with me to eat, observe carefully what is set before thee: namely, what and how precious is that food which is offered to thy reception. When the children of Israel of old saw the manna from heaven, they said in amazement, Man hu, what is this? How much more thou, O Christian, who art fed, not with manna formed by angels' hands, but with my Body, conceived by the operation of the Holy Ghost! Wilt thou not rather admire in thought the excellence of this food, and that not coldly and carelessly, but so that in thy meditation a fire may be enkindled? Knowest thou how the paschal lamb (the figure of this Sacrament) was to be received of old? None of it was to be eaten raw, or boiled with water, but roasted at the fire. So likewise ought this food to be prepared with the fire of love, that it may taste and profit the more. Most suitable to this end will be meditation on my life and passion, since in it my love was so inflamed, that many waters could not quench it. I have instituted this Sacrament to be the monument of so great a love. If thou hast been slow to love, at least be ashamed not to requite love. In these and similar exercises and pious affections, the unction of the Spirit will teach and direct thee more fully. Nor will it seem to thee a hard and troublesome thing to spend a little time upon so pious and useful an exercise, if thou consider with how many rites and ceremonies, and with what great preparation, the sacrifices of the old law were to be performed. Read Numbers, Leviticus, &c., and with wonder reason thus with thyself: If thus it was done in the shadow and figure, how should it be done in the very substance and reality? What can be more unworthy, or more offensive to me, than everywhere to see nothing performed with so little care and anxiety as my worship and sacrifice, although nothing upon earth is more sublime, nothing more excellent! Each one hastens to his own house, but my house is desolate. Thou hastest to thy business, or thy conversation, and hast little thought of that guest, even the King of kings, who comes to thee from heaven to refresh thee, not to be refreshed by thee. Is it thus thou wouldst wish thyself to be received when invited by a friend, to be so uncourteously treated, sent so unceremoniously away? Those royal maidens' were to pass a whole year of preparation, that, when at length they were to come forth in the presence of King Assuerus, they might find favour 1 Esther ii. 12. in his eyes; and shall it be troublesome to a priest, or to any one of my faithful, to spend one little hour, or even quarter of an hour, in order that he may stand duly adorned before the King of kings, and find favour in his eyes? MAN. Alas, for the blindness and hardness of man's heart, not to heed nor to reverence more so unspeakable a gift! that all things else are done so carefully and exactly, but preparation so carelessly and negligently made for the holy table of the Lord! Behold, O Lord, I confess to thee against myself my own iniquity; but thy eyes too see my imperfections. Thus I speak with thee, O my Lord, and thus I hear thee speak to me in reply: (and are not thy words very fire?) yet my heart is languid and cold, and my soul is as earth without water to thee. I carry fire in my bosom, and why does my heart not burn? A fountain of living water is before my eyes, and why does not my soul pant after thee, even as the hart pants after the fountains of water? CHRIST. O faithful souls, whom I have loved with an everlasting love, and have redeemed at so dear a price, whom I have fed hitherto with such precious food, and still am ready to feed them! 1 Jer. xxxi. 3. O my friends and my guests! take heed to yourselves; and be not careless in a matter so weighty, difficult, and full of dangers; in which, I say, the issue is so unequal, whether of life or of death, that is, according to the merits and disposition of every one. Behold, you have a fountain, nay, an ocean of graces, from which the greater will be every one's draught, the larger the bowl that he brings! Open thy mouth wide, my son, and I will fill it. Enlarge the bosom of thy soul with the desire of charity, devotion, and perfection; I, who alone satisfy the heart's desire, will fill thee with the gifts of my grace, that thou mayest abide in me, and I in thee. But when thou hast me, what more wilt thou have to desire? For mine, and with me, are all things. MAN. Stay with me, Lord, and put thyself as a seal upon my heart. Draw me after thee, that I may run to the odour of thy ointments. Kindle in me the fire which thou camest to cast upon the earth! Oh, that I may love thee, O Lord, my stay, and my refuge, and my deliverer! Oh, that I may embrace thee with the most ardent love of thy angels, and all thy elect, that nothing may be able to separate me from thee; for thou art my lot and my portion, O God, for ever, to whom it is good for me to adhere! For, beside thee, what have I in heaven, and what do I desire upon earth? CHAPTER II. EUCHARISTIC LITANY; Profitable alike for those that sacrifice and for those that communicate. Collected out of Holy Scripture. NOTE.-Passages marked thus [ ] relate to priests only, and may be passed over by others. Lord have mercy on us. God the Father of heaven, who hast so loved the world as to give thy only-begotten Son, and hast caused him to take flesh, and undergo the cross for us, Have mercy on me : That I may receive him with my whole heart, and with the inmost affection of love; and give myself to thee wholly and entirely, and live, not to myself, but to thee. Father eternal, who for the love of us didst not spare thy own Son, but deliveredst him up for us all, Have mercy on me: That with a thankful heart I may reflect upon a work of so great love, and commemorate it in this holy mystery. Father, most holy, who didst send thy Son into the world, not to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him, Have mercy on me: That his Body and Blood may not be to me to judgment and condemnation, but to life and salvation. Father, most wise, who, by thy wonderful providence, hast wrought our salvation in the midst of the earth; and willed thy Son, whom thou hast begotten from eternity equal to thyself, to be born in time of a virgin, to exist in this Sacrament in a new and admirable manner, and be with us even to the consummation of the world, Have mercy on me : That I may never be found ungrateful for the benefits of thy so unspeakable grace and love. Father, most good, with whom we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, who is the propitiation for our sins, Have mercy on me: That through him I may merit to obtain from thee pardon and remission of my sins; for behold, he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Father, most mighty, who, with a loud voice, didst testify that this is thy beloved Son, in whom thou art well pleased, Have mercy on me : And because by my own actions I cannot please_thee, look upon the face of thy Christ, that through him I may find grace in thy sight. Father, most bountiful, who, according to the promise of thy most dear Son, wilt give us whatsoever we shall ask in his name, Have mercy on me : That I may obtain that which I ask before all things, namely, that I may never receive unworthily or to my condemnation, the mysteries of the body and blood of thy Son. Father of the fatherless, since the eyes of all hope in thee, and thou givest them meat in due season, Have mercy on me: And give me this day my daily bread, that living Bread which comes down from heaven, that it may strengthen my heart, and nourish it for ever. II. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, who, of thy infinite love, didst undertake the work of our redemption; and, by taking flesh in the most chaste womb of the Virgin Mary, wast made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man, Have mercy on me: That in my inmost heart I may cherish the memory of thy boundless love, and of thy most holy Incarnation, as often as, by this Sacrament, thou art born in my soul. Jesus, most sweet Saviour, who hast prepared a table before us against all who afflict us, Have mercy on me: That my enemies may never prevail against me, and that I may fear no evil, because thou art with me, and art in this Sacrament most inwardly present to my soul. Jesus, most gracious, who hast said, Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you, Have mercy on me: That I may be delivered from the weight of my sins, because, as a heavy burden, they are become heavy upon me; and refresh, with this heavenly food, my hungry and fainting spirit. Jesus, most merciful, who hadst compassion on the multitudes that long waited on thee; and when they had nothing to eat, didst, by the wonderful might of thy power, feed them all to the full, Have mercy on me : That I may not faint in the way, if defrauded of this heavenly food. Jesus, most bountiful, who hast given us bread that is rich, and yields delight to kings, and feedest us with the fat of wheat, Have mercy on me : And let my soul be filled as it were with marrow and fatness, that my heart may never be withered, if I forget to eat my bread. Jesus, most tender, who exhortest us to receive thee, saying, My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed; and, Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his Blood, you shall not have life in you, Have mercy on me: And grant me worthily to receive this meat and drink, that I may no more hunger and thirst, and may not die for ever. Jesus, most sweet, whom Zacchæus received into his house with joy, and the centurion, out of reverence, presumed not to receive under his roof, Have mercy on me: That I may ever unite both their affections of love and of fear, when I receive thee into my house. Jesus, most humble, who didst vouchsafe to be very intimate, and to eat with even publicans and sinners, saying: They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill, Have mercy on me: That thou mayest vouchsafe also to visit me a sinner; and to heal my soul, for it is sick unto death. Jesus, great and magnificent King, who, to shew the power and riches of thy kingdom, hast made for us a great feast, and so lovingly condescended to invite to it all the subjects of thy kingdom, Have mercy on me: That I may come joyfully and promptly to this divine feast, but never without being clothed in a wedding garment. Jesus, most loving, who, before thy passion, didst most ardently desire to eat this pasch with thy disciples, Have mercy on me: That, as the hart pants after the fountains of water, so in this Sacrament my soul may pant after thee the living God. Jesus, most pure, who, when going to institute this Sacra |