{"id":11107,"date":"2025-10-27T20:16:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T20:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/societyofthemostholyredeemer.org\/?page_id=11107"},"modified":"2026-10-16T20:09:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T20:09:53","slug":"daily-meditations-twentieth-week-after-pentecost","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societyofthemostholyredeemer.org\/es\/daily-meditations-twentieth-week-after-pentecost\/","title":{"rendered":"DAILY MEDITATIONS: TWENTIETH WEEK AFTER PENTECOST"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVOLUME IV - PART II, pp. 102-155<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Meditaci\u00f3n matutina:\u00a0 ST. TERESA’S DESIRE FOR DEATH<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Death is an object of the greatest terror to souls <\/span>attached to this world. Those who love God especially\u00a0<\/span>desire it.\u00a0 St. Teresa in thinking of the danger she <\/span>ran as long as life lasted, of offending God and losing\u00a0<\/span>Him, used to say that a single day, even a single hour\u00a0<\/span>was too long to have to live.\u00a0 \u201cAlas I Lord, as long as <\/span>we remain in this miserable life, life eternal is in\u00a0<\/span>jeopardy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0If the worldly-minded have a fear of losing their goods, fleeting and miserable as they are, much greater is the fear the Saints have of losing God, Who is a Good infinite and eternal, and Who promises to bestow Himself in Heaven as a recompense upon him who has loved Him on earth, admitting him to the enjoyment of His beauty and of His own happiness.\u00a0 Hence as their whole fear during life has been simply the fear of sinning, and thus losing the friendship of that Lord Whom they have loved so well, so their whole desire has been to die in the grace of God, and by death to gain the assurance of loving and possessing Him forever.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Death, then \u2013 that object of the greatest terror to souls attached to this world \u2013 is what those that love God especially desire: for, says St. Bernard, it is for these happy souls both the termination of their labours and the gate of life.\u00a0 Hence we see that among the Saints, one would call this life a prison and pray the Lord to deliver him out of it: Deliver my soul from this<\/em> prison. \u2014 <\/em>(Ps. cxli. 8).\u00a0 Another, like St. Paul, would call it a real death: Who shall deliver me from the<\/em> body of this death? \u2014 <\/em>(Rom. vii. 24).
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0But how are we to express the grief and the extreme anguish that our Saint experienced through her desire for death, more especially after the time when the Lord called her to His perfect love?\u00a0 She protests, in her Life, written in obedience to her confessor, that the desire that she had of dying, in order to see God, was so great, that it did not even afford her the leisure to think of her sins.\u00a0 This humble spouse of Jesus crucified spoke in this manner because she was continually bewailing those imperfections in her love of her Spouse into which she had formerly fallen \u2013 imperfections she pronounced to be monstrous and deserving of hell, but in reality, as her biographers declare, her failings never amounted to a mortal sin.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Saint, in thinking, moreover, of the danger she was in, as long as life should last, of offending God and losing Him, used to say that a single day, and even a single hour, seemed to her too long to have to live.\u00a0 Hence she would exclaim: \u201cAlas! Lord, as long as we remain in this miserable life, life eternal is ever in jeopardy.\u00a0 O life! enemy of my welfare, who will be able to bring thee to an end?\u00a0 I endure thee, because God endures thee.\u00a0 I preserve thee, because thou dost appertain to Him; may I never prove treacherous or ungrateful.\u00a0 Oh! when will that day of benediction arrive on which I shall behold thee, O life, swallowed up in the boundless ocean of the sovereign truth, when thou wilt no longer possess the liberty to sin?\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0O beautiful fatherland!\u00a0 O blessed fatherland of God\u00ad-loving souls! where they love Him without fear of losing Him; without tepidity, and for ever!\u00a0 I greet thee from afar, from this valley of tears, and I sigh for thee, because I hope that in thee I shall love my God with all my powers for evermore.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0To our Saint\u2019s fear of the possibility of offending God in this life was joined the great desire that this loving soul entertained of seeing face to face the only object of her love, that she might thus gain the power of loving Him more perfectly, and of altogether uniting herself to Him.\u00a0 For this reason she could not endure to see herself at such a distance from the country of the Blessed; with abundance of tears, she would thus utter her complaint before her Spouse: \u201cAlas! Alas! Lord, this banishment is long indeed!\u00a0 What shall a soul confined in this prison do?\u00a0 Oh! Jesus, the life of man is long indeed!\u00a0 It is short, when considered as a means of gaining the life that is the true one; but it is long for that soul that desires to behold herself in the presence of her God.\u201d\u00a0 At other times, blending with her loving pains her distrust in her own merits and her hope in God, she would occupy herself in the composition of the following beautiful harmony of ejaculations so pleasing to her Beloved: \u201cO life!\u201d she would say, \u201cO life! How canst thou keep thyself apart from thy Life?\u00a0 O death!\u00a0 O death!\u00a0 I know not who can fear thee, because in thee is life!\u00a0 Yet who shall not fear thee after having spent a part of this life without the love of his God?\u00a0 O my soul!\u00a0 Serve thy God, and hope that in His mercy He will heal thy miseries.\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0But in order to understand the extent of the burning desire our Saint had for death, it is necessary that we should have a knowledge of the pain she experienced in continuing in life.\u00a0 She related to her confessor that this was such that it seemed already to destroy and bring her life to an end.\u00a0 Under its influence, too, she would even fall into an ecstasy.\u00a0 To give vent to her affections, she drew up on this subject those burning words of which that celebrated hymn of hers in composed, which thus begins:<\/p>

\u201cI live, from myself am far away:
And hope to reach a life so high,
That I\u2019m for ever dying because I do not die!\u201d<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Elsewhere she says: \u201cWhen will it be, O my God, that I shall at last see my whole soul perfectly united to Thee, so that all its faculties may have complete fruition of Thee?\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In a word, the only relief and consolation she found in this life was in thinking of her death.\u00a0 So she used to comfort herself, while on earth, with words like these: \u201cThen, then, O my soul, you will have entered into your rest, when you shall be holding converse with that sovereign Good and shall know what He knows; when you shall love what He loves, and enjoy all that constitutes His blessedness; for then you will be rid of your own wretched will.\u201d\u00a0 Thus, it may be said, that the life of our Saint was sustained by the hope of that life eternal, for which she had sacrificed all the goods of this world; \u201cI had rather live and die,\u201d she tells us, \u201choping for the life eternal, than have all the goods of the earth in my possession.\u00a0 Do not Thou abandon me, O Lord, for I hope in Thee.\u00a0 If only I may serve Thee without intermission, do with me whatsoever Thou pleasest.\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0O my holy advocate, Teresa, I rejoice with thee that thou hast reached the haven, the termination of thy sighs!\u00a0 Now thou dost no longer believe, thou beholdest the beauty of God!\u00a0 Thou no longer hopest, thou art possessed of the Sovereign Good!\u00a0 Thou art now rejoicing in the clear vision of the God Whom thou hast so long desired and loved!\u00a0 Thy love is now satiated!\u00a0 There is nothing for thy loving heart to long for more!\u00a0 O my Saint, have compassion on me who am still in the midst of the storm.\u00a0 Pray for me that I may obtain salvation and go to join thee in loving that God Whom thou so greatly desirest to see loved.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 \u201cPARADISE!\u00a0 PARADISE!\u201d<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0When the dignity of Cardinal was offered to St. Philip Neri, he cast his biretta into the air, and, looking up to Heaven, replied: \u201cParadise! Paradise!\u201d\u00a0 The Blessed Giles would fall into an ecstasy, when the children, out of frolic, said to him: \u201cBrother Giles, Paradise! Paradise!\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0It is an opinion among theologians, that in Purgatory there is a peculiar pain called the pain of languor, which is inflicted upon those who had but little desire for Paradise during life on earth, and reasonably so, for we have but little love for God if we desire but little to enjoy His infinite beauty unveiled before our eyes, and the more so as it is impossible for us here in life not to be continually offending Him, at least in venial matters.\u00a0 Even if we do love Him here below, our love is, nevertheless, so imperfect, that we scarcely know that we love Him at all.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Let us, then, yearn for Paradise, where we shall offend God no more, and where we shall ever love Him with all our powers.\u00a0 When the troubles of this life press heavily upon us, let us animate ourselves by the hope of Paradise in order to bear them with tranquility.\u00a0 When the world or the devil presents for our acceptance fruits that are forbidden, let us with good courage turn our back upon them, and lift up our eyes to Paradise.\u00a0 If the dread of God\u2019s judgments alarms us, let us nerve ourselves by hoping in the goodness of our God, Who to make us understand how ardently He desires to give Paradise to us, has commanded us, under pain of damnation, to hope for it through His mercy.\u00a0 He even willed to purchase it at the cost of His Blood, and His Death, that so He might obtain that great blessedness for us; and to assure us of it the more, He has been pleased to give us a pledge of it in the gift of Himself to us in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0If our weakness terrifies us, let us fortify our hope by the same goodness of our Lord, Who, after having given us His merits to entitle us to Paradise, will likewise give us the strength to persevere in His grace even to our life\u2019s end, if we have recourse to His mercy, and pray to Him for that strength and perseverance.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The holy Mother Teresa used to say: \u201cLet your desire be to see God; your fear, to lose Him; your joy, whatever can bring you to Him.\u201d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Burning with the desire of seeing God, the Saint composed her famous \u201cCanticle,\u201d \u201cI die because I cannot die!\u201d and on this text she wrote many beautiful stanzas, of which the following are two:<\/p>

Ah, Lord, my Light, and living Breath!
Take me, Oh, take me from this death,
And burst the bars that sever me
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From my true Life above
Think how I die, Thy face to see,
And cannot live away from Thee,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O my eternal Love!
And ever, ever weep and sigh,
Dying because I cannot die.<\/p>

I weary of this endless strife;
I weary of this dying life \u2013
This living death \u2013 this heavy chain;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This torment of delay,
In which her sins my soul detain;
Ah, when shall it be mine?\u00a0 Ah, when,
With my last breath to say \u2013
\u201cNo more I weep \u2013 no more I sigh!
I\u2019m dying of the desire to die.\u201d<\/p>

HYMN IN HONOUR OF ST. TERESA, by St. Alphonsus
<\/strong><\/p>

Ye Angels most inflamed
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0With fires of heavenly love,
Bright Seraphim, descend
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0From your high thrones above;
To this most chosen soul
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Your loving succour bring \u2013
To her, the spouse belov\u2019d
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Of Christ your God and King.<\/p>

Jesus, your Love, your Life,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Who loves the pure of heart,
Has pierced Teresa\u2019s soul
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0With love\u2019s own flaming dart;
And lo! she pines away,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0She languishes, she sighs;
For Him Who gave the wound,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Of very love she dies.<\/p>

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To see her loving Spouse
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0So fierce is her desire
That evermore she burns,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Consuming in its fire.
That sweet and longing wish
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Into His arms to fly,
Is but a living death,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Because she cannot die.<\/p>

No angels come to aid;
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Come Thou, Who in this breast
Hast kindled flames so dear,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Come Thou, and give her rest;
Sick is her soul with love,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0And wounded is her heart;
Thou didst inflict the wound,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Then, Jesus, cure its smart.<\/p>

