Fifth Elevation
Forsaken Heart
Third complaint of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus to the consecrated soul
I
Reflection. – The forsaken heart is the one whose affection, worthily placed, was first paid back. It had received pure testimonies of love and oaths of fidelity; but the enemy of goodness has laid its snares, and human frailty has succumbed: the fickle soul has grown weary in its way, it has carried elsewhere the feelings dedicated to a true heart, which had done nothing to lose them and whose greatest suffering here below is to love again, when it is no longer loved.
II
Jesus. – The one I loved the most has turned against me[1]. 1] And yet, am I not the faithful spouse, the sure friend, the compassionate master, the perfect heart that you desire? I called you, though you had no merit; you came freely; you gave yourself freely; and I welcomed you, I put you in the first place among the children of my people, I promised you the best part of my inheritance,[2] and now you have gone away by design. Should I have expected such an insult? What can I hope for now? There is only one step from abandonment to hatred, for, quite different from repentance, the remorse of a hardened soul increases its hardness, and, indeed, my friends treat me as a stranger, my servant no longer answers my voice[3], 3] my handmaids no longer obey me as they would their master,[4] my relatives have abandoned me,[5] and you, destined to be my crown of glory, are now only the crown of thorns of my Eucharistic Passion and the spearhead that thrusts itself into a living heart; My blood is profaned again, and it would be spilled with the water of my tears, if I could still weep.
The man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who ate my bread, has brought his treachery upon me,[6] so offer me no more vain sacrifices; incense is an abomination to me. O my chosen vine, I had planted you, I had surrounded you with a protective hedge…; why instead of exquisite wine, have you given me only wild grapes[8]?
III
The soul. – Ah, Lord, to you belongs justice, but also mercy and the grace of reconciliation, to us confusion, for already, alas! you had once said to the confidant of your heart, showing it all overflowing with love and torn, pierced with blows: « These are the wounds I receive from my chosen people. The others are content to strike at my body; these attack my heart, which has never stopped loving them. But my love will finally yield to my just anger to punish these proud people attached to the earth, who despise me and love only what is contrary to me, leaving me for creatures, fleeing from humility … And their hearts being empty of charity, they have no religious left but the name[9]. »
It is still to these souls fallen from their first fervor that you address yourselves here in your sorrow; they had been warned of your divine choice and, with the grace of hearing your voice, they had received that of responding to it. There was a time when nothing could compare to their beauty; and the angels, witnesses with men of their oaths of love and fidelity at the foot of your altar, joined in the joy of this voluntary consecration. But, alas, today, these servants who had become friends[10] and brothers; these maids, raised to the rank of spouses, and so happy in your holy house in the past, no longer bring anything to your feet but languor and decay. Poor souls! destined to console your Eucharistic Heart, they are the ones who cause its pain, and they no longer even worry about it, because they have abandoned you! Seduced doves, they no longer have a heart[11].
Ah, forsaken but ever merciful Heart of Jesus, have mercy on the sheep you feed in your pasture[12]. Remember those whom you have gathered and possessed from the beginning.
O Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, see: some have already lost all semblance of life! Bring back life, I beseech you, to these whitened sepulchres[13]. 13] There lie souls who are dear to you and into whom you still descend through Holy Communion; hasten their dissolution: may your powerful touch awaken them to light, to will, to charity; and if I have the misfortune to be one of them, overthrow me, break me by trial, but convert me to you, O Lord!
Forgive, forgive your people, and let them no longer be a cause of affliction to you?
Parce Domine, parce populo tuo, ne in aeternum irascaris nobis[14].
6th Elevation: Forgotten Heart
[1] Cf. Job XIX, 19
[2] Cf. Ps. XV, 5.
[3] Cf. Job XIX, 16.
[4] Cf. ibid, 15
[5] Cf. ibid. 14
[6] Cf. Ps. XL, 1
[7] Cf. Is. I,13
[8] Cf. Jer. II,21
[9] Life of St. Margaret Mary by her contemporaries. Life and Works (ed. Gauthey, vol. II, p. 175-176, Paris, 1920).
[10] Cf. John XV, 15.
[11] Cf. Hosea VII, 2.
[12] Cf. Ps. LXXIII, 1-2.
[13] Cf. Math. XXIII, 2. 7.
[14] Cf. Joel II, 17.