The Love of God in Practice

THE LOVE OF GOD IN PRACTICE
by St. Alphonsus Liguori
Originally from an Italian translation by Rev. W. Frean, C.S.S.R.
Illustrated and edited

by NJLim
TREATISE ON
THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST
The practice of Love based on
the words of St. Paul
" Charity is patient, is kind . . . " (1 Cor., 13)
If you wish to make sure of your eternal salvation,

then walk in the way of perfection.
" If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ,

let him be outcast." (1 Cor., 16, 22)
St. Alphonsus Liguori
" St. Alphonsus, himself a man of the deepest piety, was firmly convinced that
the love of GOD was both the ever flowing fountain of all virtue and the bond
by which Faith becomes united with the Christian life. Therefore he built the
foundations of holiness on the love of GOD.
"To enkindle this love in the hearts of men, he devoted all his powers to making
known to them the boundless loveliness of Jesus Christ; and he did this
particularly by recalling to their minds the Passion and the Institution of the
Blessed Eucharist. For the marvellous power of love exercises its influence over
men by these two more than by anything else.
"On fire himself with the spirit of Love, he composed a great number of prayers
which burn with seraphic ardour. These have been translated into many
languages, and are on the lips of the faithful everywhere; so that it can be said
in all truth that many hundreds of thousands of the faithful, when they wish to
pour out their prayers and express their love of GOD and proclaim their
confidence in His Virgin Mother, do so in these very words of St. Alphonsus."
(Letter of Pope Benedict XV to Most Rev. P Murray, C.S.S.R., Sup. Gen. - July 20, 2921)
The
Love of GOD
in Practice
A complete treatise on the virtues to be practised in
the challenging affairs of daily lie.
By
ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI
(Based on the Italian translation by Rev. W. Frean, C.S.S.R.)
Illustrated and edited

by NJLim
Originally Published by
MAJELLAN PRESS.
Redemptorist Fathers,
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
Nihil Obstat: K. O'Shea, C.SS.R., Cens. Dep.
Imprimi Potest : G. Joyce, C.SS.R; Sup. Prov.
Imprimatur : + J. O'Collins, D.D. Epise. Ballaratensis.
First Published in 1963
Originally Printed in Australia for Majellan Press

by O'Loughlin Bros. Pty. Ltd.
CONTENTS
Page
Chapter I
How much Jesus Christ merits to be loved on account of the love He

has shown in His Passion. .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 12
God's Gifts Tell of His Love .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 12
God's Gift of Himself .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 13
The Means to Obtain Love .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 17
Affections and Petitions .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 19
Chapter II
How Jesus Christ deserves to be loved by us on account of the love He

has shown us in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. .... .... 20
The Remedy .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 23
Consuming Fire of Love .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 24
The Wine of Love .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 24
Chapter III
The great confidence we should place in the love that Jesus Christ has
shown for us, and in all that He has done for us .... .... .... 26
Chapter IV
How great our obligations are to love Jesus Christ .... .... .... 32
The Signs of True Love .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 35
Chapter V
Love is Patient .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 38
The one who loves Jesus Christ loves to suffer .... .... .... .... .... 38
Page
Chapter VI
Love is Kind .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 45
He who loves Jesus Christ loves gentleness .... .... .... .... .... 45
Chapter VII
Love is Never Envious .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 50
The Good Intention .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 50
Liberty of Spirit .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 53
Chapter VIII
Love Does No Wrong .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 55
Spiritual Sloth .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 55
The one who loves Jesus Christ flies from spiritual sloth and loves perfection 55
The Means He uses are :

The Desire for Perfection .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 58
The Resolution to be All for GOD .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 59
Mental Prayer .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 62
Holy Communion .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 65
Preparation .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 66
Thanksgiving .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 67
Spiritual Communion .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 68
The Prayer of Petition .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 69
Page
Chapter IX
Love is Not Puffed Up .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 73
Humility .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 73
Chapter X
Love is Not Ambitious .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 79
He who loves Jesus Christ is ambitious for nothing but Jesus Christ .... .... 79
Chapter XI
Freedom of Spirit .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 83
Love Does Not Seek The Things That Are Her Own .... .... .... .... 83
He who loves Jesus Christ wishes to detach himself from everything :

Detachment from Relatives .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 87
In the Choice of Vocation .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 88
Detachment from the Good Opinion of the World .... .... .... .... 92
Detachment from Self-Love .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 92
Chapter XII
Meekness .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 96
Love Does Not Yield to Anger .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 96
Page
He who loves Jesus Christ is never angry with his neighbour .... .... .... 96
Chapter XIII
The Will of GOD .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 102
Love thinks no evil. It rejoices not in iniquity. But it rejoices in the truth. .... 102
He who loves Jesus Christ wants nothing but that which Jesus Christ wants 102
Concerning Obedience .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 108
Chapter XIV
Love Suffers Everything .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 112
He who loves Jesus Christ suffers everything for Jesus Christ :

Sickness .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 112
Poverty .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 116
Loss of Relatives and Friends .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 119
Patience under Contempt .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 119
Chapter XV
Love Believes All Things .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 123
Faith .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 123
The one who loves Jesus Christ believes every word he has spoken .... .... 123
Page
Chapter XVI
Love Hopes for All Things .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 126
Hope .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 126
He who loves Jesus Christ hopes for all things from Jesus Christ .... .... 126
Heaven .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 128
Purgatory .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 132
Chapter XVII
Love Bears All Things .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 134
Temptation and Desolation .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 134
He who loves Jesus Christ with a great love, loves Him still in the midst
of every kind of temptation and desolation .... .... .... .... .... 134
Temptations .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 134
Why GOD Permits Temptation .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 135
The Means to Conquer Temptation .... .... .... .... .... .... 136
Desolation .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 141
Summary of all the Virtues described in this Book .... .... .... 148
Maxims .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 152
Supplement I
Divine Love and the means to Obtain it .... .... .... .... .... 155
Divine Love .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 156
Means to Obtain Divine Love .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 156
First Means -- Detachment .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 159
Second Means -- Meditation in the Passion .... .... .... .... .... 161
Third Means -- Conformity with GOD's Will .... .... .... .... .... 162
Fourth means -- Mental Prayer .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 163
Fifth Means -- Prayers of Petition .... .... .... .... .... .... .... 164
Prayer to Jesus Crucified (St. Bonaventure) .... .... .... .... .... 165
Prayer to our Lady for a Good Death .... .... .... .... .... .... 166
Supplement II
Novena to the Eternal Spirit of Love .... .... .... .... .... 169
Chapter 1
The Canticle of Divine Love

How much Jesus Christ merits to be loved by us on account of the love
He has shown us in His Passion.
All sanctity, and all perfection, consist in the love of Jesus Christ, our GOD. He
is good: good in a supreme degree; the good for which our heart craves; and He is
our Saviour. Jesus Himself says, he who loves me will be loved by my eternal Father:
"For the Father himself loves you because you have loved me." (John, 16, 27). St.
Francis de Sales tells us: "Some place perfection in austerity of life, others in prayer,
others in the frequentation of the Sacraments, and others in charity to the poor.
They are all mistaken. Perfection lies in loving GOD with the whole heart." The
Apostle wrote: "It is necessary beyond all else that there be love; for it binds all
together into a complete whole." (Col., 3. 14) Love it is that unites, and keeps intact,
all the virtues that make a man holy. For this reason St. Augustine wrote: "Love, and
do as you will": Love GOD, and do as you will; because love itself will teach the one
who loves GOD never to do anything that will offend Him; and to do everything that
will give Him pleasure.
2. Can it possibly be that GOD does not deserve all our love? It is He who has
loved us always from eternity: " I have loved you with a love that is from eternity."
(Jer., 31, 3). You may well be astonished, the great Almighty GOD says to me,
because it is I who loved you first. Long before you were in the world, long before the
world itself was, I loved you first. Ever since I have been GOD, I have loved you,
ever since I have loved myself, I have loved you too.
It was with good reason, therefore, that the tender virgin, St. Agnes, gave this
answer to the earthly claimants for her hand, when they sought for her love: " There
is another lover who has come before you" - you, lovers from this earth, go away, and
cease to seek for my love - He has loved me from eternity. Therefore, it is only right
that I give to Him all my affections, and there is no other that I can love beside Him.
GOD's Gifts Tell of His Love

3. As GOD knows that men are drawn to those who do them favours, He has been
pleased to captivate their hearts by means of His gifts. This is just what He tells us: "
I shall draw them by the cords of Adam, by the bonds of love." (Os., 11, 4). I wish to
draw men to love me by means of those enticements with which they are most readily
won; and these are the bonds of love. All the gifts that have been given by GOD to
man have been given exactly for this purpose. He has given man a soul, with
faculties and powers fashioned like unto His own self, in His own image -- with
memory, understanding,, and will; and a body endowed with the gifts of the senses.
For him GOD has created the heavens and the earth, and a great many other things --
all these for the love of man: the skies, the stars, the planets, the seas, the rivers, the
springs, the mountains, the plains, the minerals, the fruits, and the manifold species
of animal life. He has made all these creatures so that they may serve man; and that
man in gratitude for such gifts should give his love to GOD. "The heavens and the
earth tell me to love you," exclaims St. Augustine, as though he would say: My Lord,
what marvellous things I see on the earth and above the earth; and all tell me and
exhort me to love you. because they all assure me that you have made them for the
love of me. When the Abbot de Rance, founder of La Trappe, looked forth from his
hermitage over the lovely view before him -- the hills, the springs, the birds, the
flowers, and beyond them the planets, and the skies; the sight of all these creatures
set him on fire with love of GOD, who had made them for the love of Him.
4. When St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi held a beautiful flower in her hand, she was
inflamed by it with the love of GOD in the same way; and she said: "From this I know
that my Lord has thought of me from eternity, for He has created this flower for love
of me!" So that flower became to her a gentle dart of love which pierced her heart,
only to unite it more closely to GOD. St. Teresa tells us that as often as she came
upon a beautiful scene, and her gaze ranged over the mountains, the brooks, the
trees, the meadows, and the stretches of the sea; that all these beautiful creatures
served to remind her of how ungrateful she was, in returning so little love to the
Creator, who had made them all for her and for her love. Something similar is
narrated of a certain holy hermit: it seemed to him that the planets and the flowers,
that he met as he went along his way through the country, rebuked him for being so
ungrateful to GOD; and he gently struck them with his cane as he said: "Hold your
peace, be silent; you are telling me how ungrateful I am, because you are telling me
that GOD has created you for my love, and that I do not love Him in return."
(Translator's note: it is thought that the solitary, here mentioned, was St. Paul of the
Cross.)
GOD's Gift of Himself

5. But GOD was not satisfied with giving all these beautiful creatures to us. To
make captive all our love, He has added the gift of His own self -- the Eternal Father
has added the gift of His own Son: "GOD so loved the world as to give His only
begotten Son." (John, 3 16). When the Eternal Father saw that we were all dead, and
deprived of His grace because of sin, what did He do? Moved by His immense love --
for it is thus, indeed, that the Apostle writes -- because of the excessive love that He
has for us, He commended His beloved Son to make satisfaction for us. So it was in
this way that the life, which had been taken away from us by sin, was given back t us:
"Because of the excessive love He bore us, He brought us to life in Christ, even when
we were dead in our sins." (Eph., 2, 4-5). And when He gave us His Son -- not
sparing His Son in order that He might spare us -- together with His Son He gave us
everything that is good: His grace, His love, and paradise, fr certainly all these good
things are of much less account than the gift of GOD's own Son. "He did not spare
His own Son, but surrendered him for us all, and, with this gift, how can He fail to
lavish upon us all He has to give.: (Rom., 8, 32).
6. In the same way, the Son has given Himself unreservedly to us, because of the
love which He has for us: " He loved us and He sacrificed Himself for us." (Gal., 2,
20). It was He who became man, and clothed Himself in flesh just like ourselves; so
that He might redeem us from eternal death, and recover for us divine grace, and the
paradise that was lost: " And the Word was made flesh." (John., 1, 14). Now we see a
GOD reduced to nothing, taking the nature of a servant --- and He revealed Himself
in human form." We behold the Lord of the world humbling Himself to such a
degree as to take the nature of a servant, and subjecting Himself to all the miseries
that other men suffer.
7. But here is something that astonishes us still more: it would have been easy for
Him to save us without dying, and without suffering: but no -- He chose a life in
which afflictions and sufferings would abound; and His death would be one that was
bitter and steeped in shame: for He would die on the cross, a gibbet of infamy
destined fr criminals: "He humbled Himself becoming obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross." (Phil., 2, 8). But if He was able to redeem us without suffering,
why did He choose to die, and to die the death of the cross? He did it to show us the
love He had for us: "He loved us and He surrendered Himself for us." (Eph., 5, 2).
He loved us and because He loved us, He surrendered Himself to sorrow, to shame,
and to the most painful death that was ever suffered by any man on earth.
8. It was for this reason that great lover of Jesus Christ, St. Paul, had to exclaim:
"The love of Christ presses us." (11 Cor., 5, 14). The Apostle wants to tell us that not
only the fact, that Jesus Christ has suffered; but still more the love, which He had
shown in suffering for us, oblige and even compel us give our love to Him. Let us
listen to what St. Francis de Sales has to say on that text: "When we know that Jesus,
the true GOD, has loved us so as to suffer death for us -- and the death of the cross --
does it not come to this: that our heart has been placed under a press, and it feels
itself forced to pour forth its love by a violence that is as strong as it is alluring? Ah,
why do we not, therefore, cast ourselves on Jesus Crucified -- to die on the cross, on
which He has willed to die for love of us? I will hold Him, we should say, and I will
never let Him go again. I will die with Him, and I will burn in the flame of His love.
One and the same fire will consume this divine Creator and His worthless creature.
My Jesus gives Himself all to me, and shall not I give myself all to Him? I will live
and i will die on His bosom. Neither death nor life, will separate me ever again from
Him. O Eternal Love, my soul is seeking for you and it chooses you forever. O come,
Holy Spirit, and inflame our hearts with your love. Oh! to love! Oh! to die! O
Saviour of our souls, let me sing through eternity: Live Jesus, whom I love; I love
Jesus who lives forever and ever!"
9. So great was the love that Jesus Christ had for men, that it caused Him to long
for the hour of His death; for by it He can give them proof of the deep affection that
dwelt in His heart for them. Therefore, during His life, He would say: "I have to be
baptised with a baptism and how I am under constraint until it is fulfilled." (Luke, 12,
50). I have to be baptised in my own blood, and I feel myself under constraint from
the intense longing that the hour of my Passion will soon come; so that it will not be
long before men will know of the love that I have for them! It was for this reason that
St. John wrote, when he was speaking of that night on which Jesus began His
Passion: "Jesus knowing that His hour had come, when He would pass from this
world to the Father . . . . as he loved his own, he loved them unto the end." (John, 13,
1). Our Redeemer called that hour: His own hour -- hora eius -- because the time of
His death was the time that was so longed for by Him; it was the hour chosen by Him
to give to men the last proof of His love, when He was brought to His end in pain and
sorrow.
10. But what can it be that would ever have prevailed on a God to undergo sentence
of death on a gibbet, between two criminals, and with such shame and dishonour to
His divine Majesty? "Who has done this?" St. Bernard asks. And he gives the
answer : "Love has done it -- love that is forgetful of dignity." When love desires to
make its presence known, it goes forth seeking out -- not those things which most
enhance the dignity of the lover -- but those which will most surely reveal it to the
loved one. How right then was St. Francis de Sales when he exclaimed. as he gazed
on the image of the Crucified: " O Love! O boundless and unfathomable Love!" In
like manner , as we gaze at Jesus on the cross, with hearts aflame, we too should cry:
O boundless and unfathomable love of Jesus crucified!
11. If Faith had not already given us certain knowledge of these things, who would
ever come to believe that a GOD of almighty power and of boundless happiness the
Lord of all, could have wished to love man to such a degree that He would seem to be
overwhelmed by this love of man? For have we not seen Wisdom itself, who is the
Eternal Word, infatuated by the love of men? Thus spoke St. Lawrence Justinian:
"We have seen Wisdom, itself, infatuated by excessive love!" St. Mary Magdalen de
Pazzi spoke in the same way one day when, in ecstasy, she took between her hands a
wooden image of the Crucified and exclaimed: "Yes, my Jesus , you are infatuated
with love. yes my Jesus, I repeat it and I will say it always: you are infatuated with
love." St. Dionisius the Areopagite speaks in a different way: he tells us that this is
not folly, but it is the ordinary effect of a love that is divine; it seems to overwhelm
the one who loves, so that He gives Himself without any reserve to the one who is
loved. When divine love acts, its actions surpasses all human belief.
12. O if men would strop to meditate as they look on Jesus Crucified, on the love
that He has for each one of them! "With what love would we not be set on fire at the
sight of those flames which burn in the breast of the Redeemer!" says St. Francis de
Sales. "What a wonderful experience it would be for us, to burn with the very fire
that consumes our GOD, and what joy to be united to GOD with the claims of love."
St. Bonaventure called the wounds of Jesus Christ, wounds that can wound hearts
most insensible to love, and which can set on fire souls that are frozen: "Wounds
that wound hard hearts and inflame frozen souls." What darts of love must those be,
that fly forth from these wounds, when they are able to pierce the armour of hearts
that are most hardened!" What flames are those, which issue from this burning heart
of Jesus Christ, when they can set on fire hearts that have become frozen! What
chains must those be, which come from this wounded heart, and which can hold
captive hearts that are hardest to tame!"
13. Blessed John of Avila was so much inflamed with the love of Jesus Christ that,
in all his preaching, he never ceased to speak of the love that Jesus Christ has for us.
In one of his treatises on the love, which this most loving Redeemer has for men, He
has given expression to emotions that burn and kindle; and because they are so
beautiful I am now going to repeat them here. this is what he says:
14. "My Redeemer, you have loved men to such a degree that whoever dwells on
this love can surely do nothing less than love You in return. For your love does
violence to hearts; as the Apostle tells us, "The love of Christ presses us." The source
of this love f Jesus Christ for men is His own love for GOD. Did He not say on Holy
Thursday at the Last Supper: "That the world may know that I love the Father, arise
let us go." But where does He go? To the death f the cross -- for men.
15. "No human mind will ever understand how that fire in the heart of Jesus burns.
The command given Him was, indeed, to suffer one death; but if He had been
commanded to suffer a thousand deaths, He would had love enough to suffer them
all. And if, for the salvation of each single one, that had been imposed upon Him
which He had suffered for all; He would have done as much for each one, as he did
for all. And just as He remained on the cross for three hours; if it had been necessary
for Him to stay there, even till the Day of Judgement, He would have had sufficient
love to do this too. And so Jesus Christ loves us far more than He suffered for us. O
love divine, how much greater you are than the appearances, which reveal you to us!"
These appearances are indeed very great, because such wounds and bruises cry aloud
to tell us of a great love; but they d not tell us all its greatness. Within, there was
something greater than that which appeared without. This was only a spark that was
scattered from that great and mighty sea of fire, which is GOD's love. This is the
greatest sign of love -- that a man should give his life for his friends. But the sign
does not exist that can express for us the love of Jesus Christ.
16. "This is the love that overwhelms the soul of those that are good, and when it
comes to them it leaves them astonished. And then, there arise within them those
sentiments which burn in the depths of their inmost being: the desire to suffer
martyrdom; the happiness of being able to suffer; the joy of the burning grid-iron;
the walking on burning coals as though they were roses; the thirst for the torture;
the rejoicing in that which the world holds in terror; and the welcoming with an
embrace of that which the world holds, in abhorrence. St. Ambrose says that the soul
that is espoused to Jesus Christ glories in nothing so much, as in bearing with Him
the standard of the Crucified.
17. "O my Beloved, how can I ever pay you back for this love that you have for me?"
It is fitting that the recompense should be blood for blood. Let me dye myself with
this red blood of yours, and on that cross to which You are nailed. O holy cross, take
me still closer to yourself. Widen, O crown, that I, also may find room to place my
head within your encircling embrace. O nails leave those innocent hands, of my
Saviour, and transfix my heart with compassion and with love. My Jesus, it is for this
that you have died, says St. Paul: to make yourself master of the living and the dead,
not indeed by using chastisements, but by means of love; "For this . . . Christ died
and rose again, that He might be the Lord of the living and the dead." (Rom., 14, 9).
18. O robber of hearts, the force of your has broken the way through, even into our
hearts, which are so hard. You have set the world on fire with Your love. O my Lord,
use Your supreme wisdom to inebriate our hearts with this wine; to set them all
aflame with this fire; to wound them with this arrow of your love. That cross of
Yours has already become the cross-bow, with which You aim at the hearts of men.
Let the whole world know that my heart is wounded! O my most sweet love, what
have You done? You have come to cure me: and You have wounded me? You have
come to make me wise: and You have reduced me to folly? O folly, that is full of
wisdom, I cannot live any longer without You! O my Master, as I linger, close to Your
cross, everything calls to me to love You: the wood itself, Your sacred form, the
wounds in Your body; and above all, that love of Yours, call to me to love You and not
ever to forget You anymore."
The Means To Obtain Love.

19. Now, if you wish to become perfect in the love of Jesus Christ, you will have to
take the means for this. Here are the means as they are taught us by St. Thomas
Aquinas.
Firstly: To keep ourselves in continual remembrance of GOD's gifts - His gifts in

general, and those which He has made, personally, to each of us.
Secondly: To keep our thoughts in the boundless goodness of GOD, who is always at
every moment, doing good to us, and is always loving us; and who, in return, is
asking for our love.
Thirdly: Let us take care to avoid even the least thing that is displeasing to Him.
Fourthly: Let us be detached from all the material goods of this earth - riches,
honours, and the pleasures of the senses.
Father Tauler adds a fifth : if you would have a perfect love for Jesus Christ, a great
help is to meditate on His Holy Passion.
20. The devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ is the most useful of all devotions.
Can anybody deny this? It is the most touching and the dearest to GOD. it is that
which brings greatest consolation to sinners; and that which is most apt to kindle a
fire in souls that love. Still more: from what are we going to receive the greatest
benefits, if not from the Passion of Jesus Christ? Where else are we going to find
hope of pardon, strength in temptation, and confidence on the road to paradise;
where else, the bright lights of truth, the deep longings of love, the powerful urge to
change our lives, the intense desires to give ourselves to GOD -- where else, if not in
the Passion of Jesus Christ? The Apostle, surely, was moved by no ordinary motive
when he exclaimed that the one who did not love Jesus Christ should be cut off from
his brethren: "If anyone does not love Our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be outcast."
( 1 Cor., 16, 22).
21. St. Bonaventure assures us that there is not any other devotion so likely to
bring us holiness , as that of reflecting on the Passion of Jesus Christ. For this
reason, he counsels us to meditate on the Passion every day if we wish to go forward
in divine love: "If you want to go forward, meditate daily on the Passion of Our Lord;
for there is nothing that has such a universal influence on our spiritual life, as
meditation on the Passion of Christ." And long before him, we hear St. Augustine (as
quoted by De Bustis) telling us that one tear shed over the Passion is of more value
than a continuous fast on bread alone for a week: "To shed one tear in memory of
Christ's Passion is something of greater merit than a fast on bread alone for a week."
Therefore the saints were always occupied in thinking of the sorrows of Jesus Christ.
St. Francis of Assisi became a seraph, and it was just by doing this. One day, as he
wept aloud in his grief, a gay young man came to him and asked him the cause of his
sorrow. "I am weeping," he replied, "over the sorrows and the humiliations of my
Saviour, but what makes me weep still more bitterly is that the men for whom He
suffered live quite forgetful of Him." After he had said this, he continued to weep,
and the young man wept with him.
Sometimes at the sound of the bleating of a lamb, or of something that

particularly called to His mind Jesus, in His sufferings, the tears would suddenly
come to His eyes. Another time, when he was ill, someone asked him whether he had
any good book to read. He replied, "My book is Jesus crucified." Then he took
advantage of the occasion to exhort his brethren to reflect frequently on the Passion
of Jesus Christ.
Affections and Petitions
O Eternal Word, you have spent thirty years in toil and in want; You have given
Your blood and Your life to save men; in a word, You have spared in nothing to make
them love You. How, then, does it come about that men can still be found who are
aware of all this, and yet do not give you their love? My GOD, I myself have been one
of these ungrateful ones. I see the wrong that I have done You. My Jesus have pity
on me. I offer You this ungrateful heart of mine - ungrateful but penitent. Yes, my
dear Redeemer, how sorry I am for all the evil I have done, in having despised You. I
am sorry, and I love You with all my heart.
My soul, give your love to that GOD who has been bound like a criminal for you; that
GOD, who has been scourged like a slave for you; that GOD, who has been made a
king of scorn for you; that GOD, who died nailed t a cross for you.
Yes , my Saviour, my GOD, I love You; O make me ever keep in mind how much You
have suffered for me, in order that I may never forget to love You. O let those cords,
that bound You, bind me to You forever. O let those thorns, that crowned You,
wound me with Your love. O let those nails, that pierced You, nail me to Your cross
so that for You I may live, and with You I may die. O blood of Jesus, saturate me
with the love of Jesus. O death of Jesus, make me die to every love that is of this
earth. O pierced feet of my Master, I throw my arms around You; set me free from
that hell which has been deserved by me.
My Jesus, if I were in hell, I would never be able to love You anymore, but I want to
love You forever. O my loving Saviour, save me, bind me to Yourself, and do not
allow such a thing to happen that I should ever again lose You.
O Mary, refuge of sinners, Mother of my Saviour, help a sinner, who wishes to love
GOD, and who pleads for this grace from you. For the sake of Jesus, whom you love
so much, O help me.
CHAPTER II
How Jesus Christ deserves to be loved by us on account of the love He

has shown us in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
1. "Jesus knowing that His hour was come that He should past out of this world to
the Father, as He loved His own . . . .he loved them unto the end." (John, 13, 1).
When our most loving Saviour knew that the time had now arrived, when He would
depart from this world; before going to die for us, He wished to leave us the greatest
sign of His love that it was in His power to leave -- and this sign was the gift of the
Most Holy Sacrament. It is remarked by St. Bernadine of Sienna, that the signs of
love that are shown at the time of death remained more firmly fixed in the memory,
and are cherished with greater care. So, when our friends come to die, they often
leave to those whom they loved in life some precious gift -- a garment, or a ring - to
keep as a remembrance of their love. But in Your case, my Jesus, what was it that
You left as a remembrance of Your love, when You are about to leave this world?
Not a garment, not a ring; but You left us Yourself - Your body, blood, soul and
divinity: Your whole self without keeping anything back. "He gave you all." says St.
John Chrysostom. There was nothing more that He had."
2. Here is what the Council of Trent says: "In this gift of the Eucharist Jesus Christ
wanted -- so to speak -- to set in display before all men all the riches of His love."
(Sess., XIII, C. 2). And the Apostle calls it to our attention that He did this on the
very night when men were preparing to put Him to death: "On the night on which
He was betrayed, He took bread, and giving thanks He broke it and said, this is my
body." (1 Cor., XI, 23-24). Listen to St. Bernadine of Sienna. He tells us that "Jesus
was not only prepared to die for us; but when the time came to die, He was
compelled, by the burning excess of His love, to work a greater wonder than He had
ever yet worked -- to give us His own self as the food of our soul."
3. Therefore, St. Thomas does well in calling this sacrament -- the Sacrament of
love, the pledge of love. The Sacrament of love, because love alone was the motive
force that moved Jesus to give us, in this way, His entire self; and the pledge or
guarantee of love, because, if up to now we had any doubt about His Love, we have
here received from him its pledge of security. It is as though Our Lord had said to us,
when he left us this gift. If you ever had any doubts about my love, here I am now
leaving you myself in this Sacrament. With such a guarantee of love in your
possession, you can no longer have any doubt that I love you, and that my love for
you is exceeding great. St. Bernard goes further, in naming this Sacrament, "the love
of loves" -- that love which comprehends in itself all other loves; fr this gift contains
all else that our Saviour has done: the creation, the redemption, and pre-destination
to the life of glory in heaven. This gift is not only the great guarantee of the love of
Jesus Christ; but it is also the guarantee of the paradise that He wants to give us. The
Church sings, in the office of the Blessed Sacrament, "In it is given to us a guarantee
of future glory." Therefore, St. Philip Neri could find no better name for Jesus in this
Sacrament than simply -- love. When Jesus came to him in the Viaticum he was
heard to exclaim, "Here is my love, O give me my love!"
4. The prophet Isaias wished that the loving inventions that GOD had discovered
to make known His love for men, should be manifested to the whole world. And ,
actually, is there anybody, who would have thought up such a marvel as this, if He
Himself had not performed it -- that the Eternal Word, after becoming man, should
then place Himself under the form of bread to become our food? "Does it not seem
folly," St. Augustine says, that He should tell us, "Eat my flesh: drink my blood?"
When Jesus Christ spoke openly to His disciples of this Sacrament, which He wished
to leave us they simply would not believe it: and they went away from Him saying:
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (John, 6, 53). This is a hard word and
who can hear ?" (John, 6, 61). But the great love of Jesus Christ has actually
accomplished that which men could not be brought even to think of, or to believe.
Just before He went to die, He said to His disciples -- and what He said to them' He
says to us -- "Take and eat." But what food is this, indeed, O Saviour of the world,
that You want to give us before you go to die?" "Take and eat, for this is my body." (1
Cor., 11,24) This food is not of the earth: It is I who am giving my whole self to You.
5. Think of the burning desire with which Jesus Christ so intensely longs to come
into the very depths of our souls in Holy Communion: "With desire I have desired to
eat this Pasch with you." (Luc., 22, 15). Thus He spoke on that night, when He
instituted this Sacrament of love. St. Lawrence Justinian beautiful says: "This is a
voice that issues forth from a most intense fire of love." And so that every single one
of us could approach to receive Him without any difficulty, it was His wish to leave
Himself under the form of bread. If He had left Himself under the form of some rare
kind of food, or some food which was very costly, then the poor would have been
deprived of this wonderful privilege. No; not this from Jesus. He has wished to place
Himself under the form of bread, which costs so little, and can be had by all who seek
it. So every man, in every country, can find Him and receive Him.
6. Still more: so that we would be filled with the desire to receive Him in Holy
Communion, not only does He urge us to come with this most pressing invitation:
"Come, eat my bread and drink the wine which I have mixed for you." (Prov., 9, 5).
"Eat, my friends, and drink" (Cant., 5, 1) of this celestial bread and wine; but he goes
further by placing an obligation on us: "Take and eat: this is my body." (1 Cor., 11,
24). He would do still more to entice us to come and receive Him, and so He adds
the promise of heaven: "He that eats my flesh will have eternal life." (John., 6, 55).
"He that eats this bread will live forever." (Ibid., 59). He will even warn us that the
result will be hell and exclusion from heaven if we refuse to receive Him: " Unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man you will have no life in you." (Ibid., 54). These
invitations, these promises, these warnings -- they all issue from one source -- that
intense desire of His to come to us in this Sacrament.
7. Why, indeed, should Jesus Christ be moved by such an intense longing that we
should receive Him in Holy Communion? I can tell you the reason. St. Dionisius
gives it when he says that love is always longing to bring about union. St. Thomas
writes: "Lovers desire that where there were formerly two, there should now be only
one." When in the hearts of friends there is a deep love for each other, there is also a
longing that they should be united as to become only one. Now it is this that the
tremendous love of GOD for men has accomplished: not only does He give Himself
wholly to them in His eternal kingdom; but even on this earth; by giving us this
Sacrament, under the form of bread, He has left Himself; so that men may have Him
as their complete possession, and in a way that brings about, between Him and them,
the most intimate union that is possible. There He waits behind the wall, and He
looks out upon us through the narrow lattice gate -- to use the expression of the
Canticles - "See Him, as He stands behind our wall, casting His glance through the
windows, looking out through the lattices." (Cant., 2, 9). Maybe we do not see Him;
but He is looking at us, and there He is present in all reality -- and present so that we
may take possession of Him. If He hides Himself, it is only that we may desire Him
the more. And lest by any chance we should fail to reach our fatherland, Jesus gives
Himself all to us, and keeps near to us, united t us in the closest possible way.
8. That love of Hs could not be fully gratified by the gift, complete as it was, that
He made of Himself to the whole human race in His Incarnation; and in His Passion,
when it was for all men that He died. He wanted to find a way to give Himself to
every one of us in particular. it was then He instituted the Sacrament of the Altar to
unite Himself wholly to each one of us. "He that eats my flesh abides in me and I in
him," He said. In the Holy Communion Jesus unites Himself to the soul, and the
soul is united to Jesus. This union is not one of mere desire, but it is true and real.
This is why St. Francis de Sales says so beautifully: "In no other action of His can we
consider our Saviour more tender and loving than in this -- for here He reduces
Himself to nothing, so to speak, and becomes food that He may penetrate the depths
of our inmost being, and remain united in the very hearts of His faithful friends." St.
John Chrysostom writes: "He immersed Himself n our very being that we might be
one with Him: such is the way that a burning love operates." O how marvellous is
your love my Lord, Jesus Christ!" exclaims St. Lawrence Justinian. "You wanted to
incorporate us into your own divine Person, so that now we are one body and one
soul, inseparably united with You." "here indeed is the ultimate, the highest step that
love can reach," says St. Bernadine of Sienna. "He has given Himself as food, for He
has given Himself to be united with us in every way, just as food and the one who
takes it, together become one and the same."
9. O how filled with joy Jesus is when He thus become united with our souls! One
day, after Holy Communion, He said to that servant of His, whom He greatly loved,
Margaret of Ipres: "My child, you see how beautiful is the union between us -- O
come you and I -- let us love each other; let us be ever united in love, and let us never
be separated from each other anymore."
10. We should now be fully persuaded that we can neither do, nor think of
anything, that gives more pleasure to Jesus Christ than receiving Him in Holy
Communion.
But we, on our part, must have those dispositions, which we should have, when we
come to receive within our breast a Guest who is so great; if we are truly to unite
ourselves to this beloved Master, and so fulfil His own great desire. What I said was
"the dispositions we should have, that is suitable dispositions. I did not use the word
"worthy," because, if we had to be worthy, nobody would ever be able to receive
Communion anymore. It is only a GOD that could be worthy to receive a GOD. By
suitable, I mean those which are becoming to a poor creature clothed in the unhappy
flesh of Adam. It is sufficient, generally speaking, that the one who communicates,
be in the state of grace; and that he be moved by s lively desire to grow in the love of
Jesus Christ. "Jesus wishes us to receive Him through love alone, may give Himself
tio us. You can rest assured that no state of life -- neither the married state nor the
state of man entangled in worldly affairs can hinder you from receiving Holy
Communion frequently, if your spiritual director thinks that you should do so.
11. It is necessary for us to realise that there is no mine from which we can extract
a richer treasure than from Holy Communion. The Eternal Father has made Jesus
Christ the Lord of the treasure - that is, of all the wealth of GOD: "The Father has
placed everything in His hands." (John, 13, 3). When Jesus comes to the soul in Holy
Communion, He brings with Him a boundless treasure of graces and favours. How
truly then, the one who goes to Communion can say: "All things that are good came
to me together with Him." (Wis., 7, 2). We are told by St. Dionisius that " of all the
means that can bring holiness to perfection, the Eucharist is supreme in its power."
St. Vincent Ferrer tells us that, "The soul can get more profit from one Communion
than from a week spent fasting on bread and water."
The Remedy
12. The Council of Trent teaches that Holy Communion is in the first place, the
great and special remedy that frees us from venial sin, and preserves us from mortal
sin. (Trent Sess.13, Chap. 2). It sets us free from our daily faults; and this is how St.
Thomas explains it; This Sacrament moves us to make acts of love, and through
these venial sin is cancelled out. We are also preserved from mortal sin, because
Holy Communion gives us an increase of grace, and this preserves us from serious
falls. This is what Innocent III meant when he wrote : " Through the mystery of the
cross Jesus freed us from the dominion of sin; through the Eucharist He sets us free
the power which impels us to sin."
Consuming Fire of Love
13. Another principal effect of this Sacrament is to set the soul on fire with divine
love. "GOD is love." (John, 4, 8). He is the fire that consumes all unruly earthly
loves within our hearts: "GOD is a consuming Fire." (Deut., 4, 24). Now the Son of
GOD came on earth for the express purpose of setting this fire ablaze: "I came to cast
fire on the earth." And He adds that there is nothing that He longs for more than to
see this holy fire burning in our hearts: "and what do I wish for, except that it be set
aflame." (Luc., 12, 49). And, indeed, great are the flames of divine love that Jesus
sets burning in every one who receives Him in this Sacrament with sincere affection.
One day, St. Catherine of Sienna saw the Sacramental Jesus in the hand of a
priest. A fire-ball burned with great heat round about Him. As she gazed upon this
sight with astonishment she wondered how it could be that all human hearts were
not enkindled and consumed by such a fire.
St. Rose of Lima sent forth rays of light from her face after Holy Communion.
Their dazzling brightness was blinding, and their heat burned the hands of those who
came near to touch her.
It is told of St. Wenceslaus that, when he went to visit the churches where the
Most Holy Sacrament was reserved, a real fire of love burned within him, and the
servant who accompanied him no longer felt the cold as he walked over the snow, so
long as he placed his feet in the king's own footsteps, as he followed behind him.
St. John Chrysostom in one of his sermons on the Eucharist says: "The Eucharist is a
burning fuel that starts up a fire within us, so that we come away from that table with
the strength of lions, and breathing fire that fills the demons with terror."
The Wine of Love
14. The Spouse in the Canticles tells us: "Into his own banqueting-hall the king has
brought me, shown me the blazon of his love." (Cant., 2, 4). "Holy Communion is
this banqueting-hall where the soul becomes inebriated with divine love," says St.
Gregory of Nyssa, "so that it becomes forgetful of self and all created things fade
from its view." This is indeed the love in which the beloved languishes, as she
repeats to herself these words, "Build around me wreaths of flowers, and about me
set up stores of fruits, because I am languishing with love." (Ibid., 5).
Someone may now object: But this is the very reason why I do not go to
Communion often -- I feel cold in divine love. Jean Gerson is to the point when he
asks, "Do you stay away from the fire because you feel cold?" Because you feel cold!
-- that is the very reason that you should approach the fire of love in this Sacrament;
always, of course, on the condition that you really do want to love Jesus Christ.
St. Bonaventure supports us in this: "Even though you may be cold, nevertheless
you come confident in GOD's mercy. The more serious your illness is, the more need
you have of the doctor." Listen to St. Francis de Sales giving the advice to Philothea:
"There are two kinds of people that should communicate frequently -- the perfect, so
that they may remain perfect; the imperfect, so that they may become perfect." But
here is something that really is necessary if you want, with profit to yourself, to
communicate frequently. You must have a real longing to become more holy and to
grow in the love of Jesus Christ. One day Our Lord said to St. Mechtilde: "When you
are going to receive Communion, desire to have for me as much love as a human
heart can have; then I will receive from you just as much love as you wished t give."

O GOD of love, O boundless love -- worthy to be returned with a boundless love --
what greater means could you have discovered to make yourself loved by us? It was
not enough for you to become man, and to subject yourself to so many of our
miseries. It was not enough for you to pour out all of your blood for us in the midst
of torments, and then to die consumed by grief on a tree destined for condemned
criminals. You were finally reduced to giving yourself to us as food under the form of
bread; so that You could unite Yourself to our inmost being. Tell me, I repeat, what
more is there that you can discover to make yourself loved? O how unhappy we shall
be if, in this life, we do not love You! what remorse it will bring us, when we go into
eternity, if we have not loved You!
My Jesus, I do not wish to die without loving You, and I wish to love You with an
exceeding great love.
Oh, I am deeply grieved because of the pain I have given You so often. I repent, O
Jesus, and I would like to die with sorrow. Now I love you; I love you above
everything; I love You more than my life. I consecrate to you all the affections of my
being. O You, who have given me this intense desire, give me the strength to put it
into act. My Jesus, O Jesus, my love, I do not wish for anything but You. Now that
You have drawn me to Your love, I forsake all else. I renounce all else, and I bind
myself to You. Alone, You are enough for me.
O Mother of my GOD, Mary, pray to Jesus for me, and make me holy. Add this one
more to the rest of your miracles -- change a sinner into a saint.
Chapter III
The great confidence we should place in the love that Jesus Christ has
shown for us, and in all that He has done for us.
David placed all the hope of his salvation in the Redeemer that was to come.
"Into your hands, O Lord, " he said, " I commend my spirit. You have redeemed me,
O Lord GOD of truth." (psalm., 30, 6).
Now that Jesus Christ has come and completed the work of Redemption, our
reasons for placing all our hope in Him have increased immensely. Each one of us
should repeat with still greater confidence: "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my
spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord GOD of truth."
2. If our reasons are great for fearing eternal death, because we have sinned; the
reasons we have to hope for eternal life are greater still, because of the merits of
Jesus Christ. These have the power to save us which is greater, in an infinite degree,
than the power of our sins to destroy us. We have sinned; we have merited eternal
loss; but the Redeemer has come to take all our sins to Himself, and to satisfy for
them with His own sufferings -- "In very truth, He has taken to Himself our ills, and
He has borne our sorrows." (Is., 53, 4).
3. As soon as we had sinned, at that very moment, the sentence of eternal death
was written by GOD against us. But what has our kind Redeemer done? "Taking the
copy of the sentence, that had been written against us, He blotted it out, and moved
it from our midst, and fastened it to the cross." (Coloss., 2, 14). With His blood He
cancelled the sentence of our condemnation, and then He fastened it to the cross.
And now, as we look at the same time on the cross where Jesus died. It is blotted out
with His blood; we are filled with hope again, for pardon and eternal life.
4. How much better is the way in which the Blood of Jesus Christ cries out for us,
winning for us the divine mercy, than the way in which the blood of Abel cried out
against Cain! "You stand before . . . Jesus, the mediator, whose blood, sprinkled, tells
of better things than that of Abel." (Heb., 12, 24).
The Apostle says to us: Sinners, after your sin you can go for aid to Jesus
Crucified; He has shed His blood to make Himself the mediator of peace between
you and GOD, and to obtain pardon for you. Your wicked deeds cry out against you,
but the blood of Jesus pleads in your favour. At the cry of this blood the divine
justice cannot be appeased.
5. It is true, indeed, that we have to give an exacting account of all our sins to the
eternal Judge. But who is going to be our judge? "the father has given all judgement
to the Son." (John, 5, 22). let us take heart; the Eternal Father has entrusted our
judgement to that same Redeemer. St. Paul raises our courage when he says : "Who
is the one that is going to condemn us? Jesus Christ who died, and who is also
praying on our behalf." (Rom., 8, 34).
Who is this judge who is going to pronounce sentence of condemnation on us? It

is the very Saviour who chose to condemn Himself -- and to condemn Himself to
death -- in order that He might not condemn us. Even with that He is not content,
but at this very hour He is there, close to His Father's side, to plead for our salvation.
St. Thomas of Villanova wants to remind us of this when he says: "Poor sinner, what
are you afraid of? You are sorry for your sin. How can He condemn you who died
that He might not condemn you? How can He send you away, if you return to His
feet -- He who has come down from heaven to look for you, when you were in flight
from Him?"
6. But suppose we are afraid of falling under the assaults of our enemies, against
whom the battle must ever be carried on. This is what we have to do -- and the
Apostle, St. Paul, becomes the teacher here: "Let us go with speed into the battle,
which we have to fight, with our gaze fixed all the while on Jesus; for He is the author
of our faith, and the one that will bring it to its fullest completion. Joy was set before
Him, but it was the cross that He took up, counting the shame of it as nothing."
(Heb., 12, 1-2).
So let us go forth to battle moved with a noble confidence, for it is Jesus crucified
we have before our eyes; and from His cross He offers us His help, the victory, and
the crown. In the past we were conquered in the battle because we forgot to look
upon the wounds, the contempt, and the shame, borne by our Redeemer; and
because we did not look to Him for help. But if, in the future, we will keep before our
eyes all that He has suffered because He loves us; and how He is there waiting to
support us with His aid as soon as we call upon Him, then we can be sure if certain
victory, and we can never be conquered by our enemies.
These words of St. Teresa are filled with her own generous spirit of confidence:
"There are some people who are constantly repeating, "The demon! the demon!
because they tremble before him. I cannot understand their acting like this, when I
can say "My God! My God!" and make the demon tremble." But, on the contrary, she
tells us that we can be as diligent and careful as we will, and still we will accomplish
little or nothing, unless we put all our confidence in GOD.
7. O what marvellous mysteries are these two -- bearing within themselves hope
and love for us -- the Passion of Jesus Christ, and the Sacrament of the Altar! What
mysteries! If Faith has not assured us, nobody would ever have been able to believe
it. a GOD, who is in possession of limitless power, wanting to become man, and to
shed all His blood in sorrow and in pain by dying on a tree! And for what reason? To
pay the cost of sin, and to save rebels -- rebels who of themselves are of no value at
all! And then, to want to give that same body -- the body that had been sacrificed for
us on the cross -- to be the food that will unite Himself to each of us! O GOD, these
two mysteries of yours should reduce the hearts of all men to ashes -- so intense is
the burning flame of their love! Is there any sinner, however dissolute he may be,
who can think of GOD, so filled with love, and longing to do good to men; and who
can despair of pardon if he only repents of the evil that he has done? St. Bonaventure
gives expression to his boundless trust when he says: "I act confidently; my trust is
unshakeable: He, who has done and suffered so much for my salvation, can deny me
nothing that will help me to attain it."
8. "Therefore, let us go boldly to the throne of grace. There we shall obtain mercy,
and there we shall find grace in timely help." (Hebr., 4, 16). Thus the Apostle exhorts
us. The throne of grace is the cross. For on it Jesus reigns as on a throne that He
may distribute graces and mercies to every man who comes there to ask for them.
But this is necessary -- we must go in haste to lay our petitions before Him, and to
find timely help for our salvation; lest perhaps if, in delay, the time may come when
we may find it no longer. Let us go, then, without any delay, and go close up to the
cross of Jesus Christ, and let us approach it in all confidence. Our utter helplessness
and unworthiness must not terrify us, for in Jesus Christ we are going to find the
treasure of unbounded riches and every grace. "In all things you are made rich in
Him . . . so that nothing at all is wanting to you in any grace." (1 Cor., 1, 5-7). The
merits of Jesus Christ have made us rich in all the treasures of GOD, and have made
us capable of obtaining any grace that we may desire.
9. St. Leo tells us that the graces, which Jesus brought us by His death, are much
greater than the injury which the demon inflicted on us by sin: "We have obtained
through the grace of Christ, far more than we lost through the envy of the devil." By
this he is only repeating what the Apostle has already told us: that the gift of
redemption is greater than sin. Grace has triumphed over the evil deed: "The sin
was one thing, but the gift was something quite different; sin was there in goodly
measure, but the grace was there in supreme measure." (Rom., 5, 15-20). So it is, that
the Saviour encourages us to hope for every favour and every grace through His
merits. See how He teaches us in what way we can obtain all that we want from the
Eternal Father: "Amen, amen, I say unto you, if you ask the Father anything in my
name, He will give it to you." (John., 16, 25). Whatever it is that you want, ask for it,
in my name, from the Father; and you have my promise that you will be heard. How,
indeed can the Father refuse any grace to us, if He has given to us His only Son,
whom He loves as He loves His own self: "He gave him for us all, how can it be but
that, together with him, He has given us all things -- because there is no one single
favour excepted; neither pardon, not perseverance, nor love, nor holiness, nor
paradise -- all; yes, He has given us everything. But this is necessary -- you must ask
in prayer, GOD is all liberality with the one that prays to Him: "Rich to all those who
appeal to Him." (Rom., 10, 12).
10. Here I would like to add many lovely thoughts, given to us in a letter of Blessed
John of Avila, and which tell of what great trust we should place in the merits of
Jesus Christ:
11. "Do not make any mistake in this: Jesus Christ is standing between the Eternal
Father and us; by Him we are loved. To Him we are bound b such strong bonds of
love that nothing is able to shatter them, if man himself does not break them by
death-dealing sin. "The blood of Jesus sends up its cry asking for mercy on us. It
cries so loudly that the cry of our sins is not heard. The death of Jesus has killed sin:
"O death, I will be thy death." (Osee, 13, 1). Those who are lost, are lost -- not
because there is no Saviour -- but because they do not want to profit by the
Sacraments and the atonement made by Jesus Christ.
12. "Jesus has made it His own responsibility to supply us with a remedy, even as
though He needed it Himself. So he has called our sins His own, even though He did
not commit them, and for these He send up His cry for pardon. That cry ascends,
with a love that comes forth from the very depths of His being, even as though He
were praying for Himself -- He is pleading that all those, who come close to His side,
will be loved even as He Himself is loved. He has asked for this, and He has also
obtained it. Therefore, GOD has disposed things in this way: that Jesus and we are
so united in one, that we either have to be loved as He is ; loved: or He must be hated
if we are hated. But Jesus is not, and He cannot be hated. In the same manner, if we
are united with Jesus in love, we too are loved with Him. If He is to be loved by
GOD, so we must be loved also. So you see that Jesus Christ prevails more, to make
us loved, than we can prevail, by our sins, to make ourselves hated. And so it is that
the Eternal Father loves His Son, in such a way, that He cannot hate the sinner.
13. "Jesus has said to His Eternal Father: "Father, I will that where I am, those
also, whom you have given me, may be with me." (John, 17, 24). The greater love has
conquered the lesser hate, and we are pardoned, and we are loved. We are safe,
never more can we be forsaken, where such a strong bond of love exists. The Lord
has said through His prophet, Isaias (49, 15), "Can a mother forget her child? yet,
even if she should forget, will I not forget you, because I hold you written in my
hands." This is something great indeed. Because of it, let us not be troubles by
anything whatsoever; for all things are arranged for us by those same hands which
were nailed to the cross in testimony of His love for us.
14. "Surely, nothing can cause us to be afraid when Jesus Christ is our security.
True, my sins are all about me; fear of the future disturbs me; the demons are setting
their snares for me. But how can I be distrustful -- I, who can call on the mercy of
Jesus, who is so full of kindness? He is my lover until death, and I will never waver
in my trust; I see myself set at such a high price that a GOD has given Himself for
me. O Jesus, you are mine, and you are the safe port of all who look to You when
they are buffeted by the tempest. How deceived are those, who do not trust you,
when they wish to challenge their lives: "Be not afraid, it is I; I am he that gives
tribulation and consolation." Sometimes I leave you in a state of desolation that may
seem like a hell. But then I draw you out, and fill you with consolation. I am your
advocate, who have taken your cause on my own self, as though it were my own. I
have gone bail for you: I have come to pay your debts. I am your Master, who have
bought you back with my blood, so that you may not be left forsaken, but that you
may be made rich; for the price, with which I redeemed you, was very great. How
could i fly from one, who is seeking me as a friend, when I went forth to meet those
who sought me to outrage me? I did not turn away my face from him who struck me,
and do you think that I will turn it away from him who comes to adore me? How can
my own children doubt my love, after they have seen me place myself at the mercy of
my enemies for the love of them? When did I ever turn in contempt from one who
said that he loved me? When did I ever forsake one that was seeking my help? -- I
who am still going about for those who did not look for me?"
15. If you really believe that the Eternal Father has given you His Son, then believe
also that He will give you, all else that remains; for all things else are infinitely less
than the Son. O do not think that Jesus Christ is forgetful of you, for as a memorial
of His love, He has left you the greatest guarantee that he possessed, and this was His
own very self in the Sacrament of the Altar.
O my Jesus, O my love, how beautiful are the hopes that your Passion awakens in
me! How could I possibly fear that I should not receive pardon for my many sins,
paradise, and all the graces that I need, from a GOD, who is almighty, and who for
me has shed every drop of His blood? So that I should not be lost, You have willed to
lose Your own life.
I love You above everything, my Saviour, my GOD. You gave everything for me. I
give everything for You: all that I have and could wish to be mine; and in making the
gift I repeat that I love You, I love You. I want to say this in life; I want to say this in
death; as I am breathing my last sigh, I want this beautiful word to be on my lips:
My GOD, I love You And after that, my love will still go on; it will endure and last
forever O never will I cease to love You.
Therefore, I love You, and because I love You, I am very sorry that I have ever caused
You pain. O unhappy was I when, for the sake of some short-lived pleasure, I
deliberately lost You -- You, who are goodness itself -- and i have done this so many
times. the remembrance of this torments me more than any other affliction. But I
am now consoled with the thought that I am dealing with one who is goodness itself.
goodness that knows no bounds; and who does not know how to forsake the one who
turns to Him in love. Would that I could die for You - for You who have died for me.
My dear Redeemer, I hope with unwavering certainty that You will give me eternal
salvation in the next life, and that in this life you will give me holy perseverance, and
the grace always to pray for it.
Mary, my Queen, the same is what I ask and hope for also from you: perseverance,
and the grace always to pray for it.
Chapter IV
How Great Our Obligations are to Love Jesus Christ
1. As GOD, Jesus Christ has the right, for His own sake, to all our love. But, over
and above this, He has willed to surround us with wonderful manifestations of His
love, in order to put us under a necessity -- so to speak -- of loving Him, in return out
of gratitude; for He has done and suffered very much for us. He has loved us with a
love exceeding great, so that He may be loved by us, i return, with a love exceeding
great. "Why does GOD love except that He may be loved?" writes St. Bernard. Long
before him, Moses said the same thing: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your
GOD ask of you, except that you fear the Lord your GOD and love Him?" (Deut., 10,
12). Therefore, the first precept that He gave us was this one: "Love the Lord your
GOD with all your heart." (Deut., 6, 5).
2. "Love is the fulfilment of the law" (Rom., 13, 10), says St. Paul. A Greek scribe
comments that the keeping of the law is incomplete unless it is done through love.
But is there anybody now who can be obstinate in refusing to love GOD, when he sees
Him crucified, ad dying for love of us? O with what a loud voice those thorns, those
nails, that cross, those wounds, that blood, cry out beseeching us to love Him wh has
loved us so much. One heart is altogether too little to love GOD who is on fire with
the love of us. To pay back Jesus Christ for His love, there would have to be another
GOD to die for love of Him. "O why do we not cast ourselves upon Jesus crucified to
die for the love of Him, who has willed to die there for love of us?" exclaims St.
Francis de Sales. Well, indeed, does the Apostle say, "Christ dies for us, that those
who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them." (Cor.,
5, 15).
3. "Do not forget the one who has gone bail for you," says the writer of
Ecclesiasticus, "for it was his own life that he paid for you." (Eccli., 29, 20). Do not
forget your benefactor who, to satisfy for your sins, paid your penalty with His death.
To reflect frequently on His Passion is something that brings very great joy and
consolation to the Heart of Jesus Christ.
On the contrary, it saddens Him very much when we grow so neglectful as to fail to
recall it to our minds. If one were to endure great sufferings for a friend, and even to
be shut up in prison for him, how great his grief would be, if he found out that his
friend was completely forgetful of all that he had endured for him, and never even
mentioned it. But on the other hand he would be greatly rejoiced to know that his
friend was filled with gratitude, ad often spoke with great feeling of him, and of all
that he had gone through for his sake. The Heart of Jesus Christ also is most
sensitive to our remembrance of Him, and to our gratitude for the sorrows, and the
death which He suffered for us.
The Fathers of ancient times looked forward to the distant future, and longed for
the coming of Jesus Christ; all the nations too , longed for His advent, when He
would come and dwell on this earth. Should not our longing for Him, then, be
greater still? Should He not be the one and only object of our love, now that we see
Him already come; and now that we know the great things He has done and suffered
for us, even to dying on a cross for our love?
4. The day before His death, when He instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist,
He did so with this object in view. This was the wish He expressed: that we should
recall His death as often as we should eat that sacred bread: "Take and eat; this is my
body. Do this as a memorial of me . . . as often as you shall eat this bread you shall
proclaim the death of the Lord." (1 Cor., 11, 24-26).
The Church realises this in her prayer: "O GOD, in this wonderful Sacrament
you have left us a memorial of Your Passion . . . " and she also sings, " O sacred feast,
in which Christ is received, the memory of His Passion is recalled . . ." All this gives
us proof that Jesus Christ is pleased with those whose thoughts often linger over His
Passion. For this He has given Himself and remains in the Sacrament of the Altar, to
keep alive within us a perpetual and grateful memory of what He has suffered for us;
that by this means our love for Him may never cease to grow. St. Francis de Sales
names Calvary -- the mountain of lovers. It is not possible to remember that
mountain and not to love Jesus Christ -- for it was n that mountain that He gave
Himself up to death for the love of us.
5. O my GOD, can there be any reason at all why men do not love you, after you
have done such great things to make yourself loved by them?
Before the Eternal Word came on earth in our own flesh, man might have
doubted whether GOD loved him with a tender love. But after the coming of the Son
of GOD, and after He has died for the love of men, how is it possible to doubt it any
longer? Look on that cross, look on those sorrows, look on that bitter death, says St.
Thomas of Villanova: "The cross bears witness, the sorrows bear witness too, the
bitter death bears witness of all He suffered -- and it was for you." And St. Bernard:
"With what a loud voice the cross, and every separate wound of our Redeemer, try to
make us understand the love He bore us." This mystery of Redemption is so deep
that the human mind must dwell long and earnestly upon it, if we are to have
knowledge of the deep thoughts of Jesus Christ, and the pressure that was upon Him
to discover different ways of making Himself loved by us. If He wanted to die to save
us, it would have been enough to die with the other little ones who were killed by
Herod. No, not this; before dying He would pass a life of thirty-three years -- a life
spent in pain and want. And think of all the different forms in which He would
appeal to us, during that life of His on earth, because He longed to draw us to His
love. First we see Him as a poor little infant in a stable; then as a growing boy in a
labourer's workshop, and at last condemned, as though He were a criminal, hanging
from a cross. Even before dying on the cross, He would appeal in other ways that
would touch us, for He wants to make certain of winning our love. He shows Himself
to us in the Garden, all bathed in sweat and blood. He shows Himself to us in the
hall of Pilate: torn, bruised, lacerated, by the scourges; He shows Himself scorned
and mocked, His Kingship held in ridicule -- in His hand a reed, on His shoulders a
purple rag; on His head a crown of thorns; and then, through the public streets,
dragged to death with a cross on His shoulder; in the end, on Calvary, hanging from
three great hooks of iron. And now I ask you, do you think that He merits, or does
not merit, to be loved by us -- a GOD who wanted to suffer such great things, and to
discover so many ways of touching ur hearts; and all because He wishes to make
Himself the possessor of our love? Let us say with Fr. John Rigoleu: "what can I do
but grieve with love over my GOD, who was led forth by love to die for the salvation
of men!"
7. "Love: what a mighty thing it is!" says St. Bernard. A mighty thing, a precious
thing, is love. Speaking of divine wisdom, Solomon says that it is holy love; he calls it
a boundless treasure, because whoever possesses love becomes a sharer in the
friendship of GOD. "It is a boundless treasure to men, and those who use it become
sharers in GOD's friendship." (Wis., 7, 14). St. Thomas teaches that charity is not
only the queen of all the virtues, but that, wherever she reigns, they surround her in a
retinue, and she brings them with her wherever she goes; she directs them all, so that
they band together to bring us closer to GOD. But, strictly speaking, that which
really unites us to GOD is love itself. This is exactly what St. Bernard says, "The
virtue which unites us to GOD is love." And, indeed, time and time again, the Sacred
Scriptures clearly set it down that GOD loves every one that loves Him: "I love those
who love me." (Prov., 8, 17), "If any man loves me, my Father will love him, and we
will come to him, and we will make our dwelling with him." (John., 14, 23). "He who
dwells in love dwells in GOD, and GOD in him." (John, 4, 16). See here the beautiful
union that is the work of love -- the soul and GOD united. Added to this, it is love
that communicates the enduring courage to do and suffer for GOD anything, no
matter how great it be: "Love is strong as death." (Cant., 8, 6). Listen to St.
Augustine, "There is nothing so hard that it cannot be conquered by love." The
greatest difficulties vanish away in the presence of the intense fire of love.
The same saint continues, "Where there is love, either one does not labour, or the
labour itself is the object of love."
8. Now listen to St. John Chrysostom, and to what he has to say about that soul
over which divine love has established its kingdom: "When divine love establishes its
reign in a soul, there arises within it a thirst that nothing can satisfy -- a thirst to
work by love; this is so true that though she accomplishes many works and great, and
though she gives generously of her time in its services; it still seems to her as though
she has done nothing at all; she always labours under the grief that she is doing so
little for GOD. If she were permitted to give herself to death, and to bring herself to
nothing, she would still not be content. So she considers herself as but a useless
being in everything that she does. The love that GOD merits is her teacher, and, in
the bright light of it, she sees all the defects that mar her actions. She is dismayed,
and pained by the knowledge that her noblest actions are so unworthy, when the
Master she serves is one who is so great."
9. People who think that sanctity consists in anything else but the love of GOD, St.
Francs de Sales tells us, are labouring under a very great deception. His words are
worth repeating: "Some place perfection in austerity of life, others in prayer, others
in the frequentation of the Sacraments, and others in charity to the poor. The only
sanctity that i know of consists in loving GOD with the whole heart. The other
virtues, without love, are only a heap of dead stones. If we have not the perfect joy of
possessing this holy love, we have ourselves to blame, because we are not prepared to
give everything to GOD."
10. Our Lord once told St. Teresa, "Unless a thing gives pleasure to me, you can be
sure that thing is hollow and empty." I would that everybody had a clear knowledge
of this truth -- "Only one thing is necessary." It is not at all necessary to be rich in
money and property, to be held in high esteem by your neighbours, to lead a life of
ease and luxury, to be surrounded with pomp and dignity, to have a reputation for
learning. The only thing that is necessary is to love GOD and to do GOD's will. GOD
created you, and He keeps you alive, for this only; and this only will give you a right
to enter heaven. -- "Put me as a seal upon your heart, and as a seal upon your arm."
(Cant., 8, 6). Every soul in grace is a spouse of GOD, and these are the words He
addresses to her: "In this way all your actions and all your affections will have my
seal upon them. If my seal is upon your heart, no love will enter into it that is not
ruled by my love, if my seal is on your arm, everything you do will be done for me."
So we see that those run fast on the road of perfection who keep their eyes on Jesus
Crucified, and whose only thought is to give joy to Him.
The Signs of True Love
11. We conclude that all our care and efforts must be given to this: to grow in the
love of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Those who are experts in spiritual things, tell us that the signs of true love are:
True love is always accompanied with a certain amount of fear: it fears only one
thing, and that is to give any displeasure to GOD. True love is generous: it is not
afraid to undertake any work, however great, if it be for the glory of GOD: for its
trust is placed in Him. True love is valiant and strong: it can conquer any
inclinations to wickedness; its victory extends over the most violent temptations,
desolation, and darkness. True love is obedient and ready in all things to follow the
voice of GOD. True love is pure: because it loves GOD alone, and alone it merits to
be loved by Him. True love is ardent: because it wants to kindle a fire in everybody
else, and to see them consumed with divine love. True love inebriates: it puts the
soul in such a state that it loses consciousness of all external things; so that it sees
nothing; it feels nothing; it seems to be no longer affected by the things of earth,
wholly occupied in loving GOD alone. True love unites: it brings the will of the
creature into very close union with the will of the Creator. True love is a love of
desire: because it seizes the soul with an intense longing to leave this earth, and to
fly upwards to where it will become perfectly united with GOD in its own blessed
homeland, where it will love Him with all its powers.
12. Now, there is nobody who teaches us all the characteristics of true love as well
as that great preacher of charity, St. Paul. In the thirteenth chapter of his First
Letter to the Corinthians, he tells us, first of all, that the man who is without love is
nothing, and can do nothing: "I may have faith strong enough to move the
mountains , but if I have no love, I am nothing. I may give away all that I possess to
feed the poor, I may even give my body to be burned, but, if I have no love, what good
will it so me?" So you may have sufficient faith to move the mountains, as St.
Gregory Thaumaturgus did; but, if you have no love, this would be quite useless to
you. You could hand out all the goods you have t the poor, and willingly suffer
martyrdom itself, but without love -- that is, if you were to do it for any other motive
than to please GOD -- it would get you nowhere.
Then St. Paul gives the characteristics of true love, and, in doing this, he at the
same time teaches us how to practise those other virtues which are the offspring of
true love. He continues: "Love is patient, is kind; love does no wrong; is not
conceited, or ambitious; it is not selfish; nor quick to take offense; it thinks no evil;
it does not rejoice in the presence of wickedness; but it takes delight in the truth. it is
ready to suffer everything; there is no limit to its faith, and its hope, and its
endurance."
In the present volume we are going to set our thoughts n these virtues so that we
may find out whether the true love of Jesus Christ is reigning as queen over us, and
also that we may be well acquainted with the virtues that we ought to practise most,
if we are t keep ourselves in, and grow in, that love that makes us holy.
Affections and Petitions.
O heart of Jesus, unhappy is the one who does not love you; for you have all the
attractions that can win our love; and, at the same time, you love us with a love that
knows no bounds. My Jesus, you have died on the cross for love of men, without any
consolation that could sooth you in your agony. How does it come that men can live
without remembering you?
O men, look on the innocent Lamb of GOD, where He agonises on that cross and dies
for you. O love divine! O man's ingratitude! There He is, to pay to the divine justice
the price of your sins; and then to draw you to His love. O look at Him, O love Him.
because He is praying for you to the Eternal Father -- and he is praying for your
pardon.
And those who love You, my dear Jesus -- how few they are! How unhappy I also
have been, for I have lived forgetful of You for so many ears! How often I have
caused You pain! O my Saviour -- so dear to me now -- I am filled with grief, at the
thought of the love that you have borne for me, far more than at the thought of the
punishment that I have deserved.
O sorrow of Jesus, O bitter shame and humiliations of Jesus, O wounds of Jesus, O

death of Jesus, O love of Jesus, fix yourselves so firmly in my love, that forever your
image may be there. Let it wound me without ceasing, and set me on fire with the
love of You.
O Jesus, my Jesus , I love You, my supreme good, I love You, my love, my all, I love
You: my only wish is to love You and to love You always.
Listen to me: O do not let it ever happen that will cease to love You, or ever lose You.
O make me all your own; do this by the merits of Your death. this is the hope from
which I will never be moved.
And in your prayerful help, O Mary, my Queen, I put my trust. Make me love Jesus
Christ. Make me love you, too Mary, my Mother, my hope!
Chapter V
Love is Patient
The one who loves Jesus Christ loves to suffer.
This earth is a place of merit, therefore it is a place of suffering. Our homeland is

paradise; it is there that GOD has prepared for us rest, and joy that will have no end.
The time we have to live in this world is short; but in that short time we have many
works to do, and much to suffer: "Man, born of woman, lives but a short time and
his life is filled with afflictions and sorrows." (Job, 14, 1). Suffering is something that
you cannot escape from; all must suffer; the virtuous man and the sinner, each
must carry his cross. Whoever carries it with patience will be saved, whoever rebels
under its weight will be lost," says St. Augustine, "but they send some to heaven, and
others to hell." In the Church of GOD, the same Saint tells us, suffering is the test
which separates the straw from the good grain. The one who is humble and resigned
to GOD's will in his affliction is grain for paradise; the one who, in a spirit of pride,
grows angry and leaves GOD is straw for the fire of hell.
2. When the day arrives, on which the cause of our salvation will come up for
judgement, if we want to receive the favourable sentence of those who are chosen for
heaven, the finding must be that our life was like to that of Jesus Christ: "He willed
that those, whom he knew beforehand, would be like to the image of His Son."
(Rom., 8, 29). to carry the cross that GOD sends us, and to carry it with patience --
to teach us this by His own example was the very reason for which the Eternal Word
came down to earth. "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should
follow in his footsteps." (1 Peter, 2, 21). So that Jesus Christ chose to suffer, to give
us courage to suffer also.
O GOD, what a life was that which you chose for Jesus Christ, Your Son! The
prophet called our Redeemer: "Despised the last of men, a man of sorrows." (Is.,
53, 3). Dishonour, shame, suffering were His lot; despised and treated as the last of
men; of least account among His fellows; a man of sorrows. Yes, indeed, the life of
Jesus was plunged in a sea of sorrows, of dishonour and of pain.
3. It is no matter for wonder to us when the Apostle, St. Paul, tells us, 'GOD
chastises the one whom he loves, and he scourges that son whom He welcomes."
(Heb., 12, 6). He treated His own Son, the Son of His love, in this way; and in the
same way He treats every one whom He loves and receives as His child. It was Jesus
Himself who once said to St. Teresa: "I want you to know this -- that those, whom
my Father afflicts with the greatest sufferings, are those who are dearest to Him."
The same saint, finding herself in affliction and distress, tells us that she would not
exchange these things for all the treasures in the world. After her death, she
appeared to a certain person, and said that her happiness in heaven was now great;
it was the reward, not so much for her good works, as for the sufferings she had
willingly embraced for the love of GOD, that the only thing that could bring her back
to earth would be the chance of suffering still more for GOD.
4. There is a double gain in heaven for the one who loves GOD, and suffers at the
same time. St. Vincent de Paul taught that, to be without suffering in life, was a
most unhappy state; and he added, that a congregation or a person that had nothing
to suffer was very close to a fall. St. Francis of Assisi looked upon that day as lost on
which he had no cross to bear for GOD, and he began to be afraid that GOD had
forsaken him. St. John Chrysostom, was of the opinion that, when GOD gave anyone
the grace to suffer, this was a greater gift than if He had given him power to raise the
dead; because in performing such a miracle he would only become more deeply in
debt to GOD; but when he suffered, GOD became a debtor to him. He adds that if
GOD gives a man, the grace to suffer for Him, because He loves Him, this in itself is
a very great reward; even though he receives nothing else. He taught that the grace
of St. Paul, "in bonds for Christ", was much greater than the grace of St. Paul,
"Carried upwards into the third heavens."
5. "Patience produces a work that is perfect." (James, 1, 4). St. James wishes to ell
us that when GOD sees anyone suffering, in patience and in peace, all the crosses
which He sends; that is the sight, of all others, that gives most pleasure to Him.
Under the cross love grows, and makes the lover more and more like to the beloved.
"All the wounds of the Redeemer," says St. Francis de Sales, "are so many mouths
speaking to us, and teaching how necessary it is to suffer for Him. It is the science of
the saints, to suffer for Jesus and never to be treated like Him -- you too will want to
be poor, in suffering, and held in contempt. All the saints were seen by St. John:
they were clothed in white, an they had palms in their hands. (Apoc., 12, 9). The
palm is the sign of the martyr; yet not all the saints suffered martyrdom. Why , then,
have they all palms in their hands? St. Gregory gives the answer: all the saints are
martyrs: either of the sword, or the patience in suffering. He adds: we can be
martyrs, too, without the sword, if we suffer in patience. To love and to suffer --
here, in the combination of these two, is the secret of merit if you want to love Jesus
Christ in all reality. Our Lord confirmed this when He spoke these words t St.
Teresa: "My child, do you think that merit consists in being filled with joy? No, it
consists in loving and in suffering. Set your gaze on all the painful things that I have
borne. My child, this is something that I want you to know; the more anyone is loved
by my Father, the heavier will be the trials that such a one will receive from Him --
this is the measure of love. Set your gaze on these wounds f mine, for your sorrows
will never come near to approaching them. If anyone thinks that my Father admits
to His close friendship one that is without suffering the one who thinks this is under
a delusion." To rouse your courage, St. Teresa then tells us that GOD never sends a
trial without, at the same time, accompanying it with corresponding favours.
6. Once Our Lord appeared to Blessed Baptista Varani and told her that there were
three very great gifts that he was accustomed to give to those He loved most: the
first, freedom from sin; the second, which was greater, the power to do good works,
the third, which was the greatest of them all, the power to suffer for love of Him.
"That is why St. Teresa tells us that, when GOD wishes to do us some secial favour,
He sends us a cross. the saints knew this and, whenever GOD tried them with a
heavy cross, they turned to Him in thanksgiving. This is the way St. Louis of France
spoke of his slavery in Turkey, and here is what he said: " I am filled with Joy and I
give thanks to GOD, when I think of the sufferings He allowed me to endure in the
time of my imprisonment. "That was something much grander than if He had
allowed e to conquer the world."
St. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, when her husband died, was cast forth from
her palace, and with her little son she found herself a homeless wanderer, forsaken
by all. She went on foot to the convent of the Franciscans and there she asked them
to chant the Te Deum. She wished to thank GOD for doing her such a great favour
as to let her suffer for His love.
7. St. Joseph of Calasanctius considered that any trial whatsoever was a very small
price to pay for paradise; and in this he was only voicing the words of the Apostle:
"The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared to the glory to come,
which will be revealed in us." (Rom., 8, 18).
The advantage would be altogether ours, if, to gain only one moment in paradise,
we were to suffer all the torments that the martyrs have gone through. This being the
case, we ought surely t embrace with love the crosses that come our way -- life is so
short, and the gain will be endless delight.
The Apostle tells us this: "Our suffering is light, and lasts but a moment . . . and
it is weighed in the balance against an eternal weight of glory." (11 Cor., 4, 7).
The tyrant who was persecuting St. Agapitus -- a youth of tender years --
threatened that he would crush down upon his head a helmet that was re-hot. He
simply replied: "How fortunate I will be, for after that my head will be crowned in
paradise."
"My joy overflows while embracing my cross; I gain heaven and GOD for this
slight earthly loss." so spoke St. Francis
To gain paradise, and to take possession of your crown, you must suffer, and
fight and conquer. " If we endure, we shall reign with Him." (11 Tim., 2, 12).
Without merit there can be no reward; and without suffering there can be no merit.
"No one is crowned unless he has fought according to the rules." (Ibid., 5). The rules
here laid down are that he fight in the midst of sufferings; and to proportion to these
he will be crowned.
What an astounding thing this is! There are people who will arrive with all their
might when they want to get money and property -- the futile things of this earth.
Speak to them of goods that will last forever -- "Any little corner in paradise is good
enough for us." This is what they say. But the saints did not speak like that. They
were satisfied with little or nothing in this world, and they stripped themselves of all
earthly possessions. But, when it was a question of the goods that would last forever,
they did all that was in their power to get possession of them. Now let me put the
question; which of them --those, who sought the goods of this world, and now have
nothing, or those, who had nothing in this world, and now have everlasting riches --
which of them was really wise and prudent?
8. But suppose that we had to do with this world only -- even then it is quite certain
that those who bore their sufferings in patience are also those who enjoyed the
greater peace. St. Phillip Neri tells us that there is no purgatory in this world; but
there is either paradise or hell. Those who bear trials with patience are already in
possession of paradise; but those who have no patience are already in hell. Yes,
indeed, it is true what St. Teresa tells us: those who embrace their cross with love do
not feel the pain of them any longer.
At one period of his life, an unusual number of sufferings and tribulations fell to
the lot of St. Francis de Sales, and this is the way he speaks of it: "This powerful
opposition, and these secret contradictions that I have to face, bring me a peace and
a sweetness that are without parallel. they are GOD's own sign of the stability which
my soul finds in Him; and this is the one longing, the one ambition of my heart."
Indeed, it is impossible for that man to find peace who leads a life that is full of
contradictions, it can be found by him, only, whose life is brought into harmony by
union with GOD ad His holy will.
A Missionary in the Indies once found himself face to face with a condemned
man who was already on the gallows about to be executed. The condemned man said
to him: "Father, I want you to know this: I was once a member of the same Religious
Order as you. As long as I kept the Rule I led a life that was always happy. But, since
the time I began to grow careless, I have been unhappy in everything I have done. I
left the Religious Life and gave myself to vice. It has brought me to this unhappy end
in which you now see me." He concluded with these words, "I have told you this so
that my example may be able to help others."
"Do you want to find peace?" asks the Ven. Louis de Ponte, "Then look upon the
sweet things of this life as bitter, and the bitter things as sweet. That is the way you
will find peace." Here is the reason why it is so: sweet things please the senses, but,
more often than not, they leave behind them bitter remorse of conscience, on
account of the ill-regulated pleasure that we so often take in them. But bitter things,
when they are accepted with patience from the hand of GOD, become sweet and dear
to the one that loves Him.
9. Of this much we can be quite sure - that there is no other peace to be had in this
valley of tears, except that which is enjoyed by those who take up the cross, and
embrace it with love because they want to give pleasure to GOD. Such is the order of
things, in our present state, where we have all been infected with sin. On earth, the
state of the saints is to be happy in suffering love; in heaven, the state of the saints is
to be happy in blissful love. To encourage one of his penitents, who was struggling
under the weight of a heavy cross, Father Paul Segneri, the younger , wrote these
words, and told her to fasten them to the foot of her crucifix: "This is what love has
done." To suffer is nothing; but to suffer for the love of Jesus Christ -- here is a sign
by which you will know whether you are a true lover of His. St. Teresa asks: "is there
anything that we could posses of more value than this: the testimony which makes
us certain that we are giving joy to GOD?" But, what a tragedy! The majority of men
are terrified by the very thought of the cross, of humiliation, and of pain.
There are, however, quite a large number who do find their happiness in
suffering; and they would really be inconsolable if they had to live, here below on
this earth, without suffering of some kind. "The sight of Jesus on the cross makes the
cross for me a thing of love; so that I can never be happy without it. Give me the love
of Jesus, take away all else; and I still have everything." These words were spoken by
one who truly loved Jesus. Here is the counsel, given by Jesus Himself, to the one
who wishes to follow Him: "Take up your cross . . . ad follow me.' (Luke, 9, 23). But
carry it -- and this is necessary -- not because you are compelled to do so, and with
repugnance; but with humility, with patience, and with love.
10. Great is the joy that he gives to GOD, who lovingly embraces the cross GOD
sends him, and who carries it with humility and with patience. "The wood of the
cross," says St. Ignatius. "is that wood which, above all others, can bring forth and
keep alive the love of GOD." He means -- if we love it in the midst of sufferings.
St. Gertrude, one day, asked Our Lord what gift she could offer that would give
Him the greatest pleasure. This was His reply: "My child, you can do nothing at all
that will give me greater joy than to suffer in patience the trials and tribulations that
come to you." That great servant of GOD, Sister Victoria Angelini, tells us that a
hundred years spent in other spiritual exercises are not so valuable as one day spent
on the cross. " One "Blessed be GOD", spoken in adversity, is better than a
thousand "Te Deums", chanted in prosperity -- thus speaks Blessed John of Avila.
But alas! It is only too true that men do not know the value of sufferings borne for
GOD. "If the tremendous value of suffering -- when borne for GOD -- was only
known," says Blessed Angela of Foligno, " men would become robbers trying to steal
it." What she wants to tell us is this -- that men would go about, seeking to steal from
others, opportunities to suffer. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi would have referred to
prolong her life, rather than go to heaven: "for in heaven," she said, "we can suffer
no longer."
11. The ambition of the good, who love GOD, is not only to be united with Him;
but to bring that union to perfection. Let us hear what St. Catherine of Genoa has to
tell us: "To arrive at perfect union with GOD, adversity is a necessity. By means of it,
GOD wishes to consume all those evil tendencies that arise within us and without.
Injuries, contempt, infirmities, abandonment -- maybe by relations and friends --
confusion, temptations, opposition: all these are necessary in a supreme degree; for
we must fight. The only way to victory is by battle; and in that battle we conquer all
the evil movements that arise within us, until we are no longer subject to their
dominion. We shall not reach this state of divine union until all these adversities,
once so bitter to us, have at last become sweet, in and for GOD."
12. With this in mind, St. John of the Cross draws, the conclusion that the one
who desires to be all for GOD, as long as he is in this life, must strive not for the joys
of life, but for it's sufferings. He must freely embrace those things which come
without any wish of his own, because these latter are more acceptable to GOD.
Solomon tells us that the man who suffers in patience is a better man than he who is
valiant and strong. (Prov., 16, 32). The one who fasts, scourges himself, and wears a
hair-shirt, is pleasing to GOD, because of the fortitude he practises in overcoming
himself. But far more valiant, in the sight of GOD, is the one who suffers the crosses
that GOD Himself sends, If he accepts these with patience and with joy. this is what
St. Francis de Sales tells us: " Mortification which come from GOD, or from man
with His permission, are always more precious than those which are the offspring of
our own will; the general rule is that, the less they come from our own will, the more
pleasing they are to GOD, and the more profitable to us." St. Teresa gives the same
counsel: you will gain more in a single day from the crosses that come to you from
GOD or your neighbour than in ten years from those that you take up of your own
choice. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi expresses her own generosity of soul when she
tells us that, in the whole world, there was nothing so bitter, but that she could suffer
it with joy if she knew it came from GOD. As a matter of fact, in all the heavy trials
that she went through, for a period of five years, the only thing that she had to do, to
be in perfect peace was to recall that it was GOD's will that permitted her to suffer .
To gain possession of GOD -- what a great treasure! For this, surely, ay suffering is
but a small thing. Father Durazzo has written, "The price of GOD -- put it at what
you will -- it cannot be too dear."
13. Ah! Yes, let us beg of GOD to make us worthy of His love that all the wealth of
earth may seem to us but mire and smoke; that we may love Him in such a way that
suffering and contempt, borne for Him, may become things of deep joy for us. Let us
hear the voice of St. Chrysostom speaking of a soul that lives for GOD alone: "Hers is
the one and perfect love -- the love of GOD, and lives now as though He alone were
dwelling with her on this earth. She cares no more wither for glory or contempt; she
has no fear either of temptation or of suffering; she has lost all taste and appetite for
material things. She finds neither support nor rest in anything; and so she goes forth
seeking for her Beloved, and in this search she never wearies. Whether she is
working, watching, taking her meals, sleeping, it is all the same, in every act, in
every word she utters, her one longing, her one ambition, is to find the Beloved. He
is her treasure, and where her treasure is , there her heart is also."
In the present chapter we have treated in a general way of patience in bearing

crosses of all kinds. In the fifteenth chapter we shall treat more particularly of
patience in special circumstances.
O my Jesus, my loves one, my treasure, because I have offended you so much I

have merited to love you no longer. But, relying on your own merits, I beg of you
now to make me worthy to love you with a pure love. I love you above all things, and
I am sorry, with all my heart, that the time was when I offended you and banished
you from my soul. But now, I repeat, I love you more than myself, I love you with all
my heart. O Goodness that knows no limit, I love you, I love you: and there is no
other thing on earth that I long for, but to love you with a perfect love; and there is
nothing that I dread -- no, nothing -- except to find myself without your love.
O my Redeemer, so full of love, pour your light into my soul that I may begin to
understand something of your boundless goodness and of the deep abyss of that love,
which you have given so freely to me to force me to love you in return.
O my GOD, don't let it be that I should live any longer ungrateful for such
generosity; I have pained you too much already -- never let me leave you again. I
want to use up all the years of life that remain to me, in bringing joy to you, and in
giving you my love. Yes, Jesus my love, help me: help a poor sinner who wishes to
love you, and to be all yours.
Mary, my hope, your Son always hears your prayers; ray for me, and get me the
grace to love Him with a perfect love.
3.St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi
Chapter VI
Love Is Kind
He who loves Jesus Christ loves gentleness.
1. Kindness is a quality that belongs to the very nature of GOD: " For my spirit is
sweeter than honey." (Eccli., 24, 27). If you love GOD, it follows that you must also
love all that GOD loves; and GOD loves the neighbours with whom you live. That
being the case, you will go your way in life looking for occasions to help each every
one; to give them consolation, and to do all in your power to make them happy. St.
Francis de Sales is a model and master of this spirit of kindness. Listen to these
words of his: "Kindness -- inseparable from humility -- is the virtue of virtues that
GOD has so strongly recommended to us; therefore it is necessary to practise it
always and with everybody." This is the rule he gives us: "If you see that a thing can
be done with love -- do it. If you see that it cannot be done without harshness -- leave
it alone." It is understood, of course, that this things can be left alone Without giving
offence to GOD, because anybody who has an obligation to impede sin must do so,
without delay, if this is in his power.
2. Kindness should be uppermost, especially, in dealings with the poor because, on

account of their poverty, they are treated harshly by many. It also should be very
apparent in dealings with the sick and infirm, because these are already suffering
under affliction , and they often receive little assistance from others. But , above all,
kindness should be our guide when we have dealings, with those who are our
enemies: "Overcome evil with good." (Rom., 12, 21). Hatred must be conquered by
love; persecution must be conquered by meekness. this was the way of the saints;
by it they won the love of their most obstinate enemies.
3. "Nothing edifies the neighbour so much as this," says St. Francis de Sales,
"kindness in action -- the kindness that flows from love." A smile always played
about his lips, the atmosphere about him was one of kindness, and it gave colour to
his every word and action. St. Vincent de Paul said of him that nowhere else had be
met a man of such a gentle disposition; moreover, that in the person of Monsignor
de Sales the meekness of Jesus Christ found its living expression. When he refused a
favour, because his conscience would not permit the granting of it, he acted with
such kindness that those who received the refusal went away more favourably
disposed to him, and more happy within themselves than they were before. His
sweet disposition was manifested to all -- to superiors, to equals, and to inferiors,
both within and without his own house. How different was his manner of acting to
that of some, about whom he himself remarked that "they were like angels abroad,
but like demons in their own home." In his dealings with his household, our saint
never complained of their shortcomings. Sometimes, indeed, he corrected them but
always with a word of kindness: and this is something that all superiors can
remember with profit. Towards his subjects a superior should always show great
gentleness. In assigning to them their duties of office, and the courses that they
must follow, he should request than command. The opinion of St. Vincent de Paul
was that a superior can find no means more potent to win the obedience of his
subjects than gentleness in his own manners. "I have made many experiments in
ways of ruling a community, but I have never found any that were better than those
of gentleness and patience." These are the words of St. Jeanne Francis de Chantal.
4. Even in correcting and reproving, the superior should be gentle. It is one thing
to be firm: but quite another to be harsh. Firmness is, at times, necessary if the
defect is grave; and particularly when it has been repeated after the subject has
already been admonished. But be on your guard - never correct with harshness, or
in anger. The one who corrects in anger does far more harm than good. Harsh zeal
is condemned by St. James. There are some who even boast that they find it
necessary to govern in this way, and that severity is the means best suited to keep
their subjects up to mark. But no! says St. James: "If your zeal is harsh . . . do not
boast of it." (James, 3, 14). In a very rare cast it may be necessary to speak sharply
in order to make someone realise the gravity of his fault. But your last word must be
one of kindness and encouragement, and your countenance must express the
sympathy you feel for him. The wound must be healed, as with the Samaritan in the
gospel, by pouring oil with the wine. "Just as oil floats on top of all other liquids,"
says St. Francis de Sales, "so gentleness must cover all our other actions." At times, it
may happen that the one who is guilty resents the correction, and becomes upset.
then, it is better to defer it, and to wait until his anger ceases. Otherwise there is
danger of provoking him only to greater indignation. It is with this in mind that the
Canon Regular, St. John, tells us: "Nobody brings in wood for the fire when the
house is burning."
5. "You know not of what spirit you are." (Luke, 9, 55), said Jesus Christ to His
disciples, James and John, whom they wished Him to chastise the Samaritans, after
they had closed the gates of their city against Him. "What sort of spirit is this? he
asked them. "It is not my spirit. My spirit is one of meekness and gentleness. I have
not come to destroy souls but to save them. (Ibid, 56). And it is you who are asking
me to destroy them? Hold your peace and never again make such a request of me
because it is not my spirit."
But on the contrary, see with what gentleness Jesus treats, the adulterous
woman: "Has nobody condemned thee?" Neither will I condemn thee. Go in peace
and sin no more." (John, 8, 10-11). He is satisfied with giving her a warning only,
and He sends her away in peace. In a like spirit of gentleness He seeks to convert the
Samaritan woman, and actually He does convert her. First He asks her to give Him
to drink. After that He says to her: "if you only knew who it that is asking you to give
him to drink." He then revealed Himself to her as the expected Messiahs.
See the gentleness He uses towards the wicked Judas, when on a later occasion
He tries to convert him. He admits him to His table to eat from the same plate,
washing his feet, and warning him against his act of treachery: "Judas, do you
betray me in this way -- with a kiss? (Luke., 22, 48)
And see how He converts Peter after he had denied Him. "The Lord, turning,
looked upon Peter." (ibid., 61). There is no reproof for his sin, but He casts upon
him a look of love, as He goes forth from the house of the High Priest. Thus it is He
converts him; and Peter is so deeply changed that, as long as he lived, he never
ceased to weep over the injury he had done to his Master.
6. What you may gain by gentleness is far in excess of what you will ever gain by
harshness. St. Francis de Sales remarks that there are few things more bitter than
the bitter walnut; but when it is conserved it becomes sweet and pleasant to the
taste. In much the same way, corrections are not pleasant things in themselves, but
they can be made pleasing, provided they are given with love and gentleness; and
when given in this way, they are some successful and bear greater fruit.
St. Vincent de Paul, speaking of his own experiences, tells us that he never used
severity in correcting the faults of anybody, in the government of his own
congregations, except in three cases when he thought that he had reason to do so.
But even in those cases he was very sorry for the way he acted, because evil was the
result; whereas all his other corrections, given with gentleness, always won others
over to doing whatever he wished them to do. In this way, he succeeded in drawing
back to GOD even the most obstinate of sinners.
St. Vincent de Paul taught to his own spiritual sons that which he practised
himself. This was his maxim -- "Affability, love and humility win the hearts of men
in a marvellous way; and lead them on to welcome, with an embrace, those things
which are most repugnant to nature." On one occasion he handed over a great sinner
to the care of one of his fathers, so that he might try to bring about his conversion.
This father, try as he would, laboured without success. Then St. Vincent begged to be
allowed to speak a few words to the sinner. The saint spoke to him and he was
converted. Later on, this same man related that it was the singular sweetness and
charity of St. Vincent that has won his heart. Our saint would never suffer his
missionaries to treat any penitent with harshness. He told them that the spirits of
hell made use of the harshness and severity of some to bring about the greater ruin of
souls.
8. Kindness must be the rule of our life -- with everybody, in all circumstances, and
at all times. St. Bernard remarks that there are some who can be pleasant
companions when everything goes according to their likes; but adversity and
contradiction scarcely touch them, when they are suddenly on fire. and they begin to
smoke like Mount Vesuvius. They are like a fire that seems to be extinguished; but
actually the burning heat is only covered by a layer of ashes. if you wish to make your

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by St. Alphonsus Liguori

Originally from an Italian translation by Rev. W. Frean, C.S.S.R.

Illustrated and edited

" Charity is patient, is kind . . . " (1 Cor., 13)

If you wish to make sure of your eternal salvation,

" If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ,

(Based on the Italian translation by Rev. W. Frean, C.S.S.R.)

Illustrated and edited

First Published in 1963

Originally Printed in Australia for Majellan Press

How much Jesus Christ merits to be loved on account of the love He

How Jesus Christ deserves to be loved by us on account of the love He

The Means He uses are :

He who loves Jesus Christ wishes to detach himself from everything :

He who loves Jesus Christ suffers everything for Jesus Christ :

THE LOVE OF GOD IN PRACTICE

The Canticle of Divine Love

THE LOVE OF GOD IN PRACTICE

GOD's Gifts Tell of His Love

GOD's Gift of Himself

The Means To Obtain Love.

Firstly: To keep ourselves in continual remembrance of GOD's gifts - His gifts in

Sometimes at the sound of the bleating of a lamb, or of something that

Affections and Petitions

How Jesus Christ deserves to be loved by us on account of the love He

Consuming Fire of Love

The Wine of Love

Affections and Petitions

Who is this judge who is going to pronounce sentence of condemnation on us? It

Affections and Petitions

How Great Our Obligations are to Love Jesus Christ

The Signs of True Love

Affections and Petitions.

O sorrow of Jesus, O bitter shame and humiliations of Jesus, O wounds of Jesus, O

This earth is a place of merit, therefore it is a place of suffering. Our homeland is

In the present chapter we have treated in a general way of patience in bearing

Affections and Petitions

O my Jesus, my loves one, my treasure, because I have offended you so much I

He who loves Jesus Christ loves gentleness.

2. Kindness should be uppermost, especially, in dealings with the poor because, on

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