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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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Third Sunday

Meditation XV.

The Poverty of the Infant Jesus.

Invenientes infantem . . . positum in præsepio.

“You shall find the infant laid in a manger.” – St. Luke, ii. 16.

The Holy Church, in contemplating this great mystery and prodigy of a God being born in a stable, exclaims, full of admiration, “O great mystery! O wonderful sacrament! for animals to behold the Lord lying in a manger.”¹

In order to contemplate with tenderness and love the birth of Jesus, we must pray the Lord to give us a lively faith. If without faith we enter into the grotto of Bethlehem, we shall have nothing but a feeling of compassion at seeing an infant reduced to such a state of poverty that, being born in the depth of winter, he is laid in a manger of beasts, without fire, and in the midst of a cold cavern. But if we enter with faith, and consider what an excess of bounty and love it was in a God to humble himself to appear like a little child, wrapped in swaddling-clothes, placed on straw, crying and shivering with cold, unable to move, depending for subsistence on his mother’s milk, how is it possible that we should not feel ourselves gently constrained to give all our affections to this Infant God, who has reduced himself to this state to make us love him! St. Luke says that the shepherds, after having visited Jesus in the manger, returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.² And yet what had they seen? Nothing more than a poor child trembling with cold on a little straw; but, being enlightened by faith, they recognized in this child the excess of divine love; and inflamed by this love they went on their way glorifying God, that they had the happiness to behold a God who had emptied himself³ and annihilated himself for the love of men.

Affections and Prayers.

O my amiable and sweet Infant! although I behold Thee so poor and lying on straw, yet I confess and adore Thee as my Lord and Creator. I know what it was that reduced Thee to so miserable a state: it was the love that Thou didst bear me. But when I remember, O my Jesus! how I have treated Thee in times past, the injuries I have committed against Thee I wonder in myself how Thou hast borne with me. Accursed sins, oh, what have you done! You have made me cause bitterness to the heart of my beloved Saviour. Oh, my dearest Redeemer, for the sake of the sufferings Thou didst endure and the tears Thou didst shed in the stable of Bethlehem, give me tears, give me a great sorrow, that may make me all my life long lament the displeasure I have caused Thee. Grant me a love for Thee, but such a love as may compensate for the offences I have committed against Thee. I love Thee, my Infant Saviour; I love Thee, my Infant God; I love Thee, my love, my life, my all. I promise Thee from this day forth to love none but Thee. Do Thou help me by Thy grace, without which I can do nothing. Mary, my hope, thou dost obtain whatever thou willest from thy Son, obtain for me his holy love; my Mother, hear me!

1“O magnum mysterium et admirabile sacramentum, ut animalia viderent Dominum natum, jacentem in praesepio!” – Off. Nat. resp. 4.

2“Reversi sunt pastores glorificantes et laudantes Deum in omnibus quæ andierantet viderant.” – Luke, ii. 20.

3“Semetipsum exinanivit!” – Phil. ii. 7.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Second Saturday

Meditation XIV.

The Greatest Sorrow of Jesus.

Qua utilitas in sanguine meo, dum descendo in corruptionem?

“What profit is there in my blood, whilst I go down to corruption?” – Ps. xxix. 10.

Jesus Christ revealed to the Venerable Agatha of the Cross that whilst he was in his Mother s womb, that which afflicted him more than any other sorrow was the hardness of the hearts of men, who should, after his Redemption, despise the graces which he came into the world to diffuse. And he had expressed this sentiment before, by the mouth of David, in the words just quoted, which are generally thus understood by the holy Fathers: What profit is there in my blood, whilst I go down to corruption?¹ St. Isidore explains whilst I descend into corruption, “whilst I descend to take the nature of man, so corrupted by vices and sins;” as if he had said, O my Father, I am indeed going to clothe myself with human flesh, in order to shed my blood for men; but what profit is there in my blood?”—the greater part of the world will set no value on my blood, and will go on offending me, as if I had done nothing for the love of them.”

This sorrow was the bitter chalice which Jesus begged the Eternal Father to remove from him, saying: Let this chalice pass from Me.² What chalice? The sight of the contempt with which his love was treated. This made him exclaim again on the cross: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken Me?³ Our Lord revealed to St. Catharine of Sienna, that this was the abandonment of which he complained the knowledge, namely, that his Father would have to suffer that his Passion and his love should be despised by so many men for whom he died.

And this same sorrow tormented the Infant Jesus in the womb of Mary, the foresight of such a prodigality of sorrows, of ignominy, of blood-shedding, and of so cruel and ignominious a death, and all to so little purpose. The holy Child saw, even there, what the Apostle says, that many (indeed the greater number) should trample under foot his blood and despise his grace, which this blood would obtain for them: Treading under foot the Son of God, and offering an affront to the Spirit of grace.⁴ But if we have been of the number of these ungrateful men, let us not despair; Jesus, at his birth, came to offer peace to men of good-will, as he made the angels sing: And on earth peace to men of good-will.⁵ Let us, then, change our will, repent of our sins, and resolve to love this good God, and we shall find peace, that is, the divine friendship.

Affections and Prayers.

O my most amiable Jesus, how much have I too caused Thee to suffer during Thy lifetime! Thou hast shed Thy blood for me with so much sorrow and love, and what fruit hast Thou hitherto drawn from me but contempt, offences, and insults? But, my Redeemer, I will no longer afflict Thee; I hope that in future Thy Passion will produce fruit in me by Thy grace, which I feel is already assisting me. I will love Thee above every other good; and to please Thee, I am ready to give my life a thousand times. Eternal Father, I should not have the boldness to appear before Thee to implore either pardon or graces, but Thy Son has told me, that whatever grace I ask of Thee in his name Thou wilt grant it to me: If ye shall ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it you.⁶ I offer Thee, therefore, the merits of Jesus Christ, and in his name I ask of Thee first a general pardon of all my sins; I ask holy perseverance even unto death; I ask of Thee, above all, the gift of Thy holy love, that it may make me always live according to Thy divine will. As to my own will, I am resolved to choose a thousand deaths sooner than offend Thee, and to love Thee with my whole heart, and to do everything that I possibly can to please Thee. But in order to do all this, I beg of Thee, and hope to receive from Thee, grace to execute what I purpose. My Mother Mary, if thou wilt pray for me, I am safe. Oh, pray for me, pray; and cease not to pray till thou seest that I am changed, and made what God wishes me to be.

