人である聖体
聖体はわが宿主であり、また客である
礼拝 宿主であるイエズス、これもまた愛と同情とを意味する甘美な御名である。主は愛にあふれて私たちを招き、私たちを宿される。しかしまた同時に、救い主は私たちに招かれ、私たちより宿されることをお望みになる。私たちの宿主は、また私たちの客である。この両面から、私たちは聖体のイエズスを仰ぎ、礼拝し、お愛ししなければならない。
イエズスとのこの関係は、私たちにとってまことに楽しく、まことに幸いなものであり、私たちはいかにして、救い主のこの御名の示す愛とご好意とを測り知ることができるだろうか。
まず第一に、あなたを招いてあなたをお宿しになる宿主として主を礼拝しよう。あなたは『なんじら、みなわれに来たれ Venite ad me omnes』との御声を聞くことができないであろうか、主は絶え間なく招いてくださる。主の御招きはご命令にほかならない。私たちの町または村の中にある主のお住まいは、いつも開かれてなんぴとの入るのも妨げない。それは万人の家であって、主はまことにそこにとどまって私たちを迎えてくださるのである。
主は私たちの祈りを聞き、私たちと親しむために私たちを迎えてくださる。私たちの望み、求め、嘆きを、みな喜んで聞いてくださる。
主はまた私たちを養うために、その食卓で待っておられる。主の食卓は、いつもひろげられ、豊富に準備され、天使らによって給仕されている。私たちはたった一度だけでなく、実に毎日主の食卓、天主の宴会に招かれているのである。
主はこれだけでまだ満足されず、『われにとどまれ』とおおせになって、私たちを主ご自身、すなわち、み心の中に入らせ、宿らせ、とどまらせようとお望みになる。私たちがこの世に生きているあいだ、ここに休み、ここに隠れて、最も懇切な宿主のお心遣いを受けるようにと、望ませてくださるのである。主の客室は、主の有しておられるものの中で最もうるわしく最も聖なるもの、すなわち主の愛、主のみ心である。
そのうえに、主は、私たちを主の栄光の宮殿に導くことを約束される。私たちは間もなく永福の世界に連れられて、永遠に主とともに住み、片時も主を離れることがなく、主と私たちとの間にはなんらの隔たりもなくなるはずである。ああ主は主の御招きに従う人々に対して、いかに好意と慈愛とに満ち、いかに親切、懇篤でおいでになることであろうか。
これと同時に、主はまた私たちに宿をお求めになる客人（まろうど）である。天主が人となって、この世で貧しい旅人とおなりになったのは、主の被造物である私たちに、主を宿す光栄と功徳と喜びとをお与えくださるためであった。『われ旅人なりしに、なんじらわれを宿らしめたりHospes eram, et collegistis me』と、茅屋（ぼうおく）にお宿しした人々に、主は他日その壮麗な宮殿でおおせになるであろう。主が幼子であったころ、マリアとヨゼフは主をナザレトでお養いになった。のちに主が布教で疲れた旅人となられたとき、ラザロは主を自分の家に迎え、マリアとマルタとは心を尽くして主を歓待申しあげた。この同じイエズスが、今は卑しい聖体の秘跡の陰に隠れて、私たちにそのお宿りになる聖堂と聖櫃とをお求めになるのである。主は決して気むずかしい客人ではない。私たちが貧しいなら、主はわら屋でもバラックでもおいといにならない。
だが、まだこのほかに、主のいとも望まれる客室がある。それは私たちの心の密室、霊魂の神殿である。主はおおせられた。『われにとどまれ、われなんじにとどまらん。Manete in me et ego in vobisわれわが父のもとにおけるがごとく、なんじの中にとどまり、なんじを愛し、なんじに愛されて、なんじを生かし、なんじを祝福し、なんじを幸福ならしめん』と。主を愛する純潔な霊魂は、いかに貧しく無知とはいえ、金銀をちりばめた大理石で飾られた大聖堂よりも、主の愛好される住み家である。主が天国の光栄を捨て、この世においでになって苦しみと悲しみとを重ねて、ついに十字架上で死なれたのは、私たちを富ませ、私たちのうちに住んで、私たちを天主に似たものとするためにほかならなかった。
天主である客人を礼拝し、主をふさわしくお宿しするようあなたの心を開き、主を永遠にあなたの中におひきとどめしよう。
感謝 イエズスがあなたを宿して、あなたにお与えくださるすべての宝、すべての幸福を思い出そう。 『なんじの宮殿の中における一日は、人々ともにある千日にまされりMelior est dies una in atriis tuis super millia』 といったダヴィド王は、これゆえにまた 『主の宮殿にのぼらんといいしによりわが心喜べり Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus.』 『これぞ世々におけるわが休息の家なるHaec requies mea in saeculum saeculi.』とも歌った。
実に、私たちがイエズスとともにあって、イエズスを有しているとき、またイエズスによって守られるとき、私たちは敵の攻撃を恐れない。イエズスとともに、またイエズスのうちにあるとき、私たちは天主と交わる幸福を感じる。イエズスとともに、またイエズスのうちにあるとき、私たちの労働は正しく導かれ助けられ、たやすくされ効果に富んだものとなる。イエズスとともに、またイエズスのうちにあるとき、私たちはこの世で可能な範囲において、いとも聖なる天国的な生命を得ることができるのである。
預言者エリアはサレプタの寡婦（やもめ）の家に宿って、奇跡をもってこれに報いた。このようにイエズスのおいでになるとき、 『すべての宝は彼とともに来る Omnia bona venerunt mihi pariter cum illa.』のである。主はベッサイダのペトロの家に宿られたとき、熱を病んでふしどに横たわっていた彼のしゅうとめを癒してくださった。ザケオの家においては、救済が彼の家に臨んだ。ベタニアではラザロをよみがえらせて、姉妹マリアとマルタとに彼を返し与えられた。このように、私たちも主をお宿しするなら、主は私たちを癒し、私たちを教え、私たちを富ませ、私たちを祝してくださるのである。こうして主の祝福は、この世または来世でのいっさいの幸福の保証である。
それで、たびたび主を宿し主を歓待して、主をお喜ばせすることのできる人はまことに幸いである。
償い このように偉大で、また親切な宿主のお招きに応ぜず、また主を客人として受けることを拒む人々の罪の重さを考えよう。
彼らの行為は、第一、主に対して赦されない侮辱であり、まことの無礼である。彼らは天主に近づく光栄を嫌い、無限の幸福にあずかる喜びと絶大な恩恵とを無視する。しかも、どんなにつまらぬ口実、愚かな観楽のためであろうか。だが天主の御子のお招きは決して無視されるのではない。もし受け入れられなければ、それは恐ろしい宣告と変わる。 『わが招きたる者のうち、ひとりもふさわしき者なし，行きて彼らを外の闇に投げいだせ』 と。
また、主をお迎えしないことは、無情、冷酷、残忍な心の表現である。主は貧しく、飢え渇き、怒り狂う敵に追われ、たけき虎狼（ころう）の群れに囲まれて私たちの心の戸口にお立ちになるのである。主の御言葉を聞こう。 『みよ、われは立ちてたたく Ecce sto et pulso!』 『我が愛ずる妹よ、戸を開け、われは夜もすがら外に立ちて、わが髪は露にぬれたり Cincinni mei pleni sunt rore noctium.』 と。このように哀切な御言葉をもって宿泊を願う旅人を、すげなく拒絶するのは、まことに残酷なことではないか。
しかも主を拒み、主を追い払う人がどんなに多いことだろうか。かつては主を迎えても、きょうは主に門戸を閉ざす者、またはやむをえず、いやいやながら主を受ける者、または他人の意を考えて形式的に主を迎える者、このような者もいかに多いことだろうか。彼らはいっそう主を傷つけ、主のみ心を引き裂くのである。 『おのが方に来たりたまえども、彼らこれを受けたてまつらざりき』 とあるごとくである。
彼らはそのわざに当たる刑罰を受けなければならない。今しばらくして、この貧しい旅人は、天上の威光に包まれて立ち上がられ、『わざわいなるかな、われなんじらを知らず、そは、旅人なりしに、なんじわれを宿さざりしをもってなり Hospes eram et non collegistis me!』とおおせられるであろう。
祈願 天主である客人にあなたの無知と怠慢と不忠実との赦しを願い、あらためてあなたのもとに来てくださるようお願いしよう。 『主よ、私たちとともにとどまりたまえ Mane nobiscum Domine』と。
よい盗賊とともに主のみ国に入れるよう祈ろう。 『主よ、み国に至りたまわんとき、われを覚えたまえ Domine, memento mei cum veneris in regnum tuum !』と。
