Part four (2): Sixth Meditation-friday

Viii. Sixth Meditation-friday

The Sufferings and Death of Jesus

1. 0 Jesus, Thou art the love and the delight of God and the angels, of heaven and earth. Thou art the God of consolation, the

source of all joy and bliss, joy and blessedness itself. And yet, when I behold Thee on the final day of Thy mortal life, I see that Thou art the object of the wrath and persecution of heaven, earth, hell, of God, men and all creatures. I see the universe and the powers of evil leagued against Thee, expending all their energies in making Thee suffer. Thou art, as it were, a target exposed to every volley of contradiction and outrage. I behold Thee so filled with sorrow, anguish and torments in every part of Thy body and soul, that Thou dost seem to be transformed into pain and sufferings. Hence the Prophet Isaias calls Thee the Man of Sorrows, Virum dolorum (Isa. 53, 3). 0 my Dearest Jesus, what has reduced Thee to so pitiable a state? I t is Thy goodness, my Saviour, and the excess of Thy love. 0 my sweet love, let me adore and love and bless Thee in all Thy sufferings, both interior and exterior; let me adore in Thee the holy and divine dispositions of Thy suffering. With what submission to Thy Father's will, with what deep humiliation under the burden of all the sins of the world, with what charity for us, with what meekness and patience towards Thine enemies Thou didst endure the magnitudes of all sufferings. How ashamed I am to behold my Jesus suffering so extremely, with such dispositions, while I see how sensitive I am to the slightest pain, and so far from sharing His dispositions! 0 Good Jesus, I give myself to Thee to suffer all Thou dost will and I offer Thee all that I have suffered and am yet to suffer in my whole life. May it please Thee to unite my works and trials with Thine; bless them through Thine; use them as Thine own, to glorify the Father and to honor Thy holy Passion. Grant that I may share in the love, humility and other dispositions with which Thou didst suffer!

2. 0 Most Amiable Jesus, the torments of the Cross and of death were borne with so much love for the Father and for us that the Holy Spirit speaks of the day of Thy Passion as the day of Thy Heart'sjoy (Cant. 3, 11) to show that Thou didst find joy and satisfaction in suffering. 0 my Saviour, let me also find my joy and all my happiness in this world in trials and labors, in contempt and sufferings, if by them I can give Thee greater glory and love! Implant these dispositions in my soul, and imprint upon my heart in

tense hatred for the delights and pleasures of this earth, and a particular affection for hard work and suffering.

3. 0 Jesus, I contemplate and adore Thee agonizing and dying on the Cross. I adore Thy last thoughts, words, actions and sufferings, the last use of Thy bodily senses and of the faculties of Thy soul, the last graces Thou didst infuse into the soul of Thy Blessed Mother and the other persons who remained at the foot Of the Cross; Thy last acts of adoration and love for the Heavenly Father; the last sentiments and dispositions of Thy Heart and soul and the last breath that yielded up Thy life. I offer Thee the last moment of my life and my death in honor of Thy holy death and the consummation of Thy life. Bless my death, 0 Jesus, my Saviour, and sanctify it by Thine own; unite it to Thine; grant that I may share the holy and divine dispositions with which Thou didst die. Grant, if it please Thee, that the last things of my life, that my last breath may be consecrated to the honor of Thy last breath, and that it may be an act of most pure and perfect love for Thee.

Ix. Seventh Meditation-saturday

The Life of Jesus in Mary and that of Mary in Jesus

1. 0 Jesus, Thou only Son of God, only Son of Mary, I contemplate and adore Thee living and reigning in Thy most holy Mother, the divine Author of her existence. St. Paul says: Thou art all and dost all in all things (Eph. 1, 23; 1 Cor. 12, 6), so surely Thou art and dost all in Thy most holy Mother. Thou art her life, her soul, her heart, her spirit, her riches. Thou art in her, sanctifying her on earth and glorifying her in heaven. Thou art in her, accomplishing greater works and giving to Thyself, in and by her, greater glory than in all the other creatures of heaven and earth. Thou art in her, clothing her with Thy qualities and perfections, inclinations and dispositions, imprinting in her a most perfect image of Thyself, of all Thy states, mysteries, and virtues, and making her so like Thee, that whoever sees Jesus sees Mary, and he who sees Mary beholds Jesus. Blessed be Thou, 0 Jesus, for all that Thou art and all that Thou dost accomplish in Thy most holy Mother! I offer Thee all the delights,

all the love and all the glory Thou didst ever have or ever shalt have in her.

2. 0 Mother of Jesus, I honor and venerate thy most holy and admirable life in Thy Son Jesus: alife resplendent with every kind of virtue and perfection; a life Of which one single moment is more dear to God than all the lives of angels and men; a life that gives more honor and love to God than all other lives combined in heaven and on earth. This life is none other than the life of thy Son Jesus, which He communicates to thee from moment to moment by a most particular and ineffable favor. Blessed be thou, 0 holy Virgin, for all the honor thou hast given to thy Well-beloved Son in thy whole life. I Offer thee all m y life, 0 Mother of life and grace, and I consecrate it all to the honor of thy life, and with my whole heart I beg thy Son Jesus, the God of life and love, to grant by His great goodness that my whole life may pay continual and eternal homage to His most holy life and to thine.

3. 0 Jesus, God of my life and of my heart, Thou hast a very great desire to dwell in me, and to make me live in Thee an entirely holy and heavenly life. Forgive me for all the ways I have obstructed the fulfilment of Thy desire by my sins and infidelities. Eradicate the corrupt and depraved life of the old Adam. in me, and in its place establish Thy holy and perfect life. Dwell in all Thy fulness in my spirit, heart and soul, and therein accomplish all the works Thou dost desire for Thy glory. Love Thyself in me, and in me glorify Thyself in every way that Thou mayest desire. 0 Mother of Jesus, if it please thee, obtain from Thy Son the accomplishment of these things in me.

X. Eighth Meditation---second Meditation for Sunday

Christ's Life of Glory in Heaven, after His Resurrection

and Ascension

1. 0 Jesus, having considered and adored Thee in Thy mortal life, in the agony of the Cross, in the shadow of death and in the chill of the Sepulchre, let me now adore and contemplate Thee in the exaltation, brightness and delights of the life of glory and blessedness Thou

didst enter by Thy Resurrection, which Thou hast enjoyed in heaven in the bosom of the Father since Thy Ascension. 0 immortal and glorious life of my Jesus! 0 life entirely free from the sorrow and suffering of this earth! 0 life completely hidden and absorbed in God! 0 life of nothing but love, and of love most pure, since, in His heavenly life, Jesus has no other thought than to love His Father, and to love us for His Father, to love, bless and glorify His Father for us, to offer us to His Father and to intercede for us with Him! 0 most holy life, most pure and most divine! 0 life replete with unutterable joy and exultation! 0 life that enjoys the fulness of glory, greatness and bliss which is God! 0 my Dear Jesus, what joy for my heart to behold Thee living such a life! May Thy most amiable Father be blessed forever for having brought Thee into heaven.

2. 0 Jesus, most worthy of love, not only art Thou in Thyself living a life of glory and blessedness, but so also are all the angels and saints who are with Thee in heaven. Thou livest in them, Thou dost communicate to them Thy glorious and immortal life, Thou art glorious and blessed in them, as St. Paul testifies in the words: omnia in omnibus (1 Cor. 12, 6). It is Thou who dost adore, praise, and love Thy Eternal Father in them and by them. Blessed be Thou for all these things, 0 Good Jesus. I refer and offer to Thee the glorified and blessed life of all the citizens of heaven, together with all the love and praise they give Thee now and shall give Thee forever, in homage to the life of bliss and glory which Thou hast i n Thyself. I beg all Thy angels and saints to love and glorify Thee for me, and to associate me with all the love and glory they give Thee and shall give Thee forever.

3. 0 Jesus, Thou object of all desire, I know that Thou dost bear me an infinite love, and by Thy extreme zeal for Thy glory, dost most ardently desire to be perfectly loved and glorified in me, and also that Thou hast an infinite desire to draw me to Thee in heaven, that Thou mayest live perfectly in me and fully establish in me the kingdom of Thy glory and Thy love. Thou wilt not live and reign perfectly in me so long as I am on earth. Therefore, 0 my Saviour, I no longer desire to live on earth except to long without ceasing after heaven. Heaven! 0 heaven! How desirable art thou; how thou dost

call to our love! 0 God of heaven, when will the time come for me to see Thy holy face? When wilt Thou live fully in me and when will I love Thee perfectly? 0 earthly life, how hard, how unbearable art thou! 0 God of my life and of my heart, how long and cruel is this life in which Thou art so little loved and so much offended! But what consoles me, Lord, is that the great apostle, St. Paul, tells me that Thy Father has given us life and raised us from the dead, and caused us to sit down with Thee and in Thee in heaven: Convivificavit nos in Christo, et conresuscitavit; et consedere fecit in coelestibus in Christo Jesu (Eph. 2, 5). Hence I live with Thee in heaven, 0 Jesus, and there I share in all the love, glory and praises Thou dost give to the All-glorious Father, whether by Thyself or through the angels and saints. Indeed, if I am united to Thee by grace, I can say that I am uninterruptedly loving and praising and glorifying the Eternal Father most perfectly, in Thee and with Thee, with the same love, praise and glory with which Thou dost glorify and love Him. Because I am one with Thee, as the member is one with the head, I can say with St. Augustine: wherever my head is, I am, and I live by His life, and all that is His is mine, and I share in all that He does, all His acts and activities belong to me, and in Him and with Him I do everything that He does.

Consequently, 0 my dear Jesus, I am even now in heaven with Thy Blessed Mother, with all Thy angels and saints, and especially in company with those to whom I am particularly united. I participate i n all their praise and love of Thee, and indeed I can say with truth that I ceaselessly love and glorify Thy Father and Thee in them and with them; for both they and I are members of one identical Head and one identical body and are, therefore, all one: consequently, all that is theirs is mine. I share, therefore, all they do; indeed I do in them and with them all that they do. What a consolation it is for me to know that I am already in heaven, and that I there love and glorify God without ceasing! Lord Jesus, how can I possibly love Thee or thank Thee enough for having united me in so close and so holy a union with Thee and with all Thy saints, and for having given me, by this union, such great and profitable means of praising and loving Thee perpetually in heaven and on earth? 0 my Saviour,

let me praise Thee and love Thee on earth as in heaven! May I live on earth a life in conformity with the life I lead in Thee and in Thy saints in heaven! May I do on earth what I do with Thee and with Thy saints in heaven, that is, may I be ever engaged, without interruption, in loving and praising Thee! May I begin my heaven in this world, seeking all my joy and satisfaction in blessing and loving Thee and in doing all Thy holy will, in striving courageously and faithfully to complete the work of grace Thou dost desire to accomplish in me, so that once this work is finished and perfected, Thou mayest come and take me with Thee into the kingdom of Thy eternal love, that I may there love and magnify Thee perfectly, without ceasing, and forever!

Xl. PRAYER TO JESUS ON ALL THE PHASES AND MYSTERIES OF His LIFE, AND A

CONSECRATION OF Every PHASE AND DETAIL OF YOUR LIFE To Him

0 Jesus my Lord, I cast myself down and annihilate myself at Thy feet; I surrender myself to the might of Thy divine spirit and Thy holy love, in their immense power and greatness; I adore, glorify and love Thee in Thyself and in all the mysteries and phases of Thy life. I adore Thee in Thy temporal life on earth for thirty-four years. I adore Thee in the first moment of that life, in Thy holy Childhood, In Thy hidden life of labor, in Thy public ministry among men, both when Thou wast living and walking on earth for all to see, and now that Thou art still among us in the Blessed Eucharist. I adore Thee in all Thy sufferings, whether interior Or exterior, and in the last moment of Thy passable life. I adore Thee in Thy life of glory and bliss in heaven ever since the Ascension. I adore Thee in Thy life in the most Blessed Virgin and in all the angels and saints, whether in heaven or on earth. And, in general, I adore, love and glorify Thee in all the other mysteries and wonders that are embraced in the measureless expanse of Thy life , divine, temporal, and glorified. I bless Thee and give Thee infinite thanks for all the glory Thou didst ever and ever shalt give to the Father in all the phases of Thy life.

I offer Thee all the love and honor Thou ever didst or shalt

receive forever, in all Thy mysteries and states, from all the angels and all the saints, begging them most humbly to love and glorify Thee, for me, in every way possible and proper to Thy glory.

0 Jesus, I give myself to Thee and beg Thee with my whole heart to enter into me, there to destroy all that is not Thee, and to imprint ,a perfect image of Thyself, the states and mysteries of Thy life, Thy qualities and Thy virtues. Come, Lord Jesus, enter into me to destroy all that is not Thee and establish Thyself perfectly, there to be all and do all, that thus my being and my life, in all its aspects and ramifications, may be totally dedicated to the honor of Thy life and Thy sovereign being. May my birth i n nature and in grace, my childhood, adolescence and my years of activity as a mature man, my agony, death and burial, together with all the other phases of my temporal and eternal life, be consecrated to the honor of each successive part of Thy life, Thy birth, childhood, adolescence, Thy maturity, Thy Passion, death and burial, and all the other states of Thy temporal and eternal life. May all my thoughts, words and actions give honor to Thine. May every step I take, all my works and sufferings give honor to every step Thou didst take on earth and all Thy works and sufferings. May all the powers of my soul and all the senses of my body be dedicated to the honor of Thy holy soul and senses of Thy deified body. Finally, may everything that ever was, is, and shall be in me be transformed into ceaseless and eternal adoration, praise and love for Thee. Come Lord Jesus, enter into me; live and reign over me perfectly, and there love and glorify Thyself as befits Thee, to carry out the designs of Thy goodness in my being, to accomplish the work of Thy grace and to establish forever in my heart the kingdom of Thy glory and Thy pure love. Veni, Domine Jesu, veni i n plenitudine virtutis tuae, in sanctitate Spiritus tui, in perfectione mysteriorum tuorum, et in puritate viarum tuarum. Veni, Domine Jesu.

Come, Lord Jesus, enter into me in the fulness of Thy virtue, to destroy all that displeases Thee and execute all that Thou dost desire for Thy glory. Come in the sanctity of Thy spirit to detach me entirely from all that is not Thyself, to unite me perfectly with Thee and to lead me in the path of sanctity in all m y actions. Come in the

perfection of Thy mysteries, that is, to perfect in me what Thou dost deign to operate by Thy mysteries. Come in the purity of Thy ways, to accomplish in me, no matter at what price, and without sparing me i n any way, all the designs of Thy pure love, and lead me in the straight path of that same pure love without permitting me to turn aside, without yielding anything to the inclinations and feelings of corrupt nature and self-love. Come, Lord Jesus!

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