{"id":11316,"date":"2025-11-11T00:26:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T00:26:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/societyofthemostholyredeemer.org\/?page_id=11316"},"modified":"2026-10-08T21:02:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T21:02:33","slug":"daily-meditations-nineteenth-week-after-pentecost","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societyofthemostholyredeemer.org\/pt\/daily-meditations-nineteenth-week-after-pentecost\/","title":{"rendered":"DAILY MEDITATIONS: NINETEENTH 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. pp. 50-102<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Medita\u00e7\u00e3o matinal:\u00a0 THE GREAT FAITH OF ST. TERESA AND HER DEVOTION TOWARDS THE BLESSED SACRAMENT *<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Teresa received from God the gift of Faith in so full a measure that she has written in her Life: \u201cThe devil never had power to tempt me in any way against the Faith. \u00a0It even seemed to me that the more impossible, naturally speaking, a truth of Faith was, the more firmly did I believe it, and the more difficult of belief, the more did it inspire me with devotion.\u201d<\/p>

[* This is the start of nine days of Meditations and Readings for the Feast of St. Teresa, which would be started on October 6 in order to complete a novena on the 14th<\/sup>, the day before her Feast.\u00a0 The complete novena and associated prayers can be found here<\/a>.]<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Teresa received from God the gift of Faith in so full of measure that she has written in her Life: \u201cThe devil never had power to tempt me in any way against the Faith. \u00a0It even seemed to me that the more impossible, naturally speaking, a truth of Faith was, the more firmly did I believe it, and the more difficult of belief, the more did it inspire me with devotion.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One day she was told she might be denounced to the Holy Office as a heretic. \u00a0\u201cThis made me smile,\u201d she writes, \u201cknowing so well that for the things of holy Faith, or for the least of the ceremonies of the Church, I would give my life a thousand times.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This love for the Faith gave her the fortitude, when but seven years of age, to set out from her father\u2019s house with her little brother, to go amongst the Moors, in order that she might sacrifice her life for the Faith. \u00a0Later on in life, such was her conviction of the truth of our Faith, that she felt as if she could convince all the Lutherans and bring them to an acknowledgment of their errors.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In a word, the satisfaction she experienced at seeing herself among the number of the children of the Church was such, that at the hour of her death she could not often enough repeat to herself these words: \u201cAfter all, I am a child of the Holy Church! \u00a0After all, I am a child of the Holy Church!\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let the fruit of this consideration be that of continual thanksgiving, in union with the Saint, to the Lord, for having bestowed upon us the great gift of the Faith, in making us children of the Holy Church, from which so many millions of souls, perhaps less guilty than ourselves, in the sight of Divine justice, remain separated.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My most loving Jesus, Who, although thou didst foresee my ingratitude, hast never ceased to bestow upon me an abundance of graces, above all, the grace of the Faith \u2013 ah, of Thy mercy enkindle such a flame within my heart, that my daily life may be always conformable to my Faith. \u00a0O Divine, true and only Lover of my soul, when will the day at length arrive on which I shall begin to love Thee with my whole heart? \u00a0Oh, would to God that to-day were this day of happiness for me, the day on which I have, in the present Novena, begun to honour Thy dear spouse and my tender advocate, Teresa! Ah! my Redeemer, by the merits of Thy Blood; by the merits of Mary, Thy most holy Mother and by those of Thy beloved Teresa, grant me, I pray Thee, so burning a love for Thee as may make me continually deplore the sins I have committed, and may urge me, henceforth, to study nothing but Thy good pleasure, in order that I may please Thee only, as Thou dost deserve. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 From the wonderful gift of Faith which the Saint possessed arose the great love she bore towards the Most Holy Sacrament, which is pre-eminently the Mystery of Faith.<\/em> \u00a0She used to say that God has conferred upon us a greater grace in giving us the Holy Eucharist than in becoming man; and so, one of the principal virtues the Saint possessed was her special affection towards Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, as she herself revealed after her death. \u00a0When the Saint heard someone say he wished he lived at the time Jesus was upon earth, she would smile and say: \u201cAnd what more do we want, having Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament? \u00a0Surely, if it was enough, while He was upon earth, to touch His raiment, in order to be healed of infirmities, what will He not do for us now when He is within us in Holy Communion?\u201d \u00a0\u201cOh, how sweet it is,\u201d she wrote, \u201cto see the Shepherd become a Lamb. \u00a0He is a Shepherd, because He gives food. \u00a0He is a Lamb, because He is Himself the food. \u00a0He is a Shepherd, because He nourishes. \u00a0He is a Lamb, because He is the nourishment. \u00a0When, therefore, we pray to Him for our daily bread, we are asking that He, the Shepherd, may be our food and sustenance.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Divine Lover responded to the love with which this cherished spouse of His desired Him, and with which she disposed herself to receive Him under the sacramental species. \u00a0As darkness disappears before the sun, so at the moment of Communion the obscurities and troubles of the Saint used to vanish. \u00a0It then seemed to her that her soul lost all its affections and all its desires, being perfectly united with God and absorbed in Him. \u00a0Although she was usually pale in consequence of her penances and infirmities, her biographer says, that no sooner had she communicated than her countenance became shining as crystal, ruddy, extremely beautiful, and with such an air of majesty about it, that it was easy to recognize what a Divine Guest she had received into her heart. \u00a0At those times her virginal body seemed ready to quit the earth, raising itself in the air in the presence of the Sisters.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O Seraphic Saint, who by thy purity and ardent love, were upon earth the delight of thy God \u2013 thou whom He loved so much as one day to tell thee that as Magdalen was His beloved one when He was on earth, so thou wert in the same degree His beloved one now that He is in Heaven \u2013 oh thou dear Saint, whom He treated with such tenderness whether He admonished thee as a Father, or conversed with thee as a Spouse communicating Himself to thee so frequently in Holy Communion and with such abundant outpourings of grace \u2013 O Teresa, plead with thy God for me who, alas! am not the object of His delights but the cause of His sufferings by my evil life. \u00a0Pray to Jesus to pardon me and to give me a new heart, a heart pure and full of Divine love like unto thine own. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 TERESA\u2019S LOVE FOR JESUS IN THE EUCHARIST<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The holy mother Teresa never ceased to deplore the injurious treatment that Jesus received in the Sacrament of His love at the hands of heretics. \u00a0She would complain to God: \u201cNow how, O my Creator, can such tender love as Thine endure that what was instituted with such ardent affection by Thy Son, and the more to please Thee, should be so undervalued that at this day these heretics despise the Most Holy Sacrament? \u00a0For they rob it of its home by demolishing the Churches. \u00a0Was it not enough, O my Father, that whilst Jesus lived on earth He had no place to lay His head, without now taking from Him the holy places where He deigns to abide, and whereunto He invites His friends, knowing, as He does, their need of such food for their comfort?\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For twenty-three years she communicated every day, and every time with such fervour and desire, that in order to receive Communion, she would, as she said, willingly have made her way against the spears of a whole army.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One Palm Sunday as she was considering that among all those who at Jerusalem had proclaimed Jesus Christ as the Messias, there was not one to receive Him into his house, she invited Him to come and enter her poor heart, and with this pious thought she went to receive Communion. \u00a0The affectionate invitation of His beloved was so agreeable to the Divine Spouse, that when she received the Sacred Host it seemed to her that her mouth was filled with warm blood, accompanied with a heavenly sweetness. \u00a0Then she heard the voice of Jesus saying: \u201cMy daughter, it is My will that My Blood should be for your profit: I have shed it in great suffering, and you enjoy it, as you see, with great delights.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With regard, therefore, to this greatest of all gifts that Jesus has bequeathed to us in the Sacrament of the Altar, in leaving Himself, whole and entire, to be our Food, our Companion and our Shepherd, let us practise the excellent instruction that the holy mother once revealed from Heaven to a certain soul: \u201cThe inhabitants of Heaven and those of earth should be one and the same in purity and in love: we, in a state of joy; you, in that of suffering. \u00a0And, what we do in Heaven with the Divine Essence, you ought to do on earth with the Most Holy Sacrament. \u00a0You will mention this to all my children.\u201d \u00a0Treating of the love and tender devotion that are due to Jesus in the Holy Sacrament, she has again left us in her works the following directions: \u201cLet us act so as not to be at a distance from our Shepherd, nor lose sight of him, because the sheep that keep near their shepherd are always more caressed and better taken care of than others, and because he is always giving them some morsels of his own food. \u00a0If it happens that the shepherd sleeps, the faithful sheep keeps close beside him until he awakes, or it will arouse him, and then he lavishes upon it his caresses anew.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Philip Neri, that other seraph of love, on seeing Jesus entering his room to be his Viaticum, could not refrain from crying out in a holy transport: \u201cBehold my Love! \u00a0Behold my Love!\u201d \u00a0So let us, when we see the King and Spouse of our souls coming to meet us in Holy Communion, cry out and say: Behold my Love! \u00a0Behold my Love! \u00a0And we know that God wishes us to give Him this appellation. \u00a0God is love. <\/em>\u2014 (1 John iv. 16). \u00a0He does not wish to be merely called a Lover, but to be Love itself, to make us understand that, as there is no love that does not love, so He, the Divine Goodness, is of His own nature so loving, that He cannot live without loving His creatures.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o noturna: CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD*<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

* This is a golden treatise that seems rather to have been inspired from Heaven than to have emanated from the human mind. \u00a0The holy author himself, St. Alphonsus, used often to read it. \u00a0He constantly practised the wise maxims it contains and always endeavoured to inculcate its practice on others. \u00a0He was accustomed to say: \u201cThe Saints became Saints because they always remained united to the will of God.\u201d \u00a0When the Saint’s eyesight began to fail him, he took care to have this little treatise read to him. \u2014 ED<\/h6>

I.\u00a0 EXCELLENCE OF THIS VIRTUE<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our whole perfection consists in loving God Who is in Himself most lovely: Charity is the bond of perfection. <\/em>\u2014 (Col. iii. 14). \u00a0But, then, all perfection in the love of God consists in the union of our own with His most holy will. \u00a0This, indeed, is the principal effect of love, as St. Dionysius the Areopagite observes, \u201csuch a union of the wills of those who love as makes them one and the same will.\u201d \u00a0And, therefore, the more united a person is with the Divine will, so much greater will be his love. \u00a0It is quite true that mortifications, meditations, Communions, and works of charity towards others are pleasing to God. \u00a0But when is this the case? \u00a0When they are done in conformity to God\u2019s will; for otherwise, not only does He not approve them, but He abominates and punishes them. \u00a0Take the case of two servants, one of whom labours hard and incessantly all day long, but does everything after his own fashion; while the other may not work as hard, but acts always in obedience to orders. \u00a0Is it not certain that it is the latter, and not the former, who pleases his master? \u00a0In what respect can any works of ours tend to the glory of God, where they are not done according to His good pleasure? \u00a0It is not sacrifices<\/em> that the Lord desires, says the Prophet to Saul, but obedience<\/em> to His will: Doth<\/em> the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed. \u2014 <\/em>(1 Kings xv. 22). \u00a0To refuse to obey is like the crime of idolatry. \u00a0He who will act according to his own will, and independently of God\u2019s, commits a kind of idolatry; since instead of worshipping the Divine will, he, in a certain sense, worships his own.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The greatest glory, then, that we can give to God is the fulfilment of His holy will in everything. \u00a0This is what our Redeemer, Whose purpose in coming upon earth was the establishment of the glory of God, principally came to teach by His example. \u00a0See how Jesus addresses His Eternal Father: Sacrifice and oblation, thou wouldst not; but a body thou hast fitted to me: . . . then said I: Behold, I come \u2013 that I should do thy will, O God. \u2014<\/em> (Heb. x. 5). \u00a0Thou hast refused to accept the victims which mankind have offered Thee. \u00a0It is Thy will that I should sacrifice to Thee the body which Thou hast given Me; lo, I am ready to perform Thy will! \u00a0And hence it is that Jesus so often declares He had come upon earth not to fulfil His own, but His Father\u2019s will only: I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. <\/em>\u2014 (John vi. 38). \u00a0And on this account Jesus wished that the world might know the love He bore His Father, from the obedience to His will which He manifested in sacrificing Himself upon the Cross for the salvation of mankind; just as He said Himself in the Garden when going forth to meet His enemies who had come to take Him and lead Him away to death: That the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father hath given me commandment, so do I; \u00a0Arise, let ye go hence!<\/em> (John xiv. 31). \u00a0And for this reason, too, He said He would recognize as His very own brother him who acted according to the Divine will: Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, he is my brother. <\/em>\u2014 (Matt. xii. 50).<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Medita\u00e7\u00e3o matinal:\u00a0 THE GIFT OF HOPE WITH WHICH ST. TERESA WAS ENDOWED<\/strong><\/em><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The mercies of the Lord are in proportion to the confidence a soul places in Him; so that when the Lord wishes to enrich a soul with graces, He first enriches it with confidence. \u00a0So great was Teresa\u2019s confidence in God that she accomplished all she undertook for the glory of her Spouse, and was commonly styled the Omnipotent Teresa.<\/em><\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The mercies of the Lord are in proportion to the confidence a soul places in Him; so that when the Lord wishes to enrich a soul with graces, He first enriches it with confidence.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So great was the confidence with which the holy mother Teresa was gifted by God, that by it she gained the accomplishment of all that she undertook for the glory of her Spouse, so that she was commonly styled the Omnipotent Teresa<\/em>.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ever bearing in mind that God is faithful, as the Apostle says, and that He cannot fall short of His word, she drew from this reflection the great courage that fortified her in every storm.\u00a0 \u201cOh, my Lord,\u201d she used to exclaim, \u201cwho shall sufficiently declare how faithful Thou are to Thy friends?\u00a0 May everything fail me provided Thou dost not abandon me; me, who have found by experience how great is the gain of those who trust only in Thee.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With this strong anchor to support her she undertook the great work of reforming the Religious of both sexes in the Carmelite Order, and of founding a vast number of Religious houses, in spite of innumerable obstacle raised by men and devils, without aid, without money, having nothing to support her except her confidence in God.\u00a0 She was accustomed to say, that in order to found a monastery, nothing more was requisite that to hire a house and set up a bell.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Whenever the strength of the opposition increased, her courage would increase also, and she would say that this was a sign that the seed sown would produce the more abundant fruit; and so all turned out successfully.\u00a0 She write: \u201cThe true way of escaping a fall is to attach oneself to the Cross, and to confide in Him Who has been suspended thereon.\u00a0 I find Him alone a true friend; so overpowered am I with a sense of this, that it seems to me that, with the grace of God, I could withstand the whole universe contending against me.\u201d\u00a0 Hence her great dislike in having to deal with persons who relied on human judgments and resources.
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0My holy advocate, Teresa, thou givest me to understand that thy Spouse has promised thee to grant everything thou askest of Him, and that a great number of souls have received help through thy prayers.\u00a0 Make me, too, one of the number.\u00a0 Recommend me to Jesus, and change me entirely as thou hast changed so many others through thy prayers.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One day when Teresa was pleading for a special grace from God and feared His refusal on account of her unworthiness, Jesus appeared to her.\u00a0 Showing the Wound in His left hand, \u201cHe told me, \u201c she says, \u201cthat I ought not to doubt that He Who had suffered so much for me would most willingly grant me all that I would ask of Him; that He had promised to grant me all I would ask of Him; that I ought to remember that even at the time when I served Him not, I had never asked Him for anything without receiving it, and more than I had known how to ask for, and that with much greater reason now when He knew my love for him, would He hear me, and finally that I ought not to doubt His word.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She then goes on to assure us that, by virtue of His promise, she had ever obtained from God more than she could have asked of Him in a lifetime.\u00a0 For the consolation of those devoted to her, she has left upon record the following words: \u201cI should be wearisome to myself and to my readers if I were to recount all the graces God has conferred upon me; if I were to say how many souls have been extricated from sin by my prayers, and how many others have been advanced to higher degrees of perfection.\u201d\u00a0 One night, while the saint was returning thanks to God for a grace she had received, He lovingly made her this answer: \u201cAnd what can you ask of me, my daughter, that I would not grant you?\u201d\u00a0 Another day He said to her: \u201cYou are aware of the espousals contracted between you and Me: it is for this reason that I make over to you all the sufferings I have undergone.\u00a0 You can offer these sufferings to My Father as your own, and ask in exchange all that you desire.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Saint has written for our instruction: \u201cOh! How small is the confidence that we repose in Thee, O Lord God!\u00a0 And yet what greater riches, what more beautiful treasures couldst Thou have handed over to us?\u00a0 Thou hast given us three-and-thirty years of Thy Son\u2019s hard toil, and then His most painful death.\u00a0 Knowing beforehand how ungrateful we would be, Thou hast even confided to us the priceless treasure of that same Son in the Most Holy Sacrament, that there might be nothing in Thee of which we might not, through Him, gain possession, O merciful Father!\u00a0 O ye souls of the Blessed, who have so well known how, at this price, to purchase to yourselves so precious and so permanent an inheritance, declare to us how it was that you made use of so infinite a good?\u00a0 Succour us now that you are standing so near its source, and draw water thence for us who are here dying of thirst.\u201d<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 \u201cTHE LORD IS CAREFUL FOR ME\u201d<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When the holy mother was at Toledo, a priest told her that the accomplishment of the Reform was a hopeless undertaking; but Teresa with dauntless courage, consoled every one, and confiding in God, replied, that in spite of opposition, all would prosper for the best.\u00a0 When, on her journeys, she came to any dangerous part of the road, she would be the first to pass over it, encouraging the rest by her example.\u00a0 Full of confidence in her Lord, she was not afraid even of hell itself; she used to say, she no more feared the demons that the flies.\u00a0 She was never known to grieve or to rejoice at any occurrence, whether favourable or unfavourable, but was ever calm and equable, in the midst of a profound peace; ever constant in her sweet hope, persuaded that God cannot fail one that serves Him, and puts his confidence in Him.\u00a0 It was, then, upon this hope that Teresa rested all the prayers she addressed to God.\u00a0 And as she did not know how to ask Him for anything but what might contribute to the good pleasure of her Lord, the prayers of this His holy spouse were so acceptable to God, that He even went so far as to promise to grant her everything she would ask of Him.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Learn, O devout soul, how God listens to the prayer that is offered with confidence.\u00a0 Ask, then, with confidence and you shall receive whatever you desire Heaven and earth may fail you, but the Word of God Who has said: Everyone that asketh, receiveth<\/em> \u2014 (Matt. vii. 8), cannot fail.\u00a0 He that asks, obtains, even when he does not at all deserve to obtain what he asks, as St. Thomas says.\u00a0 On the other hand, he who does not ask, does not obtain.\u00a0 Behold then, on what our victory, in time of temptation, depends: Praising I will call upon the Lord and I shall be saved from my enemies.<\/em> \u2014 (Ps. xvii. 4).\u00a0 Let us have recourse to God and we shall be conquerors.\u00a0 Behold, on what all our good depends: Ask, and you shall receive.<\/em> \u2014 (John xvi. 24).\u00a0 Let us ask, and it will be given us.\u00a0 Our Saint used to say: \u201cFor gaining Divine graces, prayer is the only gate: shut this, and I know not how God shall bestow them.\u00a0 Let us observe that our Father and God not only takes care of us, but that He is ever full of anxiety for our good, as He gives us to understand in the Holy Scriptures.\u201d\u00a0 Let us pray, then with confidence; let us pray to God in the Name of Jesus Christ, His Son, Who has made us this promise: If you ask the Father anything in my name, He will give it to you.<\/em> \u2014 (John xvi. 23).\u00a0 God always takes care of us.\u00a0 The Lord is careful for me.<\/em> \u2014 (Ps. xxxix. 18).\u00a0 And the Prophet says it is easier for a mother to forget her child than for God to forget us.\u00a0 It will be enough to show God our miseries and say to Him with the leper in the Gospel: Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.<\/em> \u2014 (Matt. viii. 2); or with the Sister of Lazarus: He whom thou lovest is sick.<\/em> \u2014 (John xi. 3); but we ought always to pray and not to faint.<\/em> \u2014 (Luke xviii. 1).\u00a0 The day we leave off prayer, we shall fall.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o noturna:\u00a0 <\/strong>CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

II.\u00a0 EXCELLENCE OF THIS VIRTUE<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All the Saints have ever kept steadfastly in view the fulfilment of the Divine will, thoroughly understanding that herein consists the entire perfection of a soul. \u00a0The Blessed Henry Suso used to say: \u201cGod does not desire that we should abound in knowledge, but that in all things we should submit ourselves to His will.\u201d \u00a0And St. Teresa: \u201cAll that one who devotes himself to prayer has need to acquire, is conformity of his own will to the Divine will; and he may rest assured that herein consists the highest perfection. \u00a0Whoever practises this best will receive from God the greatest gifts, and will make most progress in the interior life.\u201d \u00a0The Dominican nun, the Blessed Stephana of Soncino, being carried one day in vision into Heaven, saw certain persons with whom she had been acquainted in life, placed amongst the Seraphim; and it was told her that they had been raised to so high a place in glory through the perfect conformity to God\u2019s will which they had practised when on earth. \u00a0And the Blessed Suso already mentioned used to say, when speaking of himself: \u201cI would much rather be the vilest worm of earth through God\u2019s will than a Seraph through my own.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While we are in this world, we should learn from the Blessed in Heaven the way we have to love God. \u00a0The pure and perfect love which the Blessed in Heaven entertain for God lies in their own perfect union with the Divine will. \u00a0Should the Seraphim understand it to be His will that they must employ themselves for all eternity in gathering into a heap the sands of the seashore, or in plucking up the grass from the fields, they would willingly do it with all possible pleasure. \u00a0Nay, more: if God were to give them to understand that they should go to burn in the flames of hell, they would immediately precipitate themselves into that abyss, in order to accomplish the Divine will. \u00a0And it is for this that Jesus Christ taught us to pray \u2013 namely, that we perform the Divine will on earth as the Saints perform it in Heaven: Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. <\/em>\u2014 (Matt. vi. 10). \u00a0The Lord calls David a man after His own heart, because David accomplished all His desires: I have found a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills. \u2014 <\/em>(Acts xiii. 22). \u00a0David was ever prepared to embrace the Divine will, as he frequently declared: My heart is ready, O God; my heart is ready. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. lvi. 8, and cvii. 1). \u00a0And, on the other hand, the only prayer which he made to the Lord was that He would teach him to do His Will: Teach me to do thy will. <\/em>\u2014 (Ps. cxlii. 10).<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A single act of perfect conformity to the Divine will is sufficient to make one a Saint. \u00a0Look at Saul whom Jesus Christ illuminates and converts, while he is persecuting the Church. \u00a0What does Saul do? \u00a0What does he say? \u00a0He simply makes an offering of himself to do the Divine will: Senhor, o que voc\u00ea quer que eu fa\u00e7a? <\/em>\u2014 (Acts ix. 6). \u00a0And, behold, the Lord declares him to be a vessel of election and Apostle of the Gentiles: This man is to me a vessel<\/em> of election to carry my name before the Gentiles. <\/em>\u2014 (Acts ix. 15). \u00a0Yes, for he who gives his will to God gives Him everything. \u00a0He who gives God his goods in alms, his blood by disciplines, his food by fasting, gives to God a part of what he possesses; but he who gives God his will gives Him the whole; so that he can say to Him: Lord, I am poor, but I give Thee all that is in my power; in giving Thee my will, there remains nothing for me to give Thee. \u00a0But this is precisely all that our God claims from us: My son, give me thy heart. <\/em>\u2014 (Prov. xxiii. 26). \u00a0That is to say, thy will. \u00a0\u201cThere is no offering,\u201d says St. Augustine, \u201cmore acceptable to God than to say to him: Take possession of us!\u201d \u00a0O Lord, we give our whole will to Thee; make us understand what Thou desirest of us, and we will perform it.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If then we would give full satisfaction to the heart of God, we must in everything bring our own will into conformity with His; and not only into conformity<\/em> but into uniformity,<\/em> too, as regards all that God ordains. \u00a0Conformity signifies the conjoining of our own will to the will of God; but uniformity signifies, moreover, our making of the Divine will and our own will one will only, so that we desire nothing but what God desires, and His sole will becomes ours. \u00a0This is the sum and substance of that perfection to which we ought to be ever aspiring. \u00a0This must be the aim of all our works, and of all our desires, meditations and prayers. \u00a0For this we must invoke the assistance of our Patron saints and of our Guardian Angels, and, above all, of our Divine Mother Mary, who was the most perfect of all the Saints, for the reason that she ever embraced most perfectly the Divine will.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Medita\u00e7\u00e3o matinal:\u00a0 ST. TERESA\u2019S GREAT LOVE FOR GOD<\/strong><\/em><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The heart of this seraph was so on fire with the love of God that all her thoughts and all her sighs were of Divine love and the good pleasure of God. \u00a0\u201cBehold what I am always saying,\u201d she writes in her Life, \u201cand it seems to me I say it with all my heart: \u2018O Lord, I do not think of self: I wish for nothing but for Thee alone!\u2019\u201d<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The heart of this seraph was so on fire with the love of God, that all her thoughts and all her sighs were nothing but love, and had reference only to the good pleasure of God.\u00a0 Her confessor used to say that when speaking to her, he seemed to have before him a seraph of love.\u00a0 The sacred flame of the love of God burned within her soul ever since the moment when, only seven years of age, she had the courage to leave her native country, her father and mother, in order to go amongst the infidels, that she might sacrifice her life for Jesus Christ, as it is stated in the Bull of her canonization.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Her love increased as she advanced in age, and although it grew somewhat cool for some years, yet when God, by a fresh illumination, called her to a love of greater perfection, her correspondence to His grace was such as to merit to hear from the very lips of her Spouse, that if He had not already created Paradise, He would have created it expressly and entirely for her.\u00a0 And on another occasion, He even told her that He was all hers, because she was all His: \u201cNow I am all thine, and thou art all Mine\u201d \u2013 (Bull of Canon).
