BY Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. This Holy hour was written especially for mothers who are vitally interested in the thorough Christian formation of their children.
In order the more easily to appreciate the supernatural value of this form of prayer and to understand the dominant thoughts and delicate shades of this special type of Holy Hour we would like to remind them:
1. That the first effective elements of Christian education are the mother’s faith and prayer.
2. That the first blessing of this Holy Hour will be an increase of grace for the mother herself. The blessings she begs for her child must infallibly redound to her.
3. That from the very dawn of life, the docile, pliable and pure soul of the child must be penetrated with love for Jesus and His Sacred Heart. In effect, the great principle of Catholic pedagogy is that education does not consist in a purely theoretical and speculative knowledge of doctrine and law, but above all in the love of the divine Master and adorable Lawgiver, in a word, in charity.
4. To make this love profound and practical it must above all else be Eucharistic. Then only will it be generous, zealous and apostolic. It is a mark of great wisdom in Christian pedagogy to have forged a strong, divine link between the soul of the child and the very person of Jesus, dwelling in the Sacred Host.
5. As a logical consequence of this love for Jesus, there must be kindled in the soul of the child at the earliest possible moment the flame of zeal that will impel him to work for the glory of the Heart of Jesus and to win souls for Him. As the child grows up, he will carry on this apostolate by his Masses and Communions, his prayers and sacrifices. These are the “Golden Pennies” he will earn for Jesus. This supernatural missionary activity will complete, purify and solidify the religious education of the child and most effectively assure his perseverance.
Purity, hatred for sin, filial devotion to Mary, piety, fervent love for the Eucharist daily Mass and Communion, zeal, prayers and sacrifices for the reign of the Sacred Heart; these are the ideals we are trying to instill in the hearts of the Tarcisians*, youthful apostles of the Heart of Jesus.
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* Tarcisians of the Sacred Heart are boys and girls from kindergarten up, who endeavor to bring the Sacred Heart into their own homes and the homes of others through their great love for the Sacred Heart. The means they use are “Golden Pennies” (prayers, sacrifices and Eucharistic devotions). This crusade was started by Father Mateo to help spread the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in the home.
The name “Tarcisian” comes from St. Tarcisius, the boy-martyr, who was killed in the early centuries of the Church, while carrying the Blessed Sacrament to Christians condemned to death by the pagans. St. Tarcisius is a model and patron for all boys and girls who love the Blessed Sacrament and who, like him, try to bring Jesus to souls.
A Tarcisian Club may be started in your own home. Once your children become Tarcisians, you will be amazed at the transformation the Sacred Heart will effect in their souls. Information in the original text which is no longer relevant: Send for explanatory leaflet and copy of the Tarcisian newspaper, THE KING’S REIGN. Write to: Tarcisian Club, 4930 S. Dakota Ave. N.E., Washington 17, D. C.
See related information about the Tarcisians of the Sacred Heart:
- Audio-Book narration about the Tarcisians, in the book Enthronement of the Sacred Heart by Rev. Francis Larkin, SS.CC.
- Statutes for the League of the Tarcisians of the Sacred Heart
I
Mary Beside the Manger
She sings and she weeps … She is the Woman blessed among women, but she is also by far the most sorrowful of mothers … In the distance she visions the outlines of Calvary.
The mother beside the cradle also sings and weeps … She prays for her child . . , How uncertain the future!
First Ejaculatory Prayers of the Little Benjamin of Jesus’ Heart (Benjamin was the youngest and the best loved of the sons of Jacob.)
THE CHILD’S GUARDIAN ANGEL. Christian mother, and therefore blessed, kneel lovingly before the Lord Jesus. Adore Him with me in this living tabernacle, in this ciborium of purity, the soul of your child. Let us adore Him together, since we both share the guardianship and responsibility of the treasure of this home. Pray, Christian mother, pray with boundless faith, and may your supplications, even more than your teachings, awaken in your child the gift of prayer. Pray with love, for prayer must be the flame that mounts from the heart. Pray with the confidence that gladdens the Heart of Jesus, to draw down, both upon the child that is yours and mine, and upon the entire family, those torrents of grace that He bestows upon families of His love.
Yes, pray, Christian mother! I shall take your prayer and present it to my God and your God, to my King and your King, Jesus, in the chalice of the heart of Mary, the divine Mother! Pray, O pray! I accompany you with the guardian angels of Nazareth and of your family. I pray, I adore, I love with you, spreading my wings over child and mother. Let us pray for our common treasure.
THE MOTHER’S ACT OF FAITH. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to Thy Will! May Your Kingdom come in this home and in this family as in Heaven. You have honored me, Jesus, with the glory of motherhood … I thank You! But I return that glory by consecrating this child to You. May it be Yours, all Yours, only Yours, because I believe in Your divine Kingship, in Your sovereign and absolute rights. I believe, Jesus, in Your Wisdom, the only wisdom that directs the world of our souls and the world that revolves around us. I believe in Your Providence, full of delicate tenderness, and I believe in Your almighty Power.
You have created for yourself alone, O Jesus, this child and its unworthy mother. Ah, yes, adorable Lord and Master, we will be Yours for time and eternity. But troubled at the sight of my responsibility, of my duties and my weakness, I turn to You, God of charity, and with all the strength of my heart, I cry out: Save us, both mother and child, because I believe in Your love, Jesus, yes, I believe in Your Sacred Heart!
I believe … I believe in Your Heart, O Jesus Son of Mary, and because I believe in Your special love for children and in Your great divine pity for mothers, I willingly surrender my rights and titles and on both knees, I beseech You to keep my child for Yourself alone … be ever His King of Love! But since, according to Your designs, he needs must have a mother, entrust him Yourself, O Jesus, to her whose sweet and unspeakable tenderness You know so well by experience, that near You and with You, the Queen of love may be the real mother of the child, who smilingly sleeps, good Jesus, in Your arms, breathing the life and warmth of Your adorable Heart. In the name of my child and of my family: I believe, I believe in Your love … I adore, I adore Your Heart, O Jesus!
Here say a short, fervent prayer, to ratify these expressions of faith, but always in the name of the child and your family. “Increase my faith, increase my love!”
MARY SPEAKS TO THE MOTHER. Come to me, beloved daughter and already sorrowful mother, come to her whom you rightly call the Queen of love and your Mother. Let me pour my soul into yours, and in a sweet heart-to-heart talk, allow me to relate to you a few intimate pages of the divine story of Bethlehem.
This part of that wonderful story is made up of smiles and tears, the smiles of Jesus and the tears of His Mother. O how radiant was that Christmas night! The angels sang, but the song that pulsed its rhythm with the throbbings of my heart was still more powerful, far sweeter and more profound. Yes, my daughter, my heart sang, praising the wonders and the mercies of the Lord, now become my Child. My joy was then unparalleled and it will never be surpassed by creatures either on earth or in Heaven.
However, you are a mother and you can comprehend something of these secrets of your heavenly Mother. You can imagine what a paradise of glory and happiness the poor crib of Bethlehem was to me. You can easily guess what an ecstasy of jubilation enraptured me, and what celestial concerts of gratitude filled my soul.
Ah! but that Child Whom I adored that night, was also your Liberator. All in Him, everything about Him, revealed a dreadful Calvary to come.
Why was His body marvelously formed by the Holy Spirit? It took a miracle to give the Word capacity for suffering! That little body was miraculously created only to be cruelly put to death after the measure of His suffering had been filled up.
His divine eyes, I well knew, would be fountains of tears …
Each tear revealed to me an incurable wound of love …
His lips were made for no other purpose than to drink the chalice of death …
For His Heart, that Heart which throbbed so close to mine, was already bearing the deep wound that grew ever wider as Jesus drew near to Calvary.
And what shall I say to you, beloved daughter, about the hidden passion of that divine little King? As He drew His blood and life from my virginal breast, I discovered in each kiss of His lips the bitterness of a Gethsemani which He carried within Himself. Son and Mother, we were both inseparable in the joys of Christmas as in the sorrows of the Passion, a secret Passion to be sure, but nevertheless already very real in His Heart. I gave myself up to the Father, to His sovereign will, and I gave up my Jesus, tearing Him away from my own Heart, for your salvation and His glory.
And now, my daughter, answer me: this story, this mysterious blending of joy and anguish, is it not somewhat akin to your own, hidden in your heart?
O, you rejoiced at being a mother, and rightly so, for it is a divine privilege. You still have joy … but …
What will this loveable slumbering child become in time?
What will he be in God’s eternity?
Do not reply immediately, dear daughter; reflect seriously on your answer. But before giving it to me, who with the exception of Jesus, loves you more than anyone else, and loves your child as the blossom of my love, listen to these words of your gentle Queen: This child will be, most probably, what you want him to be!
This statement disturbs you somewhat. But your anxiety is for the eternal welfare of both mother and child. Keep this lesson hidden in your heart, meditate on it before the Lord. This true Christian concern will bear fruits of happiness and peace.
Christian mother, you have a sublime mission to perform — a supernatural, a divine mission. Your child comes from God and for a little while he is confided to your care; he is loaned to you to brighten your home with the sunshine that comes from above. But a day will come when you must return him, beautiful in the sight of God and fully formed, to the Lord Who awaits the child from the hands of its mother.
Some day this child may love God very much … perhaps he may even become a saint.
But this child may become likewise a crown of thorns for his God and his mother.
Look at it; it is a bud made to blossom, provided you water it with grace and virtue.
