Visita IV
The Joy of Eucharistic Presence
The author contrasts the fleeting contentment of worldly friendships with the enduring, paradisiacal joy found in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
There is no bitterness in her company,1 .2 .3 nor is there any weariness in living with her.4 Wis. 8:16. The friends of the world find so much contentment among themselves that they waste whole days just staying together. As for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, only those who don't love him find it tedious.5 The saints have found paradise before the Most Holy Sacrament. After her death, Saint Teresa said to one of her nuns from heaven: Those in heaven and those on earth must be one and the same in purity and in love—we enjoying, and you suffering; and what we do in heaven with the divine essence, you must do on earth with the Most Holy Sacrament. So then, here is our paradise on earth: the Most Holy Sacrament.
A Prayer of Total Self-Surrender
A personal act of consecration and prayer, offering the soul entirely to the sacrificed Lamb of God.
O immaculate Lamb, sacrificed for us on the cross, remember that I am one of those souls you have redeemed with so much suffering and with your death.✦ Make yourself mine, and never let me lose you, since you’ve given yourself to me and give yourself every day, sacrificing yourself for love of me on the altars; and make me entirely yours. I give myself entirely to you, so that you may do with me whatever you will. I give you my will; bind it yourself with the sweet chains of your love, so that it may be forever the slave of your most holy will.6 I no longer want to live to satisfy my own desires, but only to please your goodness. Destroy in me everything that doesn't please you; give me the grace to have no thought but of pleasing you, and no desire except for what you desire. I love you, O my dear Savior, with all my heart; I love you because you desire to be loved by me; I love you because you are well worthy of it. It grieves me that I don't love you as much as you deserve. I wish I could die for the love of you. Lord, accept my desire and give me your love. Amen. So be it. Aspiration.7 O good pleasure of my God, I sacrifice myself entirely to you.8 Spiritual Communion.
Seeking Divine Love Through Mary
The visit concludes by invoking Mary as the Mother of Fair Love, asking her to dispense the grace of divine love and intercede for our salvation.
To Mary. I am the mother of fair love. I am the mother of fair love, says Mary—that is, of that love which makes souls beautiful. St. Mary Magdalene de' Pazzi saw the most holy Mary going about, dispensing a sweet liquor that was divine love. This gift is dispensed only through Mary; let's seek it from her.9 Aspiration.10 My Mother, my hope, make me wholly Jesus's. A prayer by St. Germanus. O my Lady, you who are our defense and joy, make me worthy to share in the great happiness you enjoy in heaven. Yes, my Queen, my refuge, my life, my help, my defense, my fortress, my joy, my hope—grant that I may enter paradise with you. I know that because you are the Mother of God, you can certainly obtain this for me, if you choose. O Mary, you are all-powerful to save sinners, and you need no other recommendation, because you are the Mother of true life.11 Aspiration.12 My Mother, my hope, make me belong entirely to Jesus.
Read the original Latin
Non. . . habet amaritudinem conversatio illius, nec taedium convictus illius. Sap. VIII, 16. Gli amici del mondo trovano tanto contento tra loro, che perdono le giornate intiere a starsene insieme. Con Gesù sacramentato ci trova tedio chi non l'ama.
I santi han trovato il paradiso avanti il SS. Sacramento. S. Teresa dal cielo disse ad una sua religiosa dopo morte: Quelli del cielo e della terra dobbiamo essere una stessa cosa nella purità e nell'amore: noi godendo e voi patendo: e quello che noi facciamo in cielo colla divina essenza, dovete voi fare in terra col SS. Sacramento. Ecco dunque il nostro paradiso in terra, il SS. Sacramento.
O Agnello immacolato e sacrificato per noi sopra la croce, ricordatevi ch'io sono una di quell'anime che voi avete redente con tanti dolori e colla vostra morte. Fate che voi siate mio e non vi perda mai, giacché a me vi siete donato e vi donate ogni giorno, sacrificandovi per amor mio sugli altari; e fate ch'io sia tutto vostro. Io mi dono tutto a voi, acciocché facciate di me quello che volete. Io vi dono la mia volontà, incatenatela voi coi dolci ligami del vostro amore, acciocché ella sia schiava eterna della vostra santissima volontà. Io non voglio vivere più per soddisfare i miei desideri, ma solo per contentare la vostra bontà. Distruggete in me tutto ciò che non vi piace; datemi la grazia di non avere altro pensiero che di piacere a voi, non altro desiderio se non di quello che desiderate voi. V'amo, o caro mio Salvatore, con tutto il mio cuore; v'amo perché desiderate d'esser amato da me; v'amo perché ne siete ben degno. Ho pena di non amarvi quanto meritate.
Vorrei morire per amor vostro. Signore, accettate il mio desiderio e datemi il vostro amore. Amen. Così sia. - Giac. O beneplacito del mio Dio, io mi sacrifico tutto a voi. La comunione spirituale.
A Maria. Ego mater pulchrae dilectionis. Io son la madre del bello amore, dice Maria; cioè di quell'amore che fa belle le anime. S. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi vide Maria santissima che andava dispensando un dolce liquore ch'era il divino amore. Questo dono solo per Maria si dispensa, a Maria cerchiamolo. Giac. Madre mia, speranza mia, fammi tutto di Gesù.
Orazione dello stesso S. Germano. O mia Signora, Voi che siete la nostra difesa e gioia, rendetemi degno di godere con Voi di quella gran felicità, che Voi godete nel cielo. Sì, mia regina, mio rifugio, mia vita, mio aiuto, mia difesa, mia fortezza, mia allegrezza, mia speranza, fate ch'io venga con Voi in paradiso. Io so che essendo Voi la Madre di Dio, ben potete ottenermelo, se volete. O Maria, Voi siete onnipotente per salvare i peccatori, né avete bisogno d'altra raccomandazione, perché siete la Madre della vera vita. Giac. Madre mia, speranza mia, fatemi tutto di Gesù.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.1.29;1Pet.1.19 — The next day he sees Jesus coming toward him and says, "Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" 1Pet.1.19 — but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot
Notes
- 1 ↩Source is only the fragment 'Non.'; rendered as the opening of the intended Vulgate Wisdom citation completed in s4 (Non habet amaritudinem conversatio illius…).
- 2 ↩Source is only a bare period with no lexical content; likely a bad split of the Latin Wisdom citation spanning s1–s4.
- 3 ↩Source is only a bare period with no lexical content; likely a bad split of the Latin Wisdom citation spanning s1–s4.
- 4 ↩Latin conversatio / convictus: rendered as company / living with her (Wisdom personified). The first clause is negated by Non in s1; nec preserves the second negation.
- 5 ↩Gesù sacramentato rendered as 'Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament' to keep Eucharistic specificity; tedio kept as 'tedious' to echo taedium in the Wisdom citation.
- 6 ↩Italian ligami can be bonds/ties/chains; schiava is strong servitude language kept as 'slave' for fidelity to the source's force, not softened to 'servant'.
- 7 ↩Italian "Giac." is the conventional abbreviation for Giaculatoria (a short aspirational prayer). Rendered here as the section label "Aspiration." rather than the older English "Ejaculation," which can mislead modern readers.
- 8 ↩"beneplacito" is rendered "good pleasure" to keep the traditional sense of God's gracious will/favor (beneplacitum), not mere preference.
- 9 ↩'solo per Maria' rendered as 'only through Mary' (instrumental mediation of the gift of divine love), not as denying God as source.
- 10 ↩Source abbreviation 'Giac.' taken as Giaculatoria (brief aspirative prayer heading before s7), consistent with the section pattern; not expanded as a personal name.
- 11 ↩Italian onnipotente in Marian devotion names the power of her intercession, not divine omnipotence as such.
- 12 ↩Italian Giac. abbreviates giaculatoria, a brief ejaculatory prayer or aspiration.
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