Morning Meditation: SALVATION IS OUR ONLY BUSINESS IN THIS WORLD
One thing is necessary. — (Luke x., 42). It is not necessary we should be rich, or honoured, or in the enjoyment of good health, but it is necessary we should be saved. For this end alone has God placed us in this world, and woe to us if we do not attain it!
Meditation I:
Of all our affairs there is none more important than that of our eternal salvation, on which depends our happiness or misery for eternity.
One thing is necessary. — (Luke x., 42). It is not necessary we should be rich, honoured, or in the enjoyment of good health, but it is necessary that we should be saved. For this end alone has God placed us in this world, and woe to us if we do not attain it!
St. Francis Xavier said that the only good to be obtained in this world is salvation; and the only evil to be dreaded, damnation. What matter if we are poor, or despised, or infirm? If we are saved we shall be happy forever. On the contrary, what does it avail to be great, or to be monarchs? If we are lost, we shall be miserable for all eternity.
O God, what will become of me? I may be saved, and I may also be lost! And if I may be lost, why do I not resolve to adhere more closely to Thee?
My Jesus, have pity on me. I will amend my life. Give me Thy assistance. Thou hast died to save me, and shall I, notwithstanding, forfeit my salvation?
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: I. THE ADVANTAGE OF A RETREAT MADE IN SOLITUDE AND SILENCE*
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* This little treatise was written by St. Alphonsus in the form of a letter to a young man who consulted him as to the state of life he should choose. – ED.
Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
“Charity beareth all things.”
HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT
Meditation I:
Father Balthazar Alvarez said that a Christian must not imagine himself to have made any progress in perfection until he has succeeded in penetrating his heart with a lasting sense of the sorrows, poverty, and ignominies of Jesus Christ, so as to be able to support with loving patience every sorrow, privation, and contempt, for the sake of Jesus Christ.
In the first place, let us speak of bodily infirmities, which, when borne with patience, merit for us a beautiful crown.
St. Vincent de Paul said: “Did we but know how precious a treasure is contained in infirmities, we would accept them with joy as the greatest of all possible blessings.” Hence the Saint himself, though constantly afflicted with ailments that often left him no rest day or night, bore them with so much peace and serenity of countenance that no one could guess that anything ailed him at all. Oh, how edifying to see a sick person bear his illness with a peaceful countenance, as did St. Francis de Sales! When he was ill, he simply made known his complaint to the physician, obeyed him exactly by taking the prescribed medicines, however nauseous; and for the rest, he remained at peace, never uttering a single complaint in all his sufferings. What a contrast to this is the conduct of those who do nothing but complain even for the most trifling indisposition, and who would like to have around them all their relatives and friends in order to have their sympathy! Far different was the instruction of St. Teresa to her nuns: “My sisters, learn to suffer something for the love of Jesus Christ, without letting all the world know of it.” One Good Friday Jesus Christ favoured the Venerable Father Louis da Ponte with so much bodily suffering that no part of him was exempt from its particular pain; he mentioned his severe sufferings to a friend, but he was afterwards so sorry at having done so that he made a vow never again to reveal to anybody whatever he might afterwards have to suffer. I say “he was favoured;” for, to the Saints, the illnesses and pains which God sends them are real favours.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: LOSS OF THE SOUL, AN IRREPARABLE EVIL
How long shall we delay? Until we have to weep with the damned, saying: Ergo erravimus! We therefore have erred! — (Wis. v., 6), and there is now no longer, or ever shall be, any remedy for us? For every other misfortune in this world there is some remedy, but for the loss of the soul, there is none.
Meditation I:
And how long shall we delay? Until we have to weep with the damned, saying: Ergo erravimus! We therefore have erred! — and there is now no longer, or ever shall be, any remedy for us?
For every other misfortune in this world there is some remedy, but for the loss of the soul there is none.
What pains and trouble men take to obtain wealth, dignities, pleasures! But what are they doing to save their souls? Nothing; as though the loss of the soul were but of little consequence!
How much diligence in preserving bodily health! The best physicians, the best remedies, the best climate, are sought after. And as regards the health of the soul, what great negligence!
O my God, I will no longer resist Thy calls! Who knows but that the words which I am now reading may be my last call from God!
Can we be sensible of the danger of being lost forever and not tremble? And do we delay to apply a remedy to the disorders of our consciences?
My soul, how many graces has not God bestowed upon you that you may be saved! He has caused you to be born in the bosom of the true Church. How many advantages for becoming a Saint. Sermons, confessions, the good example of companions. How many lights, how many loving calls in Spiritual Exercises, in Meditation, in Holy Communion! How many mercies has He not shown you! How long has He not waited for you! How many times has He not pardoned you! – graces which He has not bestowed on so many others.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: II. THE ADVANTAGE OF A RETREAT MADE IN SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
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Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
“Charity beareth all things.”
HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT
Meditation I:
You say you are unable even to pray, because your head is so weak. Be it so: you cannot meditate; but why cannot you make acts of resignation to the will of God? If you would only make these acts, you could not make a better prayer, welcoming with love all the torments that assail you. Thus did St. Vincent de Paul act. When attacked by a serious illness, he was wont to keep himself tranquilly in the presence of God, without forcing his mind to dwell on any particular subject; his sole exercise was to elicit some short acts from time to time, as of love, of confidence, of thanksgiving, and more frequently of resignation, especially in the crisis of his sufferings. St. Francis de Sales made this remark: “Considered in themselves tribulations are terrifying; but considered in the will of God, they are lovely and delightful.” You cannot make meditation, you say, and what more exquisite prayer than to cast a look from time to time on your crucified Lord, and to offer Him your pains, uniting the little that you endure with the overwhelming torments that afflicted Jesus on the Cross!
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: WE MUST BEFORE ALL THINGS SECURE THE SALVATION OF OUR SOULS
Let us proceed at once with the work of our soul’s salvation, for death is at hand. What we can do to-day let us not put off till to-morrow. Time passes and returns no more.
Meditation I:
Let us proceed at once with the work of our soul’s salvation, for death is at hand. What we can do to-day let us not put off till to-morrow. Time passes and returns no more.
Every one says, at the hour of death: Oh, that I had been a saint! But of what avail will such regrets be when the oil fails, and the lamp will soon be extinguished?
We shall say when death comes: What would it have cost me to have avoided that occasion, to have borne with that person, to have broken off that correspondence, to have yielded that point of honour? But I did not do so; and now what will become of me?
Let us not think that we can do too much to gain eternal salvation. “No security can be too great,” says St. Bernard, “where Eternity is at stake.”
To secure our salvation, we must be resolved to adopt the means. Inclination will not be sufficient; nor will it serve us to say, I will do it by and by. Hell is filled with souls who said: By and by! By and by! Death came in the meantime, and they were lost.
O Lord, help me! I will say to Thee, with St. Catherine of Genoa: “My Jesus, no more sins, no more sins!” I renounce all things to please Thee.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: III. THE ADVANTAGE OF A RETREAT MADE IN SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
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Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
“Charity beareth all things.”
HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT
Meditation I:
Oh, what abundance of merits may be accumulated by patiently enduring an illness! Almighty God revealed to Father Balthazar Alvarez the great glory He had in store for a certain nun who had borne a painful sickness with resignation; and told him that she had acquired greater merit in those eight months of her illness than some other Religious in many years. It is by the patient endurance of ill-health that we weave a great part, and perhaps the greater part, of the crown that God destines for us in Heaven. St. Lidwina had a revelation to this effect. After sustaining many and most cruel disorders, as we mentioned, she prayed to die a martyr for the love of Jesus Christ; now, as she was one day sighing after this martyrdom, she suddenly saw a beautiful crown, but as yet incomplete, and she understood that it was destined for herself; whereupon the Saint, longing to behold it completed, entreated the Lord to increase her sufferings. Her prayer was heard, for some soldiers came shortly and ill-treated her, not only with injurious words, but with blows and outrages. An Angel then appeared to her with the crown completed, and informed her that those last injuries had added to it the gems that were wanting; and shortly afterwards she expired.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE VANITY OF THE WORLD – THE GOODS OF THIS WORLD ARE FALSE GOODS
The world! And what is the world but mere show! A scene which quickly passes away! The fashion of this world passes away! Death approaches, the curtain falls, the scene closes, and all comes to an end!
Meditation I:
What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? — (Matt. xvi., 26). O great maxim, which has conducted so many souls to Heaven, and bestowed so many Saints on the Church! What doth it profit to gain the whole world, which passes away, and lose the soul, which is eternal?
The world! And what is the world but mere show, a scene which quickly passes away! The fashion of this world passes away. — (1 Cor. vii., 31). Death approaches, the curtain falls, the scene closes, and thus all comes to an end!
Alas! at the hour of death, how will all worldly things appear to a Christian – those vessels of silver, those heaps of gold, that rich and vain furniture – when he must leave them all forever!
O Jesus, grant that henceforward my soul may be wholly Thine! Grant that I may love no other but Thee. I desire to renounce all things before death tears me away from them.
St. Teresa says: “Nothing ought to be considered of consequence which must come to an end.” Let us, therefore, strive to gain that treasure which will not fail with time. What does it avail a man to be happy for a few days (if indeed there can be any happiness without God), if he must be unhappy forever in eternity.
David says that earthly goods, at the hour of death, will seem as a dream to one waking from sleep: As the dream of them that awake. — (Ps. lxxii., 20). What disappointment does he feel who, having dreamt he was a king, on awaking finds himself still as lowly and poor as ever?
O my God, who knows but that this meditation which I am now reading will be the last call for me? Enable me to root our of my heart all earthly affections, before I enter into eternity. Grant that I may be sensible of the great wrong I have doe Thee, by offending Thee, and by forsaking Thee for the love of creatures. Father, I am not worthy to be called thy son. — (Luke xv., 21). I am grieved for having turned my back upon Thee; do not reject me, now that I return to Thee.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: IV. THE ADVANTAGE OF A RETREAT MADE IN SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
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Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
“Charity beareth all things.”
HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT
Meditation I:
Above all, in time of sickness we should be ready to accept of death, and of that death which God pleases. We must die, and our life must finish in our last illness; but we do not know which will be our last illness. Wherefore in every illness we must be prepared to accept that death God has appointed for us. A sick person says: “Yes; but I have committed many sins, and have done no penance. I should like to live, not for the sake of living, but to make some satisfaction to God before I die.” But tell me, how do you know that if you live longer you will do penance, and not rather do worse than before? At present you can well cherish the hope that God has pardoned you, and what penance can be more satisfactory than to accept of death with resignation, if God wills you are to die? St. Aloysius Gonzaga, at the age of twenty-three, gladly embraced death with this reflection: “At present,” he said, “I am, as I hope, in the grace of God. Hereafter I know not what may befall me; so that I now die contentedly, if God calls me to the next life.” It was the opinion of Blessed John of Avila that every one, provided he be in proper dispositions, though only moderately good, should desire death, to escape the danger which always surrounds us in this world, of sinning and losing the grace of God.
Besides, owing to our natural frailty, we cannot live in this world without committing at least venial sins; this should be a motive for us to embrace death willingly that we may never offend God any more. Further, if we truly love God, we should ardently long to go to see Him, and love Him with all our strength in Paradise, which no one can do perfectly in this present life; but unless death open to us the door, we cannot enter that blessed region of love. This caused St. Augustine, that loving soul, to cry out: “Oh, let me die, Lord, that I may behold Thee!” O Lord, let me die, otherwise I cannot behold and love Thee face to face.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE VANITY OF THE WORLD – THE GOODS OF THIS WORLD PASS QUICKLY
Ye great ones of the world who are tormented in the fires of hell, what remains to you now of your honours and your wealth? They answer, weeping: Nothing! Nothing! What advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us? All these things are passed away like a shadow!
Meditation I:
Ye great ones of the world, who are now tormented in the fires of hell, what remains to you now of your honours and riches? They answer, weeping: Nothing! Nothing! We have nothing but torments and despair! All is passed but our punishment, which will never end!
At death men will say: What hath pride profited us? Or what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow! — (Wis. v., 8). Alas! the remembrance of the good things we have enjoyed in the world will not, at the hour of death, inspire us with confidence, but will fill us with terror and confusion.
Woe to me! How many years have I been in the world, and what have I hitherto done for God? O Lord, have pity on me, and cast me not away from thy face. — (Ps. l., 13).
The time of death is the time when all worldly things will appear as they really are – vanity, smoke, dust!
O my God! How frequently have I exchanged Thee for a nothing! I should not dare to hope for pardon, were it not that Thou hast died in order to pardon me. Now will I love Thee above all things, and will esteem Thy grace more precious than all the kingdoms of the earth.
Death is compared by St. Paul to a thief — (1 Thess. v., 4), because it robs us of all things – possessions, relations, beauty, dignity, and even of our own very flesh.
The day of death is also called the day of destruction. — (Deut. xxxii., 35). Then shall we lose all that we have ever acquired, and all that we can hope for from this world. O my Jesus! I am not concerned about the loss of earthly goods, but only lest I should lose Thee, the Infinite Good.
We extol the Saints, who, for the love of Jesus Christ, despise the goods of this earth; and do we continue to be attached to such vanities at the imminent danger of our salvation?
We have a great esteem for the treasures of this life; and why do we make so little account of the treasures of eternity?
Enlighten me, O my God! Make me realize that all creatures are nothing, and that Thou art my All, the Infinite Good. Grant that I may leave all things to possess Thee alone. My God! My God! Thee only do I desire, and besides Thee, nothing in this world!
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: V. THE ADVANTAGE OF A RETREAT MADE IN SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
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Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
“Charity beareth all things.”
HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT
Meditation I:
St. Bonaventure said that temporal goods were nothing more than a sort of bird-lime to hinder the soul from flying to God. And St. John Climacus said that poverty, on the contrary, is a path which leads to God free of all hindrances. Our Lord Himself said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. — (Matt. v., 3). In the other Beatitudes, the Heaven of the life to come is promised to the meek and to the clean of heart; but to the poor, Heaven (that is, heavenly joy) is promised even in this life: theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Yes, for even in the present life the poor enjoy a foretaste of Paradise. By the poor in spirit are meant those who are not merely poor in earthly goods, but who do not so much as desire them; who, having enough to clothe and feed them, live contented, according to the advice of the Apostle: But having food and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content. — (1 Tim. vi., 8). Oh, blessed poverty, exclaimed St. Laurence Justinian, which possesses nothing and fears nothing! Ever joyous and ever in abundance, since she turns every inconvenience into advantage for the soul. St. Bernard said: “The avaricious man hungers after earthly things as a beggar, the poor man despises them as a lord.” The miser is always hungry as a beggar, because he is never satiated with possessing; the poor man, on the contrary, despises them all as a rich lord, inasmuch as he desires nothing.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE VANITY OF THE WORLD – DEATH SHOWS US THE VANITY OF THE WORLD
St. John Chrysostom says: “Go to the tomb, and contemplate the dust and worms and – sigh!” O the great secret of death! Things the most desirable on this earth lose all their splendour when viewed from the bed of death.
Meditation I:
O the great secret of death! How it brings to an end all worldly desires! How it shows all worldly grandeur as smoke and deceit! Things the most desired of this earth lose all their splendour when beheld from the bed of death. The shadow of death obscures the beauty of all things here below.
Of what profit are riches when nothing remains but a winding-sheet? Of what advantage bodily beauty, when all is reduced to a heap of worms? Of what avail is authority, when nothing remains but to be thrown into the grave, and be forgotten by all?
St. Chrysostom says: “Go to a sepulchre, contemplate dust and worms and – sigh!” Look on the graves of the dead; see those skeletons gnawed by worms and crumbling into dust, and say, with a sigh: Ah, such must I become, and why do I not think of this? Why do I not give myself to God? Alas! who knows but that which I am now reading may be the last call for me?
O my dear Redeemer, I accept of my death, and I accept of it in whatever way it may please Thee to send it to me; but I beseech Thee, before Thou judgest me, to allow me time to bewail the offences I have committed against Thee. I love Thee, O my Jesus, and I am truly sorry for having despised Thee.
O my God, how many miserable beings, to obtain worldly goods, pleasures, vanities, have lost their souls, and, by losing their souls, have lost all!
Do we believe or not that we must one day die? And that only once? And why do we not leave all, to secure a happy death? Let us leave all, to secure all.
Is it possible we realize that the remembrance of a disorderly life will at the hour of death be an insufferable torment, and still continue to live on in sin?
O my God, I thank Thee for the light Thou affordest me. But, O Lord, what have I done? Have I multiplied my sins, and hast Thou increased Thy graces? Woe to me, if I do not avail myself of them!
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: VI. THE ADVANTAGE OF A RETREAT MADE IN SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
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Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
“Charity beareth all things.”
HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT
Meditation I:
This love of poverty should be especially practised by Religious who have made the Vow of Poverty. “Many Religious,” says the great St. Bernard, “wish to be poor; but on the condition of wanting for nothing.” “Thus,” says St. Francis de Sales, “they wish for the honour of poverty, but not the inconveniences of poverty.” To such persons in applicable the saying of the blessed Solomea, a nun of St. Clare: “That Religious will be a laughing-stock to Angels and to men, who pretends to be poor, and yet murmurs when in want of anything.” Good Religious act differently; they love their poverty above all riches. The daughter of the Emperor Maximilian II, a discalced nun of St. Clare, called Sister Margaret of the Cross, appeared on one occasion before her brother, the Archduke Albert, in a patched habit. He evinced some astonishment at it, as if it were unbecoming her noble birth; but she made him this answer: “My brother, I am more content with this torn garment than all monarchs with their purple robes.” St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi said: “O happy Religious, who, detached from all by means of holy poverty, can say: ‘The Lord is the portion of my inheritance!'” My God, Thou art my portion and all my good! St. Teresa, having received a large alms from a certain merchant, sent him word that his name was written in the Book of Life; and that, in token of this, he should lose all his possessions; and the merchant actually failed, and remained in poverty till death. St. Aloysius Gonzaga said that there could be no surer sign of a person’s being numbered among the elect than to see him fearing God, and at the same time undergoing crosses and tribulations in this life.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE MERCY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
“Oh, how many who deserved to be condemned by the justice of the Son, are saved by the mercy of the Mother! For she is God’s treasure and the treasurer of all graces, and thus our salvation is in her hands and depends on her.” — (Abbott of Celles).
Meditation I:
The Blessed Virgin said one day to St. Bridget: I am called, and I truly am, the Mother of Mercy; for such God has made me. And who, but God in His mercy, because He desires our salvation, has given to us this advocate to defend us? “Therefore,” adds Mary, “miserable will he be, who, while it is in his power, has not recourse to me, who am merciful.” Miserable is the man, and miserable for eternity, who, though he could during life, have recommended himself to me, who am so benign and merciful to all, has neglected to have recourse to me, and is lost.
Perhaps, says St. Bonaventure, we are afraid that in asking Mary’s intercession she will refuse it to us? No, says the Saint: “Mary does not refuse, and never has refused pity and aid to any sinner who has invoked her intercession.” She has not done so, and she cannot do so, because God has made her the Queen and the Mother of Mercy; and as Queen of Mercy she is bound to attend to the care of the miserable. “Thou,” says St. Bernard, “art the Queen of Mercy; and who but the miserable are the subjects of mercy?” Hence the Saint through humility adds: “Since, then, O Mother of God, thou art the Queen of Mercy, thou must have a special care of me, who am the most miserable of sinners.” As Mother of Mercy it is her duty to deliver from death her sick children, to whom her mercy makes her a Mother. Hence, St. Basil calls her a public hospital. Public hospitals are erected for the poor; and they who are in the greatest poverty have the best claims to be admitted into them. Hence, according to St. Basil, Mary ought to receive with the greatest tenderness and care the greatest sinners who have recourse to her.
O great Mother of God, behold at thy feet a miserable sinner, who has not once, but several times, voluntarily lost Divine grace, which thy Son purchased for him by His death. O Mother of Mercy, I come to thee with a soul covered with wounds and sores; be not angry with me on this account, but have the greater pity on me and assist me. I do not ask of thee earthly goods; I ask thee to obtain for me the grace of God and love of thy Son.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: VII. THE ADVANTAGE OF A RETREAT MADE IN SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
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Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
“Charity beareth all things.”
HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT
Meditation I:
In the third place, we must practise patience, and show our love of God by tranquilly submitting to contempt. As soon as a soul delivers herself up to God, He sends her from Himself, or through others, insults and persecution. One day an Angel appeared to the Blessed Henry Suso, and said to him: “Henry, thou hast hitherto mortified thyself in thy own way; henceforth thou shalt be mortified after the pleasure of others.” On the day following, as he was looking from a window on the street he saw a dog shaking and tearing a rag which it held in its mouth; at the same moment a voice said to him: “So hast thou to be torn in the mouths of men.” Forthwith the Blessed Henry Suso descended into the street and secured the rag, putting it by to encourage him in his coming trials.
I love Thee with my whole heart, O my dear Redeemer! I love Thee, my Sovereign Good! I love Thee, my own Love, worthy of infinite love! I am grieved at any displeasure I have ever caused Thee, more than for any evil whatever. I promise Thee to receive with patience all the trials Thou mayest send me; but I look to Thee for help to be faithful to my promise, and especially to be enabled to bear in peace the sorrows of my last agony and death.
O Mary, my Queen, vouchsafe to obtain for me a true resignation in all the anguish and trials that await me during life and at death.
Meditation II:
