be sacrificed on the cross: And I do not resist; I have given my body to the strikers. And all this I accepted for your salvation, O ye souls of men, and from that time forth I gave up my body to the scourges, to the nails, and to the death of the cross.
Consider that whatever Jesus Christ suffered in his life and in his Passion, was all placed before him whilst he was yet in the womb of Mary, and he accepted every thing that was proposed to him with delight; but in accepting all this, and in overcoming the natural repugnance of sense, O my God, what anguish and oppression did not the innocent heart of Jesus suffer! Well did he understand what he was first of all to endure, shut up for nine months in the dark prison of the womb of Mary; in suffering the shame and the sorrows of his birth, being born in a cold grotto that was a stable for beasts; in having afterwards to lead for thirty years an humble life in the shop of an artisan; in considering that he was to be treated by men as ignorant, as a slave, as a seducer, and as one guilty of death, and of the most infamous and painful death that ever was allotted to the most worth less of criminals.
All this did our dearest Redeemer accept every moment; but each moment that he accepted it he suffered at once all the pains and humiliations that he would afterwards have to endure even unto death. The very knowledge of his divine dignity made him feel still more the injuries that he would have to receive from men: All the day long my shame is before me (Ps. 43:16). He had continually before his eyes his shame, especially that confusion which he should one day feel at seeing himself stripped naked, scourged, and suspended by three iron nails; and so to end his life in the midst of the insults and curses of those very men for whom he was to die: Becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). And for what? To save us miserable and ungrateful sinners.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My beloved Redeemer, oh, how much did it cost Thee, even from Thy first entrance into the world, to raise me from the ruin which I have brought on myself by my sins! Thou hast consented to be treated as the lowest of slaves, in order to deliver me from the slavery of the devil, to whom I had willingly sold myself by sin; and yet, knowing all this, I have had the boldness to afflict continually Thy most amiable heart, which. has loved me so much! But since Thou, who art so innocent, and art my God, hast accepted such a painful life and death, I accept for Thy love, O my Jesus, every trouble that shall come to me from Thy hands. I accept it and embrace it, because it comes from those hands which were once pierced through, in order to deliver me from the hell which I have so often deserved. Thy love, O my Redeemer, in offering Thyself to suffer so much for me, does more than oblige me to accept for Thy sake every sorrow, every humiliation. O my Lord, for Thy own merit’s sake, give me Thy holy love; Thy love will render all sufferings and ignominy sweet and pleasant to me. I love Thee above everything: I love Thee with my whole heart; I love Thee more than myself. But during Thy whole life how many and what great proofs of Thy love didst Thou not give me; and yet, ungrateful that I am, how many years have I not lived in the world without giving Thee any proofs of my love. I dread appearing before Thee when Thou shalt come to judge me, poor as I now am, without having done anything for the love of Thee. But what can I do without Thy grace? I can do nothing but pray that Thou wilt succor me; but even this prayer comes simply from Thy grace. O my Jesus, help me through the merits of Thy sufferings, and of the blood Thou hast shed for me.
Most holy Mary, recommend me to thy Son, for the love that thou bearest him. Behold, I am one of those sheep for which thy Son has died.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Christmas Novena - Day I
Chaplet of the Infant Jesus which may be recited before reading the meditation.
MEDITATION: God has given Us his only Son to save Us.
"I have given Thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation even to the farthest part of the earth" (Is. 49:6).
Consider that the Eternal Father addressed these words to the Infant Jesus at the instant of his conception: I have given Thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation (Is. 49:6). My Son, I have given Thee to the world for the light and life of all people, in order that Thou mightest procure for them their salvation, which I have as much at heart as if it were my own. Thou must therefore employ Thyself entirely for the well-being of men: "Wholly given to man, Thou must be wholly spent in his service" (St. Bernard). Thou must therefore, at Thy birth, suffer extreme poverty, in order that men may become rich, "that Thou mayest enrich them by Thy poverty." Thou must be sold as a slave to acquire liberty for man; and Thou must be scourged and crucified as a slave to satisfy my justice for the punishment due to man. Thou must give Thy blood and Thy life to deliver man from eternal death; in short, Thou art no longer Thine own, but Thou belongest to man: A child is born to us, a son is given to us (Is. 9:6). Thus, my beloved Son, man will be constrained to love me, and to be mine, when he sees that I give Thee, my only-begotten one, entirely to him, and that there is nothing left for me to give him.
God so loved the world—(O infinite love! only worthy of an infinite God!)—God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son (John 3:16). The Infant Jesus, far from being sorrowful at this proposal, is pleased at it, accepts it with love, and exults in it: He hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way; (Ps. 63:6) and from the first moment of his incarnation he gives himself entirely to man, and embraces with pleasure all the sorrows and ignominy that he must suffer on earth for the love of man. These were (says St. Bernard) the mountains and hills that Jesus Christ had to pass with so many labors in order to save man: Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills (Cant. 2:8).
Here consider that the divine Father, in sending his Son to be our Redeemer and mediator between himself and man, has in a certain sense bound himself to forgive us and love us, on account of the covenant he made to receive us into his favor, providing his Son satisfied for us his divine justice. On the other hand, the divine Word, having accepted the decree of his Father (who, by sending him to redeem us, has given him to us), has also bound himself to love us; not, indeed, for our own merits, but in order to fulfil the merciful will of his Father.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My dearest Jesus, if it is true (as the law says) that dominion is acquired by gift, since Thy Father hath given Thee to me, Thou art mine; for me Thou wert born, to me hast Thou been given: A child is born to us, a Son is given to us (Is. 9:6). Therefore I may well say, "My Jesus and my all." Since Thou art mine, everything that belongs to Thee is also mine. Of this I am assured by Thy Apostle: How hath He not also with Him given us all things (Rom. 8:32). Thy blood is mine, Thy merits are mine, Thy grace is mine, Thy paradise is mine; and if Thou art mine, who shall be able to take Thee from me? "No man can take God away from me," said with joy the abbot St. Anthony. So, from this day forth, will I also continually say. It is only through my own fault that I can lose Thee and separate myself from Thee; but if in past times I have abandoned Thee and lost Thee, O my Jesus, I now repent of it with all my soul, and I am resolved to lose my life and everything sooner than lose Thee, O infinite Good, and only love of my soul! I thank Thee, Eternal Father, for having given me Thy Son; and since Thou hast given him entirely to me, I, miserable sinner, give myself entirely to Thee. For the sake of this same Son, accept me, and bind me with the chains of love to this my Redeemer; but bind me so strongly that I also may be able to say, Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? (Rom. 8:35) What good shall there ever be in the world that shall separate me from my Jesus? And Thou, my Savior, if Thou art all mine, know that I am all Thine. Dispose of me, and of all that belongs to me, as shall best please Thee. And how can I refuse anything to a God who has not refused me his blood and his life?
