Coram Sanctissimo - 24

TWENTY-FOURTH VISIT

Verily thou art a hidden God-(Is. xlv. 15). In no other work of divine love are these words so fully verified as in this adorable mystery of the Most Holy Sacrament, where our God is entirely hidden. When the Eternal Word took Flesh, He hid His divinity, and appeared as a Man on earth; but remaining with us in this Sacrament, He hides even His humanity, and, as remarks St. Bernard, appears only under the form of bread, to show thereby the tenderness of the love He bears us: “The divinity is hid, the humanity is hid: the bowels of charity alone appear.” O my beloved Redeemer, at the sight of the excessive tenderness Thou hast for men, I am beside myself, O Lord, and know not what to say. In this Sacrament Thou goest so far for their love as to hide Thy majesty and lower Thy glory; Thou goest so far as even to consume and annihilate Thy divine life. And whilst Thou art on the altar Thou seemest to have nothing else to do than to love men, and to show them the affection Thou bearest them. And what gratitude do they show Thee in return, O great Son of God?

O Jesus, O too great Lover of men, allow me so to speak, for I see that Thou preferrest their advantage to Thine own glory. And didst Thou not know to how much contempt this loving design of Thine would expose Thee? I see, and before me Thou didst see it full well Thyself, that the greater part of men adore Thee not; neither will they acknowledge Thee in this Sacrament.

I know that these very men have gone so far as to trample on the consecrated Hosts, that they have thrown them on the ground, into water, and into fire. And I see the greater part even of those who believe in Thee, O my God, so far from repairing so many outrages by the homage of their devotion, either come to the church to offend Thee still more by their irreverences, or else abandon Thee on Thy altar, and sometimes even leave it unprovided with a lamp or the necessary ornaments!

Oh, that I could, my most sweet Saviour, but wash with my tears, or even with my blood, those unhappy places in which, in this Sacrament, Thy love and Thy enamoured Heart have been so greatly outraged! But if so much is not granted me, I desire at least, my Lord, and determine, to visit Thee often, in order to adore Thee as I now adore Thee, and this in compensation for the insults Thou receivest in this most divine Mystery. Accept, O Eternal Father, this scanty honour, which I, the most miserable of men, now offer Thee in reparation of the outrages offered to Thy Son in the Most Holy Sacrament; accept it in union with that infinite honour which Jesus Christ gave Thee on the Cross, and which He daily gives Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament. O my Sacramental Jesus, would that I could fill all men with love for the Most Blessed Sacrament!

Ejac. O amiable Jesus, make Thyself known, make Thyself loved!

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

My most powerful Lady, in the midst of my misgivings as to my eternal salvation, how great is the confidence I feel when I have recourse to thee; and when I think that thou, my Mother, art, on the one hand, so rich in graces that St. John Damascene calls thee “a sea of graces”; St. Bonaventure, “the assemblage of graces,” that is, the source in which all graces are congregated; St. Ephrem, “a fountain of grace and of all consolation”; and St. Bernard, “the fullness of every good”-and on the other hand, I reflect that thy desire to do us good is so great that thou esteemest thyself offended, as St. Bonaventure says, by him who does not ask thee for graces: “They sin against thee, O Lady,” he says, “who do not ask of thee.” O most rich, O most wise, and most merciful Queen, I see that thou knowest far better than I do the wants of my soul and that thou lovest me far more than I can love thee! Know, then, the grace for which I now ask thee; obtain me the grace which thou knowest to be the most expedient for my soul. Ask this favour from God and I am satisfied.

Ejac. My God, grant me the graces which Mary asks Thee for me.

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.