Meditations for the Novena for Christmas - Dec. 19

Meditation IV.

The Passion of Jesus lasted during His Whole Life.

Dolor meus in conspectu meo semper.

“My sorrow is continually before me.” – Ps. xxvii. 18.

Consider that in the first moment that the soul of Jesus Christ was created and united to his little body in the womb of Mary, the Eternal Father intimated to his Son his will that he should die for the redemption of the world; and in this same moment he presented to his view the entire dreadful scene of the sufferings he would have to endure, even unto death, in order to redeem mankind. He brought before him in that moment all the labors, contempt, and poverty that he would have to suffer during his whole life, as well in Bethlehem as in Egypt and in Nazareth; and then all the sufferings and ignominy of his Passion, the scourges, the thorns, the nails, and the cross; all the weariness, the sadness, the agonies, and the abandonment in which he was to end his life upon Calvary.

When Abraham was leading his son to death, he would not afflict him by giving him notice of it beforehand, even during the short time that was necessary for them to arrive at the mount. But the Eternal Father chose that his Incarnate Son, whom he had destined to be the victim of his justice in atonement of our sins, should suffer then all the pains to which he was to be subject during his life and at his death. Wherefore, from the first moment that he was in his mother s womb, Jesus suffered continually that sorrow which he endured in the garden, and which was sufficient to have taken away his life (as he said, My soul is sorrowful unto death¹). So that from that time forth he felt most vividly, and endured the united weight of all the sorrows and contumely that awaited him.

The whole life, then, of our blessed Redeemer, and all the years that he spent, were a life and years of pains and tears: My life is wasted with grief, and My years in sighs.² His divine heart never passed one moment free from suffering. Whether he watched or slept, whether he labored or rested, whether he prayed or spoke, he had continually before his eyes that bitter representation which tormented his holy soul more than all their sufferings tormented the holy martyrs. The martyrs have suffered; but, assisted by grace, they suffered with joy and fervor. Jesus Christ suffered; but he suffered with a heart full of weariness and sorrow; and he accepted all for the love of us.

Affections and Prayers.

O sweet, O amiable, O loving Heart of Jesus! even from Thy infancy Thou wert full of bitterness, and Thou didst suffer agonies in the womb of Mary without consolation, and without having any one to look upon Thee and to console Thee by their sympathy. All this Thou didst suffer, O my Jesus! in order to satisfy for the eternal sorrow and agony which I deserved to endure in hell for my sins. Thou didst then suffer, deprived of all relief, to save me, who have had the boldness to forsake God, and to turn my back upon him, in order to satisfy my miserable inclinations. I thank Thee, O afflicted and loving Heart of my Lord! I thank Thee, and I sympathize with Thee, especially when I see that whilst Thou dost suffer so much for the love of man, these very men do not even pity Thee. O love of God, O ingratitude of man! O men, O men, behold this little innocent lamb who is in agony for you, to satisfy the divine justice for the injuries you have committed against him. See how he prays and intercedes for you with his eternal Father; behold him and love him. O my Redeemer! how few are those who think of your sorrows and your love! O God, how few are those that love Thee! But unhappy me, for I also have lived so many years in forgetfulness of Thee! Thou hast suffered so much in order to be loved by me, and I have not loved Thee. Forgive me, my Jesus, forgive me, for I will amend my life and love Thee. Ah, wretched me, O Lord, if I still resist Thy grace, and in resisting it damn myself! All the mercies that Thou hast shown me, and, above all, Thy sweet voice, which now calls me to love Thee, would be my greatest punishment in hell. My beloved Jesus, have pity on me, let me not live any longer ungrateful to Thy love; give me light, give me strength to conquer everything, in order to accomplish Thy will. Grant my prayer, I beseech Thee, for the merits of Thy Passion. In this is all my confidence, and in thy intercession, O Mary! My dearest Mother, help me; it is thou who hast obtained for me all the favors I have received from God: I bless thee for them; but if thou dost not persevere in helping me, I shall persevere in being faithless, as I have been in times past.

