Adoration--Stirring Slumbering Souls

Jesus my Lord, my God, my all.

I am so grateful to have Adoration right here on Daniel Island. Today was the first time in several years that I came close enough to the altar to really see the lovely monstrance and the small consecrated Host within. I know it must sound strange--transubstantiation--how we Catholics worship. I think of Mary cradling Him in her arms, of Mary washing His Feet with her tears, anointing His Feet in sweet perfume, and this is the same Jesus now enclosed in all the tabernacles in the world. And I *feel* His gaze upon me. It is indescribable.  

A couple of months ago, I received my very own copy of Stirring Slumbering Souls: 250 Eucharistic Reflections by Michael Seagriff and it's been my companion whenever I make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament. I'm so grateful because I can mark it up as I wish :) I only use it at Adoration to make it last. 

Here are some quotations:

"...I remember once having two hours between trains in Paris. I went to the Church of Saint Roch to make my holy hour. There are not ten days a year I can sleep in the daytime. This was one. I was so tired, I sat down at 2:00 pm--too tired to kneel--and went to sleep. I slept perfectly until 3:00 pm. I said to the Good Lord: 'Did I make a holy hour?' The answer came back: 'Yes! That's the way the Apostles made their first one.'" ~ Blessed Ap. Fulton J. Sheen.

I loved this so much because I confess to having dozed too many times during Adoration, but if I can't rest in Him, then when? I love knowing that I'm surrounded by holy angels who are all adoring our dear Jesus.

"...You see the same Body, not in a manger, but upon the altar; not carried in His Mother's arms, but elevated in the priest's hands. Let us, therefore, be roused, and tremble, and bring with us more devotion to the altar than those Eastern kings did to the manger, where they adored their newborn Savior." ~ St. John Chrysostom.

 Today, the two of us were together alone for a while (usually there are 2 or 3 more adorers at any time) and I read this: "Here--all alone, He and I--He with all His greatness, and I with all my miseries--He, all fire; and I, burning in the midst of His Divine Passion!...My darkness is lost in the midst of His light...and my icy heart melts inside of His. Here my sins are forgiven and my sorrows--O! my sorrows are united to His own, giving them value...How many treasures are enclosed in this holy place, consecrated through the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament! Heaven is here, because He is here!" ~ Concepcion Carbrera de Armida.

This is a gem of a book! Truly, these reflections do more than stir this slumbering soul; they set my heart on fire. I thought I'd write a while with Jesus but I was lost in my daydreams, just the two of us together, the only necessary thing. Because Seagriff has compiled these reflections from many, many sources, I now have a bibliography of over a hundred saints or saints-in-making. For instance, the author of the third quote is a new discovery. I highly recommend this book.