Visita XXVI
The Presence of Love
The author reflects on the joy of Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, identifying Him as the very essence of love.
Rejoice and sing praises, O dwelling of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is great in your midst (Is.✦ 12:6).✦ O God, what joy we human beings ought to feel, what hopes and what affections, knowing that in the midst of our lands, in our churches, and near our homes, He dwells and lives in the most holy1 Sacrament of the altar—the Holy of Holies, the true God! The One who by His presence makes the saints blessed in paradise! The One who is love itself! He does not just possess love; He is love itself, as St. Bernard says.2 This Sacrament is not only a Sacrament of love, but is love itself—the very God who, because of the immense love He bears for His creatures, is called and is love itself: God is love.
A Vow of Visitation
The author expresses contrition for past neglect of the Blessed Sacrament and resolves to visit and remain with Jesus more faithfully.
But I hear you lamenting, O my Jesus in the Sacrament: I was a stranger, and you did not take me in. You came to be our guest on earth for our own good, and we have not welcomed you. You are right, Lord, you are right; and I am one of those ungrateful people who have left you alone, without even coming to visit you. Punish me as you will, but not with the punishment I would deserve—being deprived of your presence; no, for I want to amend my roughness and the discourtesies I have shown you. From this day on, I want not only to visit you often, but to stay with you whenever I can. O most merciful Savior, make me faithful to you, and by my example, set others on fire to keep you company in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I hear the Eternal Father saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 17:5).✦ So a God finds in you all his delight—and will I, a miserable worm, not find it too by remaining with you in this valley of tears?✦✦ O consuming fire, destroy in me every attachment to created things, because these alone can make me unfaithful and draw me away from you.✦ You can if you want to: Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.✦ You have done so much for me; do this one more thing: drive from my heart every love that does not lead toward you.3 See, I give myself entirely to you: today I dedicate all the life that remains to me to the love of the Most Holy Sacrament. You, my Jesus in the Sacrament, are to be my comfort and my love in life and at the time of my death, when you will come to be my Viaticum and my guide to your blessed kingdom.4 Amen, amen. That is my hope; so be it. Ejaculation.5 When, my Jesus, will I see your beautiful face? Spiritual Communion.
Mary, Our Refuge and Advocate
The author turns to the Blessed Virgin Mary, invoking her titles as the Queen of Mercy and the bridge through whom grace reaches the soul.
To Mary. In you, our most holy Mother, we find a remedy for all our ills; in you we find the restoration of our weakness, just as St. Germanus calls you Potentia debilitatis nostrae. In you we find the door out of slavery to sin, as St. Bonaventure calls you Porta libertatis. In you we find our sure peace—Quies tuta hominum, as that same saint names you.6 In you we find relief for our wretched life—Solatium peregrinationis nostrae, as St. Lawrence Justinian says of you. In short, in you we find divine grace and God himself, as St. Bonaventure calls you Thronus gratiae Dei, and Proclus: Pons per quem Deus ad homines descendit — a blessed bridge by which God, made distant by our sins, then comes to dwell by his grace in our souls. Aspiration.7 O Mary, you are my strength, my deliverance, my peace, and my salvation. O Mary, I will say to you with St. Bernard: You are the Queen of mercy—and who are the subjects of mercy if not the wretched? You are the Queen of mercy, and I am a most wretched sinner, the greatest of your subjects. Reign over us, then, O Queen of mercy. Since you are the Queen of mercy and I am the most wretched sinner of all, I am the greatest of your subjects—and you must care for me more than for all the rest. Come, then, our Advocate, and turn your merciful eyes toward us.8 O my Queen and Advocate, look on me and have pity on me. Ejaculation.9 O Mary, my refuge, pray to Jesus for me.
Read the original Latin
Exulta et lauda habitatio Sion, quia magnus in medio tui sanctus Israel (Is. XII, 6). Oh Dio, e quale gaudio dovressimo noi uomini concepire, quali speranze e quali affetti, in sapere che in mezzo alle nostre patrie, nelle nostre chiese, vicino alle nostre case vi abita e vive nel SS. Sacramento dell'altare il Santo de' Santi, il vero Dio! Quello che colla sua presenza fa beati i santi nel paradiso! Quello ch'è lo stesso amore! Amorem non tam habet, quam ipse est, dice S. Bernardo. Questo Sacramento non solo è Sacramento d'amore, ma è lo stesso amore, lo stesso Dio, che per l'amore immenso che porta alle sue creature si chiama ed è lo stesso amore: Deus caritas est.
Ma io vi sento lamentare, o Gesù mio sacramentato: Hospes eram et non collegistis me. Che voi siete venuto ad essere nostr'ospite in terra per nostro bene, e che noi non vi abbiamo accolto. Avete ragione, Signore, avete ragione; ed io sono uno di quest'ingrati che vi ho lasciato solo, senza venire neppure a visitarvi. Castigatemi come volete, ma non col castigo ch'io meriterei, d'esser privato della vostra presenza; no, ch'io voglio emendare la mia rozzezza e le scortesie che vi ho usate. Voglio da oggi avanti non solo visitarvi spesso, ma trattenermi quando posso con voi. O pietosissimo Salvatore, fate ch'io vi sia fedele ed infiammi col mio esempio anche gli altri a tenervi compagnia nel SS. Sacramento. Io sento l'Eterno Padre che dice: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui (Matth.
XVII, 5). Dunque un Dio trova in voi tutte le sue compiacenze, e non ve le troverò io, verme miserabile, a starmene con voi in questa valle di lagrime? O fuoco consumatore, distruggete in me tutti gli affetti alle cose create, perché queste sole possono rendermi infedele ed allontanarmi da voi. Voi potete se volete: Domine, si vis, potes me mundare. Avete fatto tanto per me, fate quest'altro cacciate dal mio cuore tutti gli amori che non tendono a voi. Ecco, io a voi mi dono tutto: dedico oggi tutta la vita che mi resta all'amore del SS. Sacramento. Voi, Gesù mio sacramentato, avete da essere il mio conforto, il mio amore in vita e nel tempo della mia morte, allorché verrete ad essermi viatico e condottiere al vostro regno beato.
Amen, amen. Così spero, così sia. Giac. Quando, Gesù mio, vedrò la tua bella faccia? La comunione spirituale.
A Maria. In voi, o santissima nostra madre, troviamo rimedio in tutti i nostri mali: in voi troviamo il ristoro della nostra debolezza, mentre vi chiama S. Germano, Potentia debilitatis nostrae. In voi troviamo la porta per uscire dalla schiavitù del peccato, mentre vi chiama S. Bonaventura Porta libertatis. In voi troviamo la nostra sicura pace: Quies tuta hominum, vi nomina lo stesso. In voi troviamo il sollievo della nostra misera vita: Solatium peregrinationis nostrae, come vi dice S. Lorenzo Giustiniano. In voi troviamo in somma la grazia divina e Dio medesimo, mentre S. Bonaventura vi chiama: Thronus gratiae Dei; e Proclo: Pons per quem Deus ad homines descendit: un ponte felice per cui Dio, fatto lontano per le nostre colpe, passa poi ad abitare colla sua grazia nell'anime nostre. Giac. O Maria, voi siete la fortezza mia, la liberazione, la pace e la salute mia.
O Maria, vi dirò con S. Bernardo: Tu es Regina misericordiae, et qui subditi misericordiae nisi miseri? Tu Regina misericordiae, et ego miserrimus peccator, subditorum maximus. Rege nos ergo, o Regina misericordiae. Giacché dunque Voi siete la Regina della misericordia, ed io sono il peccatore, più misero di tutti, dunque io sono il più grande di tutti i vostri sudditi, e Voi dovete avere più cura di me che di tutti gli altri. Eja ergo, Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte. O Regina ed Avvocata mia, guardatemi ed abbiate pietà di me. Giac. O Maria rifugio mio, pregate Gesù per me.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.12.6 — Cry out and shout, O dweller of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
- ↩Isa.12.6 — Cry out and shout, O dweller of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
- ↩Matt.17.5 — While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.'
- ↩Ps.84.6 — Blessed is the person whose strength is in you, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
- ↩Matt.17.5 — While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.'
- ↩Deut.4.24;Heb.12.29 — For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Heb.12.29 — For our God is a consuming fire.
- ↩Matt.8.2;Mark.1.40;Luke.5.12 — And behold, a leper came and was bowing before him, saying, 'Lord, if you are willing, you are able to cleanse me.' Mark.1.40 — And a leper came to him, begging him and kneeling, saying to him, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Luke.5.12 — And it came to pass, while he was in one of the cities, behold, a man full of leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, saying, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."
Notes
- 1 ↩Sentence is continued by s4: 'Most Holy' belongs with 'Sacrament of the altar.'
- 2 ↩Latin embedded quotation from St. Bernard: Amorem non tam habet, quam ipse est.
- 3 ↩Source lacks a pause between 'quest'altro' and 'cacciate'; rendered as an imperative apposition: do this further thing—drive out...
- 4 ↩'condottiere' rendered as 'guide' (spiritual escort), not military 'condottiere'; 'viatico' kept as Viaticum for Eucharistic specificity.
- 5 ↩Source abbreviates "Giac." In the Visits genre this is almost certainly Giaculatoria (a brief aspiratory prayer), not the biblical abbreviation for James (Giacomo). Rendered as the traditional English heading "Ejaculation."
- 6 ↩"lo stesso" refers to St. Bonaventure in the preceding sentence, who also supplies the Latin title Quies tuta hominum.
- 7 ↩Source abbreviation "Giac." is the standard Liguori rubric for giaculatoria (a brief aspiratory prayer); rendered as "Aspiration."
- 8 ↩Latin line from the Salve Regina (Advocata nostra… misericordes oculos… converte), embedded as a quoted petition.
- 9 ↩Source abbreviation 'Giac.' almost certainly labels a giaculatoria (short aspiration/ejaculatory prayer), matching the pattern in neighboring sections; rendered as the conventional English heading 'Ejaculation.'
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