St. Joseph's manual/Reflections on the passion of Jesus Christ
REFLECTIONS
ON
THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST.
There is no subject of reflection more fitted for persons of every degree, than the Passion and Death of Jesus our Redeemer. Therein sinners find trust and encouragement for their conversion, and just souls assistance and strength for their progress in virtue. Therein all find consolation amid their efforts, patience in adversities, refuge in temptations, and every good for their souls. Here, then, is the passion and death of our Redeemer presented in a few brief reflections, which may be used for each day of the week.
FIRST REFLECTION.
Jesus' Suffering merits our Love and Compassion.
A GOD dies amid boundless sufferings and pains for mankind. How powerful a motive to oblige us to the tenderest compassion, to the strongest love! Who is this God who submits to so many racking tortures? And men, what are they, that a God should suffer for them thus? My soul, this thought should absorb your affections. God is greatness itself, infinite majesty itself, he is infinite Omnipotence. Man is misery itself, baseness itself, a most vile nothing. And yet, for love of this wretched nothingness, Jesus, the Son of God, sacrifices his precious life, and with agony expires transfixed upon a cross. Ah, how should we not love a God so loving and compassionate! God so greatly desires the heart of man, that to it he spends the infinite treasure of his blood. God so greatly thirsts for man's salvation, that to purchase it he reckons as cheaply spent a life of toils, of sufferings — a death of shame and pain. And thou, O my soul, wilt thou remain hard and unfeeling, with such tender proofs of the love of thy God in love with thee? Wilt thou not melt with feelings of love and compassion?
Ah, my dear Jesus, love of my soul, tell me, I beseech thee, wherefore suffer so much for me! Wherefore shed the last drop of thy precious blood? Wherefore sacrifice thy life? O love! O love! And shall I go so far in my ingratitude as to deny thee my love? Never, my dear Jesus, never. I will love thee henceforward with all my power; this I promise, O Lord; this, with thy help, I shall perform.
A God suffering — a God put to death for man. This has always been to pious souls the most abiding thought; this has been always the most forcible and pressing motive for bringing their hearts to the love of the suffering Jesus, This thought — a God put to death for man — will be the great cause of the confusion and despair of the damned in hell. My soul, if thou refusest now to love and be grateful to a God, torn and languishing for thee on a cross, deservedly wilt thou burn in the everlasting flames. Wouldst thou rather choose these tormenting flames than the sweet flames of love for thy suffering God? Ah, no; resolve to consecrate thy whole heart to this loving Redeemer, who sacrificed himself wholly for thy salvation. Fix the eyes of thy mind upon thy crucified Lord, and say to thyself: Behold a God upon the cross for the love of me and for my benefit! Behold his wounds, so many mouths bleeding piteously for compassion and love.
Most amiable Lord, ah! enkindle in my heart one spark of charity and compassion for thee. Let it never be said, my dear Redeemer, that this soul of mine, which has cost thee so many pains, is lost. Too justly do I deserve hell for not having loved thee, and for having lived so forgetful of thee and thy sufferings; but henceforth, O Lord, be thou the sole object of my love — and do thou engrave deeply, upon my heart thy most bitter pains.
SECOND REFLECTION.
Jesus' Agony in the Garden.
JESUS having entered the Garden of Gethsemane, there to begin his sorrowful passion, falls prostrate on the ground, and begins his prayers. Approach, my soul, thy blessed Redeemer, and meditate on the unspeakable anguish that his spirit experiences in this prayer. His soul is assailed by a mortal sadness, and such painful agonies as the human mind cannot conceive. Tormenting fears, sorrowful thoughts, and bitter anguish rend him interiorly. The most afflicted Jesus, being reduced to such a pitiable state, raises his tearful eyes to heaven, and asks for some comfort from his divine Father; he turns to his disciples, and says, I am sorrowful even unto death, do not abandon me. The anguish of Jesus reaches its height; his face grows pale; he faints, and falls into a mortal agony. My soul, do thou at least hasten with feelings of love and compassion to bring him some comfort in his afflictions. O Jesus, delight of the saints, joy of Paradise, consoler of the afflicted, wherefore endure such sorrow, an agony so painful! Jesus brings himself to this in order to merit consolation for us in our troubles, and the endless joys of heaven. What goodness, what love of Jesus for us!
