First Elevation
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, sweet companion of our exile, I adore you
I
Reflection. – A companion in exile, who is not an exile, can only be the generous friend of the one whose disgrace he willingly shares. – Where does such heroism in friendship come from? Is it from a great intelligence? no, it is from a great heart. Intelligence can enlighten devotion, admire it, but it does not inspire it. The heart alone is capable of generous acts, because love alone makes one love sacrifice, find happiness in it: « Love knows no sorrow, and if there is sorrow, this sorrow is changed into love [1].
II
Jesus. – Man has no permanent city here below and he seeks his resting place[2] with a groan. In the Eucharist I have pitched my tent next to yours in this land of exile; oh my beloved people, I wanted to be next to you, and there I fixed my eyes and my heart[3]: my eyes to follow your steps, to see your labors, your struggles, to consider your trials and count them; to gather your good works and present them to my Father so that he will not enter into judgment with you; but that he will forgive your sins when your repentance touches his mercy; I am there with my heart to comfort it by sharing your pain, to lighten your burden, to rest your fatigue, to support your weakness and above all to give you a mysterious drink[4], mixed with the bread of life[5], which I have prepared in my solicitude lest you fail on the way.
My tabernacle will protect you with its shadow during the day, and it will be a sure retreat for you from the storm; it will bear my name, a new name which I have not yet made known, and which will henceforth be published in all the earth. I have the heart of a true friend for you, do not fear; if you remain faithful to me, I will help you on the bed of your pain and I will turn your bed in your infirmities[6].
As a mother caresses her child when it cries, so, when your sighs go to your homeland, I will fill your soul with the sweetest consolations [7].
But beware, do not abuse my generosity, seeing me thus lowered to you. Never forget that this friendly heart, which has come from heaven, is that of the Lord your God.
III
The soul. – Lord, if a light service penetrates me with gratitude towards the one who rendered it to me, what will be the feelings of my heart for you? Heavenly friend, oh my King, Jesus present and living in the middle of this universe, in your glorified Humanity where your Divinity rests! You are there, as elsewhere, the sovereign God: but there you reign only through the heart, because your power triumphs only through love. I adore you on this humble throne of your charity, which shines in the eyes of the angels like a monstrance of fire placed at the top of the terrestrial globe, illuminating and warming the universe and awaiting its homage. Our eyes do not see it, but our faith knows it, and our souls feel it.
I adore you, oh Real Presence of my Savior, perfect heart, who alone possesses all that mine desires in a friend whom it would like to love without measure. I adore you at the bottom of this mire from which you approached to help me. I adore your bodily heart, O Jesus! because in you everything is adorable, and especially the organ that served your love here on earth; but when I adore your heart, it is also and especially the immense love that gave it to us that I adore.
Let others, in the name of science, place the seat of love where they will: for me, I feel my love in my heart; and my heart becomes all love. And yet this heart of flesh which beats more strongly in my chest only in the name of what I love, is not what loves in me; it is only the symbol of it ennobled by the action which it receives from it, and I say with the Psalmist: My heart and my flesh have leaped for the living God[8].
The heart that loves, that is the spark of charity in us, where is it? Tell me, scholars, if you know your soul; for it is in the soul that it must be found, in that highest secret place where the vestiges of our ancient greatness are to be found; in that faculty created to love the good and the willing, to love above all the sovereign Good, in that elevated power, deified by charity, the highest of the theological virtues, the one that will last eternally and that is from here on down the eternal life begun. What I know well is that my heart, such as it is, I owe to the Lord, for I have heard a mysterious word, which seems to open to me its domains and to put me on the track of its divine secrets: My son, give me your heart and consider my ways [9].
2nd Elevation: Eucharistic Heart of Jesus
[1] St. Augustine, De bono viduidatis, XXI P.L., XL, 448.
[2] Cf. Hebrews XIII, 14.
[3] Cf. II Par. VII, 16.
[4] Cf.John VI, « 6.
[5] Cf. John VI, 35.
[6] Cf. P XL. 4.
[7] Cf. Jer. XXXI, 14.
[8] Ps. LXXXIII, 3
[9] Prov. XXIII, 26.