Morning Meditation: PATIENCE IN SICKNESS
Patience in the time of sickness is the touchstone by which the spirit of a Christian is proved to be pure gold, or only alloy. Some are patient, devout, cheerful as long as they enjoy good health, but when visited by some illness they commit a thousand faults. The gold is found to be only base metal.
Meditation I:
We must practise patience in the time of sickness. This is the touchstone by which the spirit of a Christian is proved to be pure gold or only alloy. Some are patient, devout, cheerful as long as they enjoy health, but when visited by some illness they commit a thousand defects: they appear to be inconsolable; they are impatient with all, even with the person who attends them through charity; they complain of every pain or inconvenience they suffer; they complain of everybody and everything, saying that they are treated with neglect and inattention. The gold is found to be base metal. But such a person may say: I suffer so much, and can I not even complain, or tell what I endure? You are not forbidden to make known your pains when they are severe, but when they are trifling, it is a weakness to complain of them to all, and to seek sympathy and compassion from every one who visits you. And should the remedies prescribed not remove your pains, you should not yield to impatience under them, but resign yourself in peace to the will of God.
Another may say: Where has charity gone? See how I am forgotten and abandoned on my bed of sickness! I pity you; not on account of your bodily infirmities, but on account of your want of patience under them, which makes you doubly sick – in body and soul. You are forgotten? But you have forgotten Jesus Christ Who died abandoned for your sake on the Cross. And what profit do you derive from complaining? Complain of yourself because you have but little love for Jesus Christ, and therefore have so little patience. St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say: “If the sick had patience there would be no more complaints.” Salvian writes that there are many persons who, had they good health, could not be Saints. With regard to saintly women, we know from their published Lives that they were almost all continually afflicted with various infirmities. For forty years St. Teresa was not free from pain for a single day.
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: HOLY HUMILITY
XII. PATIENCE IN BEARING CONTEMPT
Evening Meditation: PATIENCE IN SICKNESS
Meditation I:
If you really wish to please God, and at the same time give good example to others, embrace with peace all the infirmities God sends you. Oh, how great is the edification he gives, who in spite of all his pains and even the danger of death with which he may be threatened, preserves a serene countenance, abstains from all complaining, who thanks all for their attention, whether it be much or little, and accepts in the spirit of obedience the remedies applied, however bitter or painful they may be! St. Lidwina, as Surius relates, lay for thirty-eight years on a board, abandoned, covered with sores, and tortured by pains. She never complained of anything, but peaceably embraced all her sufferings. Blessed Humiliana of Florence, a Franciscan nun, being afflicted with several painful and violent diseases, used to raise her hand to Heaven, and say: “Mayest Thou be blessed, my Love! Mayest Thou be blessed!” St. Clare was likewise continually sick for twenty-eight years, and the smallest complaint never escaped her lips. St. Theodore, abbot, had a painful ulcer during his whole life, and he would say that the Lord sent it in order to give him occasion to thank God unceasingly, as he was accustomed to do. When we suffer any pain, let us cast a glance at so many holy Martyrs, whose flesh was torn in pieces with iron hooks, or burnt with red-hot plates, and let us at the sight of their torments take courage to offer to God the pain by which we are afflicted.
Patience under the severity of the Seasons accompanies patience in infirmities. When cold or heat is intense, some are disturbed and complain, particularly if they have not the clothes or other comforts that they wish for. Be careful not to imitate their example; but bless these creatures as ministers of the Divine will, and say with Daniel: O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord …. O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord. — (Dan. iii. 66, 67).
Meditation II:
Morning Meditation: PATIENCE AMIDST LOSSES AND PERSECUTION
They who possess God, though they should be in want of everything else, possess all things. They can say: My God and my All! Hence the Saints possess all things, though they have nothing. As having nothing, says St. Paul, and possessing all things. — (2 Cor. vi. 10).
