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I.
Our holy Redeemer has ransomed us from eternal death at the price of His own Blood, and He does not wish to see these souls of ours lost which have cost Him so much. When He sees souls that are constraining Him by their sins to sentence them to hell, He, as it were, weeps with compassion for them and says: And wherefore will ye die, O house of Israel? Return ye and live! (Ezech. xviii. 31). My children, why will you destroy and damn yourselves when I have died upon a Cross to save you? Return to Me as penitents, and I will restore to you the life you have lost.
The Apostle, St. Paul, teaches that God willeth the salvation of all: He will have all men to be saved. (1 Tim. ii. 4). And St. Peter writes: The Lord dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance. (2 Peter. 9). For this end the Son of God came down from Heaven, and was made Man, and spent thirty-three years in labours and sufferings, and finally shed His Blood and laid down His life for our salvation. And shall we forfeit our salvation?
Thou, my Saviour, didst spend Thy whole life in securing my salvation, and in what have I spent so many years of my life? What fruit hast Thou hitherto reaped from me? I have deserved to be cut off and cast into hell. But Thou desirest not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live. (Ezech. xxxiii. 11). Yes, O God, I leave all and turn myself to Thee. I love Thee, and because I love Thee I am sorry for having offended Thee. Accept of me, and suffer me not to forsake Thee any more.
How much did not the Saints do to secure their eternal salvation! How many nobles and kings have forsaken their kingdoms and estates, and shut themselves up in cloisters! How many young persons have forsaken their country and friends, to dwell in caves and deserts! And how many Martyrs have laid down their lives under the most cruel tortures! And why? -- to save their souls. And what have we done?
Woe to me, who, although I know that death is near at hand, yet think not of it! No, my God, I will no longer live at a distance from Thee. Why do I delay? Is it that death may overtake me in the miserable state in which I now am? No, my God, do Thou assist me to prepare for death.
II.
O God, how many graces has my Saviour bestowed on me to enable me to save my soul! He has caused me to be born in the bosom of the true Church; He has many times pardoned me my transgressions; He has favoured me with many lights in sermons, in prayers, in meditations, in Communions, and spiritual exercises; and often has He called me to His love. In a word, how many means of salvation has He granted me which He has not granted others!
And yet, O God, when shall I detach myself from the world and give myself entirely to Thee? Behold me, O Jesus, I will no longer resist. Thou hast obliged me to love Thee. I desire to be wholly Thine: do Thou accept of me, and disdain not the love of a sinner who has hitherto so much despised Thee. I love Thee, my God, my Love, and my All. Have pity on me, O Mary, for thou art my hope.
Spiritual Reading
THE POWER OF THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST TO ENKINDLE DIVINE LOVE IN EVERY HEART.
Father Balthassar Alvarez, a great servant of God, used to say that we must not think we have made any progress in the way of God until we have come to keep Jesus crucified ever in our heart. And St. Francis de Sales said that "the love which is not the offspring of the Passion is feeble." Yes; because we cannot have a more powerful motive for loving God than the Passion of Jesus Christ, by which we know that the Eternal Father, to manifest His exceeding love for us, was pleased to send His only-begotten Son upon earth to die for us sinners. Hence the Apostle says that God, through the excess of love wherewith He loved us, willed that the death of His Son should convey life to us: For his exceeding charity wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ. (Ephes. ii. 5). And this was precisely the expression used by Moses and Elias on Mount Tabor, in speaking of the Passion of Jesus Christ. They did not know how to give it any other appellation than an excess of love: And they spoke of his excess, which he should consummate in Jerusalem. (Luke ix. 31).
When our Saviour came into the world, the shepherds heard the angels singing, Glory to God in the highest. (Luke ii. 14). But the humiliation of the Son of God in becoming Man, through His love for man, might have seemed rather to obscure than to manifest His Divine glory: but no; there was no means by which the glory of God could have been better manifested to the world than by Jesus Christ dying for the salvation of mankind, since the Passion of Jesus Christ has made us know the perfection of the Divine attributes. It has made us know how great is the Mercy of God, in that a God was willing to die to save sinners; and to die, moreover, by a death so painful and ignominious. St. John Chrysostom says, that the Passion of Jesus Christ was not an ordinary suffering, nor His death a simple death like that of other men.
It has made us know the Divine Wisdom. Had our Redeemer been merely God, He could not have made satisfaction for man; for God could not make satisfaction to Himself in place of man; nor could God make satisfaction by means of suffering, for He is impassible. On the other hand, had He been merely man, man could not have made satisfaction for the grievous injury done by him to the Divine Majesty. What, then, did God do? He sent His own very Son, true God with the Father, to take human flesh, that so as man He might by His death pay the debt due to the Divine Justice, and as God might make full satisfaction.
The Passion, moreover, made us know how great is the Divine Justice. St. John Chrysostom says, that God reveals to us the greatness of His Justice, not so much by hell in which He punishes sinners, as by the sight of Jesus on the Cross; since in hell creatures are punished for sins of their own, but on the Cross we behold a God cruelly treated in order to make satisfaction for the sins of men. What obligation had Jesus Christ to die for us? He was offered because it was his own will. (Is. liii. 7). He might have justly abandoned man to his perdition; but His love for us would not let Him see us lost: wherefore He chose to give Himself up to so painful a death in order to obtain for us salvation: He hath loved us and delivered himself up for us. (Ephes. v. 11). From all eternity He had loved man: I have loved thee, with an everlasting love. (Jer. xxxi. 3). But then, seeing that His justice obliged Him to condemn man, and to keep him at a distance, separated eternally from Himself, His mercy urged Him to find a way by which He might be able to save him. But how? By making satisfaction Himself to the Divine Justice by His own death. And consequently He willed that there should be affixed to the Cross whereon He died the sentence of condemnation to eternal death which man had merited, in order that it might remain there, cancelled in His Blood. Blotting out the writing of the decree that was against us, which was contrary to us. He hath taken the same out of the way, fastening it to the cross. (Colos. ii. 14). And thus, through the merits of His own Blood, He pardons all our sins: Forgiving you all offences. (Colos. ii. 13). And at the same time He spoiled the devils of the rights they had acquired over us, carrying along with Him in triumph as well our enemies as ourselves, who were their prey. And despoiling the principalities and powers, he hath exposed them confidently in open show, triumphing over them in himself. (Colos. ii. 15). On which Theophylact comments: "As a conqueror in triumph, carrying with Him the booty and the enemy."
Evening Meditation
FRUITS OF MEDITATION ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST.
I.
The Lover of souls, our most loving Redeemer, declared that He had no other motive in coming down upon earth to become man, than to enkindle in the hearts of men the fire of His holy love: I am come to cast fire on the earth; and what will I but that it be kindled. (Luke xii. 49). And, oh, what beautiful flames of love has He not enkindled in so many souls, especially by the pains that He chose to suffer in His death, in order to prove to us the immeasurable love which He still bears to us! Oh, how many souls, happy in the Wounds of Jesus, as in burning furnaces of love, have been so inflamed with His love, that they have not refused to consecrate to Him their goods, their lives, and their whole selves, surmounting with great courage all the difficulties which they had to encounter in the observance of the Divine law, for the love of that Lord Who, being God, chose to suffer so much for the love of them! This was just the counsel that the Apostle gave us, in order that we might not fail, but make great advances in the way of salvation: Think diligently upon him, who endureth such opposition from sinners against himself, that you be not wearied, fainting in your minds. (Heb. xii. 3).
Wherefore St. Augustine, all inflamed with love at the sight of Jesus nailed on the Cross, prayed thus sweetly: Imprint, O Lord, Thy Wounds in my heart, that I may read therein suffering and love: suffering, that I may endure for Thee all suffering; love, that I may despise for Thee all love. Write, he said, my most loving Saviour, write on my heart Thy Wounds, in order that I may always therein behold Thy sufferings and Thy love. Yes, in order that having before my eyes the great sufferings that Thou, my God, didst endure for me, I may bear in silence all the sufferings it may fall to my lot to endure; and at the sight of the love which Thou didst exhibit for me on the Cross, I may never love or be able to love any other than Thee.
II.
O Saviour of the world, O Love of souls, O Lord most lovely of all beings, Thou by Thy Passion didst come to win to Thyself our hearts, by showing us the immense love Thou didst bear us in accomplishing a Redemption which has brought to us a sea of benedictions, and which cost Thee a sea of pains and ignominies. It was principally for this end that Thou didst institute the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, in order that we might have a perpetual memorial of Thy Passion: "That we might have for ever a perpetual memorial of so great a benefit," says St. Thomas, "He gives His body to be the food of the faithful" which St. Paul had already said: As often as you shall eat this bread, you shall show the death of the Lord. (1 Cor. xi. 26). Oh, how many holy souls hast Thou persuaded by these prodigies of love, consumed by the flames of Thy love, to renounce all earthly goods, in order to dedicate themselves entirely to loving Thee alone, O most amiable Saviour! O my Jesus, I pray Thee make me always remember Thy Passion; and grant that I also, a miserable sinner, overcome at last by so many loving devices, may return to love Thee, and to show Thee, by my poor love, some mark of gratitude for the excessive love which Thou, my God and my Saviour, hast borne to me. Remember, my Jesus, that I am one of those sheep of Thine, to save which Thou didst come down on the earth, and didst sacrifice Thy Divine life. I know that, after having redeemed me by Thy death, Thou hast not ceased to love me, and that Thou dost still bear to me the same love which Thou hadst for me when Thou didst die for my sake. Oh, permit me not any longer to lead a life of ingratitude towards Thee, my God, Who dost so much deserve to be loved, and hast done so much to be loved by me.
And thou, O most holy Virgin Mary, who didst take so great a part in the Passion of thy Son, obtain for me, I beseech thee, through the merits of thy sorrows, the grace to experience a taste of that compassion which thou didst so sensibly feel at the death of Jesus; and obtain for me also a spark of that love which wrought all the martyrdom of thy afflicted heart. Amen.
"Let my mind, O Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech Thee, be absorbed in the fiery and honeyed sweetness of Thy love, that I may die for love of the love of Thee, Who wert pleased to die for love of the love of me." (Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi).
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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Art thou a sinner, and dost thou desire to be pardoned? "Doubt not," says St. John Chrysostom, "that God has a greater desire to pardon thee than thou hast to be pardoned." God stands at the door of our hearts, and knocks that we may open to Him: Behold, I stand at the door and knock. (Apoc. iii. 20). Again He urges: Why will ye die, O house of Israel? (Ezech. xviii. 31). As if He were saying in compassion: "O My child, why wilt thou die?"
I.
The Lord called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou? (Gen. iii. 9). These are the words of a father, says a pious author, going in quest of his lost son. Oh, the immense compassion of our God! Adam sins, he turns his back upon God; and yet God does not abandon him, but follows him and calls after him: Adam, where art thou? Thus, my soul, has God frequently done towards thee; thou hast forsaken Him by sin; but He did not hesitate to approach thee, and to call upon thee by many interior lights, by remorse of conscience, and by His holy inspirations; all of which were the effects of His compassion and love.
O God of mercy, O God of love, how could I have so grievously offended Thee! How could I have been so ungrateful to Thee!
As a father, when he beholds his son hastening to cast himself down from the brink of a precipice, presses forward towards him, and with tears endeavours to withhold him from destruction; so, my God, hast Thou done towards me. I was already hastening by my sins to precipitate myself into hell, and Thou didst hold me hack. I am now sensible, O Lord, of the love which Thou hast shown me, and I hope to sing forever in Heaven the praises of Thy mercy: The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever. (Ps. lxxxviii. 1). I know, O Jesus, that Thou desirest my salvation; but I do not know whether Thou hast yet pardoned me. Oh! give me intense sorrow for my sins, give me an ardent love for Thee, as signs of Thy merciful forgiveness.
II.
O my Saviour, how can I doubt of receiving Thy pardon, when Thou Thyself dost offer it to me, and art ready to receive me with open arms on my return to Thee? Wherefore I do return to Thee, sorrowing and overpowered at the consideration that after all my offences against Thee, Thou indeed still lovest me. Oh, that I had never displeased Thee, my sovereign Good! How much am I grieved for having done so! Pardon me, O Jesus, I will never more offend Thee. But I will not rest satisfied with Thy forgiveness only: give me also a great love of Thee. Having so often deserved to burn in the fires of hell, I now desire to burn in the fire of Thy holy love. I love Thee, my only Love, my Life, my Treasure, my All. O Mary, my protectress, pray for me that I may continue faithful to God to the end of my life.
Spiritual Reading
THE POWER OF THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST (continued).
When satisfying the Divine justice on the Cross, Jesus Christ speaks but of mercy. He prays His Father to have mercy on the very Jews who had contrived His death, and on His murderers who were putting Him to death: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke xxiii. 34). While He was on the Cross, instead of punishing the two thieves who had just before reviled Him, -- And they that were crucified with him, reviled him (Mark xv. 82), -- when He heard one of them asking for mercy, -- Lord, remember me when thou shalt came into thy kingdom. (Luke xxiii. 42),--overflowing with mercy, He promises him Paradise that very day: This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise. (Luke xxiii. 43). Then, before He expired, He gave to us, in the person of John, His own Mother to be our Mother: He saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. (Jo. xix. 27). There upon the Cross He declares Himself content in- having done everything to obtain salvation for us, and He makes perfect the sacrifice by His death: Afterwards Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, ...said, It is consummated; and bowing his head he gave up the ghost. (Jo. xix. 28, 30). And behold, by the death of Jesus Christ, man is set free from sin and from the power of the devil; and, moreover, is raised to grace, and to a greater degree of grace than Adam lost: And where sin abounded, says St. Paul, grace did more abound. (Rom. v. 20). It remains therefore for us, writes the Apostle, to have frequent recourse with all confidence to this throne of grace, which Jesus crucified truly is, in order to receive from His mercy the grace of salvation, together with aid to overcome the temptations of the world and of hell: Let us go therefore with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid. (Heb. iv. 16).
Ah, my Jesus, I love Thee above all things, and whom would I wish to love if I love not Thee Who art Infinite Goodness, and Who hast died for me? Would that I could die of grief every time I think how I have driven Thee away from my soul by my sins, and separated myself from Thee Who art my only Good, and Who hast loved me so much: "Who shall separate me from the charity of Christ?" It is sin only that can separate me from Thee. But I hope in the Blood Thou hast shed for me, that Thou wilt never allow me to separate myself from Thy love, and to lose Thy grace, which I prize more than every other good. I give myself wholly to Thee. Do Thou accept me, draw all my affections to Thyself, that so I may love none but Thee.
Does Jesus Christ perhaps claim too much in wishing us to give ourselves wholly to Him, after He has given to us all His Blood and His life, in dying for us upon the Cross? The charity of Christ presseth us. (2 Cor. v. 14). Let us hear what St. Francis de Sales says upon these words: "To know that Jesus has loved us unto death, and that the death of the Cross, is not this to feel our hearts constrained by a violence which is the stronger in proportion to its loveliness?" And then he adds: "My Jesus gives Himself all to me, and I give myself all to Him. On His bosom will I live and die. Neither death nor life shall ever separate me from Him."
Evening Meditation
REFLECTIONS. AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST.
I.
From what source did the Saints draw courage and strength to suffer torments, martyrdom, and death if not from the sufferings of Jesus crucified? St. Joseph of Leonessa, a Capuchin, on seeing that they were going to bind him with cords for a painful incision that the surgeon was to make in his body, took into his hands his Crucifix and said, "Why these cords? Why these cords? Behold, these are my chains -- my Saviour nailed to the Cross for love of me. He through His sufferings constrains me to bear every trial for His sake." And thus he suffered the amputation without a complaint; looking upon Jesus, Who, as a lamb before his shearers, was dumb, and did not open his mouth. (Is. liii. 7). Who, then, can ever complain that he suffers wrongfully, when he considers Jesus, Who was bruised for our sins? (Is. liii. 5). Who can refuse to obey, on account of some inconvenience, when Jesus became obedient unto death? (Phil. ii. 8). Who can refuse ignominies, when he beholds Jesus, treated as a fool, as a mock king, as a disorderly person; struck, spit upon His Face, and suspended upon an infamous gibbet?
Who could love any other object besides Jesus, when he sees Him dying in the midst of so many sufferings and insults in order to captivate our love? A certain devout solitary prayed to God to teach him what he could do in order to love Him perfectly. Our Lord revealed to him that there was no more efficient way to arrive at the perfect love of Him, than to meditate constantly on His Passion. St. Teresa lamented and complained of certain books which had taught her to leave off meditating on the Passion of Jesus Christ, because this might be an impediment to the contemplation of His Divinity; and the Saint exclaimed: "O Lord of my soul, O my Jesus crucified, my Treasure, I never remember this opinion without thinking that I have been guilty of great treachery. And is it possible that Thou, my Lord, couldst be an obstacle to me in the way of a greater good? Whence, then, do all good things come to me, but from Thee?" And she then added: "I have seen that, in order to please God, and to induce Him to grant us great graces, He wills that they should all pass through the hands of this most Sacred Humanity, in which His Divine Majesty declared that He took pleasure."
II.
Father Balthassar Alvarez said that ignorance of the treasures that we possess in Jesus was the ruin of Christians; and therefore his favourite and usual meditation was on the Passion of Jesus Christ. He meditated especially on three of the sufferings of Jesus -- His poverty, contempt, and pain; and he exhorted his penitents to meditate frequently on the Passion of our Redeemer, telling them that they should not consider that they had done any thing at all, until they had arrived at retaining Jesus crucified continually in their hearts.
"He who desires," says St. Bonaventure, "to go on advancing from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, should meditate continually on the Passion of Jesus." And he adds, that there is no practice more profitable to the entire sanctification of the soul than frequent meditation on the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
St. Augustine also said that a single tear shed at the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus is worth more than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or a year of fasting on bread and water. Yes, because it was for this end that our Saviour suffered so much, in order that we should think of His sufferings; because, if we think of them, it is impossible not to be inflamed with Divine love: The charity of Christ presseth us, says St. Paul. (2 Con v. 14). Jesus is loved by few, because few consider the pains He has suffered for us; but he that frequently considers them cannot live without loving Jesus. The charity of Christ presseth us. He will feel himself so constrained by His love, that he will not find it possible to refrain from loving a God so full of love Who has suffered so much to make us love Him.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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Who is the Lord that I should hear his voice? I know not the Lord. (Exod. v. 2). So speaks the sinner. Lord, I do not acknowledge Thee! I will do what I please! He insults God to His face and turns his back upon Him. This turning away from God is mortal sin.
I.
St. Augustine and St. Thomas define mortal sin as a turning away from God: that is, the turning of one's back upon God, leaving the Creator for the sake of the creature. What punishment would that subject deserve who, while his king was giving him a command, contemptuously turned his back upon him to go and transgress his orders? That is what the sinner does; and it is punished in hell with the pain of loss, that is, the loss of God, a punishment richly deserved by him who in this life turns his back upon his Sovereign Good.
Alas! my God, I have frequently turned my back upon Thee; but I see that Thou hast not yet abandoned me; I see that Thou approachest me, and, inviting me to repentance, dost offer me Thy pardon. I am sorry above every evil for having offended Thee, do Thou have pity on me.
Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord; thou art gone backward. (Jer. xv. 6). God complains and says: Ungrateful soul, hast thou forsaken Me! I should never have forsaken thee hadst thou not first turned thy back upon Me: thou hast gone backward. O God, with what consternation will these words fill the soul of the sinner when he stands to be judged before Thy Divine tribunal!
Thou makest me hear them now, O my Saviour, not to condemn me, but to bring me to sorrow for the offences I have committed against Thee. Yes, O Jesus, I sincerely repent of all the displeasure I have given Thee. For my own miserable gratification I have forsaken Thee, my God, my Sovereign, Infinite Good! But behold me a penitent returned to Thee; reject me not.
II.
Why will you die, O house of Israel? return ye and live. (Ezech. xviii. 31). I have died, says Jesus Christ, for the salvation of your souls, and why will you condemn them by your sins to eternal death? Return to Me, and you will recover the life of My grace.
O Jesus, I should not dare to crave Thy pardon, did I not know that Thou hast died to obtain my forgiveness. Alas! how often have I despised Thy grace and Thy love. O that I had died rather than have ever offered Thee so great an injury! But Thou, Who didst come near to me even when I offended Thee, wilt not now reject me, when I love Thee and seek no other but Thee. My God and my All, suffer me not any more to be ungrateful to Thee. Mary, Queen and Mother, obtain for me the grace of holy perseverance.
Spiritual Reading
THE POWER OF THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST (continued).
It was for this end, says St. Paul, that Jesus Christ died, that each of us should no longer live to the world nor to himself, but to Him alone Who has given Himself wholly to us: And Christ died for all, that they also who live may not now live to themselves, but unto him who died for them. (2 Cor. v. 15). He who lives to the world, seeks to please the world; he who lives to himself, seeks to please himself; but he who lives to Jesus Christ, seeks only to please Jesus Christ, and fears only to displease Him. His only joy is to see Him loved; his only sorrow, to see Him despised. This is to live to Jesus Christ; and this is what He claims from each one of us. I repeat, does He claim too much from us, after having given us His blood and His life?
Wherefore, then, O my God, do we employ our affections in loving creatures, relations, friends, the great ones of the world, who have never suffered for us scourges, or thorns, or nails, or shed one drop of blood for us; and not in loving a God Who for love of us came down from Heaven and was made Man, and shed all His blood for us in the midst of torments, and finally died of grief upon a Cross, in order to win to Himself our hearts: and, further, in order to unite Himself more closely with us, has left Himself, after His death, upon our altars, where He makes Himself one with us that we may understand how burning is the love wherewith He loves us? "He hath mingled Himself with us," exclaims St. John Chrysostom, "that we may be one and the same thing; for this is the desire of those who ardently love." And St. Francis de Sales, speaking of Holy Communion, adds: "There is no action in which we can think of our Saviour as more tender or more loving than this, in which He, as it were, annihilates Himself, and reduces Himself to food, in order to unite Himself to the hearts of His faithful."
But how comes it, O Lord, that I, after having been loved by Thee to such an excess, have had the heart to despise Thee, according to Thy just reproach: I have brought up children and exalted them, but they have despised me (Is. i. 2)? I have dared to turn my back upon Thee, in order to gratify my senses: Thou hast cast me behind thy back. (Ezech. xxiii. 35). I have dared to drive Thee from my soul: The wicked have said to God: Depart from us. (Job xxi. 14). I have dared to afflict that Heart of Thine which has loved me so much. And what, then, am I now to do? Ought I to be distrustful of Thy mercy? I curse the days wherein I dishonoured Thee. Oh, would that I had died a thousand times, O my Saviour, than that I had ever offended Thee! O Lamb of God, Thou didst bleed to death upon the Cross to wash away our sins in Thy Blood. O sinners, what would you not pay on the Day of Judgment for one drop of the Blood of this Lamb? O my Jesus, have pity on me, and pardon me; but Thou knowest my weakness; take, then, my will, that it may never more rebel against Thee. Expel from me all love that is not for Thee. I choose Thee alone for my Treasure and my only Good. Thou art sufficient for me; and I desire no other good apart from Thee: The God of my heart, and God that is my portion for ever.
O little sheep, beloved of God (so used St. Teresa to call the Blessed Virgin), who art the Mother of the Divine Lamb, recommend me to thy Son. Thou, after Jesus, art my hope, for thou art the hope of sinners. To thy hands I intrust my eternal salvation. Spes nostra, salve! (Our hope, save us!)
Evening Meditation
REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST.
I.
The Apostle St. Paul said that he desired to know nothing but Jesus, and Jesus crucified; that is, the love that He has shown us on the Cross: I judged not myself to know anything among you but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. (1 Cor. 2). And, in truth, from what books can we better learn the Science of the Saints -- that is, the Science of loving God than from Jesus crucified? That great servant of God, Brother Bernard of Corlione, the Capuchin, not being able to read, his brother Religious wanted to teach him, upon which he went to consult his Crucifix; but Jesus answered him from the Cross, "What is reading? What are books? Behold, I am the Book wherein thou mayest continually read the love I have borne thee." O great subject to be considered during our whole life and during all eternity! A God dead for the love of us! a God dead for the love of us! O wonderful subject!
St. Thomas Aquinas was one day paying a visit to St. Bonaventure, and asked him from what book he had drawn all the beautiful lessons he had written. St. Bonaventure showed him the image of the Crucified, which was completely blackened by all the kisses he had given it, and said, " This is my book, whence I receive everything that I write; and it has taught me whatever little I know." In short, all the Saints have learned the art of loving God from the study of the Crucifix. Brother John of Alvernia, every time that he beheld Jesus wounded, could not restrain his tears. Brother James of Tuderto, when he heard the Passion of our Redeemer read, not only wept bitterly, but broke out into loud sobs, overcame with the love with which he was inflamed towards his beloved Lord.
II.
It was this sweet study of the Crucifix which made St. Francis become a great seraph. He wept so continually in meditating on the sufferings of Jesus Christ, that he almost entirely lost his sight. On one occasion, being found crying out and weeping, he was asked what was the matter with him. "What ails me?" replied the Saint. "I weep over the sorrows and insults inflicted on my Lord; and my sorrow is increased when I think on those ungrateful men who do not love Him, but live without any thought of Him." Every time that he heard the bleating of a lamb, he felt himself touched with compassion at the thought of the death of Jesus, the Immaculate Lamb, drained of every drop of Blood upon the Cross tor the sins of the world. And therefore this loving Saint could find no subject on which he exhorted his brethren with greater eagerness than the constant remembrance of the Passion of Jesus.
This, then, is the Book -- Jesus crucified -- which, if we constantly read it, will teach us on the one hand, to have a lively fear of sin, and, on the other hand, will inflame us with love for a God so full of love for us; while we read in these Wounds the great malice of sin, which reduced a God to suffer such a bitter death in order to satisfy the Divine justice, and the love which our Saviour has shown us in choosing to suffer so much in order to prove to us how much He loved us.
Let us beseech the Divine Mother Mary to obtain for us from her Son the grace that we also may enter into these furnaces of love, in which so many loving hearts are consumed, in order that, our earthly affections being there burnt away, we also may burn with those blessed flames, which render souls holy on earth and blessed in Heaven. Amen.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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Thus does the Royal Prophet speak of sinners: They tempted and provoked the most high God.. (Ps. lxxvii. 65). God is not capable of grief; but were it possible for Him to grieve, every sin that men commit would deeply afflict Him. Our sins were the cause of Jesus sweating Blood, and suffering the agonies of death in the garden of Gethsemane, where He declared that His soul was sorrowful unto death. (Mark xiv. 34).
I.
Every soul that loves God is loved by Him in return, and God dwells within that soul, and leaves it not till He is expelled by sin. “He forsakes not unless He is forsaken,” says the Council of Trent. When a soul deliberately consents to mortal sin it expels God, and, as it were, says to Him: Leave me, O Lord, for I desire to possess Thee no longer. The wicked have said to God: Depart from us. (Job xxi. 14).
O my God, I have then had the audacity, when I committed sin, to expel Thee from my soul and to desire to have Thee no longer with me! But Thou wouldst not have me to despair, but repent and love Thee. Yes, my Jesus, I do repent of having offended Thee, and I love Thee above all things.
The sinner must be sensible that God cannot dwell in a soul together with sin. When, therefore, sin enters the soul, God must depart from it. So that the sinner, by admitting sin, says to God: As Thou canst not remain any longer with me, unless I renounce sin, depart from me; it is better to lose Thee than the pleasure of committing sin. At the same time that the soul expels God it gives possession to the devil. Thus does the sinner eject his God Who loves him, and makes himself the slave of a tyrant who hates him.
This, O Lord, is what I have hitherto done. Oh, give me some share of that abhorrence for my sins which Thou didst experience in the Garden of Gethsemane. Dearest Redeemer, would that I had never offended Thee!
II.
When a child is being baptized, the priest commands the devil to depart from its soul: Go forth, unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Ghost. On the contrary, when a man falls from the state of grace into mortal sin, he says to God, Go forth from me, O Lord, and give place to the devil!
Such is the foul ingratitude, O Lord, with which I have frequently repaid Thy great love towards me. Thou didst come down from Heaven to seek me, the lost sheep; and I have fled from Thee and expelled Thee from my soul. But no, I will now embrace Thy sacred feet and will nevermore leave Thee, my beloved Lord. Help me with Thy holy grace. And, O blessed Mary, most holy Queen, do not abandon me.
Spiritual Reading
JESUS BY HIS EXAMPLE TEACHES US MORTIFICATION.
St. John says, All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life. (1 John ii. 16). Behold the three sinful loves which held dominion over man after the sin of Adam — the love of pleasures, the love of riches, the love of honours, which generate human pride. The Divine Word, to teach us by His example, the mortification of the senses, by which the love of pleasures is subdued, from being happy became afflicted; to teach us detachment from the goods of this earth, from being rich He became poor; and, finally, to teach us humility, which overcomes the love of honours, from being exalted He became humble.
Jesus came, then, to teach us the love of mortification of the senses more by the example of His life than by the doctrines He preached; and, therefore, from being happy He came to lead a suffering life.
Our Redeemer could, indeed, have rescued us from the hands of our enemies without suffering. He could have come on earth and continued in His happiness, leading here below a pleasant life, receiving the honour justly due to Him as King and Lord of all. It was enough, to offer to God one drop of His Blood, one single tear, to redeem the world and an infinity of worlds: “the least degree of the suffering of Christ” (says the Angelic Doctor) “would have sufficed for Redemption, on account of the infinite dignity of His Person.” But no: Having joy set before him, he endured the cross. (Heb. xii. 2). He renounced all honours and pleasures and made choice on earth of a life full of toils and ignominies. St. John Chrysostom says that any action whatever of the Incarnate Word sufficed for Redemption; but it did not suffice for the love which He bore to man. “What was sufficient for Redemption was not sufficient for love.” And whereas he that loves desires to see himself loved in return, Jesus Christ, in order to be loved by man, was pleased to suffer exceedingly, and to choose for Himself a life of continual suffering, to put man under an obligation of loving Him. Our Lord revealed to St. Margaret of Cortona that in His whole life He never experienced the smallest degree of sensible consolation: Great as the sea is thy destruction. (Lament. ii. 13).
Yes; because Jesus was born on purpose to suffer, He assumed a body particularly adapted for suffering. On entering the womb of Mary, as the Apostle tells us, He said to His Eternal Father: Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not; but a body thou hast fitted to me. (Heb. x. 5). My Father, Thou hast rejected the sacrifices of men, because they were not able to satisfy Thy Divine justice for the offences committed against Thee: Thou hast given Me a body, as I requested of Thee; a body delicate, sensitive, and made purposely for suffering; I gladly accept of this body, and I offer it to Thee; because by enduring in this body all the pains which will accompany me through My life, and will finally cause My death upon the Cross, I shall propitiate Thee towards the human race, and thus to gain for Myself the love of mankind.
And behold Him scarcely entered into the world, when He already begins His sacrifice by beginning to suffer; but in a manner far different from that in which men suffer. Other children, while remaining in the womb of their mothers, do not suffer, because they are only in their natural place; and if they do suffer in some slight degree, at least they are unconscious of what they feel, since they are deprived of understanding; but Jesus, while an Infant, endures for nine months the darkness of that prison, endures the pain of not being able to move, and is perfectly alive to what He endures. St. Bernard says that though yet unborn Jesus was a Man, not in age, but in wisdom.
When Jesus comes forth from the prison of His Mother’s womb, was it, perhaps, to lead a pleasant life? He came forth to fresh sufferings, for He chose to be born in the depth of winter, in a cavern where beasts find stabling, and at the midnight hour. He was born in such poverty that He has no fire to warm Him, no clothes to screen Him from the cold. “A grand pulpit is that manger!” exclaims St. Thomas of Villanova. Oh, how well does Jesus teach us the love of suffering in the cave of Bethlehem!
The life of Jesus was one of continual affliction and sorrow — in Egypt, in Nazareth — until at last He died at the hands of His executioners on the Cross in a sea of sorrows and infamy. As Bellarmine says, Jesus had His Cross always before His eyes. When He slept His Heart watched; nor was it ever free from the vision of the Cross.
Learn, then, from Christ, how to love Christ, says St. Bernard. Be happy to suffer something for that God Who suffered so much for you. The desire of pleasing Jesus Christ, and of making known to Him the love they bore Him, made the Saints hungry and thirsty, not for honours and pleasures, but for sufferings and contempt. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Gal. vi. 14).
Evening Meditation
REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST.
I.
We read in history of a proof of love so prodigious, that it will be the admiration of all ages. There was once a king, lord of many kingdoms, who had one only son, so beautiful, so holy, so amiable, that he was the delight of his father, who loved him as he loved himself. This young prince had a great affection for one of his slaves; so much so, that the slave having committed a crime, for which he had been condemned to death, the prince offered himself to die for the slave; the father, being jealous of justice, was satisfied to condemn his beloved son to death, in order that the slave might remain free from the punishment he deserved: and thus the son died a malefactor’s death, and the slave was freed from punishment.
This fact, the like of which has never happened in this world and never will happen, is related in the Gospels, where we read that the Son of God, the Lord of the universe, seeing that man was condemned to eternal death in punishment of his sins, chose to take upon Himself human flesh, and thus to pay by His death the penalty due to man: He was offered because it was his own will. (Is. liii. 7). And His Eternal Father caused Him to die upon the Cross to save us miserable sinners: He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us us. (Rom. viii. 32). What dost thou think, O devout soul, of this love of the Son and of the Father?
Thou didst, then, O my beloved Redeemer, choose by Thy death to sacrifice Thyself in order to obtain the pardon of my sins. And what return of gratitude shall I, then, make to Thee? Thou hast done too much to oblige me to love Thee; I should, indeed, be most ungrateful to Thee if I did not love Thee with my whole heart. Thou hast given for me Thy Divine life; I, miserable sinner that I am, give Thee my own life. Yes, I will at least spend that period of life which remains to me only in loving Thee, obeying Thee, and pleasing Thee.
II.
O men, men, let us love this our Redeemer, Who, being God, has not disdained to take upon Himself our sins, in order to satisfy by His sufferings for the chastisement which we have deserved: Surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows. (Is. liii. 4). St. Augustine says, that our Lord in creating us formed us by virtue of His power, but in redeeming us He hath saved us from death by means of His sufferings “He created us in His strength; He sought us back in His weakness.” How much do I not owe Thee, O Jesus my Saviour! Oh, if I were to give my blood a thousand times over, if I were to spend a thousand lives for Thee, — it would yet be nothing. Oh, how could any one that meditated much on the love which Thou hast shown him in Thy Passion, love anything else but Thee? Through the love with which Thou didst love us on the Cross, grant me the grace to love Thee with my whole heart. I love Thee, Infinite Goodness; I love Thee above every other good; and I ask nothing more of Thee but Thy holy love.
“But how is this?” continues St. Augustine. How is it possible, O Saviour of the world, that Thy love has arrived at such a height, that when I had committed the crime, Thou shouldst have to pay the penalty? “Whither has Thy love reached? I have sinned; Thou art punished.” And what could it then signify to Thee, adds St. Bernard, that we should lose ourselves and be chastised, as we well deserved to be; that Thou shouldst choose to satisfy with Thy innocent flesh for our sins, and to die in order to deliver us from death? “O good Jesus, what doest Thou? We ought to have died, and it is Thou who diest, We have sinned, and Thou sufferest. A deed without precedent, grace without merit, charity without measure!” O deed, which never has had and never will have its match! O grace that we could never merit! O love which can never be understood!
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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Contemplating the greatness and majesty of God, David cried out: Lord, who is like to thee! But God, seeing sinners compare and prefer a miserable gratification to His friendship, exclaims: To whom have ye likened me or made me equal! The sinner declares that his passion, his vanity, his pleasure, is of greater value than God's friendship. They violated me among my people, for a handful of barley and a piece of bread. (Ezech. xiii. 19).
I.
The sinner despises God. By the transgression of the law thou dishonourest God. (Rom. ii. 23). Yes; because the sinner renounces God's grace, and for the sake of a miserable pleasure he tramples upon His friendship. If a man were to lose the friendship of God to gain a kingdom, or even the whole world, still he would do a great wrong, because the friendship of God is of greater value than the world -- and a thousand worlds. But for what do we offend God? Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God? (Ps. ix. 13). For a little earth, for a fit of anger, for a filthy pleasure, for a mere vapour, for a caprice: They violated me for a handful of barley and a piece of bread. (Ezech. xiii. 19). When the sinner deliberates whether he shall consent or not to sin, he then, as it were, takes the balance in his hands, and examines which weighs most--the grace of God, or that fit of rage, that vapour, that pleasure; and when he afterwards consents, he declares, as far as he is concerned, that his passion and his pleasure are of greater value than the friendship of God. Behold God dishonoured by the sinner! David, reflecting upon the greatness and majesty of God, said: Lord, who is like to thee? (Ps. xxxiv. 10). But God, on the other hand, when He sees a miserable gratification compared by sinners and preferred to Himself, says to them: To whom have you likened me, or made me equal? (Is. xl. 25). Therefore, says the Lord, that vile pleasure was of greater value than My grace: Thou hast cast me off behind thy back. (Ezech. xxiii. 35). You would not have committed that sin if you were, in consequence, to lose a hand, or ten ducats, or perhaps even much less. God, then, says Salvian, is so contemptible in thy eyes, that He deserves to be despised for a momentary passion or a miserable gratification: "God alone was esteemed vile by thee in comparison of all things else."
Thou, then, O my God, art an infinite Good; and I have often exchanged Thee for a miserable pleasure, which was hardly obtained ere it vanished. But although despised by me, Thou dost now offer me pardon if I desire it; and dost promise to restore me to Thy grace if I repent of having offended Thee. Yes, O my Lord, I repent with all my heart of having thus insulted Thee; I detest my sin above every evil.
II.
Moreover, when the sinner for the sake of some pleasure offends God, that pleasure then becomes his god, inasmuch as he makes it his last end. St. Jerome says: "That which each one desires, if he worship it, it is to him a god. A vice in the heart is an idol on the altar." Therefore St. Thomas says: "If thou lovest delights, delights are thy god." And St. Cyprian: "Whatever man prefers to God, he makes his god." When Jeroboam rebelled against God, he endeavoured to draw the people with him into idolatry, and therefore he presented his idols to them, saying: Behold thy gods, O Israel. (3 Kings xii. 28). Thus does the devil present to the sinner some gratification, saying: What hast thou to do with God? Behold thy god in this pleasure, this passion; take this, and leave God. And the sinner, when he consents, adores in his heart that pleasure as his god: "A vice in the heart is an idol on the altar."
If the sinner dishonours God, he will not, at least, do so in His presence? Ah, he insults Him to His Face, because God is present everywhere: I fill heaven and earth. (Jer. xxiii. 24). And this the sinner knows, and yet shrinks not from provoking God even before His eyes: They continually provoke me to anger before my face. (Is. lxv. 3).
Behold, I now return, as I hope, to Thee, O my God; and Thou dost already receive and embrace me as Thy child. I thank Thee, O Infinite Goodness. But help me now, and do not permit that I ever again banish Thee from me. Hell will not cease to tempt me; but Thou art more powerful than hell. I know that I shall never more separate myself from Thee if I always recommend myself to Thee; this, then, is the grace that Thou must grant me, that I may always recommend myself to Thee, and always pray to Thee, as I now do, saying: O Lord, assist me; give me light, give me strength, give me perseverance, give me paradise; but above all, grant me Thy love, which is the true paradise of souls. I love Thee, O Infinite Goodness, and desire always to love Thee. Hear me, for the love of Jesus Christ. Mary, thou art the refuge of sinners; succour a sinner who desires to love thy God.
Spiritual Reading
EXTERIOR MORTIFICATION: ITS NECESSITY AND ADVANTAGES
There is no alternative: we poor children of Adam must till death live in continual warfare; For, says the Apostle, the flesh lusteth against the spirit. (Gal. v. 17). The flesh desires what the spirit dislikes; and the spirit pants for what the flesh abhors. Now, since it is peculiar to irrational creatures to place all their happiness in sensual enjoyment, and to the Angels to seek only the accomplishment of God's will, surely if we attend to the observance of the Divine commands, we shall, as a learned author justly says, be transformed into Angels; but if we fix our affections on the gratifications of sense, we shall sink to the level of the brute creation.
If the soul do not subdue the body, the flesh will conquer the spirit. To maintain his seat on a furious steed, and to escape danger, the horseman must hold a tight rein; and to avoid the corruption of the flesh, we must keep the body in perpetual restraint. We must treat it as the physician treats a patient, to whom he prescribes nauseous medicine, and to whom he refuses palatable food. Cruel indeed must be the physician who gives to a sick man noxious draughts because they are pleasing to the taste, and who does not administer useful remedies because they are bitter and disgusting. And great is the cruelty of the sensual, when, to escape some trifling corporal pain in this life, they expose their souls and bodies to eternal torments in the next. "Such charity," says St. Bernard, "is destructive of charity: such mercy is full of cruelty; because it so serves the body as to destroy the soul." The false love of the flesh destroys the true charity which we owe to ourselves: inordinate compassion towards the body is full of cruelty, because by indulging the flesh it kills the soul. Speaking of sensualists who deride the mortifications of the Saints, the same Father says: "If we are cruel in crucifying the flesh, you, by sparing it, are more cruel." Yes, for by the pleasures of the body in this life you will merit for soul and body inexpressible torments forever in the next. Father Rodriguez tells us of a solitary who had emaciated his body by very rigorous austerities. Being asked why he treated his body so badly, he replied: "I only chastise what chastises me." I torment the enemy who persecutes my soul, and who seeks my destruction. The Abbot Moses being once censured for severity towards his body, replied: "Let the passions cease, and I will also cease to mortify my flesh." When the flesh ceases to molest me, I shall cease to crucify its appetites.
If, then, we wish to be saved, and to please God, we must take pleasure in what the flesh refuses, and must reject what the flesh demands. Our Lord once said to St. Francis of Assisi: "If you desire my love, accept the things that are bitter as if they were sweet, and the things that are sweet as if they were bitter."
Some will say that perfection does not consist in the mortification of the body, but in the abnegation of the will. To them I answer with Father Pinamonti, that the fruit of the vineyard does not consist in the surrounding hedge; but still if the hedge be taken away, you will seek in vain for the produce of the vine. Where there is no hedge, says the Holy Ghost, the possession shall be spoiled. (Ecclus. xxxvi. 27). So ardent was the desire of St. Aloysius to crucify his flesh, that, although weak in health, he sought nothing but mortifications and penitential rigours; and, to a person who once said that sanctity does not consist in corporal works of penance, but in the denial of self-will, he wisely answered in the words of the Redeemer: These things you ought to have done, and not to leave those undone. (Matt. xxiii. 23). He meant to say that, to keep the flesh in subjection to reason, the mortification of the body is necessary, as well as the denial of the will. I chastise my body, says St. Paul, and bring it into subjection. (1 Cor. ix. 27). The flesh, when indulged, will be brought with difficulty to obey the Divine law. Hence St. John of the Cross, speaking of certain spiritual directors who despise and discourage external penance, says that "he who inculcates loose doctrines regarding the mortification of the flesh, should not be believed though he confirmed his preaching by miracles."
Evening Meditation
REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST.
I.
Isaias had already foretold that our blessed Redeemer would be condemned to death, and as an innocent lamb brought to sacrifice: He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter. (Is. liii. 7). What a cause of wonder it must have been to the Angels, O my God, to behold their innocent Lord led as a victim to be sacrificed on the Altar of the Cross for the love of man! And what a cause of horror to Heaven and to hell, the sight of a God extended as an infamous criminal on a shameful gibbet for the sins of His creatures!
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, (for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree) that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. (Gal. iii. 13). "He was made a curse upon the Cross," says St. Ambrose, "that thou mightest be blessed in the kingdom of God." O my dearest Saviour, Thou wert, then, content, in order to obtain for me the blessing of God, to embrace the dishonour of appearing upon the Cross accursed in the sight of the whole world, and even forsaken in Thy sufferings by Thy Eternal Father, -- a suffering which made Thee cry out with a loud voice, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Yes, observes Simon of Cassia, it was for this end that Jesus was abandoned in His Passion, in order that we might not remain abandoned in the sins which we have committed: "Therefore Christ was abandoned in His sufferings that we might not be abandoned in our guilt." O prodigy of compassion! O excess of love of God towards men! And how can there be a soul who believes this, O my Jesus, and yet loves Thee not?
He hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. (Apoc. i. 5). Behold, O men, how far the love of Jesus for us has carried Him, in order to cleanse us from the filthiness of our sins. He has even shed every drop of His Blood that He might prepare for us in this His own Blood a bath of salvation: "He offers His own Blood," says a learned writer, "speaking better than the blood of Abel: for that cried for justice; the Blood of Christ, for mercy." Whereupon St. Bonaventure exclaims, "O good Jesus, what hast Thou done? O my Saviour, what indeed hast Thou done? How far hath Thy love carried Thee? What hast Thou seen in me which has made Thee love me so much? "Wherefore hast Thou loved me so much? Why, Lord, why? What am I?" Wherefore didst Thou choose to suffer so much for me? Who am I that Thou wouldst win to Thyself my love at so dear a price? Oh, it was entirely the work of infinite love! Be Thou eternally praised and blessed for it.
II.
O all ye that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow. (Lament. i. 12). The same Seraphic Doctor, St. Bonaventure, considering these words of Jeremias as spoken of Our Blessed Redeemer while He was hanging on the Cross dying for the love of us, says: "Yes, Lord, I will attend and see if there be any love like unto Thy love." By which he means, I do indeed see and understand, O my most loving Redeemer, how much Thou didst suffer upon that infamous tree; but what most constrains me to love Thee is the thought of the affection which Thou hast shown me in suffering so much, in order that I may love Thee.
That which most inflamed St. Paul with the love of Jesus was the thought that He chose to die, not only for all men, but for him in particular: He loved me and delivered himself up for me. (Gal. ii. 20). Yes, He loved me, said he, and for my sake He gave Himself up to die. And thus ought every one of us to say; for St. John Chrysostom asserts that God has loved every individual man with the same love with which He has loved the world: "He loves each man separately with the same measure of charity with which He loves the whole world." So that each one of us is under as great obligation to Jesus Christ for having suffered for every one, as if He had suffered for him alone. For supposing Jesus Christ had died on the Cross to save you alone, leaving all others to their original ruin, what a debt of gratitude you would owe to Him! But you ought to feel that you owe Him a still greater obligation for having died for the salvation of all. For if He had died for you alone, what sorrow would it not have caused you to think that your neighbours, parents, brothers, and friends would be damned, and that you would, when this life was over, be for ever separated from them? If you and your family had been slaves, and some one came to rescue you alone, how would you not entreat of him to save your parents and brothers together with yourself! And how much would you thank him if he did this to please you! Say, therefore, to Jesus: O my sweetest Redeemer, Thou hast done this for me without my having asked Thee; Thou hast not only saved me from death at the price of Thy Blood, but also my parents and friends, so that I may have a good hope that we may all together enjoy Thy Presence for ever in Paradise. O Lord, I thank Thee, and I love Thee, and I hope to thank Thee for it, and to love Thee for ever in that blessed country.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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As Jesus is called the King of Sorrows and the King of Martyrs, because He suffered more than all the Martyrs, so also is Mary with good reason called the Queen of Martyrs, having merited this title by suffering a Martyrdom the most cruel, after that of her Divine Son. Of her can the words of Isaias with all truth be said: He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation (Is. xxii. 18) — that is to say, Mary’s sufferings, which exceeded the sufferings of all the other Martyrs united, were the crown by which she was shown to be the Queen of Martyrs.
I.
Who can have a heart so hard that it will not melt on hearing the most lamentable event that has ever occurred in the world? There was a noble and holy woman who had an only son. This son was the most amiable that can be imagined — innocent, virtuous, beautiful, who loved his mother most tenderly; so much so that he had never caused her the least displeasure but had ever shown her all respect, obedience, and affection; hence this mother had placed all her affections on earth in this son. Hear, then, what happened. This son, through envy, was falsely accused by his enemies; and though the judge knew, and himself confessed, that he was innocent, yet, that he might not offend his enemies, he condemned him to the ignominious death that they demanded. This poor mother had to suffer the grief of seeing that amiable and beloved son unjustly snatched from her in the flower of his age by a barbarous death; for, by dint of torments and drained of all his blood, he was made to die on an infamous gibbet in a public place of execution, and this before her own eyes. Devout souls, what say you? Is not this event, and is not this unhappy mother, worthy of compassion?
You already understand of whom I speak. This son, so cruelly executed, was our loving Redeemer, Jesus; and this mother was the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, for the love she bore us, was willing to see Him sacrificed to Divine justice by the barbarity of men. This great torment, then, which Mary endured for us — a torment that was more than a thousand deaths — deserves both our compassion and our gratitude. If we can make no other return for so much love, at least let us give a few moments to consider the greatness of the sufferings by which Mary became the Queen of Martyrs.
O my afflicted Mother, Queen of Martyrs and of Sorrows, thou didst so bitterly weep over thy Son, Who died for my salvation, but what will thy tears avail me if I am lost? By the merits, then, of thy sorrows, obtain for me true contrition for my sins, and a real amendment of life, together with constant and tender compassion for the sufferings of Jesus and thy Dolours.
II.
As Jesus is called the King of Sorrows and the King of Martyrs, because He suffered during His life more than all other Martyrs, so also is Mary with reason called the Queen of Martyrs, having merited this title by suffering the most cruel Martyrdom possible after that of her Son. Hence with reason was she called by Richard of St. Laurence, “the Martyr of Martyrs”; and of her can the words of Isaias with all truth be said, He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation (Is. xxii. 18); that is to say, that Mary’s sufferings, which exceeded the sufferings of all the other Martyrs united, were the crown by which she was shown to be the Queen of Martyrs.
That Mary was a true Martyr cannot be doubted, as Denis the Carthusian, Pelbart, Catharinus, and others prove; for it is an undoubted opinion that suffering sufficient to cause death is Martyrdom, even though death does not ensue from it. St. John the Evangelist is revered as a Martyr, though he did not die in the cauldron of boiling oil, but “came out more vigorous than he went in.” St. Thomas says, “that to have the glory of Martyrdom, it is sufficient to exercise obedience in its highest degree, that is to say, to be obedient unto death.” “Mary was a Martyr,” says St. Bernard, “not by the sword of the executioner, but by bitter sorrow of heart.” If her body was not wounded by the hand of the executioner, her blesesd heart was transfixed by a sword of grief at the Passion of her Son, grief which was sufficient to cause her death not once, but a thousand times. From this we shall see that Mary was not only a real Martyr, but that her Martyrdom surpassed all others; for it was longer than that of all others, and her whole life may be said to have been a prolonged death.
And if Jesus and thou, O Mary, being so innocent, have suffered so much for love of me, obtain that at least I, who am deserving of hell, may suffer something for your love. “O Lady,” will I say with St. Bonaventure, “if I have offended thee, in justice wound my heart; if I have served thee, I now ask wounds for my reward. It is shameful to me to see my Lord Jesus wounded, and thee wounded with Him, and myself without a wound.” In fine, O my Mother, by the grief that thou didst experience in seeing thy Son bow down His head and expire on the Cross in the midst of so many torments, I beseech thee to obtain me a good death. Ah, cease not, O advocate of sinners, to assist my afflicted soul in the midst of the combat in which it will have to engage on its great passage from time to eternity. And as it is probable that I may then have lost my speech and strength to invoke thy name and that of Jesus, who are all my hope, I do so now; I invoke thy Son and thee to succour me in that last moment; and I say, Jesus and Mary, to you I recommend my soul. Amen.
Spiritual Reading
MORTIFICATION: ITS NECESSITY AND ADVANTAGES
The world and the devil are very powerful enemies of our eternal salvation; but our own body, because it is a domestic enemy, is a still more dangerous antagonist. “A domestic enemy,” says St. Bernard, “is the worst of foes.” A town that is besieged has more to apprehend from the enemies that are within than from those that are without the walls, because it is far more difficult to ward off the attacks of the former than those of the latter. St. Joseph Calasanctius used to say that “we should pay no more attention to the body than to the vilest rag.” Such, indeed, has been the practice of the Saints. As the indulgence of the body by sensual pleasures is the sole and constant study of worldlings, so the continual mortification of the flesh is to the Saints the only object of their care and of their desires. St. Peter of Alcantara was accustomed to say to his body: O my body, keep your peace; I shall give you no rest here below; pains and torments shall be your portion in this life; when we shall be in Paradise, you will then enjoy that repose which shall never end. Similar was the practice of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, who, on the bed of death, stated that she did not remember to have ever taken pleasure in any other object than God alone. If we read the Lives of the Saints and see the works of penance they performed, we shall be ashamed of the delicacy and of the reserve with which we chastise the flesh. In the Lives of the Ancient Fathers we read of a large Community of nuns who never tasted fruit or wine. Some of them took food only once every day; others never ate a meal, except after two or three days of rigorous abstinence: all were clothed and even slept in haircloth. Such austerities are not required of you. But is it too much for you to take the discipline several times in the week? — to wear a chain round some part of the body till the hour of dinner? — not to approach the fire in winter on some day in each week, and during novenas of devotion? — to abstain from fruit and sweetmeats? — and, in honour of the Mother of God, to fast every Saturday on bread and water, or at least to be content with one dish?
But you will say: I am weak, and my director forbids me to practise any corporal austerity. Obey your confessor, but take care to embrace with peace all the troubles of your infirmities, and all the inconveniences arising from the heat or cold of the seasons. If you cannot chastise your body by positive rigours, abstain at least from some lawful pleasures. St. Francis Borgia, when amusing himself in hawk-hunting, used to cast down his eyes when he saw the hawk about to spring upon its prey. St. Aloysius always turned away his eyes from the objects of curiosity exhibited at the festivities at which he was present. Why cannot you practise similar mortifications? If denied lawful pleasures, the body will not dare to seek forbidden indulgence; but if continually gratified by every innocent enjoyment, it will soon draw the soul into sinful gratifications. Besides, that great servant of God, Father Vincent Carafa, of the Society of Jesus, used to say that the Almighty has given us the goods of the earth, not only that we may enjoy them, but also that we may have the means of pleasing Him by offering Him His own gifts, and by voluntarily renouncing them in order to show our love for Him. It is true, indeed, that certain innocent pleasures assist our weakness, and prepare us for spiritual exercises; but it is likewise true that earthly pleasures poison the soul, by attaching her to creatures. Hence, like poison, they must be used sparingly. Poisons, when properly prepared and taken with moderation are sometimes conducive to health; and earthly delights, because they are poisonous remedies, must be taken with great caution and reserve, without attachment to them, only through necessity, and to be better able to serve God.
Evening Meditation
REFLECTIONS AND AFFECTIONS ON THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
I.
Who could ever, says St. Laurence Justinian, explain the love which the Divine Word bears to each one of us, since it surpasses the love of every son towards his mother, and of every mother for her son. “The intense charity of the Word of God surpasses all maternal and filial love; neither can human words express how great His love is to each one of us!” So much so, that Our Lord revealed to St. Gertrude, that He would be ready to die as many times as there were souls damned, if they were yet capable of redemption: “I would die as many deaths as there are souls in hell.” O Jesus, O Treasure more worthy of love than all others, why is it that men love Thee so little? Oh, do Thou make known what Thou hast suffered for each of them, the love that Thou bearest them, the desire Thou hast to be loved by them, and how worthy Thou art of being loved. Make Thyself known, O my Jesus, make Thyself loved.
I am the good shepherd, said our Redeemer; the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. (John x. 11). But, O my Lord, where are there in the world shepherds like unto Thee? Other shepherds will slay their sheep in order to preserve their own life. Thou, O too loving Shepherd, didst give Thy Divine life in order to save the life of Thy beloved sheep. And of these sheep, I, O most amiable Shepherd, have the happiness to be one. What obligation, then, am I not under to love Thee, and to spend my life for Thee, since Thou hast died for the love of me in particular! And what confidence ought I not to have in Thy Blood, knowing that it has been shed to pay the debt of my sins! And thou, shalt say in that day, I will give thanks to thee, O Lord … Behold, God is my Saviour. I will deal confidently, and will not fear. (Is. xii. 1, 2). And how can I any longer mistrust Thy mercy, O my Lord, when I behold Thy Wounds? Come, then, O sinners, and let us have recourse to Jesus, Who hangs upon the Cross as it were on a throne of mercy. He has appeased the Divine justice, which we had insulted. If we have offended God, He has done penance for us; all that is required for us is contrition for our sins.
O my dearest Saviour, to what have Thy pity and love for me reduced Thee? The slave sins, and Thou, Lord, payest the penalty for him. If, therefore, I think of my sins, the thought of the punishment I deserve must make me tremble; but when I think of Thy death, I find I have more reason to hope than to fear. O Blood of Jesus, Thou art all my hope.
II.
But this Blood, as it inspires us with confidence, also obliges us to give ourselves entirely to our Blessed Redeemer. The Apostle exclaims: Know you not, that you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price. (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20). Therefore, O my Jesus, I cannot any longer, without injustice, dispose of myself, or of my own concerns, since Thou hast made me Thine by purchasing me through Thy death. My body, my soul, my life are no longer mine; they are Thine, and entirely Thine. In Thee alone, therefore, will I hope. O my God, crucified and dead for me, I have nothing else to offer Thee but this soul, which Thou hast bought with Thy Blood; to Thee do I offer it. Accept of my love, for I desire nothing but Thee, my Saviour, my God, my Love, my All. Hitherto I have shown much gratitude towards men; to Thee alone have I, alas, been ungrateful. But now I love Thee, and I have no greater cause of sorrow than my having offended Thee. O my Jesus, give me confidence in Thy Passion; root out of my heart every affection that belongs not to Thee. I will love Thee alone Who dost deserve all my love, and Who hast given me so much reason to love Thee.
And who, indeed, could refuse to love Thee, when they see Thee, Who art the Beloved of the Eternal Father, dying such a bitter and cruel death for our sakes? O Mary, O Mother of fair love, I pray thee, through the merits of thy burning heart, obtain for me the grace to live only in order to love thy Son, Who, being in Himself worthy of an infinite love, has chosen at so great a cost to acquire to Himself the love of a miserable sinner like me. O Love of souls, O my Jesus, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee; but still I love Thee too little. Oh, give me more love, give me flames that may make me live always burning with Thy love. I do not myself deserve it; but Thou dost well deserve it, O Infinite Goodness. Amen. This I hope, so may it be.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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