For The Nine Days Following The Feast Of The Sacred Heart

Fifth Day - On Habitual Grace

Preparation. - Jesus is the mystical Vine, and we are unite to Him by sanctifying grace. It behooves us, then, to consider, first, its glories, and secondly, its riches. Thus we shall esteem it above every good, and carefully keep it by fleeing every fault and by constant prayer, "for it is an infinite treasure to men" (Wisd. 8. 14).

II. The Glories Of Habitual Grace.

In the eyes of men it is an honor to be in the service of a monarch; but what glory is it for us to serve the Creator of heaven, the Ruler of nations and sovereigns! The saints always considered it a most noble title to be called the servants of God (Eph. 2. 19). St. Augustine called it a royalty. This advantage alone, derived from grace, ought to make us careful to guard it with a constant and jealous care.

But it confers on us many other privileges. It makes us, not only servants, but friends of God. Friendship requires a certain equality between those who love each other. What does the Lord do to establish it between us and Him? He cleanses us of our sins, by His almighty power alone. He imparts to us the horror of evil and the love of good, and enables us to participate in His wisdom and holiness. And furthermore, who would believe it? He goes so far as to exalt us to the dignity of His adopted children, and, therefore, to make us "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1. 4). O inestimable prerogative, for it gives us a place in the family of the King of kings, making us brethren of Jesus, deifying us by the Holy Ghost, and, as St. Paul says, numbering us among His offspring (Acts 17. 28), so that we call Him "our Father," and expect His inheritance in eternity!

At the thought of  such glorious privileges granted to the souls in the state of grace, who would not grieve at beholding so many Christians falling into mortal sin and becoming, in a moment, the unhappy slaves of the devil? What a deplorable subversion! instead of the ravishing beauty received in baptism, the guilty soul contracts the horrible hideousness of the reprobate. Far from being the sanctuary of the three divine Persons, as she had been, she becomes by her prevarication the frightful den of the evil sprits, waiting the permission to precipitate her in to hell. How fatal the effects of t sin!

Adorable Jesus, fill me with esteem and love for habitual grace, which so greatly ennobles our souls with splendid and signal prerogatives. It makes me not only Thy servant and friend, but also thy child, the sanctuary of Thy Holy Spirit. Partaking thus of Thy divine royalty, I find my self constrained to rule over my evil passions, so that I may become like unto Thee. Grant me the victory over pride, which nourishes the vices of my mind, and over sensuality, which promotes those of the flesh. I am resolved rather to die than lose thy friendship by a mortal sin. Enable me faithfully and fervently to practice piety until my last breath.

II. Riches Of Sanctifying Grace.

These riches consist, first, in habitual grace itself, which is of infinite value (Wisdom 7. 14); and then in the infused virtues, both theological and moral, in the gifts of the Holy Ghost; all these ever accompanying in us the friendship of the Creator, are more precious than the whole universe. And how many titles to eternal reward do not these virtues and gifts procure us! According to the Council of Trent, the soul in the state of grace, acting for God, justly deserves an increase of the divine friendship and a degree of glory proportionate to this increase, which is so worthy of our desires. She, moreover, under the title of congruity, draws to herself actual graces more and more abundant and efficacious. "The least act of divine love," says the Angelic Doctor, "is worth eternal life to her," that is, goods surpassing all earthly treasures and magnificence, grander than all the wonders of the firmament.

Were the innumerable host of angels and saints, composing the heavenly court, to combine together to reward us for the slightest meritorious work, for instance, for a short prayer, an act of virtue, they would never succeed in doing so, even if they exerted themselves for millions of years! God Himself could not do so by using His power to create numberless worlds for our sake, and why? Because all natural goods combined cannot equal in value the least degree of  supernatural merit. Wherefore the Lord promises to give Himself to us, who is the supreme and eternal good, in return for what we do for His glory. "I am thy reward exceedingly great" (Gen. 15. 1).

How consoling is this doctrine, how capable of encouraging us to serve God unreservedly! What! a few square  miles of country excite the cupidity of warriors, so far as to induce them to expose themselves to the dangers and horrors of war and we, soldiers of the cross, would hesitate to combat our evil passions, when there is a question of conquering the kingdom of heaven, which has no end! How great our blindness to prefer our temporary gratification and our perishable goods to the pure joys and treasures of an eternity of bliss! Let us, then, strive henceforth to shun the smallest faults, to repress our evil inclinations, to purify our intentions and our affections, so that our actions and our conduct may be constantly meritorious.

O Jesus, without Thy holy friendship I am a withered twig, unfit to bear fruit. Deign, then, to unit me to Thyself as the branch to the vine-stock, and enable me to bring forth abundant fruits of salvation. Through the intercession of the ever faithful Virgin, preserve me from neglect and sloth in Thy service, and  give me the grace, first, habitually to nourish my mind with the thought of the truths of salvation, and secondly, to strengthen my heart with frequent prayer and interior acts that may unite me to Thee and strengthen me in Thy love.

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For The Nine Days Following The Feast Of The Sacred Heart

Fourth Day - Jesus, The Mystic Vine

Preparation. - That we may imitate the Saviour's devotedness, it behooves us to remain united to Him as the branches of the vine to the stock. We shall therefore see, first, in what sense Jesus is the mystic vine, and secondly, how we are its branches. These reflections will induce us to pray always, being convinced that, as He Himself says, we can do nothing for our salvation without Him. "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15. 5).

I. Jesus Is The Mystic Vine.

In His Incarnation the eternal Word assumed a material body like ours, and united our souls in a mystic body, of which He is the Head and we are the members. To give us an idea of the divine influence He is to exercise over us, He compares Himself to a vine, the stock of which imparts to the branches the sap drawn from the soil. Thus our Saviour's sacred humanity draws from His divinity the sap of grace, which it then transmits to us through diverse spiritual channels.

As the wood of the vine is of itself worthless, and draws its value from its sap and the wine it produces, so the Word of God, by assuming our weak human nature, humbled and abased Himself, whilst preserving the grandeur and excellence of His divine nature. The vine needs pruning, that it may produce its fruit in abundance; in like manner, by an excess of love, He wished to undergo the incision of pain, in order to effect our redemption and render it more fruitful to us. "With Him there is plentiful redemption" (Ps. 129. 7).

The fruit of the vine, crushed in the winepress, becomes wine, which is served at the altar and at the tables of the great. In like manner, Jesus ground in the torments of Calvary, deigned to shed His infinitely precious blood, which is adored on our altars during the august sacrifice, and is received together with His body by the souls who have the courage to rule over their passions, that they may live in the state of grace, and be seated at the holy table.

O Jesus, mystical Vine, do not let me be always a tender and sterile branch, for I desire to remain united to Thee by sanctifying grace. Thou didst not shrink form insults, outrages and torments, in order to heal the wounds of my soul; and I, when my pride, my sensuality, or my self-love is hurt, I loudly complain and push away the beneficent hand which does the pruning so indispensable to my sanctification. O my Redeemer, when shall I understand my real good? Grant me the grace, first, of mortifying my senses and sacrificing those inclinations which hinder my following Thy doctrine and example; and secondly, of embracing, without complaint, all the trials proceeding from my neighbor and from my daily duties.

O mysterious Vine, which gives to the earth the wine of salvation, inebriate my soul, so that, forgetting herself and every thing created, she may seek Thy glory alone, and be ready to undergo any suffering whatever, rather than displease Thee.

II. We Are The Branches Of The Mystical Vine.

"I am the vine," says Christ; "you are the branches. As branches cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me" (John 15. 5, 4). O powerful and fertile goodness of the God-man! O strange weakness of our hearts, which are powerless without Jesus! Our Saviour, as the mystic Vine, causes the sap of His grace to circulate in all those who are bound to Him by friendship, and thus imparts to them the power of practicing virtue and meriting heaven.

