by Sr Marie Pierre
The offering of the daughters of the Visitation
In this Institute where one applies oneself “gently to the exercise of divine love”, it is by a total stripping that one offers oneself to his fire on “the mount of lovers”. In the text entitled “Preparation and meditations for the profession” (St Fr. de S. XXV p.422) which follows the constitutions of 1616, we read: “The sisters whom God will call to the holy Profession must represent to themselves that they must be immolated to the divine Majesty. As in the old Law, the victim was first flayed, so the sisters who wish to offer their persons to God in this congregation, must flay their hearts, remembering that Our Lord wanted to offer himself to his Father for us, completely naked and stripped on the cross”, “mystery of the poverty of Jesus Christ” (Constitutions n°20)!
For our holy Founder it is a question of renouncing the world, the flesh and its sensualities, but even more profoundly the inclinations, the false freedom of the will, to live according to the constitutions and the direction of others and not according to one’s own wisdom. “In this renunciation consists the true abnegation of oneself and true flaying of the victim, in order to make it more pleasing to Our Lord. (…) But in order that our sacrifice may be a holocaust, we must warm our heart and light in it [it] the fire of holy love by various meditations.”
As early as 1610, our holy Founder had outlined the plan of these meditations, he had developed them in the constitutions of 1613, and reproduced them in 1616. If the congregation now oriented itself towards solemn vows, the Founder did not change the theme of his meditations. He wants the affection that should animate each of them to be the offering, the loving response to the first love of the Lord. “The first meditation could be that of creation and the end for which we are created. Instead of all other affections, we should only draw from it that of the offering: considering how reasonable it is that we offer ourselves to God who gave us being, and gave it to us so that we might be very uniquely his.
The second meditation could be that of the choice of the devout life. You will consider Our Lord crucified who calls each one to follow him. (…) Some follow him from afar. (…) Others follow him as closely as they can (…) but they do not leave the occupations of the world (…). But the others, in order to follow Our Lord more freely, leave everything (…) attaching themselves to the sole care of pleasing God and following Him, not wanting [to] have their heart divided, but simply seeking, with a heart entirely united, the unity of a single and unique love of God. (…) Make an election of this kind of following, renounce everything, embrace this so excellent resolution, give yourself to God for this, offer Him your whole life.
The third meditation will be on the offer that Our Lord makes us of eternity and Paradise”, to which it is reasonable to make the offering of the duration of our life and our misery. “
The fourth will be on the oblation of the angels and the saints” to make, following their example, the offering of an inviolable fidelity. “
The fifth will be on the oblation of Our Lady”, following her, the servants of God must say: “May we forever be His, may we forever serve Him.
The sixth meditation will be on the oblation of Our Lord for us on the cross. How right it is that we offer ourselves to him, and that for him we are nailed in our vocation! O my Savior, you died to give me life; therefore my life is no longer mine, but yours. I owe it to you and give it to you.
The seventh will be on the invisible offering for the day of the Profession. We have chosen the Holy Virgin as our Protectress, let us implore her to offer us to her Son. Let us choose some special saint and our good angel; let us trust in their charity, and that at the same time as we sacrifice ourselves here below, they will offer us in Heaven. Blessed is the soul that can say: My life is hidden with Jesus Christ in God.”
Thus the offering of the daughters of the Visitation is not the gift of magnanimous souls, but a response to the first love of the Creator and the crucified Spouse. And this, in the Church, in the communion of saints and angels. It is the adoration in spirit and truth of the daughters of Saint Mary. This offering lived with generosity throughout life is a secret martyrdom, a martyrdom of love, of which our holy Mother will speak (St. J. de Ch. I p.356-357): “Give your absolute consent to God, and you will feel it. It is,” she continued, “that divine love passes its sword into the most secret and intimate parts of our souls, and separates us from ourselves.” On the occasion of the feast of a martyr, she had added: “that of love is of longer duration. Every day the sword of love takes something away from a a truly faithful soul and the secret sufferings of the soul that does not set limits to the operations of love are unimaginable.”
Our holy Founder says what this martyrdom consists of in a sermon of May 1616 or 1617 (IX p.79ff) on the Gospel episode in which Jesus asks the apostles if they can drink his chalice. “The martyrs drank this chalice in one go. We can drink it throughout our lives, mortifying ourselves continually, as must do the religious whom God has called to carry his cross and be crucified with him. Is it not a great martyrdom never to do his will, to submit his judgment, to flay one’s heart, to empty it of all impure affections and of all that is not God, not to live according to one’s inclinations as well as according to the divine will and reason? “Having reached this point, he encouraged his daughters by showing them their only support: the Heart of Jesus in which the soul rests. “Our Lord being on the cross, (…) he was given a lance thrust. His side being open, it was seen that he was truly dead, and from the sickness of his Heart, that is to say from the love of his Heart.
Our Lord wanted his side to be opened for several reasons. The first is so that we might see the thoughts of his Heart, that we might see how much grace he desires to give us and his Heart itself.
The second reason is so that we might go to him with confidence, to withdraw into his side, to rest in him, seeing that he has opened it to receive us with an unparalleled love, if we give ourselves to him and abandon ourselves without reserve to his goodness and providence.”
To Saint Margaret Mary, Jesus will make the same invitation: “You still have a long and rigorous journey to make, and in which you will often need to take breath in my Sacred Heart, which for this will always be open to you while you walk in its ways.”
Our blessed Father continues: “Blessed are the souls who drink the chalice with Our Lord, mortify themselves, carry the cross, suffer lovingly for his love and also receive from his hand all kinds of events. It is an incomparable happiness to serve this divine Savior. The way of the cross is a sure path that leads us to God and to the perfection of his love, if we are faithful.” To renounce oneself lovingly, to receive everything from Providence, and thus to walk always with the crucified Spouse is true ecstasy, “an incomparable happiness.”
Pope Francis says (cf. All is for love): “The truth of the ecstasy of life and action is that which appears in the form of the charity of Christ, which culminates on the cross. This love makes existence shine with an extraordinary quality. It is for this reason that Saint Francis de Sales uses a very beautiful image to describe Calvary as the mount of lovers.” According to the evangelical paradox, it is there that the “Long live Jesus” is realized, which is the joy of a Visitandine soul.
As our holy Mother writes (Letter No. 58): “In a word, my daughters: Long live Jesus! I implore you that Jesus be your joy, your peace, your rest and consolation in all things. All for Jesus, all for Jesus without reserve, without exception, may his most holy will be done in the body, in the spirit and on all that is ours. With this, let us love our poverty and our infirmities, because our only Father says that he would love us better with more humility and less perfection than with more perfection and less humility. Joy in God, my most dear daughters, and let us leave to this Savior the care of ourselves.”
Dying each day to all other love to live to that of Jesus, the life of a Visitandine already sings in the Heart of the Church its eternal canticle: “Long live Jesus whom I love! I love Jesus who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.”
WORK –
OUR HOLY FOUNDER: THE TREATISE ON THE LOVE OF GOD BOOK VII CHAPTER 8 THE ECSTATIC LIFE BOOK IX CHAPTER 16 PERFECT DEVOTION BOOK XII CHAPTER 13 THE MOUNT OF LOVERS Can you make connections with themes from this course and with passages from our constitutions? –
OUR HOLY MOTHER: WALKING IN SIMPLICITY AND ABANDONMENT BOOKLET OF QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: “AN EXTRAORDINARY FRIENDSHIP” P.603 – 609 OR ST FR. DE S. XXVI P.279SS: Could you highlight one or more points that seem important to you.