Elevations to the Sacred Heart, for Each Day of the Month

[Shin]

By the Carthusians..

Eve of the First Day

Three Lessons from the Heart of Jesus

'There are three that give testimony on earth: the spirit, and the water, and the blood.' 1 St. John, v. 8.

"One of the soldiers with a spear opened His side." From this last circumstance of our Saviour's Passion we learn three useful lessons.

First we learn that if, by renouncing the world and sin, we are truly dead with Jesus Christ, we must be wounded with Him by the sharp spear of Divine love. This is the sentiment with which the Bridegroom in the Canticle exclaims: "Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse" (Canticle of Canticles 4:9).

And it was in the same way that St. Augustine desired to be wounded when he said:

"O my sweet Savior, by the life-giving Wounds Thou hast received on which have shed Thy Precious Blood for our redemption, pierce, I beseech Thee, my sinful soul for which Thou hast vouchsafed to die; pierce it through and through with the burning darts of Thy supreme charity. I beseech Thee, most merciful Lord, so to penetrate my heart with the flaming arrows of Thy mighty love, that tears of devout tenderness may spring abundantly from this blessed wound. Strike, O good Jesus, this hard and unfeeling heart of mine with the irresistible force of Thy holy love, so that it alone may fill my thoughts and my affections."

Thus speaks St. Augustine.

From this same event of the Passion we also learn, according to St. John Chrysostom, that we should receive the Sacraments of the Church with the same fervor and devotion as if they still flowed for us from the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. The Wound of His Heart is the source of the Sacraments. As Eve was formed from the side of the first Adam sleeping in Paradise, so our mother the Church received life by means of the Blood and the Water which flowed from the sacred Side of the second Adam sleeping on the Cross.

Finally we learn that we must conform our wills to the will of God by accepting all things that are pleasing to Him. Why indeed was the Heart of Jesus wounded for us with this Wound of love? It was in order that we might enter through the door of His Side into His Divine Heart.

There we can return Him love for love; there we can unite our love to His love, so that both may form but one, as white-hot iron in a furnace forms a portion of the fire which consumes it. Since Jesus has suffered His holy Hands and Feet to be pierced for love of us, we ought, for love of Him, to consecrate to Him our hands and feet by offering Him all our affections and our actions. Above all we should offer our hearts to God by conforming our will to His, in gratitude for this Wound of love which Jesus Christ received for us upon the Cross, when His most sweet Heart was pierced through with the dart of an insuperable love.

St. Augustine had entered the Heart of Jesus by this Wound when he said: "Longinus with his spear has opened for me the Side of Jesus Christ; I have entered there, and there I repose securely. The nails and lance cry out that I am risen with Him if I give Him all my love."

Let us then bear in mind, Christian souls, the very great love Jesus has shown towards us by allowing His Side to be opened wide in order that we might have easy access to His Heart. Let us hasten to enter into the Heart of Jesus, bringing there all our love, and uniting it to His Divine love. Our most loving Jesus draws from His Heart the Sacraments which open for us the gates of everlasting life; let us then address Him thus: --

O Jesus, after dying for us on the Cross, Thou didst will that Thy Side should be opened by a spear, so that blood and water, emblems of the Sacraments, might flow out. Wound, I beseech Thee, my heart with the spear of Divine love, that I may merit to receive with good dispositions the Sacraments which flow from Thy most holy Side. In opening Thy Heart, Thou hast set ajar for Thine elect the door of everlasting life. Thou, O Lord, art this door through which the just shall pass in. Blot out, I beseech Thee, mine iniquities, or they will close for me the door reserved by Thy care for truly penitent sinners.

Our superabundant redemption springs from the pierced Heart of Jesus. Its source is found there as a hidden treasure. Shall not then this wounded Heart of Jesus wound our hearts? Shall we not feel compassion for Him? Shall we not love Him? It is evident that "with the Lord there is mercy and with Him plentiful redemption -- apud Dominum misericordia et copiosa apud eum redemptio" (Psalm 129: 7). Yes, most plentiful! It was not a few drops, but streams of Blood, which flowed from His five Wounds. He shed it all to the last drop. The Blood circulating under the skin flowed in the scourging, that of the Head in the crowning with thorns, that of the veins when His Feet and Hands were pierced. A few drops still remained in the Breast and in the Heart of Jesus, but they gushed out when the soldier pierced His Side.


Ludolph
Born in Saxony, about 1295 A.D.
Carthusian at Strasburg.
Died in 1378 A.D.

[Shin]

Not continuing the above for the nonce.. If you're familiar with the 15 Prayers of St. Bridget of Sweden (1303 A.D. - 1373 A.D.)

THE FIFTEENTH PRAYER

Our Father, Hail Mary.

     O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine!  Remember the abundant outpouring of Blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press. From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very Substance of Thy Body withered, and the Marrow of Thy Bones dried up.

Through this bitter Passion and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony.  Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER:

     O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever.  Amen.

[Shin]

First Day

Out of the good treasure of his heart he bringeth forth that which is good. (Saint Luke 6:45)

If you wish to be easily and thoroughly cleansed from sin, freed from all your imperfections, and enriched with many graces, you must cut off all unnecessary occupations, and surrender yourself to the eternal charity which is taught by the Holy Ghost, in order to become its disciple. Without any effort of the imagination, but by the sole force of the mind and the will, frequently offer, give up, and cast your heart and soul into the most sweet Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Creator, your Redeemer, your crucified Friend -- into His Heart so full of love; into His Heart, the abode of the most Holy Trinity; into His Heart, where "dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead corporally" (Colossians 2:9); into His Heart, through which "we have access both in one Spirit to the Father" (Ephesians 2:18); into His Heart, finally, which, in Its infinite love, contains and embraces all the elect in Heaven and on earth.

Lift up your heart to the bountiful Heart of your God, taking care above all to be very recollected at all times and in all places, especially when you are singing the Divine praises, and during your prayers and other exercises. Thus God commands you in these or similar words: "Come unto Me, and take My yoke upon you (Saint Matthew 11:28,29). Give Me thy heart, and let thine eyes keep My ways (Proverbs 23:26). Put Me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm…" (Canticle of Canticles 8:6). Let your humble reply be: "My heart is ready (Psalm 107:2), I will extol Thee, O God my King, and will bless Thy Name forever, yea forever and ever (Psalm 144:1); I will lift up my hands and my heart unto Thee." And is not this His right since all virtues are found in the Heart of Jesus? There we find mercy, justice, meekness, strength. There we find salvation, the fountain of life, perfect consolation, "the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world" (Saint John 1:9), especially the man who makes this Divine Heart his refuge in trials and sorrows. Truly, all the blessings we can desire come most abundantly from Jesus, and every grace we receive is poured out upon us from no other source than that of His Heart sweeter than honey. His Heart is the furnace of Divine love, always burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit and purifying, kindling and transforming into Himself all who yield themselves to Him, or who wish to be His.

Since all good flows from the most sweet Heart of Jesus, you must offer back to His Heart all the gifts, graces and blessings which have been bestowed upon you and upon all men. You should do this for the greater glory of God and for the benefit of the Holy Church, not attributing to yourself anything of the good you may have done, nor regarding with self-satisfaction the gifts of God, but ascribing all to Him, and returning all to their original Source, which is the Heart of Jesus. Make this offering especially when you say the Gloria Patri or recite psalms and hymns which speak of the glory of God.

Place all your sins in the Heart of Jesus. Through that Heart you should ask for grace and pardon, and should praise and bless God, not only for yourself, but for all who are committed to your care and for the whole Catholic Church, whose triumph you desire, invoking from the depth of your misery the depth of God's mercy ("Deep calleth on deep" Psalm 41:8). Out of gratitude you will then often kiss a picture of the Heart of Jesus, of this most kind Heart, of this Heart in which are hidden all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God (Colossians 2:3). If you have not a picture of the Sacred Heart, you can make use of one of Jesus on the Cross.

Desire unceasingly to behold your Savior face to Face. Confide to Him your troubles. Draw His Heart into yours, with Its spirit and Its love, Its graces and Its virtues. Abandon yourself lovingly to It in sorrow and in joy. Confide in It and cling to It. Dwell in the Heart of Jesus, being "careful to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3), so that He in turn may vouchsafe to take up His abode within your heart. Lastly, sleep and take your rest in the Heart of Jesus. The hearts of mortals will prove false or will forsake you; but the most faithful Heart of Jesus will never abandon you.

Do not neglect moreover to honor devoutly and to invoke the glorious Mother of God, the Mother of mercy, the most sweet Virgin Mary, that she may vouchsafe to obtain for you from the most sweet Heart of her Son all that you need. Offer what you have received to the Heart of Jesus through the blessed hands of His Mother. Beseech her Maternal goodness to help you, so that, with all the saints and elect of God, you may praise and bless the Lord for all the benefits He has bestowed upon you down to the present time, and for all those He will grant to all eternity. Amen.


Dom Dominic of Treves

Born in Prussia in 1384 A.D.
Carthusian of Sierk and of Treves.
Died in 1461 A.D.

[Shin]

"If you wish to be easily and thoroughly cleansed from sin, freed from all your imperfections, and enriched with many graces, you must cut off all unnecessary occupations, . . ."

For what little it is worth..

I see this as highly essential. I have found my throwing away of things and living a life without as many possessions of continue spiritual benefit. Unnecessary good things, that simply clutter things up -- going is good.

So we see that giving up things that cause trouble among entertainment, TV, music, etc. has of course so normally the moral impetus because they cause trouble directly -- but things that are entertaining and 'good', in a simply natural way, reducing these more greatly to the essential is necessary too.

This is also part of simplicity. With a less cluttered house we have a less cluttered mind. Life becomes simpler. We have fewer things to do, so we do what is most important. God provides for our needs when something is missing. When nothing is missing -- we have already provided for our own needs, in a sense. Which reminds me of a monk who spent his time in contemplative prayer and had all his material wants provided for by God. Then one day another monk came by who wove reeds to make baskets to sell and provide for his food, and the monk who spent all his time in contemplative prayer took it up to try it -- and then, God did no longer miraculously provide for his needs.

So, a way to make spiritual progress: throw, give, dispose of things, and entertainments, and unnecessary occupations. Do violence to your desire to accumulate possessions to provide for your happiness, and take the exact reverse course. Cleave to simplicity. Those simple occupations that replace a more complicated life, let them be for the sake of God as directly as can be, as directly spiritual as can be, I am thinking.

[martin]

To everything you said above Shin, Amen.

Today is the second aniversary of the passing of my dear mother.
Got me thinking again of how everything is passing and of what benefit to any of us are material possesions when we must leave them all behind, from the greatest to the least.

That I use them as they ought to be used, never forgetting that our true home is in Heaven.
This I pray that I can do by the grace of God.

[Shin]

To everything you said above Shin, Amen.

Today is the second aniversary of the passing of my dear mother.
Got me thinking again of how everything is passing and of what benefit to any of us are material possesions when we must leave them all behind, from the greatest to the least.

That I use them as they ought to be used, never forgetting that our true home is in Heaven.
This I pray that I can do by the grace of God.

God rest her dear soul Martin. And God keep you and everyone! 

[Patricia]

God rest her soul Martin.