Sixth Visit.

From St. Alphonsus Liguori, Visits to the Most Holy Sacrament (New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1870). Wording reflects its time. Public domain; the text is given word for word as printed.

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke xii. 34.

Jesus Christ says, that whatsoever a person regards as his treasure, on that his affections rest. Hence, the saints, who neither esteem nor love any other treasure than Jesus Christ, have fixed their hearts and all their affections on this most holy sacrament. My most amiable Jesus, who, for the love of me, dost remain night and day enclosed in this tabernacle, draw, I entreat thee, my whole heart to thyself, that I may think only of thee, that I may hope only in thee, and that I may love and seek only thee. Grant me this grace, through the merits of thy passion; through them I ask and hope for it. O my adorable Saviour! O divine lover, how amiable are the tender inventions of thy love, to gain the love of souls! O eternal Word! thou wast not content with becoming man, and dying for us; thou hast also given us thyself in this sacrament, to be our companion, our food, and a pledge of eternal glory. Thou dost appear among us, at one time, an infant in a stable, and at another, a poor artizan in a shop; now a criminal on a cross, and again under the appearance of bread on the altar. Tell me, what more couldst thou do to induce us to love thee? O God, infinitely amiable, when shall I begin to correspond to such an excess of love? Lord, I desire to live only to love thee. Of what use is life to me, unless I spend the entire of it, in loving and in pleasing thee, my beloved Redeemer, who hast spent thy whole life for me? And what shall I love, if I love not thee, who art all beauty, all sweetness, all goodness, all love, all loveliness. May I live only to love thee, and may my soul melt through love, at the sole remembrance of thy love; and, at the bare mention of the crib, the cross, or the sacrament, may my heart be inflamed with a desire to do great things for the love of thee, who hast done and suffered so much for the love of me.

Ejac. Grant O my Lord, that before I die, I may do something for the love of thee.

The Spiritual Communion.

SIXTH VISIT TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN.

Prayer of St. Bernard.

O Mary! thou art the only woman on whom the Saviour of the world has poured the treasures of his grace without measure; hence we are taught to honor thy chaste womb as the temple of God, wherein he was pleased to begin the great work of our redemption, the reconciliation of God with man. Thou, O Mother of God, art that spiritual garden, whose fruit is never gathered by the hands of sinners. Thou art that hallowed soil, where God has planted all the flowers which adorn his church, and amongst the rest, the holy virtues of humility, purity, and charity, which are greater ornaments to the souls of men than violets, lilies, and roses are to the earth. Thou art the paradise of God, whence flows the stream of living water to moisten the earth. Oh, what benefits were bestowed on the world through thee, when thou wast selected to be the fortunate channel of so many graces!

Ejac. Hail! our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

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