Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament
and to the
Blessed Virgin Mary
(For each Day of the Month)
by Saint Alphonsus Liguori
Introduction
Background on Visits to the Blessed Sacrament
and to the Blessed Virgin
 Our holy faith teaches us, and we are bound to believe, that in the
consecrated Host,
Jesus Christ is really present under the species of bread. But we
must also understand that He is present on our altars, as on a
throne of love and mercy, to dispense graces and there to show us the
love which He bears us, by being
pleased to dwell night and day
hidden in the midst of us.
It is a well-known fact that the Holy Church instituted the
Feast of Corpus Christi with a solemn octave, and that
she celebrates it with the many usual
processions, and so frequent expositions of this Most Holy Sacrament, that
men may thereby be moved gratefully to acknowledge and honor this loving presence and dwelling of
Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar, by their
devotions, thanksgivings, and the
tender affections of their souls. O God! how many insults and outrages
has not this amiable Redeemer had, and has He not daily to endure in this sacrament, on
the part of those very men for whose love He remains upon their altars on earth!
  Of this He indeed
complained to His dear
servant Sister Margaret Alacoque, as the
author of the Book of Devotion to the Heart of Jesus
relates. One day, as she was in prayer before the
Most Holy Sacrament, Jesus showed her
His heart on a throne of flames, crowned with thorns, and surmounted by a
Cross, and thus addressed her: "Behold that Heart which has loved men so
much, and which has spared Itself nothing; and has even gone so far as to consume Itself,
thereby to show them Its love; but in return, the greater part of men show Me only
ingratitude, and this by the irreverences, tepidity, sacrileges, and contempt which they
offer Me in this sacrament of love; and that which I feel the most acutely is, that they
are hearts consecrated to Me."
Jesus then expressed His wish that the
first Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi
should be dedicated as a particular festival in honor of
His adorable Heart; and that on
that day all souls who
loved Him should endeavor, by their homage, and by the affections
of their souls, to make amends for the
insults which men have offered
Him in this Sacrament of the Altar; and at the same time
He promised abundant
graces to all who should thus honor Him.
We can thus understand what
Our Lord said of old by His prophet, that
His delight is to be with the children of men (Proverbs 8:31); since
He is unable to tear Himself from them, even when they
abandon and despise
Him. This also shows us how agreeable all those souls are to the
Heart of Jesus who frequently visit Him, and
remain in His company in the
churches in which He is, under the
sacramental species. He
desired Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzi to visit Him in the
Most Blessed Sacrament
thirty-three times a day; and this beloved spouse of
His faithfully obeyed Him, and in all
her visits to the altar approached
it as near as she possibly could, as we read in her life.
The servant of God and great missionary Father Louis La Nusa,
was, even in his youth and as a layman, so enamored of Jesus Christ, that he seemed unable
to tear himself from the presence of his beloved Lord. Such were the joys which he there
experienced, that his director commanded him, in virtue of obedience,
not to remain there for more than an hour. The
time having elapsed, he showed in
obeying (says the author of
his life), that in tearing himself from the bosom of Jesus Christ he had to do himself
just such violence, as a child that has to detach itself from its mother's breast in the
very moment in which it is satiating itself with the utmost avidity; and when he had to do
this, we are told that he remained standing with his eyes fixed on the altar, making
repeated inclinations, as if he knew not how to quit his
Lord, Whose presence was so sweet
and gracious to him.
There it was also that Saint Francis Xavier found refreshment in the midst of his many labors
in India; for he employed his days in toiling for souls,
and his nights in the presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Saint John Francis Regis did the same thing; and sometimes finding the church closed,
he endeavored to satisfy his longings by remaining on his knees outside the door, exposed to the rain
and cold, that at least at a distance he might attend upon his
Comforter concealed under the sacramental species.
