The first and most natural consequence of True Devotion to Mary and the Consecration to Jesus through Mary is an irresistible desire for
the Blessed Sacrament, both the reception of Him at Holy Mass as well as the
visiting of Him wherever He is present.
This, at least, has been my own experience, and something that Montfort expects will be the case as well.
Thus the first book by that great devotee of our Lady,
Saint Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri, that I ever purchased was not, as one might
suspect, The Glories of Mary but actually the tiny little work: Visits to the Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This little book, far too little know today even by most
Catholics, is in fact the first of the 111 books he would publish in his life
(published in 1745), and which was originally shorter and only for the members
of his fledgling religious community: The Redemptorists. Due to its popularity and great fruit it
produced he expanded the work to have a “visit” for every day of the month, and
it was made available to the faithful.
And is actually one of the most published books in human history,
boasting more than 2000 editions across all languages. The book can usually be purchased for just a few dollars and ought to be daily reading for every Catholic.
One section in this work struck me very deeply all those
years ago and has stayed with me always in my mind…
Many Christians submit to great fatigue, and expose themselves to many dangers, to visit the places in the Holy Land where our most loving Saviour was born, suffered, and died. We need not undertake so long a journey, or expose ourselves to so many dangers; the same Lord is near us, and dwells in the church, only a few steps distant from our houses. If pilgrims, says St. Paulinus, consider it a great thing to bring back a little dust from the crib, or from the holy sepulchre in which Jesus was buried; with what ardour should not we visit the Most Blessed Sacrament, where the same Jesus is in person, and where we can go without encountering so much fatigue and so many dangers!
At the time when I read this I was in college and knew
many young Catholics willing to go through a great deal to visit a National Shrine,
Rome, Jerusalem, ect but wouldn’t walk a few hundred meters or drive a few
minutes to visit our Lord truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
This is something that I continue to see applied both to
visiting our Lord within the context of Holy Mass and especially outside of it.
What also bothers me is that people will make a special
trip to come hear Holy Mass because of the particular Priest, Bishop, or
Cardinal offering the Mass even through the Mass is a regularly offered week
day Mass that they could attend every week and where one far greater than any
prelate is always going to be present!
And, though I admit I am guilty of neglecting to always visit Him on a daily basis even when I could, how many
times have I visited our Lord and found the Church empty without anyone there
to keep Him company. It breaks my heart
to see so few visiting Him when there are thousands of people in these parishes,
and I can go weeks without running into another soul while visiting our Lord
for an hour or more at a time each day.
One other concern, which might seem very strange to
suggest, but which was a concern I heard voiced by a very holy monastic Priest
who has devoted his life and founded a community around adoration of the
Blessed Sacrament, is that because so called “perpetual adoration” where the
Blessed Sacrament is exposed in a monstrance for most or all of each week has
become more and more popular (and in my diocese it is very common) it has
reinforced a faulty mentality that it’s not the same when we visit our Lord
hidden in the tabernacle and thus if He is not exposed for adoration He is
never visited. And this has been my experience
for many years visiting many parishes with perpetual adoration where those adoration
chapels are always occupied but our Lord is left cold and alone in the Church.
The exposition of the Blessed Sacrament really ought to
be something rare and special and for great and special feasts. The rest of the time we can visit our Lord
while he resides in the tabernacle. He
is no less there and no less able to hear our prayers when He is there, and we
have the opportunity to humble ourselves and to make reparation by adoring Him
in His hiddeness.
Our Lord loves us so very much and desires to be with us and to speak to us and pour out His mercy and graces upon us. If we would only give Him the opportunity to do so O how He would bless us for keeping Him company! I cannot tell you all the many wonderful effects He has brought about in my life from my frequent visits to Him that our Lady inspired(s) me to make.
If we really desire to be a Saint then we ought to desire to be always with our Lord as much as we can be. Reading the lives of the Saints there are many examples of Saints so devoted to our Lord that if they passed by a Church where He was present they couldn't help but "stop in" to say hello and in many cases would stay for some time in conversation with our dear Jesus.
These frequent visits to our Lord are in fact one of the very questions they ask about a person who is put forth for canonization:
Did he pray long and frequently before the Blessed Sacrament?
This can be found in the Questionnaire for the Process of the Beatification and Canonization of a Saint.
Let us conclude by meditating upon the rest of the
23rd Visit from the afore mention work the first part of which was
quoted above…
A religious person, to whom God gave great love for the Most Blessed Sacrament, amongst other things, wrote as follows in a letter: 'I see that every good thing that I have comes to me from the Most Blessed Sacrament. I have given and consecrated my whole self to Jesus in this Sacrament. I see innumerable graces, which are not granted because people do not go to this Divine Sacrament. I see the great desire that our Lord has to dispense His graces in the Sacrament. O holy mystery! O sacred Host! Where is it that God manifests His power the most, if it is not in this Host? For this Host contains all that God has ever done for us. Let us not envy the blessed who are in heaven, since on earth we have the same Lord, with greater wonders of His love. Endeavour that all with whom you speak should devote themselves to the Most Blessed Sacrament. I speak thus, because this Sacrament makes me beside myself. Neither can I cease speaking of the Most Blessed Sacrament, which deserves so greatly to be loved. I know not what to do for Jesus in this Sacrament,' Thus the letter ends.
O Seraphim, who remain sweetly burning with love around your and my Lord; though it is not indeed for love of you but of me that this King of Heaven is pleased to be present in this Sacrament,—O loving Angels, let me also burn with love; and do you enkindle your love in me, that with you I also may burn! O my Jesus, teach me to know the greatness of the love which Thou bearest to men, that at the sight of so great love, my desire to love Thee and please Thee may go on always increasing! I love Thee, most amiable Lord, and will always love Thee; and this alone to please Thee.
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