Morning Meditation: DANGERS TO OUR ETERNAL SALVATION
And when he entered into the boat his disciples followed him, and behold, a great tempest arose in the sea. — (Gospel of Sunday. Matt. viii., 23-27).
The boat on the sea represents man in the world. As a vessel is exposed to a thousand dangers, – to pirates, to quicksands, to hidden rocks and to tempests, so man in this life is encompassed with perils. Who shall be able to deliver us? Only God: Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. — (Ps. cxxvi., 2).
Meditation I:
In this day’s Gospel we find that when Jesus Christ entered the boat with His disciples, a great tempest arose, so that the boat was on the point of being lost. During the storm the Saviour was asleep; but the disciples, terrified by the winds, ran to awake Him and said: Lord save us: we perish. Jesus gave them courage by saying: Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then rising up he commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm.
The boat on the sea represents man in this world. As a vessel on the sea is exposed to a thousand dangers – to pirates, to quicksands, to hidden rocks, and to tempests, so man in this life is encompassed with perils arising from the temptations of hell, from the occasions of sin, from the scandals or bad counsels of men, from human respect, and, above all, from the bad passions of corrupt nature, represented by the winds that agitate the sea and expose the vessel to great danger of being lost.
Thus, as St. Leo says, our life is full of dangers, of snares, and of enemies. The first enemy of the salvation of every Christian is his own corruption. Every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, being drawn away and allured. — (James i., 14).
Along with the corrupt inclinations which live within us and drag us to evil, we have many enemies from without that fight against us. We have the devils with whom the contest is very difficult, because they are stronger than we are. Hence, because we have to contend with powerful enemies, St. Paul exhorts us to arm ourselves with the Divine aid: Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places. — (Ephes. vi., 11). The devil, according to St. Peter, is a lion who is continually going about, roaring through the rage and hunger which impel him to devour our souls. Your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion goeth about seeking whom he may devour. — (1 Pet. v., 8).
Even the very men with whom we must converse endanger our salvation. They persecute or betray us, or deceive us by their flattery and bad counsels. St. Augustine says that among the faithful there are in every profession deceitful men. Now if a fortress were full of rebels within, and encompassed by enemies from without, who is there that would not regard it as lost? Such is the condition of each of us as long as we live in this world. Who shall be able to deliver us from so many powerful enemies? Only God: Unless the Lord keepeth the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. — (Ps. cxxvi., 2).
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: “LORD SAVE US: WE PERISH”
Evening Meditation: THE DEATH OF THE JUST
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Morning Meditation: THE DEATH OF THE JUST IS A VICTORY
The present life is an unceasing warfare with hell, in which we are in constant danger. The news of their approaching death filled the Saints with consolation. They knew that their struggles and dangers were soon to have an end and that they should soon be in secure possession of the happy lot in which they could never more lose God.
Meditation I:
God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and death shall be no more. — (Apoc. xxi., 4). Then at death the Lord will wipe away from the eyes of His servants all the tears they shed in this world, where they lived in the midst of fears, of dangers, and of combats with hell. The greatest consolation which a soul that has loved God will experience in hearing the news of death, will arise from the thought that it will soon be delivered from the many dangers of offending God to which it is exposed in this life, from so many troubles of conscience, and from so many temptations of the devil. The present life is an unceasing warfare with hell, in which we are in continual danger of losing our souls and God. St. Ambrose says that in this life we walk among snares. We walk continually amid the snares of enemies who lie in wait to deprive us of the life of grace. It was this danger that made St. Peter of Alcantara say at death to a Religious who, in attending the Saint, accidentally touched him: “Brother, remove, remove away from me; for I am still alive, and in danger of being lost.” The thought of being freed by death from the danger of sin consoled St. Teresa, and made her rejoice as often as she heard the clock strike, that another hour of the combat had passed. Hence she would say: “In each moment of life I may sin and lose God.” Hence, the news of their approaching death filled the Saints with consolation; because they knew that their struggles and dangers were soon to have an end, and that they would soon be in secure possession of that happy lot in which they could never more lose God.
