403 part ii: meditations for more solemn feasts with others, especially with laymen, you should talk only of salutary things, so that your dealings with persons may be holy and agreeable to God and men. But at this sacred table, pray to the Lord that He subdues the rebelling crowd of your senses not so much with words, but with the efficacy of His power and represses them in holy submission. If they keep on resisting, pray that He mortifies them. 2. “A woman … lifted up her voice” (Lk 11:27). Look at the praiseworthy and magnanimous devotion of that woman, who praised the Lord with words full of divine inspiration in front of such a great crowd of people, although Christ’s adversaries might have been, perhaps, among this crowd. You should likewise, to the best of your abilities, eagerly spread the glory of God at every occasion. And now, as He is coming to you personally, are you not going to welcome Him with great feelings, desires, and praises? Come now, whatever ability, eloquence, devotion and generosity can be found in you, express it all, while greeting your Jesus. 3. “Blessed is the womb, that bore [Y]ou” (Lk 11:27). It was not only in the opinion of that woman, much enlightened by the Lord, but was also confirmed by pious Christian teaching that the Blessed Virgin was adorned with a greater sanctity and a greater number of graces after the Incarnation of the Son of God than she was before. Therefore, see that you do not create any obstacle for the Lord coming down to you, and thus impede Him from enlightening you more than you have been before, [f.129r] and from sanctifying you and making you purer, more obedient, devoted to discipline, humble, poor, meek, and more mortified. Although it is proper to all sanctity, and especially to that of the Saint of Saints, to make His companions holy, yet it is well known that sometimes people themselves create such obstacles and impediments that God, although He would like to make them holy and save them, cannot do so because of their own fault. May you not fall into this misfortune, at least today!
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