From

1701

HOLY COMMUNION
to the

BLESSED TRINITY
Μ. V. BERNADOT, O.P.
U
Translated by

DOM FRANCIS IZARD, O.S.B.

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THE NEWMAN PRESS
Westminster, Maryland

1955

Imprimi potest
►i«

Caelestïnvs, Abbas.
Maredsous, z Ν&ν.

■fltbil obstat
Joannes Gray,
Censor Deputatus.

Imprimatur
>J< Henricus,
Epûs Tipasae.
Edimburgi, die 16 Dec. 1925.

First published, 1926
Reprinted, 1947
Reprinted, 1952
Reprinted 1955
AU rights reserved
COUflSH

UBRW
A.?

Printed in the United States of America

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TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE
In France this small work by the Reverend
Father Bernadot O.P. : treating of the relation
between Holy Communion and the indwelling of
the Blessed Trinity in the soul, has had a large
circulation. We may hope in consequence that
it has effected considerable good, by making its
readers realize more fully and deeply one of the
most consoling and helpful doctrines of our Faith,
e.g., the indwelling not only of the Holy Ghost,
but of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity
in the souls of all those in a state of sanctifying

graCe
·.
This

great fact is realized by comparatively few
lay Catholics, and, may we not also say, insufficiently
inculcated from our pulpits ? All the saints have
insisted that progress in holiness depends on a
growing realization of the Divine Presence. “ All
sins are committed,” says St. Teresa, “ because we
do not think of God as really present, but imagine
Him as very far off.” St. F rancis of Sales remarks :
“ Most of the failures of good people in the discharge
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of their duty come to pass because they do not keep
themselves sufficiently in the Presence of God.”
This Presence of God we should try and realize,
is not only that of His creative and conserving action,
which is common to all being, but the indwelling
of the Blessed Trinity in the souls of each of us
provided we are free from mortal sin. This mode
of God’s Presence is frequently referred to by St.
John in both his gospel and first epistle, and in the
epistles of St. Paul ; in fact to read St. Paul keeping
this fact in view seems to reveal his epistles in a
new light.
What each of us should try and do is to cultivate
i by frequent acts of our will the realization of this
indwelling presence of the Blessed Trinity, as the
Carmelite Sister Elizabeth of the Trinity wrote :
“ To attain to the ideal life of the soul we must
live in the supernatural, realizing that God is in our
inmost being ; then nothing is commonplace, not
even the most ordinary actions, for one does not
live in them but above them.” Thus we may
hope to arrive at that “ familiaritas stupenda nimis ”
—“ wonderful companionship ” of which the
author of the Imitation speaks. (Book II, Ch. i.J
Dom Francis Izard, O.S.B.,
Abbaye de St. Benoit,
Maredsous.
f*

VI

CONTENTS
Translator’s Preface .....
Preface
.......
Foreword. The Mystery of Christ
.
■

v
I
5

I
Eucharistic

Union

I. Above all Jesus gives Himself to us by
Communion .....
II. Communion gives us Jesus in His
entirety
.....
III. Communion gives us the Three Divine
Persons
.
.
.
.
.
IV. Communion associates us with the inner
life of the Blessed Trinity

15
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22

II
The Permanence

of

the

Eucharistic Union

I. Our union with the Sacred Humanity of
Jesus
....
.31
vit

(1) Our union with the Sacred Human­
ity in virtue of His merits and love.
(2) Our union with the Sacred Human­
ity in virtue of His vital action.
(3) Our union with the Sacred Human­
ity in the Eucharist.
(4) The intimacy of this union.

II. Our union with the Holy Trinity
.
(1) The permanence of the Blessed
Trinity in the communicant.
(2) The divine circumincession in the
soul.

46

in
I

To Maintain and Perfect Union
To maintain union
.
,
.
-55
(1) Our model.
(2) Recollection a necessary condition
for the life of union.
(3) Union during work.
(a) Our exemplar.
(h) Intentions for work.
(c) How to work.
(4) Union in temptation.
(5) Union in bodily suffering.
(6) Union in grief of heart.
(y) Union in desolation of soul.
viii

(8) Union in joy.
(a) The source of joy.
(2>) To live in joy.
β To perfect union
(i) Repetition of acts of desire.
(2.) Repetition of acts of love.
(3) The Invisible Divine Missions.
IV
The End

oe the

Eucharistic Union

I. Jdopted sons in Jesus Christ
.
.107
(1) Our supernatural vocation and the
(2) Communion and our supernatural
vocation.
II. The glory of the Holy Trinity
(1) The final goal of Creation.
(2) The unique Liturgy.
Η·4'

('I

ix

PREFACE
At the present time, by the grace of God, there
are many souls who receive Holy Communion
daily.
Although they are thoroughly good, love Our
Lord, and approach with the intention that the
Church desires, yet experience teaches that they
do not derive the profit they should do from this
frequent reception of the Sacrament.
What is wanting ? The reason is that they do
not sufficiently grasp the Eucharistic Mystery,
and the marvellous realities of Holy Communion.
This little book is addressed to these Christians
“ of good will ” in the hope that it may give them
more intellectual light, and so more help. We
wish to aid them in increasing and strengthening
their spirituality, and the crowning devotion of
the spiritual life is devotion to the Blessed Trinity.
In order to lead others to holiness, to those
states of prayer so pleasing to God, and so profit­
able to the Church, it is necessary not only to
stimulate their affections, but above all to enlighten

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their intellects. When this happens in the case
of those desiring spiritual progress, it often inspires greater renunciation, for Truth, touching
a soul, illuminates and sets it on fire with
love.
Preachers make a great mistake in thinking
that these supreme dogmas of our Faith should
be reserved for an intellectual élite ; if they act
thus they are quite unwittingly drying up the
streams of sanctity, for Truth is the source of all λ
love, all devotion. They forget that at Baptism
a special “instinct for God,” the germ of the
gifts of wisdom and understanding was implanted
in the soul, thereby rendering simple souls, some­
times even little children, capable of grasping and
spiritually enjoying these great truths. Surely
it is good to make God known as He has mani­
fested and revealed Himself.
It is hoped that these pages may further the
desire of the great Apostle St. Paul, which was
to form Christians “rooted and founded in charity,
comprehending with all the Saints what is the
breadth, and length, and height, and depth :
knowing also the charity of God which surpasseth
all understanding that they may be filled unto all
the fulness of God ” (Eph. iii. 17 19).
With filial affection we consecrate this little
book to our Blessed Lady, the divine Mother,
2

Seat of Wisdom, invoking at the same time St.
Catherine of Siena.
0 Mary, Temple of the Trinity ! Hearth of
the divine fire ! Mother of mercy, who enshrined
Jesus the source of life.
0 Mary, in whom was written the Word, who
gave us the doctrine of life, explain and reveal
Him to us. Show us the power and goodness of
the Father, the wisdom of the Word, the charity
of the Holy Spirit.

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PRAYER OF ST. CATHERINE OF S [ENA

O Holy Spirit come into my heart, by thy power
draw me to thyself and grant me charity with
fear.
Keep me O Christ from every evil thought,
warm and kindle me with thy sweetest love so
that every suffering may seem light to me.
My heavenly Father help me this day in every
action and trouble for the love of Christ.

4

FOREWORD
lam the Way : walk in Me.
I am the Truth : contemplate Me.
I am the Life : live by Me.

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THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST

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GOD COMMUNICATES THE DIVINE EIFE TO THE
SACRED HUMANITY OF CHRIST

God is the ocean of Life. This life which is
at the same time Light and Love has a burning
desire to diffuse and bestow itself.
From all eternity the Father gives Himself
to the Son, together the Father and the Son give
themselves to the Holy Ghost, communicating
to Him Their One Divinity.
Eternally also by His ineffable bounty and
compassion, God resolved to bestow His holy and
beatific life on His rational creatures, to manifest
His Word, to give His Spirit, and thus to com­
municate His nature by intellectual light and love.
Before, however, bestowing Himself on His
creatures, the infinite life gave itself in all its
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plenitude to Hirn who was “ the firstborn of
every creature” (Coloss. i. 15).
Eor the
Sacred Humanity of Christ in virtue <ff its union
with the person of the Word, received a participa­
tion of the infinite as far as was possible for a
created nature. The plenitude of the Divine
Life poured itself forth on Him, because God
willed that in Him “ all fulness should dwell ”
(Coloss. i. 19). “ We have seen Him full
of grace and truth ” (John i. 14).
Placed V
at the summit of creation, introduced into the
adorable Trinity, Jesus partakes without limit
of that Life which inundating His heart and soul,
saturated as it were His intelligence and affec­
tions, in such a manner that Christ Himself
becomes an Ocean of Life.
JESUS COMMUNICATES TO US THE DIVINE LIFE

If Jesus is above all, He is not isolated by that
fact. God in the magnificence of His love
predestined Him to be “ the firstborn amongst
many brethren ” (Rom. viii. 29), of a body
of which we are members. “ He is the head of
the body the Church ” (Coloss. i. 18). Now
Christ wishes to make His brethren share in
what He has received. The Life which was
poured out by the adorable T rinity on the sacred
Humanity extends and diffuses itself. From the
6

head it extends into the members : this life which
filled Christ to the utmost, expands and flows
into the body formed by the faithful, so that we
in our turn communicate in that intimate life
of the Three Divine Persons, in their Light and
in their Love.
More than any other mystery, it was this
wonderful diffusion of Supernatural life which
made St. Paul praise the glory of His grace (Eph.
i. 6), and drew from him those moving words
of gratitude and thanks (c/. Eph., Coloss.,
PhiL). The great apostle never ceased preach­
ing what he termed “ The Mystery of Christ . . .
a mystery which hath been hidden from ages and
generations but now is manifested to His Saints :
that is to say Christ in you ” (cf. Coloss. i. 2.6,
27)·
The complete Christ is formed as it were of
Jesus and the Church, Jesus is so intimately
united to the faithful that they form but one body
animated by the same life circulating in the head
and the members ·, for Jesus pours it forth on us,
and makes it ours. “ 1 am the Vine, you are
the branches ” (John xv. 5). The stem and
the branches are one same being, nourished and
acting together, producing the same fruits because
fed by the same sap. In the same way Jesus and
the faithful are united in one body. Jesus en­
7

joyed rhe plenitude of this Divine Life ; the
Light which illuminates, and the Love which
inflames were the supreme delight of Hts 1 lumanity ; He circulates this life in us His members
in such a way, that in Jesus, in us, in His Soul,
in our souls, in His Heart and ours, there is the
same life, the same grace, the same communication
of love to the F ather in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
DWELLING IN JESUS

Remain closely united to Christ. These words
sum up not only the whole Christian life, but also
all sanctity.
Hbide in me, and I in you. Hs the branch
cannot bear fruit of itselfunless it abide in the vine,
so neither can you unless you abide in Me. He
that abideth in Me, and I in him the same beareth
much fruit : for without Me you can do nothing
(John xv. 4, 5).
This then is the great need : to dwell in Jesus.
To live in Jesus, sums up and facilitates every­
thing, places the Christian in regular corres­
pondence and communication with God, helps
him to realize his vocation which may be fully
expressed in these few brief words : by Jesus to
enter into relations of intimacy with God our
Father in the Holy Spirit, who is subsistent and
eternal Love.
8

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WE TO UNITE WITH GOD AND DWELL
IN HIM ?

It is Baptism which first makes us enter into
Christ. Baptism incorporates us with Christ
says St. Thomas. From Him the plenitude of
life, grace and virtue flows into us : it is natural
that the life of the head should descend into its
members. “ Of His fulnesshave we all received"
(John i. 16).
y
Confirmation strengthens, develops, and perfects, the supernatural union, which was given
us at Baptism. “ Id^e have all been made to
drink in one Spirit" (I. Cor. xii. 13), it leads to
perfection our spiritual growth, making us
capable of acting manfully in the spiritual order,
so that we can defend the faith received in Baptism
openly and courageously. “This Sacrament,”
says St. 'Thomas, “ augments and perfects our
*■ spiritual life in all that regards external combats
against the enemies of Christ, but it is the work
of the Eucharist to perfect man and unite him
intimately with God ” (Sum. Theol. iii. 79, 1,
ad i).
Our union then with Christ commenced at
Baptism, was strengthened by Confirmation, and
is perfected at the moment of Communion.
It must be noted that Baptism and Confirma-

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tion are received once only, and alas ! we can
lose the grace they have enriched us with. This
life of grace is always exposed to the danger of
losing its vitality : it is certain it suffers loss from
our daily frailties. Being thus enfeebled each
day, will it not end by finally disappearing ? No.
To restore it Our Lord has instituted the Sacra­
ment of the Altar the most marvellous of all :
the Sacrament in which all the rest receive their
consummation and crown.
Its end is twofold to lead us to perfection, and
to maintain our union with Christ. Above all
it is the Sacrament of Life, for it is a food that we
can receive every day, a living bread (John vi.
51) expressly instituted to give us eternal life, the
very Life of God Himself. This living bread does
for our supernatural life, all that material bread
can do for our bodies, it restores, augments,
renews and gladdens.
To Communion by the Incarnation and Re­
demption, is a summary of the whole mystery of
Christ. F rom the sublime heights of the Blessed
Trinity, the Incarnate Word descended to man
in the Eucharist; by the Eucharist, man mounts
up to his last end, the Holy and Adorable Trinity.
From the Trinity to Communion : such was the
route Christ traversed to accomplish His task of
diffusing His Divine Life, the path made by
10

Divine Love in descending to man whom He
wished to save.
From Communion to the Trinity : is the ascent
by which man, purified and strengthened by the
company of Christ, enters into the participation
of his infinite reward. This is the ascending way
of human love to God, to God Who draws the
human heart by the inexhaustible felicity of the
Beatific Vision.
“ Let us give thanks to God the Father Who
hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot
of the Saints in light ; Who hath delivered us
from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. ...
“ He is the image of the invisible God the
first-born of every creature. For in Him were
all things created in heaven and on earth, things
visible, and invisible .... All things were created
by Him and in Him. He is before all and by Him
all things subsist.
“ He is the head of the body, the Church :
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead ; that
in all things He may hold the primacy. For
God wished that in Him all fulness should dwell ;
through Him reconciling all things to Himself,
both things on earth and things in heaven, making
peace through the blood of His cross.
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“ You also were at one time enemies in
thoughts and evil works, but now are reconciled
through the death of His Son, making you hole,
unspotted and blameless before Him, provided
that you remain grounded and settled in. faith,
immovable in hope ” (cfr. Colos i. 12-23).

12

I
THE EUCHARISTIC UNION
I.—Ab<>ve all Jesus gives Himself to us by Com­
munion.
2·—Communion gives us Jesus in His entirety.
3.—Communion gives us the Three Divine Persons.
4·—Communion associates us with the very life of the
Blessed Trinity,

THE EUCHARISTIC UNION
I.—ABOVE ALL JESUS GIVES HIMSELF TO US BY

COMMUNION.