Thy spouse was ever true,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0To please Thy Heart Divine,
All earth could give she left,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0All she could give is Thine;
And now, she loves Thee well,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0And sighs to come to Thee;
She longs to take her flight,
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ah! set her spirit free.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n vespertina:\u00a0\u00a0CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/i><\/strong><\/p>

VI. \u2014 GOD WISHES ONLY OUR GOOD<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/strong>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Oh, how great indeed is the folly of those who resist the Divine Will!\u00a0 They will have to endure sufferings, for no one can ever prevent the accomplishment of the Divine decrees.\u00a0 \u00bfQui\u00e9n se resiste a su voluntad? <\/em>\u2014 (Rom. ix. 19).\u00a0 And, besides, they will have to bear the burden of their sorrows without deriving benefit from them; nay, they will draw down upon themselves even greater chastisements in the next life, as well as greater disquietude in this: Who hath resisted him, and hath<\/em> had peace? \u2014 <\/em>(Job ix. 4).\u00a0 Let the sick man make as great an outcry as he will about his pains; let him who is in poverty murmur and rage and blaspheme against God as much as he pleases \u2013 what will he gain by it all, but the doubling of his afflictions?\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you in search of, O foolish man,\u201d says St. Augustine, \u201cwhen seeking good things? \u00a0Seek that one Good in Whom are all things that are good.\u201d \u00a0What are you going in search of, poor foolish man, outside your God? \u00a0Find God, unite yourself to His holy will, bind yourself up with it; and you will be ever happy, both in this life and in the next.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In short, what does God will but our good? \u00a0Whom can we ever find to love us more than He? \u00a0It is His will, not merely that no one should perish, but that all should save and sanctify their souls: Not willing<\/em> that any should perish, but that all should return to penance. \u2014 <\/em>(2 Peter iii. 9).\u00a0 This is the will of God, your<\/em> sanctification. \u2014 <\/em>(1 Thess. iv. 8).\u00a0 It is in our good that God has placed His own glory, being, as St. Leo says, of His own nature, goodness infinite.\u00a0 And as it is of the nature of goodness to desire to spread itself abroad, God has a supreme desire to make the souls of men partakers of His own bliss and glory.\u00a0 And if, in this life, He sends us tribulations, they are all for our own good: All things work together unto good<\/em>. \u2014 <\/em>(Rom. viii, 28). \u00a0Even chastisements, as was observed by the holy Judith, do not come to us from God for our destruction, but in order to secure our amendment and salvation: Let<\/em> us believe that they have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction. \u2014 <\/em>(Judith, viii. 27).<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In order to save us from evils that are eternal, the Lord throws the shield of His good will around us: O Lord, thou hast crowned us as with a shield of thy good will. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. v. 13). \u00a0He not only desires, but is eager for our salvation: The Lord is careful for me. \u2014 <\/em>(Ps. xxxix. 18).\u00a0 For what is there that God will ever refuse us, says St. Paul, after having given us His own Son? \u00a0He that spared not even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how hath he not also with him given us all things? <\/em>\u2014 (Rom. viii. 32). \u00a0This, then, is the confidence in which we ought to abandon ourselves to the Divine dispensations, all of which have our good for their object. \u00a0Let us therefore repeat, whatever circumstances may happen to befall us: In peace, in the selfsame, I will sleep and I will rest; for thou, O Lord, singularly hast, settled me in hope. \u2014 <\/em>(Ps. iv. 10). \u00a0Let us also place ourselves entirely in God\u2019s hands, for He will certainly take care of us: Casting all your care upon him, for he hath care of you. <\/em>\u2014 (1 Peter v. 7). \u00a0Then, let our thoughts be fixed on God, and on the fulfilment of His will, that He may think of us and of our good. \u00a0\u201cDaughter,\u201d said the Lord to St. Catharine of Sienna, \u201cdo thou think of Me, and I will ever think of thee.\u201d \u00a0Let us frequently repeat with the sacred spouse, My Beloved to me, and I to him. <\/em>\u2014 (Cant. ii. 16). \u00a0The thoughts of my Beloved are for my welfare; I will think of nothing but of pleasing Him, and bringing myself into perfect conformity with His holy will. \u00a0The holy Abbot Nilus used to say that we ought never to pray to God to make our will succeed, but to accomplish His will in us. \u00a0And whenever things befall us that are not according to our wishes, let us accept them all, as from God\u2019s hands, not merely with patience, but with joy, as did the Apostles when they went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. \u2014 <\/em>(Acts, v. 41).<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Meditaci\u00f3n matutina:\u00a0 ST. TERESA\u2019S PRECIOUS DEATH<\/strong><\/em><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The dying Saint conversed lovingly with her Divine Spouse: \u201cO my Lord, and my Spouse, the hour so earnestly longed for has at last arrived! \u00a0It is time now that we should see each other, O Lord! \u00a0The day has dawned at last when I am to leave my place of exile to go to share with Thee in that joy which I have so ardently desired.\u201d<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The holy Mother Teresa, on leaving Burgos, was desirous of going to her dear convent of Avila, that she might rest awhile in that her first and favourite abode, where she began her reform; but her heavenly Spouse summoned her to go to another home, and to eternal repose.\u00a0 The Lord wished to have her in the land of the Blessed; therefore He permitted that, as she was on her way, her Provincial should send her an order to repair to the convent of Alba.\u00a0 There God was awaiting her, to deliver her from the prison of this life, and to conduct her to the everlasting nuptials.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Come, O my Saint!\u00a0 Come! Your Spouse deems that your labours have now been sufficient; and His Heart is touched with compassion by your sighs.\u00a0 Come to the repose that you desire; come to the haven after having encountered the storm.\u00a0 Come to begin that new life of love which you will enter by a death of love, which the Lord is preparing for you in this favoured spot.
The Saint obeyed, and reached Alba on St. Matthew\u2019s Day, at six o\u2019clock in the evening, in the year 1582.\u00a0 Her daughters welcomed her with great reverence and great affection, perhaps not without some presentiment that they should lose her before long.\u00a0 They received her benediction and kissed her hand, whilst the Saint was tenderly and affectionately speaking with them.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When she arrived she was fatigued from her journey, and unwell from an attack of fever; so that she retired immediately to her bed at the entreaty of her children with these words: \u201cOh! May God assist me, my dear daughters, as I feel quite overpowered!\u00a0 It is now more than twenty years since I retired to rest at so early an hour.\u00a0 Blessed be the Lord that my sickness has fallen upon me while I am amongst you.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During the eight subsequent days her illness continued, but she never allowed it to prevent her from rising to receive her Jesus in Holy Communion, Who was to her the only Life of her life.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But, on St. Michael\u2019s Day, still suffering from the sickness that was to bring her to her grave, she took to her bed in the infirmary, never more to leave it.\u00a0 There she remained for a day and a night in an ecstasy of prayer, and having learned then through a revelation, the hour and the moment of her decease, she told the Venerable Sister Ann of St. Bartholomew, her beloved companion in all her travels, that the hour of her departure had come.\u00a0 Three days before her death, when Father Anthony of Jesus had come to hear her confession, he told her to pray to God to preserve her life for the good of the Reform; but the Saint replied that there was no longer any need to think of this, because her death was a certainty, and her presence upon earth was no longer necessary.\u00a0 The doctors ordered her to be bled, and to this she willingly submitted, not our of any desire for recovery, but from the fervent wish she had to suffer, and to close her life in the midst of sufferings, as she had ever desired, for the love of her dearest Spouse, Whose will it had been to expire amidst so many torments on the Cross.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the eve of the Feast of St. Francis, she asked for the Most Holy Viaticum, and whilst they were bringing It, all her Religious being assembled in her chamber, she burst into tears, and clasping her hands together, said to them: \u201cMy daughters and my mothers, pardon me for the bad example I have set you, and do not imitate me who am the greatest sinner in the world, and who have observed my Rule less than all others.\u00a0 For the love of God, my children, I pray you to observe that Rule perfectly, and to be obedient to your Superiors.\u201d\u00a0 She who had been so great a lover of obedience, recommended nothing but this virtue when at the point of death, knowing, as she did, that the perfection of Religious depends on the perfection of their obedience.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Holy Viaticum having been brought, she had the courage, at the coming of her Spouse, to raise herself into a sitting posture, although her feebleness was such that she could scarcely stir.\u00a0 The ardour with which her love inspired her was so great that she appeared ready to throw herself from her bed to go to meet the only Beloved of her soul, and receive Him.\u00a0 Her countenance became so inflamed and radiant that they could not gaze upon her.\u00a0 She clasped her hands together, burning, like the phoenix, with the liveliest ardour the nearer she approached the end of her life, and the more she lovingly conversed with her Spouse, so that she drew tears from all present.\u00a0 Amongst other things, she said: \u201cO my Lord and my Spouse, the hour so earnestly longed for has at last arrived!\u00a0 It is time now that we should see each other, O Lord!\u00a0 The day has dawned at last when I am to leave my place of exile to go to share with Thee in that joy which I have so ardently desired.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What gave her most consolation in that hour, and chiefly called forth her thankfulness towards God, was the fact of her being a child of the Holy Church.\u00a0 She could not refrain from saying over and over again: After all, O Lord, I am a daughter of the Church<\/em>.\u00a0 She also frequently repeated the versicle of David: A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise<\/em>. \u2014 (Ps. l. 19).\u00a0 On the following day, after receiving Extreme Unction, she held the Crucifix tight in her embrace, and remained fourteen hours in an ecstasy, with a countenance shining like fire, and immovable, beginning from that time to experience a foretaste of the great glory God had prepared for her in Heaven, where her Spouse was summoning her in these words: Arise, make haste, my love\u2026 and come<\/em> \u2014 (Cant. ii. 10).\u00a0 Then it was that, before the Saint expired, Sister Ann, her companion, saw her Spouse Jesus, and a multitude of angels, come and take up their position at the foot of her bed, awaiting the moment when they should conduct her to Heaven.\u00a0 Beside Teresa\u2019s bed was her sweet Mother Mary and St. Joseph, her beloved Father.\u00a0 Lastly, she saw a multitude of persons, clothed in white and all shining with light, entering with great joy into the cell of the dying Saint.\u00a0 It is supposed that these were the Ten Thousand Martyrs[1]<\/sup><\/a> who had promised her that they would accompany her to Paradise.\u00a0 They drew near at the moment when Teresa, her beautiful life being consumed in a furnace of love, expired sweetly through the force of that love.\u00a0 Her blessed soul issued forth from its prison and flew away like a dove to its Beloved in Paradise.\u00a0 Indeed, at the very moment they saw her soul, as a white dove, flying to Heaven.\u00a0 At the same time she appeared in glory to Sister Catharine of Jesus, and told her that her life had been terminated through the vehemence of her love, and that she had gone to rejoice in God.\u00a0 Her virgin body forthwith exhaled a delightful fragrance, which diffused itself throughout the whole convent.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Behold what a blessed reward the labours of the Saints receive at the hour of death!\u00a0 While sinners experience at death sadness, confusion, remorse, despair \u2013 the foretaste of their damnation \u2013 the Saints, on the contrary, are filled with confidence, peace, light and joy \u2013 a foretaste of Paradise.\u00a0 Come, ye senseless ones, come and see in this poor cell of Teresa, how contentedly those die, and leave this earth, who have already abandoned the world to give themselves wholly to God.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, devout soul, fail not to keep your eyes on the closing scenes that will take place at the hour of your own death.\u00a0 Do now what you will wish to have done, but will not have the power to do then, and you will become a saint, and your death will be a happy one.
Behold, then, O Teresa, thy sighs are heard, thy desires are fulfilled, thy love satisfied!\u00a0 Thou art now released from banishment and hast reached thy place of rest.\u00a0 Thou are now rejoicing with that Good Who was the object of thy love, loving that God Whom thou didst sigh after.\u00a0 But amidst thy splendours, do not be unmindful of us, wretched as we are.\u00a0 Have compassion on us who go on our way weeping as travellers in this valley of tears, and ever in danger of losing God.\u00a0 For pity sake, address thy Jesus in our behalf that He may pardon the many sins we have committed.\u00a0 Pray to Him to deliver us from every attachment to the things of this world which would hinder us from going to join thee in loving God in Paradise.<\/p>

[1]<\/a> Of whom mention is made in the Martyrology on June22.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 <\/b><\/strong>LITTLE CHAPLET IN HONOUR OF ST. TERESA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

(To be recited every day during the Novena)<\/em><\/p>

I.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0O most amiable Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the great gift of Faith and of devotion to the Holy Sacrament, which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy faithful spouse, to grant us the gift of a lively Faith and of a fervent devotion towards the most Holy Sacrament of the altar where Thou, O infinite Majesty, hast obliged Thyself to abide with us even to the end of the world, and wherein Thou dost so lovingly give Thy whole self to us.\u00a0 Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love
Teresa\u2019s beauteous heart,
Of her sweet love upon my soul
Let fall a flaming dart.<\/p>

II.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0O most merciful Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the great gift of Hope which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy holy spouse, to give us a great confidence in Thy goodness, by reason of Thy Precious Blood, that Thou hast shed to its last drop for our salvation.\u00a0\u00a0Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love . . .<\/p>

III.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 O most loving Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the great gift of Love which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most loving spouse, to give us the great, the crowning gift of Thy perfect Charity.\u00a0 Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love . . .<\/p>

IV.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 O most sweet Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the gift of great desire and resolution which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most generous spouse, to give us a true desire and a true resolution of pleasing Thee to the utmost of our power.\u00a0 Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love . . .<\/p>

V.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0O most kind Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the great gift of humility that Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most humble spouse, to grant us the grace of a true humility, which may make us ever find our joy in humiliations, and prefer contempt to every honour.\u00a0 Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love . . .<\/p>

VI.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 O most bountiful Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the gift of devotion towards Thy sweet Mother, Mary, and her holy spouse, Joseph, which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most dear spouse, to give us the grace of a special and tender devotion towards Thy most holy Mother, Mary, and towards Thy beloved foster-father, Joseph.\u00a0 Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love . . .<\/p>

VII.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0O most loving Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the wonderful gift of the wound in the heart that Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy seraphic spouse, to grant us also a like wound of love, that, henceforth, we may love Thee, and give our mind to the love of nothing but Thee.\u00a0 Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love . . .<\/p>

VIII.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0O most beloved Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the eminent gift of the desire for death that Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most constant spouse, to grant us the grace of desiring death, in order to go and possess Thee eternally in the country of the Blessed.\u00a0 Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love . . .<\/p>

IX.<\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Lastly, O dearest Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for the gift of the precious death which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa.\u00a0 We pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most affectionate spouse, to grant us a good death; and that if we do not die of love, we may, at least, die burning with love for Thee, that so dying, we may be able to go and love Thee evermore with a perfect love in Heaven.\u00a0 Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory, etc.<\/em><\/p>

O Jesus, Who didst pierce with love . . .<\/p>

Let us pray*<\/em><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation, and grant that as we do rejoice for the Feast-Day of Thy blessed handmaiden Teresa, so we may feed to our ghostly health upon her heavenly teaching, and better ourselves by the example of her godly conversation. \u00a0Through Our Lord Jesus Christ. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>

* This ending prayer is not found in this volume, but is included as the concluding prayer of this chaplet in the St. Alphonsus Prayer-Book<\/em>.<\/h6>

Meditaci\u00f3n vespertina:\u00a0 <\/strong>CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

VII. GOD WISHES ONLY OUR GOOD<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0What greater satisfaction can a soul enjoy than in knowing that by suffering with a good will whatever it may have to suffer, it gives to God the greatest pleasure it can give Him? \u00a0The masters of the spiritual life teach that, though the desire which certain souls have of suffering to give God pleasure is acceptable to Him, He is yet more pleased with the conformity of those who wish for neither joy nor pain, but, in perfect resignation to His holy will, have no other desire than to fulfill whatever the will of God may be.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If, then, O devout soul, you would please God, and live a life of contentment, unite yourself always and in everything to the Divine will. \u00a0Consider that all the sins you have committed, when leading a life of disorder and unhappiness, have come to pass in consequence of having separated yourself from the will of God. \u00a0Unite yourself from this day forward, with His good pleasure; and always say, in everything that may befall you: Yea, Father; for so hath it seemed good in thy sight. <\/em>\u2014 (Matt. xi. 26). \u00a0So may it be, O Lord, as it is pleasing unto Thee. \u00a0Whenever you are troubled on account of some adversity, consider that it has come from God; and therefore say at once: \u201cGod wills it so\u201d \u2013 and remain in peace. \u00a0I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because thou hast done it. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. xxxviii. 10). \u00a0To this end you must direct all your thoughts and prayers to God, in Meditations, in Communions, in Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament, that He would make you accomplish His will. \u00a0Strive to make continually an offering of yourself, saying: O my God, behold, here I am; do what Thou willest with me, and with all that I have. \u00a0This was St. Teresa\u2019s continual exercise; fifty times a day at least did the Saint offer herself to the Lord, that He might dispose of her according to His pleasure.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, happy will you be if you act ever thus! \u00a0You will certainly become a saint; your life will be peaceful, and your death most happy. \u00a0When any one is passing to the other life, our hopes of his salvation depend on whether he has died resigned or not. \u00a0If, after having during life welcomed all things as coming from God, you in like manner embrace death also in order to accomplish the Divine will, you will certainly secure your salvation and die the death of a saint. \u00a0Let us, then, abandon ourselves in everything to the good pleasure of that Lord Who, being most wise, knows what is best for us; and being most loving, since He has sacrificed His life through love of us, wills also that which is most for our good. \u00a0Let us be thoroughly assured and convinced that God works for our good incomparably beyond all we can do or desire for ourselves.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTUESDAY IN THE TWENTIETH WEEK AFTER PENTECOST<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Meditaci\u00f3n matutina:\u00a0 FEAST OF ST. TERESA (October 15)<\/strong><\/em><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What makes the holy Mother, Teresa, an object of our admiration is the steadfastness of soul with which she strove to accomplish whatever she knew was acceptable to God. \u00a0She taught her children that \u201cDivine love is to be acquired by a determination to work and suffer for God.\u201d<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let us consider the burning love which this seraphic Saint entertained for God.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To her it seemed impossible that there could be in the world a single person who did not love God; and she would say: \u201cMy God, art not Thou exceedingly lovable on account of Thine infinite perfections, and of the infinite love Thou bearest towards us? \u00a0How, then, can there be any one that does not love Thee?\u201d \u00a0Most humble though she was, yet in speaking of love she did not shrink from saying: \u201cI am all imperfection, excepting in desires and in love.\u201d \u00a0The Saint has left us on record the following excellent instruction: \u201cDetach your heart from everything: seek God and you will find Him.\u201d \u00a0On the other hand, she used to say, that it is easy for those who love God to detach themselves from the earth: Ah! my God, we only need to love Thee truly, for Thee to make everything easy to us.\u201d \u00a0Again, she writes: \u201cSince live we must, let us live for Thee, so that our selfish interests may at last disappear. \u00a0What greater advantage can any one gain than that which is to be found in pleasing Thee! \u00a0O my delight and my God, what shall I do in order to please Thee?\u201d \u00a0She even went so far as to say that she would not be made sorry at seeing others in Heaven more happy than herself; but that she could not make up her mind to see any one love God more than she should love Him.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What makes this Saint an object of our admiration, is the steadfastness of soul with which she strove to accomplish everything she knew to be acceptable to God. \u00a0She used to say: \u201cThere is nothing, however painful, that I am not prepared courageously to undertake, if it were set before me to do.\u201d \u00a0Hence she gave it as her instruction, that \u201cDivine love is to be acquired by a determination to act and to suffer for God.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFor,\u201d said she in another place, \u201cthe devil has no fear of irresolute souls.\u201d \u00a0To please God, she even went so far, as is well known, as to make a vow of performing whatever was the most perfect. \u00a0And since sufferings endured for God are the strongest proofs of love, she desired to live for nothing but to suffer.\u00a0 Therefore she wrote: \u201cIt seems to me that there is no reason to live, except it be to suffer; and this it is for which I most fervently pray to God. \u00a0To Him I say with my whole heart: Lord, either to suffer or to die! \u00a0I ask of Thee for this, and nothing more.\u201d \u00a0Her love became so ardent, that Jesus Christ one day appeared to her and said: \u201cTeresa, you are all Mine, and I am all yours.\u201d<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So dear did Teresa become to her Spouse Jesus, that He sent one of the Seraphim to wound her heart with a dart of fire. \u00a0At length she died as she had lived, all inflamed with love. \u00a0When the end of her life was drawing near, all her sighs were for death, that she might go to unite herself to her God: \u201cO death!\u201d she said, \u201cI know not who can dread thee, for in thee is life. \u00a0Serve thy God, O my soul, and hope that He will bring thee a remedy for thy pains.\u201d \u00a0For this reason she composed the affectionate Canticle of love that opens with the following words:\u2014<\/p>

