Meditations for Each Day 29: JESUS MANIFESTS His LOVE OF THE ETERNAL FATHER

1 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!

JESUS MANIFESTS His LOVE OF THE ETERNAL FATHER

During his Passion

0 Most Amiable Jesus, Thou didst bear the torments of the Cross and of death 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's joy" (Cant. 3, it), to show that Thou didst find joy and satisfaction in suffering. 0 m y 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 m y soul, and imprint upon my heart intense hatred for the delights and pleasures of this earth, and a particular affection for hard work and suffering.

The Death of Jesus is an Object of Love

And a Model for Us

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 watchers, 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 together with 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 dis

positions with which Thou didst die. Grant that the last moments of my life and my last breath may be consecrated to Thee and that they may be acts of most pure and perfect love for Thee.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"Christ died for all." Pro omnibus mortuus est Christus (2 Cor. 5, 15)

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Saturday

The Life of Jesus in Mary and of Mary in Jesus

Jesus Lives in Mary

0 JESUS, Thou only Son of God, only Son of Mary, I contemplate and adore Thee, the Divine Author of her existence, living and reigning in Thy most holy Mother. Thou art all and dost all in all things, 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 i n her, accomplishing greater works and giving to Thyself, in and by her, greater glory than through 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 being 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 perfections.

Mary Lives in Jesus

0 Mother of Jesus, I honor and venerate thy most holy and admirable life in thy Son Jesus; a life which is resplendent with every kind of virtue and perfection; a life of which one single moment is more

dear to God than the lives of all angels and men; a life that imparts 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 the wealth of honor thou hast given to thy Well-beloved Son throughout thy life! I offer thee all my life, 0 Mother of being and grace, and I consecrate i t completely to the honor of thy holy life, and with my whole heart I beg thy Son Jesus, the God of being and love, to grant by His great goodness that my whole existence may pay continual and eternal homage to His most holy life and to thine.

Jesus Lives in Us

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 having 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 i n me, and in me glorify Thyself completely according to Thy most holy will. 0 Mother of Jesus, if i t please thee, obtain from thy Son the accomplishment of these designs in me.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"For to me, to live is Christ." Mihi vivere Christus est (Phil. 1, 21). 33-

Sunday

The Glorius life of Jesus in Heaven

Jesus Lives a Glorious Life with the Eternal Father

0 JESUS, having considered and adored Thee in Thy mortal life, the agony of the Cross, the shadow of death and 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 the Resurrection, which Thou hast enjoyed in heaven in the bosom of the Father since the Ascension. 0 immortal and glorious life of my Jesus! 0 life entirely free from the sorrow and suffering of this earth! 0 life completely rapt and absorbed in God! 0 life of undiluted love, of love most pure and all - encompassing, because in His heavenly life Jesus finds no thought other 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 life most holy, 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 i s God ! 0 my Dear Jesus, what joy for my heart to behold Thee living such a radiant life! May Thy Most Lovable Father be blessed forever for having brought Thee into heaven.

Jesus Lives in Glory with his Saints

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 i n omnibus (I 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 in 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 render Thee forever.

Jesus Will Live in Glory with Me in Heaven

0 Jesus, object of all desire, I know that Thy love for me is infinite, that Thy extreme zeal for Thy glory most ardently desires Thy Self to be perfectly loved and glorified in me, and also that Thou hast an in. finite desire to draw me to Thee in heaven. I know 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 remain on earth. Therefore., 0 my Saviour, I no longer desire to live on earth except to long without ceasing for my heavenly home. 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!

Ejaculatory prayer:

"Let us dwell in spirit in heaven." Mente in coelestibus habitemus.

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Another Meditation for Sunday

The Mysteries of Christ's life

We Should Adore and Love Jesus

In his Mysteries

0 JESUS my Lord, I cast myself down and efface 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, i n Thy hidden life of labor, in Thy public ministry among men, both when Thou didst live and walk 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, interior and exterior, and in the last moment of Thy passible life. I adore Thee in Thy Me 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 render 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 fitting to Thy glory.

We Should Ask Jesus to Grant Us a

Participation in his Mysteries

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 aspects and ramifications, may be totally dedicated to the honor of Thy life and Thy sovereign being. May m y birth in nature and in grace, my childhood, adolescence and my years of activity as a mature man, m y 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, Thy childhood, Thy adolescence, Thy maturity, Thy passion, Thy death and Thy 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 in 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