In our everyday life it is by Holy Communion
that we are specially united with Christ. The
great means for us to enrich ourselves with the
Divine Life is to eat the Bread of Life.
A wonderful union is established at that mo­
ment. Even the most intimate unions of the
world cannot be compared to it. To find an
analogy we must ascend with St. John Chrysostom
to the union of the two natures in Christ and say
that Communion unites us to Jesus as His Sacred
Humanity is united to the Word.
Assuredly the life of Jesus and our life remain
distinct, just as His Nature and Soul do from
ours. He establishes however an incomparable
union of love.
To give an idea of this unification of Christ

and man (Council of Florence), the Fathers
of the Church make use of sonic wonderful
comparisons. “ Throw melted wax into niched
wax,” said St. Cyril of Jerusalem, ” and the one
interpenetrates the other perfectly.
In 1 ikemanner when the body and blood of Christ are
received, the union is such that Christ is in the
recipient and he in Christ. . . . We have the same
body, and the same blood.” St. Cyprian writes
“ Our union with Christ unifies affections and
wills.”
Practically at the moment of Communion,
Jesus is so completely in our hearts and in our
souls, that our thoughts and affections may be
said to be His also. At first they are in Him,
then He communicates them to us according to
the measure of our love. If a soul has only a
little love, Jesus is forced to accommodate Him­
self to the narrow limits of that soul and to
restrain His gifts. To the communicant,
however, who is detached both from himself
and creatures, who gives himself unreservedly
with a pure heart, Jesus in exchange gives
Himself as only God is able to do. An inter­
change of life is established, a communication of
gifts, a unity of love which defies human de­
scription. The soul permeated by Jesus becomes
as it were fruitful soil germinating both flowers
16

and fruits. It conceives wondrous thoughts,
makes burning acts of love. Can these be said
to be ours ? Yes, for they spring from our intelli­
gence and affections, but inasmuch as we are
united with Christ they are common to us and
Him. Together we adore, love, give thanks ·,
together we give ourselves to our Father in heaven.
His love and ours, His thoughts and ours inter/. mingle : like two grains of incense burnt together
in the same thurible, they exhale one perfume
towards heaven.
I
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“ O Divine Word as your Father from all
eternity is in you, wholly in you, as you are wholly
in Him ; so, also, O my Jesus, fill me with yourself
that- by the intimate permeation of all that is
mine, I may be one with you.”
M. Olier.
n.---- COMMUNION
TIRETY.

GIVES

US

JESUS

IN

HIS

EN­

At the moment of Communion we are really
in possession of Life Itself. We have within us
the Incarnate Word, with all He is, with all He
does. Jesus, God, and man ; all the treasures
of His Divinity, all the graces of His Humanity ;
what St. Paul terms “ the unsearchable riches of
Christ ” (Eph. iii. 8).
Jesus is with us as man.
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Communion pours into us the heavenly arid
glorified life of His Humanity, His Heart, His
Soul. In the heavens this sight fills the angels
with joy. Some Saints on earth have also seen
the glorified Humanity of Jesus in vision. “ It
was a beauty human language could not express,”
said Blessed Angela of Foligno, the remembrance
caused “ an immense joy, a sublime light, an
unspeakable and continual delight, a delight to
which all others are but dross.”
Yet this glorified body, animated by a heart
an abyss of love, by a soul ineffably beautiful,
radiating light, life, grace, peace and joy, the very
sanctuary and paradise of God, becomes our
banquet.
Jesus comes to us as God.
This is the very crown, the culminating point
of the divine generosity. “ Having loved His
own who were in the world, He loved them unto
the end (John xiii. x) even to the extreme limit,
the ultimate capacity of love. We communicate
then in the divine life of Jesus, in His life as the
Word, as the only Son of the Father.
But He Himself said: “ 1 live by the Father ”
(John vi. 58). From all eternity, the Father
gives to the Son that life which is His own.
He gives it entirely without measure, with such
generosity of love that though remaining distinct,
18

they form but one Divinity, with the same life,
the same plenitude of love, joy and peace. Yet
it is this Life that we receive.
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“ O uncreated God ! O God so lovingly incarnate ! man has eaten Your flesh and drunk
Y our blood, that he may be one with Y ou th rough
endless ages.”
B. Angela of Foligno.

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III.---- COMMUNION GIVES US THE THREE DIVINE
PERSONS.

The Word comes to us. But He does not
come alone. “ 1 am in the Father and the Father
in me ” (John xiv. 10). What a consoling truth,
that where Jesus is His Father is also : “ He
i that sent Me is with Me and He hath not
left Me alone. ... The Father abideth in Mi"
(John viii. 29, xiv. 10). But where the Father
and the Son are present there also is the Holy
Ghost. Consequently the adorable Trinity
dwells in the heart of each communicant. Jesus
Himself has said so. “ If anyone love Me . . .
My Father will love him, and IMe will come to
him, and will make Our abode with Azm”(John
xiv. 23).
Our soul becomes a sanctuary filled with ini.i effable wonders, for the Three Divine Persons

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do not remain inactive in the communicant, the
Father generates there, the Son, and the Rather
and Son together breathe forth the Holy Ghost.
The Father eternally expresses a Word, similar
to, and equal to Himself, by this essential and
living Word He completely manifests Himself.
On seeing this Word, His Image, Light, Thought
Glory, the counterpart of Himself, equivalent
splendour of all His perfections, living mirror of
His Being, fruit of His affection, the Father loves
Him with a love that is illimitable. The Word
also returns an infinite love, in all respects equal
to that of His Father. This living, subsistent,
unique and mutual love, this embrace, this
ineffable kiss consummates them in the unity of
the Holy Spirit. This is the great mystery
whose contemplation inundates the angels with
glory, happiness and beauty. These marvellous
intelligences who understand at one glance all the
mysteries of created things,· fix their gaze eternally
on the Three Divine Persons, without exhausting,
without satiating their desire for this mystervTheir untiring glance always discovers within the
abyss of the Divine Life, new perfections which
they contemplate with ravishment, and hymn with
delight.
This mystery is brought to us at Communion.
Whilst at all times “ we are the temples
20

of the living God” (II. Cor. vi. 16), for as St.
Thomas says “ By sanctifying grace, the entire
Trinity is the guest of our souls ” ; yet this is,
if possible, more true at the moment of Com­
munion because then Jesus comes to us as the
Bread of Life, to bestow expressly upon us that
life which He derives from His Father : He who
eats of this Bread shall live.
But how will he live ? “ As the living Father
hath sent Me, and I live by the Father ; so he that
eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me ” (John
vi. 58).
The soul of the communicant becomes as it
were the heaven of the Blessed Trinity. In
my soul as in heaven, the Father utters His Word,
generates His Son, and in so doing gives Him to
me “ Thou art My Son, this day I have begotten
Thee . . . Thou art My beloved Son : in Thee I
ant well pleased” (Ps. ii. 7 ; Luke iii. 22).
In my soul the Father and Son now exchange
Their mutual love, are held in equal embrace, and
Their love, breathing forth like a flame, is the
Holy Spirit.
“O eternal God, O almighty Father, O ardent
flame of Love ! You have manifested Your
grandeur and bounty, in the gift bestowed. You
the Infinite, the eternal Trinity, have given Your­
c
21

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self completely to man. To bestow this gift
You descended into the stable of our humanity,
which had become the haunt of animals, that is to
say of mortal sins. . . .
“ O eternal Trinity, our supreme love, and true
light, enlighten us. Y ou, Who are Wisdom itself,
grant us wisdom. You, Who are Omnipotent,
give us strength. Dispel our darkness we be­
seech You, that we may know You perfectly,
Who art T ruth itself, and follow Y ou in simplicity
and sincerity of heart.”
St. Catharine
IV.---- COMMUNION

ASSOCIATES

US

of

Siena.

WITH

THE

INNER LIFE OF THE BLESSED TRINITY.

By this life which is given me, I am a partici­
pant of the marvellous interchange of love of the
Three Divine Persons.
Jesus makes me realize His love for His Father,
makes me penetrate into His Heart, shows me
His Soul burning with love for God, with Him
and by Him I love His Father Who is mine also.
He teaches me to adore, praise, love, surrender
myself, to repeat with Him “ Behold, 1 come to do
Thy will O my God , . . Into Thy hands I commend
my spirit (Ps. xxxix. 8, 9 ; xxx. 6). Jesus Him­
self asks His Father that I may be admitted
into the mystery of the love of “ The Three ”
22

“ Father, I pray for them also . . . that they may be
me in Us ” (John xvii. 20, 21).
The Father in His turn associates us with His
tender affection for His Son. “ No man can
came to Me," said Jesus, “ except the Father draw
him ” (John vi. 44). He adds “ My Father
hath loved Me ” (John xv. 9), and with what a
love ! A love which cannot be described, a
/ limitless love. Yet Jesus demands and obtains
( my participation in this surpassing tenderness,
“ Father, may the love wherewith Thou hast loved
Me be in them ” (John xvii. 26)
Led to the Father by Jesus, to Jesus by the
Father, I am immersed as it were in the Holy
Spirit, the eternal and mutual love of both Father
and Son.
It is in the Holy Spirit, that You, Father, lead
me to Jesus, it is in the Holy Spirit that You,
,f Jesus, conduct me to Your Father.
{
The Holy Ghost is Your Gift, because He is
I
Your union,Y our consummation, the seal of Your
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unity, He is also my union, my consummation,
;
the seal of my unity with Y ou. “ He teaches me
i
all things ” (John xiv. 26). He perfects His
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work by giving me everything. In drawing Y ou,
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O Jesus, He draws me to the Father. With
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You, O Father, in drawing Y ou, He draws me to
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Jesus. He attracts, possesses me, makes me one
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with You. It is by means of the Hoiy Ghost
that the supreme prayer of Jesus, the adorable
master, is realized : “ Holy Father, I pray for all
those who believe in me : that they may all be one,
as Thou Father in Me and I in Thee ; that they also
may be one in Us. . . . And the glory which Thou hast
given Me, I have given to them, that they may be
one as IVe also are one. I in them and Thou in Me,
that they may be made perfect in one : that the world
may know) that Thou hast sent Me, and hast
loved them as Thou hast also loved J/i”(John
xvii. 21-23).
God said to Blessed Angela of Foligno, “If
anyone wishes to possess Me in his soul, I will not
withdraw from him. If anyone wishes to see
Me, I will give him the vision of My face. If
anyone wishes to converse with Me, we will talk
together with great joy.”
“ O Trinity ! Eternal Trinity ! O Fire, O
abyss of Love ! Would it not have sufficed to
create us after Your own image and likeness,
making us reborn through grace, by the Blood of
Your Son ? Was it still necessary that You should
give the Holy Trinity itself as food for our souls ?
Yet Your love willed this, O Eternal Trinity !
You gave us not only Your Word through the
Redemption and in the Eucharist, but Yourself
24

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in Your fulness of love for Your creature. In
very truth the soul possesses You Who art Supreme
Goodness.”
St. Catharine

of

Siena.

If St. Thomas could write that Grace, “ Is the
commencement of eternal beatitude,” how much
more can this be said of the Eucharistic Union.
; Jesus Himself said, “ He who eats of this bread
shall live for ever ” (John vi. 52).
The Blessed in heaven, and the Church militant
on earth receiving the same God partake of the
same life. It is true that the Blessed have the
vision of God, whilst we only possess Him by
faith. But Communion like vision gives Him
to us immediately and completely, without other
obstacle than that of our frailties and tepidity.
If our faith were sufficiently strong to eliminate
this indifference, sufficiently ardent to remove
every obstacle, and thus to prepare for the Host
the same reception that the purifying process of
purgatory effects for eternal life, the results would
be almost the same. Filled with the Eucharistic
life by Communion, even those here on earth
would be transformed in God as are the elect
in heaven.
Does it not almost seem as if God had been seized
by some divine impatience, and could not wait
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for the hour which should give us the beatific
vision ? Love has hastened to contract that union
which should last eternally. He has made Him­
self Bread, made Himself Wine, and says to us,
“ I am the food of great souls : grow and eat,
for you will not change Me into yourself as does
bodily food, but you will be changed into Me”
(St. Augustine’s Confessions). . . . Come, my
friends, eat and drink, be inebriated, my dearly
beloved ” (Cantic. v. i).

“ O Jesus Christ creator and creature. True
God and true man. True flesh and blood. O
ineffable union, meeting of immensities. O my
Lord I go from Your humanity to Your divinity,
from Your divinity to Your humanity, I go and I
return. In contemplation the soul encounters
the ineffable divinity carrying in itself all treasures,
all knowledge. O imperishable treasure ! O
divinity ! You are the source from whom I
draw these nourishing delights, the source of all
I am able to tell, of all I am unable to express.
I see the most precious soul of Jesus endowed
with all virtues, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
a most holy oblation, an oblation without stain.
I see that body the price of our redemption. I
see the blood, from which I draw life and salva­
tion. I see also that which I am unable to
26

express. Here truly, under these veils, is He
whom the Dominations adore, He before Whom
the Powers and Angels tremble. If only our
eyes were opened as are theirs, what prodigies
would be worked in us, at the approach of this
Mystery, what adoration, what humility.”
Blessed Angela of Foligno

«

■ **

THE PERMANENCE OF THE
EUCHARISTIC UNION
I—UNION WITH THE SACRED HUMANITY OF JESUS.

1. Our union with the Sacred Humanity in virtue of
His merits and love.
a. Our union with the Sacred Humanity in virtue of
His vital action.
j. Our union with the Sacred Humanity in the
Eucharist.
4. The intimacy of this union.
II.—THF. UNION WITH THE MOST HOLY TRINITY.

X. The abiding presence of the Blessed Trinity.
2, The divine circumincession in our souls.

II

THE PERMANENCE OF THE
EUCHARISTIC UNION
THE PERMANENCE OF THE EUCHARISTIC UNION

Does the Eucharistic Union last ?
Communion is an act, all acts are passing.
Immediately the sacred species are consumed
are we then deprived of the presence of Our
Lord ? Does this ineffable union last only for
some short moments ?
The Church, however, teaches us to desire the
permanence of this union, when she puts on our
lips at the moment of Communion that wonderful
prayer : “ O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living
God, who fulfilling the Father’s will, with the
co-operation of the Holy Ghost, has given life
to the world by Thy death : deliver me from all
wickedness, and from every evil, for the sake of
this Thy Sacred Body and Blood. Make me
always cleave to Thy commandments, and let me
31

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not at any time be separated from Thee, who
with the same God the Father and the Holy
Ghost livest and reignest world without end.
Amen.”
That 1 may never be separated from Thee.
Surely that is the prayer of every loving soul ;
for love always desires lasting union. Every­
thing that passes has something unsatisfying
about it. The soul that has communicated with
fervour, and has entered into the intimacy of the
Eucharistic mystery, feels itself enkindled with an·
ardent desire, an insatiable hunger for the sacred
Host. Even though daily Communion brings
great joys each morning, yet these do not satisfy
the desire ; there is a perpetual thirst for Com­
munion, for continuous union with the Euchar­
istic mystery.
Celestial sweetness unalloyed
Who eat Thee hunger still,
Who drink of Thee still feel a void
Which only Thou canst fill.1

Is it too much then to think of a continual
union with Jesus, a lasting possession of His
adorable Humanity.
No, certainly not since the Master Himself
both gives and encourages these desires. “ He
1 Hymn of Lauds.

Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus.

32

that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth
in me and I in him ” (John vi. 57).

“ O God, my God, I search for Thee at break
of day.
My soul hath thirst for thee.
My flesh languisheth.
In this desert land, where no water is.
So I come before thee in thy sanctuary.
To see thy power and glory.
My soul adheres to thee.” (Psalm Ixii )

“O God of love, my Saviour, my joy, my delight
for eternity. Thou alone canst quench my thirst,
and satiate my soul. Yet the more I feed on
Thee, the more 1 hunger, the more I drink at
Your source, the more I thirst. Come, then, Lord
Jesus, come.”
St. Gertrude.
I—OUR UNION WITH THE SACRED
HUMANITY.

The permanence of the eucharistie union is
both possible and actual. Even when the sacred
species are consumed the communicant may
remain closely united to the Sacred Humanity of
Jesus.
But this union must be properly understood.
The Sacred Humanity is in heaven, and in
33

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the tabernacles on our altars. According to its
glorious form it is in heaven, according to the
eucharistie form in the tabernacles. Such is
the teaching of theology. Assuredly once the
species are consumed, the Humanity of Christ
ceases to be with the communicant according to
its eucharistie state. There is no doubt that it
would be theologically incorrect to consider the
Sacred Humanity as remaining in our hearts as it
remains in the Consecrated Host.
However, we are permitted to say that we dwell
in permanent union with the Humanity of Our
Lord, for if He does not dwell with us by His
bodily substance, yet He does so by the outpour­
ings of His love, the contact of His power, by the
lights and graces He sends us without ceasing
from the tabernacle.
The Eternal Father said to St. Catherine of
Siena, “ Consider what excellencies the soul
receives in this Bread of Life, this nourishment
of angels. In receiving this Sacrament, it dwells
in Me, and I in it. As the fish is in the sea, the
sea in the fish, so am I in the soul and the soul in
Me the Ocean of peace. After Communion
grace remains ; for having received this Bread of
Life in the state of grace, the soul retains grace
when the accidents of bread are consumed.
“I leave the imprint of my grace, as the soft wax

retains the imprint when the seal is withdrawn.
In the same way by virtue of this sacrament the
ardour of My divine charity, the loving mercy of
the Holy Spirit, the intellectual light of uncreated
Wisdom, My only Son, remain behind in the
soul ” (St. Catherine of Siena. Dialogue 112).
I.·----OUR UNION WITH THE SACRED HUMANITY
IN VIRTUE OF HIS MERITS AND LOVE.

The Sacred Humanity is always present to us,
by the incessant action of His merits, the perpetual raying forth of His love.
Christ, said St. Paul, “ is always living to make
intercession for us ” (Hebrews vii. 25). In
heaven, in the Blessed Sacrament, He does not
cease to plead for us by recalling His merits to
His Father, Who is then as it were compelled to
help us. He shows that human nature He
assumed, which has merited for us, together with
the sacred wounds, the signs of His sacrifice.
He manifests the ardent desire of His Holy Soul
for our salvation, a desire which is more than a
prayer, for it is an appeal to His infinite merits,
which is immediately granted.
He intercedes for all He has redeemed, for all,
as for each in particular, He has a special regard,
a special outpouring of His love for everyone,

35

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“ I am the good Shepherd . . . The good Shepherd
calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them.
I know My sheep” (John x. 3, 14). This is
not, says St. Thomas, simply knowledge, but a
loving recognition, in which the heart takes part
as much as the intelligence. Without ceasing
Jesus watches me from the depths of the Taber­
nacle, with a look that penetrates to my inmost
being, a glance at the same time attentive and
tenderly affectionate. “ The light of thy counten­
ance O Lord is signed upon us ” (Psalm iv. 7).
Not a single thought, not an act escapes Jesus.
There is not one of my desires, which He
does not know better than I do myself. He
takes count of all my varying feelings, my needs,
my dangers, my aspirations ; not simply as a
witness, but to give me, by the instrumentality
of His glorified Humanity, the graces I need for
all these changing states.
At every instant He loves me. And with what
a love J Certainly the uncreated Love of the
Word is always with us, it is an ineffable blessing
to know that it is beyond our power to escape
from it. But as man also Jesus loves me. From
His tabernacle He pours forth floods of tenderness,
enveloping me with love. A love which never
lessens ; there is never a moment in which I can
say, now Jesus does not think of me. Even at
36

night He watches whilst I sleep. “ 7 he Lord
Loketh on your way, and the journey that you
ξο” (Judges xviii. 6), and this with a love which
is never discouraged. I often forget and offend,
but He continues to bestow His graces. His love
aids me continually, it has the tenderness of
brother, friend, and spouse, night and day I am
under its influence ; How precious is this union
between the soul and God, flowing unceasingly
from the charity of the Sacred Heart.
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“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
He maketh me repose in the green pastures,
He leadeth me beside the still waters,
He restoreth my soul. ...
Though I should walk through the valley of
the shadow of death
1 shall fear no evil.
For Thou art with me,
Thy rod and thy staff have comforted me.
Thou hast prepared a table before me against
those that afflict me.
My chalice floweth over.”
Psalm xxii.
—OUR UNION WITH THE SACRED HUMANITY
IN VIRTUE OF HIS VITAL ACTION.

There is a mode of presence of the Sacred
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Humanity, more intimate still : the mysterious
presence of His vital action.
“ I am the Life ” (John xiv. 6), said Jesus,
and during His ministry on earth, the Sacred
Humanity repeatedly manifested its supernatural
power : His touch sufficed to perform the great­
est miracles.
“ Virtue went out from Him and healed
all” (Luke xi. 19). To-day, far from being
lessened this power knows neither obstacle, nor
cessation. It energises continually everywhere.
Happily each one of us is unable to escape from
that action, or as theologians term it from “ the
contact of His power.”
Christ’s vital action is the centre of the super­
natural universe, the sun which illumines all the
spiritual creatures of God, the supernatural
atmosphere, without which there would be no
life, no light, no security, no relation with God.
The Sacred Humanity placed at the summit of
creation, in immediate contact with the Divinity,
inundated with the Divine Life, became itself
the source of life, the point of departure of the
Divine gifts. Life issues as it were in great
floods from the Soul and Heart of Jesus, a deluge
of light and love, descending like a cataract in
varying degrees on all the elect, it fills the children
of God in all parts of the earth with light and joy.
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Every hour, like the sun casting forth its rays,
or some overflowing spring, the Heart of Jesus
pours forth an immense and inexhaustible effusion
of Grace, which after rejoicing the elect in heaven,
spreads itself abroad on earth from the ocean of
His Love by the seven rivers of the Sacraments,
and a thousand other streams ; thus sanctifying
the predestined and bringing to perfection the
various virtues of the Christian life.
On Calvary the Sacred Humanity merited life
for us, now it dispenses life : “To every one is
given grace according to the measure of the giving
of Christ ” (Eph. iv. 7). What are the Sacraments if not the Sacred Humanity employed in
sanctifying mankind ?
Even outside the Sacraments, this life is always
active and does not cease influencing souls, by
interior illuminations, by efficacious impulses.
If I am now in a state of grace, the Sacred
Humanity is the cause. No supernatural impress arrives except from His Heart, no ray of
divine light save from His Soul. Without it
I am powerless, even to say Lord Jesus. It is
the source of all my supernatural activity, of all
progress, of all growth in the things of God.
From its commencement to its completion my
life wells up from this spring. If for one moment
the Sacred Humanity of Jesus withdraws, or
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deprives me of His light, 1 fall again into death.
“ Hs the head commands the members” said the

Council of Trent, “ as the vine penetrates all its
branches with its sap, so every moment fesus
Christ exercises His influence on all the just. He
prepares, assists, and crowns all good works, making
them agreeable and meritorious before God ”
(Sess. vi. Can. 16).
“ Christus vita vestra : Christ is your life,”
said the Apostle ; because, adds St. Thomas, “ He
is the author and converser of your life : quia ipse
est actor vitÆ vestrœ ” (S. Thom. Comm, in
Coloss. iii. 4).
“O Eternal Trinity, All Powerful God, we
are dead trees, whilst You are the Tree of Life.
O infinite God, what a sight to see in Your light
the tree of Your creature. O supreme Purity,
You gave that tree for branches, the powers of
the soul, intelligence, memory, will. And what
fruits should these branches bear ? The memory
should retain You, the intelligence know You,
the will love You.
“When first planted by the gardener, how
happy was the condition of this tree. But also,
O my God, it is diseased, it now bears poisonous
fruit ·, a tree of life has become a tree of death.
“But, Eternal Trinity,You loveYour creature
40

even to folly. Impelled by the same love that
created it, when evil fruits were produced, be­
cause separated from Y ou the life-giver, You saved
the dying tree by grafting upon it Your Divinity.
“ Life-giving graft,You mingled sweet sap with
our bitterness, splendour with darkness, wisdom
with folly, life with death, the infinite with the
finite.
“After the injury done by Your creature, what
made Y ou give life by this union ? Love ! Love
alone was the marvellous graft that vanquished
death.
“But that did not suffice the flame of Your
charity, O Eternal Word ; You would water the
tree with Your own Blood, and the warmth of
that Blood made it fructify so long as man was
united and lived in You. His heart and affec­
tions must be bound to Y ou by the cords of obedi­
ence and charity, united to the celestial graft,
the branches bear fruit. O Infinite Love, what
marvels You have worked in Your creatures !
Why will not men water their tree at the fountain
of Blood ? Eternal Life is poured out for us poor
creatures, yet we ignore, and refuse to profit
by it.
I have sinned O my Lord have pity upon me.
Jesus Love ! O Love of Jesus.”
St. Catharine

41

of

Siena.

β.----- OUR UNION

WITH

THE

SACRED

HUMANITY

IN THE EUCHARIST.

Where is this Sacred Humanity, the source of
my supernatural life ? Without doubt in heaven ;
but in the Blessed Sacrament, He is closer and
more accessible to me. He is there living and
operating ; there precisely that He may be in
close contact with me ; there to nourish my
spiritual life, make me participate in the life of His
Heart and Soul. “ 1 am the bread of life ... the
living bread which came down from heaven. He
who eats of this bread hath everlasting life ”
(John vi. 48, 51, 55).
It is above all at the moment of Communion
that this life overflows into me. But after the
sacred species are consumed He dwells in my soul,
because the Sacred Humanity continues to make
me share in His life by means of His grace. I
rest in communication with Him as the branch
with the sap of the vine. Is not the union of the
sap with the branch a lasting one ? Is not the
union between the head and the members a real
and permanent union ? The union of the com­
municant with the Humanity of Jesus is just as
real, permanent and efficacious. Between the
soul of the Communicant and the Soul of Christ
there is an incessant communication, a flowing
and reflowing of life. What matters external
42

distance, if the life is the same ! Yet it is essen­
tially the same life, for it is the same grace which
is in the Host and in my soul
“Lord, Thy Almighty Life is not for our des­
truction, but for our living. Thou remainest
ever one and the same in Thyself, but there goes
from Thee continually a power and virtue, which
by its contact is our strength and good. . . .
“The living God is lifegiving. Thou art the
Fount and Centre, as well as the Seat of all good.
Make me then like Thyself, O my God, since,
in spite of myself, such Thou canst make me,
such I can be made. . . . Lord I am asking for
Thyself, for nothing short of Thee, O my God,
Who hast given Thyself wholly to us. Enter
into my heart substantially and personally, and fill
it with fervour by filling it with Thee. Thou
alone canst fill the soul of men ; and Thou hast
promised to do so. Thou art the living Flame,
and ever burnest with love of man, enter into me
and set me on fire after Thy pattern and likeness.”
Cardinal Newman.

4.--- THE INTIMACY OF THIS UNION.
Nothing that is human and terrestrial can be
compared to the closeness of this union, because
the Sacred Humanity acts directly upon the soul.
43

The Angels themselves though they have re­
ceived marvellous gifts are unable to act imme­
diately upon my intelligence, and move it spon­
taneously to think and believe, still less have they
power to act from within upon my will. It is
God alone who can control and move the centres
of energy of the soul.
But the Sacred Humanity has received a com­
munication of this divine power, so that not only
does it stretch over me the protection of prayer
and an infinite tenderness, but exercises its divine
efficacy in penetrating to the depths of my soul
and will.
The union of husband and wife, of soul and
body is not as intimate as the union of my soul
with the Sacred Humanity ; the reason being
that Grace, the fruit of His sacrifice, communi­
cated to me, penetrates the very essence of my
soul. As perfume percolates the containing
vessel, and the ray the crystal, giving purity and
brilliance ; like fire permeating iron, warming
and enkindling, so Grace from the Eucharist
flowing into my soul, possesses, penetrates, fills
—in the words of St. Thomas “ transforms and
inebriates with God ” (St. Thomas in Joann,
cap. VI, lect. 7).
This grace is truly my life, my true life, much
more so than the life of my body, or even the

44

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natural life of my soul. It is the me of myself,
the soul of my soul, said Contenson. Such,
that in its depths, its most intimate centre, my
life is the Grace which flows to it each moment
from the Host. Jesus said to Blessed Angela of
Foligno “ I am closer to your soul, than your soul to
itself.’' “ For me to live is Christ ” (Phil. i. 21),
cried St. Paul. With the same truth, the same
interior joy, we can say : Life for me is the
Eucharist, for I only repeat the words of the
Master Himself, “ He that eateth Me, the same
also shall live by Me ” (John vi. 58).

“O Lord Jesus, O immense sea, why do You
delay receiving this drop of water into Your
plenitude ? The sole desire of my soul, a desire,
as ardent as sweet, is to escape from myself and
enter into You. Open for me as place of refuge,
Your beloved Heart. Mine exists no longer.
It is Yours, Yours, my beloved, who captured and
still holds it. From You it derives its life, all
worthless as it is You have transformed it in Your
divine essence. My soul in its activities lives
only for You.
“How ineffable is this union ! This intimate
familiarity with You is superior to any other
mode of life. . - · What joy to breathe the divine
peace, the loving tenderness which are in You.
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“Oh if I could only obtain here below what
I desire ... to dwell attached to You by an
indissoluble union.”
St. Gertrude.

II.—OUR UNION WITH THE HOLY TRINITY

It is well to note that ordinarily it is not at the
time of Communion that the Holy Trinity com­
mences to dwell within us. This supernatural
presence is produced the moment the soul is
established in a state of Grace. In speaking of
the Eucharistic Union with regard to the Blessed
Trinity, we simply wish to say that Communion
is the most efficacious means of effecting that
sublime work of supernaturalizing the soul. Each
time we approach the holy table, it augments the
presence of the Three Divine Persons, there is
a fresh influx of the Divine Life, in theological
language, a new “ invisible mission.”
I.---- THE PERMANENCE OF THE BLESSED TRINITY

IN THE COMMUNICANT.

The presence of the Three Divine Persons is
not limited like the physical presence of the
Sacred Humanity to the integrity of the Euchar­
istic species. They dwelt in our soul before
Communion, and they remain after the Host has

disappeared, but their presence is more intimate,
for Communion has increased their influence and
efficacity. After Communion the capacity of
the soul to receive God is augmented. We will
come to Him Who loves us, said Our Lord, I,
My Father, and the Holy Spirit, “ and will
make our abode with him ” (John xiv. 23).
The Three do more than visit us, they estab­
lish their abode with us. Our soul becomes
a heaven, our life a commencement and prelude
of the eternal happiness. Our Lord said “ The
kingdom of God is within you ” (Luke xvii. 21).
This is why St. Paul could write “ The temple
of God is holy, which you are." “ Tour members
are the temple of the Holy Ghost ” (I. Cor. iii. 17 ;
vi. 19).
In this temple, the Three Divine Persons
do not remain inactive. They act unceasingly,
each according to His own proper character.
The mystery of the Trinity is realized in the
activity and love that the Three Persons bear to
the soul ; the soul being loved differently by
each of them, yet with a single love. This love
is single, because each time that the Three Per­
sons act exteriorly to themselves, they act as one.
At the same time it is a triple effusion of love
revealing something of the characteristics proper
to each of the Three Persons.
47

The Father comes as the source of life and
peace : the Creator who after producing the
creature establishes it in its appropriate sur­
roundings : the Father surrounding Ilis child
with goodness, and inexpressible tenderness.
The Word as source of light : the Thought
of the Father, His living Word, His image, He
unites Himself to my intelligence giving me a
supernatural knowledge of the divinity.
The Holy Ghost as source of love. The
Love of the Father and the Son, Their mutual
embrace, the eternal expression of Their love, the
consummation of Their life. He unites Himself
to my will to introduce me into the supernatural
love of the Father and Son.

“O Eternal Trinity, One God, One in essence,
and three in person. You may be compared to
a vine with three branches.
“You made man to Your own image and like­
ness. By the three powers of his soul, he re­
sembles both Your Trinity and Unity.
“By his memory, he resembles and unites him­
self to the Father, to Whom power is attributed ;
by intelligence he unites and resembles the Son
Who is wisdom ; by his will he resembles and is
in connection with the Holy Ghost, to Whom
48

mercy is assigned, and Who is the love of the
Father and the Son. . . .
‘Ό Eternal God, You are the tranquil ocean,
where souls live and are nourished, finding there,
repose in union and love.”
St. Catharine

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2.---- THE DIVINE
SOULS.1

of

CIRCUMINCESSION

Siena.

IN

OUR

In the soul of the communicant a wonderful
resemblance is produced to the circumincession
of the Divine Persons.
In God there is no immobility, but an eternal
movement, an everlasting circulation of love, for
the law of love is to go forth, to bestow itself.
The Father would not be God, if He dwelt only
within Himself : He gives Himself lovingly to
His Son, whom He does not cease to engender.
The Son again would not be God, if He did not
have a similar relation to the Father. Between
them there is an irresistible and mutual attrac1 Circumincession is a theological term designating
the fact that the Three Persons of the Trinity, mutually
dwell one within the other, in such a way that there is
between them as it were a reciprocal circulation. An
analogous phenomenon between God and the soul is
produced by Communion.