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0In short, so completely was she given up to God, that, inebriated with the Divine love, she knew not how to speak of anything save of her Beloved.\u00a0 She knew not how to think of anything save of her Beloved.\u00a0 She could not even hold converse with any one save of her Beloved.\u00a0 For, accustomed as she was to hold sweet converse with her God, she could not lend herself to hold intercourse with creatures, excepting with those who were wounded, as she expressed herself, with the same love.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So strongly was she drawn to God by love, that she declared herself to be incompetent for the management of worldly affairs.\u00a0 So that, one day, she said: \u201cIf the Lord keeps me in my present state, I shall render but a bad account of the affairs that He has entrusted to my charge; for it seems that I am continually being drawn towards God, as if by chains.\u201d\u00a0 Everything that tended to interrupt her continual union with God was a burden to her, even the taking of her meals: \u201cIt is often a very great punishment on me,\u201d she writes, \u201cto be obliged to eat.\u00a0 It makes me weep, and give utterance to complaints, almost without being aware of what I say.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But let us listen to the beautiful sentiments that she has recorded for us in reference to her love for God, and let us warm our hearts with the blessed flame that burned in the heart of our seraphic Saint.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She writes: \u201cBehold what I am always saying, and, as it seems to me, with all my heart: O Lord, I do not think of myself, I wish for nothing but for Thee alone!\u201d<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Although she was exceedingly humble, she does not shrink from saying: \u201cI am nothing but imperfection, excepting in desire and in love; I think that I do love my Lord well, buy my works make me sad.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So ardently did she desire to advance, as far as she possibly could, in the love of God, that she expresses herself elsewhere in the following terms: \u201cIf I were to have my choice of undergoing all the sufferings of the world even to the end of time, and of obtaining afterwards a small additional degree of glory, or without afflictions of any kind, to settle down in a degree of glory less exalted, I would willingly prefer to bear all the sufferings for the smallest possible additional knowledge of the greatness of God; because I see that they who know God best love Him most.\u201d\u00a0 On seeing that she loved God so much, and that she was so much beloved by Him, she wrote in holy transport: \u201cOh! What a beautiful exchange it is to give our love to God, and to receive from Him His own.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We are also aware what consolations she found in the loving petition she was so frequently addressing to God: Lord, either to suffer or to die!<\/em>\u00a0 It seemed to her that the desire of suffering for God was so sweet to her loving heart, that she could gain no merit by it.\u00a0 And she goes on to say, that the only reason why we should love the present life is for the opportunity it affords us of suffering for God: \u201cSince the desire of sufferings brings me no merit, and life seems to me to be worthless without sufferings, I pray to God for them most fervently.\u00a0 I say, then, to Him with all my heart: Lord, either to suffer or to die: I ask Thee for nothing more.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was by this that she merited to be united to Jesus Christ, Who, on presenting her with a nail, declared her to be His spouse of love and of the cross.\u00a0 The Lord, stretching His right hand towards her, as we read in the appendix to her Life, proceeded to say to her: \u201cBehold this nail: it is a token that henceforth you shall be my spouse; you have not merited this until now.\u00a0 For the future you shall not look upon My honour merely as that of your Creator, of your King, and of your God, but since you are now My true spouse, My honour is yours, and your honour is Mine.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She said, one day, in a transport of love, that it would give her real joy to see others in Paradise rejoicing in a higher degree of glory than her own; but that she did not know whether she could rejoice at seeing a soul have a greater love for God than she had.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In conclusion, her whole employment consisted in whatever could procure glory for God; but her great love for Him caused her to regard all that she did as nothing.\u00a0 \u201cO Lord!\u201d she said, \u201cI fear that I am not serving Thee; I cannot discover anything that can be sufficient to pay Thee the smallest part of what I owe Thee.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cThe only thing that contented her in this life, and the prayer that she continually offered up to God, was this: \u201cAh, my Lord, enable us all to become worthy of loving Thee; since live we must, let us live for Thee, ever leaving our own selfish interests out of sight.\u00a0 What greater gain can we have than that which consists in being pleasing in Thy sight.\u00a0 O my Joy, my God, what can I do to please Thee?\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O seraphic Teresa, beloved spouse of Jesus crucified, thou who wast all on fire while upon earth with so burning a love for thy God and mine, who art now burning with a still purer and brighter flame in Heaven, obtain for me, I entreat thee, one spark of this heavenly flame, which may enable me to forget the world, its creatures, and even myself, in order to devote all my thoughts, all my desires, and all my affections to the accomplishment, whether in joy or pain, of the will of this Sovereign Good Who deserves to be obeyed and loved.\u00a0 Do this, O my dear Saint, for thou art able to do it.\u00a0 Make me burn wholly and entirely, like thyself, with Divine love.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading: \u00a0\u201cMERIT CONSISTS IN SUFFERING AND IN LOVING\u201d<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The whole life of Teresa was one continual exercise of the love of God, and a constant study of what might best please her Beloved.\u00a0 Her very life was terminated through the violence of her love, consumed as indeed her heart was in a furnace of Divine Charity.\u00a0 But we are to remember what our Lord said one day to our Saint, in order to give her to understand that true love of God in this life does not consist in any sensible sweetnesses, but in the accomplishment of the will of God, and in the undergoing of sufferings with calmness: \u201cThinkest thou, My daughter,\u201d He said to her, \u201cthat such gratifications constitute merit?\u00a0 No; merit consists in doing, in suffering, and in loving.\u00a0 Consider My life, altogether filled up, as it was, with sufferings: when thou lookest at My Mother holding Me in her arms, do not suppose that she enjoys this satisfaction without suffering the cruel torment that St. Simeon had predicted to her, when he said to her: \u2018A sword shall pierce thing own soul\u2019; My Father having from that time enlightened her in order that she might understand all that I was to suffer.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBelieve me, My daughter,\u201d He added, \u201cthat he who is most beloved of My Father is also he on whom He lays the heaviest crosses, and that love on the one side corresponds to the sufferings on the other.\u00a0 How could I testify this love, save in desiring for thee what I have desired for Myself?\u00a0 Behold these Wounds!\u00a0 No pains of thine will ever be so great.\u00a0 Thou wilt thus participate in My lamentations for the loss that men of the world sustain, whose desires are bent on the acquisition of precisely the contrary.\u00a0 To suppose that My Father admits any one to His friendship without sufferings, is folly; for those for whom He entertains a great love He leads on by the way of sufferings, and the sufferings He sends are the greater in proportion to the greatness of His love.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If, then, it is our wish to love our dearest Lord with a genuine love, and to study how to give satisfaction to His Heart, rather than to gratify our own, we must put in practice the excellent instruction that our Saint used to give to others and to observe herself: \u201cEver march forward with the desire of suffering everything, on every occasion, for the love of Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 Everyone should at least seek to conform himself perfectly to the will of God in all adversities.\u00a0 This is what St. Teresa one day came down from Heaven to say to a devout soul: \u201cEndeavour to have the fervent desire for the accomplishment of the Divine will that I had for death as long as I lived.\u201d\u00a0 To practice, therefore, what the Saint suggests, one should offer oneself wholly to God fifty times every day, with great fervour and the desire of Him.\u00a0 By acting in this manner, we shall be very pleasing in the sight of God, and shall not feel the crosses He sends us, for, as the Saint used to say, \u201cthe weight of the Cross is felt by him who drags it along, but not by him who embraces it.\u201d\u00a0 Just as a miser, instead of being fatigued, feels joy as he carries his load of gold, and rejoices the more in proportion to the greatness of its weight; so does a loving soul rejoice the more she has to suffer for God, because she perceives that in offering up her sufferings to her Beloved, she becomes exceedingly dear to Him.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o noturna:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

III.\u00a0 CONFORMITY IN ALL THINGS<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The important thing is to embrace the will of God in all things which befall us, not only when they are favourable, but when they are contrary to our desires. \u00a0<\/em>When things go on well even sinners find no difficulty in being conformed to the Divine will; but the Saints are in conformity even under circumstances which run counter, and are mortifying, to self-love. \u00a0It is herein that the perfection of our love for God is shown. \u00a0The Blessed Father John of Avila used to say: \u201cA single Blessed be God!<\/em> when things go wrong, is of more value than a thousand acts of thanksgiving when things are to our liking.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Moreover, we must bring ourselves into conformity to the Divine will, not only as regards those adverse circumstances which come to us directly<\/em> from God \u2013 such, for instance, as infirmities, desolation of spirit, poverty, the death of relatives, and other things of a similar nature \u2013 but also as regards those which come to us through the instrumentality of men, such as contempt, reproaches, acts of injustice, thefts, and persecutions of every kind. \u00a0On this point, we must understand that when we suffer injury from any one in our reputation, our honour, or our property, although the Lord does not will the sin<\/em> which such a one commits, He nevertheless does will the humiliation, the poverty, or the mortification that comes to us. \u00a0It is certain and of faith, that nothing comes to pass in the world but by the Divine will: I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil. <\/em>\u2014 (Is. xlv. 7). \u00a0From God come all things that are good and all things that are evil; that is to say, all things that are contrary to our liking, and that we falsely call evil, for, in truth, they are good, when we receive them as from His hands: Shall there be an evil in the city which the Lord hath not done?<\/em> said the Prophet Amos (iii. 6). \u00a0As the Wise Man had already said: Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God. <\/em>\u2014 (Ecclus. xi. 14). \u00a0It is true, as I observed above, that whenever any one unjustly treats you, God does not will the sin such a person commits, nor concur in the malice of his intentions; but He does indeed concur by a general concurrence in regards to the material action by which such a one wounds, plunders, or injures you; so that what you have to suffer is certainly willed by God, and comes to you from His hands. \u00a0Hence it was that the Lord told David that He was the Author of the injuries which Absalom would inflict upon him, and that in punishment for his sins: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house. <\/em>\u2014 (2 Kings xii. 11). \u00a0Hence, too, He told the Jews that it would be as a punishment for their wickedness that He would command the Assyrians to spoil and destroy them. \u00a0The Assyrian, he is the rod of my fury . . . I will give him a charge to take away the spoils, and to lay hold on the prey \u2014 <\/em>(Is. x. 5), which St. Augustine explains: \u201cThe wickedness of these men is made, as it were, the sword of God.\u201d \u00a0God uses the iniquity of the Assyrians, like a sword, to chastise the Jews. \u00a0And Jesus Himself said to St. Peter that His Passion and Death did not come to Him so much from men, as from His Father: The chalice which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? \u2014 <\/em>(John xviii. 11).<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When the messenger (who is thought to have been Satan) came to tell Job that the Sabeans had taken away all his goods and had put his sons to death, what is the holy man\u2019s reply? \u00a0The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. <\/em>\u2014 (Job i. 21). \u00a0He did not say: the Lord hath given me sons and property, and the Sabeans have taken them away; but, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;<\/em> because he perfectly understood that his loss was willed by God; and therefore he added: As it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done; blessed be the name of the Lord.<\/em> \u00a0We must not, then, look upon the troubles that befall us as happening by chance or merely through the fault of others; we should rest assured that everything that happens to us comes to pass through the Divine will. \u00a0\u201cYou should know,\u201d says St. Augustine, \u201cthat whatever happens in this world contrary to our will does not happen but by the will of God.\u201d \u00a0Epictetus and Atho, two blessed Martyrs of Jesus Christ, when subjected to the torture by the tyrant, torn with hooks of iron and burnt with blazing torches, only said: \u201cLord, let Thy will be accomplished in us;\u201d and on arriving at the place of their suffering, they exclaimed, in a loud voice: \u201cBlessed be Thou, O eternal God, because Thy will has been fully accomplished in us!\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cesarius relates that a certain Religious, although there was in no respect any external difference between himself and the others, had nevertheless arrived at such a degree of sanctity as to heal the sick by the mere touch of his garments. \u00a0His Superior, in astonishment at this, one day asked him how he could ever perform such miracles, while his life was not more exemplary than that of others. \u00a0In reply, he said that it was a matter of astonishment to himself also, and that he did not know how to account for it. \u00a0\u201cBut what devotions do you practise?\u201d asked the Abbot. \u00a0The good Religious replied that he did but little or nothing in this respect, except that he had ever taken great care to will only what God willed, and that the Lord had granted him the grace to keep his own will thoroughly conformed to that of God. \u00a0\u201cProsperity,\u201d he said, \u201cdoes not elate me, nor does adversity cast me down, because I receive everything from the hands of God; and to this end I direct all my prayers \u2013 namely, that God\u2019s will may be perfectly accomplished in me.\u201d \u00a0\u201cAnd with respect to that loss,\u201d rejoined the Superior, \u201cwhich our enemy caused us the other day, by depriving us of our means of subsistence, setting fire to our farm-buildings where our corn and cattle were housed, did you not feel some resentment in consequence?\u201d \u00a0\u201cNo, my Father,\u201d was his reply; \u201cbut, on the contrary, I returned thanks to God for it, as is my custom in similar cases, knowing that God does, or permits, all for His own glory and for our greater good; and with this conviction, I am always content whatever may come to pass.\u201d \u00a0Understanding all this, and seeing in that soul so great a conformity to the Divine, will, the Abbot was no longer surprised at his performing such great miracles.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Medita\u00e7\u00e3o matinal:\u00a0\u00a0 THE GREAT PERFECTION ATTAINED BY ST. TERESA<\/em><\/strong><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An ardent desire for sanctity<\/em> is a great means for becoming a saint. \u00a0God does not bestow the abundance of His graces except on those souls who hunger for them. \u00a0Our Saint says we must not set bounds to our desires, but must hope by God\u2019s grace to reach the heights the Saints have reached.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 An ardent desire for sanctity<\/em> is a great means towards becoming a saint; for, on the one hand, God does not bestow the abundance of His graces except on those souls that hunger for them, as the most Holy Mary says, in her subline canticle: He has filled the hungry with good things.<\/em> \u2014 (Luke, i. 53).\u00a0 And, on the other hand, this desire is necessary as regards ourselves, to the end that we may have the power of persevering under the hardships that we must endure if we would gain the great treasure of perfection.\u00a0 For, that which is but little desired, there is no toil, however arduous, that they do not find easy and sweet.\u00a0 On this account it is that God gives the appellation of \u201cblessed\u201d to those that have not the desire merely, but a hunger, that is, an ardent desire for sanctity: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice. \u2014<\/em>\u00a0(Matt. v. 6).\u00a0
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Teresa, whom we may compare to an eagle of heaven, and to whom the desire of fulfilling the perfect will of God gave wings wherewith to fly rapidly forward to perfection, has left us on record the following words: \u201cLet us entertain great thoughts, for from them proceeds our good.\u201d\u00a0 And she says elsewhere: \u201cWe must not limit our desires, but we must hope that in relying on God we shall be able, through the efforts we make, gradually to reach the heights that many of the Saints by His grace have reached.\u201d\u00a0 She used to say that the Divine Majesty loves generous souls, provided only that they put no trust in themselves; and she testified, speaking from experience, that she had never known a faint-hearted soul to make as much progress even in several years as generous souls make within the space of a few days: \u201cFor,\u201d said she, \u201cthe Lord is as pleased with desires as with their effects.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Oh! how great, in truth, was her desire of pleasing her Lord!\u00a0 She does not shrink from the avowal, that, full of imperfections as she was, her desires were, nevertheless, great and perfect.\u00a0 She writes: \u201cThe desire of serving God comes to me attended with transports I am unable to express.\u00a0 It seems to me that no suffering, not even death, or Martyrdom itself, would be difficult for me to endure.\u201d\u00a0 Indeed, there was nothing, however difficult, she did not undertake and carry to a successful termination, when once she knew that it was pleasing to God.\u00a0 And she testified this of herself: \u201cThere is nothing, however painful, that I am not ready to bear as soon as it comes.\u201d\u00a0 Thus the saint, having learned by her own experience, used to say: \u201cI am astonished at what can be done by encouraging oneself to undertake great things, though we may not have the strength for them at once.\u00a0 The soul takes a flight upwards and ascends very high.\u201d\u00a0 And here she adds a lesson of much importance \u2013 namely, that there is no humility in not wishing to become a saint.\u00a0 Humility is necessary, she says; but we must understand that the devil strives to make us think it is pride to have great desires, and a wish to imitate the Saints.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In order to acquire perfection, it is not enough merely to desire<\/em> it; we must also have the firm resolution<\/em> of attaining it; for the desire without the resolution will be of no avail.\u00a0 This is what happens to such a number of souls who are always desiring, and perpetually multiplying their desires, but never come to a determination of setting themselves to the work in good earnest, and so remain ever in their tepidity, without making any progress.\u00a0 Our Saint writes: \u201cI would rather have a short prayer producing great results, than a prayer lasting several years, during which the soul never resolves on performing anything of any real value for God.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Bernard says that many fail to become saints because they lack the courage.\u00a0 And it was the subject of our Saint\u2019s lamentation when she said: \u201cMany remain down at the foot of the mountain who could scale its summit.\u201d\u00a0 On the other hand, she gives the assurance, that when a soul, in order to please God, undertakes anything with resolution, she easily accomplishes her purpose.\u00a0 \u201cIt is quite true, O Lord,\u201d she writes: \u201cas is said by Thy Prophet, Thou dost feign there is labour in the observance of Thy law; yet I can perceive none; and I know not why the way that leads to Thee should be called narrow.\u00a0 I have experienced in a variety of circumstances,\u201d she adds, \u201cthat when any one from the outset resolves courageously on the accomplishment of anything whatever may be its difficulties, if he does it in order to please God, he has nothing to fear.\u00a0 The devil, has great fear of resolute souls, seeing that every plot he contrives for their hurt turns to their profit.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O glorious Saint, I rejoice with thee, now that I behold thee in Heaven, where thou art loving thy God with a love that fully contents that heart of thine, which on earth so much desired to love Him.\u00a0 But since, in Heaven thy love for God has increased, assist O holy mother, this miserable soul of mine that desires to burn, like thyself, with holy love for this Infinite God, Who deserves the love of an infinity of hearts.\u00a0 Say for me to Jesus what thou once didst say to Him in this life for one of His servants: \u201cLord, let us take him to be our friend.\u201d\u00a0 Ask Jesus to inspire me with the resolution of consecrating my whole will, once for all, to Him and of studying in everything that alone which is most pleasing in His sight and which may best promote His glory.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 RESOLUTION TO GIVE ONESELF WHOLLY TO GOD<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Teresa herself practiced earnestly what she taught to others.\u00a0 When she was called to give herself wholly to God, she gave herself to Him without reserve, and with so strong a resolution, that to oblige herself to search out whatever might give the most pleasure to her Beloved, she went so far as to bind herself by that sublime vow, at which the Saints have been filled with astonishment, and which is styled by the sacred tribunal of the Rota, \u201ca very difficult vow,\u201d always to do what she understood to be the most perfect.\u00a0 Herein Teresa exhibits to us the courage and the resolution with which she aimed at the highest perfection to which a soul upon earth can attain, in order that she might please God the utmost of her power.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let our resolution, then, be to aim with sincere desire at the highest sanctity, as our Saint did, and to resolve to give ourselves wholly to God, studying to advance every day farther and farther towards perfection.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A great servant of God, Father Hyppolito Durazzo, of the Society of Jesus, used with good reason to say, as we read in his Life, that men of the world never think that they have enough of the good things of this world, and are always endeavouring to possess more; but with respect to the next they say: \u201cThe smallest corner of Paradise will do.\u201d\u00a0 Whereas, on the contrary, he who truly loves God and not the world, will be contented with the least corner of the earth; but for the good things of Heaven he will always to be striving more and more without ever resting.\u00a0 This good Father used also to say that \u201cto become a saint one needs nothing but what is to be obtained through the sole desire of pleasing God.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After the desire is formed, one must then most firmly resolve to give oneself to God without reserve.\u00a0 God has already given us this desire.\u00a0 This desire is His voice distinctly speaking to us and calling us to His love.\u00a0 He has already called us very many times, and why are we hesitating?\u00a0 Do we wish to wait until He ceases to call us, and He abandons us?\u00a0 Now is the time for putting an end, once for all, to our hesitations, and for renouncing everything that is not for God.\u00a0 It is not a time for prolonging our resistance to the love of that Lord Who alone deserves to be loved.\u00a0 We must, then, break every earthly attachment that hinders us from belonging entirely to God.\u00a0 Resolution!\u00a0 Resolution!\u00a0 God!\u00a0 God alone!\u00a0 And nothing else!
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And Thou, O my Lord, tell me what it is that Thou dost look for from me in bestowing upon me so many graces!\u00a0 Ah!\u00a0 I understand Thee \u2013 I understand Thee, my Treasure, my All, my true Lover!\u00a0 Since Thou lovest me greatly, Thou dost wish me to love Thee greatly, and to become all Thine.\u00a0 Thou dost wish that my heart may be no longer divided, but that its whole attention may be devoted to loving Thee alone.\u00a0 Yes, Thee alone.\u00a0 But, in truth, if Thou art the only one that deserves to be loved, it is no more than just that Thou only be loved by me and by all mankind.\u00a0 Since, then, O my Beloved, Thou dost inspire me with this desire of loving Thee, so overrule me that I may put it in practice, and may love Thee as much as Thou desirest.\u00a0 If Thou wilt have my heart, behold, here it is.\u00a0 I take it from the love of creatures to give it wholly to Thee.\u00a0 If Thou dost wish me to desire and to ask for Thy love, yea, my God, I ask it of Thee, and I desire to love Thee more than even the Seraphim do.\u00a0 Hearken to my prayer.\u00a0 I ask this of Thee, not in order to become distinguished amongst the Saints, nor to gain a high degree of glory in Paradise, but only in order to be pleasing in Thy sight.\u00a0 Provided that I may love Thee the more, I even offer myself to suffer pain of every description, and for all eternity, if such be Thy good pleasure.\u00a0 Hearken to me my Lord, for the love of Jesus Christ, and for the love of St. Teresa.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O blessed and holy Virgin Mary, thou art my hope; I hope for all good things through thee.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o noturna:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

IV.\u00a0 HAPPINESS THAT COMES FROM PERFECT CONFORMITY<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He who acts in perfect conformity to God\u2019s will not only becomes a saint but he enjoys, even in this world, a perpetual peace. \u00a0Alphonsus the Great, King of Arragon, and a most wise prince, on being one day asked whom he considered to be the happiest man in the world, replied that it was he who abandons himself to the will of God, and receives all things, prosperous or adverse, as from His hands.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To those who love God, all things work together unto good. <\/em>\u2014 (Rom. viii. 28). \u00a0Those who love God are ever content because their whole pleasure lies in the accomplishment of the Divine will, even in things that run counter to their own desires. \u00a0Hence even afflictions bring them contentment, by the thought that in the acceptance of them they are giving pleasure to their Lord Whom they love: Whatsoever shall befall the just man it shall not make him sad. <\/em>\u2014 (Prov. xii. 21).\u00a0 And, in truth, what greater contentment can a man ever experience than in seeing the accomplishment of all he desires? \u00a0Now, whenever any one wills only what God wills or permits, then everything such a one wills does consequently come to pass. \u00a0There is a story in the Lives of the Fathers<\/em> of a certain countryman whose land was more productive than that of others, and who, on being asked how it happened replied that no one should be surprised at it, because he always had the weather he desired. \u00a0\u201cAnd how so?\u201d he was asked. \u00a0\u201cBecause,\u201d replied he, \u201cI desire no weather but that which God desires; and as I desire what God desires, so does He give me the fruits of the earth as I desire them.\u201d<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Souls that are truly resigned, says Salvian, if they are in a state of humiliation, desire humiliation; if they suffer poverty, they desire to be poor; in short, whatever happens to them, they desire it all, and therefore they are, in this life, happy. \u00a0When cold or heat, rain or wind, prevails, he who is in a state of union with the Divine will says: I wish it to be cold, I wish it to be hot; I wish the wind to blow, the rains to fall, because God wishes it so. \u00a0Does poverty, persecution, sickness, death come, I also wish to be poor, persecuted, sick; I wish even to die, because God wishes it so.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is the blessed liberty the sons of God enjoy, worth more than all the lands and kingdoms of this world. \u00a0This is that great peace the Saints experience, which ultrapassa todo o entendimento <\/em>\u2014 (Phil. iv. 7), and with which all the pleasures of sense; all gayeties, festivities, distinctions, and all other worldly satisfactions, cannot be compared; for these being unsubstantial and transitory, although, while they last, fascinating to the senses, do not bring peace, but affliction, to the spirit that desires true contentment. \u00a0Hence it was Solomon, after having enjoyed worldly pleasures to the full, cried out in his affliction: But this also is vanity and vexation of spirit. <\/em>\u2014 (Eccles, iv. 16).<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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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\tTHURSDAY IN THE NINETEENTH WEEK AFTER PENTECOST<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o matinal: THE HUMILITY OF ST. TERESA<\/em><\/strong><\/b><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Humble hearts are the targets at which the arrows of Divine love are aimed. \u00a0It was because God found the heart of Teresa most humble that it pleased Him to bestow upon her such a multitude of graces.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Humble hearts are the targets at which the arrows of Divine love are aimed; and so, as St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi used to say, the practice suitable for us, in order to obtain Divine love, is that of self-humiliation.\u00a0 It was because God found the heart of Teresa most humble that it pleased Him to bestow upon her such a multitude of graces.\u00a0 The Saint, in speaking of herself, declares that the most precious graces with which the Lord enriched her were those that she received at the very time when she was humbling herself most before Him.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our Saint was in reality so humble that, although the Lord treated her as His beloved spouse, as we have already observed, she nevertheless treated with her Lord only in the character of an ungrateful and faithless one.\u00a0 For this reason it was that however many might be the favours heaped upon her by Jesus Christ, and how great soever the commendations she received from men, she could never be persuaded to think well of herself.\u00a0 Although God Himself had conveyed to her an assurance that her visions were not illusions, but gifts of His love, so that in receiving them it was impossible for her to doubt that they came from God, nevertheless the opinion that she entertained of herself was so mean that she was perpetually fearing lest she might be mistaken, being unable to believe that God would grant such favours to a soul so unworthy as she believed herself to be.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One day, as the Saint was on her way to Burgos to found a convent, a Religious mentioned to her the reputation for sanctity she enjoyed.\u00a0 In reply, she said: \u201cThree things have been said of me: that when I was a little child I had a good disposition; that I was discreet; and now there are some persons who say of me that am a saint.\u00a0 In times gone by I believed the two former of these, and I have accused myself in Confession of having yielded to this vanity; but I have never practiced upon myself so great a deception as to give credence to the third.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the account of her life that she addressed to her confessor she says, when speaking of the graces the Lord bestowed upon her: \u201cFormerly it seemed to me I felt confusion that they were known, but it now seems to me that so far from being better I am much worse on their account; for with so many graces I do so little.\u00a0 For this reason it seems to me that from every point of view there is not in the whole world a creature worse than myself.\u201d\u00a0 Elsewhere she says: \u201cI do nothing but receive graces without profiting by them, as if I were the most useless thing in the world.\u00a0 All others bear fruit; it is I only that am good for nothing.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A certain person, on seeing how many favours she received from God, and how great her reputation for sanctity was in the world, said to her: \u201cMy mother, be on your guard against vainglory.\u201d\u00a0 Teresa, all astonishment, replied: \u201cVainglory?\u00a0 On what account I know not.\u00a0 Seeing what I am, I shall have much to do to keep myself from falling into despair.\u201d<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The light God gave Teresa to see the greatness of His Majesty and the love He bore her made her regard as grave faults the little defects into which she used to fall \u2013 defects that others like ourselves would not consider defects at all.\u00a0 In consequence, she used continually to exclaim, full of confusion: \u201cLord, consider what Thou art doing!\u00a0 How is it that Thou hast so quickly forgotten my ingratitude?\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In writing the account of her life for her confessor, she prays him in one place to publish her sins everywhere, \u201cin order that,\u201d she said, \u201cI may no longer impose upon people who think that there is some good in me.\u201d\u00a0 And when those to whom she made a manifestation of her bad life would not share the opinion that she entertained of herself before she betook herself to her Spouse and laid her complaint before Him, saying: \u201cLord, why is it that these people do not believe me?\u00a0 Do Thou look to it.\u00a0 For my part, I know not what more I can do.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the other hand, when she thought that others might have a knowledge of the graces that God bestowed upon her, this thought alone cause her so much affliction that as she says in her Life, she would have wished to be buried alive, so as not to be seen any longer in the world.\u00a0 Wherefore it was that the Lord, in order to tranquilize her in this affliction, one day said to her: \u201cTeresa, of what art thou afraid?\u00a0 If men were to know the graces I bestow upon thee, one of two things would happen: they would either give glory to Me, or speak ill of thee.\u201d\u00a0 The Saint tells us that these words restored tranquillity to her.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O my holy Advocate, Teresa, who didst wound the Heart of Thy God by thy beautiful humility, I beg thee by the love thou bearest towards thy dear Mother Mary, and thy beloved Spouse Jesus, to obtain for me holy humility, in order that being transformed like thee into the likeness of my Jesus in His state of humiliation upon earth, I may one day be able to see and to love Him with thee in Paradise.<\/p>

Leitura espiritual:\u00a0 ALL WISH TO BE \u201cHUMBLE,\u201d BUT FEW TO BE \u201cHUMBLED\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The humility of St. Teresa was not the sort that some possess, who, although entertaining, in some instances, a lowly opinion of themselves, and expressing it also before others, yet cannot bear that others should publish their defects and subject them to contempt.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 The Saint, like all souls that are really humble, regarded herself, and wished to be regarded and treated by others as a vile creature.\u00a0 She even went so far as to say that there was no music more pleasing to her ears than the reproaches addressed to her in regard to her defects.\u00a0 She was frequently the object of contempt and of opprobrious treatment; and on such occasions her soul, truly humble as it was, took greater delight in seeing herself despised than if she had been praised and honoured.\u00a0 How often, in establishing those monasteries, whereby she procured so much glory to God, how often were insults heaped upon her as a hypocrite, a liar, a proud woman, and one filled with illusions!\u00a0 And this, too, as it once happened, from the pulpit, and in her own presence.\u00a0 The Pope\u2019s Nuncio, in a fit of anger, went so far as to enjoin upon her to retire into a monastery, and not to go out of it any more, telling her that she was a restless and vagabond woman.\u00a0 She shut herself up, as she was bidden, without making any defence, satisfied in having met with contempt and confusion.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On another occasion an accusation was brought before the Inquisition against her as a sorceress and a witch.\u00a0 Having also heard a certain Religious laying many evils to her charge, she answered: \u201cIf this Father had known me, he might have said much more against me.\u201d\u00a0 On her entrance into Seville, she was at first an object of contempt and displeasure, whereupon she said: \u201cBlessed be God!\u00a0 Here they know me to be what I am.\u201d\u00a0 Elsewhere she writes: \u201cSo far am I from wishing ill to any of those that spoke evil of me, it seems to me as if I entertained for them even a greater love that I did before.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While the Saint was arranging about the foundation at Burgos, she was one day passing along a narrow footpath, on which there happened to be a certain woman.\u00a0 She asked her permission to pass by; but this woman, seeing her clad in raiment that bespoke the greatest poverty, said to her, \u201cGo along, you hypocrite\u201d; and then, with a rough push, caused her to fall into the muddy channel.\u00a0 The Saint\u2019s companions wished to rebuke the woman, but she took her part, saying: \u201cMy daughters, hold your peace.\u00a0 Do you not perceive that this woman has acted very rightly?\u201d\u00a0 On another occasion she was in a church, and certain persons wishing to pass by, she did not take heed to rise sufficiently soon from the place where she was kneeling, whereupon they kicked against her, and so made her move to another part of the church.\u00a0 Another woman who had lost one of her shoes, fancying that Teresa had stolen it from her, had the impudence to strike her on the face with the other shoe.\u00a0 All this the Saint tranquilly received, better contented with these insults than a man of the world would be at receiving the greatest honours.\u00a0 The tribunal of the Rota has even attested that the greater the offences she received from others, the more they drew her love upon themselves.\u00a0 So much so, indeed, was this the case that it was a common saying that, in order to be loved by Teresa, it was necessary to treat her in a humiliating and injurious manner.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All wish to be humble<\/em>, but there are few who wish to be humbled<\/em>.\u00a0 St. Ignatius of Loyola was sent from heaven by the Most Holy Virgin, to give the following counsel to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi: \u201cHumility is the joy that we feel at everything that leads us to despise ourselves.\u201d\u00a0 This is what is meant by being humble of heart, as Jesus Christ teaches us to be \u2013 namely, to regard ourselves as what we really are, and to wish that others may look upon us and treat us in the same way.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Behold, then, for the practice of humility, the following most important maxims, which are borrowed from the Saint herself:
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a01.\u00a0 To avoid every occupation and every conversation that can in any way have to do with self-love, unless some notable utility oblige us to enter upon it.\u00a0 The Saint enjoins, nevertheless, that we that we should never put ourselves forward, excepting under obedience, or from motives of charity.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a02.\u00a0 Never to manifest our interior devotion, unless through some great necessity; and never to affect outwardly a devotion that is not in the heart.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a03.\u00a0 To rejoice on beholding ourselves the object of complaints, of insults and of mockeries, without seeking to justify ourselves, unless this be necessary for some greater good; \u201cand when we are reproved,\u201d says the Saint, \u201clet us receive the reproof with interior as well as exterior humility, offering up a prayer to God for him by whom we are reprimanded.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a04.\u00a0 To ask unceasingly of God what St. John of the Cross prayed for \u2013 to be despised for His love.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a05.\u00a0 Finally, not to expect that the sense and the inferior part of the soul should find satisfaction in this; but to act according to reason, contenting ourselves with pleasing God; and for this it is especially useful to exercise ourselves during prayer in preparing ourselves for contempt of every description; and to earnestly to Jesus and Mary to grant us the fulfilment of our good resolutions on the occasions that may present themselves.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o noturna: CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

V.\u00a0 HAPPINESS THAT COMES FROM PERFECT CONFORMITY<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun, but a fool is changed as the moon. <\/em>\u2014 (Ecclus. xxvii. 12). \u00a0The fool \u2013 that is to say the sinner \u2013 is ever changing, changing like the moon. \u00a0To-day you will see him laughing, to-morrow weeping; to-day quiet, to-morrow furious like the tiger. \u00a0And why so? \u00a0Because his peace depends on the prosperity or the adversity that comes to him; and, therefore, he varies as circumstances vary. \u00a0Whereas the just man is like the sun, ever uniform in his serenity however circumstances may vary; because his contentment lies in his conformity to the Divine will, and therefore he enjoys a peace that nothing can disturb: E paz na Terra aos homens de boa vontade <\/em>\u2014 (Luke, ii. 14), said the Angel to the Shepherds. \u00a0And who can these men of good will<\/em> be but those whose wills are at all times in union with the will of God, which is supremely good and perfect? \u00a0The will of God is good, delightful, and perfect. <\/em>\u2014 (Rom. xii. 2). \u00a0Yes, because God wills only that which is best and most perfect.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Saints, through their conformity to the Divine will, enjoyed in this world a paradise in anticipation. \u00a0St. Dorotheus tells us that it was thus that the ancient Fathers kept themselves in profound peace, receiving all things from the hands of God. \u00a0When St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi heard only mention of the will of God, she used to experience so intense consolation that she fell into an ecstasy of love. \u00a0And although the blow of adverse circumstances will not fail to make itself felt, yet it will touch only our lower nature; for in our higher nature, in the soul, there will reign peace and tranquillity for the will remains in union with that of God. \u00a0Your joy,<\/em> said the Redeemer to the Apostles, no man<\/em> shall take from you . . . That your joy may be full. <\/em>\u2014 (John, xvi. 22-24). \u00a0He who is ever in conformity with the Divine will possesses a full and perpetual joy \u2013 full, because he has all that he wishes for; perpetual, because it is a joy of which no one can deprive him, for he wills what God wills, and no one can prevent that which God wills from coming to pass.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Father John Tauler relates of himself that after having for many years prayed the Lord to send some one to instruct him in the spiritual life, he one day heard a voice saying to him: \u201cGo to such a church, and you will find what you ask for.\u201d \u00a0On reaching the church, he found at the gate a beggar, barefooted and with scarcely a rag to cover him. \u00a0He saluted him: \u201cGood day, my friend.\u201d \u00a0The poor man replied: \u201cSir, I do not remember ever to have had a bad day.\u201d \u00a0The Father rejoined: \u201cGod grant you a happy life!\u201d \u00a0To this he answered: \u201cBut I have never been unhappy.\u201d \u00a0And then he goes on to say: \u201cListen, my Father; it is not without reason that I have told you that I have never had a bad day; because, when I suffer hunger, I praise God; when it snows or rains, I bless God; if I am treated with contempt or repulsed, or experience misfortunes of any other kind, I always give glory to my God for it. \u00a0I said, besides, that I have never been unhappy, and this also is true; because it is my habit to desire, without reservation, all that God desires; therefore, in all that happens to me, whether it be pleasant or painful, I receive it from God\u2019s hands with joy, as being what is best for me; and herein lies my happiness.\u201d \u00a0\u201cAnd if it should ever happen,\u201d says Tauler, \u201cthat God willed you to be damned, what would you do then?\u201d \u00a0\u201c If God were to will this,\u201d replied the beggar, \u201cI would, with all humility and love, lock myself so fast in my Lord\u2019s embrace, and hold Him so tight, that if it were to be His will to cast me down into hell, He would be obliged to come with me; and thus, with Him, it would then be sweeter to me to be in hell than, without Him, to possess all the enjoyments of Heaven.\u201d \u00a0\u201cWhere was it that you found God?\u201d said the Father. \u00a0\u201cI found Him where I took leave of creatures,\u201d was the reply. \u00a0\u201cWho are you?\u201d \u00a0The poor man answered: \u201cI am a king.\u201d \u00a0\u201cAnd where is your kingdom?\u201d \u00a0\u201cIt is within my soul, where I keep everything in due order; the passions are subjected to the reason, and the reason to God.\u201d \u00a0In conclusion, Tauler asked him what it was that had led him on to so high a degree of perfection?\u00a0 \u201cIt was silence,\u201d he said, \u201cobserving silence with man, in order to hold converse with God; and also the union with my God which I have always maintained, and in which I have found, and still do find, all my peace.\u201d \u00a0Such, in short, had this poor man become through his union with the Divine will; and certainly he was, in all his poverty, more wealthy than all the monarchs of the earth, and in his sufferings more happy than all the men of the world in the midst of their earthly pleasures.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Medita\u00e7\u00e3o matinal:\u00a0 <\/b>THE WOUND OF LOVE WHEREWITH GOD PIERCED THE HEART OF ST. TERESA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ever since the time Jesus lovingly declared Teresa to be His Spouse, she remained so wrapt up in her Beloved that she could think of nothing but of pleasing Him. \u00a0I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my Beloved, that you tell him that I languish with love. <\/em>\u2014 (Cant. v. 8).<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ever since the time Jesus lovingly declared Teresa to be His Spouse, she remained so wrapt up in her Beloved, that she could think of nothing but of pleasing Him. \u00a0Perceiving herself to be so highly favoured by her Divine Lover, and at the same time so destitute of the means of corresponding to so many graces, she cried out in the tenderness of her soul, with the spouse in the Canticles: Stay me up with flowers; compass me about with fruits, for I languish with love. <\/em>\u2014 (Cant. ii. 5). \u00a0She animated herself then, sometimes by the desire of suffering that she might please God the more, and at other times by ardently longing for death that she might love Him more perfectly: such were her flowers.<\/em> \u00a0But besides this, she made it her study to fortify her languishing heart with the fruits<\/em> of love, such as good works, penances, humiliations, and, more particularly, the labours she undertook in the great work of the reform of her Order. \u00a0She founded thirty-two convents, although she was poor, destitute of all human aid, and opposed even by the great ones of this world, as the Church commemorates in the Lessons for her Office.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All this, however, was too small to satisfy her fervent desires of pleasing her heavenly Spouse, and she protested to her Beloved that she could not endure to see herself so much enriched by the gifts she received, and so niggardly in the return she made. \u00a0Consequently, enveloped as she was in the holy flames of Divine love, and altogether detached from herself, she was frequently all on fire and languishing in the tenderness of her soul. \u00a0Oh! what a beautiful sight for the blessed spirits that assisted her was this generous spouse of the Crucified, who in her languishings cried out: I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my Beloved, that you tell Him that I languish with love. <\/em>\u2014 (Cant. v. 8). \u00a0The effect of this holy languishing, as explained by the Doctors of the Church, is that the soul forgets itself and all its concerns, so as to have no love for anything but for its Beloved, and to have no thoughts but how to please Him. \u00a0Such is the love of a spouse, as is observed by St. Bernard in the following words, in which he represents a soul raised to this happiness, as thus speaking: \u201cThe servant fears; the son honours; the mercenary hopes; and I, because I am a spouse, I love to love, I love to be beloved, and I love love itself.\u201d \u00a0Precisely such was our seraphic Saint: languishing in her happiness; forgetting everything that had not a reference to Divine love; loving and being beloved, she made God\u2019s pleasure her only study; the only recompense that she desired was to add to her love for Him.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As the hunter, to obtain possession of his prey, endeavours to make sure of it by inflicting upon it numerous wounds, so does the Divine Archer seem to have acted in like manner towards Teresa, sending to her on several occasions a Seraph to wound that heart of hers which He willed to be wholly His. \u00a0Let us listen to the Saint herself in the description that she gives us of this grace: \u201cOur Lord was pleased I should have at times a vision of this kind \u2013 I saw an Angel close by me on my left side in bodily form. \u00a0He was not large, but small of stature, and most beautiful \u2013 his face burning, as if he were one of the highest Angels, who seem to be all of fire. . . . I saw in his hand a long golden spear, the point of which seemed to be tipped with fire. \u00a0He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart and to pierce my very vitals, a part of which he drew forth, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. \u00a0The pain was so great that it caused me to utter plaintive cries, and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it. \u00a0The soul is then satisfied with nothing less than God. . . . It is a caressing of love so sweet which now takes place between the soul and God, that I pray God of His Goodness to make him experience it who may think I do not speak the truth.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O lovely wound! must we, then, exclaim, O sweet pain! \u00a0O desirable fire! \u00a0Wound that makes Him loved by Whom it is inflicted; Sweet art thou, because thy sweetness excels all the pleasures of the world! \u00a0O fire, more to be desired than all the kingdoms of the earth! \u00a0Thou art the most precious gift the Divine Lover can bestow upon His faithful and beloved spouses, a gift directly proceeding from the loving Heart of God; a gift whose effect, as the Saint said, is to make the soul dissatisfied with everything short of God.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He whose heart is greatly wounded cannot be prevented from thinking of Him by Whom the wound was made; and if he wished to forget Him, the pain he experienced would recall Him to his remembrance. \u00a0The soul that is wounded with the love of Jesus cannot exist without loving Jesus, and without thinking of Him. \u00a0Should it happen that the world or creatures have attracted her attention, the wound in her heart sweetly constrains her to return and to languish in love for Him Who has wounded her.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But, O my God, who is there that would not accept this pain, if that can be called pain which is occasioned by this delicious fire of love, the very fire of love which constitutes the happiness of the Saints in Heaven, and which will fill them with joy for all eternity! \u00a0To prepare the heart, however, for the reception of this fire and of these wounds, it is necessary to resolve, once for all, to banish far away everything that is not God, and generously to say farewell to all creatures, addressing them thus:
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 World, honours, riches, creatures, what would you have of me? \u00a0I utterly renounce you! \u00a0I take my leave of you! \u00a0Farewell! \u00a0My God has set me on fire with love; He has wounded me; by His love He has, at last, gained my whole heart; He has made me know He will not be content unless He has entire possession of it. \u00a0Depart, then, far from me, ye creatures. \u00a0You cannot satisfy me, and I no longer desire such gratification as you bestow. \u00a0Go and content him that seeks you, for I no longer wish for you. \u00a0I wish for God alone! \u00a0With God I rest content. \u00a0God alone! \u00a0Yes, God alone is enough for me. \u00a0Too long, alas, have I loved Creatures. \u00a0The time I have still to spend upon earth, whatever its duration may be, I wish to employ wholly and solely in loving that God, Who was first to love me, and Who deserves and demands of me all my love.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O my seraphic virgin, St. Teresa of Jesus, thou in whom thy Spouse so affectionately enkindled His fire, and wounded with His love, pray, pray for me, that, wounded by my God, and henceforth burning for Him, Who alone deserves to be loved, I may so forget all creatures as to love my Creator alone.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 \u201cDETACH YOUR HEART FROM ALL THINGS; SEEK GOD AND YOU WILL FIND HIM\u201d<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We are apt to complain that, seeking God, we do not find Him. \u00a0\u201cDetach your heart from all things,\u201d St. Teresa used to say, \u201cSeek God, and you will find Him.\u201d \u00a0Otherwise, the things we love will be continually drawing us off, and will prevent us from finding God. \u00a0The Lord one day said to our Saint: \u201cOh! how much would I willingly say to a great number of souls! \u00a0But the world makes a great noise around their hearts, and in their ears so that My voice cannot be heard! \u00a0Oh! if they would but separate themselves a little from the world!\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are many souls given to prayer, in whom Divine love finds little, if any, place, because they go to prayer with a heart filled with earthly affections. \u00a0For this reason it is that St. Ignatius of Loyola says that a soul that is detached will profit more in a quarter of an hour\u2019s prayer than a soul that is not detached will in several hours. \u00a0No sooner has the bird escaped from the net, than it flies away; so, in like manner, no sooner is the soul set free from earthly affections, than it flies quickly to God. \u00a0The masters of the spiritual life teach that defects do not prevent us from advancing to perfection, provided the soul endeavours to rise with humility and peace, as soon as it has fallen; but the smallest attachment, were it only a fine thread, does prevent us.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Roman Senate, as St. Augustine relates, sanctioned the payment of Divine honours to thirty thousand deities, that is, to all that were recognized as such in the world; but it refused to decree Divine worship to the God of the Christians, Whom it styled a jealous God, since He desired to be adored exclusively. \u00a0And the Roman Senate had good reason for what they thus alleged; not because God is proud, but because He is the true God. \u00a0The thief is satisfied if he obtains a share, but the owner is not satisfied without the whole. \u00a0God desires then, to be the sole possessor of our heart; and, therefore, He enjoins upon each of us this command: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart. <\/em>\u2014 (Matt. xxii. 37). \u00a0\u201cLet us act in such a way,\u201d said St. Teresa to a certain Superior, \u201cas to detach souls from everything created, in order that they may become the spouses of a King, Who is so jealous that He would have them forget everything, and even themselves.\u201d \u00a0Let us, then, set to work to detach our heart from riches by the love of holy poverty; from pleasures, by mortification; from honours, by humility; from relatives, by detachment; and, lastly, from self-will by obedience to superiors; frequently offering up to God that excellent prayer: Create a clean heart in<\/em> me, O God! \u2014 <\/em>(Ps. l. 12). \u00a0Give me, O God, a heart that is empty and detached, that it may be filled with Thy holy love.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o noturna:\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cGOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son. <\/em>\u2014 (John iii. 16). \u00a0God, says Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, loved the world to such a degree that He gave His very Own and only Son that the world might be saved by Him. \u00a0Let us consider \u2014 Who is the Giver; and what is the Gift that is given; and how great the love is with which it is given. \u00a0We all know that the more exalted the donor is, the more to be prized is the gift. \u00a0One who receives a flower from a monarch will set a higher value on that flower than on a large amount of money. \u00a0How much ought we not, then, to prize this gift, coming to us, as it does, from the hands of One Who is God! \u00a0And what is it that He has given us? \u00a0His own Son. \u00a0The love of this God did not content itself with having given us so many good things on this earth, until it had reached the point of giving us its whole self in the Person of the Incarnate Word: \u201cHe gave us not a servant, not an Angel, but His own Son,\u201d says St. John Chrysostom. \u00a0Wherefore Holy Church exultingly exclaims: \u201cO wondrous condescension of Thy mercy in our regard! \u00a0O inestimable love of charity! \u00a0That Thou mightest redeem a slave, Thou didst deliver up Thy Son.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O infinite God, how couldst Thou condescend to exercise towards us so wondrous a compassion! \u00a0Who shall ever be able to understand an excess so great, that in order to ransom the slave, Thou wert willing to give us Thine only Son? \u00a0Ah, my kindest Lord, since Thou hast given me the best that Thou hast, it is but just that I should give Thee the best I can. \u00a0Thou desirest my love: I desire nothing else, but only Thy love. \u00a0Behold this miserable heart of mine; I consecrate it wholly to Thy love. \u00a0Depart from my heart, all ye creatures; give place to my God, Who deserves and desires to possess it wholly, and without companions. \u00a0I love Thee, O God of love; I love Thee above everything: and I desire to love Thee alone, my Creator, my Treasure, my All.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God has given us His Son, and why? \u00a0For love! \u00a0Yes, for love alone! \u00a0For fear of men Pilate gave Jesus up to the Jews: He delivered him up to their will. <\/em>\u2014 (Luke, xxiii. 25). \u00a0But the Eternal Father gave His Son to us for the love He bore us: He delivered him up for us all. <\/em>\u2014 (Rom. viii. 32). \u00a0St. Thomas says that \u201clove has the nature of a first gift.\u201d \u00a0When a present is made us, the first gift we receive is that of the love which the donor offers us in the thing that he gives: because, observes the Angelic Doctor, the one and only reason of every voluntary gift is love; otherwise, when a gift is made for some other end than that of simple affection, the gift can no longer rightly be called a true gift. \u00a0The gift which the Eternal Father made us of His Son was a true gift, perfectly voluntary, and without any merit of ours; and therefore it is said that the Incarnation of the Word was effected through the operation of the Holy Spirit: that is, through love alone; as the same holy Doctor says: \u201cThrough God\u2019s supreme love it was brought to pass, that the Son of God assumed to Himself flesh.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But not only was it out of pure love that God gave us His Son, He also gave Him to us with an immense love. \u00a0This is precisely what Jesus wished to signify when He said: God so loved the world. \u2014 <\/em>(John iii. 16). \u00a0The word \u201cso,\u201d says St. John Chrysostom, signifies the greatness of the love wherewith God made us this great gift: \u201cThe word \u2018so\u2019 signifies the vehemence of the love.\u201d \u00a0And what greater love could One Who was God have been able to give us than was shown by His condemning to death His innocent Son in order to save us miserable sinners? \u00a0Who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. <\/em>\u2014 (Rom. viii. 32). \u00a0Had the Eternal Father been capable of suffering pain, what pain would He not have then experienced, when He Himself compelled by His justice to condemn that Son, Whom He loved with the same love wherewith He loved Himself, to die by so cruel a death in the midst of so many ignominies? \u00a0And the Lord willed to bruise him in infirmity. <\/em>\u2014 (Is. liii. 10). \u00a0He willed to make Him die consumed by torments and sufferings.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Imagine, then, to yourself that you behold the Eternal Father, with Jesus dead in His arms, and saying to us: This, O men, is My beloved Son, in Whom I have found all My delights: This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. <\/em>\u2014 (Matt. iii. 17). \u00a0Behold how I have willed to see Him ill-treated on account of your iniquities: For the wickedness of my people have I struck him. <\/em>\u2014 (Is. liii. 8). \u00a0Behold how I have condemned Him to die upon this Cross, afflicted, and abandoned even by Myself, Who love Him so much. \u00a0This have I done in order that you may love Me.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O infinite goodness! \u00a0O infinite mercy! \u00a0O infinite love! \u00a0O God of my soul, since Thou didst will that the object most dear to Thy Heart should die for me. \u00a0I offer to Thee in my own behalf that great sacrifice of Himself which this Thy Son made Thee; and for the sake of His merits I pray Thee to give me the pardon of my sins, Thy love, and Thy paradise. \u00a0Great as are these graces which I ask of Thee, the offering which I present unto Thee is greater still. \u00a0For the love of Jesus Christ, O my Father, pardon me and save me. \u00a0If I have offended Thee in time past, I repent of it above every evil. \u00a0I now prize Thee, and love Thee, above every good.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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Medita\u00e7\u00e3o matinal:\u00a0 ST. <\/em><\/b>TERESA\u2019S DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN AND THE GLORIOUS ST. JOSEPH<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was given to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi to behold Divine love under the form of a sweet liquid in a precious vessel, being dispensed by the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary. \u00a0As all graces come to men through Mary, it is also through her that the gift of gifts Divine love, is bestowed on the faithful. \u00a0From Mary let us seek it.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was given to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi to behold Divine love under the form of a sweet liquid in a precious vessel, being dispensed by the hands of the most Holy Mary. \u00a0As all God\u2019s graces come to men through the hands of Mary, it is also through her that the gift of gifts, Divine love, is bestowed on the faithful.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our Saint (Teresa) well knew that she had received all her graces, and above all, the gift of love, which made her beautiful soul so rich, through the hands of this most sweet Mother. \u00a0And so, in order to testify her thankfulness to her most holy Mother, she thought she could never do enough for her love and honour. \u00a0From her early childhood, while still an inmate of her parental home, she would go in quest of secluded spots to honour Mary by saying the Rosary and other pious prayers. \u00a0On the death of her mother, she hastened to offer herself to her heavenly Queen with confidence and love to be her daughter, and protesting that from that moment she should be her only and her dearest Mother. \u00a0In truth, in all her tribulations and in all her needs, the Saint ever had recourse to Mary, as to her most loving Mother. \u00a0It was with the special object of seeing her honoured everywhere that she undertook the work of reforming the Carmelite Order, whose glory it is to fight under the banner and the especial protection of the Queen of Heaven.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Mary, on her part, who cannot do otherwise than love those that love her, or rather in the words of St. Ignatius the Martyr, \u201cis always more loving towards them than they towards her, not wishing to be outdone by her children in this combat of love,\u201d this august Queen well knew how to return and to exceed the love that her dearest daughter bore towards her, by obtaining for her a great abundance of graces. \u00a0On the day on which she condescended to come down so lovingly from Heaven, and with her own hands to decorate our Saint with a precious mystical necklace, she made her clearly understand how much satisfaction she felt at seeing her become, through her mediation, the most cherished spouse her Jesus had. \u00a0It appears still more evident from the circumstances attending her death, how greatly she was loved by this affectionate Mother, for Mary then appeared standing beside her beloved daughter, to fortify her for her departure, and to receive into her arms her blessed soul.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 O my Saint, address thyself to that Divine Mother whose power is universal: and because it is her glory to be the refuge of sinners, tell her that I am a sinner and the most wretched of them all. \u00a0Entreat her henceforth to look with compassion upon me, commended to her as I am by thee, to succour me in my temptations, and to come to my assistance at the hour of my death. \u00a0Tell her that I hope for eternal salvation through her hands. \u00a0Tell her this, my Saint, and she will certainly listen to what thou sayest; for, loving thee so tenderly while thou wast upon earth, how much greater is her love for thee now in Heaven where thou dost honour and love her more than ever. \u00a0As Mary is my advocate with Jesus mayest thou, O Teresa, be my advocate with Mary.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our Saint had also a great devotion to the glorious spouse of Mary, St. Joseph. \u00a0It may even be said, that the glory of kindling in the world devotion towards that great Saint was hers. \u00a0She had felt, from her early childhood, an extreme affection for St. Joseph. \u00a0She never took any affair in hand without commending it to St. Joseph, her father and her lord \u2013 styling him thus on account of the affection and reverence she bore him. \u00a0All the convents she founded she consecrated under his invocation; and when she herself came to be honoured by the Church as a Saint, and some of her Religious substituted the title of St. Teresa for that of St. Joseph at Avila, she appeared to Sister Isabella of St. Dominic and enjoined upon her to restore the title of St. Joseph, as speedily as possible, bearing her testimony from Heaven itself that the glory of her beloved Saint was an object of greater concern to her than her own.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHow glad should I be if I could prevail upon all men,\u201d she says in her Life, \u201cto cultivate a devotion towards this glorious Saint, by the results of my own experience of the great favours that he obtains from God. \u00a0I have never known any persons that had this devotion who did not make uninterrupted progress in virtue. \u00a0I only ask, for the love of God, that he that does not give credence to what I say would be at the pains of giving it a trial.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I rejoice, O Teresa, at thy being in Heaven in company with thy holy father St. Joseph, who loved thee so tenderly and conferred so many favours on thee upon earth. \u00a0Now that thou art returning him thanks and enjoying the contemplation of that great glory wherewith Jesus has enriched him, commend me to the care of this powerful intercessor. \u00a0Pray to him to take me also, miserable as I am, under his protection.<\/p>

Spiritual Reading:\u00a0 THE PROTECTION OF HOLY MARY AND ST. JOSEPH<\/em><\/b><\/strong><\/p>

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Francis de Sales used to say that next after the merits of Jesus Christ, the protection of the Blessed Virgin is so powerful and so beneficial to the soul that he looked upon it as the firmest support we can have with God. \u00a0Father Suarez asserts that according to the received opinion of the Church, the protection of Mary is profitable and necessary, because God has determined to bestow all graces through her. \u00a0Let us, then, love Mary, and ever have recourse to her protection if we wish to save and sanctify our souls. \u00a0Let us with St. Bernard address her as the \u201cwhole foundation of our hope\u201d; with St. Bonaventure, as \u201cthe salvation of who calls upon her\u201d; with St. Germanus, as \u201cthe life of Christians\u201d; with St. Augustine, as \u201cthe only refuge of sinners\u201d; and let us crown all by saluting her with the whole Church militant as \u201cour life, our sweetness and our hope.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Teresa used, moreover, to say she could not understand how it was possible to have devotion to the Queen of Angels without having, at the same time, an especial affection for her spouse St. Joseph, who was so assiduous on earth in the service of holy Mary and her dear Son, Jesus.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In spite of Teresa\u2019s humility, and her great reserve in regard to any manifestation of the graces she received from Heaven, she did not hesitate to make known the extraordinary favours she had obtained through St. Joseph as their channel \u2013 and all for the purpose of glorifying her beloved Saint. \u00a0In the history of her life she writes as follows: \u201cI took for my patron and lord the glorious St. Joseph and recommended myself earnestly to him . . . and he has rendered me greater services than I knew how to ask for. \u00a0I cannot call to mind that I have ever asked him at any time for anything which he has not granted; and I am filled with amazement when I consider the great favours God has given me through this blessed Saint \u2013 the dangers from which he has delivered me, both of body and of soul. \u00a0To other Saints, Our Lord seems to have given grace to succour men in some special necessity; but to this glorious Saint, I know by experience, God gives the power to help us in all. \u00a0Our Lord would have us understand that, as He was Himself subject to Joseph on earth . . . so now in Heaven He grants all his requests. \u00a0I have asked others to recommend themselves to St. Joseph and they, too, know this by experience. . . . Would that I could persuade all men to be devout to this glorious Saint, for I know by long experience what blessings he can obtain for us from God. \u00a0I have never known anyone who was really devout to him, and who honoured him by particular services, who did not visibly grow more and more in virtue. . . . I only ask, for the love of God, that he who does not believe me will make the trial for himself \u2014 when he will see by experience the great advantages that will come to him from commending himself to this glorious Patriarch, and being devout to him. \u00a0He who cannot find anyone to teach him how to pray, let him take this glorious Saint for his Master.\u201d \u2014 (Life, ch. vi.) \u00a0Let us go, then, to our Saint herself the great Teresa, and ask her to obtain for us devotion to most holy Mary and St. Joseph.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o noturna:\u00a0 \u201cO GRACIOUS ADVOCATE\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

MARY AN ADVOCATE WHO IS ABLE TO SAVE ALL<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o I:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So great is the authority that mothers possess over their sons, that even if they are monarchs, and have absolute dominion over every person in their kingdom, yet never can mothers become the subjects of their sons. \u00a0It is true that Jesus now in Heaven sits at the right hand of the Father, that is, as St. Thomas explains it, even as Man, on account of the hypostatic union with the Person of the Divine Word. \u00a0He has supreme dominion over all, and also over Mary; it will nevertheless be always true that for a time, when He was living in this world, He was pleased to humble Himself and to be subject to Mary, as we are told by St. Luke: And he was subject to them. <\/em>\u2014 (Luke, ii. 51). \u00a0And still more, says St. Ambrose, Jesus Christ having deigned to make Mary His Mother, inasmuch as He was her Son, He was truly obliged to obey her. \u00a0And for this reason, says Richard of St. Laurence, while \u201cof other Saints we say that they are with God; but of Mary alone can it be said that she was so far favoured as to be not only herself submissive to the will of God, but even that God was subject to her will.\u201d \u00a0And whereas of all other virgins, remarks the same author, we must say that they follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth \u2014 <\/em>(Apoc. xiv. 4), of the Blessed Virgin Mary we can say that the Lamb follows her, having become subject to her.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And here we say, that although Mary, now in Heaven, can no longer command her Son, nevertheless her prayers are always the prayers of a Mother, and consequently most powerful to obtain whatever she asks. \u201cMary,\u201d says St. Bonaventure, \u201chas this great privilege, that with her Son she above all the Saints is most powerful to obtain whatever she wills.\u201d \u00a0And why? \u00a0Precisely for this reason \u2013 they are the prayers of His Mother.<\/p>

Medita\u00e7\u00e3o II:
<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Peter Damian says the Blessed Virgin can do whatever she pleases both in Heaven and on earth. \u00a0She is able to raise even those who are in despair to confidence; and he addresses her in these words: \u201cAll power is given to thee in Heaven and on earth, and nothing is impossible to thee who canst raise those who are in despair to the hope of salvation.\u201d \u00a0And then he adds that \u201cwhen the Mother goes to seek a favour for us from Jesus Christ,\u201d Whom the Saint calls the Golden Altar of Mercy, at which sinners obtain pardon, \u201cher Son esteems her prayers so greatly, and is so desirous to satisfy her, that when she prays it seems as if she rather commanded than prayed, and was rather a queen than a handmaid.\u201d \u00a0Jesus is pleased thus to honour His beloved Mother who honoured Him so much during her life by immediately granting all that she asks or desires. \u00a0This is beautifully confirmed by St. Germanus, who, addressing our Blessed Lady, says: \u201cThou art the Mother of God, and all-powerful to save sinners, and with God thou needest no other recommendation; for thou art the Mother of true Life.\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAt the command of Mary, all obey, even God.\u201d \u00a0St. Bernardine fears not to utter this sentence; meaning, indeed, to say that God grants the prayers of Mary as if they were commands. \u00a0And hence St. Anselm addressing Mary says: \u201cOur Lord, O most holy Virgin, has exalted thee to such a degree that by His favour all things that are possible to Him should be possible to thee.\u201d \u00a0\u201cFor thy protection is omnipotent, O Mary,\u201d says Cosmas of Jerusalem. \u00a0\u201cYes, Mary is omnipotent,\u201d repeats Richard of St. Laurence; \u201cfor the queen by every law enjoys the same privileges as the king. \u00a0And as,\u201d he adds, \u201cthe power of the son and that of the mother is the same, a mother is made omnipotent by an omnipotent Son.\u201d \u00a0\u201cAnd thus,\u201d says St. Antoninus, \u201cGod has placed the whole Church, not only under the patronage, but even under the dominion of Mary.\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>\u00cdNDICE<\/a>
<\/em>\u21d0 EIGHTEENTH WEEK AFTER <\/em>PEN<\/em>TECOST<\/em><\/a>
\u21d2 TWENTIETH WEEK AFTER <\/em>PENTECOSTES<\/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. pp. 50-102 NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Morning Meditation:\u00a0 THE GREAT FAITH OF ST. TERESA AND HER DEVOTION TOWARDS THE BLESSED SACRAMENT * \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Teresa received from God the gift of Faith in so … Continuar lendo <\/i><\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4884,"parent":0,"menu_order":105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11316","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDAILY MEDITATIONS: NINETEENTH 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\/pt\/daily-meditations-nineteenth-week-after-pentecost\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pt_BR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DAILY MEDITATIONS: NINETEENTH WEEK AFTER PENTECOST - Society of the Most Holy Redeemer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"VOLUME IV – PART II, pp. pp. 50-102 NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Morning Meditation:\u00a0 THE GREAT FAITH OF ST. 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