Meditation I:
It is necessary to practise patience when we have to suffer the inconveniences of poverty, and the want of temporal goods. “What,” says St. Augustine ”can be sufficient for him for whom God is not sufficient?” They who possess God, though they should want everything else, possess all things. Hence they can say, “My God and my All!” Hence, the Apostle says, that though the Saints have nothing, they possess all things: As having nothing, and possessing all things. When, then, you want medicines in sickness, when you are in need of food, or fire in the winter, or clothes, say: My God, Thou alone art sufficient for me! and thus console yourself.
Accept with patience the loss of property, relatives and friends. Some one loses a book and she disturbs the whole house, and cannot keep herself in peace. Another is inconsolable at the death of a relative. She gives up Mental Prayer; she abstains from Communion, she is impatient with everybody; she shuts herself away; will not take food, and sends away those who come to console her. To such I would say: Is this the true love that you bear to God? Then, it is not true that God is everything to you, since it is now manifest, that because you have lost a creature, you no longer enjoy peace, and appear almost to care no more about God. Tell me what advantage do you derive from thus abandoning yourself to melancholy? Do you imagine that you please the person who has died? No; you displease God, and also the dead. How much more pleasing would it be to her, if, conforming yourself to the Divine will, you endeavoured to abstain from weeping and groaning, and sought to unite yourself more closely to God, and to pray for the soul if it be in Purgatory. To shed an occasional tear at the death of a relative is a pardonable weakness of nature; but immoderate grief proceeds from weakness of spirit and want of the love of God. Holy people also hear of the death of persons most dear to them; but reflecting that God has willed their death, they instantly resign themselves, and go in peace to pray for them. They then make more frequent Meditations and Communions, and unite themselves more to God, hoping to go one day to enjoy Him in Heaven, along with their departed friends.
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: PATIENCE IN THE MIDST OF SPIRITUAL DESOLATION
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Evening Meditation: “CALL UPON ME IN THE DAY OF TROUBLE”
Meditation I:
Let us consider some few practical counsels which will help us to be patient under every trial.
In general, as St. Thomas says, to foresee and reflect upon the trials that may come is a help to bear them with fortitude. Jesus Christ said to His disciples: In the world you shall have distress: but have confidence, I have overcome the world. — (John xvi. 88). My children, know that in the world you shall be afflicted and despised; but have confidence in Me Who have conquered the world. The reason is, that by reflecting beforehand on tribulation, and embracing it with patience we form to ourselves an idea of it, – not as an evil, but as a conducive to eternal life. Thus, premeditation takes from us the fear of the evil that the tribulation excites. This has been the practice of the Saints: they embraced their crosses long before they came; and thus they found themselves prepared to bear them in peace whenever they came upon them, no matter how suddenly. Accustom yourself, then, in Mental Prayer to embrace the tribulations which are likely to be your lot.
And when you imagine it to be impossible for you to bear such a tribulation (should it happen), pray to the Lord to give you His aid to submit to it in case it occurs, and have confidence in Him, saying: I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me. — (Phil. iv. 18). And when you do this, doubt not that your prayers will in that case obtain the strength you do not possess. And how have the holy Martyrs obtained courage to bear so many torments, and deaths the most painful, except by prayer and by recommending themselves to God? When you find yourself under the cross have recourse instantly to prayer. Is any of you sad, says St. James, let him pray. — (James v. 18). Is any of you afflicted with any tribulation or passion, let him pray, and not cease to pray until he finds the peace of his soul restored. Call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. — (Ps. xlix. 15). When you are in tribulation invoke My aid, says the Lord, and I will rescue you from difficulties, and you will give glory to Me. When a soul in trouble recommends itself to God, He delivers it from the evil which afflicts it, or gives it grace to bear it with patience, and thus it glorifies the Lord. St. Ignatius of Loyola used to say that the greatest evil that could befall him in this world would be the destruction of the Society; but he hoped that, even should such a calamity happen, his peace of mind would be restored by a quarter of an hour’s Mental Prayer.