49

tion, a force of love which unites and consum­
mates them in unity. This unity of their mutual
love, the subsistent term of the divine life, is the
Holy Ghost. But this Love which proceeds
from the breathing forth of their mutual and
infinite love : this Love, the Holy Spirit which
unites Father and Son in an inexpressible trans­
port of joy, communicates to the soul a movement
similar to the mutual attraction of Father and
Son, permitting the soul to participate in these
intimate relations. In heaven this communi­
cation is perfect. Without any veil, without
the slightest obstacle, the blessed contemplate
the Three Divine Persons. With the Father,
they admire, love and rejoice in the ravishing
splendour of the Word. With the Word they
admire, love and rejoice in the infinite perfection
of the Father. The Father draws them towards
the Son, the Son towards the Father. This
eternal movement of love unites them in the
Father and Son, consummating them in the unity
of the Holy Ghost.
On the earth we have but the commencement
of this wonderful joy : yet we have a true par­
ticipation, for the life of grace here below and
that of glory in heaven are one and the same ;
grace commencing what glory achieves. There
is then already in us something of this wonderful
50

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mystery of the circumincession of the Three
Persons. Jesus Himself helps us to realize this
“ No one cometh to the Father but by Me." . . ·
“ No man can come to Me except the Father
draw him ” (John xiv. 6 ; vi. 44). In other
words : You will never go to My Father if you
do not enter into the movement of love which
unites Me to Him, and you will never come to
Me if the Father does not draw you into the love
with which He turns to Me, and which is con­
summated in the unity of the Holy Ghost. The
soul then which loves the Three Divine Persons
is drawn by the Holy Spirit into that inter­
communicating movement of vision and love
which constitutes the happiness of God, a happi­
ness which is communicated to the Angels and
the Blessed.
Consequently we can say with St. Augustine :
“ The Saints bear God within them, their soul
is a heaven for God inhabits it.” And with
St. John, “iPe have fellowship with the Father,
and with His Son Jesus Christ " (I. John i. 3).
Between the Three and ourselves, there is a
society, a familiar intercourse, a common life.
“Holy Father receive me into your tender
paternity, to the end that having achieved the
course in which I have commenced to run for

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love of You, I may receive You, my reward, as
an eternal heritage.
“ Most loving Jesus, receive me into Your
loving fraternity. Bear with me the trials and
heat of the day. Be my consolation in all my
troubles, my companion and guide during the
pilgrimage of this life.
Holy Spirit, Love of God. Receive me into
Your loving charity. Be the master, teacher and
tender friend of my soul always.”
St. Gertruds.

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III

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TO MAINTAIN AND PERFECT UNION
I.--- TO MAINTAIN UNION.

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2.
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4.
ζ.

6.
7.
8.

Our model Jesus Christ.
Recollection a condition of the life of union.
To maintain union in work.
To maintain union in temptation.
To maintain union in suffering.
To maintain union in grief of heart.
To maintain union in desolation of the soul.
To maintain union in joy.

n-__ TO PERFECT UNION.

x. By the repetition of acts of desire.
2. By repeating acts of love.
3. The invisible Divine Missions.

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TO MAINTAIN AND PERFECT UNION
TO MAINTAIN AND PERFECT UNION.

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In order that our soul shall remain united with
the Sacred Humanity and the Adorable Trinity
it suffices to remain in a state of Grace. Only
mortal sin destroys this permanent union. Whether
we think of it or not, we are incorporated with
Christ and live in Him. The fruits, however, that
we derive differ very considerably, they are in
proportion to the consciousness or unconsciousness of this union : that is to say, whether we
realize or not this Presence of God within us.
We may be united to God as the child to his
mother whilst he sleeps in her arms ; or we may
be united with God as was the beloved Apostle,
who at the Last Supper reclined his head on the
breast of the Master, and listened to the secrets
of His Heart.
Without doubt that first unconscious union is

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very precious. But how much more perfect is
the second. '1 his only can had to pvrfiuinti,
to sanctity. We can only draw fully iront rhe
infinite resources of Communion and the union
it establishes by the constant exercise of our free
will, or to use the language of theologians, by

making this union more and more actual. We
must not content ourselves with a state of grace
only, our love must be awake and actuated by
the desire to live without ceasing with the Blessed
Trinity through Jesus.
This would be relatively easy if our lives could
be passed before the Tabernacle, and we were not
constantly interrupted by external work and
occupations. But this is far from the case with
the majority of us. After Communion we have
to return to our brethren, often to very absorbing
duties. Providence has assigned a definite work
for each and it is not for us to turn from it, Christ
comes to aid us in its performance, and He wishes
we should do our best.
But now a difficulty arises. Ought we to
cease contemplating the wonderful mysteries
Communion has established in our souls ? Are
we to leave God for the services of our neighbour?
Yes, we must do so, but we must still try and
dwell with God, uniting external work with
interior contemplation. In a word we must
56

lead an active exterior life without diminishing
the interior. But how is this to be done ? Let
us try and explain how our efforts should be
directed :
(a) In the first place to maintain union with
God in the midst of our occupations and in the
changing phases of life ;
(b) Then how to perfect this union.
ÿ

“ Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes,
and I shall keep it unto the end.
Give me understanding that I may keep Thy
law, and observe it with my whole heart.
Incline my heart to Thy testimonies. Make
me live in Thy way.
Behold I have longed after Thy precepts :
quicken me in Thy justice.”
Ps. cxviii

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“ The knowledge of God ! This, O Lord, is the
joy of joys. Knowledge precedes, love comes
after, love the transformer. He who truly
knows, is ardent in love.”
Blessed Angela

57

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Foligno.

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(i).—TO MAINTAIN

UNION.

(l).---- OUR MODEL.

Here as in all things Jesus is our model. He
dwells always with His Father. “ I am in the
Father and the Father in Me ” (John xiv. io).
The union ofHis Soul with the Word, and conse­
quently with the Father “ and with the Holy
Ghost ” was always perfect. Lying on the straw
of the manger at Bethlehem, bending over the
carpenter’s bench at Nazareth, walking along the
paths of Judea, or hanging on the Cross, He could
always say : I am in the Father.
God was constantly in His thoughts, no work
or suffering could for an instant turn Him away
from God. H is soul never ceased contemplating
the splendours of the Beatific Vision. All that
He saw on earth, He saw in the divine light,
estimating and judging according to the eternal
thought of His Father : “ As I hear so 1 judge.
... The things that I speak, even as the Father
said unto Me do 1 speak ” (John v. 30 ·, xii. 50).
Christ’s will was always so intimately united to
His Father’s, that he neither loved, not did any-

thing save what the Father loved or desired.
“ He that sent Me is U)ith Me, and He hath not
left Me alone : for I do always the things that
please Him ” (John viii. 29). He was united
by His love : for His Sacred Heart burnt with
a love for His Father which was absolutely
pure, entirely disinterested and of the greatest
possible intensity. All His thoughts, acts, His
whole being resolved itself into a permanent act
of ineffable love : “ 1 love the Father,” He said
(John xiv. 31).
He whom the Jews saw working as a carpenter,
traversing the ways as any other, suffering fatigue,
hunger, thirst, and pain, was yet always unchange­
ably peaceful, unutterably happy.
Such is the model for every Christian soul.

“O Jesus living in Mary come and live in us
by Your holiness, the plenitude of Your powers,
the reality of Your virtues, the perfection of
Your ways, overcoming all the power of the
enemy by Your spirit to the glory of the Father.”
M. Olier.
(2).—RECOLLECTION A NECESSARY CON­
DITION FOR THE LIFE OF UNION.

To live constantly with God, and in God, is
the ideal set before the communicant. To

59

attain this the practice of recollection is a primary
necessity.
The soul is recollected when it gathers together
all its faculties and enters into itself to find God
there. The avoidance of useless conversations,
of worldly amusements, the practice of silence
are the elementary duties of everyone seeking to
live a truly Christian life.
To imagine that a pious and a worldly life can
co-exist is a dangerous illusion. It is necessary
to choose between God and the world.
“ 1 will lead her into solitude, and there I will
speak to her heart ” fifr. Osee ii. 14).
But an external silence will not suffice. What
can it avail if interior voices make an uproar ?
It is necessary to establish silence within, that is
to say to banish preoccupations, useless thoughts,
day-dreams, all the vain work of the imagination
which often troubles the soul more than pro­
longed external conversations. To give free
rein to one’s imagination, amuse oneself with
remembrances of the past, indulge useless thoughts,
follow up some purely natural desire, build castles
in Spain, worry about the future, all this draws a
veil between the soul and God, is an obstacle to
perfect union. Unfortunately there are souls
who, whilst accomplishing their religious duties
and possessing ordinarily the state of grace, yet
60

lead a mediocre life, draw little fruit from their
habitual union with God, and finish perhaps by
losing their piety from want of recollection and
silence. God is in them, but they do not know
how to dwell with Him. The Psalmist said
“ My soul is continually in my hands : and 1 have
not forgotten Thy law" (Psalm xcviii. 109).
This is a verse throwing light on that
fundamental obligation, the keeping ourselves
consciously in the presence of the Blessed
Trinity.
The sincere Christian ought to maintain a
ceaseless watch over himself, so that he may
constantly and continuously govern his interior
faculties. The useless play of the imagination
causes an enfeeblement of the soul, *which weakened, and as it were drawn in different directions,
is incapable of giving itself up as it should do
to the work of loving God. The result of recol­
lection is to reunite the scattered forces which
had been uselessly wasted and dispersed and lead
them to God. The soul being re-established
in possession of itself, and its unity, can then hold
intimate communion with its Guests the Three
Divine Persons, who never cease urging it to
converse with them. “ Hearken O daughter and
see, incline thine ear, forget thy people, and thy
father's house, and the King shall greatly desire
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thy beauty. hie is thy Lord God and Him thou
shalt adore"' (Psalm xliv. i i, x 2).
Do you wish to listen to God ? Keep silence,
banish creatures, and turn yourself towards Him.
“ The Father uttered one word : His Word,
His Son, He utters it eternally, in an eternal
silence. It is in this silence that the soul hears ”
(Maxims of St. John of the Cross).
“ The law of prayer,” said Blessed Angela of
Foligno, “ is one of unity: God requires the entire
man, not a part of him. The whole heart must
go forth in prayer, if that does not happen nothing
is obtained. Realize that God alone is your
supreme need, to find Him, to unite all the facul­
ties in Him, is the one thing necessary.
“ For the attainment of recollection it is essen­
tial to cut away all extravagances, all curiosity, all
unnecessary acts and occupations. In a word
man must put away all that can divide him.”
All should follow the advice of St. Catharine of
Siena, who loved to recommend to her disciples
the building of an interior cell, where they should
live with God alone, occupied with the “ One
thing necessary ” (Luke x. 42). There each
would hold his soul within his hands, and could
say with the Spouse in the Canticle seeking the
Beloved, “ I knew not G that is (Cant. vi. 11),
I have forgotten everything except God and the
62

things of God. Or as St. Paul says, “ I count
all things to he but loss . .
that I may gain
Christ ” (Phil. iii. 8).
“If anyone wishes to arrive at the state of
union, it is absolutely necessary that he disengage
himself from all things, that he recollects himself
interiorly ; and within himself, holds before the
eyes of his soul nothing but Jesus covered with
wounds ; then applying himself with all his
energy to go by Him, with Him, and in Him as
Man to the Godhead, he passes by the wounds
of His Humanity to the inmost sanctuary of
the Divinity ” (Concerning Union with God.
Ch. IL).
“ O my God, Trinity Whom I adore, help me
to entirely forget myself, that peaceably and un­
changeably I may establish myself in You, as
though my soul was already in eternity. Grant
that nothing may trouble my peace or make me
part from Y ou my Immutable One, but that each
moment I may plunge myself further into Your
mysteries.
“Tranquillize my soul. Make it Your heaven,
Your abode, the place of Your repose. May I
never leave You there alone, but be there with all
my faculties, given up in adoring faith to Your
creative action.
63

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“ O Christ my loved one, crucified bv love, 1
would wish to be the spouse of Your Heart, I
desire to glorify You, to die with love for Yoil
But feeling my powerlessness, 1 ask You to clothe
me with Yourself, to identify the movements of
my soul with Y ours, penetrate me so that my life
may be a ray of Your life. Come into me as
Adorer, Redeemer, and Saviour.
“O Eternal Word, Word of God, I would pass
my life in listening to You. I desire to be such
that I may learn all from Y ou. O beloved Star
of my soul, let me never be separated from Your
light, but grant that by the illumination of Your
rays I may travel through the nights, and the
desolate spaces of life.
“O consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, come down
upon me, make my soul as it were an incarnation
of Your Word, supernaturalize me so that I may
renew this mystery.
“And You O Father bend down to Your puny
creature, see only in her Your well beloved in
whom You are ‘ well pleased.’
“O my Three, my happiness, my all. Infinite
solitude, Immensity where I lose myself. I give
myself up to You, bury Yourself in me that I
may be buried in You, until in Your light I shall
contemplate the abyss of Your grandeurs.”
Sister Elizabeth

64

of the

Trinity.

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(3)·—UNION DURING WORK,

(a) our exemplar,
Jesus came upon earth to work. His whole
life was filled with the definite accomplishment
of an appointed task : “ I am poor and in labours
from my youth ” (Psalm Ixxxvii. 16). He was
devoted to His work, nothing could retain
or hinder His accomplishment of it, not even
the affection He bore His Holy Mother : “ How
is it that you sought me ? Did you not know
that I must be about my Father's business ”
(Luke ii. 49). He loved His work, and to
perform it as He wished He needed a holy
freedom.
(b)

INTENTION FOR WORK.

Christ’s work was an act of adoration of His
heavenly Father, a recognition of His sovereign
rights. Before all Jesus wished to serve God,
because such is the real duty of every creature.
I am in the midst of you as a servant.—“ The
Son of man is not come to be ministered to
but to minister ” (Matt. xx. 28). His joy and
delight were in the divine service. Whatever
was the particular work, whether cutting wood
with His adopted father, preaching to the crowds,
going journeys, or carrying His Cross, His
65

work was accomplished religiously in a spirit of
love and inexpressible humility, with the inten­
tion of glorifying God.
Thus at the Last Supper, He could testify to
the fulfilment of His task : “ Father, I have
glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the
work which Thou gavest me to do ” (John xvii.
4). He laboured for His Father because He
loved Him. Love was always urging Him,
consequently when He commenced His great
work, the Passion, He could say: “ That the world
may know that 1 love the Father. . . . .Arise, let us
go hence ” (John xiv. 31).
For Him labour and toil was a work of justice,
because in the first place His Sacred Humanity felt
bound to spend itself in the service of One Who
had endowed Him so richly and so gratuitously,
also because He had come here below as redeemer
and universal penitent. Having taken our sins
upon Him, His task became one of reparation,
work was His lot, toil, difficult, troublesome and
painful. Again He felt an immense joy in spend­
ing Himself without limit, in labouring without
relaxation. Work was His food, the joy of His
Heart : “ My meat is to do the will of Him
that sent Me, that 1 may perfect His work ”
(John iv. 34}.
The Christian ought to “ Have the same
66

mind as Christ ” (cfr. Phil. ii. 5) to unite his
intentions with those of the Divine Workman.
Before all let us love work because it is the service
of God, it should be a duty for us, a work of
religion, a sign of humility, of dependence, an
acknowledgment of the divine rights of the
Creator over His creatures.
We should love the fatigue, the trials that may
come during the course of our work, for it is
just and fitting that the sinner should expiate
his disorders. If Christ the Lamb without stain
desires to suffer so much because He was only
clothed as it were with our sins, how much more
do we who are truly sinners, need the fatigue of
work.
(i)

HOW TO WORK.