1“Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem.” – Matt. xxvi. 38.

2“Defecit in dolore vita mea, et anni mei in gemitibus.” – Ps. xxx. 11.

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Meditations for the Novena for Christmas - Dec. 18

Meditation III.

Jesus made Himself a Child to gain our Confidence and our Love.

Parvulus natus est nobis, et Filius datus est nobis.

“A child is born to us, and a son is given to us.” – Isa. ix. 6.

Consider that after so many centuries, after so many prayers and sighs, the Messias, whom the holy patriarchs and prophets were not worthy to see, whom the nations sighed for, “the Desire of the eternal hills,” our Saviour, is come; he is already born, and has given himself entirely to us: A child is born to us, and a son is given to us.¹

The Son of God has made himself little, in order to make us great; he has given himself to us, in order that we may give ourselves to him; he is come to show us his love, in order that we may respond to it by giving him ours. Let us, therefore, receive him with affection; let us love him, and have recourse to him in all our necessities.

“A child gives easily,”² says St. Bernard; children readily give anything that is asked of them. Jesus came into the world a child, in order to show himself ready and willing to give us all good gifts: In whom are hid all treasures.³ The Father hath given all things into His hands.⁴ If we wish for light, he is come on purpose to enlighten us. If we wish for strength to resist our enemies, he is come to give us comfort. If we wish for pardon and salvation, he is come to pardon and save us. If, in short, we desire the sovereign gift of divine love, he is come to inflame our hearts with it; and, above all, for this very purpose, he has become a child, and has chosen to show himself to us worthy of our love, in proportion as he was poor and humble, in order to take away from us all fear, and to gain our affections. “So,” says St. Peter Chrysologus, “should he come who willed to drive away fear, and seek for love.”⁵

Jesus has, besides, chosen to come as a little child to make us love him, not only with an appreciative but even with a tender love. All infants attract the tender affection of those who behold them; but who will not love, with all the tenderness of which they are capable, a God whom they behold as a little child, in want of milk to nourish him, trembling with cold, poor, abased, and forsaken, weeping and crying in a manger, and lying on straw? It was this that made the loving St. Francis exclaim: “Let us love the child of Bethlehem, let us love the child of Bethlehem.” Come ye souls, and love a God who is become a child, and poor; who is so amiable, and who has come down from heaven to give himself entirely to you.”

Affections and Prayers.

O my amiable Jesus! whom I have treated with so much contempt, Thou hast descended from heaven to save us from hell, and to give Thyself entirely to us; how can we, then, have so often despised Thee, and turned our backs upon Thee? O my God! how different is the gratitude of men towards their fellow creatures! If any one makes them a gift, if any one comes from afar to pay them a visit, if any one shows them a particular mark of affection, they cannot forget it, and feel themselves obliged to repay their benefactors. And yet they are so ungrateful towards Thee, who art their God, and so worthy of their love, and who, for their sake, didst not refuse to give Thy blood and Thy love. But, alas! I have been worse than others in my conduct towards Thee, because I have been more loved by Thee, and more ungrateful towards Thee. Ah, if Thou hadst bestowed those graces with which I have been favored on a heretic, or an idolater, he would have become a saint; and yet I have done nothing but offend Thee. O my Saviour I pray Thee, forget the injuries I have committed against Thee. But Thou hast indeed said that when a sinner repents, Thou rememberest no longer the injuries Thou hast received from him: All his iniquities I will not remember.⁶ If in times past I have not loved Thee, in future I will do nothing else but love Thee. Thou hast given Thyself entirely to me, and I give Thee my whole will; O Lord, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee; and I will continually repeat to Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee! While I live, I will constantly say this; and when I die, I will yield my last breath with these sweet words on my lips, “My God, I love Thee;” and from the moment of my entrance into eternity, I will begin to love Thee with a love that shall last forever, without ever again ceasing to love Thee. And in the mean time, O my Lord! my only good and my only love, I intend to prefer Thy will to every pleasure of my own. Let the whole world offer itself to me; I will refuse it; for I will never cease to love him that hath loved me so much; I will never again offend him who deserves from me an infinite love. Do Thou, O my Jesus! aid my desire with Thy grace. O Mary, my Queen! I acknowledge all the graces I have received from God through thy intercession; cease not, then, to intercede for me. Do thou obtain for me perseverance, thou who art the Mother of perseverance.

1“Parvulus natus est nobis, et Filius datus est nobis.”

2“Puer facile donat.” – In Epiph. s. 1.

3“In quo sunt omnes thesauri.” – Col. ii. 3.

4“Omnia dedit in manu ejus.” – John, iii. 35.

5“Taliter venire debuit, qui voluit timorem pellere, quærere charitatem,” – Serm. 158.

6“Omnium iniquitatum ejus . . . non recordabor.” – Ezech. xviii. 22.

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Meditations for the Novena for Christmas - Dec. 17

Meditation II.

Bitterness of the Heart of Jesus in the Womb of his Mother.

Hostiam et oblationem noluisti; corpus autem aptasti mihi.

“Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldest not; but a body Thou hast fitted to Me.” – Heb. x. 5.

Consider the great bitterness with which the heart of the Infant Jesus must have felt itself afflicted and oppressed in the womb of Mary at the first moment when his Father proposed to his consideration all the series of contempt, sorrow, and agonies which he was to suffer during his life, to deliver men from their miseries: In the morning He wakeneth my ear,¹ and I do not resist; I have given my body to the strikers.²

Thus did Jesus speak by the mouth of the prophet: In the morning He wakeneth my ear; that is to say, from the first moment of my conception my Father made me feel that it was his will that I should lead a life of sorrows, and in the end should be sacrificed on the cross: And I do not resist; I have given my body to the strikers. And all this I accepted for your salvation, O ye souls of men, and from that time forth I gave up my body to the scourges, to the nails, and to the death of the cross.

Consider that whatever Jesus Christ suffered in his life and in his Passion, was all placed before him whilst he was yet in the womb of Mary, and he accepted everything that was proposed to him with delight; but in accepting all this, and in overcoming the natural repugnance of sense, O my God, what anguish and oppression did not the innocent heart of Jesus suffer! Well did he understand what he was first of all to endure, shut up for nine months in the dark prison of the womb of Mary; in suffering the shame and the sorrows of his birth, being born in a cold grotto that was a stable for beasts; in having afterwards to lead for thirty years an humble life in the shop of an artisan; in considering that he was to be treated by men as ignorant, as a slave, as a seducer, and as one guilty of death, and of the most infamous and painful death that ever was allotted to the most worthless of criminals.

All this did our dearest Redeemer accept every moment; but each moment that he accepted it he suffered at once all the the pains and humiliations that he would afterwards have to endure even unto death. The very knowledge of his divine dignity made him feel still more the injuries that he would have to receive from men: All the day long my shame is before me.³ He had continually before his eyes his shame, especially that confusion which he should one day feel at seeing himself stripped naked, scourged, and suspended by three iron nails; and so to end his life in the midst of the insults and curses of those very men for whom he was to die: Becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.⁴ And for what? To save us miserable and ungrateful sinners.

Affections and Prayers.

My beloved Redeemer, oh, how much did it cost Thee, even from Thy first entrance into the world, to raise me from the ruin which I have brought on myself by my sins! Thou hast consented to be treated as the lowest of slaves, in order to deliver me from the slavery of the devil, to whom I had willingly sold myself by sin; and yet, knowing all this, I have had the boldness to afflict continually Thy most amiable heart, which has loved me so much! But since Thou, who art so innocent, and art my God, hast accepted such a painful life and death, I accept for Thy love, O my Jesus, every trouble that shall come to me from Thy hands. 1 accept it and embrace it, because it comes from those hands which were once pierced through, in order to deliver me from the hell which I have so often deserved. Thy love, O my Redeemer! in offering Thyself to suffer so much for me, does more than oblige me to accept for Thy sake every sorrow, every humiliation. O my Lord! for Thy own merit’s sake, give me Thy holy love; Thy love will render all sufferings and ignominy sweet and pleasant to me. I love Thee above everything: I love Thee with my whole heart; I love Thee more than myself. But during Thy whole life how many and what great proofs of Thy love didst Thou not give me; and yet, ungrateful that I am, how many years have I not lived in the world without giving Thee any proofs of my love! I dread appearing before Thee when Thou shalt come to judge me, poor as I now am, without having done anything for the love of Thee. But what can I do without Thy grace? I can do nothing but pray that Thou wilt succor me; but even this prayer comes simply from Thy grace. O my Jesus! help me through the merits of Thy sufferings, and of the blood Thou hast shed for me. Most holy Mary, recommend me to thy Son, for the love that thou bearest him. Behold, I am one of those sheep for which thy Son has died.

1“Mane erigit mihi aurem. . . .” – Isa. l. 4.

2“Ego autem non contradico . . .; corpus meum dedi percutientibus.” – Ibid. 6.

3“Tota die verecundia mea contra me est.” – Ps. xliii. 16.

4“Factus obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis.” – Phil. ii. 5.

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Meditations for the Novena for Christmas - Dec. 16

Meditation I.

God has given Us his only Son to save Us.

Dedi te in lucem gentium, ut sis salus mea usque ad extremum terræ.

“I have given Thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation even to the farthest part of the earth.” – Isa. xlix. 6.

Consider that the Eternal Father addressed these words to the Infant Jesus at the instant of his conception: I have given Thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that Thou mayest be My salvation.¹ My Son, I have given Thee to the world for the light and life of all people, in order that Thou mightest procure for them their salvation, which I have as much at heart as if it were my own. Thou must therefore employ Thyself entirely for the well-being of men: “Wholly given to man, Thou must be wholly spent in his service.”² Thou must therefore, at Thy birch, suffer extreme poverty, in order that men may become rich, “that Thou mayest enrich them by Thy poverty.”³ Thou must be sold as a slave to acquire liberty for man; and Thou must be scourged and crucified as a slave to satisfy my justice for the punishment due to man. Thou must give Thy blood and Thy life to deliver man from eternal death; in short, Thou art no longer Thine own, but Thou belongest to man: A child is born to us, a son is given to us.⁴ Thus, my beloved Son, man will be constrained to love me, and to be mine, when he sees that I give Thee, my only-begotten one, entirely to him, and that there is nothing left for me to give him.

God so loved the world—(O infinite love! only worthy

of an infinite God!)—God so loved the world as to give His only-begotten Son.⁵ The Infant Jesus, far from being sorrowful at this proposal, is pleased at it, accepts it with love, and exults in it: He hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way;⁶ and from the first moment of his incarnation he gives himself entirely to man, and embraces with pleasure all the sorrows and ignominy that he must suffer on earth for the love of man. These were (says St. Bernard) the mountains and hills that Jesus Christ had to pass with so many labors in order to save man: Behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills.⁷

Here consider that the divine Father, in sending his Son to be our Redeemer and mediator between himself and man, has in a certain sense bound himself to forgive us and love us, on account of the covenant he made to receive us into his favor, providing his Son satisfied for us his divine justice. On the other hand, the divine Word, having accepted the decree of his Father (who, by sending him to redeem us, has given him to us), has also bound himself to love us; not, indeed, for our own merits, but in order to fulfil the merciful will of his Father.

Affections and Prayers.

My dearest Jesus, if it is true (as the law says) that dominion is acquired by gift, since Thy Father hath given Thee to me, Thou art mine; for me Thou wert born, to me hast Thou been given: A child is born to us, a Son is given to us.⁸ Therefore I may well say, “My Jesus and my all.”⁹ Since Thou art mine, everything that belongs to Thee is also mine. Of this I am assured by Thy Apostle: How hath He not also with Him given us all things.¹⁰ Thy blood is mine, Thy merits are mine, Thy grace is mine, Thy paradise is mine; and if Thou art mine, who shall be able to take Thee from me? “No man can take God away from me,”¹¹ said with joy the abbot St. Anthony. So, from this day forth, will I also continually say. It is only through my own fault that I can lose Thee and separate myself from Thee; but if in past times I have abandoned Thee and lost Thee, O my Jesus, I now repent of it with all my soul, and I am resolved to lose my life and everything sooner than lose Thee, O infinite Good, and only love of my soul! I thank Thee, Eternal Father, for having given me Thy Son; and since Thou hast given him entirely to me, I, miserable sinner, give myself entirely to Thee. For the sake of this same Son, accept me, and bind me with the chains of love to this my Redeemer; but bind me so strongly that I also may be able to say, Who shall separate me from the love of Christ?¹² What good shall there ever be in the world that shall separate me from my Jesus? And Thou, my Saviour, if Thou art all mine, know that I am all Thine. Dispose of me, and of all that belongs to me, as shall best please Thee. And how can I refuse anything to a God who has not refused me his blood and his life? Mary, my Mother, do thou guard me with thy protection. I will no longer be my own. I will be all my Saviour’s. Do thou help me to be faithful; I trust in thee.

1“Dedi te in lucem gentium, ut sis salus mea usque ad extremum terræ.”

2“Totus illi datus, totus in suos usus impenderis.” – S. Bern.

3“Ut tua inopia dites.”

4“Parvulus natus est nobis, et Filius datus est nobis.” – Isa. ix. 6.

5“Sic Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret!” – John, iii. 16.

6“Exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam.” – Ps. lviii. 6.

7“Ecce iste venit saliens in montibus, transiliens colles.” – Cant. ii. 8.

8“Parvulus natus est nobis, et Filius datus est nobis.” – Isa. ix. 6.

9“Jesus meus, et omnia.”

10“Quomodo non etiam cum illo omnia nobis donavit?” – Rom. viii. 32.

11“Deum a me tollere nemo potest.”

12“Quis nos separabit a charitate Christi?” – Rom. viii. 35.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Third Wednesday

Meditation XVIII.

We should hope all Things from the Merits of Jesus Christ.

Proprio Filio suo non pepercit; sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum.

“He that spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.” – Rom. viii. 32.

Consider that, since the Eternal Father has given us his own Son to be our mediator and advocate with him, and the victim in satisfaction for our sins, we cannot despair of obtaining from God whatever favor we ask of him, if we avail ourselves of the help of such a Redeemer. How hath he not also, with Him, given us all things?¹ adds the Apostle. What can God deny us when he has not denied us his Son?

None of our prayers deserve to be heard or granted by the Lord, for we do not deserve graces but punishment for our sins; but Jesus Christ who intercedes for us, and offers for us all the sufferings of his life, his blood, and his death, does indeed deserve to be heard. The Father cannot refuse anything to so dear a Son, who offers him a price of infinite value. He is innocent; all that he pays to divine justice is to satisfy our debts; and the satisfaction he offers is infinitely greater than all the sins of men. It would not be just that a sinner should perish who repents of his sins, and offers to God the merits of Jesus Christ, who has already superabundantly atoned for him.

Let us therefore thank God, and hope all things from the merits of Jesus Christ.

Affections and Prayers.

No, my God and my Father, I can no longer distrust Thy mercy; I cannot fear that Thou wilt refuse me the pardon of all the sins I have committed against Thee, and that Thou wilt withhold from me the graces necessary for my salvation, since Thou hast given me Thy Son, in order that I should offer him to Thee. Thou hast given me Jesus Christ on purpose to pardon me, and to render me capable of receiving Thy grace, and Thou hast commanded me to offer him to Thee, and to hope for salvation from Thee for his merits. Yes, my God, I will obey Thee, and I thank Thee. I offer Thee the merits of this Thy Son, and through them I hope for grace to remedy my weakness, and all the injuries that I have done myself by my sins. I repent, O infinite Goodness! of having offended Thee, and I love Thee above everything; and from this day forth I promise Thee to love none but Thee. But my promise will be of no avail if Thou dost not help me. For the love of Jesus Christ, give me light and strength to accomplish all Thy holy will. Trusting, therefore, in the merits of Jesus Christ, I hope that Thou wilt grant my prayer. Mary, my mother and my hope, I beseech thee also, for the love of Jesus Christ, to obtain for me this grace. O my Mother, listen to my prayer.

1“Quomodo non etiam cum illo omnia nobis donavit?”

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Third Tuesday

Meditation XVII.

Jesus the Charitable Physician of our Souls.

Orietur vobis . . . Sol justitiæ, et sanitas in pennis ejus.

“But unto you the sun of justice shall arise, and health in his wings.” – Mat. iv. 2.

Your physician will come, says the prophet, to cure the infirm; and he will come swiftly like the bird that flies, and like the sun, which on rising from the horizon, instantly sends its light to the other pole. But behold him, he is already come. Let us console ourselves, and return thanks to him.

St. Augustine says, “He descends to the bed of the sick;”¹ that is to say, even to taking upon him our flesh, for our bodies are the beds of our infirm souls.

Other physicians, if they love their patients, do indeed use all their efforts to cure them; but what physician, in order to cure the sick man, ever took upon himself his disease? Jesus Christ has been that physician, who charged himself with our infirmities in order to cure them. Neither would he content himself with sending another in his place, but he chose to come himself to fulfil this charitable office, in order to gain to himself all our love: He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows.² He chose to heal our wounds with his own blood, and by his death to deliver us from eternal death, which we had deserved; in short, he chose to swallow the bitter draught of a life of continual sufferings and a painful death, to obtain for us life, and deliver us from our many evils.

The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?³ said he to St. Peter. It was necessary, then, that Jesus Christ should suffer so many ignominies to heal our pride; that he should embrace such a life of poverty to cure our covetousness; that he should be overwhelmed in a sea of troubles, and even die of pure sorrow, to cure our eagerness after sensual pleasures.

Affections and Prayers.

May Thy charity, O my Redeemer! be forever praised and blessed. And what would become of my soul, thus infirm and afflicted with the many sores of my sins, if I had not Thee, my Jesus, who both art able and willing to heal me? O blood of my Saviour, I trust in thee; wash me and cure me. I repent, O my love, of having offended Thee. Thou hast led a life of such tribulations, and hast died so bitter a death to prove to me the love Thou dost bear me. I would fain show Thee how much I love Thee; but what can I do who am so miserable and weak? O God of my soul! Thou art omnipotent; Thou canst heal me, and make me holy. Oh, kindle in me a great desire of pleasing Thee. I renounce all my pleasures to please Thee, my Redeemer, who dost deserve to be pleased at all costs. O sovereign Good! I esteem Thee and love Thee above every good; make me love Thee with all my heart, and always implore Thy love. I have hitherto offended Thee, and have not loved Thee, because I have not sought Thy love. I now beg of Thee this love, and the grace always to seek it. Oh, grant my prayer by the merits of Thy Passion. O Mary my Mother! thou art always prepared to hear the prayer of him that calls upon thee. Thou lovest him that loves thee. I love thee, my Queen; obtain for me the grace to love God, and I ask nothing more of thee.

1Descendit usque ad lectum ægrotantis.” – Serm. 87, E. B.

2“Vere languores nostros ipse tulit, et dolores nostros ipse portavit.” – Isa. liii. 4.

3“Calicem quem dedit mihi Pater, non bibam illum?” – John, xviii. ii.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Third Monday

Meditation XVI.

Jesus is the Fountain of Grace.

Haurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus Salvatoris.

“You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour’s fountains. – Isa. xii. 3.

Consider the four fountains of grace that we have in Jesus Christ, as contemplated by St. Bernard.

The first is that of mercy, in which we can wash ourselves from all the filthiness of our sins. This fountain was formed for us by our Redeemer with his tears and his blood: He loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.¹

The second fountain is that of peace and consolation in our tribulations: Call upon me (saith Jesus Christ) in the day of trouble, and I will console thee.² He that thirsteth, let him come to me.³ He that thirsteth for true consolations even in this world, let him come to me, for I will satisfy him. He that once tastes the water of my love will forever disdain all the delights of the world: But he that shall drink of the water that I will give, him shall not thirst forever.⁴ And thoroughly contented will he be when he shall enter into the kingdom of the blessed, for the water of my grace shall raise him from earth to heaven. It will become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting.⁵ The peace which God gives to the souls that love him is not the peace that the world promises from sensual pleasures, which leave in the soul more bitterness than peace; the peace which God bestows exceeds all the pleasures of the senses: Peace which surpasseth all understanding.⁶ Blessed are those who long for this divine fountain. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice.⁷

The third fountain is that of devotion. Oh, how devout and ready to execute the divine will, and increasing every day in virtue, is he who constantly meditates on all that Jesus Christ has done for our sake! He will be like the tree planted by a stream of water: He shall be like a tree that is planted near the running waters.⁸

The fourth fountain is that of love: In my meditation a fire shall flame out.⁹ It is impossible to meditate on the sufferings and ignominy borne by Jesus Christ for the love of us, and not to feel inflamed by that blessed fire which he came upon earth to enkindle. How true it is, then, that he who avails himself of these blessed fountains of Jesus Christ will always draw from them waters of joy and of salvation! You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour’s fountains.¹⁰

Affections and Prayers.

O my sweet and dearest Saviour, how much do I not owe Thee! What an obligation hast Thou put upon me of loving Thee, since Thou hast done for me what no son would have done for his father, and no servant for his master! If Thou, therefore, hast loved me above every one else, it is only just that I should love Thee above all others. I could wish to die with sorrow at the thought that Thou hast suffered so much for me, and that Thou didst accept for my sake the most painful and ignominious death that it is possible for a man to endure; and yet I have so often despised Thy friendship. How many times hast Thou forgiven me, and I have despised Thee afresh? But Thy merits are my hope. I now esteem Thy grace above all the kingdoms of the world. I love Thee, and for Thy love I accept every sorrow, every kind of death. And if I am not worthy to die for Thy glory by the hand of executioners, I accept at least willingly that death which Thou hast allotted to me; and I accept it in the manner and at the time that Thou shalt choose. My dear Mother Mary, obtain for me the grace always to live and to die loving Jesus.

1“Dilexit nos, et lavit nos a peccatis nostris in sanguine suo.” – Apoc. i. 5.

2“Invoca me in die tribulationis; eruam te.” – Ps. xlix. 15.

3“Si quis sitit, veniat ad me, et bibat.” – John, vii. 37.

4“Qui autem biberit ex aqua quam ego dabo ei, non sitiet in æternum.” – John, iv. 13.

5“Fiet in eo fons aquæ salientis in vitam æternam.”

6“Pax Dei, quæ exsuperat omnem sensum.” – Phil. iv. 7.

7“Beati, qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam!” – Matt. v. 6.

8“Erit tamquam lignum quod plantatum est secus decursus aquarum.” – Ps. i. 3.

9“In meditatione mea exardescet ignis.” – Ps. xxxviii. 4.

10“Haurictis aquas in gaudio de fontibus Salvatoris.”

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