Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin MaryVisit 1

To the Blessed Sacrament.
Say preliminary prayer, My Lord Jesus Christ, etc., page 123.

Behold the source of every good, Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, who says, If any man thirst, let him come to Me. Oh, what torrents of grace have the saints drawn from the fountain of the Most Blessed Sacrament! for there Jesus dispenses all the merits of his Passion, as it was foretold by the Prophet: You shall draw waters with joy out of the Saviour’s fountains.’ The Countess of Feria, that illustrious disciple of the Venerable Father John d’Avila, afterwards a poor Clare, and surnamed the spouse of the Most Blessed Sacrament from her long and frequent visits to it, on being asked how she employed the many hours thus passed in the presence of the Holy of holies, answered: “I could remain there for all eternity. And is not there present the very essence of God, who will be the food of the blessed? Good God! am I asked what I do in his presence? Why am I not rather asked, what is not done there? We love, we ask, we praise, we give thanks. We ask, what does a poor man do in the presence of one who is rich? What does a sick man do in the presence of his physician? What does a man do who is parched with thirst in the presence of a clear fountain? What is the occupation of one who is starving, and is placed before a splendid table ?”

O my most amiable, most sweet, most beloved Jesus, my life, my hope, my treasure, the only love of my soul; oh, what has it cost Thee to remain thus with us in this Sacrament! Thou hadst to die, that Thou mightest thus dwell amongst us on our altars; and then, how many insults hast Thou not had to endure in this Sacrament, in order to aid us by Thy presence! Thy love, and the desire which Thou hast to be loved by us, have conquered all.

Come then, O Lord! come and take possession of my heart; close its doors forever, that henceforward no creature may enter there, to divide the love which is due to Thee, and which it is my ardent desire to bestow all on Thee. Do Thou alone, my dear Redeemer, rule me; do Thou alone possess my whole being; and if ever I do not obey Thee perfectly, chastise me with rigor, that thenceforward I may be more watchful to please Thee as Thou willest. Grant that I may no longer seek for any other pleasure than that of giving Thee pleasure; that all my pleasure may be to visit Thee often on Thy altar; to entertain myself with Thee, and to receive Thee in Holy Communion. Let all who will, seek other treasures; the only treasure that I love, the only one that I desire, is that of Thy love; for this only will I ask at the foot of the altar. Do Thou make me forget myself, that thus I may only remember Thy goodness. Ye blessed seraphim, I envy you, not for your glory, but for the love which you bear to your and my God; oh, do you teach me what I must do to love him, and to please him.

Ejaculatory prayer. My Jesus, I will love Thee only; Thee only do I desire to please. the visit should be paid to the ever-blessed Mary, the Mother of God, before her image.

Visit to the Blessed Virgin Mary.*

In our Mother Mary we have another fountain, which is indeed fruitful to us. She is so rich in good things and in graces, says St. Bernard, that there is no one in the world who does not participate in them: “Of

* We have two kinds of Visits to the Blessed Virgin, one of which is found in several editions published at Naples, and the other in those editions that have appeared elsewhere. Both kinds, however, were without doubt written by St. Alphonsus. This is the reason why we publish them in his complete works. It may, perhaps, be asked why two kinds of Visits have been published, and which of the two was published first? To this no positive answer can be given, though we may venture on a conjecture. The Visits to the Blessed Sacrament appeared about the year 1745, with those Visits to the Blessed Virgin that we have put in the first place, and that were soon spread all over Europe. About five years after this publication, in 1750, the work called Glories of Mary was published, and excited comment on the part of some critics. An anonymous writer dared to reproach St. Alphonsus with having exaggerated certain prerogatives attributed to the Mother of God; but the saint at once replied to this attack and triumphantly repelled it. It is very probable that St. Alphonsus then replaced the first twenty-two Visits that he had composed in honor of the Blessed Virgin by prayers drawn from different authors of great celebrity—prayers that had already been inserted in his book, the Glories of Mary, “to show the high idea that the saints had of the power and mercy of the Mother of God.” The nine other Visits, joined to these prayers, appear to have been chosen with some modifications in the text which we regard as the first published. But this change was made only in the Naples editions; everywhere else the first prevailing text, or translations therefrom, have continued to be printed, with the exception of the first French translation which was made in 1773, from the fifteenth Naples edition.—Ep. her fulness we have all received.”⁴ The Most Blessed Virgin Mary was filled by God with grace, and as such was saluted by the angel, “Hail, full of grace ;” not for herself alone, but also for us. St. Peter Chrysologus adds, that she received that great abyss of grace, that she might then impart it to all who are devout to her: “The Blessed Virgin received this grace, that she might give in return salvation to all.”?

Ejaculatory prayer. Cause of our joy, pray for us !°
(From the Naples Edition.)
Prayer of St. Ephrem.

Most pure and immaculate Virgin! divine Mary, Mother of God! thou art elevated in dignity above all the saints; thou art the hope of our fathers and the joy of the elect. Through thee, as the Mother of Jesus, we have been reconciled with God. O great Queen! have compassion on us, and grant us an asylum in the arms of thy mercy. We dedicate and consecrate ourselves to thy service; suffer not the devil to draw us with him into eternal flames.

Ejaculatory prayer. Cause of our joy, pray for us.⁵
The usual prayer, page 125.