Morning Meditation: JESUS COMES TO CAST FIRE UPON THE EARTH
I am come to cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled? — (Luke xii., 49).
Before the coming of the Messias, who loved God upon the earth? He was known, indeed, in one corner of the world; that is, in Judea; and even there how very few loved Him when He came! Even today few there are who think of preparing their hearts for Jesus to be born in them! What sayest thou? Dost thou wish to be ranked amongst the ungrateful ones?
Meditation I:
The Jews solemnized a day called by them Die ignis – the day of fire, in memory of the fire with which Nehemias consumed the sacrifice upon his return from the Captivity of Babylon. Even so, and indeed with more reason, should Christmas Day be called the Day of Fire on which a God comes as a little Child to cast the fire of love into the hearts of men.
I am come to cast fire on the earth; so spoke Jesus Christ. Before the coming of the Messias, who loved God upon the earth? Some worshipped the sun, some the brutes, some the very stones, and others again even viler creatures still. A few years after the Redeemer was born God was more loved by men than He had been before from the creation of man. Ah, truly every man at the sight of a God clothed in flesh, and choosing to lead a life of such hardship, and to suffer a death of such ignominy, ought to be enkindled with love towards a God so loving! Oh, that thou wouldst rend the heavens and wouldst come down; the mountains would melt away at thy presence . . . the waters would burn with fire. — (Is. lxiv., 1). Oh, surely Thou wouldst enkindle such a furnace in the human heart that even the most frozen souls would catch the flame of Thy blessed love! And, in fact, after the Incarnation of the Son of God, how brilliantly has the fire of divine love burnt in loving souls! How many youths, how many of those nobly born, and how many monarchs even, have left wealth, honours, and even kingdoms, to seek the desert or the cloister, that there, in poverty and obscure seclusion, they might the more unreservedly give themselves up to the love of their Saviour! How many Martyrs have gone rejoicing, making merry on their way to torments and death! How many tender young virgins have refused the proffered hands of the great ones of the world in order to go and die for Jesus Christ and so repay in some measure the affection of a God Who stooped down to take human flesh and to die for the love of them!
O Jesus, Thou hast spared nothing to induce men to love Thee! O Word Incarnate, Thou wert even made Man to enkindle divine love in our hearts. I love Thee, O Incarnate Word! I love Thee, O sovereign Good! Suffer me not to be separated from Thee! Suffer me not to be separated from Thee!
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: JESUS COMES TO CALL SINNERS
Evening Meditation: JOSEPH GOES TO BETHLEHEM WITH HIS HOLY SPOUSE
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Morning Meditation: “THIS DAY IS BORN TO YOU A SAVIOUR”
Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people, for this day is born to you a Saviour. — (Luke. ii., 10, 11).
Arise, all ye nobles and peasants! Mary invites all – rich and poor, just and sinners, to enter the Cave of Bethlehem to adore, and to kiss the feet of, her new-born Son. Come then, all ye devout souls – come in and see the Creator of Heaven and earth on a little hay under the form of a little Infant; the power of God, as it were, annihilated, and the wisdom of God become mad, through excess of love! I come, then, dear Jesus, to kiss Thy feet and offer Thee my heart.
Meditation I:
Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy . . . This day is born to you a Saviour! And what tidings could be a greater joy to a race of poor exiles condemned to death, than to be told that their Saviour was come, not only to deliver them from death, but to obtain for them liberty to return to their own country? And this is what the Angels announce to your: A Saviour is born to you! Jesus Christ is born to you to deliver you from everlasting death, and to open Heaven to you, our true country from which we were banished because of our sins.
No sooner had Mary entered the cavern than she began to pray; and the hour of her delivery being come, behold she sees a great light, and feels in her heart a heavenly joy. She casts down her eyes – and, O God, what does she see? An Infant so tender and beautiful that He fills her with love! But He trembles and cries and stretches out His arms to show that He desires that she should take Him up into her bosom. “I stretched forth My hands to seek the caresses of My Mother,” as Jesus said to St. Brigid. Mary calls Joseph. “Come, Joseph, come and see, for the Son of God is now born.” The old man entered, and prostrating himself, wept for joy.
Mary, holding Him to her bosom, adores Him as her God, kissing His face as her Child. She then hastily seeks to cover Him and wraps Him up in swaddling clothes. But, O God, how hard and rough these are! They are the clothes of the poor, and they are cold and damp, and in that cave there is no fire to warm them.
Let us arise and enter, the door is open. There are no satellites to say that this is not the hour. The Cave is open and without guards or doors, so that all may go in when they please to seek Him and to speak to Him, and even to embrace their Infant King if they love and desire Him.
