Meditation on the Agony of Jesus
Pious Union in Honor of St. Joseph, compiled by Hugolinus Joseph Storff, 1914Source and notes
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| Printed in | PIOUS UNION IN HONOR OF ST. JOSEPH Patron of a Happy Death FOR The Salvation of the Dying |
|---|---|
| Imprint | St. Louis, Mo., FRANCISCAN MONASTERY, 1914 |
| Pages | pp. 63–68 |
| Scan | leaf 69, leaf 70, leaf 71, leaf 72, leaf 73, leaf 74 of the Internet Archive copy |
| Approval | Imprimatur. Joannes J. Glennon, Archiepiscopus St. Ludovici. Sti. Ludovici, die 7. Feb. 1914. Imprimi Permittitur. Fr. Benedictus Schmidt, O. F. M. Min. Provlis. Approval of the Most Rev. Archbishop of St. Louis, Mo. Archbishop’s House, St. Louis, Dec. 15, 1913. My Dear Reverend Father: I send you returned enclosed my good wishes for the Union, composed of the more fervent members of the society established by you some time ago for the purpose of aiding the “Dying” by their prayers. I gladly give my approval to the enclosed papers, and wish you and the society success and every blessing. Yours sincerely, John J. Glennon, Archbishop of St. Louis. N. B.—The enclosed papers contained the Establishment of the Pious Union of St. Joseph, Patron of a Happy Death, for the Salvation of the Dying Sinners; the Conditions for actual membership; and the Act of Consecration for the Dying, which papers were signed with the “Imprimatur,” to which the following commendation was added: “I approve and heartily commend this very charitable organization.” John J. Glennon, Archbishop of St. Louis. St. Louis, December 14, 1913. Approbation of the Rt. Rev. Bishop of Alton, Ill. Alton, Ill., Feb. 25, 1914. Dear Father: You have my most cordial approbation for the Union of St. Joseph and the publication of your most excellent Manual. May Almighty God bless and prosper more and more efforts so well calculated to increase piety and spread devotion! Yours truly in Christ, James Ryan, Bishop of Alton. Approbation of the Most Rev. Father General of the Franciscan Order. Rome, January 17, 1914. Reverend Father: The Lord give thee Peace! After receiving the documents, relating to the “Pious Union in honor of St. Joseph, Patron of a Happy Death, for the Salvation of the Dying,” which you sent me with your letter of Dec. 12th, I myself carefully read them and thereupon entrusted the same to another Father for examination. Whereas it is evident that nothing opposed to faith or good morals is contained in said documents, but on the contrary much good, and that of the greatest impor- tance, can be expected from this Union, I gladly impart to said work and the organization, as far as lies in my power, my approval together with the Seraphic Blessing, in order that from day to day it may become more and more widely spread among the faithful who with their whole heart will devote themselves to the Work, thus to assist the Dying in life’s last decisive struggle, upon which their eternity depends and to open to them the gates of everlasting happiness. May Christ Jesus dying for us on the Cross and St. Joseph, the Patron of the Dying, bless the work and bestow upon the well-deserving members an abundant reward. Imparting to you my blessing with paternal affection, I remain in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Your most devoted, Fr. Pacificus, Minister General. |
| Rights | Public domain in the United States. |
- Prayers for
- contrition, avoiding sin, zeal for souls, salvation
[For the Hour of Intercession for the Dying.]
“Jesus knowing that His hour was come, that He should go out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end.”
By these words St. John describes the infinite love that was burning in the Heart of Jesus the night before His Passion. This infinite love moved Him to institute the Blessed Sacrament, “the memorial of His love,” to deliver that beautiful discourse (“Love one another as I loved you”), and that fervent prayer in which he asked his Heavenly Father: “That the love wherewith Thou hast loved me, may be in them and I in them.” He then goes to the garden of Olives to begin His Passion. To make Jesus, so to speak, fully understand and feel the cause, the extent, and the effects of His bitter Passion and Death, God sends to him that terrible suffering which caused His Agony so that “His sweat became as drops of blood trickling down upon the ground.” Consider now, briefly, the causes of this greatest of our Savior’s sufferings.
I. Christ is loaded with the sins of all men so that he appears before the Divine Majesty as the greatest malefactor. If you now consider how great a horror Jesus feels even of the smallest sin, how much must it then grieve and oppress His Heart to see the Infinite Majesty so much offended and outraged by most ungrateful creatures, and Himself loaded with all their sins and crimes.
II. Then Almighty God shows Jesus all the sufferings that our Divine Savior afterwards took upon Himself for the sins and crimes of all men. This sight has the effect of causing Jesus to feel and suffer all at once in His Heart, whatever He had to suffer afterwards in His Holy Body by being scourged, crowned with thorns; etc. His human nature shudders at the thought of so cruel sufferings and so ignominous a death.
III. But God also shows Him the effect of His bitter Passion and Death: that the honor of the Most High would be restored, the Divine Justice be appeased, mankind be reconciled to God, and a number of souls be eternally saved, namely, all those that would strive to profit by His Passion and Death. But, at the same time, Christ also foresees that, notwithstanding all His Sufferings, a great many will despise His love, even abuse and profane His Sacred Blood, and on that account, be condemned to eternal hell-fire. This foresight greatly increases His Sufferings and He begins to become “very sorrowful even unto death.”
IV. There arises now in the Heart of Jesus the greatest struggle between His Infinite Love for the salvation of all men and the Infinite Justice of the Divine Nature demanding the eternal reprobation of impenitent sinners. Christ’s infinite Love wishes to save all men, as He is also willing to suffer and die for all. Therefore, He begins to pray and ask His Heavenly Father: “My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me.” This longing and struggling for the salvation of souls brings Jesus into a state of so great an agony that it even presses the Blood from the pores of His Body. “His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground.”
This same desire for the salvation of poor sinners makes Jesus also exclaim in His Agony on the Cross: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” by which words, according to the revelations made to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Jesus principally complains of being forsaken by so many souls that He wishes to save by His Death, but that reject His Love to their greater eternal damnation. And to express how much even at the moment of His Death He longs for their salvation, He again exclaims, “I thirst,” that means: I am consumed by the most ardent desire for the possession of these immortal souls.
V. Now consider that all the sins come from the heart and will of man and, therefore, Christ principally suffers in His Heart to atone for our many interior sins. Will you not, then, begin to hate and avoid sin? Do you not feel sorry for the many sins of your past life? Do you not also wish to save immortal souls and to comfort Jesus in His Agony as the Angel strengthens Him in the garden of Olives? But Jesus says to you: “As long as you did it to one of these my brethren, you did it to me.” When you clothed your neighbor, you clothed your Savior. Therefore, hasten to assist, to comfort, to save the dying, and you will comfort your Agonizing Savior, you will even struggle with Him for the salvation of immortal souls. Thank, then, Jesus for the Agony He suffered for you and all poor sinners, and promise Him to show your gratitude by serving Him in the Dying Sinners, that they may be saved for all eternity.