Oremus.

Let us pray.

Deus, in cujus passione, O God, at whose death secundum Simeonis prophe- and Passion, according to tiam, dulcissimam animam the prophecy of Simeon, a gloriosæ Virginis et Matris sword of sorrow did pierce Mariæ doloris gladius pertransivit, concede propitius, ut qui transfixionem ejus et passionem venerando recolimus, gloriosis meritis et precibus omnium sanctorum, cruci fideliter adstantium, intercedentibus, passionis tuæ effectum felicem consequamur. Qui vivis, &c.

through the soul of Thy ever-glorious and virgin Mother Mary, mercifully grant, that we who devoutly celebrate her sorrows and sufferings, may, by the merits and prayers of all the saints who stood faithfully beneath Thy cross, obtain the blessed fruit of Thy Passion. Who livest, &c. Amen.

Devotion for the offering of our own blood in union with the most precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

§ 1.

Nature of this devotion.

"Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends." The world is filled with unhappy beings who are continually offering themselves as victims to the idols of earthly vanity. Oh, how miserably do they consume their time, their health, and their life, to procure for themselves a little dust!

In what a continual constraint and suffering do they live! What agony of heart do they endure to acquire a contemptible crown! Now, if the love of earthly things has so strong an influence over the hearts of worldly men, what should be the force of divine love in us! If the children of darkness are so ardent in their pursuit of this world and its vanities, what ought to be the fervour of the children of light in seeking Jesus Christ and His glory! If the world can exhibit its victims eager to sacrifice themselves to its love, with what earnestness should we use our utmost endeavours to follow our crucified Saviour, and offer, together with Him, our blood, our life, and all things which we possess, for the glory of God and the sanctification of souls!

Now if the spirit of immolation and self-sacrifice is requisite for all Christians, it most especially belongs to the shepherds of souls, the anointed of the Lord, the ministers of the sanctuary, and the persons consecrated to God; for of them it is more particularly required that they should give their lives for their flocks, in imitation of their crucified Jesus, and be consumed with that love which is strong even unto death. This spirit of immolation and self-sacrifice, which so peculiarly belongs to the ministers of the altar and to persons consecrated to God, is the most perfect holocaust which a soul can offer through Jesus Christ to the eternal Father; because it implies the practice of the greatest mortification and the most perfect charity.

This spirit of immolation and self-sacrifice, which may be regarded as the brightest triumph which the grace of Christ can effect in the heart of man, is the ground, end, and object of the present devotion, which consists in offering our own blood, united to the most precious blood of

Jesus Christ, for the glory of God and the sanctification of souls. Wherefore, the essential condition required for practising this devotion with spiritual profit is, that we be sincerely disposed to receive from the hand of God every sort of suffering, and to sacrifice our blood and our lives for His love and for the salvation of souls.

Whoever proposes to practise this devotion must apply himself to it with sincerity, by conforming the sentiments of his heart to the expressions of his lips. For he who should offer his blood to God only with his lips, and not in reality, would only deceive himself, without obtaining the least advantage or improvement from it. It would be only a deception, which, instead of being pleasing to God, would provoke His anger.

Those persons who adopt this devotion should take care to make the wounded heart of Jesus the centre of their union; because it was in His most sacred heart that He consummated the great sacrifice of Himself, receiving from the Father the chalice of His Passion, and giving Himself up to death, even the death of the cross. Oh, how good and joyful a thing it is to abide in the heart of Jesus! It was here that the Saints found all their riches. Upon the heart of his Master did the beloved disciple lie when he penetrated into the secrets of heavenly love; it was from the wounded heart of Jesus that poured forth the spring which has so wonderfully watered the Church. This heart is the true and only school of love in which a soul can learn the science of the Saints. It is the gate of heaven, and whosoever enters into it shall be saved. This heart was opened by the cruel lance,' cries out the enamoured St. Francis de Sales, 'that the mystical bees might enter into it, and there compose their most delicious honey.'

This heart, this ocean of love, should form the blessed centre around which devout souls should assemble, and through which they ought to keep themselves firmly and constantly united.

As St. Paul, by the close union of his heart with the most sacred heart of Jesus, died to himself and lived only in his beloved; so let those who make use of this devotion strive to attain to such a close union with the heart of Jesus, as to make it their sweetest and most delightful abode, and to long to be consumed with the same fire, and to offer to the eternal Father, together with Him, their own blood and their own life, for His glory and for the sanctification of souls.

§ 2.

Sentiments which should accompany the offering of our blood.

To offer ourselves as victims for the greater glory of God, and for the sanctifying of His name, is the greatest act of charity which a man can perform; for Jesus Christ has said: "Greater charity than this no man hath, that he give his life for his friends." But in order that this offering may be well made, it must be performed with the following sentiments. The first is an intimate conviction that, by offering our life to God, to promote His greater honour and glory, we offer to Him that which has no value in itself, and which, of itself, cannot be acceptable to His infinite majesty. And therefore, in order to supply our deficiency, we should intend to make our oblation in union with that which the divine Son Jesus Christ made to His eternal Father; for if we make our offering in this manner, namely, incorporated with Christ and united with Him, as members with their head, then our offering and sacrifice becomes but one oblation and victim with that

of Christ, who dies in Himself and in us, owing to the close union which we have with Him, by which we form His mystical body. The second is an intimate persuasion that our offering is of mere words only, and not of facts; namely, that we are unable of ourselves to consume the sacrifice which we offer, and that Jesus Christ must consume it Himself by the fire of His charity. Therefore it is necessary that we should pray to Him, that, in case He accepts our offering, and sends us sufferings and death, He would vouchsafe to give us the grace necessary to bear them with the true spirit of a generous and constant sacrifice; for, in fact, it is only by His omnipotent grace that He can prevent the sufferings of sickness and death from becoming to us a subject of temptation, into which He taught us to pray to the heavenly Father that He would never lead us. Hence, that we might learn how to proceed with caution in asking God for any thing which is grievously repugnant to nature, He experienced in the Garden all the bitterness of the chalice of His Passion, and then He asked the Father to take away, if possible, the chalice from Him, so that He might not drink it. In the same manner we are to offer ourselves victims with Him to God, with the expressed condition that the heavenly Father wills it, and it be pleasing in His sight; because if it be really pleasing to Him, then a soul which sincerely desires to be perfect cannot refuse to offer it; and it is exactly in this case that it is not possible for the chalice to pass without being drunk. The whole difficulty lies in the sincerity, because, if this be obtained, we shall surmount all the obstacles which oppose themselves to the practice of virtue, to the subduing of our passions, and we shall become saints. This sincerity is the work of God alone, and is only to be obtained by imploring