It is related in the Lives of the Fathers, that one of them who was very old, when dying, smiled while the others wept. Being asked why he smiled, he replied: “And why do you weep at seeing me go to rest?” Likewise St. Catherine of Sienna in her last moments said: “Rejoice with me, for I quit this land of pains and go to a place of peace.” If, says St. Cyprian, you lived in a house whose walls and roof and floors were tottering, and threatened destruction, how ardently would you desire to fly from it! In this life everything menaces the ruin of the soul; the world, hell, the passions, the rebellious senses, all draw us to sin and eternal death.
Into thy hands I commend my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth. — (Ps. xxx., 6). Ah, my sweet Redeemer, what would have become of me if Thou hadst deprived me of life when I was far from Thee? I should now be in hell, where I could never love Thee. I thank Thee for not having abandoned me, and for having bestowed on me so many great graces in order to gain my heart. I am sorry for having offended Thee. I love Thee above all things. Ah! I entreat Thee to make me always sensible of the evil I have done in despising Thee, and of the love which Thy infinite goodness merits. I love Thee, and I desire to die soon if such be Thy will, that I may be freed from the danger of ever again losing Thy grace, and that I may be secure of loving Thee forever.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH: 3. – St. Sebastian, Officer in the army of Diocletian. (January 20)
Evening Meditation: THE PATIENCE OF GOD IN WAITING FOR SINNERS
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Morning Meditation: FROM THE JUST LIFE IS NOT TAKEN, BUT ONLY EXCHANGED FOR A BETTER
He who wishes to see God must necessarily pass through the gates of death. Death is the end of labour and the gate of life, says St. Bernard. This is the gate of the Lord: the just shall enter into it.
Meditation I:
Death is not only the end of labours but it is also the gate of life. He who wishes to see God must necessarily pass through this gate. This is the gate of the Lord: the just shall enter into it. — (Ps. cxvii., 20). St. Jerome entreated death to open its gates to him: Aperi mihi, soror mea. Death, my sister, if you do not open the door to me, I cannot enter to enjoy my Lord. Seeing in his house a picture in which death was represented with a knife in the hand, St. Charles Borromeo sent for a painter, and ordered him to substitute for the knife a golden key, in order that he might be more and more inflamed with a desire of death, which opens Paradise and admits us to the vision of God.
If, says St. John Chriysostom, a king had prepared for one of his subjects apartments in his own palace, but for a time obliged him to live in a tent, how ardently would the vassal sigh for the day on which he should leave the tent to enter into the palace. In this life the soul, being in the body, is as it were confined in a prison which she must leave in order to enter the celestial palace. Hence David prayed to the Lord to bring his soul out of prison. — (Ps. cxl., 8). When the holy Simeon held the Infant Jesus in his arms, he asked no other grace than to be delivered from the prison of the present life. Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, — (Luke ii., 29). “As if detained by necessity, he,” says St. Ambrose, “begs to be dismissed.” The Apostle desired the same grace when he said: I am straitened, having a desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. — (Phil. i., 23).
How great was the joy of the cup-bearer of Pharaoh when he heard from Joseph that he should soon be rescued from the prison and restored to his position! And will not a soul that loves God exult with gladness at hearing that it will soon be released from the prison of this earth and go to enjoy God? While we are in the body we are absent from the Lord. — (2 Cor. v., 6). While the soul is united to the body, it is at a distance from the vision of God, as if in a strange land, and excluded from its true country. Hence, according to St. Bruno, the departure of the soul from the body should not be called death, but the beginning of life.
