Morning Meditation: ALL ENDS AND SOON ENDS
The grass of the field which is to-day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven. — (Matt. vi., 30). Behold, the goods of the earth are like the grass of the field, which to-day is blooming and beautiful, but by the evening withers, and its flowers fade, and the next day it is cast into the fire! All flesh is grass and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field.
Meditation I:
Behold, the goods of the earth are like the grass of the field, which to-day is blooming and beautiful, but by the evening withers, and its flowers fade, and the next day it is cast into the fire. This what God commanded the Prophet Isaias to preach: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field. — (Is. xl., 6). Hence St. James compares the rich ones of this world to the flower of the grass: at the end of their journey through life they rot, and all their riches and grandeurs with them. The flower of the grass shall he pass away. For the sun rose with a burning heat, and parched the grass, and the flower thereof fell off, and the beauty of the shape thereof perished: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. — (James i., 10, 11). They fade away and are cast into the fire, like the rich glutton, who made a splendid appearance in this life but afterwards was buried in hell.
Let us, then, dearly beloved Christian, attend to the salvation of our souls, and to the acquisition of riches for eternity, which never ends; for everything in this world ends, and ends very soon.
When some great one of this world is in the full enjoyment of the riches and honours he has acquired, death shall come, and he shall be told: Take order with thy house; for thou shalt die, and not live. — (Is. xxxviii., 1). Oh, what doleful tidings! The unhappy man must then say: Farewell, O world! Farewell, O my villa! Farewell, O my beautiful gardens! Farewell, relatives and friends! Farewell sports and balls! Farewell, festivities and banquets! Farewell, honours! All is over for me! There is no remedy: whether he will or not he must leave all. For when he shall die, he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him. — (Ps. xlviii., 18). St. Bernard says that death produces a horrible separation of the soul from the body, and from all the things of this earth. Opus mortis, horrendum divortium. To the great of this world, whom worldlings regard as the most fortunate of mortals, the bare mention of death is so full of bitterness that they are unwilling even to hear it mentioned; for their entire concern is to find peace in their earthly goods. O death! says Ecclesiasticus, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions. — (Ecclus., xli., 1).
O my Jesus I give Thee thanks for having waited for me and for not having called me out of this world in my sins. During the remainder of my life I will weep over my iniquities. I will love Thee with all my strength. I know I must die, and by Thy grace I will prepare to die a happy death.
Meditation II:
If the bare mention of death is full of bitterness, how much greater bitterness shall death itself cause when it actually comes. Miserable the man who is attached to the goods of this world! Every separation produces pain. Hence, when the soul shall be separated by the stroke of death from the goods on which it had fixed all its affections, the pain must be excruciating. It was this that made king Agag exclaim, when the news of approaching death was announced to him: Doth bitter death separate in this manner? — (1 Kings xv. 32). The great misfortune of worldlings is that when they are on the point of being summoned to Judgment, instead of endeavouring to adjust the account of their souls, they direct all their attention to earthly things. But, says St. John Chrysostom, the punishment which awaits the sinner on account of having forgotten God during life is that at the hour of death he forgets himself.
But how great soever a man’s attachment to the things of this world may be, he must take leave of them at death. Naked he has entered into this world, and naked he shall depart from it. Naked, says Job, I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither. — (Job i. 21). In a word, they who have spent their whole life sacrificing sleep, health, and their very soul in accumulating riches and possessions, shall take nothing with them at the hour of death. Their eyes shall then be opened, and of all they had so dearly acquired, they shall find nothing in their hands. Hence, on that night of confusion, they shall be overwhelmed in a tempest of pains and sadness. The rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take away nothing with him. He shall open his eyes and find nothing; . . . a tempest shall oppress him in the night. — (Job xxvii. 19-20).
