449 part ii: meditations for more solemn feasts inspirations; and often He visits, instructs, illuminates, consoles, strengthens and encourages him, doing so as if in passing. O most gracious Lord! “I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commands from me!” (Ps 119:19). 2. “be ready” (Lk 12:40). Consider that Christ the Lord exhorts you to be ready at any moment to obey Him by showing obedience to your Superiors. At the same time, He also means those who, when given a task, grumble, find excuses, and procrastinate. They believe to have adequately satisfied the vow of obedience, because on one occasion they did show true obedience; and indeed, they view themselves as saints if perhaps they gave to others one example of genuine obedience. Whereas the Lord declared blessed those, whom He found watching upon His coming not only on the first watch (that is, in the period of religious formation), but also on the second and the third (cf. Lk 12:38), that is, throughout their whole life. Be ready, therefore, to obey at any moment. Now, you truly hold in your heart the Teacher of obedience, Who was also most readily obedient to His torturers and executioners. FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY Before Holy Communion 1. “I grew tall like a cedar in Lebanon” (Sir 24:17). Consider that the Most Blessed Virgin is compared to a cedar not without a good reason. Just as the cedar is the most splendid among the trees, so the Most Blessed Virgin is among all beings. Moreover, you know the value which Solomon, the richest and wisest of all people, attributed to the cedar timbers that he chose for the decoration of the interior of that first and most famous temple on earth (cf. 1 Kings 6). Therefore, why would not the Most Blessed Virgin be called a cedar, since she, likewise, is a temple? Greeting her by this name,
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