Mary, my Mother, do thou guard me with thy protection. I will no longer be my own. I will be all my Savior’s. Do thou help me to be faithful; I trust in thee.
MEDITATION: God has given Us his only Son to save Us.
"I have given Thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation even to the farthest part of the earth" (Is. 49:6).
Consider that the Eternal Father addressed these words to the Infant Jesus at the instant of his conception: I have given Thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation (Is. 49:6). My Son, I have given Thee to the world for the light and life of all people, in order that Thou mightest procure for them their salvation, which I have as much at heart as if it were my own. Thou must therefore employ Thyself entirely for the well-being of men: "Wholly given to man, Thou must be wholly spent in his service" (St. Bernard). Thou must therefore, at Thy birth, suffer extreme poverty, in order that men may become rich, "that Thou mayest enrich them by Thy poverty." Thou must be sold as a slave to acquire liberty for man; and Thou must be scourged and crucified as a slave to satisfy my justice for the punishment due to man. Thou must give Thy blood and Thy life to deliver man from eternal death; in short, Thou art no longer Thine own, but Thou belongest to man: A child is born to us, a son is given to us (Is. 9:6). Thus, my beloved Son, man will be constrained to love me, and to be mine, when he sees that I give Thee, my only-begotten one, entirely to him, and that there is nothing left for me to give him.
God so loved the world—(O infinite love! only worthy of an infinite God!)—God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son (John 3:16). The Infant Jesus, far from being sorrowful at this proposal, is pleased at it, accepts it with love, and exults in it: He hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way; (Ps. 63:6) and from the first moment of his incarnation he gives himself entirely to man, and embraces with pleasure all the sorrows and ignominy that he must suffer on earth for the love of man. These were (says St. Bernard) the mountains and hills that Jesus Christ had to pass with so many labors in order to save man: Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills (Cant. 2:8).
Here consider that the divine Father, in sending his Son to be our Redeemer and mediator between himself and man, has in a certain sense bound himself to forgive us and love us, on account of the covenant he made to receive us into his favor, providing his Son satisfied for us his divine justice. On the other hand, the divine Word, having accepted the decree of his Father (who, by sending him to redeem us, has given him to us), has also bound himself to love us; not, indeed, for our own merits, but in order to fulfil the merciful will of his Father.
AFFECTIONS AND PRAYERS.
My dearest Jesus, if it is true (as the law says) that dominion is acquired by gift, since Thy Father hath given Thee to me, Thou art mine; for me Thou wert born, to me hast Thou been given: A child is born to us, a Son is given to us (Is. 9:6). Therefore I may well say, "My Jesus and my all." Since Thou art mine, everything that belongs to Thee is also mine. Of this I am assured by Thy Apostle: How hath He not also with Him given us all things (Rom. 8:32). Thy blood is mine, Thy merits are mine, Thy grace is mine, Thy paradise is mine; and if Thou art mine, who shall be able to take Thee from me? "No man can take God away from me," said with joy the abbot St. Anthony. So, from this day forth, will I also continually say. It is only through my own fault that I can lose Thee and separate myself from Thee; but if in past times I have abandoned Thee and lost Thee, O my Jesus, I now repent of it with all my soul, and I am resolved to lose my life and everything sooner than lose Thee, O infinite Good, and only love of my soul! I thank Thee, Eternal Father, for having given me Thy Son; and since Thou hast given him entirely to me, I, miserable sinner, give myself entirely to Thee. For the sake of this same Son, accept me, and bind me with the chains of love to this my Redeemer; but bind me so strongly that I also may be able to say, Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? (Rom. 8:35) What good shall there ever be in the world that shall separate me from my Jesus? And Thou, my Savior, if Thou art all mine, know that I am all Thine. Dispose of me, and of all that belongs to me, as shall best please Thee. And how can I refuse anything to a God who has not refused me his blood and his life?
Mary, my Mother, do thou guard me with thy protection. I will no longer be my own. I will be all my Savior’s. Do thou help me to be faithful; I trust in thee.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
The Last Day of the Month of the Sacred Heart
Conclusion.
An important secret for aiding you to carry out the good resolutions you have formed during this month is to learn to enter into the Heart of Jesus, to leave the Heart of Jesus, and to re-enter the Heart of Jesus.
An important secret for aiding you to carry out the good resolutions you have formed during this month is to learn to enter into the Heart of Jesus, to leave the Heart of Jesus, and to re-enter the Heart of Jesus.
1. Enter into the Heart of Jesus by recollection and prayer. Make great account of prayer all your life, and, in it never lose sight of Jesus. Remember how strongly St. Theresa recommends prayer. Enter into it, like her, through Jesus Christ.
2. Leave the Heart of Jesus in order to go and labor for Jesus. Lave it as the Seraphim leave paradise without being absent from it. Preserve at least the desire of entering into it again, as speedily as possible. Live always in His presence. Carry Jesus with you, in order to communicate Him to the hearts of those with whom you converse. Leave Jesus, as the ray issues from the sun, without being detached from it and as Jesus left the bosom of His Father without ceasing to be united to Him.
