Part II, section 14 of 21

The power of prayer is sufficient, for instance, to open and shut heaven, to turn fire into dew. Whose prayer is specially powerful ] The prayer of the Mother of God (" by Thy holy and all-powerful supplications ") and that of the saints in heaven; on earth the prayers of God's priests, as of those placed by God Himself at His very throne, to pray for themselves and for His people, " for Himself and for the errors of the people"; and the prayers of venerable men, of hermits, "for him will I accept." Christians are slothful in prayer, from this arise want of faith, hope, and love, sins and iniquities, spiritual and bodily misfortunes.

Priest of God! believe with your whole heart, believe always in the grace given to you from God, to pray for God's people. Let not this gift of God be in vain in you, for by it you can save many souls. The Lord speedily hears your heartfelt prayer for His people, and is easily inclined to have mercy upon them, as He had at Moses', Aaron's, Samuel's, and the Apostles' prayers. Avail yourself of every opportunity for prayer— in church, when you celebrate Divine service or a sacrament, in private houses, at the ministering of the sacraments, during prayers and thanksgivings; everywhere and at all times think of the salvation of God's people, and you shall also obtain great grace of God for yourself.

Be always as convinced that you live every moment by the life-giving Trinity as that you are lighted by the material light, are fed by meat and drink, and breathe by means of air—by these three things united in one for you.

The substance of the world is as nothing; everywhere and in all things is the life-giving Spirit of God higher than anything. When you pray to God, represent to yourself that matter is as though non-existent, and that all creatures are as though non-existent; but that God alone is omnipresent and one, having no determined place and limits, and tilling, embracing, creating, and keeping all things. If you yourself are free from attachments to material things, and give yourself to prayer and fasting, then even in you the spirit will as though swallow up the flesh, and you will become spiritual and will contemplate God the Spirit everywhere in nature; whilst, on the contrary, those who are attached to earthly things, especially to food and drink, to money, become " sensual, having not the Spirit." And in everything they only see the flesh, not contemplating the spirit, and even rejecting the spiritual side of things.

Where there is the constructing material, there the Constructor must absolutely be supposed, because matter, not having in itself either sense or power, cannot organise itself, cannot grow and bring forth fruits: it is evident that at every moment it must be governed by an infinite Mind, by an All-powerful Hand.

As the material sun is reflected with its whole circle and with all its radiance in the innumerable transparent objects upon earth, so likewise the spiritual Sun, God, is pleased to reflect Himself in innumerable beings, both in heaven and upon earth—there in the angels, here in men; and as the light even of the material sun is not restricted by dense though transparent bodies, but, passing through them unimpeded, shines even in the rooms of a house closed upon all sides to the outside air, or in transparent objects turned towards it, so likewise the spiritual light is not restricted for spiritual beings by any material obstacles, neither by the walls of a house, nor by the dark walls and vaults of prisons, nor by huge mountains, in the caverns of which the servants of God were concealed, nor in the abysses of the earth. He penetrates everything, and shines forth everywhere in every soul capable of receiving the light of the heavenly truth into itself. "Paul and Silas prayed in their prison and sang praises unto God, and the Lord heard their prayer."

When we pray, then the ears of the Lord are inclined to our prayer. He is then, as in general He always is, as near to us as the icon, before which we stand, and even much nearer: He is close to our very heart. His presence near us is as manifest as the visible icon, and therefore the icon is only a visible representation of how near the Lord is to us, how He looks upon us and hears us. And God's saints, in the Holy Ghost, are also as near to us as the Holy Ghost is near to us, Who is everywhere present and filleth all things, "Whose temple we are," and in the Holy Ghost they see and hear us in the same way as we see and hear people speaking to us. For the Holy Ghost is the medium, by which we see and hear even ordinary things.

You have seen that on the icons of the saints, the Lord Jesus Christ is represented above, with the imperial globe in one hand and with the other extended in blessing. This is taken from reality. From heaven the Lord ever watches over those who combat for His sake upon earth, He helps them actively, as the almighty King, in their struggle with the enemies of salvation, blesses His wrestlers with "peace and joy in the Holy Ghost," and bestows the crown of life upon them after they have finished their earthly exploits. Thus, Christians, all of you strengthen yourselves in faith and hope, looking unto Jesus, '' the author and finisher of our faith," Who ever watches over you and sees all your acts from the heavenly heights, as He looked down upon the proto-martyr, Stephen, opening unto him heaven and His glory; as He looked upon Saul, afterwards Paul, and also revealed Himself to him in the heavens, enlightening him with His light, and calling him with His voice.

The object of our life is union with God: in this life by faith, hope and love, and in the future one by all-perfect love. But see how the enemy and we ourselves here distort this object. We unite ourselves in our hearts with various things, in accordance with the diversity of our passionate attachments. Sometimes, O horror! our love is fixed upon silver, upon food, drink, dress, dwelling, furniture, upon men like unto ourselves, until we forget God. Sometimes we are proud, we envy, hate, lie, and then we unite ourselves directly with the Devil himself, who is malice, falsehood, pride, envy personified—and how we thus insult our Master, Who created us after His image and likeness; how we distort this divinely drawn image, drawn from God Himself! But we think of this too little, are too ignorant of that which is the most essential matter to us—our union with God.

He who knows the constancy and malice of the bodiless spirits against himself, will not greatly despond, although they may use every means to plunge his heart into despondency, he will not grow irritated at everything, knowing that they (the enemies) strive in every way to incite us to irritation, to make us malicious, envious, to attach us to money and material gain. But there is one condition necessary for this, we must watch over ourselves, for the enemy not unfrequently disguises himself under the form of our self-love and ambition, and, as though he defends our welfare, whilst in reality he is absolutely destroying us. Christian hope! how many are deprived of thee through the snares of invincible enemies! How many fall into despair and take away their own lives! Think of those who of their own free will have laid hands on themselves by hanging, by drowning themselves, or in other ways; also drunkards and others.

The Lord spoke the word of promise, and His word shall be fulfilled. He speaks, and shall it not be? The Lord points to the laws of nature, to their constancy and firmness, as a proof of the faithfulness of His promises.

You have felt in your heart during prayer, or during the reading of the Word of God and other holy books (and sometimes even during the reading of worldly ones of well-intentioned contents, in which, for instance, some event representing the action of God's Providence upon men is described), or during edifying conversation, "a still small voice," as though a current of electricity was passing through your body. It is the Lord visiting you. "A still small voice"—and the Lord is in it.

When you pray to Our Lady, or to any Saint, steadfastly represent to yourself that you are a member of the Church, in which Our Lady is—the chief stone of the edifice, "the First Origin of spiritual renovation," and know that you are closely, inwardly united with all the heavenly dwellers, as one of the stones of the edifice, though not a firm, strong one. Thus, by understanding yourself, you will understand why prayers so easily reach the Saints; for we are all under one Head —Christ, and are all animated by the same Spirit of God.

The Lord is—the Cause and constant Support (power) of my organic bodily life, through the action of the lungs, the stomach, the heart, the veins and muscles; and of my spiritually organic life, through the mind and thought, through the enlightenment of my heart by His Light.

Wonderful is the power of faith! Only the lively thought of God—only heartfelt faith in Him—is required, and He is with me; only hearty repentance for sins, with faith in Him, is required, and—He is with me; one good thought, and—He is with me; a pious feeling, and—He is with me. But the Devil enters into me through impure, evil, blasphemous thoughts, through doubt, fear, pride, irritability, malice, avarice, envy; therefore his power over me entirely depends upon myself; if only I keep watch over myself, and continually preserve in my mind the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, with faith and love, he will be powerless to do me any harm.

Strive to do everything in opposition to that which the bodiless enemy wishes you to do. He incites you to pride, to self-glorification, and to judging your brother — you must humble yourself to the ground and ashes, judge yourself as severely as possible, and praise your brother in your heart. Should your brother, through the action of the enemy, behave proudly and maliciously to you—you must behave humbly and lovingly to him. If the enemy incites you to avarice—be generous with goodwill. Act thus in all similar circumstances, and you will obtain great grace from God, and will see this yourself with your spiritual eyes. If you have not inward strength to do so, the enemy being, as you say, very powerful, then ask it in prayer, at every time and every hour, of the Almighty, and He will help you.

According to the measure of the " spirit and truth" with which you begin to pray before the holy icon, for instance, of the Saviour, in the same measure the Spirit of Him Who is represented upon the icon is attracted to the icon. So that if your faith, in the presence of the Person, represented upon the icon, attains such a height that you see that Person living before you, then by grace He is actually there. The wonder-working images which speak, from which flow tears, blood, etc., are examples of this, and this is why such images all look extraordinarily living and expressive. What can be impossible to God, Who is able to give life to stone and form man out of it? He can miraculously accomplish the same with a painted image. "All things are possible to him that believeth"; and the Highest miraculously comes down from heaven to him that believeth. He is similarly united with, and works miracles by, the sign of the life-giving cross.

What is man, if he is not the image of God, enshrined in earth, because the human body is nothing but—earth? Therefore do not wonder at God appearing in material images, and even speaking by the mouth of an image, for " with God all things are possible." When it was required, He even spoke with a human voice by the mouth of an ass.

So living and true, is sometimes said of a portrait, that only speech is wanting; if man is capable, by his art, of giving life to a canvas, or a board, or paper—then what can be impossible to God? Why cannot He breathe life into an image, and give it the capability of speaking, if it pleases Him? Only speech is wanting—you have done everything, artist, on your part; now let the Lord complete your work, and He will make the image speak.

There is a spiritual world: there is a communion of souls with those at a distance, and with the departed; they see and hear us, and here is an evident proof of this: a woman, whose husband was ill and was lying in a room—at a distance of some four hundred miles from her, and who afterwards died—saw one evening the people who came to him, what he was doing, and heard the words that he spoke. Do not the Saints see us in the same manner ? Do not they hear our prayers in the same manner?

In looking upon the faces of others, I see my own face, for we are all as one, created by God, from one single man, from the same blood, and all equally after the image of God—and therefore we must look upon all purely, unsuspiciously, not inimically, not cunningly, not avariciously, but with pure godly love. Also, when looking upon icons, upon the faces of the Saints, the image of the Mother of God, and that of the God-Man Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, I see myself in them, for they are also men, and through His incarnation and humanisation, Jesus Christ, our God, has wholly clothed Himself in me, having thus honoured mankind with an immeasurable honour, driving away the stench of sin from those who believe and are baptised in Him, and making them fragrant with the holiness of the Holy Ghost dwelling in them through faith, baptism, and the Communion of His Divine Body and Blood. Thus see yourself in others, that others may see themselves in you, love all as yourself; also see yourself and mankind in Christ, in His Most Pure Mother, and in the images of the Saints, and assimilate yourself to God and the saints by imitating their holiness—that they, too, may see themselves in you, in proportion as you become like unto God and them by virtue, and that they may recognise in you their member when you appear at the universal judgment, and may receive you into their midst as one of themselves.

I ought to rejoice in the fact that it very often happens to me to carry in my mind and heart, and to pronounce with my lips, the name of God, the name of Our Lady, the Mother of our God, those of the holy Angels and Saints, either of them, all by name during the year, or of the special ones daily mentioned in the church prayers, or in the office of the blessing of the water. For the name of God, as well as the name of the Mother of God; our all-powerful Mediatrix, remembered sincerely, from the whole heart, sanctifies, quickens, and comforts; and the Saints our intercessors before God, pray for us, when we call upon them in prayer, and enlighten us by their manifold virtues. It is good to have union with God and the heavenly dwellers.

By means of prayer we obtain remission of our sins. "I forgive thee all that debt, because thou desiredst Me." Experience proves the same.

" He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." This we feel, and experience confirms it. Most blessed, most full of life is the man who communicates of the Holy Mysteries with faith and heartfelt repentance for his sins. This we truly feel, and the contrast is also manifest. If we approach the Holy Cup without sincere repentance for sin, and with doubt, then Satan enters into us, and dwells in us, destroying our soul, and this, too, is most perceptible.

"All things are near to God," says the Russian proverb. Truly everything is near: all spiritual and sentient creatures, the Angels, the souls of the departed, all living men, all animals, all material worlds. The Spirit of God passes through all things, a reasoning, pure, most refined Spirit, dwelling in every believing, pious soul. " The wild beasts of the field are in My sight," says He. " I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." As an infinite Spirit, to God nothing is far away, but all things are before Him, as upon the palm of the hand. He is wholly everywhere, and all things are in Him. All things live and exist by Him.

God and the created spirits, and the souls of the departed, as well as those of the living, are—thinking beings, and thought is rapid, and in some sort omnipresent. Think of them with your whole heart, and they will be present with you—God always and necessarily so, and others by the gift and power of God. " When I am in heaviness, I will think upon God." Why? Because He is with you and in you.

When our heart is enveloped in the darkness of Satan, the darkness of the passions, then it denies God, although it ought, in that case, to deny its very light; it has become darkened, and therefore its spiritual eyes are closed and do not see God, but this does not mean that there is no God. " The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God." Truly a fool.

To the name of Jesus Christ, or to the sincere thought of Jesus Christ, is united great power, able to drive away the passions and give peace to the heart. The same may be applied to the name of the holy Angels and Saints, beginning with the Mother of God, down to the holy and righteous men and "Urodivoi" for Christ's sake. Only call upon their names sincerely, and by the grace of God they, too, will help you.

The icons of the Saviour in every orthodox house show His omnipresence, His sovereignty in every place, whilst the images of the Saints—the presence with us or the nearness to us of the Saints, by the grace of God, as members of the one body of the Church, united under the one Head—Christ.

" As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us." This is the reason why we must pray to the Saints: they are in God, and God is in them; and this is why they hear us, that is, owing to their being in the omnipresent God. " For holy art Thou, O our God, and Thou restest in the Saints."

For the sake of our faith alone, the spiritual mountains— that is, the heights and burdens of sins—are removed. This is why, when Christians release themselves from the burden of their sins by repentance and confession, they sometimes say, "Thank God, a mountain has fallen off my shoulders!"

During prayer a sincere seeking after amendment is indispensable.

As by means of the electric telegraph we speedily communicate with persons who are far away from us, so, likewise, by means of lively faith, as though through the telegraph wires, we speedily communicate with God, with the Angels and Saints. As we entirely trust to the speed of the electric current, and to its reaching its destination, so, likewise, we should completely trust to the speed of the prayer of faith and to its reaching its destination. Send your petition to God and the Saints by means of the telegraph of faith, and you will speedily obtain an answer. The answering signs of a telegraph are simple, but the experienced read them; the actions upon the heart of the God of all spirits, of all flesh and of the Saints, are likewise simple, but the experienced understand them.

O wonderful proof of the omnipresence of God! For instance, your heart is wounded by an attachment, even a momentary one, to silver, let us suppose, and it begins to ache; but as soon as you say to God from your whole heart, " Thou art my only treasure, Thou art my silver and gold, and food and raiment," you will immediately feel relieved.

There are many people who pray in such a manner that they seem to worship God in vain. There are also some persons who pray, and they are so slothful and evil that when they feel an influx of impure and evil thoughts in their heart and head, they immediately leave off praying and flee from the church or from before the icon in their home.

If you wish to pray with a life-giving prayer, first of all strengthen your heart in the Lord. "My heart is strengthened (rejoiceth) in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord."

From the time since the first man sinned, men became so darkened by sin in the very centre of their being (in their hearts), that they very often have not any consciousness and feeling of the omnipresence of God, and think that four walls and a ceiling can conceal them from Him, Who fills all things, Who sees even those who hide themselves in secret places. " Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him ? Do not I fill heaven and earth?" "I was naked, and I hid myself." But it did not avail!

My soul is in God, as a fish in water or a bird in the air, surrounded by Him upon all sides, at every time; it lives in Him, it moves in Him, it rests in Him, and finds freedom in Him.

My thought, either bright or dark; my conscience, either accusing or excusing; my heart, either tranquil and joyful, or sorrowful and oppressed; the organisation of my body, the organisation of the worlds and of the earth, which we inhabit, with all that is in it and around it, incessantly testify to the continual presence in me, with me, and everywhere, of mine and your Creator. May the dark and foolish thought that I am forsaken by my God, that He is not ever with me—ever flee far away from me!

May my soul always remember that God the Word, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, at every moment upholdeth all the worlds " by the word of His power;" and amongst them my small world, too—the soul and body, and that He, at every moment, knows not only the number of the hairs of my head, but also the number and quality of my thoughts and the movements of my heart, for everything exists, and is accomplished before His clearest eyes.

May my soul understand that as everything proceeded from God and exists in God, therefore the Lord God in the most perfect manner knows at every moment of the existence and of the nature of every being, and that He supports its existence, at every moment, by the laws of nature given by Him. If we, ourselves, having written a book, know all about its disposition and contents, about all the ideas to be found in it, so that when other people explain us the idea, and especially the plan of our book, we say that it is our plan, our idea; then why should we take from the Lord His omniscience of all worlds, of all creatures, of all things contained in the world, with all their qualities and conditions? Are they not, so to say, the book of God? And thus, my soul, reverence thy Creator every moment of thy life, and know that at every moment He knows thee wholly, that He supports and gives thee life and everything necessary for thy existence and welfare. "How could anything have endured if it had not been Thy will?"

Men are ashamed to acknowledge that they do not believe in their high calling and destiny, in the fact of their being the priceless image of God, most dear to God, for whom has been prepared and promised infinitely great bliss in heaven—in union with God.

As a poor man does not believe that he may in future become a rich and very distinguished person, so many Christians do not believe that they shall possess a wealth of future blessings, -and shall freely be made to " sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." We may well wonder how, without any special merits on our part, we can expect such high honour and glory, such riches. We are self-loving, covetous, avaricious, and therefore we are unable to understand how such infinite love, such a wise and disinterested Father can exist; it is as though we still cannot believe that " God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Men are perplexed, and, to tell the truth, many do not believe in the honour which is promised to the righteous in the future life, because Satan has lowered mankind in its own eyes. But this honour shall truly be, and we should hope to attain it; for man is the image of God, and it is for this that the Son of God was incarnate, in order to re-establish his image. This idea is developed in Holy Scripture.

If at any time you doubt in God, or in the dogma of the most Holy Trinity, remember the short doxology, "Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, both now and ever, and to ages of ages," and think what little importance you yourself have in comparison with the men of all ages, of whom there were an infinite number of great and divinely bright intellects, and who all heartily, unanimously ascribed glory to the one God in three persons.

As our Creator and God is one, therefore He brings together and unites all things, and, for a believing soul, there is nothing far away that He cannot bring near by means of faith. Do you wish to converse with—-not to speak of God, Who is everywhere, but with the high and heavenly powers, principalities, archangels and angels? You can do so. In accordance with your prayer they will instruct, enlighten, strengthen you in your faith. Or do you wish to converse with the departed Saints? You can do so. They will be with you at your first heartfelt call— especially the most Holy Virgin, Mother of God, our most speedy Mediatrix. " We unceasingly glorify Thee, O Christ, Who hast indescribably joined the earthly to the heavenly, and hast established one Church for the angels and men." Christ is the head both of angels and men. With such a Head, what then cannot be near to us? And how near to us must the Head Himself be in order to hear us! Experience convinces us that He hears us, as the saints also hear us.

The Lord has full respect for nature, which He has created, and for her laws, as the production of His own infinite, most perfect wisdom; this is why He usually accomplishes His will through the medium of nature and her laws; for instance, when He punishes men or blesses them. Therefore, do not require miracles of Him without extreme necessity.

The Lord especially highly esteems the works of His hands, gifted with reason and free will, that is, the angels and saints, and works through them for our sanctification and salvation. Therefore do not say: I always have recourse straight to God alone with my needs, with my prayer. It is sometimes also necessary for you to have recourse to the saints as His instruments and organs. God Himself does not wish that these holy temples of His grace, of His Divine Spirit, should remain inactive in the work of our salvation.

Like young birds under the wing of the hen, so the whole universe, all the assemblies of angels, all men, all senseless animals, all material worlds, are under the Lord's wing. He enlightens all and everything—some with mental light, and others with material light. He warms all—some with spiritual warmth and others with material warmth; and as the hen hears the cries and the sighs of the young birds under it, so the Lord hears even our secret sighs, our prayers, our praises, and sees all our needs. "My trust shall be under the covering of Thy wings."

It is good for me to pray for men when I partake worthily, that is consciously, of the Holy Communion: then the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, my God, is within me, and I feel great boldness before Him. Then the King is within me, as in His abode: I may ask what I will. " We will come unto Him, and make our abode with Him." "Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

During prayer it is necessary to have such faith, that there should not even for a single moment be any secret doubt, or any secret thought in the heart, that God does not hear us, and it is necessary, furthermore, that our soul should represent God before itself during the whole time of our prayer and converse with Him, as with a King.

If we sinners pray and make supplications to the Lord for ourselves and others; if, when living upon earth, the saints pray for others and ask God for what is needful for them, then much more will they do so when they are transplanted to eternity and are face to face with God. By virtue of the great mediatory sacrifice of the Son of God, the prayers of the saints, especially those of His most pure Mother, possess, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the power of mediation. This is the Lord's recompense for the merits of the saints.

The foundation of prayer is the yearning of the image towards its prototype, as of like to like. During prayer, have the thought that you are a steward of the most precious prayerful inheritance of the Church, that you are an impure, unworthy steward, and that your work consists in reverently opening your heart and watering it with these pure streams of the words of prayer, but not in reasoning about them at your own free will.

It is remarkable: to-day I felt a doubt—of course suggested by the evil one—on the subject of the turn of a phrase in a prayer, namely: "Thou, Who alone hast power to forgive sins by the prayers of Thy most holy Mother and of all the saints," and I was covered with shame in my reasoning: the enemy struck me, hindered me, disturbed me during public prayer. But in what respect was my thought false? I thought thus: how God has power to forgive sins by the prayers of His most pure Mother and those of the saints, and not independently of Himself? Of course He has the power without the prayers of others. He alone has the power, but in order to honour the exalted virtues of the saints, and especially those of His Mother, the saints, who are His friends, who pleased Him with all their might during their earthly life—He accepts their prayerful intercession for us, unworthy ones, for us who must often stop their mouths on account of our great and frequent transgressions. Remember Moses, who interceded for the Hebrew people and obtained life for them from God whom they had angered. Some may say that God might have spared His people even without Moses' prayers; but, then, God would have been, so to say, unjust in bestowing life upon those who were not worthy of life, after He Himself had decreed that they should die; but when Moses—a righteous, meek, and humble man—began to intercede for them, then the most just God was appeased at the sight of the righteous man, at his love for God and his people, and for the sake of Moses' merits, the Lord forgave the unworthy, that is, the unrighteous, for the sake of the righteous. So likewise now, at the prayers of His most pure Mother, He forgives us, who, of ourselves, through our great and frequent sins and iniquities, are unworthy of His mercy. "Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet my mind could not be toward this people," said the Lord to Jeremiah of the Jews. From this it is evident that the Lord accepts the intercession of the saints for the evil-doers when the sins of these last do not exceed the measure of God's forbearance.

The Lord knowing the infirmity of our nature, darkened and weighed down by sin, and rising with difficulty to God through faith, has pleased to condescend to us unto the likeness of our being, unto taking upon Himself the form of a servant in human flesh; such is His love. But as it was impossible for Him to eternally remain in the human body on earth, whilst it was necessary in accordance with the plans of God's ordering to ascend up with it into heaven, therefore for the infirmity of all future generations of men and in remembrance of His eternal love for them, of His sufferings and death, He changes, by the Holy Ghost, ordinary bread into His own Body and ordinary wine into His own Blood, and by His Spirit dwells wholly in this bread and wine; so that under the form of bread and wine, Christ the Life-giver, the Lord Himself, is wholly there. O unspeakable love, truly divine! The Lord has wholly used His infinitely great wisdom, His infinite power, for our salvation! Our infirmity is thus made, not only to see the Lord by means of faith, but even to taste Him with our tongue, and especially with our heart and with our whole soul. Glory to the Lord for having so loved us!

God grant that even after death our brotherly union with our departed relatives, and those whom we knew in this life, may not be broken off, that our love may not be extinguished, but may burn with a bright flame, and that constant true remembrance of those at rest may ever remain with us until our death. "With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you."

In receiving the Holy Sacrament be as undoubtingly sure that you communicate of the Body and Blood of Christ, as you are sure that every moment you breathe air. Say to yourself, "As surely as I constantly breathe the air, so surely do I now receive into myself, together with the air, my Lord Jesus Christ Himself, my breathing, my life, my joy, my salvation. He is my breath, before air, at every moment of my life; He is my word, before any other word; He is my thought, before any other thought; He is my light, before any other light; He is my meat and drink, before any other meat and drink; He is my raiment, before any other raiment; He is my fragrance, before any other fragrance; He is my sweetness, before any other sweetness; He is my father and mother, before any other father and mother; before the earth, He is the firmest ground, that nothing can ever shake and that bears me. As we, earthly creatures, forget that at all times we breathe, live, move, and exist in Him and have "hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns," for ourselves, He has opened unto us, in His Holy Mysteries, in His Blood, the source of living water, flowing into life eternal, and gives Himself to us as food and drink, in order "that we might live through Him."