O Jesus, help me to realize that // is only through the Cross that I can attain to glory, that it is only through suffering that I can possess the Kingdom of Heaven. Let me remember that Thou didst say,"Unkss the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal." (John 12:24-25). Before Thou didst enter Heaven as the King of Glory, Thou didst become the Man of Sorrows.

Before Thy dear Mother was crowned Queen of Heaven, she became the Mother of Sorrows. All the saints suffered during their lifetime. There is no exception, for Thou didst say, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matt. 16:24). Teach me to understand the value of suffering and through Holy Communion give me the help I need to bear it joyfully for Thy sake.

O Jesus, Thou didst come upon this earth to glorify Thy heavenly Father by Thy life, and especially by Thy Death. / believe that Thy Sacrifice of Calvary is renewed each day in an unbloody manner at Holy Mass. The separate Consecrations of the bread and wine remind me of this: "This is my body, which is given for you" (Luke 22:19); "This is my blood.. .which shall be shed for many unto the remission of sins." (Matt. 26:28). Thou dost offer Thyself to Thy Father now, though in an unbloody manner, just as Thou didst on the Cross. Thou dost offer Thyself in the same spirit of love and resignation to His holy will, because Thou art present in the Sacred Host as the Victim of Calvary. That Sacred Host is my food in Holy Communion. It is the Sacrificial Banquet which completes the sacrifice of the Mass. By Holy Communion I unite myself with Thee as Thou dost offer Thyself again to Thy Father, and I become one sacrifice with Thee, for Thou hast said, "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him." (John 6:57). May Holy Communion give me the true spirit of Christlike unselfishness and sacrifice which I need throughout life in order to follow Thee!

O Victim-Saviour, these gifts of bread and wine, specifically set aside for God's honor in the Mass, symbolize the gift of myself that I make in union with Thee. As they belong to God, so may I belong entirely to Him, the Giver and Master of my life, my greatest Good. As they are changed into Thine own Body and Blood at the Conse-cration of Holy Mass, so may I be changed into Thee by my Holy Communions with Thee, the Victim of Calvary.

O Jesus, I believe that Holy Communion opens the treasury of all the graces which Thou didst merit for me by Thy bloody death on the Cross. Oh, may its richest grace be for me a most intimate union with Thee, so that I may become a living, holy victim-pleasing to God~and so that all the actions, sufferings, tears and disap-pointments of my life may be thus consecrated to Thee as a sacrifice for the glory of God. Can I live for worldly comforts and pleasures after receiving Thee as the Victim of Calvary, as One offered, as a slain sacrificial Lamb of God?

O Jesus, Divine Victim of the attar, give my heart sentiments like Thine own so that I may become a worthy co-victim with Thee through Holy Communion. I promise to receive Thee often and fervently, that I may gradually die to my unworthy desires and inclinations and dedicate myself entirely to Thy holy service in the spirit in which Thou didst glorify God in life and dost continue to glorify Him in the Mass. Give me of Thy spirit of unselfishness, for I want to live no more for myself, but for God. As Thou dost give Thyself entirely to me, let me give myself entirely to Thee; in sickness and in health, in failure and in success, in disgrace and in honor, in prosperity and in adversity, in life and in death. Everything that Thou dost send me or permit in my life, whether favorable or unfavorable, whether sweet or bitter, is acceptable to me, for I have resolved to conform myself to Thy divine will in all things. Thou dost invite me to do so: "Take up my yoke upon yon... My yoke is sweet and my burden light" (Matt. 11:29-30). May God's will always be my will Thus may each Holy Mass and Holy Communion make me a living image of Thee, so that the heavenly Father, looking upon me, a co-victim with Thee in Holy Communion, may say of me what He said of Thee, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 17:5).

ARE YOU UNSELFISH?

1. Are you generous with God, as He is generous with you? Do you prove your generosity by keeping the Commandments faithfully, receiving Holy Communion frequently and praying much?

2. Are you resigned to God's holy will in sickness as in health, in failure as in success?

3. Do you have the true Christian spirit of sacrifice, or are you selfish, worldly, pleasure-loving?

4. Do you offer yourself in union with Jesus, your Victim,during Holy Mass; do you try to make His spirit of sacrifice your own by frequent Holy Communion?

— NOVENA PRAYER —

Aspiration for the day: Jesus, I live for Thee; Jesus, I die for Thee; Jesus, lam Thine in life and in death. Amen.
300 days (76)