O God of my soul, I have hitherto dishonoured Thee by turning my back upon Thee, but Thy Son has honoured Thee by offering to Thee the sacrifice of His life on the Cross. Through the honour which Thy beloved Son has given Thee, pardon the dishonour which I have done Thee. I am sorry, O Sovereign Good, for having offended Thee, and I promise henceforth to love nothing but Thee. From Thee I hope for salvation: whatever good is in me at present is the fruit of Thy grace; to Thee I ascribe it all. By the grace of God, I am what I am. — (1 Cor. xv., 10). If I have hitherto dishonoured Thee, I hope to honour Thee in Heaven by blessing and praising Thy mercy forever.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH: 4. – St. Agnes, Virgin. (January 21)
Evening Meditation: IN GOD ALONE IS FOUND TRUE PEACE
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Morning Meditation: THE JUST HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR AT DEATH
Hell will not cease to attack and tempt even the Saints at the hour of their death. But it is also true that God will not cease to assist and multiply helps for His faithful servants. The souls of the just are in the hands of God and the torment of death shall not touch them. — (Wis. iii., 1).
Meditation I:
The souls of the just are in the hands of God. If God holds fast in His hands the souls of the just, who can snatch them from Him? It is true that hell does not cease to tempt and attack even the Saints at the hour of death; but it is also true that God does not cease to assist and to multiply helps for His faithful servants, whenever their danger is increased. “There is greater aid,” says St. Ambrose, “where there is greater peril, because God is a Helper in due time.” The servant of Eliseus was struck with terror when he saw the city encompassed with enemies; but the Saint inspired him with courage, saying: Fear not, for there are more with us than with them. — (4 Kings vi., 16). He then showed him an army of Angels sent by God to defend the city. The devil will come to tempt the dying Christian, but his Angel Guardian will come to strengthen him; his holy advocates will come. St. Michael whom God has appointed to defend His faithful servants in their last combat with hell, will come; the Divine Mother will chase away the devils and protect her servant; above all, Jesus Christ will come to guard against every temptation of hell, the innocent or penitent sheep for whose salvation He gave His life. He will give that confidence and strength of which the soul will stand in need in that last struggle with its enemies. Hence, full of courage it will say: The Lord hath become my helper. — (Ps. xxix., 11). The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? — (Ps. xxvi., 1). God, says Origen, is more solicitous for our salvation than the devil is eager for our perdition; for the Lord loves our souls far more than the devil hates them.
God is faithful, says the Apostle, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able. — (1 Cor. x., 13). But you will say: Many Saints have died with great fear of being lost. I answer: We have but few examples of persons who, after leading a holy life, died with fears for their eternal salvation. To purify them at the hour of death from some defect, God sometimes permits holy souls to be disturbed by such fears. But generally the servants of God have died with a joyful countenance. At death the Judgment of God excites fear in all; but if sinners pass from terror to despair, the Saints rise from fear to confidence. St. Antoninus relates that in a severe illness, St. Bernard trembled through fear of Judgment and was tempted to despair. But thinking of the merits of Jesus Christ, he drove away all fear, saying to his Saviour: Thy wounds are my merits! Vulnera tua, merita mea! St. Hilarion also was seized with fear; but he said: “Go forth, my soul! What do you fear? For nearly seventy years you have served Christ, and are you now afraid of death?” My soul, what do you fear? Have you not served a God Who is faithful and knows not how to abandon at death the Christian who has been faithful to Him during life?
Ah, my Jesus, when will the day arrive on which I can say: My God, I can never lose Thee! When shall I see Thee face to face, and be sure of loving Thee with all my strength for eternity? Ah, my Sovereign Good, my only Love, as long as I have life I shall be in danger of offending Thee and of losing Thy grace. There was an unhappy time when I did not love Thee, but on the contrary, despised Thy love. I am sorry for it with my whole soul, and hope that Thou hast already pardoned me. I now love Thee with my whole heart, and desire to do all in my power to love and please Thee.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH: 5. – St. Vincent, Deacon. (January 22)
Evening Meditation: WE OUGHT TO HAVE GOD ALONE IN VIEW
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Morning Meditation: THE JUST DIE IN A SWEET PEACE
In the sight of the unwise the servants of God appear to die, as worldlings do, with sorrow and reluctance. But God knows how to console His children even in the midst of the pains of death. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, and their departure was taken for misery, and their going away from us for utter destruction; but they are in peace. — (Wis. iii., 1).
