world, if my humiliation be agreeable to Thee; but in that emptiness of self, plant deep roots of profound humility and ardent love to Thee. IV. What resolutions will insure me praise from St. Magdalene of Pazzi received from our Blessed Lord two rules of conduct, one of which commanded her to follow after works of charity with as much ardour as the hart panteth after the water-brooks. In order to practise charity perfectly, it is necessary that every one should be the object of it; not the objects, because true charity mingles souls in one love, the love of Jesus Christ. No sacrifice is too great in the eyes of those who love Jesus; the most difficult ones appear the most desirable to them. After this Communion, what shall I do for Jesus? I have not, alas, on this occasion offered Him many acts of virtue. And yet how easily might I have multiplied them! In truth, I neither know how, nor am I in a position to do great things for the love of Jesus, but there is nothing to hinder me from repressing a glance of curiosity, silencing a murmur or complaint, restraining myself from uttering a reproach or severe expression, from doing certain things for myself instead of calling for the help of others, from saying a kind word or performing a benevolent action to some person who would not be inclined to do as much for me; or from depriving myself of some little dainty; from being exact in certain little habits of order and neatness which are difficult to me; from being more regular in my devotions, more diligent in my duties, more simple in my dress, more prompt to put others before myself, more patient in listening to them, more retiring in my behaviour, more serious in my conduct, more polite in my attention to others. One of my resolutions shall be to show more deference to aged persons, and to be more reserved in my conversation, knowing that it is as easy to wound the feelings of my neighbour by my tongue, as for a glass to break when it is thrown upon the ground. I will guard against temerity in my judgments, against forming them too precipitately, against tenacity in my ideas, and attachment to my own tastes and feelings. I shall learn, when necessary, to make them give way to the requirements of my neighbour. But, above all, I will accustom myself to cause the file of sacrifice to pass over all my desires. To restrain my desires is to augment the possible amount of my mortifications. O Jesus, deign to form in my heart the resolution that will be most pleasing to Thee, and give me grace to be faithful to it. I also ask that I may think of Thee, and grant me then a persevering fidelity in the practice of charity. But above all, cause me to love Thee, then nothing will be too hard for me to do or to endure. Grant the grace of final perseverance to me, and to all those whom I recommend to Thy Divine Heart. V. Requests for those things that are necessary for me to obtain the approbation of Jesus Christ. O Jesus, my God, who dost love me with so generous a love, I implore Thee, hear me. May Thy will be my love, my passion. Give me grace to seek it, to find it, to accomplish it. Show me the path wherein I must walk, make me know and follow Thy designs upon me, even to my entire sanctification. Indifferent to passing things and loving Thee alone, may I love all that is Thine, but Thee above all, O my God. Deprive me of all joy but that which comes from Thee; make impossible to me every desire other than Thee; easy to me all the labour that I perform for Thee; wearisome all repose out of Thee. May my soul aspire to Thee at every moment, O most sweet Jesus, may my life be one act of love, and my piety less a habit than a continual impulse and aspiration of the heart. Make me see the sterility of every action that does not glorify Thee. O Jesus, give me to be sincere in my humility, without dissipation in my amusements, without depression in sadness, without hardness or severity in mortification. Cause me to speak without subterfuge, to fear without despair, to hope without presumption, to reply without impatience, to love without egotism, to obey without replying, to suffer without murmuring. Supreme goodness of my Jesus, I ask from Thee a pure heart devoted to Thee alone, which no sight nor sound shall be able to distract from Thee. A faithful and firm heart which shall never falter or be afraid, an indomitable heart ever ready to do battle, a free heart which shall never be enslaved, inaccessible to error, and far removed from crooked and deceitful ways. Lord, grant that my mind, powerless to deny or orget Thee, ardent to seek Thee, may be able to find Thee, O Supreme Wisdom, that its exercises may not be displeasing to Thee, that it may calmly and confidently await Thy inspirations, and may rest confidently upon Thy word. O Jesus, grant that in retirement from the world, I may habitually practise penitence, that Thy grace may shed its gifts upon the path of my exile, and through Thy mercy may my death be precious in Thine eyes.* Conclusion. Let us do good while we have time. Let us do good by Jesus Christ; all that we do without Him is of no avail for our eternal welfare. Let us communicate, that we may unite ourselves to Jesus Christ, and may perform all our actions in Him. Let us say: It is not for men that I am labouring, it is for God; * St. Thomas of Aquin. He has mercifully promised that nothing of what we do for Him shall be lost, but that at the last day He will render it all back to us with an immortal usury. Let us depend firmly upon the truth of His immutable word. TWENTY-FIFTH MEDITATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION. THE UPPER CHAMBER. Preparation. To revive our faith, let us retrace and represent to ourselves in a lively manner the time and place of the institution of the most Holy Eucharist, as if we were called and admitted into that upper chamber where Jesus Christ gave His Body and Blood to His Apostles. Let us contemplate with reverence the first consecration made by Jesus Christ Himself. Let us desire and ask from Jesus the dispositions with which He filled the souls of the first communicants. I. 'Jesus having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end' (St. John xiii. 1). These words are a revelation of the Holy Eucharist. St. John, who received them from the Heart of Jesus, declares to us that God though He be, Jesus cannot love men more than He does, because He loved them unto the end, unto the very extremity of love. Love, then, was the beginning, the continuation or moving power, and the end of all the acts of the life of Jesus Christ, and especially of the institution of the Holy Eucharist. The Gospel declaration assures me that all the days of my life, in their most fleeting moments, in their most trifling circumstances, are stamped with the activity of that almighty love which surrounded me from the instant of my creation, and will accompany me into eternity. Therefore, I was beloved at the very hour when Jesus knew that I was thinking of offending Him, at the moment when I betrayed His love. At the time when I had not yet repented of my sins He was preparing the grace of repentance for me. It is the will of Jesus that my heart, crushed as it were by the immensity of His love, should be unable to weaken any testimony of it, under what form soever it may manifest itself. He desires that with a confiding and respectful freedom, I should receive His sacred Body as the perpetual demonstration of His ineffable love. Jesus, looking forward through the lapse of ages, beheld all my Communions, past, present, and to come. What did He think of them? Did they rejoice His Heart, or did they make it sad? Heart of Jesus, what must Thou not have suffered, in foreseeing so many voluntary sins borne to Thy Holy Table by those who call themselves Thy disciples and Thy friends? And Thou dost not withdraw the Holy Eucharist from them. Those who having entered into Thy service, yet fail to conquer their passions, may find in Holy Communion a support for their weakness. Give me grace, O my God, to communicate with a sincere and universal compunction for all my sins. I detest them, because they have wounded Thee. I make a firm resolution to avoid every occasion of displeasing Thee, especially the faults into which a secret inclination causes me to fall repeatedly. Sustain my resolutions by Thy efficacious grace. II. 'I will keep the Passover at thy house' It is not proper that a subject should address an invitation to his sovereign: however desirous he may |