But, O infinitely deplorable evil, how many souls live in mortal sin, like branches separated from the trunk. Being unable to do any thing meritorious before God, they are like withered shoots destined to be burnt. Who would not pity their misfortune, and strive to avoid it himself and preserve others from a similar fate?

On the other hand, the happiness of living in the friendship of Jesus is worthy of all our exertions. "If  you abide in Me," says He, "and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it will be done unto you" (John 15, 7). For when we live by the life of grace, and act according to the spirit of Jesus, the eternal Father will love us, seeing His Son in us, and will hear us for His sake. It is very advantageous, and even absolutely necessary that we keep ourselves united to our amiable Saviour. Out of Him and without Him, we are guilty wretches deserving of hell. With Him and in Him, God considers us as His children, loads us with His favors, and promises us the heavenly inheritance.

O Jesus, to whom shall I go, if not to Thee, to find happiness and salvation? I consecrate to Thee all my thoughts, all my desires, all my conduct. Be Thou the sole object of my intentions and my love. I am resolved, first, often to think of Thee and Thy real presence in the adorable Eucharist; and secondly, to make the days on which I receive holy Communion, days of spiritual recollection, so that I may more securely guard my heart and keep it united to Thine. O Mary, obtain for me the grace of always acting, not through natural inclination or caprice, but through principles of faith, that I may in all things be conformable to Jesus. Wherefore help me to practice recollection,  self-denial and constant prayer.

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For The Nine Days Following The Feast Of The Sacred Heart

Third Day - Devotedness Of The Heart Of Jesus

Preparation. - The spirit of sacrifice which we have meditated in Jesus, leads to perfect devotedness. Let us consider, first, how great is the devotedness of the Heart of Jesus, and secondly, how it fill Him with the desire of uniting Himself to us by transforming us into Himself. Let us imitate the Saviour's generosity by unreservedly consecrating ourselves, as He did, to the service of God and our neighbor, however much it may cost us, for "He loved us and delivered Himself for us" (Eph. 5. 2).

I. Devotedness Of The Heart Of Jesus.

We prove our devotedness by the greatness of the sacrifices we make for our neighbor's sake. The rich man giving his goods practices charity, indeed, but he would practice it still better, were he to devote himself to the service of his fellowmen. The eternal Word, not content with sending us His light and graces, His prophets and servants, came Himself to labor for the salvation of us all. Infinitely noble and rich, as He was, He did not disdain to abase Himself to our nothingness and to be the poorest among us. He underwent many privations and hardships at Bethlehem and in Egypt. At Nazareth He earned His bread by the sweat of His brow, though He was the King of glory and the riches of heaven.

Moreover, He took upon Himself our iniquities in order to expiate them. All His days were spent in a continual martyrdom; we were the guilty ones, and His Heart was the victim ever immolated for our salvation. Soon the time of His Passion drew near. He did not hesitate, but gave himself up for us to the fury of His enemies. Outraged, buffeted, scourged, crowned with thorns, He embraced the instrument of His death and carried it to Calvary, allowed Himself to be nailed thereon to die the death of criminals. Thus did our God take revenge on our sins and assume the punishment due to us. O unequalled devotedness, beyond all conception!

The Heart of Jesus completed it by perpetuating among us His Church, making her the depository of His doctrine, sacraments and sacrifice. He linked Himself to our exile by the greatest of prodigies. Every day, at every hour, at every moment, He immolates Himself somewhere in this world; and there is no moment and no country, in which He does not renew in our favor the devotedness of His bloody sacrifice, by mystically sacrificing Himself for us. His is a truly unspeakable charity, which should forever crush our icy hearts and annihilate in us our cold selfishness, so little capable of self-denial!

O generous love of the Heart of my Jesus, destroy in me whatever hinders me from undividedly loving Thee, especially my self-love so averse to suffering, discomfort and exertion, whenever there is question of obeying Thee or helping Thee in the person of my neighbor. Make me meek, obliging, ever ready to console the afflicted, to compassionate misfortunes, to forget injuries, to exercise mercy and practice charity. I am resolved, first, to stifle in me all the complaints, vexations and murmurs of nature, when my services are called for; and secondly, then to show myself so much the more happy, as the act required of me is more difficult or disagreeable to my taste.

II. Christ Induced By His Devotedness To Unite Himself To Us.

Not content with giving Himself up entirely to the torments of His Passion, and to perpetuate on earth the sacrifice of Calvary for the benefit of our souls, Jesus wished to give Himself to us also as food, and why? That He might transform us into Himself. The generosity of His Heart was not satisfied with so many prodigies wrought for our sake; He wished to crown all by making us His second self. The immolation of the Creator for His creatures is a devotedness well calculated to amaze heaven and all nature; but how can we sufficiently praise our great God for exalting us to Himself, to make us sharers of His goods and to transform us into His divinity? Is not this loving us as much as Himself, loving vile and abject beings, as we are, as much as the divine Majesty that fills the universe? O depth of divine love, and incomprehensible mysteries of uncreated love!

But how are these mysteries accomplished in us? By means of holy Communion, by which Jesus descends into us, dispersing our darkness, as the sun dispels the shades of night; warming up and fecundating our hearts; and then, after purifying them by His grace, sanctifying, deifying them, as it were, imparting to them the sentiments of His own Heart, and gradually forming them after His image and likeness. Were our holy Communions always truly fervent, how rapidly would the transformation of our soul into Jesus be accomplished!

But, sweet Lord, who is better able than Thou to dispose me for so signal a favor? If an illustrious monarch intended to pay a solemn visit to a poor hut, would he not previously cause it to be adorned with the richest draperies, that he might find therein a reception worthy of his dignity? Be pleased to do likewise, O Jesus, my loving Sovereign, when Thou comest to me; purify my heart of its every stain, free it from the mire of its evil habits, enrich it with heavenly gifts, embalm it with faith, hope and charity, and adorn it with every virtue. My beloved Mother Mary, so pure and so holy, lend me thy heart, or rather place in my breast the Heart of Jesus, so that when I receive Him in the divine Banquet, I may become one with Him.

O my God, I grieve in Thy presence for having so often received holy Communion with scarcely any preparation, first, after a day full of venial faults and infidelities; secondly, after a careless confession, made with but little faith, repentance and fervor; and thirdly, after a tepid meditation, full of distractions, which left me cold, devoid of devotion in the very furnace of sacred love.

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For The Nine Days Following The Feast Of The Sacred Heart

Second Day - The Heart Of Jesus, Model Of Self-Denial

Preparation. - The crown of thorns represented around the Sacred Heart, may mean, first, Christ's mortification, or love of sacrifice, and secondly, the self-denial we ought to practice after His example. We shall then generously resolve not to allow a single day to pass without denying ourselves and our propensities, so that we may punctually perform all our duties and patiently bear every trial. "Let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily" (Luke 9. 23).

I. The Heart Of Jesus, Model Of Sacrifice.

"When Christ cometh into the world," says St. Paul, "He saith: Sacrifice and oblation Thou wouldst not; but a body Thou hast fitted to Me ... Then said I, Behold I come to do Thy will" (Hebr. 10. 5, 9), and to immolate My body for Thy glory, O Father, and to expiate the sins of men. Thus did Jesus offer to pay our debts to the divine justice, and the eternal Father accepted this offering, prompted by the loving Heart of His divine Son. Thenceforth our adorable Saviour's life was a constant immolation. The hardships He underwent in His childhood, the fatigues of His ministry, the cruel torments of His Passion made Him a perpetual Victim for our salvation. All this is brought to our mind by the crown of thorns encircling His Sacred Heart.

Not content with immolating His body, Jesus wished also to sacrifice His will, for He said: "Behold I come to do Thy will, O God." And, indeed, what else did He desire on earth, than to do the will of His heavenly Father? He was ever submissive to it, and this even in the Garden of Olives, though His soul was a prey to mortal anguish, a cry of obedience still proceeds from His Heart. "Father, not My will, but Thine be done" (Luke 22. 42).

"He was," says St. Paul, "obedient unto death, unto the death of the cross" (Phil. 2. 8). And, as Christ Himself says: "Greater love than this no man hath, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15. 13). Our Saviour did not refuse this proof of love even to His enemies. Being insatiable of love, He was insatiable also of immolation and was satisfied only after He had unreservedly delivered Himself up for the salvation of all. O prodigy of devotedness!

When we behold a God so generously sacrificing Himself for our sake, can we still hesitate to mortify a certain defect or inclination of ours, which is the source of so many faults and imperfections? Can we refuse to Jesus the sacrifices He demands of us, and remain attached to sensual gratifications, to the desires of self-love, and to the thousand trifles that hinder our progress in virtue?

No, my divine Master, I will no longer refuse any thing to Thy Sacred Heart. Burn, cut away, crush in me whatever is mine and not Thine, and make me docile to the attractions of Thy love. I am resolved no longer to complain of my dally crosses, of the displeasures and the hardships opposed to my pride and inclinations.

II. Motives For Imitating Christ's Self-Denial.

The happy habit of denying ourselves and our individual tastes, and of subjecting ourselves to God's good pleasure, is productive of several good effects in us. It facilitates in us supernatural views of things, by removing from our heart the obstacles to the divine light, that is, our perverse inclinations and our daily faults. It breaks in our will, rendering it more constantly docile to the attractions of the Holy Ghost. As sinners, by yielding to their evil inclinations, are enslaved by them, in like manner, the faithful soul, by practicing self-denial, disengages herself from her own self and fully subjects herself to the Lord.

Thence follows the intimate union she contracts with His Sacred Heart. What, in fact, is better calculated to unite two hearts, than to animate them with the same sentiments, the same affections, the same desires? Self-denial peculiarly tends to cause us to renounce our personal inclinations to adopt those of Jesus. How beautiful is the union of a soul dead to herself and living solely for Jesus Christ! By mortifying her vices she practices the contrary virtues; and the more she denies herself, the more fit she becomes to receive grace and faithfully to correspond therewith. May we not conclude therefrom that death to self is the standard of our supernatural life, or our union with Jesus Christ?

We have been for so many years caressing a certain defect; what have we gained by so doing? Bitterness, remorse, spiritual dryness; and we have lost treasures of graces, and remained stationary in the way of holiness. Why not this day sacrifice to Jesus our inclination to sloth, our habit of mental dissipation, our too worldly relations, our frivolous reading, our fondness for criticizing, for complaining, for getting discouraged in difficulties? All these spiritual miseries not only impede our progress, but also disturb our interior peace and hinder our true happiness.

O Jesus, enable me to overcome my repugnance in discharging certain duties, and give me the courage to embrace them generously. Through Thy merits and those of Thy Blessed Mother, fill me with the spirit of self-denial, which deprives the thorns of this vale of tears of their sharpness, and transforms them into odoriferous roses in the heavenly courts through Thy grace and my patience in bearing every thing.

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For The Nine Days Following The Feast Of The Sacred Heart

First Day - The Emblems Of The Heart Of Jesus

Preparation. - Our Saviour showed His Heart surrounded by emblems to Bl. Margaret Mary. In the first place, some of them represent the mysteries of His suffering, and secondly, the other manifest the prodigies of His love. Let us often, at least in spirit, contemplate the picture of the Sacred Heart, and beseech Jesus to enable us to compassionate in His sufferings, and to endow us with patience amid the trials of this life. "Leaving you an example, that you may follow His footsteps" (1 Pet. 2. 21-24).

I. The Emblems Of Suffering.

Christ's Heart is represented as wounded. The wound recalls to us the Redeemer's painful death and the benefits it brought us. Jesus had scarcely expired, when a soldier, brandished his spear, pierced His side with it. "This sacred wound," says St. Augustine, "was the gate of life for us all." The water that flowed therefrom is the symbol of baptism, by which we are born to grace and become children of the Church. The blood that came out of it is a figure of the Eucharist, the food and strength of our souls.

