The adorable
heart of Jesus, says St Bernard, has been pierced, that, by the visible wound
of the lance, we may know the invisible wound caused by love.
How could Jesus more efficaciously prove his love, than in wishing that not only his body, but
that his heart, should be transfixed. O amiable wound, exclaims St Bonaventure,
it is by you I have entered into the bowels the most intimate of the charity of
Jesus Christ. There I made my dwelling; there I found so great an abundance of
consolation, that I cannot express it. 0 blindness of the children of men ! who
know not what it is to enter into Jesus Christ by his sacred wounds. Behold the
happiness of angels is open to us; the wall which closed the entry is broken,
and we neglect to enter. Believe me, blind creatures, if you entered into Jesus
by these sacred apertures, you would find an admirable habitation. If even the
body finds its repose, what think you should be the suavity that the spirit
tastes in being united to the heart of Jesus? I have not words to express it;
but try it, and you will find it a treasure of all good. Behold, he continues,
the gate of paradise thrown open, the sword which guarded the entry has been
moved aside by the spear of Longinus. 0 happy lance l which has made such an
opening. Oh! if I had been in place of it, I would never have wished to leave
the side of Jesus, and would have said, This is my rest for ever and ever; here
will I dwell; for I have chosen it. 0 faithful soul behold your amiable spouse
has by excess of love opened his side, in order to be able to give you his
heart. A man of quality having embraced the order of St Francis, and not finding
in his monastery the pleasures and conveniences he had left behind him in the
world, resolved to return to it; and so bent was he on doing so, that no
consideration seemed capable of stopping him. It so happened, that in going
towards the door of the monastery, perceiving a crucifix, he knelt before it and
implored its mercy. And, 0 excessive tenderness of the heart of Jesus, he had
no sooner done so, than he found himself wrapt with ecstasy, and our Lord with
his blessed mother standing beside him, appeared, and asked him the cause of
his going away. The man replied simply, that, being used to live daintily, he
could not bear the severity of the rule. Bring hither your hand, my son, said
Jesus; place it in the wound of my side, with everything you have to suffer
painful and difficult, and you will find that all evils will become easy. The
novice did so, and ever after, the remembrance of the passion of the Son of God
was ‘the sweetener of all his bitterness’s.
Say 3x: Sacred
Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.
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The Holy Lance, displayed in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace
in Vienna, Austria
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