実行 やむを得ない理由があるときのほか、聖体を拝領して主のご訪問を受けるのを怠らず、また、聖体拝領のできないことを、まことの不幸だと思うこと。
XII. Jesus in the Sacrament is Our Host.
1. Adoration.
"Jesus, our Host." Another sweet name, a name of kindness which signifies love and condescension ! — the love of our King, who invites and receives us ; the condescension of our Saviour, who wills to be invited and received by us. The hospitality is at once active and passive, and it is under this double aspect that Jesus is our Host and ought to be looked upon, saluted, adored, and loved.
Oh, how true all these titles of His goodness arel What sweet and touching, what beneficent relations they establish between Jesus and ourselves! Shall we ever appreciate them to the extent of loving and treating the Saviour of the Sacrament as all these names of love, of kindness, and benevolence invite us to do!
Adore Jesus, then, as your Host, who desires to receive you and who invites you. Do you not hear Him say, Venite ad me omnes : " Come ye all to Me " ? He presses us, He insists; His invitations are commands. His dwelling towers above ours, it is visible, always open, always accessible, it is really the common home, the home of all. And the Saviour remains there and receives.
He receives you, that He may listen to you and hold intercourse with you ; and He hearkens to your desires, your requests, your complaints.
He receives you at His table that He may feed you, and His table is always laid, magnificently furnished, served by angels; it is the feast of a King, the feast of God, to which He invites you, not once, but every day of your life!
Still more, He invites and engages you to enter, to remain, and to make your dwelling in Himself, in His heart: "Abide in Me." He desires that it should be there that you should take your rest, during this life, that you should take shelter, that you should enjoy all the attentions, all the charms of the most exquisite, of the most benevolent hospitality ! " Abide in My love! " In what He has that is the richest, the most sacred, and the best, His love and His heart— it is there that He desires to receive us and lodge us: it is His guest chamber! s
And He promises that hereafter He will receive us into the palace of His glory, that we shall enter into His felicity, that we shall dwell forever in Him, without even a shadow between us, without any possible separation; He invites us and summons us there. Oh, what a good and magnificent Host, generous and benevolent in rendering happy, in overwhelming with kindness those who accept His hospitality !
But, at the same time, He desires to be received by us; and God became man, a poor traveller, a stranger in this world, that He might give to His creature the honor, the merits, and the joy of offering Him hospitality. Hospes eram, et collegistis me: "I was a stranger, a traveller, a pilgrim without a dwelling, and you gave Me hospitality," He will hereafter say to those whom He will receive into His beautiful palace because they had received Him beneath their roof. When He was a child, Mary and Joseph gave Him hospitality at Nazareth; when He had become a man, after the fatigues of His apostolate He was received in the house of Lazarus, where Martha and Mary loaded Him with attentions and with love. Now, in the lowliness of His Sacrament, He asks us for churches, for tabernacles. Oh, He is not difficult to please! And if we are poor, persecuted, He contents Himself with a thatched roof or a garret!
But there is a dwelling which is dearer to Him than all those and where above all He desires to be received; it is the inner room, the chamber set apart, the sanctuary of the heart and of the soul : Manete in me et ego in vobis: " Let Me abide in you! " Yes, in you, even as I abide in My Father, loving and loved, living and vivifying, happy and blessing! " Thou in Me, Father, and I in them!" He prefers the most ignorant and the poorest soul, if it be only pure and loving, to the most sumptuous of temples, to the basilica of marble and of gold. His last object in quitting the sojourn of His glory, in living in labor and dying in pains, was thereby to merit and obtain the power of dwelling in us, to enrich us, to honor us, and to deify us by remaining in us!
