How just and reasonable is the devotion to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER III
THE reasons which enforce the love of Jesus Christ are
above any mere sentiment. Souls relish them according to their progress in grace. It seems as though to
wish to seek the motives that should lead us to love
Jesus Christ is, either to forget what we are, or to
believe that we do not know who He is.
It might then appear useless to bring forward here
the motives which should incline us to the devotion to
the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This devotion is itself an
exercise of the love we ought to have for Jesus Christ
But as all men are not always in the same dispositions,
and grace is not always equal in all men, I have thought
it well to make at least a few reflections on the three
principal motives. They should be sufficient to convince
any reasonable man.
We shall show in this and the two following chapters.
- 1. How just and reasonable is the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
- 2. How useful it is both for our salvation and perfection.
- 3. What true sweetness there is in this devotion.
In fact, whether we consider
the sensible object of this devotion, which is the sacred
Heart of Jesus, or confine ourselves to the principal
and spiritual object, which is the immense love of
Jesus Christ for men, with what respect, gratitude,
and love should we not be filled!
I. The excellence of the adorable Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Heart of Jesus is holy with the sanctity of God
Himself. Hence it follows, that all the movements of
His Heart, owing to the dignity of the Person from
whom they proceed, are actions of infinite price and
value. For they are the actions of God Incarnate. It
is therefore just that the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ
should be honoured with a peculiar worship. For in
honouring It, we honour His Divine Person.
The veneration we bear the Saints renders their
hearts so precious to us, that we look upon them as the most precious of their relics. What, then, must we
think of the adorable Heart of Jesus Christ? Its
claims to our love are not only higher in degree but
different in kind. Where is the heart that was ever
animated with dispositions so admirable, and so conformable
to our true interests? Where shall we find
one whose movements could be a source of so much
good to us? It is in this divine Heart that all the
designs of our salvation have been formed. It is
through the love with which this Heart burns for us,
that these same designs have been executed.
This sacred Heart, says a great servant of God, is
the seat of all virtues, the source of all benedictions,
the refuge of all holy souls. The virtues which may
principally be honoured in It, are — first, a most ardent
love for God His Father, joined to a most profound
respect, and the greatest humility that has ever existed;
in the second place, an infinite patience in sufferings,
an excessive grief for the sins which He had taken
upon Himself, the confidence of a most tender Son
joined to the confusion of the greatest sinner; in the
third place, a most lively compassion for our miseries,
an immense love for us, notwithstanding these miseries,
and with all these emotions, each of which was exercised
in the highest degree possible, an unalterable
equanimity, proceeding from so perfect a conformity to
the will of God, that it could not be disturbed by any
event, however contrary it might appear to His zeal,
His humility, His love itself, and all the other dispositions
He possessed.
This adorable Heart is still, as far as It can be, in
the same sentiments. It is, above all, burning with
love for man;
- always open to pour out on them every sort of grace and blessing;
- always full of compassion for our evils;
- always urged by the desire to make us partakers of Its treasures, and to give Itself to us;
- always ready to receive us, and to be to us a refuge, an habitation, a Paradise even in this life.
For all this, He finds nothing in the heart of man
but hardness, forgetfulness, contempt, ingratitude. Are
not these motives to induce Christians to honour this
Sacred Heart, and to repair so many insults and outrages,
by manifest proofs of their love?
II. The amiable qualities which are found in the Person of Jesus Christ.
No one can apply himself to the knowledge of Jesus
Christ, without finding in Him everything that is
amiable in creatures, whether reasonable or devoid of
reason. Every one has his own attraction to love.
Some are drawn by great beauty, others by meekness.
We see some who are drawn by the virtues in which
they are themselves wanting, because they seem to
them more admirable than those they possess. Others,
again, have a greater liking for the qualities which
agree with their own inclinations. Good qualities and
true virtues command the love of all. But if there
were on earth a person, says a great servant of God,
in whom were united all motives for love, who could
refuse to love him? Now, all agree that all these are
to be, found united in a most excellent degree, in the
adorable Person of Jesus Christ; and yet Jesus Christ
is only loved by a very few.
The most celebrated beauty, says the Prophet, is
nothing but a withered flower in comparison with that
of our divine Saviour. It appeared to me, says St.
Teresa, that the sun cast upon the earth but a pale
light, after I had seen in an ecstasy, some rays of the
beauty of Jesus Christ. The most perfect creatures in
this world are those which have the fewest defects.
The most splendid qualities in men are accompanied
by so many imperfections, that whilst we are attracted on one side, we are repelled on the other. Jesus Christ
alone is sovereignly perfect. Everything in Him is
equally amiable.
There is nothing in Him, but what ought to win all
hearts to Him. In Him, we find united all the advantages
of nature, all the riches of grace and of glory, all
the perfections of the Divinity. We discover abysses,
a boundless space as it were, and an infinite extent of
greatness. In a word, this God Incarnate who loves us
so tenderly, and whom men love so little, is the object of
the love, the homage, the adorations and the praises of
the whole Court of heaven. It is He who has supreme
authority to judge men and angels. The destiny and
the eternal happiness of all creatures is in His hands;
His dominion extends over all nature. All spirits
tremble in His presence. They are obliged to adore
Him, either by a voluntary submission of love, or by
the forced endurance of the effects of His justice. He
reigns absolutely in the order of grace and in glory.
The whole world, visible and invisible, is under His
feet. Is He not, then, an object worthy of the homage
of mankind? Does not this Man-God, with all His
titles and all the glory He possesses, and loving us as
He does, deserve that we should love Him?
But what still more powerfully attracts our love in
our Divine Saviour, is, that He unites all these rare
qualities, these magnificent titles, this eminent sovereignty,
with so great a meekness, and tenderness for
us, that it is carried even to excess. His meekness is
so amiable, that He charmed even His mortal enemies.
He was led, says the Prophet (Isaiah liii. 9), as a sheep
to the slaughter: and He was dumb as a lamb before his
shearer, and he did not open His mouth. He compares
Himself sometimes to a father, who cannot contain his
joy at the return of a prodigal son (St. Luke xv. 11);
sometimes to a shepherd, who, having found his sheep
that was lost, puts it upon his shoulders, and calls together his friends and neighbours, that they may
rejoice because he has found it (St. Luke xv. 5). Hath
no man condemned thee? He says to the adulterous
woman; Neither will I condemn thee: go and now sin
no more (St. John viii. 10). He exercises no less
meekness towards us every day. It is extraordinary
what precautions it is necessary to take in the world,
to avoid offending a friend. Men are so sensitive, that
often a single expression of ill-humour is enough to
make them forget twenty, thirty, forty years of service.
A single word, spoken unseasonably, sometimes breaks
the strongest friendship.
It is not so with Jesus Christ. It seems incredible,
but nevertheless it is beyond dispute, that we cannot
possibly have a friend more grateful than He is. We
must not imagine that He is capable of breaking
friendship with us for a slight ingratitude. He sees
all our weaknesses, and bears with incredible goodness
all the miseries of those He loves. He forgets them,
and appears not to perceive them. His compassion
goes so far as to give comfort to those souls who are
too much afflicted at them. He does not desire that
our fear of displeasing Him should go so far as to
disturb us and torment our minds. He would have us
avoid the smallest faults; but He does not even wish
that we should be disquieted at great ones: He desires
that joy, liberty and peace of heart should be the
eternal portion of those that truly love Him.
The least of these qualities, in one of the great ones
of the world, would be enough to win the hearts of all
those under him. The mere account of any of these
virtues in a prince whom we have never seen, and are
never likely to see, makes an impression on our hearts,
and makes him beloved, even by strangers. Jesus
Christ is the only one in whom all these splendid
qualities, all these virtues, and whatever we can picture
to ourselves as great, excellent and amiable, are to be found united. How is it, then, that so many motives
for inspiring love do not succeed in making us truly
love Jesus Christ? It often requires so little in the
world to gain our hearts. We give away our heart, and
are prodigal of it for ever so little. Shalt Thou alone,
oh my God, have no part in it?
Can we reflect a little on these things, and not feel
an ardent love of Jesus Christ? Can we fail to have
at least a lively grief at loving Him so little? We owe
Him our hearts, by so many titles. Can we refuse
Him, then, this heart, if we add to all these titles the
immense benefits with which He has presented us, and
the ardour and excessive tenderness with which He
has loved and does love us still, never ceasing to give
us daily manifest proofs of the immense love He has
for us?
III. The sensible proofs of the immense love that Jesus Christ has for us.
Of all marks of love, there is none that moves the
heart of men so deeply as benefits. Either because
there is nothing that marks more strongly the affection
of the person who loves; or because nothing is so
gratifying to our nature, ever inclined, as it is, to seek
its own interest, as a love which is of service to us.
Jesus Christ has used this means also, in order to
oblige us to love Him. He has presented us, He has
loaded us with a thousand blessings, the least consideration
of which far exceeds all that we can merit, hope
for, or desire. All are continually receiving His benefits.
All agree in acknowledging the excess of His love,
of which these benefits are themselves such striking
proofs. And yet, how few are there who are gained
by His benefits, or feel themselves touched by His love!
By dint of hearing the Creation, the Incarnation,
and Redemption constantly spoken of, we become accustomed
to these words, and to the things they signify: and yet, there is no one so unreasonable as
not to be at once transported with love, for any one from
whom he knew he had received the hundredth part of
the least of these favours. As our soul depends much
on the senses in its operations, we were naturally little
moved by the thought of a purely spiritual being.
Hence it is, that, before the Incarnation of the Word,
notwithstanding the prodigies wrought by Almighty
God in favour of His people, there was always a greater
admixture of fear in their love. But now, this God has
rendered Himself, so to speak, more sensible to us, by
becoming man. This Man-God has done more than all
that we could possibly have conceived, to oblige all men
to love Him. Had He never formed the design to redeem
us, He would have been no less holy, powerful, or happy.
He has, however, had our salvation so much at heart,
that it might have been supposed, seeing all that He
has done, and the manner in which He has done it,
that all His happiness depended upon ours. When he
might have redeemed us at very little cost, He has
chosen to merit for us the grace of salvation by His
death, and by the most disgraceful and cruel death,
the death of the Cross. When He might have applied
His merits to us in a thousand ways, He has chosen
the most wonderful abasement, which has astonished
heaven and all nations, as the means of doing so.
All this has been done in order to move our hearts,
which are naturally grateful for the least benefit, and
the smallest mark of friendship. Birth under circumstances
of the greatest poverty, a laborious and obscure
life, a Passion loaded with insults, an infamous and
painful death, are wonders that overpower us: and
they are all the effects of the love which Jesus has for us.
Have we ever well conceived the greatness of the
benefit of our Redemption? and if so, is it possible
that we should be only ordinarily grateful for such a
benefit? The sin of our first Parent has, indeed, drawn down upon us great evils, and has deprived us
of great benefits. But can we look upon Jesus Christ
in the manger, upon the Cross, or in the Blessed
Eucharist, without acknowledging that our losses have
been repaired with advantage? That the blessings
which we have gained by our Redemption are at least
equivalent to the privileges which man enjoyed in his
state of innocence.
The character of universal Redeemer is no less
powerful a motive to oblige us to love Him. All were
dead, says the Apostle, by the sin of Adam, and Jesus
Christ has died for all. No one has been able to preserve
himself from the contagion of so great an evil.
The whole world has felt the effect of so powerful a
remedy. Our loving Saviour has given all His blood,
for the infidel who knows him not, and for the heretic
who will not believe in Him, as well as for those who,
whilst they believe in Him, yet refuse to love Him.
How infinite is the value of His Blood! How great a
Saviour; and how abundant a Redemption! Jesus
Christ has not been satisfied with paying the debts we
had contracted. He has prevented all those which we
might have contracted in future. He has paid, so to
speak, in advance, before they have been incurred.
To this we must add those powerful helps, those great
graces, those signal favours which He heaps on faithful
souls, and by which He sweetens and renders palatable
every thing that is bitter and painful in our
existence.
My God! Didst Thou but grant us the grace to
understand this excess of mercy, could it be possible
that we should not be moved, and love Jesus Christ
with our whole hearts? Our Blessed Saviour is, indeed,
most worthy of our love, for having redeemed us
by so difficult a means. But is He not still more
amiable, for having done so, though compelled to it
only by His immense charity, and by the desire He had to oblige us to love Him, by such striking proofs
of His most ardent love?
We are utterly unworthy of being redeemed at so
high a price. Nevertheless, Jesus Christ Himself has
so valued us, that He has spontaneously offered this
excessive Redemption for us. And after all this, shall
we not love Him?
But we must remember that, however great and
ineffable is all that our Lord has done for our salvation,
the love which has led Him to do it is still greater
than all, because it is infinite — and as if this love could
not be satisfied, so long as there remained a miracle it
had not wrought, He institutes the adorable Sacrament
of the Altar, the sum of all His wonders. He
truly lives with us until the end of the world. He
gives Himself to us, under the appearances of bread
and wine. He makes His flesh and blood the nourishment
of our souls, in order to unite Himself more
closely to us, or rather to unite us more closely to
Him. Can we then be possessed of reason, and not
be deeply moved at the mere recital of this marvel?
Can we still retain any feeling of humanity, and not
be all inflamed with love for Jesus Christ, at the sight
of such a benefit? A God feels tenderness for man,
takes delight in him, and is solicitous about him! A
God desires to unite Himself to us, and desires it to
such an extent as to annihilate and immolate Himself
daily, and to wish that we should feed upon Him every
day, without being in the least changed, either by the
indifference, the disgust, or the contempt of those who
never receive Him, or by the coldness and the faults
of those who receive Him often! Finally, He remains
upon our Altars, shut up within the Tabernacle, and
this every day, and at all hours of the day. Are not
these manifest proofs of the love which Jesus Christ
has for us? Are they not motives powerful enough to
oblige us to love Him? Ungrateful as we are, since it is for us alone that all these wonders have been
wrought, what are we to think? Does not Jesus
Christ, dwelling on our Altars, deserve to be honoured
by us? Does He not shew us love sufficient to merit
a return of love? Woe and anathema to him, who,
after all this, does not love Jesus Christ.
To say the truth, said a great servant of God, could
any thing shake my faith in the Blessed Eucharist, I
should not doubt of the infinite power which Almighty
God displays therein, but rather of the excessive love
which God shows towards us. How what was bread,
becomes flesh, without ceasing to appear bread: how
the Body of Jesus Christ is at the same time in several
places: how He can be contained in an almost indivisible
space: to all these wonders I have nothing to
answer, but that God can do all things. But if I am
asked, how can it be, that God can love a creature so
weak and miserable as man; and that He can love him
ardently and to such an excess: that He can love him
as He has loved him: I confess that I have no other
answer to give, but that this is a truth which is above
my comprehension: that the love which Jesus Christ
bears us, is an excessive love, an ineffable love, an
incomprehensible love, a love which ought to cause
admiration and surprise in every reasonable man.
I do not know what power these reflections may have
in moving the faithful at the present day. But they
have so deeply moved even the most savage and barbarous
nations, that they have been heard to cry out,
at the mere recital of some of these wonders: What a
good God is the God of the Christians! He is a great
benefactor, and He is worthy of love! Who can help
loving a God, who loves us so passionately? These
reflections, and the desire of making some return to a
Saviour, who loves us with so much tenderness, and of
shewing Him some gratitude, have filled cloisters with
religious, and deserts with vast numbers of holy solitaries who dedicated and consecrated themselves to the
praise and love of Jesus Christ.
However reasonable such a mark of gratitude may
be, it is not required of all. They are exhorted, not
entirely to forget Jesus Christ, who has wrought the
greatest of miracles, only to satisfy His excessive desire
of remaining with them; to have a little more feeling
for the outrages which the excessive love of Jesus
Christ, for them, causes Him to endure; in fine, to be
at least as grateful to Jesus Christ, who loves them so
constantly, and who has done for them more wonders
than they can comprehend; to be as grateful to Him
as they are towards men, who are ready to sacrifice
their best friends to the least of their own interests.
Now a devotion which tends only to inspire this
gratitude to Jesus Christ, and is in itself, properly
speaking, only a continual exercise of a perfectly grateful
love, is it not a reasonable devotion? Is it not just to
seek to gain some love for Jesus Christ, especially at
a time when He is so little loved? There is little love
for Him in the world, which has little sense of His
benefits, in which His counsels are so little followed,
and His maxims so greatly disparaged. There is little
love for Him at a time, in which there is nothing but
indifference for His Person, and all the gratitude and
respect which are shown Him, may be generally reduced
to a few prayers and ceremonies, which degenerate
through custom into mere affectation, at a time
when His Divine presence causes weariness, and His
precious Body, disgust.
IV. The extreme ingratitude of men towards Jesus Christ.
However
incredible may appear the love which the
Son of God shows us in the Adorable Eucharist, there
is something else yet more surprising. It is the ingratitude
with which we repay so great a love. It is
marvellous, indeed, that Jesus Christ should take delight in loving man.
But it is most unaccountable that man should not love Jesus Christ, and
that no motive, no benefit, no excess of love can inspire him with the
least feeling of gratitude. Jesus Christ may perhaps have some reason
for loving men. They are His work. In them He loves His own gifts. In
loving them He loves Himself. But can we have any reason for not loving
Jesus Christ, for loving Him only in a small degree, for loving anything
together with Him? Is there anything, then, in Him, that keeps you from
Him? Has He not yet done sufficient to merit our love? Should we ever
have dared to desire, or ever have been able to imagine, all that He has
deigned to do, in this adorable mystery, in order to gain our hearts?
And yet all this has not been enough to oblige men to have an ardent
love for Jesus Christ.
What advantage has Jesus Christ derived from so wonderful an
abasement? It might in some sense be said that all the other mysteries,
the effects of His love, have been accompanied by circumstances so
glorious, and prodigies so striking, as to show clearly, that in taking
care of our interests, He did not entirely overlook His own glory. But
in this most amiable Sacrament, it seems as if Jesus Christ had
altogether forgotten all these advantages, and that it was His love
alone that engaged Him therein. Ought not, then, so wonderful an excess
of love to excite an excessive love in the hearts of all men. Alas! it
is quite the contrary. It seems as though Jesus Christ would have been
more loved had He loved us less. I shudder with horror, oh my God! at
the mere thought of the indignities and outrages which the impiety of
wicked Christans, and the fury of heretics, have committed against this
august Sacrament. With what horrible sacrileges have not our Altars and
our Churches been profaned? With what repeated insults, impiety and
infamy, has not the Body of Jesus Christ been treated? Can any Christian
reflect on such impiety, without conceiving
an ardent desire to repair by every possible means
these cruel outrages? Is it possible, then, that he
should live without giving it a thought?
If, amidst the impiety which Jesus Christ meets
with at the hands of heretics, He at least were honoured
and ardently loved by the faithful, we might in some
degree console ourselves for the outrages of the one, by
the love and sincere homage of the other. But alas!
where are we to look for that crowd of adorers, earnestly
bent on honouring Jesus Christ in our Churches? Are
not our Churches deserted? Can there be greater
coldness and indifference than what is shown towards
Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament? The scanty
number that are to be seen in our Churches during the
greater part of the day, are they not a visible proof of
the forgetfulness and want of love of almost all Christians?
Those who approach our Altars most frequently,
familiarise themselves with these most august mysteries.
It may be said, that there are Priests, whose
familiarity with Jesus Christ goes so far as to grow
into indifference and contempt. How many amongst
them are there, who, by offering Him daily, increase
in love for Him? How many who celebrate these
divine mysteries, like persons who truly believe in
them?
We perhaps think that Jesus Christ is insensible to
such bad treatment. But can we ourselves think on
the treatment which He receives, and be insensible,
and not seek to make reparation by every means in
our power? How can anyone reflect a little on these
truths, and not dedicate himself wholly to the love of
this Man-God, who alone has a right to the hearts of
all. If we do not love Him, it must either be that we
do not know Him, or that we are worse than that
wicked demon spoken of in the life of St. Catherine of
Genoa, who did not complain of the flames that consumed him, nor of the other pains which he endured,
but only of being devoid of love, — of that love which so
many souls know nothing of, or refuse to exercise, to
their eternal loss.
Let us remember, that the Sacred Heart of Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament has still, as far as can be, the
same sentiments It always had. It is always inflamed
with love for man, always sensibly touched by our
misfortunes, always urged by the desire to make us
partakers of Its treasures and to give Itself to us,
always disposed to receive us, and to serve as a dwelling
and a paradise for us, even in this life, and above all,
as a refuge at the hour of death. And, for all this,
what sentiments of gratitude does He find in the hearts
of men? what solicitude? what love? He loves, and
He is not loved. We do not even know His love,
because we do not condescend to receive the gifts by
which He would show it to us, nor listen to the tender
and secret declarations that He would make of it to our
hearts. Is not this a motive powerful enough to touch
the hearts of all who are at all reasonable, and who
have some little tenderness for Jesus Christ? Our
loving Saviour, in instituting this Sacrament of love,
foresaw clearly all the ingratitude of mankind. He felt
by anticipation in His Sacred Heart, all the grief which
it was to cause Him. Yet all this could not keep Him,
at a distance, nor prevent Him from showing us the
excess of His love, in the institution of this adorable
mystery.
Is it not just, amidst so much incredulity and coldness,
so many profanations and outrages, that this God
of love should find at least some friends of His Sacred
Heart, who should be pained by the little love felt for
Him, feel the injuries offered Him, be faithful and
assiduous in adoring Him in the holy Eucharist, and
neglect nothing in order to repair, by their love, by
their adorations, and by every kind of homage, all the outrages to which the excess of His love daily exposes
Him, in this august Sacrament?
This is the end which we aim at in this devotion, in
honouring this Sacred Heart, which ought to be infinitely
dearer to us than our own. The act of atonement
and of oblation, the visits to the Blessed Sacrament,
the prayers, the Communions, and all the other
practices, tend only to render us more grateful and
more faithful, by giving us an ardent love for Jesus
Christ. There is no devotion, then, more just or
reasonable. We shall see, in like manner, that there
is no devotion more useful for our salvation and perfection.
Reverend Father Croiset
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