September 21

St. Matthew, Apostle

Preparation. - “You are My friends,” says the Saviour, “if you do the things I command you” (John 15. 14). St. Matthew proved his fidelity to Jesus, first, by obeying Him with docility, and secondly, by his love of virginity. Let us examine in a particular manner if we promptly submit, like him, to the orders of the divine Master, if we ardently follow in all things all the well-known wishes of those who direct us in His name. “You are My friends, if you do the things that I command you.”

I. St. Matthew’s Obedience

Let us admire this publican, this tax-gatherer for the Romans, a profession most hateful to the Jews. He was sitting in his office when Jesus passed by. Looking at him with an eye of mercy, our Saviour said to him: “Follow Me.” At once, without delay, Matthew arose and followed Him. How prompt was his obedience! He deliberates not, asks not for a delay, requires no miracles. Neither his business and wealth, nor his relatives can prevent his immediate obedience.

He was, without doubt, deeply moved by an interior light, a secret grace. But how often are not we also enlightened and urged to yield to the inspirations of God! At one time, He reproaches us with some fault, with a want of discretion, of reserve, patience, meekness or affability; at another, He demands of us the sacrifice of some defect, of some idle words, of some conversation hurtful to our neighbor and to ourselves; and we refuse to heed His voice. St. Matthew had to break off with self-love to defy human respect and to give up all hopes of wealth. We have not such great obstacles to overcome, and yet how far are we from being as perfectly docile as he!

After the descent of the Holy Ghost, our saint, ever ready to yield to divine guidance, left Judea, directed by the Holy Ghost, passed through Egypt into Ethiopia, where he preached the faith, surmounting all hardships in order to accomplish his divine mission. In like manner nothing in the world should deter us from fulfilling our duty, from doing the will of God.

O my sovereign Lord, how often I allow myself to be deterred by feelings of tediousness, disgust and repugnance from executing Thy designs, obeying my superiors, following Thy lights and attractions, preferring thereby my despicable will to Thy adorable precepts! Through the merits of Jesus, Mary and St. Matthew, enable me to overcome my resistance, to stifle my complaints and murmurs, and lovingly to embrace the sacrifices and duties imposed by obedience. I will in future frequently recall the example of Jesus submitting to His executioners to be crucified. This motive will urge me to seek to unite my soul with Thee in the complete renunciation of my self-will. “You are my friends, if you do the things I command you.”

II. St. Matthew’s Love Of Virginity

Clement of Alexandria says of this apostle that he was very much addicted to contemplation, led an austere life, and lived only on herbs, roots and wild fruits. By these efficacious means he preserved his chastity intact. But, not content with practicing it himself, he strongly recommended it to others. Having converted the royal family of Ethiopia, he persuaded one of the princesses, named Iphigenia, to embrace virginity, and he placed her at the head of a community of virgins. To strengthen the faithful in the faith and in the purity of morals, he underwent many sufferings and hardships, ordained priests, instituted bishops, overthrew idols and turned temples into churches.

His love of chastity was strikingly manifested, when the new king wished to marry Iphigenia. He firmly opposed his pretensions, and spoke clearly and forcibly to the monarch on the excellence of virginity, on the precious graces of which it is the source, and the eternal rewards that will crown it in the next life. His discourse cost him his life, for he was soon after massacred whilst offering the holy sacrifice. O truly apostolic zeal, which made this fervent disciple of Jesus “the victim of virginity,” as St. Hippolytus calls him.

Let us learn from this to prefer enduring every torment than to have the misfortune of forfeiting the angelic virtue, a virtue so delicate and so often endangered. Let us protect it in us with the hedge of mortification of the body and the senses, especially those of sight and feeling. Let us be firmly determined to do violence to ourselves, to remain unmoved in temptation, relying on prayer, and on the divine assistance, which is never wanting to those who pray. Where is he who after persevering in prayer and resisting. failed to gain the victory? And the victory, the greater the efforts it has cost, the more worthy will it be of reward in the sight of God.

O glorious St. Matthew, inflamed with zeal, especially for chastity, deign to obtain for me the love of this virtue. Inspire me with the resolution, first, to keep my body and my soul pure by mortifying my senses; and secondly, to strengthen my mind and heart beforehand against temptations, by recalling the truths of faith, and having frequent recourse to Jesus and Mary.

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July 27

How To Obey Well

Preparation. - The very best means of acquiring perfect obedience, taking the Child Jesus as a Model, is the spirit of faith. In the first place, we should behold God in our superiors, and secondly, we should highly esteem the virtue of obedience. After considering these truths we shall resolve often to make acts of faith in these words of St. Paul: “There is no power but from God” (Rom. 13. 1).

I. We Should Behold God In Our Superiors

St. John Climacus relates that the abbot of a monastery, wishing to edify a visitor, sent for one of the monks, who was eighty years old, and let him stand before him without saying a word to him. The truly obedient monk, being asked later what he had been thinking of all that time, replied: “I fancied myself before Jesus Christ, and receiving that humiliation from Him; hence I did not even think of disobeying.”

Such is pre-eminently the best means of rendering our obedience perfect, to behold Jesus Himself in the person of our superiors. Did not our Saviour say to all who command: “He that heareth you, heareth Me” (Luke 10. 16)? “Obey your masters as Jesus Christ,” says St. Paul (Eph. 6. 7).

From this principle naturally flow all the qualities obedience must have. In fact, if we truly consider Jesus in our superiors, we shall be induced to respect and love them, to execute their orders, not only without discussion or murmur, but also promptly, punctually, simply and generously.

St. Peter Claver, when in the presence of his superiors, took the most humble posture, with eyes cast down, his cap in his hand, and his mind attentive to the least sign of their will, in order at once to execute it. Thus he behaved towards every one who had the least authority over him. Were such a one the last of the community, he beheld in him the person of the Saviour; it was this that rendered his obedience so perfect towards all as to be truly heroic. Whenever St. Alphonsus Rodriguez received any order whatever, he replied interiorly: “Yes, Lord Jesus, I am going to do what Thou requirest, or desirest of me.” And at once, forgetting the person of his superior, he set himself to execute what the Saviour had commanded him through his representative. Let us at in like manner, and the virtue of obedience will become easy for us, sanctifying and meritorious.

O Jesus, far from complaining of the orders given me, I should rather rejoice at the thought of serving Thy divine Majesty in the person of my superiors. Enable me always to carry out their directions promptly and cheerfully, after the example of the heavenly messengers, who hasten withersoever Thou sendest them. “Obey as you would Christ, in the simplicity of your heart.”

II. It Behooves Us Highly To Esteem Obedience

How many motives have we not for esteeming this virtue! Those who always obey in a spirit of faith are directed by God Himself, for, in order to reward them, He enlightens in their favor those who direct them. Moreover, their prayers are always heard. “Besides the grace they merit by practicing obedience,” says St. Vincent de Paul, “the Lord delights in also doing the will of those who, for love of Him, subject their will to that of their superiors.” “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,” says our Lord, “you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15. 7).

A profound peace is also the fruit of the obedience which harmonizes our inconstant will with that of God, the source of lasting contentment. Hence, even in the very anguish of agony, the docile and submissive soul feels secure at the thought of not being obliged to render an account to the Lord of her actions performed through obedience, for this account shall be demanded of the superiors, who are responsible for the souls of their subjects (Hebr. 13. 7).

How wise were the saints in so highly esteeming the virtue of obedience. St. Gerard Majella had learned by heart the Rule of his Congregation, in order to conform to it in even the slightest details. St. Anselm, St. Alphonsus, and so many other saints, when superiors, sought to subject themselves to some of their subjects in order to have the merit of obedience.

Whence does it come that this virtue has so little attraction for us? Undoubtedly we too often forget its excellence and salutary effects. Wherefore we are wont to execute an order only after discussing it, criticizing it, showing our repugnance to it, instead of at once performing it punctually and cheerfully, as if our Redeemer had personally come out of the tabernacle to give it to us.

O Jesus, O Mary, help me to resolve henceforth to perform all my actions with the intention of obeying; to rise in the morning, to meditate, hear Mass, receive holy Communion through obedience; to labor, to pray, take my meals, my rest, for the sole motive of accomplishing Thy divine will. I repent of having in the past so often resisted Thy wishes, which were always so conformable to my welfare. Hence I will wholly subject myself to Thee, so as to render my prayers efficacious, to enjoy the peace of docile hearts, and to imitate Thy true servants, who obeyed, after Thy example, until death in every detail of their conduct.

