Morning Meditation: “THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOMETH THE WORLD, OUR FAITH”
A false balance is in his hand. — (Osee xii., 7). In these words the Holy Spirit warns us not to be deceived by the world, because the world weighs its goods in a false balance; we should weigh them in the true balance of Faith, which will show us what are the true goods. Oh, how wretched I have been, O Lord, in having, for so many years, gone after the vanities of the world, and left Thee, the Sovereign Good!
Meditation I:
The thought of the vanity of the world, and that all things that the world values are but falsehood and deceit, has made many souls resolve to give themselves wholly to God. What does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? — (Matt. xvi., 26). How many young persons has this great maxim of the Gospel brought to leave relatives, country, possessions, honours, and even crowns, to go to shut themselves up in cloisters or deserts, there to think of God alone! The day of death is called the day of destruction: The day of destruction is at hand. — (Deut. xxxii., 35). It is a day of destruction, because all the goods we have gained on earth must be left on the day of our death. Wherefore St. Ambrose wisely says that we falsely call these good things our good things, for we cannot carry them with us into the other world, where we must dwell forever. It is our holy deeds alone that accompany us, and they alone will comfort us in eternity.
All earthly fortunes, the highest dignities, gold, silver, the most precious jewels, when contemplated from the bed of death lose their splendour; the dark shadow of death obscures even sceptres and crowns, and makes us see that whatever the world values is but smoke, dust, vanity, and misery. And, in truth, at the time of death, what profit is there in all the riches acquired by the dying person, if nothing belongs to him after death except a wooden box, in which he is placed to grow corrupt? For what will vaunted beauty of body serve when there remains of it only a little polluted dust and four fleshless limbs?
What is the life of man upon earth? Behold it, as described by St. James: It is a vapour which appeareth for a little while, and afterwards will pass away. — (James iv., 15). To-day this great man is esteemed, feared, praised; to-morrow he is despised, contemned, and abused. I have seen the wicked highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus. And I passed by and, lo, he was not! — (Ps. xxxvi., 35, 36). He is no longer to be found in his beloved house, in this great palace which he built; and where is he? He is become dust in the grave!
A false balance is in his hand. — (Osee xii., 7). In these words the Holy Spirit warns us not to be deceived by the world, because the world weighs its goods in a false balance; we ought to weigh them in the true balance of Faith, which will show us what are the true goods which never end. St. Teresa said we should never take account of anything that ends with death. O God, what greatness has remained to those many first ministers of state, commanders of armies, princes, Roman emperors, now that the scene is changed, and they find themselves in eternity! Their memory has perished with a noise. — (Ps. ix., 7). They made a great figure in the world, and their names resounded among all; but when they were dead, for them was changed rank, name, and everything. It is useful here to notice an inscription placed over a certain cemetery in which many great men and ladies are buried: “See where end all greatness, all earthly pomp, all beauty. Worms, dust, a worthless stone, a little sand, close the brief scene at the end of all.”
Oh, how wretched I have been, O Lord, in having for so many years gone after the vanities of the world, and left Thee, the Sovereign Good!
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: CONFESSION
VI. DELUSIONS AND VAIN FEARS
Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
V. HOW DESERVING JESUS CHRIST IS OF OUR LOVE ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOVE HE HAS SHOWN US IN HIS PASSION
Meditation I:
The Blessed John of Avila, who was so enamoured with the love of Jesus Christ that he never failed in any of his sermons to speak of the love which Jesus Christ bears towards us, in a treatise on the love this most loving Redeemer bears to men, has expressed himself in sentiments so full of the fire of devotion and of such beauty that I desire to insert them here. He says:
“Thou, O Redeemer, hast loved man in such a manner that whoso reflects upon this love cannot do less than love Thee; for Thy love offers violence to hearts: as the Apostle says: The charity of Christ presseth us. — (2 Cor. v., 14). The source of the love of Jesus Christ for men is His love for His Eternal Father. Hence He said on Maundy Thursday: That the world may know that I love the Father, arise, let us go hence. — (John xiv., 31). But whither? To die for men upon the Cross!
“No human intellect can conceive how strongly this fire burns in the Heart of Jesus Christ. As He was commanded to suffer death once, so, had He been commanded to die a thousand times, His love had been sufficient to endure it. And if what He suffered for all men had been imposed upon Him for the salvation of each single soul, He would have done the same for each in particular as He did for all. And as He remained three hours upon the Cross, so, had it been necessary, His love would have made Him remain there even to the Day of Judgment. So that Jesus Christ loved much more than He suffered. O Divine love, how far greater wert Thou than Thou didst outwardly seem to be; for though so many wounds and bruises tell us of great love, still they do not tell all its greatness. There was far more within than that which appeared externally. That was but as a spark which bounded forth from the vast ocean of infinite love. The greatest mark of love is to lay down our life for our friends. But this was not a sufficient mark for Jesus Christ wherewith to express His love.”
Meditation II:
(April 25th)
Morning Meditation: “THE LORD IS A LITTLE ONE AND EXCEEDINGLY TO BE LOVED”
The Son of God wished to present Himself under the form of a sweet little Child that thus He might the more readily and the more forcibly draw to Himself the love of men. Little children of themselves are loved at once. To see them and to love them is the same thing. Thus, then, would He be born Who willed to be loved and not feared.
Meditation I:
“O souls,” exclaims St. Bernard, “love this little Child, for He is exceedingly to be loved!” The Lord is great and greatly to be praised. — (Ps. cxliv., 3). “The Lord is a little one and greatly to be loved!” Yes, says the Saint, this God has existed from all eternity and is worthy of all praise and reverence for His greatness, as David has sung: The Lord is great and greatly to be praised! But now that we behold Him become a little Infant, needing milk, and unable to move, trembling with cold, moaning and weeping, looking for someone to take and warm and comfort Him; ah, now indeed does He become the most cherished One of our hearts! “The Lord is a little One, and exceedingly to be loved!”
We ought to adore Him as our God, but our love ought to keep pace with our reverence towards a God so amiable, so loving.
St. Bonaventure reminds us that a child finds its delight with other children, with flowers, and to be in the arms. The Saint’s meaning is, that if we would please this Divine Infant, we too must become children, simple and humble; we must carry to Him flowers of virtue, of meekness, of mortification, of charity; we must clasp Him in the arms of our love.
And, O man, adds St. Bernard, what more do you wait to see before you give yourself wholly to God? See with what labour, with what ardent love, your Jesus has come down from Heaven to seek you. Hearken, he goes on to say, how, scarcely yet born, His wailings call to you, as if He would say: O soul, O soul, it is thee I am seeking; for thee, and to obtain thy love, I am come from Heaven to earth.
O God, even the very brutes, if we do them a kindness, of we give them some trifle, are so grateful for it they come near us, they do our bidding after their own fashion, and they show symptoms of gladness at our approach. And how comes it, then, that we are so ungrateful towards God, the same God Who has bestowed His whole Self upon us, Who has descended from Heaven to earth, and become an Infant to save us, and to be loved by us? Come, then, let us love the Babe of Bethlehem, is the enraptured cry of St. Francis; let us love Jesus Christ, Who has sought in the midst of such sufferings to attach our hearts to Himself.
St. Augustine says: “For this reason chiefly did Jesus Christ come, that man should know how much God loves him.”
But, my Jesus, even now that Thou hast come, how many men are there who truly love Thee? Wretch that I am, Thou knowest how I have hitherto love Thee! Thou knowest what contempt I have had for Thy love! Oh, that I might die of grief for it! I repent, my dear Redeemer of having despised Thee. Ah, pardon me and give me the grace to love Thee!
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: CONFESSION
VII. DOUBTS
Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
VI. HOW DESERVING JESUS CHRIST IS OF OUR LOVE ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOVE HE HAS SHOWN US IN HIS PASSION
Meditation I:
“O Jesus, stealer of hearts, the strength of Thy love has broken the exceeding hardness of our hearts! Thou hast inflamed the whole world with Thy love. O most loving Lord, inebriate our hearts with this wine, consume them with this fire, pierce them with this dart of Thy love! Thy Cross is indeed an arrow which pierces hearts. May all the world know that my heart is smitten! O sweetest Love, what hast Thou done? Thou hast come to heal me and Thou hast wounded me. Thou hast come to teach me, and Thou hast made me well nigh mad. O madness full of wisdom, may I never live without thee! All, O Lord, that I behold upon the Cross, invites me to love Thee: the wood, the figure, the Wounds of Thy Body; and, above all, Thy love engages me to love Thee, and never more to forget Thee.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: PURITY OF INTENTION
In the estimation of men, the value of an act increases in proportion to the length of time spent in the performance of it; but with God, the value of an act depends on the purity of intention with which it is performed. Men look only to the external act; God regards the heart, that is, the intention with which the act is done. For man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart. — (1 Kings xvi., 7).
Meditation I:
Purity of intention consists in doing everything from a simple desire to please God. Jesus Christ has said that according to the intention, whether it be good or evil, so is our work judged before God. If thine eye be single, thine whole body shall be lightsome; but if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be darksome. — (Matt. vi., 23, 23). The single eye signifies a pure intention of pleasing God; the dark and evil eye signifies a want of such honest and holy intention – when our actions are done from a motive of vanity, or from a desire to please ourselves.
Can any action be more noble than for a man to give his life for the Faith? And yet St. Paul says that he who dies from any motive but that of a pure desire to do God’s will, gains nothing by his martyrdom.
If, then, martyrdom avails nothing unless it be endured for the sake of God alone, of what value will be all the preaching, all the labour of good works, and also all the austerities of penitents, if they are done to obtain the praise of men or to satisfy one’s own inclination?
The Prophet Aggaeus says that works, even the holiest, if not done for God, are put in bags full of holes; which means that they are all lost directly, and that no good comes of them. On the contrary, every action done with an intention of pleasing God, of however little value in itself, is worth more than many great works done without such pure intention.
We read in St. Mark that the poor widow cast into the alms-box of the temple only two mites; but yet of her the Saviour said: This poor widow hath cast in more than all. — (Mark xii., 43). St. Cyprian remarks on this, that she put in more than all the others because she gave those two little pieces of money with the pure intention of pleasing God.
One of the best signs by which we may know whether a person’s work is done with the right intention is that if the work has not the effect desired he will not be at all disturbed. Another good sign is that when a person has completed any work and is spoken ill of because of it, or is repaid with ingratitude, he nevertheless remains contented and tranquil. On the other hand, if it happen to any one to be praised for his work, he must not disquiet himself with the fear of being filled with vainglory; but should such a temptation come upon him only let him despise it in his heart and say with St. Bernard, “I did not begin it for thee, nor because of thee will I leave it.”
When, O my Jesus, shall I begin to love Thee truly? Miserable that I am! If I seek among my works for any that are good – for one work done only to please Thee, my Saviour – I shall not find it. Alas! then, have pity on me, and suffer not that I continue to serve Thee so ill up to the time of my death.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: SALVE REGINA, MATER MISERICORDIAE! HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, MOTHER OF MERCY!
I. HOW GREAT SHOULD BE OUR CONFIDENCE IN MARY, WHO IS THE QUEEN OF MERCY
Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
VII. HOW DESERVING JESUS CHRIST IS OF OUR LOVE ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOVE HE HAS SHOWN US IN HIS PASSION
Meditation I:
St. Bonaventure says there is no devotion more fitted for sanctifying a soul than meditation on the Passion of Jesus Christ; hence he advises us to meditate every day upon the Passion, if we would advance in the love of God. “If you would make progress, meditate daily on the Passion of the Lord; for nothing works such an entire sanctification in the soul as the meditation of the Passion of Christ.” And before him St. Augustine, as de Bustis relates, said that one tear shed in memory of the Passion is worth more than fasting weekly on bread and water. Wherefore the Saints were always occupied in considering the sorrows of Jesus Christ: it was by this means that St. Francis of Assisi became a seraph. The Seraphic Saint was one day found shedding tears and crying out with a loud voice. Being asked the cause, “I weep,” he replied, “over the sorrows and ignominies of my Lord; and what causes me the greatest sorrow is, that men, for whom He suffered so much, live in forgetfulness of Him.” And on saying this he wept the more, so that this gentleman began also himself to weep.
O Jesus, bring continually to my remembrance, I beseech Thee, all that Thou hast suffered for me, so that I may never more forget to love Thee. O cords that bound my Jesus, bind me to Jesus; thorns that crowned my Jesus, pierce me with the love of Jesus; nails that transfixed my Jesus, nail me to the Cross of Jesus, that I may live and die united to Jesus. O Blood of Jesus, inebriate me with His holy love! O death of Jesus, make me die to every earthly affection!
Pierced feet of my Lord, I embrace you! Deliver me from hell which I have deserved. My Jesus, in hell I could no more love Thee, and yet I desire to love Thee always. Save me, my dearest Saviour; bind me to Thyself, that I may never again lose Thee. O Mary, refuge of sinners and Mother of my Saviour, help a sinner who wishes to love God, and who recommends himself to you: succour me for the love you bear to Jesus Christ.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: CHARITY TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOUR
An act of Charity performed towards a neighbour will be accepted by Jesus Christ as done to Himself. I say to you, says the Redeemer, as long as you did it to one of these, my least brethren, you did it to me. — (Matt. xxv., 40). St. Catharine of Genoa used to say our love of God is to measured by our love for our neighbour.
Meditation I:
To love God without at the same time loving our neighbor is impossible. The same precept that prescribes love towards God imposes a strict obligation of brotherly Charity. And this commandment we have from God that he who loveth God love also his brother. — (1 John iv., 21). Hence St. Thomas teaches that the love of God and the love of our neighbour proceed alike from Charity. For Charity makes us love God and our neighbour, because such is the will of God. Such, too, was the doctrine of St. John the Evangelist. St. Jerome relates that being asked by his disciples why he frequently recommended fraternal love, that holy Apostle replied: “Because it is the precept of the Lord, and the fulfilment of it alone is sufficient.”
St. Catharine of Genoa once said to the Lord: “My God, Thou dost command me to love my neighbour; and I can love none but Thee.” “My child,” answered Jesus, “he that loves Me, loves whatsoever I love.” Indeed, when we love a person we also love his relatives, his servants, his likeness, and even his clothes, because we know he loves them. And why do we love our neighbours? It is because God loves them. Hence St. John says that if any man say I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. — (1 John iv., 20). But as hatred towards our neighbours is incompatible with the love of God, so an act of Charity performed in their regard will be accepted by Jesus Christ as done for Himself. Amen, I say to you, says the Redeemer, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren you did it me. — (Matt. xxv., 40). St. Catharine of Genoa used to say that our love of God is to be measured by our love for our neighbour.
Ah, my Redeemer, how unlike I am to Thee! Thou wast all Charity towards Thy persecutors, and I am all rancour and hatred towards my neighbour. Thou didst pray with so much love for those who crucified Thee, and I immediately seek revenge against those who offend me. O God of love, give me Thy love.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: SALVE REGINA, MATER MISERICORDIAE! HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, MOTHER OF MERCY!
II. HOW GREAT SHOULD BE OUR CONFIDENCE IN MARY, WHO IS THE QUEEN OF MERCY
Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
VII. HOW MUCH JESUS CHRIST DESERVES TO BE LOVED BY US ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOVE HE HAS SHOWN US IN INSTITUTING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
Meditation I:
Jesus, knowing that his hour was come, that he should pass out of this world to the Father; having loved his own . . . he loved them unto the end. — (John xiii., 1). Our most loving Saviour, knowing that His hour was now come for leaving this earth, desired before He went to die for us, to leave us the greatest possible mark of His love; and this was the gift of the most Holy Sacrament. St. Bernardine of Sienna remarks that men remember more continually, and love more tenderly, the signs of love which are shown to them at the hour of death. Hence it is the custom that friends, when about to die, leave to those persons they have loved some gift, such as a garment or a ring, as a memorial of their affection. But what hast Thou, O my Jesus, left us, when quitting this world, in memory of Thy love? Not, indeed, a garment or a ring, but Thine own Body, Thy Blood, Thy Soul, Thy Divinity, Thy whole Self, without reserve. “He gave thee all,” says St. John Chrysostom; “He left nothing for Himself.”
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: CHARITY IN OUR THOUGHTS AND SENTIMENTS
Put ye on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy. — (Col. iii., 12). The followers of Jesus Christ should be clothed, not only with Charity, but with the bowels of charity, so that in all their actions they should be clothed and encompassed around with Charity. They should love each one as if for each they had the tenderest affection. “Charity,” says St. Augustine, “does not grieve much even when she things well of the bad.”
Meditation I:
To practise charity in thought, you must, in the first place, endeavour to banish all rash judgments, suspicions, and doubts. To entertain a rash doubt regarding another is a defect; to indulge a positive suspicion is a greater fault, and to judge with certainty without certain grounds that another has sinned is still more criminal before God. Whoever judges rashly of his neighbour shall be judged with severity. Judge not, that you may not be judged. For with what judgment you judge you shall be judged. — (Matt. vii., 1). But although it is sinful to judge evil of others without certain grounds, still it is not a violation of the Divine law to suspect or even to judge evil of them when we have certain motives for such suspicions or judgments. However, the safest and most charitable rule is to think well of all, and to banish all such judgments and suspicions. Charity, says the Apostle, thinketh no evil. — (1 Cor. xiii., 5). If by your office you are not charged with the correction of others, endeavour always to judge favourably of all. St. Jane Frances de Chantal used to say that “in our neighbour we should observe only what is good.” Should you sometimes through mistake praise in others what is censurable, you will never have reason to repent of your error. “Charity,” says St. Augustine, “does not grieve much even when she thinks well of the bad.” St. Catharine of Bologna once said: “I have lived for many years in religion, and have never thought ill of any of my sisters; because I know that a person who appears to be imperfect may be more dear to God than another whose conduct is much more exemplary.” Be careful, then, not to indulge in observing the defects and concerns of others, nor to imitate the example of those who go about asking what others say of them, and thus fill their minds with suspicions, and their hearts with bitterness and aversions. Listen not to them who tell you that others have spoken of your defects, and ask not from them the names of those who dispraised you. In such tales there is, in general, a great deal of exaggeration. Let your conduct be such as deserves praise from all, but regard not what is said of you. When told that anyone has charged you with a certain fault, let your answer be that others know you but little; and that, were they aware of all your defects, they would say a great deal more of you; or you may say that only God is to be your judge.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: SALVE REGINA, MATER MISERICORDIAE! HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, MOTHER OF MERCY!
III. HOW GREAT SHOULD BE OUR CONFIDENCE IN MARY, WHO IS THE QUEEN OF MERCY
Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
IX. HOW MUCH JESUS CHRIST DESERVES TO BE LOVED BY US ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOVE HE HAS SHOWN US IN INSTITUTING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
Meditation I:
St. Bernard calls the Eucharist “the love of loves”; because this gift comprehends all the other gifts bestowed upon us by our Lord – creation, redemption, predestination to glory – so that the Eucharist is not only a pledge of the love of Jesus Christ, but of Paradise, which He desires also to give us. “In this Divine Banquet,” says the Church, “a pledge of future glory is given us.” Hence St. Philip Neri could find no other name for Jesus Christ in this Sacrament save that of Love: and so, when the Holy Viaticum was brought to him he was heard to exclaim: “Behold my Love! Give me my Love!”
The Prophet Isaias desired that the whole world should know the tender inventions our God has made use of wherewith to make men love Him. And who could ever have thought – if He Himself had not done it – that the Incarnate Word would hide Himself under the appearance of bread, in order to become Himself our Food? “Does it not seem folly,” says St. Augustine, “to say: East My Flesh; drink My Blood?” When Jesus Christ revealed to His disciples the Sacrament He desired to leave them they could not bring themselves to believe Him; and they left Him, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? . . . This saying is hard, and who can hear it? — (John vi., 53, 61). But that which men could neither conceive nor believe the great love of Jesus Christ hath thought of and accomplished. Take ye and eat, said He to His disciples before He went to die; and through them to us all. Receive and eat: but what food shall that be, O Saviour of the world, which You desire to give us before You die? Take ye, and eat; this is my body. This is not earthly food; it is I Myself who give Myself entirely to you.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST OUR HOPE
Jesus is the only hope of our salvation. Neither is there salvation in any other. — (Acts iv., 12). Oh, what a secure place of refuge shall we ever find in those sacred clefts of the rock, that is to say, in the Wounds of Jesus Christ! There shall we be set free from that feeling of distrust which the sight of our sins may produce. There shall we find weapons of defence against temptations; there shall we find sufficient strength to resist the assaults of the world.
Meditation I:
Jesus is the only hope of our salvation: There is no salvation in any other but him. — (Acts iv., 12). I am the only door, says He; and he that shall enter in through Me shall assuredly find life eternal: I am the door; if any one enter by me, he shall be saved. — (John x., 9). And what sinner would ever have been able to hope for pardon if Jesus had not, by His Blood and by His Death, made satisfaction to the Divine justice for us? He shall bear their iniquities. — (Is. liii.). It is by this that the Apostle encourages us, saying: If the blood of goats and of oxen sanctify such as are defiled to the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the Holy Ghost, offered himself up to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God! — (Heb. ix., 13). If the blood of goats and of bulls offered up in sacrifice removed from the Jews the outward defilements of the body, that so they could be admitted to the worship of the Sanctuary, how much more shall the Blood of Jesus Christ, Who for love offered Himself up as a satisfaction for us, remove sin from our souls to enable us to serve our God Most High!
Our loving Redeemer, having come into the world for no other end than that of saving sinners, and beholding the sentence of condemnation already recorded against us for our sins, what was it, then, He did? He, by His own Death, paid the penalty that was due to ourselves; and with His own Blood cancelling the sentence of the condemnation in order that the Divine justice might no more seek from us the satisfaction due, He nailed it to the same Cross whereon He died: Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And the same he took out of the way, fastening it to the cross. — (Col. ii., 14).
Christ entered once into the holy place, having found eternal redemption. — (Heb. ix., 12). Ah, my Jesus, hadst Thou not found this mode of obtaining pardon for us, who would ever have been able to find it? It was with reason that David cried out, Declare his ways. — (Ps. ix., 12). Make known, O ye blessed, the loving contrivances which our God has employed in order to save us. Since then, O my sweet Saviour, Thou hast had such a love for me, cease not from exercising mercy towards me. Thou, by Thy Death, hast rescued me from the hands of Lucifer: into Thy hands do I consign my soul; it is for Thee to save it: Into thy hands I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: SALVE REGINA, MATER MISERICORDIAE! HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, MOTHER OF MERCY!
IV. HOW MUCH OUR CONFIDENCE IN MARY SHOULD BE INCREASED BECAUSE SHE IS OUR MOTHER
It is not without a meaning, nor by chance, that Mary’s clients call her Mother; and indeed they seem unable to invoke her under any other name, and never tire of calling her Mother. Mother, yes! For she is truly our Mother; not indeed carnally, but spiritually, that is of our souls and of our salvation.
Sin, by depriving our souls of Divine grace, deprived them also of life. Jesus, our Redeemer, with an excess of mercy and love, came to restore this life by His own death on the Cross, as He Himself declared: I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly. — (John x., 10). He says more abundantly; for, according to theologians, the benefit of Redemption far exceeded the injury done by Adam’s sin. So that by reconciling us with God He made Himself the Father of souls in the law of grace, as it was foretold by the Prophet Isaias: He shall be called the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. — (Is. ix., 6). But if Jesus is the Father of our souls, Mary is also their Mother; for she, by giving us Jesus, gave us true life; and afterwards, by offering the life of her Son on Mount Calvary for our salvation, she brought us forth to the life of grace.
On two occasions, then, according to the holy Fathers, Mary became our spiritual Mother.
The first, according to Blessed Albert the Great, was when she merited to conceive in her virginal womb the Son of God. St. Bernardine of Sienna says the same thing more distinctly, for he tells us “that when at the Annunciation the most Blessed Virgin gave the consent which was expected by the Eternal Word before becoming her Son, she from that moment asked our salvation of God with intense ardour, and took it to heart in such a way that from that moment, as a most loving Mother, she bore us in her womb.”
In the second Chapter of St. Luke, the Evangelist, speaking of the birth of our Blessed Redeemer, says that Mary brought forth her first-born son. — (Luke ii., 7). Then, remarks an author, “since the Evangelist asserts that on this occasion the most Holy Virgin brought forth her first-born, must we suppose that she had afterwards other children? But then he replies to his own question, saying, “that as it is of Faith that Mary had no other children according to the flesh than Jesus, she must have had other spiritual children, and we are those children.” This was revealed by our Lord to St. Gertrude, who was one day reading the above text, and was perplexed and could not understand how Mary, being the Mother of Jesus only, could be said to have brought forth her first-born. God explained it to her, saying that Jesus was Mary’s first-born according to the flesh, but that all mankind were her second-born according to the spirit.
From what has been said we can understand that passage of the sacred Canticles: Thy belly is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies. — (Cant. vii., 2). This is explained by St. Ambrose, who says: “Although in the most pure womb of Mary there was but one grain of corn, which was Jesus Christ, yet it is called a heap of wheat, because all the elect were virtually contained in it;” and as Mary was also to be their Mother, in bringing forth Jesus, He was called, and truly was, the First-born of many brethren. And the Abbot William writes in the same sense, saying: “that Mary, in bringing forth Jesus, our Saviour and our Life, brought forth many into salvation; and by giving birth to Life itself, she gave life to many.”
Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
X. HOW MUCH JESUS CHRIST DESERVES TO BE LOVED BY US ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOVE HE HAS SHOWN US IN INSTITUTING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
Meditation I:
In order to excite us to receive Him in the Holy Communion, Jesus not only exhorts us to do so by many invitations – Come, eat my bread; and drink the wine which I have mingled for you — (Prov. ix., 5); Eat, O friends, and drink — (Cant. v., 1) – speaking of this Heavenly Bread and Wine – but He even gives us a formal precept: Take ye, and eat; this is my body. And more than this; that we may go and receive Him, He entices us with the promise of Paradise. He that eateth my flesh hath everlasting life. — (John vi., 55). He that eateth this bread shall live for ever. — (John vi., 59). And, still more, He threatens us with hell, and exclusion rom Paradise if we refuse to communicate. Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man you shall not have life in you. — (John vi., 54). These invitations, these promises, these threats, all proceed from the great desire He has to come to us in this Sacrament.
But why is it that Jesus so desires that we should receive Him in the Holy Communion? Here is the reason. St. Denis says that love always sighs after and tends to union; and so also says St. Thomas: “Lovers desire to become one.” Friends who really love each other would like to be so united as to become one person. Now this is what the infinite love of God for man has done; that He should not only give us Himself in the eternal kingdom, but even in this life permit men to possess Him in the most intimate union, by giving them Himself, whole and entire, under the appearance of bread in this Sacrament. He stands as though behind a wall, and looks, as it were, through a closed lattice: Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices. — (Cant. ii., 9). It is true we do not see Him; but He sees us, and is there really present: He is present in order that we may possess Him: but He hides Himself from us to make us desire Him: and as long as we have not reached our true country, Jesus desires to give Himself wholly to us, and to remain united with us.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: MARY’S CHARITY TOWARDS HER NEIGHBOUR
All who love Me love what I love, said Jesus to St. Catharine of Genoa. Now, as there never was and never will be any one who loved God as much as Mary loved Him, so there never was and never will be anyone who loved her neighbour as much as she did. Great was the mercy of Mary towards the wretched when she was an exile here on earth, but far greater is it now that she reigns in Heaven.
Meditation I:
Love of God and love of our neighbour are commanded by the same precept: And this commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God love also his brother. — (1 John iv., 21). St. Thomas says that the reason for this is that he who loves God loves all that loves. St. Catharine of Genoa one day said: “Lord, Thou willest that I should love my neighbour, and I can love none but Thee.” God answered her in these words: “All who love Me love what I love.” But as there never was, and never will be, any one who loved God as much as Mary loved Him, so there never was, and never will be, any one who loved her neighbour as much as she did.
Father Cornelius à Lapide, on these words of the Canticles, King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus . . . the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem — (Cant. iii., 9, 10), says “this litter was Mary’s bosom, in which the Incarnate Word dwelt, filling it with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem; for Christ, Who is love itself, inspired the Blessed Virgin with charity in its highest degree, that she might succour all who had recourse to her.”
So great was Mary’s charity when on earth that she succoured the needy without even being asked; as was the case at the marriage-feast of Cana, when she told her Son that family’s distress, They have no wine — (John ii., 3), and asked Him to work a miracle. Oh, with what speed did she fly when there was question of relieving her neighbour! When she went to the house of Elizabeth to fulfil an office of charity, she went into the hill-country with haste. — (Luke i., 39). She could not, however, more fully display the greatness of her charity than she did in the offering which she made of her Son to death for our salvation. On this subject St. Bonaventure says: “Mary so loved the world as to give her only-begotten Son.” Hence St. Anselm exclaims: “O blessed amongst women, thy purity surpasses that of the Angels, and thy compassion that of the Saints!” “Nor has this love of Mary for us,” says St. Bonaventure, “diminished now that she is in Heaven; but it has increased, for now she better sees the miseries of men.” And therefore the Saint goes on to say: “Great was the mercy of Mary towards the wretched when she was still in exile on earth; but far greater is it now that she reigns in Heaven.”
O Mother of mercy, thou wast all filled with the love of God, obtain for me His pure and holy love. Thou wast all love towards thy neighbour, obtain for me charity towards my neighbour. O Mary, make me a Saint.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: SALVE REGINA, MATER MISERICORDIAE! HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, MOTHER OF MERCY!
V. HOW MUCH OUR CONFIDENCE IN MARY SHOULD BE INCREASED BECAUSE SHE IS OUR MOTHER
The second occasion on which Mary became our spiritual Mother, and brought us forth to the life of grace, was when she offered to the Eternal Father the life of her beloved Son on Mount Calvary, with so bitter sorrow and suffering. So that St. Augustine declares that “as she then co-operated by her love in the birth of the faithful to the life of grace, she became the spiritual Mother of all who are members of the one Head, Christ Jesus.” This we are given to understand by the following verse of the sacred Canticles, and which refers to the most Blessed Virgin: They have made me keeper in the vineyards; my vineyard I have not kept. — (Cant. i., 5). St. William says that “Mary, in order that she might save many souls, exposed her own to death;” meaning that to save us she sacrificed the life of her Son. And who but Jesus was the soul of Mary? He was her life, and all her love. And therefore the Prophet Simeon foretold that a sword of sorrow would one day transpierce her own most blessed soul. — (Luke ii., 35). And this was precisely the lance which transpierced the side of Jesus, Who was the soul of Mary. Then it was that this most Blessed Virgin brought us forth by her sorrows to eternal life: and thus we can all call ourselves the children of the sorrows of Mary. Our most loving Mother was always, and in all things, united to the will of God. “And therefore,” says St. Bonaventure, “when she saw the love of the Eternal Father towards men to be so great that, in order to save them He willed the death of His very own Son; and, further, seeing the love of the Son towards the human race, she also with her entire will offered, and consented to, the death of her Son, in order that we might be saved.”
It is true that, according to the Prophecy of Isaias, Jesus in dying for the redemption of the human race, chose to be alone. I have trodden the winepress alone — (Is. lxiii., 3), but, seeing the ardent desire of Mary to aid in the salvation of man, He disposed it so that she, by the sacrifice and offering of the life of her Jesus, should co-operate in our salvation, and thus become the Mother of our souls. This our Saviour signified, when, before expiring, He looked down from the Cross on His Mother and on the disciple St. john, who stood at its foot, and, first addressing Mary, He said: Behold thy son — (John xix., 26); as it were, saying: Behold, the whole human race, which by the offer thou makest of My life for the salvation of all, is even now being born to the life of grace. Then, turning to the disciple, Jesus said, Behold thy mother. — (John xix., 27). “By these words,” says St. Bernardine of Sienna, “Mary, by reason of the love she bore them, became the Mother, not only of St. John, but of all men.” And Silveira remarks that St. John himself, in stating this fact in his Gospel, says: “After that He saith to the disciple Behold thy mother.” Here observe well that Jesus Christ did not address Himself to St. John, but to the disciple, in order to show that He then gave Mary to all who are His disciples, that is to say to all Christians, that she might be their Mother. “John is but the name of one, whereas the word disciple is applicable to all; therefore our Lord makes use of a name common to all, to show that Mary was given as a Mother to all.”
The Church applies to Mary these words of the sacred Canticles: I am the mother of fair love — (Ecclus. xxiv., 24); and a commentator explaining them says that the Blessed Virgin’s love renders our souls beautiful in the sight of God, and also makes her, as a most loving Mother, receive us as her children, “she being all love towards those whom she has thus adopted.” And what Mother, exclaims St. Bonaventure, loves her children and attends to their welfare as thou lovest us and carest for us, O most sweet Queen! “For dost thou not love us and seek our welfare far more without comparison than any earthly mother?”
Evening Meditation: THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
XI. HOW MUCH JESUS CHRIST DESERVES TO BE LOVED BY US ON ACCOUNT OF THE LOVE HE HAS SHOWN US IN INSTITUTING THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR
Meditation I:
“It was Thy wish, in short,” says St. Laurence Justinian, “O God, enamoured of our souls, to make, by means of this Sacrament, Thine own Heart, by an inseparable union, one and the same heart with ours!” St. Bernardine of Sienna adds that “the gift of Jesus Christ to us as our food was the last step of His love, since He gives Himself to us in order to unite Himself wholly with us, in the same way as food becomes united with him who partakes of it.” Oh, how delighted is Jesus Christ to be united with our souls! He one day said to His beloved servant, Margaret of Ypres, after Communion: “See, my daughter, the beautiful union that exists between Me and thee! Come, then, love Me; and let us remain ever united in love, and let us never separate again.”
We must, then, be persuaded that a soul can neither do, or think of doing, any thing which gives greater pleasure to Jesus Christ, than to communicate frequently with dispositions suitable to the Guest Whom she has to receive into her heart. I have said suitable, not indeed worthy dispositions; for if worthy were necessary who could ever communicate? Another God would alone be worthy to receive God. By suitable I mean such dispositions as become a miserable creature clothed with the unhappy flesh of Adam. Ordinarily speaking, it is sufficient if a person communicates in a state of grace, and with a great desire of growing in the love of Christ. St. Francis de Sales said: “It is by love alone that we must receive Jesus Christ in the Communion, since it is through love alone that He gives Himself to us.” For the rest, with regard to the number of times a person should communicate, in this he should be guided by the advice of his spiritual father. Nevertheless, we should be aware that no state of life or employment, neither the married state nor business, prevents frequent Communion, when the director thinks it advisable, as Pope Innocent XI has declared in his Decree of 1679, when he says: “Frequent Communion must be left to the judgment of the confessors . . . who, for lay persons in business or in the married state, must recommend it according as they see it will be profitable for their salvation.” *
* “Frequent and daily Communion, inasmuch as it is most pleasing to Christ Our Lord and to the Catholic Church, is open to all the Faithful of every class and condition; so that nobody who is in the state of grace, and approaches the Sacred Table with a pure and devout intention should be prohibited therefrom.
“The right intention consists in this: – That whoever approaches the Sacred Table should do so – not from habit or vainglory, or impelled by human respect, but from a desire to please God, and to be closely united to Him, and to provide a Divine remedy for their infirmities and defects . . .
“In order that daily Communion should be promoted with greater prudence and more fruitful results, it is necessary that the advice of the confessor should previously be obtained. Let confessors beware, however, lest they should persuade anyone from daily Communion who is in the state of grace and approaches it with a right intention . . .”
— Extract from the Decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Council on the Reception of Daily Communion which was graciously ratified, confirmed and ordered to be issued by His Holiness Pope Pius X, December 17, 1905.
Meditation II:
