48th Rose
145) But
to our confidence let us join in the fifth place perseverance in prayer. Only
he who perseveres in asking, seeking and knocking will receive, find and
enter. It is not enough to ask God for a grace for a month, a year, ten
years, twenty; one must not get bored, "et non deficere", one
must ask until death and be determined to obtain what is asked for salvation or
to die, and even death must be united with perseverance in prayer and trust in
God and say: "Etiam si occiderit me, sperabo in eum" (22): “Even if
he wanted to give me death, I would hope in him, and from him what I ask.
146) The
liberality of the rich and great of the world show itself preventing by its
benefits what others need, even before they ask for it; But God, on the
contrary, shows his magnificence in making people seek for a long time and ask
for the graces he wants to grant, and the more precious the grace he wants to
grant, the longer his granting differs:
1) To
increase it that way.
2) So
that whoever receives it will have it in great esteem.
3) So
that you are careful not to lose it after it is received; because what is
achieved in a moment and with little work is not highly valued.
Persevere,
then, beloved brothers of the Rosary, asking God for the Holy Rosary all your
spiritual and corporal needs, and particularly, the divine Wisdom that is an
infinite treasure. "Thesaurus est infinitus" (23); and
sooner or later you will obtain it infallibly, as long as you do not give it up
or lose heart during your career. "Grandis enim tibi restat via"
(24).
Because
you still have a long way to go, many bad times to go through, many
difficulties to remove, many enemies to overcome, before gathering enough
treasures for eternity, many Our Fathers and Hail Marys to acquire paradise and
win the most beautiful crown that awaits everything. faithful brother of the
Rosary.
"Nemo
accipiat coronam tuam" "May no one receive your crown" (25):
Take care that someone more faithful than you in praying his Rosary daily does
not take it away from you. "Coronam tuam": it was yours, God had
prepared it for you, it was yours, and you had it almost earned with your well
prayed Rosaries, and for having stopped on such a beautiful path, where you
walked so well, "currebatis bene" (26) , another who overtook you,
the first arrived, another more diligent and more faithful acquired and paid
with his Rosaries and good works the necessary to buy this crown.
"Quid
vos impedivit?" (27). Who has prevented you from having the
crown of the Holy Rosary? ¡Ah, the enemies of the Holy Rosary, ¡there are
many!
147)
Believe me, only the mighty ones who violently snatch it will reach that crown,
"violenti rapiunt" (28). These are not crowns for the fearful
who fear the ridicule and threats of the world, nor are they for the lazy and
lazy who pray the Rosary negligently or by force or routinely and at intervals,
according to their fantasy; These are not crowns for cowards who lose
heart and lay down their arms when they see all hell unleashed against their
Rosary.
If you
want, beloved confreres of the Rosary, enter the service of Jesus and Mary by
praying the Rosary daily, prepare your soul for temptation: "Accedens ad
servitutem Dei, praepara
animam
tuam ad tentationem "(29)." When you enter the service of God,
prepare your soul for temptation "The heretics, the libertines, the good
men of the world, the semi-devotees and false prophets, according to your
corrupted nature and Hell all, they will present you with terrible battles to
force you to abandon this practice.
148) To
warn you against attacks, not so much from declared heretics and libertines as
from "good people" -according to the world-, and even from devout
people to whom this practice does not
please,
I am going to write you with simplicity something of what they say and think
every day: "Quid vult seminiverbius ille? Venite, opprimamus eum,
contrarius est enim" (30), etc .: What does this great prayer of Rosaries
mean? What is it that he mutters for hours? What laziness! He does nothing but
pray Rosaries, it would be better for him to work, without amusing himself with
so many sanctimonious acts. ¡Yes of course! All you have to do is pray the
Rosary, and the larks will fall toast from the sky! The Rosary will bring us
something good for dinner! God says: ¿Help yourself and I will help you, why
recharge yourself with so many prayers? "Brevis oratio penetrat coelos."
"The short prayer penetrates the heavens" A well spoken Lord's Prayer
and Hail Mary are enough. God did not impose the Rosary on us. It's good when
you have time, but we won't be less easily saved for that.How many saints there
are who never prayed it! There are people who judge everyone by their measure,
indiscreet who take everything to the extreme, there are scrupulous people who
find sin where there is none and say that all those who do not pray the Rosary
will be condemned.
Praying
the Rosary is good for ignorant women who cannot read. Pray the Rosary! Isn't
it better to pray the Office of the Blessed Virgin or the seven psalms? Is
there anything as beautiful as those psalms, dictated by the Holy Spirit? Have
you gotten used to praying the Rosary every day? Straw smoke that will not last
long! Wouldn't it be better to put less load on yourself and be more constant?
Well, dear friend, believe me, do your prayer well in the morning and at night,
work for God during the day, God does not ask you for more; If you did not
have, as you do, to earn a living, it could happen that you were distracted in
praying the Rosary; You can pray it on Sundays and holidays of your choice, but
not on weekdays; you have to work.
What a
Rosary as big as that of women! I have seen them of a ten, which is worth as
much as fifteen tens. What! Wearing the Rosary on the waist! What prudishness
!; I advise you to put it around your neck as the Spanish do. Those are great
prayers of Rosaries; They carry a large one in one hand and a dagger in the
other to strike a treacherous blow. Leave, leave these external devotions, true
devotion is in the heart, etc.
149)
Many skilled people and great doctors, but strong and proud spirits, may not
advise you of the Holy Rosary; Rather, they will lead you to pray the seven
penitential psalms or some other prayers. If a confessor made you penance to
pray a Rosary for fifteen days or a month, it is enough for you to confess with
one of those gentlemen to change your penance into other prayers, fasts, masses
or alms.
Even if
you consult some of those people of prayer in the world about the same thing,
as they do not know by experience the excellence of the Rosary, they will not
only not advise anyone, but they will dissuade others from it, to apply them to
the contemplation as if the Rosary and contemplation were incompatible and as
if so many saints who were devotees of the Rosary had not reached the most
sublime contemplation.
Your
domestic enemies will attack you all the more cruel the more united you are
with them. I mean: the powers of your soul and the senses of your body,
the
distractions
of the spirit, the tedium of the will, the dryness of the heart, the decays and
diseases of the body, all this, in concert with the evil spirits that mix with them,
they will shout to you: Leave your Rosary, it is he who gives you pain head
over; leave your Rosary, there is no obligation to pray it, under penalty
of sin; at least pray only part of it, your pains are a sign that God does
not want you to pray it, you will pray it tomorrow that you will be better
disposed, etc.
150) In
short, beloved brother, the daily Rosary has so many enemies that I consider as
one of the most distinguished favors of God the grace to persevere in your
devotion until death.
Persevere
and you will have the admirable crown prepared in heaven for your fidelity:
"This fidelis usque ad mortem et dabo tibi coronam" (31). "Be
faithful until death and I will give you the crown
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario