Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE IS A FIRE THAT INFLAMES THE HEART — “Tu amoris in eis ignem accende.”
We know from our Faith that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son through their mutual love for each other, and therefore that the gift of love which the Lord infuses into our souls, and which is the greatest of all gifts, is particularly attributed to the Holy Ghost. The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us. — (Rom. v., 5). Hence in this Novena we should especially consider the great excellence and value of Divine love that we may desire it, and labour to obtain it by devout exercises, but particularly by fervent prayer, for Jesus has said: Your Father from heaven will give the good Spirit to them that ask him. — (Luke xi., 13).
Meditação I:
God ordained in the Old Law that fire should be kept continually burning upon His altar: The fire on the altar shall always burn. — (Lev. vi. 12). St. Gregory says that our hearts are the altars of God on which He desires that the fire of His love should always be burning. And hence the Eternal Father, not satisfied with having given us His Son Jesus Christ, to save us by His death, would also give us the Holy Ghost, to dwell in our hearts, and keep them continually inflamed with His love. And Jesus Himself declared that it was in order to influence our hearts with this holy love that He came into the world, and that He desired nothing more than to see it kindled: I am come to send fire upon the earth; and what will I but that it be kindled? — (Luke xii., 49). Hence, forgetting the injuries and ingratitude He received from men in this world, when He had ascended into Heaven, He sent down upon us the Holy Ghost. O most loving Redeemer, dost Thou, then, love us not only in Thy sufferings and ignominies, but also in Thy Heavenly glory?
Hitherto, O my God, I have done nothing for Thee Who hast done such great things for me! Alas, my lukewarmness may deserve that Thou shouldst vomit me out of Thy mouth! O Holy Spirit, warm what is cold, deliver me from my tepidity, and enkindle within me a great desire of pleasing Thee.
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
“Charity dealeth not perversely.”
I. HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST AVOIDS LUKEWARMNESS, AND SEEKS PERFECTION
Meditação I:
St. Gregory, in his explanation of these words, “dealeth not perversely,” says that Charity, giving herself up more and more to the love of God, ignores whatever is not right and holy. The Apostle had already written to the same effect, when he called Charity a bond that unites the most perfect virtues together in the soul. Have charity, which is the bond of perfection. — (Col. iii., 14). And whereas Charity delights in perfection, she consequently abhors that lukewarmness with which some persons serve God, to the great risk of losing charity, divine grace, their very souls and their all.
At the same time it must be observed that there are two kinds of tepidity or lukewarmness; the one unavoidable, the other avoidable. From that which is unavoidable, the Saints themselves are not exempt; and this comprises all the failings which are committed by us without full consent, but merely from our natural frailty. Such are, for example, distractions at prayers, interior disquietudes, useless words, vain curiousity, the wish to appear, tastes in eating and drinking, the movements of concupiscence not instantly repressed, and such like. We ought to avoid these defects as much as we possibly can; but, owing to the weakness of our nature, caused by the infection of sin, it is impossible to avoid them altogether. We ought, indeed, to detest them after committing them, because they are displeasing to God; but as we have already remarked, we ought to beware of making them a subject of alarm or disquietude. St. Francis of Sales wrote as follows: “All such thoughts as create disquietude are not from God, Who is the Prince of Peace; but they proceed always from the devil, or from self-love, or from the good opinion we have of ourselves.”
Meditação II:
Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE IS A LIGHT THAT ENLIGHTENS THE SOUL — “O Lux Beatissima.”
O Lux Beatissima! The Holy Ghost, who is called most blessed Light, is He Who not only inflames our hearts to love Him, but also dispels all darkness and reveals to us the vanity of earthly things. O Holy Spirit, visit me by Thy grace, and grant me the gift of understanding, that by the contemplation of Heavenly things I may detach my thoughts and affections from all the vanities of this miserable world.
Meditação I:
One of the worst effects of Adam’s sin in us, was its blinding our reason by means of the passions which darkened the mind. Oh, how miserable is the soul that allows itself to be ruled by any of the passions! Passion is a vapour, a veil, which will not suffer us to see the truth. How can he fly from evil who knows not what is evil? This obscurity increases in proportion as our sins increase. But the Holy Ghost, Who is called Light most blessed, with His Divine rays, not only inflames our hearts to love Him, but also dispels our darkness, and reveals to us the vanity of all worldly things, the worth of eternal goods, the importance of salvation, the value of grace, the goodness of God, the infinite love He deserves from us, and the immense love He has shown to us.
O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler, I adore Thee as my true God, as I adore God the Father and God the Son. I beseech Thee to visit me by Thy grace and Thy love, and to grant me the gift of understanding in order that I may be able to understand the Divine Mysteries, and, by the contemplation of Heavenly things, may detach my thoughts and affections from all the vanities of this miserable world.
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
II. HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST AVOIDS LUKEWARMNESS, AND SEEKS PERFECTION
Meditação I:
The tepidity, then, that does hinder perfection, is that tepidity which is avoidable when a person commits deliberate venial faults; because all these faults committed with open eyes can effectually be avoided by Divine grace if we have the desire. Wherefore St. Teresa said: “May God deliver you from deliberate sin, however small it may be.” Such, for example, are wilful untruths, little detractions, imprecations, expressions of anger, derisions of one’s neighbour, cutting words, words of self-esteem, animosities nourished in the heart, inordinate attachments to persons of a different sex. “These are a sort of worm,” wrote the same Saint, “which is not detected before it has eaten into the virtues.” Hence, in another place, she gave this admonition: “By means of small things the devil goes about making holes for great things to enter.”
We should, therefore, tremble at such deliberate faults; since they cause God to close His hands from bestowing upon us His clearer lights and stronger helps, and deprive us of spiritual sweetnesses; and the result of such is to make the soul perform all spiritual exercises with great weariness and pain; and so, in the course of time, she begins to leave off Prayer, Communions, Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and Novenas; and, in the end, she will probably leave off all piety, as has not infrequently been the case with many unhappy souls.
Meditação II:
Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE A FOUNTAIN THAT SATISFIES — “Riga quod est aridum.”
God, Who loves us and desires to see us happy, cries out and makes known to all: If any man thirst, let him come to me. I will give him the Holy Ghost Who will make him blessed in this life and in the next. Riga quod est aridum! O my Jesus, I beseech Thee, give me the water of Thy love which will make me forget the earth, and live for Thee alone Who art the infinitely amiable One!
Meditação I:
Love is called a living fountain, fire, Charity. Fons vivus, ignis, Charitas. Our Blessed Redeemer said to the Samaritan woman: But he that shall drink of the water that I shall give him, shall not thirst for ever. — (John iv., 13). Love is the water which satisfies our thirst; for he that truly loves God with his whole heart, neither seeks nor desires anything else: because in God he finds every good. Hence, happy in possessing God, he frequently exclaims with joy: My God and my All! Almighty God complains of many who seek for fleeting, miserable pleasures from creatures, and leave Him, Who is Infinite Goodness, and the Fountain of all joy: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. — (Jer. ii., 13). Meanwhile God, Who loves us and desires to see us happy, cries out and makes known to all: If any one thirst, let him come to me. — (John vii., 37). He who desires to be happy, let him come to Me, and I will bestow upon him the Holy Ghost, Who will make him blessed, both in this life and in the next.
Domine, da mihi hanc aquam! Lord, give me of this water! — (John iv., 15). O Jesus, with the Samaritan woman I beseech Thee, give me of this water of Thy love, which will make me forget the earth, and live only for Thee alone, Who art the infinitely amiable One. Riga quod est aridum! My soul is a barren soil, which produces nothing but the weeds and thorns of sin. Oh, water it with Thy holy grace, that it may yield some fruit to Thy glory, before it leaves this world in death!
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: THE SUBLIME DIGNITY OF THE PRIESTHOOD
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
III. HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST AVOIDS LUKEWARMNESS, AND SEEKS PERFECTION
Meditação I:
The evil of tepidity arises from the little love men have for Jesus Christ. They who are puffed-up with self-esteem; those who frequently take to heart occurrences that fall out contrary to their wishes; who practise great indulgence towards themselves on account of their health; who keep their heart open to external objects, and the mind always distracted, with an eagerness to listen to, and to know, so many things that have nothing to do with the service of God, but merely serve to gratify private curiosity; who are ready to resent every little inattention from others, and consequently are often troubled, and grow remiss in prayer and recollection who one moment are all devotion and joy, the next all impatience and melancholy, just as things happen according to or against their humour; all such persons do not love Jesus Christ, or love Him very little, and cast discredit on true devotion.
But suppose anyone should find himself sunk in this unhappy state of tepidity, what has he to do? Certainly, it is a hard thing for a soul grown lukewarm to resume her ancient fervour; but our Lord has said, that what man cannot do, God can very well do. The things that are impossible with man, are possible with God. — (Luke xviii., 27). Whoever prays and employs the means is sure to accomplish his desire.