Meditation I:
The souls of the just are in the hands of God. . . In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, and their departure was taken for misery. In the sight of the unwise the servants of God appear to die, as worldlings do, with sorrow and reluctance. But God knows well how to console His children in their last moments; and, even in the midst of the pains of death, He infuses into their souls certain sweetnesses, as a foretaste of Paradise, which He will soon bestow upon them. As they who die in sin begin to experience on the bed of death a certain foretaste of hell, remorse and terrors and fits of despair, so, on the other hand, the Saints, by the frequent acts of Divine love which they then make, by their ardent desire and firm hope of soon possessing God, begin to feel that peace they will afterwards fully enjoy in Heaven. To the Saints death is not a punishment, but a reward.
When he shall give sleep to his beloved, behold the inheritance of the Lord. — (Ps. cxxvi., 2). The death of the Christian that loves God is called, not death, but sleep. Thus he shall be able to say: In peace in the self-same I will sleep and I will rest. — (Ps. iv., 9).
Father Suarez died with so much peace, that in his last moments he exclaimed: “I could never imagine that death would be so sweet.” When Cardinal Baronius was advised by his physician not to fix his thoughts so much on death, he said: “Perhaps you think I am afraid of death. I fear it not, but on the contrary, I love it.” In going to death for the Faith, the Cardinal of Rochester put on his best clothes, saying that he was going to a nuptial feast. Hence, at the sight of the scaffold he threw away his staff and said: Ite, pede; parum a Paradiso distamus! Hasten, O my feet! We are not far from Paradise! Before death he intoned the “Te Deum,” to thank God for giving him the grace to die a Martyr for the holy Faith; and, full of joy, he laid his head on the block.
Ah, my supreme Good, my God, if in the past I have not loved Thee, I now turn to Thee with my whole soul. I take leave of all creatures, and choose Thee, my most amiable Lord, for the sole object of my love. Tell me what Thou wishest of me: I will do all Thou desirest. I have offended Thee enough: I wish to spend all the remaining moments of life in pleasing Thee.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH: 6. — St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (January 26)
Evening Meditation: WE MUST SUFFER EVERYTHING IN ORDER TO PLEASE GOD
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Morning Meditation: THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT: THE GUILTY SOUL BEFORE ITS JUDGE
We must all be manifested before the Judgment Seat of Christ. — (2 Cor. v., 10).
Oh, how great will be the terror of the soul the first time it sees the Redeemer, and beholds His countenance full of wrath! Who shall stand before the face of his indignation? St. Bernard says that the sinful soul will suffer more at seeing the indignation of Jesus Christ than in hell itself.
Meditation I:
We must all be manifested before the Judgment seat of Christ.
It is the common opinion of Theologians, that the Particular Judgment takes place at the very moment of death; and that on the very spot where the soul is separated from the body, it is judged by Jesus Christ Who will not send another, but will come Himself to judge it according to its works. At what hour you think not the Son of man will come. — (Luke xii., 40). “He will,” says St. Augustine, “come in love to the good, in terror to the wicked.” Oh! how great will be the terror of the soul the first time it sees the Redeemer and His countenance full of wrath! Who, says the Prophet Nahum, shall stand before the face of his indignation? — (i., 6). This thought made Father Louis de Ponte tremble so as to shake the walls of the cell in which he lay. Hearing the Dies Irae sung, and reflecting on the terror of the soul when it is presented before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, the Venerable Juvenal Ancina took the resolution of forsaking the world. And this resolution he carried out. The sight of the wrath of the Judge will announce the sentence. The wrath of the king is as messengers of death. — (Prov. xvi., 14). St. Bernard says that the soul will suffer more in seeing the indignation of Jesus Christ than in hell itself. When taken before an earthly judge, criminals have been known to perspire with a cold perspiration. Such was the confusion which Piso felt at the thought of having to appear as a criminal before the Senate, that he killed himself. How great is the pain of a child, or of a vassal, in appearing before an angry parent or an enraged sovereign! Oh, how much greater will be the pain and confusion of the soul when it beholds Jesus Christ enraged against it for the insults it offered to Him during life! They shall look upon him whom they have pierced. — (Jo. xix., 37). The soul will see in wrath the Lamb that bore with it so patiently during life, and that there is no hope of appeasing His anger. This will make the soul call upon the mountains to fall upon it to hide it from the fury of the wrath of the Lamb. — (Apoc. vi., 16). Speaking of Judgment, St. Luke says: Then they shall see the Son of man. — (Luke xxi., 27). Oh! what pain will the sight of the Judge in the form of man excite in the soul of the sinner! The sight of a Man-God Who died for his salvation will upbraid him with his ingratitude.
O my Jesus, I will always call Thee Jesus! Thy Name consoles and encourages me, because it reminds me that Thou art my Saviour Who didst die for my salvation. Behold me at Thy feet. I acknowledge that I have deserved hell as often as I have offended Thee by mortal sin. I am unworthy of pardon, but Thou hast died to merit pardon for me. Pardon me, then, immediately, O my Jesus, before Thou comest to judge me. I shall not then be able to ask pardon: I can now ask it from Thee, and I hope for it.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH: 7. – St. Fructuosus, Bishop of Tarragona, and his two Deacons, St. Augurius and St. Eulogius. (January 21)
Evening Meditation: “HE WAS OFFERED BECAUSE IT WAS HIS OWN WILL.” — (Is. liii., 7)
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Morning Meditation: MARY IS THE HOPE OF ALL
There is no sinner, however abandoned by God, for whom Mary will not obtain grace and mercy if he only invokes her aid. As the magnet attracts iron so she draws to herself and to God the hardest hearts. Oh, if sinners had only recourse to Mary with a determination to amend their lives who should ever be lost!
Meditation I:
Denis the Carthusian says that Mary is, in a special manner, the advocate of sinners, because the guilty stand in greater need of succour than the innocent; hence he calls her the advocate of all sinners who invoke her intercession. And before him, St. John Damascene called Mary “the city of refuge for all who fly to her.” Hence St. Bonaventure says: “Poor abandoned sinners, do not despair, raise your eyes to Mary,” and be comforted, trusting in the clemency of this good Mother, for she will rescue you from the shipwreck you have suffered and will conduct you to the haven of salvation. Let us, then, say with St. Thomas of Villanova: “O holy Virgin, since thou art the advocate of the miserable, assist us who are the most miserable of all.” “Let us,” says St. Bernard, “ask grace, and ask it through Mary.” The grace that we have lost she has found, says Richard of St. Laurence; we, then, should go to her in order to recover it. When the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary that God had chosen her to be the Mother of the Word, he said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. — (Luke i., 30). But how can that be? Mary was never deprived of grace; on the contrary, she was always full of grace. How, then, could the Angel say that she had found grace? Cardinal Hugo answers, that she did not find grace for herself, because she always possessed it, but she found it for us who had miserably lost it. Hence he says that in order to recover it, we should go to Mary and say to her: O Lady, property should be restored to him who has lost it; to us, then, thou shouldst restore it. “Sinners, who by sin have forfeited the Divine grace, run, run to the Virgin, and say to her with confidence: Restore to us our property which you have found.”
Oh, if all sinners had recourse to Mary with a determination to amend their lives, who should ever be lost? They that have not recourse to Mary are lost. St. Bridget heard our Saviour say to His Mother: “You would show mercy even to the devil were he to ask it with humility.” The proud Lucifer will never humble himself so far as to recommend himself to Mary; but were he to humble himself to this Divine Mother and ask her aid, she would not cast him off, but would deliver him from hell by her intercession. By this Jesus gives us to understand that Mary obtains salvation for all that have recourse to her.
Meditation II:
Spiritual Reading: HEROES AND HEROINES OF THE FAITH: 8. – St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople. (January 27)
Evening Meditation: JUDGMENT AFTER DEATH
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