THE FOLLOWING OF CHRIST

BY THOMAS A KEMPIS
Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1941

------Book 4------

CHAPTER 13: THAT A DEVOUT SOUL OUGHT TO DESIRE, WITH THE WHOLE HEART,
TO BE UNITED TO CHRIST IN THIS SACRAMENT

The Voice of the Disciple.

WHO will give me, O Lord, to find Thee alone, to open my whole heart to Thee, and enjoy Thee as my soul desireth, and that no one may henceforth despise me, nor anything created move or regard me, but that Thou alone mayst speak to me, and I to Thee, as the beloved is wont to speak to his beloved, and a friend to be entertained with a friend.

For this I pray, this I desire, that I may be wholly united to Thee, and that I may withdraw my heart from all things created; and by Holy Communion, and often celebrating, I may more and more learn to relish things heavenly and eternal.

Ah, Lord God, when shall I be wholly united to, and absorbed in Thee, and altogether unmindful of myself?

Thou in me, and I in Thee; and thus grant us both equally to continue in one.

2. Verily, Thou art my Beloved, the choicest among thousands, in Whom my soul is well pleased to dwell all the days of its life.

Verily, Thou art my Peace-maker, in Whom is sovereign peace and true rest; and out of Whom is labor and sorrow and infinite misery.

Thou art in truth a hidden God, and Thy counsel is not with the wicked, but Thy conversation is with the humble and the simple.

Oh, how sweet, O Lord, is Thy Spirit, Who, to show Thy sweetness towards Thy children, vouchsafest to refresh them with that most delicious Bread which cometh down from Heaven!

Truly, no other nation is there so great, that hath its gods so nigh to it, as Thou, our God, art present to all Thy faithful; to whom for their daily solace, and for raising up their hearts to Heaven, Thou givest Thyself to be eaten and enjoyed.

3. For what other nation is there so distinguished as the Christian people?

Or what creature under Heaven so beloved as a devout soul to whom God cometh, that He may feed it with His Own glorious flesh? O unspeakable grace! O wonderful condescension!

O boundless love bestowed exclusively on man!

But what shall I render to the Lord for this grace, for charity so remarkable?

There is not anything that I can present to Him more acceptable than to give up my heart entirely to God, and closely unite it to Him.

Then all that is within me shall rejoice exceedingly, when my soul shall have been perfectly united to its God; then will He say to me: If thou wilt be with Me, I will be with thee; and I will answer Him: Vouchsafe, O Lord, to remain with me, I will willingly be with Thee.

This is my whole desire, that my heart may be united to Thee.

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.

Of the ends for which Jesus Christ is present upon our altars, and the pious dispositions with which we should visit the Blessed Sacrament, and assist at Mass and Benediction.

THE Son of God remains upon our altars not only during Mass, but likewise a other times; first, to hear and favorably to receive our prayers, and to continue the same mediation between God and man which He exercised upon the Cross; secondly, to receive our visits, our homage, and adorations; hence, those Christians who visit Him seldom, coldly, through custom, or with indifference, are highly blamable for thus appearing before their God, their Savior, and their Judge, without either reverence, love, or fear; thirdly, to console us under afflictions, to support us in difficulties, and to resolve and dissipate our doubts, according to what is written: "Let us go to the Son of Joseph, and He will console us;" ["Is not this Jesus, the Son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?" (St. John, vi, 42).] and as a Prophet said to a prince, who sent to consult a false god: "Is it because there is no God in Israel?" fourthly, to be our nourishment during life, and our Viaticum at the hour of death.

How should a Christian who has recourse to Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament with assiduity, respect, and gratitude, as to his King, his God, and his Savior, who never omits hearing Mass but from necessity, and when he assists at it, or at Benediction, endeavors to attend with a spirit of religion, that he may depart affected, converted, and a better man-----how, I say, should a Christian who is faithful in the discharge of all pious duties towards Jesus Christ immolated for him on the altar, repose his confident hope in His bounty and mercies, both in life and in death? Will not, however, the Son of God have reason one day to reproach multitudes of Christians who either neglect to visit Him in the Most Holy Sacrament, or do so with very little devotion; will He not have reason to reproach them with their irreverence and want of faith, saying to them: "There hath stood One in the midst of you Whom ye knew not"? You have neglected to know and visit God, "Who was in the midst of you." In vain have I performed prodigies of power, wisdom, and bounty in the Blessed Eucharist, that I might gain your hearts; you would not interrupt your employments, nor even your pleasure to come and pay Me your homage. To answer the ends therefore for which Jesus Christ is always present in the Most Holy Sacrament, we should visit Him, hear Mass, and attend at Benediction, with all the respect and submission of courtiers before their king, with the recollection and fervor of Angels before their God, with the humble fear of criminals before their judge, and with the confidence and love of children before their father.

PRAYER.

Which may be recited either during Mass or at the Benediction, or when visiting the Blessed Sacrament.

I. I ADORE Thee, O Sovereign Majesty, Who residest upon our altars, to receive our homage, and dost there annihilate and immolate Thyself in honor of Thine Eternal Father, to come and reign in our hearts. I profoundly pay Thee all the homage due to a God Who is to decide my eternal doom. I prostrate myself before Thee. I desire to join in the profound adorations of the Seraphim who assist around the altar, and I beseech Thee to accept their recollection and their love to supply the wanderings of my mind, and the indifference of my heart.

II. Penetrated with sorrow and confusion for the irreverences and indecencies which I have dared to commit in Thy presence, and for those also of all other Christians. I most humbly crave pardon for them, and am resolved to make amends for them, by appearing before Thee with all that modesty, all that reserve, all that respect, and all that spirit of religion with which I ought to present myself before Thee. I desire to satisfy Thy justice for all the outrages Thou hast received from impious libertines and heretics in the Most Holy Sacrament. Forgive them, O Lord, for they know Thee not; and cause me to suffer the temporal punishment which they have deserved, rather than abandon and punish them forever.

Grant, O adorable Victim of Thy love and of our salvation, grant that faith may immolate my mind, charity consecrate my heart, and religion sacrifice my whole being to Thee; and that so long as I shall be in Thy house, my eyes may behold only Thee, my heart overflow with Thy love, and my tongue proclaim Thy praise in prayer and supplication.

III. While the Angels lie prostrate before Thee, O great God, and, struck with humble fear, fervently pay Thee their tribute of profound respect and ardent love, shall we mortals, who are the works of Thy hands and the price of Thy Blood, appear in Thy presence with wandering eyes and dissipated minds, with cold and indifferent hearts, without addressing Thee, and almost without thinking of Thee? O my Savior, suffer me not to be thus wanting in the respect and love which I owe to Thy greatness, and which Thou dost so much the more deserve as Thou dost the more humble Thyself for the love of me.

IV. Inspire me with the sentiments of the publican, who dared not lift up his eyes towards God, penetrated with sorrow and confusion for his sins, and of the prodigal son, when he returned to his father's house; and grant that, like them, I may be restored, through Thy bounty and my sorrow, to Thy grace and favor.

V. O my soul, behold thy God Who died for thee, and of Whose death thou wert the cause; how canst thou refrain from testifying thy love and gratitude towards Him? O my heart! be thou before Jesus Christ like the lamp which burns before Him, and be thou in like manner consumed in His presence. No, I desire not to depart from before Thee, my Savior, without being truly converted and entirely Thine. Amen.

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