The Catholic Prayer Book and Manual of Meditations/Reflections after Holy Communion
Reflections after Communion.
Jesus Christ considered as our Father.
CONSIDER God as, thy Father, and thyself as his most ungrateful and rebellious child; say with a heart penetrated with compunction, “I will arise, and will go to my father.” (Luke xv. 18.)
With affectionate solicitude, attend, O my Father, to what thy compassionate heart shall suggest to thee in behalf of thy unhappy erring child who so basely abandoned thee. O most tender and most loving of all Fathers! thou art then willing to receive this prodigal child, who has so justly incurred thy heaviest displeasure; to change her affliction into joy, her poverty into wealth, and her misery into happiness. Who can sufficiently admire such an excess of goodness! I detest from my soul my past disorders. I am heartily sorry for them, and beg thy merciful forgiveness. I resolve, with thy grace, rather to die than ever again wilfully offend thee. I shall endeavour by my love, respect, and submission, to atone for my ingratitude and rebellion. Sincerely do I desire to return to thee my Father: all my thoughts, affections, desires, and actions, shall serve this day as so many steps towards my return to thee, by means of the zeal and love with which I purpose to perform them. Not only dost thou receive me, O merciful Father, but thou makest a banquet for my entertainment. O signal mark of thy goodness! But clothe me first, I beseech thee, like the prodigal child, with the robe of charity; give me the ring of faith, and the sandals of hope, that I may worthily partake of this heavenly food, no other than thy own precious body and blood, exhibited in a state of mystic death. Delay not then, O loving Father, to come and meet thy repentant child, that thou mayst put an end to my misery, reform me to thy image, and keep me for ever united to thee.
PRAYER.
I POSSESS thee, O most amiable Father ! in my heart: what a prodigy of love and forbearance ! But what dost thou demand in return? "My child, give me thy heart! ” (Prow, xxiii. 26.) To this tender invitation, my God, what shall I answer? Can it be possible that thou, beholding its misery, should see anything in it worthy of thy acceptance; rather are there not many things in it which should cause thee to reject it? But thou demandest it even with a degree of jealousy, and threatenest me with thy heaviest judgments if I refuse to give it to thee. Receive it, then, my God; I can no longer refuse it; to whom else can I give it? What has it ever found or what can it ever look for out of thee, but emptiness, agitation and bitterness! I recall with grief those days of darkness, when this miserable heart was far removed from thee, straying from the path of rectitude. To what a deplorable state, was it reduced, when, drawn away by the seductions of the world, it yielded to its false joys, and was inebriated with its fatal pleasures: when, criminally attached to the earth, it thought only of accumulating its perishable goods, and seemed to lose sight of those which were eternal: when domineered over by its criminal passions, it yielded to their guilty suggestions, erecting an idol within itself, to which it sacrificed its repose, its liberty, its conscience, its religion, and its God. But as a criminal state can be no other than Seeing its deplorable condition, and yet dreading to leave it; groaning over its chains, and yet wanting courage to burst them asunder; detesting its lot, and yet continuing in its thraldom. My God! thy unbounded mercy towards me during my wanderings adds to my guilt, for thou didst never cease enticing my heart to return to thee, never allowing it to enjoy tranquillity in its disorders; exciting within a secret uneasiness which agitated it, salutary remorses which rent it, continual alarms which mingled bitterness with all its pleasures. And dost thou still desire this miserable heart, and shall I still presume to offer it to thee!
“ My child, give me thy heart.” Behold me then, my God, prostrate at thy feet; I offer thee my heart, and call on heaven and earth to witness my engagement; I grieve that it should be so little worthy of , thy acceptance, for thou knowest that hadst thou treated it according to its deserts, and in the rigour of thy justice, this heart would be actually now driven from thy presence, drinking deep draughts of the chalice of thy dreadful judgments; but though “ thou hast been angry” thou "hast had mercy on us” (Ps. lix. 3.) "Blessed is thy name, O God of our Fathers, who, when thou hast been angry, wilt shew mercy, and in the time of tribulation forgivest the sins of them that call upon thee.” ( Tobias iii. 18.)
ACT OF OFFERING.
ADORABLE Spouse! whom I have had the honour and happiness of receiving in this sacred mystery of love, possess alone all that I have. Penetrate my heart with a due sense of thy immense bounty and goodness: whilst thou reposest within it, may the precious ointment of true humility perfume thy abode with so sweet an odour as may make it agreeable to thee. Thy Eucharistic life, which is wholly interior and absorbed in God, shall henceforth be the model of mine. If I put no obstacle in the way, thou thyself, my heavenly spouse, wilt teach me to think and judge of things as thou judgest and thinkest of them. I will henceforth leave myself entirely to thy divine guidance. Let my soul be as a canvas on which thou mayest trace thy own portrait. Grant that I may endeavour to please thee alone, not according to my ideas, but to thine; not in preventing thy inspirations by my own efforts, but in a faithful correspondence with them. Grant me to fulfil, in thy regard, the duties of a spouse, as thou fulfillest in mine the obligations of that sacred character. Thou, my spouse, art faithful; thou wilt never be wanting to me. Thou art generous; whatever can be advantageous to my soul thou wilt give me, or at least thou wilt offer me. Thou art disinterested; thou seekest only my happiness in the benefits thou conferrest upon me. From thy example I also will be faithful; faithful in never wilfully offending thee; this will be something, but still very little for a spouse to do; faithful in seeking in all things to please thee; this reaches to infinity, and comprises every degree of perfection; but thou, my divine spouse, wilt teach me all that I should do to correspond with thy designs upon me, if I am attentive to thy instructions. I will be generous, giving all that thou demandest of me. Grant that I may sacrifice to thee whatever depends on me; and what I have not courage to give, tear from me: for I desire to be unreservedly thine. How full of sweetness art thou, O my Saviour, to a soul that loves thee! truly, there is not on earth a happiness to be compared to that enjoyed by thy true spouses, who think but of thee, who act, suffer, and breathe but for thee alone; whose hearts are centred in thee. Amen.
Jesus Christ as our Physician.
REFLECTION.
"HAVE mercy on me, G Lord, for I am weak.” (Ps. vi. 3. ) “ They that are whole, need not a physician: hut they that are sick ” Nor didst thou come “to call the just, but sinners, to repentance ( Luke v. 31, 32.) Alas! my soul is sick indeed, my heart is ill at ease. I am full of inordinate desires and unruly passions. I am all impatience, sensuality, immortification, and inconstancy. Thou, O Jesus, art my physician, thou alone canst heal me. Take compassion on me then, for all my hope is in thee. What a subject of comfort and confidence have I not, since my physician is almighty, having all creatures at his command; all-merciful, his love inducing him to what is best; all-wise, knowing my wounds, and the means of curing them. But what is the remedy he prescribes? No unsavoury drugs, but the most sweet and wholesome food, the bread of angels, even his own most precious body and blood. O love unheard of! O remedy beyond conception! and all this for a slave, a worm, a nothing! nay, even an enemy! What return, my soul, canst thou make for so ineffable a bounty? O excess of goodness! Thy physician is himself thy remedy, thy regimen, and thy life. O prodigy of love ! He is bleeding from his hands and feet, he is wounded with thorns in the head, he is pierced in the side with a lance; he is drenched with vinegar and gall; in the end he dies on the cross; and why all this? “He was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed." ( Isau liii. 5.) O that I could correspond with the greatness of his love by due feeling of gratitude, I acknowledge thy power, O heavenly Physician, and I place my whole confidence in thy mercy. Grant that I may loathe my disorders as thou loathest them; that I may be as anxious to receive my health as thou to bestow it upon me. Come then, O charitable Physician, for health, strength, life, and all that I desire, will come to me together with thee.
PRAYER.
BEHOLD, O most amiable Physician, the number and depth of the wounds I have received from my enemies: my unmortified passions of pride, ambition, avarice, sensuality, anger and envy. My mind is filled with error and delusion, my imagination is disordered, my passions are headstrong, my senses are under no control. I labour under such a complication of diseases that no human aid can avail me. Heal me, therefore, I beseech thee, in order to display, thy power, and show forth the glory of thy name. If the touch of thy garments, O my Saviour! whilst thou wert upon earth, cured all sorts of diseases, shall not thy most precious body and blood, which thou hast given me as food, produce the same wonderful effects?
But thou, my soul, who hast recourse to thy divine Physician for health, art thou sincerely desirous of being cured? He now puts the question to thee as he once did to the paralytic at the pond of Bethsaida, "Wilt thou be made whole?" (John v. 6.) Thou canst not reply as did this poor cripple, that thou dost indeed desire it, but hast no one to give thee the assistance necessary; thy divine physician being at hand, and ready to do thee this charitable office: let thy answer therefore be, Yes, Lord, I desire it, and most ardently too; and as a proof of my sincerity, I submit to all that thou shalt judge expedient for my cure. Order whatsoever thou wilt, and thy directions shall be punctually attended to; command me to refrain from this or that gratification, to avoid certain occasions, and thou shalt be punctually obeyed.
O Jesus, who in this adorable sacrament, art both physician and remedy! Be thou my health, my strength, and my life. Dwell in my heart, that it may be cured of its corruption; dwell in my mind, that it may be cured of its blindness; dwell in my imagination, that it may be cured of its folly; dwell in all my senses, powers, and faculties, that they may be regulated by thy law, and under thy control.
O Jesus, my all powerful physician! not only dost thou restore health, but thou canst even raise to life. Having, as I trust, in thy infinite mercy, been cleansed from my sins in the tribunal of penance, and been restored to the life of grace by the application of thy most sacred blood to my soul, grant that having received thyself as a pledge of thy forgiveness, I may say with thy Apostle: “I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me.” (Gal. ii. 20.) Thou art “ the resurrection and the life: he that believeth ” in thee, “ although he be dead, shall live: and every one that liveth, and believeth ” in thee, “shall not die for ever.” (John xi. 25, 26.) This I believe, O Lord, on thy sure word.
O divine life! thou alone canst satisfy my desires. O life! thou art the inexhaustible source of all grace Jesus, my Saviour, the resurrection I hope for, and the crown I expect, may my life be hidden with thee in God ! O Jesus, whilst I dwell in this mortal flesh, may I live by faith, perpetually adoring thee in the divine eucharist, and admiring, without ceasing, the excessive greatness of thy love, which has made thee die, not only to' redeem me, but to give thyself to me in the holy sacrament, that I may live by thee. For this I will die to the world, to all creatures, and to myself. Amen.
Jesus Christ as our Viaticum.
REFLECTION.
O MY divine Redeemer! who hast instituted the adorable sacrament of the altar, not only to show forth thy death until thy last coming, but also to provide us with the necessary succours, whereby to prepare ourselves for our death, I come to thee to beg those graces and helps I stand in need of for making a Christian and a happy end. Thou art here, O Jesus, our true paschal victim, by virtue of which we happily quit the Egypt of this world, are rescued out of the hands of our bitter enemies who are eagerly bent on our destruction, and find a safe passage through a sea of difficulties and dangers, into the land thou hast promised for our inheritance. It is this consideration that now induces me humbly to approach thee, begging that thou wilt give thyself to me as a viaticum, assist me in my dangerous passage out of this life into the next, and bestow upon me those good dispositions, both remote and immediate, which are necessary for obtaining a happy death. In order thereto, grant, I beseech thee, O my Saviour! that treading faithfully in thy footsteps, I may lead, as thou dost on our altars, a life as much sequestered from creatures as duty will allow; a life hidden, absorbed in God; a life suited to the condition of a victim; entirely spent in adoration of thy Father's excellence; in a profound annihilation of myself; in an humble penitential state on account of my sins; in continual sighs and groans, by reason of my wretchedness; in incessant prayers and supplications, invoking thee for my many wants; in an inviolable obedience to the will of my Creator, with respect to my duties; in a privation of earthly comforts, ever dying to the world, to sin, and to concupiscence; ever living to God, and to heavenly and eternal objects; ever absorbed in the contemplation of the perfections of God; and ever burning with love in the ardour of charity, O may my condition in this deceitful world resemble, as much as possible, thine in this holy sacrament: having eyes, ears, a tongue, hands, feet, and a heart, let me neither see, hear, speak of, feel, seek after, or attach myself to any of those objects which are so much the delight and admiration of deluded worldlings. Perhaps, dearest Lord, the present day may be the last of my life: if so, thy most holy will be done. I accept of death with entire submission as to the day, the hour, the manner, thy providence shall ordain. I come to make a previous sacrifice of my death to thy Eternal Father, in union with thine. I come to declare to him that I am disgusted with the world, of which I was formerly so fond, and that I leave it with pleasure for the sake of enjoying my God; that my desires and inclinations are weaned from this earth, and that henceforward my ardent desire shall be to go and behold him for ever. As it is thou, my Jesus, whom I now happily receive, who holdest the keys of life and death, and allottest to each that kind of death which thou pleasest; grant me, I beseech thee, a death holy and precious in thy sight; and let thy merciful visit to me be the pledge of it, and in thy own good time bring the business of my salvation to a happy conclusion.
PRAYER.
WHEN thou didst enter into Jerusalem, dear Lord, thou shedest tears of compassion over its miseries; show, I beseech thee, the same charity towards me, now that thou hast entered into my heart. My Judge is already within me ! very shortly shall I have to appear before him; I hear his voice calling me: I go, my God, not relying on any merits of my own, but on thy mercy, which I implore through thy own most precious blood. O Father of mercies! I recommend my poor soul into thy hands; if thou regardest the enormity of my offences, I cannot possibly hope to be saved. Thou, my Jesus, art my only resource: let those eyes which never were averted from the sinner, look with pity upon me. Let that mouth which never condemned any one here below, now speak to me words of consolation and of life. May thy holy soul sanctify mine; may thy spirit enlighten mine; may thy sacred heart inflame mine with that love which thou testifiest for me by honouring me with thy presence. Apply to me the merits of thy sacred labours while on earth; render the merits of thy death efficacious to me, and permit not thy blood to be shed for me in vain.
Attend, O eternal Father! to the voice of the blood of thy beloved Son, which cries aloud for mercy in my behalf: behold how the whole earth is besprinkled, covered, and overflowing, as it were, by its mystical effusion upon our altars; and through its merits forgive me my offences. But do thou also, O my soul, give ear to the voice of thy Saviour, who calls out to thee by the mouth of Holy Job: “ O earth, cover not thou my blood, neither let my cry find a hiding-place in thee.” ( Job xvi. 19.) As if he had said, thou, who being by nature no better than earth, cover not the blood of thy Redeemer by thy irregular affections for earthly things; hinder not his voice from rising to the throne of his Father in thy favour, by the hardness of thy heart and obstinacy in sin.
O Jesus, my ever merciful Saviour! grant that after making an act of perfect contrition, and a sincere confession of my manifold sins, I may, at the hour of my death, humbly adore and devoutly receive thee present in the blessed Sacrament of the altar, as a sweet viaticum for my support and comfort in my awful passage. Do thou strengthen my poor soul for her great and important journey from time to eternity; be my guide to conduct her, my protector to defend her, my advocate to plead her cause before thy Father, and obtain his favour. Leave her not forlorn and destitute of succour at that dreadful hour when she will find herself forsaken by all creatures. Cleanse her from her sins in the bath of thy blood, clothe her with thy justice, adorn her with thy virtues, enrich her with thy merits, hide her within thy sacred wounds, lodge her in the secret of thy presence, as thou dost those who place their hope in thee, that having obtained a full and complete pardon of all her sins, she may close the last scene of her mortal life in the true faith and communion of the holy Catholic Church, and in perfect charity with all mankind. Amen, sweet Jesus. Amen.