November 1st

(FIRST MEDITATION.)

Summary of the Morrow's Meditation.

We will meditate to-morrow upon the great feast of the day, and we shall learn from this solemnity: 1st, what it is to be a saint; 2d, that we ought to be saints; 3d, that we can be saints. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to honor the saints by esteem and admiration for their virtues, and to invoke them with confidence; 2d, to imitate them, saying often to ourselves: "I ought to be a saint, I can be, and I will be; how would a saint perform this action, this prayer; how would he speak, how would he behave in such or such a circumstance?" Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of St. Augustine: "What these saints, male and female, have done, why should I not do also?"

Meditation for the Morning.

Let us raise ourselves in spirit to heaven; let us contemplate the glory and the happiness of the saints, and let us bless the Lord, who so magnificently recompenses His elect (Invit. Brev. Paris). Let us unite our adorations and our praises to those of the blessed, who never cease, day and night, to praise Him, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of Hosts" (Is. vi. 3). "To Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honor, and glory, and power, forever and ever" (Apoc. v. 13). Let us at the same time render our homage to the saints, in order thereby to repair the faults committed in the celebration of each of their special feasts, and to supply the worship which we have not yet rendered to so many saints whom the world does not yet know, and whom Heaven has crowned.

FIRST POINT.

The Solemnity of To-day Teaches us what it is to be a Saint.

Our cowardly spirit, ingenious in deceiving itself, would like to persuade us that there exists an easy road by which to reach heaven, a road in which we need not be under any restraint, but may live at our ease, fly from the cross, and indulge ourselves in everything which is not absolutely mortal sin, wherein we may follow the dictates of self-will and its caprices, self-love and vanity; but let us to-day question the saints and ask them whether a single one amongst them was saved by walking along this road. They will answer us in the words of the gospel which has been solemnly read to-day in the assembly of the faithful as a protestation against this system of relaxed morals. What does this gospel say to us, if it be not that the "blessed," or the saints, are the humble who are poor and detached from everything; they are the meek and gentle hearts which suffer everything from every one, without making any one suffer, who render good for evil, praise for blame, love for hatred; they are those who are tried, who spend their days in affliction and tears, far from the joys of the world; they are those who are zealous for their own perfection, who hunger and thirst after an ever increasing righteousness; they are the merciful, who compassionate all human wretchedness; they are the pure of heart, who are horrified at the smallest stains; they are the peacemakers, who do not allow passions to trouble the peace of their soul, and who live in peace with every one; they are the persecuted, who patiently bear insult and calumny? Behold these are saints in the opinion of Christ and of the gospel. Do we find any place in this portrait for cowardice, lukewarmness, and an easy and unrestrained life?

SECOND POINT.

The Solemnity of To-day Recalls to us that we also ought to be Saints.

In point of fact, during all eternity there will be no medium between a saint and the damned, in the same manner as there will be none between heaven and hell. It is for us to choose between these two alternatives. Can we hesitate for one moment, and not say to ourselves from the bottom of our hearts: Yes, I will be a saint; I feel I must be, otherwise I shall be one of the damned. I must be, because it is not too great a price to pay for heaven; the ravishing and eternal joys of the saints are worth a million times all earthly privations, all the trials of virtue. I must, because it is not too much to give in order to escape hell, from which I shall be preserved if I follow in the path of the saints. But if I must, I ought then to be converted, for I am far from being a saint. Where in me is the humility of the saints, their meekness, their patience, their life of faith? Mercy, Lord Jesus, mercy! The feast of to-day recalls to me that I ought to be a saint, and I will become one.

THIRD POINT.

The Solemnity of To-day Shows us that we Can be Saints.

I be a saint! Is it not an enterprise beyond my strength? our weakness will say to us. No, all the saints in heaven reply through their example. We see, in fact, amongst them saints of all ages, of all ranks, and of both sexes. Now, what they have done, why should not I do? Innumerable Christians have preserved themselves pure amidst all the dangers of seduction, recollected amidst dissipation and tumult, poor and detached amidst riches, mortified amidst opportunities for enjoyment. Why cannot I, who am in a better position, do what they did in a more difficult one? There is no room here to say: I have passions which seize upon me, temptations which solicit me. The saints also had them, and of a more violent kind, and they conquered them. Why should I not conquer mine as they did? There is no room here for saying: The seriousness of holiness, the monotony of duty, weary me; I cannot keep to them. Did not the saints also experience this weariness, this disgust? They bore them, and for a longer time than I, and now they are in heaven. How glad they are! How thoroughly they understand that they did well! But my weakness frightens me; I am afraid of not being able to persevere. Alas! the saints were weak like me; grace sustained them. Why should I not hope that it will sustain me also? It is thus that all pretexts are confounded, all excuses fall down before the words of St. Augustine, few as they are: "Cannot I do what others have done?"

Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.