November 9, 2026
(FIRST MEDITATION.)
Summary of the Morrow's Meditation.
We will meditate to-morrow: 1st, upon the respect, 2d, upon the love, that we owe to churches. We will then make the resolution: 1st, to maintain a profoundly religious demeanor, joined to an interior full of faith, when we are in church; 2d, to hold in great esteem our visits to the Holy Sacrament, and to look upon the time which we consecrate to them as most precious. Our spiritual nosegay shall be the words of Jacob: "How terrible is this place! This is no other but the house of God and the gate of heaven" (Gen. xxviii. 17).
Meditation for the Morning.
Let us humbly adore the immense majesty of God, who, although filling the whole universe with His presence, and consequently having in all places a right to our respect and love, wills nevertheless to be honored and loved in a special manner in our churches, where He has for that purpose established His dwelling. "Behold," says the apostle St. John, "the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them" (Apoc. xxi. 3). It is there that He wills to see all His children gathered together before His eyes, offering to Him the solemn and public homage of their religion. Let us enter into His views, and let us renew the great sentiments of respect and love in this holy place with which we ought to be inspired (Ps. xciv. 6). Let us delight to go there and adore God, and prostrate ourselves in His presence.
FIRST POINT.
The Respect Due to our Churches.
We cannot read in the Old Testament without being deeply impressed by it, of all the respect which God demanded, whether for the tabernacle or for the different places where He manifested His presence. "Reverence My sanctuary" (Lev. xxvi. 2), He said. "Put off the shoes from thy feet," He said to Moses, "for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Ex. iii. 5). How shall I dare speak to my Lord, cries out Abraham with his face bowed to the ground, "I who am but dust and ashes!" (Gen. xviii. 27) "How terrible is this place, indeed the Lord is in this place" (Gen. xxviii. 17, 16), cries out Jacob. Lord, says David in his turn, I will enter into Thy house, but it will be with reverential fear. For Thou art He who has His throne in the heavens (Ps. v. 8; x. 5). Let us recall to mind the dedication of the temple of Solomon; the fire descends from heaven, the majesty of the Lord fills the holy place; all the children of Israel fall down prostrate with their faces to the ground; they adore and praise the Lord, who is so good and merciful as to lower Himself to His creatures (II. Paral. vii. 3). Now if such respect was felt for the ancient temple, how much greater is the respect due to our churches; for here there are no longer signs and types, a rude ark and the images of seraphim which are honored, but God Himself as substantially present by His Word in the tabernacle as He is in paradise; God surrounded by millions of angels, who form by day and by night an invisible guard around His throne. Oh, how right and seemly it is to maintain a profoundly reverential demeanor, to keep a restraint over our eyes, our words, and our smiles, to avoid the slightest appearance of freedom and familiarity, hastiness of manner, quick genuflexions, all lazy and disrespectful postures! How above all ought we to keep our interior pure and without spot, recollected and occupied with the great Majesty in whose presence we are! How we ought, lastly, to have at heart the decoration of churches, the decency and majesty of divine worship!
SECOND POINT.
The Love Due to our Churches.
What could we love here below if we did not love a place where are gathered together all the memorials of the love of God for men, a place which God inhabits in person, where He invites us to come and present to Him our prayers, which He promises to grant? Now this is what our churches are: 1st. There are assembled all the memorials of divine love: the sacred baptismal font, which, by regenerating us, has made us children of God, brethren of Jesus Christ, heirs of heaven; the pulpit, whence descends into our souls the holy word, to make us bring forth all virtues; the tribunal of mercy, which restores to us, together with our innocence, our rights to heaven when we have lost them; the holy table, where we are fed with the bread of angels; the image of Jesus crucified, the memorial of so much love; the holy altar, on which the God-Man immolates Himself every day for us; and the portraits or statues of the Blessed Virgin and the saints, the remembrance of whom recalls so many wonders of grace and preaches all the virtues so eloquently to us. 2d. It is there that God dwells. Solomon formerly exclaimed: "Is it credible that God should dwell with men on the earth?" (II. Paral. vi. 18.) That which Solomon found it so difficult to believe we see realized in our churches. There God holds His court within our reach; the entrance is always open for us. We can, when we will, draw near to Him, speak to Him, and listen to Him, let our hearts flow forth into His, and gather therefrom consolation in our troubles, strength in our weaknesses, find there a paradise upon earth whilst awaiting paradise in heaven. Let us judge from this how much we ought to love our churches. It is there, 3d, that God invites us to come and present to Him our petitions, promising that He will grant them. Moses said of the ancient tabernacle: "Neither is there any other nation that hath gods so nigh them, as our God is present to all our petitions" (Deut. iv. 7). David sang, when alluding to the old temple: "How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. For better is one day in Thy courts above thousands. I have chosen to be an abject in the house of God rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners" (Ps. lxxxiii. 2, 11). Thou Thyself, Lord, didst say of that temple: "My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place" (II. Paral. vii. 15): "I have chosen this place that My eyes and My heart may remain there perpetually" (Ibid. 16). There "I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land" (Ibid. 14). Now, if such magnificent promises were made to the ancient temple, what ought we not to hope from prayers offered in our churches before the throne of grace which is raised therein in order that all may find there help and mercy? Jesus Christ awaits us there, calls us there, invites us to come to Him and ask for anything confidently, and He promises to hear us (Matt. xi. 28). Let us reply to His appeal, and let us come with confidence and open to Him our heart and tell Him our needs (Heb. iv. 16). Let us hence conclude how much we ought to love our churches, these vestibules of heaven, these meeting-places given by God to His creatures, the true paradise of earth.
Resolutions and spiritual nosegay as above.