ACTS OF ADORATION +

0 most adorable Jesus, dwelling in the tabernacle! prostrate before the throne of Thy veiled majesty, I, Thy unworthy servant, beseech Thee to receive my profound adoration. I firmly believe that Thou art really present in the Holy Eucharist, as powerful, as amiable, and as adorable as Thou art in heaven.

With the angels of heaven I adore Thee. Thou hast mercifully hidden the splendor of Thy majesty, lest it should deter us from approaching Thy sanctuary; I believe that Thou dwellest on our altars not only to receive our adoration, but to listen to our petitions, to remedy our evils, to be the strength and nourishment of our souls, our powerful Helper, our Refuge, and our Sacrifice.

I hope in that boundless mercy which detains Thee a Prisoner of love in the tabernacle. I love that infinite goodness which induced Thee to institute this Holy Sacrament of the Altar, in which Thou dost communicate Thyself so liberally and so wonderfully to Thy creatures.

I thank Thee for so convincing a proof of Thy love and ardently wish that I could worthily acknowledge all the blessings I have ever received from this fountain of grace and mercy.

I sincerely regret that this precious pledge of Thy love is received by many Christians with so much coldness and indifference. I wish to make amends for my own ingratitude and for all those sinful acts of my life, by which 1 have wounded Thy loving sacred heart.

I adore Thee, 0 my God, present in the Holy Eucharist, as my Creator, my Preserver, and my Redeemer. I recognize Thee as my only Master; I offer Thee all that I have, all that I am, all that depends on me; I offer Thee my mind to think of Thee, my will to serve Thee, my body to labor and to suffer for Thy love.

I am Thine; I give myself to Thee; I consecrate myself to Thee; I abandon myself to Thee; I wish to live and to die for love of Thee.

Amen

ACTS OF THANKSGIVING +

We adore Thee, Christ, and we bless Thee.
Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

I adore Thee, eternal Father, and I give Thee thanks for the infinite love with which Thou didst deign to send Thy only-begotten Son to redeem me. and to become the food of my soul.

I offer Thee all the acts of adoration and thanksgiving that are offered to Thee by the angels and saints in heaven, and by the just on earth.

I praise, love, and thank Thee with all the praise, love, and thanksgiving that are offered to Thee by Thine own Son in the Blessed Sacrament; and I beg Thee to grant that He may be known, loved, honored, praised, and worthily received by all, in this Most Divine Sacrament.

I adore Thee, eternal Son, and I thank Thee for the infinite love which caused Thee to become man for me, to be born in a stable, to live in poverty, to suffer hunger, thirst, heat, cold, fatigue, hardships, contempt, persecutions, the scourging, the crowing with thorns, and a cruel death upon the hard wood of the cross.

I thank Thee, with the Church militant and triumphant, for the infinite love with which Thou didst institute the Most Blessed Sacrament to be the food of my soul. I adore Thee in all the consecrated hosts throughout the whole world, and I return thanks for those who know Thee not, and who do not thank Thee.

Would that I were able to give my life to make Thee known, loved, and honored by all in this sacrament of love, and to prevent the irreverence and sacrileges that are committed against Thee!

I love Thee, divine Jesus and I desire to receive Thee with all the purity, love, and affection of Thy blessed Mother, and with the love and affection of Thy own most pure heart. Grant, 0 most amiable Spouse of my soul! in coming to me in this Most Holy Sacrament, that I may receive all the graces and blessings which Thou dost come to bestow on us, and let me rather die than receive Thee unworthily.

I adore Thee, eternal Holy Ghost, and I give Thee thanks for the infinite love with which Thou didst work the ineffable mystery of the Incarnation, and for the infinite love with which Thou didst form the sacred body of Our Lord Jesus Christ out of the most pure blood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to become in this sacrament the food of my soul. I beg Thee to enlighten my mind, and to purify my heart and the hearts of all men, that all may know the benefit of Thy love, and receive worthily this Most Blessed Sacrament.
Amen

ACTS OF REPARATION +

Most adorable Saviour, by the most wonderful prodigy of Thy love for us, Thou dost shut Thyself up in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, in order to be the perpetual Sacrifice of the New Law, the innocent Victim of our sins, the celestial Food of our souls, our kind Physician, our good Master, our powerful Mediator, and our loving Father.