Ah! my dear Jesus, can I ever be forgetful of thy love? Can I ever thank thee sufficiently, O loving Saviour, for the mortal anguish thy soul has been pleased to endure for love of me? Ah! for pity's sake, cause thy sufferings to be so deeply impressed upon my soul that I may never forget them.
Consider what were the painful objects that, like so many cruel executioners, afflicted the heart of Jesus. The first and most appalling were our sins. The vivid knowledge of all the sins of men, a sight of their enormity, a most intense horror of their malignity, filled his heart, pressed upon it with such piercing intensity, as to produce a sorrow and a sadness that can not be imagined. Jesus knows, and comprehends the entire malice and atrocity of sin, the enormity of the insult thereby offered to his heavenly Father; and loving his Father with a supreme love, he experiences a grief so poignant, a horror so excessive of human wickedness — all portrayed before him in such deformity — that he is ready to expire of intense grief. The sins, then, of all men, past, present, and to come, were the cruel tormentors which rent without pity the sad heart of our agonizing Redeemer. My soul, what share had thy misdeeds in embittering the heart of thy Jesus? Those sins that seemed to thee once so trivial, agonized thy Jesus with unalloyed grief. Those sins thou hast committed for amusement, for nothing, have barbarously rent the heart of Jesus. His sadness, his anguish, his agony, were increased by thy sins, by the malice of thy iniquities. O, how much less would Jesus have suffered, hadst thou but sinned less! Ah! weep bitter tears now for thy crimes, detest thy malice, and resolve never more to offend so loving a Redeemer.
THIRD REFLECTION.
Jesus scourged at the Pillar.
Prepare thyself, my soul, for affliction and tears, as thou comest to contemplate the frightful tortures practised on thy Redeemer. Enter a moment, in thought, into the hall of Pilate, and look at that innocent Lamb given up to the ferocity and inhuman fury of those merciless enemies, to be tormented by them. O God, what a cruel carnage is made of the virginal flesh of the Son of God! A shower of most furious blows rains down upon every spot of his immaculate body from heavy lashes; with such ferocity do they strike, that they rend his flesh, and open wounds in every part, and tear and strike into the very wounds again and again. What spectacle has heaven seen more pitiful than this? From the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, he is all torn and wounded. The blood gushes out on every side, and already the pavement is covered with it. Look, my soul, at thy Jesus, torn, bleeding, and all but expiring through the horrible torture inflicted. See if there be any suffering like to his. Look, and read in these wounds the love that Jesus bears to thee, and conclude from this how much thou hast cost him. Oh, my most loving Redeemer, my most patient Jesus, hast thou purchased my soul at such a price? Graciously deign, dear Saviour, to impress upon my heart lively sentiments of love and compassion for thy sufferings, so that I may never forget what thou hast endured for me, and never cease to bewail my sins, which have caused thee so much grief.
Consider, my soul, the feelings of the loving heart of Jesus in the midst of his scourging. He stands bound to a pillar, under countless stripes, like an innocent victim upon an altar, offering his bitter torments for thee, He turns his pitiful looks now to the earth, now to heaven, to beg with their entreating expression mercy from his eternal Father for the grievous sins I have committed. Behold, my soul, how Jesus suffers, and what an example he gives thee of suffering profitably! See how much thou art bound to so loving a heart, which, in the midst of torments so excessive, only loves thee the more tenderly.
I thank thee, O sweet Jesus, with my whole soul, for the pains thou hast endured for me in thy scourging, and endured with so much patience and love. O Lord, great, indeed, is the love thou bearest me; ardent, indeed, is the desire thou hast of my salvation. Ah! grant that I may correspond with thy wishes; grant, that so much blood be not shed for me in vain; grant for pity’s sake, grant that I may save my soul, which thou hast loved so intensely. Make me, dear Jesus, like thee in patience, in humility, in long-suffering; give me grace to embrace with the spirit of true penance whatever shall happen to me painful or afflictive; let me always bear thee in mind, who has suffered so much to satisfy for my sins.
FOURTH REFLECTION.
Jesus crowned with Thorns.
CONSIDER how, the scourging being over, one torment succeeds another in racking our suffering Lord. The executioners, with unheard of cruelty, take a bundle of sharp thorns, and plaiting them together in the shape of a crown, they place them on his sacred head. They then pitilessly press them down with repeated blows, the points enter in, and, piercing the flesh and the nerves, cause spasms of pain to our blessed Jesus. Oh, what a horrible garland is this, my heart, and what intense pains must it cause the adorable head of our Redeemer!
My soul, wilt thou go and crown thyself with roses after beholding thy God crowned with thorns? Wilt thou refuse him some light suffering when he has been satiated with pains for thee? Ah, for once be ashamed of living in sensuality and sin, whilst thou seest thy King pierced with thorns!
O my Jesus, the most aggrieved of all men, by right it is not on thine, but on my proud and guilty head, ought to be placed those thorns which pierced thy adorable temples. Yet, O most innocent Saviour, thou wouldst have thyself crowned with thorns, in order that thou mightest crown me with glory. I thank thee, O my God; and in order to become like thee, I shall try to endure the troubles and tribulations of the present life. I renounce forever pastimes and delights of earth, in order to follow thee, suffering Redeemer.
His tormentors, not content with deriding and insulting our afflicted Redeemer, and making him the butt of their sport, they cover his face with spittle. Behold this most meek lamb in the midst of these savage men — his humble deportment — his cast-down look — bearing, with the most wonderful patience and profound humility, the greatest ignominies the perfidy of men can invent and offer.
Consider why Jesus wished to be crowned with thorns. It was to blot out, by shedding of his blood, our sins of thought especially. He came down from heaven to wash out sin by his blood, to satisfy for it by his passion, and to abolish it by his death. One source of sin is the head; there are formed thoughts of impurity, of ambition, of injustice, of hatred, of revenge. It was meet, therefore, that his sacred head should pay their penalty by ignominy and pain. The love of Jesus could not allow this noble part of his sacred body to be without its particular torture. Hence it is that he willingly submits it to the piercing of the thorns. See, my soul, how this innocent victim, destined to be immolated for thy sins, is entirely consumed by suffering. Recognize in these cruel thorns, which transfix his sacred head, the wicked effects of thy sinful thoughts. These have formed a more painful crown for Jesus’ head than the thorns themselves. For these transfix the heart, the very soul, of Jesus, with the most intense pangs of agony. The thoughts of vanity, of self-conceit, of pride, of impurity, which have so often been formed and encouraged in thy mind, were the cruel tormentors of the head of thy Jesus. Ah! my heart, weep for grief, and pour out a torrent of tears for thy sins; weep also with compassion and love for thy Saviour, who has paid so dearly for thy misdeeds. But, O! never return to those abominable thoughts, which are so many additional thorns in Jesus' crown, and pierce anew his loving heart.
FIFTH REFLECTION.
Jesus takes up his Cross and goes to Calvary.
