Detail from the Deposition of Christ
FRA ANGELICO
c. 1387
TWENTY-SEVENTH VISIT
To the Blessed Sacrament
Say the preliminary prayer,
MY LORD JESUS CHRIST, etc.
The holy Church sings in the Office of the Most Blessed Sacrament:
"There is no other country, however great, whose gods are nigh it as
our God is nigh to us." [
Resp.
7,
-----Deut. iv. 7] When the Gentiles heard how far our
God
carried His works of love, they exclaimed: Oh, how good a God is this
God of the Christians! And, indeed, although the Gentiles imagined
their gods according to their own caprices,
-----yet, if
you read history,
you will never find in all their fables, and among the many gods they
invented, that they went so far as even to imagine a god as
enamoured
of men as is our true God; Who, to show His love for His adorers, and
to enrich them with graces, has worked such a prodigy of love as to
become their constant companion, and to remain night and day
concealed on their Altars, seeming as if He knew not how to separate
Himself from them, even for a moment:
He
hath made a remembrance of
His wonderful works. [Ps. cx. 4]
Thou, then, my most sweet Jesus, hast been pleased to work the
greatest
of Thy miracles in order to satisfy the excessive desire which Thou
hast to remain always near and present to us. Why, then, do men fly
from Thy Presence? And how can they live for so long a time at a
distance from Thee, or visit Thee so seldom? How is it that when in Thy
Presence they get so weary that a quarter of an hour appears an age?
Oh, patience of my Jesus, how great art Thou! Yes, my Lord, I
understand Thee; Thy patience is great, because the love Thou bearest
to men
is great. and this it is which, so to say, forces Thee to dwell always
in the midst of creatures so ungrateful.
Ah, my God, Who, because Thou art infinite in perfections art also
infinite in love, permit not that I should for the future be, as I have
hitherto been, of the number of these ungrateful ones. Grant me a love
equal to Thy merits and to my own obligations. At one time I also was
weary in Thy Presence, either because I loved Thee not, or because I
loved Thee too little; but if by Thy grace I am enabled to love Thee
much, I shall no longer find it tedious to remain even for whole days
and nights at Thy feet in the Most Holy Sacrament. O Eternal Father, I
offer Thee Thine Own Son Himself; accept Him for me, and through His
merits give me so ardent and tender a love towards the Most Blessed
Sacrament, that, constantly turning towards some church in which He
dwells, I may think of, and desire with longing anxiety, the time when
I may be able to go and entertain myself in His Presence.
Ejaculatory prayer. My God, for the love of Jesus, give me a
great love towards the Most Blessed Sacrament!
Then follows the
SPIRITUAL
COMMUNION, after which the visit should be paid to the ever-blessed
Mary, the Mother of God before her image:
Visit to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Click
HERE.
[The forward button takes you to the next visit to the Blessed
Sacrament.]
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