speak to us, and say: Christians, why do you fly from my presence? Why will you not come, why will you not draw near to one who loves you so tenderly, and who humbles himself to remain in this place for your sake? What do you fear? I am not come to judge you, but I am hidden in this Sacrament of Love only to do good, and to save every one who will have recourse to me. " I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” ( John xii. 47.)
Let us then be persuaded, that as Jesus Christ in heaven “ is always living to make intercession for us*’ (Heb. viii.); so in the Sacrament of the Altar he is fulfilling, night and day, the office of our advocate, offering himself as a victim to his eternal Father to obtain for us mercy and graces without number. Hence the devout A-Kempis says that we ought to pray to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament as one speaks to a beloved friend: “ As lover speaks to one beloved, as friend to friend.”
SO then, O my Lord and King, hidden in this Sacrament, since thou dost invite me to converse with thee, I will open my heart with confidence, and speak. O my Jesus, ardent lover of souls, I know too well the injustice and ingratitude of men towards thee. Thou lovest them, and they do not love thee: thou dost confer benefits on them, and they return thee insults: thou wouldst have them hear thy voice, and they will not listen: thou dost offer graces, and they refuse them. Ah! my Jesus, I, too, have been once among the number of these ungrateful souls. O my God, it is only too true. But I desire to amend, and I wish to compensate for the injuries I have done thee, by doing all I can to please thee for the remainder of my life. Tell me,
