Catholic Meditations

1. Place yourself in the presence of God.

2. Beseech Him to inspire you.

1. Consider that not many years ago you were not yet in the world, and that your being was a mere nothing. Where were we, O my soul, at that time? The world had then lasted so many ages, and yet we existed not.

2. God has formed you out of nothing, to make you what you are: purely of his own goodness, having no need whatsoever of you.

3. Consider the being that God has given you, for it is the highest in the visible world, capable of eternal life, and of being perfectly united to his Divine Majesty.

1. Humble yourself exceedingly in the presence of God, saying in your heart with the Psalmist: O Lord, I am in thy sight as a mere nothing, and how hast Thou thought of me to create me? Alas! my soul, thou wert lost in that ancient nothing, and hadst yet been there had not God drawn thee from thence: and what couldst thou have done remaining there?

2. Give thanks to God: O my great and good Creator, how am I indebted to Thee, since Thou hast vouchsafed to make me out of nothing, and by thy great mercy to make me what I am. What can I do to bless thy holy name as I ought, and to render due thanks to thy inestimable goodness?

3. Confound yourself: But, alas! my Creator, instead of uniting myself to Thee by love and service, I have become rebellious by my inordinate affections, wandering and straying from Thee, to unite myself to sin: valuing thy goodness no more than if Thou hadst not been my Creator.

4. Prostrate yourself before God: O my soul, know that the Lord is thy God: it is He that has made thee, and not thou thyself. O God, I am the work of thy hand.

I will not, henceforth, take pleasure in myself, since of myself I am nothing. Why dost thou magnify thyself, O dust and ashes! yea, rather, O mere nothing, why dost thou exalt thyself? To humble myself, therefore, I resolve to do such-and-such things, to suffer such-and-such disgraces. I will change my life, henceforth follow my Creator, and esteem myself honoured with that condition and being which He has given me, employing it entirely in obedience to his will, by such means as shall be taught me, and as I shall learn from my spiritual father.

1. Give thanks to God: Bless thy God, O my soul, and let all my being praise his holy name, for his goodness has drawn thee, and his mercy has created me out of nothing.

2. Offering: O my God, I offer to Thee the being which Thou hast given me; from my heart I dedicate and consecrate it to Thee.

3. Prayer: O God, strengthen me in these affections and resolutions. O holy Virgin, recommend them to the mercy of thy Son, with all for whom I ought to pray, &c. Pater, Ave, Credo.

After your prayer, out of these considerations which you have made, make a little spiritual nosegay to smell all the rest of the day.

1. Place yourself before God.

2. Beseech Him to inspire you.

1. God has not placed us in this world for any need He has of us, who are altogether unprofitable to Him, but only in order to exercise his goodness in us, by giving us his grace and glory. And to that end He has enriched us with an understanding to know Him, with a memory to be mindful of Him, a will to love Him, an imagination to represent to ourselves his benefits, eyes to behold his wonderful works, a tongue to praise Him, and so of our other faculties.

2. Being created, and put into the world with this intention, all actions contrary to it are to be avoided and rejected; and those which do not conduce to this end should be despised as vain and superfluous.

3. Consider the wretchedness of worldlings who never think of this, but live as though they believed themselves created to no other end but to build houses, plant trees, hoard up riches, and such like follies!

1. Confound yourself, reproaching your soul with her misery, and for having forgotten these truths: Alas! you shall say, how did I employ my thoughts, O God, when I placed them not upon Thee? What did I remember when I forgot Thee? What did I love, when I loved not Thee? Alas! I ought to have nourished myself upon truth, and I have glutted myself with vanity: slave of the world, I have served that which was created only to serve me.

2. Detest your past life: I renounce you, O vain thoughts and unprofitable fancies. I abhor you, O frivolous and hateful remembrances: O unfaithful and disloyal friendships, impure and wretched slaveries, ungrateful contentments and irksome pleasures, I abhor you.

3. Return to God: And Thou, O my God, my Saviour, Thou shalt be from henceforth the sole object of my thoughts: I will no more apply my mind to such as are displeasing to Thee. My memory shall entertain itself all the days of my life with the greatness of thy clemency, so mercifully exercised on me: Thou shalt be the delight of my heart, and the sweetness of my whole being.

4. Ah! such-and-such vanities and amusements, to which I applied myself; such-and-such unprofitable employments, in which I wasted my days; such-and-such affections which captivated my heart, shall henceforth be objects of horror to me: and to this end I will use such-and-such good remedies.

1. Thank God, who made you for so excellent an end: Thou hast created me, O Lord for thyself, and for the eternal enjoyment of thy incomprehensible glory: Oh, when shall I be worthy of it! When shall I bless Thee as I ought?

2. Offering: I offer Thee, O my dear Creator, all these affections and resolutions, with all my heart and soul.

3. Prayer: I beseech Thee, O God, to accept these my desires and vows, and to give thy holy benediction to my soul to the end that it may accomplish them, through the merits of thy blessed Son’s blood, shed upon the cross for me. Pater, Ave, Credo. [Make here a little spiritual nosegay.]

1. Place yourself in the presence of God.

2. Beseech Him to inspire you.

1. Consider the bodily advantages which God has given you: what a perfect body, and what means to maintain it; what health and lawful recreations to entertain it; what friends and assistances. But consider all this with respect to many other persons, much more worthy than yourself, who are destitute of all these blessings; some defective in their bodies, health, and members; others abandoned to the stings of reproaches, contempt, and dishonour; others oppressed with poverty, and God has not suffered you to become so miserable.

2. Consider the gifts of mind: How many are there in the world stupid, frantic, and mad; and why are not you of this number? God has favoured you. How many are there who have been brought up in coarse habits and extreme ignorance? And by God’s providence you have been educated well and honourably.

3. Consider the spiritual graces: You are a child of the Catholic Church. God has taught you to know Him even from your youth. How often has He given you his sacraments? How many inspirations, interior illuminations, and reproaches of conscience for your amendment? How frequently has He pardoned you your faults? How often has He delivered you from the occasions of losing your soul, to which you are exposed? And was there not for years given you leisure and opportunity to advance the good of your soul? Consider in particular how good and gracious God has been to you.

1. Admire the goodness of God: Oh, how good is God to me! Oh, how gracious is He! How rich is thy Heart, O Lord, in mercy, and how liberal in clemency? O my soul, let us publish for ever the many favours He has done us.

2. Repent of your ingratitude: But what am I, O Lord, that Thou art so mindful of me! Ah, how great is my unworthiness! Alas! I have even trampled thy blessings under foot; I have dishonoured thy graces, converting them into abuse and contempt of thy sovereign goodness. I have opposed the depth of my ingratitude to the height of thy grace and favour.

3. Stir yourself up to great thankfulness: Well, then, my heart, be now no longer unfaithful, ungrateful, and disloyal to so great a Benefactor. And how shall not my soul henceforth be wholly subject to God, who has wrought so many wonders and favours in me and for me?

Ah! withdraw, then, your body, Philothea, from such-and-such sensualities, and consecrate it to the service of God, who has done so much for it. Apply your soul to know and acknowledge Him by such exercises as shall be requisite for that purpose. Employ diligently the means which the Church affords you to save yourself and love Almighty God. Yes, O my God, I will pray frequently. I will hear your holy word, and put in practice your inspirations and counsels.

1. Thank God for the knowledge He has now given you of your duty, and for the benefits hitherto received.

2. Offer Him your heart with all your resolutions.

3. Pray Him to enable you to practise them faithfully, through the merits of his Son’s death: implore the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, and of the saints. Pater, Ave, Credo. [Here make a little spiritual nosegay.]

1. Place yourself in the presence of God.

2. Beseech Him to inspire you.

1. Call to mind how long it is since you began to sin, and examine to how great an extent, since that beginning sins have been multiplied in your heart. How every day you have increased and multiplied your sins against God, against yourself, and against your neighbour, by word, by deed, by desire.

2. Consider, in particular, the sin of ingratitude towards God, which is a general sin, and extends itself over all the rest, making them infinitely more enormous. Consider, then, how many benefits God has bestowed on you, and how you have abused them, turning them against Him, to dishonour Him. And, in particular, how many inspirations you have made unprofitable. But above all, how many times you have received the sacraments, and where are the fruits of them? What is become of all those precious jewels, with which your dear Spouse adorned you? They have all been buried under your iniquities. With what preparation have you received them? Think on your ingratitude; that God having run so far after you, you have fled from Him to lose yourself.

Be humiliated at the thought of your misery. O my God, how dare I appear before thine eyes? Alas! I am nothing but corruption, and a mere sink of sin and ingratitude. Is it possible that I have been so disloyal as not to have left any one of my senses, not any one of the powers of my soul, which I have not corrupted, violated, and defiled? And that not so much as one day of my life has passed in which I have not brought forth such bad fruits. Is this the use I should have made of the benefits of my Creator, and the Precious Blood of my Redeemer?

2. Ask pardon, and cast yourself at the feet of your Lord, like a prodigal child, like St. Mary Magdalen, or like the woman taken in adultery, at the feet of Jesus, her Judge. Have mercy, O Lord, on this poor sinner! Alas! O Living Fountain of Compassion, have pity on this wretch.

3. Resolve to live better: No, O Lord, never more, with the help of thy grace, never more will I abandon myself to sin. Alas! I have loved it too much; now I detest it, and embrace Thee, O Father of Mercy. I live and die in Thee.

To expiate my past sins I will accuse myself of them courageously, and will not leave one unbanished from my heart.

I will use all possible endeavours to extirpate all the roots of sin from my heart, and, in particular, such-and-such vices, which chiefly cause me remorse.

To accomplish this, I will constantly embrace the means which shall be recommended to me, and think I have never done enough to repair such grievous offences.

1. Give God thanks for awaiting your amendment to this hour, and bless Him that He has given you such good dispositions.

2. Offer Him your heart, that you may put them in execution.

3. Pray that He may give you grace, strength, &c. Pater, Ave, Credo. [Here make a spiritual nosegay.]

1. Place yourself in the presence of God.

2. Beseech Him to grant you his grace.

Imagine yourself to be in extremity of sickness, on your death-bed, without any hope of recovery.

1. Consider the uncertainty as to the time of your death: O my soul, thou must one day quit this body; but when shall that day be? Shall it be in winter or in summer? Shall it be suddenly or after notice given thee? By sickness or by accident? Shalt thou have leisure to confess thy sins? Shalt thou have the assistance of thy spiritual father? Alas! of all this we know nothing: certain only is it that we shall die, and that always sooner than we expect.

2. Consider, that when the world shall end in regard to you (for this world will be no longer for you) it will perish before your eyes; for then the pleasures, the vanities, the worldly joys and fond affections of our lives will seem to us mere shadows and airy clouds. Ah, wretch! for what toys and trifles have I offended God? You shall then see that for a mere nothing you have forsaken Him. On the contrary, devotion and good works will then seem to you sweet and delightful. Oh, why did I not follow this fair and pleasant path? Then sins, which seemed but little, will appear as huge as mountains, and your devotion very small.

3. Consider the long, languishing farewell your soul must then give this world; she will then take her leave of its riches and vanities, and of all idle company; of pleasures, pastimes, friends, and neighbours; of kindred and children; of husband and wife; in short, of every creature; and, finally, of her very body, which she must leave pale, hideous, and loathsome.

4. Consider with what haste they will carry away that body, to hide it under the earth; which done, the world will think no more of you than you thought of others who died; “God’s peace be with him,” they will say, and that is all. O Death, how void art thou of regard or pity!

5. Consider how the soul, having departed from the body, takes her way to the right or to the left! Alas! whither shall yours go? What way shall it take for eternity? No other than that which it began here in this world.

1. Pray to God, and cast yourself into his arms: Alas! O my God, receive me under thy protection on that dreadful day; make that hour happy and favourable to me: rather than it should not be so, let all the other days of my life be sad and sorrowful.

2. Despise the world: Seeing that I know not the hour at which I must leave thee, O wretched world, I will no more fix my love upon thee. O my dear friends and relations, pardon me if I love you only in future with a holy friendship, which may last eternally; for why should I unite myself to you in such a way as to be forced to break and dissolve the knot afterwards?

3. I will, then, prepare myself for that hour, and take all requisite precautions to end this journey happily: I will secure the state of my conscience to the utmost of my ability, and take immediate care to repair the defects to which I am subject.

Give thanks to God for all those resolutions which He has given you: offer them to his Divine Majesty. Beseech of Him to give you a happy death, by the merits of his dearly-beloved Son. Implore the assistance of the Blessed Virgin, and of the saints. Pater, Ave, Credo. [Here make a spiritual nosegay.]

1. Place yourself before God.

2. Beseech Him to inspire you.

1. After the time that God prescribed for the continuance of this world, after the many signs and horrible presages, which will cause men to faint away with fear and anguish, a deluge of fire shall burn and reduce to ashes everything upon the face of the earth. Nothing which we see there shall be spared.

2. After these flames and thunderbolts, all men shall arise, and at the sound of the trumpet of the Archangel they shall appear in the Valley of Josaphat; but, alas! in what different conditions! for the good shall rise with glorified and resplendent bodies, the bad with bodies most frightful and horrid.

3. Consider the majesty with which the Sovereign Judge will appear, environed with all his angels and saints; his cross, shining much brighter than the sun, shall be carried before Him as a sign of mercy to the good, and of justice to the wicked.

4. This Sovereign Judge, by his dreadful command, which shall be instantly obeyed, will separate the good from the bad, placing the one at his right hand, and the other at his left. Oh, everlasting separation! after this they shall never meet again.

5. This separation being made, and the books of consciences opened, all men shall see clearly the malice of the wicked, and their contempt of God; and on the other side, the penances of the good, and the effects of God’s grace which they have received. Nothing shall lie hid. O God! what a confusion will this be to the reprobate, and what consolation to the saved.

6. Consider the last sentence pronounced against the wicked: “Go, ye accursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Ponder well on these mighty words. “Go!” saith He, a word of eternal banishment against those miserable wretches, excluding them eternally from his glorious presence. He calls them accursed. O my soul! how dreadful a malediction; a general curse, including all manner of woes; an irrevocable curse, comprehending all times and all eternity. He adds, “into everlasting fire.” Behold, O my soul, this miserable eternity. O eternal eternity of pains, how dreadful art thou!

7. Consider the contrary sentence on the good. “Come!” saith the Judge. O sweet word of salvation, by which God draws us to Himself, and receives us into the arms of his goodness. “Blessed of my Father!” O dear blessing, which comprehends all happiness! “Possess the kingdom which is prepared for you from the beginning of the world.” O God, what an excess of bounty! for this kingdom shall never have an end.

1. Tremble, O my soul, at the remembrance of these things. O my God, what security shall there be for me on that day, when even the pillars of heaven shall tremble for fear?

2. Detest your sins, which alone can condemn you on that dreadful day.

3. Ah, wretched heart! resolve to amend. O Lord, I will judge myself now, that I may not be judged then. I will examine my conscience, and condemn myself. I will accuse and chastise myself, so that the eternal Judge may not condemn me on that dreadful day. I will therefore confess, and accept of all necessary advice, &c.

1. Thank God, who has given you means to provide for that day, and time to do penance.

2. Offer Him your heart, that He may make good fruits grow from it.

3. Pray of Him to give you his grace.

Pater, Ave, Credo. [Here make a spiritual nosegay.]