Chapter 72: Of the recognition of Christ in the breaking of bread

I BLESS You, and give thanks to You, O Lord Jesus Christ, Bread of Life, sweet Guest of the soul, and Giver of heavenly grace, for Your wondrous condescension in accepting as a friend the hospitality of Your two disciples. With loving words and entreaties they prayed You to enter the house, with their hands they constrained You ; without You they would not enter the house or sit down to meat. You, therefore, O loving and gentle Lord, moved by their earnest entreaties did go in to sup with them, and to speak to them delightful words about the food for souls prepared by the angels in our heavenly home. Not as yet fully known to them. You did sit at table with them, and as You were wont, You did take bread from the table into Your sacred Hands, and raising Your right Hand You did bless it with Your sacred Lips, even as You had been wont to bless it before the eyes of Your disciples when they sat at table with You. Then, after having first broken off a part which You did Yourself eat. You did stretch forth Your Hand and offer it to them as to friends beloved of You ; and forthwith their eyes were opened, and they recognized Your Divine power in the breaking of the hard bread, without the use of knife or other instrument, and in its exquisite flavour, when, renewing their gladness. You did hand it to them as a token of friendship and of a wonder wrought for them. How joyous must have been that meal at which bread was eaten which had been blessed by the Lord's own Hand ! How blest were the eyes which recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread which had been blessed by the Mouth of God!

But alas how brief was the duration of that happy moment, of that blessed meal ! And He vanished out of their sight. Oh the change of the Right Hand of the Most High God — here a little, there a little ! In nothing upon earth is there long stay ; only with the Saints in Heaven is lasting and true joy to be found.

" Whither then go You, O Lord ; why do You so soon leave those men?"

" Marvel not : take it not amiss : I know what I have done ; I know what I am about to do. Other sheep I have to visit, to comfort, and to confirm in the faith. They wait for Me, and long greatly to see Me. To them therefore I go, in order that they may see Me, and may rejoice, and may no more doubt My words. I must show to them My Wounds, in order that when they have seen those evident signs they may firmly believe in Me, may pay no further heed to the reasonings of men, and may no more gainsay My power. Nothing is impossible with Me ; the very elements obey My Will."

I praise and magnify You, most sweet Jesus, for all Your doings, for all Your blessed Words, and for Your appearances to Your disciples scattered in various places. You would not leave as orphans those who were mourning and bewailing You. With a love which knew no bounds they ever longed to behold Your Face, to speak with You, to walk with You, to be in the ship with You, to lodge with You, to eat and drink with You, to be with You in vigil and in prayer, in sleeping and in uprising, and in promptly obeying every command that fell from Your Lips. When You went through the cornfields on the sabbath-days they followed You cheerfully barefoot, and because they were fasting and compelled by hunger, they plucked a few of the ears of corn, as the Law permitted. Good is it for me to think over and diligently to mark these things, to my own grief and shame, but to Your praise and honour, O good Jesus, and to that of Your disciples. When they were hot and tired by reason of a long journey You did bid them, as St. Mark tells us, to take a little rest: for as the hen gathers her chickens under her wings to keep them from the cold and the rain and the heat, and to protect them from the kite or the dog, so did You gather Your little ones, who were humble in heart, and though despised by the world were dear to You, saying to them : " Come you apart into a desert place, where your eyes will not behold the vanities of the world, nor your ears be troubled by any distracting sounds, and rest you for a while in meditation on the things of God, and in forgetfulness of those things which perish in the using."

And now, O most loving Jesus, You Who visit the sick, and comfort poor pilgrims shut out from the joys of Paradise, I beseech You to visit me in the time of my trouble and distress, whether it come to me in the form of weariness as I sit alone in my cell, or of dryness of soul as I sing in choir, or of taking too great pleasure in dainty food when I am in the refectory — when any of these temptations beset me, call me back, I pray You, speedily to myself by the sacred words of Your mouth, spoken to me as it were from Heaven, and sweeter far than any earthly food.

Give me a clear understanding of difficult passages in Holy Writ ; and, where the meaning of Your Word is plain and spiritual, kindle in my heart the fire of Your love, as You did in the hearts of the two disciples, which were warmed by Your appearance to them and by Your discourse ; so that, being refreshed on their journey by the Word of God as well as by the food of which they partook, they gave thanks and said : " Was not our heart burning within us concerning Jesus, while He spoke in the way, and opened to us the Scriptures ? " These words are very sweet and pious, and are read and sung in choir with devout mind and joyful voice to the praise of God and His Saints by clerks and priests, by Canons and by Monks, by recluses and by nuns, of every habit and order, chiefly at Easter-tide and on the festivals of certain saints.[4]

O all you Saints of God, pray for me in all my shortcomings during my pilgrimage on earth ; for to this day I am often vexed by evil passions warring against me both from within and from without ; pray for me that I be not overcome by the devil and his angels, and so fall short of those everlasting joys which are laid up in Heaven for Christ's servants; the remembrance of which ought surely to rouse me to fight bravely, by means of devout prayers and holy meditations upon the Life and Passion of Christ, against the evil thoughts and inclinations of my heart. Daily ought I to reflect upon one at least of the many wounds and sorrows of my Lord Jesus Christ, Who was crucified for me. His Wounds are the medicine of my soul ; His Sacred words are shields of gold for me against the fiery darts of the enemy. May God be my refuge and defence everywhere and at all times, and may the grace of the Holy Spirit be ever with me. Amen.