Meditation II:
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Morning Meditation: PATIENCE IN THE TIME OF TEMPTATION
Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation. — (Ecclus. ii. 1). The Lord usually permits souls the most dear to Him to be most severely tormented by temptation. But they put all their trust in God and they conquer. He who places you in the combat will not abandon you or let you fall.
Meditation I:
The Lord usually permits souls that are most dear Him to be most severely tormented by temptations. While he lived in the solitude of Palestine, in prayer and penitential works, St. Jerome was greatly afflicted with temptations. He himself described them: “I was alone, and my heart was full of bitterness; my dried and withered members were covered with a sack. My skin became as black as that of a Moor; the hard ground was my bed, which served rather to give pain than rest; my food was very scanty: and still my heart was inflamed against my will with bad desires. I had no other refuge than to have recourse to Jesus, and to implore His aid.”
The Lord permits us to be tempted for our greater good. First, that we may be more humble. Ecclesiasticus says: What doth he know that hath not been tried? — (Ecclus. xxxiv. 9). In truth, no one is better acquainted with his own weakness than the man that is tempted. St. Augustine remarks, that St. Peter, before he had been tempted, presumed on his own strength, boasting that he would have constancy to embrace death rather than deny Jesus Christ; but when tempted he miserably denied his Master, and then he became aware of his weakness. Hence, having favoured St. Paul with celestial revelations, our Lord, in order to preserve him from vainglory, allowed him to be molested with an importunate temptation against chastity, which is of all temptations the most humiliating to man. And, says the Saint, lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me. — (2 Cor. xii. 7).
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: PATIENCE UNDER TEMPTATION
MEANS OF CONQUERING
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Evening Meditation: PATIENCE UNDER TEMPTATION
MEANS OF CONQUERING
Meditation I:
There are some temptations which we should conquer by contrary acts. For example, temptations to take revenge must be overcome by seeking to do good to those who have offended us; temptations to vanity by humbling ourselves; to envy by rejoicing at the good of others; similar temptations must be conquered in the same manner. But it is better to resist other temptations, such as those against Faith, or against chastity, or to blasphemy, by despising them, and by making good acts directly opposed to the temptations, such as acts of confidence, of contrition, of charity. St. John Climacus relates that a certain monk was greatly tormented with blasphemous temptations. The miserable man was all in confusion: he went to a good Father, and told him all the execrable blasphemies that passed through his mind. Have confidence, said the Father, I take on myself all these sins; do not think of them any more. The monk followed the advice, and his peace of mind was restored. But with regard to temptations against chastity, it is not advisable for timorous souls to contend directly with the bad thought, saying and repeating: I will not do it; I will not consent. For by endeavouring to make these contrary acts, the image of the bad objects presented to the mind becomes more vivid, and thus the struggle is longer and more severe. It is better to renew, in general, the purpose of dying a thousand times rather than offend God, and turn at once to God for help, making acts of hope and love, as has been already said, and frequently invoking the most holy Names of Jesus and Mary.
Meditation II:
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Morning Meditation: ST. JOSEPH’S LOVE FOR MARY AND JESUS
Joseph regarded Mary as the beloved of God chosen to be the Mother of His only-begotten Son. And as God gave St. Joseph the place of father to Jesus, He must have certainly infused into the heart of Joseph the love of a father, and of a father to so amiable a Son, a Son Who was also God.
Meditation I:
And (Jesus) went down with them, and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. — (Luke ii. 51).
Consider the love Joseph bore to his holy spouse. Of all the women that ever lived Mary was the most beautiful. She was more humble, more meek, more pure, more obedient, more inflamed with the love of God, than all the Angels and men that have been or shall be created. Hence she merited all the affections of Joseph, who was so great a lover of virtue. Add to all this, the tenderness with which he saw himself loved by Mary, who certainly loved her own spouse above all creatures. Besides, Joseph regarded her as the beloved of God, chosen to be the Mother of His only begotten Son. Consider how great must have been the affection which, for all these reasons, the just and grateful heart of Joseph entertained for so amiable a spouse as Mary.