But, alas! with what ingratitude on our part Thine infinite kindness is repaid. Prostrate before Thine altar, where Thou art as really present as in the highest heavens, we come to make reparation for all the injuries and for all the ingratitude inflicted on Thy loving heart in this sacrament.

0 divine Jesus, grant us to make a fitting reparation for all blasphemies, for all profanations, and all sacrileges ever committed; for the want of devotion and neglect of preparation for holy communion, for the little fruit we have drawn from it.

Pardon, 0 Lord, pardon for so many Christians who know Thee not, and who offend. Thee; for so many heretics who insult Thee; for so many impious men and apostates who persecute Thee. By the fervor of our love, we would wish to make amends to Thee for all their contempt, and for all their sacrileges.

How happy should we be, 0 Jesus, could we but make reparation to Thy glory, by our respect, by our zeal, aye, even, by the shedding of our blood. At least, most adorable Saviour, grant us the grace to love Thee in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, with the most tender, the most generous, the most perfect, the most constant love.

Virgin most holy, by thy holy and immaculate heart, make, us enter into the adorable heart of thy divine Son, Jesus Christ.

0 sweet St. Joseph! obtain for me the gift of prayer and of perpetual union with Jesus and Mary.

Amen.

ACTS OF PETITION +

0 my God, how shall I contain my astonishment when I meditate on what Thou hast done for me in this sacrament. Thou, my Redeemer, Christ Jesus, art content to descend from heaven, to place Thyself within the consecrated Host, and to dwell within the tabernacle day and night, solely to exercise Thy love towards me, and to communicate to me the abundance of Thy graces.

Oh, what bounty, what mercy! There appears to me, that in the Divine Sacrament, wherein dwells the Author and Giver of all good, I behold the King of glory, Who, with gentle courtesy, calls me, and invites me, and expects me, that I may go to receive His graces, and be consoled.

Courage, then, my soul; come, let us beg for blessings, and not be weary, but be confident that we shall receive them. “Let us go, therefore, with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace in seasonable aid” (Heb. ii. 10).

If I look into my own heart, to discover its needs, that they may be supplied, I find that I am in want of all; for all fails me, and I have no sound virtue, for vice alone predominates in me. My wants are without end, and Thou, my God, discerns them far more clearly than I can do.

I am blind, and without light, and this is the first grace I implore from Thee: “Lord, that I may see” (Luke xviii. 41). Illuminate me, 0 true Eternal Light, Who didst come into the world to enlighten every man; make me to see and to know my vileness, my poverty, my extreme misery, that knowing myself, I may learn humility. Want of humility is the great cause of my evil; I esteem myself too highly, and aspire to be highly esteemed by others; and hence I fall, and fall at every little occasion, without ever amending my faults. All my sins are the effects, the punishment of my pride.

Oh, if I were but humble of heart, as I am under obligation to be! 0 my Jesus, Thou Who hast so abased Thyself in the Blessed Sacrament, almost to nothing, and dwells there, hiding within the sacred Host all Thy glorious gifts, I ask of Thee a true and holy humility, for without this I have neither capacity nor disposition to receive any of Thy graces, and this alone can fit me for them. I know not even what humility is, but I well know that I greatly need it. I ask it of Thee by that stupendous humility which brings Thee to dwell within the Blessed Sacrament. 0 God of all greatness, and of all humility, humble my pride, and give me a humble and contrite heart.

With the grace of humility I also ask of Thee ever to increase in me the graces of faith, hope, and charity. These virtues are of necessity for my salvation, and yet how negligently does my heart make acts of them! How often do I allow a long time to pass without making so much as one act of faith, of hope, or of charity!

0 my Lord Jesus Christ! Who, in the Blessed Sacrament, hast deigned to leave us a mystery of faith, a pledge of hope, a bond of love, give me grace to acquire the good habit of frequently practicing these virtues during my life, that they may avail me in the hour of my death. Make me worthy to live and die in Thy faith, with the firm hope of living and dying in Thy love.

Give me, 0 Lord Jesus! an increase of faith, hope, and charity. But, besides all this, 0 my God! I beseech Thee to give me grace to live in holy charity with all my neighbors. Thou hast commanded me to love them, but I am neglectful in observing this law; some among them I love from inclination, some from interest, and scarcely any purely for Thy love. I love him who treats me kindly, but I do not love him who offends me. Sometimes I intend to love all men, but I have too much reason to fear that in truth I do not love them with that Christian charity which is my duty.

