THE FOLLOWING OF CHRIST

BY THOMAS A KEMPIS
Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, 1941

------Book 4------

CHAPTER 15: THE GRACE OF DEVOTION IS ACQUIRED BY HUMILITY AND SELF-ABNEGATION

The Voice of the Beloved.

THOU oughtest to seek the grace of devotion earnestly, to ask it longingly, to wait for it patiently and confidently, to receive it thankfully, to keep it humbly, to work with it diligently, and to commit to God the time and manner of this heavenly visitation, until He come unto thee.

Thou oughtest especially to humble thyself when thou feelest inwardly little or no devotion; and yet not to be too much dejected, nor to grieve inordinately.

God often giveth in one short moment what He hath for a long time denied.

He giveth sometimes in the end that which at the beginning of prayer He deferred to grant.

2. If grace were always immediately given, and ever present at our will, it would scarcely be supportable to weak man.

Therefore, the grace of devotion must be awaited with a good hope and humble patience.

Still impute it to thyself and to thy sins when it is not given, or when also it is secretly taken away.

A trifling matter is it sometimes that hindereth or hideth grace; if, indeed, that may be called trifling, and not rather important, which hindereth so great a good. But if thou wilt remove this thing, small or great as it may be, and perfectly overcome it, it shall be as thou seekest.

3. For as soon as thou hast delivered thyself up to God with thy whole heart, and neither seekest this nor that for thine own pleasure, or will, but wholly placest thyself in Him, thou shalt find thyself united to Him and at peace; for nothing will be so grateful to thee, and please thee so much, as the good pleasure of the Divine will.

Whosoever, therefore, with simplicity of heart shall raise up his intention to God, and disengage himself from all inordinate love or dislike of any created being, he shall be the most apt to receive grace, and worthy of the gift of devotion.

For the Lord bestoweth His benediction there where He findeth vessels empty.

And the more perfectly one forsaketh the things below, and the more he dies to himself by contempt of himself, the more speedily grace cometh, entereth in more plentifully, and the higher it elevateth a heart that is free.

4. Then shall he see and abound, and shall admire, and his heart shall be enlarged within him, because the hand of the Lord is with him, and he hath put himself wholly into His hand, even forever.

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who seeketh God with his whole heart, and taketh not his soul in vain.

Such a one, in receiving the Holy Eucharist, obtaineth the great grace of divine union; because he doth not regard his own devotion and consolation, but above all devotion and consolation he regardeth the honor and glory of God.

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.

How we are to dispose ourselves to receive the grace of the Holy Communion, that we may profit by it.

THE end of the Holy Eucharist is to unite us intimately to Jesus Christ, and to form in our souls a moral incarnation of His Spirit and His virtues; hence the holy Fathers call this adorable Sacrament an extension of the incarnation; it is to perpetuate the reign of His grace and love within us, and to enable us always to live a Divine and supernatural life in and by Him. Thus the grace which the Holy Communion produces in us, is conformable to the end for which it was instituted; and is agreeable to what Jesus Christ says of it in the Gospel; for, first, it causes us to remain in Him, forming and imprinting in our souls the character of His virtues, as a seal makes its impression upon the wax to which it is applied; secondly, it makes us live by Him and for Him, that is, act only to please Him and by the influence of His love; thirdly, it enables us to live always a life of grace. Thus the grace which Jesus Christ communicates to us in the Holy Communion is to establish Himself in us, to make us act in all things and live only in Him and for Him, and to give us eternal life. We should dispose ourselves to receive and profit by this grace and these three effects of a good Communion; first, by separating ourselves from all willful sin, and the affection for it; secondly, by renouncing, and dying incessantly to ourselves; thirdly, by being ever faithful to the grace of God, and in the exercise of His love.

PRAYER.

I. WHAT confusion for me, O Jesus, to have communicated so often, and to have profited so little by my Communions; to have been so frequently nourished with God, and to have lived always as man, an idle and sensual life! Pardon, my Savior, pardon me the evil dispositions with which I have approached the Holy Communion, pardon me for having had so often a dissipated mind, a heart attached to self love, and to the world, and for having done so little to acquire the dispositions for a good Communion, to return Thee thanks after having received it and to reap the fruit of it, which is the re-establishment of myself in fidelity and fervor.

II. How much reason have I to fear, O my Savior, that Thou wilt one day reproach me with the unfruitfulness of my Communion! But ought I less to dread Thy just reproach for neglecting to dispose myself for frequent and worthy Communion? How I fear lest I shall be condemned for my sloth, which has kept me away from the holy table, and caused me to lose so many Communions to which Thou wouldst have attached the grace of my conversion.

III. I will therefore from henceforth dispose myself for worthy Communion by detachment from sin and the occasions of it, and by interior acts of those virtues which I ought to exercise before, during and after the Holy Communion, and I will also spare no pains to profit by my Communions, by endeavoring to watch over myself, to avoid all willful faults, to do all with a view to please Thee, to be faithful in my religious exercises, and to be courageous in restraining and conquering myself; for these are the true fruits of a good Communion. Grant me grace to execute what now, by Thy grace, Thou dost inspire me to resolve. Amen.

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