Oh! how many tears must Mary and Joseph have shed in speaking of Jesus’ Passion and Death, which they had already learned from the Sacred Scriptures! What tenderness must they have felt in saying and thinking that their Beloved was, according to Isaias, to be a Man of sorrows and reproaches; that His enemies would so disfigure Him that His lovely countenance could be no longer recognized; that by their scourges they would lacerate and bruise His flesh to such a degree, that He would appear as a leper all covered with ulcers and wounds; that their beloved Treasure would suffer all with patience, without ever opening His mouth to complain of His torments; that He would be led like a lamb to the slaughter; and that, finally He would die by dint of torments, hanging on an infamous gibbet between two thieves.
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: “HE WAS SUBJECT TO THEM”
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Evening Meditation: THE HONOUR DUE TO ST. JOSEPH
Meditation I:
We should, indeed, honour St. Joseph since the Son of God Himself was graciously pleased to honour him, by calling him His father. “Christ,” says Origen, “gave to Joseph the honour due to a parent.” He is also thus spoken of in the Gospel: and his father and mother were wondering at those things which were spoken concerning him. — (Luke ii. 33). The Divine Mother also spoke of him under this name. Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. — (Ibid. 48). Since, then, the King of Kings was pleased to raise Joseph to so high a dignity, it is right and a duty on our part, to endeavour to honour him as much as we can. He indeed should be greatly honoured by men, whom the King of Kings has been pleased thus to exalt. “What Angel or Saint,” says St. Basil, “ever merited to be called the father of the Son of God? Joseph alone was thus called.” Hence we can well apply to St. Joseph the words of St. Paul, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. — (Heb. i. 4). St. Joseph was more honoured by God, in this name of father, than all the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles and Pontiffs; for all these have the name of servants, Joseph alone that of father.
Meditation II:
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(FOR THE 25TH OF OCTOBER)
Morning Meditation: “A MERCIFUL HIGH-PRIEST”
The infinite Mercy of God induced Him to descend from Heaven to earth to free us from eternal death. But in order that He might not only save us, but be able to feel compassion for our miseries He willed to become man capable of suffering and similar to other men. For we have not a High-Priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities …. wherefore, it behoved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a merciful …. High-Priest. — (Heb. iv. 15; ii. 17).
Meditation I:
What a tender compassion Jesus Christ has for poor sinners! This makes Him say, He is that Shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, and on finding it, arranges a banquet, saying: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost. And he lays it upon his shoulders rejoicing — (Luke xv. 5-6); and thus He carefully keeps possession of it in His fond embrace for fear He should lose it again. His tender compassion caused Him, too, to say that He is that loving Father Who, whenever the prodigal son returns to His feet, does not thrust him away, but embraces and kisses him, and as it were faints away for the consolation and joy He feels in beholding his repentance: And running to him, he fell upon his neck and kissed him. — (Luke xv. 20). He says: I stand at the gate and knock. — (Apoc. iii. 20). Although driven away from the soul by sin, He does not abandon her, but places Himself at the door of her heart and pleads and knocks to gain readmittance. He said to His disciples, who with an indiscreet zeal would have called down vengeance on those who repulsed them: You know not of what spirit you are. — (Luke ix. 55). You see that I have so much compassion on sinners, and do you desire vengeance on them? You are not of My spirit. Finally, this compassion made Jesus say: Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you. — (Matt. xi. 28). Come to me, all you that are afflicted and weary with the burden of your sins, and I will give you rest. Oh no, let us not be afraid of Jesus Christ; but let us be afraid of our own obstinacy, if after offending Him we will not listen to His voice, inviting us to be reconciled. If we persist in our obstinacy, Jesus Christ will be constrained to condemn us; but if we repent of the evil we have done, what fear need we have of Jesus Christ? Who has to pronounce sentence on us? Think, says St. Paul, that the self-same Redeemer has to sentence thee Who died just that He might not condemn thee; that self-same One Who, that He might pardon thee, hath given Himself no pardon: “In order to redeem the servant,” says St. Bernard, “He hath not spared Himself.”
