IT IS PROFITABLE TO RECEIVE COMMUNION OFTEN
THE DISCIPLE
BEHOLD, I come to You, Lord, that I may prosper by Your gift
and be delighted at Your holy banquet which You, O God, in Your
sweetness have prepared for Your poor. Behold, all that I can or ought
to desire is in You. You are my salvation and my redemption, my hope
and strength, my honor and glory.
Gladden, then, this day the soul of Your servant because I have
raised my heart to You, O Lord Jesus. I long to receive You now,
devoutly and reverently. I desire to bring You into my house that,
with Zacheus, I may merit Your blessing and be numbered among the
children of Abraham.
My soul longs for Your Body; my heart desires to be united with
You. Give me Yourself -- it is enough; for without You there is no
consolation. Without You I cannot exist, without Your visitation I
cannot live. I must often come to You, therefore, and receive the
strength of my salvation lest, deprived of this heavenly food, I grow
weak on the way. Once, most merciful Jesus, while preaching to the
people and healing their many ills, You said: "I will not send them
away fasting, lest they faint in the way."[49] Deal with me likewise,
You Who have left Yourself in this Sacrament for the consolation of
the faithful. You are sweet refreshment to the soul, and he who eats
You worthily will be a sharer in, and an heir to, eternal glory.
It is indeed necessary for me, who fall and sin so often, who
so quickly become lax and weak, to renew, cleanse, and inflame myself
through frequent prayer, confession, and the holy reception of Your
Body, lest perhaps by abstaining too long, I fall away from my holy
purpose. For from the days of his youth the senses of man are prone to
evil, and unless divine aid strengthens him, he quickly falls deeper.
But Holy Communion removes him from evil and confirms him in good.
If I am so often careless and lax when I celebrate or
communicate, what would happen if I did not receive this remedy and
seek so great a help? Although I am neither fit nor properly disposed
to celebrate every day, yet I will do my best at proper times to
receive the divine Mysteries and share in this great grace. This,
indeed, is the one chief consolation of the faithful soul when
separated from You by mortality, that often mindful of her God, she
receives her Beloved with devout recollection.
Oh, wonderful condescension of Your affection toward us, that
You, the Lord God, Creator and Giver of life to all, should see fit to
come to a poor soul and to appease her hunger with all Your divinity
and humanity! O happy mind and blessed soul which deserves to receive
You, her Lord God, and in receiving You, is filled with spiritual joy!
How great a Master she entertains, what a beloved guest she receives,
how sweet a companion she welcomes, how true a friend she gains, how
beautiful and noble is the spouse she embraces, beloved and desired
above all things that can be loved and desired! Let heaven and earth
and all their treasures stand silent before Your face, most sweetly
Beloved, for whatever glory and beauty they have is of Your
condescending bounty, and they cannot approach the beauty of Your
name, Whose wisdom is untold. |
That it is profitable to Communicate often
The Voice of the Disciple
Behold I come unto Thee, O Lord, that I may be
blessed through Thy gift, and be made joyful in Thy holy feast which
Thou, O God, of Thy goodness hast prepared for the poor.(1) Behold in
Thee is all that I can and ought to desire, Thou art my salvation and
redemption, my hope and strength, my honour and glory. Therefore
rejoice the soul of Thy servant this day, for unto Thee, O Lord Jesus,
do I lift up my soul.(2) I long now to receive Thee devoutly and
reverently, I desire to bring Thee into my house, so that with
Zacchaeus I may be counted worthy to be blessed by Thee and numbered
among the children of Abraham. My soul hath an earnest desire for Thy
Body, my heart longeth to be united with Thee.
2. Give me Thyself and it sufficeth, for besides
Thee no consolation availeth. Without Thee I cannot be, and without
Thy visitation I have no power to live. And therefore I must needs
draw nigh unto Thee often, and receive Thee for the healing of my
soul, lest haply I faint by the way if I be deprived of heavenly
food. For so Thou, most merciful Jesus, preaching to the people and
healing many sick, didst once say, I will not send them away fasting
to their own homes, lest they faint by the way.(3) Deal therefore now
to me in like manner, for Thou left Thyself for the consolation of the
faithful in the Sacrament. For Thou art the sweet refreshment of the
soul, and he who shall eat Thee worthily shall be partaker and
inheritor of the eternal glory. Necessary indeed it is for me, who so
often slide backwards and sin, so quickly wax cold and faint, to
renew, cleanse, enkindle myself by frequent prayers and penitences and
receiving of Thy sacred Body and Blood lest haply by too long
abstinence, I fall short of my holy resolutions.
3. For the imaginations of man's heart are evil
from his youth,(4) and except divine medicine succour him, man slideth
away continually unto the worse. The Holy Communion therefore draweth
us back from evil, and strengtheneth us for good. For if I now be so
negligent and lukewarm when I communicate [or celebrate], how should
it be with me, if I receive not this medicine, and sought not so great
a help? [And though I am not every day fit nor well prepared to
celebrate, I will nevertheless give diligent heed at due season, to
receive the divine mysteries, and to become partaker of so great
grace]. For this is the one principal consolation of a faithful soul,
so long as it is absent from Thee in mortal body, that being
continually mindful of its God, it receiveth its Beloved with devout
spirit.
4. Oh wonderful condescension of Thy pity
surrounding us, that Thou, O Lord God, Creator and Quickener of all
spirits, deignest to come unto a soul so poor and weak, and to appease
its hunger with Thy whole Deity and Humanity. Oh happy mind and
blessed soul, to which is granted devoutly to receive Thee its Lord
God, and in so receiving Thee to be filled with all spiritual joy! Oh
how great a Lord doth it entertain, how beloved a Guest doth it bring
in, how delightful a Companion doth it receive, how faithful a Friend
doth it welcome, how beautiful and exalted a Spouse, above every other
Beloved, doth it embrace, One to be loved above all things that can be
desired! Oh my most sweet Beloved, let heaven and earth and all the
glory of them, be silent in Thy presence; seeing whatsoever praise and
beauty they have it is of Thy gracious bounty; and they shall never
reach unto the loveliness of Thy Name, Whose Wisdom is infinite.(5) |