How these emblems, recalling to us the Saviour's benefits, are well calculated to remind us of the sufferings by which they were procured for us!

And the thorns around the Sacred Heart call to our mind the horrible crown which was driven into the Redeemer's head. It was taken off, says Origen, only after His death. God had said to Adam: "Cursed is the earth in thy work ... Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee" (Gen. 3. 17, 18). A terrible curse, proclaiming the tribulations deserved for our sins! Let us not despond, however, for Jesus, the new Adam, experienced their bitterness in the interior pains during His whole life, figured by the thorns surrounding His Sacred Heart.

And is not the cross, surmounting this loving Heart, the symbol of the suffering which predominated in the Redeemer's life? How great His anguish during thirty-three years on account of His foreknowledge of our ingratitude and the sufferings awaiting Him! If our pains, like the Saviour's, are of daily occurrence, how do we bear them? Do we not often bitterly and impatiently complain about them? This serves only to increase them and deprive them of all merit, whilst resignation would sweeten them and render them useful to us, for it would obtain for us the unction of grace, which enables us to carry our cross with ease; and moreover, it would preserve us from purgatory, and procure us a distinguished place among the elect.

O my divine Redeemer, teach me to mortify my sensitiveness and all the little passions that hinder me from being perfectly resigned. Inspire me with the resolution, first, to unite my sufferings with Thine, and to offer them to God every time that my patience is tried; and secondly, to keep silence then, and to invoke Thy help that I may stifle within me every inclination to murmur and complain.

II. The Emblem Of Love.

The flames escaping from our Saviour's Heart represent to us His immense and incomprehensible love for His Father, which is the supernatural hearth of every other love. But how vehement it is in Jesus! The charity of the angels, of the Seraphim, of the Blessed Virgin herself, cannot even give us an idea of it. In creatures charity is only like mere sparks of fire, whilst in Christ it is like an immense furnace.

But Christ's love has not merely God as its object, but it extends also to all souls, the living images of God. Hence the flames spreading around the Sacred Heart symbolize the Saviour's ardent charity for us. As fire consumes whatever is submitted to its action, so also the love of Jesus for us overcame all difficulties to effect our salvation. He shrank from no sacrifice. Neither insults, nor torments, nor a most cruel death deterred Him in the great work of our Redemption.

And to how great a love of suffering does not His devotedness to us lead Him! This is it which is recalled to us by the cross devoured by the flames of His charity. Jesus loved suffering, because He loved our souls. "I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized," He says, "and how am I  straitened until it be accomplished" (Luke 12. 50). Such is the exclamation of a heart yearning for the cross! Hence His whole life was a continual torment, an interior torment, undergone for our sake.

O Jesus, who will describe Thy boundless charity? Who will enable us to imitate it, unless Thou help us? Grant me a spark of that fire glowing in Thy Heart for Thy heavenly Father and the souls redeemed by Thy blood. But to dispose me to participate in this love, give me the courage to sacrifice to Thee all my inclinations. Wherefore I consecrate to Thee, first, my mind, that it may be filled with Thy maxims and with contempt for earthly goods; secondly, my heart, that it may have here below no attachment but to Thee; and thirdly, my will, whose only desire and sole occupation shall be to obey Thee and to render Thee service in the person of my neighbor, even notwithstanding my antipathies and repugnances.

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Friday After The Octave Of Corpus Christi

The Sacred Heart

Preparation. - That we may worthily celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, let us consider, first, the motives we have of loving Him and confiding in Him, and secondly, the graces we ought to draw from this ocean of all goods. We shall then resolve to take the Heart of Jesus as the model of ours, by loving what He loves and imitating His humility and meekness. "Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart" (Mat. 11. 29).

