He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.”

OPENING PRAYER

O God, send forth your Holy Spirit into my heart that I may perceive, into my mind that I may remember, and into my soul that I may meditate. Inspire me to speak with piety, holiness, tenderness and mercy. Teach, guide and direct my thoughts and senses from beginning to end. May your grace ever help and correct me, and may I be strengthened now with wisdom from on high, for the sake of your infinite mercy. Amen.

Saint Anthony of Padua

COLLECT

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament

have left us a memorial of your Passion,

grant us, we pray,

so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood

that we may always experience in ourselves

the fruits of your redemption.

Who live and reign with God the Father

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

READING I 

Gn 14:18-20

In those days, Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine,

and being a priest of God Most High,

he blessed Abram with these words:

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

the creator of heaven and earth;

and blessed be God Most High,

who delivered your foes into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (CCC)

CCC 58 The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel.1 The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel the just, the king-priest Melchizedek – a figure of Christ – and the upright “Noah, Daniel, and Job”.2 Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to “gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad”.3

CCC 343 Man is the summit of the Creator’s work, as the inspired account expresses by clearly distinguishing the creation of man from that of the other creatures.4

CCC 1333 At the heart of the Eucharistic celebration are the bread and wine that, by the words of Christ and the invocation of the Holy Spirit, become Christ’s Body and Blood. Faithful to the Lord’s command the Church continues to do, in his memory and until his glorious return, what he did on the eve of his Passion: “He took bread. ..” “He took the cup filled with wine. ..” The signs of bread and wine become, in a way surpassing understanding, the Body and Blood of Christ; they continue also to signify the goodness of creation. Thus in the Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine,5 fruit of the “work of human hands,” but above all as “fruit of the earth” and “of the vine” – gifts of the Creator. The Church sees in the gesture of the king-priest Melchizedek, who “brought out bread and wine,” a prefiguring of her own offering.6

CCC 1544 Everything that the priesthood of the Old Covenant prefigured finds its fulfillment in Christ Jesus, the “one mediator between God and men.”7 The Christian tradition considers Melchizedek, “priest of God Most High,” as a prefiguration of the priesthood of Christ, the unique “high priest after the order of Melchizedek”;8 “holy, blameless, unstained,”9 “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified,”10 that is, by the unique sacrifice of the cross.

1 Cf. Gen 9:16; Lk 21:24; DV 3.

2 Cf. Gen 14:18; Heb 7:3; Ezek 14:14.

3 Jn 11:52.

4 Cf. Gen 1-26.

5 Cf. Ps 104:13-15.

6 Gen 14:18; cf. Roman Missal, EP I (Roman Canon) 95.

7 2 Tim 2:5.

8 Heb 5:10; cf. 6:20; Gen 14:18.

9 Heb 7:26.

10 Heb 10:14.

APPLICATION

Because Psalm 110 saw in Melchizedek a figure or type of the future Messiah: “You are a priest of the order of Melchizedek and forever” and “royal dignity was yours from the day you were born” (Ps. 110: 4; 3), the New Testament (Hebrews 7), and the Fathers read a messianic meaning into this meeting of Abraham with Melchizedek. Clement of Alexandria saw in the bread and wine offered by Melchizedek a figure of the Eucharist. He was followed by others and eventually this offering by Melchizedek found a place in the Canon of the Mass.

That Melchizedek was a king and a priest, and that he offered bread in some form of sacrifice, makes him worthy of mention in the Canon and in today’s feastday. Christ was King and Priest and he offered himself, and continues to offer himself daily, as a true sacrifice to God the Father on our behalf, under the, form of bread and wine in the blessed Eucharist–the holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

That Christ who was the Son of God in human nature could do this we cannot doubt. He who, during the years of his life on earth, hid his divinity, “emptied himself of it,” as St. Paul says, can hide his divinity and humanity under the form of food, bread and wine, is less surprising and certainly not impossible for one who is God. The fact that he did so is clearly established. In St. John’s Gospel, we are told of his promise to do so (Jn. 6). In the Synoptics and in St. Paul, the occasion (the Last Supper) and the words he used, as well as his command to his disciples to continue doing this, are given us. The Acts of the Apostles and the practice of the Church from its very beginning show that the Apostles understood what he had done, and what they were commanded to do. He did what he commanded them. The mystery of the Blessed Eucharist, that is, that Christ is present, for our spiritual nourishment, in the bread and wine after the consecration in the Mass, is not whether it could be done, but rather why the infinite love and thoughtfulness of the Son of God for us led him to do so.

But though our small minds cannot understand divine love, they can do something to show their gratitude for this proof of God’s love. Christ wished to remain with his Church until the last human being leaves this earth. He wished to remain under a form which would help us on our way. To live his earthly life man needs food. He also needs spiritual food which Christ has provided in the Eucharist.

Not only is Christ in his divinity and humanity present in us every time we receive the Blessed Eucharist, but he deigns to remain under the sacramental species in our churches to welcome us and to encourage us in our daily struggles, when we call to visit him. Surely, if the Chosen People of the Old Testament could exclaim: “What great nation has its gods so close to it, as the Lord our God is to us” (Dt. 4: 7), with how much more conviction and certitude can we not say this? He comes personally to each one of us when we receive him in Holy Communion. He remains personally in all our churches throughout the world in order to help us on the road to heaven.

Today, the feastday of Corpus Christi, Christ in the Blessed Eucharist reminds us again of all that God has done and is still doing for us. What am I doing for him in return? I could visit him more often as a sign of my appreciation. I could receive him more often with greater love and fervor. I know I am not worthy of this supreme honor, but if he says the word, “I shall be healed.” I shall be made worthy.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4

You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand

till I make your enemies your footstool.”

You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The scepter of your power the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:

“Rule in the midst of your enemies.”

You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

“Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;

before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”

You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

The LORD has sworn, and he will not repent:

“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”

You are a priest for ever, in the line of Melchizedek.

READING II

1 Cor 11:23-26

Brothers and sisters:

In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,

you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH (CCC)

CCC 610 Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal shared with the twelve Apostles “on the night he was betrayed”.1 On the eve of his Passion, while still free, Jesus transformed this Last Supper with the apostles into the memorial of his voluntary offering to the Father for the salvation of men: “This is my body which is given for you.” “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”2

CCC 611 The Eucharist that Christ institutes at that moment will be the memorial of his sacrifice.3 Jesus includes the apostles in his own offering and bids them perpetuate it.4 By doing so, the Lord institutes his apostles as priests of the New Covenant: “For their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.”5

CCC 671 Though already present in his Church, Christ’s reign is nevertheless yet to be fulfilled “with power and great glory” by the King’s return to earth.6 This reign is still under attack by the evil powers, even though they have been defeated definitively by Christ’s Passover.7 Until everything is subject to him, “until there be realized new heavens and a new earth in which justice dwells, the pilgrim Church, in her sacraments and institutions, which belong to this present age, carries the mark of this world which will pass, and she herself takes her place among the creatures which groan and travail yet and await the revelation of the sons of God.”8 That is why Christians pray, above all in the Eucharist, to hasten Christ’s return by saying to him:9 Marana tha! “Our Lord, come!”10

CCC 781 “At all times and in every race, anyone who fears God and does what is right has been acceptable to him. He has, however, willed to make men holy and save them, not as individuals without any bond or link between them, but rather to make them into a people who might acknowledge him and serve him in holiness. He therefore chose the Israelite race to be his own people and established a covenant with it. He gradually instructed this people. .. All these things, however, happened as a preparation for and figure of that new and perfect covenant which was to be ratified in Christ. .. the New Covenant in his blood; he called together a race made up of Jews and Gentiles which would be one, not according to the flesh, but in the Spirit.”11

CCC 1076 The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.12 The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the “dispensation of the mystery” the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, “until he comes.”13 In this age of the Church Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age. He acts through the sacraments in what the common Tradition of the East and the West calls “the sacramental economy”; this is the communication (or “dispensation”) of the fruits of Christ’s Paschal mystery in the celebration of the Church’s “sacramental” liturgy.

It is therefore important first to explain this “sacramental dispensation” (chapter one). The nature and essential features of liturgical celebration will then appear more clearly (chapter two).

CCC 1130 The Church celebrates the mystery of her Lord “until he comes,” when God will be “everything to everyone.”14 Since the apostolic age the liturgy has been drawn toward its goal by the Spirit’s groaning in the Church: Marana tha!15 The liturgy thus shares in Jesus’ desire: “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you. .. until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”16 In the sacraments of Christ the Church already receives the guarantee of her inheritance and even now shares in everlasting life, while “awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Christ Jesus.”17 The “Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come. .. Come, Lord Jesus!”’18

St. Thomas sums up the various aspects of sacramental signs: “Therefore a sacrament is a sign that commemorates what precedes it- Christ’s Passion; demonstrates what is accomplished in us through Christ’s Passion – grace; and prefigures what that Passion pledges to us – future glory.”19

CCC 1328 The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called:

Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein20 and eulogein21 recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim – especially during a meal – God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification.

CCC 1329 The Lord’s Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem.22

The Breaking of Bread, because Jesus used this rite, part of a Jewish meat when as master of the table he blessed and distributed the bread,23 above all at the Last Supper.24 It is by this action that his disciples will recognize him after his Resurrection,25 and it is this expression that the first Christians will use to designate their Eucharistic assemblies;26 by doing so they signified that all who eat the one broken bread, Christ, enter into communion with him and form but one body in him.27

The Eucharistic assembly (synaxis), because the Eucharist is celebrated amid the assembly of the faithful, the visible expression of the Church.28

CCC 1339 Jesus chose the time of Passover to fulfill what he had announced at Capernaum: giving his disciples his Body and his Blood:

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the passover meal for us, that we may eat it. ..” They went. .. and prepared the passover. And when the hour came, he sat at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you I shall not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”… And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after supper, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood.”29

CCC 1344 Thus from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal mystery of Jesus “until he comes,” the pilgrim People of God advances, “following the narrow way of the cross,”30 toward the heavenly banquet, when all the elect will be seated at the table of the kingdom.

CCC 1356 If from the beginning Christians have celebrated the Eucharist and in a form whose substance has not changed despite the great diversity of times and liturgies, it is because we know ourselves to be bound by the command the Lord gave on the eve of his Passion: “Do this in remembrance of me.”31

CCC 1366 The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross, because it is its memorial and because it applies its fruit:

[Christ], our Lord and God, was once and for all to offer himself to God the Father by his death on the altar of the cross, to accomplish there an everlasting redemption. But because his priesthood was not to end with his death, at the Last Supper “on the night when he was betrayed,” [he wanted] to leave to his beloved spouse the Church a visible sacrifice (as the nature of man demands) by which the bloody sacrifice which he was to accomplish once for all on the cross would be re-presented, its memory perpetuated until the end of the world, and its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit.32

CCC 1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation.”33

CCC 1393 Holy Communion separates us from sin. The body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is “given up for us,” and the blood we drink “shed for the many for the forgiveness of sins.” For this reason the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins:

For as often as we eat this bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the death of the Lord. If we proclaim the Lord’s death, we proclaim the forgiveness of sins. If, as often as his blood is poured out, it is poured for the forgiveness of sins, I should always receive it, so that it may always forgive my sins. Because I always sin, I should always have a remedy.34

CCC 1566 “It is in the Eucharistic cult or in the Eucharistic assembly of the faithful (synaxis) that they exercise in a supreme degree their sacred office; there, acting in the person of Christ and proclaiming his mystery, they unite the votive offerings of the faithful to the sacrifice of Christ their head, and in the sacrifice of the Mass they make present again and apply, until the coming of the Lord, the unique sacrifice of the New Testament, that namely of Christ offering himself once for all a spotless victim to the Father.”35 From this unique sacrifice their whole priestly ministry draws its strength.36

CCC 2772 From this unshakeable faith springs forth the hope that sustains each of the seven petitions, which express the groanings of the present age, this time of patience and expectation during which “it does not yet appear what we shall be.”37 The Eucharist and the Lord’s Prayer look eagerly for the Lord’s return, “until he comes.”38

1 Roman Missal, EP III; cf. Mt 26:20; I Cor 11:23.

2 Lk 22:19; Mt 26:28; cf. I Cor 5:7.

3 1 Cor 11:25.

4 Cf. Lk 22:19.

5 Jn 17:19; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1752; 1764.

6 Lk 21:27; cf. Mt 25:31.

7 Cf. 2 Th 2:7.

8 LG 48 # 3; cf. 2 Pt 3:13; Rom 8:19-22; I Cor 15:28.

9 Cf. I Cor 11:26; 2 Pt 3:11-12.

10 1 Cor 16:22; Rev 22:17,20.

11 LG 9; Cf. Acts 10:35; 1 Cor 11:25.

12 Cf. SC 6; LG 2.

13 1 Cor 11:26.

14 1 Cor 11:26; 15:28.

15 1 Cor 16:22.

16 Lk 22:15.

17 Titus 2:13.

18 Rev 22:17, 20.

19 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, 60, 3.

20 Cf. Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24.

21 Cf. Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22.

22 Cf. 1 Cor 11:20; Rev 19:9.

23 Cf. Mt 14:19; 15:36; Mk 8:6, 19.

24 Cf. Mt 26:26; 1 Cor 11:24.

25 Cf. Lk 24:13-35.

26 Cf. Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7, 11.

27 Cf. 1 Cor 10:16-17.

28 Cf. 1 Cor 11:17-34.

29 Lk 22:7-20; Cf. Mt 26:17-29; Mk 14:12-25; 1 Cor 11:23-26.

30 AG 1; cf. 1 Cor 11:26.

31 1 Cor 11:24-25.

32 Council of Trent (1562): DS 1740; cf. 1 Cor 11:23; Heb 7:24, 27.

33 Council of Trent (1551): DS 1642; cf. Mt 26:26 ff.; Mk 14:22 ff.; Lk 22:19 ff.; 1 Cor 11:24 ff.

34 St. Ambrose, De Sacr. 4, 6, 28: PL 16, 446; cf. 1 Cor 11:26.

35 LG 28; cf. 1 Cor 11:26.

36 Cf. PO 2.

37 1 Jn 3:2; Cf. Col 3:4.

38 1 Cor 11:26.

APPLICATION

These words of St. Paul to the Corinthians, written in 57 A.D., can leave no doubt in our minds as to the belief of the great Apostle and that of his converts in the reality of the gift of himself which Our Lord gave to us in that central sacrament of our Christian faith, the Blessed Eucharist, or the Body of Christ, as today’s feast calls it. The meeting for “the breaking of bread,” that is, the celebration of the Eucharist, was the chief act of divine worship performed by the Christians. It was also the bond of love which kept them united from the very first days of the Church.

They knew that in the consecration of the bread and wine, the Mass as it was later called, they were repeating, in an unbloody but real manner, the salvific action of Christ in his death and Resurrection. He returned to heaven in his glorified humanity to take his place as the God-man at the right hand of the Father. But in his love for us, he found a way in which he could still remain with us, and re-offer the sacrifice of the cross through us and for us.

As an essential part in all the sacrifices of the Old Testament (and in pagan religions too) the priests and the laity offering the sacrifice ate part of the sacrifice offered. It was a sign of their union with God and with one another. Thus Christ gave us the re-offering of himself, “his body and blood,” under the form of food and drink so that we could partake of it and thus become united to God and to one another.

The Mass and the receiving of Holy Communion are the full participation in the re-enactment of Calvary. By offering the Mass we are giving infinite honor and satisfaction to God, and by receiving part of what is sacrificed we become intimately united with God and with one another–we are members of the one divine family, partaking of the same divine meal. This community participation in the eucharistic sacrifice was stressed and practiced very much in the early Church and down through the first centuries. This is being stressed again in recent years, and so it ought to be. We give honor to God by being present and participating in the Mass, in the offering of Christ’s sacrifice to the Father. But we participate fully and receive the full benefits of this sacrificial act only when we partake of the sacrifice with our fellow-worshippers by receiving Christ in Holy Communion.

There are many, of course, who feel they are not worthy. They are not worthy if they are conscious of serious sins which are unforgiven. But the means of forgiveness, left to us by Christ in another sacrament, are so easily available that to neglect to make use of these means shows a lack of interest, not only in our own salvation, but in the good God who is offering himself to us as our spiritual food on the road to heaven. For those not conscious of any serious offense, an act of love of God will cleanse them of any minor faults or failings. Then the Good Lord will make them worthy. He is willing and anxious to enter their humble and lowly homes.

The ideal to be aimed at is that everyone present at the Mass should also gather around the communion table and take part in the community, sacrificial meal. This will then strengthen the bonds of love that unite them with God and with one another.

GOSPEL

Lk 9:11b-17

Jesus spoke to the crowds about the kingdom of God,

and he healed those who needed to be cured.

As the day was drawing to a close,

the Twelve approached him and said,

“Dismiss the crowd

so that they can go to the surrounding villages and farms

and find lodging and provisions;

for we are in a deserted place here.”

He said to them, “Give them some food yourselves.”

They replied, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have,

unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.”

Now the men there numbered about five thousand.

Then he said to his disciples,

They did so and made them all sit down.

Then taking the five loaves and the two fish,

and looking up to heaven,

he said the blessing over them, broke them,

and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

They all ate and were satisfied.

And when the leftover fragments were picked up,

they filled twelve wicker baskets.

http://usccb.org/bible/readings/052916.cfm

APPLICATION

It should not surprise us that Jesus, who miraculously fed over five thousand people out of sheer generosity, to prevent them feeling any pangs of hunger on their return journey home, could and would find a miraculous way to feed his faithful followers on their way to heaven. Many, if not most, of that five thousand had little or no interest in his teaching (he said so the next day; see Jn. 6: 26), but were ready to take all the earthly benefits he would give them. Yet he wanted to prevent them from suffering any undue hardship.

We, his followers, have learned and appreciated his teaching and the supernatural future life which he has earned for us and promised us. We are trying to live Christian lives according to the rules he gave us. We are struggling along towards heaven, each in his own way, fervent at times, careless or cold often, perhaps but still most anxious not to miss the glorious future he has prepared for us. With this proof of his kindness and generosity in helping this more or less indifferent multitude in the matter of earthly food, it is much easier for us to see him provide generously for the spiritual nourishment of his followers on their journey to their true and lasting home.

That he did so we have the certainty of the centuries-long tradition of generations of Christians, based on his own words recorded in the inspired writings. Christ has arranged to remain with us under the form of food for our spiritual sustenance in the sacred sacrifice of the Mass, in which we can partake of his sacred body and blood, soul and divinity. This is, we can receive the Incarnate Son of God in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

How he could do that is only a small mystery for our finite minds. He was God as well as man. But why he should do this for us unworthy creatures is the greater mystery by far. Infinite love, which we finite beings cannot even begin to understand, is the answer and the explanation. Instead, then, of wasting any time on trying to solve this mystery, which we know to be a fact, let us try to thank him for it and use this gift of his love as often as possible. This will be the greatest proof that we appreciate this divine gift. We know that we are not worthy to receive our divine Lord “under our roof.” Perhaps, we are even more unworthy than the pagan Centurion who was first to use these words. But we also know that Jesus can and will make us worthy if we ask him in all sincerity: “to say but the word” and we shall be healed.

“It is not the healthy who need the doctor but the sick,” Christ said when accused of being too friendly with sinners (Mt. 9: 12). We Christians are more often spiritually sick and dead than healthy. However, we have our doctor and he cares for us. It is only by following his advice, and by using the spiritual medical nourishment he prescribes for us, that we can overcome our illnesses and weaknesses and keep on the straight and narrow road to heaven.

Applications written by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan O.F.M. and used with permission of Franciscan Press.

BENEDICTUS

Corpus Christi and Hope

It is only because God himself is the eternal dialogue of love that he can speak and be spoken to. Only because he himself is relationship can we relate to him; only because he is love can he love and be loved in return. Only because he is threefold can he be the grain of wheat which dies and the bread of eternal life. Ultimately, then, Corpus Christi is an expression of faith in God, in love, in the fact that God is love. All that is said and done on Corpus Christi is in fact a single variation on the theme of love, what it is and what it does. In one of his Corpus Christi hymns Thomas Aquinas puts it beautifully: nec sumptus consumitur – love does not consume: it gives and, in giving, receives. And in giving it is not used up but renews itself. Since Corpus Christi is a confession of faith in love, it is totally appropriate that the day should focus on the mystery of transubstantiation. Love is transubstantiation, transformation. Corpus Christi tells us: Yes, there is such a thing as love, and therefore there is transformation, therefore there is hope. And hope gives us the strength to live and face the world. Perhaps it was good to have experienced doubts about the meaning of celebrating Corpus Christi, for it has led us to the rediscovery of a feast which, today, we need more than ever.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

CLOSING PRAYER

You are Christ

You are Christ, my Holy Father, my Tender God, my Great King, my Good Shepherd, my Only Master, my Best Helper, my Most Beautiful and my Beloved, my Living Bread, my Priest Forever, my Leader to my Country, my True Light, my Holy Sweetness, my Straight Way, my Excellent Wisdom, my Pure Simplicity, my Peaceful Harmony, my Entire Protection, my Good Portion, my Everlasting Salvation.

Christ Jesus, Sweet Lord, why have I ever loved, why in my whole life have I ever desired anything except You, Jesus my God? Where was I when I was not in spirit with You? Now, from this time forth, do you, all my desires, grow hot, and flow out upon the Lord Jesus: run . . . you have been tardy until now; hasten where you are going; seek Whom you are seeking. O, Jesus may he who loves You not be an anathema; may he who loves You not be filled with bitterness.

O, Sweet Jesus, may every good feeling that is fitted for Your praise, love You, delight in You, adore You! God of my heart, and my Portion, Christ Jesus, may my heart faint away in spirit, and may You be my Life within me! May the live coal of Your Love grow hot within my spirit and break forth into a perfect fire; may it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart; may it glow in my innermost being; may it blaze in hidden recesses of my soul; and in the days of my consummation may I be found consummated with You! Amen.

St. Augustine of Hippo