The first of the qualities to be noted in the state of Beatitude is that it will be eternal; according to the word of Scripture: "He that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more" (Apoc. iii. 12). Security is necessary for the highest happiness. There is no full possession or full enjoyment of that which may at some time or other be lost. As a possession is more valuable, so does the prospect of losing it cause more anxiety or even misery. In heaven we shall for the first time truly have "peace in our possessions." God will never withdraw the gift He has bestowed. No creature can intervene to deprive us of it, or to move us by terrors or flatteries to reject it. The soul, seeing God, can never recognize a superior attraction in that which is opposed to God and to Beatitude. It will never grow weary or find monotony in the immense variety of heavenly delights and the continual novelty of them during eternity. His "conversation hath no bitterness, nor His company any tedious- ness but joy and gladness" (Wisd. viii. 16). Human faculties will never wear out, or lose their vigour, or desire a change; the love and enjoyment of God will advance forever with an energy that will never die. How miserable is all that the world can give compared with this! How small are the attainments of our natural abilities, how disappointing when grasped, how brief their tenure, how bitter the loss of them! What folly to devote a lifetime to the pursuit of such objects, and to neglect the supernatural which alone endures. Continue Reading.
Look down on me, good and gentle Jesus while before your face I humbly kneel and, with burning soul, pray and beseech You to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity; true contrition for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment. While I contemplate, with great love and tender pity, Your five most precious wounds, pondering over them within me and calling to mind the words which David, Your prophet, said to You, my Jesus: "They have pierced my hands and My feet, they have numbered all my bones." Amen.
This rare image of The Holy Passion of Jesus was scanned in high resolution from An Hour Before the Blessed Sacrament published in 1878. Feel free to copy it from the PDF file uploaded to the link below. Use the tools provided to increase of decrease the size for viewing. Keep the Faith!
