Come, O Jesus, Come!
My suffering heart invites You, awaits you. O come and make it happy! You alone are my joy, my bliss, my love – come!
O my Jesus, give me this Body of Yours, this Body which the Holy Ghost so wonderfully formed in the virginal womb of Your Mother Mary, this Body which was so often weary for my sake, which suffered for me, died for me.
Give me, O Jesus, this Your Precious Blood, the Blood which You shed for me even in Your tenderest infancy, the Blood which deep sorrow and the agony of death forced from Your sacred pores in the Garden of Olives, which You offered for me to the very last drop in the scourging at the pillar and upon the cruel cross.
Give me this Soul, so beautiful, so holy; yes; give me the very Soul that was ever full of loving thought for me, full of attentions, full of anxiety and care.
O give me this Divinity, which has loved me with an eternal love; which has made my soul to its image and likeness, in order that it may look upon me with heavenly complacency; which has clothed me in the rich robes of its grace!
My Jesus, is it not truly so? You are here in this tiny Host wholly and entirely for me; You have given me the right to receive You, to possess You. . . . . So come, O my loving Jesus, enter into my heart!
O Jesus, come, prepare a dwelling place for Yourself within me! Or can it be that my soul does not please You more than does the tabernacle? There You are enclosed by wood, or by stone and marble - things that are as cold as ice. . . . . And my heart? . . . . . It has at least one little spark of love.
This ciborium is but of silver; and its brightness has almost faded away. But I would fain surround You with all the glory and splendor of some dear virtue, were it only the burning desire to love You!
This little sanctuary lamp has such a weak and flickering flame. Come; gladly would I be to You a blazing fire of love!
This altar is only a wayside inn upon Your Eucharistic wanderings. . . . Your journey's destination - the journey You have undertaken out of purest love--O, its destination am I! So come, O Jesus, and pay the longed-for visit to me!
* * *
Lord Jesus, come! Do You not know, I have so much to tell You; so much to ask Your pardon for; so many graces to beg of You; so much care and sorrow to confide to You?
I am sick and tired of the world; I can stand it no longer. I must spend -a short hour with You; I must rest. You, at least, understand me; You feel for me in compassionate love.
Yes, my heart is tired. It is looking everywhere for some resting-place. But if it thirst so much for love, it is because You made it so. . . . . And -do You now want it aimlessly to roam about amid this world's temptations? Oh, what will become of me in the end, if You leave me to myself? O Jesus, come, for heaven's sweet sake, and pay the longed-for visit to me!
* * *
Come, Lord Jesus I promise You that You shall be treated nicely in my heart. I will see to it that You find no more sins therein. Of course, my heart is bare and unfurnished, like the stable at Bethlehem; but You can furnish it, can fill it, with Your own sweet Self; and You need have no fear that a Herod will seek to take Your life.
I will ca1l the holy angels that they come and sing sweet songs of praise to You. Then I wi1l throw my arms about You, and make You warm with the warmth of my prayers.
O Jesus, come! In the temple of my soul You may exercise the functions of Your royal priesthood in peace, surrounded by the sweetly ascending clouds of the incense of my prayers.
Come; offer to Your heavenly Father Your so acceptable tribute of adoration;
and offer it for me, who am unworthy to appear in His presence. Offer Him Your infinite satisfaction for the sins of the whole world; and offer it especially for me, for my sins; they are so numerous and so great. And do You, Jesus, give Him due thanks for the countless benefits that- I have received from Him and for which I am so strangely ungrateful. Finally, dearest Lord, offer Him Your prayers for me - for one so distracted and so much in need of grace.
O Jesus, come! I do not know what may happen to me today. All kinds of misfortune may befall me, all kinds of sorrow come upon me; and I - O, I do not want to suffer, unless it be in Your arms; I do not want to weep, unless it be upon Your breast!
And if death should come on the morrow? . . . . . O Jesus, what if I should die without Holy Communion? . . . . . fight the awful fight without You? . . . . . struggle against the powers of hell without You? . . . . . breathe forth my soul without You? . . . . . take flight for eternity . . . . . all alone. . . . . without You? . . . . . Death! . . . . . What man suffers in that last hour You know full well! Think of the pains You endured upon the cross, and have mercy upon me!
You never left me alone during life. Will You, then, turn away from me at the hour of my death?
O Jesus, I implore You to come! Come, enter under my roof, and bestow upon me the great, great grace to die on a day made happy by Your sweet coming to me in Holy Communion.
Dearest Jesus, come!
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From Eucharistic Whisperings, Winfrid Herbst,SDS,
The Society of the Divine Saviour, 1929
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