Lord, I should not have dared to approach Thee seeing myself so deformed by sin; but since Thou, my Jesus, dost invite me so courteously, and dost call me so lovingly, I will not refuse. After having so many times turned my back upon Thee I will not add a fresh insult by refusing, out of distrust, this affectionate, this loving invitation. It is true my heart offended Thee at one time, but now it is penitent. I confess that I have been a traitor, cruel and ungrateful, that it is I who have caused Thee to suffer so much and made Thee shed so many tears in the stable of Bethlehem, but Thy tears are my hope. I am a sinner, it is true, and I do not deserve to be pardoned, but I come before Thee, Who being God hast become a little Child to obtain pardon for me. Eternal Father, if I deserve hell, look upon the tears of Thy innocent Son. He asks Thee to pardon me this night, a night of joy, of pardon and salvation.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: THE ETERNAL WORD, BEING GREAT, BECOMES LITTLE
Evening Meditation: THE BIRTH OF JESUS IN BETHLEHEM
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Morning Meditation: “THE REDEMPTION OF HIS PEOPLE”
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people. — (Luke. i., 68).
Heretofore we were all slaves of hell. But what has the Eternal Word and Sovereign Lord done to free us from this slavery? Ah, who would have believed it if holy Faith did not assure us of it? Who could ever have conceived it? But holy Faith tells us and assures us that this Supreme and Sovereign Lord, being in the form of God, emptied himself, taking the form of a servant – to release us from the slavery of our deadly foe.
Meditation I:
Almighty God is Lord of all that is, or that can be, in this world, and yet He did not rule over the hearts of mankind that was groaning under the miserable tyranny of the devil. Before the coming of Jesus Christ this tyrant was lord, and even made himself worshipped by men as a god, with incense and sacrifices, not only of animals, but even of their own children and of their very lives. And he, their enemy and tyrant, what return did he make them? He tortured their bodies with the most barbarous cruelty, he blinded their minds, and by a path of pain and misery conducted them unto everlasting torments. It was this tyrant that the Divine Word came to overthrow, and thereby to release mankind from his wretched thraldom, in order that unfortunate creatures, freed from the darkness of death, rescued from the bondage of this savage monster, and enlightened as to what was the true Way of Salvation, might serve their real and lawful Master, Who loved them as a Father and, from being slaves of Satan, wished to make them His own beloved children: That being delivered from the hands of our enemies, we might serve him without fear. — (Luke i., 74). Our Saviour came, then, to release us from the slavery of this deadly foe; but how? – in what manner did He release us? Let us learn from St. Paul what He did: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. — (Phil. ii., 6).
O my Jesus, Thou hast been pleased to become a servant for love of me, and in order to release me from the chains of hell; and not only the servant of Thy Father but of men and of executioners, even to the laying down of Thy life! And I, for the love of some wretched, poisonous pleasure, have so often forsaken Thy service, and have become the slave of the devil! A thousand times over I curse those moments in which, by a wicked abuse of my free will, I despised Thy grace, O Infinite Majesty. In pity pardon me, and bind me to Thyself with those delightful chains of love with which Thou keepest Thy chosen souls in closest contact with Thee. I love Thee, O Incarnate Word! I love Thee, O my Sovereign Good! O, never suffer me to be separated from Thee again.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE
Evening Meditation: JESUS IS BORN AN INFANT
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Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: AND WITH HIM IS PLENTIFUL REDEMPTION — (Ps. cxxix., 7).
Great had been the sin of man, but greater, the Apostle says, has been the gift of Redemption. Not as the offence so also the gift. — (Rom. v., 15). It was not only sufficient, but superabundant. And with him plentiful redemption. I love Thee, O infinite Goodness! I love Thee, O most lovable God!
Meditation I:
Be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God. Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem . . . for her evil is come to an end. — (Is. xl., 1, 2). The reason is, God Himself has discovered a way of saving man, while at the same time His justice and His mercy shall both be satisfied. Justice and peace have kissed. — (Ps. lxxxiv., 11). The Son of God has Himself become Man, has taken the form of a sinner. He appeared to take away our sins, says St. John. — (1 Jo. iii., 5). He presented Himself before His heavenly Father and offered Himself to pay for mankind; and then the Father sent him on earth to take the appearance of sinful man, and to be made in all things like to sinners: God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. — (Rom. viii., 3). And St. Paul adds: And of sin condemned sin in the flesh. — (Ibid.).
