Rejoice, therefore, O my soul, that you can be the host of such a noble and excellent guest! Wash yourself, purify yourself, cleanse yourself, and banish far from your heart, through true contrition and repugnance, every stain of iniquity and sin, so as to prepare yourself to receive this Lord who dwells within you.
You have no need of anything from this guest, for He is Himself the author of all things. Tell me then, O my soul, will you not be blessed if you can find rest with your God and truly say: He who created me has taken rest in my tabernacle?
O my soul, tell me again, would you not consider yourself too miserly if the presence of such a noble Lord and guest were not enough to satisfy you, knowing that He is so generous that He will not fail to communicate His goods to you abundantly and will enrich you with an infinity of His gifts?
Blessed Mary of the Incarnation (Madame Acarie)
True Spiritual Exercises (excerpt)
Note: After assisting with the foundation of the Teresian Carmel in France and taking care of her husband Pierre until his death on 17 November 1613, then settling the inheritance, Madame Barbe Acarie, aged forty-eight, entered the Carmel of Amiens on 15 February 1614, taking the religious name of Sister Mary of the Incarnation. As a lay sister, she worked in the kitchen as much as her physical infirmities allowed her. With the agreement of the Prioress, she exercised a ministry of spiritual accompaniment to the Sisters, who asked for her help. Several months after the French Revolution’s Constituent Assembly suspended the profession of vows by religious men and women in France in October 1789, Pope Pius VI presided at the beatification of Madame Acarie on 5 June 1791 in Rome.
Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: Father Lawrence Lew, O.P. captured this image of the elevation of the Host at the requiem Mass of Dr. Mary Berry, CBE in 2008 at Dorchester Abbey. Image credit: Lawrence Lew, OP / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
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