St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Sixth Week after Pentecost

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St. Alphonsus Liguori: Daily Meditations for Sixth Week after Pentecost

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Morning Meditation



OUR JOURNEY INTO ETERNITY.–WE ARE ONLY PILGRIMS ON THIS EARTH.

We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come. In this world we are not citizens, but pilgrims, for we are on our way to Eternity. Man shall go into the house of his eternity.


I.

We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one that is to come (Heb. xiii. 14). In this world we are not citizens, but pilgrims, for we are on our way to Eternity: Man shall go into the house of his eternity (Eccles. xii. 5).

Very soon, therefore, we shall have to leave this world. The body must soon go into the grave, and the soul into Eternity.

Would not that traveller be guilty of great folly, who should waste his time and his wealth in building himself a dwelling in a place he must soon leave?

O my God, my soul is eternal; I must, then, either enjoy Thee or lose Thee for Eternity.

In Eternity there are two places of abode–one overflowing with every delight, the other replete with every torment. And these delights and torments will be eternal. If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall there shall it be (Eccles. xi. 3). If the soul be saved, it will be happy forever; but if it fall into hell, it will remain there to weep and lament as long as God shall be God.

There is no middle state: either a king forever in Heaven, or forever a slave of Lucifer; either blessed forever in Paradise, or in despair forever in hell.

Which of these abodes will fall to the lot of each of us? That which each one voluntarily chooses. Man shall go–Ibit homo. He who goes to hell, goes of his own free will. Every one that is damned, is damned because he wills his own damnation.

O my Jesus, would that I had always loved Thee! Too late have I known Thee! Too late have I loved Thee! O Thou, the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever! (Ps. lxxii. 26).


II.

Every Christian, in order to live well, should always keep Eternity before his eyes. Oh, how well regulated is the life of that man who lives and sees all things in the light of Eternity!

If Heaven, Hell, and Eternity were even only doubtful things, surely we ought to do all in our power not to run the risk of being lost forever. But no; they are not doubtful things, but Articles of Faith.

To what will all the greatness of this world come? To a funeral; to a descent into the grave. Blessed in that hour is he who obtains eternal life!

O Jesus! Thou art my life, my riches, my love. Grant me a great desire to please Thee during the remainder of my life; and give me Thy assistance to fulfil it.

The thought of Eternity is sufficient to make a saint. St. Augustine called it the Great Thought. It is this thought that has sent so many young persons into cloisters, so many anchorites into deserts, and so many Martyrs to cruel deaths.

Father John of Avila converted a lady who was attached to the world, by only saying: Consider: Always and Forever!“

Oh, how much depends on the last moment of our lives! On our last breath depends an Eternity, either of happiness or of misery; a life of eternal bliss, or of eternal woe. Jesus Christ died upon the Cross, in order to secure for us His grace at this last moment.

My dear Redeemer, if then Thou hadst not died for me, I should have been lost forever! I thank Thee, O my Love! I confide in Thee and I love Thee!

Spiritual Reading

PRAYER, THE GREAT MEANS OF SALVATION.

I have published several spiritual works, the Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, The Passion of Jesus Christ, The Glories of Mary, and, besides, a work against the Materialists and Deists, with other devout little treatises. I have recently brought out a work on the Infancy of our Saviour entitled Novena for Christmas; and another entitled Preparation for Death, besides the one on the Eternal Maxims, most useful for meditation and sermons … But I do not think that I have written a more useful work than the present, in which I speak of prayer as a necessary, and a certain means of obtaining salvation, and all the graces which we require for that object. If it were in my power, I would distribute a copy of it to every Catholic in the world, in order to show him the absolute necessity of prayer for salvation.

I say this, because on the one hand I see that the absolute necessity of prayer is taught throughout the Holy Scriptures, and by all the Holy Fathers of the Church, while, on the other hand, I see that Christians are very careless in their practice of this great means of salvation. And, sadder still, I see that preachers take very little care to speak of it to their flocks, or confessors to their penitents; I see, moreover, that even the spiritual books now popular do not speak sufficiently of it; yet there is nothing which preachers, and confessors and spiritual books should insist upon with more warmth and energy than prayer; not but that they teach many excellent means of keeping ourselves in the grace of God, such as avoiding the occasions of sin, frequenting the Sacraments, resisting temptations, hearing the Word of God, meditation on the Eternal Truths, and other means–all of them, I admit, most useful; but, I say, what profit is there in sermons, meditations, and all the other means pointed out by masters of the spiritual life, if we forget to pray? Has not our Lord declared that He will grant His graces to no one who does not pray? Ask and ye shall receive. Without prayer, in the ordinary course of providence, all the meditations we make, all our resolutions, all our promises, will come to naught. If we do not pray, we shall be always unfaithful to the inspirations of God, and to the promises we make Him. Because, in order actually to do good, to conquer temptations, to practise virtues, and to observe God’s law, it is not enough to receive illumination from God, and to meditate and make resolutions, but we require, moreover, the actual assistance of God; and, as we shall see, He does not give this assistance except to those who pray, and pray with perseverance. The light we receive, and the considerations and good resolutions we make, are of use to incite us to the act of prayer when we are in danger and are tempted to transgress God’s law; for, then prayer will obtain for us God’s help, and we shall be preserved from sin; but if in such moments we do not pray, we shall be lost.

My intention in thus prefacing my book is, that my readers may thank God for giving them an opportunity, by means of this little book, to receive the grace of reflecting more deeply on the importance of prayer; for all adults who are saved, are ordinarily saved by this single means of grace. And therefore I ask my readers to thank God; for surely it is a great mercy when He gives the light and the grace to pray. I hope, then, that you, my beloved brother, after reading this little work, will never from this day forward, neglect to have continual recourse to God in prayer, whenever you are tempted to offend Him. If ever in times past you have had your conscience burdened with many sins, know that the cause of this has been your neglect of prayer, your not asking God for help to resist the temptations which assailed you. I pray you, therefore, to read my words again and again with the greatest attention; not because I write them, but because this book is a means which God offers you for the good of your salvation, thereby giving you to understand that He wishes you to be saved. And after having read it yourself, induce as many of your friends and neighbours as you can to read it also. Now let us begin in the Name of the Lord.

The Apostle writes to Timothy: I desire, therefore, first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made (1 Tim ii. 1). St. Thomas explains that prayer is properly the lifting up of the soul to God. Petition is that particular kind of prayer which begs for determinate objects, but when the thing sought is indeterminate (as when we say, “Incline unto my aid, O God!”), it is called supplication. Obsecration is a solemn adjuration or representation of the grounds on which we dare to ask a favour; as when we say,” By Thy Cross and Passion, O Lord, deliver us !” Finally, thanksgiving is the returning of thanks for benefits received, whereby, says St. Thomas, we merit to receive greater favours. Prayer, in a strict sense, says the holy Doctor, means recourse to God; but in its general signification it includes all the kinds just enumerated. It is in this latter sense that the word is used in this book.

We will here treat:

1.–Of the Necessity of Prayer; the Power of Prayer, and the Conditions of Prayer;

2.–We will show that God gives the grace of Prayer to all men.*

*Only a part, but we think the most important part, of St. Alphonsus’ Treatise on Prayer will be given here. The entire Treatise is included in Vol III. Centenary Edition of the Saint’s works, which may be obtained from Editor of present work.–ED.

Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST.

” Charity beareth all things.”

HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BEARS ALL THINGS FOR HIM, AND ESPECIALLY ILLNESS, POVERTY, AND CONTEMPT.

I.

But wherefore does Almighty God load us with so many crosses, and take pleasure in seeing us afflicted, reviled, persecuted, and ill-treated by the world? Is He perchance, a tyrant, whose cruel disposition makes Him rejoice in our suffering? No; God is by no means a tyrant, nor cruel; He is all compassion and love towards us; suffice it to say that He has died for us. He indeed does rejoice at our suffering, because suffering is for our good; inasmuch as by suffering here we are released hereafter from the debt of punishment justly due from us to His Divine justice; He rejoices in our sufferings because they detach us from the sensual pleasures of this world: when a mother would wean her child she puts gall on the breast in order to create a dislike in the child; He rejoices in sufferings because we give Him, by our patience and resignation in bearing them, a token of our love; in fine, He rejoices in them, because they contribute to our increase of glory in Heaven. Such are the reasons for which the Almighty, in His compassion and love towards us, is pleased when we suffer.

I love Thee with my whole heart, O my Redeemer! I love Thee, my sovereign Good! I love Thee, my own Love, worthy of infinite love. I am grieved at any displeasure I have ever caused Thee, more than for any evil whatever. I promise Thee to receive with patience all the trials Thou mayest send me; but I look to Thee for help to be faithful to my promise, and especially to be enabled to bear in peace the sorrows of my last agony and death.


II.

Let us conclude. That we may be able to practise patience to advantage in all our tribulations, we must be fully persuaded that every trial comes from the hands of God, either directly, or indirectly through men; we must therefore render God thanks whenever we are beset with sorrows, and accept, with gladness of heart, of every event, prosperous or adverse, that proceeds from Him, knowing that all happens by His disposition and for our welfare: To them that love God all things work together unto good (Rom. viii. 28). In addition to this, it is well in our tribulations to glance a moment at that hell we formerly deserved: for assuredly all the pains of this life are incomparably less than the awful pains of hell. But above all, prayer, by which we gain the Divine assistance, is the great means by which we may suffer patiently all affliction, scorn, and contradictions, and is that which will furnish us with the strength we have not of ourselves. The Saints were persuaded of this; they recommended themselves to God, and so overcame every kind of torments and persecutions.

O Lord, I am fully persuaded that without suffering, and suffering with patience, I cannot win the crown of Paradise. David said: From him is my patience (Ps. lxi. 6). And I say the same; my patience in suffering must come from Thee. I make many resolutions to accept all tribulations in peace; but no sooner are trials at hand than I grow sad and alarmed; and if I suffer, I suffer without merit and without love, because I know not how to suffer them so as to please Thee. O my Jesus, through the merits of Thy patience in bearing so many afflictions for love of me, grant me the grace to bear crosses for the love of Thee!

O Mary, my Queen, vouchsafe to obtain for me a true resignation in all the anguish and trials that await me during life and at death.

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Monday--Sixth Week after Pentecost

Morning Meditation

OUR JOURNEY INTO ETERNITY--THE FOLLY OF THOSE WHO DO NOT CONSIDER IT

O my God, the months and years pass! We are hastening towards Eternity and we do not concern ourselves to think about it! And who knows but this may be the last warning I may receive from God!


I.

Either we believe or we do not believe. If we do not believe, we are doing too much for things we regard as fables. But if we do believe, then we do too little to obtain a happy Eternity, and to avoid eternal misery.

Father Vincent Carafa said that if men thoroughly knew the Truths of Eternity, and compared the goods and evils of this life with those of the next, the earth would become a desert, because there would be none at all who would attend to the affairs of this world.

When the last moment is near at hand, how we shall tremble at the thought that on that moment will depend our eternal happiness or misery!

O my God, the months and years pass! We are hastening towards eternity, and we do not concern ourselves to think about it! And who knows but that this year or month may be my last? Who knows but that this may be the last warning I may receive from God?

O my God, I will no longer abuse Thy graces! Behold, I am ready! Make known to me what Thou wouldst have me do, and in all things I will obey Thee.

And why should we delay after so many lights and calls from God, unless we desire to lament with the damned, saying: The summer is ended, and we are not saved (Jer. viii. 20). Now is the time for reconciliation with God, for after death no remedy will be left.

With good reason did Father John of Avila say that Christians who believe eternal life, and live at a distance from God, ought to be shut up in an asylum as insane.

The business of Eternity is indeed important. It is not whether we shall inhabit a house more or less commodious or lightsome; but whether we shall dwell in a palace of all delights, or in an abyss of the most terrible torments. It is whether we shall be happy with the Saints and Angels, or live in despair with the multitude of the enemies of God. And for how many years? For a thousand? No; forever, forever, as long as God shall be God.

If, then, O God, I had died in my sins, should I not have lost Thee forever? If as yet, O Lord, Thou hast not pardoned me, pardon me now, I beseech Thee. I love Thee with all my soul, and I am sorry above every other evil for having offended Thee. I will never lose Thee more. I love Thee with all my heart, and will forever love Thee. Have pity on me.


II.

There are many upon whom, during life, it makes little impression to hear of Judgment, Hell, Eternity. But in death what dread and terror do these Truths excite! But, alas! with but little fruit; because then they serve only to increase their remorse and confusion.

St. Teresa used to say to her Religious: "Daughters, one soul, one Eternity!" By which she meant that if the soul is lost, all is lost, and that the soul once lost, is lost forever.

O Lord, wait yet awhile, that I may weep for my sins. Too many years have I spent in displeasing Thee! The time which yet remains to me shall be given all to Thee. Accept of me, that I may serve Thee, O my God, my God!

The Lord waits for us; let us highly prize the time which, in His mercy, He bestows upon us, that we may not have to lament when for us time shall be no more.

O God, what would not a dying man give for another day, or even another hour! Another day or hour in his sound senses! Alas, the time which remains to the dying man is but little adapted to the settling of the affairs of conscience. Giddiness of head, pains of body, oppressions at the chest, hinder the mind from doing anything in a proper manner. Then the soul, as it were, buried in obscurity, is alive to nothing but the distress which overpowers it, and which it cannot alleviate. It longs to have a little time, but sees that there is no more time for it.

At what hour you think not, the Son of Man will come (Luke xii. 40). God conceals from us the time of death, that we may always be ready. The time of death is not the time to prepare ourselves to give an account of our souls, but the time when we should find ourselves prepared to do so. St. Bernard said: "In order to die well, we must be ever prepared to die."

O Jesus, too long have I offended Thee! It is surely now time to resolve henceforth to prepare for death. I will no longer abuse Thy patience. I desire to love Thee with all my power. I have very much offended Thee; I desire now to love Thee very much.

Spiritual Reading

PRAYER, ITS NECESSITY

I-IT IS A MEANS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION

One of the errors of Pelagianism was the assertion that Prayer is not necessary for salvation. Pelagius, the impious author of that heresy, said that man will only be damned for neglecting to know the truths necessary to be learned. How astonishing! St. Augustine said: "Pelagius discussed everything except how to pray," though, as the Saint held and taught,--Prayer is the only means of acquiring the science of the Saints, according to the words of St. James: lf any man want wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly, and upbraideth not (James i. 5).

The Scriptures are clear enough in pointing out how necessary it is to pray, if we would be saved. We ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke xviii. 1). Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation (Matt. xxvi. 41). Ask, and it shall be given you (Matt. vii. 7). The words we ought, pray, ask, according to the general consent of Theologians, impose the precept, and denote the Necessity of Prayer. Wickliffe said that these texts are to be understood, not of the necessity of Prayer, but of the necessity of good works, for in his system Prayer was only well-doing; but this was his error, and was expressly condemned by the Church. Hence Lessius wrote that it is heresy to deny that Prayer is necessary for salvation in adults, as it is evident from Scripture that Prayer is the means, without which we cannot obtain the help necessary for salvation.

The reason of this is clear. Without the assistance of God's grace we can do no good work: Without me, ye can do nothing (John xv. 5). St. Augustine remarks on this passage that our Lord did not say: "Without Me, ye can complete nothing," but, "Without Me, ye can do nothing"; giving us to understand, that without grace we cannot even begin to do a good work. Nay more, St. Paul writes, that of ourselves we cannot even have the wish to do good. Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves ... but our sufficiency is from God (2 Cor. 6). If we cannot even think a good thought, much less can we wish to carry it out. The same thing is taught in many other passages of Scripture: God worketh all in all (1 Cor. xii. 6). I will cause you to walk in my commandments, and to keep my judgments, and do them (Ezech. xxxvi. 27). So that, as St. Leo I. says: "Man does no good thing, except that which God, by His grace, enables him to do"; and hence the Council of Trent says: "If any one shall assert that without the previous inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and His assistance, man can believe, hope, Love, or repent, as he ought, in order to obtain the grace of justification, let him be anathema."

The author of the Opus Imperfectum says that God has given to some animals swiftness, to others claws, to others wings, for the preservation of their life; but He has so formed man that God Himself is his only strength. So that man is absolutely unable to provide for his own safety, since God has willed that whatever he has, or can have, should come entirely from the assistance of His grace.

But this grace is not given in God's ordinary Providence, except to those who pray for it; according to the celebrated saying of Gennadius, "We believe that no one comes to be saved, except at the invitation of God; that no one who is invited works out his salvation, except by the help of God; that no one merits this help, unless he prays." From these two premises, first, that we can do nothing without the assistance of grace; and secondly, that this assistance is only given ordinarily by God to the man that prays--who does not see that the consequence follows, that prayer is absolutely necessary to us for salvation? And although the first graces that come to us without any co-operation on our part, such as the call to Faith or to penance, are, as St. Augustine says, granted by God even to those who do not pray; yet the Saint considers it certain that the other graces, and specially the grace of perseverance, are not granted except in answer to Prayer: "God gives us some things, as the beginning of Faith, even when we do not pray. Other things, such as perseverance, He has only provided for those who pray."

Hence it is that the generality of Theologians, following St. Basil, St. Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, St. Augustine, and other Fathers, teach that Prayer is necessary to adults, not only because of the obligation of the precept, as we have seen, but because Prayer is necessary as a means of salvation. That is to say, in the ordinary course of Providence, it is impossible that a Christian should be saved without recommending himself to God, and asking for the graces necessary for salvation. St. Thomas teaches the same: "After Baptism, continual Prayer is necessary for man, in order that he may enter Heaven; for though by Baptism our sins are remitted, there still remain concupiscence to assail us from within, and the world and the devil to assail us from without." The reason, then, which makes us certain of the necessity of Prayer is briefly this: In order to be saved we must fight and conquer: He that striveth for the mastery is not crowned except he strive lawfully (2 Tim. 5). But without the Divine assistance we cannot resist the might of so many and such powerful enemies; now this assistance is granted only to Prayer; therefore, without Prayer there is no salvation.

Moreover, that Prayer is the only ordinary means of receiving the Divine gift, is very distinctly proved by St. Thomas in another place, where he says that whatever graces God has from all eternity determined to give us, He will only give them if we pray for them. St. Gregory says the same thing: "Man by Prayer merits to receive that which God had from all eternity determined to give him." Not, says St. Thomas, that Prayer is necessary in order that God may know our necessities, but in order that we may know the necessity of having recourse to God to obtain the help necessary for our salvation, and may thus acknowledge Him to be the Author of all our good. As, therefore, it is God's law that we should provide ourselves with bread by sowing corn, and wine by planting vines, so has He ordained that we should receive the graces necessary to salvation by means of Prayer: Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find (Matt. vii. 7).

We, in a word, are merely beggars, who have nothing but what God bestows on us as alms: But I am a beggar and poor (Ps. xxxix. 18). The Lord, says St. Augustine, desires and wills to pour forth His graces upon us, but does not give them except to him who prays. "God wishes to give, but only to him who asks." This is declared in the words, Ask, and it shall be given to you. Whence it follows, says St. Teresa, that he who seeks not, does not receive. As moisture is necessary for the life of plants, to prevent them from drying up, so, says St. Chrysostom, is Prayer necessary for our salvation. Or, as he says in another place, Prayer vivifies the soul as the soul vivifies the body: "As the body without the soul cannot live, so the soul without Prayer is dead and emits an offensive odour." "Graviter olens." He uses these words because the man who omits to recommend himself to God at once begins to be defiled with sins. Prayer is also called the food of the soul, because the body cannot be supported without food; nor can the soul, says St. Augustine, be kept alive without Prayer: "As the flesh is nourished by food, so is man supported by prayers " All these comparisons used by the holy Fathers are intended by them to teach the absolute necessity of Prayer for the salvation of every one.

Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

"Charity believeth all things"

HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BELIEVES ALL HIS WORDS

I.

Whoever loves a person believes all that proceeds from the lips of that person; consequently, the more a soul loves Jesus Christ, the more lively and unshaken is her Faith. When the Good Thief beheld our Redeemer, though He had done no ill, suffering death upon the Cross with such patience, he began at once to love Him; under the influence of this love, and of the Divine light which then broke upon his soul, he believed that Jesus was truly the Son of God, and begged not to be forgotten by Him when He should have passed into His Kingdom.

Faith is the foundation of Charity; but Faith afterwards receives its perfection from Charity. His Faith is most perfect whose love of God is most perfect. Charity produces in man not merely the Faith of the understanding, but the Faith of the will also; those who believe only with the understanding, but not with the will, as is the case with sinners who are perfectly convinced of the Truths of the Faith, but do not choose to live according to the Divine Commandments--such as these have a very weak Faith; for had they a more lively belief that the grace of God is a priceless treasure, and that sin, because it robs us of this grace, is the worst of evils, they would assuredly change their lives. If, then, they prefer the miserable creatures of this earth to God, it is because they either do not believe or because their Faith is very weak. On the contrary, he who believes not only with the understanding but also with the will, so that he not only believes in God but has the will to believe in Him, the Revealer of truth, from the love he has for Him, and rejoices in so believing--such a one has a perfect Faith, and consequently seeks to make his life conformable to the truths he believes.


II.

Weakness of Faith, however, in those who live in sin, does not spring from the obscurity of Faith; for though God, in order to make our Faith more meritorious, has veiled the objects of Faith in darkness and secrecy, He has at the same time given us so clear and convincing evidence of their truth, that not to believe them would argue not merely a lack of sense, but sheer madness and impiety. The weakness of the Faith of many persons is to be traced to their wickedness of living. He who, rather than forego the enjoyment of forbidden pleasures, scorns the Divine friendship, would wish there was no law to forbid, and no chastisement to punish, his sin. On this account he strives to blind himself to the eternal truths of Death, Judgment, and Hell, and of Divine justice; and because such subjects strike too much terror into his heart, and are too apt to mix bitterness in his cup of pleasure, he sets his brain to work to discover proofs, which have at least the look of plausibility; and by which he allows himself to be flattered into the persuasion that there is no soul, no God, no hell, in order that he may live and die like the brute beast, without law and without reason.

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Tuesday--Sixth Week after Pentecost

Morning Meditation

OUR JOURNEY INTO ETERNITY--LET US PROFIT BY THE TIME THAT IS GIVEN US

Walk, says our Divine Lord, while you have the light, for, the night cometh when no man can work. Oh, what a torment for the poor repentant sinner at the end of a careless life when there is no time left him to do all he has left undone!


I.

Oh, what a torment for the poor repentant sinner at the end of a careless life when there is no time left him to do all he left undone! St. Laurence Justinian says that worldlings, in death, would willingly give all their riches to obtain but one more hour of life. But it will be said to them: Time shall be no more (Apoc. x. 6). It will be intimated to them to depart without delay: Go forth, Christian soul, out of this world!

St. Gregory relates that a certain Crisorius, being at the point of death, cried out to the demons: "Give me time until tomorrow." But they replied, "Fool! thou hast had time, and why didst thou waste it? Now there is no more time for thee."

Ah, my God, how many years have I not wasted! The remainder of my time shall be entirely devoted to Thee. Grant that Thy holy love may abound in me, in whom sin has so long abounded.

St. Bernardine of Sienna said that every moment of time in this life is as precious as God; because at any moment, by an act of love or contrition, we may acquire new degrees of grace.

St. Bernard says that time is a treasure to be found only in this life. In hell, the lamentation of the damned is: "Oh, if one hour were given us!" Oh, if we had but one hour in which to escape from eternal ruin! In Heaven there is no weeping; but if the Blessed could weep, it would be at the thought of having lost so much time in which they might have acquired higher degrees of glory.

My beloved Redeemer, I do not deserve Thy pity; but Thy Passion is my hope. Help me, therefore, and stretch out Thy hand to a miserable sinner, who now desires to become wholly Thine.

And who knows but that a sudden death may surprise us, and deprive us of the time for making up our accounts? The many who have died suddenly did not expect so to die; and if they were in sin, what has become of them for all eternity?


II.

The Saints thought that they did but little, in preparing themselves during their whole lives to secure a good end. Blessed John of Avila, when it was announced to him that he was about to die, said: "Oh, that I had but a little more time to prepare myself!"

And we, why do we delay? Is it that we may make a wicked and most miserable end and leave to others an example of the Divine justice?

No, my Jesus, I will not oblige Thee to abandon me. Tell me what Thou requirest of me, and in all things I will do Thy will. Grant that I may love Thee, and I ask for nothing more.

He hath called against me the time (Lam. i. 15). Let us tremble, and let us not so live that God may hereafter, as judge of our ingratitude, call against us the time which, in His mercy, He now bestows upon us. Walk, says our Lord, whilst you have the light (Jo. xii. 35). The night cometh when no man can work (Jo. ix. 4).

St. Andrew Avellino trembled, saying: "Who knows whether I shall be saved or lost?" But speaking thus, he ever united himself the more closely to God. But what are we doing? How is it possible that he who believes he must die and go into Eternity should not give himself wholly to God?

My beloved Redeemer, my crucified Love, I will not wait till my death-hour to embrace Thee; from this moment I embrace Thee, I bind Thee to my heart, and leave all to love Thee alone, my only Good. O Mary, my Mother, bind me to Jesus, and obtain for me that I may never more separate myself from His love.

Spiritual Reading

PRAYER, ITS NECESSITY

II-WITHOUT PRAYER IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO RESIST TEMPTATIONS AND TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS

Moreover, Prayer is the most necessary weapon of defence against our enemies; he who does not avail himself of it, says St. Thomas, is lost. He does not doubt that the reason of Adam's fall was because he did not recommend himself to God when he was tempted: "He sinned because he had not recourse to the Divine assistance." St. Gelasius says the same of the rebel angels: "Receiving the grace of God in vain, they could not persevere, because they did not pray." St. Charles Borromeo, in a Pastoral letter, observes that among all the means of salvation recommended by Jesus Christ in the Gospel, the first place is given to Prayer; and He has determined that this should distinguish His Church from all false religions, when He calls her "The House of Prayer": My house shall be called a house of prayer (Matt. xxi. 13). St. Charles concludes that Prayer is "the beginning and progress and the completion of all virtues." So that in darkness, distress, and danger, we have no other hope than to raise our eyes to God, and with fervent prayer to beseech His mercy to save us: As we know not what to do, said King Josaphat, we can only turn our eyes to thee (2 Par. xx. 12). This also was David's practice, who could find no other means of safety from his enemies than continual Prayer to God to deliver him from their snares: My eyes are ever towards the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare (Ps. xxiv. 15). So he did nothing but pray. Look thou upon me and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor (Ps. xxiv. 15). I cried unto thee, O Lord; save me that I may keep thy commandments (Ps. cxviii. 146). Lord, turn Thy eyes to me, have pity on me, and save me; for I can do nothing, and besides Thee there is none that can help me.

And, indeed, how could we ever resist our enemies and observe God's precepts especially since Adam's sin, which has rendered us so weak and infirm, unless we had Prayer as a means whereby we can obtain from God sufficient light and strength to enable us to observe them? It was a blasphemy of Luther's to say that after the sin of Adam the observance of God's law has become absolutely impossible to man. Jansenius also said that there are some precepts which are impossible even to the just, with the power which they actually have, and so far his proposition bears a good sense; but it was justly condemned by the Church for the addition he made to it, when he said that they have not the grace to make the precepts possible. It is true, says St. Augustine, that man, in consequence of his weakness, is unable to fulfil some of God's commands with his present strength and the ordinary grace given to all men; but he can easily, by Prayer, obtain such further aid as he requires for his salvation: "God commands not impossibilities; but by commanding He suggests to you both to do what you can and to ask for what you cannot do; and He helps you, that you may be able" --"Deus impossibilia non jubet; sed jubendo monet, et facere quod possis, et petere quod non possis; et adjuvat ut possis." This is a celebrated text, which was afterwards adopted and made a Dogma of Faith by the Council of Trent. The holy Doctor immediately adds: "Let us see how this is" (i.e. how man is able to do that which he cannot). "By medicine he can do that which his natural weakness renders impossible to him." That is, by Prayer we may obtain a remedy for our weakness; for when we pray, God gives us strength to do that which we cannot do of ourselves.

We cannot believe, continues St. Augustine, that God would have imposed upon us the observance of a law, and then made the law impossible. When, therefore, God shows us that of ourselves we are unable to observe all His commands it is simply to admonish us to do the easier things by means of the ordinary grace which He bestows on us, and then to do the more difficult things by means of the greater help which we can obtain by Prayer. "By the very fact that it is absurd to suppose that God could have commanded us to do impossible things, we are admonished what to do in easy matters, and what to ask for in difficulties." But why, it will be asked, has God commanded us to do things impossible by our natural strength? Precisely for this, says St. Augustine, that we may be incited to pray for help to do that which of ourselves we cannot do. "He commands some things which we cannot do, that we may know what we ought to ask of Him." And in another place: "The law was given that grace might be sought for; grace was given that the law might be fulfilled." The law cannot be kept without grace, and God has given the law with this object, that we may always ask Him for grace to observe it. In another place he says: "The law is good, if it be used lawfully; what then, is the lawful use of the law?" He answers: "When by the law we perceive our own weakness, and ask of God the grace to heal us." St. Augustine, then, says: We ought to use the law; but for what purpose? To learn by means of the law, which we find to be above our strength, our own inability to observe it, in order that we may then obtain by prayer the divine aid to cure our weakness.

St. Bernard's teaching is the same: "Who are we, or what is our strength, that we should be able to resist so many temptations? It was certainly this that God intended, that we, seeing our deficiencies, and that we have no other help, should with all humility have recourse to His mercy." God knows how useful it is to us to be obliged to pray, in order to keep us humble, and to exercise our confidence; and He therefore permits us to be assaulted by enemies too mighty to be overcome by our own strength, that by Prayer we may obtain from His mercy aid to resist them; and it is especially to be remarked that no one can resist the impure temptations of the flesh without recommending himself to God when he is tempted. This foe is so terrible that, when he fights with us, he, as it were, takes away all light; he makes us forget all our meditations, all our good resolutions; he makes us also disregard the Truths of Faith, and even almost lose the fear of Divine punishments. For he conspires with our natural inclinations, which drive us with the greatest violence to the indulgence of sensual pleasures. He who in such a moment does not have recourse to God is lost. The only defence against this temptation is Prayer, as St. Gregory of Nyssa says: "Prayer is the bulwark of chastity"; and before him Solomon: And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent except God gave it, I went to the Lord and besought him (Wis. viii. 21). Chastity is a virtue which we have not strength to practise, unless God gives it to us; and God does not give this strength except to him who asks for it. But whoever prays for it will certainly obtain it.

Hence St. Thomas observes (in contradiction to Jansenius), that we ought not to say that the precept of chastity, or any other, is impossible to us; for though we cannot observe it of our own strength, we can by God's assistance. "It must be said that what we can do with the Divine assistance is not altogether impossible to us." Let no one say that it appears an injustice to order a cripple to walk straight. No, says St. Augustine, it is not an injustice, provided always the means are given him to find the remedy for his lameness; for after this, if he still go lame, the fault is his own. "It is most wisely commanded that man should walk uprightly, so that when he sees that he cannot do so of himself, he may seek a remedy to heal the lameness of sin."

Finally, the same holy Doctor says that he will never know how to live well who does not know how to pray well. "He knows how to live aright who knows how to pray aright"; and, on the other hand, St. Francis of Assisi says that without Prayer you can never hope to find good fruit in a soul. Wrongly, therefore, do these sinners excuse themselves who say that they have no strength to resist temptation. But if you have not this strength, why do you not ask for it? is the reproof which St. James gives them: You have not, because you ask not (James iv. 2). There is no doubt that we are too weak to resist the attacks of our enemies. But, on the other hand, it is certain that God is faithful, as the Apostle says, and will not permit us to be tempted beyond our strength: God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able; but will make also with the temptation issue, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Cor. x 13). "He will provide an issue for it," says Primasius, "by the protection of His grace, that you may be able to withstand the temptation." We are weak, but God is strong; when we ask Him for aid, He communicates His strength to us; and we shall be able to do all things, as the Apostle reasonably assured himself: I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me (Philip. iv. 13). He, therefore, who falls has no excuse, says St. Chrysostom, because he has neglected to pray; for if he had prayed, he would not have been overcome by his enemies. "Nor can any one be excused who, by ceasing to pray, has shown that he did not wish to overcome his enemy."

Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

"Charity believeth all things"

HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BELIEVES ALL HIS WORDS

I.

And this laxity of morals is the source whence have issued, and still issue daily, so many books and systems of Materialists, Indifferentists, Politicists, Deists, and Naturalists; some among them deny the existence of God, and some Divine Providence, saying that God, after having created men, takes no further notice of them, and is heedless whether they love or hate Him, whether they be saved or lost; others, again, deny the goodness of God, and maintain that He has created numberless souls for hell, becoming Himself their tempter to sin, that so they may damn themselves, and go into everlasting fire, to curse Him there forever!

Oh, ingratitude and wickedness of men! God has created them in His mercy, to make them eternally happy in Heaven; He has poured on them so many lights, benefits, and graces, to bring them to eternal life; for the same end He redeemed them at the price of so many sorrows and sufferings; and yet they strive to deny all, that they may give free rein to their vicious inclinations!


II.

But no; let men strive as they will, the unhappy beings cannot tear themselves away from remorse of conscience, and the dread of the Divine vengeance. On this subject I have lately published a work entitled The Truth of Faith, in which I have clearly shown the inconsistency of all these systems of modern unbelievers. Oh, if they would but once forsake sin, and apply themselves earnestly to the love of Jesus Christ, they would then most certainly cast away all doubts about things of Faith, and firmly believe all the truths that God has revealed!

O my God, let not Thy precious Blood be shed for me in vain! Thou hast promised pardon to him who repents of his sins. O my God, I grieve from the bottom of my heart for the many offences I have committed against Thee. I now love Thee above all things. I will never sin again. No, my God, let me die rather than ever offend Thee.

[Stone]

Wednesday--Sixth Week after Pentecost

Morning Meditation

MORTAL SIN--ITS MALICE

To understand how great is the malice of mortal sin we must first know who God is, and what a wretched being man is who dares to despise Him. Before God all the Saints and Angels are as nothing, and it is a worm of the earth who has the insolence to despise Him!


I.

What is mortal sin? According to St. Thomas and St. Augustine, it is a turning-away from God; an act of contempt for God's grace and love, and a throwing-of of all respect for Him, by which the sinner declares to God's very face: I will not serve Thee! I will act as I please, and, if by so doing, I displease Thee and forfeit Thy friendship, I care not!

To understand how great is the malice of mortal sin, we must first know who God is, and what a wretched being man is who despises Him. Before God all the Saints and Angels are as nothing, and shall a worm of the earth have the insolence to despise Him?

But more than this. Man, by committing sin, not only despises a God of infinite majesty, but a God Who has so loved him as to die for the love of him. An eternity, therefore, would not be sufficient to bewail but one mortal sin.

He who commits mortal sin dishonours God by preferring before Him a whim, a fit of passion, a wretched gratification. A God so great and so good! And so dishonoured!

O Lord, if Thou hadst not sacrificed Thyself on the Cross for the love of me, I should lose all hope of pardon; but Thy death gives me confidence. Into thy hands I commend my spirit (Ps. xxx. 6). I commend to Thee my soul for which Thou hast been pleased to shed Thy Blood and sacrifice Thy life; grant that it may love Thee and never more lose Thee. I love Thee, my Jesus, my Love, and my Hope. And how shall I ever be able, after having learned how much Thou hast loved me, to separate myself from Thee, my only Good?

What an affliction it is to us to be injured by one for whom we have done much! God is not capable of grief; but could He grieve, He would die of grief and sorrow at being despised by a creature for whom He gave even His very life.

O my accursed sins, a thousand times do I detest and abhor you! You have caused me to offend my Redeemer, Who has loved me so much!

Unhappy souls, now confined in hell, you who, during life, said that sin was a slight evil, have you not to acknowledge now that all your torments are far less than what you deserved for your sins?


II.

Sin must surely be a great evil since God, Who is Mercy itself, is obliged to punish it with an eternal hell. Yea, more! In order to satisfy Divine justice for sin, a God was obliged to sacrifice His own life!

O God, we know that hell is the most horrible punishment, and have we no fear of sin, which may cast us into that hell? We know that God has died, in order that He might be able to pardon our sins; and do we still continue to commit sin?

The loss of the least worldly possession makes us uneasy and sad; and does the loss of God distress us not?--a loss that should not fail to overwhelm us with affliction and grief for the remainder of our lives!

I give Thee thanks, O Lord, for having given me time to bewail my offences against Thee. O Jesus, I abhor and hate them. Give me still greater sorrow, still greater love, that I may lament all my sins, not so much on account of the punishment I have deserved for them, as for having offended Thee, my most amiable God.

What disquiet and fears agitate a courtier who is afraid of having offended his prince? And do we, who know for certain that we have displeased God, and forfeited His friendship, live tranquil, without grief or sorrow!

What care do not men take to avoid poison, which destroys only the body? And yet what great negligence in regard to sin which poisons the immortal soul, and robs us of God!

Let us not be ensnared by that wile of the devil, by which he suggests to us how easily we can afterwards confess a sin. Oh, how many has the enemy drawn into hell by this stratagem!

O my God, for how many years have I deserved to dwell in hell! Thou hast been waiting for me, that I may forever bless Thy mercy, and love Thee. Yes, my Jesus, I bless Thee and love Thee; and I trust in Thy merits that I shall nevermore be separated from Thy love. But if after so many graces and mercies I again offend Thee, how shall I presume that Thou wilt not abandon me, or ever again forgive me? Permit it not, O Lord, that I ever offend Thee again!

Spiritual Reading

PRAYER, ITS NECESSITY

III-ON INVOKING THE SAINTS AND ON PRAYING TO THE SOULS IN PURGATORY

Here a question arises, whether it is necessary to have recourse to the intercession of the Saints to obtain the grace of God.

1. That it is a lawful and useful thing to invoke the Saints, as intercessors, to obtain for us, by the merits of Jesus Christ, that which we, for our demerits, are not worthy to receive, is a Doctrine of the Church, declared by the Council of Trent. "It is good and useful to invoke them by supplication, and to have recourse to their aid and influence to obtain benefits from God through His Son Jesus Christ."

Such invocation was condemned by the impious Calvin, but most foolishly. For if it is lawful and profitable to invoke living Saints to aid us, and to beseech them to assist us in prayers, as the Prophet Baruch did: And pray ye for us to the Lord our God (Baruch i. 13); and St. Paul: Brethren, pray for us (1 Thess. v. 25); and as God Himself commanded the friends of Job to recommend themselves to his prayers, that by the merits of Job He might look favourably on them: Go to my servant Job, ... and my servant Job shall pray for you; his face I will accept (Job xlii. 8); if, then, it is lawful for us to recommend ourselves to the living, how can it be unlawful to invoke the Saints who in Heaven enjoy God face to face? This is not derogatory to the honour due to God, but it is doubling it; for it is honouring the King not only in His Person but in His servants. Therefore, says, St. Thomas, it is good to have recourse to many Saints, "because by the prayers of many we can obtain that which we cannot by the prayers of one." And if any one object: But why have recourse to the Saints to pray for us, when they are already praying for all who are worthy of it? The same Doctor answers that no one can be said to be worthy that the Saints should pray for him; but that "he becomes worthy by having recourse to the Saints with devotion."

2. Again, it is disputed whether it is useful to recommend one's self to the Souls in Purgatory. Some say that the Souls in that state cannot pray for us; and these rely on the authority of St. Thomas, who says that those Souls, while they are being purified by pain, are inferior to us, and therefore "are not in a state to pray for us, but rather require our prayers." But many other Doctors, as Bellarmine, Cardinal Gotti, Lessius, and others affirm with great probability that we should piously believe that God manifests our prayers to those Holy Souls, that they may in turn pray for us; and that so the charitable interchange of mutual prayer may be kept up between them and us. Nor do St. Thomas's words present much difficulty; for, as Sylvius and Gotti say, it is one thing not to be in a state to pray, another not to be able to pray. It is true that those Souls are not in a state to pray, because, as St. Thomas says, while suffering they are inferior to us, and rather require our prayers; nevertheless, in this state they are well able to pray, as they are the friends of God. If a father keeps a son whom he tenderly loves in confinement for some fault; if the son then is not in a state to pray for himself, is that any reason why he cannot pray for others? And may he not expect to obtain what he asks, knowing, as he does, his father's affection for him? So the Souls in Purgatory, being beloved by God, and confirmed in grace, have absolutely no impediment to prevent them from praying for us. Still the Church does not invoke them, or implore their intercession, because ordinarily they have no cognisance of our prayers. But we may piously believe that God makes our prayers known to them; and then they, full of charity as they are, most assuredly do not omit to pray for us. St. Catherine of Bologna, whenever she desired any favour, had recourse to the Souls in Purgatory, and was immediately heard. She even testified that by the intercession of the Souls in Purgatory she had obtained many graces which had not been accorded to her by the intercession of the Saints. But here let me make a digression in favour of those Holy Souls.

3. If we desire the aid of their prayers, it is but fair that we should succour them with our prayers and good works. I said it is fair, but I should have said, it is a Christian duty; for Charity obliges us to succour our neighbour when he requires our aid, and we can help him without grave inconvenience. Now it is certain that amongst our neighbours are to be reckoned the Souls in Purgatory, who, although no longer living in this world, yet have not left the Communion of Saints. "The souls of the pious dead," says St. Augustine, "are not separated from the Church," and St. Thomas says more to our purpose that the Charity which is due to the dead who died in the grace of God is only an extension of the same Charity which we owe to our neighbour while living: "Charity, which is the bond that unites the members of the Church, extends not only to the living, but also to the dead who die in Charity." Therefore, we ought to succour, according to our ability, those Holy Souls as our neighbours; and as their necessities are greater than those of our other neighbours, for this reason our duty to succour them seems also to be greater.

But now, what are the necessities of those holy prisoners? It is certain that their pains are immense. The fire that tortures them, says St. Augustine, is more excruciating than any pain that man can endure in this life: "That fire will be more painful than anything that man can suffer in this life." St. Thomas thinks the same, and supposes it to be identical with the fire of hell; " The damned are tormented and the elect purified in the same fire." And this only relates to the pain of sense. But the pain of loss, that is, the privation of the sight of God, which those Holy Souls suffer, is much greater; because not only their natural affection, but also the supernatural love of God, wherewith they burn, draws them with such violence to be united with their Sovereign Good, that when they see the barrier which their sins have put in the way, they feel a pain so acute that, if they were capable of death, they could not live a moment. So that, as St. Chrysostom says, this pain of the deprivation of God tortures them incomparably more than the pain of sense: "The flames of a thousand hells together could not inflict such torments as the pain of loss by itself." So that those Holy Souls would rather suffer every other possible torture than be deprived for a single instant of the union with God for which they long. So St. Thomas says that the pain of Purgatory exceeds anything that can be endured in this life: "The pain of Purgatory must exceed all pain of this life." And Denis the Carthusian relates that a dead person who had been raised to life by the intercession of St. Jerome, told St. Cyril of Jerusalem that all the torments of this earth are refreshing and delightful when compared with the very least pain in Purgatory: "If all the torments of the world were compared with the least that can be had in Purgatory they would appear to be comforts." And he adds that if a man had once felt these torments, he would rather suffer all earthly sorrows that man can endure till the Day of Judgment than suffer for one day the least pain of Purgatory. Hence St. Cyril wrote to St. Augustine: "That as far as regards the infliction of suffering, these pains are the same as those of hell--their only difference being that they are not eternal." Hence we see that the pains of these Holy Souls are excessive, while, on the other hand, they cannot help themselves; because, as Job says: they are in chains, and are bound with the cords of poverty (Job xxxvi. 8). They are destined to reign with Christ; but they are withheld from taking possession of their kingdom till the time of their purgation is accomplished. And they cannot help themselves (at least not sufficiently, even according to those Theologians who assert that they can by their prayers gain some relief) to throw off their chains, until they have entirely satisfied the justice of God. This is precisely what a Cistercian monk said to the sacristan of the monastery: "Help me, I beseech you, with your prayers; for of myself I can obtain nothing." And this is consistent with the saying of St. Bonaventure: "Destitution impedes solvency." That is, those souls are so poor, that they have no means of making satisfaction.

Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

"Charity believeth all things"

HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST BELIEVES ALL HIS WORDS

I.

The true lover of Jesus Christ keeps Eternal Truths constantly in view, and orders all his actions according to them. Oh, how thoroughly does he who loves Jesus Christ understand the force of that saying of the Wise Man: Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity (Eccles. i. 2)-that all earthly greatness is mere smoke, mire and delusion; that the soul's only welfare and happiness consists in loving its Creator, and in doing His blessed will; that we are, in reality, no more than what we are before God; that it is of no advantage to gain the whole world, if the soul be lost; that all the goods of the world can never satisfy the human heart, that only God Himself can satisfy it; and in fine, that we must leave all in order to gain all.

My beloved Redeemer, O Life of my soul, I firmly believe that Thou art the only Good worthy of being loved! I believe that Thou art the greatest Lover of my soul, since through love alone Thou didst die, overwhelmed with sorrows, for love of me. I believe there is no greater blessing in this world, or in the next, than to love Thee, and to do Thy adorable will. All this I believe most firmly; so that I renounce all things that I may belong wholly to Thee, and that I may possess Thee alone.


II.

Charity believeth, all things. There are other Christians--though not so perverse as the class we have mentioned, who would fain believe in nothing, so that they may give full scope to their unruly passions, and live on undisturbed by the stings of remorse--there are others, I say, who believe indeed, but their Faith is languid; they believe the most holy Mysteries of Religion, the Truths of Revelation contained in the Gospel, the Trinity, the Redemption, the holy Sacraments, and the rest; still they do not believe all. Jesus Christ has said: Blessed are the poor! Blessed are they that hunger! Blessed are they that suffer persecution! Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and shall say all manner of evil against you! (Matt. v. 3-11). This is the teaching of Jesus Christ in the Gospel. How, then, can it be said that those believe in the Gospel who say: "Blessed are the rich! Blessed are those who have to suffer nothing! Blessed are those who can have their amusements and pitiable is the man who suffers persecution and ill-treatment from others"? We must certainly say of such as these that either they do not believe the Gospel or that they believe only a part of it. He who believes all the Gospel esteems it his highest fortune, and a mark of Divine favour in this world, to be poor, to be sick, to be humiliated, to be despised and ill-treated by men. Such is the belief, and such the language, of one who believes all that is said in the Gospel, and has a real love for Jesus Christ.

Help me, through the merits of Thy sacred Passion, O my Jesus, and make me such as Thou wouldst have me to be. I believe in Thee, O infallible Truth! I trust in Thee, O infinite Mercy! I love Thee, O infinite Goodness! O infinite Love, I give myself wholly to Thee, Who hast given Thyself wholly to me in Thy Passion, and in the Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

And I recommend myself to thee, O Mary, Refuge of sinners, and Mother of God.

[Stone]

Thursday--Sixth Week after Pentecost

Morning Meditation

ABUSE OF DIVINE MERCY

God has pity on those who fear Him, but not on sinners who despise Him. To offend God because He shows us mercy, is to provoke Him in the highest degree to chastise us.


I.

God has pity on those who fear Him but not on sinners who despise Him. To offend God because He shows us mercy is to provoke Him in the highest degree to chastise us.

Again, to offer an insult to God, because God is a forgiving God, is to deride Him; but God is not mocked (Gal. vi. 7).

The devil will say to you: "But who knows? Even with this other sin it may be that you shall yet be saved." But meanwhile, if you sin, you yourself may condemn your soul to hell. Who knows? It may be that as yet you shall be saved; but it may also happen, and more easily happen, that you may be lost. And is the affair of eternal Salvation to be risked on a who knows? If in the meantime death should come upon you! If God should abandon you after that other sin! What would then become of you?

No, my God, I will never more offend Thee. How many are now suffering in hell for fewer sins than mine? I will no longer be devoted to self, but will be Thine and entirely Thine. To Thee I consecrate my whole liberty and my will. I am thine; do thou save me (Ps. cxviii. 94). Save me from hell, but first save me from sin. I love Thee, my Jesus, I will never more forsake Thee.

The Fathers of the Church say that God has determined the number of sins He will forgive each one. Hence, as we know not this number, we ought to fear lest with every one more additional sin God should abandon us. This dreadful thought--Who knows whether God will any more pardon me?--ought to be a great restraint upon us and keep us from again offending God: with this fear we should be secure.


II.

He who has been the more favoured by God with lights and graces ought to be the more afraid of being abandoned by Him. The Angelic Doctor says that the grievousness of sin increases in proportion to the ingratitude with which sin is committed. Woe, then, to the Christian who, after having been enriched with the graces of God, offends Him mortally!

O my Jesus, while Thou hast shown me numberless mercies, I have repaid them by multiplied offences! Thou hast bestowed favours upon me, and I, in return, have despised Thee! But now I love Thee with my whole heart, and I desire to make amends by my love for all the offences I have committed against Thee. Oh, do Thou enlighten and strengthen me!

Sister Mary Strozzi says that "sin in a religious person strikes Heaven with horror, and obliges God to turn away from that soul."

He who has not a great dread of mortal sin is not far from falling into it. Hence it is necessary to fly from dangerous occasions as much as possible.

It is necessary also to fly from all deliberate venial sins. Father Alvarez used to say: "Little voluntary faults do not kill the soul, but they so weaken it that, when there comes a grievous temptation, it will not have strength to resist, and will fall."

St. Teresa has written: "From wilful sin, however small it be, may God deliver us!" Because, as the Saint says, a deliberate venial sin does us more harm than all the devils in hell.

No, my Jesus, no, I will no more offend Thee; neither in great things nor in small. Thou hast done too much to oblige me to love Thee. I desire rather to die than to give Thee the least offence. Thou dost not deserve insult; but rather all my love, and I desire to love Thee with all my strength. Give me Thy assistance.

Spiritual Reading

PRAYER, ITS NECESSITY

IV-ON INVOKING THE SAINTS AND ON PRAYING TO THE SOULS IN PURGATORY AND HELPING THEM BY OUR PRAYERS

Since it is certain, and even of Faith, that by our suffrages, and chiefly by our prayers, as particularly recommended and practised by the Church, we can relieve those Holy Souls, I do not know how to excuse that man from sin who neglects to give them some assistance, at least by his prayers. If a sense of duty will not persuade us to succour them, let us think of the pleasure it will give Jesus Christ to see us endeavouring to deliver His beloved spouses from prison, in order that He may have them with Him in Paradise. Let us think of the store of merit which we can lay up by practising this great act of Charity; let us think, too, that those Souls are not ungrateful, and will never forget the great benefit we do them in relieving them of their pains, and in obtaining for them, by our prayers, anticipation of their entrance into glory; so that when they are there they will never neglect to pray for us. And if God promises mercy to him who practises mercy towards his neighbour--Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matt. v. 7)--he may reasonably expect to be saved who remembers to assist those Souls so afflicted, and yet so dear to God. Jonathan, after having saved the Hebrews from ruin by a victory over their enemies was condemned to death by his father, Saul, for having tasted some honey against his express commands; but the people came before the king, and said: Shall Jonathan then die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? (1 Kings xiv. 45). So may we expect, that if any of us ever obtains, by his prayers, the liberation of a Soul from Purgatory, that Soul will say to God: "Lord, suffer not him who has delivered me from my torments to be lost." And if Saul spared Jonathan's life at the request of his people, God will not refuse the salvation of a Christian to the prayers of a Soul which is His own spouse. Moreover, St. Augustine says that God will cause those who in this life have succoured those Holy Souls, when they come to Purgatory themselves, to be most succoured by others. I may here observe that, in practice, one of the best suffrages is to hear Mass for them, and during the Holy Sacrifice to recommend them to God by the infinite merits of Jesus Christ. The following form may be used: Eternal Father, I offer Thee this Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, with all the pains which He suffered in His life and death; and by the merits of His Passion I recommend to Thee the Souls in Purgatory, and especially that of, etc. And it is a very charitable act to recommend, at the same time, the souls of all those who are in their agony.

4. Whatever doubt there may be whether or not the Souls in Purgatory can pray for us, and therefore whether or not it is useful to recommend ourselves to their prayers, there can be no doubt whatever with regard to the Saints. For it is certain that it is most useful to have recourse to the intercession of the Saints canonized by the Church, who are already enjoying the vision of God. To suppose that the Church can err in canonizing is a sin, or is heresy, according to St. Bonaventure, Bellarmine, and others; or at least very near to heresy, according to Suarez, Azorius, Gotti, etc.: because the Sovereign Pontiff, according to St. Thomas, is guided by the infallible influence of the Holy Ghost in an especial way when canonizing the Saints.

But to return to the question just proposed; are we obliged to have recourse to the intercession of the Saints? I have no wish to undertake to decide this question; but I cannot omit the exposition of the teaching of St. Thomas. In several places above quoted, and especially in his Book of Sentences, he expressly lays it down as certain that every one is bound to pray; because (as he asserts) in no other way can the graces necessary for salvation be obtained from God, except by Prayer: "Every man is bound to pray, from the fact that he is bound to procure spiritual good for himself, which can only be got from God; so it can only be obtained by asking it of God." Then, in another place of the same Book, he proposes the exact question, "Whether we are bound to pray to the Saints to intercede for us?" And he answers as follows--in order to catch his real meaning, we will quote the entire passage: "According to Dionysius, the order which God has instituted for His creatures requires that things which are remote may be brought to God by means of things which are nearer to Him. Hence, as the Saints in Heaven are nearest of all to Him, the order of His law requires that we who remaining in the body are absent from the Lord, should be brought to Him by means of the Saints; and this is effected by the Divine Goodness pouring forth His gifts through them. And as the path of our return to God should correspond to the path of the good things which proceed from Him to us, it follows that, as the benefits of God come down to us by means of the suffrages of the Saints, we ought to be brought to God by the same way, so that a second time we may receive His benefits by the mediation of the Saints. Hence it is that we make them our intercessors with God, and, as it were, our mediators, when we ask them to pray for us." Note well the words--"The order of God's law requires"; and especially note the last words--"As the benefits of God come down to us by means of the suffrages of the Saints, in the same way we must be brought back to God, so that a second time we may receive His benefits by the mediation of the Saints." So that, according to St. Thomas, the order of the Divine law requires that we mortals should be saved by means of the Saints, in that we receive by their intercession the help necessary for our salvation. He then puts the objection that it appears superfluous to have recourse to the Saints, since God is infinitely more merciful than they, and more ready to hear us. This he answers by saying: God has so ordered not on account of any want of clemency on His part, but to keep the right order which He has universally established, of working by means of second causes. "It is not for want of mercy, but to preserve the aforesaid order in the creation."

In conformity with this doctrine of St. Thomas, the Continuator of Tourneley says with Sylvius, that although God only is to be prayed to as the Author of grace, yet we are bound to have recourse also to the intercession of the Saints, so as to observe the order which God has established with regard to our salvation, which is, that the inferior should be saved by imploring the aid of the superior. "By the law of nature we are bound to observe the order which God has appointed; but God has appointed that the inferior should obtain salvation by imploring the assistance of his superior."

Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

"Charity hopeth all things"

HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST HOPES FOR ALL THINGS FROM HIM

I.

Hope increases Charity, and Charity increases Hope. Hope in the Divine goodness undoubtedly gives an increase to our love of Jesus Christ. St. Thomas says that in the very moment when we hope to receive some benefit from a person, we begin also to love him. On this account, the Lord forbids us to put our trust in creatures: Put not your trust in princes (Ps. odv. 2). Further, He pronounces a curse on those who do so: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man (Jer. xvii. 5). God does not wish us to trust in creatures, because He does not wish us to fix our love upon them. Hence St. Vincent de Paul said: "Let us beware of reposing too much confidence in men; for when God beholds us thus leaning on them for support, He Himself withdraws from us. On the other hand, the more we trust in God, the more we shall advance in His holy love": I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart (Ps. cxviii. 32). Oh, how rapidly does that soul advance in perfection who has her heart dilated with confidence in God! She flies rather than runs; for by making God the foundation of all her Hope she flings aside her own weakness, and borrows the strength of God Himself, which is communicated to all who place confidence in Him: They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, and they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint (Is. xl. 31). The eagle is the bird that soars nearest the sun; in like manner, the soul that has God for her trust becomes detached from the earth, and more and more united to God by love.


II.

Now as Hope increases the love of God, so does love help to increase hope; for charity makes us the adopted sons of God. In the natural order we are the work of His hands; but in the supernatural order we are made sons of God, and partakers of the Divine nature through the merits of Jesus Christ; as the Apostle St. Peter writes: That by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter i. 4). And if Charity makes us the sons of God, it consequently makes us heirs of Heaven, according to St. Paul: And if sons, heirs also (Rom. viii. 17). Now a son claims the right of abiding under the paternal roof; an heir is entitled to the property; and thus Charity increases the Hope of Paradise; so that the souls that love God cry out incessantly: Thy kingdom come! Thy kingdom come!

[Stone]

Friday–Sixth Week after Pentecost

Morning Meditation

VENIAL SIN

Venial sin is, unfortunately regarded as a slight evil. Is that called a slight evil which is an offence against God!

A man will go on committing venial sins, and foolishly says: “It will be enough for me to be saved!” But I answer: By continuing that course you will not be saved! For, as St. Gregory says, the soul never remains where it falls, but descends much lower.


I.

Venial sin is, unfortunately, regarded as a slight evil. Is that called a slight evil which is an offence against God!

A man will go on committing venial sins, and foolishly says: “It will be enough for me to be saved!” But I answer: By continuing that course you will not be saved! For, as St. Gregory says, the soul never remains where it falls, but descends much lower.

St. Isodore writes that he who makes no account of venial sins is permitted by the Almighty to fall into mortal sins, in punishment of his little love of God. And our Lord Himself said to the Blessed Henry Suso that those who have not a horror of venial sins expose themselves to much greater dangers than they are aware of; because it thus becomes much more difficult for them to persevere in grace.

The Council of Trent teaches that we cannot persevere in grace without the special assistance of God; but he is quite undeserving of such special assistance who offends God by voluntary venial sins, and without a thought of amendment. Chastise me not, O Lord, as I have deserved! Remember not the many offences I have committed against Thee, and deprive me not of Thy light and assistance. I desire to amend; I desire to be Thine. O Omnipotent God, accept of me and change me! This is my hope.

Our Lord said to Blessed Angela de Foligno: “Those who have been enlightened by Me to aim at perfection, but who debase their souls and walk in the ordinary way, will be abandoned by me.”

He who serves God, but is not afraid of offending Him by venial gratifications, would seem to think that God deserves no better. He declares, in fact, that God is not deserving of so much love as to oblige us to prefer His pleasure to our own satisfaction.

Habitual defects, says St. Augustine, are a kind of leprosy, which renders the soul so disgusting that God deprives it of His loving embraces.

I see, O Lord, that Thou hast not yet abandoned me, as I have deserved; strengthen me, therefore, to shake off my tepidity. I desire never more deliberately to offend Thee. I desire to love Thee with my whole soul. O Jesus, help me! In Thee do I confide.


II.

St. Francis de Sales says that it is an artifice of Satan: to bind souls first with a hair, that he may afterwards bind them with a chain, and make them slaves. Let us. therefore be on our guard not to be entangled by any passion. A soul that is entangled by passion is either lost or in great danger of being lost.

“The devil,” said Mary Victoria Strada, “when he cannot have much is content with little, but by that little he gains much in the end.”

Our Lord declares that the lukewarm are loathsome and disgusting to Him: Because thou art lukewarm…I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth (Apoc. iii.. 16). This means abandonment by God.

Tepidity is a kind of fever, which is scarcely perceived, but if neglected becomes fatal; inasmuch as tepidity renders the soul insensible to remorse of conscience.

O Jesus, do not cast me off, as I have deserved! Look not on my ingratitude, but on the sufferings Thou hast endured for my sake. I am sorry for all my offences against Thee. I love Thee, O my God, and from this day forward I desire to do all in my power to please Thee. O Love of my soul! I have much offended Thee; grant that for the remainder of my life I may love Thee very much. O Mary, my hope, succour me by thy holy intercession.

Spiritual Reading

PRAYER, ITS NECESSITY

V-THE INTERCESSION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

If it be true that the intercession of the Saints is necessary for us, much more is it true of the intercession of the Mother of God, whose prayers are certainly of more value in His sight than those of all the rest of the inhabitants of Heaven together. For St. Thomas says that the Saints, in proportion to the merits by which they have obtained grace for themselves, are able also to save others; but that Jesus Christ, and so also His Mother, have merited so much grace, that They can save all men. “It is a great thing in any Saint that he should have grace enough for the salvation of many besides himself; but if he had enough for the salvation of all men, this would be the greatest of all; and this is the case with Christ, and with the Blessed Virgin.” And St. Bernard speaks thus to Mary: “Through thee we have access to thy Son, O discoverer of grace and Mother of salvation, that through thee He may receive us, Who through thee was given to us.” These words signify, that as we have access to the Father only by means of the Son, Who is the Mediator of Justice, so we have access to the Son only by means of the Mother, who is mediator of grace, and who obtains for us, by her intercession, the gifts which Jesus Christ has merited for us. And therefore St. Bernard says, in another place, that Mary has received a twofold fullness of grace. The first was the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, Who was made Man in her most holy womb; the second in that fullness of grace which we receive from God by means of her prayers. Hence the Saint adds: “God has placed the fullness of all good in Mary, that if we have any hope, any grace, any salvation, we may know that it overflows from her who ascendeth abounding with delights. She is a garden of delights, whose odours spread abroad and abound, that is, the gifts of graces.” So that whatever good we have from God, we receive all by the intercession of Mary. And why so? Because, says St. Bernard, it is God’s will: “Such is His will, Who would have us receive everything through Mary.” But the more precise reason is deduced from the expression of St. Augustine, that Mary is justly called our Mother because she co-operated by her charity in the birth of the faithful to the life of grace, by which we become members of Jesus Christ, our Head: “But clearly she is the Mother of His members (which we are), because she co-operated by her charity in the birth of the faithful in the Church, and they are members of that Head.” Therefore, as Mary co-operated by her charity in the spiritual birth of the faithful, so also God willed that she should co-operate by her intercession to make them enjoy the life of grace in this world, and the life of glory in the next; and therefore the Church makes us salute her and give her absolutely the titles of “our Life, our Sweetness, and our Hope.”

Hence St. Bernard exhorts us to have continual recourse to the Mother of God, because her prayers are certain to be heard by her Son: “Go to Mary, I say, without hesitation; the Son will hear the Mother.” And then he adds: “My children, she is the ladder of sinners, she is my chief confidence, she is the whole ground of my hope.” He calls her “ladder”, because, as you cannot mount the third step except you put your foot on the second, nor can you arrive at the second except by the first, so you cannot come to God except by means of Jesus Christ, nor can you come to Christ except by means of His Mother. Then he calls her “his greatest security, and the whole ground of his hope”; because, as he affirms, God wills that all the graces which He gives us should pass through the hands of Mary. And he concludes by saying that we ought to ask all the graces which we desire through Mary; because she obtains whatever she seeks, and her prayers cannot be rejected. “Let us seek grace, and let us seek it through Mary; because what she seeks she finds, and she cannot be disappointed.” The following Saints teach the same as St. Bernard: St. Ephrem “We have no other confidence than from thee, O purest Virgin!” St. Ildephonsus: “All the good things that the Divine Majesty has determined to give, He has also decreed to commit to thy hands; for to thee are entrusted the treasures and the ornaments of grace.” St. Germanus: “If thou desertest us, what will become of us, O life of Christians?” St. Peter Damien: “In thy hands are all the treasures of the mercies of God.” St. Antoninus: “He who seeks graces without her, attempts to fly without wings.” St. Bernardine of Sienna “Thou art the dispenser of all graces; our salvation is in thy hands.” In another place, he not only says that all graces are transmitted to us by means of Mary, but he also asserts that the Blessed Virgin, from the time she became Mother of God, acquired a certain jurisdiction over all the graces that are given to us. “Through the Virgin the vital graces are transfused from Christ, the Head, into His mystical body. From the time when the Virgin Mother conceived in her womb the Word of God, she obtained a certain jurisdiction (if I may so speak) over every temporal procession of the Holy Ghost; so that no creature could obtain any grace from God except by the dispensation of His sweet Mother.” And he concludes: “Therefore all gifts, virtues, and graces are dispensed through her hands to whom she wills, and as she wills.” St. Bonaventure says the same: “Since, the whole Divine nature was in the womb of the Virgin, I do not fear to teach that she has a certain jurisdiction over all the streams of grace; for her womb was, as it were, an ocean of the Divine nature, whence all the streams of grace must emanate.” On the authority of these Saints many Theologians have piously and reasonably defended the opinion that there is no grace given to us except by means of the intercession of Mary; so Mendoza, Vega, Paciucchelli, Segneri, Poire, Crasset, and others, as also the learned Alexander Natalis, who says: “Since it is from God we expect all good things, He wishes us to ask them through the intercession of the Virgin Mother, when, as is fitting, we invoke her.” And he quotes in confirmation the passage of St. Bernard: Such is His Will, Who has determined that we should receive all through Mary.” Contenson says the same, in a comment on the words addressed by Jesus on the Cross to St. John, Behold thy mother (Jo.xi.x. 27); as though He said: “No one shall be partaker of My Blood except by the intercession of My Mother. My Wounds are Fountains of grace; but their stream shall flow to no one, except through the channel of Mary. O My disciple John, I will love you as you love her.”

Besides it is certain that if God is pleased when we have recourse to the Saints, He will be much more pleased when we avail ourselves of the intercession of Mary, that she by her merits may compensate for our unworthiness, according to the words of St. Anselm: “that the dignity of the intercessor may supply for our poverty. So that to invoke the Virgin is not to distrust God’s Mercy but to fear our own unworthiness.” St. Thomas, speaking of her dignity, says it is, in a sense, infinite. “From the fact that she is the Mother of God she has a certain infinite dignity.”

CONCLUSION

Let us conclude this point by giving the gist of all that has been said hitherto.

He who prays is certainly saved. He who does not pray is certainly damned. All the Blessed (except infants) have been saved by Prayer. All the damned have been lost through not praying. If they had prayed they would not have been lost. And this is, and will be, their greatest torment in hell, to think how easily they might have been saved, only by asking God for His graces. But now for these miserable ones the time for Prayer is over.

Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

“Charity hopeth all things.”

HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST HOPES FOR ALL THINGS FROM HIM

I.

The Lord God loves those who love Him: I love them that love me (Prov. viii. 17). He showers down His graces on those that seek Him by love: The Lord is good … to the soul that seeketh him (Lament. 25). Consequently, the soul that loves God most has the greatest hope in His goodness. This confidence produces that imperturbable tranquillity in the Saints which makes them always joyful and full of peace, even amid the severest trials; for their love of Jesus Christ, and the conviction they have of His liberality towards those who love Him, leads them to trust solely in Him; and thus they find a lasting repose. The sacred spouse abounded with delights, because she loved none but her Spouse, and leaned entirely on Him for support; and she was full of contentment, since she well knew how generous her Beloved is towards all that love Him; so that of her it is written: Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved? (Cant. viii. 5). These words of the Wise Man are most true: All good things came to me together with her (Wis. vii. 11). With Charity all blessings are introduced into the soul.


II.

The primary object of Christian Hope is God, Whom the soul enjoys in the Kingdom of Heaven. But we must not suppose that the hope of enjoying God in Paradise is any obstacle to Charity; since the hope of Paradise is inseparably connected with Charity, which there receives its full and complete perfection. Charity is that infinite treasure, spoken of by the Wise Man, which makes us the friends of God: An infinite treasure to men, which they that use become the friends of God (Wis. vii. 14). The angelic Doctor, St. Thomas, says that friendship is founded on the mutual communication of goods; for as friendship is nothing more than a mutual love between friends, it follows that there must be a reciprocal interchange of the goods which each possesses. Hence the Saint says: “If there be no communication, there is no friendship.” On this account Jesus Christ says to His disciples:

I have called you friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father I have made known to you (Jo. xv. 15). Since He had made them His friends, He had communicated all His secrets to them.

[Stone]

Saturday--Sixth Week after Pentecost

Morning Meditation

THE MERCY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN TOWARDS SINNERS WHO INVOKE HER

Mary is called the Mother of Mercy, because, like a mother, she cannot see her children in danger of being lost without giving them her assistance. She is so solicitous about the relief of the miserable that she appears to desire nothing with greater ardour than to comfort them.


I.

Consider that Mary is so merciful an advocate she not only assists all who have recourse to her, but also goes in search of the miserable in order to defend and save them. Behold how she invites us all, and encourages us to hope for every good, if we have recourse to her. In me is all hope of life and virtue. Come over to me, all ye who desire me (Ecclus. xxiv. 25-26). In explaining this passage, the devout Pelbart says: "She invites all, the just and sinners." The devil, according to St. Peter, goes about continually seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter v. 8). But this Divine Mother, says Bernard de Eustis, goes about seeking whom she may save. Mary is called the Mother of Mercy; because, like a mother, she cannot see her children in danger of being lost without giving them assistance. Mary pities all our miseries, and constantly seeks our salvation. And, asks St. Germanus, who, after Jesus, has greater care of our salvation, than thou, O Mother of Mercy? St. Bonaventure says that Mary is so solicitous about the relief of the miserable that she appears to desire nothing with greater ardour than to comfort them.

She certainly assists us as often as we have recourse to her, but this, adds Richard of St. Victor, is not enough for her; she anticipates our supplications, and obtains aid for us before we ask her prayers. Moreover, the same author says that Mary is so full of mercy that, as soon as she sees misery, she instantly obtains relief, and cannot behold any one in distress without coming to his assistance. It was thus she acted when she lived on this earth, as we learn from what happened at the marriage of Cana in Galilee; where, when the wine failed, she did not wait to be asked, but taking pity on the affliction and shame of the spouses, asked her Son to console them, saying: They have no wine (Jo. ii. 3). Thus she induced Him to change, by miracle, water into wine. But, says St. Bonaventure, if Mary's compassion for the afflicted was so great while she was in this world, her pity for us is certainly much greater now that she is in Heaven, where she has a better knowledge of our miseries, and greater compassion for us. Novarino adds: If Mary, unasked, shows such readiness to afford relief, how much more careful will she be to console those who ask her prayers!


II.

Ah! let us never cease to have recourse in all our necessities to the Divine Mother, who is always ready to obtain relief for all who pray to her. "You will find her ever ready to assist," says Richard of St. Laurence. And Bernardine de Bustis adds that she desires more ardently to obtain graces for us than we do to receive them. Hence he says that, whenever we have recourse to her, we shall always find her hands full of graces and mercies. According to St. Bonaventure, Mary's desire for our welfare and salvation is so great that she feels offended not only with those who do her a positive injury but also with those who neglect to ask favours from her. And, on the other hand, the Saint affirms that they who invoke Mary's intercession (that is, with a determination to amend their lives) are saved. Hence he calls her the salvation of those who invoke her. Let us, then, always have recourse to the Divine Mother, and always say to her with the holy Doctor: "In thee, O Lady, have I hoped; may I not be confounded forever." No, O Lady, O Mother of God, O Mary, I shall not be lost after having placed my hopes in thee after Jesus.

Spiritual Reading

PRAYER, ITS POWER

I-ITS POWER AND EXCELLENCE WITH GOD

Our prayers are so dear to God that He has appointed the Angels to present them to Him as soon as they come forth from our mouths. "The angels," says St. Hilary, "preside over the prayers of the faithful, and offer them daily to God." This is that smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints (Apoc. viii. 3), which St. John saw ascending to God from the hands of Angels. This he saw in another place represented by golden phials full of sweet odours, very acceptable to God. But in order to understand better the value of prayers in God's sight it is sufficient to read both in the Old and New Testaments the innumerable promises which God makes to the man that prays. Cry to me, and I will hear thee (Jer. xxxii. 3). Call upon me, and I will deliver thee (Ps xlix. 15). Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. He shall give good things to them that ask him (Matt. vii. 7, 11). Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth (Luke xi. 10). Whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my father (Matt. xviii. 19). All things whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you (Mark xi. 24). If you shall ask me anything in my name, that will I do (Jo. xiv. 14). You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you (Jo. xv. 7). Amen, amen, I say unto you, if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it you (Jo. xvi. 23). There are many similar texts, but it would take too long to quote them.

God wills us to be saved; but for our greater good He wills us to be saved as conquerors. While, therefore, we remain here, we have to live in a continual warfare; and if we would be saved, we have to fight and conquer. "No one can be crowned without victory," says St. Chrysostom. We are very feeble, and our enemies are many and mighty; how shall we be able to stand against them, or to defeat them? Let us take courage, and say with the Apostle, I can do all things in him who strengtheneth me (Philip. iv. 13). By Prayer we can do all things; for by this means God will give us that strength which we want. Theodoret says that Prayer is omnipotent; it is but one, yet it can do all things: "Prayer, though one, can do all things." And St. Bonaventure asserts that by Prayer we may obtain every good and escape every evil: "By Prayer, the possession of every good, the liberation from every evil." St. Laurence Justinian says that by means of Prayer we build for ourselves a strong tower, where we shall be secure from all the snares and assaults of our enemies: "By the exercise of Prayer man is able to erect a citadel for himself." "The powers of hell are mighty," says St. Bernard, "but Prayer is stronger than all the devils." Yes; for by Prayer the soul obtains God's help, which is stronger than any created power. Thus David encouraged himself in his fears: Praising I will call upon the Lord, and I shall be saved from my enemies (Ps. xvii. 4). For, as St. Chrysostom says, "Prayer is a strong weapon, a defence, a port, and a treasure." It is a weapon sufficient to overcome every assault of the devil; it is a defence to preserve us in every danger; it is a port where we may be safe in every tempest; and it is at the same time a treasure which provides us with every good.


II--POWER OF PRAYER AGAINST TEMPTATION

God knows the great good which it does us to be obliged to pray, and therefore permits us, as we have already shown (The Necessity of Prayer, p. 66) to be assaulted by our enemies, in order that we may ask Him for the help which He offers and promises us. But as He is pleased when we run to Him in our dangers, so is He displeased when He sees us neglectful of Prayer. As the king, says St. Bonaventure, would think it faithlessness if an officer, when attacked, did not ask him for reinforcements, so God thinks Himself betrayed by the man who, when he finds himself surrounded by temptations, does not run to Him for assistance. For He desires to help us; and only waits to be asked, and then gives abundant succour. This is strikingly shown by Isaias, when, on God's part, he told King Achaz to ask some sign to assure himself of God's readiness to help him: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God (Is. vii. 11). The impious king answered: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord (Is. vii. 12). He trusted in his own power to overcome his enemies without God's aid. And for this the Prophet reproved him: Hear ye, therefore, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? (Is. vii. 13), which means that that man is grievous and offensive to God who will not ask Him for the graces which He offers.

Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matt. xi. 28). "My poor children," says our Saviour, "though you find yourselves assailed by enemies, and oppressed with the weight of your sins, do not lose heart, but have recourse to Me in Prayer, and I will give you strength to resist; and I will give you a remedy for all your misfortunes." In another place He says, by the mouth of Isaias: Come and accuse me, saith the Lord; if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow (Is. i. 18). O men, come to me; though your consciences are horribly defiled, yet come; I even give you leave to reproach Me (so to speak), if, after you have recourse to Me, I do not give you grace to become white as snow.

What is Prayer? It is, as St. Chrysostom says, "the anchor of those tossed on the sea, the treasure of the poor, the cure of diseases, the safeguard of health." It is a secure anchor for him who is in peril of shipwreck; it is a treasury of immense wealth for him who is poor; it is a most efficacious medicine for him who is sick; and it is a certain preservative for him who would keep himself in health. What does Prayer effect? Let us hear St. Laurence Justinian: "It pleases God, it gets what it asks, it overcomes enemies, it changes men." It appeases the wrath of God Who pardons all who pray with humility. It obtains every grace that is asked for; it vanquishes all the strength of the tempter; it gives sight to the blind; it changes the weak into strong, and sinners into Saints. Let him who wants light ask it of God, and it shall be given. As soon as I had recourse to God, says Solomon, He granted me wisdom: I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me (Wis. vii. 7). Let him who wants fortitude ask it of God and it shall be given. For how, in fact, did the Martyrs obtain strength to resist tyrants, except by Prayer, which gave them force to overcome dangers and death? "He who uses this great weapon," says St. Chrysostom, "knows not death, leaves the earth, enters Heaven, lives with God." He falls not into sin; he loses affection for the earth; he makes his abode in Heaven; and begins even in this life to enjoy the conversation of God. Why then should you disquiet such a man by saying: How do you know that you are written in the Book of Life? How do you know whether God will give you efficacious grace and the gift of perseverance? Be nothing solicitous, says St. Paul, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known unto God (Philip. iv. 6). Drive from you all those cares which only lessen your confidence, and make you more tepid and slothful in walking in the Way of Salvation. Pray and seek always, make your prayers known to God, and thank Him for having promised to give you the gifts you desire whenever you ask for them, namely, efficacious grace, perseverance, salvation, and everything you may desire. The Lord has given us our post in the battle against powerful foes; but He is faithful in His promises, and will never allow us to be assaulted more violently than we can resist: God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able (1 Cor. x. 13). He is faithful, since He instantly succours the man who invokes Him. The learned Cardinal Gotti writes that God is bound, when we are tempted and fly to His protection, to give us, by the grace prepared and offered to all, the strength by which we not only can, but will actually resist: for we can do all things in Him who strengthens us by His grace if we humbly ask for it. We can do all things with God's help, which is granted to every one who humbly seeks it; so that we have no excuse when we allow ourselves to be overcome by a temptation. We are conquered solely by our own fault, because we do not pray. By Prayer all the snares and power of the devil are easily overcome. "By prayer all hurtful things are put to flight," says St. Augustine.

Evening Meditation

THE PRACTICE OF THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST

"Charity hopeth all things"

HE THAT LOVES JESUS CHRIST HOPES FOR ALL THINGS FROM HIM

I.

St. Francis de Sales says: "If by a supposition of what is impossible, there could be an infinite Good (that is a God) to whom we belonged in no way whatever, and with Whom we could have no union or communication, we should certainly esteem Him more than ourselves; so that we might feel a great desire of being able to love Him; but we should not actually love Him, because love is built upon union; for love is a friendship, and the foundation of friendship is to have things in common; and its end is union." Thus St. Thomas teaches us that Charity does not exclude the desire of the reward prepared for us in Heaven by Almighty God; on the contrary, it makes us look to it as the chief object of our love, for such is God, Who constitutes the bliss of Paradise; for friendship implies that friends mutually rejoice in one another.

The Spouse in the Canticles refers to this reciprocal interchange of goods, when she says: My beloved to me and I to him (Cant. ii. 16). In Heaven the soul belongs wholly to God and God belongs wholly to the soul, according to the measure of her capacity and of her merits.


II.

From the persuasion the soul has of her own nothingness in comparison with the infinite attractions of Almighty God, and aware consequently that the claims of God on her love are beyond measure greater than her own can be on the love of God, she is far more anxious to procure the Divine pleasure than her own enjoyment; so that she is more gratified by the pleasure she affords Almighty God by giving herself entirely to Him, than by God's giving Himself entirely to her; but at the same time she is delighted when God thus gives Himself to her, inasmuch as she is thereby animated to give herself up to God with a greater intensity of love. She indeed rejoices at the glory which God imparts to her, but for the sole purpose of referring it back to God Himself, and of thus doing her utmost to increase the Divine glory. At the sight of God in Heaven the soul cannot help loving Him with all her strength; on the other hand, God cannot hate anyone that loves Him: but if (supposing what is impossible) God could hate a soul that loves Him, and if a beatified soul could exist without loving God, she would much rather endure all the pains of hell on condition of being allowed to love God as much as He should hate her, than to live without loving God, even though she could enjoy all the delights of Paradise. So it is; for that conviction which the soul has of God's boundless claims upon her love gives her a greater desire to love God than to be loved by Him.