Ash Wednesday

On Exterior Penance and Mortification.

I.

There is nothing more united and less united than the soul and body. When one advances, the other recoils; when one rises, the other descends; when one is in health, the other is sick; when one is strong, the other is weak. It is necessary, then, in order to strengthen and give health to the soul, to bring the body under subjection, and weaken its sinful inclinations by penance and mortification.


I am not a man if I obey my passions; I am not a Christian if I do not combat with and overcome my passions; I am not a true penitent if I do not mortify my passions. Since my body is polluted by sin, it ought to be purified by mortification; and since it has part in the pleasures of the soul, it ought to glory in sharing its sorrows.

II.

How do I know that my sins are forgiven? How do I know that the pain which my offences merit is remitted? How do I know that God will not punish me in my body? How do I know that he will not chastise me in my soul? How do I know that he will not regard me with coldness, and permit me to fall into some grievous sin? How do I know that I shall be able to rise after falling therein? Only if I consistently practice penance and mortification can I be sure that my sins will be forgiven, that my punishment will be remitted, that I will receive an abundance of grace, and that I shall have the strength to rise again.

III.

If I spare myself and do not practice mortification, God will not spare me on account of the weaknesses I fail to overcome. If I am filled with self-love and close myself off to loving God and others, I will be closed to God’s love for me, but if I forget myself and give myself to God and others, God will give himself to me. If I punish myself by the mortifications of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, God will not punish me. If I excuse nothing in myself, God will pardon all, but if I excuse all things in myself, God will pardon nothing. If I am indulgent to myself and live a life of excess, God will be severe, but if I am austere and live a life of Christian generosity, God will be generous and merciful.

Oh, Christian soul! make your body a living and dying victim; mortify your passions, your senses, and your desires; mortify yourself at all times, and in all places; mortify yourself with zeal, mortify yourself with discretion.

Resolution: To develop a penitential program for Lent involving the three traditional mortifications of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, and to begin practicing it no later than next Monday.

Prayer: O Holy Spirit, enlighten me that I may know my weaknesses and guide me in choosing those penances and mortifications which will be most salutary for my salvation.



By a Member of the Society of Jesus, edited and amended by J. Scott Bailey, C.Ss.R.
© ASG

The Octave of the Epiphany

MEDITATION VIII: The Loss of Jesus in the Temple.

St. Luke relates that Mary and Joseph went every year to Jerusalem on the Feast of the Pasch, and took the Infant Jesus with them. It was the custom, says the Venerable Bede, for the Jews to make this journey to the temple, or at least on their return home, the men separated from the women; and the children went at their pleasure, either with their fathers or their mothers. Our Redeemer, who was then twelve years old, remained during this solemnity for three days in Jerusalem. Mary thought he was with Joseph, and Joseph that he was with Mary: Thinking that He was in the company (Luke 2:44).

The Holy Child employed all these three days in honoring his eternal Father by fasts, vigils, and prayers, and in being present at the sacrifices, which were all figures of his own great sacrifice on the cross. If he took a little food, says St. Bernard, he must have procured it by begging; and if he took any repose, he could have had no other bed but the bare ground.

When Mary and Joseph arrived in the evening at their home, they did not find Jesus; wherefore, full of sorrow, they began to seek him amongst their relatives and friends. At last, returning to Jerusalem, the third day they found him in the Temple, disputing with the Doctors, who, full of astonishment, admired the questions and answers of this wonderful child. On seeing him, Mary said, Son, why have you done so to us? Behold your father and I have sought you sorrowing (Luke 2:48).

There is not upon earth a sorrow like to that which is felt by a soul that loves Jesus, when she fears that Jesus Christ has withdrawn himself from her through some fault of hers. This was the sorrow of Mary and Joseph, which afflicted them so much during these days, for they perhaps feared, through their humility, as says the devout Lanspergius, that they had rendered them selves unworthy of the care of such a treasure. Where fore, on seeing him, Mary said to him, in order to express to him this sorrow: Son, why have you done so to us? Behold your father and I have sought you sorrowing (Luke 2:48). And Jesus answered, Did you not know that I must be about my father’s business (Luke 2:49)?

Let us learn from this mystery two lessons; the first, that we must leave all our friends and relatives when the glory of God is in question. The second, that God easily makes himself found by those who seek him: The Lord is good to the soul that seeks him (Lam. 3:25).

Affections and Prayers.

O Mary, you weep because you lost your Son for a few days; he has withdrawn himself from your eyes, but not from your heart. Don’t you see that the pure love with which you love him keeps him constantly united and bound to you? You know well that he who loves God cannot but be loved by God, who says, I love those that love Me (Prov. 8:17); and with St. John, He that abides in charity abides in God, and God in him (I John 4:16). Why, then, do you fear? Why do you weep? Leave these tears to me, who have so often lost God through my own fault, by driving him away from my soul. O my Jesus, how could I offend you thus with my eyes open, when I knew that by sinning I should lose you? But you do not will that the heart that seeks you should despair, but rather that it should rejoice: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord (Ps. 104:3). If hitherto I have forsaken you, O my Love, 1 will now seek, and will seek none but you. And provided I possess your grace, I renounce all the goods and pleasures of this world. I renounce even my own life. You said that you love him who loves you; I love you, love me also. I esteem your love more than the dominion of the whole world. O my Jesus, I desire not to lose you any more; but I cannot trust to myself; I trust in you: In you, O Lord, have I put my trust; I shall not be confounded forever (Ps. 30:6). I beseech you, bind me to you, and permit me not to be separated from you again.

O Mary! through you I have found my God, whom I once had lost. Obtain for me also holy perseverance. I will also say to you, with St. Bonaventure, In you, O Lady, have I hoped; let me not be confounded forever.

The Seventh Day in the Octave of the Epiphany

MEDITATION VII: The Same Subject continued.

St. Luke, speaking of the residence of the Infant Jesus in the house at Nazareth, writes: And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and grace with God and men (Luke 2:52). As Jesus grew in age, so did he increase in wisdom: not that he went on every year acquiring a greater knowledge of things, as is the case with us; for, from the first moment of his life, Jesus was full of all divine knowledge and wisdom: In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3); but it is said that he advanced, because every day as he advanced in age he manifested more and more his sublime wisdom.

Thus it is also said that he advanced in grace with God and men; with God, because all his divine actions, though they did not render him more holy or increase his merit, since Jesus was from the first full of sanctity and merit, of whose fulness we have received all graces: of his fulness we have all received (John 1:16); yet, nevertheless, these operations of the Redeemer were all sufficient in themselves to increase his grace and merit.

He advanced also in grace with men, increasing in beauty and amiability. Oh, how Jesus showed himself more and more amiable every day of his youth, showing more and more every day the claims he had upon men’s love! With what delight did the holy youth obey Mary and Joseph! With what recollection of mind did he work! With what moderation did he take his food! With what modesty did he speak! With what sweet ness and affability did he converse with all! With what devotion did he pray! In a word, every action, every word, every motion of Jesus, inflamed with love the hearts of all those who beheld him, and especially of Mary and of Joseph, who had the good fortune to see him always at their side. Oh, how these holy spouses remained always intent on contemplating and admiring all the operations, the words, and gestures of this Man-God!

Affections and Prayers.

Grow, my beloved Jesus, grow continually for me. Grow to teach me your virtues by your divine examples. Grow to consummate the great sacrifice on the cross, on which depends my eternal salvation! Grant also, my Savior, that I too may grow more in your love and grace. Miserable that I have been, I have hitherto only increased in ingratitude towards you who has loved me so much. O my Jesus, grant that in future it may be just the contrary with me. You know all my weakness, it is from you that I must receive light and strength. Make me know the claims which you have to my love. You are a God of infinite beauty and of infinite majesty, who did not refuse to come down upon this earth and become man for us, and for our sakes to lead an abject and painful life, and to end it by a most cruel death. And where can we ever find an object more amiable and more worthy of love than you? Fool that I was, in times past I refused to know you, and therefore I have lost you. I implore your pardon; I am heartily sorry, and I am determined to be entirely devoted to you in future. Assist me. Remind me constantly of the life of suffering and the bitter death you endured for the love of me. Give me life and give me strength. When the devil presents to me forbidden fruit, grant me strength to despise it, and let me not for some vile and momentary good risk losing you, O infinite Good. I love you, my Jesus, who died for me. I love you, infinite Goodness. I love you, O Beloved of my soul.

O Mary, you are rny hope. Through your intercession I hope to obtain grace to love my God from this time forth and forever, and never to love any but God.

The Sixth Day in the Octave of the Epiphany

MEDITATION VI: The Dwelling of Jesus at Nazareth.
St. Joseph, on his return to Palestine, heard that Archelaus reigned in Judea instead of his father, Herod, wherefore he was afraid to go and live there; and being warned in a dream, he went to live in Nazareth, a city of Galilee, and there in a poor little cottage he fixed his dwelling. O blessed house of Nazareth, I salute and venerate you! There will come a time when you will be visited by the great ones of the earth: when the pilgrims find themselves inside your poor walls, they will never be satisfied with shedding tears of tenderness at the thought that within them the King of Paradise passed nearly all his life.

In this house, then, the Incarnate Word lived during the remainder of his infancy and youth. And how did he live? Poor and despised by men, performing the offices of a common working-boy, and obeying Joseph and Mary: and He was subject to them (Luke 2:51). O God, how touching it is to think that in this poor house the Son of God lives as a servant! Now he goes to fetch water; then he opens or shuts the shop; now he sweeps the room; now he collects the shavings for the fire; now he labors in assisting Joseph at his trade. O wonder! To see a God sweeping! A God serving as a boy! O thought that ought to make us all burn with holy love to our Redeemer, who has reduced himself to such humiliations in order to gain our love!

Let us adore all these servile actions of Jesus, which were all divine. Let us adore, above all, the hidden and neglected life that Jesus Christ led in the house of Nazareth! O proud men, how can you desire to make your selves seen and honored, when you behold your God, who spends thirty years of his life in poverty, hidden and unknown, to teach us the love of retirement and of an humble and a hidden life!

Affections and Prayers.

O my adorable Infant, I see you an humble servant-boy, working even in the sweat of your brow in this poor shop. I understand it all; you are serving and working for me. But since you employ your whole life for the love of me, so grant, my dear Savior, that I may employ all the rest of my life for your love. Look not at my past life: it has been a life of sorrow and tears both for me and for you, a life of disorder, a life of sins. Oh, permit me at least to keep you company during the remainder of my days, and to labor and suffer with you in the shop of Nazareth, and afterwards to die with you on Calvary, embracing that death which you have destined for me. My dear Jesus, my love, suffer me not to leave and forsake you again, as I have done in times past. You, my God, are suffering such poverty in a shop, hidden, unknown, and despised; and I, a vile worm, have gone about seeking honors and pleasures, and for the sake of these have separated myself from you, O sovereign Good! No, my Jesus, I love you; and because I love you, I will not remain any longer separated from you. I renounce all things, in order to unite myself to you, my hidden and despised Redeemer. Your grace gives me more happiness than have all the vanities and pleasures of the world, for which I have so miserably forsaken you. Eternal Father, for the merits of Jesus Christ, unite me to yourself by the gift of your holy love.

Most holy Virgin, how blessed were you, who, being the companion of your Son in his poor and hidden life, made yourself so like to your Jesus! O my Mother, grant that I also, at least during the short remainder of my life, may endeavor to become like to you and to my Redeemer.

Fifth Day in the Octave of the Epiphany

MEDITATION V: The Return of Jesus from Egypt.

After the death of Herod, and an exile of seven years, according to the common opinion of the Doctors, during which time Jesus lived in Egypt, the angel again appeared to St. Joseph, and commanded him to take the Holy Child and his Mother and return to Palestine. St. Joseph, consoled by this command, communicates it to Mary. Before their departure, these holy spouses courteously informed the friends whom they had made in the country. Joseph then collects the few instruments of his trade, Mary her little bundle of clothes, and taking by the hand the divine Child, they set out on their journey homewards, leading him between them.

St. Bonaventure considers that this journey was more fatiguing to Jesus than was the flight into Egypt, because he was now become too large for Mary and Joseph to carry him much in their arms; but at the same time the Holy Child, at his age, was not able to make a long journey, so that Jesus was obliged through fatigue frequently to stop .and rest himself on the way. But Joseph and Mary, whether they walk or sit, always keep their eyes and thoughts fixed upon the beloved little Child, who was the object of all their love. Oh, with what recollection does that happy soul travel through this life who keeps before its eyes the love and the examples of Jesus Christ!

The holy pilgrims interrupt now and then the silence of this journey by some holy conversation; but with whom and of whom do they converse? They speak only with Jesus and of Jesus. He who has Jesus in his heart speaks only with Jesus or only speaks of him.

Consider again the pain that our little Savior must have endured during the nights of this journey, in which he had no longer the bosom of Mary for his bed, as in his flight, but the bare ground; and for his food he had no more milk, but a little hard bread, too hard for his tender age. He was probably also afflicted by thirst in this desert, in which the Jews had been in such want of water that a miracle was necessary to supply them with it. Let us contemplate and lovingly adore all these sufferings of the Child Jesus.

Affections and Prayers.

Beloved and adored Child, you return to your country; but to where, O God, to where do you return? You come to that place where your countrymen prepare for you insults during life, and then scourges, thorns, ignominy, and a cross at your death. But all was already present to your divine eyes, O my Jesus, and yet you come of your own will to meet that Passion which men prepare for you. But, my Redeemer, if you had not come to die for me, I could not go to love you in Paradise, but must have always remained far away from you. Your death has been my salvation. But how is it, Lord, that by despising your grace I have again condemned myself to hell, even after your death, by which you delivered me from it? I acknowledge that hell is but a slight punishment for me. But you have waited to pardon me. I thank you for it, O my Redeemer, and I repent, and detest all the offences I have committed against you. O Lord, I beseech you, deliver me from hell. Ah, if I were miserable enough to damn myself, how would my torments in hell be increased by the remorse caused by my having meditated during my life on the love that you have borne me! It would not be so much the fire of hell as your love, O my Jesus, that would be my hell. But you came into the world to kindle the fire of your holy love; I desire to burn with this fire, and not with that which would keep me forever separated from you. I repeat, therefore, O my Jesus, deliver me from hell, because in hell I cannot love you.

O Mary, my Mother, I hear it everywhere said and preached that those who love you and trust in you, provided they desire to amend their lives, will not go to hell. I love you, my Lady, and I trust in you; I will amend my life: O Mary, remember to deliver me from hell!

The Fourth Day in the Octave of the Epiphany

MEDITATION IV: The Dwelling of Jesus in Egypt.

Jesus chose to dwell in Egypt during his infancy, that he might lead a more hard and abject life. According to St. Anselm and other writers, the holy family lived in Heliopolis. Let us with St. Bonaventure contemplate the life that Jesus led during the seven years that he remained in Egypt, as it was revealed to St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi.

The house they live in is very poor, because St. Joseph has but little wherewith to pay rent; their bed is poor, their food poor; their life, in short, is one of strict poverty, for they barely gain their livelihood day by day by the work of their hands, and they live in a country where they are unknown and despised, having there neither relatives nor friends.

This holy family does indeed live in great poverty, but oh, how well-ordered are the occupations of these three sojourners! The holy Infant speaks not with his tongue; but in his heart he speaks indeed and continually to his heavenly Father, applying all his sufferings, and every moment of his life, for our salvation. Neither does Mary speak; but at the sight of that dear Infant she meditates on the divine love, and the favor that God has conferred upon her by choosing her for his Mother. Joseph also works in silence; and at the sight of the divine Child his heart is inflamed, while he thanks him for having chosen him for the companion and guardian of his life.

In this house Mary weans Jesus: at first she fed him from her breast, now she feeds him with her hands. She holds him on her lap, takes from the porringer a little bread soaked in water, and then puts it into the sacred mouth of her Son. In this house Mary made her Infant his first little garment; and when the time was come, she took off his swaddling-clothes, and began to put on this vestment. In this house the Child Jesus began to walk and speak. Let us adore the first steps that the Incarnate Word began to take in this house, and the first words of eternal life that he began to utter. Here he began also to do the work of a little servant-boy, occupying himself in all the little services that a child can render.

Ah, weaning! Ah, little garment! Ah, first steps! Ah, lisping words! Ah, little services of the little Jesus. How do you not wound and inflame the hearts of those who love Jesus and meditate on you! Behold a God trembling and falling, a God lisping, a God become so weak that he can occupy himself in nothing but in little house hold affairs, and unable even to lift a bit of wood, if too heavy for the strength of a child! O holy faith, enlighten us, and make us love this good Lord, who for the love of us has submitted himself to so many miseries! It is said that on the entrance of Jesus into Egypt all the idols of the country fell down; oh, let us pray to God that he will make us love Jesus from our hearts, since in that soul where the love of Jesus enters, all the idols of earthly affections are overthrown.

Affections and Prayers.

O Holy Infant, who lives in this country of barbarians poor, unknown, and despised, I acknowledge you for my God and Savior, and I thank you for all the humiliations and sufferings you endured in Egypt for the love of me. By your manner of life there you teach me to live as a pilgrim on this earth, giving me to understand that this is not my country; but that Paradise, which you have purchased for me by your death is my home. Ah, my Jesus, I have been ungrateful to you because I have thought but little of what you have done and suffered for me. When I think that you, the Son of God, led a life of such tribulation upon this earth, so poor and neglected, how is it possible that I should go about seeking the amusements and good things of the earth? Take me, my dear Redeemer, for your companion. Admit me to live always united with you on this earth, in order that united with you in heaven, I may love you there, and be your companion throughout eternity. Give me light, increase my faith. What goods, what pleasures, what dignities, what honors—all is vanity and folly. The only real riches, the only real good, is to possess you, who are the infinite Good. Blessed he who loves you! I love you, O my Jesus, and I seek none other but you. I desire you, and you desire me. If I had a thousand kingdoms, I would renounce them all to please you, "my God and my All." If in times past I have sought after the vanities and pleasures of this world, I now detest them, and am sorry that I have done so. My beloved Savior, from this day forward you shall be my only delight, my only love, my only treasure.

Most holy Mary, pray to Jesus for me. Beseech him to make me rich in his love alone, and I desire nothing else.

Third Day in the Octave of the Epiphany

MEDITATION III: The Flight of Jesus into Egypt.

The angel appeared to St. Joseph in a dream, and in formed him that Herod was seeking the Infant Jesus to destroy his life; wherefore he said, Arise, and take the Child and His Mother, and fly into Egypt (Matt. 2:13). Behold, then, how Jesus is no sooner born than he is persecuted unto death. Herod is a figure of those miserable sinners who, as soon as they see Jesus Christ born again in their souls by the pardon of sin, persecute him to death by returning to their sins: They seek the Child to destroy Him.

Joseph immediately obeys the command of the angel without delay, and gives notice of it to his holy spouse. He then takes the few tools that he can carry, in order to make use of them in his trade, and to be able in Egypt to support his poor family. Mary at the same time puts together a little bundle of clothes for the use of the holy Child; and then she goes into her cell, kneels down first before her Infant Son, kisses his feet, and then with tears of tenderness says to him, O my Son and my God, hardly are you born and come into the world to save men, when these men seek you to put you to death. She then takes him; and the two holy spouses, shedding tears as they go, shut the door, and the same night set out on their journey.

Let us consider the occupations of these holy pilgrims during their journey. All their conversation is upon their dear Jesus alone, on his patience and his love; and thus they console themselves in the midst of the trials and inconveniences of so long a journey. Oh, how sweet it is to suffer at the sight of Jesus suffering! O my soul, says St. Bonaventure, do thou also keep company with these three poor holy exiles; and have compassion with them in the long, wearisome, and painful journey which they are making. And beseech Mary that she will give you her divine Son to carry in your heart.

Consider how much they must have suffered, especially in those nights which they had to pass in the desert of Egypt. The bare earth serves them for a bed in the cold open air. The Infant weeps, Mary and Joseph shed tears of compassion. O holy faith! who would not weep at seeing the Son of God become an infant, poor and forsaken, flying across a desert in order to escape death?

Affections and Prayers.

My dear Jesus, you are the King of Heaven, but now I behold you as an infant wandering over the earth. Tell me whom are you in search of ? I pity you when I see you so poor and humbled, but I pity you more when I see you treated with such ingratitude by those same men whom you came to save. You weep; but I also weep, because I have been one of those who in times past have despised and persecuted you. But now I value your grace more than all the kingdoms of the world. Forgive me, O my Jesus all the evil I have committed against you, and permit me to carry you always in my heart during the journey of my life to eternity, even as Mary carried you in her arms during the flight into Egypt. My beloved Redeemer, I have many times driven you out of my soul, but now I hope that you have again taken possession of it. I beseech you, bind it to yourself with the sweet chains of you love. I will never again drive you from me. But I fear lest I should again abandon you, as I have done in past times. O my Lord, let me die rather than treat you with fresh and still more horrible ingratitude. I love you, O infinite Goodness; and I will always repeat to you, I love you, I love you, I love you; and so I hope to die saying, God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever (Ps. 72:26). O my Jesus! you are so good, so worthy of being loved. Make yourself loved; make yourself loved by all the sinners who persecute you. Give them light, make them know the love you have borne them and the love that you deservest since you go wandering ahout the earth as a poor Infant, weeping and trembling with cold, and seeking souls to love you!

O Mary, most holy Virgin, O dearest Mother and companion of the sufferings of Jesus, help me always to carry and preserve in my heart your Son, in life and in death!