Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin MaryVisit 16
Visit 16.
To the Blessed Sacrament.
My Lord Jesus Christ, etc., page 123.
Had men but always recourse to the Most Blessed Sacrament to seek from it the remedy for their ills, they certainly would not be so miserable as they are. The prophet Jeremias, lamenting, exclaimed: Is there no balm in Galaad? or is there no physician there? Galaad, a mountain of Arabia, rich in aromatical spices, according to venerable Bede, is a figure of Jesus Christ, who in this Sacrament keeps in readiness all the remedies for our woes. Why, then, our Redeemer seems to ask, do you complain of your misfortunes, O sons of Adam, when you have the physician and the remedy for them all in this Sacrament? Come to Me, and I will refresh you.1 I will, then, address Thee in the words of the sisters of Lazarus: Behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. Lord, I am that miserable creature whom Thou lovest; my soul is all wounded by the sins which I have committed; my divine physician, I come to Thee, that Thou mayest heal me; if Thou wilt, Thou canst cure me: Heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee." Draw me wholly to Thyself, my most sweet Jesus, by the all-winning attractions of Thy love. Far rather would I be bound to Thee than become the Lord of the whole earth. I desire nothing else in the world but to love Thee. I have but little to give Thee; but could I gain possession of all the kingdoms of the world, I would do so, that I might renounce them all for Thy love. For Thee, then, I renounce what I can; I give up all relatives, all comforts, all pleasures, and even spiritual consolations: for Thee I renounce my liberty and my will. On Thee I desire to bestow all my love. I love Thee, infinite goodness; I love Thee more than myself, and I hope to love Thee for all eternity.
Ejaculatory prayer. My Jesus, I give myself to Thee: do Thou accept me!
Spiritual Communion, page 124.
Visit to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
My Lady, thou didst say to St, Bridget: “However much a man sins, if he returns to me with a real purpose of amendment, I am instantly ready to welcome him: neither do I pay attention to the greatness of his sins, but to the intention alone with which he comes. I do not disdain to anoint and heal his wounds; for I am called, and truly am, the Mother of mercy.”? Since, then, thou hast both the power and the will to heal me, behold, I have recourse to thee, O heavenly physician; heal the many wounds of my soul: with a single word addressed by thee to thy Son I shall be restored.
Ejaculatory prayer. O Mary, have pity on me!
[From the Naples Edition.]
Prayer of St. Peter Damian.
O holy Virgin! come to the assistance of those who call upon thee: cast a look of pity on us. Hast thou, in the close alliance thou holdest with the Deity, forgotten thy fellow-creatures? Ah! certainly not. Thou knowest too well the misery of our condition, and the dangers to which we are exposed, and it would ill become clemency and compassion like thine to forget us. Exert thy influence in our behalf. Nothing is impossible to thee, and thou canst, by thy prayers, obtain for the most grievous sinner, the sweet hope of salvation. The greater thy power is, the greater ought also to be thy mercy.”
Ejaculatory prayer. O Mary! thou canst by thy intercession cleanse me from my sins, and I look for this favor from thee.
The usual prayer, page 125.
- 1 De Excell. B. M. c. 12. ? “Numquid resina non est in Galaad? aut medicus non est ibi?”— Jer. viii. 22. 3“Venite ad me omnes .. . et ego reficiam vos.”—A/att. xi. 28. 4** Ecce, quem amas, infirmatur.”— Yon, xi. 3.
- 2 1“Sana animam meam quia peccavi tibi.”—Ps. xl. 5. ® “Quantumcumque homo peccet, si ex vera emendatione ad me reversus fuerit, statim parata sum recipere revertentem; nee attendo quantum peccaverit, sed cum quali voluntate venit: nam non dedignor ejus plagas ungere et sanare, quia vocor (et vere sum) Mater misericordiz.”—Rev. 1. 2, c. 23; ez 1. 6, c. 117.