Begin the evening before to prepare yourself for Holy Communion by several aspirations and movements of the heart, retiring a little earlier, so that you may also rise earlier: if you wake during the night, sanctify those moments with a few devout words or some tender sentiment, that your soul may thereby be, as it were, perfumed to receive the Bridegroom, Who, watching while you sleep, prepares to bring you a thousand graces and a thousand favors, if on your part you are ready to receive them. In the morning rise with great joy for the happiness to which you aspire; and, having confessed well, go with great confidence, but also with great humility, to partake of this heavenly food which nourishes you unto immortality. As soon as you have said the sacred words: _Lord, I am not worthy_, etc., move neither your head nor your lips any more, either to pray or to sigh; but gently and moderately opening your mouth, and raising your head just enough for the priest to see what he is doing, receive, full of faith, hope, and charity, Him Who is the principle, the object, the motive, and the end of all things. O Philothea! imagine then that, as the bee, after gathering upon the flowers the dew of Heaven and the most exquisite nectar of the earth, turns it into honey and carries it to its hive; so the priest, after taking from the altar the Savior of the world, true Son of God, descended from Heaven like dew, and true Son of the Virgin, sprung from the earth like a flower, places Him in your mouth and in your breast, to be a sweet nourishment to you. Having received Him, stir your heart to come and pay homage to this King of salvation; treat with Him of your inward affairs; contemplate Him within yourself, where He has placed Himself for your happiness; finally, give Him the best welcome you can, and so comport yourself that all your actions may show that God is with you. But when you cannot have this consolation of receiving Holy Communion in reality at Mass, at least communicate in heart and spirit, uniting yourself by an ardent desire to this life-giving flesh of the Savior.
Your principal intention in receiving Communion should be to advance, strengthen, and console yourself in the love of God; for it is for love’s sake that you should receive what love deigns to give you. No, the Saviour gives nowhere greater proof of His goodness and tenderness than in this Sacrament, wherein He, so to speak, annihilates Himself and is reduced to food, that He may penetrate our souls and unite Himself intimately to the hearts and bodies of His faithful.
If worldly people ask you why you receive Communion so often, tell them that it is to learn to love God, to purify yourself of your imperfections, to free yourself from your miseries, to console yourself in your afflictions, and to sustain yourself in your weaknesses. Tell them that two kinds of people should receive Communion often: the perfect, because, being well disposed, they would be greatly at fault not to draw near to the source of perfection; and the imperfect, that they may rightly aspire to perfection; the strong, lest they grow weak; and the weak, that they may be strengthened; the sick, that they may be healed; the healthy, that they may not fall ill; and that as for you, being imperfect, weak, and sick, you need often to commune with perfection, strength, and the physician. Tell them that those who have few affairs should receive Communion often, because they have the leisure to do so; and that those who are very busy should also receive Communion often, because they have particular need of it. For it is those who labour much and are burdened with toil who ought to take strong and plentiful nourishment. Tell them that you receive the Holy Sacrament to learn to receive it well, because one rarely performs an action well if one does not practise it often.
If worldly people ask you why you receive Communion so often, tell them that it is to learn to love God, to purify yourself of your imperfections, to free yourself from your miseries, to console yourself in your afflictions, and to sustain yourself in your weaknesses. Tell them that two kinds of people should receive Communion often: the perfect, because, being well disposed, they would be greatly at fault not to draw near to the source of perfection; and the imperfect, that they may rightly aspire to perfection; the strong, lest they grow weak; and the weak, that they may be strengthened; the sick, that they may be healed; the healthy, that they may not fall ill; and that as for you, being imperfect, weak, and sick, you need often to commune with perfection, strength, and the physician. Tell them that those who have few affairs should receive Communion often, because they have the leisure to do so; and that those who are very busy should also receive Communion often, because they have particular need of it. For it is those who labour much and are burdened with toil who ought to take strong and plentiful nourishment. Tell them that you receive the Holy Sacrament to learn to receive it well, because one rarely performs an action well if one does not practise it often.
Communicate often, then, Philothea, and as often as you can, with the counsel of your spiritual father; for, if it be true that the hares of our mountains become white in winter, because they see and eat nothing but snow, believe also that, by continually contemplating and partaking of beauty, goodness, and purity itself in this divine sacrament, you will become wholly beautiful, wholly good, and wholly pure.
THIRD PART
CONTAINING SEVERAL COUNSELS CONCERNING THE PRACTICE OF THE VIRTUES.
THIRD PART
CONTAINING SEVERAL COUNSELS CONCERNING THE PRACTICE OF THE VIRTUES.