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July 24

The Spirit Of Obedience

Preparation. - The best means of overcoming our self-love and sanctifying ourselves is to practice obedience; and this consists, first, in performing all our actions with the intention of obeying, and secondly, in bearing all our crosses with perfect submission. Let us represent to ourselves Jesus saying to us all, in order to induce us to imitate Him: “My food is that I do the will of Him who sent Me” (John 4. 34).

I. Acting In A Spirit Of Obedience

Attachment to our own will is an evil so much the more fatal as we fail to perceive it, being blinded by our self-love. And nevertheless how great harm does it not inflict on us! It prevents our progress, robs us of our merits, and exposes us to be severely judged by Jesus Christ.

The best remedy to oppose to it is the spirit of obedience, which induces us always to act according to the direction of our superiors and spiritual directors. Being thus compelled to give up our whims and fancies, we repress our excessive love of liberty, and enter into the way of the perfect, which consists in pleasing God without any regard to ourselves. Such is also the proper means of drawing the divine blessing upon our works. One day our divine Saviour said to Simon: “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said to Him: Master, we have labored all the night, and have taken nothing; but at Thy word I will let down the net.” He did this and caught so many fish as to fill both barks, so that they were almost sinking (Luke 5. 4-7).

On another occasion the apostles had labored in vain, and our Lord said to them: “Cast your net on the right side of the ship, and you shall find.” They obeyed and caught a multitude of fish (John 21. 6). In like manner, our obedience will enrich us with virtues and merits, if we constantly practice it in a spirit of faith.

Let us, then, every morning make the intention of acting always and in all things, not with the wish of self-contentment and satisfaction, but solely to obey God and those who represent Him in our regard. Let us often renew this intention during the day, with the desire of consecrating unceasingly all our thoughts, words, actions, every beating of our heart and all the moments of our life, by an entire self-denial and a perfect subjection of ourselves to the divine authority.

O Jesus, my divine Master, impart to me the love of obedience, a spirit of submission and docility. Enable me to fulfill my duties not grudgingly, but cheerfully, so that I may say with Thee: “My food is to do the will of Him that sent Me;” and “I always do the things that please Him” (John 8. 29).

II. Suffering In A Spirit Of Submission

What a pure glory we render to the Lord by resigning ourselves unreservedly to the sufferings and trials of this life! We thereby acknowledge, not in words only, but in all truth His supreme dominion over our body and soul. In fact, nothing is so difficult here below as to suffer patiently. To accept pain, infirmity, humiliation with a docile mind, is to say sincerely to the Lord: “I revere and adore Thy sovereign power, for I will not resist it nor complain of its blows.” “I was dumb and opened not my mouth, because Thou hast done it” (Ps. 38. 10). This, according to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi, is to offer a perfect holocaust of one’s self, and to leave all things to God’s good pleasure, and, therefore, gives Him greater honor than all the works undertaken for His glory.

What true contentment could we otherwise seek, if we do not unreservedly conform ourselves to the wishes of the Supreme Good, of the uncreated Goodness, of Him whose Providence always aims at making us happy? Our real and lasting felicity does not consist in enjoyment, but in the peace of a conscience fulfilling its duty with resignation. Hence our divine Saviour said to St. Gertrude: “I would wish to see My elect more thoroughly persuaded that their prayers and works are very pleasing to Me, when they serve Me at their expense,” that is, when, although deprived of all sensible sweetness in their devotions, they nevertheless continue faithfully to fulfill their pious exercises, trusting in My goodness, which considers their good intention and kindly accepts their homages.

When, therefore, we are annoyed during prayer with disgust, distractions and even the assaults of hell, instead of allowing ourselves to be cast down and yielding to diffidence, let us be resigned; let us humbly submit to the will of God and offer Him our troubles. He will accept graciously our patience, and the good desires of our heart will ascend to Him as a most fervent prayer.

O my God, whom the angels and saints obey, to whom the very demons are compelled to yield submission, through the intercession of the ever faithful Virgin Mary, grant me the spirit of obedience and conformity to Thy good pleasure. My my views, my tastes, my natural inclinations never lead me away from Thy ever wise, ever holy, ever perfect, and ever infinitely amiable will!

