Day #24: A Canticle of Love
(According to the Spirituality of the Canticle of Canticles)
THE SOUL: O Jesus … the only desire of my soul, only good of my being, come!
With the sighs of my soul I call upon you because you are the only true beauty, come!
My beloved is snow-white as a lily, ruddy as a rose … his flowing disheveled hair attracts me … how beautiful you are, O beloved of my soul! … Come! …
Everything becomes a voice that calls me to you alone because where you pass you strew a thousand allurements of love! … You smiled upon creation and it became a delightful harmony that speaks of you … Come!
I am an exile and pilgrim in this vale of tears, but you have shown yourself to me as my all … come, O Jesus, yes, come!
My voice is weak, but I unite it to the concert of all creation; it becomes strong with your very merits … come, O my Spouse!
I went wandering the ways of the world, but couldn?t find you … I asked the sentries about you … but they only keep watch over little human miseries … I kept walking and walking and then in the solitude of the lilies I saw you!
What a vision of love! Your clothing was snow-white; around your head there was an aureole of glory and from your lips came a word of love! … How beautiful you are! …
My step is slight; I sigh for you with all of the impulse of my soul, come, O Jesus! My soul loves you, it loves you … it loves you, O infinite God because you are my only desire … Come! …
O don?t distract me from my Beloved, o little things of the earth; you are a fatuous light and I find in you only coldness and death! It is only my Jesus that I desire … Come, O Jesus! …
I want love in this poor soul of mine and you alone give it to me: come, O Jesus!
I desire sufferings because through the sufferings I will love you the more. The sufferings you send are only a path of charity; come, bring me the cross, come into my soul!
I love you, O my only true good! Please don?t gaze on me any more … the heart inflames me with love and then leaves me desolate and poor! I will then love you between the delightful beatings of my heart with a disinterested love … Come, O Jesus!
I love you, Jesus, and because I love you I desire only you!
Let the creatures torment me; they only drive me closer to you … Among the contradictions which they will cause me, you will hear all the better the voice of my love … Come! …
They despise me as inept and I really am because I am nothing but misery! But to my nothingness you are a support, you are peace, you are all because you are Jesus! … Come! …
Jesus, my Jesus, your little creature gets disturbed, but does little; you know me well … hence come to me and raise me up in your mercy … Come, O Jesus! …
Love, love, how delightful you are when you are born of that Heart of divine fire, of my Jesus! Look at me, O my Angels; Jesus has already bound me to him … My love, give me a kiss of mercy and of love! …
O Jesus, you have already come … O that I might die, then, in a cry of love … I love you! …
The bonds that bind us are sealed in your Blood … you will cast me away from you no more for you are too good! …
O Jesus, O Jesus, O my love … you alone! …
You are here in my heart! … you alone! …
You are king of my soul! … you alone! …
You are my peace! … you alone! …
You are all, O my love! … you alone! …
I no longer have the strength to speak … my Love! …
Praise God from the heavens; praise him, O Angels, praise him, all creatures; praise him, O Mary! … God alone! …
ASPIRATION: Long live Jesus! … Thank you, O Jesus, who live in my soul!
LITTLE WORK: Seek pardon of the person you have most offended or who has a grudge against you so that the aversion and upset do not block love.
About the Meditations
The daily School of Mary meditations come from the book, A Month with Mary, written by a holy Italian priest Father Dolindo Ruotolo (1882-1970). Originally written as spiritual thoughts to his spiritual daughter, the work is comprised of thirty-one meditations for the month of May.
Father Dolindo wrote A Month with Mary on pocket-sized pages joined into small fascicles of 8 to 12 pages. He sent them to Laura de Rosis every two to three days and later transcribed them with some modifications in volume III of his autobiography: The Story of My Life in the Plan of the Great Mercy of God, pp. 1140ff (cf. Epistolario 1:212n, 218n). This work is from 1912: one of those years which passed in the life of Father Dolindo with the cadence of a ?Way of the Cross? ? But he, serene as ever, loved Christ the more, loved Our Lady the more and reflected on this love in these few pages to which he wished to give the significant title: A Profound Reform of Heart in the School of Mary. These meditations are written in the style of the Imitation of Christ. (90pp. laminated gloss, saddle stitch)
To obtain a copy of A Month with Mary or other books published by the Academy of the Immaculate, visit our on-line bookstore at http://www.marymediatrix.com/bookstore/academy
Ave Maria!