Now, the first means is the desire of perfection. Pious desires are the wings which lift us up from earth; for, as St. Laurence Justinian says, desire “supplies strength, and lightens pain.” It gives strength to walk towards perfection, and lightens the fatigue of the journey. He who has a real desire of perfection fails not to advance continually towards it; and so advancing, he must finally arrive at it. On the contrary, he who has not the desire of perfection will always go backwards, and always find himself more imperfect than before. St. Augustine says, that “not to go forward in the way of God is to go backwards.” He that makes no effort to advance will find himself carried backwards by the current of his corrupt nature.
Meditação II:
Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE IS A DEW THAT FERTILIZES — “In aestu temperies: dulce refrigerium.”
Divine Love fertilizes the good desires, the holy purposes, and the good works of our souls, and these are the flowers and fruits which the grace of the Holy Ghost produces. O Holy and Divine Spirit, I will no longer live to myself. I will spend all the days that remain to me of life in loving and pleasing Thee.
Meditação I:
Divine Love is a dew that fertilizes the soul. Thus does the Holy Church teach us to pray: May the infusion of the Holy Ghost cleanse our hearts, and fertilize them by the inward sprinkling of his dew. Love fertilizes our good desires, our holy purposes, and the good works of our souls; these are the flowers and the fruits which the grace of the Holy Ghost produces. Love is also called dew, because it cools the heat of bad desires and temptations. Hence the Holy Ghost is also called refreshment in the excess of heat, and solace in our grief. In aestu temperies; dulce refrigerium.
O Holy and Divine Spirit, I will live no longer to myself; the days which may remain to me of life, I will spend entirely in loving and pleasing Thee. On this account I beseech Thee to grant me the gift of prayer. Come, Thou, into my heart, and teach me to pray as I ought. Give me strength not to neglect prayer in the time of dryness and weariness; and give me the spirit of prayer; that is, the grace of praying to Thee in such a manner, and of offering Thee such prayers as may be most acceptable to Thee.
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: GRANDEUR OF THE PRIESTLY POWER
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
IV. THE MEANS OF AVOIDING LUKEWARMNESS AND ATTAINING PERFECTION
Meditação I:
The second means of perfection is the resolution to belong wholly to God. Many are called to perfection; they are urged on towards it by grace, they conceive a desire of it; but because they never really resolve to acquire it, they live and die in the ill-odour of their tepid and imperfect life. The desire of perfection is not enough if it be not followed up by a stern resolve to attain it. How many souls feed themselves on desires alone, but never make withal one step in the way of God! It is of such desires that the Wise Man speaks when he says: Desires kill the slothful. — (Prov. xxi., 25). The slothful man is ever desiring, but never resolves to take the means suitable to his state of life to become a saint. He says: “Oh, if I were but in solitude, and not in this house! Oh, if I could but go and reside in another monastery, I would give myself up entirely to God!” And meanwhile he cannot support a certain companion; he cannot put up with a word of contradiction; he is dissipated about many useless cares; he commits a thousand faults of gluttony, of curiosity, and of pride; and yet he sighs out to the wind: “Oh, if I had but . . .!” or “Oh, if I could but . . .!” Such desires do more harm than good; because some regale themselves upon them, and in the meantime go on leading a life of imperfection. It was a saying of St. Francis of Sales: “I do not approve of a person who, being engaged in some duty or vocation, sighs for some other kind of life than is compatible with his actual position, or for other exercises unfitted for his present state; for it merely serves to dissipate his heart, and makes him languish in his necessary duties.”
Meditação II:
Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE IS A REPOSE THAT REFRESHES — “In labore requies: in fletu solatium.”
Divine Love is called rest in labour, in mourning comfort. A soul that loves God finds peace and contentment in all tribulations and adversities, by merely saying: This is the will of my God.
Meditação I:
Divine Love is also called rest in labour, in mourning comfort. In labore requies, in fletu solatium. Love is a repose that refreshes, because the principal effect of love is to unite the will of the lover with that of the beloved. For a soul that loves God, in every affront it receives, in every grief it endures, in every loss it suffers, it is sufficient to make it resigned to know that such things are permitted to befall it by the will of its Beloved. It finds peace and contentment in all tribulations and adversities, saying: Such is the will of my God. This is that peace which surpasseth all the pleasures of sense: The peace of God which surpasseth all understanding. — (Philipp. iv., 7). St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, by merely repeating: “it is the will of God,” was immediately filled with joy.
