St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Third Week after Easter

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Monday – Third Week After Easter

Morning Meditation

CHARITY TO BE PRACTISED IN WORDS

St. Bernard says the tongue of a detractor is a three-edged sword. It destroys the reputation of the neighbour; it wounds the souls of those who listen to the detraction; and it kills the soul or the detractor himself by depriving him of Divine grace. If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly -(Eccles. x. 11).

I.

To practise fraternal charity in words, you must, above all, abstain from every species of detraction. The talebearer, says the Holy Ghost, shall defile his own soul, and shall be hated by all-(Ecclus. xxi. 31). Yes, he shall be an object of hatred to God and to men, and even to those who for their own amusement applaud and encourage his slanderous language. Even they shall shun him; because they justly fear that as in their presence he has detracted others, so before others he will slander them. St. Jerome says that some who have renounced other vices cannot abstain from this. “They who have abandoned other sins continue to fall into the sin of detraction.” Would to God that even amongst those consecrated to God there were not to be found some whose tongues are so sharp that they cannot speak without wounding the character of a neighbour! God grant that such people may not meet the fate of a certain slanderer, who, according to Thomas Cantimpratensis, died in a fit of rage, and in the act of lacerating his tongue with his teeth. St. Bernard speaks of another slanderer. who attempted to defame the character of St. Malachy; his tongue instantly swelled and became filled with worms. In this miserable state the unhappy man died after seven days.

But how dear to God and to men are those who speak well of all! St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to say that if she knew anyone who had never in his whole life spoken ill of a neighbour, she would have him canonised. Be careful, then, never to utter a word that savours of detraction. Above all, be on your guard against every expression that is in the slightest degree apt to injure the character of your Superiors. By speaking ill of them, you would destroy in your companions the spirit of obedience, as you would diminish respect for their judgment and authority. The sin of detraction is committed, not only by imputing to others what is not true, by exaggerating their defects, or by making known their hidden faults, but also by representing their virtuous actions as defective, or by ascribing them to a bad motive. Is is also detraction to deny the good works of others, or to question their claims to the just praise bestowed upon them. To render their calumnies more credible, some people begin by praise and end with slander. Such a person, they say, has a great deal of talent, but he is proud; he is very generous, but at the same time very vindictive.

Ah, my God, look not upon my sins, but upon Jesus, Thy Son, Who has sacrificed His life for my salvation. For Jesus’ sake have pity upon me, and pardon all the offences I have committed against Thee, but especially those I have committed by my want of charity towards my neighbour. Destroy in me, O Lord, whatever displeases Thee, and give me a sincere desire to please Thee in all things.


II.

Let it be your care ever to speak well of all. Speak of others as you would wish to be spoken of by others. With regard to the absent, observe the excellent rule of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi: “Never to utter in their absence what you would not say in their presence.” And should you ever hear someone speak ill of others, be careful neither to encourage his uncharitableness nor to appear pleased with his language; otherwise you will partake of his guilt. You should either reprove him, or change the subject of conversation, or withdraw, or, at least, pay no attention to him. Hedge in thy ears with thorns, says the Holy Ghost; hear not a wicked tongue -(Ecclus. xxviii. 28). Against detraction, hedge in your ears with thorns, that it may not enter. Whenever, then, you hear a person speak ill of others, it is necessary to show, at least by silence, by your countenance, or by downcast eyes, that you are not pleased with the conversation. Conduct yourself always in such a way that no one will in future dare attack the character of another in your presence. And when it is in your power, charity requires of you to take the part of the person who is detracted. Thy lips are as a scarlet lace-(Cant. iv. 3). My spouse, says the Lord, I will have thy lips as a scarlet lace; that is, according to the explanation of St. Gregory of Nyssa, your words must be full of charity, so as to cover as much as possible the defects of others, or at least to excuse their intention, if their actions be inexcusable. “Excuse the intention,” says St. Bernard, “if you cannot excuse the act.” The Abbot Constabile, as Surius relates, was called “The covering of his brethren.” For this holy monk, as often as he heard anyone speak of the defects of others, sought to cover and excuse them. Such, too, was the practice of St. Teresa. Of her Religious used to say that in her presence their character was secure, because she would defend them.

Spiritual Reading

SALVE, REGINA, MATER MISERICORDlAE! HAIL, HOLY QUEEN, MOTHER OF MERCY!

VII.-THE GREATNESS OF THE LOVE THE MOTHER BEARS US

Since Mary is our Mother, we may consider how great is the love she bears us. Love towards our children is a necessary impulse of nature; and St. Thomas says that this is the reason why the Divine law imposes on children the obligation of loving their parents, but gives no express command that parents should love their children; for nature itself has so strongly implanted it in all creatures that, as St. Ambrose remarks, “we know that a mother will expose herself to danger for her children,” and even the most savage beasts cannot do otherwise than love their young. It is said that even tigers, on hearing the cry of their cubs taken by hunters, will go into the sea and swim until they reach the vessel in which they are. Since the very tigers, says our most loving Mother Mary, cannot forget their young, how can I forget to love you, my children? And even, she adds, were such a thing possible as that a mother should forget to love her child, it is not possible that I should cease to love a soul that has become my child: Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will I not forget thee-(Is. xlix. 15).

Mary is our Mother, not, as we have already observed, according to the flesh, but by love: I am the mother of fair love-(Ecclus. xxiv. 24); hence it is the love only that she bears us that makes her our Mother; and therefore a writer remarks that “she glories in being a Mother of love, because she is all love towards us whom she has adopted for her children.” And who can ever tell the love that Mary bears us miserable creatures? Arnold of Chartres tells us that” at the death of Jesus Christ she desired with immense ardour to die with her Son, for love of us”; so much so, adds St. Ambrose, that whilst “her Son was hanging on the Cross, Mary offered herself to the executioners,” to give her life for us.

But let us consider the reason of this love; for then we shall be better able to miderstand how much this good Mother loves us. The first reason for the great love that Mary bears to men is the great love that she bears to God; love towards God and love towards our neighbour belong to the same commandment, as expressed by St. John: this commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God love also his brother-(l John iv. 21); so that in proportion as the one becomes greater the other also increases. What have not the Saints done for their neighbour in consequence of their love towards God! Read only the account of the labours of St. Francis Xavier in the Indies, where, in order to aid the souls of these poor barbarians and bring them to God, he exposed himself to a thousand dangers, clambering amongst the mountains, and seeking out these poor creatures in the caves in which they dwelt like wild beasts. See a St. Francis de Sales, who, in order to convert the heretics of the province of Chablais, risked his life every morning for a whole year, crawling on his hands and knees over a frozen beam, in order that he might preach to them on the opposite side of a river; a St. Paulinus, who delivered himself up as a slave in order that he might obtain liberty for the son of a poor widow; a St. Fidelis, who, in order to draw the heretics of a certain place to God, persisted in going to preach to them, though he knew it would cost him his life. The Saints, then, because they loved God much, did much for their neighbour; but who ever loved God as much as Mary? She loved Him more in the first moment of her existence than all the Saints and Angels ever loved Him, or will love Him. Our Blessed Lady herself revealed to Sister Mary Crucified that the fire of love with which she was inflamed towards God was such that if the heavens and earth were placed in it they would be instantly consumed; so that the ardours of the Seraphim, in comparison with it, were but as fresh breezes. And as amongst all the blessed spirits there is not one that loves God more than Mary, so we neither have, nor can have, anyone who, after God, loves us as much as this most loving Mother; and if we concentrate all the love that mothers bear their children, husbands and wives one another, all the love of Angels and Saints for their clients, it does not equal the love of Mary towards a single soul. Father Nieremberg says that the love that all mothers have ever had for their children is but a shadow in comparison with the love that Mary bears to each one of us; and he adds that she alone loves us more than all the Angels and Saints put together.

Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

XIII.-ON THE GREAT CONFIDENCE WE OUGHT TO HAVE IN THE LOVE JESUS CHRIST HAS SHOWN US AND IN ALL HE HAS DONE FOR US

I.

David placed all his hope of salvation in his future Redeemer, and said: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth-(Ps. xxx. 6). But how much more ought we to place our confidence in Jesus Christ, now that He has come and has accomplished the work of Redemption! Hence each one of us should say, and repeat again and again with greater confidence: Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.

If we have great reason to fear everlasting death on account of our sins against God, we have on the other hand far greater reason to hope for everlasting life through the merits of Jesus Christ, which are infinitely more powerful for our salvation than our sins are for our damnation. We have sinned, and have deserved hell; but the Redeemer has come to take upon Himself all our offences, and to make satisfaction for them by His sufferings: Surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows-(Is. liii. 4). . In the same unhappy moment in which we sinned, God had already written against us the sentence of eternal death; but what has our merciful Redeemer done?

Blotting out the handwriting of the decree which was against us … the same he took out of the way, fastening it to the cross-(Col. ii. 14). He cancelled by His Blood the decree of our condemnation, and then fastened it to the Cross, in order that, when we look at the sentence of our damnation for the sins we have committed, we may at the same time see the Cross on which Jesus Christ died and blotted out this sentence by His Blood, and so regain hope of pardon and everlasting life.


II.

Oh, how far more powerfully does the Blood of Jesus Christ speak for us, and obtain mercy for us from God, than did the blood of Abel speak against Cain! You are come to Jesus, the mediator of the New Testament, and to the sprinkling of blood, which speaketh better than that of Abel-(Heb. xii. 24). As if the Apostle had said: “O sinners, happy are you to be able, after you have sinned, to have recourse to Jesus crucified, Who has shed all His Blood in order to become the Mediator of peace between sinners and God, and to obtain pardon for them! Your iniquities cry out against you, but the Blood of the Redeemer pleads in your favour; and the Divine justice cannot but be appeased by the voice of this Precious Blood.”

It is true that we shall have to render a rigorous account to the Eternal Judge of all our sins. But who is to be our Judge? The Father hath committed all judgments to the Son-(John v. 22). Let us comfort ourselves; the Eternal Father has committed our judgment to our own Redeemer. Therefore St. Paul encourages us, saying: Who is he that shall condemn? Christ Jesus who died . . . who also maketh intercession for us–(Rom. viii. 34). Who is the Judge to condemn us? It is that same Saviour Who, in order not to condemn us to everlasting death, vouchsafed Himself to be condemned and to die; and not content with this. at this moment intercedes with His Father for our salvation. Hence St. Thomas of Villanova says: What do you fear, O sinner, if you detest your sin? How will He condemn you, Who died in order not to condemn you? How will He cast you from Him, if you return to His feet, He Who came from Heaven to seek you at the very time you were flying from Him?