53 on whose Image one gazes—at the center of one’s life, all of the other various actions that one undertakes may be then reproduced in the image of Christ. Since “every vocation to the consecrated life is born in contemplation, from moments of intense communion and from a deep relationship of friendship with Christ, from the beauty and light which was seen shining on His face,”61 contemplation introduces a Religious into the reality of God Himself. It gives the Religious a foretaste of the eschatological reality, it liberates him from egotism and a mere existence on the earthly level. Blessed Stanislaus fully grasped this, when he writes: “Indeed, among all of the gifts granted to people, there is no better good or no better gift from God than the good and the gift of contemplation. For the happiness of the saints comes from seeing God. For this reason, people who, in an intent and attentive mindset, contemplate God, themselves, and God’s actions, somehow sample this happiness, have its foretaste, and become its partakers. Holy contemplation is the eye of the soul: seek it wholeheartedly, claim it with all your strength, and ask for it in constant prayer. And when you receive it, guard it lest you should forfeit it. Take care not to lose it in the multitude of excessive tasks. Remember, you must protect it as carefully as people safeguard their bodily eyes.”62 In turn, both our tradition and our rule dedicate a great deal of attention to the Eucharist, which Ripartire da Christo speaks of as having “a central place” in religious spirituality and as being “a privileged place of encounter with the Lord.”63 The document also provides many detailed regulations as to the preparations for it, the manner of its celebration, its meaning, etc. It is worth mentioning that Father Founder was also a great venerator of the Eucharist and he encouraged his companions to properly celebrate and to live it out in faith. The Founder dedicated his work Inspectio cordis to the mystery of the Eucharist, and particularly to Holy Communion. Almost every meditation is divided into two sections - before and after Holy Communion and each of those is composed of three parts. We should add here that Blessed Stanislaus’s manner of presenting the sacrament of the Eucharist aims at proving that it is the sacrament of Christ’s personal presence and an invitation to receive Him as nourishment. What is more: it is Christ Himself who enters into a personal and intimate dialogue with those who receive Him with faith in the sacramental way. For Blessed Stanislaus, Christ’s personal presence is the manifestation of His giving Himself lovingly to man. The Blessed emphasizes that our Redeemer comes to people in the Eucharist and gives Himself entirely to them so that people would give themselves entirely to Him with love and faith, in the whole entirety of their personhood. A gift calls 61 Ibid. 62 IC, p. 660. 63 RdC, 26.
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