Chapter II. Motives for loving our Lord in the Holy Sacrament of the altar

Article I

The vxmders of the Holy Evxihouristj cmd especially the sacramental species, Our Lord has left ub His Body in the Holy Eucharist, to be therein the memorial of His Passion, the sacrifice of our altars, and the nourishment of our souls. In this mystery of faith Jesus Christ, while giving Himself to us, hides from our eyes and from our senses the boon He bestows upon us, that splendour of beauty, majesty, and glory which is the delight of the blessed ; those treasures, those riches, and those infinite perfections which are the admiration of the Angels ; that perfume of His glorious Body which regales all Paradise ; but faith, supplying the defect of our senses, ought to make us remain as rapt with astonishment, as transported with love and joy at the sight of this divine mystery, as if what He conceals were manifested to us.

We ought to desire neither to see nor to admire any thing else on earth save the Holy Sacrament. Were God Himself capable of admiring, He would admire nothing but this mystery and that of the Incarnation. As for us, what is it we admire ? honour, human talents, other vile and despicable trifles, which one day will fill us with confrision, when at the hour of death we shall see how we have treated our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. To priests, above all, this Adorable Sacrament, whose ministers they are, ought to be as the breath they draw ; as much as possible, they ought to think of nothing else.

§n.

This miracle of the species separated from their subject in the Holy Eucharist is an unheard-of wonder* The like was never under the ancient law. Such a miracle ought to produce a similar one in us^ viz. the separation of our evil inclinations and vicious habits from our soul, to which we may say they are, in a manner, as much attached as the accidents to their substance. The Word of God works daily on our altars in the Holy Sacrament the first miracle ; and it would also work in us the second, which is the end of the first, if we were obedient to it, and co-operated with grace, the fulness of which we possess in the Holy Sacrament.

This miraculous effect has been wrought in many Saints, who by means of communion have wonderfully divested themselves of their defects and the corruption of the old man. Our falls and our miseries ought not to prevent us from hoping that it will be wrought also in us.

God sometimes lets us sink under the weight of our own weakness, and experience the most dangerous wounds of sin, in order to make us know what we are in ourselves ; that seeing ourselves afterwards delivered from our miseries, we may be convinced that it is to the grace and the pure mercy of our Lord we are indebted for our escape, and not to our own endeavours. Never, then, ought we to despair of attaining to perfection, or put bounds to God's designs, contenting ourselves with a certain degree, and not aspiring higher.

Article II

The eocceUence of the Body of our Lord, The love that our Lord displays towards us in the Holy Sacrament constrains us to meditate frequently with delight on the marvellous excellences of this sacred Body, which He has given us to be the nourishment of our souls.

The first is founded on the hypostatic union, in virtue of which Tt is to be adored ; and all that can adorn a body in the order both of nature and of grace, in time and in eternity, is due unto It.

The second is drawn from the greatness and dignity of the Soul, which being full of all the graces and perfections which result from the hypostatic union, must endue the Body with a corresponding nobility.

The third proceeds from the acts of the Soul, of which this sacred Body was the organ, even making abstraction of the hypostatic union. For if the bodies and relics of Saints are worthy of veneration, because they subserved their holy actions, what shall we say of that divine Body which was the instrument of an infinity of acts, the least among which rendered to God an infinite honour ?

The fourth is taken from the purely miraculous manner in which this Body was formed by the Holy Spirit in the chaste womb of the Blessed Virgin, and from the mode in which It is produced upon our altars by the omnipotence of God.

The fifth, from Its having been animated with a divine life, and with a life glorious and beatific.

The sixth, from the great mysteries of our redemption being accomplished in It, and that by Its death God saved the world.

The seventh, from Its being now, properly speaking, the only sacrifice of the new law ;. and that all the sacrifices of the old law were pleasing to God only through the relation they bore to this, as being Its figures.

The eighth, from Its being the chief instrument of the sanctification of souls, whether as being the victim offered to God in perpetual sacrifice for all mankind^ or as being the sacrament instituted to maintain in us the life of grace and to conduct us to that of glory. " He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath everlasting life ; and I will raise him up in the last day. For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed." Admirable words, the meaning of which will never be perfectly understood but in heaven I

Article III

The Eucha/ristic Presence of our Lord is more profitable to us them His sensible Presence was to the Jews.

True it is that the corporal and sensible Presence of our Lord whilst He abode in the world was an inestimable grace. To behold a Grod conversing visibly with men, to hear Him speak, to see Him work miracles, to behold resplendent in His countenance the features of divine majesty, its benignity and sweetness ; to receive Him under one's roof, to give Him food to eat, to talk familiarly with Him, — this was a happiness which methinks might excite the jealousy of Angels. But I am bold to say that it is far more profitable to us to have Him with us as we possess Him invisibly present in the Holy Eucharist ; and it is in this sense that certain of the Fathers explain those words of St. John : "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end." That is to say, the love He shewed His disciples in instituting the Holy Sacrament on the evening before His death, surpassed the love He had shewn them in keeping them near Him during His life.

For 1st, in the mystery of the Eucharist He seems to extend that of the Incarnation to each of the faithful to whom He unites Himself, and restores to us that same nature which He vouchsafed to take of us ; but with this advantage^ that having taken it in its abasement and miseries, He restores it to us wonderfully elevated and united to God, in order to unite us also to Him, and to exalt us to the highest degree of greatness and glory to which we are able to rise.

2. Here He abides day and night as a living victim before the eyes of His Father, appeasing His anger and satisfying His justice, communicating the life of grace and the seed of the Kfe of glory to those who approach Him worthily. So that we ought to picture Him to ourselves upon our altars, continually offering to God the sacrifice of His death, for the very same ends for which He offered it on Calvary, the Sacrifice of the Altar being the figure of that upon the Cross, but a figure which is itself that which it represents. Is not this an advantage to us far more considerable than was the visible Presence of Jesus Christ to the Jews, from which, through their evil disposition, they derived so Uttle fruit 1 3. They possessed Him only in one place. If He was at Jerusalem, He was not at Nazareth ; and even at Jerusalem, if He was to be seen in the Temple, He was not to be seen in any other quarter of the city. Here we possess Him every where at the same time in all our churches.

3. They possessed Him only at certain times for a few days, for a few hours. The whole time He was with them did not make thirty-four complete years ; and, what is more, for thirty whole years He was unknown to almost all the world. Here we possess Him every hour, day and night; and for how many centuries ! Add to those that are past the centuries yet to come.

4. They beheld Him only outwardly with the bodily eyes, and generally without advantage to themselves.

Here we behold vdth the eyes of the spirit, His Bo< His Blood, His Soul, His Divinity, and never witbt the merit of acts of faith, adoration, and other virti with which His Presence inspires us.

6. To them He did not appear except in a natu state. We have Him present here in a state of pi grace, and to the end that He may operate in us all i effects of grace, which it is as little possible to reck up as it is to count the stars of heaven, the leaves the trees, or the grains of sand on the sea-shore.

7. They possessed Him only by means of the sens< we possess Him here in a manner much more intima which is above sense. He comes into us, He uni His Body and His Soul to our body and our soul. 1 union formed between Him and us, says one of t Fathers, is like that of two pieces of melted wax whi blend and commingle together. But if our senses ha no part in this possession, far from losing any thi thereby, it is this that constitutes the merit of c faith ; and besides, neither God His Father, nor t Angels, nor beatified souls, enjoy His Presence throu the senses.

8. Of all those who beheld Him and who listen to Him while He conversed visibly with men, h< many were there who joined themselves to Him ? very small number. There were not more than f hundred disciples when He ascended into heaven. Co pare this little troop with the countless multitudes w adore Him in the Holy Sacrament through all the ear and who, by faith in this mystery, instead of His e poral and sensible Presence, find His Body and Blc really present under the species of bread and wine, a by concomitance, as theologians say. His Soul and I Divinity, together with the treasure of all the poss sions of grace and glory.

What did the Jews, who beheld Him heal the sick and raise the dead, possess like unto this? The very Apostles and disciples, before the institution of this divine Sacrament, did not enjoy so great a privilege.

Who can say what our Lord operates by means of communion in a pure soul] God only knows. The very soul in which these marvels are wrought is not conscious of them. A soul well disposed receives in a single communion a fervour greater beyond comparison than all that flows from all the visions and revelations which all the Saints united have ever had.

After this, how does it come to pass that we are so little affected by this admirable Sacrament ? How can we love aught else but it on earth ? How can we think of any thing more frequently than it? By faith we behold the marvels it contains, the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, the majesty of a God, and the most astonishing excess of His love for men. And yet we have scarcely any other feelings at His presence than those which the senses and the ima^nation give us. We are destitute of devotion, tepid and dull in His regard, so that at times He scarcely produces more effect by His presence in the souls of a whole religious community than on the walls of the church in which He abides, because He does not find in us any dispositions for the effects of His grace. And whence comes this ] What is it in us that hinders the operations of this mystery of love ] trifles, nonentities that occupy us ; and yet we fill our mind with them, we attach our heart to them, and place our happiness in them. A wretched little attachment will deprive us of the marvellous effects which the Holy Sacrament would operate in us, were we well disposed.

Article IV

Ofov/r waion tvith on/r Lord in the Holy SacrcumeTU.

" He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blew abideth in Me and I in him."

These words denote the admirable union that i have with our Lord in the Holy Sacrament. It is faith that therein we are really united with His Bod But what is this union ? in what does it consist % Foi kinds are specified.

The first is only a local presence of the sacw Humanity of Jesus Christ in him who communicate This union is the least, and is found even in thoi that communicate unworthily and in a state of mort sin.

The second, which presupposes the first, is a mor union, and is formed by the mutual love which bine Jesus Christ to us and us to Him in communion. Sue is the union of two friends, whose hearts are joinc together by the affection which they bear each othe This is more perfect than the first, and belongs on] to souls in a state of grace ; but it does not suffice 1 satisfy the force of the words of our Lord, and the moc in which He communicates Himself to us, as food 1 nourish our souls.

The third, which is of a far higher order, consisi in the extraordinary effects which the Holy Sacrament produces in the soul and body ; so that it is as if t^ touched the sacred Flesh and tasted the precious Bloc of Jesus Christ with sweetnesses and transports of jo; ravishing the soul, as happened to St. Philip N"er This union, again, does not adequately fulfil the wore of our Lord, which extend to all who communicat< whereas this union belongs only to a small number c perfect souls ; besides that this mode of explaining th words of the Saviour regards rather the effects of the uuiou than the union itself.

The fourth is an uuion^ not indeed substantial or essential; but accidental, the most perfect that can possibly be in this kind. By it we are united immediately to the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, and by means of His Body and Blood to His Soul and His Divinity. His Body becomes blended with our body, His Blood with our blood. His Soul is joined to our soul ; whence there results in us an accidental change which makes us like unto our Lord, our body participating in the divine qualities of His Body, and our soul in the graces of His Soul, according as He is pleased to communicate Himself to us, and according to the disposition we bring to the reception of Him. Thus His imagination stays and regulates our imagination ; His understanding enlightens our understanding; His will invigorates and fortifies our will; His appetite moderates our appetite, and extinguishes therein the fire of concupiscence ; His senses purify our senses ; He roots up our evil dispositions ; He destroys the seeds of sin ; He mortifies our humours, and disposes every thing in such wise that the practice of virtue becomes easy to us. This it is that was represented to a certain devout person, who, as Platus relates, once beheld in one of his communions the Body of our Lord in the act of uniting Itself to his ; Its eyes. Its arms, and each of Its sacred members mingling with his own, as one piece of melted wax mixes with another.

If we do not experience the effects of this admirable union, this proceeds only from our want of disposition.

"If after communion," says St. Bonaventure, "yoit do not feel any effects of the jspiritual food you have eaten, it is a sign that your soul is either sick or dead.

You have put fire into your bosom and you do not feel its beat, boney into your moutb and do not taste its sweetness."

We are full of passions and vices, wbicb, like so many malignant bumours, take from us our relish for Holy Communion, and prevent our finding therein the delights we should experience if we approached the holy table with the disposition it demands, having our soul thoroughly purged from all its disorders.

This disposition consists chiefly in purity of heart, peace and tranquillity of soul, in noting and repressing the rebellions of our mind against grace, in discovering our illusions, our errors, our blindness, the depth of our malice, and in correcting all these disorders. When we have done this, we shall experience a hunger and a thirst for that divine nourishment, we shall taste its sweetness, and ifc will produce in us from (Jay to day fresh increase of spiritual life.

ARTICLE v.

Some tJu)ug1Us on Cominunion.

Souls are wonderfully changed and perfected in Holy Communion, our Lord removing all their weaknesses, clearing away their stains, tearing away their evil habits, rooting up their passions, and quenching in them the fire of concupiscence, in proportion to the dispositions they bring to the holy table. It is in the participation of this divine mystery that we may say, "our youth is renewed like the eagle's." Then our Lord enters into the powers of our soul according as we are disposed to receive Him ; He unites really His Flesh to our flesh, and His Spirit to our spirit, albeit we know not how this union is brought about. Thus our whole life should be but one continued preparation for communion and unceasing converse with our Lord.

§ n. When we are united to Jesus Christ in communion, ah ! what union of His Heart with our heart, His power, His senses. His sacred members with ours ! And what a difference between Him and us ! Every thing in Him is a principle of eternal life for Himself and for men ;* every thing in us is a principle of corruption and of death for ourselves and for others.

The Spirit of God, when we are faithful in following His guidance, shews us little by little the infinite goods we possess in Holy Communion. Often the most learned and the wisest of this world are blind to all this ; and as they lean too much to their own opinion and judgment, and guide themselves only by their own individual lights, without caring to rise above human reason, for want of humility and devotion they remain grovelling all their life long amidst the littleness of their own ideas and sentiments ; a littleness incredible in all that regards the mysteries of the faith and the spiritual direction of souls.

We suffer incalculable losses from want of knowing the treasures we possess in Holy Communion, and preparing ourselves for their reception. Our stupidity in this respect is most deplorable. Generally speaking, we find ourselves after communion as we were before ; and after so many communions we continue just the same, just as tepid, as little mortified, as imperfect, as at the beginning. We, who have the happiness of approaching the altar daily, ought to prepare ourselves each day for to-morrow's communion. Our life ought to be one continual preparation for saying Mass and n2 communicating. Every hour we ought to be in a fitting disposition to approach the holy altar.

To what holiness does not communion oblige us ! How can we forget the honour we haye enjoyed in being united to Jesus Christ in communion ) How is it He is not always present to our mind, seeing that He assures us, that "they who eat His Flesh and drink His Blood abide in Him and He in them t** How can we sully our imagination with those impure images we fill it with, after it has been sanctified by its union with that of Jesus Christ ? How can we occupy our senses, ejtterior and interior, with so many profiEUie objects, after our Lord has consecrated them by uniting them to His own ?

We would wish to enjoy a facihty in conversing familiarly with our Lord after communion, all imperfect as we are, and we are vexed at not feeling devotion. What we ought to do is to abandon ourselves to the operation of His hand, and let Him blot out our sins and pluck them up by their roots. When this is done, and our soul made pure, then He will speak to us, and we shall be able to treat familiarly with Him.

Were the Blessed Virgin to pay us a visit every day and converse with us familiarly for the space of half an hour, what a favour would it be ! And yet it would be but an union of familiar intercourse with a creature, the holiest and the highest of all pure creatures ; but in communion we are united to a Man-God, and this union is wholly interior, and infinitely more perfect than all the favours that angels and saints, and the Mother of God herself, can ever shew us.

Communion may be called the beatitude of this life. A single communion, did we but bring to it the necessary dispositions, would fill us with more delight and cause us greater transports of joy, than to see and converse with all angels and saints together.