Part six (3): Viii. Seven Methods of Venerating the Mysteries of Our Lord

Dev0tion to the Mysteries of Our Lord Jesus Christ 263

gether because in her the Son of God wrought greater wonders by each of His mysteries than He operated i n all His angels and saints or in the entire universe. So also, the Blessed Virgin gave more honor by herself to all her Son's mysteries than all the angels and saints, and the whole world put together.

The sixth aspect is the participation of the angels and saints, who belong specially to each of the mysteries of Christ. Every mystery has its own angels and saints who are dedicated to it by special participation, concern and association.

For example, the angels and saints of the mystery of the Incarnation are St. Joseph, St. Gabriel, all the saints who have ever cultivated special devotion to this mystery and one particular order of angels-we know not which, although it seems likely that it is the Seraphim-who are dedicated to honor this mystery in a special way because it is a mystery of love.

The angels and saints of the mystery of the Nativity are St. Joseph, St. Gabriel, the watchful shepherds, the saints who have cultivated special devotion to this mystery, like St. Bernard, and many others.

The angels and saints of the mystery of the Childhood of Christ are once again St. Joseph and St. Gabriel: for these, together with the most Blessed Virgin, have a part in all the mysteries of the Son of God. There is also St. John the Baptist, who was sanctified by the Child Jesus; then St. Zachary and St. Elizabeth; St. Simeon, the just man who received and held the child Jesus in his arms on the day of His Presentation; St. Anna, the' prophetess, who was also in the Temple that day and likewise, as we may readily believe, received Him into her arms. Then the Three Wise Men, the Holy Innocents, and all the guardian angels of these saints, as well as many other saints and angels, unknown to us but dear to Our Lord.

The angels and saints of the hidden life of Our Lord are St. Joseph, St. Gabriel, St. John the Baptist, and all the saints with whom He was associated during His hidden life and all the saints who ever led a hidden and solitary life, and another order of angels, we know not which. For just as the order of Thrones i s especially dedicated to honoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, as He Himself revealed to Blessed Angela of Foligno, so it is also very probable

that each of the other mysteries has some particular order of angels assigned to its special Honor.

The angels and saints of Christ's public life and ministry include all the holy apostles and disciples, all the saints who were His companions in the course of His public life and ministry, and the guardian angels of all these saints.

The angels and saints of the mystery of His Passion, Cross and death are especially St. Gabriel, St. John the Evangelist, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Martha, Salome, the other holy women gathered at the foot of His Cross, all the holy martyrs, all the saints who, have had remarkable devotion to this mystery and another order of angels unknown to us.

The seventh aspect to be considered and revered is your own singular and special share in the mysteries of Jesus Christ. You have a very particular part in each mystery of the Son of God, inasmuch as He had some thought, some plan, some special love for each one of you, and the design to impart to you special graces and special favors, both on earth and in heaven by every mystery of His perfect life. This obliges you also to pay a particular honor to each of His mysteries.

Viii. Seven Methods of Venerating the Mysteries of Our Lord

The mysteries of Jesus are so admirable and worthy of honor that we are bound by many obligations to honor them; therefore we should omit nothing that may be done or suffered in their honor, but must glorify them in every possible way. Now here are seven methods by which you can and must honor them.

1. By thoughts, considerations, affections, dispositions and inward acts, applying your hearts and your minds to contemplate and reflect upon these mysteries to adore them and give them glory.

2. By your words, your speech and your conversations with your friends. All the conversation and communication which Christians hold one with another on earth should have no other subject but Jesus Christ and the virtues and mysteries of His life, just as they shall have no other topic in heaven.

3. By all your outward acts of devotion such as the celebration for bearing of Holy Mass, receiving Holy Communion, going to Confes

sion, or hearing Confessions, reciting the divine office and all the other customary exercises. You should also honor them by the external acts performed each day, referring and offering all these things to Jesus i n veneration of the mystery you propose to honor. For example, if you intend to honor the mystery of the Incarnation, you should offer Our Lord the above acts in words like these:

"0 Jesus, I offer Thee this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, this Holy Communion, and all the other acts that I shall perform today, in honor of the most adorable mystery of the Incarnation."

4. By the practice of humiliation, mortification and penance, offering them to Jesus for this same end

5. By imitation, when you strive to reproduce within yourself the mystery you would honor, in so far as it can be imitated. For instance, if you are to honor the mystery of the Childhood of Jesus, you should try to imitate Him in the simplicity, humility, meekness, obedience, purity and innocence of His holy Childhood, and thus to imprint upon yourself an image of the divine Childhood. This is one of the most perfect ways of honoring the mysteries of Jesus.

6. By your mental attitude, when you honor the mysteries of Jesus not only by a few passing exterior or interior acts, but when you are in a stable and permanent state of mind which of itself pays uninterrupted honor to some mystery of Jesus. For instance, if you live in interior or exterior poverty, and this state is borne with patience and submission to God, you honor by your very state the poverty of Christ, and thus your condition is the means of paying continuous honor to the state Of poverty to which Jesus was voluntarily reduced while He was on earth.

If by some infirmity or illness you are reduced to a state of weakness so that you can scarcely move and take care of yourself, and you bear this condition with submission to the will of God, in honor of the helplessness to which Jesus was reduced in His Childhood, your state gives honor to the state of helplessness and feebleness of the Child Jesus.

If yours is a retired and solitary state of life, and you love your solitude for the love of God, you honor, by your state, the hidden and solitary life of Jesus.

If your condition is a cross to you, full of interior and exterior pain and suffering, which you bear with humility and love, in honor of the cross and afflictions of Jesus, you honor by your state the mystery of the Passion and sufferings of Jesus.

7. This method of honoring the mysteries and states of the Son of God is most excellent. They should be honored by a most humble and searching recognition of your unworthiness, incapacity and impotence to accord them the veneration they deserve, recognizing that there is nothing in you worthy to be employed i n their honor, but rather that all in you of yourself is an obstacle to the glory you should give them, because Jesus is the only one worthy to honor Himself and His mysteries as they deserve. For this reason you should supplicate Him to glorify them Himself in you, in every way He desires.

Ix. Seven Other Methods of Honoring the Mysteries of Jesus

I have said above that one of the methods to honor Jesus is by your dispositions and interior acts. Now here are seven of these, which you may use in order to converse inwardly with Jesus on the subject of His mysteries.

1. You must contemplate, adore, glorify and love Jesus in all that is contained, in general, by the complete mystery, in all its circumstances and all that goes with it. Then, if you wish to study the details of the mystery, you may contemplate, adore, love and glorify Him in all that He is (1) in the body and exterior of the mystery; (2) in the spirit and interior of the mystery; (3) in the effects He brought about by the mystery; (4) in His intentions in each mystery; (5) in the participation of the Blessed Virgin; ( 6 ) in the part taken by the angels and saints belonging to the mystery; (7) in your own part in it.

2. YOU should rejoice and behold Jesus so great, so admirable, so full of love, charity, sanctity and every sort of virtue and perfection, in each mystery. So, too, you ought to rejoice to see Him love and glorify His Father so highly and so fittingly in this mystery, and to contemplate Him so perfectly and so magnificently loved and glorified by His Father, by His Holy Spirit, by His Blessed Mother, by His angels and by His saints.

3. You must bless and thank Jesus for all the love and glory He has given and will give forever to His Father and Himself, as well as for all the graces and favors He has imparted to you and to the whole world by each mystery. But you must thank Him far more for the glory rendered to His Father and Himself, than for the graces imparted to you by His mysteries, because God's interest ought to be dearer to you than your own. Indeed, it is quite enough for you to thank Him for the glory given by His mysteries to His Father and Himself, without particularly thanking Him for the graces acquired for you. If He has obtained and imparted to you any graces, by His mysteries, it was in order to glorify His Father and Himself in you. Thus, when you thank Him for the glory He has given His Father and Himself by His mysteries, you are also thanking Him for the graces He has given you in each mystery. You then express your profound thanks to Him in a most holy, most disinterested and singleminded manner, which makes you forget yourself and see only God in your inward acts.

4. You should humble yourself at the feet of Jesus and beg His forgiveness for your failure to honor Him, for dishonoring Him by your sins, for the obstacles, both in yourself and in others, which you have put in the way of the glory of this mystery and the accomplishment of its designs. You should beg Him to atone for your fault and to make to Himself a hundredfold return for all the honor you ought to have given Him in this mystery, and also implore the Eternal Father, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Virgin, and all the angels and saints to make reparation for your failings, and to make on your behalf a hundredfold recompense to your loving Saviour.

5. You should refer to Jesus all the effects of grace, glory and holiness He ever brought about, i n heaven and on earth, by each mystery. You should offer Him all the glory, love and praise which ever were or,ever shall be rendered to Him in each of His mysteries, by the Eternal Father, the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Mother, the angels and saints, particularly by those who belong more intimately to each mystery, and by all the creatures that exist in heaven, on earth and in hell. I have already said that all the divine mysteries are honored even in hell by the power of His divine justice. You ought to unite yourself

to all the honor which has been, is, and ever shall be given to the mysteries of Jesus in the whole universe and by all things. You should invoke the Eternal Father, the Holy Ghost, the Blessed Virgin, the angels and saints, especially those that have a particular association with the mystery, to, join your homage to the honor they give and ever shall give to the mysteries of Jesus.

6. You should surrender yourself to Jesus to honor this mystery, in every way He desires. After you have exerted all the strength and capacity it shall please Him to give you, you should then beseech Him to honor the mystery Himself, in you, with all the power and holy resourcefulness of His mind and love. You should beg Him to annihilate in you all that is contrary to the glory of this mystery, and to produce in you, by this mystery, all the graces and effects He wills, so that He may rule you according to the spirit and the grace of the mystery, and consummate it in you, and, finally, accomplish in us all the designs He has, i n this mystery, in your regard. Then you should give yourself to Him to do and suffer all that He wills, with that end in view.

7. You should ask Jesus to imprint on your heart and on the hearts of all Christians a very great zeal for the glory of His mysteries and to destroy everything that presents an obstacle to their glorification. You should implore Him to cause them to be known and glorified by all men as much as He desires and to consummate them in His Church, fulfilling all the designs which He cherishes in His mysteries. You should offer yourself yet again to Him to do and suffer, for this intention, anything He may will.

These are a few ways of honoring the mysteries of Jesus, and you may choose those which best suit your individuality, making your choice according to the grace Our Lord shall give you, and according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

But, in order to facilitate the practice, I shall now condense these seven last ways into a prayer which I dedicate to the holy Childhood of Jesus, which you may apply in turn to each of His other mysteries individually.

X. PRAYER To HONOR THE HOLY CHILDHOOD OF JESUS

1. 0 Good Jesus, I adore, love and glorify Thee in all the thoughts, designs, sentiments, dispositions and interior occupations of Thy holy soul as a child, with regard to Thy Father, Thyself, Thy Holy S pirit , Thy Holy Mother, Thy angels and saints and in particular to me.

2. I rejoice, 0 Good Jesus, to contemplate Thee in the state of Thy Childhood, and to behold Thee love and glorify the Eternal Father so ardently, and so filled with virtues. excellences, and greatness evenas a child.

3. I give Thee infinite thanks for all the love and glory Thou hast rendered to the Father and Thyself in the divine mystery whereby Thou didst grow from infancy to manhood.

4. I beg Thee to forgive me, 0 my Saviour, for my failure to venerate Thy blessed Childhood, and for all the obstacles I have put in the way of the graces Thou didst plan to effect in me by this mystery. Atone, I beg Thee, for my defects and give Thyself for me a hundredfold return to pay my debt. 0 Father of Jesus, Holy Spirit of Jesus, angels of Jesus and His saints, glorify my Saviour for me in this mystery.

5. 0 Jesus, I refer to Thee all the effects of grace and glory Thou didst accomplish in heaven and on earth through Thy holy Childhood. I offer all the love,and glory that ever has been or shall be given to Thee in this mystery forever, on earth or in heaven, by the Eternal Father, the Holy Spirit, Thy Holy Mother, and all the angels and saints, begging Thee to unite me with their continual praises given forever to Thee i n this mystery.

6. 0 divine Child Jesus, I give myself to Thee to honor the mystery of Thy Childhood in all the ways Thou dost please. Destroy in me everything that opposes the glory of this mystery. Grant me a share in the simplicity, humility, sweetness, purity, innocense, obedience and other virtues of Thy holy Childhood. Place me, by this means, in a state of holy and sacred Childhood and filial devotion which shall be a constant imitation and praise of Thy divine Childhood.

7. 0 Most lovable Jesus, implant in the hearts of all Christians a most ardent zeal for the glory of this divine mystery. Destroy in them

all that stands in the way of that glory. Cause it to be glorified by all men in the manner Thou dost desire, and accomplish all Thy cherished designs in this mystery. I give myself to Thee to do and suffer all Thou dost please, for this intention.

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Devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary

Xl. MANNER OF HONORING JESUS IN MARY, AND MARY IN JESUS

Devotion to the most Blessed Virgin, Mother of God is so pleasing to her Son, and is so dear and commendable to all true Christians, that it is not necessary to recommend it to those who desire to lead a Christian life.

I shall only tell you that you must never separate what God has so perfectly united. So closely are Jesus and Mary bound up with each other that whoever beholds Jesus sees Mary; whoever loves Jesus, loves Mary; whoever has devotion to Jesus, has devotion to Mary. Jesus and Mary are the two first foundations of the Christian religion, the two living springs of all our blessings, the two centres of all our devotion, and the two objectives you should keep in view in all your acts and works. A man is no true Christian if he has no devotion to the Mother of Jesus Christ and of all Christians. St. Anselm and St. Bonaventure assure us that it is impossible for persons who are not loved by the Mother of Christ to have any part with Him. Conversely, it is impossible for anyone to perish upon whom she looks with favor.

As you must continue the virtues of Jesus and keep with you His sentiments, so you must also continue and maintain in your hearts the love, tenderness and devotion that Jesus cherished for His Blessed Mother. He loved her most perfectly and accorded her the very highest honor in choosing her to be His Mother, giving Himself to her as Her Most Beloved Son, taking from her a new being and life, becoming subject to her, following her guidance in outward things during His Childhood and hidden life, afterwards crowning her Queen of heaven and earth, glorifying her and causing her to be glorified by the whole world.

To continue on earth this love and devotion of Jesus towards His most Blessed Mother, you should have a most especial devotion and veneration or her. Now, to honor her as God requires of you, and as she desires, there are three things for you to do:

1. You must see and adore her Son in her, and see and adore Him alone. It is thus that she wishes to be honored, because of herself and by herself she is nothing, but her Son Jesus is everything in her, her being, her life, her sanctity, her glory, her power and her greatness. You should thank Our Lord for the glory He has given to Himself through His admirable Mother. You must offer yourself to Him and ask Him to give you to her, causing all your life and all your acts to be consecrated to the honor of her life and her actions. You must pray that He will make you participate in her admirable love for Him and in her other virtues. You must ask Him to employ your life in her honor, or rather to honor Himself in her, i n whatever way He pleases.

2. You must recognize and honor her first as the Mother of God, then as your own Mother and Queen. You must thank her for all the love, glory and perfect service she rendered to Her Son Jesus Christ our Lord. You must refer to her, after God, your being and your life, subjecting yourself entirely to her as her slave, imploring her to direct you in all your affairs and to assume full power over you, as over something belonging entirely to her, and to dispose of you as she pleases, for the greater glory of her Divine Son. You must beg her to employ all your actions to honor the infinite works of her Son, and to associate you with all the love and praises which she ever gave Him and ever shall give Him throughout eternity.

It is a good thing to make these acts of devotion every day, every every week or at least every month.

To that end, you might use a prayer to the Blessed Virgin contained in 'Part Two" and another prayer that follows presently.

3. You can and should honor the most holy Virgin Mary by thoughts, meditating on the holiness of her life and the perfection of her virtues; by words, taking pleasure in speaking of her perfections and i n hearing them discussed; by actions, offering them to her in honor of and in union with her own; by imitation, striving to imitate our admirable Mother, especially in her charity, her pure love, her detachment from all things and her most divine purity, the thought of which ought to arouse in you a powerful desire to shun and fear more than death the least fault against purity, whether in thought, word or act.