But Thou, in the institution of the Blessed Sacrament, Thou hast left me a model, an example of charity; grant that by Thy grace I may holily imitate Thee. I resolve now to love all men sincerely and cordially for Thy sake, and particularly those who in any way have offended or injured me. All that I most desire for myself, I pray Thee to bestow on them, and to unite this my petition with Thine own prayer upon the cross, when Thou didst intercede for Thy enemies.

Grant, dear Lord, that I may ever live in charity with all, that I may so live as never by any act of mine to break the bond of charity; that I may ever love my neighbor as Thou dost love me. Above all, I humbly beg of Thee the grace to live, in all and through all, resigned to Thy all-holy will.

I accept whatever Thy divine providence shall appoint in my life and in my death; may Thy will in all things alone be done, not mine, 0 Lord! I desire all that Thou wills, and because Thou wills it; and in all circumstances I unite my will with Thine. Therefore, 0 my dear Redeemer, to Thine I now and forever unite my will to that adorable will which in the garden Thou didst, in perfect submission, offer to Thy eternal Father; and I beseech Thee ever so to retain my will in unison with Thine, that nothing shall again disjoin them.

Thou Thyself hast taught me to say, in the Pater Noster, "Thy will be done’ and daily I repeat it, but too often I say the words only with my lips; now at least my heart pronounces them for all time, and in all possible occurrences—“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Today, and in all the days of my life, may Thy most holy will be done in me, for me, by me. Teach me to know what pleases Thee, and give me grace to follow it. Grant me, 0 Lord, to discern, to will, to do, that which pleases Thee, as it pleases Thee, and because it pleases Thee.
Amen.

PRELUDE
I. The disciples of Jesus were afraid when a great tempest arose in the sea because their Master was asleep. Within the tabernacle He seems to sleep, but "His heart watcheth." (Cant. v. 2).

II. In every tempest of trial or temptation, let us seek Him there, and call Him to our aid.

III. Though He is a hidden God, though He seems not to waken or to break the silence of the tabernacle, still to our hearts He whispers: "Peace, be still." (Mark iv. 39).

CONSIDERATIONS.
When we meditate earnestly on Jesus Christ, His birth, His life. His death, but, above all, His Divine Eucharist. we are struck with the force of the expression in the Canticle of Canticles, "I sleep and my heart watcheth." It explains to us Jesus Christ entirely. In the fulness of time the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.

He was born in a poor stable; behold Him an Infant asleep on the bosom of His Mother! Scarcely motion announces life, scarcely a sigh or a tear, I sleep, says the Infant, but fear not, My heart watches—"Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat" His heart watches; yes, truly; for already what love in this little Child; what love in this humiliation; what love in this Mother, who is to be ours; what love in this crib, in this first sigh, in this first tear!

Already His heart, which watches, has gathered around Him the rich and the poor, the great and the lowly. The voice of the angels, which calls the shepherds, is His heart, that watches and says to them: "Peace to men of good will."

The star that conducts the Magi is His heart, that watches and guides them. Jesus Christ passes thirty years of His life—a hidden life—in the solitude of Nazareth; there you might believe that His life, thus hidden and obscure, is a slumber. I appear to you to sleep, does not Jesus Christ again say to us; but see how My heart watches; I know that obedience is repugnant to the independence of your nature; I know that meekness and humility are opposed to the pride of your heart; it is not too much for Me to pass thirty years in giving you examples of these sublime virtues; I do not sleep so profoundly, that My heart does not watch to say to you: "Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart" (Matt. xi. 29).

In His public life, Jesus one day embarked with His disciples on the Lake of Genesareth; a tempest arose, the waves threatened to engulf the fragile vessel; "But," says the Evangelist, "He was asleep." The terrified apostles surround Him and waken Him, crying: "Lord, save us, we perish"; and Jesus answers: " Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith?" as if He had said: " I slept, it is true, but My heart was watching over you—Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat." Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the waves and there was a great calm.

When, finally, the Savior of the world, to accomplish the will of His Father and to finish the work of our redemption, is raised on the Cross of Calvary, does He not seem to say to us: " I sleep and My heart watches"—"Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat." But this death is a slumber, which reaches not My heart; all My bones are dislocated, a lance opens My heart, and from this heart, thus opened, and always watching, gush forth for you, two fruitful fountains of salvation —water and blood—Baptism and the Eucharist.

