SR
Chapter 31VisiteSS.1.31

Visita XXXI

The Waiting Savior

Jesus waits for us on our altars just as he waited for the Samaritan woman at the well, inviting us to draw near without fear.

What a beautiful sight it was to see our sweet Redeemer that day when, worn out from his journey, he sat, gentle and loving, by a well, waiting for the Samaritan woman to convert and save her. So Jesus sat there by the well (Jn. 4). Just so, it seems that he himself stays with us gently all day long even now—come down from heaven onto our altars as onto so many wells of grace—waiting for souls and inviting them to keep him company, at least for a little while, so as to draw them by that into his perfect love.1 From every altar where Jesus is present in the Sacrament, it seems he speaks and says to all: People, why do you flee from my presence?2 Why don't you come and draw near to me, who love you so much and who remain here so humbled for your good? What are you afraid of? I haven't come to earth to judge; I have hidden myself in this Sacrament of love only to do good and to save everyone who turns to me: Non.3 . . I didn't come to judge the world, but to save the world (Jn.4 12:47).

The Merciful Advocate

In the Sacrament, Christ continues his heavenly work of intercession, offering himself as a victim for our salvation.

So we understand that just as Jesus Christ in heaven is always living to intercede for us (Heb. 7:25): so in the Sacrament of the altar He is continually, night and day, carrying out the merciful office of advocate for us, offering Himself as a victim to the Eternal Father to obtain for us from Him mercies and countless graces. That is why the devout Kempis used to say that we should draw near to speak to Jesus in the Sacrament without fear of punishment and without reserve, but as to a beloved friend: as a beloved one is used to speaking to the beloved, a friend to a friend.5

A Heart Offered in Love

The soul responds to Christ's hidden presence with a promise of total amendment and a vow of exclusive love.

Since you allow me this, let me open my heart to you with confidence, O my hidden King and Lord, and say to you: O my Jesus, O lover of souls, I know well the wrong people do to you. You love them, and you are not loved; you do good, and receive contempt; you want them to hear your voice, and they will not listen; you offer your graces, and they refuse them.6 Ah, my Jesus, is it true that I too once joined those ungrateful people in displeasing you so? O God, it is all too true; but I want to change my life, and in the days I have left, I want to make up for the offenses I’ve caused you by doing all I can to please you and bring you delight.7 Tell me, Lord, what you want from me: I want to do it all without reserve. Make it known to me through holy obedience, and I hope to do it. My God, I resolutely promise you never to leave undone anything I understand, from this day forward, to be more to your pleasure—even if I had to lose everything: relatives, friends, reputation, health, or even life itself. Let everything be lost, as long as you are pleased. Happy is the loss when one loses and sacrifices everything to content your Heart, O God of my soul. I love you, O highest Good, more lovable than any other good; and in loving you, I join my little heart to all the hearts with which the seraphim love you; I join it to the Heart of Mary and the Heart of Jesus. I love you with my whole self, and I want to love you alone; I always want to love you alone. James.8 My God, my God, I am yours and you are mine. Spiritual Communion.

The Mother's Intercession

Mary stands before the Creator as our powerful advocate, and the soul seeks her help to remain faithful until death.

To Mary. The Blessed says9 that our most blessed queen Mary continually stands in the divine presence, acting as our advocate and offering prayers that are most powerful with God: "The most blessed Virgin stands before the face of the Creator, always interceding for us with her most powerful prayer." He adds that she already sees our miseries and our dangers, and the merciful Lady, with a mother's love, takes pity on us and comes to our help: "For she sees our perils, and our merciful and gentle Lady has compassion with a mother's affection." So then, my advocate and my most loving mother, do you see the miseries of my soul at this very hour? Do you see my dangers, and are you praying for me? Pray, pray, and never stop praying, until you see me safe, thanking you in paradise. After your Only-Begotten Son, you are the sure salvation of the faithful.10 The devout Blosius tells me that you, O most sweet Mary, after Jesus, are the sure salvation of those who are your faithful servants. Ah, this is the grace I seek from you today: grant me the lot of being your faithful slave until death, so that after death I may come to bless you in heaven, sure that I will never again have to leave your holy feet for as long as God is God.1112 Aspiration.13 O Mary, my mother, make me always yours.

The Tower of Defense

The soul finds its portion in God and seeks refuge in Mary, the Tower of David, against the assaults of the enemy.

My Beloved, my God, you are already mine; I give you my heart and everything I am. I want nothing from you but yourself. What is there for me in heaven, and what have I desired on earth besides you? . . . God of my heart and my portion, God forever (Ps. (Psalm 73:25-26). O Mary, you are the tower of David, holding a thousand defenses for the good of those who turn to you. “Your neck is like the tower of David, built with ramparts; a thousand shields hang from it, all the armor of the strong” (Cant. IV, 4). In the same way, my Mother, you are the strongest defense for those who stand in the battle. Oh, what assaults, my Lady, the enemies keep launching against me to strip me of God's grace and of your protection! But you are my fortress and my hope. You don't scorn to fight for those who trust in you; that is why Saint Ephrem calls you the Champion of those who put their trust in you.14 O Mary, defend me and fight for me, for I put so much trust in you. James.15 Mary, Mary, your name is my defense.

Read the original Latin

Oh che bel vedere era il vedere il nostro dolce Redentore in quel giorno in cui stracco dal viaggio sedea tutto piacevole ed amoroso sopra d'un fonte, aspettando la Samaritana per convertirla e salvarla! Iesus ergo sedebat sic super fontem (Io. IV). Così appunto sembra ch'egli medesimo tutto giorno al presente dolcemente si trattenga con noi, sceso dal cielo sui nostri altari, come su tanti fonti di grazie, aspettando ed invitando l'anime a tenergli compagnia, almeno per qualche tempo, affine di tirarle con ciò al perfetto suo amore. Da tutti gli altari dove sta Gesù sacramentato par ch'egli parli e dica a tutti: Uomini, perché fuggite dalla mia presenza? Perché non venite e vi accostate a me che tanto v'amo e per vostro bene sto qui così umiliato? Che timore avete? non son io già ora venuto in terra per giudicare, ma mi son nascosto in questo Sacramento d'amore solo per far bene e salvare ognuno che a me ricorre: Non.

. . veni ut iudicem mundum, sed ut salvificem mundum (Io. XII, 47).

Intendiamo dunque che conforme Gesù Cristo nel cielo sta semper vivens ad interpellandum pro nobis (Hebr. VII, 25): così nel Sacramento dell'altare sta facendo continuamente notte e giorno il pietoso officio d'avvocato per noi, offerendosi vittima all'Eterno Padre per ottenerci da lui misericordie e grazie innumerabili. Diceva perciò il divoto de Kempis che dobbiamo accostarci a parlare a Gesù sacramentato senza timore di castighi e senza soggezione, ma come ad un amico amato: Sicut solet loqui dilectus ad dilectum, amicus ad amicum.

Giacché dunque così mi permettete, lasciate dunque, o nascosto mio re e signore, ch'io vi apra con confidenza il mio cuore e vi dica: O mio Gesù, o innamorato delle anime, io ben conosco il torto che vi fanno gli uomini. Voi l'amate, e non siete amato: fate bene, e ricevete disprezzi: volete far sentire loro le vostre voci, e non vi danno udienza: offerite le vostre grazie, e le ricusano. Ah Gesù mio, ed è vero ch'io ancora mi sono unito un tempo con quest'ingrati a così disgustarvi? Oh Dio, è troppo vero; ma io voglio emendarmi e voglio compensare ne' giorni che mi restano di vita, i disgusti che v'ho dati, con fare quanto posso per piacervi e darvi gusto. Dite, Signore, quel che volete da me: tutto lo voglio fare senza riserba: fatemelo sapere per mezzo della santa ubbidienza, e spero di farlo. Dio mio, risolutamente io vi prometto di non lasciare mai cosa ch'io intenda da oggi avanti essere di maggior vostro gusto: ancorché ci avessi a perdere ogni cosa, parenti, amici, stima, sanità, anche la vita. Si perda tutto e si dia gusto a voi. Felice perdita, quando si perde e sacrifica tutto per contentare il vostro Cuore, o Dio dell'anima mia.

V'amo, o sommo bene, amabile più d'ogni altro bene; ed in amarvi unisco il mio picciolo cuore a tutt'i cuori coi quali v'amano i serafini; l'unisco al Cuore di Maria, al Cuore di Gesù. V'amo con tutto me stesso e solo voi voglio amare e sempre solo voi voglio amare. Giac. Mio Dio, mio Dio, io son tuo e tu sei mio. La comunione spirituale.

A Maria. Dice il B. Amedeo che la beatissima nostra regina Maria continuamente sta alla divina presenza facendo la nostra avvocata ed interponendo le sue preghiere che sono potentissime appresso Dio: Adstat beatissima Virgo vultui conditoris, prece potentissima semper interpellans pro nobis. Poiché, soggiunge, già ella vede le nostre miserie e i nostri pericoli, e la clemente Signora con amore di madre ci compatisce e ci soccorre: Videt enim nostra discrimina, nostrique clemens ac dulcis domina materno affectu miseretur. Dunque, avvocata mia e mia amorosissima madre, voi a quest'ora già vedete le miserie dell'anima mia, vedete i miei pericoli e state pregando per me? Pregate, pregate, e non lasciate mai di pregare, sin tanto che non mi vediate salvo a ringraziarvi in paradiso. Tu post Unigenitum tuum certa fidelium salus. Mi dice il divoto Blosio che voi, o Maria dolcissima, dopo Gesù siete la salute certa di coloro che vi sono servi fedeli.

Ah questa grazia io oggi vi cerco, concedetemi la sorte di essere vostro schiavo fedele sino alla morte, acciocché dopo la morte venga a benedirvi in cielo, sicuro di non aver mai più a separarmi da' vostri santi piedi per mentre Dio sarà Dio. Giac. O Maria madre mia, fa che tuo io sempre sia.

Mio ben, mio Dio, tu già sei mio; Ti dono il core e tutto me. Da te non voglio altro che te. Quid mihi est in caelo, et a te quid volui super terram? . . . Deus cordis mei et pars mea Deus in aeternum (Ps. LXXII, 25, 26).

O Maria, Voi siete la torre di Davidde, che tiene mille difese a beneficio di coloro che a Voi ricorrono. Sicut turris David collum tuum, quae aedificata est cum propugnaculis; mille clypei pendent ex ea, omnis armatura fortium (Cant. IV, 4). Voi dunque, o Madre mia, siete la difesa fortissima di coloro, che stanno nella battaglia. Oh quali assalti, Signora mia, continuamente mi stan dando i nemici, per privarmi della grazia di Dio e della vostra protezione! Ma Voi siete la mia fortezza e la speranza mia. Voi non isdegnate di combattere per coloro che in Voi confidano; onde vi chiama S. Ephrem: Propugnatrix confidentium in te. O Maria, difendetemi e combattete per me, che tanto in Voi confido.

Giac. Maria, Maria, il nome tuo è la difesa mia.

Scripture echoes

  1. John.4.6Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, wearied from the journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
  2. John.12.47And if anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
  3. John.12.47And if anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
  4. John.12.47And if anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.
  5. Heb.7.25Therefore he is able to save completely those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them.
  6. Ps.73.25-Ps.73.26Whom have I in heaven but you? And with you I desire nothing on earth. Ps.73.26 — My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
  7. Song.4.4Your neck is like the tower of David, built for an armory — a thousand shields hang upon it, all the weapons of the warriors.
  8. Song.4.4Your neck is like the tower of David, built for an armory — a thousand shields hang upon it, all the weapons of the warriors.

Notes

  1. 1grazie is plural graces (gifts of grace), not thanks; fonti di grazie continues the well imagery from John 4 applied to the altar.
  2. 2Gesù sacramentato rendered as Jesus present in the Sacrament to keep Eucharistic specificity without archaic diction.
  3. 3Trailing Non. is the cut-off start of the Latin citation Non veni... continued in the next section (John 12:47).
  4. 4The negation Non is stranded in the previous sentence (VisiteSS.1.31.1.s8: "Non."). Without it, the Latin of this sentence alone ("veni ut iudicem mundum, sed ut salvificem mundum") would reverse the sense of Jn 12:47. The rendering restores the full citation sense.
  5. 5Gesù sacramentato rendered as 'Jesus in the Sacrament' to keep Eucharistic specificity without archaism.
  6. 6Italian 'l'amate' is read as 'you love them' (men/souls from s1); 'grazie' rendered as divine graces, not ordinary thanks.
  7. 7'disgusti' / 'darvi gusto' keep the older Italian sense of offense and delight given to God, not modern 'disgust' as revulsion.
  8. 8Italian abbreviation 'Giac.' almost certainly marks Giacomo (the Epistle of James), as a citation label; it stands alone as its own printed sentence before the following line.
  9. 9Italian 'il B.' is the conventional abbreviation for 'il Beato' (the Blessed); the name Amadeus follows in the next sentence.
  10. 10Source sentence is Latin: 'Tu post Unigenitum tuum certa fidelium salus.' Rendered into English as part of the Italian section's mixed-language witness; 'salus' is theological 'salvation,' not bodily health.
  11. 11schiavo fedele: rendered 'faithful slave' to keep the total self-gift of the Italian; 'faithful servant' would soften it.
  12. 12per mentre Dio sarà Dio: idiomatic forever-clause ('for as long as God is God'); not a temporal doubt about God.
  13. 13Giac. is almost certainly an abbreviation of Giaculatoria (ejaculatory prayer / short aspiration) introducing the following verse; not expanded beyond that sense.
  14. 14Source Latin title Propugnatrix confidentium in te rendered as Champion of those who put their trust in you; Defender/Protectress are also natural English options for propugnatrix.
  15. 15Bare Italian abbreviation «Giac.»—likely a source tag (e.g. Giacomo/James or a named author), not full prose. Left as in the source; later stages should resolve the citation.

Visite al Santissimo Sacramento (Visits to the Blessed Sacrament) companion

A prayer for every moment, already on your phone

Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.

Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.

  • One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
  • Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
  • Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app)