Day 27
A reading from the Book of Revelation
Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They sing a new song:
‘You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
you have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God,
and they will reign on earth.’ (Revelation 5:6-10)
From “Meditations on the Life and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ” by John Tauler (+1361)
The Son of God was wounded in His Body, that the souls of men and women might recover salvation. From all His limbs there flowed forth Blood, that He might pour the same, as a health-giving balm, into our wounds. The grape-cluster was hung on the staff, that He might make us certain and sure of the land of promise. The cluster was pressed in the wine-press, that He might make us drunken with His love. The bowl was broken in pieces, that the oil of mercy might begin to flow out. He dyed the tunic of His Body in purple, that as our Bridegroom of singular beauty, He might provoke us to love Him. Grievously did He suffer in His Body, and sorely was He afflicted, that He might make us glad in spirit. He was forsaken of His Father, that we might be taken back into His Father’s grace. His body was damp with His warm Blood, that He might prepare for us a bath, wherein we might be thoroughly washed and cleansed from every stain of sin. His warm Blood boiled over from His sacred Body, that He might cause our cold and hardened hearts to melt in His love. Like water He was poured out, that our spirit might swim in the delights of His grace. Nothing in His whole Body remained whole, that nothing hurtful, nothing foul, nothing that was not whole, might remain in our souls. And although on all sides He was so stricken by more than human suffering, that by reason of the excellence and tenderness of His nature and complexion, every blow pierced His Heart; nevertheless, His will was so subject both to God and human beings, and His burning desire to accomplish to the full all that His Father required of Him, and to redeem humanity, was so great in Him beyond all measure; in a word, He was so taken prisoner by love, that He could utter no complaint. For He could do nothing but love, and suffer for love.
O my soul! and as many as love God, who have been redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ Jesus, and washed from your sins, come and see, with inward grief, all that God suffered for our sins, all that He underwent for our iniquities. And if this does not bring compunction to your hearts, nor move them, then account yourselves harder than steel or stone. See how the King of glory was here wounded and disfigured for your crimes. What more do you require of Him? If this is not enough, He is ready to suffer even more. Do you think that there remained in His Body anything unhurt or sound? Behold! He will gladly accept even death for your sins, and will suffer His Blood to be shed to the very last little drop. Yea! He will let His Heart be pierced for your sakes, that He may throw it open to you, and make known His exceeding love. Oh! who can ever find us forgetful of His measureless love? Marvelous indeed it is, that our hearts are not melted at this most burning love! However can we cease from praising Him and giving Him thanks, or who can busy himself with any other care, than to return in some poor little way love for love? Why is it hard for us to taste some little drop of myrrh for His sake, Who suffered Himself to be swallowed up whole in a very sea of suffering for our sakes? Or how can it be ever a grievous thing for us to bear in mind His Passion, which it was not grievous for Him to undergo? O sweet Jesus, what tenderness hath overcome your Heart, what love has swallowed it up, that you have willed to suffer so bitter and ignominious a Passion for us wretched sinners? Why did you not spare yourself altogether, when it would have been enough indeed, so excellent and of such exceeding worth was your Passion, to have shed one little drop of your precious Blood? Why did you cast cast yourself so utterly away, and expose yourself, and suffer yourself in so humble a way to be well nigh brought down to nothing? O loving Jesus, You have wished this to show forth your out-flowing and utterly measureless love for us, with which, from the beginning, you have loved us. This is why you gave yourself wholly for us, that in our turn we might give ourselves wholly to you, and love you back again with our whole strength and all our power.
RESPONSORY
They sang a new canticle, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals.”
-- For you were slain, and have redeemed us for God with your blood.
And you made them for our God a kingdom and priests, and they shall reign over the earth.
-- For you were slain, and have redeemed us for God with your blood.
Day 28
A reading from the Book of Revelation
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,
‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honour and glory and blessing!’
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing,
‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honour and glory and might
for ever and ever!’
And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshipped. (Revelation 5:11-14)
From “Meditations on the Passion” by Richard Rolle (+1349)
My Lord, is the unkindness of my feeble heart greater than the power of your precious death, which worked such miracles and many others beside, if the commemoration doesn’t stir up my heart? Please, Lord, a drop of your blood to drip on my soul in memory of your passion can heal all my disease, make pliable and soft what is so hard, and make it undergo dyeing when you wish it too.
Come then, heavenly healer, as it is your wish, and enlighten me as you know my need; kindle in my heart a tiny spark of your passion, of love and of compassion, to bring it to life with, and so, completely aflame with love above everything else, I may forget the entire world and lave myself in your blood. Then I shall bless the time when I shall be able to feel your grace so arousing me that all worldly possessions and all physical pleasure seem distasteful to me compared with the recollection of your death.
And as a true sign of the healing of our souls, showing that all had been completed by the blessing of your blood, you last spoke: Consummatum est, that is, “All is finished.”
Here, sweet Jesu, I implore you, wash my soul with that blood and anoint and decorate my soul and my consciousness with that precious blood, and send me the grace, through your great compassion, to judge and criticize myself with full comprehension, so that my soul may be saved.
Like this I will lie here to catch some of your blood, sweet Jesu; I will not stir from here until I am completely reddened with your precious blood, until I am marked with your precious blood as one of your own flock, and my soul is softened in that pleasant bath; and in that way it may come about, sweet Jesu, that is may open my hard heart, which now is as hard as stone, to make it soft, to make what was dead in sin spring to life for your sake through the special influence of your blood.
RESPONSORY
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!”
– for ever and ever.
“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might
-- for ever and ever!’
Day 29
A reading from the Book of Revelation.
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’
And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, singing,
‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’ (Revelation 7:9-17)
From the treatise "In everything you have been enriched in him" by St. Gaspar del Bufalo (+1837)
Having come so far in the ways of love, the soul will find itself subject to disturbances by the enemy, or by weariness, excessive fears, or inexpressible dejection. But one glance directed at the blood of Jesus Christ flowing from his wounds encourages the soul not to abandon its good resolve. "My daughter, do you not see," says Jesus, "how greatly my own spirit was troubled in the garden even to the point of sweating blood? When you are sad, hope. Who does not know that the disciple must conform himself to the Master, and the bride to the groom? Do you not remember the three hours of terrible agony I endured for you? Is it not precisely here, my daughter, that you must come to imitate such a great example? A new degree of glory results from every act of patience. Do you not see how I am preparing you for the greatest heights of blessed glory? Look at the interior martyrdom which even my own mother had to endure."
Behold, oh listeners, how resigned to suffering we must be in this life. In this way we experience purgatory here, for virtue can only be refined and tested in the crucible of tribulation.
My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh. The soul tried by love sees that, just as Jesus was tested in every way, so it too must be tested. The soul realizes that, just as Jesus was able to say all was consummated, so it too must have reason one day to repeat in like manner, It is finished. From the grotto of Bethlehem to the consummation of the sacrifice, he was always a victim of suffering. Moreover, since the cross is the indispensable ladder to heaven, the soul no longer need fear the word suffer but instead suffers with gladness. Thus it seeks the God of consolations and not the consolations of God, thereby adoring the divine dispositions. The soul knows that God tries it each time more severely in order to see if there is any obstacle impeding its love: As gold in the furnace, he proved [the souls of the just].
At last the soul comes to suffer with joy, just as we read of the savior who for the sake of the joy that lay before him. . .endured the cross, despising its shame. Thus derision, calumnies, adversities--whatever the disturbance--do not cause [the soul] to falter. It thinks how, despite Jesus' having given sight to the blind and healing the lame, still they crucified him. "How," it asks, "could they have the heart to pierce those hands which dispensed nothing but heavenly favors, those feet which walked the streets of Jerusalem `doing good and healing all'? How is it that even the blood which flowed from those same hands and feet did not move them to pity, their even having the courage to insult him on the cross by saying, `Hail, King of the Jews'! and `If you are the Son of God. . .come down from the cross.'"
Oh wounded love of my Lord! How far we are from conforming our lives to yours and how much we must still be trained to follow this generous path!
Now I understand how love empowered by faith worked such marvels in the world. The saints by faith conquered kingdoms. . .obtained the promises; [they closed the mouths of lions], put out [raging fires]. . . ." Oh champions of religion, what made you so generous? The sight of Jesus shedding his blood for humanity.
Who are these [wearing white robes] and where did they come from?. . .These are the ones who have [survived the time of great distress]; they have washed their robes [and made them white] in the blood of the Lamb. What comfort we will have one day when in the great valley of Jehosophat, the elect with palms in hand, will sing the praises of the divine blood through which we possess the nuptial garment and the robe of exultation and happiness. They washed their robes... in the blood of the Lamb. We shall realize then how baptism, confirmation, penance, the eucharist, and prayer had been nothing but the perennial springs which applied this divine blood. And what blessings there will be especially at the appearance of the cross.
But what will those poor souls say who trampled this blood with sacrilege and blasphemies? Oh God! But I wish to speak instead of the just to you; nor do I wish to sadden you this day; this, my people, is my hope.
Happy the person who is more and more enriched with the treasures we have in the application of the blood of Jesus Christ. To the extent that we apply it we shall advance in the ranks of heavenly glory. Observe then the industry of the saints in this heavenly commerce. And what of us? We who perhaps have not yet begun to atone for the past or provide for the future. What shall we resolve? Jesus shows us his precious homeland. "Behold," he says, "at what price I have won it for you: `You have been bought at a great price'."
Let it therefore be our duty to make known its glories by offering it continually to the eternal Father. Oh balsam of our souls! Oh font of every mercy, grant that my tongue reddened with this blood in the daily celebration of Mass might praise you now and forever. For this purpose I am a priest: to apply the merits of the divine blood. What a great thought this is for me! What a great incentive to propose its veneration to the people, and on divine authority: You have redeemed us for God [with your blood]. . .and have made us a kingdom and priests.
RESPONSORY
The redeemed cried out in a loud voice:
-- Salvation comes from our God and from the Lamb.
To our God be blessing, glory and wisdom. –
-- Salvation comes from our God and from the Lamb.
Day 30
A reading from the Book of Revelation.
And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,
‘Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Messiah,
for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,
who accuses them day and night before our God.
But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.
Rejoice then, you heavens
and those who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
for the devil has come down to you
with great wrath,
because he knows that his time is short!’ (Revelation 12:7-12)
From the works of St. Bonaventure (+1274)
You who have been redeemed, consider who it is who hangs on the cross for you, whose death gives life to the dead, whose passing is mourned by heaven and earth, when even the hard stones are split. Consider how great he is; consider what he is.
In order that the Church might be formed from the side of Christ as he slept on the cross, in order that the word of Scripture might be fulfilled – They shall look on him whom they have pierced – God’s providence decreed that one of the soldiers should open his sacred side with a spear, so that blood with water might flow out to pay the price of our salvation. This blood, which flowed from its source in the secret recesses of his heart, gave the sacraments of the Church power to confer the life of grace, and for those who already live in Christ was a draught of living water welling up to eternal life.
Arise, then, bride of Christ, be like the dove that nests in the rock-face at the mouth of a cavern, and there, like a sparrow which finds its home, do not cease to keep vigil; there, like a turtle-dove, hide the fledglings of your chaste love; place your lips there to draw water from the wells of your Saviour. For this is the spring flowing from the middle of paradise; it divides and becomes four rivers, then spreads through all devout hearts, and waters the whole world and makes it fruitful.
O soul devoted to God, whoever you may be, run to this source of life and light eager longing. And with the power of your inmost heart cry out to him: O indescribable beauty of God most high! O pure radiance of everlasting light! O life that gives life to all life! O light that illuminates every light, and preserves in its undying splendour the myriad flames that have shone before the throne of your Godhead from the dawn of time!
O water eternal and inaccessible, clear and sweet, flowing from the spring that is hidden from the eyes of all mortal men; the spring whose depths cannot be plumbed, whose height cannot be measured, whose shores cannot be charted, whose purity cannot be muddied.
From this source flows the river which makes glad the city of God, so that with glad shouts we sing to you our hymns of praise, and by experience prove that with you is the fountain of life; and in your light we shall see light.
RESPONSORY
Alleluia! for the Lord, our God Almighty, now reigns!
-- for the marriage of the Lamb has come.
His spouse has prepared herself in fine linen, the just deeds of the saints.
-- for the marriage of the Lamb has come.
Day 31
A reading from the Book of Revelation.
Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, wearing fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’. (Revelation 19:11-16)
From the Circular Letters of Ven. Giovanni Merlini (+1873)
We need much spirit on account of the times so unfortunately tearful not only for ourselves in order to purge ourselves of defects and to progress on the Lord's path but also for so many souls numbed in vice who are taking great steps toward eternal ruin so that they be rescued and recalled to the bosom of grace. But whence to attain such spirit except in the unquenchable furnace of the divine Heart? It is in this mystical cellar where it communicates itself to us because there only is found that wine which is capable of infusing it. It is a medicinal wine whose unique function is to heal our spiritual diseases; it is generous wine whose unique efficacy is to strengthen the forces of our soul; it is a strong wine uniquely fit to assist in making progress in virtue; finally, it is the wine of heavenly trust uniquely effective to inspire strength in the exercise of our ministry. In this cellar with such wine the Lord will help us and strengthen us. He will help to make us perfect and he will strengthen us so that, through us, preaching may be accomplished and each one of us can say, along with the Apostle: The Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching may be accomplished (2Tim 4:17-19).
As everyone knows, this wine is the divine Blood of the immaculate Lamb, inexhaustible treasure of every good which has its source in the divine Heart. So…let us with great enthusiasm enter into this place of rest, into this blessed cellar, into this most sacred Heart never to leave it….let us fervently and insistently pray to our most loving Jesus that he will apply to us the fruit of his divine Blood. Thus we will be made sharers of his very spirit: a spirit of perfection for us, a spirit of zeal for the honor of God, a spirit of charity for the salvation of souls, a spirit, to say it all, which renders us unassailable ministers in the sight of God…. This is how much we should try to gather from the precious Blood of the adorable Heart of the Redeemer. May Jesus help us, may Jesus guide us and may Jesus lead us to acquire his Holy Spirit and may he enable us to persevere in it. Amen.
RESPONSORY
He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood,
-- and his name is called the Word of God.
On his garment and on his thigh a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords
-- and his name is called the Word of God.