Visit XI

Let us take care, says St. Teresa, not to move away from or lose sight of our dear shepherd Jesus; for the sheep that stay close to their shepherd are always more caressed and more favored, and he always gives them some special morsel of what he himself eats. If it happens that the shepherd sleeps, the sheep does not go away until the shepherd wakes, or she wakes him herself; and then she is caressed anew with fresh gifts. My Redeemer in the Sacrament, here I am near you: I desire no other gift from you than fervor and perseverance in your love.

I thank you, O holy faith; you make me know and assure me that in the divine Sacrament of the altar, in that heavenly bread, there is no bread but there is my whole Lord Jesus Christ, and he is there for love of me. My Lord and my all, I believe you present in the Blessed Sacrament; and although unseen by the eyes of flesh, I recognize you by the light of holy faith beneath the consecrated Host as the Monarch of heaven and earth and the Savior of the world. Ah, my sweetest Jesus, since you are my hope, my salvation, my strength, my consolation, I desire that you be also all my love and the sole object of all my thoughts, my desires, and my affections. I rejoice more in your supreme happiness, which you enjoy and will enjoy for eternity, than in every good that I could ever possess in time or in eternity. My greatest joy is that you, my beloved Redeemer, are perfectly happy and that your happiness is infinite. Reign, reign, my Lord, over my entire soul; I give it all to you; possess it always. My will, my senses, my faculties -- let them all be servants of your love and serve in this world only to give you pleasure and glory. Such was your life, O first lover and Mother of my Jesus, Most Holy Mary: help me, obtain for me the grace of living from this day forward as you always lived, happy and entirely given to God. -- My Jesus, may I be entirely yours and may you be entirely mine.

Spiritual Communion.

To Mary

Beatus vir qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie et observat ad postes ostii mei (Prov. VIII, 34). Blessed is the one who, as the poor do before the doors of the rich, is attentive in seeking alms of graces before the doors of Mary's mercy! And more blessed still is the one who strives to imitate the virtues he observes in Mary, especially her purity and her humility! -- My hope, come to my aid.

Prayer of the same St. Andrew:

O Mother of mercy, appease your Son. While you were on earth, you occupied but a small part of it; but now that you are raised above the highest heavens, the whole world regards you as the common propitiatory of all peoples. We beseech you, then, O holy Virgin, to grant us the help of your prayers before God -- prayers that are more dear and more precious to us than all the treasures of the earth; prayers that render God propitious to our sins and obtain for us a great abundance of graces, to receive pardon and to practice virtue; prayers that arrest our enemies, confound their designs, and triumph over their efforts.

With St. Bernard: Haec tota mea fiducia, haec tota ratio spei meae.