Part five (2): Exercise for the First and Last Days of the Month

Devotional Exercises to be Done Each

Month to Live a Christian and

Saintly Life and to Make

Jesus Reign in Your Soul

1. Exercise for the First and Last Days of the Month

The first and last day of each month ought to assume great importance for you. You should treat the first day as a new beginning of your life, and excite a fresh desire and resolution to serve and love God perfectly, and to spend that month well in His love and glory, looking upon it as though it were to be the last month of your life. But especially should you consider and make use of the last day of the month as you would wish to spend the last day of your life. The first and last day of each month should be dedicated i n honor of the first and last day of the life of Our Lord, just as you consecrated the first and last day of each year. Thus you Will begin and end each month as well as each year in union with Our Lord. The spiritual exercises to be proposed in 'Part Six" for the beginning and ending of the year may be adapted for each month.

11. the Monthly Retreat

In addition to your annual retreat, it is beneficial to set aside one day in each month, for example, the first Thursday or any other special day, to renew and stimulate the good desires and resolutions adopted in the yearly retreat; to make reparation for your failures in God's service and love during the month. You should apply yourself particularly to God on that day, performing all your ordinary actions with more than ordinary attention and perfection, giving yourself with special care and fervor to exercises of praise and love of Jesus. That is why I insert here various exercises and rosaries of praise, glory, and love for Jesus, which you may use on this day of

retreat, selecting now one, now another, according to the graces God may give you.

But, first, I must tell you that, in order to stir you up and enkindle you with a greater desire to praise and love Jesus, it would be a good thing for you to set apart some time that same day for the attentive consideration of the thoughts I shall set forth in the following meditation.

111. Meditation to Stir You Up to Praise and Glorify Jesus

1. Consider that Jesus is infinitely worthy of all praise, glory and blessing, for every reason in the universe. He deserves infinite praise for all that He is and all that He does for His Eternal Father, glorifying and loving Him infinitely and continually from all eternity and to all eternity; likewise for all that He is in Himself, in His divinity, in all His divine perfections, in His Divine Person, in His sacred humanity, in His body, in His soul, the very least elements of which deserve infinite praise; in all His states and mysteries; in all His qualities and offices; in all His words, thoughts, deeds, and sufferings; i n all His virtues, and in everything that subsists in Him, the very least of which is so deserving of praise that, even if all the angels and saints were to be occupied for all eternity in glorifying and praising it with all their might, they would never be able to render it the glory deserved.

Furthermore, He deserves undying praise for everything that He is and everything that He has accomplished with respect to His holy spirit, His Blessed Mother, all His angels, all His saints, all men, all Christians, and all creatures on earth and even in hell. He deserves no less praise for the effects of His justice than for those of His mercy, since all His divine attributes are equally holy and worthy of adoration. Many are the reasons to bless and glorify Jesus, who so commands your adoration and love! But always remember that you should be much more ready to praise and love Him for what He is and what He does with respect to His Father, Himself, and His Holy Spirit, than for what He is and does for you and for other creatures, because the interests of God ought to be infinitely more dear to you than your own.

2. Consider that the only reason for your existence on earth is to love Jesus and give Him glory. To this you are bound by an infinite number of special reasons, because of the countless graces He has given you. Hence, it should be your chief, nay, your only care and business to make your active life a ceaseless offering of love and glory to Jesus. All your thoughts, words, deeds, and affections should have only this one object in view, to which should be directed the employment of all your time and all the powers of your body and soul. And you see how, instead of loving and glorifying Him, you have done practically nothing else, i n your whole life, but offend Him in your thoughts, words, and actions, and in all the functions of your body and soul. Humble yourself profoundly before Him; ask His forgiveness, and cultivate a fervent desire to make up for all these faults, and to exert yourself from now on to love and glorify Him perfectly.

3. Look back on your whole life and examine it, together with your actions and your behavior, and consider what it is in you that most obstructs the love and glory of Jesus. Then firmly resolve to fight, overcome and destroy this defect at all costs, giving yourself withal to your Loving Jesus and imploring Him to eradicate your predominant fault by the power of His grace and His divine love.

After that, exert all the powers of your soul to praise and glorify your divine Saviour in the following manner, or in any other way He may inspire you, whether it be vocal, or only in your heart i n the form of a meditation.

1v. Exercise to Praise and Glorify Jesus

0 Jesus, most worthy of honor and glory, since Thou art so full of grandeur and perfections that command praises without end ' and since I am in this world only to give Thee glory, I now desire to exert all the powers of my soul and body in blessing and magnifying Thee. I implore Thy Eternal Father, Thy Holy Spirit, Thy Blessed Mother, Thy angels, and saints, and all the creatures in heaven and on earth, to join with me in blessing Thee, for all that Thou art to Thy Eternal Father, to Thyself, to Thy Holy Spirit, to Thy Blessed Mother, to all Thy angels, all Thy saints, to all men, to all Christians, to myself in particular, and to all created things.

0 Kind Jesus, with all my heart I beg Thee to forgive me for having hitherto, instead of praising and glorifying Thee, done hardly anything but dishonor and offend Thee. To satisfy for this, I offer Thee all the praises that ever have been, and ever shall be rendered to Thee in heaven and on earth.

0 my Dear Jesus, I give myself all to Thee. Destroy all in me that militates against Thy glory; transform every thought and function of my body and soul into praises and blessings of Thee. 0 Jesus, Thou art worthy of praise without end; may I be all praise for Thee! If I possessed all the strength of all the creatures in heaven and on earth, I should be obliged to exert all of it in praising Thee. How great, then, i s my obligation to exert what small powers I have. So then, let everything in me be employed and consumed in blessing and magnifying Thee. Benedic, anima mea, Domino et omnia quae intra me sunt, nomini sancto ejus (PS. 102, 1).

0 Jesus, so worthy to be admired, I hear Thy holy word commanding me to bless Thee from all eternity to all eternity: Benedicite Domino Deo vestro ab aeterno usque in aeternum (11 Esd. 9, 5). For this purpose I offer Thee all the blessings that have ever been or ever shall be accorded Thee, from all eternity, by Thy Eternal Father, by Thyself and Thy Holy Spirit, uniting myself with all these blessings, land imploring Thee, in Thy great bounty, to unite my humble praise to the endless voice of all who bless Thee forever.

0 Great Jesus, Thou art omnipresent. By Thy divinity, Thou dost fill up heaven, earth, and even hell with the immense greatness of Thy divine majesty; Thou art most worthy to be loved and glorified in every place. SO, too, art Thou loved and glorified beyond all measure in heaven, on earth and even in hell, by Thy Father and Thy Holy Spirit, who are everywhere with Thee, and everywhere love and glorify Thee without ceasing.

Thus heaven, earth, and even hell are filled with Thy love, Thy glory and praise: Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua (Isa. 6, 3). I say even hell, because it is filled with the love, glory, and praise there given Thee by the infinite justice of The Father and The Holy Spirit. 0 Dearest Jesus, what pleasure and joy for me to behold how the whole world is filled with Thy glory!

Indeed, my Saviour, since Thou art thus in every place, and dost everywhere deserve to be praised,I also desire to praise Thee wherever Thou art. To that end I unite myself with all the glory that is given Thee now in heaven, On earth and in hell, and shall be given Thee forever.

Furthermore, I desire now to descend in spirit into hell and there, in the midst of Thine enemies, i n spite of all their hatred and fury against Thee, to unite myself with the exceeding great love borne for Thee by Thy Father and Holy Spirit in that place. I adore and love and bless Thee with my whole heart, 0 Jesus, my Lord, for all that Thou art in Thyself and in all things, and even for all the effects of justice which Thou dost visit upon the demons and the damned.

0 Jesus, exceedingly to be adored, would that I had in myself all the powers and all the capacity to praise and glorify Thee that were once in the possession of these miserable souls which, by their malice, they have lost, so that I might now exert them in praising and loving Thee!- These traitors now surrender themselves with all their might, with never a pause. Would that I could show at least as much fervor and concentration in praising Thee as they show fury and concentration in blaspheming Thee! Would that I could make some slight reparation for the insults and curses they heap upon my Saviour!

0 Good Jesus, these unhappy souls received from Thee the priceless gifts of being, life and natural perfections, and should use them all for Thy glory; yet they are doing just the contrary. But I must, and I will, give what they fail to give, and in their stead to the things they ought to be doing. For the being, the life and natural perfections of demons and of all reprobates belong to Thee, 0 my God, because they emanate from Thee. Consequently they belong to me, since all things are mine, according to the Holy Apostle: Omnia vestra sunt (I Cor. 3, 22), because, in giving Thyself to me, Thou didst give me all that was Thine. Thus, i t necessarily follows that I can, and must exercise on behalf of Thy glory the being, life and natural perfections of the demons and the damned, because I am bound to exert all the power that belongs to me to give Thee glory and praise. Hence, I offer and refer these things to Thee, 0 my Jesus, as my own possessions and I render Thee homage for them; I cast

them at Thy feet and sacrifice them entirely and forever to Thy praise and Thy glory. Such is the use and employment to which I desire to put the faculties of the damned so that in spite of themselves they may give glory to Thy Holy Name.

0 my God, I desire to descend again in spirit into hell, and put myself in the place that Thou knowest I have deserved by sins, where I should indeed be, if Thou hadst not delivered me by Thy mercy. There I desire to adore and love Thee, 0 my sovereign judge, and to glorify Thee in all the effects of the terrible justice Thou wouldst have inflicted upon me for all eternity, if Thy mercy had not taken pity on m y wretchedness.

0 Most Kind Jesus, I have exceeding great confidence that, in Thy infinite goodness, Thou wilt give me grace to become one of the elect who shall bless Thee forever. But none the less, supposing I were to be so unhappy as to resist the designs of Thy goodness, and by my sins cause myself to become a victim of Thy justice, I should desire at this present moment, 0 great God, voluntarily and through love to do what I should do then, through necessity and compulsion. I mean that I should desire to adore, love and bless, with my whole heart and all my strength, Thy most equitable judgment against me, and all its effects as Thy prophet has said: Justus es, Domine, et rectum judicium tuum: "Thou art just, 0 Lord: and thy judgment i s right" (Ps. 118, 137). And yet, 0 Dearest Jesus, whom I so desire, I recover again my unshakable confidence that in Thy immense mercy Thou wilt deliver me from so great a disaster. For, alas! Non mortui laudabunt te, Domine, neque omnes qui descendunt in infernum. The dead, that is, those who have died the eternal death, shall not praise Thee, 0 Lord, nor shall all those who. go down into hell (PS. 113, 17). Hic ure, hiC seca, modo in aeternum parcas. "Burn, tear, and cut me to pieces, provided only Thou dost pardon me in eternity" (St. Augustine), and provided that I may be numbered among those who shall praise and love Thee forever.

V. Continuation of the Foregoing Exercise

Once I have thus adored and blessed Thee in hell, 0 Jesus exceedingly worthy of love, I desire to proceed in spirit to purgatory, there

to adore, love and glorify Thee similarly, in all the works wrought by Thy justice there, and even in the punishment Thou wilt one day visit upon me, when I shall be in purgatory. So, too, I desire to go there to unite myself with all the love and glory that ever was, is and ever shall be given Thee in that blessed place of purification.

From purgatory I come to the visible world of creation, where I behold three different orders of being, in which I desire to bless and magnify Thee, 0 Jesus, Sovereign Lord of the World.

The first is the order of irrational and inanimate creatures, concerning which Sacred Scripture teaches me that they praise and magnify Thee without ceasing, to the full extent of their being and natural power, and their existence is entirely one of confession, that is, praise and magnificence of Thee. Confessio et magnificentia opus ejus (Ps. 110, 3). 0 my divine Creator, how I rejoice to behold Thee incessantly glorified by all Thy creatures, and to see that all Thy works are filled with Thy glory, according to the divine testimony: Gloria Domini plenum est opus ejus (Eccli. 42, 16), and to hear that the whole universe resounds with Thy praise! How guilty I am, and what a source of confusion it is to me to understand that I have to learn, from insensible creatures, the lesson of the glory I must render to Thy divine majesty. 0 Lord, permit me to unite myself with all the blessings accorded Thee without ceasing by all creatures. 0 you beloved creatures of my God, bless Him, praise Him, exalt Him for me through all the ages: Benedicite omnia opera Domini Domina, laudate et superexaltate eum in saecula (Dan. 3, 57). Divine Creator, do not allow me to live on earth except to join all Thy creatures in ceaselessly blessing Thee.

The second order in the world is the state of the wicked, that is, those who are devoid of all knowledge or love of Thee, 0 most kind Jesus, and who begin to do on earth what the damned do in hell that is, to dishonor and offend Thee continually. Let me, 0 my Jesus, with the help of Thy grace, make up for all they fall to give Thee. Let me love and bless Thee for them, and for all the favors Thou hast given them, of which they make not the slightest acknowledgment to Thy bounty. Let me refer and sacrifice to Thy glory the being, life and natural perfections Thou hast given them, just as I

have referred and sacrificed to Thy glory the being, life and natural perfections of those who are in hell.

The third order which I behold in the world, 0 Jesus, is the good, which embraces the vast number of holy souls living in the world and in many religious communities, who are employed without ceasing i n Thy praise, with such affection and discipline that not a single hour or minute of the day Or night goes by without Thy receiving great glory and praise from them. For this do I rejoice beyond measure, 0 my God, and I desire to unite myself, if it please Thee, with all the benedictions that ever have been, or are now, o r ever shall be given Thee on earth by all the precious souls that belong to Thee.

From earth my thoughts ascend to heaven, where I behold the Eternal Father, the Holy Spirit, Thy Blessed Mother, together with so many millions of Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, Angels, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Priests, Confessors, Virgins, Widows, Innocents and other saints, who are forever engaged in loving and glorifying Thee with all their might, with radiant love and concentration. My Dear Jesus, how glad I am to behold Thee so loved and magnified! I offer up to Thee all this glory and all this praise. 0 Father of Jesus, Holy Spirit of Jesus, Mother of Jesus, and His angels and saints, with all the blessings that you give to Jesus my Lord, include, I pray you, my own also, and allow me to share in the love, attention, purity and sanctity with which you incessantly praise Him, so that I may praise Him with you forever and thus commence here below what I hope and desire to do eternally with you in heaven.

0 Most Divine Jesus, I rejoice beyond all measure that Thou art so full of greatness and perfection, and consequently so deserving of glory and praise that all the creatures on earth and in heaven together are unable to praise Thee according to Thy worth. Thy dignity and worthiness of praise infinitely surpass the whole capacity of heaven and earth to praise Thee, as the Prophet David said: Confessio ejus super coelum et terram (PS. 148, 14). Only the Father and Holy Spirit give Thee praise worthy of Thy infinite greatness. All the

other praises rendered on earth or in heaven are unworthy of Thee, for they are finite, while Thou art deserving of praise that is infinite.

0 Father of Jesus, Holy Spirit of Jesus, what shall I do for You? How shall I repay You for the glory You give to Jesus Christ my Lord? Yes, even though (to imagine the impossible) I had never received nor ever should receive any favor from You, I should none the less desire to love and serve You eternally for the love and the glory that You give to Him who is my all, whom I love more than myself.

0 Father of Jesus, 0 Holy Spirit of Jesus, I implore You with my whole heart, by Your very great love for my Lord, and by Your most ardent zeal for His glory, to atone for all my neglect in pleasing Him, and to make Him a hundredfold return for all the glory I ought to have rendered Him all my life. 0 Good Jesus, I give myself to Thee, to praise and glorify Thee in every way that shall please Thee. Grant that m y life may henceforth be a continual sacrifice of praise and benediction for Thee, but do Thou render infinite blessing to Thyself on my behalf: Benedicite omnes virtutes Domini Domino. Let all the virtues, that is, all the might and powers of Thy divinity and humanity, Lord Jesus, be employed in blessing Thee for me, and in exalting and magnifying Thee incessantly and forever (Dan. 3, 61).