Tractatus Alter, Pars Prior, Cap. 12. De cognitione Christi in fractione panis.

Tractatus Alter, Pars Prior, Cap. 12. De cognitione Christi in fractione panis.

I give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, bread of life, sweet guest of the soul and heavenly giver of grace, for your wonderful dignity and friendly fellowship with your two disciples at the meal in the house, who with great affection invited you to enter, asking with their prayers, reaching out with their hands, and compelling you; without you, they did not want to enter, stay, or eat. So you, gentle and humble Lord, entered with them to dine and converse about delightful things concerning the food of souls prepared by angels in the upper room. So sitting at the table with them, and not yet fully known to them, you took the bread from the table with your sacred hands, and, raising your right hand, you blessed it with your holy mouth, just as you were accustomed to do in front of your disciples while they were eating. And so, breaking off a piece and eating it with your arm extended, you joyfully offered it to your beloved friends. And immediately their eyes were opened, recognizing your divine power in the breaking of the solid bread and the exquisite taste, divided without knife or iron, and distributed to them as a sign of the miracle and friendship with new joy. Oh, how joyful is the meal when we taste the blessed bread from the hand of the Lord. How blessed are the eyes that have seen the Lord in the breaking of the bread of God’s blessing! But alas, how brief is the delay in such a joyful hour and sweet meal. And he vanished from their sight. O, what a change in the right hand of the Most High! Here a little, there a little; for nothing durable exists under heaven, only true and eternal joy with the saints in heaven. Where are you going, Lord? Why are you leaving so quickly and abandoning them? Don't be amazed, don't be indignant; I know what I've done, and I know what I'm about to do. I still have other sheep to visit, to comfort, and to strengthen in faith. They are waiting for me and long to see me. So I go to them, just as I promised, so that they may see me and rejoice, and not doubt at all about my words. I will show them my wounds, so that seeing these as if they were open signs, they may firmly believe in me and not cling in vain to human reasoning, nor contradict my power. Everything is possible for me, and the elements obey my command. I praise and glorify you, sweetest Jesus, for all your deeds and your sweet words, and for your appearances before your disciples in various places, not wanting to leave them orphans, those who have grieved and wept for you so often. For they always had the greatest love for you, seeing your face, speaking with you, walking with you, sailing with you, hosting you, eating and drinking with you, watching and praying with you, sleeping and rising with you, and promptly obeying the command of your mouth. As you passed through the grain fields on the Sabbath, your followers eagerly walked alongside you, barefoot and fasting, and, driven by hunger, they broke off some heads of grain that were allowed. It pleased me to reflect on these things and to note them carefully, to my shame and sorrow, but to you, good Jesus, and to your disciples, for praise and honor. You spoke to them, as Marco testified, encouraging the weary to find a little rest from the long journey and the toil of the body. For just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings to keep them warm against the cold, the rain, and the heat, and to protect them from the attack of a hawk and the bite of a dog, so you have gathered your little ones, humble in heart and despised by the world, saying to them: "Come away to a deserted place, where you won’t see the vanities of the world or hear any clamor that distracts you, and rest a little while, meditating on divine things and all that is vain." Now, therefore, I beseech you, most loving Jesus, visitor of the sick and comforter of the poor and wandering, expelled from the joys of paradise, that you also visit me in the day of my tribulation and anxiety, whether I am sitting in my cell with boredom, or singing in the choir with a dry heart, or poured out in the refectory over tasty food, quickly bringing me back to the interior through the sacred words of your mouth, sweeter than any earthly dish, as if they had been sent to me from heaven. Open my mind to understand the clear truths in the obscure passages of Holy Scripture, and ignite my heart with the fire of your love in the straightforward and devout meanings of your words, just as you did for those two disciples of yours after your appearance and teaching, who together on the road, nourished by the Word of God and food, said with gratitude: "Wasn't our heart burning within us as he spoke to us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"^✦ These words are most sweet and devout, and they are sung and chanted in chorus by clerics and priests, by canons and monks, by cloistered and nuns of various orders and habits, especially on the days of Easter and during the feasts of certain saints, with devout minds and joyful voices for the praise of God and His saints. O all you holy ones of God, pray for my negligence as long as I wander in this world, for I am often troubled still by passions both within and without, lest I be overcome, alas, by wicked spirits and deprived of the eternal joys promised to the servants of Christ in heaven, which rightly ought to provoke me to resist strongly against harmful inclinations and the thoughts of my heart through devout prayers and holy meditations on the life and passion of Christ, recalling at least one article each day about so many wounds and sufferings of my Lord Jesus Christ, crucified for me. The wounds of Christ are the medicine for my soul, and His sacred words are golden shields against the fiery darts of the enemy. May divine protection assist me everywhere, in every place and time, along with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Amen.