Meditations for Each Day 37 (1): Interior Colloquies

and to lead me in the path of holiness in all my actions. Come in the perfection of Thy mysteries, 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 in any way, all the designs of Thy pure love, and lead me in the straight path of that 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!

Ejaculatory prayer: "Come, Lord Jesus." . Veni, Domine Jesu (Apoc. 22, 20). 39-

Interior Colloquies

OF

The Christian Soul

With God

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Interior Colloquies

Of the Christian Soul with God(1)

First Colloquy

God's Favors to Me Before My Creation

and My Consequent Debt to Him

God Has Loved Me with an Eternal Love

WITH God there is neither past nor future, and everything has always been before Him as present and visible in His eternal light. He cast His divine gaze upon me from all eternity; He looked upon me with the eye of mercy; He thought of me tenderly and ardently; He disposed and ordained, with wondrous kindness, everything that was to happen to me in body and soul and in every circumstance, development and event of my existence and life, even to the hairs of my head; He formed great designs concerning me. He designed to create me with all the natural advantages and perfections He has given me. He designed to preserve me as He does every moment of my life. He designed to create the world and to preserve it in existence for love of me. (1).'The "Interior Colloquies" were first published with the "Meditations on Humility" as Part Eight of The Kingdom ot Jesus. In 1666 St. John Eudes published both series in one separate volume. There are thirteen colloquies. The first eight deal with man as a creature of God, Who is his principle, model and ultimate end. The last four consider man's duties as a Christian, his relations with the Three Divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity and his obligation to renounce Satan and follow Christ. The thirteenth colloquy treats of the choice of a state of life.

The Eternal Father willed to send His Son and to deliver Him up to the death of the Cross to redeem me.

The Son willed to take human flesh and to do and suffer all that He did and suffered in this world for me.

The Holy Ghost willed to form the humanity which was united to the Son in the sacred womb of the Blessed Virgin for love of me and to come into this world Himself to be my light, m y sanctification, the Spirit of my spirit and the Heart of my heart.

Lastly, the Most Holy Trinity willed to bestow upon me all the corporal and spiritual, temporal and eternal favors that He has since given me and will ever give me. And so God had great designs for me from all eternity, Thus, 0 my God, Thou didst bear me in Thy mind and in Thy heart from all eternity. Thus Thou didst think of me and love me an eternity before I was capable of knowing and loving Thee. There never was a time, 0 God of Love, when Thy mind and Thy heart were not concerned about me. "What is a man that thou shouldst magnify him? Or why dost thou set thy heart upon him?" (Job 7, 17). It would almost seem, 0 Eternal Goodness, that Thou hast no sooner thought of Thyself than Thou hast thought of me, no sooner loved Thyself than Thou hast loved me, since Thou hast thought of me and loved me from all eternity.

My God, what shall I do, what shall I render to Thee for Thy eternal love of me? Surely if I had existed from all eternity I should have given and consecrated to Thee my whole soul, my whole heart, all my thoughts, designs and affections. But not having existed from all eternity, I should at least have turned to Thee with my whole mind and will as soon as I was capable of doing so. Alas! I can truly say with St. Augustine; "Too late have I loved Thee, 0 Eternal Goodness." Forgive me, I beseech Thee, 0 my God. I wish to begin now to love, serve and honor Thee with all my heart, with all my soul and with all my strength; I beg Thee to grant me that grace by the infinite love Thou hast borne me from all eternity and give me grace to return Thy love.

God Has Loved Me with a Constant Love

The love, wherewith God loved me before I existed, is not only eternal; it is also continual, immutable and constant. God began to think of me and love me without beginning and He has not ceased. There has been no interruption in His thought or love for me; His mind and His heart have always been turned to me. In spite of the fact that He foresaw all my offenses and ingratitude, it made no change in His invariable and permanent love for me; He never ceased to wish me an infinity of good. I t may truly be said that during the time of His eternal duration, not a single moment elapsed (if there are moments in eternity) without His thinking of me.

0 excessive goodness! 0 eternal and immutable love! May eternal thanks be offered to Thee by all Thy creatures! 0 my God, too late have I known Thee, too late have I loved Thee! Perhaps I have not even yet begun to do so as I ought; but if I have begun, how many interruptions have there been since? How many infidelities have there been? What coldness and remissness! Have mercy, 0 m y God, have mercy on this ungrateful and perfidious sinned Henceforth, I wish with the aid of Thy grace to spend every moment of my life in Thy love and service. To this end, I intend to regulate and arrange my time and my occupation so that everything may be consecrated to Thy glory.

God Has Loved Me with an Infinite and Pure Love

God has not only loved me from all eternity with a constant and invariable love, but He has also loved me with all that He is, that is to say, He loved me with a most pure love, for nothing obliged Him to love me before I existed except His pure goodness. Thus the love of God for me before m y creation has four qualities: it is eternal, immutable, infinite and most pure. I will return thanks for all these blessings; I will humble myself before Him and ask forgiveness for

all my ingratitude. I will excite a great desire to begin in good earnest, and henceforth to employ m y whole life, all my time and all my strength, in loving and honoring Him and causing Him to be loved and honored by others as far as lies in my power; and I will do so purely for love of Him and for His glory. I will beg Him to destroy in me everything that might oppose these resolutions and to give me the grace requisite for their accomplishment. I will beseech the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the angels and the saints to obtain this great grace for me.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"To Thee be praise, glory and love, 0 Blessed Trinity." Tibi laus, tibi gloria, tibi amor, 0 beata Trinitas.

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Second Colloquy

God's Favors to Me by My Creation and Preservation

and My Obligations Towards Him

God Created Me by his Infinite Power, Wisdom and Goodness

Who has created me and given me being and life? Not the world, not the evil spirit, nor myself, but God, by the exercise of infinite power, wisdom and goodness. "He made us, and not we ourselves" (Ps. 99, 3). His infinite power drew me from the nothingness from which I could not emerge save by the power of an Almighty hand. His immense wisdom appears in the wondrous order and arrangement of every faculty of my soul and every part of my body. His ineffable goodness i s manifested in the fact that He drew me out of nothingness to give me not the nature of a stone, not the vegetative life of a plant or a tree, nor the sensitive life of an animal. This He might have done without wronging me and without my having any reason to complain. He willed instead to create me to His own image and like. ness, to give me the many advantages of the time and place of my birth, m y parentage, the perfections of body and mind and other favorable circumstances accompanying m y birth which I should carefully weigh and consider.

"What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things that He hath rendered to me?" (Ps. 1 1 5 , 12) 1 will thank Him, bless Him and love Him with all my heart. I will endeavor to realize that, as God is the author and eternal principle of my being and life, I must, therefore, devote my existence entirely, not to my own interests and inclinations, but to God, to His glory and the accomplishment of His holy will. As God is not only the source whence I came, but also the prototype whose living image I am, I am obliged to imitate Him in His sanctity,

His charity, His patience, His meekness, His vigilance, His justice and His mercy.

I will examine myself to see if I have spent my past life for Him or for others, and whether I have studied to imitate Him, and show forth in my life His likeness rather than that of His enemy. If I find myself guilty, I will humble myself and ask pardon of God for my past infidelity. I will resolve to live in future solely for the Author of my life; to refer myself wholly to Him as to my Principle, I will study the life and perfections of my Divine Exemplar, so as to imitate them and bear His living image in me, with the help of His grace, which I will earnestly beseech of Him for that intention, humbly desiring Him to destroy in me everything that might oppose His admirable designs, and to imprint a perfect likeness of Himself in my soul.

God Created Us for Himself

Why did God create me? For Himself, to think of Him, to love Him, to speak of Him, to work for Him and to sacrifice myself for His glory. He is not only my principle and prototype but also m y sole end. Hence, as God made me for Himself alone, I should consider attentively, weigh carefully and engrave deeply upon my mind the truth that I am in this world only to serve and honor Him. This i s my only care and affection. All my thoughts, words and actions, all my time, all I have, all I know, all I can do, should tend towards this purpose of life. God is my last end, and consequently in Him I will find my sovereign good, my centre, my treasure, my glory, my felicity, my repose, and my true paradise; likewise, outside of Him I will find only trouble, anxiety, bitterness, anguish, malediction and hell.

Have I paid attention in the past to this great and important truth? Have I been one of those whom St. Bernard castigates when he says: "Foolish persons who take greatest care of the least things and least care of the greatest." if such is the case with me, I will ask pardon of God and consecrate myself wholly to Him. I will devote myself solely to this work, which is of such consequence that i t entails nothing less than an eternity of bliss or misery.

Preservation is a Continuous Creation Which Increases Our

Obligations to God

God created me not only once, but as many times as there are moments in my life. From the moment of my creation until now, He has borne me in His arms, in His bosom and in His Heart, with more care and love than a mother carries her child, and not a single moment has passed without His thinking of me, loving and preserving me. The most wonderful fact is that He preserved me even when I was offending Him, when He might justly have crushed me and cast me into hell. Now, preservation is continual creation, so much so that if God were to withdraw His Almighty Hand which sustains me, and were to cease for a single moment to preserve me, I would at that very instant return to the nothingness from which He drew me. Therefore, He gives me at each successive moment the identical being He conferred at the first instant of my life and with the selfsame power and goodness with which He gave it to me then. I belong to Him, therefore, by as many ties as there have been moments in my life and I am deeply indebted to Him for each succeeding moment as for the first.

0 my God, since I am Thine by so many claims, and have so many obligations to serve Thee, do not permit sin, the devil, nor the world to have any share in what is Thine, but do Thou take full and entire possession of my being and life. 0 world, 0 prince of the world, 0 detestable sin, I renounce you forever. 0 my God, I consecrate myself to Thee and I declare that I wish to live, act, speak, think and suffer for love of Thee alone.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"Thou hast made me for Thyself, 0 Lord, and my heart can find no rest except it reposeth in Thee." Fecisti me, Domine, ad te, et inquietum est cor meum, donec revertatur in te. St. Augustine, Confessions I, i. 48-

Third Colloquy

The Dignity and Sanctity of Our Ultimate End

OUR ULTIMATE END IS THE SAME As THAT OF THE ANGELS

FOR what end did God make us? For the same end as the angels. God placed us in this world to do what the angels constantly accomplish in heaven. Wherefore, being associated with the angels and created for the same duties, namely, to adore, praise, love and serve God and to follow His most holy W ill always and everywhere, we should live angelic lives and delight in the fulfilment of these duties. Alas, if we examine our life, we will find that instead of imitating the angels in their purity , sanctity, humility, charity, love, submission to the Will of God and fidelity in His service, we have frequently imitated the demons in their malignity, pride, envy, disobedience, treachery and rebellion against God. In fact, instead of devoting ourselves to the functions of angels, we have actually performed the work of demons.

Let us humble ourselves; let us detest our malice; let us forever renounce the prince of darkness. Let us cultivate a great desire to imitate the angels, and to begin to perform on earth what we shall do in union with them for all eternity in heaven. Let us beg them to associate us in the praise they continually offer to God and to make us share in their love and fidelity.

Our Ultimate End is the Same as That of the Saints

God placed us in this world for the same end as the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles and martyrs, the holy bishops, priests and all the other saints who formerly lived upon earth and are now in heaven.

They were men such as we are, men of flesh and blood, frail, mortal, exposed to the same temptations as ourselves. We belong to the same Church as they, we adore the same God, we have the same Saviour and Mediator, Jesus Christ, Our Lord. We share the same Holy Gospel, the same Sacraments, the same faith, the same hope, the same promises. He who sanctified the saints has an infinite desire to sanctify us, too, provided we do not oppose His holy Will. Yet they are saints and they served God " i n holiness and justice before Him," all the days of their life (Luke 1, 75)

As for us, who are we and what arc we doing? What good reason we have to humble ourselves! What shall we say to the Son of God when, on the day of judgment, He will show us all the saints who were like us, and will reveal to us how much easier it was for us to serve Him with them rather than to follow those who are now forced to cry out in bell: "We have erred from the way of truth ... and have walked through hard ways" (Wisd. 5, 6-7).

Let us, therefore, make a firm resolution to walk in the way of the saints, to read and study their lives, especially the lives of those who have been of our saintly calling, so as to imitate them. Let us beg them to obtain this grace for us.

Our Ultimate End is the Same as That of the

Blessed Virgin, of Our Lord and

Of the Three Divine Persons

Not only have we the same destiny as the angels, archangels, cherubim, seraphim and all the saints, but we have also the same end as Mary, the Queen of the angels and saints, as Jesus, the Saint of saints, and as the Three Divine Persons of the Holy Trinity. Why did the Blessed Virgin and our Lord Jesus Christ come upon earth, except to honor and glorify God, and to make Him known and adored? What is the end of the Three Divine Persons but their Divinity? What is their greatest and continuous activity but to praise, bless, love and glorify each other perpetually? God created us for the same end, that is, to honor and glorify Him, to make others know

and serve Him, in every possible way. Thus, we have one and the same end as the angels, the seraphim, all the saints, the Blessed Virgin, the God-man and the Most Holy Trinity.

How noble, how worthy, how holy is our destiny! How elevated is our status in having so high an end! How happy we arc in being created for such exaltation! How miserable we are when we let our minds and hearts, our thoughts and affections, revel in the mud and filth, in the smoke and folly of the base, terrestrial affairs of the children of this world! How deeply we are indebted to our Creator, for having created us for so admirable an end, for having given us such a wondrous alliance with His angels, His saints, His Blessed Mother and Himself I What holy lives we should lead! How pure should be our intentions in every thought, word and action! Yet the majority of men live as if they were only made for earth, honor, wealth, pleasure, self, the world, the devil and bell.

And what have we done so far? Let us stir up a horror of ourselves and our sinful lives. "For in many things we all offend" (James 3, 2). Let us earnestly desire and resolve to be perfectly converted to God, and to live only to tend to our ultimate end and to direct other souls to their eternal destiny.

Ejaculatory prayer:

"What have I in heaven? And besides thee what do I desire upon earth?" Quid mihi est in caelo, et a te quid volui super terram (PS. 72, 25)

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