Visita XI
Abiding with the Good Shepherd
The soul is encouraged to remain close to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, in the Blessed Sacrament to receive his special favors.
Let us take care not to stray away, says St. Teresa, nor lose sight of our dear shepherd Jesus; because the little sheep that stay close to their shepherd are always more caressed and more favored with gifts, and he always gives them some little morsel more special than what he himself eats. If it happens that the shepherd is asleep, the little sheep does not go away until the shepherd wakes or she wakes him; and then, with new gifts, she is caressed by him. My Redeemer in the Sacrament, here I am close to you: I want no other gift from you than fervor and perseverance in your love.1
Faith in the Real Presence
An act of faith and total surrender to the Lord present in the Eucharist, seeking to live a life of love and imitation of Mary.
I thank you, O holy faith: you make me know and assure me that in the divine Sacrament of the altar, in that heavenly bread, there is no bread, but my whole Lord Jesus Christ is there, and he is there for love of me. My Lord and my all, I believe you are present in the Most Holy2 Sacrament; and though unknown to the eyes of flesh, with the light of holy faith I recognize you under the consecrated host as monarch of heaven and earth and as Savior of the world. Ah, my sweetest Jesus, just as you are my hope, my salvation, my strength, and my consolation, so I want you also to be my whole love and the only object of all my thoughts, my desires, and my affections.3 I take more delight in the supreme happiness you enjoy and will enjoy forever than in any good I myself could ever have in time or in eternity. My highest contentment is that you, my beloved Redeemer, are fully content, and that your happiness is infinite. Reign, reign, my Lord, over my whole soul; I give it all to you: possess it always. May my will, my senses, and my powers all be servants of your love, and may they serve in this world only to give you pleasure and glory.4 Such was your life, O first lover and Mother of my Jesus, most holy Mary. Help me; obtain for me through your prayers the grace to live from this day forward as you always lived—happy and wholly given to God.5 — James.6 My Jesus, may I be wholly yours, and may you be wholly mine. Spiritual Communion.
Watching at the Gates of Mercy
A devotional appeal to the Blessed Virgin Mary, seeking her intercession as the propitiatory of grace and the source of hope.
To Mary. Blessed is the person who keeps watch daily at my gates and waits at the posts of my door (Prov.✦ 8). Blessed is the one who, like the poor waiting at the doors of the rich, stands watch seeking alms of grace before the doors of Mary's mercy! And more blessed still is the one who seeks all the more to imitate the virtues he sees in Mary, especially her purity and humility! My hope, come to my help. O Mother of mercy, appease your Son. While You were on the earth, You occupied only a small part of it; but now that You have been raised above the highest of the heavens, the whole world regards You as the common propitiatory of all peoples.7 We beg you, then, O holy Virgin, to grant us the help of your prayers before God—prayers dearer and more precious to us than all the treasures of the earth; prayers that make God favorable regarding our sins and obtain for us a great abundance of graces, so that we may receive forgiveness and practice the virtues; prayers that stop our enemies, confound their designs, and triumph over their efforts.8 With St. Bernard: This is all my confidence; this is the whole ground of my hope.9
Read the original Latin
Procuriamo non allontanarci, dice S. Teresa, né perdere di vista il nostro caro pastore Gesù; perché le pecorelle che stanno vicino al loro pastore sempre sono più accarezzate e più regalate e sempre dà loro qualche bocconcino più particolare di quello ch'egli stesso mangia. Se avviene che il pastore dorme la pecorella non si allontana finché si desti il pastore o ella lo svegli; ed allora con nuovi regali vien da quello accarezzata. Redentore mio sacramentato, eccomi vicino a voi: non voglio altro regalo da voi che il fervore e la perseveranza nel vostro amore.
Io vi ringrazio, o santa fede, voi mi fate sapere e mi accertate che nel divin Sacramento dell'altare, in quel pane celeste non vi è pane, ma vi sta tutto il mio Signor Gesù Cristo e vi sta per amor mio. Signor mio e mio tutto, io vi credo presente nel SS. Sacramento; e benché sconosciuto agli occhi di carne io vi riconosco col lume della santa fede sotto l'ostia consacrata per monarca del cielo e della terra e per Salvatore del mondo. Ah Gesù mio dolcissimo, siccome voi siete la mia speranza, la mia salute, la mia fortezza, la mia consolazione, così voglio che voi siate ancora tutto il mio amore e l'unico oggetto di tutt'i miei pensieri, de' miei desideri e degli affetti miei. Io mi compiaccio più della vostra somma felicità che godete e godrete in eterno, che d'ogni bene che potrei avere io mai nel tempo e nell'eternità. Il mio sommo contento è che voi, amato mio Redentore, siete pienamente contento e che la vostra felicità è infinita. Regnate, regnate, Signor mio, sopra tutta l'anima mia; io ve la dono tutta: voi possedetela sempre. La mia volontà, i miei sensi, le mie potenze siano tutte serve del vostro amore e non servano nel mondo che a darvi gusto e gloria.
Tale fu la vostra vita, o prima amante e Madre del mio Gesù, Maria ss. : voi aiutatemi, voi impetratemi il vivere da oggi avanti come sempre viveste voi felice tutta di Dio. - Giac. Mio Gesù, io sia tutto vostro e voi siate tutto mio. La comunione spirituale.
A Maria. Beatus vir qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie et observat ad postes ostii mei (Prov. VIII). Beato quegli che come i poveri fanno avanti le porte de' ricchi sta attento a cercar limosina di grazie avanti le porte della misericordia di Maria! E più beato chi cerca di più imitare le virtù che osserva in Maria, specialmente la sua purità ed umiltà! Speranza mia, soccorrimi tu.
O Madre di misericordia, placate il vostro Figliuolo. Mentre Voi eravate sulla terra, non ne occupavate che una piccola parte; ma orché siete inalzata sovra il più alto dei cieli, tutto il mondo vi considera come propiziatorio commune di tutte le genti. Vi supplichiamo dunque, o Vergine santa, di concederci il soccorso delle vostre preghiere appresso Dio, preghiere che ci sono più care e più preziose che tutti i tesori della terra; preghiere che rendono Dio propizio a' nostri peccati, e ci ottengono una grande abbondanza di grazie, per ricevere il perdono e praticare le virtù; preghiere che arrestano i nemici, confondono i loro disegni e trionfano de' loro sforzi. con S. Bernardo: Haec tota mea fiducia, haec tota ratio spei meae.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Prov.8.34 — Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my gates.
Notes
- 1 ↩Italian sacramentato names Christ as present under the sacramental species; rendered 'in the Sacrament' to keep Eucharistic specificity without archaic 'sacramented'.
- 2 ↩Italian SS. is the conventional abbreviation for Santissimo; rendered as Most Holy. The sentence is split mid-phrase from s3 in the source segmentation.
- 3 ↩salute rendered as salvation (spiritual rescue/well-being); health is possible but less apt in this chain of theological goods.
- 4 ↩gusto rendered as pleasure (delight/satisfaction given to God), not modern casual taste.
- 5 ↩impetratemi retains the sense of Marian intercession: obtain for me by petition/prayer, not merely help me succeed.
- 6 ↩Source is the bare Italian biblical abbreviation «Giac.» (Giacomo = James), with no chapter/verse preserved in this split.
- 7 ↩propiziatorio commune: kept as 'common propitiatory' (place of propitiation / mercy-seat figure for Mary's intercession); 'common' = shared by all nations (commune).
- 8 ↩rendono Dio propizio a' nostri peccati: rendered 'make God favorable regarding our sins' (God made propitious with respect to our sins, i.e. inclined to pardon).
- 9 ↩Latin citation from St. Bernard left in English sense of the quote; ratio spei meae as 'ground of my hope' (not mere 'reason' as calculation).
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