The next time you attend Mass or Eucharistic Adoration, place yourself at the foot of the Cross with this stirring meditation by St. Ignatius.
Represent to yourself heaven opening at the voice of the priest and Our Lord descending upon the altar amid choirs of angels.
Beg a lively faith in the mystery of the Eucharist and a tender love for Jesus Christ present in the tabernacle.
Meditation Through Sight
By faith, pierce through the veils of the Sacrament. Contemplate Our Saviour present in the tabernacle and impatient to give Himself to you. Represent to yourself the glory of His adorable humanity; the majesty, and at the same time the sweetness, of His countenance; the dazzling light that flashes from His wounds; the flames that escape from His heart. Then penetrate in spirit to His divinity, to the Word consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Ghost, and with them One only God.
Consider with what goodness this Divine Saviour casts on you those eyes, one look from which converted sinners in the days of His mortal life; and after having adored Him with a lively faith, profound respect and fervent love, say to Him with the prophet: “Lord, cast Thine eyes upon me, and have pity on my miseries. Look Thou upon me, and have mercy on me” (Ps. 118:132). Make the light of Thy countenance to shine on Thy servant and save me because of Thy mercy: “Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant: save me in Thy mercy” (Ps. 30:17).
Meditation Through Hearing
Listen to Our Saviour, the incarnate Wisdom, who speaks to you. And what does He say to you?
Words of consolation: “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are they that suffer persecution” (Matt. 5:3, 5, 10).
Perhaps words of reproach, but of sweet and tender reproach: “I know thy works, and thy labour, but I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity” (Apoc. 2:2, 4).
Words of counsel and invitation: “Take up My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls; for My yoke is sweet and My burden light” (Matt. 12:29, 30).
Words of encouragement: “I know thy tribulation and thy poverty, but thou art rich . . . Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life” (Apoc. 2:9, 10).
Words of desire and love: “Behold I stand at the gate and knock” (Apoc. 3:20). “My son, give me thy heart” (Prov. 23:26).
Gather together with holy attention the words of Our Saviour, and say to Him: “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth” (1 Kings 3:9). “Thou hast the words of eternal life” ( John 6:69). “Say to my soul, I am thy salvation” (Ps. 34:3).
Meditation Through Smell and Taste
Respire the celestial perfume of the divinity and the humanity of Jesus Christ. Taste in spirit, sometimes the bitterness that His sacred Heart suffers from the indifference, the contempt, the insults, the profanations of men; at other times the sweetness of the virtues He practices in His Eucharistic life—His patience, His charity, His obedience, His poverty, His humility, His solitude, His prayer and so on. Unite yourself to Him as a model, to imitate His example; as a victim, to sympathize with His sorrows and to make reparation for the outrages He suffers.
Meditation Through Touch
Recall to yourself the woman in the Gospel who touched the hem of the garments of Jesus Christ and obtained health as the price of her faith; Magdalen, who embraced His sacred feet and watered them with her tears; St. Thomas, who placed his finger in His wounds; St. John, who reposed on His breast, and so forth. Enter into their sentiments, and put yourself in their places, according to the different states of your soul.
Thus, present yourself before Jesus Christ, sometimes as a sick man and in spirit touch His garments to obtain your cure; sometimes as a penitent, embracing His sacred feet and asking pardon for your faults; sometimes as a disciple, whose confidence requires animating and strengthening, then place your finger in His wounds to convince yourself of His love; sometimes as a friend admitted to intimate familiarity, and then figure to yourself that Our Lord presses you to His heart.
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This article is taken from a chapter in The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius by Saint Ignatius of Loyola which is available from TAN Books.