3. Re-enter the Heart of Jesus as soon as possible. This you may do in two ways. The first is by frequently lifting up your mind and heart to Him. While occupied in your employments raise your heart to Jesus every hour or oftener saying, for example, ‘O Heart of Jesus, Thou art my strength, my joy, my happiness.’ The second manner of re-entering the Heart of Jesus is by examination and penance. Call back your heart from its wanderings and let it suffer some punishment for them. Lay your head at the foot of the Crucifix, and, if you have sinned by pride say to Him: ‘Trample this proud head beneath Thy feet, O Lord’' If by impatience: ‘Would that I had the lance which pierced Thy Sacred Heart that I might pierce my own with it and let forth all its bitterness.’ In every fault that you may have committed, whatever it be, have recourse to our Lord and say to Him: ‘I know well, my Savior, that Thou art also my Judge,.and therefore I would gain Thee, before Thou judgest me. Happy shall I be if I do penance before Thou punishest me, for I know well that Thou wilt not have the courage to punish me twice.’ Enter, leave, and reenter the Heart of Jesus in this manner. It is a means of remaining united to Him all your life.
Nor have you any reason to doubt that you will always be well received under whatever circumstances you have recourse to Him though you may have been guilty of some negligence in recalling Him to mind. One Friday, St. Gertrude turning towards her Crucifix, said with compunction: "Alas, my sweetest Lord, what sufferings you endured for my saltation on this day, and I, ungrateful wretch that I am, engrossed by other cares, have allowed this day to pass without calling to mind all that you deigned to suffer each single hour. You who are the life of my life, who for love of my love condescended to die!" Upon which our Lord replied to her: "I have supplied for all your negligence, for at each instant I have formed in my Heart all those sentiments which should have passed through yours, and my divine Heart waited with impatience for this return of yours towards me, in order to offer to God my Father all the merits that I accumulated and which could not be applied to your soul without this intention on thy part." The Saint added, "In this is manifested the most faithful love of our God who supplies in so admirable a manner for our forgetfulness and who appeases His Father by offering Him the regret which the soul conceives for her negligence.
Practice: There is no better way to close the practices suggested during this month than by one which our Lord Himself proposed to the St. Margaret Mary: "One Friday during Holy Mass, I felt a strong desire to honor the sufferings of my crucified Spouse. Upon this He told me that He desired that I should present myself every Friday a certain number of times day and night to adore Him upon the Cross, the throne of His mercy, and prostrate myself humbly at His feet, in the same dispositions in which the Blessed Virgin stood by the Cross during His Passion, and offer to Him those holy dispositions." Our Lord said also to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi: "If every Friday you will honor with particular devotion the hour at which I expired on the Cross, you shall receive in return the choicest graces from my soul which I gave up at that moment to my Eternal Father. And though you may not always feel sensibly the effects of this grace, it shall remain constantly present within you."
Ejaculatory Prayer: May I live, no not I, but may the Heart of Jesus live in me!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Friday, July 3, 2009
THe Thirty-Third Day of the Month of the Sacred Heart
Of the Zeal Which the Heart of Jesus Looks for in Those Who Are Devoted to Him in Spreading the Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
It is not enough to have conceived a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You must also labor, as far as you can, to extend it. And this will be no difficult matter if you have only love: the most unequivocal proof of love is zeal. Whoever has no zeal has no love says St. Augustine.
It is not enough to have conceived a great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You must also labor, as far as you can, to extend it. And this will be no difficult matter if you have only love: the most unequivocal proof of love is zeal. Whoever has no zeal has no love says St. Augustine.
But in what way are you to exercise your zeal? There are three means of doing it, and these are within the reach of every one. The first is example. Set an example yourself of a tender devotion to the Heart of Jesus. This is the shortest and most efficacious lesson. The second means is to counsel it; to make it known to those who are unacquainted with it and to encourage and foster it in those who have some beginning of it. The third and surest, as it is also the easiest, is to pray ardently to this Sacred Heart to make itself known and loved by means of those interior lights, those secret motions, that enlighten and transform hearts; for this devotion seems to be in a particular manner the fruit of prayer, one of those special graces which our Lord has reserved to be spread in the hearts of His servants by Himself alone.
No one can excuse himself from employing so easy a means as this. The saints in their enterprises of zeal knew well the power of prayer over the Heart of God and hence they never failed to join it to their preaching. For they bore in mind the saying of St. Paul, that "neither he that plants is anything, nor he that waters, but God that gives the increase" Neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat, sed qui incrementum dat Deus (1 Cor. iii. 7).
It is related of a Father of the Society of Jesus that he never preached without having first spent three hours in fervent prayer accompanied with abundant tears. A lay brother of the same society, when asked what were the means which he used to gain so many souls to God in his office as porter, replied: "For one word that I address to men, I address a hundred to God." Let us adopt the same means and we may be sure of success.
Let us pray. And if our sins. make us unworthy to be used as instruments by Jesus Christ in making His Sacred Heart known, let us beg of Him to choose others in our place. Let us entreat Him to send into His vineyard apostles of His Heart who, penetrated with a deep sense of the advantages of this devotion, may devote themselves to increase and spread it Yes, let us pray, for everything is promised to prayer. When a holy soul once asked of God why He did not raise up in this corrupt age one of those saints whose zeal changes, as it were, the face of the whole world, "Men do not pray to me enough," was the reply which she received.
The surest means of succeeding in the prayers which we address to God for the good of souls is to offer them to Him through the mediation of the Heart of Jesus. This was made known to Marie of the Incarnation, foundress of the Ursulines in Canada, as she relates in the second hook of her life written by herself. "One night as I was pleading before the Eternal Father the great cause of the salvation of souls, I understood by an interior light, that I was not heard by His Divine Majesty and that He did not, as usual, lend a propitious ear to the vows and urgent entreaties which I addressed to Him. I annihilated myself at His feet. I sank to the center of my own vileness and nothingness that His Divine goodness might deign to teach me what was most pleasing to Him in order that I might obtain my request. Upon this I heard these words: ‘Pray to me through the Heart of Jesus, my most amiable Son. It is through Him, that I will hear you and grant your petition.’ Since that time I have always concluded my daily devotions by this practice, and by this means I gain each day a fresh profusion of graces beyond all that I can express. *
It would be well to mention here the magnificent promises of Jesus Christ in favor of those who zealously employ themselves in making known His Sacred Heart. Saint Margaret Mary says, "Our Lord disclosed to me the treasures of grace and love reserved for those who shall consecrate and devote themselves to give and procure to His Sacred Heart all the honor, love, and glory in their power, treasures so great that it is impossible for me to express them." And in another place, "Our Lord showed me the names of a number of persons written in His Sacred Heart on account of the desire they felt that He should be loved and honored, and He promised, that they should never be effaced."
