O Christian souls, acknowledge that the mercies of the God of our hearts are admirable; sing eternal hymns to Him for such unspeakable goodness. Let all who fear the Lord approach Him and say: Quant bonus Israel Deus! How good is God to Israel, how tender are His mercies! Behold, the
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Eternal Father has sanctified His House. Et erunt oculi met et cor meum ibi cunctis diebus. (iii Reg. ix.) He has placed there both His Eyes, and His Heart, not in a passing manner, but for ever, without any exception of time.
O my God, permit my frail soul to ask Thee how it is that Thou remainest in our Tabernacles not only during the day, but also all the night long? I see that Thou wilt find a few adorers in the day, a few persons who will keep Thee company: but when I think that Thou art all alone in Thy Churches every night, I am overwhelmed, I know not what to do. When I reflect that our Churches are closed in the evening because men leave them, and that Thy love makes Thee remain there, O my Lord, I ask Thee, why dost not Thou then, at least, leave these dwellings that Thou hast so divinely established with men, since there are none with whom Thou canst dwell ? But love has made Thee our prisoner. O children of men ! the excessive love that the .Great and Eternal God has for you, has made Him a captive, has made Him a slave. O heavens! your Sovereign is detained, locked up in a little Tabernacle ; His love holds Him chained beneath the fragile species. Truly, the sight of so astonishing and excessive a love, is a most urgent motive, obliging us to visit the Church frequently, to remain there as long as we can, never to leave it without regret, and to leave our hearts at the foot of the Ciborium, when we
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are obliged to quit Him who should be our only joy ; and during our occupations, and conversation with creatures, even during the night, when we are wakeful, we should think of our loving Jesus, who dwells constantly in the Divine Eucharist, in order to attract our thoughts, so that we may lovingly regret our inability to be, both in body and mind, in that place where He dwells in Body, Soul and Divinity. Oh ! how ought we to exclaim with the Psalmist: Here is my rest for ever and ever: this is the place I have chosen, because my Saviour has chosen it. O my soul, let others do as they will, but I feel that this place must be our sweetest and constant retreat.
FIFTH MOTIVE.
JESUS IS IN THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT IN ALL
COUNTRIES.
Nec est alia natio tarn grandis, auce habeat deos appro- pinquantes sibi, sicut Deus noster adest cunctis obsecrationibus nostris.—Neither is there any other nation so great, that hath gods so nigh them, as our God is present to all our petitions.— (Deut. iv. 7.)
No; there is no nation so happy as the Christian people in the ease with which their God may be approached. In times past, under the ancient Law, there was only one temple for all the earth; there was only one Sanctuary, into which the High Priest alone, was permitted to enter; and even he was obliged, out of respect, to fill the sacred place with the smoke of incense, so that
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nothing could be seen. In our days, not only does the God of infinite greatness dwell in a Temple by the effects of His grace, but He dwells bodily in as many places as there are Churches and Altars throughout the world.
Under the old Law, it was not only not permitted to touch the Ark, but even to look at it too closely. The Bethsamites were punished for having looked on it with too much curiosity. Now, we may, and we are even commanded, not merely to touch, but to eat Him of whom the Ark was only the shadow. We may truly say that we have no faith ; that having eyes, we see not, and that having ears, we hear not.
People make pilgrimages into foreign lands to honour God in the relics of His Saints, and it is well ; but at the same time, they will hardly take a hundred steps to go and pay their respects to the adorable Body of the God of Majesty !
We may say still more ; that the excess of God's love causes our excessive coldness and insensibility, by our abuse of His grace. Is it possible that, if God had not loved us so much, we should love Him more ? Learn this terrible truth from what we, see. Is it not true that, if the loving Jesus had established the presence of His Divine Body in only one spot on earth, all nations would have hastened to come from every part of the world to offer Him, in the Adorable Sacrament, their adoration and prayers? On arriving at the place, they
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would no doubt be overwhelmed in the Presence of the Wonderful Mysteries, and would be seized with holy fear on considering their greatness ; they would offer every possible respect from astonishment and love ; but because God, in His infinite goodness, has established His presence, not only in one spot, but in every province, and town, and place where there is a Church, and even in the poorest villages, therefore people do not take the trouble to visit Him, and His love is rejected. He is at our doors — He is waiting for us night and day; and yet, through an incomprehensible neglect, this Divine Lover of men is abandoned by His creatures. He is in our poor little country churches alone all the week, so that the poor have not far to go to find Him on Sundays and Feasts. Oh, how foolish we are ! Will our hearts always be insensible to the attractions of Divine Love ?
We envy the happiness of the Magi, who came with great difficulty and trouble from afar, to adore the Divine Saviour of our souls. We have not, like them, to leave our kingdoms ; it is not necessary for us to make long journeys; what, then, do we do, to pay our respects to our Master, in the Most Holy Sacrament?
When our Blessed Lord preached to the multitude it was very difficult to approach Him, so great was the throng around Him ; those poor people were zealous; they, who did not know Him as we do, made openings in the roofs of houses to let down
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their sick, to place them before Him who so mercifully came to heal all our diseases. The doors of our Churches are open, and the Children of Zion weep because they are deserted, and hardly any one is seen there.
Lastly, it must be said that even the Blessed Virgin herself could not always have the access she desired to the most loving Son that ever was, for the Holy Gospel informs us she could not sometimes approach Him, whilst we worms of the earth have all possible liberty to draw near to Him, to speak to Him, and remain in His Divine Presence ; and yet we will not make a holy use of such a precious favour !
SIXTH MOTIVE.
JESUS IS IN THE MOST HOLY SACRAMENT FOR EVERY ONE.
Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos. — Come to me, all you that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. — (Matt. xi. 28.)
Come unto Me, says the loving Jesus, all who are in trouble and are heavily burdened, and I will comfort you. These tender words, which the Loving Heart of the charitable Saviour of our souls has expressed, are addressed to every one. He is, in the Most Holy Sacrament, for the poor as well as for the rich. He gives Himself equally to the learned and ignorant, to the great and small, to monarchs and their subjects, to the lowest on earth as well as
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to those seated on thrones. The Bread of Angels, says the Church, is become the Bread of men ! O wonder ! O miracle ! The Lord of all things has given himself as food to the poor, to the slave, to the most abject persons in the world. Jesus, the Sovereign of the Universe, has no guards to keep off those who
