Visit 10 Jesus Eucharistic Our Consolation.

I. Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is verily a "hidden God" (Is. xlv. 15).

II. But He would have us follow Him into His solitude that there He may speak to our hearts.

III. "The sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest" (Ps. lxxxiii.4), and the faithful soul a hiding-place in "Thy altars, 0 Lord of hosts, my King and my God " (Ps. Ixxxiii, 4).

CONSIDERATIONS.
Pilgrims to the Holy Land love to tarry in the blessed places where every pathway bears traces of the feet of Jesus, where every stone has a tale to tell of Him. We long to have dwelt in Nazareth, to have seen Him, spoken with Him, watched Him, followed Him, and to have kissed the print of His feet in the Galilean soil. We say: " I should indeed have been happy to have sat at His feet on the mountain, or in the olive grove, or by the seaside, or away in the loneliness of the desert where He went to pray.

Not a wish of my heart but I should have told Him, not a sorrow but I should have laid before Him. And surely He Who fed the hungry and gave sight to the blind, and forgave the most abominable crimes, and even raised the dead and gave them once more to the arms of the mothers that mourned them— surely He would have given me all that I stood in need of; and how holy and happy I should have been I"

As we thus muse and long a voice seems to come reproachfully from the tabernacle, and to murmur in our ear: "Am I not always with you—the same Jesus Who dwelt at Nazareth in Galilee?" Jesus is near us still. In the solitude of the lonely church, where the lamp burns softly, and all is still around, is-the same Jesus Who was on the mountain and in the olive grove and by the seaside and in the lone desert; and He has the self-same loving heart to offer us consolation, and the self-same divine power to aid us in all-our necessities.

You do not see Him, it is true, but neither did the blind people Whom He cured; they only knew that He was there and they followed Him. What does it matter if He is hidden from our view? We know, we believe that He is there. And He is always ready to impart comfort to us in adversity.

Too often, however, we do not listen to Jesus in the tabernacle as we should. Too often we enter the presence of Jesus to pour forth our own troubles and requirements only, and after perhaps a few hurried acts of adoration in which there is little love or devotion, we take leave of Him, and go away from Him, without giving Him an opportunity to speak to our hearts.

If we will but tarry a moment longer, and, after telling Him our needs and showing Him our poverty, or confiding to Him our doubts and fears, pause a while, gently and calmly, words will take shape in our hearts, as plainly as though they were spoken by mortal lips, and we shall find that the doubts which troubled us are suddenly cleared away, that the sorrow is lightened which pressed so heavily, that a new impulse is given to our failing energy, and our soul filled with so bright a light that we feel as if a sudden ray of heavenly sunshine had burst upon us, illuminating every dark corner and changing the very features of our lives.

Such lights as these, however,—lights of grace, consolation, hope, love, and union with Jesus,—need quiet—the quiet of the home of Nazareth, the calm of an interior spirit. Solitude and recollection are required to quicken our hearing and to awaken our perception of spiritual things. As we lined before the tabernacle, pouring out our woes, our heartaches, our loneliness—telling our dear Lord that our trials weigh sorely upon us and that they seem almost more than we can bear—do we not feel that comfort comes forth from the tabernacle, that an indescribable consolation sinks gradually and gently into our hearts, that a fresh proof of the love of Jesus has come to fill the void left by that earthly love—that worldly wealth and honor, the loss of which we are mourning so bitterly?

0 Jesus, Thou Thyself hast taught me how to bear sufferings with submission to the will1 of the heavenly Father. Grant, my dear Lord, grant me the grace no more to lose, in idle complaints, regrets, and murmurings against Thy will, a portion of the time that Thou hast given me to suffer for Thy love.

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 in thy heart Christ seated as the thorn crowned Savior, teaching thee how to walk the Way of the Cross that leads to eternal life.

II. Desire out of love to follow Jesus, that so thou mayest endure with patience and even with joy hunger and thirst, cold and heat, and every suffering (2 Tim. ii. 3).

III. Ask of thy Lord the virtue of Mortification and Self-denial," that so thou mayest not run, as if at an uncertainty; mayest not fight, as one beating the air; but mayest chastise thy body and bring it in subjection (1 Cor. ix. 26, 27).

EUCHARISTIC GEMS.
Never cease from giving thanks to Jesus Christ for the infinite love by which, in order to be your support and to load you with His benefits, He wills to give Himself to you as food; love this generous Benefactor more by actions than by words.—Lancisius.

Oh! see upon the altar placed
The Victim of the greatest love!
Let all the earth below adore,
And join the choirs of Heaven above.
Sweet sacrament, we tbee adore:
Oh! make us love thee more and more.