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How is it possible for him who looks at the Crucifix, and beholds a God dying in a sea of sorrows and insults –how is it possible for him, if he loves that God, not to suffer with cheerfulness? Yea, how is it even possible not to desire to suffer every pain for Jesus’ sake? Love makes all things easy.
I.
O God, how is it possible for him who looks at the Crucifix, and beholds a God dying in a sea of sorrows and insults; how, I say, is it possible for him, if he loves that God, not to suffer with cheerfulness? Yea, how is it even possible not to desire to suffer every pain for Jesus’ sake? St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi used to say: “The sharpest pains become sweet when we behold Jesus on the Cross.” Justus Lipsius once found himself greatly afflicted with pains: a certain person endeavoured to encourage him to bear them with patience by placing before him the patience of the stoics; but turning to the Crucifix he said: “There is true patience!” He meant to say that the example of a God Who once suffered so much for the love of us is sufficient to animate us to endure all pain for the love of Him. “The ignominy of the Cross,” says St. Bernard, “is agreeable to him who is not ungrateful to a crucified God.” To him who loves his crucified Saviour pains and opprobrium are agreeable. When St. Eleazar was asked by his virgin spouse, St. Afra, how he could submit to so many insults from the rabble without seeking revenge, he said: “My spouse, think not that I am insensible to these insults; I feel them keenly; but I turn to Jesus on the Cross, and continue to look at Him until my soul becomes tranquil.” Love, says St. Augustine, makes all things easy. After being wounded with Divine love, St. Catherine of Genoa used to say that she knew not what it was to suffer. Although she endured the most grievous pains, she felt none of them, because she regarded them as sent by Him who loved her so tenderly. Thus also a good religious of the Society of Jesus, when God visited him with any pain, sickness, or persecution, used to say within himself: “Tell me, O pain, sickness, or persecution, who sends thee? Does God send thee? Welcome, welcome!” Thus he was always in peace.
II.
Since, therefore, in this life we must suffer either cheerfully or with reluctance, let us endeavour to suffer with merit, that is, with patience. Patience is a shield that defends us against all the pains arising from persecutions, infirmities, losses, and other afflictions. He who has not this shield, has to bear all these pains. Let us, then, in the first place, ask this patience of God; without asking it we shall never obtain this great gift. When afflictions come upon us, let us be careful to do violence to ourselves, and not break out into words of impatience or complaint. The fire that burns in a vessel is soon extinguished when the vessel is closed. To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna (Apoc. ii. 17). When a person does violence to conquer himself in adversity, by instantly embracing the cross that God sends him, oh! what sweetness does the Lord not make him afterwards experience in the very tribulation he suffers–a sweetness wholly hidden from men of the world, but well known to souls that love God. St. Augustine used to say that to enjoy a good conscience in the midst of afflictions is sweeter than to live with a guilty conscience in the midst of delights. Speaking of herself, St. Teresa said: “I have several times experienced that when I generously resolve to do an act, God instantly makes the performance of it pleasant to me. He wishes the soul to feel these terrors in the beginning, that she may have greater merit.”
Spiritual Reading
THE DOCTOR AND APOSTLE OF PRAYER, ST. ALPHONSUS.
When once his Congregation was approved, Alphonsus gave himself up with greater ardour than ever to the impulses of his burning zeal. From this time we see him extending so widely the sphere of his labours, that his boundless activity has won for him the admiration of all successive ages. In addition to the cares, which now weighed upon him more heavily than ever owing to the increase and extension of his Institute; in addition to the anxieties and fatigues occasioned by his persevering assiduity in the work of the missions, Alphonsus now began to publish that long series of works, both theological and ascetical, by which he merited the glorious title of Doctor of the Church. His fame rests principally on his Moral Theology, and as a teacher of morals he occupies indisputably the foremost place. It was the charity of Christ and zeal for souls that constantly urged on this holy man. Hence no amount of work, no pains of sickness, however severe, could hinder him from publishing one or another book, and sometimes even many every year, and this he continued to do even when burdened by the heavy cares of his episcopal office.
If we look for an explanation of this marvellous activity we shall find it in the heroic vow by which this extraordinary man bound himself for the love of Jesus. This vow is recorded in the Bull of his Canonization in the following terms:–“In order that he might consecrate himself and all his actions to the service of God, he bound himself by an arduous and almost unheard-of vow, never to waste the smallest portion of his time in idleness, but to be perpetually engaged in some useful occupation.” Certainly we cannot but wonder that anyone should venture to make a promise so unlimited. It occasioned the defender of the cause of his beatification to exclaim in astonishment: “O wondrous vow, to which eternal praises are due; O heroic act, unknown till now, that reveals to us the sanctity of Alphonsus!” It is very probable indeed that Alphonsus took this vow from the very commencement of his Congregation. But since he lived for more than fifty years from that time, what must have been the vigilance necessary to observe so heroic a resolution for so long a period?
And now before we proceed further in our narration of the Saint’s life, we will delay for a few moments in order to speak of the virtues which he practised in so perfect a manner. As we mentioned before, the chief virtue of St. Alphonsus was his burning love for Jesus Christ. This virtue was, as it were, the root from which sprung all his other virtues; it was the motive power of all his actions. Since he was pressed by the charity of Christ, he fled even from the shadow of sin as from the face of a serpent. “Rather,” he used to say, “would I be plunged alive into a cauldron of boiling oil than commit even one mortal sin; and I would suffer my head to be cut off sooner than tell a willful lie.” The words and actions of Jesus Christ formed the unceasing subject of his contemplation. Yet there were three Mysteries of this Divine life that he loved to dwell upon with a special affection: the Incarnation of the Divine Word; His Passion and Death; and that immense love which moved Him to become a sojourner on our altars, even to the end of time. In meditating on these Mysteries he nourished his soul with a food of heavenly sweetness; they formed the usual subjects of his sermons, and he explained them with such unction that he seemed to be an angel rather than a man. In order to communicate to others the piety that inflamed his own heart, he published many books, written in a strain that is truly seraphic. Amongst these the best known is that golden little work entitled Visits to the Blessed Sacrament. When Alphonsus thought of the number of souls who offend our Divine Lord by their sins, and who either treat Him with complete indifference, or with cold respect, he would exclaim, in bitter grief: “Poor Jesus Christ! Poor Jesus Christ!” And it was this compassion for his outraged Saviour that urged him to undertake so many labours for the salvation of souls.
There was, perhaps, no Saint who more fully understood, or more constantly insisted on that urgent command of our Lord Jesus Christ “that we ought always to pray and not to faint.” Alphonsus himself used to pray to God without ceasing, and he never wearied of exhorting the faithful to make use of the weapon of prayer in all dangers both of soul and body. He published on this subject his celebrated treatise, entitled: Prayer, the Great Means of Salvation; and, hence, he has been styled the Apostle of Prayer. From this unwearied spirit of prayer, and from his singular love for Jesus, there sprung his boundless and truly extraordinary devotion to the Virgin Mother of God. It would, indeed, be difficult to describe the greatness of his love for this best of mothers. During the whole course of his life he had nothing more at heart than to prepare himself for her Feasts by redoubling his prayers and penances. Every Saturday he fasted on bread and water in honour of his beloved Mother. His actions were all commenced and ended with the “Hail Mary.” No day was allowed to pass by without the recitation of a third part of the Rosary, to which he bound himself by vow. He had also made a vow to preach every Saturday in honour of the Blessed Virgin. When he spoke of his dearly-beloved Queen, it was evident that his burning words proceeded from a heart burning with love. And since these marks of affection for the Holy Virgin seemed insufficient to him, he wrote a book on the Glories of Mary, of which every page, nay, every line, breathes the tenderest devotion and love. As the Bull of his Canonization declares: “Towards the Blessed Virgin, whom he regarded as a Mother, he cherished the most singular devotion.” Such was Alphonsus, whom Jesus Christ gave to His Church as founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. The Saint had now reached his sixty-sixth year, and it is at this period of his life that he received a call from Heaven to new cares and duties, namely, those of the episcopal office. Alphonsus as a bishop will be the subject of our next chapter.
Evening Meditation
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
I.
Therefore, we ought continually with tears of tenderness, to thank the Eternal Father for having given His innocent Son to death, to deliver us from eternal death: He spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; and how hath he not also with him given us all things? (Rom. viii. 32). Thus wrote St. Paul; and thus Jesus Himself spoke in the Gospel of St. John: God so loved the world as to give his only-begotten Son (Jo. iii. 16). On this account the Holy Church exclaims on Holy Saturday: “Oh, wonderful the condescension of Thy love for us! O inestimable gift of Charity, that to redeem a servant Thou shouldst give Thy Son.” O infinite mercy, O infinite love of our God! O holy Faith! How can he who believes and confesses this, live without burning with holy love for a God Who is so loving, and so worthy of love?
O Eternal God, look not upon my soul overwhelmed with sins; look upon Thy innocent Son hanging upon a Cross, Who offers Thee the many pangs and insults He has suffered, that Thou mayest have mercy upon me. O God most worthy of love, and my true Lover, for the love of this Thy Son, so beloved by Thee, have mercy upon me. The mercy I ask is, that Thou shouldst give me Thy holy love. Oh, draw me wholly to Thyself, from the mire of my corruption. Burn up, O Thou consuming Fire, all Thou seest impure in my soul, and all that hinders me from being wholly Thine.
II.
Let us give thanks to the Father, and let us give equal thanks to the Son, that He has been willing to take upon Himself our flesh, and together with it our sins, to offer to God, by His Passion, a worthy satisfaction. It is on this account that the Apostle says that Jesus Christ has become our Mediator; that is, that He has bound Himself to pay our debts: Jesus is made the surety of a better testament (Heb. vii. 22). As the Mediator between God and man, He has established a covenant with God, by which He has bound Himself to satisfy Divine justice for us; and, on the other hand, has promised us eternal life on the part of God. Therefore, in anticipation of this, we are warned not to forget the grace of this Divine surety, Who, to obtain salvation for us, has been willing to sacrifice His life. Forget not the kindness of thy surety, for he hath given his life for thee (Ecclus. xxix. 19). It is to give us the better assurance of pardon, says St. Paul, that Jesus Christ with His Blood has blotted out the decree of our condemnation, in which the sentence of eternal death stands written against us, and nailed it to the Cross on which He died to satisfy the Divine justice for us (Col. ii. 14).
O my Jesus, by that love which caused Thee to give Thy Blood and Thy life upon Calvary for me, make me die to all the affections of this world; make me forget everything, that I may think only of loving Thee and giving Thee pleasure! O my God, worthy of infinite love, Thou hast loved me without reserve, I desire to love Thee also without reserve. I love Thee, my greatest Good; I love Thee, O my Love, my All!
"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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He who resolves to suffer for God, suffers no more pain. St. Gertrude used to say that so great was her enjoyment in suffering that no time was more painful to her than that in which she was free from pain. Ah yes, souls who understand the language of love, know well how to find all their happiness in suffering.
I.
He who resolves to suffer for God, suffers no more pain. Let us read the Lives of the Saints, and we shall see how they were enamoured of suffering.
St. Gertrude used to say that so great was her enjoyment in suffering that no time was more painful than that in which she was free from pain. St. Teresa used to say that she did not wish to live without suffering; hence she would often exclaim: "Either to suffer or to die!" St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi went so far as to say: "To suffer and not to die!"
When the tyrant was preparing new torments for the Martyr Procopius, the Saint said to him: "Torment me as much as you please; but do you not know that to him who loves Jesus Christ there is nothing more dear than to suffer for Jesus Christ."
St. Gordian, as St. Basil relates, being threatened with great torments if he refused to deny Jesus Christ, answered: "I am sorry that I can die but once for my Saviour Jesus Christ."
To the tyrant who threatened to cast her into a caldron of boiling pitch, St. Potamiena, Virgin, said: "I entreat you to let me down into this caldron, not at once, but by degrees, that thus I may suffer more for my Jesus." The tyrant complied with her request; and she was let down gradually into the caldron, till the pitch having reached her neck took away her speech and her life.
Baronius describes the Martyrdom of three holy Virgins, called Faith, Hope, and Charity, who when threatened with torments by the tyrant Antiochus courageously said: "Do you not know that to Christians nothing is more desirable than to suffer for Jesus Christ?" St. Faith was first scourged; her breasts were then cut off, she was afterwards tormented with fire, and finally beheaded. St. Hope was first beaten with the sinews of an ox; her ribs were then torn with iron combs, and she was afterwards thrown into a vessel of burning pitch. St. Charity, the youngest, was not more than nine years old, and hence the tyrant expected that she would yield through fear of torments. He said to her: "My child, be you at least wise, unless you wish to be tortured like your sisters." The holy child answered: "You deceive yourself, O Antiochus; all your torments shall not make me forsake Jesus Christ." The tyrant ordered her to be fastened to a rope, and to be cast several times from a height to the ground, until all her bones were dislocated. He then commanded her members to be pierced with sharp irons, so that she died exhausted of blood.
O my God, if I have not hitherto loved Thee, I now give myself entirely to Thee. I wish to renounce all things to love only Thee, my Saviour, Who art worthy of infinite love. I have sinned enough against Thee. The remainder of my life I wish to spend in loving Thy Heart, which is so enamoured of me. Tell me all Thou willest. I wish to do it. Give me strength to execute Thy will. I love Thee, O infinite Goodness, I love Thee with my whole heart; and for Thy sake I accept all the pains Thou shalt be pleased to send me.
Mary, my Mother, assist me by thy intercession; in thee I trust.
II.
In Japan a certain married woman called Maxentia was subjected to torments for the Faith. One of the executioners wished to alleviate her pains, but she rejected the offer. Seeing her continue firm in confessing the Faith, one of her persecutors pointed a sword twice to her cheek in order to terrify her; but she said to him: "O God, how do you expect to terrify me with that death which I desire? The way to fill me with terror is to promise me life." After these words she exposed her neck to the executioner, and suffered Martyrdom.
In Japan, also, Father John Baptist Maciado; of the Society of Jesus, was confined in a damp prison, in which he remained for forty days in such intense pain that he could not rest by night or by day. From this prison he wrote to another Religious: "My Father, notwithstanding all my pains, I would not exchange my condition for that of the first monarch of the earth."
From a prison in which he had a great deal to suffer Father Charles Spinola wrote to his companions: "Oh! how sweet is it to suffer for Jesus Christ! I have received the news of my condemnation. I pray you to thank the Divine goodness for the great gift bestowed upon me." In the same letter he added: "Charles Spinola condemned for Jesus Christ." Soon after he was burnt alive on a slow fire. It is said that, in thanksgiving to God, when he was fastened to the stake he intoned the Psalm--Laudate Dominum, omnes gentes: O praise the Lord, all ye nations (Ps. cxvi.). Thus he died.
But how, some one may ask with wonder, were the holy Martyrs able to suffer with so much joy? Were they not flesh? Or did the Lord make them insensible to pain? No, says St. Bernard, their patience and jubilation under such terrible sufferings were the effect not of insensibility, but of the love they bore to Jesus Christ. They were not exempt from pain, but through love for their Lord they conquered and despised it. That great servant of God, Father Hippolitus Durazza, of the Society of Jesus, used to say: "Let God cost what He will, the price is never too great." And St. Joseph Calasanctius said that he who knows not how to suffer for Jesus Christ knows not how to gain Jesus Christ. Ah! souls that understand the language of love, being convinced that by embracing crosses they please God, know well how to find all their happiness in suffering.
My crucified Jesus, Thou hast suffered so many sorrows and insults for my sake; Thou hast died in order to gain my love, and I have so often renounced Thy love for nothing. Have mercy on me and pardon me. Blessed be Thy mercy which has borne with me so long and with so much patience. During that time I neither loved Thee nor cared to be loved by Thee. I now love Thee with my whole soul; and the greatest of all my pains is that which arises from having offended Thee Who has loved me so tenderly. Yes, this is my greatest pain. But it is a pain that consoles me, because it gives me confidence that Thou hast already pardoned me. Oh, that I had died rather than have ever offended Thee!
Spiritual Reading
THE DOCTOR AND APOSTLE OF PRAYER, ST. ALPHONSUS.
One day, when Alphonsus was conversing with a bishop with whom he was very intimate, he remarked that one of the greatest graces he had ever received was that of having escaped the peril of being a bishop: "a peril," he added, "that I should have had some difficulty in avoiding, had I remained with my family." Strange to relate, almost at the same moment, when the holy man was congratulating himself on his happy escape from this perilous dignity, steps were being taken both at Naples and at Rome for imposing this burden upon him. Very shortly after the conversation above related, a courier from Naples arrived at Nocera, bearing letters for Alphonsus from the Apostolic Nuncio, announcing his election by the Sovereign Pontiff to the Bishopric of St. Agatha of the Goths, which had lately become vacant. On reading the letters Alphonsus was thunderstruck, and could not speak. The news spread quickly through the house; his sons hastened to his room and found him silent, agitated, and bathed in tears. Soon, however, he became calm, feeling sure that his refusal would end the matter, and that his election was merely a mark of esteem which the Pope wished to confer upon him. The others were of the same opinion. "Do not be troubled," said Father Ferrara, "the refusal of such dignities is readily accepted." Alphonsus remembered, too, how his simple refusal of the archbishopric of Palermo had been sufficient to prevent any further importunities.
His mind being now more at ease he wrote off at once to Rome, to thank the Sovereign Pontiff for his gracious intentions, but at the same time to excuse himself from accepting the episcopal dignity. He enlarged upon his own incapacity, his great age, his habitual infirmities, the vow he had made never to accept any dignity, and the scandal his acceptance would give to the members of the Congregation. When the messenger had gone, he turned round to those of his sons who were present, and said: "This storm has cost me an hour and four ducats. I would not exchange my Congregation for all the kingdoms of the world." In order the more surely to avert this dreadful burden, Alphonsus multiplied his accustomed prayers and mortifications; and not content with his own fasts, disciplines, and vigils, he implored the intercession of the members of his Congregation, and of many pious souls whose prayers he knew were acceptable to Jesus Christ and His Virgin Mother. At the same time he wrote to various persons in authority begging them to use their influence in his behalf. In one word, he left nothing untried to allay what he called this terrible tempest. But the tempest could not be allayed, and soon letters arrived from Rome confirming in the most absolute manner the election of Alphonsus.
Everyone was well aware of the shock which this news would cause the venerable old man, and therefore two of the members of his Congregation undertook the unwelcome office of conveying to him the decision of the Pontiff. They entered the room of Alphonsus, and begged him to kneel and say a "Hail Mary." Having recited it, he enquired in an agitated manner whether the messenger had arrived. "Yes," said the Father, "and the Sovereign Pontiff commands you to undertake the episcopal office." At these words he was silent, and then, having raised his eyes to Heaven, he bent his head in token of submission, exclaiming: "I have nothing to reply, since it is Thou, Lord, Who hast done this. Yes, Lord, I am dumb, because Thou hast done it." Then, after a moment's recollection, he added, with tears: "It is the will of God. He drives me out of the Congregation for my sins. Do not forget me, my brothers, do not forget me. Must we then separate after having loved each other so tenderly for thirty years?" Having said this, he became speechless from grief, whilst torrents of tears flowed from his eyes. The Fathers tried to console him by saying that some of his friends would yet succeed in inducing the Pope to accept his renunciation. "No," said Alphonsus, "the Pontiff's words admit of no interpretation. He has declared his will in a manner that demands obedience. I must obey."
Alphonsus did, in fact, obey, but the effort which it cost him was so great as almost to cause his death. He was seized with a violent fever, and soon it was reported both at Naples and at Rome, that he was actually dead. But God restored him to health; and as soon as he felt himself convalescent, he determined to set out at once for Rome. On his arrival there he found that the Pope was then absent from the Eternal City, so he determined to visit Loretto. After he had satisfied his devotion to the Incarnate Word and His Virgin Mother at this sacred shrine, he returned to Rome, and was consecrated Bishop in the Church of the Minerva. Then having received the Apostolic Benediction from Clement XIII, he set out with all haste for his diocese, where he was received with joy by his new flock, as a pastor and father sent to them by God Himself. These events took place in the year 1762.
Having now taken possession of his diocese, he applied himself to fulfil as perfectly as possible, the various duties of his high office. From the very commencement it was easy to see that his flock would find in him a model of all virtues, and that in his life and actions would be realised the idea of a true bishop. During the thirteen years in which he occupied the See of St. Agatha his energies were specially directed to three objects: his own diocese, his Congregation, and the Universal Church. He spared no labours in his attempts to sanctify the first; of the second he still retained the government, with the assistance of a vicar-general; and the third was always the object of his pious solicitude. We will now say a few words on these points.
To begin with his pastoral duties, the first thought of the holy bishop was the proper regulation of his own household. The following is the rule of life which he marked out for himself. As soon as he had risen he gave himself the discipline, and this penitential exercise was followed by meditation, which he made in common with the members of his household. Then he recited the "Little Hours," and after a long preparation celebrated the Holy Sacrifice, and heard another Mass afterwards as thanksgiving. He next gave audience to all who desired it, but was careful not to allow any useless conversations. If any spare time was left him, he employed it in prayer or study. After dinner he took the usual repose, although it was a very short one. He then returned to the studies which he had interrupted, or applied himself to the transaction of necessary business, or to prayer, and thus remained occupied until a late hour of the night. He assisted every evening at the visit to the Blessed Sacrament in the church. Everything in his palace was of the plainest and simplest kind. All that savoured of luxury was so rigidly excluded from his table that it would be difficult to imagine a more austere mode of life. He had as few servants as possible, and over those he watched with the greatest vigilance. They were forbidden to enter a tavern, or to indulge in gaming. Every day they had to be present at the Holy Mass, and twice a month approach the Sacraments, for he wished that their lives should be irreproachable, and give edification to all.
Evening Meditation
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
I.
In a word, whatever blessing, whatever salvation, whatever hope we have, we have it all in Jesus Christ, and in His merits; as St. Peter says: Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under Heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved (Acts iv. 12). Thus there is no hope of salvation for us except through the merits of Jesus Christ; from which St. Thomas and all the Theologians conclude that, since the promulgation of the Gospel, we are bound to believe explicitly, of necessity, not only by precept, but by the necessity of the truth, that it is only through the merits of our Redeemer that we can be saved.
All the foundation, then, of our salvation consists in the Redemption of man wrought out by the Divine Word upon earth. We must, therefore, reflect that although the actions of Jesus Christ upon earth, being the acts of a Divine person, were of an infinite merit, so that the least of them was enough to satisfy the Divine justice for all the sins of men, yet nevertheless the death of Jesus Christ is the great sacrifice by which our Redemption was completed; so that, in the holy Scriptures, the Redemption of man is attributed chiefly to the death suffered by Jesus upon the Cross: He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Phil. ii. 8). Wherefore the Apostle writes, that in receiving the Holy Eucharist, we ought to remember the Lord's death: As often as ye shall eat this bread and drink this chalice, ye shall show the Lord's death until he come (1 Cor. xi. 26). But why does he mention the death of the Lord, and not His Incarnation, Birth, or Resurrection? He speaks of His death because this was the suffering of the greatest pain and greatest shame that Jesus Christ endured. And that completed our Redemption.
II.
Hence St. Paul says: For I judged not myself to know anything among you but Jesus Christ, and him crucified (1 Cor. ii. 2). The Apostle well knew that Jesus Christ was born in a cave; that, for thirty years, He inhabited a carpenter's shop; that He had risen from the dead, and had ascended into Heaven. Why, then, did he say that he would know nothing but Jesus, Jesus Crucified? Because the death suffered by Jesus Christ on the Cross was that which most moved him to love Him, and induced him to exercise obedience towards God and love towards his neighbour, which were the virtues most specially inculcated by Jesus Christ from the pulpit of His Cross. St. Thomas, the Angelic Doctor, writes: "In whatever temptation we fall, in the Cross is our protection; there is obedience to God, love for our neighbour, patience in adversity." Whence St. Augustine says: "The Cross was not only the instrument of death to the Sufferer, but His chair of teaching."
O devout souls, let us labour to imitate the Spouse of the Canticles, who said: I sat down under his shadow whom I desired (Cant. ii. 3). Let us, then, place often before our eyes, especially on Fridays, Jesus dying on the Cross; and let us rest there for a while and contemplate with tender affection His sufferings, and the love He bore to us, while He continued in agony upon that bed of pain. Let us also say: I have sat under the shadow of him whom I desired. Oh, how sweet is the repose that is found by souls who love God in the midst of the tumult of this world, and in the temptations of hell, and even in fears of the Divine justice, when they contemplate in solitude and silence our loving Redeemer as He hangs in agony upon the Cross, His Divine Blood flowing forth in drops from all His limbs, stricken and laid open with stripes, and thorns, and nails! Oh, how the desires of worldly honours, of earthly riches, of sensual pleasures, depart from our minds at the sight of Jesus crucified! Then does there breathe from that Cross a heavenly unction which sweetly detaches us from earthly things, and lights up in us a holy desire to suffer and die for love of Him Who has been willing to suffer and die for love of us.
"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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St. John Chrysostom says that all the perfection of the Love of God consists in resignation to the Divine will. He who conforms himself to the Divine Will is a man according to God's own Heart. I have found David ... a man according to my own heart who will do all my wills.
I.
St. John Chrysostom says that all the perfection of the love of God consists in resignation to the Divine will. As hatred divides the wills of enemies, so love unites the wills of lovers, so that each wishes only what the other desires. "True friendship consists in wishing and not wishing the same thing," says St. Jerome. Hence the Wise Man says: They that are faithful in love shall rest in him (Wis. iii. 9). Souls that are faithful in loving God acquiesce in all that He wills.
Since nothing is more dear to us than our will, the sacrifice of it is the most acceptable offering we can present to the Lord. This is the sacrifice God Himself continually asks of us with so much earnestness: My son, give me thy heart (Prov. xxiii. 26). Son, give me your heart, that is, your will. Nothing else that we offer to God can content Him as long as we reserve our will. If you had two servants, one of whom laboured continually, but always according to his own will; the other performed less work, but was obedient to all your directions, you would certainly entertain a greater regard for the latter, and little or no esteem for the former. Oh, how often do we deceive ourselves by desiring to engage in certain undertakings in order to please ourselves without seeing that they are not conformable to the Divine will. How often do we act through self-love, saying: But what I wish to do is conducive to the glory of God. But let us be persuaded that the greatest glory that we can give God is to conform ourselves to His Divine will. Blessed Henry Suso used to say: "God is not so much glorified when we abound in lights and spiritual consolations as when we submit to the Divine will and pleasure." Hence Blessed Stephana of Soncino saw among the Seraphim certain souls whom she had known on earth; and she learned by revelation that they had attained that sublime elevation by the perfect union of their will in this life with the will of God.
II.
All the malice of sin consists in wishing what God does not will; for then, says St. Anselm, we in a certain manner endeavour to rob God of His crown. He who wishes to follow his own will against the will of God takes, as it were forcibly, from God His crown; for as the crown belongs only to the sovereign, so to do his own will, without dependence on others, belongs to God alone. Samuel said to Saul that to refuse to conform to the Divine will is a species of idolatry. It is like the crime of idolatry to refuse to obey (1 Kings xv. 23). It is called idolatry because, in refusing to conform to the Divine will, man, instead of adoring the will of God, adores his own will. Now, since all the malice of a creature consists in contradicting the Creator, so all the goodness of the creature consists in a union with the will of the Creator. He who conforms himself to the Divine will becomes, as the Lord said of David, a man according to God's own Heart. I have found David ... a man according to my own heart, and who shall do all my wills (Acts xiii. 22). The Lord also says: a soul that is conformed to my will shall have for her name My will. Thou shalt be called My pleasure in her (Is. lxii. 4). Yes, for in this happy soul, because self-will is dead, only the will of God lives.
Ah! happy the soul that can always say with the sacred Spouse: My soul melted when he spoke (Cant. v. 6). My soul melted as soon as my Beloved spoke. Why does she say melted? Because, what is rendered liquid no longer retains it own shape, but takes the form of the vessel in which it is contained. Thus loving souls do not retain their own wills, but conform them to whatever their Beloved wills. This conformity implies a will docile and pliant in all things pleasing to God, compared with the obdurate will that resists the Divine will. An instrument is said to be a good one when it is obedient to the person that employs it; if it refuse to obey, of what use is it? For example, were a brush to resist the hand of the painter--if, when drawn to the right it should turn to the left; if, when drawn downwards, it should seek to move upwards--what would the painter do? Would he not instantly cast it into the fire?
Spiritual Reading
THE DOCTOR AND APOSTLE OF PRAYER, ST. ALPHONSUS.
It must not, however, be imagined that the minute care which he bestowed upon his own household hindered him from attending to the diocese at large. He allowed only a few days to go by before he opened a mission for his people in the cathedral, and this had an immense success. He then proceeded to visit every part of his diocese, making provision everywhere for the sanctification of the flock which had been entrusted to him. This first pastoral visitation of Alphonsus, and, indeed, each succeeding one, may be compared to those holy journeys which Christ and His Apostles used to make throughout the towns and country-places of Judea. This admirable pastor used generally to spend eight days in each parish, and he arranged that a mission should be given to the people during the time of his visitation, and he would then himself deliver many of the discourses. The aim of all his sermons was to inspire his flock with an intense horror of sin, and for the occasions of sin, to urge them to frequent the Sacraments, and to be persevering in prayer, to enkindle in their hearts a filial devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and an ardent love for Jesus Christ. The loving solicitude of the holy bishop embraced all classes. He would frequently assemble the children in the church in order to test their knowledge of Christian doctrine, and to teach them all that was necessary to enable them to save their souls. The young men were exhorted to join pious confraternities; the young women were inspired by him with a love of virginal modesty. Parents were exhorted by him, in words full of burning zeal, to fulfil the duties of their state. The sick found in him a father who was ever anxious to relieve and console them. He left nothing undone in order to bring back public sinners to the path of virtue, and, if they were incorrigible, he did not shrink from inflicting the severest punishments. No labour, no fatigue, could induce him to relax, even for a moment, this incessant vigilance. Both in public and in private he was always impressing upon his priests the duty of living holy and edifying lives; and if any of them was an occasion of scandal to the faithful, he punished him with uncompromising severity. And since idleness is the root of all evil, he tried his utmost to free the clergy from this hateful pest, by establishing everywhere theological conferences, to which everyone was bound to come, and to be fully prepared to take part in the discussions. He was equally anxious about the fervour of the religious communities in his diocese. He made the most careful inquiries about their manner of life, and did all in his power to ensure a strict observance of rule. In one word, Alphonsus, during his visitations, displayed the zeal and vigilance of a true bishop.
It might have been thought that the holy bishop, whilst traversing his diocese, would have relaxed somewhat of the extreme severity of the life which he led when at home. But such was not the case; he practised the same poverty as in his own palace, and made no change in his accustomed prayers and penances. In order to avoid sleeping on a soft bed, he used to take about with him a large sack stuffed with straw, and this he made use of until his confessor compelled him to give it up, on account of his numerous infirmities. And that even in his sleep he might not be free from pain, he put a number of pebbles in this miserable kind of bed, so that it afforded but little relief to his wearied limbs. The humility of Alphonsus was as admirable as his spirit of penance. Tell ye the daughter of Sion, said the Prophet, speaking of our Divine Lord, behold, thy king cometh to thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass. When the holy Bishop was making his visitation, his people witnessed in him a perfect imitation of the meek and lowly Jesus. He had no splendid equipage, no glittering retinue, but came along seated on a hired ass, which was led by a boy, whilst a man walked by his side, supporting him, on account of his age and great weakness. This humble appearance of Alphonsus gained for him the love and admiration of his people, for they saw him coming to them, as the Saint himself smilingly observed, not "in chariots and horses, but in the Name of the Lord."
As soon as he had returned home after visiting his diocese, the holy Bishop applied himself with zeal to carry out the plans he had formed for the sanctification of his flock. He was well aware that if he wished the people to be holy, he must give them holy priests, and so his chief care was to form a pious and learned clergy, and to do this a good seminary was absolutely necessary. "All my hopes of sanctifying my diocese," he used to say, "rest on the seminary; if that is not what I wish it to be, then all my trouble will be of no avail." Those students whom he found to be either unworthy of the priesthood, or unfitted for it, he at once dismissed, and for those that remained he drew up rules, framed with such admirable wisdom and discretion, that nothing was wanting either for the discipline of the house or for the spiritual welfare of its inmates. He pointed out the abuses which are wont to creep into establishments of this kind, and indicated the means for avoiding them. He made several wise changes in the course of studies, and selected as professors men who were as remarkable for their piety as their learning. He insisted upon a diligent study of philosophy, dogmatic theology, and, above all, moral theology. "We must certainly," he said, "be good dogmaticians, but it is far more important that we should be good moralists. Without a sound knowledge of moral theology, a man can neither be a good confessor nor a good parish priest." All the seminarists were the objects of his special care, but chiefly those who were on the point of being raised to Holy Orders. He was always present in person at the examination of candidates, and never allowed them to receive any Order until he was perfectly satisfied about their science and virtue.
He was not less vigilant with regard to his priests. He insisted on their preaching in an apostolic manner, and condemned with equal severity the two extremes of negligence and affectation. No one was allowed to hear confessions until he had given proofs of his capacity. In bestowing ecclesiastical benefices, the holy prelate acted with the most rigid impartiality, and conferred them only on those whom he considered to be the most worthy, even when there was no care of souls attached to these dignities. He strictly enjoined on all the obligation of residence. All the convents of his diocese were the special objects of his zealous solicitude. He had scarcely been consecrated bishop when he ordered the Exercises of retreat to be given in every convent under his jurisdiction; and these retreats he afterwards established as an annual custom, since he considered them as the most efficacious means for sanctifying souls. "There is no iron," he would say, "however rusty, that would not be purified and softened in so great a furnace." The nuns of the Most Holy Redeemer were the most favoured of his spiritual daughters; he had brought them into his episcopal city from the motherhouse at Scala. He guarded them as the apple of his eye, and was always assisting them by every means in his power. He gave them also admirable rules to aid them in attaining religious perfection, and is justly regarded as their spiritual father and founder. Between these nuns and the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer there exists, indeed, the bond of a common origin and a common love for the same father, although they are not subject to the Superior-General of the Redemptorists, but to the Bishop of their respective dioceses.
Evening Meditation
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
I.
O God, if Jesus Christ had not been what He really was, the Son of God, and true God, our Creator and supreme Lord, but a mere man, who would not be moved to compassion at the sight of a youth of noble blood, innocent and holy, dying through the force of his torments upon a shameful tree, to atone for sins not his own, but those of his enemies themselves, and thus to deliver them from the death which was their due? How, then, is it that the affections of all hearts are not drawn to a God Who died in a sea of insults and pains for the love of His creatures? How can these creatures love anything but God? How can they think of anything but being grateful to Him Who is their so loving Benefactor?
"Oh, if thou knewest the Mystery of the Cross!" said St. Andrew to the tyrant who sought to induce him to deny Jesus Christ because Jesus had been crucified as a malefactor. "Oh, if thou couldst understand, O tyrant, the love which Jesus Christ hath borne thee, in being willing to die upon the Cross to make satisfaction for thy sins, and to obtain for thee eternal happiness, certainly thou wouldst not labour to persuade me to deny Him; but thou thyself wouldst abandon everything thou hast and hopest for upon this earth, in order to please and satisfy a God Who has so loved thee." What have not so many Saints and holy Martyrs done, who have left all for Jesus Christ! Oh, shame unto us! How many young virgins have renounced the marriage of the great, royal riches, and all earthly delights, and have willingly sacrificed their life to return some recompense of love for that love which was shown to them by their crucified God! How is it, then, that the Passion of Jesus Christ makes so little impression upon so many Christians? It results from this, that they apply themselves so little to consider what Jesus Christ has suffered for love of us.
II.
O my Redeemer, I have been of the number of these ungrateful ones! Thou hast sacrificed Thy life upon a Cross that Thou mightest not see me perish, and have I repeatedly been willing to lose Thee, an infinite Good, by losing Thy grace? At this time the devil would have me believe that it is impossible that I should be saved, by bringing my sins to my remembrance; but the sight of Thee crucified, O my Jesus, assures me that Thou wilt not drive me from Thy face, if I repent of having offended Thee, and desire to love Thee. Yea, I repent, and I desire to love Thee with all my heart. I detest these accursed pleasures which have caused me to lose Thy grace. I love Thee, O Thou Who art infinitely worthy of love, and I desire ever to love Thee; and the memory of my sins will serve to inflame me the more in the love of Thee, Who hast come to seek me when I fled from Thee. No; I desire to be separated from Thee no more, and never to cease to love Thee, O my Jesus.
O Mary, refuge of sinners, thou who hast so much shared in the sufferings of thy Son in His death, pray to Him, to pardon me, and to give me grace to 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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Some place sanctity in works of penance, others in frequent Communion, others in reciting many vocal prayers. But, no; for St. Thomas says that perfection consists not in these things, but in submission to the Divine will. Doing God's will is your sanctification.
I.
Some place sanctity in works of penance, others in frequent Communion, others in reciting many vocal prayers. But, no; for St. Thomas says that perfection consists not in these things, but in submission to the Divine will. "The perfection of the human soul consists in its subjection to God." Works of penance, prayers, Communions, are good, inasmuch as God wills them; hence they serve only as means to unite us to the Divine will. But all perfection, all sanctity consists in doing the will of God. In a word, the Divine will is the rule of all goodness and virtue. Because it is holy, it sanctifies all, even the most indifferent actions, when they are done to please God. This is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thess. iv. 3) says the Apostle. The accomplishment of the Divine will is the sanctification of your souls.
Men will, of course, cheerfully conform to the will of God in prosperity, but are afterwards unwilling to submit to it in adversity. But this is great folly; for they thus suffer doubly and without merit from the evils that befall them, since, whether they wish or do not wish it, the will of God shall be accomplished. My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done (Is. xlvi. 10). When, then, a person in sickness does not accept his pains with patience, but gives way to anger, and complains of every one, what does he do? Does he by his impatience get rid of his pains? No: on the contrary he increases them, because by resisting the will of God he loses his peace, and still has to endure the same pains. Who hath resisteth him and hath had peace? (Job ix. 4). But were he to embrace his sufferings in peace, he would feel his pains less sensibly, and would derive consolation from the thought of pleasing God, by accepting crosses from His Divine hands.
II.
Oh! what pleasure does he give to the Lord, who in the time of tribulation says with David: "I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because thou hast done it. (Ps. xxxviii. 10). My God, I have closed my lips, and have not dared to speak, because I know that Thou hast done it. No; there is no one better able than God to promote our welfare, or that loves us more than our Creator. And let us be persuaded that whatever God does He does for our good, and because He loves us. Many things appear to us to be misfortunes, and we call them misfortunes; but if we understood the end for which God sends them, we should see that they are favours. It appeared a calamity to King Manasses to be deprived of his kingdom, and to be made a slave of the prince of the Assyrians; but these misfortunes were blessings; for after his downfall he returned to God, and did penance for the wickedness of his life. And after that he was in distress, he prayed to the Lord his God; and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers (2 Par. xxxiii. 12). To one who suffers from a vertigo, many things appear to be falling to pieces; and he knows not that it is his dizziness that makes them appear different from what they are in reality. Such a person may say: How does it happen that everything goes astray with me? No, I answer, but you go astray; your will is crooked; for all that happens comes from God. He does all for your welfare, but you know it not.
Spiritual Reading
THE DOCTOR AND APOSTLE OF PRAYER, ST. ALPHONSUS.
If Alphonsus so carefully watched over the spiritual progress of religious and ecclesiastics, he was equally solicitous for the rest of his flock--the laity. He made himself all things to all men in order to gain all to Christ, and as the Bull of his Canonisation testifies, he employed every means to preserve from destruction the flock committed to him. The poor and the sick were especially dear to his paternal heart, and as the same Bull testifies: "His charity to the poor was truly astonishing; they were liberally supplied by him with food, clothes, and money ... From his own revenue he was accustomed to give young women the portion necessary to enable them to enter the marriage state; and he supported, at his own expense, young ecclesiastics of poor and humble parentage while pursuing their course of studies." Towards the close of the year 1763 the diocese of St. Agatha was visited by a severe famine, which lasted until the Spring of the following year. It was then that the holy Bishop displayed a charity that was truly heroic. The distress of the people was so great that it was feared many would die of hunger, and in order to relieve his suffering poor Alphonsus not only sold all the furniture in his house, but even disposed of his pectoral cross and his episcopal ring. And as things grew worse instead of better, he wrote to the Sovereign Pontiff imploring to be allowed to make use of the revenues of the bishopric in feeding the poor. Meantime, to avert the wrath of God, he did not cease to exhort his people to do penance, whilst he himself added to his usual austerities, until after the lapse of six months he had appeased the Divine justice by his prayers and mortifications. But if we wished to relate all that Alphonsus did for his diocese during the thirteen years of his episcopate, we should need many volumes; suffice it to say that his efforts to relieve both the corporal and spiritual miseries of his flock were so successful that he changed the whole face of the diocese.
This devoted and untiring zeal in labouring for the good of others could not but exhaust the strength of the saintly prelate. And yet many years of life remained to him, which he was to spend in active labours for the good of his Congregation and the whole Church. His Institute advanced slowly but prosperously. From time to time new foundations were made, which were supplied with fresh subjects, whose missionary zeal produced everywhere abundant fruit. In addition to the four houses which we have already mentioned, two new ones had been established before Alphonsus had become bishop; one in the year 1755, at St. Angelo a Cupolo, near Benevento; the other at Girgenti, in Sicily. Two other foundations were made during his episcopate in the States of the Church, the first at Scifelli, in the year 1773, and the second at Frosinone, in 1776. As all these houses contained a numerous community, their government added considerably to the cares and anxieties of the holy founder.
But to these cares and anxieties, inseparable from the office of a religious superior, were now added grievous troubles of an unexpected kind. A storm of great vehemence and of long duration was about to burst upon many houses of the Institute. Certain men of high position, but distinguished for impiety, formed a scheme for ruining the Congregation, against which they had conceived an intense hatred. The civil power was at that time by no means favourable to the Religious Orders, and it was greatly to be feared that the youngest Congregation in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies would be entirely suppressed. Alphonsus observed with anxious eye the crafty plots which were being laid for the destruction of his Institute, and left nothing undone to avert the threatened evils. His first care was to recommend his cause to God and the Blessed Virgin, and having done this he wrote letter after letter to those in authority imploring them to take under their protection the Congregation, which was assailed by such grievous calumnies. In spite of his age and infirmities, he determined to go in person to Naples, and there he remained for two months pleading the cause of his persecuted children, which was at the same time the cause of Jesus Christ and the souls for whom He died. His efforts were not unsuccessful, for though he could not obtain for his Congregation the approbation of the Government, nevertheless he succeeded in warding off from it the deadly blow which shortly after fell upon the Society of Jesus. The persecution with which his sons were threatened made him urge upon them the strictest observance of the rule. "All the opposition of men and devils," he said, "is less to be dreaded than the infraction of the smallest rule or constitution." He seized every opportunity of writing to his children circular letters, in which he vehemently exhorted them to live in a manner worthy of their holy vocation, to be zealous in cultivating all virtues, especially humility, prayer, and the love of souls, so that they might draw upon themselves the blessing of God.
In the midst of all these troubles, God, Who is wont to test the fidelity of those most dear to Him, sent him an illness that far surpassed his previous attack both in severity and in duration. This happened in the year 1768. Alphonsus, who was then seventy-two years of age, was suddenly seized with a violent attack of sciatica, and in a short time the pain increased to such an extent that the sufferings of the venerable old man were indescribable. His pains were increased by fever, and soon the disease spread from the hips to all the other joints of the body, no portion of which was free from the excruciating torture. The head of the sick man was forced down upon his breast by these rheumatic pains, and, his beard being very thick and strong, caused a deep and painful wound in the place where his chin rested, and his whole body was so painfully contorted that, looking at him from behind, you would think his body was a trunk without a head. But Alphonsus did not give in beneath this burden of suffering. On the contrary, the more his pains increased, the more fervently did he exercise himself in acts of love for Jesus Crucified and Mary the Mother of Sorrows. He thought himself happy in being nailed to the cross with His beloved Lord and in sharing so closely in His sufferings; for, like his Crucified Saviour, he was incapable of any movement. Night and day he lay in the same position, and was found in the morning lying on the same side as on the preceding evening. For forty days this martyrdom lasted, during which time the patient sufferer gave an admirable example in his own person of the words of the Apostle: Charity is patient; charity beareth all things, endureth all things. Although he recovered from this severe attack, yet for the rest of his life he remained a constant sufferer both from intense bodily pains and from great mental anguish.
Evening Meditation
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
I.
We now come to consider the separate sufferings Jesus Christ endured in His Passion, and which had been foretold for many ages by the Prophets, and especially by Isaias, in the fifty-third chapter of his Prophecy. This Prophet, as St. Irenaeus, St. Justin, St. Cyprian, and others say, spoke so distinctly of the sufferings of Our Redeemer that he seems to be another Evangelist. Hence St. Augustine says that the words of Isaias, which refer to the Passion of Jesus Christ, call rather for meditation and tears than for explanations of sacred writers; and Hugo Grotius records that even the old Hebrews themselves could not deny that Isaias (especially in the fifty-third chapter) spoke of the Messias promised by God. Some have wished to apply the passages of Isaias to persons named in Scripture and not to Jesus Christ; but Grotius answers that there is no other to be found to whom these texts may be referred.
Isaias writes: Who hath believed our report; and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? (Is. liii. 1). This was fulfilled, as St. John writes, when the Jews, notwithstanding all the miracles which they had seen wrought by Jesus Christ, which proved Him to be truly the Messias sent by God, would not believe in Him: Whereas he had done so many miracles before them they believed not in him: that the word of Isaias the prophet might be fulfilled, when he said: Lord, who hath believed our report; and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? (Jo. xii. 37, 38). Who will believe, says Isaias, what has been heard by us; and who has recognized the arm, that is, the power of the Lord? In these words he foretold the obstinacy of the Jews in not choosing to believe Jesus Christ to be their Redeemer. They fancied that this Messias would exhibit upon earth great pomp, and the splendour of His greatness and power; and that, triumphing over all His enemies, He would thus load the people of the Jews with riches and honours; but no, the Prophet adds these words to those above named: He shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground (Is. liii. 2). The Jews thought that the Saviour would appear like a cedar of Libanus; but Isaias foretold He would show Himself like a humble shrub, or a root which grown in arid soil, stripped of all beauty and splendour: There is no beauty in him, nor comeliness (Is. liii. 2).
II.
He then goes on to describe the Passion of the Lord: We have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him (Is. liii. 2). We desired to recognize Him, but we could not, for we have seen nothing but a Man despised and vile upon the earth, and a Man of Sorrows: Despised, and the most abject of men --a man of sorrows; whereupon we esteemed him not (Is. liii. 3).
Adam, through his pride in not obeying the Divine commands brought ruin upon all men; therefore the Redeemer, by His humility, chose to bring a remedy for this great evil, and was content to be treated as the lowest and most abject of men; that is, by being reduced to the lowest depths of humiliation. Therefore St. Bernard cried out: "O Thou Who art lowest and highest! Thou humble and sublime One! O shame of men and glory of Angels! None is loftier; none more humble!" If, then, adds the Saint, the Lord, Who is higher than all, has made Himself the lowest of all, each one ought to desire that all others should be preferred to himself, and fear to be preferred to any. But I, O my Jesus, fear lest any should be preferred before me, and desire to be preferred above all. O Lord, give me humility. Thou, O my Jesus, with such love, hast embraced contempt to teach me to be humble, and to love a hidden and an abject life; and shall I desire to be esteemed by all, and to display myself in everything? O my Jesus, grant me Thy love; it will make me like to Thee. Let me no more live ungrateful for the love Thou hast borne to me. Thou art Almighty; make me humble, make me holy, make me all Thine own.
"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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Oh, how great is the peace of the soul whose will is in all things conformed to the will of God! As she wishes only what God wills, the soul always has whatever she desires; for all that happens in the world, happens by the will of God.
I.
Whom can we ever find more solicitous for our welfare and for our salvation than God? To make us understand this truth, He likens Himself at one time to a shepherd going through the desert in search of His lost sheep; at another to a mother who cannot forget her own child. Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb (Is. xlix. 15). Again, to a hen gathering and sheltering her chickens under her wings, that they may suffer no injury: Jerusalem, Jerusalem .. . how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not (Matt. xxiii. 37). In a word, according to David, God surrounds us with His good-will in order to save us from all the assaults of our enemies. Lord, thou hast crowned us as with a shield of thy good will (Ps. v. 13). Why, then, do we not abandon ourselves entirely into the hands of this good Father? Would it not be folly in a blind man, placed in the midst of precipices, to reject the guidance of a father who loves him, to follow the way suggested by his own caprice?
Happy the soul that permits itself to be conducted in the way in which God leads it. Father St. Jure relates that a certain young man, desirous of entering the Society of Jesus, was rejected because he was blind of one eye. Who would not have said that the defect was a great misfortune to the poor young man? But that defect was the occasion of the happiest end that he could meet; for on account of it he was received into the Society for the Indian Mission. He went to India, and had the happiness of dying for the Faith. The Venerable Balthazar Alvarez used to say that "the Kingdom of Heaven is the kingdom of the lame, the tempted, and the abject." Let us, then, as if blind, permit ourselves to be guided by God along whatever road, the rough or the smooth, He may be pleased to conduct us, secure of finding in it eternal salvation. St. Teresa used to say: "Our Lord never sends a cross without rewarding it with some favour, when we accept it with resignation."
II.
Oh, how great the peace of the soul whose will is in all things conformed to the will of God! As she wishes only what God wills, she always obtains whatsoever she desires; for all that happens in the world happens by the will of God. It is related that King Alphonsus the Great, being asked whom he esteemed happy in this life, wisely answered: "He who abandons himself entirely to the Divine will of God." And, in reality, does not all our inquietude arise from this cause--that things do not happen according to our wishes, and that we resist the Divine will? St. Bernard says: "God justly ordains that they who refuse to be sweetly ruled by Him should rule themselves amid difficulties and troubles." But, on the other hand, they who will only what God wills, always find their wishes accomplished, and therefore are always in peace, as well in prosperity as in adversity. When, then, you see a person in sadness, tell him that he is sad because he is not resigned to the will of God. The Saints, even in the midst of persecutions the most severe and torments the most painful, knew not what it was to be sad. And why? Because they were united to the Divine will. Whatsoever shall befall the just man, it shall not make him sad (Prov. xii. 21). Hence Cardinal Petrucci has wisely said that this frail and fleeting world is but a scene of woes. Its most pleasing amusements and pleasures have the appearance of joys, and they are torments. While in following Christ suffering may appear painful but it gives true joy.
Spiritual Reading
ST. ALPHONSUS, THE DOCTOR AND APOSTLE OF PRAYER.
In spite of his innumerable occupations, and his almost continual ill-health, and although the great pains from which he suffered rendered him weak and languid, Alphonsus nevertheless did not cease from the labours which he had undertaken for the good of the whole Christian world. This activity is, perhaps, the thing most worthy of admiration in his wonderful life. With unconquerable ardour the heroic old man continued to work at the study of sacred literature, and to occupy himself in writing theological treatises. During the thirteen years of his episcopate he published some new work nearly every year, many of which were of great value, especially his vindication of the supreme power of the Pope against Febronius, and his dogmatic work against the so-called Reformers. In this latter work he has clearly explained the Articles of Faith defined by the Council of Trent, and has exposed with great learning the futility of the objections raised by the heretics. At the same time, in the midst of those painful sufferings which we have described above, he wrote that golden little book, On the Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ. It is no exaggeration to say that this book was dictated by a love which rivals that of the seraphim, and perhaps there is no Saint who has written anything more capable of inflaming hearts with the love of their loving Redeemer. That heart must, indeed, be a stony one that remains unmoved by the touching tenderness of this pious work.
Not only did Alphonsus render important service to the Church by his writings, but he also took part in most of the great events which at that time were occupying the attention of all Christendom. It is well known that at this time the enemies of the Catholic faith were plotting in a spirit of diabolical hatred against the illustrious Society founded by St. Ignatius. Alphonsus, who regarded this Religious Order as the strongest bulwark of the Church, endeavoured by fervent prayers to Heaven to avert the threatened blow. "The plots against the Society of Jesus," said he, "come from the Jansenists, and they are conspiring not merely against the Jesuits, but against the Church herself and all civil society." Whilst Alphonsus was thus anxiously looking forward to the future, the news was brought to him, that Clement XIV, on the 21st of July, 1773, had suppressed this famous Society. This announcement was like a thunderbolt to the holy prelate; but soon regaining his composure, he adored the inscrutable decrees of Providence, and exclaimed; " The will of the Pope is the will of God." Although this sad event filled him with grief, yet he remained ever afterwards silent on the subject, and allowed no complaint to escape his lips.
Meanwhile Alphonsus learned that the Sovereign Pontiff had fallen into a state of extreme despondency, owing to the failure of his attempts to obtain peace and tranquillity by the suppression of the Jesuits. The holy Bishop felt a profound compassion for the anguish of the unfortunate Pope, and offered up many prayers for him, and begged others to do the same. God was pleased to reward this filial devotion of Alphonsus to the Vicar of Christ by an astounding miracle. On the 21st of September, 1774, after having finished his Mass, the holy old man, contrary to his usual custom, was seen to sit down. His countenance was dejected, and he remained motionless and silent, and in this state he continued the whole of that day, and during the following night, without taking any food. His servants were naturally astonished at this unusual event, yet none of them dared to disturb him. But when the night passed away, and Alphonsus still remained in the same profound slumber, the anxiety of all became extreme. They suspected that there was something miraculous in this strange occurrence, but what it was they could not divine. In fact, Alphonsus had been rapt in ecstasy, and had been assisting in Rome at the death-bed of Clement XIV. When the Pope was dead he appeared to awake, and rang the bell to announce that he was going to say Mass. The morning was now far advanced, and on hearing the bell ring, his whole household hurried to his room. Alphonsus, surprised at this unexpected visit, inquired what was the matter. "What is the matter!" said they. "Why, your lordship has neither eaten nor spoken for two days, and you gave no signs of life." "That may be true," replied Alphonsus, "but you do not know what has happened. I have been assisting the Supreme Pontiff in his last moments, and he has just expired." Shortly afterwards the news was brought of the death of Clement XIV, which had taken place at the exact moment mentioned by Alphonsus. This marvellous prodigy of bilocation reveals the great sanctity of the holy bishop, as well as the mercy shown by Almighty God to the dying Pontiff.
On the death of Clement XIV, our Saint contributed to the election of his successor not only by his prayers, but also by an admirable letter which he wrote to Cardinal Castelli at his request. He here describes with apostolic freedom the qualifications necessary for the new Pope, in order to guide the Church safely through the difficulties which then surrounded it. The hopes of Alphonsus were not disappointed, for the new Pontiff, Pius VI, proved a worthy successor of St. Peter, and defended with heroic firmness the cause of justice and religion in spite of the bitterest persecutions and a long and wearisome imprisonment. Scarcely had the new Pope been seated on the Chair of St. Peter, when Alphonsus addressed to him a humble petition to be relieved from the burden of the episcopate. This request, to which the former Pope had refused to listen, was now granted by Pius VI, although he did so with regret and reluctance. The holy prelate resigned without delay the heavy burden which had weighed upon him for thirteen years, and returned to Nocera, where the principal house of his Institute was situated. He had left his children a pauper, and he returned a pauper. In this beloved home he trusted he should see the end of his life's weary pilgrimage. But his sojourn on earth was as yet far from its close. Twelve long years of painful exile still remained to him. It was the will of God that Alphonsus should be, like his beloved Saviour, a man of sorrows, and that he should drink to the dregs the bitter cup of affliction.
Evening Meditation
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
I.
Isaias also called Jesus Christ the Man of sorrows. It is to Jesus crucified that the words of Jeremias are especially applicable: Great as the sea is thy destruction (Lam. ii. 13). As all the waters of the rivers meet in the ocean, so in Jesus Christ are united all the pains of the sick, the penitential sufferings of anchorites, and all the pangs and contempt endured by Martyrs. He was laden with sorrows both of soul and body. Thou hast brought all thy waves in upon me (Ps. lxxxvii. 8). "O my Father!" said our Redeemer by the mouth of David, "Thou has sent upon Me all the waves of Thy wrath"; and therefore, in the hour of death, He said that He died in a sea of sorrow and shame: I have come unto the depths of the sea, and a tempest hath overwhelmed me (Ps. lxviii. 3). The Apostle writes that Almighty God, in commanding His Son to pay for our sins with His Blood, desired thus to show how great was His justice: Whom God hath proposed to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to the showing forth of his justice (Rom. iii. 25).
To form a conception of what Jesus Christ suffered in His life, and still more in His death, we must consider what the same Apostle says in his letter to the Romans: God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and of sin, hath condemned sin in the flesh (viii. 3). Jesus Christ being sent by the Father to redeem man, clothed Himself with that flesh which was infected by sin; and though He had not contracted the pollution of sin, nevertheless He took upon Him the miseries contracted by human nature, as the punishment of sin; and He offered Himself to the Eternal Father, to satisfy the Divine justice for all the sins of men by His sufferings; He was offered because He Himself willed it (Is. liii. 7), and the Eternal Father laid upon him the iniquity of us all (Is. liii. 6). Behold Jesus, therefore, laden with all the blasphemies, all the sacrileges, trespasses, thefts, cruelties, and abominable deeds which men have committed and will commit. Behold Him, in a word, the object of all the Divine curses which men have deserved through their sins: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (Gal. iii. 13).
II.
Therefore St. Thomas writes that both the inward and outward pains of Jesus Christ exceeded all the pains which can be endured in this life. As for the external pains of the body, it is enough to know that Jesus Christ received from the Father a body prepared on purpose for suffering; and on this account He Himself said: A body thou hast fitted to me (Heb. x. 5). St. Thomas remarks that our Lord suffered pains and torments in all His senses: He suffered in His sense of touch because all His flesh was torn; He suffered in His taste, with gall and vinegar; He suffered in His hearing through the blasphemies and mockeries that were offered to Him; He suffered in His sight at beholding His Mother, who was present at His death. He suffered also in all His members: His head was tortured with thorns; His hands and feet with nails, His face with buffeting and spitting, and all His body with scourging, in the way that was foretold by Isaias, who said that the Redeemer would appear in His Passion like a leper, who has no sound portion in his body, and strikes horror into every one who sees him, as a man who is all wounds from head to foot. It is enough to say that by the sight of Jesus scourged Pilate hoped to be allowed by the Jews to save Him from death, when he showed Him to the people from the balcony, saying: Behold the man (Jo. xix. 5).
St. Isodore says that other men, when their pains are great and last long, through the very severity of the pain, lose all power of feeling it. But in Jesus Christ it was not so; His last sufferings were as bitter as His first, and the first stripes of His scourging were as torturing as the last; for the Passion of our Redeemer was not the work of man, but of the justice of God, Who thought fit to chastise His Son with all the severity which the sins of all mankind deserved.
Thou, O my Jesus, Thou hast desired by Thy sufferings to take upon Thee the punishment due to my sins. Thus, if I had offended Thee less, Thou wouldst have suffered less in Thy death. And knowing this, can I live henceforward without loving Thee, and without mourning continually for the offences I have committed against Thee? O my Jesus, I grieve that I have despised Thee, and I love Thee above everything. Oh, despise me not; receive me, that I may love Thee, since now I love Thee, and desire to love nothing but Thee. Too ungrateful should I be, if after all the mercies Thou hast shown me, I should henceforth love anything but Thee.
"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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Speaking of the Saints, Salvian says: “If they are humbled, they wish their humiliation; if they are poor, they delight in their poverty; hence in every misfortune that befalls they are content, and so they begin even in this life to enjoy beatitude.”
I.
Speaking of the Saints, Salvian says: “If they are humbled, they wish their humiliation; if they are poor, they delight in their poverty: hence in every misfortune which befalls them they are content, and therefore they begin even in this life to enjoy beatitude.” Crosses will certainly be painful to the senses, but this pain is in the inferior part: in the superior part of the soul peace shall reign. The Saints, says Father Rodriguez, are like Mount Olympus: at the base there are storms of rain and thunder, but at the summit, which is raised above the middle region of the atmosphere, there is perpetual calm and sunshine. In a word, they are, like Jesus our Saviour, Who, in the midst of all the sorrows and ignominies of His Passion, suffered no diminution of His peace. The more the Saints suffer, the more they rejoice in spirit, knowing that in accepting their sufferings they please their Lord, Whom alone they love. This David experienced when he said: Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me (Ps. xxii. 4). St. Teresa says: “And what greater good can we acquire than a testimony that we please God?” The Blessed Father Avila has Written “One Blessed be God! in adversity is of greater value than a thousand acts of thanksgiving in prosperity.”
O my Jesus, Thy will shall henceforth be my only love. Make known to me what I must do in order to please Thee: I wish to do it. I wish to love Thee with a true love, and therefore I embrace all the tribulations Thou wilt send me. Chastise me in this life, that I may be able to love Thee for eternity. My God, give me strength to be faithful to Thee.
Mary, my Mother, to thee I recommend myself; do not cease to pray to Jesus for me.
II.
But some person says: “I accept all the crosses that come to me from God, such as losses, pains, and infirmities; but how can I bear so much ill-treatment and such unjust persecution? They that thus persecute me are certainly guilty of sin, and God does not will sin. But, I answer, do you not know that all comes from God? Good things and evil, life and death … are from God (Ecclus. xi. 14). Prosperity and adversity, life and, death, come from the Lord. It is necessary to know that in every action there is a physical entity which belongs to the material part of the action, and a moral entity that appertains to reason; the moral entity of the action, or the sin of the person who persecutes you, belongs to his malice, but the physical entity appertains to the Divine concurrence; so that God wills not the sin, but He wills that you suffer the persecution, and it is He that sends it. When his cattle were taken away from Job, God did not will the sin of the plunderers, but He willed that Job should suffer the loss. Hence, Job said: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job i. 21). St. Augustine remarks that Job did not say: The Lord gave, and the devil has taken away; but, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. The Lord did not wish the sin of the Jews who crucified Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ said to St. Peter: The chalice which my Father hath given me, shall not drink it? (Jo. xviii. 11). By these words Jesus showed that His death was caused by the hands of the Jews, but that it was sent to Him by His Eternal Father. St. Dorotheus says that they who, when they are ill-treated, seek revenge upon the man who ill-treats them, imitate the dog that bites the stone which struck him, not minding the hand by which it was thrown. In all the injuries that we receive from others we should recognize the hand of God, that sends the evil to us, and thus resign ourselves to His holy will.
My beloved Saviour, Thou hast suffered so many sorrows and reproaches for my sake, and I, on account of the miseries of this life, have so often turned my back on Thee. I thank Thee for having waited for me until now. Had I died in my sins, I could never more love Thee. Since I am now able to love Thee, I wish to love Thee with my whole heart. Accept me, O my Love, now that I return to Thee, full of sorrow for the offences I have given Thee, and full of affection and gratitude. But if, when I despised Thy love, Thou didst not cease to seek after me, how can I fear that Thou wilt cast me off, now that I desire nothing but Thy love. Thou hast borne with me so long in order that I might love Thee. Yes, I wish to love Thee. I love Thee, my God, with my whole heart, and I feel greater sorrow for having hitherto offended Thee than if I had suffered every evil in the world. O Love of my soul! I wish never more to give Thee any deliberate displeasure; and I wish to do all Thou dost wish me to do.
Spiritual Reading
THE DOCTOR AND APOSTLE OF PRAYER, ST. ALPHONSUS.
When Alphonsus found himself once more in the bosom of his Congregation at Nocera, his chief aim was to return with new ardour to all the practices of his religious life. That beloved poverty, which had been the chief ornament of his episcopal palace, was also the sole decoration of the two little rooms which were to be his final dwelling-place. Loving God alone he cared for nothing else; whatever savoured of the world was hateful to him. Now that he was free from the heavy duties of the episcopate, he spent the greater part of his time in spiritual reading, and in holy contemplation, especially in presence of the Blessed Sacrament; for this Divine Mystery exercised over him a kind of holy violence, so that he would spend long hours in presence of his Sacramental Lord. The rest of his time was occupied either in directing his Congregation, or in writing new books; for advancing years seemed to increase rather than diminish his zeal for souls, and even in his extreme old age he published numerous works.
His retirement from the episcopate did not in any way quench the zeal of this holy man for converting and sanctifying others and for preaching the Word of God. He was never forgetful of the vow he had taken in honour of the Mother of God; and every Saturday he discoursed to the people on the glories of the Blessed Virgin. “He left nothing undone,” says his biographer, Father Tannoia, “that might increase devotion to this Divine Mother, and to Jesus hidden in the Sacrament of His love.” At this time, also, afflicted by the grievous ruin that was being worked by the writings of Voltaire, he wrote to Father Nonnotte, begging him not to desist from his vigorous confutation of these impious writings, since their author was the scourge and pest of the human race. Hearing that Voltaire had been converted, he wrote him a letter of congratulation, but did not send it since he found out that the report of his conversion was untrue. In a word, though broken down by age and infirmities, Alphonsus seemed once more to have returned to the vigour of youth, and applied himself without intermission to whatever he thought might be of advantage to the Church or promote the salvation of souls.
But whilst the saintly old man was thus giving vent to the final impulses of his zeal, a terrible and unexpected storm was about to discharge its fury upon him. This tempest was, doubtless, permitted by God, in order that Alphonsus might present to his children an example of patience as admirable as that of holy Job. We will relate in few words this painful history. The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer had, from its very commencement, to sustain the most determined opposition. Its enemies were neither few in number nor wanting in ability and influence, and if the little flock was not dispersed, it was owing to the special protection of Heaven. The Marquis Tannucci, Prime Minister of the King of Naples, was a bitter enemy of the Church and Religious Orders, but happily for the Congregation, he resigned his office, and was succeeded by the Marquis della Sambuca. The new Minister had a great esteem for Alphonsus, and thus happier days seemed about to dawn upon the rising Institute.
Since by the resignation of Tannucci the most powerful enemy of the Congregation was removed, Alphonsus thought he had no longer to fear the suppression of his houses, and that he could now establish his Institute on a permanent footing. Relying on the good-will of the Minister, della Sambuca, he determined to make every effort to attain this desirable end; and having taken the advice of the principal members of his Congregation, he sent Father Majone to Naples to treat with the Government for the approbation of his Institute. Who would ever believe that this father, after having been entrusted with so sacred a duty, betrayed the confidence placed in him, and acted the part of a traitor? Yet so it was. In order to obtain the royal approbation with greater facility, he did not shrink from making changes of the greatest importance in the rules, and this on his own responsibility, and although these rules had been solemnly confirmed by the Supreme Pontiff. He then presented the rules thus altered for the approbation of the King. Although Majone acted in this matter with the greatest secrecy and caution, yet he could not prevent some suspicion of the plot from entering the minds of certain of the fathers. They, in great anxiety, applied to Alphonsus, begging him to be on his guard against the plots of his representative. But the holy old man could not believe Majone would be guilty of such perfidy, and he was all the more unsuspicious because he had been deceived in this matter by Father Villani, who was both his confessor and his Vicar-General. Father Majone had sent to the holy founder a copy of the new rule, which he had composed with the help of one of the King’s chaplains; but this was written in such small characters that Alphonsus could not read it. He gave it, therefore, to Father Villani, who read it through; and fearing to grieve Alphonsus if he revealed the treachery, unwisely concealed it, and contented himself with saying that all was right. Thus it happened that Alphonsus believed that the anxiety of the Fathers was simply the work of the devil, and he did all in his power to allay their suspicions, which he imagined were entirely without foundation. But at length the treachery was revealed.
Meantime, joyful news was sent to Nocera by Father Majone, and Alphonsus now fondly hoped that he had arrived at the summit of his wishes. On the very day on which the mutilated rule reached Nocera–which was the 27th of February, 1780–as he was talking with some Fathers who were spending the evening recreation with him, he said that the rule would be received on Good Friday, and since it was on that day Jesus Christ shed His Blood for them, they ought also again to sacrifice themselves for Him. “Yes,” said they; “but we must first read through the rule and examine it well.” But when the rule had been read, they saw with indignation what extraordinary changes had been made in it. The greatest consternation spread amongst the Fathers, and before daybreak all hurried to Alphonsus informing him of the changes that had been made, and demanding that justice should be done to them. The holy old man was stupefied with astonishment. He read through the mutilated rule, and then exclaimed with floods of tears: “It is impossible; it cannot be.” Then, turning to Father Villani, he said,reproachfully: “I did not think, Father Andrew, that you would have deceived me.” Afterwards addressing the community, he said with tears: “I deserve to be dragged at the horse’s tail, for I ought to have read these rules myself, since I am Superior.” Then, weeping bitterly, he fixed his eyes upon the crucifix: “My Jesus,” he exclaimed, “it was my confessor in whom I trusted, and in whom could I have more safely confided? You know,” said he, addressing the assembled Fathers, “how difficult it is for me to read even a single line.” Then his tears and sobs completely choked his utterance, and he could only exclaim from time to time: “I have been deceived; I have been deceived.” He then remained silent, as though he had lost his senses, and for the whole morning he remained in a state of the deepest dejection, his appearance being so altered that he seemed to be a spectre rather than a man. It was with difficulty he could be made to taste food, and what he ate was moistened with his tears. His grief became so terrible that for several days and nights he was unable to sleep, and great fears were entertained for his life.
When it got abroad that the rule had been mutilated, all the houses of the Institute were at once in a state of commotion. In order to restore peace, if possible, Alphonsus convoked a general assembly of the Fathers on May 12, 1780; but it failed entirely to secure the desired effect. Amongst the fathers assembled was one named Leggio, a man of turbulent spirit, and crafty in the extreme. This individual, concealing his abominable perfidy under the appearance of zeal, raised the standard of rebellion, and alleging the mutilation of the rule as an excuse for leaving Alphonsus, he repaired to Rome. There he succeeded in gaining the favour of the Pope, and by means of the calumnious charges which he brought against Alphonsus, he succeeded in breaking up the Congregation into two distinct parts. And that nothing might be wanting to fill up the measure of Alphonsus’ sufferings, God permitted Pius VI to be deceived, and a Papal decree was issued ordering the houses in the Pontifical States to be severed from those in the Kingdom of Naples, and declaring Alphonsus and the Neapolitan Fathers to be excluded from the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and incapable of using the privileges granted to it. Hence it followed that many of the Neapolitan Fathers left their own houses, and withdrew into those in the States of the Church. Thus was the heart of the holy founder pierced with a sword of indescribable anguish. It was, indeed, a strange sight to see Alphonsus, the ardent defender of the Holy See, disgraced by the Pope himself, and driven from the Institute which he had founded with so much labour. But all this was permitted by God in order to effect a more complete resemblance between Alphonsus and his beloved Lord, Who on earth was the most despised and abject of men. Alphonsus had himself predicted this grievous humiliation; for, talking one day with some of his fathers, who feared he might die of a severe illness which had confined him to his bed: “Do not be afraid,” said he, “I shall not die yet. God wills that I should die as a subject, not as Superior.”
Evening Meditation
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
I.
Observe how it was foretold by Isaias: We have thought him as it were a leper, and as one stricken by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our iniquities; he was bruised for our sins. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Is. liii. 4-6). Jesus, full of love, offered Himself most willingly to accomplish His Father’s will, Whose will allowed Him to be outraged by executioners at their own pleasure. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer (Is. liii. 7). As a lamb offers itself to be shorn without complaint, so our loving Redeemer in His Passion allowed Himself to be shorn, not of wool, but of His very skin, without opening his mouth.
What obligation did He lie under to offer satisfaction for our sins? Yet He chose to take it upon Him, that He might deliver us from eternal damnation; and therefore every one of us ought to give Him thanks, and say: Thou hast brought forth my soul, that it should not perish; Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back (Is. xxxviii. 17).
And thus Jesus voluntarily, through His own goodness, making Himself the debtor for our debts, chose to sacrifice Himself even to death in the pains of the Cross, as He Himself says in the Gospel of St. John: I lay down my life; no one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself (Jo. x. 17, 18).
II.
St. Ambrose, writing of the Passion of our Lord, said that Jesus Christ had followers but no equals. The Saints have endeavoured to imitate Jesus Christ in suffering to render themselves like Him; but who ever attained to equalling Him in His sufferings? He truly suffered for us, more than all the penitents, all the anchorites, all the Martyrs have suffered, because God laid upon Him the weight of a rigorous satisfaction to the Divine justice for all the sins of men: The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all (Is. liii. 6). And St. Peter writes that Jesus bore all our sins upon the Cross to pay our punishment in His most holy body: He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree (1 Pet. ii. 24). St. Thomas writes that Jesus Christ, in redeeming us, chose to suffer such a death of pain and sorrow as would be sufficient to satisfy abundantly and rigorously for all the sins of the human race. And St. Bonaventure writes: “He chose to suffer as much pain as if He Himself had committed all our sins.” God Himself thought right to aggravate the pains of Jesus Christ, until they were equal to the entire payment of all our debts; and thus the prophecy of Isaias was fulfilled: The Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity (Is. liii. 10). When we read the Lives of the Martyrs it seems at first as if some of them had suffered pains more bitter than those of Jesus Christ; but St. Bonaventure says that no Martyr’s pains could ever equal in acuteness the pains of our Saviour, which were more acute than all other pains. In like manner, St. Thomas writes that the sufferings of Christ were the most severe pains that can be felt in this present life. Upon which St. Laurence Justinian writes that in each of the torments which our Lord endured, on account of the agony and intensity of the suffering, He suffered as much as all the tortures of Martyrs. And all this was predicted by King David when, speaking in the person of Christ, he said: Thy wrath is strong over me; Thy terrors have troubled me (Ps. lxxxvii. 8, 17). Thus all the wrath God had conceived against our sins, poured itself out upon the person of Jesus Christ; and thus we must interpret what the Apostle said: He was made a curse for us (Gal. 13), that is, the object of all the curses deserved by our sins.
"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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St. Bernard exhorts even the despairing not to despair, and full of joy and tenderness towards his most dear Mother Mary, he lovingly exclaims: "And, who, O Lady, can be without confidence in thee, seeing that thou dost assist even those who are in despair! Let him, then, who is without hope, hope in thee!"
I.
It is related in the Sacred Scriptures that Booz allowed Ruth to gather the ears of corn, after the reapers (Ruth ii. 3). St. Bonaventure says "that as Ruth found favour with Booz, so has Mary found favour with our Lord, and is also allowed to gather the ears of corn after the reapers. The reapers followed by Mary are all evangelical labourers, missionaries, preachers, and confessors, who are constantly reaping souls for God. But there are some hardened and rebellious souls which are abandoned even by these. To Mary alone it is granted to save them by her powerful intercession." Truly unfortunate are they if they do not allow themselves to be gathered, even by this sweet Lady. They will indeed be most certainly lost and accursed. But, on the other hand, blessed is he who has recourse to this good Mother. "There is not in the world," says the devout Blasius, "a sinner, however rebellious and wicked, who is despised or rejected by Mary; she can, she has the desire, and she knows how to reconcile him to her most beloved Son, if only he will seek her assistance."
O most pure Virgin Mary, I venerate thy most holy heart, which was the delight and resting-place of God, thy heart, overflowing with humility, purity, and Divine love. I, an unhappy sinner, approach thee with a heart all loathsome and wounded. O compassionate Mother, disdain me not on this account; let such a sight rather move thee to greater tenderness, and excite thee to help me. Do not wait to find virtues or merit in me before assisting me. I am lost, and the only thing I merit is hell. See only my confidence in thee and the determination I have to amend. Consider all that Jesus has done and suffered for me, and then abandon me if thou canst. I offer thee all the pains of His life; the cold He endured in the stable; His journey into Egypt; the Blood He shed; the poverty, sweat, sorrows, and death He endured for me; and this in thy presence. For the love of Jesus, take charge of my salvation.
II.
With reason, O my most sweet Queen, did St. John Damascene salute and call thee the "Hope of those who are in despair." With reason did St. Laurence Justinian call thee "the Hope of malefactors," and another ancient writer "the only Hope of Sinners." St. Ephrem calls her "the safe harbour for all sailing on the sea of the world." This last-named Saint also calls her "the consolation of those who are to be condemned." With reason, finally does St. Bernard exhort even the despairing not to despair; and, full of joy and tenderness towards his most dear Mother, he lovingly exclaims: "And who, O Lady, can be without confidence in thee, since thou assistest even those who are in despair? And I doubt not, that whenever we have recourse to thee, we shall obtain all that we desire. Let him, then, who is without hope, hope in thee." St. Antoninus relates that there was a sinner who was at enmity with God, and who had a vision in which he found himself before the dread tribunal; the devil accused him, and Mary defended him. The enemy produced the catalogue of his sins; it was thrown into the scales of Divine Justice, and weighed far more than all his good works. But then his great advocate, extending her sweet hand, placed it on the balance, and so caused it to turn in favour of her client; giving him thereby to understand that she would obtain his pardon if he changed his life; and this he did after the vision, and was entirely converted.
Ah, my Mother, I will not and cannot fear that thou wilt reject me, a sinner, now that I have recourse to thee and ask thy help. Did I fear this, I should be offering an outrage to thy mercy, which goes in quest of the wretched, in order to help them. O Lady, deny not thy compassion to one to whom Jesus has not denied His Blood. But the merits of this Blood will not be applied to me unless thou recommendest me to God. Through thee do I hope for salvation. I ask not for riches, honours, or earthly goods. I seek only the grace of God, love towards Thy Son, the accomplishment of His will, and His heavenly kingdom, that I may love Him eternally. Is it possible that thou wilt not hear me? No; for already thou hast granted my prayer, as I hope; already thou prayest for me; already thou obtainest me the graces I ask; already thou takest me under thy protection. My Mother, abandon me not. Never, never cease to pray for me, until thou seest me safe in Heaven at thy feet, blessing and thanking thee forever. Amen.
Spiritual Reading
THE DOCTOR AND APOSTLE OF PRAYER, ST. ALPHONSUS.
Meanwhile Pius VI had appointed a new Superior for the Congregation, Father Francis de Paula. Alphonsus at once submitted to him with the most profound humility, and since he had not yet lost the hope of re-establishing unity in his Congregation, he made every effort to bring this about by proving his own innocence and that of his companions. But all was in vain. Leggio, who was now Procurator for the houses in the Pontifical States, had succeeded so well with his perfidious schemes, that he obtained a Papal degree ordering things to be left as they were, and forbidding any further petitions on the subject to be received. Thus all hope of a reconciliation vanished; and Alphonsus, with heroic patience, resigned himself to the Divine will, offering to God the sacrifice of this work, which had cost him the labours and anxieties of fifty years. God rewarded the perfect submission of His servant by granting him to see, in prophetic vision, that unity which was not to be effected in his lifetime. For one day he expressly foretold that after his death his disunited family would once more be joined together under one head--a prophecy that was fulfilled in the year 1793. When Alphonsus was dead, the Pope learned too late the real state of affairs, and exclaimed with grief: "I have persecuted a Saint!"
But the troubles of the holy man were not yet at an end. A new and still more cruel martyrdom awaited him. It seemed as though Divine Providence had decreed that in Alphonsus should be produced a perfect image of Christ crucified. In the midst of the sufferings occasioned him by the troubles of his Congregation, he had also to endure in his soul the grievous trial of temptations and bitter anguish of mind. He was assailed by a dark and gloomy feeling of despair, which attacked him so vehemently and so persistently, that all who saw him were moved to pity. But the soldier of Christ had recourse to the weapon of prayer, and thus succeeded in winning the victory. Yet this temptation to despair was followed by another not less dreadful. Alphonsus began to be tortured by scruples of every description. God permitted that his intellect should be overshadowed by the thickest darkness, so that everything he wished to do seemed to him unlawful, and everywhere he thought he saw sin and the occasions of sin, and was constantly being racked by the doubt whether he had not lost the grace of God. These scruples so tortured him that he appeared as though in agony, and would fix his sorrowful eyes on the Crucifix, and exclaim with a tearful voice: "My Jesus, suffer me not to be lost." The holy old man was tempted by thoughts of vainglory, presumption, disbelief, and (who would believe it?) by the sting of the flesh. One day when he was suffering from this last-named temptation, he cried out piteously: "Alas! I am eighty-eight years of age, and the fire of my youth is still burning in me. O Mary, unless thou help me, I shall become worse than Judas." That nothing might be wanting to his sufferings he was assaulted also by many diabolical apparitions. These trials, more bitter than death itself, lasted for more than a year. But at the end of this time God took pity on his servant, and drew him out of this state of darkness to place him in one of peace and bliss and consolations. From this time he had frequent ecstasies, uttered prophecies, and worked many miracles.
But the fruit was now ripe for Heaven, and the time had come for gathering it. The Saint's long and weary pilgrimage at length was at an end. "When he had reached the ninety-first year of his life, now hastening to its close," says the Bull of his Canonisation, "he was compelled to keep his bed, pressed down as he was by the weight of years, and suffering from a grievous malady. Having endured with incredible patience the excruciating pains of his illness, and having earnestly exhorted the brethren of the Religious Society which he had founded to the practice of every virtue, he was refreshed by the Viaticum of the Most Holy Eucharist, and fortified by the Sacrament of Extreme Unction." On his deathbed he displayed the same virtues which he had practised in the whole course of his life. He prayed without ceasing, and kept up tender colloquies with Jesus Christ and His Virgin Mother, and with his other holy patrons as though they had been present at his bedside.
And now a final consolation was to be granted him. He had frequently during life implored his beloved Mother Mary to be with him at the moment of his death. "Oh, consoler of the afflicted," he exclaimed, "do not abandon me in the last moment of my life. Bestow upon me the grace of invoking thee in that moment with greater eagerness, and grant that I may die with the sweetest Names of Jesus and Mary upon my lips. But there is yet a greater favour that I beg of thee, my Lady. Pardon, I beseech thee, my boldness. Come thyself in that hour, and console me with thy presence. Thou hast granted this favour to many of thy clients, and therefore I expect it of thee. I am indeed unworthy to obtain it, but I am thy devoted servant. I love thee, and place in thee all my hopes. O Mary, I expect thee; do not refuse me this consolation." The prayers of her beloved son were heard by the Mother of Mercy. On the day before Alphonsus died, as he was holding in his hands a picture of the Blessed Virgin, his face was suddenly seen to glow with an unusual brightness, and smiling sweetly at the picture the holy old man began to address his beloved Mother as though she were really present. From that moment his fervour increased as the moment of death drew near, and so frequently and so lovingly did he kiss the sacred pictures of Jesus and Mary that it seemed as though he could never satisfy the ardour of his love. The dying moments of the aged Saint could not be called an agony; for, instead of struggling with death, he was, as it were, rapt in a heavenly ecstasy in which a foretaste was granted him of the joys of Paradise. He lay upon his deathbed calmly reposing in a peaceful slumber, until, at the sound of the Angelus, amid the sobs of his children, who had hurried from their various houses to his dying-bed, his saintly soul took its flight to Heaven, and there was united to Jesus and Mary, whom on earth he had loved with such faithful devotion. He died on the 1st of August, at mid-day, in the year 1787, at the age of ninety years, ten months, and five days.
Scarcely had Alphonsus quitted this mortal life when many persons of high position, moved by the ever-increasing opinion of his sanctity, petitioned Pius VI to institute a juridical inquiry into the holy life of the servant of God. The Supreme Pontiff granted their requests, and such was the success of the investigation that Alphonsus was declared Venerable nine years after his death. In the year 1803 a solemn decree was issued by the Holy See, declaring that after a most diligent examination nothing worthy of censure was to be found in all the works of the holy prelate. Thirteen more years elapsed, and then the Venerable servant of God was beatified by Pius VII; and finally, on the 26th of May, 1839, being the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, he was canonised by Gregory XVI, and his feast ordered to be kept by the Universal Church on the 2nd of August. The canonisation would have taken place at an earlier date had it not been for the disturbed state of the Christian world at that time. As it was, hardly fifty-two years had elapsed since his holy death.
One would have thought that nothing now could be added to the honours of Alphonsus on earth. But our Lord Jesus Christ, who delights in exalting the humble, after having glorified the holy life of Alphonsus, willed that his writings also should share in this glorification, since they had been written solely for the love of God and for the good of souls. The Saint had been the author of a large number of works on almost every subject relating either to dogmatic theology, controversy, or morals. He had composed commentaries on Holy Scripture, and various ascetical treatises remarkable for the simplicity of their style. All that the holy author has written has a special value, not only on account of the heavenly unction which pervades all his writings, but also on account of the clear and precise manner in which he treats the most abstruse questions, and the weighty arguments with which he supports his theses. The works of St. Alphonsus were in a short space of time translated into many languages, and passed through innumerable editions, and were soon well known throughout the whole Christian world. Thus it came to pass that more than seven hundred bishops of all nations petitioned the Holy See to bestow upon St. Alphonsus the glorious title of Doctor of the Church. This was accordingly done by the Supreme Pontiff, Pius IX, in the year 1871, after all the works of "the most zealous doctor" (a title justly due to the Saint) had been subjected to a new and most rigorous examination. In the Apostolic Brief of the Doctorate occur the following words, which will form a fitting conclusion to this Life of the Saint "Christ our Lord, Who has promised that He will never be wanting to His Church, when He sees that His Immaculate Spouse is in need of a special assistance, is wont to raise up for her defence men illustrious for their virtue and learning, who, filled with the spirit of understanding, pour forth the words of their wisdom as showers.' It was owing to this merciful Providence of Almighty God, that, at the very time when the doctrines of Jansenistic innovators were drawing all eyes upon them and deceiving many by their seductive errors--that in this moment of peril Alphonsus Mary Liguori stood forth to fight the good fight' and to open his mouth in the midst of the Church.' By those learned writings which cost him so much labour, he did all in his power to uproot and destroy these poisonous seeds which a diabolical malice had sown in the field of the Lord. And not content with this, Alphonsus, who thought only of the glory of God and the salvation of souls, wrote many books replete with learning and piety. He pointed out to those whose office it is to direct the souls of the faithful a safe path which they might tread without stumbling, and thus might avoid the snares of a too lax or too rigid code of morals. He instructed the clergy in their duties and in the dignity of their high office. He defended the Truths of our holy religion by works both dogmatic and polemical. He asserted the rights of this Apostolic See, and enkindled in the souls of the faithful the flame of true piety. It may truly be said that there is not a single error of these times which has not been, at least in great part, refuted by Alphonsus. Those dogmatic decrees regarding the Immaculate Conception of the Holy Mother of God, and the Infallibility of the Roman Pontiff, when teaching ex cathedra, which were issued by us amid the applause of the Christian people, and with the approving acclamations of the bishops of the whole Catholic world, are not these dogmas to be found in the writings Alphonsus most clearly set forth, and proved by unanswerable arguments? Hence, to him may be applied with admirable fitness that glorious eulogy of Divine Wisdom: The memory of him shall not depart away, and his name shall be in request from generation to generation. Nations shall declare his wisdom, and the Church shall show forth his praise.' " (Ecclus. xxxix. 13).
Evening Meditation
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
I.
Hitherto we have spoken only of the outward bodily pains of Jesus Christ. And who can ever explain and comprehend the inward pains of His soul, which a thousand times exceeded His outward pains? This inward torment was such that in the Garden of Gethsemane it caused a sweat of Blood to pour forth from all His body, and compelled Him to say that this was enough to cause His death: My soul is sorrowful even unto death (Matt. xxvi. 38). And since this anguish was enough to cause death, why did He not die? St. Thomas answers that He did not die because He Himself prevented His own death, being ready to preserve His life, in order to give it by and by upon the tree of the Cross. This sorrow also which most deeply afflicted Jesus Christ in the Garden, afflicted Him also throughout His whole life since, from the first moment when He began to live, He had ever before His eyes the causes of His inward grief; among which the most afflicting was the sight of the ingratitude of men towards the love He showed them in His Passion.
An Angel came to comfort Him in the Garden, as St. Luke relates (Luke xxii. 43). Yet Venerable Bede says that this comfort, instead of lightening His pains, increased them. The Angel, indeed, strengthened Him to suffer with greater constancy for the salvation of men; upon which Bede remarks that Jesus was then strengthened for suffering by a representation of the greatness of the fruits of His Passion, without the least diminution of the greatness of His sufferings. Therefore the Evangelist relates that immediately after the appearance of the Angel, Jesus Christ was in an agony, and sweated blood in such abundance that it trickled down upon the ground (Luke xxii. 43, 44).
St. Bonaventure further relates that the Agony of Jesus then reached its height; so that our afflicted Lord, at the sight of the anguish He must suffer at the termination of His life, was so terrified that He prayed His Divine Father that He might be delivered from it: Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me (Matt. xxvi. 39). Yet He said this, not that He might be delivered from the pains, for He had already offered Himself to suffer them--He was offered because he himself willed--but to teach us to understand the agony which He experienced in enduring this death so bitter to the senses; while in order to accomplish the will of His Father, and to obtain for us the salvation He so ardently desired, He immediately added: Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt (Matt. xxvi. 39). And He continued thus to pray and to resign Himself for the space of three hours: He prayed the third time, saying the same word (Matt. xxvi. 44).
II.
But let us continue the Prophecy of Isaias. He foretold the blows, the buffetings, the spitting, and the other insults which Jesus Christ endured the night before His death from the hands of the executioners, who kept Him in bondage in the palace of Caiphas, in order to take Him the next morning to Pilate, and to have Him condemned to death. I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them; I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me and spit upon me (Is. 1. 6). These insults are described by St. Mark, who adds that these soldiers, treating Jesus as a false prophet, in order to mock Him, covered His face with a cloth, and then, striking Him with blows and buffetings, bade Him prophesy who it was that smote Him (Mark xiv. 65).
Isaias goes on to speak of the death of Jesus Christ: He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter (Is. liii. 7). The eunuch of Queen Candace, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, considering this passage, asked St. Philip, who, by a Divine inspiration, had come to join him, of whom were these words to be understood, and the Saint then explained to him the whole Mystery of the Redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ. Thereupon the eunuch, being enlightened by God, desired at once to be baptized.
Isaias continues, and foretells the great fruits which the world would derive from the death of the Saviour, and says that from it great numbers of Saints would be spiritually born: Because his soul hath laboured he shall see and be filled; by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities (Is. liii. 10, 11).
"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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A reminder ...
"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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