Oh, adore this divine Guest, open to Him your heart; do all in your power to receive Him aright, and treat * Him so well that He may never desire to leave you any more.
II. Thanksgiving.
Enjoy the charms and recall to mind all the good things you find in the hospitality which Jesus offers you. Melior est dies una in atriis tuis super millia : a day with Thee, oh God of the tabernacle, is better than a thousand in the most hospitable dwelling upon earth. Therefore the prophet was thrilled with gladness when the possibility was put before him of going into the house of the Lord: Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. "He called it the dwelling of his peace, he longed to take his rest therein forever: " Haec requies mea in saeculum saeculi.
It is, in fact; because when we have Jesus with us and are in Jesus, when we are guarded by Him, we are insured against the attacks of the enemy; with Jesus, and in Him, we enjoy the charm of the divine conversation; with Jesus and in Jesus, we find our labors directed, aided, rendered easy and fruitful; near Jesus, and in Jesus, we possess a sanctified life, beatified in as far as life can be here below.
But what shall we say of the blessings His visit brings us when we receive Him; the grateful Guest who so largely repays the hospitality which we offer Him?
Like to the prophet Elias, who repaid by miracles the hospitality of the widow of Sarephta; like to those holy pilgrims whose temporary stay with charitable hosts always left the luminous trace of some long desired favor miraculously obtained by their guests — so when Jesus comes, "all good things come to us with Him : " Omnia bona venerunt mihi pariter cum illa. He is received into the house of Peter at Bethsaida, and He cures the mother-in-law of the apostle of the burning fever which keeps her confined to her bed. He goes to Zacheus and "salvation comes to his house." He is received at Bethany, and He restores the risen Lazarus to his hosts, the sisters who were weeping over him. And if we receive Him cordially, whether we be rich or poor, if the dwelling of our soul be clean, He will cure us, He will teach us, He will pacify us, He will enrich us, He will bless us ; and His benediction is the warrant of ail good things in time and in eternity.
Happy then the soul which often receives Him and which treats Him so well that it makes Him happy to go back to it, there to take His rest and to enjoy the delights of hospitality.
III. Reparation.
Endeavor to understand the gravity of the fault committed by those who refuse to be received by so great and good a Host, and by those who refuse to receive Him.
They first perpetrate an insupportable injury, an act of contempt, a real outrage. They reject the honor of approaching a God, the joy of participating in infinite felicity, the advances of a princely liberality; and under what miserable pretexts, on account of what stupid preferences! But the invitations of the Son of God cannot return to Him in vain; if they are rejected, they are changed into condemnations. "None of those whom I invited were worthy, go and cast them into the exterior darkness."
But, also, not to receive Him is hardness, a want of mercy, a cruelty. He is there, at the door of our heart, poor, hungry, thirsty, pursued by furious enemies, by raging wolves. Listen to Him: Ecce sto et pulso! " Open to Me, that I love as a sister, and from whom I expect succor and affection, open to Me, for I have passed the night outside and My hair is moist with the cold dews of the morning:" Cincinni mei pleni sunt rore noctium." To repel a wanderer who supplicates in so touching a manner, is it not barbarity ?
Alas! how many souls are nevertheless pitilessly closed to Him ? How many, who formerly received Him, reject Him now, adding still more to His sorrows! How many receive Him because they are, so to say, forced to do so, or who do so from ostentation, but do not treat Him when once they have received Him as He deserves to be treated. " He came to His own and His own received Him not."
What they have done will be repaid to them, and they will be obliged hereafter to hear from the mouth which so humbly asked for hospitality the terrible words: "Go, ye cursed, I know ye not, for I was without a home and you did not receive Me." Hospes eram et non collegistis me!
IV. Prayer.
Ask the divine Guest to forget your ignorance, your negligence, your infidelities, and never to weary of coming to you. Mane nobiscum Domine : " Lord remain with us."
Ask Him, with the good thief, to be received into His kingdom: Domine, memento mei cum veneris in regnum tuum !
Practice.
Never to fail to receive a visit from Jesus in the Communion except for unavoidable reasons, and if the privation be imposed upon us to look upon it as a real misfortune.
