Blessed art Thou, hidden in Thy sacramental cloud, until the day of Thine unveiling. I love Thee. May I love Thee more. All glory be to Thee, whom the choirs of angels worship, Hail, most sweet Lord Jesus Christ, Incarnate God and Man, cate, Hail, dearest Lord, our Mediator, Saviour, and our God. Blessed Jesus, Thou art our All in All. Blessed and Most Holy One, our Re-maker and Re-creator, In whom we are re-created and accepted in the Beloved I resign myself, my body, soul, and spirit to Thy loving care and keeping, who loves me and whom I love. I resign myself to suffer what in Thy good pleasure Thou shalt let befall me, that it may bind me more closely to Thee. I am content to serve Thee with the abilities and means Thou givest me, and to be little in the sight of men. I renounce all affection of creatures that hinders my supreme love of Thee. I renounce government by the world's maxims, being governed by Thee. I purpose to take up my Cross daily and follow Thee, trusting in Thy promised aid and deliverance in the time of trial. I will live for Thee and in Thee, taking this life but as a probation and training school for heaven. ACTS OF LOVE Lord, what is there in heaven or earth that I would desire beside Thee? Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? Lord, here am I, send me. Let all that is within me bless Thy holy Name. Lord, I love Thee. Help me to love Thee more. Jesu, Thou art my Love, my All in All, Sweetness of my heart, Joy of my spirit. Jesu, my Refuge, my Peace, my Riches, my Resting Place, my Joy. Too late have I known Thee, O Infinite Goodness and Beauty, ever ancient and ever new. Hold me fast, dear Lord, and let nothing pluck me out of Thy Hand. Abide with me, dear Lord, for it is towards evening and the day is far spent. CHAPTER XII AN INSTRUCTION "Gold, frankincense, and myrrh" E have here the three great principles of the WE spiritual life and its union with God. Gold stands for love, frankincense for prayer, myrrh for mortification. It was from Father Baker's "Sancta Sophia" that I learned that the saintly life could be resolved into two activities-mortification and prayer. Father Baker held, in contrast with the Jesuit system, to the traditions of the older Fathers and the Benedictine rule. He has long been noted for his wisdom and spiritual attainment. "Whose secret life and published writings prove Mortifications are of two classes - the imposed and the voluntary. It is the part of a Christian to suffer with resignation all that God's Providence sends, whether such external things as sickness, bereavements, worldly losses, injuries, or internal ones, as inward distress of mind, dryness of soul, withdrawals of comforts, periods of darkness, desolations of spirit. Concerning external mortifications, the soul must first resign itself to them, knowing that all that God wills is for the best. It must then advance from the degree of submission to conformity with God's will. It wills what He wills because He wills it. It says in union with its Lord, not only "Thy will be done," but "Not my will, but Thine." We voluntarily mortify our bodies by ruling our appetites. All that God has made is good and is to be used. Sin is unregulated desire and the misuse of creatures. While we may use all things given for the glory of God, we may deny ourselves in some, and so make our offering to Him. But our voluntary mortifications, however, are only profitable and meritorious when done in charity. The erroneous Indian philosophy, which regards matter as evil, practises asceticism to free the soul from it. The Christian practises self-denial in order to be more conformed to his Lord and be united by love to Him. The truehearted bride desires to share in the life of her spouse and esteems it a privilege to share His hardships with Him. There are various ways by which we may discipline ourselves by abstraction, solitude, silence, and by preserving tranquillity of mind. We may abstain, for instance, from engaging in works not pertaining to us; or from doing what belongs to us to do, with affections centred on them and not directed to God. In considering what we should do in any matter, we are to ask ourselves not whether it is a good thing in itself, but whether we are called on to do it. Many persons, neglecting this, busy themselves with their own plans, and not with those designed for them. Again, we may practise retirement from the world by not letting ourselves be immersed in it. Our duties to society should be subordinate to our duties to Christ and His Church. The Christian soul must not be like a gay butterfly flitting from one flower to another in search of worldly pleasure, but like a soldier, girded and armed against the enticement of a worldly life. We may practise silence by keeping ourselves from gossiping and detracting conversation; from murmurings against God's dealings with us and vain disputes with our fellows. We may mortify our wills by acts of resignation to God's providences and dealings with us. We may mortify our hearts by detaching them from any earthly idol, and making God our Supreme Love. We may mortify our tempers and tongues by sharply schooling the latter and praying for our enemies. We may offer up all our bodily or spiritual pains to Christ crucified, and rejoice in sufferings with Him. It is the law of the new Creation. PRAYER What gravitation is to the material universe, prayer is to the spiritual one. By that we mean that it is a fundamental law. God wills to be moved by prayer, and God governs the world. Prayer also keeps man in communion with God, and God is the life of the soul. Our spiritual life depends upon it, as the body does upon the air. It is a perpetual source of light and warmth and growth and joy. It is the most divine action that a rational soul is capable of. By it we are united to God, in increasing degrees |