MONTH OF THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT - I FOUND HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH

                  MONTH OF THE

     MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT

  Meditations by St. Alphonsus Liguori

I found Him Whom my soul loveth. I held Him, I will not let Him go. - Cant. iii. 4.                        

Thus should speak every soul which is united to Jesus in the most holy Sacrament: "Creatures depart from me; Begone from my heart. I once loved you, because I was blind, but now I love you no longer, nor can I love you any more; I have found another Good, infinitely more deserving of love than you: I have within me my Jesus, Who has won my whole soul, and to this Beloved One, I have given myself entirely. He has already accepted me as His, therefore I no more belong to myself: creatures farewell; I am not and will never again be yours; I belong, and always will belong to my Jesus, and He is Mine, and I shall always be His. I held Him, I will not let Him go. I have received Him in the Holy Communion, and have pressed Him to my heart; henceforth I will hold Him by my love, and I will never let Him leave me."

Prayer

O my beloved Saviour, permit me to embrace Thee so closely, that I may never be separated from Thee: behold, I cling to Thee, my Jesus, I love Thee, I love Thee, and I wish I could love Thee as Thou deservest. I wish my whole rest and happiness to consist in loving and pleasing Thee: command all creatures to leave me, and let them not disturb me; say to them: I adjure you that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake. Unless I will it creatures can never enter, to disturb me, and separate me from Thee; I beseech Thee therefore to strengthen my will, and unite my wretched heart with Thy Divine Heart, so that I may always will what Thou willest: grant this, O Lord, through Thy Merits. Amen. Thus do I hope. Amen.

An Act of Christian Charity

O God, Who art infinitely great and holy in Thyself, and infinitely good and merciful towards us, Thou dost preserve me, and bear with me, and Thou loadest me with blessings notwithstanding my unworthiness and the bad use I often make of them. I will try to show towards my neighbour the same indulgence Thou showest to me. Notwithstanding my sins and miseries, Thou art pleased to bear with my defects, to help me in my necessities, to comfort me in my sorrows, and to load me with favours at every moment of my life: shall not I, in my turn, bear with my fellow-creatures, and be patient with them, and comfort them when charity requires it, and my means allow? I ought to behold Thee in the person of every neighbour, and should not this make him dear to my heart? I beseech Thee, my God, to form in me that tender charity which loves, that sincere charity which springs from the heart, that efficacious charity which shows itself by its effects, that compassionate charity whose sympathy is always ready, that universal charity which makes no exception of persons, in a word that true Christian charity which is copied from that of Thy Divine Heart. If my neighbour be banished from my heart, I shall have no place in Thine, for charity alone can give me a place there: open to me this sacred Heart, my God, that I may imitate Its sentiments, and may one day taste Its ineffable delights. Amen.

 Prayers to the Ever-Blessed Mother of God

                 For every Day of the Week             

Pope Pius VII, granted 300 days' indulgence, once a day, and applicable to the souls in Purgatory, to all faithful christians who, with at least contrition of heart, should repeat these prayers each day of the week, with three Hail Marys after each, in atonement for the blasphemies uttered against the blessed Virgin, not only by infidels, but also by bad Christians. He also granted a plenary indulgence once a month, applicable as above, to those who, having said them daily for the month, with the three Hail Marys, for the above intention, shall confess and communicate, on any day at their choice, and shall pray to God for the holy Church.

                 Tuesday

Prayer to the ever-blessed Mary, to obtain a happy death.

What death shall I die, most holy Mary? I tremble and am confounded when I think of my sins, and of the great moment on which my eternal salvation or condemnation will depend, that in which I shall expire, and shall be judged. My beloved Mother, all my hope is in the Blood of Jesus Christ, and in thy intercession; Comforter of the afflicted, do not abandon me then, but console me in that time of sorrow: if I am now tormented by remorse for the sins I have committed, by the uncertainty whether I am forgiven, the danger of falling again, and the rigors of the Divine Justice, what shall I then be? If thou help me not I shall be lost. Most blessed Lady, before death comes, obtain for me a hearty sorrow for my sins, a thorough amendment of my life, and fidelity to God for the time that is left me; and when I reach the term of my existence, help me, Mary, my Hope, in the bitter agony I shall then undergo; strengthen me that I may not despair at the sight of my sins, which the Devil will place before me, and enable me to call on thee more frequently then, so that I may expire with thy sweet name, and that of thy Divine Son in my mouth. Most blessed Lady, forgive my presumption if I beseech thee to comfort me with thy presence before I breathe my last; thou hast granted this favour to so many of thy servants, that I too wish for it and hope it: I am indeed a sinner, and deserve it not, but I am thy servant, and I love thee, and have the greatest confidence in thee. O Mary, I expect thee, leave me not uncomforted, or at least, if I am unworthy of so great a favour, help me from thy throne of glory, that I may quit this life loving God and thee, and thus may love thee for ever in Heaven. Amen.