St. Antoninus relates that Saladin, king of the Saracens, gave orders at the hour of death that the winding-sheet in which he was to be buried should be carried before him to the grave, and that a person should cry out: “Of all his possessions, only this shall Saladin bring with him.” The Saint also relates that a certain philosopher, speaking of Alexander the Great after his death, said: “Behold the man that made the earth tremble!” The earth, as the Scripture says, was quiet before him. He is now under the earth. Behold the man whom the dominion of the whole world could not satisfy: now six feet of earth is sufficient for him. An ancient writer says that having gone to see the tomb of Caesar, he exclaimed: “Princes feared thee; cities worshipped thee; all trembled before thee; whither has thy magnificence gone?” Listen to what David says: 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). Oh, how many such spectacles are seen every day in the world! A sinner who had been born in lowliness and poverty afterwards acquires wealth and honours, so as to excite the envy of all. When he dies, men say: He made a fortune in the world; but now he is dead, and with death all is over for him!
Spiritual Reading: DANGERS TO SALVATION
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Evening Meditation: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
The Divine Priest, Jesus Christ, Who was both Priest and Victim, by the sacrifice of His life for the salvation of men completed the Sacrifice of the Cross and accomplished the work of the world’s Redemption. By His death, Jesus Christ stripped our death of its terrors. Until then it was but the punishment of rebels; but by grace and the merits of our Saviour it becomes a sacrifice so dear to God that when we unite it to the death of Jesus, it makes us worthy to enjoy the same glory that God enjoys, and to hear Him one day say to us, as we hope: Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord! – (Matt. xxv., 21).
Thus death, which was an object of pain and dread, was changed by the death of Jesus into a passage from a state of peril and danger of hell, into one of security and of eternal blessedness, and from the miseries of this life to the boundless delights of Paradise.
Therefore the Saints have ever regarded death with joy and desire, and no longer with fear. St. Augustine says that they who love the Crucified One “live with patience and die with joy.” And common experience shows that they who in life have been most troubled with persecutions, temptations, scruples, or other painful events are in death most comforted by Jesus Crucified, conquering with great peace of mind all the terrors and pains of death. And if it has sometimes happened that some of the Saints, as we read in their Lives, died in great fear of death, the Lord God permitted this in order to increase their merits; because the more painful the sacrifice, the more acceptable it was to God, and the more profitable to them for eternity.
Oh, how much more bitter was death of old, before the time of Jesus Christ! The Saviour was not yet come, and men sighed for His coming: they waited for His promise, but they knew not when it would be fulfilled. The devil had great power upon earth; Heaven was closed to men. But after the death of the Redeemer, hell was conquered. Divine grace was given to souls, God was reconciled to men, and the Kingdom of Heaven was opened to all those who die innocent, or have expiated their sins by repentance. And if some who die in grace do not immediately enter Heaven, this only results from the faults of which they are not yet cleansed; and death merely bursts their bonds, in order that they may be free to unite themselves perfectly to God, from Whom they are far away in this land of exile.
Meditation II:
Let us, then, take heed, O Christian souls, while we are in this exile, not to look at death as a misfortune, but as the end of our pilgrimage, which is full of difficulties and dangers, and as the beginning of our eternal happiness, which we hope one day to attain through the merits of Jesus Christ. And with this thought of Heaven, let us detach ourselves as much as possible from earthly things, which may cause us to lose Heaven and give us over to eternal pains. Let us offer ourselves to God declaring that we wish to die when it pleases Him, and to accept death in the manner and at the time which He has appointed; ever praying Him that, through the merits of Jesus Christ, He will cause us to depart from this life in His grace.
O my Jesus and my Saviour, Who, to obtain for me a happy death, hast chosen for Thyself a death so painful and desolate. I abandon myself into the arms of Thy mercy. For many years past I have deserved to be in hell, for the sins I have committed against Thee, and to be separated from Thee forever. But Thou, instead of punishing me as I deserved, hast called me to repentance, and I hope that now Thou hast pardoned me; but if Thou hast not already pardoned me through my fault, pardon me now that in sorrow I ask for mercy at Thy feet. O my Jesus, I could die of grief when I think of the injuries I have offered Thee! “O Blood of the Innocent, wash away the sins of the penitent!” Pardon me, and give me grace to love Thee with all my strength till death; and when I shall reach the end of my life, make me to die burning with love for Thee, that I may continue to love Thee forever. Jesus, henceforth I unite my death to Thy holy death, through which I hope to be saved. In thee, O Lord, have I hoped; let me never be confounded. — (Ps. xxx. 2).
O thou great Mother of God, next to Jesus thou art my hope. “In thee, O Lady, have I hoped; I shall not be confounded forever.”
Morning Meditation: EARNEST LABOUR FOR ETERNAL SALVATION
“No security is too great where Eternity is at stake,” says St. Bernard. We should, therefore, resolve: “I will save my soul, cost what it may!” Perish all things else – property, friends, even life itself, if I can but only save my soul!
Meditation I:
To be saved it is not sufficient to profess to do merely what is absolutely necessary. If, for example, a person wishes to avoid only mortal sins, without taking any account of those which are venial, he will easily fall into mortal sins and lose his soul. He who desires to avoid only such dangers as are absolutely the immediate occasions of sin will most probably one day discover that he has fallen into grievous crimes and is lost. O my God, with what attention are the princes of this world served! Everything is avoided that can possibly give them the least offence for fear of losing their favour; but with what carelessness Thou art served! Everything is avoided that can endanger the life of the body is shunned with the greatest caution, while the dangers which threaten the life of the soul are not feared!
O my God, how negligently have I hitherto served Thee. Henceforth I will serve Thee with the greatest attention; be Thou my helper and assist me.
O my brother, if God should act as sparingly with you as you do with Him, what would become of you? If He should grant you only the grace barely sufficient – would you be saved? You would be able to obtain salvation, but you would not obtain it; because in this life temptations frequently occur so violent that it is morally impossible not to yield to them without a special assistance from God. But God does not afford His special assistance to those who deal sparingly with Him: He who soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly. — (2 Cor. ix. 6).
But, O God, Thou hast not dealt sparingly with me: while I have been so ungrateful towards Thee as to repay Thy many favours with offences, Thou, instead of chastising me, hast redoubled Thy graces towards me. No, my God, I will never more be ungrateful to The, as I have hitherto been.
Meditation II:
To save our immortal souls is not an easy task, but a difficult, and indeed a very difficult one. We carry about us the rebellious flesh, which allures to the gratification of sense; and we have, moreover, numberless enemies to contend with in the world, in hell, and even within our own selves, who are ever tempting us to evil. It is true, the grace of God is never wanting to us; but still this grace demands of us a hard struggle to overcome temptations, and fervent prayer in order to obtain more powerful assistance as the danger becomes greater.
O Jesus, I desire never more to be separated from Thee or deprived of Thy love. Hitherto I have been ungrateful to Thee and have turned my back upon Thee, but I will now love Thee with my whole soul, and fear nothing so much as to cease to love Thee. Thou knowest my weakness; assist me, therefore, Thou Who art my only hope and confidence. And thou, O ever-blessed Virgin Mary, cease not to intercede for me.
Spiritual Reading: DANGERS TO SALVATION
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Evening Meditation: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
The soldiers came, and broke the legs of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus, but when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, and abstained from doing the same to Him. One of them, however, with a spear pierced His side, from which immediately came forth Blood and water. — (John xix. 34).
St. Cyprian says that the spear pierced straight into the Heart of Jesus Christ, and the same was revealed to St. Bridget. From which we understand that, as both Blood and water flowed forth, the spear, in order to strike the heart, must first have pierced the pericardium.
St. Augustine says that St. John used the words opened the side, because in the Heart of the Lord the way of life was opened, whence came forth the Sacraments by means of which we enter upon eternal life. Further, it is said that the Blood and water which came from the side of Jesus were figures of the Sacraments; the water, of Baptism, which is the first of the Sacraments; and the Blood, of the Eucharist, which is the greatest.
St. Bernard further says that, by receiving this visible stroke, Jesus Christ wished to signify the invisible stroke of love by which His Heart was pierced for us.
St. Augustine, speaking of the Eucharist, says that the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to-day is not less efficacious before God than the Blood and water which flowed that day from the side of Jesus Christ.
Meditation II:
Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. And he hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross. — (Col. ii. 14). The sentence was already recorded against us that was to condemn us to eternal death, as rebels against the offended Majesty of God. And what has Jesus Christ done? With His Blood He has cancelled the writing of the condemnation, and, to deliver us from all fear, He has fastened it to His own Cross, on which He died to satisfy for us to the Divine justice. My soul, behold the obligation thou art under to thy Redeemer; and hear how the Holy Spirit now reminds thee: Forget not the kindness of thy surety. — (Ecclus. xxix. 19). Forget not the kindness of thy Surety, Who, taking upon Himself thy debts, has paid them for thee, and behold, the pledge of the payment has been already fixed to the Cross. When, therefore, thou dost remember thy sins, look upon the Cross, and have confidence; look on that sacred wood stained with the Blood of the Lamb of God sacrificed for thy love, and hope in and love a God Who has loved thee so much.
Morning Meditation: THE CERTAINTY OF BEING SAVED OR LOST
God desires all men to be saved, and He gives His graces to all, but many will not use these means of salvation and are lost, for “Heaven is not for the slothful.”
Meditation I:
With fear and trembling work out your salvation, wrote St. Paul to the Philippians. — (Phil. ii. 12). In order to be saved we should tremble lest we be lost, for there is no middle course. We must be either saved of lost forever. He who trembles not is in great danger of being lost, because he takes but little care to employ the means of obtaining salvation. God desires that all should be saved, and He gives to all His grace; but He requires that all should co-operate for this end. All desire to be saved, yet multitudes, because they will not employ the means of salvation, are lost. St. Philip Neri used to say: Heaven is not made for the slothful.
Enlighten me, O Lord, that I may know what I ought to do, and what to avoid, for I desire to do all Thou requirest of me. I am determined, by Thy grace, to save my soul.
St. Teresa said to her Religious: One soul! my daughters, one Eternity! She meant that in this world we ought not to attend to anything but the salvation of our souls; because if the soul be lost, all is lost; and if once lost, it is lost forever! Benedict XII, being asked by a prince for a favour that he could not grant without committing sin, answered the ambassador: “Tell your prince that if I had two souls I would give him one; but as I have only one I cannot consent to lose it for his sake.” Thus should we answer the devil or the world when they offer us forbidden fruit.
O God, how often have I lost my soul by forfeiting Thy grace! But since Thou offerest me pardon, I detest all the offences I have committed against Thee, and will love Thee above all things.
Meditation II:
Would that we were fully impressed with the meaning of that great maxim of St. Francis Xavier: There is but one evil, and there is but one good in the world! The only evil is damnation; the only good, salvation. Poverty, infirmity, ignominies are not evils. No; for these when embraced with resignation will increase our glory in Heaven. On the other hand, health, riches, and honours are not really goods for too many Christians, because they become to them greater occasion of losing their souls.
Save me, then, O my God, and do with me what Thou pleasest. Thou knowest and willest what is best for me. I abandon myself to Thy mercy: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. — (Ps. xxx. 6). I am sorry for having been hitherto opposed to Thy will, and am ready to die in order to expiate my offences; but now I love Thee, and wish for nothing but what Thou willest. Grant me Thy love, that I may be faithful to Thee. And Mary, give me thy powerful assistance.
Spiritual Reading: THE EVIL EFFECTS OF A BAD HABIT
1. IT BLINDS THE UNDERSTANDING
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Evening Meditation: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Jesus came into the world, not only to redeem us, but by His own example to teach us all virtues, and especially humility, and holy poverty which is inseparably united with humility. On this account He chose to be born in a cave; to live a poor Man in a workshop for thirty years; and finally to die, poor and naked, upon a Cross, and seeing His garments divided among the soldiers before He breathed His last. While after His death He had to receive His winding-sheet for burial as an alms from others. Let the poor be consoled, on seeing Jesus Christ, the King of Heaven and earth, thus living and dying in poverty in order to enrich us with His merits and gifts, as the Apostle says: Being rich he became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you might be rich. — (2 Cor. viii. 9). For this cause, the Saints, to become like Jesus in His poverty, have despised all earthly riches and honours, that they might go one day to enjoy with Jesus Christ the riches and honours prepared by God in Heaven for them that love Him; of which blessings the Apostle says that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the mind of man to conceive what God has prepared for them that love Him. — (1 Cor. ii. 9)
Meditation II:
Jesus Christ, then, rose with the glory of possessing all power in Heaven and earth, not as God alone, but as man; wherefore all Angels and men are subject to Him. Let us rejoice in thus seeing in glory our Saviour, our Father, and the best Friend we possess. And let us rejoice for ourselves, because the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is for us a sure pledge of our own resurrection and of the glory we hope one day to have in Heaven, both in soul and in body. This hope gave courage to the holy Martyrs to suffer with gladness all the evils of this life, and the most cruel torments of tyrants. We must rest assured, however, that none will rejoice with Jesus Christ but they who are willing to suffer with Him; nor will he obtain the crown who does not fight as he ought to fight. He that striveth for the mastery is not crowned unless he strive lawfully. — (2 Tim. ii. 5). At the same time let us remember what the same Apostle says, that all the sufferings of this life are short and light in comparison with the boundless and eternal joys we shall enjoy in Paradise. — (2 Cor. iv. 17). Let us labour the more to continue in the grace of God, and to pray continually for perseverance in His grace and favour; for without prayer, and persevering prayer, we shall not obtain this perseverance; and without perseverance we shall not obtain salvation.