God, therefore, in order to save mankind, and at the same time to satisfy the claims of His Justice, was pleased to condemn His own Son to a painful life, and a shameful death. And can this be true? Jesus Christ Himself affirms it: God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son. — (Jo. iii., 16). What! a God condescends to love men, miserable worms, who have been rebellious and ungrateful towards Him; and to love them to such an extent as to give His only-begotten Son, One Whom He loved as much as Himself! Not a servant, not an Angel, not an Archangel, did He give, but His own Son! He gave Him to us lowly, poor, despised; He gave Him into the hands of slaves, to be treated as a miscreant, even to be put to death, covered with shame, on an infamous gibbet. O grace! O the strength of the love of God! exclaims St. Bernard.
O my Redeemer and my God, and who am I that Thou shouldst have loved me, and still continuest to love me so much! What hast Thou ever received from me that has obliged Thee so to love me? What, except slights and provocations, which were a reason for Thee to abandon me, and to banish me for ever from Thy face! But, O Lord, I accept of every penalty except this! Pardon me, O my beloved Infant, for I am sorry with my whole heart. O Mary, my Mother, thou art my hope and the refuge of sinners.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE (continued)
Evening Meditation: JESUS IN SWATHING-BANDS
Meditation I:
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: GOD HAS MADE HIMSELF OURS
Tell me, cruel Herod, why dost thou command so many innocent babes to be murdered and sacrificed to thy ambition of reigning? Art thou perchance afraid that the Messias just born may rob thee of thy kingdom? This King Who is now born has come, not to vanquish by fighting, but to subdue the hearts of men by suffering and dying for their love.
Meditation I:
The cruel Herod commanded the innocent babes to be murdered, and sacrificed to his ambition, afraid, perchance, that the new-born Messias would rob him of his kingdom. “Why art thou so troubled, Herod?” asks St. Fulgentius. “This King Who is born has come, not to vanquish kings by fighting, but to subdue them by dying.” This King is come to reign in the hearts of men by suffering and dying for their love. “He has come,” continues the Saint, “not, therefore, that He might combat alive, but that He might triumph slain.” Leave Herod aside, O devout souls, and let us come to ourselves. Why, then, did the Son of God come upon earth? Was it to give Himself to us? Yes. Isaias assures us of it: A child is born to us and a son is given to us. The love which this loving Saviour bears us, and the desire which He has to be loved by us has induced Him to do this. Being His own He has become ours! This God over Whom none can rule, has, so to speak, yielded Himself Captive to love. Love has gained the victory over Him, and, from being His own, has placed Him in our possession. “He is born Who belonged to Himself,” says St. Bernard. He Who appertained wholly to Himself chose to be born for us and to become ours; love triumphs over God! God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son! And behold Him already arrived from Heaven in a stable, as a Child – born for us and given to us. A child is born to us and a son is given to us. — (Is. xi., 6). This is precisely what the Angel signified when addressing the shepherds: Today is born to you a Saviour. — (Luke ii., 11). As much as to say: O ye men, go to the Cave of Bethlehem; there adore the Infant Whom you will find lying in the straw in a manger and shivering with cold. Know that He is your God, Who would not consent to send any one else to save you, but would come Himself that He might gain for Himself all your love.
Oh, my beloved Infant, my dear Redeemer, since Thou hast come down from Heaven to give Thyself to me what else shall I care to seek in Heaven or on earth besides Thee? Be Thou the sole Lord of my heart; do Thou possess it wholly. May my soul love Thee alone and seek to please Thee alone!
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE (continued)
Evening Meditation: JESUS TAKING MILK
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Morning Meditation: “THE CHOSEN ARROW”
He hath made me a chosen arrow; in his quiver he hath hidden me. — (Is. xlix., 2).
Cardinal Hugo remarks that as the hunter keeps in reserve the best arrow for the last shot in order to make sure of his prey, “so was Jesus Christ reserved in the bosom of His Father until the fulness of time should come, and He was sent to wound the hearts of the faithful.”
Meditation I:
St. Augustine says that God, in order to captivate the love of men, has cast several darts of love into their hearts. “God knows how to discharge His arrows at love: He sends the arrow that He may make a lover.” What are these arrows? They are all the creatures that we see around us; for God has created them all for man, that man may love Him; hence the same Saint says: “Heaven and earth and all things tell me to love Thee.” It seemed to the Saint that the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the plains, the seas and the rivers, spoke to him and said: Augustine, love God, because God has created us for thee that thou mightest love Him. When St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi held in her hand a beautiful fruit or flower, she declared that the fruit or flower was a dart to her heart which wounded her with the love God. St. Teresa said that all the fair things we see, the lakes, the rivers, the flowers, the fruits, the birds – all upbraid us with our ingratitude to God, for all are tokens of the love He bears us. It is related of a pious hermit that, walking in the country, he fancied the herbs and flowers reproached him with his ingratitude; so that as he went along he struck them gently with his staff, saying to them: “Be silent! I understand you! No more! You upbraid me with my ingratitude, for God has created you in such beauty for my sake, that I may love Him, and I love Him not! Oh, be silent, I understand! Enough! Enough!”
Thus then, all these creatures were so many darts of love to the hearts of men. But God was not satisfied with these darts only; they were not enough to gain Him the love of men. He hath made me a chosen arrow; in his quiver he hath hidden me. So, among all His gifts, did God keep Jesus in reserve till the fulness of time should come, and then He sent Him as a last Arrow to wound with love the hearts of men. Thy arrows are sharp; under thee people shall fall. — (Ps. xliv., 6). Ah, how many wounded hearts do I behold burning with love before the manger of Bethlehem! How many at the foot of the Cross of Calvary! How many before the Holy Presence of the Blessed Sacrament on our altars!
Ah, my Lord, tell me, is there anything else left for Thee to devise in order to make Thyself loved? Make His inventions known among the people, as Isaias cried out. O Redeemed souls, go and publish everywhere the loving devices of this loving God which He has thought out and executed to make Himself loved by men!
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE (continued)
Evening Meditation: JESUS LYING ON STRAW
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Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE
All flesh is grass. The life of man is like the life of a blade of grass. Death comes, the grass is dried up. Behold, life ends, and the flower of all greatness and of all worldly goods falls off! The grass is withered and the flower is fallen!
Meditation I:
What is your life? It is a vapour which appeareth for a little while. — (James, iv., 15).
What is your life? It is a vapour, which is dissipated by a blast of wind, and is seen no more. All know that they must die; but the delusion of many is, that they imagine death to be so far off as if it were never to arrive. But Job tells us that the life of man is short. Man born of woman, living for a short time, . . . who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed. — (Job xiv., 12). The Lord commanded Isaias to preach this truth to the people. Cry . . . All flesh is grass . . . Indeed, the people is grass. the grass is withered and the flower is fallen. — (Is. xl. 6 sqq.). The life of man may be likened to that of a blade of grass; death comes, the grass is dried up: behold, life ends, and the flower of all greatness and of all worldly goods falls off.
My days, says Job, have been swifter than a post. — (Job ix., 25). Death runs to meet us most swiftly and we at every moment run as swiftly towards death. Every step, every breath brings us nearer to our end. “What I write,” says St. Jerome, “is so much taken away from life.” During the time I write, I draw nearer to death. We all die, and, like the waters that return no more, we fall into the earth. — (2 Kings xiv., 14). Behold how the stream flows to the sea, and the passing waters never return! Thus, my brother, your days go by, and you approach death. Pleasures, amusements, pomps, praises and acclamations pass away; and only the grave remaineth for me. — (Job xvii., 1). At the hour of death the remembrance of the delights enjoyed, and of all the honours acquired in this life, will serve only to increase our pain and our diffidence of obtaining eternal salvation. Then the miserable worldling will say: “My house, my gardens, my fashionable furniture, my pictures, my garments, will in a little time be no longer mine, and only the grave remaineth for me.”
Ah, my God and Lord of infinite majesty! I am ashamed to appear before Thee. How often have I dishonoured Thee by preferring a sordid pleasure, the indulgence of anger, caprice, or vanity, to Thy grace? O my Redeemer, I adore and kiss Thy holy Wounds, which I have inflicted by my sins; but through which I hope for pardon and salvation. O my Jesus, make me understand the great injury I have done Thee in leaving Thee, the Fountain of every good, to drink putrid and poisoned waters. Nothing now remains but pain, remorse of conscience, and fruits for hell. Father, I am not worthy to be called thy child. — (Luke xv., 21). My Father! do not cast me off. It is true that I no longer merit the grace which would make me Thy child; but Thou hast said: Turn ye to me, . . . and I will turn to you. — (Zach. i., 3). I wish to love Thee during the remainder of my life, and I wish to love nothing but Thee. Assist me; give me holy perseverance, and Thy holy love. Mary, my refuge, plead with Jesus Christ for me.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE (continued)
Evening Meditation: JESUS SLEEPING
Meditation I:
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE ETERNAL WORD BECOMES A SERVANT
Jesus was bound in swaddling-clothes, says St. Ambrose, that I might be loosed from chains; His poverty is my patrimony; the feebleness of the Lord is my strength; His tears have washed away my guilt! O my Jesus, Thou hast been pleased to become a servant for love of me, and in order to release me from the chains of hell. Bind my heart to Thy feet that it may no more stray from Thee.