It is essential to realize that in His work,
Jesus always dwelt with His Father. It would
be erroneous to conclude that Christ when leav­
ing Nazareth for His apostolic life, diminished
to any extent His life of prayer. No, His active
life never lessened His contemplative life. In
the depths of His Soul, there always rested the
same deep and permanent love for His Father,
which supported Him in the various phases of
His life and was the basis of all its mysteries.
The time that He gave to His Father during
67

His private life was more conclusive, bur not
more abundant. In leaving Nazareth He added
fatiguing labours, but did not diminish His in­
terior life. Let us then dwell with God in our
work. Suppressing as far as possible the difference
between the times of prayer, and the time of work,
we can, and should always converse with our
interior Guests. “Whatsoever you do in word
or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by
Him ” (Col. iii. 17).
The kind of work matters little : whether we
study, do manual work, talk, or eat, we need
never cease loving God.
Is it a question of doing good to our neighbour ?
Let us not quit God, but rather carry God to
him. We must bear in mind the fundamental
law at the root of all Christian action : apostolic
work which does not have its source in prayer
is not only unfruitful but often harmful. The
active life which develops at the expense of the
interior life, is contrary to the will of God. What
is given to our neighbour should never diminish
what is given to God. Our action should never
be separated from prayer, it should be our prayer
exteriorising itself which overflows into the
souls of our brethren.
If there are some, even with a charitable
68
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intention, who devoting themselves unnecessarily
to works incompatible with recollection, are
thereby losing their interior life, let them hasten
to retrench these works, bearing in mind the
words of St. Bernard, “ Maledicta occupatio ques
te retrahit a Deo ” : .Accursed be the occupation
which leads us away from God.
In the Church action is necessary, but still
more so prayer and contemplation.

“O Holy Father, by that love wherewith You
have rayed upon me the light of Your counten­
ance : grant me to advance continually in all
holiness and virtue.
“ O Christ ! O Jesus. By that love which
urged You to redeem me by Your blood, reclothe
me with the purity of Your holy life.
“ O Holy Ghost ! Whose power and sanctity
are equal, by that love which united me to You
at baptism, grant me the power to love You with
all my heart, to cleave to You with all my soul,
to expend all my energies in serving and loving
You, to live only for Your will ; so that at the
hour of my death I may be clothed with a stain­
less garment and fully prepared for the divine
nuptials.”
St. Gertrude.

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69

(4).~ UNION IN TEMPTATION.

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Is it more difficult to maintain union in
temptation ? No, not if we hold firmly to our
faith, and realize that at times God “ makes dark­
ness His covert ” (Psalm xvii. 12). He hides
Himself in our hearts and permits the devil to
approach us, but still He remains within us.
In the life of St. Catharine of Siena there is a
helpful incident bearing upon this question.
St. Catharine was attacked by terrible tempta­
tions against purity. The storm at length passed,
Our Lord appeared to her. “ O Lord,” she
cried, “where were You when my heart was
filled with such impure thoughts ? I was in your
heart. Y es Lord Y ou are truth itself, and I
bow before Y ou, but how can I believe this, when
my heart was filled with such detestable thoughts ?
But these thoughts, these temptations, did they
cause you joy or sorrow, pleasure or pain ?
Terrible sorrow, terrible pain. Know then my
daughter, that you suffered because I was hidden
in the midst of your heart. Had I been absent
the thoughts that had penetrated there would
have given you pleasure, it was my presence
which rendered them insupportable to you. I
was acting in you, I defended your heart against
the enemy. Never have I been closer to you.”
These divine words show us the course to follow
70

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in temptation, we must hold ourselves closely
united to Jesus. When the devil attacks our
supernatural life, who is it he attacks if not God
Himself? It is Christ in us whom he persecutes
and wishes to crucify again. What he essays
to extinguish in us is the very life of Christ.
The secret of victory then is not to be disturbed,
not to repulse directly, or discuss the suggestions
of the evil one, but to adhere with all our will
to Him Who has already conquered, He will do
more than we can do to save the life He has
communicated to us. It is more than ever the
moment to practise the advice of St, Paul : “ You
have received Jesus Christ the Lord, walk ye in
Him, rooted and built up in Him, confirmed in
the faith ” (Col. ii. 6, 7). He who dwells
calmly united to Christ, and trusts in Him will
never be vanquished by the demon, “ Because
greater is He that is in you, than he that is in
the world ” (I. John iv. 4).' “ If armies in
camp should stand together against me, my heart
shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against
me, in this will I be confident. . . . that the Lord
will hide me in the secret place of His taber­
nacle ” (Psalm xxvi. 3, 5). St. Gertrude wrote,
“ I give thanks to Your protection O adorable
and incomprehensible Trinity, for not permitting
temptation beyond my powers, although You do
71

T

allow this for my advance in virtue. When
You see that all our hope is based on You, with
unparalleled generosity, You take charge of the
conflict, and bearing the brunt Yourself, bestow
on us the prize of victory.”
St. Teresa after having demanded the grace
to remain always united with God, added, “ Then
I shall only have scorn and disdain for all the
demons, for they will be afraid of me. I do not
understand those who cry out in fear, the devil !
the devil ! when we can say God ! God ! ”
Confidence in our interior Guests, procures
Tor us then safety in temptation, for unless the
soul itself wills it, no temptation is capable of
tearing it away from God.
“ ll7ho shall
separate us from the love of Christ ? For in all
these things we overcome because of Him that
hath loved us. For I am sure that neither death
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, . . . nor
any other creature shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Rom. viii. 35, 37, 38> 39)·
“The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom
shall I fear ?
The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom
shall I be afraid ?

Whilst the wicked draw near against me to eat
my flesh,
My enemies that trouble me have themselves
been weakened and have fallen.
The Lord hath hidden me in His tabernacle
in the day of evils.
He hath exalted me upon a rock.
Shall not my soul be subject to God ?
For from Him is my salvation.
He is my God and my Saviour.
My protector, I shall be moved no more.”
Psalms xxvi, Ixi.
(5).—UNION IN BODILY SUFFERING.

Suffering is necessary. It is written of our
Master, “ It behoved Christ to suffer ” (Luke
xxiv. 46). It is true also of His followers, “ All
that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer
persecution ” (IL Tim. iii. 12). We must
ascend to heaven as Christ ascended Calvary
carrying the Cross. “ If any man will follow
Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow Me ” (Mark viii. 34).
It is then essential to know how to suffer.
All suffering is not good, sometimes it is useless,
sometimes harmful. Even some good people
have a morbid tendency to seek for suffering in
itself, to desire, to be pleased with it. They act

73

contrary to the designs of God forgetting that
suffering is never an end in itself, but always a
means, one of the sources of love. It is the
interior disposition of the sufferer that renders
suffering holy and meritorious. Suffering is not
the work of God, but the result of sin. If love
did not penetrate it rendering it fruitful to our
fallen nature, it would remain definitely harmful.
On Calvary a thief was crucified on each side of
Christ, his pangs opened Paradise to one, to the
other they were the prelude to eternal suffering.
It is not then a question so much of suffering,
but of suffering well, of doing so in conformity
with the divine will, of suffering with Christ
and as Christ did.
On the royal way of the Cross, we have three
stages to pass through, bodily suffering, grief of
heart, and desolation of soul.
In the first place in bodily suffering we must
follow St. Paul’s advice. “ Present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God ” (Rom.
xii. i).
Suffering attacks in the first place the body
and the lower faculties of the soul, grief properly
so called the affections or heart. Suffering is
the Christian’s primary and elementary partici­
pation in the Passion of Christ. At times it
may however attain an elevated degree, for there
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are some bodily sufferings and infirmities which
are very hard for nature to bear, these may both
glorify God and be meritorious for the soulOn the road of bodily suffering Jesus has pre­
ceded us, and gone far beyond our capability of
following Him. Because He came with Calvary
in view, the Holy Spirit specially strengthened
His Humanity to bear pain, endowing Him at the
same time with an exquisite sensibility so that He
should be capable of suffering to excess. The
very perfection of His Humanity increased to an
extraordinary extent His capacity for suffering.
His Passion was a veritable overflowing of torture
and pain. Isaias hardly knew how to depict it
“ Despised and the most abject of men, a man of
sorrows and acquainted with infirmity, His look
was as it were hidden and despised, zvhereupon we
esteemed Him not. . . .
There is no beauty in Him nor comeliness.
The Lord was pleased to bruise Him in infirmity
(Isaias liii.).
What must we do then when suffering comes ?
We must unite ourselves closely to Him Who has
suffered so much. This is at the same time the
easiest and most helpful method, for we can re­
mind ourselves that we are members of Christ
and so ought to continue His Passion, participat­
ing in both the sufferings and wounds of His
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divine body, 'Γο-day Tlis glory, which has been
purchased at such a price, makes further suffering
impossible. He wishes, however, that what 11 is
Human Nature cannot support now, should be
endured by his mystical body, thus continuing His
Passion in us.
More than that does it not seem that He wishes
to continue in us now the humiliations of that
Passion, just because His perfections prevented
His doing so completely ? Undoubtedly He
suffered during His mortal life as we are incapable
of doing, but there were aspects of suffering
He was unable to experience, illness for example.
What He did not bear Himself, that He bears
now in us. He enters our life incorporating
Himself with us that we may be able to suffer
not only for Him, but with and in Him. Thus
we may truly say, iihKith Christ I am nailed to
the Cross ” (Gal. ii. igj.
All suffering well borne hastens the work of
God in us. Nothing is more sanctifying. It
gives us an intimate likeness to Jesus, that mar­
vellous work which St. Paul terms “ the formation
of Christ in us ” (cfr. Gal. iv. 19). . . . “Although
our outward man is corrupted the inward man is
renewed day by day ” (II. Cor. iv. 16J “ Each
pain,” said Mgr. Gay, “ is a kiss of the crucifix
increasing our likeness to Jesus.”
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Supported thus shall we not bear the worst
sufferings patiently and with a holy joy ? “ I
abound with joy in my tribulations ” (II. Cor.
vii. 4), said St. Paul. “ I am full of joy in my
sufferings for I fill up those things that are wanting
of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His body
which is the Church ” (Col. i. 24}.
He congratulated as follows those Christians
who were specially tried. “ For unto you it is
given for Christ, not only to believe in Him but also
to suffer for Him ” (Phil. i. 29).1
Our aim. then must be to suffer in the close
companionship of Jesus, thus making our own
those words of the great Apostle : “ In all things
we suffer tribulation, but are not distressed ;
we are straitened, but are not destitute. ICe
suffer persecution, but are not forsaken ; we are
cast down, but we perish not. Always bearing
about in our body the mortification of Jesus, that the
life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies.
For we who live are always delivered unto death
for Jesus' sake ; that the life also of Jesus may be
made manifest in our mortal flesh. . . . For that
which is at present momentary and light of our
1 Mother Margaret Mary Doëns, suffering from a long
and terrible illness, seemed to rejoice in her pain. “ One
could almost believe that you are enjoying yourself,” said
one of her sisters. “ Yes,” she replied, ”1 am happy because
Our Lord does what He pleases with me.”

77

tribulation, zvorketh for us above measure exceed­
ingly an eternal zv eight of glory” (JA. Cor. iv.
8-1 I, 17).

Every suffering may truly bear fruit for
eternity.
“O my Lord Jesus, I believe, and by Thy grace
will ever believe and hold, and I know that it is
true, and will be true to the end of the world,
that nothing great is done without suffering,
without humiliation, and that all things are
possible by means of it. I believe, O my God,
that poverty is better than riches, pain better than
pleasure, obscurity and contempt than name, and
ignominy and reproach than honour. My Lord
I do not ask Thee to bring these trials on me,
for I know not if I could face them ; but at least,
O Lord, whether I be in prosperity or adversity,
I will believe that it is as I have said. I will
never have faith in riches, rank, power, or repu­
tation. I will never set my heart on worldly
success, or on worldly advantages. I will never
wish for what men call the prizes of life. I will
ever, with Thy grace, make much of those who
are despised and neglected, honour the poor,
revere the suffering, and admire and venerate
Thy saints and confessors, and take my part with
them in spite of the world. And lastly, O my
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dear Lord, though I am so very weak that I am
not fit to ask for suffering as a gift, and have not
strength to do so, at least I will beg of Thee
grace to meet suffering well, when Thou in Thy
love and wisdom dost bring it upon me. ... I
wish to humble myself in all things, and to be
silent when I am ill-used, and to be patient
when sorrow or pain is prolonged, and all for the
love of Thee and Thy Cross, knowing that in
this way I shall gain the promise both of this life
and the next.”
Cardinal Newman.
(6).—UNION IN GRIEF OF HEART.

Grief of heart is the second stage. Very
different in its causes and mode of action ; grief
directly attacks the heart : disappointments,
weariness, separations, discords, profound sadness.
Grief is more trying to nature, at the same time
more purifying, because it occasions greater re­
nunciation, thereby producing a higher type of
sanctity. We share more fully in the Passion
of Christ by grief than by pain. The bodily
sufferings of Our Lord were undoubtedly intense,
but who can rightly estimate the depths of His
grief, the agony of His Heart ? Because His
Heart was an abyss of love, it was also an abyss
of grief. We know the name Isaias applied to

79

Christ, “ The man of sorrows.” His earthly life
was one long sorrow occasioned by His know­
ledge, His holiness, and His infinite love. Grief
and sorrow, commencing at the Incarnation,
reached their climax during His Passion. His
was an unutterable martyrdom for thirty-three
years, filling to the full His capacity for suffering.
“ He lived continually with grief,” said Blessed
Angela of Foligno. Who ever aspires to perfect
union must enter courageously into the grief of
Christ, bearing with Him disappointments,
slanders, and agony of heart. It was St. Paul’s t
desire “ That I may knozu Him . . . and the fellow­ j
ship of His sufferings, and be made conformable I
to His sufferings ” (Phil. iii. io).
ffhe believer then whatever his anguish, even
though it seems so extreme as to be incapable
of any remedy, may yet dwell with God, for
always before Him he will find Jesus bearing a
like burden, suffering a similar agony, and trials
yet more terrible, which He sanctifies and defies.
Dwelling thus with Him in grief of heart, he
dwells together with Him in love.

Give us help in trouble, for vain is the help of
man.
Through God we shall do mightily, and He will
bring our enemies to nothing.
The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. ”
Psalms xli, cvii, Ixxxviii.
(7).—UNION IN DESOLATION OF SOUL.

“Why art thou sad O my soul, and why dost
thou trouble me ?
Hope in God, for I will still praise Him, the
salvation of my countenance and my God.

At certain times God seems as it were to take
part against us, and we endure terrible combats,
These desolations that He sends us are the greatest
trials of all. They are also the rarest for the
greater number of souls are incapable of knowing
them. Desolations add as it were the finishing
touch to the development of the soul
Suffering has as its end the satisfaction of the
divine justice, at the same time it tests and tries
love. Desolations mark the soul with the stamp
of perfection and imprint upon it the closest
likeness to Christ.
They proceed directly from God. Their
source is His infinite sanctity ; their immediate
cause the mysterious and awful workings of the
Holy Spirit, who desires to make the soul partici­
pate in the eternal and sovereign Purity : for this
end it is seized, despoiled, broken, abandoned,
seized again, plunged into bitterness, tested by a

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thousand trials until the transformation is com­
plete. k is Q(Kj Himself who acts thus without
intermediary, that He may attain to the secret
depths of the soul, penetrating as it were to the
very root of the spirit, and into all the intricacies
of the heart : “ For the zvord of God is living and

effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged
sword ; reaching unto the divisions of the soul and
spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart"
(Heb. iv. 12).

