out to you with the Apostle : " Hora est jam nos de somno surgere, nunc enim propior est nostra salus quam cum credidimus" It is time, it is time to awake from the sleep in which we were plunged, for our Divine Saviour is much nearer than we think. He is there concealed beneath the species of bread and wine, beholding from thence, as through the sacred lattices (as it is written in the Canticles), what our souls will do for Him. This Lover of souls has said that he who serves Him ought to follow Him, and that His servants ought to be where He is. Behold Him then on our Altars ; He is in our Tabernacles ; we should choose His Sacred Feet as our abode: there we must go with all possible 1—2
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fervour, to offer Him our prayers and adoration, and the sacrifice of our hearts ; moaning, weeping and broken-hearted with loving contrition, at the little care we have hitherto taken to come and pay our respects to Him who is our All. It will be very difficult not to be more faithful to Him, if once our eyes are opened to His Divine Sight, and after awaking from our tepidity, we shall say with Jacob : Vere Dotninus est in loco isto, et ego nesciebam.
Alas ! have we ever realised it ?
SECOND MOTIVE.
JESUS IS IN THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT IN ALL
HIS GREATNESS.
Sanctuarium meum metuite. — Reverence my
Sanctuary. — (Leviticus, xix. 30.)
It is true that the majesty of kings, princes and earthly sovereigns, the brilliancy [and pomp of courts, attract people and draw large crowds after them. At sight of this, I cannot help exclaiming: O children of men, how long will ye be slow of heart, seeking the vain delusions of the world that, in its inconstancy, are never to be really possessed, and so soon escape from your hands, whilst you are so careless of possessing Him who alone can give you happiness ? Behold the King of Kings, before whom a thousand worlds are but a speck; in whose presence the pomp of earthly kings vanishes like a shadow, and is simply nothing ; behold Him before whom the foundations of heaven tremble, and He left alone in our Churches!
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Alas! hardly a single person is to be seen in His Sanctuary ! If it be splendour that attracts you, know that the Sacred Body of my adorable Master present in the Most Holy Sacrament, has in itself more light than all the bodies of the Blessed Saints together will ever have in the realms of glory, where they all will shine like suns; the brightness of His Divine Body, brighter than all these, reflects upon them immense greatness, and unutterable excellence.
Know also, that the Holy Soul of this Precious Body unites in Itself the wonder of Paradise, the love, the joy, and consolation of all the blessed inhabitants of heaven ; know, that the Word, the Living Image of the Father of Light, is there, the God of all Greatness before whom all other greatness is nothingness. Venite adoremus ; Come, then, and adore the infinite majesty of the Lord of all things, and remember these words that He addresses to us by the mouth of His servant Moses, Sanctuariutn nteum metuite. Let men tremble with holy fear when they enter the place where He is in all His greatness.
THIRD MOTIVE.
JESUS IS IN THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT FOR EVER.
Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus, usque ad consummationem sceculi. — Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. — (Matt, xxviii. 20.)
"Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world," are the words of our
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Divine Saviour. Inestimable favour, incomparable happiness, excessive goodness, unheard-of mercy ! It has been the astonishment of the Saints, that God, in His goodness, remembers man. Domine, quid est homo quod memor es ejus ?
But what will man say when he knows that not only the God of all greatness will remember him in the multitude of His mercies, but that He has even determined to dwell with His creatures until the consummation of the world ?
How is it that we are not lost in an abyss of admiration, when we consider that the Creator of the world, having appeared on our earth, the world has not known Him ? Who is able to conceive that the creature would not receive his Creator, who came down from heaven to visit him according to His great mercy ? But that is not all. The creature crucified Him, caused Him to die an igno- minious death, after making Him suffer all possible torments, by cruelly tearing His Virginal Flesh and bruising It with deep wounds. And after all this shameful treatment, He not only comes to visit us again, but He takes the means of dwelling with us until the end of time.
If the Seraphim are not enraptured at such a sight, I know not what can enrapture them. But what will men say ? What will they do after such an excess of love ? Alas ! the greater part of them will think but little about it, and be but little moved by it. Surely, our hearts are harder than rock and more
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insensible than stone. Hear what that great lover of the Son of God, the holy Saint Theresa, said, — her heart touched at His miraculous goodness. All transported at such ravishing love, she spoke of it to heaven, she spoke of it to the earth, she spoke of it to men and to the angels, she spoke of it to God, sending forth her sighs to Him, that He, the God of love, was so little loved. In the midst of these heavenly transports, she prayed to the Eternal Father to have pity on His well-beloved Son. "O Sovereign Greatness, this Divine Saviour is so consumed with love for men, by whom He has been so cruelly treated, that unless Thou dost prevent it, He will subject Himself to fresh sufferings and further humiliations." She called her sisters to help her, to unite with her in prayer, that the loving Jesus might be no more treated so shamefully and with so much harshness by men.
I address myself to you who read these pages : I ask you what your heart says, and what you think on such excessive love of God ? What are your resolutions, or, rather, what resolutions will you make ? I know well what you ought to do ; but I ask your heart what it will do ?
The God of Love has remained on our Altars many ages for love of you, how much time have you passed in His Divine Presence for love of Him ? Alas ! sigh deeply when you think of this ; be heart-broken with sorrow, and with loving contrition.
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Reflect also that this same God, with infinite love, will be with men until the consummation of the world; try your heart as to the inclination it has to keep Him company: how many hours will you devote to Him to prove your love, and to offer your adoration to Him ?
FOURTH MOTIVE.
JESUS IS UNCEASINGLY IN THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT.
Ecce tabernacuium Dei cum hominibus. — Behold the
Tabernacle of God with men. — (Apoc. xxi. 3.)
Oh! the immense love of God whom we adore ! It is not sufficient for Him to have visited men during the days of His visible converse with them, or to appear only occasionally on our Altars, in the midst of the most august of our mysteries ! That would suffice for the accomplishment of the promise He has made, to be with us to the end of time ; but His love will not allow Him to separate Him- self from us for a moment He is in our churches all the day long ; He is there all the night, at every hour and every moment Praise the Lord, for He is good ; for his mercy endureth
