Coram Sanctissimo - 09

NINTH VISIT

St. John says that he saw our Lord girt up with a golden girdle, which supported His breasts: I saw the Son of Man girt about the breasts with a golden girdle –(Apoc. i. 13). Thus also is Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar, with His breasts all filled with milk; that is to say, with the graces which, in His mercy, He desires to bestow upon us. And as a mother whose breasts are overcharged with milk goes about seeking children who may draw it off, and relieve her of its weight, so also does He call out to us, You shall be carried at the breasts –(Is. lxvi. 12).

The Venerable Father Alvarez saw Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament with His hands filled with graces, and seeking to whom He might dispense them. Of St. Catharine of Sienna it is related that when she approached the Most Holy Sacrament she did so precisely with the same loving avidity with which a child flies to its mother’s breast.

O most beloved and only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father, I know that Thou art the object most worthy of being loved. I desire to love Thee as much as Thou deservest to be loved, or at least as much as a soul can ever desire to love Thee. I fully understand that I, who am a traitor and so great a rebel to Thy love, deserve not to love Thee, neither do I deserve to approach so near to Thee as I now am in this church. But I feel that Thou, for all this, seekest my love. I hear Thee say: My son, give me thy heart-(Prov. xxiii. 26}. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart –(Matt. xxii. 37). I understand that it is for this end Thou hast spared my life, and not sent me to hell, that I might be converted and turn all my affections to Thee. Since, then, Thou art pleased that even I should love Thee, oh, yes, my God, I will do so. Behold, here I am! To Thee I yield myself up: I give myself to Thee: I love Thee, O God! all goodness, all love, I choose Thee for the only King and Lord of my poor heart. Thou desirest it, and my will is to give it to Thee: it is cold, it is loathsome; but if Thou acceptest it, Thou wilt change it. Change me, my Lord, change me; I will no longer dare to live as I have hitherto lived, ungrateful, and with so little love towards Thine infinite Goodness, which loves me so much and deserves an infinite love. Enable me to supply from this day forward all the love I have hitherto failed to bear Thee.

Ejac. My God, my God, I will love Thee! I will love Thee! I will love Thee!

AN ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that Thou art truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love Thee above all things, and I desire to possess Thee within my soul. Since I am unable now to receive Thee sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace Thee as already there, and unite myself wholly to Thee; never permit me to be separated from Thee.

VISIT TO MARY

In all things like to her Son Jesus, is His Mother Mary; and as she is the Mother of Mercy, she is thrice happy when she succours and consoles the miserable. So great is the desire of this Mother to bestow graces on all that Bernardine de Bustis says “she desires more to do us good and to impart to us graces than we can desire to receive them.”

Ejac. Hail, our hope!

Concluding Prayer

Most holy Immaculate Virgin and my Mother Mary, to thee, who art the Mother of my Lord, and Queen of the world, the advocate, the hope, the refuge of sinners, I have recourse today I, who am the most miserable of all. I render thee my most humble homage, O great Queen, and I thank thee for all the graces thou hast conferred on me until now, particularly for having delivered me from hell, which I have so often deserved. I love thee, O most amiable Lady; and for the love which I bear thee, I promise to serve thee always, and to do all in my power to make others love thee also. I place in thee all my hopes; I confide my salvation to thy care. Accept me for thy servant, and receive me under thy mantle, O Mother of Mercy. And since thou art so powerful with God, deliver me from all temptations, or rather obtain for me the strength to triumph over them until death. Of thee I ask a perfect love of Jesus Christ. From thee I hope to die a good death.

O my Mother, for the love which thou bearest to God, I beseech thee to help me at all times, but especially at the last moment of my life. Leave me not, I beseech thee, until thou seest me safe in Heaven, blessing thee, and singing thy mercies for all eternity. Amen. So I hope. So may it be.