Oh adorable Face, which didst give a holy kiss to the little children after having blessed them, have pity on us.

In thy Gospel, oh my God, there is a passage which my soul cannot read without emotion; it is that of the benediction and of the holy kiss given by thy Holy Face to little children. How thou didst love these dear infants, oh Lord Jesus, how thou didst love the lambs of thy heavenly fold and the cherished portion of thy flock! Permit me to ask of thee the reasons of this predilection of thy divine heart.

1st POINT. — SIMPLICITY.

On a certain occasion, St Mathew tells us— The disciples came to our Savior (it was on the shores of the lake of Tiberius) and put this question to him— “Master, who shall be greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” And Jesus, calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them and said— “In truth, I say to you, unless you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven(1).”

Simplicity is the first characteristic of infancy which attracts the eyes of Jesus. Estote simplices sicut columbae. “Be simple as doves,” he says. St Paul in his panegyric on charity, eulogizes also the spiritual infancy of which Jesus speaks— “Charity is kind, it envies not, it is not ambitious, it is not puffed up with pride, it seeketh not its own, it is not bitter, it thinketh no evil, it does not rejoice in iniquity, it believes all things, hopes all things, suffers all things(2).”

Who will give me, oh my God, this childlike simplicity which is true wisdom? Who will give me this abandonment, this forgetfulness of myself and of creatures which will draw down upon me the look of thy Holy Face?

2nd POINT. — PURITY OF HEART.

The second reason of the predilection of the Holy Face for children is purity of heart. “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God(3).— Take heed not to scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, for God has sent angels to guard them, and these angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven(4).” Therefore the Lord, who delights himself among the lilies, loved, when he was on earth, to draw nigh to those who were possessed of this original purity. With what care he warded off the crowd in order to let the children approach him! With what affectionate tenderness, placing his hand upon their innocent brows, he bent over them to give them together with a holy kiss his divine benediction! My God, enable me thoroughly to understand that simplicity and innocence are the way to thy heart.

Give me grace to become simple of spirit and pure of heart, remembering always those words— “He that loveth cleanness of heart shall have the king for his friend(5).” May a look of thy Holy Face, bending over my soul, render to it its first beauty, its baptismal purity, and so prepare it to receive thy divine caresses and thy heavenly benedictions.

SPIRITUAL BOUQUET.

Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt.

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. (Mathew, v, 8.)

THE REPARATION.

In proportion as Our Lord raises Sister Marie de Saint-Pierre to the knowledge of the mystery of the Reparation, he reveals to her, in a clearer and more sensible manner, the designs of his adorable heart. He shows her the evil in all its intensity, and at the same time shows her the remedy and the means of applying it. On the 24th November, the feast of St John of the Cross, one of the favorite saints of the Carmel, Jesus, at the moment of communion, gathers together in himself all the powers of the soul of his servant, and says to her— “I have not until now showed you more than a portion of the designs of my heart; but to-day I am going to show you them in their entirety. The land is covered with crimes. The breaking of the three first commandments of God has irritated my Father; the holy Name of God blasphemed, and the holy day of Sunday profaned consummate the measure of iniquity; these sins have ascended to the throne of God, and provoke his anger, which will spread if his justice he not appeased; never have these crimes risen to such a height. I desire with a lively desire that an association, solidly organized and approved, should be formed to honor the Name of my Father.” Thirteen days afterwards, on the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (7th December), the Savior, in his communications to his faithful spouse, returns to the subject, and this time the guilty nation is named. The Sister thus begins— “My soul is in a state of great fear, because of what he made me understand this morning in my prayers, and which he charged me to transmit to my superiors without any fear of being deceived. I am about to do so in all simplicity. Our Lord, having gathered together all the powers of my soul into his divine Heart, made me see how irritated he is against France, and that he had sworn to revenge himself in his anger, if a reparation of honor were not made to his heavenly Father for all the blasphemies of which it is guilty. He declared to me that he cannot remain longer in France, which like a viper tears the entrails of his mercy. He still patiently suffers the contempt shown to himself, but the outrages committed against his divine Father provoke him to anger. France has sucked the breasts of his mercy until they bleed; therefore mercy will now give place to justice which will overflow with fury the longer it has been delayed. Then, overwhelmed with emotion, I exclaimed— ‘Lord, permit me to ask this question of thee: If the reparation thou desirest be made, wilt thou then forgive France?’ He answered me— ‘I will pardon her yet once more, but take heed, it will be only for once. As this sin of blasphemy is spread all over France, and is public, the reparation must also be public, and extend to every one of her towns; woe to those who do not make this reparation!’”

After this communication. Sister Saint-Pierre, as we know from the testimony of another Carmelite, left the choir in a state difficult to describe. She was as pale as death, bathed in tears, wearing an expression of grief which lasted a long time, and which was renewed whenever she received revelations of this kind, an expression which was quite contrary to her usually bright expression. She seemed then as though she were annihilated under the weight of the divine anger.

INVOCATION OF SISTER SAINT-PIERRE.

I salute, I adore and I love thee, Jesus my Savior, covered with fresh outrages by blasphemers, and I offer thee in the heart of Mary, as an incense and perfume of agreeable odor, the homage of the angels and of all the saints, begging of thee humbly, by the virtue of thy Holy Face, to repair and re-establish in me and in all mankind thy image disfigured by sin. Amen.

(1) Matt., xviii, 3.

(2) I Cor. xiii, 5.

(3) Matt, v, 8.

(4) Ibid., xviii,6.

(5) Prov. XXII, 11.