Ah, The Eucharist! Let us draw near to the tabernacle; let us contemplate Jesus Christ under the eucharistic veil. What annihilation! What uninterrupted silence'! What profound slumber! Be not deceived, He says once more to us. The more I annihilate myself, the more I love you; the greater My silence, the more I listen to your voice; the more I conceal Myself under these veils, the more I discover Myself to you; the more I seem to sleep, the more I watch—" Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat."

0 men! whosoever you may be; how great so ever may be your desolation and your misery, your anxieties or your pains, your infidelities and your faults, before the altar and in presence of the Eucharist, be consoled, be calmed, be reassured. In the tabernacle Jesus Christ, the God-Man, is hidden; He sleeps that this lowly slumber may soothe the terror that His majesty would excite; here the heart of Jesus watches, that this vigil may give you confidence. Weak, unhappy, sinful though you be, fear not, in the Eucharist the heart of God watches. Here is your strength, your joy, your salvation. 0 my Jesus I grant that I may never be wanting in that confidence, which Thou seekest in Thy faithful followers. 0 Heart of Jesus! watch over me; give me grace to love Thee more and more.—From the Meditations of de la Bouillerie.

My God and my All! may the sweet flame of Thy love consume my soul, that so I may die to the world for the love of Thee, Who hast vouchsafed to die upon the cross for the love of me.— St. Francis of Assisi.

Our Lady of the Most Holy Sacrament, Mother and model of adorers, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.

St. Joseph, pray for us, that like thee, we may die in the arms of Jesus and Mary.


PRAYER TO THE HOLY GHOST
0 Holy Ghost, Thou Teacher and Sanctifier, Who givest light and strength to my soul, bless me that I may be more faithful to Jesus, my Savior and my God, Who is hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, and that I may love Him more and more. In the light of the tabernacle I ask of Thee, 0 Holy Spirit, to fill my heart with pure desire for Jesus, the Living Bread. Give me grace to adore Him with the zeal and humble ven­eration of the holy angels; grant that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that His will be done in my soul. Help me to thank Him for all His gifts, and, most of all, for Himself. By this Holy Sacrament He strengthens souls on earth, gives rest to souls in purgatory, and gladdens souls in heaven. He is the hidden manna, promised by Himself to all who overcome them­selves and love Him. May I taste the sweetness of Jesus! Set up more and more Thy kingdom in my soul, that I may keep my body under and bring it to subjection, lest I should be a castaway from Jesus and from Thee.

SPIRTUAL COMMUNION
0 Jesus, my Savior, Who art truly present in the Blessed Sacrament for the nourishment of our souls! since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally, I humbly and earnestly beseech Thee to re­fresh me spiritually. I love Thee above all things and I desire to possess Thee within my soul. Come into my mind to illumine it with the light of heaven; come into my heart to enkindle therein the fire of Thy love. Unite me so intimately with Thee, that it may be no more I that live, but Thou that livest and reigneth in me forever.



FRUIT OF THE VISIT.
I. Behold Christ seated in thy heart as a bloodstained Spouse; regard thyself as one very ungrateful, for thou hast never yet learned to die to the world, though thou dost daily, at Mass, show forth the death of thy Lord (Ex. iv. 25 ; also 1 Cor. xi. 26).

II. Love Him with a brave love, as the holy martyrs loved Him; that so thou mayest dare to say: "Who, then, shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? ... or the sword?" (Rom. viii. 35.)

III. Ask Him for "Health-Giving Sorrows," that as the sufferings of Christ abound in thee, so also may abound in thee the greatness of His comforts (2 Cor. i. 5).

Aspiration.
A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved to me: He shall ever abide in my understanding, and ever direct my will " (Cant. i. 12).

EUCHARISTIC GEMS.
Our tabernacle is holier than the Holy of Holies, yea, than the Ark itself; for it contains the most sacred and life-giving flesh of Our Savior Jesus Christ.—St. Nicephorus.

Peace, Be Still! Sweet Jesus! by this Sacrament of Love
All gross affections from my heart remove;
Let but Thy loving kindness linger there,
Preserved by grace and perfected by prayer;
And let me to my neighbor strive to be
As mild and gentle as Thou art with me.
Take Thou the guidance of my whole career,
That to displease Thee be my only fear:
Give me that peace the world can never give,
And in Thy loving presence let me live.
Ah 1 show me always, Lord, Thy holy will,
And to each troubled thought, say: "Peace, be still."

LEGENDA.
The Blessed Sacrament in the Catacombs.
Without the walls of the city of Rome there exists a subterranean city, belonging to the first ages of the Christian Church, and known to us as the Catacombs—the city of the Christian dead. Their ancient name was cemeteries, or sleeping places. History has handed down to us the names of many noble women—e.g., Domitilla, Lucina, Priscilla, Cyriaca—who made use of their properties as Christian graveyards, and received into their own family vaults the bodies 'of the blessed martyrs. In many cases the name of some specially distinguished martyr has been given to the cemetery which gave him a resting-place. As, for example, that of St. Praetextatus, St. Agnes, and St. Calixtus.

This city of the dead comprises a series of long corridors or streets, intersected by certain little rooms or vaults for the use of private families, called for this reason "cubicula." In many of these is to be seen a vaulted niche or arcosolium, under which, upon the flat ground, stands a raised stone coffin, covered with a stone or marble lid. In such a coffin one or more of the bodies of the holy martyrs would be laid; and its lid or slab was used as an altar, where the cubiculum in which it was placed served as a chapel.

In times of persecution the faithful were wont to assemble in these sacred hiding-places, in order to assist at the divine mysteries and receive the "daily bread" of holy communion. Here, too, the Father of the faithful not unfrequently lived, concealed from the eyes of the world; and here, too, from time to time, the blood of the martyrs flowed in the very presence of the Most Holy.

Legend of St. Xystus, P.M.
It was the year 258AD, under the persecution of the Emperor Valerian. The imperial decree had for the first time forbidden the Christians to frequent their cemeteries, and the satellites of the emperor were employed to watch the entrance to the larger ones, of which that of St. Calixtus was the chief; for this reason, on the 6th of August of that year, the holy Pontiff Xystus selected another (afterwards called of Preatextatus, one of his deacons who suffered with him), wherein to celebrate the divine mysteries. His deacons, Felicissimus and Agapitus, prepare the altar, while Praetextatus and Laurence vest the venerable Pontiff.

The Mass proceeds, the faithful have received from the hands of Xystus the Bread of Life, and he, seated on the stone chair beside the altar, begins to address the faithful. Suddenly the cry of alarm is raised, as the clatter of arms and trampling of many feet are heard approaching. A traitor leads the myrmidons of Valerian into the recesses of the catacomb; they seize the seven deacons, and lay their hands upon the sacred person of the Vicar of Christ.

On reaching the city the guards are about to separate the Deacon Laurence from the rest. "0 Father," cries he, in an agony of sorrow,"whither goest thou without thy son—whither, 0 priest, without thy deacon? wherein have I displeased thee?"

"I leave thee not, my son," replies the venerable old man. "A more glorious victory is in store for thee. -Within three days thou shalt follow me!"

Once more the cemetery echoes with the tramp of armed men, but the Deacon Laurence is no longer by the side of the holy Pontiff. The venerable man is thrust into his episcopal chair; a soldier strikes off his head, so that the seat is dyed with his blood. Felicissimus and Agapitus receive their crowns at the same time, afterwards to be buried by the faithful .in the chapel where they have fallen; but the remains of the Pontiff were transferred to the adjoining cemetery of St. Calixtus, where so many of the martyred Popes already lay. St. Laurence, as we know, did follow his beloved Father three days later, through the glorious death which awaited him by fire.

Legend of St. Tarcisius.
The day following the martyrdom of the holy Pontiff St. Xystus it was thought expedient to send the Holy Eucharist from the secret altars of the cemeteries to the faithful in the city, in order to prepare them for the threatened trial. Tarcisius, a young acolyte, was chosen for this high commission, and the Blessed Sacrament, wrapped in fair linen, was concealed in his bosom. Being met by a party of soldiers, he was seized, interrogated on the nature of his errand, and bidden to show them what he carried so carefully in the fold of his tunic.

In obedience to the rigid rule of secrecy, Tarcisius held his peace, and answered nothing. Thereupon he was furiously assailed, and fell almost immediately under a shower of stones and blows, thus yielding up his young life in defense of the Blessed Sacrament. The soldiers turned his dead body over and over, and searched in vain through his garments; they found therein nothing. Thus did Our Lord Himself vindicate His honor, by concealing the sacred mysteries from the eyes of His enemies, to their great terror and confusion.