by Abbé Astruc, “Irish Messenger“ series,
a continuation on the theme of Consecration:
You, too, are to be changed into Jesus; you are to become “other Christs.” I do not say that this is done really, that is, substantially, but spiritually, mystically. You must then consecrate your bodies, that they may be pure and holy, in some degree, as in the Body of Jesus; your souls, that they may be made divine, somewhat like the soul of Jesus; your hearts, that they may love a little as the Heart of Jesus loves; your mind, that it may think thoughts that are like the thoughts of Jesus; your wills, that their acts may be in some way like those of the Will of Jesusl your whole daily life, that, as it becomes a continuation of the life of Jesus, it may grow in some small measure like unto His own – a life of holiness, of charity, of apostleship and of redemption.
Blessed Alexandrina, Victim Soul
And so you will ever work towards your consecration, which is to transform you, to change you little by little into Jesus Christ. And when with St. Paul you are able to say: “It is no longer I who live, but Jesus liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20), then you will have realized the second effect of your mystic consecration.
I have already said that after the Consecration by the Priest there only remain the species, or appearances, of the host of white flour. Now these species, these sacramental appearances, are what Jesus makes use of in order to live His eucharistc life.
Joyful in Accepting the Cross - exercising her priestly role
In proportion to the extent of your mystic consecration will Jesus make use of you, in order to live and work on earth. He will make use of you as a means of thinking, speaking, praying, loving and suffering; He will use you to combat and resist the evil one; to console, convert and sanctify; to make reparation, expiate and save; in a word, He will so use you as to be able still to “go about doing good” (Acts 10: 38), and then you will, in a way, be performing the divine functions of the sacramental species or appearances of the Consecrated Host. You yourself will be the species, the living appearances; not sacramental ones, but spiritual and mystic, as it were veiling Jesus, hiding His presence and His action in the world; your life will be to Jesus here below as another life engrafted on His own; you will be living members of His Mystical Body, and in a certain way, you will take the place on earth of His Most Sacred Humanity.
This is, then, the Consecration that you have to make your own. You must thoroughly understand that your consecration consists in transforming yourself, in changing yourself into Jesus; it consists in making Jesus live in you, in giving Him all that you do, that He may make use of it. Bear well in mind, that as a thing never completely perfect, never finished, it must continue to take place at every moment. Make then your life just one continued consecration of your whole selves. So will you accomplish the second act of your Mystical Mass.
The Communion
The Host that he has offered and consecrated, and that has become Jesus Christ, the Priest now takes, even as we take food, and he receives It into the sanctuary of his own soul. This is the Communion, that is to say, the most intimate, the most divine of unions between Jesus and the Priest.
Communion is also the third act of your Mystical Mass. Each time that at the holy table you receive Jesus in the Sacred Host, you communicate in the same way as the Pries does. This Sacramental Communion is the Communion above all others; indeed, strictly speaking, it is the only real one. Nevertheless, besides this Eucharistic Communion, there still remain other ways of receiving Jesus Christ. Every act, in fact, that unites us to Jesus, is a communion, doubtless only a spiritual, mystical one, but still, in a sense a true communion. Seek then to find Jesus wherever He is, wherever He hides His presence, and strive to receive Him in Spiritual Communion.
…to be continued
