Ortus Christi Part 2

POINT III. THE CHILD OF MARY.

The child must copy the Mother. How is it with me? Surely if anyone ought to realize the Divine Presence within, it is a child of Mary! How far do I copy Our Lady in her interior life? What do I know of that deep calm within, into which I can always retire and seek rest, and where I can, if I will, rest so entirely that outward circ.u.mstances make little difference? If I have made the same resolution as Our Lady; namely, to "abide in the inheritance of the Lord;" pain and anxiety and difficulty will be an actual source of joy, because they afford an excuse for an extra visit to the Home within, and for longer conversations than usual with my loved Guest. If a difficulty or a humiliation or something that I do not like comes in my way, I shall not be troubled, my first thought will be with my Divine Guest. _He_ has permitted this, even planned it.

I will go and talk to Him about it, find out what He means, what He wants me to do and how I can best act in the circ.u.mstances to gain glory for Him. This is what is meant by the interior life, and it _can_ be, it _ought_ to be, far stronger than the exterior. It means a holy indifference to everything except G.o.d's Will; it means rest and peace about everything that happens, without any desire to have things altered; it takes all anxiety and disquiet and perplexity out of life and leaves a great calm which nothing has the power to disturb _except_ a will in opposition to G.o.d's Will.

_In omnibus requiem quaesivi._--Is it so very hard? Perhaps, for it means the spiritual life, and that means a continual battle against self; but it is a battle worth fighting. To fight is not only the way to "_seek_ rest," but it is also the surest way to obtain it; for they alone who are continually fighting to keep the enemy out can hope to detain their Divine Guest within.

_Colloquy_ with Mary. Help me, my Mother, to dwell, this Advent, in "the inheritance of the Lord," and when outward things are too much for me and I am apt to behave in a manner unworthy of a child of thine, do thou lead me by the hand into the place of rest and calm, where G.o.d Himself dwells, and where I shall see things from His point of view.

"O G.o.d, who didst please that Thy Word should take flesh, at the message of an angel, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant to Thy suppliants, that we who believe her to be truly the Mother of G.o.d may be helped by her intercession."

(Collect to be said every day at Ma.s.s from Advent to Christmas Eve.)

_Resolution._ To "abide in the inheritance of the Lord" to-day.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "In all things I sought rest."

MY SINS--A TRIPTYCH.

"The night is past, and the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light."

(From the "Epistle" for the First Sunday of Advent).

_1st. Prelude._ The Foot of the Cross where my sins have all been laid.

_2nd. Prelude._ The grace of contrition and firm resolution.

It is clear from the words which she has chosen for her "Epistle" for the First Sunday of Advent that the Church intends us during this solemn season to think about sin,--the darkness of the past night and the light of the day that is coming and our duty with regard to both. It is not sin in the abstract, but our own personal sins that we are to consider.

"Let _us_ cast off the works of darkness." If the Apostle Paul included himself in that "_us_," we need not fear to do the same. It is meet, when we are thinking on the one hand of Him Who is coming to save us from our sins and on the other of His coming to judge us "according to our works," that we should give some thought to those sins. Nothing will better help us to understand the mercy of the Saviour and the justice of the Judge than a meditation upon our own sins. G.o.d _forgets_ the sins He has forgiven, but it is better for us, more wholesome and more humiliating, to remember them sometimes. David says: "My sin is always before me" (Ps. L. 5). The object of this meditation, then, is not to cause trouble in the soul--trouble about sins that are _forgiven_ can only come from the devil--but to excite in us a deeper contrition, more grat.i.tude and a greater watchfulness.

POINT I. A TRIPTYCH--MY SINS.

Am I to consider all the sins of my life? The subject seems so vast, it is difficult to know how to condense it so that I may be able to bring it within my grasp. All sin may be summed up in one word--disobedience--_non serviam_. It was the sin of the Angels, it was the sin of our first parents and it is at the root of every sin that has ever been committed.

G.o.d says: Thou shalt not, the sinner says: I will. G.o.d says: Do this and thou shalt live; the sinner says: I will not, I would rather die. Sin is man's will in opposition to G.o.d's Will. This thought simplifies the subject and makes it easier for me to call up the sins of my life and look at them. Let me make a picture of them--a triptych, a picture, that is, with three panels side by side, the middle one shall be called _Places_, that on the right hand _Persons_ and that on the left _Work_.

1. _Places._ As I look at the middle picture I see it consists of numbers and numbers of small ones, each representing some place that is familiar to me--there is the house where I was born, there the school I attended, houses I have visited, hotels where I have stayed, gardens, playgrounds, lonely roads, walks on cliffs, villages, towns, churches, the sea-side, trams, omnibuses, trains, boats, bicycles, carriages, stations.... I am fascinated and cannot help looking still, though the variety and number are almost bewildering. Each picture is so familiar; some awaken sweet and precious memories, from some I quickly turn away my eyes. All can witness to my presence, how many can witness also to my sins? "Indeed the Lord is in this place, and _I knew it not_." (Gen.

XXVIII. 16). That may to some extent be true and if so there is One who is always ready to say: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." _I_ know how much I knew, and the best thing, the only thing for me to do is to make an Act of Contrition.

2. _Persons._ I turn to the right hand panel and there are crowds and crowds of _faces_, each one familiar--father, mother, brothers, sisters, relations, servants, teachers, scholars, friends, enemies, priests, confessors, acquaintances ... what impression have I left upon each of these? If they could be called up and asked: "What did you think of so and so?" what would they have to say? They would have something, for I left _some_ impression--and yet _none_ of them know me as I really am.

The three Persons of the Blessed Trinity have been near me _always_ and always observant. They really know me. What have _They_ to say? "If Thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities, Lord, who shall stand it?" (Ps.

CXXIX. 3).

This picture makes me sad! That is just what Our Lord wants from this meditation. Let me offer once more my heartfelt contrition and He will be glad that I had the courage to open the triptych.

3. _Work._ As I turn to the panel on the left I feel that I can breathe more freely--my work will certainly give satisfaction! It is something to be proud of; I have always got on well; I have never been idle and I have had a certain measure of success, and I feel that in that respect at any rate my life will bear inspection. But this picture too, as I look at it, seems to be divided up. Yes, I can see quite clearly all the different works upon which I have been engaged. All are very familiar and bring back for the most part happy memories, but some of them seem to be labelled.--What is it that is written across them? "_You did it to Me._" And all the rest that have no labels? They do not count--so evidently considered the One Who put on the labels. He left them, pa.s.sed them over, there was nothing there _for Him_. But that hospital that was founded is not labelled, nor that legacy promised for a charitable purpose! Surely some of these without labels are "good works!" And these that are labelled are such insignificant things, things I should never have remembered at all if they were not in the picture--a kind word, a smile, a hasty word kept back because I knew it would pain _Him_, suffering cheerfully borne because I wanted to be like Him who suffered for me. Why these and not those? Because He prefers _little_ things? No, but because of the motive. Had the hospital been built out of love for Him and His sick, had it been built for the glory of G.o.d and not for the glory of self, it too would have been labelled. Had the hasty word been kept back that others might notice my self-control, it would _not_ have been labelled. What counts with G.o.d is the intention with which a thing is done. If it is done out of love for Him, no matter how insignificant it is, yea, no matter how badly done, it will surely be labelled "_You did it to Me_," and it will last when the mighty works that men have so much praised are crumbling in the dust, labelled with another label _You did it not unto Me_. Have I not need to make another Act of Contrition as I think of my works, my love of gain, my ambition, love of praise and success, of the motives of my so-called works of charity, of the times in which I have allowed my work to take the first place in my life, while my soul had to take the second?

I shut up my triptych and leave it at Thy Feet O my JESUS, where the Blood from Thy Wounds may ever drip upon it, while I with Magdalen stoop and bathe Thy Feet with my tears.

POINT II. THE TRIPTYCH.--G.o.d'S MERCIES.

As I look up, I see my triptych opened again and all the thousands of little pictures seem to be transformed. Each one is speaking to me of G.o.d's goodness and tenderness and love. How good it is to turn away from my own misery to His infinite mercy; yea, more--to recognize that the one is the cause of the other! And this is what He wants. If the sight of self does not lead me instinctively to look at Christ, it is a very dangerous thing, for it can only lead to despondency and discouragement.

The object of looking at self and its deeds is so to look that everything good or evil may shrivel up and disappear, till self is there no longer, but Christ only and all _He_ has done either for or through me. As I gaze now at the picture, I no longer see the places on earth which have known me for short periods of time, but my place in Heaven which by His mercy, if I persevere to the end, is to know me through all eternity; not my dear ones as I saw them on earth, but as they are now in my heavenly country waiting for me; not my innumerable sins of omission, nor my "good works" done to please self, but the work of Him who always pleased His Father, work which has made up for all my omissions, and which shines through every thing that I have done for Him, making it, too, acceptable to His Father. It seems to me now that I want to linger over the picture, for His mercies are indeed infinite, and I shall never be able to thank Him enough for them.

But does He, the G.o.d of infinite mercy and plenteous redemption, never look at my pictures? He says: "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer. x.x.xI. 34); and it is true. He will never open my triptych for the sake of looking at my sins, but may He not open it for the joy of seeing each of those thousands of pictures shining with pearls--the tears of contrition? Do not let me disappoint Him. This is the chalice of consolation which I can offer to the Sacred Heart in reparation.

_Colloquy_ with JESUS thanking Him for making me look at my triptych and for all that He has taught me in it.

_Resolution._ Never to look at my sins without at once seeing _Christ_--a sight which will necessarily produce humility, grat.i.tude and contrition.

_Spiritual Bouquet._ "My sin is always before me" but "Thou shalt give joy and gladness.... and my mouth shall declare Thy praise" (Ps. L. 5, 10, 17).

THE LAST JUDGMENT.

"The powers of Heaven shall be moved; and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great power and majesty."

(The "Gospel" for the 1st. Sunday of Advent.)

_1st. Prelude._ The Last Day.

_2nd. Prelude._ Grace to meditate upon it.

The Church invites us during Advent to turn our thoughts towards the Second Coming of Christ--His Coming in judgment at the end of the world.

The subject of the Last Judgment is perhaps one which we are rather inclined to avoid in our Meditations; but it is one about which Our Blessed Lord said a great deal; it is continually mentioned, too, in the Epistles and in the Apocalypse, and as we shall most certainly take a part in that last great scene of the world's drama, it is surely well for us to have a rehearsal from time to time.

POINT I. THE COMING OF THE JUDGE.

_When will He come?_ G.o.d "hath _appointed_ a day wherein He will judge the world in equity by the Man whom He hath appointed." (Acts XVII. 31).

The day then is _fixed_, "but of that day and hour no one knoweth, no not the Angels of Heaven, but the Father alone." (St. Matt. XXIV. 36).

_How will He come?_ He "shall so come as you have seen Him going into Heaven" (Acts I. 11), the Angel told the Apostles who had just watched His Ascension. He will come, that is, in His beautiful Resurrection Body, dazzling with brightness and glory, with the wounds in Hands and Feet and Side. He will come "with much power and majesty" (St. Matt.

XXIV. 30) for He will come to judge, not to preach penance nor atone for sin; He will come unexpectedly "as a thief in the night" (1 Thess. V. 2) "at what hour you think not" (St. Luke XII. 40); He will come "with thousands of His Saints" (Jude 14) for all those "who have slept through JESUS will G.o.d bring with Him" (1 Thess. IV. 13); He will bring, too, "all the Angels with Him" (St. Matt. XXV. 31); He will come "with the voice of an Archangel, and with the trumpet of G.o.d" (1 Thess. IV. 15); He will come "with the clouds" (Apoc. I. 7); He will come "in the glory of His Father with His Angels" (St. Matt. XVI. 27); He will come "as lightning" (XXIV. 27) and before Him will come His Cross--"the sign of the Son of man" in the heavens (verse 30), every eye shall see it. What different emotions that sign will excite!

POINT II. THE EFFECTS OF HIS COMING.