The unjust sentence of death is scarcely pronounced by the wicked judge against our innocent Saviour, when his enemies show the utmost eagerness to carry it into execution. Having put together in a short time a large and heavy cross, they presented it to the suffering and almost expiring Jesus as the instrument of his ignominious passion. Meditate, my soul, with what thoughts our Saviour looks on, and with what feelings he embraces this painful gibbet. Enter into the heart of Jesus, and see what thanks he offers his divine Father for having prepared for him a throne upon which, satiated with ignominies, he can extinguish the ardent thirst he has of suffering and dying for men. Observe with what love, with what zeal, he stretches forth his hands to embrace his beloved cross; he presses it, he kisses it, places it on his bleeding shoulders, that thereby he may convince us of the exquisite perfection of his love for us. What dost thou say, my soul, at the sight of a love so strong, so generous? Thou vexest thyself at the slightest inconvenience. Thou shrinkest from, and fliest from the little crosses Jesus, from time to time, presenteth to thee. What resemblance canst thou ever claim to Jesus crucified, if there be nothing seen in thee but an abhorrence of suffering and mortifications? Ah! unite thyself with Jesus in embracing the cross of troubles and afflictions, of evils and tribulations, all sanctified by Jesus having embraced his cross.
The executioners, impatient to see the loving, and yet so much hated, Lord nailed to the cross, having loaded him with its weight, and bound him with ropes, they hastily drag him along to Calvary. Follow with thy heart and mind your suffering Jesus in his painful journey, and with sentiments of tender compassion bear his company. He, though fainting and weary by his agony by the loss of so much blood, by so many stripes and blows, all torn and wounded, does not refuse to follow, with his heavy load, his enemies who hurry him up the hill. Our beloved Saviour proceeds, and although every step causes him new torture, yet conquering by its charity the weakness of his flesh, he hastens on. Consider, O my heart, how the whole way through which Jesus passes is stained with blood, until he is completely exhausted. The cross he bears is painful, heavy, and unjust, and yet he cheerfully carries it, inviting thee to carry your cross after him to Paradise. No cross will ever be so weighty or painful for thee as Jesus’ was. Wilt thou, then, refuse to accept it from his hands? Wilt thou shrink from bearing it in his company? Without the cross the way to heaven is not open to thee; without the cross thou canst not be a follower of Jesus. Courage, then, and follow in his footsteps with cheerfulness. Do not fear that he will not lighten its weight; he will cheer thee and assist thee.
Jesus, tottering under the heavy weight of his cross, and no longer able, from sheer weariness and faintness as well as the painfulness of his wounds, to hold out, falls under its weight.
O most loving Jesus, thou art the the Son of God, the adorable Creator of heaven and earth — infinitely great and powerful. How is it, therefore, that thou languishest and fallest under the weight of the cross? O Lord, what a terrible evil must sin be, since, when placed on thy divine shoulders, it makes thee fall to the earth for very horror! The cross weighed thee down only when on the way to Calvary; but my sins have weighed on thee night and day during the whole of thy mortal life, painting thee with their deformity, and present to thy mind in all their malice. I am sorry for having committed them; and would to God they had never been committed! I thank thee for having, with so much love, taken upon thyself the burden of my sins, to free me from the chastisement due to them. I love thee, O loving Lord; I love thee, my amiable Redeemer; I wish always to love thee, and never more to offend thee.
SIXTH REFLECTION.
Jesus nailed to the Cross.
