Morning Meditation: THE TENDER COMPASSION OF JESUS TOWARDS SINNERS
The Lord wrought the miracle of the multiplication of food recorded by St. John through compassion for the bodily needs of those poor people. But far more tender is His compassion for the necessities of the souls of poor sinners who are deprived of Divine grace. O infinite love of our God towards sinners, exclaims St. Bernard, to redeem a slave, neither has the Father spared His Son, nor the Son Himself!
Meditation I:
Through the bowels of His mercy towards men who groaned under the slavery of sin and Satan, our most loving Redeemer descended from Heaven to earth, to redeem and save them from eternal torments by His own death. Such was the language of St. Zachary, the father of the Baptist, when the Blessed Virgin, who had already become the Mother of the Eternal Word, entered his house. Through the bowels of mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us. — (Luke i., 78).
Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, Who came into the world to obtain salvation for us His sheep, has said: I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly. — (John x., 10). Mark the expression more abundantly, which signifies that the Son of Man came on earth not only to restore us to the life of grace we lost, but to give us a better life than that which we forfeited by sin. Yes; for as St. Leo says, the benefits which we have derived from the death of Jesus are greater than the injury which the devil has done us by sin. The same doctrine is taught by the Apostle who says that, where sin abounded, grace did more abound. — (Rom. v. 20).
But, my Lord, since Thou didst resolve to take human flesh, would not a single prayer offered by Thee be sufficient for the redemption of all men? What need, then, was there of leading a life of poverty, humiliation, and contempt for thirty-three years, of suffering a cruel and shameful death on an infamous gibbet, and of shedding all Thy Blood by dint of torments? I know well, answers Jesus Christ, that one drop of My Blood, or a simple prayer, would be sufficient for the salvation of the world; but neither would be sufficient to show the love which I bear to men: and therefore, to be loved by men when they should see Me dead on the Cross for the love of them, I have resolved to submit to so many torments and to so painful a death. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep . . . I lay down my life for my sheep. — (John x., 11-15).
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Simeon, Archbishop of Seleucia* and Companions (April 21)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself . . . and follow me. — (Matt. xvi., 24). Since, then, O my Redeemer, Thou dost go before me with Thy Cross, innocent as Thou art, and dost invite me to follow Thee with mine, go forward, for I will not abandon Thee. If, in time past, I have abandoned Thee, I confess that I have done wrong. Give me now what Thou wilt, embracing it, as I do, whatsoever it be, and willing, as I am, to accompany Thee with it even unto death: Let us go forth from the camp, bearing his reproach. — (Heb. xiii., 13). And how, O Lord, can it be possible for us not to love sufferings and shame for Thy love, Who for our salvation didst love them so much!
But since Thou dost invite us to follow Thee, yea, it is our wish to follow Thee and to die with Thee: give us only the strength to carry it out. This strength we ask of Thee, and hope for, by Thy merits. I love Thee, O my most lovely Jesus, I love Thee with all my soul, and I will never abandon Thee more; enough for me has been the time in which I have gone astray from Thee. Bind me now to Thy Cross. If I have despised Thy love, I repent of it with all my heart; and I now prize it above every good.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: GOD THREATENS SINNERS WITH AN UNHAPPY DEATH
It is a terrible subject for our consideration that God does nothing but threaten sinners with a bad death. I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock. It is true that in whatever hour the sinner is converted, God has promised to pardon him, but God has not said that in death the sinner shall be converted. On the contrary, He has often declared that the sinner shall die in his sins. You shall die in your sins.
Meditation I:
It is a terrible subject for our consideration that God does nothing but threaten sinners with a bad death: Then they shall call upon me, and I will not hear. — (Prov. i., 28). Will God hear his cry when distress shall come upon him? — (Job xxvii., 9). I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock. — (Prov. i., 26). God laughs when He will not show mercy. Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time, that their foot may slide; the day of destruction is at hand. — (Deut. xxxii., 35). In many other places God threatens the same; and yet sinners live on in peace, as secure as if God had certainly promised them Paradise. It is true, that in whatever hour the sinner is converted, God has promised to pardon him, but He has not said that in death the sinner shall be converted; on the contrary, He has often declared that he who lives in sin shall die in sin: You shall die in your sins. — (John viii., 21). He has said that he who seeks Him at the hour of death shall not find Him: You shall seek me and shall not find me. — (John vii., 34). We must, then, seek God when He can be found: Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. — (Is. lv., 6). Yes; because a time will come when He will not be found. Poor sinners! Poor blind ones, who wait to be converted till the hour of death, when there will be no more time for conversion. “The wicked,” says Oleaster, “will not learn to do good till there is no more time for doing it.” God wishes to save al, but He punishes the obstinate.
If perchance some unhappy sinner were to be seized with apoplexy, and deprived of his senses, what compassion would it not excite in all to see him dying without the Sacraments, and without a sign of repentance! And what joy would everyone experience if he came to himself again, begged for absolution, and made acts of contrition! But is he not mad, who, having time to do this, continues in sin, or returns to sin, and runs the risk of being surprised by death, when he perhaps may, or perhaps may not, repent? It is terrible to see a man die suddenly; and yet how many voluntarily incur the peril of dying thus, and of dying in sin!
Ah, my God, who would have had so much patience with me as Thou hast had! If Thy goodness were not infinite, I should despair of pardon. But I have to deal with a God Who died to obtain my pardon and my salvation. Thou commandest me to hope, and I will hope. If my sins alarm and condemn me, Thy merits and Thy promises give me courage. Thou hast promised Thy grace to whoever returns to Thee: Return ye and live. — (Ezech. xviii., 32). Thou hast promised to embrace whoever turns to Thee: Turn ye to me, and I will turn to you. — (Zach. i., 3). Thou hast said Thou canst not despise an humble and contrite heart. — (Ps. l.). Behold me, Lord; I come again to Thee; I turn to Thee; I acknowledge that I deserve a thousand hells; and I repent of having offended Thee. I firmly promise never again to offend Thee, and always to love Thee.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Adalbert, Bishop of Prague (April 23)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Behold, here we are at the Crucifixion, at that last torture, which brought death to Jesus Christ; here we are at Calvary, converted into a theatre for the display of Divine love, where a God departs this life in an ocean of sufferings: And when they had come to the place which is called Calvary, they crucified him there. — (Luke xxiii. 33). The Lord having, with great difficulty, at length reached the top of the Mount alive, they violently, and for the third time, tear His clothes off Him, sticking as the did, to the sores upon His wounded Flesh, and they throw Him down upon the Cross. The Divine Lamb stretches Himself out upon that bed of torment; He reaches forth to the executioners His hands and His feet to be nailed; and raising His eyes to Heaven, He offers up to Eternal Father the great sacrifice of His life for the salvation of men. After the nailing of one of His hands, the nerves shrunk, so that they had need of main force and ropes, as was revealed to St. Bridget, to dray the other hand and the feet up to the places where they were to be nailed; and this occasioned so great a tension of the nerves and veins that they broke asunder with a violent convulsion: “They drew my hands and my feet with a rope to the places of the nails, so that the nerves and veins were stretched out to the full and broke asunder”; insomuch that all His bones might have been numbered, as David had already predicted: They pierced my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones. — (Ps. xxi., 17, 18). Ah, my Jesus, by what power was it that Thy hands and Thy feet were nailed to this wood, but by the love Thou didst bear to men! Thou, by the pain of Thy pierced hands, were willing to pay the penalty due to all the sins of touch that men have committed; and by the pain of Thy feet, Thou wert willing to pay for all the steps by which we have gone our way to offend Thee. O my crucified Love, with these pierced hands give my Thy benediction! Oh, mail this ungrateful heart of mine to Thy feet, that so I may no more depart from Thee, and that this will of mine, which has so often rebelled against Thee, may remain ever steadily fixed in Thy holy love. Grant that nothing but Thy love, and the desire of pleasing Thee, may move me. Although I behold Thee suspended upon this gibbet, I believe Thee to be the Lord of the world, the true Son of God, and the Saviour of mankind. For pity’s sake, O my Jesus, never abandon me again at any period of my life; and more especially at the hour of my death, in those last agonies and struggles with hell, do Thou assist me, and strengthen me to die in Thy love. I love Thee, my crucified Love, I love Thee with all my heart.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: AT THE POINT OF DEATH
Oh, how much depends on the last moment of our life, on our last breath! An eternity of delights or an eternity of torments! A life of happiness or a life for ever miserable! What folly, therefore, for the sake of a short, wretched pleasure to run the risk of dying a bad death and entering upon a life of misery that will never end.
Meditation I:
If you were now at the point of death, already in your agony and almost breathing your last, and about to appear before the Divine Tribunal, what would you not wish to have done for God? And what would you not give for a little more time to make your salvation more secure? Woe to me, if I did not make use of the light that is now given me, and amend my life! He hath called against me the time. — (Lam. i., 15). The time which is now granted me by the mercy of God will be a great torment and a subject of bitter remorse to me at the hour of death, when time for me shall be no more.
O Jesus, Thou didst spend Thy whole life for my salvation, and I have been many years in the world, and yet what have I hitherto done for Thee? Alas! all that I have done gives me only pain and remorse of conscience.
Child of God, the Lord now gives you time; be then resolved. In what way will you spend it? What do you wait for? Do you wait to see that last candle which will show you your neglect, and for the time when there will be no remedy? Do you wait to hear that “Go forth” which must be obeyed without demur?
O my god, I will no longer abuse the light Thou affordest me, but which I have hitherto so much abused. I thank Thee for this fresh admonition which may be the last Thou wilt ever give me. But since at present Thou thus enlightenest me, it is a mark that Thou hast not yet abandoned me, and art desirous of showing me mercy. My beloved Saviour, I am sorry above all things for having so often despised Thy graces and neglected Thy calls and inspirations. I promise with Thy help nevermore to offend Thee.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saints Epipodius and Alexander of Lyons
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Behold the King of Heaven, Who, hanging on that gibbet, is now on the point of giving up the ghost. Let us, too, ask of Him, with the Prophet: What are those wounds in the middle of thy hands? — (Zach. xiii., 6). Tell me, O my Jesus, what are those wounds in the middle of Thy hands? The Abbot Rupert makes answer for Jesus: “They are the memorials of charity, the price of Redemption.” They are tokens, says the Redeemer, of the great love which I bear towards you; they are the payment by which I set you free from the hands of your enemies, and from eternal death. Do thou, then, O faithful soul, love thy God, Who has had such love for thee; and if thou dost at any time feel doubtful of His love, turn thine eyes, says St. Thomas of Villanova, turn thine eyes to behold that Cross, those pains, and that bitter death which He has suffered for thee; for such proofs will assuredly make thee know how much thy Redeemer loves thee: “The Cross testifies, the pains testify, the bitter death which He had endured for thee testifies this.” And St. Bernard adds, that the Cross cries out, every Wound of Jesus cries out, that He loves us with a true love: “The Cross proclaims, the Wounds proclaim, that He truly loves.”
O my Jesus, how do I behold Thee weighed down with sorrow and sadness! Ah, too much reason hast Thou to think that while Thou dost suffer even to die of anguish upon this wood, there are yet so few souls that have the heart to love Thee! O my God, how many hearts are there at the present moment, even among those that are consecrated to Thee, who either love Thee not, or love Thee not enough! O beautiful flame of love, thou that didst consume the life of a God upon the Cross, oh, consume me, too; consume all the disorderly affections which live in my heart, and make me live burning and sighing only for that loving Lord of mine, Who, for love of me, was willing to end His life, consumed by torments, upon a gibbet of ignominy! O my beloved Jesus, I wish ever to love Thee, and Thee alone, alone; my only wish is to love my Love, my God, my All.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: “IF THE TREE FALL TO THE SOUTH OR THE NORTH . . . THERE SHALL IT BE”
Of what avail is it to torment yourself, as some do, saying: Who knows if I am to be amongst the reprobate or the saved? When the tree is cut down, where does it fall? It falls on the side to which it leans. To which side do you incline? What life do you lead? Preserve yourself in the grace of God and avoid sin, and you will be saved.
Meditation I:
If the tree fall to the south or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be. — (Eccles. xi., 3). Wheresoever the tree of your soul shall fall, there shall you have to remain for all eternity. There is no middle way; either king for ever in Heaven, or slave for ever in hell. Either blessed for ever in the ocean of delights, or for ever despairing in a pit of torments. St. John Chrysostom, reflecting upon the glutton in the Gospel, who was esteemed happy by the world because he was rich, but who was afterwards buried in hell; and upon Lazarus, who, on the contrary, was esteemed miserable because he was poor, but who was afterwards happy in Heaven, exclaimed: “O infelix felicitas! O unhappy happiness, which dragged the rich man into eternal misery! O felix infelicitas! O happy unhappiness, which conducted the poor man into everlasting joy!”
Ah, my God, have pity on me! I already knew that in sinning I condemned myself to an eternity of pain, and yet I was content to oppose Thy will, and to incur this pain; and for what? For a wretched gratification. Ah, my Lord, pardon me; for I repent with all my heart! I will never more oppose myself to Thy holy will. Unhappy me, if Thou hadst taken me while leading a bad life, I should now have been condemned to dwell forever in hell, to hate Thy will. But I now live it, and will always love it. Teach me, and give me strength henceforth, to perform Thy holy will. I will never more oppose Thee, O Infinite Goodness; and I only ask this favour, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; grant me to do Thy will perfectly, and I ask nothing more.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Vitalis of Ravenna (April 28)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. But this he said, signifying what death he should die. — (John xii., 32). Jesus Christ said that when He should have been lifted up upon the Cross, He would, by His merits, by His example, and by the power of His love, draw towards Himself the loving affection of all souls: “He drew all the nations of the world to His love, by the merit of His Blood, by His example, and by His love.” Such is the commentary of Cornelius à Lapide. St. Peter Damien tells us the same: “The Lord, as soon as He was suspended from the Cross, drew all men to Himself through a loving desire.” And who is there, Cornelius à Lapide goes on the say, “who will not reciprocate the love of Christ, Who dies out of love for us?” Behold, O redeemed souls (as Holy Church exhorts us), behold your Redeemer upon that Cross where His whole form breathes love and invites you to love Him: His Head bent downwards to give us the kiss of peace, His arms stretched out to embrace us, His Heart open to love us: “His whole figure,” as St. Augustine says, “breathes love, and challenges us to love Him in return: His Head bent downwards to kiss us, His hands stretched out to embrace us, His bosom open to love us.”
Ah, my beloved Jesus, how could my soul have been so dear in Thy sight, beholding as Thou didst, the wrongs that Thou wouldst have to receive at my hands! Thou, in order to captivate my affections, wert willing to give me the extremest proofs of love. Come ye Scourges, ye Thorns, Nails, and Cross, which tortured the Sacred Flesh of my Lord, come and wound my poor heart; be ever reminding me that all the good I have received, and all that I hope for, comes to me through the merits of His Passion. O Thou Master of love, others teach by word of mouth, but Thou upon this bed of death, dost teach by suffering; others teach from interested motives, Thou from affection, asking no recompense excepting my salvation. Save me, O my Love, and let my salvation be the bestowal of the grace ever to love and please Thee; the love of Thee is my salvation.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: “MAN SHALL GO INTO THE HOUSE OF HIS ETERNITY”
The Prophet says: shall go, to denote that each one shall go into that house which he himself chooses. Oh, how much pains do men not take to build themselves a convenient, airy, and healthy dwelling, reflecting that they will have to inhabit it during the whole of their lives! And why, then, are men so careless in regard to the house in which they shall have to dwell for eternity?
Meditation I:
Man shall go into the house of his eternity. — (Eccles. xii., 5). The Prophet says shall go to denote that each one shall go into that house which he chooses; he will not be carried there, but he shall go of his own accord. It is certain that God wishes every one to be saved; but He will not force us to be saved. He has placed before each of us life and death, and that which we choose shall be given to us: Before man is life and death, good and evil; that which he shall choose shall be given to him. — (Ecclus. xv., 18). Jeremias likewise says that the Lord has given us two ways in which to walk – one the way of Heaven, and the other of hell: Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death. — (Jer. xxi., 8).
It is for us to choose. But how can he who chooses to walk in the way of hell ever find himself arrived in Heaven? All sinners desire to be saved; and in the meantime they condemn themselves to hell, saying: “I hope to save myself.” But who, says St. Augustine, is so mad as to take poison with the hope of being cured? “No one wishes to fall sick with the hope of being cured.” And yet so many Christians, like madmen, kill their souls by sinning, saying, “Hereafter I will think of a remedy.” O delusion, which has sent so many to hell!
Let us not be mad, as these are; let us remember that eternity is at stake. How much pains do men take to build themselves a convenient, airy, and healthy habitation, reflecting that they will have to inhabit it during the whole of their lives! And why, then, are they so careless with regard to that habitation in which they will have to dwell forever?
There is, then, O my God, no middle way: I must either be for ever happy, or for ever miserable; plunged either in an ocean of delights or of torments; either with Thee in Heaven, or for ever at a distance and separated from Thee in hell. And this hell, I know for certain that I have often merited it; but I also certainly know that Thou dost pardon him who repents, and deliverest from hell whoever hopes in Thee. Thou assurest me of it: He shall cry to me . . . I will deliver him, and will glorify him. — (Ps. xc., 15). Make haste, then, O Lord, – make haste and pardon me, and deliver me from hell. I grieve for having offended Thee, O my Sovereign Good, above every other evil. Make haste to restore me to Thy favour, and give me Thy holy love. Were I now in hell, I could no longer love Thee; I should be compelled to hate Thee for ever. Ah, my God, what hast Thou done to me, that I should hate Thee? Thou hast loved me even unto death; Thou art worthy of infinite love. O Lord, do not permit me ever again to be separated from Thee.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH – Saint Theodora, Virgin, and St. Didymus (April 28)
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Remember me, said the Good Thief to Thee, O my Jesus; and he had the consolation of hearing these words from Thee: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise. — (Luke xxiii., 43). Be mindful of me, say I likewise unto Thee; be mindful, O Lord, that I am one of those sheep for whom Thou didst give Thy life. Give me, too, the consolation of feeling that Thou, dear Jesus, dost forgive me, vouchsafing me a great sorrow for my sins. Do Thou, O great Priest, Who didst sacrifice Thyself for love of Thy creatures, have compassion upon me. From this day forth do I sacrifice to Thee my will, my senses, my satisfactions, and all my desires. I believe that Thou, my God, didst dies, crucified for me. Let Thy Diving Blood, I pray Thee, flow also upon me; let it wash me from my sins. Let it inflame me with holy love, and make me all thine own. I love Thee, O my Jesus, and I wish that I could die, crucified, for Thee, Who didst die crucified for me.
O Eternal Father, I have offended Thee; but behold Thy Son, Who, hanging upon this Tree, makes satisfaction to Thee for me with the sacrifice which He offers Thee of His Divine Life. I offer Thee His merits, which are all mine, for He has made them over to me; and, for love of this Thy Son, I pray Thee to have mercy upon me. The greatest mercy which I ask of Thee is, that Thou wouldst give my Thy grace, which, miserable wretch that I am, I have so often wilfully despised. I repent of having outraged Thee, and I love Thee, I love Thee, my God, my All; and to please Thee, I am ready to endure every shame, every pain, every sorrow, and every kind of death.
Meditation II:
(The Feast of St. Patrick, March 17)
Morning Meditation: ZEAL FOR THE SALVATION OF SOULS
St. Augustine says that the zeal for the salvation of souls, and for the growth of Divine charity in the souls of men, springs from love. He, then, the Saint adds, that has not zeal shows he does not love God, and he that loves not God is lost. “If you wish to honour God,” says St. Laurence Justinian, “you cannot do better than labour for the salvation of souls.” “Give me ten zealous priests,” St. Philip Neri used to say, “and I will convert the world.” What did not a St. Francis Xavier do single handed in the East? What did not a St. Patrick, a St. Vincent Ferrer do in Europe? God wishes priests to be the very saviours of the world.*
* St. Patrick was another St. Paul in apostolic zeal for souls. In his famous Confession, which he wrote before his death, he prays: “Wherefore may it never happen to me from my God that I should ever lose his people whom He hath purchased at the ends of the earth . . . And if I ever accomplished anything good for the sake of my God Whom I love, I ask Him to grant me that I may shed my blood . . . for His Name’s sake, even though I should want for burial, or my corpse be most miserably divided limb from limb for the dogs and wild beasts, or the birds of the air should devour it.”
Meditation I:
To understand how ardently God desires the salvation of souls, it is enough to consider what He has done for the redemption of man. Jesus Christ clearly expressed this desire when He said: I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished! — (Luke xii., 50). Jesus felt as if fainting away through the ardour with which He longed to see the work of the Redemption accomplished, so that men might be saved. From this St. John Chrysostom justly infers that there is nothing more acceptable to God than the salvation of souls. And before him St. Justin had said that nothing is so pleasing to God as to labour to make others better. Our Lord once said to a holy priest: “Labour for the salvation of sinners, for this is most pleasing to Me.” So dear is this work to God that as Clement of Alexandria says, the salvation of man is God’s sole concern. Hence, addressing a priest, St. Laurence Justinian says: “If you wish to honour God you can do no better than to labour for the salvation of souls.” According to St. Bernard, a soul is more valuable in the eyes of God than the whole world. And, according to St. John Chrysostom, you please God more by converting a single soul, than by giving all your goods to the poor. Tertullian asserts that the salvation of one sheep that has strayed is as dear as that of the whole flock. St. Paul wrote: I live in the faith of the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself for me. — (Gal. ii., 20). By these words is signified, as St. John Chrysostom says, that Jesus Christ would have died as soon for a single soul as for all men. And this Our Lord gives us to understand by the Parable of the Lost Groat. “He calls together all the Angels,” says St. Thomas, “not that men, but that He Himself may be congratulated, as if man were God’s God, and His own Divine salvation depended on man; and as if without man He could not be happy.”
Alas, my Jesus, my Redeemer, how few there are who have the true Faith! O God, the greater part of mankind lies buried in the darkness of infidelity and heresy! Thou didst humble Thyself to death, even to the death of the Cross, for the salvation of men, and these very men ungratefully refuse to know Thee. Ah, I beseech Thee, Almighty God, supreme and Infinite Good, make Thyself known, make Thyself loved by all men.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: THE PREACHING OF GOD’S WORD
Evening Meditation: REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Jesus, by the mouth of the Prophet, made lamentation that, when dying upon the Cross, He went in search of some one to console Him, but found none: And I looked for one to comfort me, and I found none. — (Ps. lxviii., 21). The Jews and the Romans, even while He was dying, uttered against Him their execrations and blasphemies. The Most Holy Mary – yes, she stood beneath the Cross, in order to afford Him some relief, had it been in her power to do so; but this afflicted and loving Mother by the sorrow which she suffered through sympathy with His pains, only added to the affliction of this her Son, Who loved her so dearly. St. Bernard says that the pains of Mary all went towards increasing the torments of the Heart of Jesus: “The Mother being filled with it, the ocean of her sorrow poured itself back upon the Son.” So that the Redeemer, in beholding Mary sorrowing thus, felt His soul pierced more by the sorrows of Mary than by His own; as was revealed to St. Bridget by the Blessed Virgin herself: “He, on beholding me, grieved more for me than for Himself.” Whence St. Bernard says, “O good Jesus, great as are Thy bodily sufferings, much more dost Thou suffer in Thy Heart through compassion for Thy Mother.”
What pangs, too, must not those loving Hearts of Jesus and Mary have felt when the moment arrived in which the Son, before breathing His last, had to take leave of His Mother! Behold what the last words were with which Jesus took His leave in this world of Mary: “Mother, behold thy son” – assigning to her John, whom, in His own place, He left her for a son.