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July 12

The Service Of God

Preparation. - That we may esteem obedience more and more highly, we shall meditate tomorrow, first, how glorious it is to obey and serve God, and secondly, how much peace and happiness there is in so doing. In this manner we shall be convinced of the truth that our solid greatness and real bliss consist in conquering our passions and submitting to God. “It is a great glory to follow the Lord” (Eccli. 23.38).

I. How Glorious Is The Service Of God.

What renders the service of a master honorable in the eyes of worldlings, is the nobility of the person served. If he is wealthy, honored, famous, a prince or a monarch, it is a glorious thing to be in his service. What shall we say of the King of heaven, of the King of glory? he is not only rich, noble and exalted, but He is the Lord of the universe; being God, He is innately noble; He is infinitely great, and before Him all created greatness and dignities are but mere shadows. What is more honorable than to serve Him? He treats us, not as His servants, but as His friends: Henceforth “I shall call you friends (John 15. 14). Moreover, He causes us to share in His divine Sonship: “behold what manner of charity the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called and should be the sons of God” (1 John 3. 1).

Does not such a favor, secured to all the servants of God, surround them with a halo of glory more splendid than all earthly glories? To serve God, infinitely great and perfect, is to raise ourselves above the earth, above ourselves, above the very heavens. Worldlings are the slaves of pride, covetousness and sensual pleasure that kill souls; the true faithful, on the contrary, enjoy the liberty of the children of the heavenly Father, that holy liberty, that sublime liberty, which dilates and ennobles the heart, and renders it superior to the passions, and intimately unites it to the infinite Majesty. Are we not kept back, perhaps, by some defect, some earthly tie, or some little thread of affection, which prevents us from belonging wholly to God? “Self-love,” says St. Vincent de Paul, “often makes us believe we are serving the Lord, even when we seek our own satisfaction.”

O Jesus, how many times do I listen to my inclinations or repugnances in the accomplishment of Thy precepts! I abhor humiliations, instead of accepting them for Thy sake; I yield to self-complacency in my works, instead of giving Thee glory for all. Enable me to follow the steps of the apostles, the martyrs and the other saints, who deeply abased themselves and served Thee, at their expense, without self-interest, human respect, seeking not human esteem, but solely to glorify Thy infinite perfections. Enable me to imitate them and their fidelity in obeying thee in all things; for in this consists solid greatness and true royalty. “To serve God is to reign.”

II. The Happiness Of Serving God.

A servant’s happiness depends on his master’s goodness. But what master is comparable to God who permits us to call Him “our Father,” and who is truly a Father to us, for His love for us has no equal. All His action, or Providence, in this world constantly tends to procure our welfare.

He forbids us to sin, because He considers sin as the greatest of evils and the most opposed to our interior peace. He commands us to practice the virtues, because He knows them to be efficacious means of making us happy, notably in the next life but in this also. He requires us to be patient in trials, because resignation sweetens them and renders them meritorious. He recommends prayer and the sacraments to us, because they are inexhaustible fountains of light, strength and consolations. Hence nothing is more true than Christ’s saying: “My yoke is sweet, and My burden is light” (Mat. 11. 29).

The service of God has, undoubtedly, an austere appearance. It is serious and requires recollection, the avoidance of dangerous pleasures, and the practice of mortification of the senses and the passions; but this exterior, which terrifies the worldling, conceals ineffable joys and sweetness. In order to understand this mystery, it behooves us to strive after solid piety, for God communicates Himself and His happiness to us only in proportion to our fidelity. He who gives but little, receives but little; but divine favors and bliss abound in the heart that loves God undividedly. “Taste ye and see.”

Let us examine what prevents us from belonging entirely to Jesus. Is it vanity, dissipation of mind, love of the world, of esteem? Or else, is it attachment to transitory pleasures, to an effeminate, idle and sensual life? To serve God with fervor, we should exercise ourselves in mental prayer, watchfulness, and self-denial under the guidance of grace and of those who direct soul.

O my Jesus, I am happy in Thy service, but not so much as I would be, were I constantly faithful and wholly detached. Through the intercession of Thy most holy Mother Mary, extricate me from my own self and from all that is created, and if I am not yet able to love suffering and mortification as the saints did, do not permit at least that I should shirk inconvenience, labor, hardships and sufferings in the performance of my duties.

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July 11

Mortification Of Our Judgment.