Saint Francis of Assisi used to go to communicate all his
labors and undertakings to Jesus in the
Most Holy Sacrament. But tender indeed was the
devotion of Saint Wenceslaus, duke of Bohemia,
to the Most Holy Sacrament. This holy king
was so enamored of Jesus there present, that he not only gathered the wheat and grapes,
and made the hosts and wine with his own hands, and then gave them to be used in the
Holy Sacrifice, but he used, even during the winter, to go at night to visit the church in
which the Blessed Sacrament was kept. These visits enkindled in his beautiful
soul such flames of divine love
, that their ardor imparted itself even to his body, and took from
the snow on which he walked, its wonted cold: for it is related that the servant who
accompanied him in these nightly excursions, having to walk through the snow,
suffered
much from the cold. The holy king, on perceiving this, was moved to compassion, and
commanded him to follow him, and only to step in his foot-marks; he did so, and never
afterwards felt the cold.
In the Visits you will read other examples of the tender affection with which
souls, inflamed with the love of God
, loved to dwell in the presence of the Most Holy
Sacrament. But you will find that all the saints were enamored of this
most sweet devotion; since, indeed, it is impossible to find on earth a more
precious gem, or a treasure more worthy of all our
love, than Jesus in the
Most Holy Sacrament. Certainly
amongst all devotions, after that of receiving the
sacraments, that of
adoring Jesus in
the Blessed Sacrament holds the
first place, is the most
pleasing to God, and the most
useful to ourselves. Do not then, O devout
soul, refuse to begin this
devotion; and forsaking the conversation of men, dwell
each day, from this time forward, for at least half or quarter of an hour, in some
church, in
the presence of Jesus Christ, under the
sacramental species. O
taste and see, that the Lord is good. Only try this
devotion, and by
experience you will see the great benefit that you will derive from
it. Be assured that
the time you will thus spend with
devotion before this most
divine Sacrament will be the
most profitable to you in life, and the source of your greatest
consolation in death and
in eternity.
You must also be aware, that in a quarter of an hour's
prayer, spent in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, you will perhaps gain more than in all the
other spiritual exercises of the day. It is true, that in every place
God graciously hears
the petitions of those who pray to
Him, having promised to do so: Ask,
and you shall receive (John 16:24); yet the disciple tells us that
Jesus
dispenses His graces
in greater abundance to those who visit
Him in the
Most Holy Sacrament.
Blessed Henry Suso also used to say that Jesus Christ hears
the prayers of the faithful more graciously in the
Sacrament of the Altar than elsewhere.
And where, indeed, did holy souls make their most beautiful resolutions, but prostrate
before the Most Holy Sacrament? Who knows but that you also may one day, in the presence
of the tabernacle, make the resolution to give yourself entirely to
God? In this little book I feel myself bound, at least out of gratitude to my
Jesus in the Holy Sacrament, to
declare, that through the means of this devotion of visiting the
Most Blessed Sacrament,
which I practiced, though with so much tepidity and in so imperfect a manner, I abandoned
the world, in which, unfortunately, I lived until I was
six-and-twenty years of age.
Fortunate indeed will you be if you can detach yourself from it at an earlier period, and
give yourself without reserve to that Lord Who has given
Himself without reserve to you.
I repeat it, that indeed you will be blessed, not only in eternity, but even in this life.
Believe me, all is folly: feasts, theatres, parties of
pleasure, amusements - these are the goods of the world, but goods which are filled with
the bitterness of gall and with
sharp thorns. Believe me, who have experienced this and
now weep over it. Be also assured that
Jesus Christ finds means to
console a soul that
remains with a recollected spirit before the Most Blessed Sacrament, far beyond what the
world can do with all its feasts and pastimes.
Oh, how sweet a joy it is to remain with faith and tender
devotion before an altar, and converse familiarly with
Jesus Christ, Who is there for the
express purpose of listening to and graciously hearing those who
pray to Him; to ask
His pardon for the displeasures which we have caused
Him: to
represent our wants to Him,
as a friend does to a friend in whom he places
all his confidence; to ask Him for
His graces, for His love, and for
His kingdom; but
above all, Oh, what a heaven is it there to remain making
acts of love towards that
Lord Who is on the very altar praying to the
Eternal Father for us, and is there
burning with
love for us. Indeed, that love it is which detains
Him there, thus hidden and
unknown, and
when He is even despised by
ungrateful souls! But why should we say more? "Taste and see."
 The Visit to the Blessed Virgin
And now, as to the visits to the Most Blessed Virgin, the
opinion of Saint Bernard is well known, and generally believed: it is, that
God
dispenses no graces
otherwise than through
the hands of Mary:
"God wills that we should receive nothing that does not
pass through Mary's hands". Hence Father Suarez declares that it is now
the sentiment of the universal Church, that "the
intercession of Mary is not only useful, but even necessary to obtain graces".
And we may remark that the Church gives us strong grounds for this belief, by applying the
words of Sacred Scripture to Mary, and making
her say: "In
me is all hope of life and of virtue. Come over to me, all ye that desire of me".
Let all come to me; for
I am the hope of all that you can desire. Hence
she then adds: Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my
gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors. (Proverbs 8:34).
Blessed is he
who is diligent in coming every day to the door of
my powerful intercession; for by
finding me he will find
life and eternal salvation: He that
shall find me shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord
(Proverbs 8:35). Hence it is not without reason that the
Holy Church wills that we should
all call her our common hope, by saluting
her, saying, "Hail,
our hope!"
"Let us then,"
says Saint Bernard, who went so far as to call Mary
'the whole ground of his hope', "seek for graces, and seek them through Mary".
Be careful, then, always to join to your daily visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament a visit to the most holy Virgin Mary in some church, or at least before a
devout image of her in your own house. If you do this with tender affection and
confidence, you may hope to receive great things from this most gracious Lady, who, as Saint Andrew of
Crete says, always bestows great gifts on those who offer
her even the least act of homage.
Spiritual Communion
As in all the following visits to the Most
Blessed Sacrament, a spiritual communion is recommended, it will be well
to explain what it is, and the great advantages which result from
its practice. A
spiritual communion, according to Saint Thomas, consists in an ardent
desire to receive Jesus in the
Most Holy Sacrament, and in
lovingly embracing Him, as if
we had actually received Him.
How pleasing these spiritual communions are to
God, and the
many graces which He bestows through
their means, was manifested by
Our Lord Himself to
Sister Paula Maresca, the foundress of the convent of Saint Catherine of Sienna in Naples,
when (as it is related in her life) He showed her
two precious vessels, the one of gold,
the other of silver.
He then told her that in the gold vessel He preserved her
sacramental communions, and in the silver one her
spiritual communions. He also told Blessed Jane of
the Cross that each time that she communicated spiritually, she received a
grace of the same kind as the one that she received when she really communicated. Above all, it will
suffice for us to know that the holy Council of Trent (Sess. 13, C. 8) greatly praises
spiritual communions, and encourages the faithful to practice
them.
All those who desire to advance in the love of Jesus Christ
are exhorted to make a spiritual communion at least once in every visit that they pay to
the Most Blessed Sacrament, and at every
Mass that they hear; and it would even be better
on these occasions to repeat the communions
three times, that is to say, at the beginning,
in the middle, and at the
end. This devotion is far more profitable than some suppose, and
at the same time nothing can be easier to practice. The above-named Blessed Jane of the
Cross used to say, that a spiritual communion can be made without anyone remarking it,
without fasting, without the permission of our director, and that we can make
it at any time we please; an act of love does all.
Instructions on Visits to the Blessed Sacrament
and to the Blessed Virgin
 For
each of the 31 days of the month, Saint Alphonsus provides for us a "Visit to Our Lord", which is a brief
meditation on and a fervent prayer of love toward Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Each "Visit
to Our Lord" is followed by a "Visit to Our Lady". The latter are short
meditations on and prayers of great confidence in her powerful help, even for the most wretched and forsaken of sinners.
At each Visit, is made an "Act of Spiritual Communion," which will
help enflame the heart with greater love of God.
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