\u201cI live, but from myself am far away:
\u00a0And hope to reach a life so high,
\u00a0That I\u2019m forever dying because I cannot die.\u201d<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When the Holy Viaticum was brought to her, she exclaimed: \u201cO my Saviour, the longed-for moment is at last come! \u00a0Now begins the time when we shall see each other face to face.\u201d \u00a0Then she died of love, as she herself revealed after her death.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O my seraphic Saint, thou art now rejoicing in thy God, Whom thou didst love so much during thy lifetime, when in constant danger of losing Him. \u00a0Obtain for us, by thy prayers, the grace that we may go to love our God in Paradise with thee for evermore.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO ST. TERESA.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0O seraphic virgin, well-beloved spouse of the Divine Word, St. Teresa of Jesus! \u00a0I, (N.N.) though very unworthy to be thy servant, yet encouraged by thy great goodness and by the desire I have to serve thee, in the presence of the Most Holy Trinity, of my Guardian Angel, and of the whole heavenly court, choose thee to-day, after Mary, for my mother, my mistress, and my special patroness, and I take the firm resolution always to serve thee, and to do all I possibly can that others may serve thee. \u00a0Therefore, O my seraphic Saint, I supplicate thee, by the Blood thy Divine Spouse shed for me, to receive me among the number of thy devoted servants. \u00a0Assist me in my necessities, and obtain for me the grace to imitate thy virtues by walking in the true road of Christian perfection. \u00a0Aid me particularly in prayer, and ask God to give me this glorious gift that thou didst receive in so eminent a degree, in order that, contemplating and loving the sovereign Good, I may avoid, in my thoughts, words, and deeds, all that might offend, or be even in the least displeasing to thee and to my God. \u00a0Accept this little offering as a mark of my engagement to thy service, and assist me during my life, and above all at the hour of my death. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 THE TEACHING OF ST. TERESA ON THE LOVE OF GOD AND OUR NEIGHBOUR<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I.\u2014We must love God perfectly; that is,<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must love Him above all things, so as to be willing to die rather than commit the least wilful sin. \u00a0St. Teresa says: \u201cMay God deliver you from deliberately committing even the most trivial sin!\u201d \u00a0\u201cFor,\u201d she adds, \u201cthe devil, by means of the smallest things, opens a way through which greater things may enter.\u201d \u00a0Again, she has this admonition: \u201cTrue devotion consists in not offending God and in being resolved to do nothing but what is good and holy.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must love God with our whole heart, ever desiring to arrive at a higher degree of perfection in order to please Him. \u00a0St. Teresa observes: \u201cGod will not suffer any good desire to go unrewarded even in this life.\u201d\u00a0 And she also says that our Lord, ordinarily, does not confer many signal favours, \u201cexcept upon those who have greatly desired to love Him.\u201d \u00a0But to desires we must add actions, by overcoming with fortitude human respect, our own repugnances, and all worldly interests.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must love God continually, and on all occasions; and for this end we must direct and offer all to Him, even our indifferent actions, such as our eating, diversions, walking, working, every breath we breathe, uniting all with the actions of Jesus Christ and of the Blessed Virgin when on earth. \u00a0Moreover we must cheerfully suffer all adverse and painful things, conforming ourselves and uniting ourselves to the will of God in whatever He is pleased to do in us and for us. \u00a0Upon this St. Teresa has left the following excellent sentiments: \u201cAnd what more can we wish to gain than the testimony of doing what is pleasing to God?\u201d \u00a0And she explains what this testimony is: \u201cWhilst we live, our gain does not consist in endeavouring to enjoy God, but in doing His will. \u00a0Great is the fruit of this giving of our will to God, for it induces God to unite Himself to our lowliness. \u00a0True union is the union of our will with the will of God.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To promote this and keep alive the flame of Divine love, we must make frequent acts of love during the course of the day, but particularly when we approach holy Communion, and during the time of Meditation, saying to God: My most beloved and only Treasure, my God, my All, I love Thee with my whole heart. \u00a0I give my whole self to Thee without reserve, and I consecrate to Thee all my thoughts, desires, and affections. \u00a0I desire, I sigh, I seek for nothing but Thee alone, my only life. \u00a0To please Thee is my only delight. \u00a0Do in me and with me whatever Thou pleasest. \u00a0My God and only good, grant me but to love Thee, and I ask for nothing more.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 II.\u2014In order to maintain the union of the soul with God, we must exercise charity towards our neighbour.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As regards the interior,<\/em> it consists in wishing the neighbour the same good that we wish ourselves; in not wishing him the evil we do not wish ourselves; in rejoicing in his good, and regretting the evil which befalls him, although we may naturally experience some repugnance in so doing.<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As regards the exterior:
<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must not murmur against the neighbour, deride or laugh at him, but speak always well of him, and defend, or at least excuse his intention.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must console him under afflictions.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0We must succour him in his necessities of soul and body, particularly in sickness.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must condescend to the neighbour, as Saint Teresa expresses it, in all that is not sin.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must not give our neighbour bad counsel or bad example.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must occasionally reprove him, but mildly and seasonably, but not when we are agitated with passion.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must above all endeavour to render good for evil, at least to speak well of those who injure us, treat them with meekness, and recommend them to God, turning away our thoughts from the annoyances, harshness, and provocations which we consider we have received from them.<\/p>

_____________<\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As a conclusion to this short practice we must note, amongst others, the following maxims on perfection which St. Teresa has left us in various parts of her works:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAll our efforts produce little result, if we do not get rid of self-confidence, so as to place our confidence wholly in God.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBecause we do not interiorly give all our affection to God, so neither does God give us all the treasures of His love.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cMay God deliver us from ostentatious devotion.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI have often found that there is nothing more efficacious than holy water for driving away the devils.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAll that we can do is but nothing compared with a single drop of the Blood which the Saviour shed for us.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIf we do not put an obstacle, God will not hesitate to grant us the assistance necessary in order to become saints.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cGod does not leave without reward a single glance towards Heaven accompanied by the remembrance of Him.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord wishes for nothing from us but a resolute will, in order to go on to accomplish all that remains to be done on His part.
\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGod never sends a pain which He does not afterwards repay by some favour.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIf the soul does not keep itself apart from the pleasures of the world, it will soon become careless in the way of the Lord.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDo not mention your temptations to imperfect souls, for you will do an injury both to them and to yourself.\u00a0 Communicate them only to the perfect.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cLet your desire be to see God; your fear be to lose God; your joy be whatever can conduct you to God.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Live Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and Teresa, now and forever.<\/em> \u00a0Am\u00e9n.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n vespertina:\u00a0 <\/strong>CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

VIII.\u00a0 SPECIAL PRACTICES OF THIS VIRTUE<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let us come to the practice of this virtue of conformity to God\u2019s will, and consider in what we have to bring ourselves into conformity with the will of God.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the first place, we must have this conformity as regards those things that come to us from without, such as great heat, great cold, rain, scarcity, pestilence, and the like. \u00a0We must take care not to say: What intolerable heat! \u00a0What terrible cold! \u00a0What a misfortune! \u00a0How unlucky! \u00a0What wretched weather! or other words expressive of disagreement with the will of God. \u00a0We ought to will everything to be as it is, since God it is Who wills it so.\u00a0 St. Francis Borgia, on going one night to a house of the Society when the snow was falling, knocked at the door several times; but, the Fathers being asleep, the door was not opened. \u00a0They made great lamentations in the morning for having kept him so long waiting in the open air, but the Saint said that during the time he had been greatly consoled by the thought that it was God Who was casting the snowflakes down upon him.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the second place, we must have this conformity as regards things that happen to us from within, as in the sufferings consequent on hunger, thirst, poverty, desolation, or disgrace. \u00a0In all things, let us ever say: \u201cLord, Thine it is to make and to unmake; I am content, I will only what Thou dost will.\u201d \u00a0And thus, too, we ought, as F. Rodriguez says, to reply to those imaginary cases which the devil occasionally suggests to the mind, in order at least to dishearten us. \u00a0If such a person were to say so-and-so to you, or if he were to do so-and-so to you, what would you say? \u00a0What would you do?\u00a0 Let your answer always be: \u201cI would say and do that which God wills.\u201d \u00a0And by this means we shall keep ourselves free from all fault and be at peace.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the third place, if we have any natural defect either of mind or body \u2013 a bad memory, slowness of apprehension, mean abilities, a crippled limb, or weak health \u2013 let us not, therefore, make lamentation. \u00a0What were our deserts, and what obligation was God under to bestow upon us a mind more richly endowed, or a body more perfectly framed? \u00a0Could He not have created us mere brute animals? \u00a0Or have left us in our own nothingness? \u00a0Who is there that ever receives a gift and tries to make bargains about it? \u00a0Let us, then, return God thanks for what, through a pure act of His goodness, He has bestowed upon us; and let us rest content with the manner in which He has treated us. \u00a0Who can tell whether, if we had had better abilities, more robust health, or greater personal attractions, we should not have possessed them to our destruction? \u00a0How many there are whose ruin has been occasioned by their talents and learning, of which they have grown proud, and in consequence of which they have looked upon others with contempt \u2013 a danger which is easily incurred by those who excel others in learning and ability! \u00a0How many others there are whose personal beauty or bodily strength have furnished the occasions of plunging them into innumerable acts of wickedness! \u00a0And, on the contrary, how many there are who, in consequence of their poverty, infirmity, or ugliness, have sanctified themselves and been saved, who, had they been rich, strong, or handsome, might have been damned! \u00a0And thus let us rest content ourselves with that which God has given us: But one thing is necessary. \u2014 <\/em>(Luke x. 42).\u00a0 Beauty is not necessary, nor health, nor keenness of intellect; that which alone is necessary is the salvation of our soul.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Meditaci\u00f3n matutina:\u00a0 EVIL DOERS SHALL BE CUT OFF<\/em><\/strong><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When the tower of Siloe fell and killed eighteen persons, the Lord said to those who were present: Think you that they also were debtors above all the men that dwelt in Jerusalem? \u00a0No, I say to you: but except you do penance you shall all likewise perish.<\/em><\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, how just God is when the time of vengeance arrives! \u00a0He causes the sinner to be ensnared and strangled in the net his own hands have woven. \u00a0The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgments; the sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. ix. 17). \u00a0Baronius relates how Herodias died, who caused St. John the Baptist to be beheaded. \u00a0As she was crossing frozen water one day the ice broke under her, and she remained with her head above the ice. \u00a0In her violent struggling for life, the head was severed from the body, and thus she died.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let us tremble when we see others punished, knowing as we do, that we ourselves have deserved the same punishments. \u00a0When the Tower of Siloe fell and killed eighteen persons, the Lord said to those who were present: Think you that they also were debtors above all the men that dwelt in Jerusalem?<\/em> \u00a0Do you think that these poor creatures alone were in debt to God\u2019s justice on account of their sins? \u00a0No, I say to you: but except you do penance, you shall all likewise perish. <\/em>\u2014 (Luke xiii. 4-5). \u00a0O, how many unfortunate men damn themselves by false hope in the Divine mercy?\u00a0 Yes, God is merciful, and therefore assists and protects those who hope in His mercy: He is the protector of all that trust in him. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. xvii. 31). \u00a0But He assists and protects those only who hope in Him, with the intention of changing their lives, not those whose hope is accompanied by a perverse intention of continuing in sin. \u00a0The hope of the latter is not acceptable to God; He abominates and punishes it: Their hope, the abomination of the soul. \u2014 <\/em>(Job xi. 20). \u00a0Poor sinners, their greatest misery is, that they are on their way to hell, and do not know their state. \u00a0They jest, and they laugh, and they despise the threats of God, as if God had assured them that He would not punish them.\u00a0 \u201cWhence,\u201d exclaims St. Bernard, \u201cthis accursed security?\u201d \u00a0Unde haec securitas maledicta?<\/em> \u00a0Accursed security which brings you to hell! \u00a0I will come to them that are at rest, and dwell securely. \u2014 <\/em>(Ezech. xxxviii. 11).\u00a0 The Lord is patient, but when the hour of chastisement arrives, then will He justly condemn to hell those wretches who continue in sin, and live in peace, as if there were no hell at all for them.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let there be no more sin. \u00a0Let us be converted if we wish to escape the scourge which hangs over us!\u00a0 If we do not cease from sin, God will be obliged to punish us: For evil-doers shall be cut off. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. xxxvi. 9). \u00a0The obstinate are not only finally shut out from Paradise, but hurried off the earth, lest their example should draw others into destruction. \u00a0Now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. <\/em>\u2014 (Luke, iii. 9). \u00a0It is said that the axe is laid, not to the branches, but to the root, so that it will be irreparably exterminated. \u00a0When the branches are lopped, the tree continues still to live; but when the tree is torn up from the root, it then dies, and is cast into the fire. \u00a0The axe is laid to the root.<\/em>\u00a0 We should tremble lest God make us die in our sins, for if we so die we shall be cast into the fire of hell, where our ruin shall be eternal.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But, you will say: I have committed many sins during the past, and the Lord has borne with me. \u00a0I may, therefore, hope that He will deal mercifully with me in the future. \u00a0Do not speak so. \u00a0Say not: I have sinned, and what harm hath befallen me? for the Most High is a patient rewarder. <\/em>\u2014 (Ecclus. v. 4). \u00a0God bears with you now, but He will not always bear with you. \u00a0Now, therefore, stand up, that I may plead in judgment against you . . . \u00a0concerning all the kindness of the Lord <\/em>\u2014 (1 Kings, xii. 7), said Samuel to the Hebrews. \u00a0Oh how terribly does not the abuse of the Divine mercies assist in procuring the damnation of the ungrateful!\u00a0 Gather them together as sheep for a sacrifice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. <\/em>\u2014 (Jer. xii. 3).\u00a0 In the end those who will not be converted shall be victims of Divine justice, and the Lord will condemn them to eternal death, when the day of slaughter,<\/em> the day of His vengeance shall have arrived. \u00a0We have reason always to be in dread, as long as we are not resolved to abandon sin, lest that day should be already at hand. \u00a0God is not mocked; for what things a man shall sow, these also shall he reap. \u2014 <\/em>(Gal. vi. 7-8). \u00a0Sinners mock God by confessing at Easter, or two or three times a year, and then returning to the vomit, and yet hoping after all that to obtain salvation. \u201cHe is a mocker, not a penitent,\u201d says St. Isidore, \u201cwho continues to do that for which he says he is penitent\u201d; but, God is not mocked!<\/em> \u00a0They hope for salvation!
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What do they dare to expect? \u00a0What things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap.<\/em> \u00a0What things do men sow? \u00a0Blasphemy, revenge, theft, impurity: what then do they hope for? \u00a0He who sows in sin can hope to reap nothing but chastisements and hell. \u00a0For he that soweth in his flesh,<\/em> continues the same Apostle, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. \u2014 <\/em>(Ibid.)<\/p>

Spiritual Reading: \u201cONLY PRETENDING NOT TO SEE\u201d<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. John Chrysostom says there are some who are only pretending not to see. \u00a0They see the chastisements for sin, but pretend not to see them. \u00a0There are others, says St. Ambrose, who fear not, because chastisements have not overtaken themselves. \u00a0To all these it will happen, as it did to mankind, at the time of the Deluge. \u00a0The Patriarch Noe foretold and announced to them the punishments God had prepared for their sins; but the sinners would not believe him, and notwithstanding that the Ark was being built before their eyes, they did not change their lives, but went on sinning until the punishment was upon them, until they were drowned in the Deluge. \u00a0And they knew not until the flood came and took them all away. \u2014 <\/em>(Matt. xxiv. 39). \u00a0The same happened to the great Babylon, in the Apocalypse, who said: I sit a queen, . . . and sorrow I shall not see. \u2014 <\/em>(Apoc. xviii. 7). \u00a0She persevered in her impurity in the hope of not being punished, but the chastisement at length came as had been predicted. \u00a0Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning, and famine, and she shall be burnt with the fire. \u2014 <\/em>(Ibid. 8).
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Who knows whether this is not the last call which God may give you? \u00a0Our Lord says that a certain owner of a vineyard, finding a fig-tree for the third year without fruit, said: Behold, for these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. \u00a0Cut it down, therefore, why cumbereth it the ground? \u2014 <\/em>(Luke xiii. 7). \u00a0Then the dresser of the vine replied: Lord, let it alone this year also . . . and if happily it bear fruit \u2013 but if not, then, after that, thou shalt cut it down. <\/em>\u2014 (Luke, xiii. 7-9). \u00a0Let us enter into ourselves.\u00a0 For years has God been visiting our souls, and has found no other fruit than thorns and thistles, that is to say, sins. \u00a0Hear how the Divine justice exclaims: Cut it down, therefore, why cumbereth it the ground?<\/em> but Mercy pleads, Let it alone this year also.<\/em> \u00a0Let us give it one trial more; let us see whether it will not be converted at this other call. \u00a0But tremble lest mercy may not have granted to justice that if you do not now amend, your life should be cut off, and your soul condemned to hell. \u00a0Tremble and take measures that the mouth of the pit close not over you. \u00a0Such was the prayer of David: Let not the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. \u2014 <\/em>(Ps. lxviii. 16). \u00a0This is what sin does. \u00a0It causes the mouth of the pit, that is, the state of damnation into which the sinner has fallen, to close over him by degrees. \u00a0As long as that pit is not entirely closed, there is some hope of escape; but if it be once shut, what further hope remains? \u00a0By the closing of the pit, I mean the sinner\u2019s being shut out from every glimmer of grace, and he stops at nothing.\u00a0 Thus is accomplished what the wise man has said: The wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sins, contemneth. \u2014 <\/em>(Prov. xviii. 3). \u00a0He despises the laws of God, admonitions, sermons, excommunications, threats \u2013 he despises hell itself! \u00a0Such a man can be saved, but his salvation is morally impossible. \u00a0Perhaps you have yourself come to despise the chastisements of God?\u00a0 If it be so, what should you do? \u00a0Should you despair?\u00a0 No; you know what you have to do. \u00a0Have recourse to the Mother of God. \u00a0Although you should be in despair, and abandoned by God, remember that Mary is the hope of the despairing, and the succour of the most abandoned. \u00a0St. Bernard says the same thing: \u201cLet him who despairs hope in thee!\u201d \u00a0But if God wishes that I should be lost, what hope can there be for me?\u00a0 But God says: No, my son, I do not wish to see you lost: I desire not the death of the wicked. <\/em>\u2014 (Ezech. xxxiii. 11). \u00a0And what then do you desire, O Lord?\u00a0 I wish the sinner to be converted, and recover the life of My grace \u2013 that the wicked turn from his way and live. \u2014 <\/em>(Ibid.). \u00a0Fling yourself then at once at the feet of Jesus Christ; behold Him with His arms open to embrace you!<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n vespertina:\u00a0 <\/strong>CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

IX.\u00a0 SPECIAL PRACTICES OF THIS VIRTUE<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must be particularly conformed to God\u2019s will, and resigned under pressure of corporal infirmities; and we must embrace them willingly, both in the manner, and at the time, God wills. \u00a0Nevertheless, we must employ the usual remedies, for this also is what the Lord wills; but if they do us no good, let us unite ourselves to the will of God, and this will do us much more good than health. \u00a0O Lord, let us then say, I have no wish either to recover or to remain sick: I will only what Thou dost will. \u00a0Certainly virtue is greater, if, in times of sickness, we do not complain of our sufferings; but when these press hard upon us, it is not a fault to make them known to our friends, or even to pray to God to liberate us from them. \u00a0I am speaking now of sufferings that are really severe; for there are many who, with very great fault in every trifling pain or weariness, would have the whole world come to compassionate them, and shed tears of pity for them. \u00a0Even Jesus Christ, on seeing the near approach of His most bitter Passion, manifested to His disciples what He suffered: My soul is sorrowful even unto death. \u2014 <\/em>(Matt. xxvi. 38), and He prayed the Eternal Father to liberate Him from it: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. \u2014 <\/em>(Ibid. 39). \u00a0But Jesus Himself has taught us what we ought to do after praying in like manner \u2013 namely straightway to resign ourselves to the Divine will, adding, as He did: Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou willest.<\/em><\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How foolish those are who say that they wish for health in order to render greater service to God, by the observance of the rules, by serving the community, by going to church, by receiving Holy Communion, by doing penance, by study, by employing themselves in the saving of souls, or by hearing Confessions, and by preaching! \u00a0But, I wish you would tell me why it is that you desire to do these things. \u00a0You will say it is to please God. \u00a0And why go out of your way in order to do this; certain, as you are, that what pleases God is not that you keep the rules, receive Communion, do acts of penance, study, or preach sermons, but that you suffer with patience the infirmity or the pains which He sees fit to send you? \u00a0Unite your own sufferings, then, to those of Jesus Christ. \u00a0But, you may answer: I am troubled that, in consequence of being such an invalid, I am useless and burdensome to everybody. \u00a0But as you resign yourself to the will of God, so you ought to believe that your Superiors, too, resign themselves, seeing, as they do, that it is not through any laziness of yours, but through the will of God, that this burden is upon the house. \u00a0Ah, these desires and regrets do not spring from our love of God, but from our love of self, which is hunting after excuses for departing from the will of God! \u00a0Is it our wish to give pleasure to God? \u00a0Let us say, then, whenever we are ill: Fiat voluntas Tua. \u00a0Thy will be done.<\/em> \u00a0And let us be ever repeating it, even for the hundredth or thousandth time; and by this alone we shall give more pleasure to God than by all the mortifications and devotions we might perform. \u00a0There is no better way of serving God than by cheerfully embracing His will. \u00a0The Blessed Father Avila wrote thus to a priest who was an invalid: \u201cMy friend, do not stop to think of all you might do if you were well, but be content to remain unwell as long as God shall please. \u00a0If your object be to do the will of God, how can it be of more consequence for you to be well than ill?\u201d \u00a0And certainly this was wisely said; for God is not glorified so much by our works as by our resignation and conformity to His holy will. \u00a0And therefore St. Francis de Sales used to say that we serve God more by suffering<\/em> than by working.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Meditaci\u00f3n matutina:\u00a0 GOD IS MERCIFUL TILL FORCED TO CHASTISE<\/em><\/strong><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favourable to the nation; art thou glorified? <\/em>\u2014 (Is. xxvi. 15).
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, O Lord, Thou hast dealt mercifully with Thy people, and what hast Thou received in return? \u00a0Have thy people abandoned sin and changed their lives? \u00a0No; they have gone from bad to worse! \u00a0But let us remember, God must hate sin because He is holy: He must chastise it because He is just.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We must persuade ourselves that God cannot do otherwise than hate sin; He is holiness itself, and therefore cannot but hate that monster, his enemy, whose malice is altogether opposed to the perfection of God.\u00a0 And if God hate sin, He must necessarily hate the sinner who makes league with sin. \u00a0But to God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful alike. \u2014 <\/em>(Wis. xiv. 9). \u00a0O God, with what grief and with what reason dost Thou not complain of those who despise Thee, to take part with Thy enemy! \u00a0Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken: I have brought up children, and exalted them; but they have despised me. <\/em>\u2014 (Is. i. 2). \u00a0Hear, O ye heavens, He says, and give ear, O earth, and witness the ingratitude with which I am treated by men! \u00a0I have brought them up, and exalted them as My children, and they have repaid Me with contempt and outrage. \u00a0The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel hath not known me. <\/em>\u2014 (Ibid. 3). \u00a0But how is this? \u00a0\u201cServices are remembered even by beasts,\u201d says Seneca. \u00a0The very brutes are grateful to their benefactors. \u00a0See how that dog serves and obeys, and is faithful to his master, who feeds him; even the wild beasts, the tiger and the lion are grateful to those who feed them. \u00a0And God, Who till now has provided us with everything; Who has given us food and raiment; Who kept us in existence up to the moment we were offending Him \u2013 how have we treated Him?<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do we think we can live on as we have been living?\u00a0 Do we perhaps think that there is no punishment, no hell for us? \u00a0But hearken and know that as the Lord cannot but hate sin, because He is holy, so He cannot but chastise it when the sinner is obstinate, because He is just.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When God does chastise, it is not to please Himself, but because we force Him to it. \u00a0The Wise Man says that God did not create hell, through a desire of condemning man thereto, and that He does not rejoice in their damnation, because He does not wish to see His creatures perish: For God made not death, neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living; for he created all things that they might be. \u2014 <\/em>(Wis. i. 13). \u00a0No gardener plants a tree in order to cut it down and burn it. \u00a0It is not God\u2019s desire to see us miserable and in torments, and therefore, says St. John Chrysostom, He waits so long before He takes vengeance on the sinner. \u00a0He waits for our conversion, that He may then be able to use His mercy in our regard. \u00a0Therefore the Lord waiteth, that he may have mercy on you. <\/em>\u2014 (Is. xxx. 18).\u00a0 Our God, says the same St. John Chrysostom, is in haste to save, and slow to condemn. \u00a0When there is question of pardon, no sooner has the sinner repented than he is forgiven by God. \u00a0Scarcely had David said: Peccavi, Domino!<\/em> when he was informed by the Prophet that his pardon was already granted: The Lord also hath taken away thy sin. <\/em>\u2014 (2 Kings, xii. 13). \u00a0Yes, because \u201cwe do not desire pardon as eagerly as God desires to pardon us,\u201d says the same holy Doctor. \u00a0On the other hand, when there is question of punishment, He waits, He admonishes, He sends us warning of it beforehand: For the Lord God doth nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the Prophets. \u2014 <\/em>(Amos, iii. 7).<\/p>

Lectura espiritual:\u00a0 THE DESIRE OF PERFECTION<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An ardent desire of perfection is the first means we should adopt if we wish to acquire sanctity and to belong wholly to God. \u00a0To hit a bird in flight, the sportsman must take aim in advance of his prey, so, too, a Christian, to make progress in virtue, should aspire to the highest degree of holiness which it is in his power to attain. \u00a0Who will give me wings like a dove,<\/em> says David, and I will fly and be at rest? \u2014 <\/em>(Ps. liv. 7). \u00a0Who will give me the wings of the dove to fly to my God, and, divested of all earthly affections, to repose in the bosom of the Divinity? \u00a0Holy desires are the blessed wings with which the Saints, bursting every worldly tie, flew to the mountain of perfection, where they found that peace which the world cannot give.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But how do fervent desires make the soul fly to God?\u00a0 \u201cThey,\u201d says St. Laurence Justinian, \u201csupply strength, and render pains light.\u201d \u00a0On the one hand, good desires give strength and courage, and on the other they diminish the labour and fatigue there is in ascending the mountain of God. \u00a0Whosoever, through diffidence of attaining sanctity, does not ardently desire to become a saint, will never arrive at perfection. \u00a0A man who is desirous of obtaining a valuable treasure which he knows is to be found at the top of a lofty mountain, but who, through fear of fatigue and difficulty, has no desire of ascending, will never, of course, advance a single step towards the wished-for object, but will remain below in careless indifference and inactivity.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He that does not desire, and does not strenuously endeavour, always to advance in holiness, will go backward in the path of virtue, and be exposed to great danger of eternal misery. \u00a0The path of the just,<\/em> says Solomon, as the shining light, goeth, forwards and increaseth even to perfect day. \u00a0The way of the wicked is darksome: they know not where they fall. \u2014 <\/em>(Prov. iv. 18). \u00a0As light increases constantly from sunrise to full day, so the path of the Saints always advances; but the way of sinners becomes continually more dark and gloomy, till they know not where they go, and at length walk over a precipice. \u00a0\u201cNot to advance,\u201d says St. Augustine, \u201cis to go back.\u201d \u00a0St. Gregory beautifully explains this maxim of the spiritual life by comparing a Christian who seeks to remain stationary in the path of virtue to a man who is in a boat on a rapid river, and striving to keep the boat always in the same position.\u00a0 If the boat be not continually propelled against the current, it will be carried away in an opposite direction, and consequently, without continual exertion, its position cannot be maintained. \u00a0Since the fall of Adam man is naturally inclined to evil from his birth. \u00a0For the imagination and thought of man\u2019s heart are prone to evil from his youth. <\/em>\u2014 (Gen. viii. 21). \u00a0If he do not push forward, if he do not endeavour, by incessant efforts, to increase in sanctity, the very current of his passions will carry him back. \u00a0\u201cSince you do not wish to proceed,\u201d says St. Bernard, addressing a tepid soul, \u201cyou must recede.\u201d \u00a0\u201cBy no means,\u201d she replied; \u201cI wish to live, and to remain in my present state. \u00a0I will not consent to be worse; and I do not wish to be better.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThen,\u201d rejoins the Saint, \u201cyou wish to do the impossible.\u201d \u00a0Because, in the way of God, a Christian must either go forward and advance in virtue, or go backward into vice.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In seeking eternal salvation, we must, according to St. Paul, never rest, but run continually in the way of perfection, that we may win the prize, and secure an incorruptible crown. \u00a0So run that you may obtain. \u2014 <\/em>(1 Cor. ix. 24). \u00a0If we fail, the fault will be ours; for God wills that all should be holy and perfect. \u00a0This is the will of God \u2014 your sanctification. <\/em>\u2014 (1 Thess. iv. 3). \u00a0He even commands us to be perfect and holy. \u00a0Be you therefore perfect, as also your Heavenly Father is perfect. <\/em>\u2014 (Matt. v. 48). \u00a0Be holy because I am holy. \u2014 <\/em>(Lev. xi. 44). \u00a0He promises and gives abundant strength, as the holy Council of Trent teaches, for the observance of all His commands, to those who ask it from Him. \u00a0\u201cGod does not command impossibilities; but by His precepts he admonishes you to do what you can, and to ask what you cannot do; and He assists you, that you may be able to do it.\u201d \u00a0God does not command impossibilities; but by His precepts He admonishes us to do what we can by the aid of His ordinary grace; and when greater helps are necessary, He exhorts us to ask for them by humble prayer. \u00a0He will infallibly answer our petitions, and enable us to observe all, even the most difficult, of His commandments. \u00a0Take courage, then, and adopt the advice of the Venerable Father Torres to one of his penitents: \u201cLet us, my child, put on the wings of strong desires, that quitting the earth, we may fly to our Spouse and our Beloved, Who expects us in the blessed kingdom of eternity.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Augustine teaches that the life of a Christian is made up of holy desires. \u00a0He, then, that cherishes not in his heart the desire of sanctity, may be a Christian, but he will not be a good one.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n vespertina:\u00a0 <\/strong>CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

X.\u00a0 SPECIAL PRACTICES OF THIS VIRTUE<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will often happen we shall find ourselves without doctor or medicine; or, again, our medical attendant may not clearly understand our complaint; and here, too, we must be in a state of conformity to the Divine will, which ordains it to be so for our good. \u00a0It is related of one who had a devotion to St. Thomas of Canterbury, that, being unwell, he went to the tomb of the Saint to obtain his recovery. \u00a0He returned home in good health; but then he said within himself: But if the sickness would have been a greater help towards my salvation, what benefit shall I gain from the health I now have? \u00a0With this thought in his mind, he went back to the tomb, and prayed the Saint to ask for him of God that which was the more expedient for his eternal salvation; and after doing this, he relapsed into the sickness, and bore it with perfect contentment, holding it for certain that God ordained it to be so for his good.\u00a0 There is a similar anecdote related by Surius, of a certain blind man who received his sight through the intercession of the Bishop St. Vedast; but afterwards prayed that, if his sight was not expedient for his soul, he might return to his former state of blindness; and after this prayer he continued blind as before. \u00a0In times of sickness, then, it is best to abandon ourselves to the will of God, that He may dispose of us as pleases Him. \u00a0But if we wish for good health let us ask for it with resignation at least, and on the condition that health of the body be for the health of the soul; otherwise a prayer to this effect will be faulty, and rejected, because the Lord does not listen to such prayers when not accompanied by resignation.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I call the time of sickness the touchstone by which souls are tried, for then is ascertained a man\u2019s real virtue.\u00a0 If he does not lose his tranquillity, makes no complaints, and is not over-anxious, but obeys his medical adviser and his superiors, preserving throughout the same peacefulness of mind, in perfect resignation to the Divine will, it is a sign that he possesses great virtue. \u00a0But what, then must one say of the sick person who laments and says that he receives but little assistance from others; that his sufferings are intolerable; that he can find no remedy to do him good; that his medical man is ignorant; at times complaining even to God that His hand presses too heavily upon him? \u00a0St. Bonaventure relates of St. Francis, that when the Saint was suffering pains of an extraordinary severity, one of his Religious, who was somewhat artless, said to him: \u201cMy Father, pray to God to treat you with a little more gentleness; for it seems that He lays His hand upon you too heavily.\u201d\u00a0 St. Francis, on hearing this, cried aloud, and said to him in reply: \u201cListen; if I did not know that you spoke from your simplicity, I would never see your face again \u2013 daring, as you have done, to find fault with the judgments of God.\u201d \u00a0And after saying this, extremely enfeebled and emaciated through his sickness though he was, he threw himself from his bed upon the floor and kissing it, said: \u201cLord, I thank Thee for all the sufferings Thou sendest me. \u00a0I pray Thee to send me more, if it so please Thee. \u00a0It is my delight for Thee to afflict me, and not to spare me in the least, because the fulfilment of Thy will is the greatest consolation I can receive in this life.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Meditaci\u00f3n matutina:\u00a0 THE SWEAT OF BLOOD AND AGONY OF JESUS<\/strong><\/em><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There is no means that can more surely kindle Divine love in us than to consider the Passion of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 St. Bonaventure says that the Wounds of Jesus, because they are the Wounds of love, are darts which pierce the hardest hearts, and flames which set on fire the coldest souls. \u00a0\u201cO wounds, wounding stony hearts and inflaming frozen minds!\u201d<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our loving Redeemer, as the hour of His death was approaching retired into the Garden of Gethsemani, where of His own will He made a beginning of His most bitter Passion, by giving free way to fear and weariness and sorrow: He began to fear, and to be heavy \u2013 to grow sorrowful, and to be sad. \u2014 <\/em>(Mark xiv. 33; Matt. xxvi. 37). \u00a0He began, then, to feel a great fear and weariness of death, and of the pains which must accompany it.\u00a0 At that moment there were represented to His mind most vividly the scourges, the thorns, the nails, the cross, which, not one after the other, but every one together, came to afflict Him; and specially there stood before Him the desolate death He must endure, abandoned by every comfort, human and Divine; so that, terrified by the sight of the horrid vision of such torments and ignominies, He besought His Eternal Father to be freed from them: My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me. \u2014 <\/em>(Matt. xxvi. 39).\u00a0 But how is this? \u00a0Was it not this same Jesus Who had so much desired to suffer and die for men, saying: Tengo un bautismo con el que he de ser bautizado, y \u00a1cu\u00e1n apurado estoy hasta que se cumpla! <\/em>\u2014 (Luke xii. 50). \u00a0How then, does He fear these pains and this death? \u00a0It was with good-will indeed He was going to die for us: but to the end that we might not suppose that through any virtue of His Divinity He could die without pain, He made this prayer to His Father that we might fully know that He not only died for love of us, but that the death He was to die did terrify Him greatly.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To torment our afflicted Saviour there was added a great sorrowfulness \u2013 so great that, as He said, it was enough to cause death: My soul is sorrowful even unto death. \u2014 <\/em>(Matt. xxvi. 38). \u00a0But, Lord, to deliver Thyself from the death men are preparing for Thee is in Thy own hands, if it so please Thee; why, then, afflict Thyself? \u00a0Ah, it was not so much the torments of His Passion as our sins which afflicted the Heart of our loving Saviour. \u00a0He had come on earth to take away our sins; but seeing that, in spite of His Passion, there would be committed such iniquities in the world \u2013 this was the pang which before dying reduced Him to death, and made Him sweat living blood in such abundance that the ground all round about was bathed therewith: And His sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground. <\/em>\u2014 (Luke xxii. 44). \u00a0Yes, Jesus then saw before Him all the sins men were going to commit after His death, all the hatred, the impurities, thefts, blasphemies, sacrileges, and each sin, with its own malice, came like a cruel wild beast to rend His Heart. \u00a0So that He seemed to say: Is this, then, O men, the recompense you make to my love? \u00a0Ah, if I could see you grateful to Me, with what gladness should I now go to die; but to see, after so many sufferings of mine, so many sins; after so great love, so much ingratitude \u2013 this it is which causes Me to sweat blood.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Were they, then, my sins, my beloved Jesus, which in that hour so greatly afflicted Thee? \u00a0If, therefore, I had sinned less, Thou wouldst have suffered less. \u00a0The more pleasure I have taken in sinning, so much the more sorrow did I cause Thee. \u00a0How is it that I do not die of grief in thinking that I have repaid Thy love by increasing Thy pain and sorrow? \u00a0Have I, then, afflicted that Heart which has so much loved me? \u00a0With creatures I have been grateful enough; with Thee only have I been ungrateful. \u00a0My Jesus, pardon me; I repent with all my heart.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seeing Himself burdened with our sins, Jesus fell upon his face \u2014 <\/em>(Matt. xxvi. 39), as if ashamed to lift up His eyes to Heaven, and lying in the agony of death He prayed a long time: Being in an agony he prayed the longer. \u2014 <\/em>(Luke, xxii. 43).
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, my Lord, Thou didst pray then to the Eternal Father to pardon me, offering Thyself to die in satisfaction for my sins. \u00a0O my soul, how is it that thou dost not surrender thyself to such great love? \u00a0Believing this, how canst thou love aught else than Jesus? \u00a0Come! cast thyself at the feet of thy Savour in His agony, and say to Him: My dear Redeemer, how is it that Thou couldst love one who had so offended Thee? \u00a0How couldst Thou suffer death for me, seeing my ingratitude? \u00a0Make me, I pray Thee, partaker of this sorrow which Thou didst feel in the Garden. \u00a0Now I abhor all my sins, and unite this abhorrence to that which Thou hadst for them.\u00a0 O love of my Jesus, Thou art my love! \u00a0Lord, I love Thee, and for love of Thee I offer myself to suffer any pain, any kind of death. \u00a0Ah, by the merits of the agony which Thou didst suffer in the Garden, give me holy perseverance! \u00a0Mary, my hope, pray to Jesus for me.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 THE MEANS OF ACQUIRING PERFECTION<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The first means is Mental Prayer, and particularly Meditation on the claims God has on our love, and on His love for us, especially in the great work of our Redemption. \u00a0To redeem us, God even sacrificed His life in a sea of sorrows and contempt; and to obtain our love, He has gone so far as to make Himself our food.\u00a0 To inflame the soul with the fire of Divine love, these truths must be frequently meditated upon. \u00a0In my meditation,<\/em> says David, a fire shall flame out. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. xxxviii. 4). \u00a0When I contemplate the goodness of my God, the flames of charity fill my whole heart. \u00a0St. Aloysius used to say, that to attain eminent sanctity a high degree of mental prayer is necessary.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We should frequently renew our resolution of advancing in Divine love. \u00a0In this renewal we shall be greatly assisted by considering each day, that it is only now you begin to walk in the path of virtue. \u00a0This was the practice of holy David: And I said: Now have I begun. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. lxxvi. 11). \u00a0And this was the dying advice of St. Anthony to his monks: \u201cMy dear children, consider that each day is the day you begin to serve God.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We should search out continually and scrupulously the defects of the soul. \u00a0\u201cBrethren,\u201d says St. Augustine, examine yourselves with rigour; be always dissatisfied with what you are, if you desire to become what you are not yet. \u00a0To arrive at that perfection which you have not attained, you must never, be satisfied with the virtue you possess; \u201cfor,\u201d continues the Saint, \u201cwhere you say you are pleased with yourself, there you remain.\u201d\u00a0 Wherever you are content with the degree of sanctity to which you have arrived, there you will stop, and, taking complacency in yourself, you will lose the desire of further perfection. \u00a0Hence the holy Doctor adds, what should terrify every tepid soul, who, content with her present state, has but little desire of spiritual advancement: \u201cBut if you say: It is enough, you are lost!\u201d\u00a0 If you say you have already attained sufficient perfection, you are lost; for not to advance in the way of God is to go back. \u00a0And, as Saint Bernard says, \u201cnot to wish to go forward, is certainly to fail.\u201d \u00a0Hence St. John Chrysostom exhorts us to think continually on the virtues we do not possess, and never to reflect on the little good we have done; for the thought of our good works \u201cgenerates indolence and inspires arrogance,\u201d and serves only to engender sloth in the way of the Lord, and to swell the heart with vain-glory, which exposes the soul to the danger of losing the virtues she has acquired. \u201cHe<\/em> who runs,\u201d continues the Saint, \u201cdoes not count the distance he has gone, but the distance he has still to go.\u201d \u00a0He that aspires after perfection does not stop to calculate the proficiency he has made, but directs all his attention to the virtue he has still to acquire. \u00a0Fervent Christians, as they that dig for a treasure <\/em>\u2014 (Job, iii. 21), advance in virtue as they approach the end of life. \u00a0Saint Gregory says in his commentary on this passage of Job, that the man who digs for a treasure, the deeper he has dug the more he exerts himself in the hope of finding it; so the soul that seeks after holiness multiplies its efforts to attain it in proportion to the advance it has made.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The fourth means is that which St. Bernard employed to excite his fervour. \u00a0\u201cHe had,\u201d says Surius, \u201cthis always in his heart, and frequently in his mouth: Bernarde, ad quid venisti?\u201d \u2013 <\/em>Bernard, to what purpose hast thou come hither? \u00a0Those especially who have consecrated themselves to God should continually ask themselves the same question: Have I not left the world and all its riches and pleasures, to live in the cloister, and to become a saint, and what progress do I make? \u00a0Do I advance in sanctity? \u00a0Am I not, by my tepidity, exposing myself to the danger of eternal perdition? \u00a0It will be useful to introduce, in this place, the example of the Venerable Sister Hyacinth Mariscotti, who at first led a very tepid life, in the convent of St. Bernardine in Viterbo. \u00a0She confessed to Father Bianchetti, a Franciscan, who came to the convent as extraordinary confessor. \u00a0That holy man thus addressed her: \u201cAre you a nun? \u00a0Are you not aware that Paradise is not for vain and proud Religious?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThen,\u201d she replied, \u201chave I left the world to cast myself into hell?\u201d \u00a0\u201cYes,\u201d rejoined the Father, \u201cthat is the place which is destined for Religious who live like seculars.\u201d \u00a0Reflecting on these words of the holy man, Sister Hyacinth was struck with remorse; and, bewailing her past life, she made her Confession with tearful eyes, and began from that moment to walk resolutely in the way of perfection. \u00a0Oh! how salutary is the thought of having abandoned the world to become a saint! \u00a0It awakens the tepid soul, and encourages us all to advance continually in holiness, and to surmount every obstacle to our ascent up to the mountain of God.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n vespertina:\u00a0 THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST IS OUR CONSOLATION<\/em><\/i><\/strong><\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Who can ever give us as much consolation in this valley of tears as Jesus crucified? \u00a0What can sweeten the prickings of remorse, arising from the remembrance of our past sins, better than the consideration that Jesus Christ has voluntarily suffered death in order to atone for our sins? \u00a0He,<\/em> says the Apostle, gave himself for our sins. \u2014 <\/em>(Gal. i. 4).
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In all the persecutions, calumnies, insults, loss of property and honour, which may come to us in this life, who is better able to give us strength to bear them with patience and resignation than Jesus Christ, Who was despised, calumniated, and poor; Who died on a Cross, naked, and abandoned by all?
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What more consoling in infirmities than the sight of Jesus crucified? \u00a0In our sickness we find ourselves on a comfortable bed; but when Jesus was sick on the Cross on which He died, He had no other bed than a hard tree, to which He was fastened by three nails; no other pillow on which to rest His head than the Crown of Thorns, which continued to torment Him till He expired.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In our sickness we have around our bed, friends and relatives to sympathize with us and to entertain us.\u00a0 Jesus died in the midst of enemies, who insulted and mocked Him as a malefactor and seducer, even when He was in the very agony of death. \u00a0Certainly, there is nothing so well calculated as the life of Jesus crucified to console a sick man in his sufferings, particularly if he finds himself abandoned by others. \u00a0To unite, in his infirmity, his own pains to the pains of Jesus Christ is the greatest comfort that a poor sick man can enjoy.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the anguish caused at death by the assaults of hell, the sight of past sins, and the account to be rendered in a short time at the Divine tribunal, the only consolation a dying Christian, combating with death, can have consists in embracing the Crucifix, saying: \u201cMy Jesus and my Redeemer, Thou art my love and my hope.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In a word, all the graces, lights, inspirations, holy desires, devout affections, sorrow for sin, good resolutions, Divine love, hope of Paradise, that God bestows upon us, are fruits and gifts which come to us through the Passion of Jesus Christ.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah, my Jesus, if Thou, my Saviour, hadst not died for me, what hope could I, who have so often turned my back upon Thee and so often deserved hell, entertain of going to behold Thy beautiful countenance in the land of bliss, among so many innocent Virgins, among so many holy Martyrs, among the Apostles and Seraphs?\u00a0 It is Thy Passion, then, that gives me hope, in spite of my sins, that I too shall one day reach the society of the Saints and of Thy holy Mother, to sing Thy mercies, and to thank and love Thee forever in Paradise. \u00a0Such, O Jesus, is my hope. \u00a0The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. lxxxviii. 2). \u00a0Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Meditaci\u00f3n matutina:\u00a0 MOST HOLY MARY, ADVOCATE OF SINNERS<\/strong><\/em><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So far is the Blessed Virgin Mary from disdaining to assist sinners, she ever takes pride in her office as Advocate of Sinners. \u00a0\u201cNext to the dignity of Mother of God,\u201d she herself once said, \u201cthere is nothing I value so much as my office of Advocate of sinners.\u201d<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So far is the Blessed Virgin Mary from disdaining to assist sinners, she ever takes pride in her office as Advocate of Sinners. \u00a0\u201cNext to the dignity of Mother of God,\u201d she herself once said, \u201cthere is nothing I value so much as my office of Advocate of sinners.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was for this end that Mary was chosen from eternity to be God\u2019s Mother that those whose sins should exclude them from participation in the merits of her Son might be made partakers of them by her intercession. \u00a0This was the principal office for the fulfilment of which God created Mary, and placed her in this world: Feed thy kids. \u2014 <\/em>(Cant. i. 7). \u00a0By kids He means sinners, and those kids are given to Mary\u2019s care, in order that they who on the Day of Judgment should by their sins have deserved to stand upon the left, may by her intercession stand upon the right. \u00a0\u201cFeed thy kids,\u201d says William of Paris, \u201cwhom thou shalt convert into sheep, that they who should have been placed to the left may through thy intercession take their stand upon the right.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Bridget one day heard Jesus Christ saying to His Mother: \u201cThou givest assistance to every one endeavouring to ascend to God.\u201d \u00a0Mary assists every one who does himself violence to abandon his evil life and turn to God, or who at least prays to her that he may receive strength to do so; if he have not that desire, the Divine Mother herself cannot assist him. \u00a0Mary then assists only those sinners who honour her by some special devotion, and who, if they yet remain in disgrace with God, have recourse to her that she may obtain pardon for them, and work their deliverance from their present unfortunate condition. \u00a0The sinner who acts thus from his heart is secure, because Mary, as we have said before, has been created that she might have charge of sinners, and lead them to God. \u00a0The Lord revealed this to St. Catherine of Sienna: \u201cShe is chosen by me as a most delicious food, so as to attract and capture men, especially sinners.\u201d\u00a0 And the Blessed Mother herself said to St. Bridget, that as the magnet attracts iron, so she draws the hard hearts of men to herself and to God. \u00a0But we must always bear in mind that these hearts, notwithstanding their hardness, must desire liberation from their unhappy state.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHow can he fear he shall be cast away,\u201d asks the Abbot Adam, \u201cto whom Mary offers herself for a Mother and an Advocate?\u201d \u00a0He inquires again, \u201cCould it be possible that you, the Mother of Mercy, should not intercede with the Redeemer for the soul He has redeemed?\u201d \u00a0He answers: \u201cAh, thou must intercede, because God, Who has placed His Son as Mediator between man and Heaven, has placed thee Mediatrix between His Son and guilty man.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then, O sinner, says St. Bernard, give thanks to God Who has provided you with such a Mediatrix. \u00a0Thank your God; Who, in order to manifest His mercy towards you, has given you not only His Son for a Mediator in His own right, but that you may have more confidence, has given you Mary as a Mediatrix with that Son.\u00a0 Therefore, it is that St. Augustine calls her the only hope of sinners. \u00a0And St. Bonaventure: \u201cIf by reason of your iniquities you see the Lord in anger, and fear to approach Him, have recourse to the hope of sinners, who is Mary.\u201d \u00a0She will not reject you because you are too wretched, for \u201cit is her office to assist the wretched.\u201d\u00a0 Hence, when we have recourse to Mary, let us say to her with St. Thomas of Villanova: \u201cCome, therefore, thou our advocate, and fulfil thy office.\u201d \u00a0Since thou art Mother of God, and advocate of the wretched, assist me who am so wretched; if thou dost not assist me I shall be lost! \u00a0Let us address her in the words of St. Bernard: \u201cRemember, O most pious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. \u00a0Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions; but in thy clemency hear and answer me. \u00a0Amen.\u201d<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 I. MORTIFICATION OF THE EYES<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Almost all our rebellious passions spring from unguarded looks; for, generally speaking, it is by the sight that all inordinate affections and desires are excited.\u00a0 Hence, holy Job said: I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin. \u2014 <\/em>(Job xxxi, 1).\u00a0 Why did he say that he would not so much as think upon a virgin?<\/em> \u00a0Should he not have said that he made a covenant with his eyes not to look<\/em> upon a virgin? \u00a0No; he very properly said that he would not think<\/em> upon a virgin; because thoughts are so connected with looks, that the former cannot be separated from the latter, and therefore, to escape the molestation of evil imaginations, he resolved never to fix his eyes on a woman.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Augustine says: \u201cThe thought follows the look: delight comes after the thought; and consent after delight.\u201d \u00a0From the look proceeds the thought; from the thought the desire. \u00a0If Eve had not looked at the forbidden apple, she should not have fallen; but because she saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat. <\/em>\u2014 (Gen. iii. 6). \u00a0The devil tempts us to look<\/em> first, then to desire,<\/em> and afterwards to consent.
<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Jerome says that Satan requires \u201conly a beginning on our part.\u201d \u00a0If we begin, he will complete our destruction. \u00a0A deliberate glance at a person of a different sex often enkindles an infernal spark, which consumes the soul. \u00a0\u201cThrough the eyes,\u201d says St. Bernard, \u201cthe deadly arrows of love enter.\u201d \u00a0The first dart that wounds and frequently robs chaste souls of life finds admission through the eyes. \u00a0By them David, the beloved of God, fell. \u00a0By them was Solomon, once the inspired of the Holy Ghost, drawn into the greatest abominations. \u00a0Oh! how many are lost by indulging their sight!
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The eyes must be carefully guarded by all who expect not to be obliged to join in the lamentation of Jeremias: My eye hath wasted my soul. \u2014 <\/em>(Lam. iii. 51). \u00a0By the introduction of sinful affections, my eyes have destroyed my soul. \u00a0Hence St. Gregory says, that \u201cthe eyes, because they draw us to sin, must be cast down.\u201d \u00a0If not restrained, they will become instruments of hell, to force the soul to sin almost against its will. \u00a0\u201cHe that looks at a dangerous object,\u201d continues the Saint, \u201cbegins to will what he wills not.\u201d \u00a0It was this the inspired writer intended to express when he said of Holofernes, that the beauty of Judith made his soul her captive. <\/em>\u2014 (Judith xvi. 11).
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Seneca says that \u201cblindness is a part of innocence.\u201d\u00a0 And Tertullian relates that a certain pagan philosopher, to free himself from impurity, plucked out his eyes.\u00a0 Such an act would be unlawful in us: but he that desires to preserve chastity must avoid the sight of objects that are apt to excite unchaste thoughts. \u00a0Gaze not about, <\/em>says the Holy Ghost, upon another’s beauty; . . . hereby lust is enkindled as a fire. <\/em>\u2014 (Ecclus. ix. 8, 9).\u00a0 Gaze not upon another\u2019s beauty; for from looks arise evil imaginations, by which an impure fire is kindled.\u00a0 Hence St. Francis de Sales used to say, that \u201cthey who wish to exclude an enemy from the city must keep the gates locked.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hence, to avoid the sight of dangerous objects, the Saints were accustomed to keep their eyes almost continually fixed on the earth, and to abstain even from looking at innocent objects. \u00a0After being a novice for a year, St. Bernard could not tell whether his cell was vaulted. \u00a0In consequence of never raising his eyes from the ground, he never knew that there were but three windows to the church of the monastery, in which he spent his novitiate. \u00a0He once, without perceiving a lake, walked along its banks for nearly an entire day; and hearing his companions speak about it, he asked when they had seen it. \u00a0St. Peter of Alcantara kept his eyes constantly cast down, so that he did not know the brothers with whom he conversed. \u00a0It was by the voice, and not by the countenance, that he recognised them.<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n vespertina:\u00a0 \u201cO GRACIOUS ADVOCATE\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/i><\/strong><\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Since the Mother should have the same power as the Son, rightly has Jesus, Who is Omnipotent, made Mary also Omnipotent; though, of course, it is always true that where the Son is Omnipotent by nature, the Mother is only so by grace. \u00a0But that she is so, is evident from the fact, that whatever the Mother asks for, the Son never denies her; and this was revealed to St. Bridget, who one day heard Jesus speaking to Mary, and thus address her: \u201cAsk of Me what thou wilt, for no petition of thine can be void.\u201d \u00a0As if He had said, \u201cMy Mother, thou knowest how much I love thee; therefore, ask all thou wilt of Me; for it is not possible that I should refuse thee anything.\u201d \u00a0And the reason our Lord gave for this was beautiful: \u201cBecause thou never didst deny Me anything on earth, I will deny thee nothing in Heaven.\u201d \u00a0My Mother, when thou wast in the world, thou never didst refuse to do anything for the love of Me; and now that I am in Heaven, it is right that I should deny thee nothing thou askest. \u00a0Holy Mary, then, is called omnipotent in the sense in which it can be understood of a creature who is incapable of a Divine attribute. \u00a0She is omnipotent, because by her prayers she obtains whatever she wills.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With good reason, then, O great advocate, does St. Bernard say: \u201cThou willest, and all things are done.\u201d\u00a0 And St. Anselm: \u201cWhatever thou, O Virgin, willest can never be otherwise than accomplished.\u201d \u00a0Thou willest, and all is done. \u00a0If thou art pleased to raise a sinner from the lowest abyss of misery to the highest degree of sanctity, thou canst do it. \u00a0Blessed Albert the Great, on this subject, makes Mary say: \u201cI have to be asked that I may will; for if I will a thing, it is necessarily done.\u201d<\/p>

Meditaci\u00f3n II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Peter Damian, reflecting on the great power of Mary, and begging her to take compassion on us, addresses her, saying: \u201cO let thy nature move thee, let thy power move thee; for the more thou art powerful, the greater should thy mercy be.\u201d \u00a0O Mary, our own beloved advocate, since thou hast so compassionate a heart that thou canst not even see the wretched without being moved to pity, and since, at the same time, thou hast so great power with God, that thou canst save all whom thou dost protect \u2013 disdain not to undertake the cause of us poor miserable creatures who place all our hope in thee. \u00a0If our prayers cannot move thee, at least let thine own benign heart do so; or, at least, let thy power do so, since God has enriched thee with so great power, in order that the richer thou art in power to help us, the more merciful thou mayest be in the will to assist us. \u00a0St. Bernard reassures us on this point; for he says that Mary is as immensely rich in mercy as she is in power; and that, as her charity is most powerful, so also it is most clement and compassionate, and its effects continually prove it to be so. \u00a0He thus expresses himself: \u201cThe most powerful and merciful charity of the Mother of God abounds in tender compassion and in effectual succour; it is equally rich in both.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\u21d1 \u00a0<\/a>CONTENIDO<\/a>
<\/em>\u21d0 NINETEENTH WEEK AFTER <\/em>PEN<\/em>TECOST<\/em><\/a>
\u21d2 TWENTY-FIRST WEEK AFTER <\/em>PENTECOST\u00c9S<\/em><\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VOLUME IV – PART II, pp. 102-155 TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Morning Meditation:\u00a0 ST. TERESA’S DESIRE FOR DEATH \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Death is an object of the greatest terror to souls attached to this world. Those who love God especially\u00a0desire it.\u00a0 … Seguir leyendo <\/i><\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4884,"parent":0,"menu_order":106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11107","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDAILY MEDITATIONS: TWENTIETH WEEK AFTER PENTECOST - Society of the Most Holy Redeemer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/societyofthemostholyredeemer.org\/es\/daily-meditations-twentieth-week-after-pentecost\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DAILY MEDITATIONS: TWENTIETH WEEK AFTER PENTECOST - Society of the Most Holy Redeemer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"VOLUME IV – PART II, pp. 102-155 TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Morning Meditation:\u00a0 ST. 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