At the same time, let us bear in mind that to be profitable, our zeal must be prudent and enlightened. There is a wide difference between the affairs of God and those of the world. In the affairs of the world it is necessary to be full of action; in those of God, we must be content with following His inspirations, leaving grace to act and following its movements with all our power. Devotion to the Sacred Heart must insinuate itself by the unction of charity into the hearts of those whom God has chosen for Himself.
Practice: Employ a part of your means in procuring books and medals oi the Sacred Heart and try to spread them where you can. The wicked never fail to find means and resources for circulating their pernicious books. Shall we allow ourselves to be outdone by them?
Ejaculatory Prayer: O Heart of Jesus, grant that I may be consumed with a zeal for Thy glory.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
* Prayer of Mother Marie of the Incarnation.
It Is by the Heart of my Jesus, my way, my truth, and my life, that I approach Thee O Eternal Father. Through this divine Heart, I adore Thee in behalf of those who adore Thee not, I love Thee in behalf of those who love Thee not, I acknowledge Thy goodness, in behalf of all those who, by voluntary blindness, slight Thy divine Majesty and acknowledge not Thy favors. I would fain satisfy through this divine Heart for the duty of all mankind. I traverse in spirit the whole world in search of every soul purchased by the most precious Blood of my divine spouse, in order that I may make reparation to Thee for all through this divine Heart. I embrace them all in order to present them to Thee through Him, and through Him I beg of Thee their conversion. Wilt Thou suffer them, Eternal Father, to refuse to acknowledge my Jesus, to refuse to live for Him who has died for all? Thou seest, O divine Father, that they have no life as yet. Give them life in this divine Heart.
Thou knowest, O Incarnate Word, my beloved Jesus, all that I would say to Thy Father by Thy divine Heart and by Thy holy Soul. In saying it to Him I say it to Thee, for Thou art in Thy Father and Thy Father in Thee. Grant, then, in union with Him. all that I ask. I present to Thee all these souls. Make them one with Thee.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
The Thirty-Second Day of the Month of the Sacred Heart
Fifth Means of Obtaining a Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: a Particular Devotion to St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, and St. Aloysius.
The saints in heaven take a pleasure in obtaining for those who honor them the virtue in which they themselves excelled and the means of salvation which most powerfully aided them in attaining perfection. We have before remarked what an ardent devotion the greatest saints have manifested at all times towards the Heart of Jesus, but we will point out three in particular to whom you can have recourse in a more special manner in order to obtain this devotion.
The saints in heaven take a pleasure in obtaining for those who honor them the virtue in which they themselves excelled and the means of salvation which most powerfully aided them in attaining perfection. We have before remarked what an ardent devotion the greatest saints have manifested at all times towards the Heart of Jesus, but we will point out three in particular to whom you can have recourse in a more special manner in order to obtain this devotion.
The first is St. Joseph. When we call to mind the privilege which this glorious saint enjoyed of carrying the Infant Jesus so often in his arms and of living with Him familiarly during thirty years, can we doubt that in the silence of the life of continual prayer which St. Joseph led at Nazareth our Divine Savior revealed to him, the first and most highly favored of all His saints after His Divine Mother, all the treasures of His Sacred Heart? If, then, you would know and love the Heart of Jesus go to Joseph. Jesus has placed in his hands all the treasures of His Heart in order that he might have the power of enriching his faithful clients.
After Joseph go to the disciple whom Jesus loved, St. John the Evangelist. To whom Can you better address yourself if you would be inflamed with a tender devotion to the Heart of Jesus than to the beloved disciple, who reclined during the last supper upon that Divine Heart, and was the first to penetrate its secrets; who alone received the last sighs of that Sacred Heart upon the cross; who alone shared the sorrows of Mary as she beheld that Sacred Heart pierced by the soldier’s lance; who alone saw the blood and water flow from thence, as he bears testimony himself; and who was the first to enter into that wound of love and there to take up his abode?
As for St. Aloysius, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the exercise of an interior life and continual union with God formed his distinctive characteristic. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, to whom it was given to behold the glory which this saint enjoyed in heaven exclaimed: "Oh, how Aloysius loved upon earth! Oh, how Aloysius loved! While he was in this mortal life he was ever winging shafts of heavenly love towards the Heart of the Word Incarnate. Now that he is in heaven those shafts return into his own heart and are fixed there for ever, for the acts of divine charity which he then made fill him now with ineffable joy.
"Oh, how great is the glory of Aloysius, son of Ignatius! Never could I have believed it had not my Jesus allowed me to see it! Would that I might traverse the whole universe and proclaim that Aloysius is a great saint. Would that I might make his glory known to the whole world that God might be glorified in him. He is raised so high in heaven only because he led an interior life on earth. Who can ever appreciate the merits and virtue of the interior life? No, there can be no comparison between the acts of an interior and exterior life."
This amiable saint is your model, interior souls; Christian youth, he is your special patron. You cannot doubt that he interests himself specially in your welfare, and he has given such proof of his desire to see the devotion to the Heart of Jesus extended that you are sure of doing what is agreeable to him in addressing yourselves to him to obtain the promotion of this object. The following incident will serve to increase your confidence.
In the year 1765, a novice of the Society of Jesus, Nicholas Aloysius Celestini, while laboring under a serious illness and almost on the point of death, saw the angelical Aloysius approach his bed. The Saint addressed hun in the most consoling words and exhorted him to love the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to propagate the devotion as a thing most pleasing to Heaven. Nicholas promised to do so and received as a recompense, not only the cure of his malady, but freedom also from any troublesome effects of it, so that though hardly able the evening before, to turn in his bed, he was well enough the following day to walk several miles in very cold weather and to observe the rule like any other novice. This miraculous cure contributed powerfully to extend the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
Practice: Acquire the habit of making ejaculatory prayers from time to time after the example of St. Aloysius. There is not a more powerful means for advancing rapidly in a short time in the love of Jesus. Those short prayers are like inflamed darts which go straight to His Heart and meet with less hindrance from the distractions and languor which so often interfere with our other exercises of piety.
Ejaculatory Prayer: Who will give Thee to me that I may find Thee alone, O Heart of my Jesus!
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Thirty-First Day of the Month of the Sacred Heart
Fourth Means of Obtaining Devotion to the Sacred Heart: a Great Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Mary has all power over the Heart of Jesus. She is the Mother of fair love: Mater pulchrae dilectionis. It is to her that we must address ourselves if we would have its flames enkindled in our hearts.
Mary has all power over the Heart of Jesus. She is the Mother of fair love: Mater pulchrae dilectionis. It is to her that we must address ourselves if we would have its flames enkindled in our hearts.
The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are too much alike and too closely united for one not to lead infallibly to the other. There is this difference: The Heart of Jesus more particularly favors pure souls, while the heart of Mary purifies those which are not so by means of the graces which she obtains for them, and prepares them to be received within the Heart of Jesus. Sinners should never despair of obtaining this grace through Mary. She is the refuge of the miserable, the resource of the whole world. Without a tender love towards this Mother of mercy, we can never hope to obtain an entrance into the Heart of Jesus.
One day as St. Gertrude was repeating with great devotion those words of the Salve Regina: Illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte, "Turn, then, thine eyes of mercy towards us," the Blessed Virgin appeared to her, and showing her the eyes of the Infant Jesus whom she held in her arms, said: "These are the eyes full of mercy which I can turn at pleasure upon those who invoke me." Let us then cherish a tender love for Mary; we shall soon be inflamed with an ardent love for her Son. This is the recompense beyond all price which she obtains for all who are devoted to her. Every good has come and will come, to us through Mary alone: Omnia per Mariam. Whoever has found her has found life and salvation.
There can be no difficulty in approaching this tender Mother, for she tells us herself that she anticipates those who seek her and that she shows herself first to them. Yes, it is she who inspires us with the desire of loving and serving her in order that she may enrich us with all the treasures which are deposited in her hands. It is through her hands that every grace must pass which the Heart of Jesus designs to shed upon us.
Let us address ourselves to Mary and especially to her Heart, the perfect image of the Heart of Jesus; to that Heart which was so constantly united to the Heart of her Divine Son that it shared each moment His feelings, His joys, His labors, sorrows, and His love for us. Never shall we find Jesus without Mary nor Mary without Jesus. Invenerunt puerum cum Maria, Matre Ejus, "And entering the house they found the child with Mary, His Mother" (Matt. ii. 11).
Let us invoke Mary, especially by her Immaculate Conception, her dearest privilege which exempted her from the sad necessity of being for a single instant the enemy of her God, and let us be sure that she will never refuse us anything. Let us never separate the Heart of Mary from that of Jesus in our devotions. Let us honor and love them both from the bottom of our hearts. Let us devote and consecrate ourselves wholly to these amiable Hearts. Let us address our requests to God the Father through the Heart of Jesus and lot us approach Jesus by the Heart of Mary. We shall obtain everything from the Father by the Heart of the Son and everything from the Son by the Heart of the Mother.
Blessed Hermann never passed a day without paying his homage to the Heart of Mary, and every day of his life he received signal favors at her hands.
Blessed Marie of the Incarnation used no other means than this: she had recourse to the Heart of Mary to present her petitions to Jesus and to the Heart of Jesus to present them to the Eternal Father. The Blessed Virgin herself deigned to tell St. Gertrude how pleasing this practice was to her and how meritorious it was in the sight of God. On the eve of Christmas while this saint was reflecting with bitterness of heart that she had allowed the season of Advent to pass by without having done anything specially in honor of the Blessed Virgin, inspired by the Holy Ghost, she offered to Mary in reparation for this negligence the most noble and gentle Heart of Jesus, her Divine Son. The Mother of Mercy gave her to understand that she received this precious gift with gratitude and great joy, and that it incomparably surpassed in merit all other acts that she could have performed to honor Her.
O Mary, Mother of Grace, cast an eye of pity on our miseries and afflictions with which we are overwhelmed in this valley of tears. Pray to Jesus to open His Heart to us, and teach us to bury our sorrows and our pains in His Divine Heart, which while He was on earth was truly a sea of bitterness. Let it be enough for us to look upon this amiable Heart as the Jews once looked upon the brazen serpent, to be at once healed of all the maladies which afflict our souls.
Practice: As often as you assist at Holy Mass, offer to the Heart of Jesus the dispositions of His Blessed Mother as she stood at the foot of the cross. And, when you go to Communion, offer Him in like manner the dispositions of Mary and her holy transports at the moment of the Incarnation. He Himself taught this practice to St. Margaret Mary. You cannot doubt, then, that it is most pleasing to Him and that you can thus repair with great advantage all your coldness and backwardness in those sacred actions, the most important in spiritual life.
Ejaculatory Prayer: O Mary, I will give myself no repose until I have obtained from thee the knowledge and love of the Heart of Jesus.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Thirtieth Day of June
Third Means of Obtaining a Devotion to the Sacred Heart: Visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
The Blessed Eucharist does not benefit those only who receive it. To gain from it some of the fruits of life which it contains it is enough to visit Jesus Christ in this adorable sacrament, to desire it, to think of it, to turn in spirit towards some church in which it reposes. Such was the practice of a great number of saints and of Saint Alphonsus Liguori among others. There is nothing, that wins the Heart of Jesus more surely than frequent adoration and visits. This adorable Heart is in His Sacrament as a living fountain which flows unceasingly night and day and asks only to pour itself into all hearts to purify and fertilize them. He Himself invites all to come and draw from thence the waters of life, and seems to cry aloud amid the silence of His sanctuaries, as He did formerly from amidst the crowd of Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem for a great solemnity: "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." Si quia sitit, veniat ad me et bibat (St. John, vii. 37).
The Blessed Eucharist does not benefit those only who receive it. To gain from it some of the fruits of life which it contains it is enough to visit Jesus Christ in this adorable sacrament, to desire it, to think of it, to turn in spirit towards some church in which it reposes. Such was the practice of a great number of saints and of Saint Alphonsus Liguori among others. There is nothing, that wins the Heart of Jesus more surely than frequent adoration and visits. This adorable Heart is in His Sacrament as a living fountain which flows unceasingly night and day and asks only to pour itself into all hearts to purify and fertilize them. He Himself invites all to come and draw from thence the waters of life, and seems to cry aloud amid the silence of His sanctuaries, as He did formerly from amidst the crowd of Jews who were assembled at Jerusalem for a great solemnity: "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." Si quia sitit, veniat ad me et bibat (St. John, vii. 37).
But the solitude, that reigns in His churches tells us too plainly that He is not more heeded now than then. Hence it seems as though He would fain seek reparation from among the small number of faithful souls who answer to His call for the insensibility of others. It is during these visits which they pay to Him that He delights to shed upon them His graces in greater abundance. And it may be said that there is no favor which He bestows upon them more commonly at that time than the grace of His love, for as friendship is maintained and increased among men by frequent visits and conversations, so it is by the same means that we obtain a more ardent love for Jesus Christ.
Speak to Him during the visits which you pay to Him as a child to its father, as a spouse to the most amiable of spouses. At one time lay before Him your spiritual infirmities: "Lord, behold he whom You love is sick." Ecce, quem amas infirmatur (John xi. 3). At another thank Him for His benefits: "Bless the Lord, my soul, and let all that is within me praise His holy name." Benedic, anima mea, Domino, et omnia quae intra me sunt nomini sancto ejus (Ps. cii. 1). At another praise His goodness: "How good is God to Israel!" Quam bonus Israel Deus (Ps. Ixxii. 1). At another praise His mercy: Lord, Thy mercy is above all Thy works! At another. His love: O Heart of Jesus, wounded and languishing with love, what shall I say of You and of the excess of Your love? Annihilate yourself in His presence: "Shall I speak to my Lord, I who am but dust and ashes?" Loquar ad Dominum meum cum sim pulvis et cinis? (Gen. xviii, 27). Lastly, enter within the tabernacle itself and establish your abode there. Then cast yourself with Magdalen at the feet of Jesus. Bedew them with your tears. Kiss His sacred Hands pierced for the love of you. Repose upon His Heart with the disciple whom He loved and tell Him that it is there that you wish to take your rest for ever without looking elsewhere for joy or consolation, both in this world and in the next.
You cannot give want of time as an excuse for your neglect in visiting our Lord. How much time do you find to waste in useless conversation? Shall it be said that it is for Jesus alone that we cannot sacrifice five minutes? Yes, five minutes of conversation with Him in His adorable Sacrament is enough to satisfy His Heart. Perhaps you live under the same roof with Him. You have to go but a few steps to visit Him and you refuse Him this slight mark of gratitude which He is ready to recompense by the most signal favors. An ancient religious was wont to say, "Is it right to pass by the house of a friend, to live so near him and yet not go in to greet him?
Father Sales of the Society of Jesus was filled with consolation whenever he heard the Blessed Sacrament spoken of. He was never tired of visiting it. If he was asked for at the gate, if he returned to his room, if he had to go a few steps through the house, he would always contrive to renew on each occasion his visits to his dear Lord so that there was hardly an hour in the day in which he did not visit Him. It was this that merited for him the happiness of dying by the hands of heretics in defense of the doctrine of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament."
Aloysius Gonzaga, Stanislaus Kostka, John Berchmans, those angels upon earth and admirable models of youth, found no joy but in the presence of Jesus in His adorable Sacrament. They left their hearts with Him when they were obliged to be absent from Him. There it was that Xavier would come to rest himself after the labors of the apostolate and gain fresh strength for encountering new dangers. In a word, devotion towards Jesus, annihilated upon our altars has been the devotion of all the saints. Let it be ours also.
Practice: Make a firm resolution not to allow a single day to pass without making several visits to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament if you live in some place where He thus resides. If you have not this happiness go at least once a day into a church for this purpose. Let your special object in these visits be to honor the Heart of Jesus and to make reparation to Him for all those who are indifferent towards Him or who set themselves against the devotion towards this adorable Heart.
Ejaculatory Prayer: O Jesus, my God, Thou whose discourse can never tire, speak but one word to my soul. Speak today, speak always, and never be silent.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Monday, June 29, 2009
The Twenty-Ninth Day of June
Second Means of Obtaining a Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Frequent Communion.
Devotion towards the Sacred Heart of Jesus is properly an exercise of love. It is enough, then to know what Holy Communion is to understand that there is no surer means of being soon inflamed with love for Jesus Christ than by frequently approaching to this divine Sacrament. The wise man knows it is impossible to carry fire in one’s bosom and not be burnt. This sacred fire is the adorable Eucharist which, as St. Bernard calls it, is the love of loves. Oh, did the soul but consider attentively what passes in this Divine Sacrament, says St. Angela of Foligno, it is certain that seeing herself so strangely loved all the iciness of her heart would be changed into flames of love and gratitude.
Devotion towards the Sacred Heart of Jesus is properly an exercise of love. It is enough, then to know what Holy Communion is to understand that there is no surer means of being soon inflamed with love for Jesus Christ than by frequently approaching to this divine Sacrament. The wise man knows it is impossible to carry fire in one’s bosom and not be burnt. This sacred fire is the adorable Eucharist which, as St. Bernard calls it, is the love of loves. Oh, did the soul but consider attentively what passes in this Divine Sacrament, says St. Angela of Foligno, it is certain that seeing herself so strangely loved all the iciness of her heart would be changed into flames of love and gratitude.
Let us frequently approach this source of all good. There, united and incorporated with Jesus Christ the author of grace, we shall daily receive its streams in fresh profusion. Our evil passions imperceptibly weakened will at length wholly disappear. That inclination for evil which we carry about with us will be changed into a sweet attraction towards every virtue of which the Heart of Jesus is the sanctuary, and of which He gives us an example in this adorable sacrament. There, possessing the treasure of Heaven, though hidden from our eyes, we shall receive the pledge of everlasting happiness, promised to those who worthily approach this Sacrament of love. For whoever possesses Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament can want nothing for his perfection and eternal salvation, so that, after Communion the faithful soul may say with St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi: All is accomplished. For indeed this heavenly food contains in itself every good and lays up in the soul every grace, gift, and virtue, so that the faithful soul that enjoys it has nothing more to desire.