The sorrowful Jesus having arrived with extreme difficulty on Calvary, the executioners strip him of his clothes, tearing them violently from his sacred body, to which they adhered closely by the wounds and clotted blood. Meditate, O my soul, what pain must have been caused to our suffering Lord in opening his wounds in this manner. Then say to thyself: Behold the repose that is given to my suffering Redeemer, after so long and painful a journey! See the comfort they provide for him before his cruel crucifixion! Jesus, the victim destined for the sacrifice, having received orders to lie down upon the gibbet prepared for him, in obedience and silence lays his bleeding body upon the altar of the cross, and sweetly presents his hands and feet to be nailed to this rough bed of death. Observe, O Christian soul, thy Redeemer, how he raises his eyes to heaven, and, with sublime sentiments of humility and submission, offers himself in sacrifice to his eternal Father for thy salvation. O, how much dost thou owe Jesus; and at the same time how ungrateful and insensible art thou in return! The executioners draw near, and with rough nails, by the blows of heavy hammers, they pierce through the hands and feet of our beloved Redeemer. The spasms of pain that Jesus then endured at this new torture cannot be described for intensity; we can only compassionate them with tears. His flesh is rent with awful wounds; the nerves, the veins, the arteries are wrenched asunder. The more the nails are driven the wider are the wounds made, until four rivers of blood flow from his hands and feet, to wash our souls from the filth of sin. In what, my soul, have these hands and feet of thy dear Jesus sinned, that they should be subject to such torture? Ask not the innocent Jesus, but ask thyself. On account of thy wicked and sinful actions, on account of the steps thou hast taken in the way of evil, Jesus’ hands and feet are pierced. To satisfy for the abuse thou hast made of thy liberty, Jesus is nailed to the cross. Look upon thy Saviour fixed to this hard wood, to which the vehemence of his love for thee and obedience to his divine Father, far more than the nails, keep him attached. Ah! if thou hadst loved thy God thou wouldst have subjected thyself to the hardest obedience, thou wouldst not have violated his holy law, thou wouldst have crucified thy rebellious flesh by mortification and penance, rather than offend the Lord and Father. Resolve to-day, at the foot of the crucifix, to do so.
My crucified Redeemer, I adore thee, I love thee, I thank thee. I kiss reverently those hands and feet nailed for me to the painful tree of the cross. I detest, with all my heart, my many offences against thy infinite goodness; and I beseech thee to blot them out with this precious blood which flows so copiously from thy wounds for my salvation. Pour it, dear Jesus, upon my soul, that it may be purified and sanctified by it, and may become, through thy merits, rich in virtue and heavenly gifts. Bless me, O loving Saviour, with those hands which are pierced for my love, and let thy blessing be an earnest of my eternal salvation. So fill my heart with thy divine love, that every love which is not for thee may be completely extinguished in me; and that I may have no other wish but that of pleasing thee. O infinite good, my crucified love, thee alone do I wish to love, thee alone do I wish to please, in my every thought, and in my every action.
SEVENTH REFLECTION.
Jesus' Agony and Death.
Three hours did our loving Redeemer hang nailed to the cross to satisfy the divine justice for the sins of men; and during that time he did nothing but writhe and suffer in fearful agony, without the least consolation. Before Jesus dies, come near, my soul, reverently to his cross, to meditate on and compassionate his last pains. Look at his tearful eyes, his pallid features, his livid, pierced limbs, his whole body, with life ebbing out of it by slow degrees of pain. Observe his loving heart, how its palpitation grows weaker, how the divine blood no longer flows, but issues drop by drop. Observe how his adorable head, being no longer able to keep up for weakness and pain, slowly and sweetly droops, as if to give the last kiss of peace and reconciliation to men, and thereby assure them of his love. Consider how his soul, merged in a sea of bitter sadness, is about leaving his exhausted, bleeding body. What does thy heart feel at such a sight? Does it not feel itself moved by love and compassion for thy dear Spouse — thy loving Brother, who is dying for love of thee? Wilt thou be harder than the rocks, which, at the death of their Creator, burst asunder, as it were, for pity? Look again, for the last time, O my soul, upon thy Redeemer, alive upon his bed of torment, upon his throne of ignominy, and reflect that this God of infinite majesty is dying for thee, a monster of ingratitude, so guilty, so wicked. Yes, a God dies for thee — dies for the love of thee. Arouse thyself, and come with confidence and love to the throne of his goodness, and sec, in thy dying Saviour, what thy sins have done. Consider what thou hast cost Jesus, and what thou owest him. Thou hast cost the life of a God! Thou owest thy whole self to a God who has so loved thee as to lay down his life for thee. Ah! consecrate thyself speedily to the service and love of thy dying Lord. Tell him and declare to him, that thou never again wilt offend so loving a Father, so good a God.