At such times everything is painful even the
thoughts of graces formerly received, for the Holy
Spirit diffuses in the soul a secret and most pure
light which manifesting on the one hand the
greatness of God, on the other its own misery
and nothingness, casts everything else into an
intense gloom, destroys all natural consolations,
establishes a desolate solitude in the presence of
the Most Holy, and plunges the soul in a terrible
spiritual darkness, even into a condition of terror
and anguish. It is thus that God purifies the
soul completely for “ Our God is a consumingfire ”
(Heb. xii. 29).
What is to be done then ? Free surrender to
God and His divine action is the only course,
any other would be harmful, not to say impossible.
Since it is the Holy Spirit Himself who acts, to
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dwell in this purifying desolation is to dwell with
God.
Union with Christ in His Passion is then more
useful than ever. However great may be the
desolation of soul, it can never approach the
absolute desolation of Christ’s holy soul, when in
those terrible hours were wrung from Him the
words “ My soul is sorrowful even unto death."
. . My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me ? ” (Matt. xxvi. 38 ; xxvii. 46), and where
one sees God the Father “letting loose against
His well beloved Son all the powers of hell,
seeming at the same time to withdraw from Him
all the protection of heaven ” (Bossuet).
In such conditions the union of the soul with
Jesus, usually so sweet and consoling, is as it were
frozen up, there is no word of consolation. The
heart feels absolutely nothing ; it is only by faith
that it lives. It is in faith that the soul must
unite, and in some measure fasten itself on God.
Faith is the only refuge, “ the immovable king­
dom ” (Heb. xii. 28), of which St. Paul says
“ For in faith you stand ” (II. Cor. i. 23).
More than ever the afflicted soul must believe
without the slightest wavering in God’s “ exceed­
ing charity ” (Eph. ii. 4), imitating Moses whose
unshaken faith “ endured as seeing Him that is
invisible ” (Heb. xi. 27). The soul must believe

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too that God never loved her so much, nor was
ever so close to her, as in. those moments when
He appeared to repulse her. “ The more
that you think you are abandoned/’ said Our
Lord to Blessed Angela of Foligno, “the more
you are beloved and drawn towards Me. . . .
O my well beloved, know that in this state, there,
is between God and yourself the most intimate
union.” Let us remember then the words of
St. John, “ We believe the charity which God
hath for us ” (I. John iv. 16).
In these terrible bur blessed hours of interior
desolation, or rather of supernatural purification,
great things are accomplished : Love consum­
mates the union of the soul with God according
to His promise : “ I will espouse thee to Me in
faith ” (Osee ii. 20). Then the work of puri­
fication accomplished, the spouse appears re-clad
with strength, purity and joy : “ Who is this that
cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights,
leaning upon her beloved? ” (Cant. viii. 5).1
To sum up, in these trials the soul has simply
to hold herself firmly united to Jesus, and by the
1 “What will you do, O spouse of Christ ? Do you wish to
penetiate that holy and sacred sanctuary where one may
see the Son in the Father, and the Father in the Son ? Do
you wish to dwell with the Adorable Trinity ? You can
do SO IF YOU HAVE FAITH FOR ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE

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wounds of His Sacred Humanity she will pene­
trate to tlie Divinity.
The soul must be offered up as a holocaust.
When she consents, her holocaust is not only
united wifb'That of" Jesus, but He makes it His
own : with Jesus the soul comes before God
as one glorious holocaust. Then the whole
Trinity regards the soul with pleasure : the
Father recognizing in her the features of His
Beloved Son, pours out for her His tenderest
affection ; the Word seeing her follow His
Passion accepts her as His spouse ; the Holy
Ghost loves in her the perfect instrument of His
grace for the sanctification of the Church, and
makes Himself her inspirer and guide.
Let us not then complain of suffering, but
embrace the cross with the same readiness as
Jesus, who offered Himself “ a sacrifice to God
for an odour of sweetness ” (Eph. v. 2).
“ Ifjealousy could possibly enter into the realm
of eternal love,” said St. Francis de Sales, “ the
Angels would envy the sufferings of God for man,
and those of man for God.”
To him WHO BELIEVJ s. What will Faith not find for you.
It attains the inaccessible, discovers the unknown, embraces
the immense. Open your heart for it enshrines the
Eternal.”
St. Bernard, Serm. 76 in Cant?
G
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Happy the pain, happy the death which per­
mits us to say with the Apostle, “ llith Christ

i

1 am nailed to the Cross. And I live, noir not I,
but Christ liveth in me. And that 1 live now in
the flesh : I live in the faith of God who loved me,
and delivered Himself for me ” (Gal. ii. xq, 20).
“Save me O God: for the waters are come even
into my soul.
I stick fast in the mire of the deep ; and there
is no sure standing.
I am come into the depths of the sea ; and a
tempest hath overwhelmed me.
I have laboured with crying ; my jaws are
become hoarse : my eyes have failed, whilst I
hope in my God.
Psalm Ixviii.
Bless the Lord O my soul ; and let all that is
within me bless His holy Name.
Bless the Lord O my soul, and never forget all
that He hath done for thee.
Who forgiveth all thy iniquities : who healeth
all thy diseases.
Who satisfieth thy desire with good things :
thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle’s.
For the mercy of the Lord is from eternity,
and unto eternity upon them that fear Him.”
Psalm cii.
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(8).—UNION IN JOY.

It is of great importance to watch over our
joys. What is joy, if not the gladness of the soul
in the possession of what it loves ? The nature
of our joy manifests the nature of our love, its
purity, the purity of our heart. We must then
take great care that our joys do not lead us away
from God, by practising the advice given by St.
Paul, “ Let this mind be in you which was also in
Christ Jesus ” (Phil. ii. 5).
Rejoice with
Jesus, and with Him only at that which would
rejoice Him in ourselves or our neighbour.
We should in all things keep ourselves close to
God, but especially in our joys and love.
(a) THE SOURCE OF JOY.

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Joy comes to us from creatures. Some of these
joys are most pleasurable, that of friendship for
example. We are not forbidden to enjoy them
for they come from God. We should, however,
take care that they lead back to God. Let us
not love anything outside Him, but love all
creatures with Him and as He loves them.
Love them in Him. This union with God will
make our joys pure and sovereignly free.
But joys such as these are only secondary.
The fundamental joy for the Christian is to know
that God is. God exists ! The Infinite. Es-

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sential and necessary being.
1 he cause of all,
Truth, Beauty, Goodness, Benevolence, Power,
Holiness, Sovereign Purity, Justice, and Love.
. . . God exists. He is ail that ! He is that

eternally, unchangeably, infinitely !... God
exists, He knows and loves Himself. He is one,
and He is three : He is the Father, Word and
Spirit. As Father He opens out His infinite
life in His Son, who is His thought and His
glory, and these two consummate themselves in
the unity of their common Love, the Holy Spirit,
the subsistent and eternal term of their mysterious
embrace, of their joy, of their infinite happiness.
The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost love them­
selves with a love without measure ; they are
happy, infinitely happy, eternally unchangeably
happy. . . . And they call us to communicate
eternally in their life. To know this is a source
of supreme and unending joy for the loving soul.
To rejoice that God is God, to rejoice in the joy
of God is a sublime and most holy act, it is pure
charity. This joy detaches the soul from the
miseries of our poor human life to raise it above
all, and make it enter into the intimate life of the
adorable Trinity, into what St. Paul terms
the deep things of God” ζΐ. Cor. ii. io). It
is one of the more divine fruits of the presence
and operation of the Holy Ghost in the redeemed
88

soul. It deifies the soul. To this joy all the
rest should be referred. This will be easy if
we remember that all our joys are, and cannot be
anything but a gushing forth from that infinite
joy of the Holy Spirit “ who is given to us ”
(Rom. v. 5).
The source of all joy is in us : “ He that
believeth in Me . . . from his belly shall flow rivers
of living waterfl and the Evangelist adds, Jesus
said this “ of the Spirit they should receive who
believeth in Him ” (John vii. 38, 39). Baptism
opened for us this interior source and each
Communion augments it. “ The stream of the
river maketh the city of God joyful, the Most High
hath sanctified His own tabernacle ” (Ps. xlv. 5).
The smallest truth of faith is a world of joy
which our heart can constantly taste : “ Tou
believe, and believing shall rejoice with joy un­
speakable and glorified” (I. Peter i. 8), said
the Prince of the Apostles, and Isaias adds,
“ Tou shall be like a watered garden and like a
fountain of water whose waters shall not fail ”
(Isaias Iviii. 11).
It depends then on us to live in joy. And
what joy ! There are pure and true human joys,
but they move only over the surface of the soul ;
divine joys penetrate to its very centre. Y es, true
joy, essential joy that cannot be taken from us,
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wells up from the presence in us of the Adorable
“Trinity. What can really trouble the peace and
interrupt the harmony of a soul knowing itself
thus enfolded with the divine ?
(A) TO LIVE IN JOY,

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say
rejoice (Phil. iv. 4).
God has created His
children for joy. He has done all that they may
live in joy. What is creation, what sanctifi­
cation, but a happiness either natural or super­
natural, an effusion of the divine joy ? What is
the Eucharist, if not an inexhaustible source of
joy, open in the Church and in each soul ?
God wishes that we shall live in joy. Jesus
demanded this in His last prayer. “ Holy Father
I pray that they may have My joy filled in them­
selves ” (John xvii. 13).
Sorrow even should be changed and converted
into joy. The soul of Christ contained at the
same instant, immense joys, and immense
sorrows. Its lower portion was plunged in
anguish, whilst the summits were penetrated with
divine happiness. But joy dominated, it came to
dissolve all His sufferings and immolations, for
Jesus knew that the heavier these were, the more
they glorified God, and prepared a loftier exalta­
tion for His Humanity.
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Our soul also can be both desolate and joyous ;
desolate in its inferior portion which approaches
the senses, joyous at those heights which alone
govern the will. Even in those sad hours when
sorrow alone seems to hold sway, we have within
us He who consoles.
I will ask the Fother,
and He shall give you another Paraclete that He
may abide with you for ever. The spirit of truth.
. . He shall be in you (John xiv. 16, 17).
Let us dwell in joy, this will be to dwell in the
Holy Spirit. We should remember that Holy
Communion plunges us in Him whom St.
Catharine loved to call “ the ocean of peacef
“ O Eternal God,” she cried, “ Y ou are the
tranquil ocean in which souls live and are
nourished. They find their repose in the union
of love.”
Joy is a worship to give to God. It is the
barometer of the soul : its degree indicates the
degree of love. In her perpetual difficulties and
persecutions, the Church, the sublime type of the
soul, never ceases to rejoice. Her liturgy is a
fête commencing anew each day. She counts
her days by the Feasts ; she marches in sorrow,
but with eyes raised to the heavens singing the
perfections and love of her Spouse. She lives
in joy, a joy free, serene, and strong, the fruit of
love.
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I he Christian is a sower of joy, that is why
he docs great tilings. For joy is one of the
irresistible powers of the world ; it pacifies,
disarms, conquers, draws to itself. The joyous
soul is an apostle, drawing men to God, mani­
festing what is produced by the presence of God.
That is why the Holy Ghost gives the counsel

“ Be not sad, for the joy of the Lord is our strength ”
(II. Esdras viii. io).

“Joy and gladness be to You, in my name Ο
God of my life, for the sovereignty of the Trinity,
the essential unity of Your substance, the distinction of Your Persons, for their union and
intimate relations the source of Your ineffable joy.
“ Joy and gladness be to You for Your incom­
prehensible grandeur, Your unchanging eternity,
Your supreme holiness, which excludes all stain,
and is the source of all purity, and for Your glori­
ous and perfect happiness. Joy and gladness
be to You, for the very pure flesh of Your human­
ity, by which You have purified me, for Your
most sacred soul, for Your divine heart, which
was pierced for me even to death.
“ Joy and gladness be to You in that true loving
heart so filled with solicitude for me, so thirsty
in its love for me, that it will never repose until
it receives me in itself for eternity.
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“Joy and gladness be to You, for the most
worthy heart and soul of the glorious Virgin
Mary, Your Mother, whom You have given me
as Mother in the difficulties of my salvation, and
who is always opening for me the treasures of
her maternal solicitude.
“Joy and gladness be to You from all Your
creatures, which fill the heavens, the earth and
the abyss. May they give You that eternal
praise, which issuing from You as its source
remounts thither again.
“ Joy and gladness be to You from my heart
and soul, my spirit, my flesh, and from all created
beings.
“ To You, by Whom, and in Whom are all
things, to You be honour and glory for all
eternity ! Amen.”
St. Gertrude.

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IT—TO PERFECT UNION.

Union with God by the state of sanctifying
grace can exist in many degrees. On the scale
of perfection the degrees are almost infinite.
The morning Communion establishes in us a
union of love which we have tried to describe.
Alas ! although this union may be destroyed,
yet on the other hand it can always become more
perfect. Our efforts throughout the day should
strive to augment and perfect this eucharistie
union. A very useful means of doing so is by
the repetition of acts of love and desire.
I.---- REPETITION OF ACTS OF DESIRE.

Daniel was granted a knowledge of the mystery
of Christ because he was a man of desires, A
soul who really desires Jesus cannot help entering
deeply into the knowledge and appreciation of
His mysteries.
Desire removes obstacles, and opens the door
of the soul so that those ravishing words of the
Apocalypse are realized. “ Behold I stand at the
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gate and knock. If any man shall hear my voice,
and open to me the door, I will come into him and
will sup with him, and he with me ( Apoc. iii. 20).
Desire dilates the soul, and fits it for the object
of its desires : it in some measure approximates
it to God. The heavenly Father deigned to say
to St. Catharine of Siena, “No virtue can merit
eternal life for you if you serve Me in a finite
manner, for I the infinite God wish to be served
in an infinite manner, and you have nothing
approaching the infinite save the desire and
transports of your soul.” But He said again,
“ this desire as in the case of all the other virtues
is of value only through Christ crucified, my
only Son ” (St. Catharine of Siena. Dialogue,
4 and 92).
It is most useful to arouse in the soul a longing
for Communion. “ The perfect exercise of
love,” said Bossuet, “ is to desire without ceasing
to receive Jesus Christ. The table is prepared :
the guests lack although Jesus calls them.”
The life of many of the Saints has been one
long and ardent aspiration of their soul towards
the eucharistie union. The martyr St. Igna­
tius wrote to the Romans, “ I do not desire the
pleasures of this world, but I do desire the bread
of God, the bread of heaven, the bread of life,
the flesh of Christ the Son of the living God. I
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yearn to he inebriated with that beverage which
is His blood, which lights up in ns an incorruptible
/ove, the pledge of eternal life.”

St. Catharine of Siena longed night and day
aftei Communion. As soon as it was dawn she
has.ened to the Church, literally bot ne there by
the desire which gave strength to her exhausted
body. She often said to Blessed Raymond
in order to express her desire for Communion,
“ Father, I am very hungry, give my soul its
nourishment.”
“ My heart feels consumed with the desire
to love my God,” sait! St. Margaret Mary, “ and
this gives me an insatiable desire for Communion,
and for suffering, . . .” One Good Friday she
recounts, having an ardent desire to receive Our
Lord, “ I said to Him with tears, ’ O most loved
Jesus, I ardently long for You, and although unable to receive You this day, I do not cease to
desire You.’ He then came to console me with
His sweet presence and said, ‘ My daughter,
your desire has so touched My heart, that if I
had not instituted this sacrament of Jove, I should
do it now to render Myself your food. I take
such delight in being desired, that as often as the
heart forms this wish so often do I regard her with
love and draw her to Me; ”
Jesus now repeats from the Tabernacle the
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same invitation as when formerly He stood and
cried to the crowd under rhe porticoes of the
Temple, “ If any man thirst let him come unto
Me and drink ” (John vii. 37), or renew’ ig
the invitation of Divine Wisdom, “ Come to Me
all ye that desire Me, and be filled with My fruits ”
(Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 2,6).
Let us then strive to arouse in ourselves more
frequent and ardent desires so that our soul may
be constantly turned towards the Eucharist.
We should live in that state of desire and aspira­
tion depicted by the Psalmist, “ I opened my
mouth and panted because I longedfor Thy commandments” (Psalm cxviii. 131). This thirst for
the divine is one of the precious graces God
foretold by the Prophets : “ Behold the days come
saith the Lord, and I will send forth a famine into
the land : not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of
water, but of hearing the word of the Lord”
(Amos viii. 11).
How far may our desires extend ? Can we
aspire to the more secret mysteries of divine
union ?
Yes, provided that our desire is humble, and
joyously submissive to the will of God.
Without doubt it would be foolish pride, and
expose us to the worst illusions if we desired
extraordinary favours such as theologians term
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the graces “gratis data? ” (revelations, visions,
etc.), but to desire the closest possible union of
our soul with God is both legitimate and praise­
worthy. “ Let Him kiss me with the kiss of
His mouth ” (Cant. i. i), cries the spouse of the
Canticle, and she speaks for all who, bought and
sanctified by grace, aspire to that condition of soul

where “ he who is joined to the L.ord is one spirit ”
(I. Cor. vi. 17). Who makes the barren soil
of our souls bring forth such holy and daring
desires ? The Holy Spirit Himself. He it is
Who orients our soul to God : “ For τυε know not
what we should pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit Himself asketh for us with unspeakable
groanings : ” it is He “ whereby we cry Abba^
Father ” (Rom. viii. 15, 26). A most excellent
means both to stimulate and express our desire
for God is to call Scripture to our aid, and borrow
from it those words which have so often expressed
the need for God.
“As the hart panteth after the fountains of water
So my soul panteth after Thee O God.
My soul hath thirsted after God, the living God
My God it is Thee that I seek.
For Thee my soul hath thirsted.
For Thee my flesh so many ways.
In a desert land where no water is.”
Psalms xli and Ixii.
98

2.---- REPETITION OF ACTS OF LOVE.

