Month: June 2022

You say again: I abstain from Communion to escape the censure of others that see my imperfections and rebuke me for communicating so frequently. To this pretext I answer: If you communicate with the advice of your director, and though a motive of advancing in divine love or of correcting your defects, be not disturbed by the complaints or censures of others.

As the Holy Ghost is the indissoluble bond which unites the Father and the Eternal Word, so also is He the bond that unites our souls and God. O Love, Thy bond is so strong that it is able to bind even God and unite Him to our souls!

We must begin quickly, and not wait for the morrow. Who knows whether we shall afterwards find time or not! Ecclesiastes counsels us: Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly-(Eccles. ix. 10). What thou canst do, do it quickly, and defer it not; and he adduces the reason, why: For neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening.

Which of the two, asks Cassian, is the more humble¬the man that communicates often or he that communicates but seldom? He answers that the person that frequently receives Jesus Christ is the more humble, because he knows his infirmities, and therefore seeks more frequently the remedy of his disease. The angelic Doctor says that though to abstain from Communion through humility and fear is pleasing to God, still the love and confidence that induce a soul to receive Him are more acceptable in His sight. Love and hope, to which the Scriptures constantly exhort us, are preferable to fear.

We must begin quickly, and not wait for the morrow. Who knows whether we shall afterwards find time or not! Ecclesiastes counsels us: Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly-(Eccles. ix. 10). What thou canst do, do it quickly, and defer it not; and he adduces the reason, why: For neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening.