examination of the heart 202 in the tomb, where you seek Him, but He will go “before you to Galilee; there you will see [H]im” (cf. Mk 16:7). Therefore, should you fall by divine permission into various adversities, do not lose heart for that reason: Do not be troubled, do not be afraid, and do not fret. Longingly wait for the Lord, and He will be attentive to you (cf. Ps 40:1). He will put you to the test, but He will not abandon you. He will withdraw you from Himself, but He will go ahead of you to Galilee, meaning that He will precede you to the place of prayer. When you turn to prayer, dejected in spirit and troubled in heart, you will undoubtedly find and see Him there soon, and experience His kindness. [f.43r] SECOND DAY OF EASTER78 Before Holy Communion 1. “That very day two of them were going to a village” (Lk 24:13). Consider that prior to you receiving the Lord, you should enter the castle79 of your soul and examine its present state: how well it is protected against the assaults of the infernal enemy; to what extent it is free from the filth of faults; and finally, how greatly it is adorned with the carpet of virtue. If it is lacking any of these things, you should ask the Lord to inspect it during His visit so that He may protect, clean, and adorn it with His gifts, and so that it would be lacking absolutely nothing necessary to make it more perfect, and without which it would be disgraceful, despicable, contemptible, and useless. The evil spirit indeed does not need a great opening by which he can let himself slip in to destroy the structure of the whole castle of the soul; even a transgression against the smallest rule would be sufficient for him to do this. 78 I.e., Monday within the Octave of Easter. 79 In the original: “Ibant ipsa die in castellum.” Saint Stanislaus uses a play on words here in the original Latin that is lost in English. The Latin word castellum can mean both “town/village” and also “castle.” So, although in the verse it refers to a village, St. Stanislaus uses it in reference to the castle of one’s soul.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjI2Mw==