Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Croiset): Visits to the Blessed Sacrament (Part 3)

III. Practice for spending every day, a quarter, or half an hour in prayer, before the Blessed Sacrament. suited to all sorts of persons.

This practice of devotion is easy. For, properly speaking, it consists only in loving Jesus Christ, and in making use of Jesus Christ Himself, in order to love Him. The method is as follows: —

1. After having adored our Lord in this mystery, with all the respect that His real Presence requires, unite yourself to Him, and to all His Divine operations in the holy Eucharist, where He ceases not to love and adore God His Father in the name of all men, and in the most perfect manner which we can imagine, in the condition of a victim. Meditate and endeavour to understand His recollection, His solitude, His hidden life, that wonderful deprivation of all things to which He is reduced, His obedience to the word of the Priest, whoever he be, His humility, and His other virtues, according to the example He gives us of them, in the Eucharistic state. Excite yourself to imitate them, and resolve to do it on such occasions as shall present themselves. But especially take time to consider the admirable dispositions of His Sacred Heart towards us, and all the sublime virtues of which He is the source, the immense love He has for his Father, His ardent charity for all men, and His eagerness for their salvation. Try to discover in that Divine Heart all the abysses it contains, of humiliation, abjection, poverty, suffering. Consider what are the sentiments of His holy soul, at the sight of the ingratitude of men who have nothing but indifference for Him. Excite yourself to produce suitable acts, to make reparation as far as possible, for all these insults, by sentiments of gratitude, and chiefly by an ardent love of Jesus Christ.

2. Offer to the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ, His Son, as the only Victim worthy of Him, and by Whom alone we can render homage to His supreme dominion, thank Him for His benefits, satisfy His justice, and oblige His mercy to come to our assistance: Say to Him with the Prophet: Respice in faciem Christi tui. Look on the face of Thy Christ. (Ps. lxxxiii. v. 10.) It is true my God, that I deserve to be treated as a rebellious servant. But, behold, oh Eternal Father, Thy dear Son, Who is perfectly obedient, and Who offers Himself to Thee at this moment upon this Altar. Look upon the profound abasement to which He is reduced, for the pardon of my infidelities and disobedience. Respice in faciem Christi tui. On whatever side Thy justice may accuse me, I will immediately offer Thy beloved Son to disarm it. Did I see Thy anger, a hundred times on the point of bursting over me, a hundred times I would say the same words: Respice in faciem Christi tui. I deserve

nothing, but I offer Thee a victim that merits all. I consent that Thou shouldst refuse me both the pardon of my sins and all other graces, if He Whom I offer Thee, has not fully satisfied Thee. But thou canst not refuse me anything that I ask in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, of His sufferings and death. The reward of these belongs to us; for He hast transferred them to us. I ask Thee much oh Eternal Father, but I offer Thee the Body, the Blood, and the life of Thy Son immolated on this Altar, in payment of what I ask. What can I desire, that will not fall short of the value of what I offer to obtain it?

3. Offer yourself to God, by the hands of Jesus Christ; and offer to Him, your life, your employments, your inclinations, your passions, and in particular, some virtuous action, which you resolve to perform, or some mortification which you resolve to practise, in order to overcome yourself. And all this, for the same ends, for which our Lord immolates Himself in the blessed Sacrament.

4. Offer yourself to Jesus Christ, in order to unite yourself more closely to Him. Entreat Him to make you enter into His spirit and into His sentiments, and especially into His Sacred Heart, so as never to depart from It Look upon Jesus Christ as your head, and consider yourself as one of His members, His associates, and His brethren, to whom He has surrendered all His merits, and to whom He has left as a legacy, the reward due to Him from His Father, for His labours, and His death. In this character you may dare to present yourself before God with confidence, to converse familiarly with Him, and to oblige Him in some sort to hear you favourably, to grant your petitions, and to bestow upon you His graces, on account of the alliance and union existing between you and His Eternal Son, and through the infinite Value and dignity of the Victim, Whom we offer to Him in the Blessed Sacrament. You may conclude by making a spiritual Communion, accompanied by a perfect consecration of all your affections and desires to His Sacred Heart.

This method of prayer is excellent, and there is more reason for making it familiar to us, in as much, as our happiness in this life, depends on our union with Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. It might be well to practise it once a day. Any time is suited to it, especially certain hours of the day, at which Jesus Christ is seldom visited. There is another most useful method of prayer, in presence of the Blessed Sacrament. After having made an act of faith, and adored Jesus Christ, excite yourself to a tender love of Him, and entreat Him to inflame you daily, more and more, with His love. Then enter into yourself, and examine the state of your soul, your defects, your passions, your weakness, your infirmities, and the depth of your miseries, and lay them open with simplicity before Jesus Christ. Submit yourself entirely to His holy will, and bless Him equally, for the chastisements of His justice, and for the favours of His mercy; humble yourself before His sovereign majesty; make a sincere confession to Him of your sins and infidelities, ask His pardon for them, detest all the evil you have committed, and resolve to amend for the future.

Enter then, as it were, into the adorable Heart of Jesus Christ. Consider the contempt He feels, for all that this world esteems: what idea He entertains of these vain honours, these apparent goods, and these insipid pleasures, mixed with so much bitterness. Reflect at the same time on the esteem He has for all, that the greater number of men look upon with disgust. How pleasing in His eyes is a poor and obscure fe, full of humiliations and contempt. Which of the two, then, is deceived? Are we, who esteem and love so passionately all that Jesus Christ despises, or is Jesus Christ Himself, Who wholly despises, and expressly condemns, what we so eagerly seek after? These reflections, if seriously made, are most useful for freeing us from numberless false notions which deceive us, and for inspiring us with that true wisdom which we admire in the Saints. This kind of prayer is moBt useful. It is unconstrained, and gives room for the exercise of every affection. We may make it at any time, but especially after, some unexpected misfortune, in order that we may submit ourselves to the chastisements of God’s justice, or after the hurry and embarrassment of business, in order to regain our recollection. In fine, we have only to visit Jesus Christ often, to learn how to visit Him, and to taste the pleasure which is to be found in conversing with our Divine Lord. There is no one who is more amiable in the world, and no one who loves us more. His conversation has no tediousness. To say, that we know not what to do before the Blessed Sacrament, is to say, that we do not know how to believe, how to ask for the graces which we need, how to love. We are unhappy in this world, only because we do not know our happiness. We do not know Him, who is in the midst of us. Is it possible that we should know Him, and yet love Him so little. Can we love Him, and yet so seldom visit him?