60. Foretastes of Heaven— Sermon for the Second Sunday After Trinity

Synopsis — The four requisites according to St. Dionysius: freedom from sin, the virtues of Christ, devoted to divine things, and peacefully disposed — How the onslaughts of Satan may oe made a help — And the persecutions of men — Preference of divine visitations over self-chosen austerities — Daily communion — Spiritual communion— The holy inner silence that should follow communion — How to use this Sacrament in periods of inner desolation.

SECOND SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.

He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I In him. —John vi, 57.

Dear children, rightly to praise the holy and adorable Sacrament is beyond the power of the tongnes and hearts of men, and yet to that end are our devotions now directed, for in it is concentrated all our joy, all our hopes of salvation. Let us avail ourselves of St. Bernard's words (although they may seem somewhat coarse to us), as, by comparison with bodily food, he tells of the qualities of this heavenly nourishment — of the chewing and the swallowing, the digestion and the assimilating of the Son of God. Proud men and subtle minds may not be pleased with such figures of speech, but a humble spirit always loves simple ways of explaining divine things. Thus says our Lord: "I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to little ones" (Matt. xi:25).

Dear children, we must view this glorious gift of God with both enlightened reason and ardent love. How humble is our Lord, to thus give Himself to us under such lowly appearances as bread and wine, so that all may partake of Him just as they do of their ordinary food. This can mean nothing else than His purpose to press in so close to us, to sink so deep within us, to be so entirely made one with us as possibly could be — made one with us with all His gifts and graces. He might, indeed, have chosen to come to us with greater outward splendor, as He does sometimes miraculously appear in Communion, according to St. Hildegrade. He was once seen by a sister of our order with her bodily eyes, lighting up priest and altar with indescribable splendor, surrounded by His glorious angels, whilst He imparted to her soul the most beautiful sentiments. But in this era of grace nothing is more precious to us than receiving this adorable Sacrament devoutly and humbly. Nor is there anything more frightful than Communion received unworthily or without preparation. Hence, says our beloved St. Dionysius: "Four things are necesary for receiving the holy Sacrament : first, to be free from all sin ; second, to be clothed with the virtues of our Lord Jesus Christ ; third, to be emancipated from self and given over to God ; fourth, to be God's temple."

As to being free from sin : that means clear knowledge of one's sins, then Sacramental confession of them and acceptance and performance of the penance imposed according to the rules of holy Church. After that let a man interiorly sigh for a perfect knowledge of his sinfulness, a spiritual exercise of far more benefit than vacantly reciting vocal prayers. In addition to this one must have a firm purpose of amendment, including a determination to avoid all occasions of sin in the future. These dispositions being posessed, one's soul is set free from sin. The second is to possess the virtues of our Lord Jesus Christ, namely, mildness, obedience, purity of intention, patience, gentleness and mercy, readiness to be silent, and love for all men, friends and enemies, good and bad, for the sake of God. The third is emancipation from self and subjection to God. This means that having become possessed of the virtues of Christ, one cultivates peacefulness of soul in God's inner presence. Then it is that one experiences the meaning of our Lord's words: "He that eatheth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him." One should with carefulness preserve this peace, allowing himself never to be disturbed by any word or deed, for it must not be mistaken for any natural state of restfulness, but rather the inward peace that belongs to God's Spirit alone, extending to all sorrow and joy, all things natural and spiritual. For in so far as a man is in God truly, just bo securely is he placed in quietness of soul ; and in so far as he is out of God, so is he in unrest, And when he has thus entered essentially upon peace, he becomes the temple of God in very truth, for the abode of God is in peace. Thereby docs he attain to the fourth holy state spoken of by St. Dionysius, in which God inspires all this man's works, he being now only God's instrument for both his interior and exterior activity.

Hut let us again consider St. Bernard's words about receiving our Lord in holy Communion: "As we have eaten Him, in like manner shall we be eaten by Him." Now by the word eating he means — as we have already said — the punishment and, as it were, the biting which the Lord inflicts on our conscience, and which He causes all created things to inflict upon it. Herein does a man find himself hunted like a wild animal that the emperor's huntsmen pursue, in order that their master can capture him. We know that the emperor is better pleased to have the animal resist so that the hounds shall bite and tear him, rather than if he meekly submitted. Dear children, the eternal God is the divine monarch who will possess Himself of our hunted souls, and, as it were, feed upon them. His dogs are the evil spirits, who pursue and bite the soul with many unclean temptations. Again they assail the soul with pride, avarice and various other evil suggestions; now from one side, again from another, striving to throw him into despondency and excessive sadness. I say to thee, stand thy ground. Nothing of this can hurt thee. If thou shalt ever succeed in the spiritual life thou must thus be hunted.

But besides the evil spirits, this world and thy fellowmen will hunt thee with their injurious words and their false accusations. And yet further thy own imperfection, thy tendency to yield to corrupt nature, will assail thee. And thus is a man hunted and driven by everything that is bad, if he is ever going to acquire patience by true humility and mildness in all things of soul and body. Meanwhile he must cultivate a merciful and forgiving feeling for those dreadful men who have thus persecuted him, scoffed at him, tortured him, despised him, and maligned him to others as a wicked man. Let him now cry out from a heart all full of love: O eternal. Lord and God of all creatures! Have pity upon them and upon me. Thus pray to God. Also be on thy guard by thy very soul lest thou endeavor to escape from thy trials — as if by running away from thy hunters across hedges and through the woods: our wild animal keeps to the straight, smooth road that lies before him, nor does he bite back at his hunters nor bellow at them.

Now the heavenly Father has His hunting hounds everywhere — in convents and monasteries, in our homes and in cities, and in the forests; and you may be certain that all chosen friends of God are going to be sorely hunted by all created things. As the hart is driven by the hunters, tormented with thirst, so must thou be driven on till thou findest thy refuge in God. To make us thirst for God alone in time and in eternity — that is the divine purpose in allowing us men to be thus hunted, each one according to his special circumstances of life. Go forward, then, in all humility, patience and mildness, for without doubt thou shalt at last come to our Savior's sweet fountains, which will refresh thee beyond the power of words to describe. Once thou hast truly gained His refuge, thou shalt attain the highest perfection, and then will How into thy spirit all those noble virtues of which we have already treated, humility, merciful sympathy, divine love for God and thy neighbor.

Ah, dear children, how sad it is that the universal virtue of love of God is quenched out of the world, gone from all states of life. If we could find a man pursuing the course of divine love, we ought to revere him above all others, no matter what his condition in life. All creatures should do him service, for he has gained the eternal inheritance of the heavenly Father. And vet God sometimes withdraws His comfort from these elect souls, because He thereby advances them still further in virtue; they must yet again be willing to be hunted by all creatures, suffering in silence and in self-abnegation, complaining by no word or action.

Such an immolation of the soul to God is more pleasing to Him, and is more valued by all choice spirits, than any kind of self-chosen means of perfection, such as fasting, vigils, reciting prayers — yea, or a thousand strokes of the discipline every day, although it all be done for God's sake. The reason is because the trials sent by God work their good effects in the inner depths of thy soul — and there it is that God must be united to thee in very truth. Stand this test bravely, and God will make thee worthy to partake of His heavenly nourishment in holy Communion as often as thy soul desirest, were it even as often as every day. For the High Priest of eternal truth would thus permit, since He has at heart in everything He does for thee thy welfare for time and for eternity.

How perilous a thing for a man to approach this holy table unprepared and unworthy, especially if he be absorbed in the love of creatures living or dead, and unwilling freely to give them up for the love of God. How different is it with the soul that gladly gives up every creature of God for God's own sake, as far as he is conscious of loving them and realizes that God would wean him from them. Such a one, entirely resigned to God's chastening hand, wholly willing to be hunted by God and by all created things, is furnished with the great virtue of holy patience. If thou art such a one, then the oftener thou receivest Christ the better for thee.

Art thou conscious that God's work of purification is increasing within thee, and that thy soul is being softened to its influences and humbled beneath God's hand in real detachment? Dost thou perceive an increase of the love of God in thee? Dost thou also perceive the lessening and the quenching of thy desires after earthly things, with an increase of childlike and reverent fear of God? Are these thy dispositions in very truth? Then the wide world does not possess a more profitable thing for thy soul than to receive the body and blood of our dear Lord Jesus Christ. Dost thou inquire how often? St. Ambrose, in commenting on the words, "Give us this day our daily bread," takes them to mean daily Communion. But where shall we find a priest so kind as to allow us to be daily communicants? But be not distressed if thy priest, dear child, shall refuse thee this privilege. Earnestly endeavor to maintain thy detachment of spirit, keep thy soul in quiet peace, fall back upon the thought of thy own nothingness, and meanwhile do not doubt but that the Lord will grant thee in compensation spiritual gifts greater, perhaps, than those which thou wouldst have received in the holy Sacrament. Eat and drink of Him spiritually and in the Holy Ghost, for even then His words will be true: "He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in him." This kind of dwelling in Him is one of the degrees of holiness granted by this Sacrament.

And there are yet two more degrees, both of them higher and more glorious than any we have yet spoken of. By one we receive graces of both knowledge and feeling, bestowing on us the emptying of self unto its annihilation. The other is feeling without knowledge, an oppression of spirit born of this annihilation; for in proportion as selfhood possesses us, just in that degree must our anguish be bitter and sore.

Thus does St. Bernard teach us, when he says that we must be consumed as food by God in our process of detachment. For as food suffers a change into something not itself, so must we, if we would be truly united to God. All our preferences and our activities and our acquisitiveness and selfhood must be destroyed. Nothing less than this can happen to us, for two rival existences cannot be united into one, of that we may be sure. If heat enters in cold must go out. If God enters in all created life that is not sanctified must go out, and all created proprietorship. If God really acts in thee, thou must rest in a passive state, all thy powers being stripped of their own activity, their own initiative, placed in self-renunciation and, as it were resting in their own nothingness. The more perfect is that sense of thy own nothingness, the truer and the more essential is thy union with God. See the annihilation of self that happened to the adorable soul of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ. If it were possible (as it is not) that any man could show the same in his soul, his union with God would be the same.

If God shall truly speak within thy soul, then all thy soul's powers must sit in silence. This is not a case of doing but of undoing. If bodily food shall be changed into the natural man, it must be first annihilated out of its own self and be made totally unlike itself, as if it had never been the food that once it was. If this be true of the food of our natural life, it is a thousand times more true of the food of our spiritual life. But, dear children, I must tell you that hurt is herein done by the interference of the human reason, which too often insists on having a share in this divine work, wanting to know all about it, and refusing to be willingly undone by God. Be on your guard against this ; I warn you for God's sake and for the sake of your eternal welfare. And if frequently receiving the holy Sacrament be an aid to thee in yielding willingly to God, thou mayst receive it, even two or three times a week. But do not run to it over eagerly, especially when thou art conscious that God is interiorly leading thee to the degree of self-renunciation proper for the best effects of Communion.

Dear child, thou must know that a soul so placed feels an intolerable inward woe in its self -destitution, so that the whole earth seems too narrow for it, until it is at loss to know what ails it, so bitter is the oppression upon it, for God seems gone from it never to return. It is all caused by the self -surrender to God: it is a dreadful thing to wish not to die and yet be compelled truly to die to oneself. In this state St. Paul's words about the holy Sacrament are applicable to the soul itself: "As often as you shall eat this bread, and drink the chalice, you shall show the death of the Lord until He come" (I Cor. xi: 26). This showing of the Lord's death is not simply in words telling of the actual fact of His decease — that is no difficult thing. No; it is rather to show the Lord's death in the dying of the soul to itself by the power of His death. And this is hindered by three things, all of which thou must overcome. One is clinging too selfishly to the adorable Sacrament; the second, clinging in the same spirit to God's word ; and the third, over-attachment to thy own chosen devotional practices. For in truth everything that might be a help to thee in ordinary circumstances may during this trial be turned into a hindrance. Ah, dear child, if in this thy time of anguish thou wouldst but make up thy mind willingly to suffer, and positively resist the tendency to break away from the visitation of God, that would avail thee more than all that thou couldst possibly do. And that is just the trouble; for many a one runs about from one counsellor to another, vainly seeking comfort, and therefore remains uncomforted by the eternal truth. Stand fast and be patient, and the very essence of that eternal truth will be born within thee.

One cannot express the harm that is done souls by yielding to nature's weakness, and seeking, while in this process of purification, to be relieved from the inner distress that accompanies it. Reason rises up within thee and demands an object for its activity ; and it says to thee: Alas, what art thou about? Hast thou no end in life? Thou art neglecting thyself in everything. And then thou fanciest that thou must say prayers ; and forthwith the evil spirit says : What art thou doing here? Thou art wasting thy time; thou shouldst be engaged in some good work ; get up at once and set to work. After that come rude men with their favorite pious devices, and these say to thee : My dear man, what art thou about? Thou shouldst go to Church and listen to God's word. Now let me remind thee that all these are God's hunting dogs, and thou thyself art a hunting dog teasing and barking at thyself along with them, and saying to thyself: What ails thee to be wandering about this way? — thou shouldst receive the holy Communion.

Now children, while one is thus interiorly tried he should not expect to be relieved by the holy Sacrament. If thou earnest to me for advice about going to Communion while thus suffering, I should cross-question thee to discover whether it were God moving thee thereto, or only an impulse of nature, or the force of pious custom. If nature or custom guided thee, then I would refuse to allow thee to receive Communion, unless, indeed, thou wert reduced to a state of misery simply unbearable. Then, indeed, once or twice a week thou mightst receive Communion; but not to relieve thee of thy distress — rather to strengthen thee in bearing it.

God's generation within thee shall never take place — be sure of that — until thou hast passed through this agony. Whatever gives thee relief, that same and not God is born in thee. Be sure that thy distressed nature had rather journey to Kome than patiently suffer this trial to the bitter end — a trial of far greater advantage than any other possible gift; for it is better to suffer than to labor. And sometimes this poor man calls to mind his former sweetness of devotion at Communion and while hearing the word of God, and afflicted nature would gladly enjoy that comfort again. But it has been withdrawn, and to that withdrawal the soul must submit in its inmost depthsr in misery, in death — yea, a death more bitter to nature than any other death.

But, dear children, thou must not misunderstand me, as if I had forbidden thee the Sacrament and the word of God. Thou art aware that in the first two degrees nothing is more profitable to a blessed,. a divine life than Communion and sermons — these stand above all else. Only this : in the present degree of God's dealing with the soul, everything that ordinarily helps the soul is liable to become a hindrance. For in seeking help the soul, as it were, turns its back on God and seems to say to Him : I will not go by Thy guidance, but I will go by my own — and that is to our Lord as if He were crucified again ; for His adorable will cannot now be effectuated in that soul. Alas, that this incalculable benefit should be lost to that soul, simply because it will not yield itself up to suffer the want of all comfort in body and in spirit.

And now let us consider these words of St. Bernard : "I am eaten by God when I am transformed by Him ; I am made one with Him when I am conformed to Him." And we exclaim: O blessed Father, when shall this sorowful state of soul have an end?— with all its undoing. and anguish, and pain. But O how noble an end that shall be, when at last the soul is made over again and new-formed in God, united to God. St. Paul teaches us this, having himself learned it in the school of God, in the third heaven: "But we all, beholding the glory of the Lord with open face, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Cor. iii: 18). Therein does God's Spirit draw a man into Himself, changing him into Himself. We have already recalled that St. Augustine heard God speaking to him: "Thou shalt be changed into Me, not I into thee." As to how this change takes place the man himself is made aware, but not by any manifold way of knowing, but rather in a very simple way, beyond words to describe.

You should also know that there are men who are only in the first degree of those who follow devout practices, and to whom, nevertheless, the new forming of soul is granted. It comes as in a flash of supernatural light, sometimes once or twice a week. It is granted wholly according to God's merciful will, for it is something that cannot be merited. Sometimes it comes with clear knowledge, at other times without knowledge and in darkness. Such a man is left in a state of soul all wounded by love. But those of whom we treated above are fettered by love, being conformed to love and drawn into it, and one can better feel this condition than describe it. This class is made up of men wholly self-abandoned, perfectly well ordered — far beyond spiritual men who lack this divinely established degree of holiness. May God prepare us all for this detachment of spirit. May God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost perfect His great work within us, removing all hindrances. Amen.