Summary of the Morrow’s Meditation
We will to-morrow reflect upon Jesus Christ at the age of twelve going to Jerusalem to give Himself up in the temple to the pious exercises which were customary during the feast of Easter: a striking lesson which teaches us that every Christian ought to have certain pious exercises to which he should be faithful. 1st, it is this which the example of Jesus Christ teaches us; 2d, it is this which the interest of our salvation calls for. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to draw up a rule of life which shall fix the hour and manner of each one of our exercises; 2d, never to depart from this rule, excepting in case of real necessity, and in that case to anticipate the exercise, if we have been able to foresee that it will be prevented, or else to resume it at the first moment of leisure. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of Our Lord to Mary: “How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?” (Luke ii. 49.)
Meditation for the Morning
Let us adore Jesus Christ hidden, after His return from Egypt, in the retreat at Nazareth, and only leaving it to pray in the temple when Mary and Joseph took Him there. Let us follow Him in spirit during this pious pilgrimage. What holy conversations they held together while on their way; what recollection, what union with God! Let us render our homage to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
First Point
The Example of Jesus Christ Teaches us to have certain Regular Exercises of Piety to which we are Faithful.
There is no doubt but that Jesus at Nazareth occupied Himself every day with certain exercises of piety together with Mary and Joseph. We do not know what they were in detail, but we may judge of them by His journey to Jerusalem; He had no need, He who was the temple of the Divinity, to take this journey in order to honor His Father, but He was very desirous to show us by His example that we ought not to neglect any external exercises of religion and of piety, that He took no account of having to make on foot a journey of thirty leagues from Nazareth to Jerusalem. Having arrived at the temple, He there passed not only the eight days during which the festival of Easter lasted, but also the three following days; and He would have remained there still longer had not His parents come to take Him away. It is not said either where He retired during this time, or whether He took any nourishment, because, apparently, His dwelling, both night and day, was in the temple or in its environs, and His principal food was to do the will of His Father; but what we do know is that He assisted assiduously at the religious exercises. He adored there, He prayed, He listened to the divine word; and who can say with how much modesty, with what recollection, He assisted at the sacrifices and prayers; with what attention, with what respect and fervor He spoke to God; how His example influenced all those who beheld Him. He thereby taught us to make of the oratory or the church our dearest dwelling, and of our spiritual exercises our principal delights; always to choose the place where we can best perform them, and never to omit them except with regret when they are impossible, and to resume them as soon as we can. Are these our dispositions?
Second Point
The Interest of our Salvation requires that we should have certain Pious Exercises to which we ought to be faithful.
These exercises consist in reflection and prayer. If we do not reflect, we lose sight of our salvation, our eternity, our soul, our faith. If we do not pray, grace fails us, nature takes the upper hand and ruins us. If, on the contrary, we reflect seriously every day upon God, upon the means of saving ourselves, we rekindle every day the sacred fire in our hearts; and, if we pray, we draw down upon ourselves the grace which helps human weakness, the grace which makes saints. These exercises are to the soul what food is to the body; if we refuse them to it, it droops and dies (Ps. ci. 5). They are to the soul what oil is to the lamp; if it be not replenished, the light is extinguished and gives place to a black unhealthy smoke. They are what wood is to the fire: for want of wood the fire goes out; it is the same with us: without our exercises the heart becomes tepid, grows cold, and is turned to ice. They are, lastly, what weapons are to the soldier; when this sacred buckler no longer covers us, we are soon beaten and put to rout by the world and its passions. Weary of ourselves we go into society, we contract its poison, we imitate its bad examples, we allow ourselves to indulge in a life which is wholly dissipated and sensual, to take part in frivolous conversations and useless pastimes; then afterwards we permit ourselves to be carried away by the passions which ferment in the heart, by the love of self and of our own comfort, and from thence into inevitable falls and the loss of our salvation. Let us examine ourselves as to what is our fidelity to our exercises, and if we are faithful to them, in what manner we perform them. Have we a rule of life which lays down the hour and the manner of them?
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.