Alas, how many graces do we lose by not placing ourselves in a condition to communicate more frequently. The Faithful of the primitive Church communicated every day, and how great in consequence was their faith and fervor! Alas, did we but know what pain we inflict on the Heart of Jesus by our indifference towards the Blessed Eucharist! One day our divine Lord said to St. Margaret Mary: "I have a burning thirst to be honored and loved by men in the Blessed Sacrament, and yet I find scarce any one who tries to allay this thirst, as I desire, by making me some return."
Let us be no longer of the number of these ungrateful souls. Let us often approach the. Holy Table with due dispositions. It is the surest means of giving consolation to Jesus Christ and gaining His Heart. But, if we already have the happiness of communicating often then why do we not make a better use of so powerful a means of perfection and salvation? Why, after so many communions do we continue still the same, still tepid, cold, and without energy to conquer our defects? Is it not because we go to Jesus Christ with a heart attached to creatures, filled with an esteem for the goods, the honors, the enjoyments of this world, with a heart impenetrably barred against the shafts of divine love? Is it not because, though Jesus willingly receives our hearts within His own, we on the contrary close our hearts against Him? For as He has Himself said, he alone that abides in me and I in him can bring forth abundant fruit. Qui manet in me, et ego in eo, hie fert fructum multum (St. John xv. 5).
Why then do we not cast ourselves with faith and confidence at the feet of Jesus Christ, really present within us, and say to Him from the bottom of our hearts: "No, Lord, I will not let You go until You have blessed me. I will not rise until You have given me strength to overcome those inclinations which separate me so frequently from You, and an efficacious and insatiable desire of doing and suffering all for Your love and always and on every occasion accomplishing Your holy will." Let us remind Him that His own glory requires Him to make a heart which has become His sanctuary worthy of Himself. And what is there that He can refuse us after haying given Himself wholly to us?
Practice: Endeavour to make yourself worthy, as far as is possible, to communicate frequently, and do not forget that all it’s fruit depends on the preparation and thanksgiving which should accompany this great action. St. Theresa says that one of the reasons why we receive so scanty a supply of grace, is that we do not turn to sufficient account those moments during which Jesus Christ is really present within us, and that He has hardly entered our hearts when we turn our back, as it were, upon Him and entertain ourselves with other thoughts.
Ejaculatory Prayer: When shall I come and appear before the face of my God? When shall I be allowed to possess Him within my heart?
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
The Twenty-Eighth Day of June
First Means of Obtaining Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: Prayer.
The first means for obtaining an ardent love for Jesus Christ and a tender devotion to His Sacred Heart, is prayer.
The first means for obtaining an ardent love for Jesus Christ and a tender devotion to His Sacred Heart, is prayer.
"We may well be astonished that Christians are not, so to say, all powerful, possessing as they do a sure and infallible means of obtaining all that they desire, and this means consisting only in asking. There is nothing, to which Jesus Christ has so frequently and solemnly pledged Himself as to hear our prayers" (Croiset). "Ask, and it shall he given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. Hitherto you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may he full. All things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.
Prayer is the first need which the soul feels when the Holy Ghost begins to draw it from the abyss of perdition, the first sign of conversion. Ananias was afraid to go in quest of Saul to whom he was sent by our Lord. What was the proof given him by which to know that he was no longer a persecutor but already of the number of the Faithful in heart and will? "He prays." Ecce enim orat (Acts ix. 11).
Prayer is also the first exercise, which the enemy of souls induces them to abandon when he would draw them into his snares. Hence it was that St. Theresa said, "Would that I had a voice that might be heard throughout the whole world and that might repeat unceasingly in the ears of all: Pray, pray!"
Let us pray then, and pray with confidence, humility, and, above all, with perseverance. Let us never grow weary, never abandon it in disgust. The moment we cease to importune the divine mercy is, perhaps, the very moment at which it was on the point of granting our request. Prayer, says St. Laurence Justinian, appeases the anger of God. He pardons the sinner when he prays with humility. Prayer obtains all that it asks for. It triumphs over all the efforts of the enemies of our salvation. It purifies sinners, changes them, and makes them saints. No sooner had I recourse to God, says Solomon, than He granted me wisdom. I had no sooner opened my mouth to pray, says David, than I received help from God.
Our Lord told St. Bridget that His bounty goes far beyond our requests and wishes, and that He would be ready to give, at any moment, did we but bring, on our part, suitable dispositions.
"But, of all prayers, there is none that can be more pleasing to Jesus Christ than that in which we beg of Him a love of His Sacred Heart. Let us pray. Let us entreat. It is impossible to beg this earnestly and not obtain it. The means are easy and efficacious, and we may say that, in this matter, to ask is to obtain. Make use of this Sacred Heart itself to support your request and doubt not but that it will be favorably received" (Croiset).
St. Mechtild declared a short time before her death that, having one day begged of our Lord some great grace in behalf of a person who had asked her to do so, Jesus Christ said to her: "My daughter, tell the person for whom you are praying that she must seek all that she desires in my Heart, and that there she will infallibly find it. Let her cherish a great devotion to this Sacred Heart. Let her ask all that she desires through this Sacred Heart like a child that knows no other artifice than that which love suggests to her of asking of her father all that she wishes."
Practice: You can do nothing more pleasing to the Heart of Jesus, than to unite yourself to Him frequently by spiritual communion. According to St. Thomas, this consists in an ardent desire of receiving Jesus Christ and an affectionate gratitude as if we had actually received Him. These desires and affections you can awaken in yourself at every hour of the day or night. Our Lord expressed to the Foundress of the Convent of St. Catharine of Sienna at Naples the pleasure He takes in these spiritual communions by showing her two precious vases, one of gold and the other of silver, and telling her that in the golden vase He kept her sacramental communions and in the silver vase her spiritual communions.
Ejaculatory Prayer: If I forget Thee, O Heart of Jesus, let my right hand be forgotten: let my tongue cleave to my jaws if I do not remember Thee! Si oblitus fuero tui, oblivioni detur dextera mea; adhaereat lingua mea faucibus meis, si non meminiero tui (Ps. cxxxvi. 5).
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Announcement
I was unable to post the meditations for the Twenty-Eighth and Twenty-Ninth Days due to connectivity issues. They are thus being posted late.
