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The Disciple
Behold, I come to You, Lord, that I may prosper by
Your gift and be delighted at Your holy banquet which
You, O God, in Your sweetness have prepared for Your
poor. Behold, all that I can or ought to desire is in
You. You are my salvation and my redemption, my hope
and strength, my honor and glory.
Gladden, then, this day the soul of Your servant
because I have raised my heart to You, O Lord Jesus.
I long to receive You now, devoutly and reverently. I
desire to bring You into my house that, with Zacheus,
I may merit Your blessing and be numbered among the
children of Abraham.My soul longs for Your Body;
my heart desires to be united with You. Give me
Yourself -- it is enough; for without You there is no
consolation. Without You I cannot exist, without Your
visitation I cannot live. I must often come to You,
therefore, and receive the strength of my salvation
lest, deprived of this heavenly food, I grow weak on
the way. Once, most merciful Jesus, while preaching
to the people and healing their many ills, You said:
"I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint
in the way."(1) Deal with me likewise, You Who have
left Yourself in this Sacrament for the consolation
of the faithful. You are sweet refreshment to the
soul, and he who eats You worthily will be a sharer
in, and an heir to, eternal glory.
It is indeed necessary for me, who fall and sin so
often, who so quickly become lax and weak, to renew,
cleanse, and inflame myself through frequent prayer,
confession, and the holy reception of Your Body, lest
perhaps by abstaining too long, I fall away from my
holy purpose. For from the days of his youth the
senses of man are prone to evil, and unless divine
aid strengthens him, he quickly falls deeper. But
Holy Communion removes him from evil and confirms him
in good.
If I am so often careless and lax when I celebrate or
communicate, what would happen if I did not receive
this remedy and seek so great a help? Although I am
neither fit nor properly disposed to celebrate every
day, yet I will do my best at proper times to receive
the divine Mysteries and share in this great grace.
This, indeed, is the one chief consolation of the
faithful soul when separated from You by mortality,
that often mindful of her God, she receives her
Beloved with devout recollection.
Oh, wonderful condescension of Your affection
toward us, that You, the Lord God, Creator and Giver
of life to all, should see fit to come to a poor soul
and to appease her hunger with all Your divinity and
humanity! O happy mind and blessed soul which
deserves to receive You, her Lord God, and in
receiving You, is filled with spiritual joy! How
great a Master she entertains, what a beloved guest
she receives, how sweet a companion she welcomes, how
true a friend she gains, how beautiful and noble is
the spouse she embraces, beloved and desired above
all things that can be loved and desired! Let heaven
and earth and all their treasures stand silent before
Your face, most sweetly Beloved, for whatever glory
and beauty they have is of Your condescending bounty,
and they cannot approach the beauty of Your name,
Whose wisdom is untold.
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