Part 2, lesson 5. That our Lord Jesus Christ dwells in us, and that we can at all times communi cate spiritually

Q. It is impossible for me to express the feelings of esteem and respect, which God gives me for the most holy Sacrament of the altar, after you have shown me how great and precious a treasure we possess in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, filled with the divinity of his Father and all the treasures of his in finite wisdom and knowledge.

A. This is true; and it is for this reason that St. Paul says we carry a most precious treasure in earthen vessels.* It is an effect of that truly unbounded charity, by which, as the same Apostle says,t God vouchsafed to manifest to us the abundance of his infinite mercies, in giving us his only Son, the figure of his subtance, the splendor of his glory and beauty,! to be our host of praise, the principle of our life, the source of all the

• Habemus thesarum istum in vasis fictilibus. II Cor. iv, 7.

f Propter nimiam charitatem suam, qua. dilexit nos, et cxlm essemus mortui peccatis, convivificavit nos in Christo. Ut ostenderet in saeculis supervenientibu3 abundantes divitias gratiae suse, in bonitate super nos, in Christo Jesu. Eph. ii, 4, 5, 7.

| Splendor gloriae, et figura iubstantiae ejus. Hebr. i, 3.

merits of the church. But what ought still more to increase our love for God, is that he gave us his Son to dwell in us, not only when we receive by com munion his body and blood, but at every moment of our life.

Q. What do you say? Does our Lord dwell in us otherwise than by holy communion ?

A. Yes, he does; and it is what St. Paul himself affirms when he says,* that Jesus Christ dwells by faith in our souls, And works therein his divine life. He dwells in us, not only AS the Word, by his immen sity, to perform in us our natural

• Christum habitare per fidem in coriibus vestris. Eph. iii, 17 actions, but also as Christ, by his grace, to communicate to us his unction and divine life.

Q. Since we always possess Christ dwelling in us, and can so often participate in his grace, is it not useless to approach the Sacrament of the altar ?

A. No; for although our Lord is in our hearts, to pour into u& at every moment the grace of his divine life, this ought not to prevent us from approaching frequently this adorable Sa crament. For we receive in it more abundant graces than we do in spiritual communion alone. Our Lord communicates his grace to us in the Sacra ment of the Eucharist, according to the whole extent of his divine charity, which is un bounded; but the graces which we receive by meditation and the sighs of our heart, are given us in proportion to the mortifi cation of the old man, and the fidelity with which we renounce ourselves and the inclinations of nature. This depends also upon the more or less lively feelings of faith, charity, hu mility, and other similar disposi tions, that our Lord discovers in us. Besides, as the imper fections of poor weak human na ture are frequently blended with our very virtues, the communi cations of our Lord, and the participation in his interior life, are very rare and very feeble. The creature spoils all, and im pedes the greatest design of the divine goodness in our regard. Would to God, that Chris tians knew their happiness and the treasures they possess in Jesus, in whom and with whom they can do so much for the glory of God. 0 ! that they may always remember that our Lord is in them, to sanctify them with all their actions, and fill all their faculties with himself. That adorable Saviour wishes to be in us the light of our mind, the fervor of our heart, the strength of all our powers, in order that in him we may know, love, and accomplish the will of his Father, act for his honor, and en dure all for his glory.