O Saviour of men, to what extremes has thy love brought thee! Oh, excess of the divine mercy! Oh, infinite greatness of the love of God! And what shall I do, O Saviour, to correspond with so much, such excessive love? I thank thee with my whole soul for having willed to die for me, and save me from the eternal pains of hell. I thank thy loving heart for having loved me so tenderly, and having shed so much blood to blot out my sins, and merit heaven for me. I am sorry for having loved thee so little, my Saviour, up to this, for having corresponded so little, nay, returned injuries for thy goodness. I wish and resolve to love thee with my whole heart. I wish End resolve never more to forget thee crucified for me.
Consider the thoughts and affections of the loving heart of the dying Jesus. This great High Priest remains upon the altar of the cross, offering, with infinite love, the great sacrifice of himself for the salvation of men. Then his mind, his heart, was entirely occupied in beseeching his Father, with sighs and groans, to pardon sinners, and you among them. He besought him, with most feeling tenderness, not to regard the demerits, the ingratitude of men, but his own sufferings, his wounds, and the sacrifice of his life. At the same time he loved men so much as to declare that he died joy fully, and was ready to suffer more, and shed more blood, if possible, for their sakes. He pressed all men to his bosom, with the burning desire of making all partakers of his death and passion. He tenderly compassionated their miseries, and prepared a bath of his own divine blood for the wounds of their souls. To men he left as an inheritance, the infinite treasure of his merits, of his labors, his sufferings, and his death, that they might therewith be enriched with heavenly gifts, and purchase to themselves the glory of Paradise. One thing alone remained to Jesus dying, and that was his beloved mother, Mary; her, too, he left in legacy, as a loving mother to all men. Oh, love of Jesus for men! What more could Jesus have done for you? What more could he have given you, after he had given you himself, and shed the last drop of blood from his veins for you? Oh, how much are you under obligation to this divine Redeemer! On account of him and of his death, you have been made an adopted child of God, destined to the inheritance of heaven, and have had your sins pardoned so many times. Through Jesus you have enjoyed so many good things, so many graces, and would have obtained many more if you had not ungratefully refused to accept them, and despised them. Through Jesus you hope to have a share in the endless happiness of the saints. Through Jesus you are not now in hell, where you deserved to be so often. See now, if Jesus, dying on the cross, does not love you specially; he prays particularly for you, and entreats his Father for singular favors for you! And you, how do you love Jesus? How have you at heart the giving of him pleasure, by a virtuous and Christian life, by works of piety and of mercy, by the faithful practice of his teaching? A friend who loves you, and bestows a gift on you now and again, can bind your heart to his, and fill you with love for him; and Jesus who has loved you so much, bestowed so many priceless blessings on you, who is dying on a cross for you, can not gain a little of your love! Ah! before he expires, beg of him to place your heart in his, and inflame it with love in this burning furnace of charity. Beseech him to detach it from all earthly affections, so that it may be wholly consecrated to the love of Jesus — Jesus crucified.
I would offer thee something, my most amiable and agonizing Redeemer, in return for so much love, for so many blessings; but I have nothing but a soul covered with the leprosy of sin, and a cold, carnal heart. This is the soul which thou hast loved even unto death, and for which thou hast shed thy blood. This soul I offer thee, that thou mayest purify it, sanctify it, and make it worthy of thee. I offer thee my heart, that thou mayest cleanse it from its guilty passions, from its evil affections, and inflame it entirely with thy love. Bind me, press me to thyself, so that I may never more be separated from thee. The world, creatures, earth, shall rob me no more of my heart; thou alone wilt for ever be the God of ray heart; thee alone shall I love henceforth. Take away from my heart every affection that might possibly hinder me from loving thee, and cause, by thy powerful grace, that all my love may be for thee, my crucified lover.