O my God, how often, for the sake of following my own will, have I opposed Thy holy will and despised it. I desire from this day forward to love Thee with my whole heart.
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: THE PRIESTHOOD SURPASSES ALL OTHER CREATED DIGNITIES
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
V. THE MEANS OF AVOIDING LUKEWARMNESS AND ATTAINING PERFECTION
Meditação I:
The first resolution must be to make every effort, and to die rather than commit any deliberate sin whatever, however small it may be. It is true that all our endeavours, without the Divine assistance, cannot enable us to vanquish temptations; but God wishes us on our part frequently to use this violence with ourselves, because then He will afterwards supply us with His grace, will succour our weakness, and enable us to gain the victory. This resolution removes from us every obstacle to our going forward, and at the same time gives us great courage, because it affords us an assurance of being in the grace of God. St. Francis of Sales writes: “The best security we can possess in this world of being in the grace of God, consists not indeed in feeling that we have His love, but in a pure and irrevocable abandonment of our entire being into His hands, and in the firm resolution of never consenting to sin, either great or small.” This is what is meant by being of a delicate conscience. Be it observed that it is one thing to be of a delicate conscience, and another to be of a scrupulous conscience. To be of a delicate conscience is requisite to become a saint; but to be scrupulous is a defect, and does harm; and on this account we must obey our directors, and rise above scruples, which are nothing else but vain and unreasonable alarms.
Meditação II:
Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE STRENGTHENS US — “Fortis est ut mors delectio.”
O amor é forte como a morte. — (Cant. viii., 6). As there is no created power that can resist death, so with the soul that loves God there is no difficulty that love cannot overcome. O my Jesus, send Thy Holy Spirit that He may come and strengthen me to do and suffer something for Thy love before death overtakes me.
Meditação I:
Fortis est ut mors delectio. Love is strong as death.
As there is no created power than can resist death, so to the soul that loves God, there is no difficulty which yields not to love. When the soul that loves would please its Beloved, love overcomes all losses, contempt, and sorrows: “Nothing is so hard but that it may be conquered by the fire of love.” This is the most certain mark by which to know whether a soul really loves God, its being as faithful to Him when things are adverse as when they are prosperous. St. Francis of Sales says: “God is just as amiable when He chastises us as when He consoles us, because He does both from love.”
O God of my soul, I say that I love Thee, and yet what do I do for Thy love? Nothing. It is a sign, therefore, that I either do not love Thee, or love Thee too little. Send, therefore, O Jesus, the Holy Ghost upon me, and come and strengthen me to do and to suffer something for Thy love before death overtake me. Suffer me not, O Lord to depart out of this life cold and ungrateful, as I have hitherto been. Give me strength to love sufferings, on account of the many sins by which I have deserved hell. O my God, Who art all goodness and all love, Thou desirest to dwell in my soul, from which I have so often expelled Thee; come and take possession of it; dwell within it and make it all Thine own.
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: GOING TO HOLY COMMUNION
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
VI. THE MEANS OF AVOIDING LUKEWARMNESS AND ATTAINING PERFECTION
Meditação I:
We must begin quickly, and not wait for the morrow. Who knows whether we shall afterwards find time or not! Ecclesiastes counsels us: Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly. (Eccles. ix., 10). What thou canst do, do it quickly, and defer it not; and he adduces the reason why: For neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening. Because in the next life there is no more time to work, nor free-will to merit, nor prudence to do well, nor wisdom or experience to take good counsel by, for after death what is done is done. A nun of the convent of Torre de Specchi in Rome, whose name was Sister Bonaventura, led a very lukewarm kind of life. There came a Religious, Father Lancisius, to give the spiritual exercises to the nuns, and Sister Bonaventura, feeling no inclination to shake off her tepidity, began to listen to the exercises with no good will. But at the very first sermon she was won by Divine grace, so that she immediately went to the feet of the Father who preached, and said to him, with a tone of real determination, “Father, I wish to become a saint, and quickly a saint.” And, by the assistance of God, she did so; for she only lived eight months after that event, and during that short time she lived and died a Saint.
Meditação II:
Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE CAUSES GOD TO DWELL IN OUR SOULS — “Dulcis Hospes Animae.”
The Holy Ghost is called Sweet Guest of the Soul. This was the great promise made by Jesus Christ to those who love Him: If you love me, keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete that he may abide with you for ever. — (John xiv., 15, 16).
Meditação I:
The Holy Ghost is called Sweet Guest of the Soul. The great promise made by Jesus Christ to those who should love Him was this: If you love me, keep my commandments; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Paraclete that he may abide with you for ever. — (John xiv., 15, 16). Hence the Holy Ghost will never abandon the soul, if the soul does not drive Him away: He does not forsake, unless he be forsaken.
God, then, dwells in our souls when we love Him, but He declares that He is not satisfied with us unless we love Him with our whole hearts. St. Augustine writes, that the Roman Senate would not admit Jesus into the number of their gods, because said they, He is a proud God, Who will have no other adored but Himself. And so it is; He will not admit a companion in the heart that loves Him; He must dwell there alone, and be the only object loved. And when He sees that He is not the only object loved He is jealous, as it were, as St. John Chrysostom writes, of those creatures which divide with Him a heart which He desires to have entirely to Himself. Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain? To envy doth the spirit covet which dwelleth in you. — (James iv., 5).
O my God, I see that Thou desirest that I should be all Thine. I have many times expelled Thee from my soul, and yet Thou disdainest not to return to me, and to unite Thyself to me. Oh, do Thou now take possession of my whole self. I give myself this day entirely to Thee.
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: GOING FREQUENTLY TO HOLY COMMUNION
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
VII. THE MEANS OF AVOIDING LUKEWARMNESS AND ATTAINING PERFECTION
Meditação I:
The third means of becoming a saint is mental prayer. John Gerson writes: “He who does not meditate on the eternal truths cannot, without a miracle, lead the life of a Christian. The reason is, because without mental prayer light fails us, and we walk in the dark. The truths of faith are not seen by the eyes of the body, but by the eyes of the mind, when we meditate; he that fails to meditate on them, fails to see them, and therefore walks in the dark; and being in the dark, he easily grows attached to sensible things, for the sake of which he then comes to despise the eternal.” St. Teresa wrote as follows to the Bishop of Osma: “Although we seem to discover in ourselves no imperfections; yet, when God opens the eyes of the soul, which He is wont to do in prayer, then they plainly appear.” And St. Bernard had before said, that he who does not meditate “does not abhor himself, simply because he does not know himself.” “Prayer,” says the Saint, “regulates the affections and directs the actions;” it keeps the affections of the soul in order, and directs all our actions to God; but without prayer the affections become attached to earth, the actions conform themselves to the affections, and in this manner all runs into disorder.
Meditação II:
Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE A SACRED BOND THAT BINDS THE SOUL TO GOD
As the Holy Ghost is the indissoluble bond which unites the Father and the Eternal Word, so also is He the bond that unites our souls and God. O Love, Thy bond is so strong that it is able to bind even God and unite Him to our souls!
Meditação I:
As the Holy Ghost, Who is uncreated Love, is the indissoluble bond uniting the Father and the Eternal Word, so also He unites the soul with God: “Charity is a virtue,” says St. Augustine, “uniting us with God.” Hence St. Laurence Justinian with great joy exclaims: “O Love, how strong is Thy bond, which is capable of binding God!” The bonds of the world are bonds of death, but the bonds of God are bonds of life and salvation: Her bands are a healthful binding — (Ecclus. vi., 31), because the bonds of God, by means of love, unite us with God Who is our true and only life.
Before the coming of Jesus Christ men turned away from God, and being attached to the earth, refused to be united with their Creator; but our loving Lord has drawn us to Him by the bonds of love, as the Prophet Osee foretold: I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bands of love. — (Osee xi., 4). These bonds are His benefits, His lights, His calls to love Him, and His promises of Heaven; but, above all, they are the gifts which Jesus Christ has bestowed upon us in giving us Himself in the Sacrifice of the Cross, and in the Sacrament of the Altar, and ultimately in sending down upon us the Holy Ghost.
My dear Jesus, Thou hast indeed done too much to oblige me to love Thee, too dearly hast Thou paid to purchase my love; too ungrateful, therefore, should I be if I were to love Thee but little, or to divide my heart between Thee and creatures, after Thou hast shed Thy Blood and laid down Thy life for me. I desire to detach myself from all things else, in order to give my whole affections to Thee. But I am too weak of myself to execute this desire; do Thou, Who inspirest me with it, give me strength to execute it.
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: GOING FREQUENTLY TO HOLY COMMUNION
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
VIII. THE MEANS OF AVOIDING LUKEWARMNESS AND ATTAINING PERFECTION
Meditação I:
He that leaves off prayer, will leave off loving Jesus Christ. Prayer is the blessed furnace where the fire of holy love is enkindled and kept alive: And in my meditation a fire shall flame out. — (Ps. xxxviii., 4). It was said by St. Catherine of Bologna: “The person that foregoes the practice of prayer breaks the chain which binds the soul to God.” It follows that the devil, finding the soul cold in Divine love, will have little difficulty in inducing her to partake of some poisonous fruit or other. St. Teresa said, on the contrary: “Whosoever perseveres in prayer, let him hold for a certainty, that with however many sins the devil may surround him, the Lord will eventually bring him into the haven of salvation.” In another place the Saint says: “Whoever halts not in the way of prayer arrives sooner or later.” And elsewhere she writes that it is on this account the devil labours so hard to withdraw souls from prayer, because he well knows that he has missed gaining those who faithfully persevere in prayer. Oh, how great are the benefits that flow from prayer! In prayer we conceive holy thoughts, we practise devout affections, we excite great desires, and form efficacious resolutions to give ourselves wholly to God; and thus the soul is led for His sake to sacrifice earthly pleasures and all disorderly appetites. It was said by St. Aloysius Gonzaga: “There will never be much perfection without much prayer.” Let him who longs for perfection mark well this notable saying of the Saint.
Meditação II:
Meditação matinal: DIVINE LOVE IS A TREASURE CONTAINING EVERY GOOD — “Infinitus thesaurus hominibus.”
Divine Love is that Treasure, to purchase which, the Gospel sys, we should leave all things; for this love makes us partakers of the friendship of God. An infinite treasure which they that use become the friends of God.
Meditação I:
Divine Love is that Treasure, to purchase which, as the Gospel says, a man should give up all things, for this love makes us partakers of the friendship of God: An infinite treasure to men, which they that use become the friends of God. — (Wis. vii., 14). “O men,” says St. Augustine, “whither go ye in search of good things? Seek the one only Good in Whom are all good things.” But we cannot find the only Good – namely, God – unless we renounce the things of the earth. St. Teresa writes: “Detach thy heart from creatures, and thou shalt find God.” He who finds God, finds all that he can desire. Delight in the Lord, and he will grant thee the desire of thy heart. — (Ps. xxxvi., 4). The human heart is continually seeking after such good things as may make it happy, but if it seek them from creatures, how much soever it may acquire, it will never be satisfied with them; but if it seek only God, God will satisfy all its desires. Who but the Saints are most happy in this world? And why? Because they desire and seek only God. A certain prince, going to the chase, saw a solitary running swiftly through the forest, and asked him what he was seeking for in that desert place. The solitary replied: “And thou, O prince, what art thou in quest of?” The prince: “I am going in quest of wild beasts.” “And I,” said the hermit, “am going in quest of God.”
My God, hitherto I have sought not Thee, but myself and my own gratifications, and for these I have turned my back upon Thee, my sovereign Good. But I am consoled with the words of Jeremias: The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh him. — (Lam. iii., 25). These words assure me that Thou, my God, art all goodness towards him who seeks Thee.
Meditação II:
Leitura espiritual: PREPARATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION
Meditação noturna: A PRÁTICA DO AMOR DE JESUS CRISTO
IX. THE MEANS OF AVOIDING LUKEWARMNESS AND ATTAINING PERFECTION
Meditação I:
It results from the practice of prayer that a person constantly thinks of God. “The true lover,” says St. Teresa, “is ever mindful of the beloved One. And hence it follows that persons of prayer are always speaking of God, knowing, as they do, how pleasing it is to God that His lovers should delight in conversing about Him, and on the love He bears them, and that thus they should endeavour to enkindle it in others.” The same Saint wrote: “Jesus Christ is always present at the conversations of the servants of God, and He is very much gratified to be the subject of their delight.”
Prayer, again, creates that desire of retiring into solitude, in order to converse alone with God, and to maintain interior recollection in the discharge of necessary external duties; I say necessary, such as the management of one’s family, or of the performance of duties required of us by obedience; because a man of prayer must love solitude, and avoid dissipation in superfluous and useless affairs, otherwise he will lose the spirit of recollection, which is a great means of preserving union with God: My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed. - (Cant. iv., 12).
Meditação II:
