"Although all
exercises of devotion are capable of filling the soul with interior consolations,
and all good works are accompanied by an unspeakable delight and joy, which is inseparable
from the testimony of a good conscience, and which surpasses all other
pleasures, it is, however, certain, that Jesus Christ never grants so many
sensible favors as in the practices of devotion which tend only to honor Him in
the most Blessed Sacrament.
The lives of
the saints are filled with examples of this truth. When did a St. Francis, a
St. Ignatius, a St. Teresa, a St. Philip Neri, a St.
Aloysius Gonzaga, and numberless others feel their hearts inflamed with love,
than when they approached this august Sacrament? What sighs of love issued from
their hearts, what sweet tears streamed from their eyes in the celebration or
in the participation of this adorable mystery!
With what
consolations, with what torrents of delight, were they not replenished! For indeed
Jesus Christ is nowhere more liberal than in this august Sacrament; so nowhere
does He make us feel more abundantly the sweetness of His Presence.
In the other
mysteries He gives us His graces. In this, the first grace He bestows on us, is
to give Himself really and truly to us. Joy is ever attendant of a banquet.
Jesus Christ prepares a banquet daily for us in the adorable Eucharist. Can we
be surprised if He treats his friends therein with so much sweetness and love?
As the devotion
to the Sacred Heart of Jesus makes us true and faithful adorers of Jesus Christ
in the most Blessed Sacrament, so it also procures for us the greatest favors.
It might be said that our Lord measures the singular favors He grants herein,
by the number of insults He has received; and that, there is no mystery in which
He has received so many outrages, so there is none in which He fills with sweeter
consolations those who neglect nothing to repair these indignities.
The motive of
this holy practice being so pure and so pleasing to Jesus Christ, we need not
wonder if, as He is the best and holiest of all Masters, He gives so much
consolation to His faithful and grateful servants, especially at a time when He
meets with so little gratitude, so little true love, in those even, who make a profession
of loving Him."
(From Devotion
to the Sacred Heart by Father John Croiset, S.J.)
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