St. John wrote “ God is love ” (I. John iv. 8).
We can also say Jesus is love, and we should
be able to add, the Christian is love. Within
the Adorable Trinity, the life of the Word is
to love His Father, then to flow again with an
immense love towards Him, rendering Him all
He has received.
On the earth love was also His life. The
Word became incarnate for love of His Father,
to reveal Him to us, to win us for Him. Love
both made Him man and nailed Him to the
Cross. At the base of all His mysteries, of
all His works and sufferings, there is the love of
His Father : “ I live by the Father ” (John
vi. 58). The same love which has made Him
become bread for us, retains Him in the silence
of the Tabernacle. What does He do in the
impenetrable silence of the Host ? Above all,
He loves His Father. The communicant who
seeks to live like Jesus, will in the first place love
God. He will love Him as the first command­
ment exacts : with all his heart, with all his soul,
with all his strength. Without doubt it is
impossible for weak human nature to formulate
continually definite acts of love. But we can
with God’s grace so multiply them that they
dominate the action of our other faculties,
99

thereby exercising on our life an influence becom­
ing constantly closer and more penetrating.
It is so easy to make an act of charity. A
simple movement of the heart suffices. The
humblest action, the least sacrifice can be trans
formed into an act of love. “ All that is done for

love is love,” said St. Francis of Sales, “ work
fatigue, and even death are love when they are
undergone for love.” Père Lacordaire tells us,
“ the love of God is the supreme act of the soul,
the highest action of man.” “ The smallest
act of pure love,” adds St. John of the Cross,
“ has more value in God’s eyes than all the other
acts united.”
“ There is nothing in the world so real, so
substantial, as the love of God. In comparison
with this great reality all the rest is a vain shadow,
everything else is empty and will soon vanish.
An act of love is a complete work, its effects are
more powerful, more important than the effects
and consequences of all other acts. Death itself
cannot equal it in grandeur. And yet what
constitutes an act of love ? A simple movement
of the heart which with the rapidity of lightning
penetrates the heavens. Such acts may be
multiplied beyond all calculation, even in the
midst of the most distracting occupations. Far
from being enfeebled by repetition they derive
IOO

from it a new intensity, an unknown power. At
the same time they exact no effort, it is even a
pleasure for us to formulate them ” (F aber).
“ Those who desire to love ardently,” said St.
Francis de Sales, “ will soon love with ardour.
Let us then not cease to love.” “ Ah ! if I had
a thousand hearts to love with,” cried St. Margaret
Mary, “ that would not be too much.” St.
Paul tells us that love is not only the end of
the commandments, but also “ the fulfilling of
the law ” (Rom. xiii. io). Just as love gives
God to the creature, love gives the creature to
God, and achieves their union. Love makes
them one, after having thrown them together,
love makes them rest there : “ He that abideth
in charity, abideth in God, and God in him ”
(I. John iv. 16).
“ It is of the greatest importance,” said St.
John of the Cross, “ that the soul exercises itself
much in love, so that accomplishing its course
rapidly it is not arrested here below, but soon
arrives to see God face to face.”
“ The assiduous exercise of love,” he said
again, “ is a great thing. The soul arrives at
perfection, and the consummation of love cannot
be long delayed whether in this life or the next
without seeing the face of God ” (Spiritual
maxims).
Η
ιοί

“ My God, my love.

You are all mine, and

I am all Yours. Fill me with love that 1 may
taste in my inmost heart how sweet it is to love,
to be dissolved, absorbed by love.
“ May love ravish me, and raise me above myself
by its transports. May I chant the canticle of
love. May I follow Thee my Best Beloved
to the heights of Thy glory.
“ May all the strength of my soul be expended in
praising and loving Thee. May I love Thee
more than myself, myself only for Thee. May I
love in Thee all that love Thee truly, as the law
of love ordains that shines forth from Thee.”
(Imitation, Book III, ch. V.}

(3)·--- THE INVISIBLE DIVINE MISSIONS.
Here is a truth capable of arousing the soul
to great desires, and inspiring an intense love.
We know that Theology considers the In­
visible Divine Missions as amongst the profound
mysteries of religion. They are new divine
outpourings, fresh illuminations that the Word
communicates to our intelligence, renewed
impulses of love with which the Holy Spirit
fills our wills. They resemble and are an extension of the eternal processions of the Son and the
Holy Ghost.
Each time that a soul by its fervour and
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generosity makes new progress in the love of God,
and merits a new grace, the Father sends to this
soul the Word and the Holy Ghost, Who bring
new rights to the divine intimacy. And as the
Three Persons are inseparable, the Father comes
without being sent. The Three Persons inun­
date the soul with a new influx of life, and a new
relation is established, more personal, real and
intimate than that of the moment previously.
This adorable mystery can be reproduced at each
moment, and at each increase of love, there is
an invisible visit of “ The Three.” Every
moment then that the soul increases its charity,
the adorable Trinity flows into it bringing fresh
floods of light and love. To what height might
not the soul ascend by means of these mysterious
elevations ?
O Christian ! If thou didst but know the gift
of God ! (cfr. John iv. io).
“ O Trinity ! Most high, most clement and
bountiful God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
One God, I hope in You.
“ Instruct, direct, sustain me.
“ O Father ! by Your infinite power, fill and
fix in my memory holy and divine thoughts.
“O Son ! By Your eternal Wisdom enlighten
my understanding, grant me knowledge of Your
sovereign truth, and of my own nothingness.
103

O Holy Spirit ! Who art tite love of the Father
and the Son ! by Y our incomprehensible goodness
unite my will to Yours and enkindle it with the
flame of Your charity.

“ O my Lord anti my God ! My beginning,
my end, O Essence sovereignly simple, tranquil,
and lovable. O abyss of sweetness and all
delights ! O most loved light and supreme good
of my soul ! Inexpressible ocean of joy. Per­
fect plenitude of all good. My God and my all,
what will it be when I shall possess You ?
“ You are my unique and unalterable good.
“ I seek You alone.
“ I desire and search but for You.
“ Lord draw me to Thyself.
“ I knock, O Lord, open to me. Open to one
forsaken who implores You.
“ Plunge me in the abyss of Your Divinity.
“ Make me one sole spirit with You, so that I
may possess within me Your treasures.”
Blessed Albert

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the

Great.

IV

THE END OF THE EUCHARISTIC
UNION
I. —ADOPTED SONS IN JESUS CHRIST.

1. Our supernatural vocation and the Trinity.
2. Communion and our supernatural vocation.
II.—THE GLORY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY.

1. The supreme end of creation.
2. The unique Liturgy.

IV

THE END OF THE EUCHARISTIC
UNION
I.—ADOPTED SONS IN JESUS CHRIST.

i
.<*

I.---- OUR SUPERNATURAL
TRINITY.

VOCATION

AND

THE

n ft[essecl fag fj^g Qod ancl pather of Our Lord
i Jesus Christ. . . . Who hath chosen us in Him
before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and unspotted in His sight in charity ”
(Eph. i. 3, 4). God has then concerned Himself
with us from all eternity. The Father thought
of us, and this thought was at the same time
a volition. He uttered in the case of each of
us a word which created us, expresses us, con­
tains our temporal and eternal life, ordained what
, we should become, the place we should occupy,
the perfection we should realize, and the glory
we ought to attain. The Father, interpreting
His sovereign thought with relation to us, pro107

nounced this word, when He fixed our super­
natural vocation.
I Iiis word is the supreme
law, and outline of our existence, and indicates
in what measure we shall enter into the divine
creative plan.
Outside this thought the Father does not know
us with a knowledge of love. He occupies Him­
self with us, giving us grace, giving Himself,
only as far as we move in the light of His thought,
by the realization of which we enter into the
divine order of eternal realities.
Our fundamental duty then reduces itself to
this, the accomplishment of the will of our
heavenly Father ; living according to the word
He has pronounced about us, accepting in advance
all that this word contains whether of joy or
sorrow, in short submitting ourselves lovingly
to all His demands as they are manifested in our
daily life. But what is this mysterious thought ?
Who said this word ? St. Paul replies : “ Those

;

;

:

J

He foreknew He also predestined to be made
conformable to the image of His Son ” (Rom,
viii. 29). God’s will is that we shall enter into
the mystery of Christ ; the word He pronounces
over us expresses the manner and measure in
which we should reproduce Jesus for the glory
of our heavenly Father : “ In His charity He

hath predestinated us unto the adoption of children I
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through Jesus Christ . . . unto the praise of the
glory of His grace (Eph. i. 4, 5» 6).
Such is our supernatural vocation ; to be con­
formed to Jesus, live like Jesus, become Jesus.
The incarnate Woid is the unique and univer­
sal ideal which all those predestinated by love
should represent and manifest : seculars, priests,
religious, virgins or married, for all there is
but one example, Jesus Christ Himself, whom
they are bound to imitate under penalty of being
excluded from the realm of grace. The measure
of their perfection, of their supernatural fecundity
will correspond exactly to the measure of their
adherence to Jesus, and their faithful resemblance
to Him : “ Neither is there salvation in any
other ” (Acts iv. 12).
In what measure ought I to reproduce this ?
I do not know. That is the very mysterious
secret of eternal predestination. But certainly
I ought to reproduce it. I ought without ceasing
to look at Jesus, imitate Jesus, become Jesus.
How can one accomplish so sublime a voca­
tion ? By grace and the co-operation of the
Holy Spirit. “.Abiding with you for ever ” (John
xiv. 16), the Holy Spirit makes Himself the
executor of the designs of the Father, the artisan
of man’s deification, which the Father traced
on the model of the Word Incarnate. Digitus
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paternae dexterae sings the Church : Tou, Ο
creative Spirit, are the finger of God the Father
(Hymn, Veni Creator). As the painter or sculp­
tor by his handiwork expresses the ideal he has
conceived, so the Heavenly Father to translate
His thought, inscribes and graves in us His image
the Word, by means of the Holy Ghost.
The first work of this creative and sanctifying
Spirit in us, is to transform us into the resem­
blance of the Son of God, and to make us live
in conformity with our divine filiation : “ For
whosoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God. For you have not received the spirit
of bondage again in fear, but you have received the
spirit of the adoption of sons, whereby we cry dbba
Father. For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony
to our spirit that we are the sons of God ” (Rom.
viii. 14-17).
The Spirit of Truth, will illumine in our soul
the eternal thought of the Father. He will
make it clearer, more precise, more attractive,
by revealing Jesus in us : ς< When He the Spirit
of Truth is come He will teach you all truth : . . .
He will glorify Me ” (John xvi. 13, 14).
Being the consummation and the consecration
of all things, He continues to impress in our soul
that adorable thought of the Father which is
Jesus. He fixes it, makes it permanent, and if
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we wish irrevocable. This was the mystery that
David contemplated when he sang, “ The light
of Thy countenance., 0 Lord,· is signed upon us ”
(Psalm iv. 7), for the likeness of the Lord, His
splendour, His Glory, is the Word.
Afterwards, because He is the Spirit of Life,
the author of supernatural life, He realizes the
Thought of the Father, stimulates us to realize
a close resemblance to Christ, and aids us “ Until
uie all meet into a perfect man, unto the measure
of the age of the fulness of Christ . . . until Christ
be formed in usCi (Eph. iv. 13 ; Gal. iv. 19).
Finally being personally love, He establishes
between us and the Trinity relations of love, and
a constant tendency to union. He attracts the
Trinity towards us, and us towards the Trinity.
He is the constant appeal, the living attraction,
the irresistible impulse which draws us to Jesus,
so much so that in the measure that the soul
abandons itself to the thought of the Father
effected by the Holy Spirit, the union becomes
closer and closer, and as the Father is in the Son,
and the Son in the Father, so the soul is in Christ,
and Christ is in the soul, the two “ made perfect
in one ” (John xvii. 23) according to the prayer
at the Last Supper.
Then man ransomed and sanctified may present
himself confidently before the Heavenly Father
III

and say to lïirri, “ Behold me O God, and look
on the face of Thy Christ ” (Psalm Ixxxiii, io).

“O Eternal Trinity ! Y ou are an unfathomable
sea, wherein the more I plunge the more I find
You, and the more I find You the more I seek
You again. Of You it can never be said : it is
enough. The soul which satiates itself in Your
depths still desires You unceasingly, because it
still hungers for You. Eternal Trinity the soul
always wishes by Your light to see light. As the
hart panteth after the water brooks, so my soul
longs to depart from the darksome prison of the
body to see You in verity. . . .
“O Eternal Divinity ! Ocean without limit.
Could You do more than give me Yourself? You
are the ever burning fire which is never extin­
guished. You are the fire which consumes in
itself all the self love of the soul : You are the
fire which melts and lights, and by whose light
You have made known to me the truth. You
are the light of all lights. . . .
“ O supreme and infinite Good ! Good beyond
all others. Source of happiness. Incompre­
hensible Good ! Inestimable Good ! Beauty
surpassing all beauty. Wisdom beyond all
wisdom. Wisdom itself. You the bread of
angels, in the ardour of love, give Yourself
I 12

to man. You are the vestment which covers all
nudity, the nourishment whose sweetness rejoices
all who hunger. For You are sweet without the
slightest shadow of bitterness.
“ O Eternal Trinity, show me the way of
supreme perfection, that I may serve You in the
light, not in the darkness, and be a mirror of pure
and holy life, renouncing this miserable existence,
where so far I have served You in darkness
“ Reclothe me, Eternal Trinity, reclothe me
with Yourself, so that I may pass this mortal
life in true obedience, and in the light of that holy
faith with which You have inebriated my soul.”
St. Catharine of Siena.
2.---- COMMUNION

AND

OUR

SUPERNATURAL

VOCATION.

Communion makes us enter into this mystery
of our predestination and sanctification. When
we communicate, the whole of this mystery passes
into us to remain there. The Father is in us to
communicate His Thought, and to reveal to us
His Word ; the Holy Spirit to abide in us. And
if our fervour corresponds to God’s good will,
each Communion enlightened by faith, makes a
more intimate communication in the interior of
our soul, fixes in us a new resemblance to Jesus,
graved by the Holy Spirit.
XI3

In one Spirit we have all been made to drink ”
(I. Cor. xii. i j), said St. Paul. Communion in
fact gives us not only the flesh of Jesus, but also
His Spirit which Hows into us like a most pure
blood, doing for our souls what blood does for our
bodies. 'The Holy Spirit is the source of life.
As He directed the human nature in Jesus from

the first to the last day of His life inspiring both
His thought and His.love, so He makes Himself
our master, presiding at the supernatural trans­
formation in us. In Jesus and in the com­
municant there is the same Spirit of Life, the same
Principle of activity. Provided that the com­
municant is docile to His inspirations there will
soon be a perfect assimilation, for the same grace
should produce the same virtues, the same Spirit
enkindle the same acts. Thus we see the Saints
acquire such a resemblance to Jesus, that they
make with Him but one heart and soul. They
see all things as Jesus ; judge like Him, have the
same desires, the same will, the same love. Cor
Pauli, Cor Christi^ said St. John Chrysostom :
the heart of Paul is the heart of Christ. Has not
the Apostle himself also said : “ I live, now not 1,
but Christ liveth in me ” (Gal. ii. 20). “ Christ
takes the place of my soul,” said St. Macaire, and
St. Catharine of Genoa: “I have neither heart nor
soul, my heart and soul are those of Jesus Christ.”
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In the case of St. Catharine of Siena, this
mystery of transformation took place in circum­
stances manifesting the singular tenderness of
Our Lord : “ One day,” recounts the Blessed
Raymond, “ that she repeated with fervour the
words of the Prophet, i Create a clean heart in
me, 0 God, and renew a right spirit within me ’
(Psalm 1. 12), she asked Our Lord that He
would take away her heart, and her own will.
Then she thought she saw her eternal Spouse
come to her as usual, but He opened the left side,
took her heart and departed. The impression
of this vision was so vivid that St. Catharine said
to the confessor that she seemed to have no longer
a heart in her body. . . . Some time afterwards
Our Lord appeared to her bearing in His sacred
hands a human heart ruddy and resplendent. . . .
He approached, opened again her left side, and
introduced there the heart He had held in His
hands : ‘ My beloved daughter,’ He said, ‘ just
as the other day I took away your heart, so now
I have replaced it by My own, which will make
you live eternally.’ ”
An analogous incident is narrated in the life
of St. Margaret Mary : “ The F riday of the
octave of Corpus Christi,” she tells us, “ after
Communion, my Jesus said to me ‘ My daughter,
I have come to you to substitute My soul for
115

yours, My brait and Mv spirit in place of yours,
so that you may henceforth love only by and
for Mc.’ I his grace had such effect that nothing
has subsequently been able to trouble the peace of
my soul, and my heart has no power except to
love God only.”
Such is the end of Communion, a fusion of
heart and soul. It is true that both these in­
cidents narrated contained facts of the miraculous
order. But putting these on one side, Com­
munion should produce in us a similar trans­
formation. It should be our aim to lose our own
proper life and substitute for it the life of Christ,
Who declared : “ As I live by the Father, so He

that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me ”
(John vi. 58}. To sum up, Communion has
but one end, to make us other Christs, other
sons of God.
li O all powerful and eternal Trinity! O sweet
and ineffable Charity, who would not be inflamed
by so much love ? What heart could refuse
expending all for You ?
“ O abyss of charity. You are so intensely
attached to Your creatures that it would almost
seem You cannot live without them! Yet You
are God, having no need of us. Since You are
unchangeable, our well-being adds nothing to
116

Your greatness. Our wickedness causes You
no harm since Y ou are the sovereign and eternal
Goodness. What is it that inspires You with
such compassion ? It is love. For You have no
I obligation toward us, no need for us. What
I draws You then, O infinite God, to me Your
puny creature ? It is nothing else than Yourself,
I Fire of Love ! Love always, Love alone has
I impelled and still impels Y our tenderness towards
I Your creatures, filling them with infinite graces
and priceless gifts. O Supreme Benevolence,
You alone are supremely good ! You have given
us the Word, Your Son, to live with us, in touch
L with such corruption, such darkness. What is
the cause of this gift ? Love ! for You loved us
before we even were.
“ O Eternal Magnificence ! O Immensity of
Goodness! You abased Yourself, becoming little,
that man might become great. On whichever
side I turn, I find only the abyss and fire of Your
charity.”
St. Catharine of Siena.

k,

II.—THE GLORY OF THE HOLY TRINITY,
I.--- THE FINAL GOAL OF CREATION.

We can go further in the knowledge of our
supernatural vocation, and ask why God wished
I

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that we should become the adopted sons of Jesus
Christ.
Certainly it is for our happiness, His love as
gratuitous as it is immense was not content with
drawing us from nothing, He wished also to make
us happy, to carry us even to the summit of
happiness by granting that unheard-of gift, a
participation of His nature and a communication
of His life,
However the good of the creature cannot be
the last end of the divine operations. This end
is the magnificent manifestation of the divine
attributes, in particular God’s goodness^ and the
perfect glorification of the Holy Trinity.
In rendering me happy, God wished to glorify
Himself : He wishes to be glorified in my
happiness.
Ultimately it is for Himself, for His glory that
God has made us His adopted children. Our
divine filiation then must be completed in the
love and praise of God ; “ We also are called by
lot being predestinated according to the purpose of
Him who worketh all things according to the
counsel of His will. That we may be unto the
praise of His glory ” (Eph. ί. 11, 12). For God
because He is God, “ hath made all things for
Himself” (Prov. xvi. 4). It is incumbent then
that all beings, and our own happiness, shall be
118

referred to God and render Him homage. To
glorify God is the essential and primordial work,
of the creature as long as it exists. That fact
should dominate everything. It is “ the justice ”
mentioned by Our Lord in the beatitudes for
which we should “ hunger and thirst ” (Matt.
v. 6). To glorify God was both the primary
cause of the Incarnation and the principal work:
of the Sacred Humanity during His life, as
now also, in the Blessed Sacrament. Christ came
to save us, but still more to adore and praise His
Father : He came to render us happy, but above
all to fulfil those duties of religion for which God
> had waited from the creation of the world.
Christ’s internal life was an incessant adoration.
If He worked, preached, performed miracles,
suffered and died, it was all for the glory of His
Father. He was burning with the desire to
render Him glory, as though by an interior flame,
which devoured and left no repose to His soul
athirst for justice and love.
“ I have a baptism wherewith I am to be
baptized : and how am I straitened until it be
accomplished ” (Luke xii. 50). This baptism
was the effusion of Blood which would restore
to God the glory of the Creation.
“ With desire 1 have desired to eat this Pasch
with you before I suffer ” (Luke xxii. 15). This
119

Pasch was the offering up of the Host, of Him­
self, as a holocaust of glory.
“ 7 thirst " (John xix. 28), He said at the
moment of His death. This thirst was the
inexpressible need of His Heart to witness His
love for His Father. A thirst that the sacrifice
of Calvary could not assuage, since He instituted
the Eucharist to renew the effusion of His blood,
to universalize it, and prolong it during the
centuries.
Christas life and death had an aim which
dominated all His actions : this was in the first
place to give God the most complete homage j
He could receive, and then to raise up in the world A
souls who would unite themselves to His love
and sacrifice, rendering glory with Him, and
thus being “ those true adorers tn spirit and tn

truth whom the Father seeketh to adore Him ”
(John iv. 23J
“ Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord
Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ : As He
chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and unspotted in
His sight in charity.
“ Who hath predestinated us unto the adoption
of children through Jesus Christ unto Himself

120

*i“**-*'“*tS'<W-*

4^**‘S sir>-j -

according to the purpose of His will : Unto the
praise of the glory of His grace. . . .
“ In whom we also are called by lot, being pre­
destinated according to the purpose of Him Who
worketh all things according to the counsel of
His will. That we may be unto the praise of
His glory. ... For this cause I bow my knees
to the Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom
all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that
He would grant you according to the riches of
His glory to be strengthened by His Spirit, with
might unto the inward man, that Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith ; that being rooted and
founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth,
and length, and height and depth, to know also
the charity of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness
of God.
“Now to Him who is able to do all things more
abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us ; to Him
be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus unto
all generations world without end. Amen.”
St. Paul (Eph. i. 3, 5, 6, 11, 12 ;
iii. 14-21J
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2.-----THE UNIQUE LITURGY.

Finally Christ came amongst us to accomplish
a work of praise, a liturgical work.
He accomplishes it still, for as the Word in­
carnate, Jesus is Priest, “ The .Apostle and High
Priest of our confession ” (Heb. iii. l).

He will accomplish it eternally, for the Priest­
hood was His fundamental state, that which was
essential in Him : “ He hath an everlasting
Priesthood” (Heb. vii. 24). The Father said
of Him : “ Thou art a Priest for ever ” (Psalm
cix. 4).
Thus we see Him in heaven and on earth
presiding at the unique Liturgy. In one of the
most sublime visions of the Apocalypse, St. John
shows us our Pontiff exercising His Priesthood
in the assembly of the elect, in the centre of the
redeemed creation, in the midst of the throne
even where God is seated. The sevenfold spirit
reposes on Him, and inspires His Priesthood.
He is erect as one who sacrifices. He is im­
molated as the universal victim. He renders
glory to Him : “ IPho was, IPho is, and IPho is
to come ” (Apoc. iv. 8). And all the dwellers
in heaven unite themselves to the Lamb to
render homage to Him for whom the Lamb
immolates Himself: “ Thou art worthy 0 Lord
Our God to receive glory and honour and power
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because Thou hast created all things. . . . Holy,
Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty {Apoc.,
iv. II, 8). They adore, prostrate, and cast their
; crowns before the throne to testify that their
victory and their glory come alone from the
Saviour. But the elect also turn themselves
towards the Lamb, who receives the praise which
i is His due. Whilst He exercises His supreme
Priesthood, they prostrate before Him, and with
one accord intone the- new canticle of all the
redeemed : “ The Lamb that was slain is worthy
! to receive power and divinity, and wisdom, and
strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction ”
μ (Apoc. v. 12).
Such are the grand lines of the Liturgy which
develops in all its splendour in the heavens under
the presidency of Jesus, the Universal Pontiff,
and under the breath of the Holy Spirit, “ by
whom the Lamb offers Himself to God as an
unspotted Host ” (cfr. Heb. ix. 14). But it is
! exactly the same Liturgy which is reproduced
! amongst us at the Altar : the same Priest, the
. same Victim, the same immolation, the same
J end to be attained. It is only the exterior form
which differs, the Church triumphant celebrates
the Sacrifice unveiled, whilst the Church militant
celebrates it in faith. But there is only one
Liturgy. Every hour a sanctified hymn of praise
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mounts from the whole world towards the throne
of the Most High, to bless, exalt and glorify the
Lamb who immolates Himself, numberless voices
from the immense multitude of the redeemed on
earth and in heaven ; but all these voices form
one magnificent chorus, having a single object
of praise, together they celebrate the unique
Liturgy. The reason that Jesus offered His
sacrifice on Calvary and prolongs it perpetually
in the Eucharist, is that the praise of glory may
perpetually ascend towards God.
Such is also the final goal of communion.
Jesus desires that the Liturgy, the praise which
unfolds itself before the throne of God, and on
the altar as perfectly one, shall be reproduced
in the soul of the communicant.
He comes into us to impel us to enter into that
great movement of praise of which He is the
Chief and the Pontiff. He said one-day to St.
Margaret Mary, “ I come to you as the sovereign
Sacrificer.” Every baptized person is a con­
secrated temple, a place destined for the service
of praise : “ For the temple of God is holy which
you are ” (I. Cor. Hi. ly). In this temple is the
all powerful God, to whom sacrifice is offered,
the Adorable Trinity : “ PFe will come to Him
and make our abode with Him ” (John xiv. 23).
Holy Communion introduces there the victim,
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the Lamb immolates Himself afresh, and comes
to offer Himself and unite His sacrifice to the
soul that receives Him, for He wishes that with
Him “ we present our bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, pleasing unto God" (Rom. xii. 1). “ The
Christian soul,” said Origen, “ is a permanent
altar where the sacrifice perpetuates itself
day and night.” This sacrifice ought not to
be a passing incident, but a permanency, for
the Lamb Who was immolated dwells in us
even after the dissolution of the sacred species
according to the promise He made, that “ by
Him we may offer the sacrifice of praise always
to God, that is to say the fruit of lips confessing
to His name ” (Heb. xiii. 1 5 J Communion per­
mits the soul to celebrate in its sanctuary the
sacrifice that the Church triumphant and the
Church militant never cease to offer to God :
the same Victim offèrs Himself there to the same
God for the same praise.
Nothing is wanting, neither the incense, nor
the harmony of harps of the celebrated vision of
St. John. Ί he prayer of the soul elevates itself
around the sacrifice as an odour of sweetness
saying to the Lord that “ the spouse goeth up as a
pillar of smoke exhaling myrrh and frankincense ”
(yfr Cant. iii. 6).
The sound of the harps, is the harmony from
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our acts of love, of all those desires, of all those
varying affections which burst forth from the
heart under the inspiration of the Spirit. A
sublime harmony, a veritable echo of the New
Canticle of the choirs of the elect, when all the
powers of soul and body like the cords of a
lyre are harmonized by purity and penitence.
44 Then,” said the Heavenly Father to St. Cathar­
ine of Siena, “ that soul chants a beautiful song,
accompanying it on an instrument the cords of
which have been so well fashioned by prudence
that they form together a holy harmony to the
glory and honour of My name. This harmony
is produced by the great chords the powers of the
soul, and the smaller chords the senses of the
body. All My saints have captured souls with
these harmonies. The first to sound them was
my well beloved Word, when clothed with your
humanity and uniting it to the Divinity, He played
on the Cross that ineffable strain that won the
love of the human race.”
Thus in heaven, on the altar, and in the soul
is celebrated the same eternal Liturgy.
In the proportion that this praise develops in
us, our sanctification advances. When the soul
sustained by perfect charity united with intelli­
gence and love to the sacrifice of the Lamb
reaches that stage in which it is not deterred by
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anything from its task of praise, when it celebrates
without ceasing that interior cult, it has reached
perfection on this earth, it lives in the shadows of
faith as the blessed in the eternal vision, and its
interior life becomes, said Blessed Albert the
Great, “ the prelude and commencement of the
life of heaven.”
“O Holy Trinity from whose depths flow forth
in eternal splendour the living Divinity, Love
and Wisdom.
“O Father, unique source of power: Y ou who
are Essential Wisdom, in Whom goodness wells
up unceasingly, Whose love is ardent as the fire,
Whose holiness is impelled to extend itself to
created being, Whose goodness displays itself in
all creation, to You be praise, honour and glory.
To You thanksgiving, power and light, this is
the fervent desire of my heart.
“O Word, tall cedar of Lebanon, Who in
sovereign majesty stretched the boughs of Your
Divinity above the Cherubim ; yet it pleased
You to descend to the depths of this vale of tears
and seek a humble stem of hyssop to unite to
Yourself by a firm bond, making it Your spouse
in infinite love. O Holy Spirit. God of Love,
the essential link by love of the Blessed Trinity,
You repose and take Your delights amongst the
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children of men in holy chastity, which by Your
strength and Your example flourishes here below
like a rose amongst thorns.
“ Holy Spirit. Love ! Love ! Ί. ell me what
road conducts to that delightful abode ; tell me
where I shall find the path of life leading to
those meadows fertilized by the divine dew, that
thirsting souls may slake their thirst. O Love,
You alone know the road that conducts to
life and truth. In You is accomplished that
alliance full of delights which unites the Divine
Persons of the Holy Trinity. By You, O Holy
Spirit, are poured out on us the most precious
gifts. From You proceed those fertilized seeds
producing life-giving fruits. From Y ou emanates
the sweet honey of those delights which are
concerned only with God. By You descend on
us those fertilizing streams of divine blessing,
those precious gifts of the Spirit so rare, alas !
in our land. O Son of God. Love ! Love !
prepare for me the route that leads to You, the
path of love. Draw me to Yourself with chaste
affection, so that I may follow wherever You lead,
even to those heights where You reign and com­
mand in the sovereign majesty of Your Divine
Essence, to that abode where You bestow the
treasures of Your affection. . . . Whilst waiting,
O Jesus, O Love, keep me in this vale of misery
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in the shadow of Your love. And after the
tedium of this exile preserved from all stain,
conduct and make me enter Your sanctuary,
t giving me a place in the ranks of that virginal
multitude. There I shall quench my thirst
at the living waters of Your divine tenderness,
there I shall be sated in the joy of Your sweet love
Amen ! Amen ! May such be the cry of every
being.”
Saint Gertrude.

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