Now that the last moment of his mortal existence is drawing nigh, Jesus collects the last efforts of his weak and exhausted spirits, and, in a dying voice, commends his soul into the hands of his eternal Father. He offers himself once more as a victim to the divine justice for the salvation of men; he bows his languid head in token of the profound submission with which he accepts death; he shuts his divine eyes, and between the arms of the cross gives up the ghost. Jesus is dead! After so many and such cruel tortures, being satiated with reproach and ignominy, and drowned in an ocean of suffering — Jesus dies! The loving Jesus, consumed no less by the atrocity of his pains than by the fire of his love, dies! Oh! which of us who has to live can wish to live for aught than solely to love our Jesus? Which of us, who has to suffer, would not wish to suffer for the love of Jesus? Who will refuse to stand at the foot of the cross, to contemplate and love his beloved crucified, to lament the sins that made him die, and die of grief for Jesus, and with Jesus? Jesus dies for our sins: who will be so cruel, so inhuman, as to renew his death by sinning again? This most loving shepherd dies, to give his life for his dear sheep, who will be so ungrateful as to take no share in his sorrows, in his death? Who at the sight of a God dead of love and sorrow, can give himself up a prey to the foolish pleasures of the world, to vanities, frivolities, and sin? Ah, my Jesus, Calvary will be for the future my sojourn; thy death shall be the continual subject of my reflections, my feelings, and my tears. At the death of Jesus, the sky is darkened, the sun eclipsed, the earth quakes, the mountains split open, the veil of the temple is rent, all nature seems convulsed with desolation at the sight of a God dying. And thou, my soul, wilt thou be insensible to so sad and fearful a spectacle? Will not thy heart also heave and burst with tenderness and sorrow? Look upon the lifeless and torn body of thy dead Saviour, and know for once what an evil sin is, since it has done this deed. What a blessing Paradise is, which has cost such a price! What is thy own worth and value, since so much has been given for thy redemption? Oh, what a crying injustice wilt thou be guilty of if thou continuest to love the devil, the world, and sin, instead of this God, dead upon the cross for thee? Oh, how monstrous must be thy hardness of heart, if thou be not moved to compassion and tears at such a sight! Consider well, my soul, that the devil has not died for thee, the world has not shed one drop of blood for thee; therefore not to them, but to him who did this for thee, dost thou belong. Jesus thou oughtest to love, for Jesus thou oughtest to live, Jesus' servant thou oughtest to be. Resolve to be so this moment.
O Jesus, crucified and dead for the love of me, thou alone art infinitely amiable and worthy of all love. I do not intend to love the world any more; I do not wish to love creatures; I wish to love only thee, who hast loved me so excessively. Thee I choose for the. sole and eternal object of my whole love. I wish to think always of thee, of thee suffering and dying for my sake. To thee shall I raise up my sighs, to thee shall I breathe my affections, to thee shall I direct my desires, nor shall this heart of mine ever long but for thee, to whom I now offer and consecrate it. I am resolved never more, dear Jesus, to offend thee, never more to displease thee. Oh, how it grieves me to have lived so long, forgetful of thee, a stranger to thee, an enemy to thee, who hast loved me with a love so boundless! I do not deserve to live any longer; but if thy goodness deigns to prolong my life, it shall all be employed in loving thee, in meditating on thy sufferings, in bewailing my sins. Here, O Jesus, is my soul; since it has been dearly purchased by thee, make it to be thine forever, and do not let me ever again abandon it to the devil and to sin, which I hate and detest above all evils, and never shall commit, even at the peril of my life.
PIOUS PRACTICE
LOOK often on your crucifix, kiss lovingly and reverently the sacred wounds, and press it to your heart. Consecrate yourself to-day to meditating in a more particular manner on the death Jesus endured for your sake. Abstain from some useless diversion, and sacrifice it to Jesus. When going to rest, think in what state you would wish to be found at the hour of death, and if you be not in that state now, try to regain, as soon as possible, the grace and friendship of Almighty God, and ask of Jesus, through the merits of his painful death, to give you the grace of a holy death.