If you wish to keep on schedule you can "double up" and use two meditations a day, one in the morning the other in the evening. Or, you can continue to use them in order. Either way will bear great fruit.
Note that while the meditations are for the month of June, a month of 30 days, there are in total 33 as well as a concluding meditation.
I hope they have served to bring you closer to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and have borne great fruit in your souls.
Fr. Scott Bailey, C.Ss.R.
If you wish to keep on schedule you can "double up" and use two meditations a day, one in the morning the other in the evening. Or, you can continue to use them in order. Either way will bear great fruit.
Note that while the meditations are for the month of June, a month of 30 days, there are in total 33 as well as a concluding meditation.
I hope they have served to bring you closer to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and have borne great fruit in your souls.
Fr. Scott Bailey, C.Ss.R.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
The Twenty-Seventh Day of June
Means Of Surmounting the Obstacles to the Devotion to the Sacred Heart: Mortification.
"If you would know how to overcome the obstacles which your examen has disclosed to you, embrace courageously interior and exterior mortification. Both are absolutely necessary for arriving at perfection: the one cannot exist without the other.
"If you would know how to overcome the obstacles which your examen has disclosed to you, embrace courageously interior and exterior mortification. Both are absolutely necessary for arriving at perfection: the one cannot exist without the other.
"But the most necessary, beyond all contradiction, is interior mortification, and from this no one can dispense himself. This is the violence which we must unceasingly offer to ourselves in order to seize the kingdom of heaven. In fact, it is impossible to live the life of faith for any length of time without dying a thousand times a day to your inclinations and the self-seeking of self-love, for the whole employment of a soul in this life consists in loving and hating: loving God with our whole heart, and hating sin without reserve.
"Opportunities for practicing this mortification are constantly presenting themselves. There is no one who cannot mortify his natural disposition, desires and inclinations, who cannot keep silence when his natural vivacity would urge him to reply or vanity prompt him to speak. It is in such acts as these that interior mortification principally consists, and we succeed by this means in weakening self-love and subjecting it to reason, and thus gradually ridding ourselves of our imperfections. It is useless to flatter ourselves that we love Jesus Christ if we are not mortified. All our practices of devotion, the finest sentiments of piety, are to be suspected if unattended by this perfect mortification. It was for this reason that when some one was spoken of as a saint in the presence of St. Ignatius he replied, "He will truly be so if he is truly mortified."
"But it is not enough to mortify ourselves for a time only and in some one particular. We must mortify ourselves as far as possible in everything and at all times but with prudence and discretion. A single irregular satisfaction that you allow to nature has more effect in rendering her overbearing and rebellious than a hundred victories which you might gain over her would have in weakening her power.
"The practice of this mortification is familiar to all such as have a true desire of being perfect. There is nothing that does not afford them an occasion for thwarting their natural inclinations. It is enough that they have a great desire to see or to speak to make them cast down their eyes or hold their tongue. The desire of hearing news or of knowing what is passing or what is said is to them a constant subject of mortification and it is the more meritorious in proportion as it recurs more frequently and is known to God alone. A happy expression, a witty pleasantry, might distinguish them in conversation, but it may also furnish them with matter for a noble sacrifice. Are they interrupted a hundred times, in some occupation of great importance? A hundred times they will reply with as much patience and sweetness as if they had not been at all engaged.
"Inconveniences, arising from circumstances of place, weather, variety of character, etc., again supply innumerable occasions of mortifying oneself with great merit, and it may be said, that the greatest graces and the highest sanctity depend ordinarily upon the generosity we show in mortifying ourselves with constancy on those little occasions which are unceasingly presenting themselves" (Croiset).
Do not, however, suppose that by entering on the practice of mortification you will have to lead a melancholy and hard life. The yoke of Jesus Christ is sweet, and His burden light. Did the saints deceive themselves when they exclaimed: "I am filled with comfort: I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation?" Repletus sum consolatione, superabundo gaudio in omni tribulatione? (2 Cor. vii. 4). Writing to his brethren in Rome, St Francis Xavier says: "I am in a country where I am in want of all the conveniences of life, but I experience so many interior consolations that I am in danger of losing my sight from the tears of joy which I shed." Where is the worldly person who at the pinnacle of his ambition or in the full enjoyment of his pleasures can make a similar avowal?
"A little courage! It’s the first step only that demands a sacrifice. Make the experiment for yourself. A thing must be worth but little which is not worth the trial.
"If after a fortnight of entire and constant mortification," said a great servant of God, "we do not taste that sweetness which others have experienced, I will allow it to be said that the life of those who truly love Jesus Christ is wearisome and that the yoke of Our Lord is heavy" (Croiset).
Whatever difficulties you may meet with in renouncing yourself, have recourse to the Heart of Jesus, and they will disappear. One day St. Margaret Mary felt so strong a repugnance within herself that it seemed as if she could not bring herself to obey upon our Lord reproaching her for her cowardice in conquering herself for the love of Him. She said to Him: "What would You have me do? My will is stronger than myself." Our Lord replied: "Place it n the wound of my Heart. There it will find strength to overcome itself." "O my God!" she exclaimed with transport, "bury it so deep within Your Heart and secure it there so firmly that it may never escape!"
Practice: Together with the general examen, practice also the particular examen. Take for the subject of it your predominant fault or some virtue which you wish to acquire and practice it in the following manner:
1. On rising, make a firm resolution to be on your guard against this particular defect.
2. About noon, examine whether you have committed any faults in regard of the point you proposed to yourself.
3. In the evening make a similar examen.
The fruit of this examen depends upon the fervor with which our morning resolution has been made, the exactness of our inquiry, our watchfulness over ourselves, the fervor with which we beg the divine assistance, and the care we take to note down our failings, in order that we may observe the progress we make from one day to another.
St. Ignatius practiced this exercise with such exactness from the time of his conversion that, even on the day of his death, he was still careful to note his faults in a little book which was found under his pillow. The most eminent persons of his order have imitated the fidelity of their founder in this salutary practice. If they thought that they were not doing too much in taking such precautions can we regard them as beneath us or as imposing too irksome a restraint upon us?
Ejaculatory Prayer: O Jesus, may Thy desolate Heart teach me to avoid, despise, and hate all earthly satisfactions. (Bl. Henry Suso).
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
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