Meditation I:
Very great would be your ingratitude to your God, O Christian soul, if you were not to love Jesus after He has been pleased to be bound in swaddling-clothes, that you may be released from the chains of hell; after He has become poor, that you may be made partaker of His riches; after He has made Himself weak, to give you power over your enemies; after He has chosen to suffer and to weep, that by His tears your sins may be washed away.
But, O God, how few there are who show themselves grateful for so immense a love by faithfully loving this their Redeemer! Alas! the greater part of men, after so incomparable a benefit, after so many great mercies and so much love, still say to God: Lord, we will not serve Thee; we would rather be slaves of the devil and condemned to hell, than be Thy servants. Listen how God upbraids such thankless wretches: Thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve. — (Jer. ii., 20). What say you? Have you, too, been one of these? But tell me, whilst living far from God and the slave of the devil – tell me, have you felt happy? Have you been at peace? Ah, no, the divine words can never fail: Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and gladness of heart, thou shalt serve thy enemy in hunger and thirst and nakedness, and in want of all things. — (Deut. xxviii., 47). Since thou hast preferred to serve thy enemy rather than to serve thy God, behold how that tyrant has treated thee. He has made thee groan as a slave in chains, poor, afflicted, and deprived of every interior consolation. But come, rise up; God speaks to thee whilst thou mayest still be freed from the fetters of death which bind thee: Loose the bonds from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion. — (Is. lii., 2).
O Jesus, I was once a slave of hell; but now that I am free from those unhappy chains, I consecrate myself entirely to Thee; I give Thee my body, my goods, my life, my soul, my will, and my whole liberty. I desire no longer to belong to myself, but only to Thee, my only Good. Ah, bind my heart to Thy feet, that it may no more stray from Thee. O most holy Mary! obtain for me the grace of living always bound to thy Son by the blessed chains of love. Tell Him to accept me as the slave of His love. He grants all that thou askest. Pray to Him, pray to Him, for me. This is my hope.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: THE FALL AND THE RESURRECTION OF MANY
Evening Meditation: “HE DIFFERETH NOTHING FROM A SERVANT” — (Epistle for Sunday. Gal. iv., 1-5)
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Morning Meditation: NEGLECT OF TIME
He hath called against me the time. — (Lament. i., 15).
All the time that is not spent for God is time lost. At the hour of death worldlings will wish for another year, another month, another day – but they will not obtain it. They shall then be told that for them time shall be no more. Ah, my Jesus, I have been so many years in the world, and how many have I spent for Thee?
Meditation I:
There is nothing more precious than time, but there is nothing less esteemed and more despised by men of the world. this is what St. Bernard deplores when he says: “Nothing is more precious than time, but nothing is regarded more cheaply.” The Saint adds: “The days of salvation pass away, and no one reflects that the day which has passed away from him can never return.” You will see a gambler spend nights and days in play. If you ask him what he is doing, his answer is: “I am passing the time.” You will see others standing several hours in the street, looking at those who go by, and speaking on obscene or on useless subjects. If you ask them what they are doing they will say: “We are passing the time.” Poor blind sinners who lose so many days! Days that never return!
O time despised during life! you will be ardently desired by worldlings at the hour of death. They will then wish for another year, another month, another day; but they will not obtain it: they will then be told that time shall be no longer. How much would they then pay for another week, or another day, to settle the accounts of their conscience? To obtain a single hour, they would, says St. Laurence Justinian, give all their wealth and worldly possessions, but this hour shall not be given.
Ah, my Jesus, Thou has spent Thy whole life for the salvation of my soul. There has not been a single moment of Thy life in which Thou hast not offered Thyself to the Eternal Father to obtain for me pardon and eternal glory. I have been so many years in the world, and how many of them have I spent for Thee? Ah! all that I remember to have done produces remorse of conscience. The evil has been great, the good very little, and all full of imperfections and tepidity, of self-love and distractions. Ah, my Redeemer! all this has arisen from my forgetfulness of what Thou hast done for me. I have forgotten Thee, but Thou hast not forgotten me; when I fled from Thee, Thou didst follow me, and call me so often to Thy love.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE RELIGIOUS STATE (continued)
Evening Meditation: JESUS WEEPING
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Meditation II:
