Coram Sanctissimo - 06

SIXTH VISIT

Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Luke xii. 34). Jesus Christ says that where a person esteems his treasure to be, there also he keeps his affections. Therefore the Saints, who neither esteem nor love any other treasure than Jesus Christ, centre their hearts and their love in the Most Blessed Sacrament. My most amiable Jesus, hidden under the sacramental veils, Who for the love which Thou bearest me, remainest night and day imprisoned in this Tabernacle, draw, I beseech Thee, my whole heart to Thee, that I may think of none but Thee, that I may love and seek and hope for Thee alone. Do this by the merits of Thy Passion, through which I seek and hope for it. Ah, my sacramental Lord and divine Lover, how amiable and tender are the inventions of Thy love to gain the love of souls! O Eternal Word, Thou, in becoming Man, wast not satisfied with dying for us; Thou hast also given us this Sacrament as a Companion, as Food, and as a pledge of Heaven. Thou reducest Thyself so as to appear amongst us, at one time as an Infant in a stable, at another as a poor Man in a workshop, then as a Criminal on a gibbet, and now as Bread on an altar. Tell me, couldst Thou invent other means to win our love?

O infinite Goodness, when shall I really begin to correspond with such refinements of love? Lord, I will live only to love Thee alone. And of what use is life to me, if I do not spend it wholly in loving and pleasing Thee, my beloved Redeemer, Who hast poured out Thy whole life for me? And what have I to love if it is not Thee, Who art all beauty, all condescension, all goodness, all loving, all worthy of love? May I live only to love Thee! May the mere remembrance of Thy love dissolve my soul with love! May the very names of Crib and Cross and Sacrament inflame it with the desire to do great things for Thee, O my Jesus, Who hast indeed done and suffered such great things for me!

Ejac. Grant, O my Lord, that before I die I may do something for 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

As a fair olive-tree in the plain-(Ecclus. xxiv. 19). I am, says Mary, the beautiful olive-tree from which the oil of mercy always flows. And I stand in the plain that all may see me. “Rememher,” let us say in the words of the prayer of St. Bernard, “O most compassionate Mary, that it has never been heard of in any age, that anyone having recourse to thy protection was abandoned by thee.” Most merciful Queen, such, a thing was never heard of, that anyone having recourse to thy aid was abandoned; I will not be the first unfortunate creature who, having recourse to thee, was abandoned.

Ejac. O Mary, grant me the grace always to have recourse to thee!

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.