Bronchain Meditations: August 26

The Angelic Hymn

Preparation. - After meditating on the humility of the divine Child, let us study the hymn sung by the angels at His birth. First “Glory to God in the highest”; secondly, “peace on earth to men of good will.” Do we wish to possess interiorly a lasting peace? If so, let us have the most humble sentiments about ourselves, and refer to God by the purity of our intentions the honor of every thing good in us.

I. Glory To God In The Highest

“The heavens,” says David, “show forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of His hands. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night showeth knowledge” (Ps. 18 1, 2); “O Lord, how admirable is Thy name in the whole earth!” (Ps. 8. 2.) But more admirable still is it in the Incarnation of the Word, which opens to men new heavens, and introduces us into a supernatural world, where every thing is grand, rich and splendid beyond all expression. But the glory of all these wonders belongs wholly to the Lord, to His infinite perfections and to His boundless excellence. “Glory to God in the highest.” Hence He justly declares: “I will not give My glory to another” (Is. 48. 11), for He resists the proud (1 Pet. 5. 5), who strive to rob Him of it.

Let us congratulate ourselves in being able to glorify God. No other object can equal the nobility of this sublime intention. The angels, the saints, the Mother of God, our Redeemer, and God Himself have no other intention. All the Lord’s favors, without this one, were it even the seraphic dignity, are by far inferior to this inappreciable privilege.

But how are we to glorify God? By means of a profound humility. This virtue, hostile to all vain glory and ostentation, shows us to ourselves as we really are, that is, helpless for doing good, and capable of committing every sin. Far from tolerating in us any esteem for our own persons and any desire of praise, it induces us to give God a pure glory, inspires us to acknowledge His benefits with gratitude, and to refer them to Him as our last end.

Are we accustomed to act in this manner? Do we not take delight in ourselves because of our wit, our talents, our good qualities? Do we not attribute to our own industry, to our wisdom and prudence the good we are doing?

O my God, how often do I seek to gratify my self-love in all I do! How often do I, in practice, prefer my honor to Thine, by desiring human favors, fame and praise, or by attributing to myself what proceeds from Thee, the principle of all light and virtue! Grant me purity of intention, which will induce me to give Thee glory for every thing and to live constantly dependent upon Thee.

II. Peace On Earth To Men Of Good Will

On Christmas night, says St. Bernard, the angels divided things between God and us; to God they gave glory as belonging to Him, and if we give it to Him, peace shall be ours. And, indeed, the true means of enjoying profound peace is to live in harmony with God, by not appropriating to ourselves what belongs to Him, that is His honor.

The proud man, says St. Alphonsus, is blind, a liar and a robber; he is blind, because he walks in the darkness of his own esteem, though he is only a vile and despicable nothingness; he is a liar, who considers himself rich, whilst the Lord declares him to be poor, wretched and destitute (Apoc. 3. 17); he is a robber, for he robs God of His glory, which is God’s own peculiarly and exclusively.

How, then, can the heart of him who is so conceited and puffed up, possess peace, of which God alone is the author and giver. “Who ever resisted Him, and hath peace,” asks holy Job (9. 4)? On the other hand, how contented are those who are perfectly submissive to Him? If we suppress the sensitiveness of self-love, the apprehensions of vanity, the anguish of hypocrisy and of the desire of pleasing others, the cares of ambition and of the pursuit after honors, the gloomy and deadly heart-aches of envy, we shall then have some idea of the interior calm originating from humility.

If we, therefore, wish to enjoy the tranquility promised by the angels to men of good will, let us study ourselves and beware of attributing to ourselves what comes from God. He gives us the use, the usefulness, the merit of His gifts and the happiness proceeding therefrom, but He will not yield to us the honor thereof. What can be more just? What is more advantageous to us? Wherefore, should we, for a little smoke of renown, eulogium or vain complacency, lose at once the divine favors, the peace of our soul and our eternal reward?

O Jesus, O Mary, I am henceforward fully determined to say to myself with St. Catherine of Siena: “No vain-glory for me; but always the real honor and glory of my God.” Grant me the grace unceasingly to repeat both by my conduct and with my words, the beautiful hymn of the angels: “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth to men of good will,” that is, to the upright and beloved of the Lord, who faithfully give Him what is due to Him.

Method

Show/Hide

Servant of God

Charles Louis Laurent Bronchain was born of excellent parents, September 4, 1829, at Frameries, near Mons in Belgium. From his early boyhood he was distinguished for his piety. As an altar boy he was modest and recollected, and was wont after serving Mass to remain as close as possible to the priest. Being asked why he acted thus, he replied: "I do this, because I wish to be nearer to the good God." When he saw people going to holy communion, he was filled with a holy envy, and would say to himself: "When shall I also have the happiness of receiving our Lord?" We may easily imagine his joy and happiness when this favor was vouchsafed to him for the first time. When out walking with his playmates, he always managed to bring them near a church and induced them to enter it with him to pay homage to our divine Saviour in the Sacrament of His love.

During the six years he studied at the "Petit Seminaire de Bonne Esperance," he was universally admired and respected for his modesty, piety, charity, and other virtues. Heeding the divine call to a more perfect life, he, with the consent of his parents, renounced the world and the brightest prospects of success, and entered in 1850 the Redemptorist Novitiate at St. Trond. The following year he made his profession and was sent to Wittem to prosecute his studies. As novice and student, Louis Bronchain was a model to his companions in regular observance, charity, love of prayer, and study, and self-denial. After his ordination in 1857, he labored zealously for some years in the ministry and in giving missions.

In 1865 he was appointed Master of Novices. To his novices he was ever a tender and loving father, giving them the example of every virtue. His life was practically a continual prayer. Rising very early every morning to be able to devote more time to it, he would spend hours in meditation before the Blessed Sacrament. Though very severe towards himself and addicted to corporal austerities, he, like a true saint, was always cheerful and full of charity and condescension towards others, and of solicitude in supplying the wants of his novices. His health failing, he was relieved of his heavy burden in 1870. From that time until his death, his life was one of continual suffering, borne with wonderful patience and resignation. As long as he was able he labored for his fellow-religious, and for the salvation of souls. Being an able spiritual director, he enabled his many penitents to make great progress in the spiritual life. As for himself he was an “interior man,” such as he describes in his “Meditations.” He died June 2, 1892, in the odor of sanctity.

Father Bronchain spent his years of suffering in composing spiritual works, which passed through many editions during his lifetime and have done incalculable good to souls. They are, like the works of St. Alphonsus, whose spirit he possessed in a remarkable degree, noted for the solidity of their doctrine, the simplicity and popularity of their language, and especially for that sweet unction which induces the practice of virtue, horror of sin, and especially the love of Jesus and Mary.

Index

by Date

by Subject

by Keyword

August 26

Method

Servant of God

Links