1“Quæ utilitas in sanguine meo, dum descendo in corruptionem?”

2“Transeat a me calix iste!” – Matt. xxvi. 39.

3“Deus meus! Deus meus! ut quid dereliquisti me?” – Matt. xxvii. 46.

4“Filium Dei conculcaverit . . . , et spiritui gratiæ contumeliam fecerit!” – Heb. x. 29.

5“Et in terra pax hominibus bonæ voluntatis.” – Luke, ii. 14.

6“Si quid petieritis Patrem in nomine meo, dabit vobis.” – John, xvi. 23.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Second Friday

Meditation XIII.

Jesus wished to suffer so much in order to gain our Hearts.

Baptismo habeo baptizari; et quomodo coarctor usque dum perficiatur!

“I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished!” – St. Luke, xii. 50.

Consider that Jesus suffered, even from the first moment of his life, and all for the love of us. During the whole of his life he had no other object in view, after the glory of God, than our salvation. He, as the Son of God, had no need to suffer in order to deserve Paradise; but whatever he suffered of pain, of poverty, of ignominy, he applied it all towards meriting for us eternal salvation. And even although he could have saved us without suffering, yet he chose to embrace a life of nothing but sufferings, poor, despised, and deprived of every comfort, with a death the most desolate and bitter that was ever endured by any martyr or penitent, only to make us understand the greatness of the love he bore us, and to gain our affections.

He lived thirty-three years, and he lived sighing after the hour in which he was to sacrifice his life, which he desired to offer up to obtain for us divine grace and eternal glory, in order that he might have us with him forever in paradise. It was this desire which made him say, I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished!¹ He desired to be baptized with his own blood, not to wash out his own sins, since he was innocent and holy, but the sins of men whom he loved so much: He loved us, and washed us in his own blood.² Oh, excess of the love of God, which all the men and angels that ever existed will never arrive at understanding or praising as it deserves.

St. Bonaventure complains on considering the great ingratitude of men for so great love: “It is wonderful that the hearts of men do not break for love of Thee.”³ It is a wonder, says the saint, to see a God endure such sufferings, shedding tears in a stable, poor in a workshop, languishing on a cross; in short, afflicted and troubled the whole of his life for the love of men; and then to see these men, who not only do not burn with love towards such a loving God, but even have the boldness to despise his love and his grace. O Lord, how is it possible to know that a God should have given himself up to so much suffering for men, and yet that there should be men who can offend, and not love this merciful God!

Affections and Prayers.

My beloved Redeemer, I am also one of those ungrateful wretches who have repaid Thy immense love, Thy sorrows, and Thy death, with offences and contempt. O my dearest Jesus! how is it possible that, seeing as Thou didst the ingratitude that I should show Thee for all Thy mercies, Thou couldst yet love me so much, and resolve to endure so much contempt and suffering for me! But I will not despair. The evil is already done. Give me, therefore, O my Saviour, that sorrow which Thou hast merited for me by Thy tears; but let it be a sorrow equal to my iniquities. O loving heart of my Saviour, once so afflicted and desolate for my sake, and now all burning with love for me, I beseech Thee, change my heart, give me a heart that will make reparation for the offences I have committed against Thee, give me a love that will equal my ingratitude!

But I already feel a great desire of loving Thee. I give Thee thanks, my Saviour, because I see that Thy mercy has already changed my heart. I hate, above every evil, the insults I have offered Thee; I detest them, I abhor them. I now esteem Thy friendship above all the riches and kingdoms of the world. I desire to please Thee as much as is possible to me; I love Thee, who art infinitely amiable; but I see that this my love is too small. Do Thou increase the flame, give me more love. Thy love for me ought to be responded to by a greater degree of love by me, who have so much offended Thee, and who, instead of chastisement, have received so many special favors from Thee. O sovereign Good, permit me not to be any longer ungrateful for all the favors that Thou hast bestowed upon me: “I will die with love of the love of Thee,” I will say with St. Francis, “who hast deigned to die for love of the love of me.”⁴ Mary, my hope, help me; pray to Jesus for me!

1“Baptismo habeo baptizari; et quomodo coarctor usque dum perficiatur!”

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

3“Mirum est quomodo pro tuo amore corda hominum non scinduntur.” – Stim. div. am. p. 2, c. 2.

4“Moriar amore amoris tui, qui amore amoris mei dignatus es mori!”

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Second Thursday

Meditation XII.

Jesus suffers during His Whole Life.

Dolor meus in conspectu meo semper.

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

Consider that all the sufferings and ignominy that Jesus endured in his life and death, all were present to him from the first moment of his life: My sorrow is continually before me;¹ and even from his childhood he began to offer them in satisfaction for our sins, beginning even then to fulfil his office of Redeemer. He revealed to one of his servants that from the commencement of his life even until his death, he suffered continually; and suffered so much for each of our sins that if he had had as many lives as there are men, he would as many times have died of sorrow, if God had not preserved his life that he might suffer more.

Oh, what a martyrdom did the loving heart of Jesus constantly endure in beholding all the sins of men! He beheld every single fault.² Even whilst he was in the womb of Mary every particular sin passed in review before Jesus, and each sin afflicted him immeasurably. St. Thomas says that this sorrow which Jesus Christ felt at the knowledge of the injury done to his Father, and of the evil that sin would occasion to the souls that he loved, surpassed the sorrows of all the contrite sinners that ever existed, even of those who died of pure sorrow; because no sinner ever loved God and his own soul as much as Jesus loved his Father and our souls. Wherefore that agony which our Redeemer suffered in the garden at the sight of our sins was endured by him even from his mother s womb: I am poor, and in labors from my youth.³ Thus through the mouth of David did our Saviour prophesy of himself, that all his life should be a continual suffering. From this St. John Chrysostom deduces that we ought not to afflict ourselves for anything but for sin alone; and that since Jesus was afflicted all his life long on account of our sins, so we who have committed them ought to feel a continual sorrow for them, remembering that we have offended God who has loved us so much. St. Margaret of Cortona never ceased to shed tears for her sins: one day her confessor said to her, “Margaret, no more tears; it is enough, our Lord has already forgiven thee.” “What,” answered the saint, “how can my tears and my sorrows suffice for the sins for which my Jesus was afflicted all his life long!”

Affections and Prayers.

Behold, my Jesus, at Thy feet the ungrateful sinner, the persecutor who kept Thee in continual affliction during all Thy life. Rut I will say to Thee with Isaias: But Thou hast delivered my soul that it should not perish; Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.⁴ I have offended Thee, I have pierced Thee through with all my sins; but Thou hast not refused to bear on Thy shoulders all my sins; I have voluntarily cast my soul into the fire of hell every time that I have consented to offend Thee gravely; and Thou, at the cost of Thy own blood, hast continually liberated me and prevented me from being entirely lost. My beloved Redeemer, I thank Thee. I could wish to die of sorrow when I think how I have abused Thy infinite goodness; forgive me, my Love, and come and take entire possession of my heart. Thou hast said that Thou wouldst not disdain to enter into the abode of him that opens to Thee, and to remain in his company: If any man shall open to Me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him.⁵ If I have hitherto driven Thee away from me, I now love Thee, and desire nothing but Thy favor. Behold, the door is open, enter Thou into my heart, but enter never to depart from it again. I am poor; but if Thou enter Thou wilt make me rich. I shall always be rich as long as I possess Thee, the sovereign good. O Queen of Heaven, sorrowful Mother of this suffering Son, I have also been a cause of sorrow to thee, because thou hast participated, in great part, in the sufferings of Jesus: my Mother, do thou also forgive me, and obtain for me the grace to be faithful to thee, now that I hope my Jesus has returned into my soul.

1“Dolor meus in conspectu meo semper.”

2“Ad quamlibet culpam singularem habuit aspectum.”

3“Pauper sum ego et in laboribus a juventute mea.” – Ps. lxxxvii. 16.

4“Tu autem eruisti animam meam, ut non periret; projecisti post tergum tuum omnia peccata mea.” – Isa. xxxviii. 17.

5“Si quis . . . aperuerit mihi januam, intrabo ad illum, et cœnabo cum illo.” – Apoc. iii. 20.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Second Wednesday

Meditation XI.

Jesus charged with the Sins of the Whole World.

Iniquitates eorum ipse portabit.

“He bore their iniquities.” – Is. liii. 11.

Consider that the divine Word, in becoming man, chose not only to take the form of a sinner, but also to bear all the sins of men, and to satisfy for them as if they were his own: He bore their iniquities.¹ Father Cornelius adds, “as if he had committed them himself.”² Let us here reflect what an oppression and anguish the heart of the Infant Jesus must have felt, who had already charged himself with the sins of the whole world, in finding that the divine justice insisted on his making a full satisfaction for them.

Well did our Lord know the malice of every sin, whilst, through the divine light which accompanied him, he knew immeasurably more than all men and angels the infinite goodness of his Father, and how infinitely deserving he is of being revered and loved. And then he saw drawn up in array before him an innumerable number of transgressions which were to be committed by men and for which he was to suffer and die. Our Lord once showed to St. Catharine of Sienna the hideousness of one single venial sin; and such was the dread and sorrow of the saint that she fell senseless to the ground. What, then, must have been the sufferings of the Infant Jesus when, on his entrance into the world, he saw before him the immense array of all the crimes of men for which he was to make satisfaction!

And then he knew in particular every sin of each one of us: “He had regard to every particular sin,”³ says St. Bernard of Sienna. And Cardinal Hugo says that the executioners “caused him exterior pain by crucifying him, but we interior pain by sinning against him.”⁴ He means that each one of our sins afflicted the soul of Jesus Christ more than crucifixion and death afflicted his body. Such is the beautiful recompense which has been rendered to our divine Saviour for his love by every one who remembers to have offended him by mortal sin.

Affections and Prayers.

My Beloved Jesus, I, who have offended Thee, am not worthy of Thy favors, but through the merit of that pain which Thou didst suffer; and which Thou didst offer up to God at the sight of my sins, and to satisfy divine justice for them, give me a share in that light by which Thou didst see their malice, and in that hatred with which Thou didst then abominate them. Can it then be true, my amiable Saviour, that ever since Thou wert an infant, and in every moment of Thy life, I have been a murderer of Thy sacred heart, and a murderer more cruel than all those who crucified Thee? And I have renewed and increased this suffering every time I have repeated my offences against Thee? O Lord! Thou hast indeed died to save me; but Thy death will not save me, if I do not on my part detest every evil, and have true sorrow for the sins I have committed against Thee. But even this sorrow must be given me by Thee. Thou givest it to him that asks it of Thee. I ask it of Thee through the merits of all the sufferings Thou didst endure on this earth; give me sorrow for my sins, but a sorrow that will correspond to my transgressions. Help me, O Lord! to make that act of contrition which I now intend to do. O eternal God, supreme and infinite Good! I, a miserable worm, have dared to lose respect for Thee, and to despise Thy grace, I detest above every evil and abhor the injuries I have committed against Thee; I repent of them with my whole heart, not so much on account of hell, which I have deserved, as because I have offended Thy infinite goodness. I hope for pardon from Thee through the merits of Jesus Christ and I hope also to obtain, together with Thy pardon the grace of loving Thee. I love Thee, O God, who art worthy of infinite love, and I will always repeat to Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee; and as Thy beloved St. Catharine of Genoa said to Thee, while she stood in spirit at Thy feet, O Thou crucified one, so will I also say to Thee now that I am standing also at Thy feet, My Lord, no more sins, no more sins! No, for Thou indeed dost not deserve to be offended, O my Jesus, but Thou only deservest to be loved. My blessed Redeemer, help me. My mother Mary, assist me, I pray thee; I only ask of thee to obtain for me that I may love God during the time that is left me in this life.

1“Iniquitates eorum ipse portabit.”

2“Ac si ipse ea patrasset.”

3“Ad quamlibet culpam singularem habuit aspectum.” – T. ii. s. 56, a. 1, c. 1.

4“Fecerunt eum dolore extrinsecus crucifigendo, sed nos peccando intrinsecus.”

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Second Tuesday

Meditation X.

Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, from the Womb of His Mother.

Virum dolorum et scientem infirmitatem.

“A man of sorrows, acquainted with infirmity.” – Isa. liii. 3.

Thus does the prophet Isaias designate our Lord Jesus Christ “the man of sorrows;” yes, because this man was created on purpose to suffer, and from his infancy began to endure the greatest sorrows that any man ever suffered. The first man, Adam, enjoyed for some time upon this earth the delights of the earthly paradise; but the second Adam, Jesus Christ, did not pass a moment of his life without sorrows and anguish; for even from a child he was afflicted by the foresight of all the sufferings and ignominy that he would have to endure during his life, and especially at his death, when he was to close that life immersed in a tempest of sorrow and opprobrium, as David had predicted: I am come into the depth of the sea, and a tempest hath overwhelmed me.¹

Even from the womb of Mary, Jesus Christ accepted obediently the sacrifice which his Father had desired him to make, even his Passion and death: Becoming obedient unto death.² So that even from the womb of Mary he foresaw the scourges and presented to them his flesh; he foresaw the thorns, and presented to them his head; he foresaw the blows, and presented to them his cheeks; he foresaw the nails, and presented to them his hands and his feet; he foresaw the cross, and offered his life. Hence it is true that even from his earliest infancy our blessed Redeemer every moment of his life suffered a continual martyrdom; and he offered it every moment for us to his eternal Father.

But what afflicted him most was the sight of the sins which men would commit even after this painful redemption. By his divine light he well knew the malice of every sin, and therefore did he come into the world to do away with all sins; but when he saw the immense number which would be committed, the sorrow that the Heart of Jesus felt was greater than all the sorrows that all men ever suffered or ever will suffer upon earth.

Affections and Prayers.

My sweetest Redeemer, when shall I begin to be grateful to Thy infinite goodness? When shall I begin to acknowledge the love that Thou hast borne me, and the sorrows Thou hast endured for me? Hitherto, instead of love and gratitude, I have returned Thee offences and contempt; shall I then continue to live always ungrateful to Thee, my God, who hast spared nothing to acquire my love? No, my Jesus, it shall not be so. During the days that may yet remain to me I will be grateful to Thee; and Thou wilt, I trust, help me to be so. If I have offended Thee, Thy sufferings and Thy death are my hope. Thou hast promised to forgive the penitent. I repent with my whole soul of having despised Thee. Fulfill, therefore, Thy promise, my Beloved, and forgive me. O dearest Infant, I behold Thee in the manger already nailed to Thy cross, which is constantly present to Thee, and which Thou dost already accept for me. O my crucified Infant! I thank Thee for it, and I love Thee. Stretched upon this straw, suffering already for me, and preparing Thyself even now to die for this love of me, Thou dost command and invite me to love Thee: Love the Lord thy God.³ And I desire nothing more than to love Thee. Since, therefore, Thou willest that I should love Thee, give me all that love that Thou requirest of me; love for Thee is Thy gift, and the greatest gift that Thou canst make to a soul. Accept, O my Jesus! for Thy lover a sinner who has so greatly offended Thee. Thou didst come from heaven to seek the lost sheep; do Thou, therefore, seek me, and I will seek none other but Thee. Thou desirest my soul, and my soul desires nothing but Thee. Thou lovest him that loves Thee, and sayest, Those that love Me I love.⁴ I love Thee, do Thou also love me; and if Thou lovest me, bind me to Thy love; but bind me so that I may never again be able to disengage myself from Thee. Mary, my Mother, do thou help me. Let it be thy glory also to see thy Son loved by a miserable sinner, who has hitherto so greatly offended him.

1“Veni in altitudinem maris, et tempestas demersit me.” – Ps. lxviii. 3.

2“Factus obediens usque ad mortem.” – Phil. ii. 8.

3“Diliges Dominum Deum tuum.”

4“Ego diligentes me diligo.” – Prov. viii. 17.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Second Monday

Meditation IX.

The Love that the Son of God has shown us in the Redemption.

Dilexit nos, et tradidit semetipsum pro nobis.

“He hath loved us, and hath delivered Himself for us.” Eph. v. 2.

Consider that the eternal Word is that God who is so infinitely happy in himself that his happiness cannot be greater than it is, nor could the salvation of all mankind have added anything to it or have diminished it; and yet he has done and suffered so much to save us miserable worms that if his beatitude (as St. Thomas says) had depended on that of man, he could not have done or suffered more: “As if without him He could not be happy;”¹ and, indeed, if Jesus Christ could not have been happy without redeeming us, how could he have humbled himself more than he has done, in taking upon himself our infirmities, the miseries of infancy, the troubles of human life, and a death so barbarous and ignominious?

None but God was capable of loving to such an excess so wretched sinners as we are, and who were so unworthy of being loved. A devout author says: If Jesus Christ had permitted us to ask of him to give us the greatest proof of his love, who would have ventured to ask of him that he should become a child like unto us, that he should clothe himself with all our miseries, and make himself of all men the most poor, the most despised, and the most ill-treated, even to being put to death by the hands of executioners, and in the greatest torments upon an infamous gibbet, cursed and forsaken by all, even by his own Father, who abandoned his Son that he might not abandon us in our ruin?

But that which we should not have had the boldness even to think of, the Son of God has thought of and accomplished. Even from his childhood he has sacrificed himself for us to sufferings, to opprobrium, and to death; He hath loved its, and hath delivered Himself for us.² He hath loved us, and out of love hath given us himself, in order that we, by offering him as a victim to the Father, in satisfaction for our debts, might through his merits obtain from the divine goodness all the graces that we desire; a victim dearer to the Father than if we had offered him the lives of all men and of all the angels. Let us therefore continually offer to God the merits of Jesus Christ, and through them let us seek and hope for every good.

Affections and Prayers.

My Jesus, I should indeed do great injustice to Thy mercy and Thy love, if, after Thou hast given me so many proofs of the love Thou bearest me, and the desire Thou hast to save me, I should still distrust Thy mercy and Thy love. My beloved Redeemer, I am a poor sinner; but Thou hast said that Thou didst come to seek sinners: I am not come to call the just, but sinners.³ I am a poor infirm creature,—Thou camest to cure the infirm, and Thou didst say, They that are whole need not the physician, but they that are sick.⁴ I was lost through my sins; but Thou didst come to save the lost: The Son of man is come to save that which was lost.⁵ What, then, can I fear, if I am willing to amend my life and to become Thine? I have only myself and my own weakness to fear; but my own weakness and poverty ought to increase my confidence in Thee, who hast declared Thyself to be the refuge of the destitute: The Lord is become a refuge for the poor.⁶ And Thou hast promised to grant their desires: The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor.⁷ Therefore I implore this favor of Thee, O my Jesus! give me confidence in Thy merits, and grant that I may always recommend myself to God through Thy merits. Eternal Father, save me from hell, and first from sin, for the love of Jesus Christ; for the merits of this Thy Son enlighten my mind to obey Thy will; give me strength against temptations; grant me the gift of Thy holy love; and, above all, I beseech Thee to give me the grace to pray to Thee to help me, for the love of Jesus Christ, who hast promised that Thou wilt grant to him who prays in his name whatever he asks of Thee. If I continue to pray to Thee in this way, I shall certainly be saved; but if I neglect it, I shall certainly be lost. Most holy Mary, obtain for me this great gift of prayer, and that I may persevere in recommending myself constantly to God, and also to thee, who dost obtain from God whatever thou willest.

1“Quasi sine ipso beatus esse non posset.” – Opusc. 63, c. 7.

2“Dilexit nos et tradidit semetipsum pro nobis.”

3“Non enim veni vocare justos, sed peccatores.” – Matt. ix. 13.

4“Non egent qui sani sunt medico, sed qui male habent.” – Luke, v. 31.

5“Venit enim Filius hominis salvare quod perierat.” – Matt. xviii. 11.

6“Factus est Dominus reftigium pauperi.” – Ps. ix. 10.

7“Desiderium pauperum exaudivit Dominus.” – Ps. x. 17.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - Second Sunday

Meditation VIII.

God Sends His Son to die in order to restore us to Life.

Deus autem, qui dives est in misericordia, propter nimiam charitatem suam qua dilexit nos, et cum essemus mortui peccatis, convivificavit nos in Christo.

“But God (who is rich in mercy) for His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ.” – Eph. ii. 4, 5.

Consider that sin is the death of the soul; because this enemy of God deprives us of divine grace, which is the life of the soul. We, therefore, miserable sinners, were already by our sins dead and condemned to hell. God, through the immense love which he bears to our souls, determined to restore us to life; and how did he do so? He sent his only-begotten Son into the world to die, in order that by his death he might restore us to life.

With reason therefore does the Apostle call this work of love exceeding charity;¹ too much love; yes, indeed, for man could never have hoped to receive life in such a loving manner if God had not found this means of redeeming him: Having obtained eternal redemption.² All men were therefore dead there was no remedy for them. But the Son of God, through the bowels of his mercy, hath come down from heaven, the Orient from on high, and has given us life. Justly, therefore, does the Apostle call Jesus Christ our life: When Christ shall appear, who is your life.³ Behold our Redeemer, clothed with flesh and become an infant, says to us: I am come that they may have life, and may have it more abundantly.⁴ For this end he accepted death, that he might give us life. It is but reasonable, therefore, that we should live only to God, who has condescended to die for us: Christ died, that they who live may not live to themselves, but unto Him who died for them.⁵ It is reasonable that Jesus Christ should be the only sovereign of our heart since he has spent his blood and his life to gain it to himself: To this end Christ died and rose again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.⁶ O my God! who would be so ungrateful a wretch as to believe as an article of faith that God died to secure his love, and yet refuse to love him, and, renouncing his friendship, choose voluntarily to make himself a slave of hell?

Affections and Prayers.

O my Jesus! if Thou hadst not accepted and suffered death for me, I should have remained dead in my sins, without hope of salvation and without the power of ever loving Thee. But after Thou hast obtained life for me by Thy death, I have again many times voluntarily forfeited it by returning to sin. Thou didst die to gain my heart to Thyself, and I by my rebellion have made it a slave of the devil. I lost all reverence for Thee, and I said that I would no longer have Thee for my master. All this is true; but it is also true that Thou desirest not the death of the sinner, but that he should be converted and live; and therefore didst Thou die to give us life. I repent of having offended Thee, my dearest Redeemer; and do Thou pardon me through the merits of Thy Passion; give me Thy grace; give me that life which Thou hast purchased for me by Thy death, and henceforth mayest Thou have entire dominion over my heart. Never let the devil have possession of it again; he is not my God, he does not love me, and has not suffered anything for me. In past times he was not the true sovereign, but the robber of my soul; Thou alone, my Jesus, art my true Lord, who hast created and redeemed me with Thy blood; Thou alone hast loved me, and oh, how much! It is therefore only just that I should be Thine alone during the life that remains to me. Tell me what Thou wouldst have me to do; for I will do it all. Chastise me as Thou wilt; I accept everything Thou sendest me; only spare me the chastisement of living without Thy love; make me love Thee, and then dispose of me as Thou wilt. Most holy Mary, my refuge and consolation, recommend me to thy Son: his death and thy intercession are all my hope.

1“Nimiam charitatem.”

2“Æterna redemptione inventa.” – Heb. ix. 12.

3“Cum Christus apparuerit, vita vestra.” – Col. iii. 4.

4“Ego veni ut vitam habeant, et abundantius habeant.” – John, x. 10.

5“Mortuus est Christus, ut, et qui vivunt, jam non sibi vivant, sed ei qui pro ipsis mortuus est.” – 2 Cor. v. 15.

6“In hoc enim Christus mortuus est et resurrexit, ut et mortuorum et vivorum dominetur.” – Rom. xiv. 9.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - First Saturday

Meditation VII.

The Son of God was laden with all our Iniquities.

Deus Filiunt suum mittens in similitudinem carnis peccati, et de peccato damnavit peccatum in carne.

“God sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, even of sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” – Rom. viii. 3.

Consider the humble state to which the Son of God chose to abase himself; he not only vouchsafed to take upon him the form of a servant, but that of a sinful servant: In the likeness of sinful flesh.¹ Therefore St. Bernard writes: “He not only assumed the form of a servant, that he might be under subjection, but even that of a wicked servant, that he might be beaten.”² He not only would assume the condition of a servant to be subject to others, he who was Lord of all; but even the appearance of a criminal servant, to be punished as a malefactor, he who was the Saint of all saints. For this end he clothed himself with the same flesh of Adam which had been infected by sin. And although he did not contract the stain of sin, nevertheless he took upon himself all the miseries which human nature had contracted as a penalty for sin.

Our Redeemer, in order to obtain for us salvation, offered himself voluntarily to his Father to make satisfaction for our sins: He was offered because it was His own will.³ And his Father loaded him with all our crimes: He hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.⁴ And thus behold the divine Word, innocent, most pure, and holy, behold him even from his infancy charged with all the blasphemies, with all the unsightliness, with all the sacrileges, and with all the crimes of men; become for the love of us the object of the divine malediction, on account of the sins for which he had bound himself to satisfy the divine justice. So that Jesus charged himself with as many maledictions as there have ever been, or ever shall be, mortal sins committed by all mankind. And thus he presented himself to his Father, when he came into the world, even from his birth, as a criminal and a debtor, guilty of all our sins, and as such was condemned by his Father to die as a malefactor accursed on across: And of sin hath condemned sin in the flesh.⁵

Oh, if the eternal Father were capable of feeling sorrow, what anguish of mind would he not have felt at being obliged to treat as a criminal, and as the most villainous criminal in the world, this innocent Son, his beloved one, who was worthy of all his love! Behold the Man,⁶ said Pilate, when he showed him to the Jews covered with stripes, in order to move them to compassion towards this innocent one who had been thus ill-treated. Behold the Man, the eternal Father seems to say to us all, showing him to us in the stable of Bethlehem. This poor child (he says) whom you behold, laid on a manger for beasts, and stretched on straw, is my beloved Son, who is come into the world to take upon himself your sins and your sorrows; love him, therefore, because he is infinitely worthy of your love, and you are under infinite obligations to love him.

Affections and Prayers.

O my innocent Saviour, mirror without spot, love of the eternal Father, chastisements and maledictions did not belong to Thee, but to me, a miserable sinner; but Thou wouldst show to the world the excess of love Thou didst bear us by sacrificing Thy life to obtain for us pardon and salvation, and paying by Thy sufferings the penalties which we had incurred by our sins. May all creatures praise and bless Thy mercy and Thy infinite bounty! I thank Thee on behalf of all men, but especially for myself; because as I have offended Thee more than others, so Thou hast hast suffered the pains which Thou didst endure more for me than for others, Accursed a thousand times be all those sinful pleasures which I have delighted in, and which have cost Thee so much sorrow! But since Thou hast paid the price of my ransom, I beseech Thee let not the blood which Thou has spilled for love of me be lost to me. I am sorry that I have despised Thee, O my love; but oh, grant me more sorrow; make me know the evil I have committed in offending Thee, my Redeemer and my God, who hast suffered so much to oblige me to love Thee! I love Thee, O infinite Bounty, but I desire to love Thee more; I desire to love Thee as much as Thou deservest to be loved. O my Jesus, do Thou cause Thyself to be loved both by me and by all men; for Thou dost indeed deserve to be loved. I pray Thee, enlighten the minds of those sinners who will not know Thee or will not love Thee; make them understand what Thou hast done for the love of them, and the ardent desire Thou hast for their salvation. Most holy Mary, pray to Jesus for me, and for all sinners; obtain for us light and grace to love thy Son, who has loved us so much.

1“In similitudinem carnis peccati.”

2“Non solum formam servi accepit, ut subesset, sed etiam mali servi, ut vapularet.” – Serm. de Pass.

3“Oblatus est, quia ipse voluit.” – Isa. liii. 7.

4“Et posuit Dominus in eo iniquitatem omnium nostrum.” – Isa. liii. 6.

5“Et de peccato damnavit peccatum in carne,”

6“Ecce homo.”

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - First Friday

Meditation VI.

Jesus enlightens the World and glorifies God.

Creavit Dominus novum super terram.

“The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth.” – Jer. xxxi. 22.

Before the coming of the Messias the world was buried in a dark night of ignorance and sins. The true God was hardly known, save in one single corner of the earth, that is to say, in Judea alone: In Judea God is known.¹ But everywhere else men adored as gods devils, beasts, and stones. Everywhere there reigned the night of sin, which blinds souls, and fills them with vices, and hides from them the sight of the miserable state in which they are living, as enemies of God and condemned to hell: Thou hast appointed darkness, and it is night; in it shall all the beasts of the wood go about.²

From this darkness Jesus came to deliver the world: To them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen.³ He delivered it from idolatry by making known to them the light of the true God; and he delivered them from sin by the light of his doctrine and of his divine example: For this purpose the Son of God appeared that He might destroy the works of the devil.⁴ The prophet Jeremias foretold that God should create a new child to be the Redeemer of men: The Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth.⁵ This new child was Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, who is the object of the love of all the saints in paradise, and is the love of the Father himself, who thus speaks of him: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.⁶ And this Son is he who made himself man. A new child, because he has given more glory and honor to God in the first moment of his creation than all the angels and saints together have given him, or shall give him for all eternity. And therefore did the angels at the birth of Jesus sing, Glory to God in the highest.⁷ The child Jesus has rendered more glory to God than all the sins of men have deprived him of.

Let us therefore, poor sinners, take courage; let us offer to the eternal Father this Infant; let us present to him the tears, the obedience, the humility, the death, and the merits of Jesus Christ, and we shall make compensation to God for all the dishonor that we have caused him by our offences.

Affections and Prayers.

My eternal God, I have dishonored Thee by so often preferring my will to Thine, and my vile and miserable pleasures to Thy holy grace. What hope of pardon would there be for me, if Thou hadst not given me Jesus Christ on purpose that he might be the hope of us miserable sinners? He is a propitiation for our sins.⁸ Yes; for Jesus Christ, in sacrificing his life in satisfaction for the injuries we have done Thee, has given Thee more honor than we have dishonor by our sins. Receive me, therefore. O my Father, for the love of Jesus Christ. I repent, O infinite Goodness, of having outraged Thee: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before Thee: I am not worthy to be called Thy son.⁹ I am not worthy of forgiveness; but Jesus Christ is worthy to he heard favorably by Thee. He prayed once for me on the cross, Father, forgive;¹⁰ and even now in heaven he is constantly begging Thee to receive me as a son: We have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who ever intercedes for us.¹¹ Receive an ungrateful son, who once forsook Thee, but now returns, resolved to desire to love Thee. Yes, my Father, I love Thee, and will always love Thee. O my Father, now that I know the love that Thou hast borne me, and the patience Thou hast shown me for for so many years, I trust no longer to live without loving Thee. Give me a great love, that may make me constantly lament the displeasure I have given Thee, who art so good a Father; cause me ever to burn with love towards Thee, who art so loving a Father. My Father, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee! O Mary! God is my Father, and thou art my mother. Thou canst do all things with God; help me; obtain for me holy perseverance and his holy love.

1“Notus in Judæa Deus.” – Ps. lxxv. 2.

2“Posuisti tenebras et facta est nox; in ipsa pertransibunt omnes bestiæ silvæ.” – Ps. ciii. 20.

3“Habitantibus in regione umbras mortis, lux orta est eis.” – Isa. ix. 2.

4“In hoc apparuit Filius Dei, ut dissolvat opera diaboli.” – I John, iii. 8.

5“Creavit Dominus novum super terram.”

6“Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui.” – Matt. xvii. 5.

7“Gloria in altissimis Deo.” – Luke, ii. 14.

8“Ipse est propitiatio pro peccatis nostris.” – I John, ii. 2.

9“Pater! peccavi in cœlum et coram te; jam non sum dignus vocari filius tuus.” – Luke, xv. 21.

10“Pater! dimitte illis.” – Luke, xxiii. 34.

11“Interpellat pro nobis.” – Rom. viii. 34.

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - First Thursday

The Abasement of Jesus.

Formam servi accipiens.

“Taking the form of a servant.” – Phil. ii. 7.

The eternal Word descends on earth to save man; and whence does he descend? His going out is from the end of heaven.¹ He descends from the bosom of his divine Father, where from eternity he was begotten in the brightness of the saints. And where does he descend? He descends into the womb of a Virgin, a child of Adam, which in comparison with the bosom of God is an object of horror; wherefore the Church sings, “Thou didst not abhor the Virgin’s womb.”² Yes, because the Word being in the bosom of the Father is God like the Father, is immense, omnipotent, most blessed and supreme Lord, and equal in everything to the Father. But in the womb of Mary he is a creature, small, weak, afflicted, a servant inferior to the Father, taking the form of a servant.³

It is related as a great prodigy of humility in St. Alexis that, although he was the son of a Roman gentleman, he chose to live as a servant in his father s house. But how is the humility of this saint to be compared with the humility of Jesus Christ? Between the son and the servant of the father of St. Alexis there was, it is true, some difference; but between God and the servant of God there is an infinite difference. Besides, this Son of God having become the servant of his Father, in obedience to him, made himself also the servant of his creatures, that is to say, of Mary and Joseph: And he was subject to them.⁴ Moreover, he made himself even a servant of Pilate, who condemned him to death, and he was obedient to him and accepted it; he became a servant to the executioners, who scourged him, crowned him with thorns, and crucified him; and he humbly obeyed them all, and yielded himself into their hands.

O God! and shall we, after this, refuse to submit ourselves to the service of so loving a Saviour, who, to save us, has subjected himself to such painful and degrading slavery? And rather than be the servants of this great and so loving a Lord, shall we be content to be slaves of the devil, who does not love his servants, but hates them and treats them like a tyrant, making them miserable and wretched in this world and in the next? But if we have been guilty of this great folly, why do we not quickly give up this unhappy servitude? Courage, then, since we have been delivered by Jesus Christ from the slavery of hell; let us now embrace and bind around us with love those sweet chains, which will render us servants and lovers of Jesus Christ, and hereafter obtain for us the crown of the eternal kingdom amongst the blessed in Paradise.

Affections and Prayers.

My beloved Jesus, Thou art the Sovereign of heaven and earth; but for the love of me Thou hast made Thyself a servant even of the executioners who tore Thy flesh, pierced Thy head, and finally left Thee nailed on the cross to die of sorrow. I adore Thee as my God and Lord, and I am ashamed to appear before Thee, when I remember how often, for the sake of some miserable pleasure, I have broken Thy holy bonds, and have told Thee to Thy face that I would not serve Thee. Ah, Thou mayst justly reproach me: Thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve.⁵ But still, O my Saviour, Thy merits and Thy goodness, which cannot despise a heart that repents and humbles itself, give me courage to hope for pardon: A contrite and humble heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.⁶ I confess, my Jesus, that I have offended Thee greatly; I confess that I deserve a thousand hells for the sins I have committed against Thee; chasten me as Thou seest fit, but do not deprive me of Thy grace and love. I repent above every other evil of having despised Thee. I love Thee with my whole heart. I propose from this day forth to desire to serve Thee and love Thee alone. I pray Thee bind me by Thy merits with the chains of Thy holy love, and never suffer that I see myself released from them again. I love Thee above everything, O my deliverer; and I would prefer being Thy servant to being master of the whole world. And of what avail would all the world be to him who lives deprived of Thy grace? “My sweetest Jesus, permit me not to separate myself from Thee, permit, me not to separate myself from Thee.”⁷ This grace I ask of Thee, and I intend always to ask it; and I beg of Thee to grant me tins day the grace to repeat continually to the end of my life this prayer: My Jesus, grant that I may never again separate myself from Thy love. I ask this favor of thee also, O Mary, my Mother: help me by thy intercession, that I may never separate myself again from my God.

1“A summo cœlo egressio ejus.” – Ps. xviii. 7.

2“Non horruisti virginis uterum.”

3“Formam servi accipiens.” – Phil. ii. 7.

4“Et erat subditus illis.” – Luke ii. 51.

5“Rupisti vincula mea, et dixisti: Non serviam.” – Jer. ii. 20.

6“Cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.” – Ps. l. 19.

7“Jesu dulcissime! ne permittas me seperari a te; ne permittas me seperari a te.”

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Meditations for Every Day of Advent - First Wednesday

Meditation IV.

The Word was made Man in the Fulness of Time.

Ubi venit plenitudo temporis misit Deus Filium suum.

“When the fulness of time was come, God sent His Son.” – Gal. iv. 4.

Consider that God allowed four thousand years to pass, after the transgression of Adam, before he sent his Son upon earth to redeem the world. And in the mean time, oh, what fatal darkness reigned upon the earth! The true God was not known or adored, except in one small corner of the world. Idolatry reigned everywhere; so that devils and beasts and stones were adored as gods.

But let us admire in this the divine Wisdom: he deferred the coming of the Redeemer in order to render his advent more welcome to man, in order that the malice of sin might be better known, as well as the necessity of a remedy and the grace of the Saviour. If Jesus Christ had come into the world immediately after the fall of Adam, the greatness of this favor would have been but slightly appreciated. Let us therefore thank the goodness of God for having sent us into the world after the great work of redemption was accomplished. Behold, the happy time is come which was called the fulness of time: When the fulness of time was come, God sent his Son, . . . that he might redeem them that were under the law.¹

It is called fulness, on account of the fulness of grace which the Son of God came to communicate to men by the redemption of the world. Behold the angel who is sent as ambassador into the town of Nazareth to announce to the Virgin Mary the coming of the Word, who desires to become incarnate in her womb. The angel salutes her, calls her full of grace and blessed among women. The humble Virgin, chosen to be the Mother of the Son of God, is troubled at these praises on account of her great humility: but the angel encourages her, and tells her that she has found grace with God; that is to say, that grace which brought peace between God and man, and the reparation of the ruin caused by sin. He then tells her that she must give her Son the name of Saviour: Thou shalt call his name Jesus;²—and that this her Son is the very Son of God, who is to redeem the world, and thus to reign over the hearts of men. Behold, at last Mary consents to be the Mother of such a Son: Be it unto me according to Thy word.³ And the eternal Word takes flesh and becomes man: And the Word was made flesh.⁴

Let us thank this Son, and let us also thank his Mother, who, in consenting to be the mother of such a Son, consented also to be the Mother of our salvation, and Mother also of sorrows, accepting at that time the deep abyss of sorrows that it would cost her to be the Mother of a Son who was to come into the world to suffer and die for man.

Affections and Prayers.

O divine Word, become man for me, though I behold Thee thus humbled and become a little infant in the womb of Mary, yet I confess and acknowledge Thee for my Lord and King, but a king of love. My dearest Saviour, since Thou hast come down upon earth and clothed Thyself with our miserable flesh, in order to reign over our hearts, I beseech Thee come and establish Thy reign in my heart also, which was once, alas, ruled over by Thine enemies, but is now, I hope, Thine, as I desire that it may be always Thine, and that from this day forth Thou mayest be its only Lord: Rule Thou in the midst of Thy enemies.⁵ Other kings reign by the strength of arms, but Thou comest to reign by the power of love; and therefore Thou dost not come with regal pomp, nor clothed in purple and gold, nor adorned with sceptre and crown, nor surrounded by armies of soldiers. Thou comest into the world to be born in a stable, poor, forsaken, placed in a manger on a little straw, because thus Thou wouldst begin to reign in our hearts. Ah, my infant King, how could I so often rebel against Thee, and live so long Thy enemy, deprived of Thy grace, when, to oblige me to love Thee, Thou hast put off Thy divine majesty, and hast humbled Thyself even to appearing, first, as a babe in a cave; then as a servant in a shop; then as a criminal on a cross? Oh, happy me, if, now that I have been freed (as I hope) from the slavery of Satan, I allow myself forever to be governed by Thee and by Thy love! O Jesus, my King, who art so amiable and so loving to our souls, take possession, I pray Thee, of mine; I give it entirely to Thee; accept it, that it may serve Thee forever, but serve Thee only for love. Thy majesty deserves to be feared, but Thy goodness still more deserves to be loved. Thou art my King, and shall be always the only object of my love; and the only fear I shall have will be the fear of displeasing Thee. This is what I hope. Do Thou help me with Thy grace. O Mary, our dear Lady! it is for thee to obtain for me that I may be faithful to this beloved King of my soul.

1“Ubi venit plenitude temporis, misit Deus Fihum suum . . . ut eos, qui sub lege erant, redimeret.”

2“Vocabis nomen ejus Jesum.” – Luke, i. 31.

3“Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.”

4“Et Verbum caro factum est.”

5“Dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum.” – Ps. cix. 2.

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