O sweet Jesus, worthy of all love, Thou hast so loved men that, in order to show Thy love, Thou hast not refused to die wounded and dishonoured upon an infamous tree! O my God, how is it that there are so few among men who love Thee with all their heart? My dear Redeemer, of these few I will be one! Miserable that I am, for in my past life I have forgotten Thy love, and given up Thy grace for miserable pleasures. I know the evil I have done; I grieve for it with all my heart; I would die of grief. Now, O my beloved Redeemer, I love Thee more than myself; and I am ready to die a thousand times rather than lose Thy friendship. I thank Thee for the light Thou hast given me. O my Jesus, my Hope, leave me not in my own hands; help me until my death.
O Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.
Morning Meditation: THE UNCERTAINTY OF GRACE
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Meditation I:
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Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: THE EVIL EFFECTS OF A BAD HABIT
2. IT HARDENS THE HEART
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Evening Meditation: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
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Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE DESIRE OF GOD TO SAVE ALL MEN
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. And so God has from all eternity loved every human soul. It was for us and for our salvation He sent His only Son into the world to die upon the Cross. Alas, how often have I withdrawn myself from God and sold myself for a nothing to Satan, God’s enemy and my own!
Meditation I:
It is, indeed, amazing that man, a worm of the earth, should dare to offend His Creator and turn his back upon Him, by despising His graces after God has so favoured and loved him as to lay down His life to save him. But it is still more surprising that God, after having been thus despised by man, should seek after him, invite him to repentance and offer him pardon, as though God stood in need of us and not we of God.
O Jesus, Thou seekest me, and I seek after Thee. Thou desirest me, and I desire only Thee.
For Christ, says the Apostle, we beseech you, be reconciled to God. — (2 Cor. v., 20). “And does God,” exclaims St. Chrysostom, “call thus upon sinners? And what does He ask of them? That they be reconciled, and in peace with Him.”
My Redeemer, Jesus Christ, how couldst Thou have had so much love for me, who has had so often offended Thee? I detest all my offences against Thee; give me still greater grief, still greater love, that I may deplore my sins, not so much on account of the punishments I have deserved by them, as for the injury I have offered to Thee, my God, Who art infinitely good and amiable.
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: THE EVIL EFFECTS OF A BAD HABIT
3. IT DIMINISHES SPIRITUAL STRENGTH
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Evening Meditation: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
When considering the love of the Son of God for men, we should ever bear in mind that when He saw, on the one hand all men condemned because of sin, and on the other Divine Justice requiring a full and perfect satisfaction, He voluntarily offered Himself to make satisfaction for the offences committed by man, who was himself unable to offer such a satisfaction: He was offered, because it was his own will. — (Is. liii., 7). And this humble Lamb gave Himself to the torturers, suffering them to lacerate His flesh, and to lead Him to death, without lamenting or opening His mouth, as it was foretold: He shall be brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, he shall not open his mouth. — (Is. liii., 7). St. Paul writes that Jesus Christ accepted the death of the Cross to obey His Father. But let us not imagine that the Redeemer was crucified solely to obey His Father, and not with His own full will; He freely offered Himself to this death, and of His own will chose to die for man, moved by the love He bore him, as He Himself declares by St. John: I lay down my life; no man taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. — (John, x., 17-18). And He said that it was the work of the Good Shepherd to give His life for His sheep. And why was this? What obligation was there on the Shepherd to give His life for the sheep? Christ also hath loved us, and delivered himself for us. — (Eph. v., 2).
This, indeed, our loving Redeemer Himself declared, when He said: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself — (John xii., 32), thereby showing the kind of death that He would die upon the Cross, as the Evangelist himself explains it: Now this he said, signifying what death he should die. — (John xii., 33). On these words St. John Chrysostom remarks that He draws souls as it were from the hands of a tyrant. By His death He draws us from the hands of Lucifer, who, as a tyrant, keeps us enchained as slaves, to torment us after our death forever in hell.
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: “IF I AM LOST, I SHALL NOT BE LOST ALONE”
What do you say? If you are lost, and are damned you will not be alone! But what consolation will the company of the wicked be to you in hell? O accursed sin, how it can blind men gifted with reason!
Meditation I:
What do you say? If you are lost, and are damned, you will not be alone! But what consolation will the company of the wicked be to you in hell? Every condemned soul in hell weeps and laments, saying: Although I am condemned to suffer forever, oh, would that I might suffer alone! The wretched company which you will meet with there will increase your torments by their despairing groans and moanings. What a torment to hear even a dog howling all night long, or a child crying for hours, and not to be able to sleep! And what will it be to hear the yells and howlings of so many wretched souls in despair, who will continually torment one another with their dismal noises, and this, not for one night, nor for many nights only, but for all Eternity!
Again, your companions will but increase the torments of hell by the stench of their burning carcasses. Out of their carcasses, says the Prophet Isaias, shall a stench arise. — (Is. xxxiv., 3). They are called carcasses, not because they are dead, for they are alive to pain, but because of the stench they will give forth. Your companions will also increase the torments of hell by their numbers; they will be in that pit as grapes in the wine-press of the anger of God: He treadeth, said St. John, the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty. — (Apoc. xix., 15). They will be straitened on every side, so as to be unable to move hand or foot so long as God shall be God.
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: THE MISERY OF RELAPSING INTO SIN
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Evening Meditation: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
Behold Jesus, then, presented by the Scribes and priest to Pilate as a malefactor, that he might judge Him and condemn Him to the death of the Cross; and see how they follow Him, in order to see Him condemned and crucified. Oh, marvellous thing, cries St. Augustine, to see the Judge judged! To see Justice condemned! To see life dying! And by what were these marvels accomplished except by the love which Jesus Christ bore to men? Christ hath loved us and delivered himself for us. Oh, that these words of St. Paul were ever before our eyes! Truly then would every affection for earthly things depart from our heart, and we should think only of loving our Redeemer, reflecting that it was love which brought Him to pour forth all His Blood, to make for us a bath of salvation. He hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. — (Apoc. i., 5). St. Bernardine of Sienna says that Jesus Christ from the Cross looked at every single sin of every one of us, and offered His Blood for every one of them. In a word, love brought the Lord of all to appear the vilest and lowest of all things upon earth.
“O power of love!” cries out St. Bernard; “The Supreme God of all is made the lowest of all! Who hath done this? Love, forgetful of its dignity, powerful in its affections! Love triumphs over God!” Love has done this, because, in order to make itself known to the beloved, it has brought the loving One to lay aside His dignity, and to do that alone which is to the advantage and pleasure of the beloved. Therefore, St. Bernard says that God, Who can be conquered by none, allows Himself to be conquered by the love He bore to men.
We must, moreover, bear in mind that whatever Jesus Christ suffered in His Passion, He suffered for each one of us individually. On which account St. Paul says: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me. — (Gal. ii., 20). And what the Apostle said every one of us may say. Wherefore St. Augustine writes that each man was redeemed at such a price that each seems to be of equal value with God. The Saint also goes on to say: “Thou hast loved me, not as Thyself, but more than Thyself, since, to deliver me from death, Thou hast been willing to die for me.”
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: THE HUMILITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
Jesus Christ said: Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart. As holy Mary was the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus Christ in the practice of all virtues, she was the first also in Humility, and merited to be exalted above all creatures.
Meditation I:
“Humility,” says St. Bernard, “is the foundation and guardian of virtues,” for without humility no other virtue can exist in the soul. Should the soul possess all virtues, all will depart when humility goes. But, on the other hand, as St. Francis de Sales wrote to St. Jane Frances de Chantal, “God so loves humility that whenever He sees it He is immediately drawn thither.” This beautiful and so necessary virtue was unknown in the world; but the Son of God Himself came on earth to teach it by His own example, and willed that in this virtue in particular we should endeavour to imitate Him: Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart. — (Matt. xi., 29). Mary, being the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus Christ in the practice of all virtues, was the first also in that of humility, and by it merited to be exalted above all creatures. It was revealed to St. Matilda that the first virtue in which the Blessed Mother particularly exercised herself from her very childhood was that of humility.
The first effect of humility of heart is a lowly opinion of ourselves: “Mary had always so humble an opinion of herself, that, as it was revealed to the same St. Matilda, although she saw herself enriched with greater graces than all other creatures, she never preferred herself to any one.” Not indeed that Mary considered herself a sinner: for “humility is truth,” as St. Teresa remarks: and Mary knew that she had never offended God: nor was it that she did not acknowledge that she had received greater graces from God than all other creatures; for an humble heart always acknowledges the special favours of the Lord, to humble itself the more: but the Divine Mother, by the greater light wherewith she knew the infinite greatness and goodness of God, also knew her own nothingness, and therefore more than all others she humbled herself. “The most Blessed Virgin had always the majesty of God, and her own nothingness, present to her mind,” says St. Bernardine. As a beggar, when clothed with a rich garment, which has been bestowed upon her, does not pride herself on it in the presence of the giver, but is rather humbled, being reminded thereby of her own poverty; so also, the more Mary saw herself enriched, the more did she humble herself, remembering that all was God’s gift; whence she herself told St. Elizabeth of Hungary that “she might rest assured that she looked upon herself as most vile and unworthy of God’s grace.” Therefore St. Bernardine says that “after the Son of God, no creature in the world was so exalted as Mary, because no creature in the world ever humbled herself so much as she did.”
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: THE HUMILITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
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Evening Meditation: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
Meditation I:
St. Augustine says that Jesus Christ, having first given His life for us, has bound us to give our life for Him; and, further, that when we go to the Eucharistic table to communicate, as we go to feed there upon the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we ought also, in gratitude, to prepare for Him the offering of our blood and of our life, if there is need for us to give them for His glory.
Full of tenderness are the words of St. Francis de Sales on this text of St. Paul: The charity of Christ presseth us. — (2 Cor. v., 14). To what does it press us? To love Him. But let us hear what St. Francis de Sales says: “When we know that Jesus has loved us even to death, and that the death of the Cross, is not this to feel our hearts constrained by a violence as great as it is full of delight?” And then he adds: “My Jesus gives Himself wholly to me, and I give myself wholly to Him; I will live and die upon His breast, and neither death nor life shall ever separate me from Him.”
St. Peter, in order that we might remember to be ever grateful to our Saviour reminds us that we were not redeemed from the slavery of hell with gold or silver, but with the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, which He, the innocent Lamb, sacrificed for us upon the altar of the Cross. Great, therefore will be the punishment of those who are thankless for such a blessing. It is true that Jesus came to save all men who were lost; but what was said by the Venerable Simeon, when Mary presented the Child Jesus in the Temple is also true: Behold, this child is set for the fall and the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted. — (Luke ii., 34). By the words for the resurrection he expresses the salvation which all believers should receive from Jesus Christ, who by Faith should rise from death to the life of grace. But first, by the words he is set for the fall, he foretells that many shall fall into a greater ruin by their ingratitude to the Son of God, Who came into the world to become a contradiction to His enemies, as the following words imply: This child is for a sign which shall be contradicted; Jesus Christ was set up a sign, against which were hurled all the calumnies, the injuries, and the insults the Jews devised against Him. And this sign is contradicted not only by the Jews of the present day, who deny Him to be the Messias, but by those Christians who ungratefully return His love with offences, and neglect His commands.
Meditation II:
