St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for the Sixth Week after Easter

[Stone]

Rogation Days – Wednesday



Morning Meditation

THE LIFE OF POVERTY JESUS LED UPON EARTH

The world teaches its followers that happiness consists in the possession of riches, pleasures, and honours; but this deceitful world was condemned by the Son of God when He became Man. Now is the judgment of the world-(John xii. 31). This condemnation began in the Stable of Bethlehem. Jesus Christ wished to be born there in poverty, that through His poverty we might become rich, and from His Divine example pluck out of our hearts all affections for earthly possessions.


I.

It was ordained by God that at the time when His Son was born on this earth the decree of the Emperor should be promulgated obliging everyone to go and enroll himself in the place of his birth. And thus it happened that Joseph had to go with his spouse to Bethlehem to enroll himself according to the decree of Caesar. And now, the time of her delivery having arrived, Mary having been driven from the other houses, and even from the common asylum of the poor, was obliged to remain that night in a cave, and there brought forth the King of Heaven. It is true that, if Jesus had been born at Nazareth, He would equally have been born in a state of poverty; but then He would at least have had a dry room, a little fire, warm clothes, and a more comfortable cradle. But no, He chose to be born in this cold cavern without a fire to warm Him; He chose to have a manger for a cradle, and a little prickly straw for a bed, in order that He might suffer more.

Let us, then, enter into the cave of Bethlehem; but let us enter there with Faith. If we go there without Faith we shall see nothing but a poor infant who moves us to compassion at beholding one so beautiful, shivering and crying with cold and with the pricking of the straw on which he lies. But if we enter it with Faith, and consider that this Child is the Son of God, Who for the love of us has come down to this earth and suffered so much to pay the penalty of our sins, how can it be possible not to thank Him and love Him?

O my sweet Infant, how is it possible that, knowing how much Thou hast suffered for me, I can have been so ungrateful to Thee, and have offended Thee so often! But these tears which Thou sheddest, this poverty Thou hast chosen for the love of me, make me hope for the pardon of all the offences I have committed against Thee. I repent, my Jesus, of having so often turned my back upon Thee; and I love Thee above all things, my God and my All! My God, from this day forth Thou shalt be my only Treasure and my only Good. I will say to Thee, with St. Ignatius of Loyola, “Give me Thy love, give me Thy grace, and I am rich enough.” I wish for, and desire nothing else. Thou alone art sufficient for me, my Jesus, my Life, my Love.


II.

After the example of our Saviour the Saints sought to despoil themselves of everything, and in poverty to follow Jesus Christ Who was Himself poor. St. Bernard says: “The poverty of Christ is richer than all the world’s treasures.” It animates us in acquiring the riches of Heaven and in despising those of the world. St. Paul wrote: I count all things but as dung, that I may gain Christ-(Phil. iii. 8). Compared with the grace of Jesus Christ the Apostle considered everything else as mere dung and filth. St. Francis Borgia abandons all his wealth for a life of poverty in the Society of Jesus. St. Francis of Assisi gave back even his very shirt to his father that he might live all his life like a poor beggar. He who covets possessions, said St. Philip Neri, will never become a Saint. And so it is; for the heart that is full of this world has no room for Divine love. Dost thou bring an empty heart? was a question the monks of old asked of those who came to join them. They meant to say: If thou dost not bring an empty heart thou canst never belong entirely to God. For where thy treasure is there is thy heart also-(Matt. vi. 21). Each one’s treasure is what he loves and prizes. Once when a certain rich man died St. Anthony of Padua published his damnation from the pulpit; and as a sign of the truth of what he said he told the people to go to the place where he had kept his money, and that there they would find the wretched man’s heart. They did go, and they actually found his heart, still warm, in the midst of his money.

Happy is the man who can say with St. Paulinus: “Let the rich enjoy their riches and kings their kingdoms; Christ is my possession, my kingdom, and my glory.” “Give me Thy love together with Thy grace and I am rich enough,” said St. Ignatius. Let us never fail to have recourse to Mary, the Divine Mother, and love her after God above all things. She enriches with graces all who love her. With me are riches … that I may enrich them that love me-(Prov. viii. 18, 21).

O my infant God, I see Thee trembling with cold on the straw, crying and weeping for my sake–oh, how can I live without loving Thee? 0 my God, how could I have offended Thee so much, knowing, as I did by Faith how much Thou hast suffered for me. But this straw that torments Thee, this vile manger in which Thou art lying, those loving tears Thou shedest, those tender cries Thou dost utter all make me firmly hope for pardon and for the grace to love Thee for the rest of my life. I love Thee, O Divine Child! I give myself all to Thee. O Mary, great Mother of this great Son, and most beloved by Him, pray to Him for me.

Spiritual Reading

SPES NOSTRA, SALVE-HAIL, OUR HOPE!

XXX.-MARY IS THE HOPE OF ALL

St. Germanus, recognising in Mary the source of all our good, and that she delivers us from every evil, thus invokes her: “O, my sovereign Lady, thou alone art the one whom God has appointed to be my solace here below; thou art the guide of my pilgrimage, the strength of my weakness, the riches of my poverty, remedy for the healing of my wounds, the relief of my pains, the end of my captivity, the hope of my salvation! Hear my prayers, have pity on my tears, I conjure thee, O thou who art my Queen, my refuge, my love, my help, my hope and my strength.”

We need not, then, be surprised that St. Antoninus applies the following verse of the Book of Wisdom to Mary: Now all good things came to me together with her-(Wisd. vii. 11). For as this Blessed Virgin is the Mother and dispenser of all good things, the whole world, and more particularly each individual who Iives in it as a devout client of this great Queen, may say with truth that, with devotion to Mary, both he and the world have obtained everything good and perfect. The Saint thus expresses his thought: “She is the Mother of all good things; and the world can truly say that, with her, it has received all good things” And hence the Blessed Abbot of Celles expressly declares that “when we find Mary, we find all good.” Whoever finds Mary finds every good thing, obtains all graces and all virtues; for by her powerful intercession she obtains all that is necessary to enrich him with Divine grace. In the Book of Proverbs Mary herself tells us that she possesses all the riches of God, that is to say, His mercies, that she may dispense them in favour of her lovers: With me are riches . .and glorious riches .. that I may enrich them that love me-(Prov. viii. 18,21). And therefore St. Bonaventure says that “We ought all to keep our eyes constantly fixed on Mary’s hands, that through them we may receive the graces we desire.”

Oh, how many who were once proud have become humble by devotion to Mary! How many who were passionate have become meek! How many in the midst of darkness have found light! How many who were in despair have found confidence! How many who were lost have found salvation by the same powerful means! And this she clearly foretold in the house of Elizabeth, in her own sublime canticle: Behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed-(Luke i. 4-8). And St. Bernard, interpreting her words says: “All generations call thee blessed, because thou hast given life and glory to all nations; for in thee sinners find pardon, and the just perseverance in the grace of God.”

Evening Meditation

THE HAPPY DEATH OF GOD’S SERVANTS

I.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints-(Ps. cxv. 15). St. Bernard says that the death of the just is called precious, because it is the end of labour and the gate of life. To the Saints death is a reward, because it is the end of sufferings, pains, struggles, and the fear of losing God.

That word Depart, which is such a terror to worldlings, alarms not the just; because to them it is not painful to leave all worldly goods, for God has been their only riches: nor honours, for they have despised them: nor relatives, for they have loved them only in God. Hence, as they frequently repeated in life, so now with redoubled joy do they exclaim in death: My God and my All!

Nor do the pains of death afflict them; they rejoice in offering to God the last moments of life in testimony of their love for Him, uniting the sacrifice of their lives to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ offered on the Cross, for the love of them.

Oh, what a consolation for the Saints is the thought that now the time is over when they might have offended God, and were in constant danger of losing Him! Oh, what joy to be able then to embrace the Crucifix, and to say: In peace, in the self same, I will sleep and I will rest!-(Ps. iv. 9). The devil will endeavour at that time to disquiet us by the sight of our sins; but if we have bewailed them, and have loved Jesus Christ with our whole heart, Jesus will console us. God is more desirous of our salvation than the devil is for our perdition.

Moreover, death is the gate of life. God is faithful, and will indeed at that time console those who have loved Him. Even in the sorrows of death He will bestow upon them a foretaste of Heaven, Their acts of confidence, of love of God, of desire soon to behold Him, will be the beginning for them of that peace which they will enjoy throughout eternity. What joy, in particular, will the holy Viaticum afford to those who can say, with St. Philip Neri: Behold my Love! Behold my Love!


II.

We should therefore fear, not death, but sin, which alone makes death so terrible. A great servant of God, Father Colombiere, said: “It is morally impossible for one who in life has been faithful to God to die an unhappy death.”

He who loves God is desirous of death, which will unite him eternally to God. It is a sign of but little love for God, not to desire soon to behold Him.

Let us be resigned to the hour of death and the loss of all worldly possessions. We may do this now meritoriously, but then it must be done forcibly and with danger of being lost. Let us live as though every day were to be the last of our lives. Oh, how well does he live who lives always with the remembrance of death present to his mind!

O my God, when will the day arrive in which I shall see Thee and love Thee face to face? I do not deserve it; but Thy Wounds, O my Redeemer, are my hope. I will say to Thee with St. Bernard: Thy Wounds are my merits. And hence I will take confidence, and will also says to Thee with St. Augustine: May I die, O Lord, that I may behold Thee! O Mary, my Mother, in the Blood of Jesus Christ, and in thy holy intercession, do I hope to be saved, and to come to praise thee, thank thee, and love thee forever in Heaven.