O Redeemer of my soul, my soul is now enamoured of Thee, and loves Thee. Thou hast loved me above measure, so that, overcome by Thy love, I may no longer resist its winning appeals, but surrender myself, and fix all my love on Thee. I love Thee, then, O infinite Goodness! I love Thee, O most lovable God! Do Thou never cease to enkindle more and more in my heart the flames and fiery darts of love. For Thy own glory cause Thyself to be greatly loved by one who so greatly offended Thee. Mary, my Mother, thou art the hope, the refuge of sinners; assist a sinner who desires to prove faithful to his God; help me to love Him, and to love Him exceedingly.
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: “IN SILENCE AND IN HOPE SHALL YOUR STRENGTH BE”
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Evening Meditation: THE PATIENCE OF GOD IN WAITING FOR SINNERS TO RETURN TO HIM
Meditation I:
Let us consider the Patience of God in waiting for sinners to return. That great Servant of God, Sancia Carillo, a penitent of Blessed John of Avila, used to say that the consideration of God’s patience with sinners made her wish to build a church, and entitle it “The Patience of God.” Ah, who could ever bear with what God has borne with from you? If the offences which you have committed against God had been offered to your best friends, they surely would have sought revenge. When you insulted the Lord He was able to chastise you; you repeated the insult, and He did not punish your guilt, but preserved your life, and provided you with sustenance. He, as it were, pretended not to see the injuries you offered to Him, that you might enter into yourself, and cease to offend. Thou overlookest the sins of men for the sake of repentance. — (Wis. xi. 24). But how, O Lord, does it happen, that Thou canst not behold a single sin, and yet Thou dost bear in silence with so many? Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity. Why lookest thou upon them that do unjust things, and holdest thy peace? — (Habac. i. 13).
All creatures – the earth, fire, air, water – because they all obey God, would, by a natural instinct, wish to punish the sinner, and to avenge the injuries he does to the Creator; but God, through His mercy, restrains them. For the creature serving thee the Creator is made fierce against the unjust. — (Wis. xvi. 24). But, O Lord, Thou waitest for the wicked that they may enter into themselves; and dost Thou not see that they abuse Thy mercy to offer new insults to Thy majesty? Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favourable to the nation: art thou glorified? — (Is. xxvi. 15). Thou hast waited so long for sinners; Thou hast abstained from inflicting punishment; but what glory hast Thou reaped from Thy forbearance? They have become more wicked. Why so much patience with such ungrateful souls? Why dost Thou continue to wait for their repentance? Why dost Thou not chastise their wickedness? The same Prophet answers: The Lord waiteth that he may have mercy on you. — (Is. xxx. 18). God waits for sinners that they may one day repent, and that after their repentance He may pardon and save them. As I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. — (Ezech. xxxiii. 11).
Meditation II:
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(FOR THE FIRST FRIDAY OF NOVEMBER)
Morning Meditation: THE FAITHFUL HEART OF JESUS
The faithfulness of the Heart of Jesus gives us confidence to hope for all things, although we deserve nothing. God is faithful, says St. Paul. Oh, how faithful is the beautiful Heart of Jesus towards those He calls to His love!
Meditation I:
Oh, how faithful is the beautiful Heart of Jesus towards those He calls to His love: He is faithful who hath called you, who also will perform. — (1 Thess. v. 24). The faithfulness of God gives us confidence to hope all things, although we deserve nothing. If we have driven God from our heart, let us open the door to Him, and He will immediately enter, according to the promise He has made: If any man open to me the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him. — (Apoc. iii. 20). If we wish for graces, let us ask for them of God, in the Name of Jesus Christ, and He has promised us that we shall obtain them: If you shall ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you. — (Jo. xvi. 23). If we are tempted, let us trust in His merits, and He will not permit our enemies to strive with us beyond our strength: God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able. — (1 Cor. x. 13). Oh, how much better is it to have to do with God than with men! How often do men promise and then fail, either because they tell lies in making their promises, or because, after having made the promise, they change their minds: God is not as man, says the Holy Spirit, that he should lie; or as the son of man, that he should be changed. — (Numb, xxiii. 19).
I know my ingratitude, O my Jesus, and I abhor it. I know that Thou art infinite Goodness, Who deserves an infinite love, especially from me, whom Thou hast so much loved, even after all the offences I have committed against Thee. Unhappy me if I should damn myself; the graces Thou hast vouchsafed to me, and the proofs of the singular affection which Thou hast shown me, would be, O God, the hell of hells to me. Ah, no, my Love, have pity on me; suffer me not to forsake Thee again, and then by damning myself, as I should deserve, continue to repay in hell with injuries and hatred the love that Thou hast borne me. O loving and faithful Heart of Jesus, inflame, I beseech Thee, my miserable heart, so that it may burn with love for Thee, as Thine does for me. My Jesus, it seems to me that now I love Thee, but I love Thee too little. Make me love Thee exceedingly, and keep me faithful to Thee until death. I ask of Thee this grace, together with that of always praying to Thee for it. Grant that I may die rather than ever betray Thee again. O Mary, my Mother, help me to be faithful to thy Son.
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: “MAKE A BALANCE FOR THY WORDS”
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Evening Meditation: THE IGNOMINIES JESUS SUFFERED IN HIS PASSION
Meditation I:
The greatest ignominies Jesus had to suffer were those of His Passion. In the first place He then had to see Himself abandoned by His beloved disciples. One of them betrayed Him, another denied Him, and when He was captured in the Garden, all fled and abandoned Him: Then his disciples leaving him, all fled away. — (Mark, xiv. 50). Afterwards the Jews presented Him to Pilate as a malefactor who deserved to be crucified. If, said they, he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee. — (John xviii. 30). Herod treated him as a fool: Herod, says St. Luke, with his army, set him at nought and mocked him, putting on him a white garment. — (Luke xxiii. 11).
Barabbas, a robber and murderer, was preferred before Him. When Pilate gave the Jews the choice of rescuing Jesus Christ or Barabbas from death, they exclaimed, Not this man, but Barabbas. — (John xviii. 40). He was chastised with the lash, a punishment inflicted only on slaves: Then, therefore, says St. John, Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. — (John xix. 1). He was treated as a mock king; for after having through mockery crowned Him with thorns, they saluted Him as king and spat in His face: They mocked him, saying: Hail, King of the Jews. And spitting upon him, they took the reed, and struck his head. — (Matt, xxvii. 29, 30). He was afterwards, as Isaias had foretold, condemned to die between two malefactors: He was reputed with the wicked. — (Is. liii. 12).
Meditation II:
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Morning Meditation: MARY SUCCOURS HER CLIENTS IN PURGATORY
Fortunate, indeed, are the clients of this most compassionate Mother, for not only does she succour them in this world, but even in Purgatory she succours and comforts them. She herself once spoke these words to St. Bridget: “I am the Mother of all the souls in Purgatory, for all the pains they have deserved for their sins are, every hour as long as they are detained there, mitigated in some way by my intercession.”
Meditation I:
Fortunate, indeed, are the clients of the most compassionate Mother, for not only does she succour them in this world, but even in Purgatory she succours and comforts them. As in that prison the Poor Souls are in the greatest need of assistance, since in their torments they cannot help themselves, our Mother of Mercy does proportionately more to relieve them. St. Bernardine of Sienna says, that “in that prison, where souls who are spouses of Jesus Christ are detained, Mary has a certain dominion and plenitude of power, not only to relieve them, but even to deliver them from their pains.”
And, first, with respect to the relief she gives. The same Saint, in applying those words of Ecclesiasticus, I have walked in the waves of the sea — (Ecclus. xxiv. 8), says she does so by visiting and relieving the necessities and torments of her clients, who are her children.” He then says that “the pains of Purgatory are called waves, because they are transitory, unlike the pains of hell, which never end; and they are called waves of the sea, because they are so bitter. The clients of Mary, thus suffering, are often visited and relieved by her.” “See, therefore,” says Novarinus, “of what consequence it is to be the servant of this good Lady, for her servants she never forgets when they are suffering in those flames; for though Mary relieves all suffering souls in Purgatory, yet she always obtains far greater indulgence and relief for her own clients.”
The Divine Mother once addressed these words to St. Bridget: “I am the Mother of all Souls in Purgatory; for all the pains they have deserved for their sins are every hour, as long as they remain there, in some way mitigated by my prayers.” The compassionate Mother even condescends to go herself occasionally into that holy prison, to visit and comfort her suffering children. St. Bonaventure, applying to Mary the words of Ecclesiasticus: I have penetrated into the bottom of the deep — (Ecclus. xxiv. 8), says, “the deep, that is, Purgatory, to relieve by my presence the Holy Souls detained there.” “O, how courteous and benign is the most Blessed Virgin,” says St. Vincent Ferrer, “to those who suffer in Purgatory! Through her they constantly receive comfort and refreshment.”
Meditation II:
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Spiritual Reading: “LET US SEEK FOR GRACE AND LET US SEEK IT THROUGH MARY”
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Evening Meditation: “WITH ME ARE RICHES”
Meditation I:
We should have recourse to the Divine Mother with the greatest confidence. Why did Jesus Christ deposit in the hands of His Mother all the riches of Mercy that He intends for us, unless it was that Mary might therewith enrich all her clients who love and honour her and have recourse to her with confidence. With me are riches …. that I may enrich them that love me. — (Prov. viii. 18, 21). Thus the Blessed Virgin herself assures us that it is so, in this passage which the Holy Church applies to her on so many of her Festivals. Therefore, for no other purpose than to serve us, says the Abbot Adam, are those riches of eternal life kept by Mary, in whose breast our Lord has deposited the treasury of the miserable, and that the poor being supplied from it may become rich: “The riches of salvation are in custody of the Blessed Virgin for our use. Christ has made Mary’s womb the treasury of the poor; thence the poor are enriched.” And St. Bernard says, “that she is a full aqueduct, that others may receive of her plenitude.” Mary was therefore given to the world that her graces might continually descend from Heaven upon men.
Hence the same holy Father goes on to ask: “But why did St. Gabriel, having found the Divine Mother already full of grace, according to his salutation, Hail, full of grace! afterwards say, that the Holy Ghost would come upon her to fill her still more with grace? If she was already full of grace, what more could the coming of the Divine Spirit effect?” The Saint answers: “Mary was already full of grace; but the Holy Ghost filled her to overflowing, for our good, that from her superabundance we miserable creatures might be provided.” For this same reason Mary was called the moon of which it is said, “She is full for herself and others.”
He that shall find me shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord. — (Prov. viii. 35). Blessed is he who finds me by having recourse to me, says our Mother Mary. He will find life, and will find it easily; for as it is easy to find and draw as much water as we please from a great fountain, so it is easy to find graces and eternal salvation by having recourse to Mary. A holy soul once said: “We have only to seek graces from our Blessed Lady to receive them.” St. Bernard also says, that “it was because the Blessed Virgin was not yet born that in ancient times the great abundance of grace which we now see flow on the world was wanting; for Mary, this desirable channel, did not then exist.” But now that we have this Mother of Mercy, what graces are there that we need fear we shall not obtain when we cast ourselves at her feet? “I am the city of refuge” (thus St. John Damascene makes her speak) “for all those who will have recourse to me. Come, then, to me my children; for from me you will obtain graces, and these in greater abundance than you can possibly imagine.”
Meditation II:
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