Preparation. - We should not be content with mortifying our will, but should also renounce our own judgment especially in practicing obedience. We shall consider tomorrow, first, the motives for so doing, and secondly, the means to succeed therein. Then we shall strive to exercise ourselves in beholding God alone in our lawful superiors, so as to “obey them in the simplicity of our heart, as obeying Christ” (Eph. 6. 5).

I. Motives For Obeying Blindly.

The perfection of obedience requires the subjection of our whole soul, that is, of our judgment and our will. But by criticizing and blaming the orders of our superiors, we take away or retain a part of our holocaust, of the sacrifice of ourselves, a sacrifice required by the absolute and universal authority of the Creator. Wherefore instead of giving Him due glory, we dishonor His wisdom by preferring our own views to Him. This is a crying injustice and a fatal presumption!

Our divine Saviour recommends to His apostles, these princes of the Church, to be as simple as children that do without discussing what is commanded them. St. Philip Neri taught this blind obedience to all his disciples, for, said he, “there is nothing more dangerous than to guide ourselves by our own lights.” “Do all you can,” said the Ven. John of Avila, “to destroy your self-will, and especially your judgment and your own notions. Our judgment is the ruin of heavenly consolation, the enemy of interior peace, the parent of discord, the censor of superiors, a rebel to obedience, an idol in the temple of God. We do not partake of the tree of life when we eat with excess of the tree of knowledge.” Does not this language of one of the great masters of the spiritual life condemn all our reasoning, murmuring and repugnance in the performance of our duties?

And why should we fear trusting ourselves to the guidance of our lawful superiors? Have they not the graces of their state that are requisite to direct us? Cannot the wisdom of Jesus, whose place they hold, provide against, or remedy the disadvantages discovered by our censuring mind? It can and will do so, if we humbly submit, as experience proves.

O my God, it is good to abandon one’s self, without investigation or uneasiness, to Thy representative on earth. In this way we subject reason to faith and act with the aid of lights more reliable than those of science. Wherefore preserve me from the fatal habit of judging, criticizing and disapproving what is commanded me, or of replying and making objections to those who command me in Thy name. Impart to me the spirit of faith, the courage to obey promptly, cheerfully and without discussing, all those who guide me. “Obey in the simplicity of your heart, as you would obey Christ”.

II. The Means Of Practicing Blind Obedience.

The first means is often to consider the injury done to our soul by the insubordination of our judgement, for then obedience becomes extremely difficult, and often loses all merit. The devil, about to tempt our first parents, began by asking Eve why God had forbidden them to eat of the fruits of the earthly paradise. Instead of avoiding all discussion, she unhappily began to argue with her enemy, and thus brought on her ruin and ours. How often, by our critical remarks, we provoke in ourselves numberless difficulties and repugnance, which greatly aggravate the sweet yoke of obedience!

Another means of compelling our mind to submit with simplicity, is to keep always before us the example of Jesus Christ. Can we refuse to obey with childlike unconstraint, when we recall the Incarnate Word practicing obedience at Bethlehem, in Egypt, at Nazareth, at the Pretorium, on Calvary and in the Blessed Eucharist? He never contradicted lawful authority, but shows Himself constantly as our Model of a blind, simple and unreserved submission. “But I do not contradict” (Is. 50. 5).

Do we, who pretend to be more enlightened than our superiors, believe that Jesus Christ approves us, when, contrary to His teaching and conduct, we venture, before obeying, to disapprove what is prescribed to us? As for Me, says Jesus Christ, "as I hear, so I judge” (John 5. 50), and I accomplish what is commanded Me, without previously investigating it. Let us act in like manner, without heeding the objections of our impertinent mind. “As I hear, so I judge.”

Obedient Jesus, the orders given me in Thy name are like a lamp to guide my steps (Prov. 6. 23); and nothing is more wise, more perfect, or more meritorious than to perform them. Grant me the grace henceforth to obey without heeding the repugnance of human prudence, for the prudence that deceives not, is contained in obedience. “Through Thy commandment Thou hast made me wise” (Ps. 118. 98).

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July 9 - Octave of the Visitation

Mary’s Obedience.

Preparation. - In obedience to the Holy Ghost Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. With the desire of imitating her, let us consider, first, the perfection of her obedience, and secondly, how God rewarded it. If we wish to render our daily occupations very meritorious, let us resolve to acquit ourselves of them in a spirit of humility, submission, and dependence, without attachment to our own will. “The mind of the just studieth obedience” (Prov. 15. 28).

I. Perfection Of Mary’s Obedience.

When the archangel Gabriel came to offer to the Virgin of Nazareth the sublime dignity of Mother of God, she believed in the heavenly messenger’s word, and fully acquiesced therein as in the will of God Himself. Let us admire her lively faith in the divine authority with which the ambassador of the Most High was clothed, and especially her extraordinary esteem of the virtue of obedience, for, on so solemn an occasion she found nothing better to present to God than a soul wholly submissive to His good pleasure.

Wherefore how promptly and faithfully she executed the least wishes of heaven! The angel insinuated the service to be rendered to Elizabeth, and she at once set out for Hebron there to subject herself to another’s will. “Being a faithful servant,” says St. Thomas of Villanova, “she never contradicted her Creator.” As molten metal, her soul took at every moment all the forms it pleased God to give her. “Her whole life,” says St. Bernardine of Siena, “consisted in seeking and accomplishing the Lord’s will in all things without the slightest resistance.”

We see her leaving Nazareth to go to Bethlehem at a pagan emperor’s order. We follow her into the temple where she went to fulfill the ceremonies of the Law, at the risk of being considered only an ordinary mother, though she was the Virgin of virgins. Let us accompany her into Egypt, whither she goes into exile by order of Joseph admonished by an angel, and where she remained as long as her chaste spouse wished, for she considered him as the interpreter of God’s orders. Ever submissive to this faithful guardian, she lived obedient to him in the house of Nazareth, and when the time came to accomplish the designs of God by immolating her Son, she is seen accompanying Jesus to Calvary and remaining standing near His cross of shame, so as to sacrifice herself with Him.

Who will tell us how pleasing Mary’s obedience was to God? It contributed with that of Jesus in delivering us from hell and in opening to us heaven, which the disobedience of our first parents had closed against us. O my sweet Advocate, consider my extreme misery; instead of imitating thy perfect docility, I cannot receive a command without discussing its motives and difficulties in its way. Hence my repugnance and hesitancy to obey, and often complaints and discontent. Deign, O holy Virgin, to obtain for me greater faith, promptitude and generosity in the discharge of my office, and in the performance of all my duties. May my mind and my heart be ever directed and sanctified by my intention to obey! “The mind of the just studieth obedience.”

II. How God Rewarded Mary’s Obedience.

The immaculate Virgin’s acquiescence in the words of the heavenly messenger was the principle of her glories. In fact, at what moment did the eternal Word become Mary’s Son? At the very moment when the faithful Virgin submitted to the will of the Most High by accepting the divine Maternity. It is from this unheard-of dignity, accepted through obedience, that all the grandeurs of the Virgin-Mother are derived. “Eve, the first woman,” says St. Irineus, “had caused our death by her disobedience; Mary, the new Eve, restored life to us by her subjection to the will of God”; this she did on two decisive occasions, in the Incarnation of the Word and at the death of Jesus.

By giving her will to God, Mary gave Him all; in return for this the Lord entrusted to her all the benefits of the Redemption, to which her perfect submission had greatly contributed; He, therefore, constituted her the Dispensatrix of graces. Thenceforth through her intercession sinners are converted. “By the perfection of my obedience,” Mary revealed to St. Bridget, “I merited the pardon of all who have recourse to me with sentiments of repentance.” This power of Mary also sanctifies the just and strengthens in virtue all who pray to her. Such, O Mary, is the reward of thy fidelity in ever uniting thy heart with the divine will! Thereby is accomplished in thee this saying of our divine Master: “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatsoever you will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15. 7).

How great would our influence over the heart of God be, if, like Mary, we would always carefully obey Him! Wherefore let us resolve, first, never to resist our superiors’ orders, desires and intentions, but cheerfully and promptly to execute their every wish in order to please the Lord; and secondly, to be always pliant to the movements of grace, by profiting by the lights and attractions of the Holy Ghost, by means of which He wishes to establish His reign in us and enable us to share His favors.

O my loving Mother Mary, enliven my faith as to the motives that should animate my obedience. Make me docile and faithful like thyself; enable me to overcome my repugnances and to fulfill all the divine commands, especially those that disagree with my tastes, wound my pride, and give the death-blow to my self-love.

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