O Queen of Sorrows, things given as memorials by a beloved son at the hour of his death, how very dear they are, and never do they slip away from the memory of a mother! Oh, bear it in mind, that thy Son, Who loved thee so dearly, has, in the person of John, left me, a sinner, to thee for a son. For the love which thou didst bear to Jesus, have compassion on me. I ask thee not for the good things of earth: I behold thy Son dying in such great pains for me; I behold thee, my innocent Mother, enduring also for me such great sufferings; and I see that I, a miserable being, who deserve hell on account of my sins, have not suffered anything for love of thee – I wish to suffer something for thee before I die. This is the grace that I ask of thee; and with St. Bonaventure, I say to thee, that if I have offended thee, justice requires that I should have suffering as chastisement; and if I have been serving thee, it is but reasonable that I should have suffering as a reward: “O Lady, if I have offended thee, wound my heart for justice’s sake; if I have served thee, I ask thee for wounds as my recompense.” Obtain for me, O Mary, a great devotion to, and a continual remembrance of the Passion of thy Son; and, by that pang which Thou didst suffer on beholding Him breathe His last upon the Cross, obtain for me a good death. Come to my assistance, O my Queen, in that last moment; make me die, loving and pronouncing the sacred Names of Jesus and Mary.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: MARY SUFFERS FOR OUR SALVATION
Why, O Lady, asks St. Bonaventure, didst thou also go to sacrifice thyself on Calvary? Was a crucified God not sufficient to redeem us, that thou, His Mother, shouldst also be crucified with Him? The death of Jesus was more than enough to redeem the world, but His good Mother, for the love she bore us, wished to help in the cause of our salvation.
Meditation I:
St. Bonaventure, addressing this Blessed Virgin, says: “And why, O Lady, didst thou also go to sacrifice thyself on Calvary? Was a crucified God not sufficient to redeem us, that thou, His Mother, wouldst also go to be crucified with Him?” Indeed, the death of Jesus was more than enough to save the world, and an infinity of worlds; but this good Mother, for the love she bore us, wished also to help the cause of our salvation by the merit of her sufferings which she offered for us on Calvary. Therefore, Blessed Albert the Great says that, as we are under great obligations to Jesus for His Passion endured for our love, so also are we under great obligations to Mary for the Martyrdom which she voluntarily suffered for our salvation in the death of her Son. I say voluntarily, since, as St. Agnes revealed to St. Bridget, “our compassionate and benign Mother was satisfied rather to endure any torment than that our souls should not be redeemed, and be left in their former state of perdition.” And, indeed, we may say that Mary’s only relief in the midst of her great sorrow in the Passion of her Son, was to see the lost world redeemed by His death, and men who were His enemies reconciled with God. “While grieving she rejoiced,” says Simon of Cassia, “that a Sacrifice was offered for the redemption of all, by which He Who was angry was appeased.”
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: GRACES PROMISED TO THOSE WHO ARE DEVOUT TO THE DOLOURS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
Evening Meditation: JESUS MAKES HIS TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM
Meditation I:
The time of His Passion being now at hand, our Redeemer departed from Bethany to go to Jerusalem. On drawing nigh to that ungrateful city, He beheld it, and wept: Beholding the city he wept over it. — (Luke xix., 41). He wept because He foresaw its ruin, which would be the consequence of the stupendous crime of taking away the life of the Son of God, of which that people would shortly be guilty. Ah, my Jesus and my God, when Thou wert then weeping over that city, Thou wert weeping also over my soul, beholding the ruin I have brought upon myself by my sins, constraining Thee to condemn me to hell, even after Thy having died to save me. Oh, leave it to me to weep over the great evil of which I have been guilty in despising Thee, the greatest Good of all, and do Thou have mercy upon me.
Jesus Christ enters into the city: the people go forth to meet Him with acclamations and rejoicings; and, in order to do Him honour, some of them strew branches of palms along the road, whilst others spread out their garments for Him to pass over. Oh, who would ever then have said that that Lord, now recognised as the Messias, and welcomed with so many demonstrations respect, the next time that He appeared along the self-same ways, would be under sentence of death, and with a Cross upon His shoulders! Ah, my beloved Jesus, these people now receive Thee with acclamations, saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! — (Matt. xxi., 9). Glory to the Son of David! Blessed be He Who cometh in the Name of God for our salvation! And then they will raise their voices insultingly to Pilate to take Thee out of the world, and cause Thee to die upon a Cross: Away with him! Away with him! Crucify Him! Go, my soul, and do thou also lovingly say to Him: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord! Blessed for ever be Thou Who art come, O Saviour of the world; for otherwise, we had all been lost. O my Saviour, save me!
Meditation II:
