Desire to imitate Christ – and study His life. Do the most difficult, the harshest, the less pleasant, the unconsoling, the lowest and most despised, want nothing, look for the worst.

St. John of the Cross

 

 

Beloved Lord, forgive me.  I grieve for having pained Thee, because I love Thee who art so good, so true, so patient.

Thou hast waited for me time and time again, on the roadside of life and I have passed Thee by.  Thou hast whispered to me in the midst of the pleasures of the world, thou hast called to me through the din of merry voices and I have not listened,-I have not heeded, but rushed on madly, bowing and paying court to the votaries of fashion and of mirth.

I cast myself into Thy dear sacred Arms and beg Thee to take from me my load of infidelities.  Cleanse me from my sins beloved Lord, and heal me of my wounds.

Let Thy tender Hand rest upon my breast, sweet Saviour, and quiet the passions that surge therein.  Place They Finger as a seal upon my lips that I may utter naught that may offend Thee, my beloved King.

 

My Tender and Forgiving Lord
(Confession)

Tender Lord, art Thou willing that I should kneel before Thee ere I make my way to beg absolution of Thy Priest?

I want to thank Thee, sweet forgiving Lord, for Thy powerful grace that has shone so brightly upon my soul, revealing to me stains long since forgotten,-wounds of years gone by, which though confessed and forgiven, have left their mark behind.

I scarce know what words to utter to my darling, tender Lord, for while I grieve for having caused Thee pain, I long to fly to Thee in love and confidence.

It may be, sweet Lord, that my soul is not scarred with crime and vice, great shame if it were, but are  not my infidelities, my coldness and my resistance to grace as painful in Thy sight on a soul so steeped in grace, as are the mortal wounds on the soul of an ignorant, pitiful sinner?

My soul, darling Lord, my soul, flooded with light and inundated with grace, is weighed down and heavy with the vapors of the world, nauseated and bewildered with its incessant whirl.

Insensible to Thy sweet influence, deaf to the pleadings of Thy Voice, heedless of Thy constant knocking at my heart, indifferent to Thy appeal, I turn from Thee day after day, my tender Christ, nor do I hasten to return; but Thou, in Thy exquisite mercy, comest to me and I hear Thee whisper to my soul:- "Come to me, all ye, who are weary and heavily laden and I will refresh you."

Be nothing solicitous; but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your petitions be made known to God.

 If there is much to be given away, my darling Lord, before Peace takes up her abode in the soul,-I know that I must  not reach out in desire for those things which destroy peace,-I know that I must not seek honor, praise consideration, preference, but that I must bend all my energy to give honor, praise, consideration, and preference to others.

My dear King, I am willing to give up every thing,-I am willing to sacrifice  every satisfaction to win Peace.-I am willing to give up my will in every circumstance to purchase Peace.-I want to empty my heart of every self-seeking in order that peace and love and strength may enter.

O my cherished Rabboni, let me be Thy little servant giving out Thy precious gifts to all whom Thou sendest along my pathway.  Let me overflow with Peace,-overflow into the troubled hearts of others.  Let me pour love into the sad and lonely hearts in the world.  Let me strengthen the weak wills and steady the steps of Thy wayward children.

O dearest King, take me and use me as Thou wilt.  Give me nothing that this world treasures.  Pay no heed to the dryness of my poor timid nature, but let me be Thy tool.- Thy lowly, humble tool.-happy to be used by my cherished Rabboni in His fashioning of souls for His Mansion of eternal joy and peace unending.
 

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Another picture, the translation on the holy card is this: There, recollected and alone, in the Heart of Jesus I lose myself. Letaille

 

Rabboni


Heart to Heart
Before
The Tabernacle

by Joseph M. Woods, S.J.

My Cherished Rabboni

My cherished Rabboni.  It is sweet to kneel here in They presence.  It is a  joy to know that Thy dear Eyes are resting upon me,-that no part of my soul is hidden from Thee,-that every aspiration, every longing every desire is known to Thee.

 

What does Thou think of my soul, my darling Lord?

Does it reflect a little of Thy beauty?

Does it seem to be ridding itself the marks of sin?

Is there anything to which I cling that prevents Thy grace from working freely therein?

 

There are times when I think I am rather free from scar and stain, that my battles have left but glory in their train;  and then again as I kneel at Thy dear Feet, sweet Lord, a consciousness of Thy great purity pours in upon me and my poor bedraggled soul looks as though no ray of light had ever broken in upon it, as though my cherished Rabboni had never taken shelter within its gloomy depths.

 

How long it takes, beloved Lord, to polish and refine this dwelling place of my beloved King!

 

But even this, sweet Lord, cannot make me sad, for I know that Thou art working daily in my soul.-I know that each time Thou comest to my soul.  Thou takest away some defect and doth purify me of some stain.- I know too the day will come when I shall be pure and pleasing in Thy sight.

I long so to be a storehouse from which others may draw the strength and encouragement to reach Thee.

 

I yearn to be filled with peace so full, that it may overflow into the hearts of others.

 

I pray that every one who comes near me may be attracted to Thee, my cherished Rabboni.

"In order not to resist the divine action, we should remember that God generally purifies souls through the ordinary circumstances of life. In the life of every Christian, every apostle, every religious, there is always a measure of suffering sufficient to effect the purification of the spirit. These are the sufferings which God Himself chooses and disposes in the way best suited to the different needs of souls; but, unfortunately, few profit by them because few know how to recognize in the sorrows of life the hand of God who wishes to purify them.

Illness, bereavement, estrangement, separation from dear ones,misunderstandings, struggles, difficulties proceeding sometimes from the very ones who should have been able to give help and support, failure of works that were cherished and sustained at the price of great labor, abandonment by friends, physical and spiritual solitude - these are some of the sufferings which are met with more or less in the life of every man, and which we will find in ours. We must understand that all such things are positively willed or at least permitted by God precisely to purify us even to the very inmost fibers of our being.

In the face of these trials, we must never blame the malice of men or stop to examine whether or not they are just; we must see only the blessed hand of God who offers us these bitter remedies to bring perfect health to our soul.

Whatever suffering may come to us from creatures has only one true explanation: Our Lord wishes to purify us, and is beginning to do it precisely through these exterior tribulations...........

*Divine Intimacy*

Jesus, my Lord, my God, my all!

How can I love Thee as I ought?

And how revere this wondrous gift,

So far surpassing hope or thought?

Refrain:Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore!

Oh, make us love Thee more and more.

Oh, make us love Thee more and more.

2. Had I but Mary's sinless heart

To love Thee with , my dearest King,

Oh, with what ever fervent praise,

Thy goodness, Jesus, would I sing!

Refrain:Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore!
Oh, make us love Thee more and more.
Oh, make us love Thee more and more.

It is impossible for the most true God, who is Truth itself, the best, the wisest Provider, and the Rewarder of good men, to approve all sects who profess false teachings which are often inconsistent with one another and contradictory, and to confer eternal rewards on their members… by divine faith we hold one Lord, one faith, one baptism… This is why we profess that there is no salvation outside the Church.”

(Ubi Primum # 14)

Pope Leo XII (1824):“

He is a true and genuine Catholic who loves the truth of God, the Church, and the Body of Christ; who puts nothing else before divine religion and the Catholic faith, neither the authority nor the love nor the genius nor the eloquence nor the philosophy of any man whatsoever; but, despising all that and being fixed, stable, and persevering in his faith, is determined in himself to hold and believe that only which he knows the Catholic Church has held universally and from ancient times.

St. Vincent of Lerins (400-450AD) on being Catholic, Catholics, and Catholicism