I. Motives For Loving The Sacred Heart And Confiding In It.

The Heart of Jesus is the Heart of the Incarnate Word, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Being the consubstantial Image of the Father by His divinity, our Saviour possesses all perfections in Himself. He is meek, patient, generous, charitable, not merely like the saints, but in an infinite degree. "In Him," says St. Paul, "it hath well pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell" (Col. 1. 19).

Does not such a Heart deserve all our love? We love those creatures in whom we see united a noble character, goodness, kindness and generosity; how much more should we not love the Creator who possesses these qualities in an infinite degree, being their inexhaustible fountain! When we love what is earthly, we bind our affection to a vain and transitory shadow; why not rather unite ourselves with the uncreated Beauty that endureth forever, and is able to give us endless bliss? Let us, like the angels and saints, allow ourselves to be ravished by the ineffable charms of our God.

And with what confidence should His Heart inspire us? It is the Heart of Christ, the Head of regenerated mankind. From it proceeds the life of the Church and of souls, and in it are found gathered together all the benefits of the Redemption, of which it is the meritorious cause; from its bosom flow beneficent streams carrying every where to souls hope and life. How mercifully it purifies sinners, how lovingly it enlightens, strengthens and consoles the just, and helps them to make progress in virtue! Would it be in vain that Jesus called Himself our Brother? And does not a true brother have at heart the interests of his family? When Joseph was placed over Egypt, he endowed his brethren with the most fertile portion of the country. Jesus, still more generous, has promised His graces to all who pray to Him, were they even great sinners! (Luke 11. 10). How much more willingly will He not lavish them on His friends!

Let us then go with the utmost confidence to the Heart of our loving Saviour, making known to Him our wants, showing Him our wounds, and He will wash them in His blood. In our weakness let us beseech Him to re-animate our strength. If we are spiritually poor and lack every spiritual good, and if in spite of our efforts, we experience only dryness and distraction at prayer, let us humbly implore His assistance, saying: O Jesus, who art the resurrection and the life, enlighten my mind, purify my heart, raise up my depressed spirits, impart to me Thy holy inclinations, and enable me always to live with Thee, in Thee and for Thee.

II. The Graces To Be Drawn From The Sacred Heart.

What can we draw therefrom more useful to us than the knowledge of God, which is more precious than all temporal goods? It is, indeed, the root of eternal life (John 17. 3). "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom," says the prophet, "and let not the strong man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me" (Jer. 9, 23, 24). In the Heart of Jesus, "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2. 3). Christ imparts these treasures cheerfully to His servants, and especially to the little and the humble of heart. "Thou hast revealed them to the little ones" (Mat. 11. 25). If we wish to be more enlightened  than the worldly wise, let us be devout to the Heart of Jesus, but with a devotion that induces us to love a hidden and humble life, a life of recollection and prayer.

In this way we shall gradually become perfect in holy love, of which the Heart of Jesus, being the incarnation of uncreated love, is the ever glowing hearth, for "God is love" (1 John 4. 8). "I am come," says our Lord, "to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I, but that it be kindled" (Luke 12. 49). And when does He kindle this divine fire, if not in holy Communion and the visits we pay Him at the foot of the altars, where He immolates Himself, and of the tabernacles wherein He dwells day and night for our salvation?

But in vain do we pretend to burn with holy love, if our heart is all steeped in earthly affections and self-love. Let us,  then, firmly resolve, first, to mortify our senses, especially our eyes, so that we may always live in the presence of Jesus; and secondly, to repress our volatile imagination, and to bind all our passions under the Saviour's yoke, and we shall thus reach the perfection of divine love.

Most adorable Heart, so little dost Thou esteem worldly goods as to leave them to Thy enemies, but Thou reservest the heavenly treasures for Thy friends. Through Thy Blessed Mother's intercession, impart to me Thy wisdom and holiness; Thy wisdom, that I may the better understand Thy greatness and my nothingness; and Thy holiness, that I may be detached from myself and the world, and conform myself to Thy desires, Thy sentiments and Thy virtues. Grant, Lord Jesus, that we may put on the virtues and be inflamed with the affections of Thy most Sacred Heart.

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