Love of Jesus Christ.
“If any man love not Our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.” — 1 Cor. 16:22.
THIRTY-FIRST DAY.
The time that you pass with devotion at the foot of the altar before Jesus Christ is the time wherein you will obtain most graces, and which will be your greatest consolation at the hour of death and during eternity. There is no place where Jesus Christ hears our prayers more promptly. — Bl. Henry Suzo.
St. Magdalene of Pazzi made each day thirty visits to the Blessed Sacrament.St. Louis of Gonzaga passed all his time in the church when obedience did not call him elsewhere. Before leaving the church he would say lovingly: “Retire from me, O Lord; retire from me.” It was always at the feet of Our Lord that the apostle of the Indies rested from his fatigues. Having passed the day in laboring for the salvation of souls, he spent part of the night before the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Francis Regis spent his time in like manner. When he found the church closed, he knelt at the door, no matter how severe the cold. St. Francis of Assisi undertook nothing without first going to the church to consult Jesus Christ.
The Countess Féria was called the spouse of the Blessed Sacrament, because she spent all the time that the duties of her position permitted in adoration in the church. She was asked what she did so ling in the church. She replied: “What does a courtier do before his king? One who is sick before a physician? The poor before the rich? What does he who is famished by hunger do when placed at a table where there are most exquisite viands? Thus do I in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.”
Prayer.
O my Saviour, I love Thee but little, since it is not my delight to be at the foot of Thy altars. Alas! How many times have I not offended Thee even in Thy temple! In thinking of Thy love for me, of what Thou hast done for me, I ought to die from excess of love for Thee. O my god, was it not carrying Thy love to excess to become one of us by Thy incarnation, to be our companion, to die on the cross to expiate or sins, and to be our recompense in heaven? And still more, Thou givest Thyself to us as a nourishment! Victim of salvation, Who hast opened the gates of heaven, behold the number and the malice of the enemies who surround us for our destruction; help and strengthen us!