He has a soul, yes, but a soul that must be nurtured and developed, if it is not to be lost. Alas, there are so many souls being lost!
It is my Jesus that I love in your child, beloved mother, and it is your soul together with your child’s soul that I claim for Jesus, for I am Mother and Queen to you both.
I see you deep in thought and indeed you have reason. Very often I too have wept beside the cradle of the divine Child … softly, very softly, so as not to awaken the King wrapped in His swaddling clothes … Ah, but I well knew that though His eyes were closed in sleep, His Heart was weeping with mine.
Tell me now, beloved daughter, all your worries; confide in me the troubles that fill your heart.
Tell me the reason for those clouds that overshadow your soul. Even more than your answer, which I already know, it is your confidence, your child-like trust that I seek. Speak, my daughter.
THE MOTHER SPEAKS TO MARY. Virgin most loving, Queen most compassionate, Mother most tender, I love you! And I know, O yes, I know that you love me. Virgin Mother, Queen of love, my soul weeps anguish beside this little bark in which so peacefully sleeps my little child, our child, Mother-Mary. Today his little bark is made fast to the shore, sheltered from the tempests. But what about tomorrow? O you know the thought that distresses me, Blessed Mother, Star of this turbulent sea that lies in wait for my little one with its hurricanes and its perilous reefs. I give him to you, Mother, I confide him to you, beloved Queen … save, O save my child on the stormy ocean of life!
Thank Jesus for me, Blessed Virgin, for having deigned to make me comprehend my responsibilities, and for having given me the courage to consider and weigh them in the light of His grace. Bless the Heart of Jesus, Heavenly Mother, for the anguish, the hidden sorrows, the cruel fears that have contributed, as did your own, to the salvation of my child. Yes, I thank God for having made me taste the bitterness through which, I am sure, my child and my home will be spared an even greater bitterness, that of sin, with its deadly and horrible consequences in time and eternity!
That is why, O Mary, Model of mothers, far from giving way to complaints and useless lamentations, under the weight of a thousand inevitable anxieties, I accept my mission, such as the Heart of Jesus seems to trace it for me. He is the adorable Master. In our home He is the King of Love. I beg you then, Mother most tender, to tell Him I have full and entire confidence in His infinite love.
I accept the glory and the cross of being a mother, as your self, O peerless Mother, accept it on Christmas night.
Before my eyes filled with tears there appears still another vision that likewise disturbs me … Will this little one some day forget his God?
Will this child of my tears forget his mother and her teachings?
Mother, O Mother, what anguish for my heart to think of the grave danger that will inevitably threaten the soul of my child in the future. What anguish to think of the gaping abyss that is there, ready to engulf its victim!
But I know well his happiness as a Catholic, his fidelity to his conscience are problems that you alone, Jesus and Mary, can solve-That he may be happy, take my child O Mary, give him to the Heart of Jesus, keep him in the heavenly wound of His side. Watch over us, Mother, that he may remain there with me, in life and in death, on earth and forever in Heaven.
Prayer of the Two Mothers
MARY: Heart of my Infant Jesus, through me, your loving and beloved Mother, bless this child.
THE MOTHER: Heart of Jesus, remember your first tears, dried by Mary. Look upon mine and bless my child!
MARY: Heart of Jesus, if You still love me with the same love; if I have any power over Your Kingly Heart, single out this child as your faithful friend of tomorrow. Through his mother and Yours, may he remain entirely Yours forever!
THE MOTHER: Yes, Jesus, I love him only for you. I do not want him to be other than what You wish him to be: rich or poor, great or unknown. But I do want him to be your soldier, entirely yours along with his mother and that is sufficient for me.
MARY: In the name of this mother who is my beloved daughter, I consecrate this child to You and place it in Your loving Heart. And if, as Queen, I can command, O then I command that he remain there to await his eternal happiness. Smile on this mother, Jesus, smile on this child, Your own Mother asks this of You …
THE MOTHER SPEAKS IN THE NAME OF THE CHILD: Sacred Heart of Jesus, I love Thee! (5 times while kissing an image of the Sacred Heart).
Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come! (5 times).
I love Thee Jesus, because Thou art Jesus! (5 times).
Hail Mary (once)
Pious mother, have no doubt that the divine little King, from the glorious throne of the arms of Mary Immaculate, blesses both the child and its mother. It is there that He receives the incense of these first prayers, offered to the Heart of Jesus by the lips of the mother.
II
The Flight Into Egypt
Mary’s Emotion …
The Perilous Journey…
The Land of Exile
The first perils to endanger the child . . , He must live and struggle in a land of exile … False idols surround him on all sides , . . His defects, my first faults.
The Child’s First Confession
THE GUARDIAN ANGEL SPEAKS: With deep emotion, O Christian mother, I have been witnessing those divine scenes which long ago I contemplated in Bethlehem. I have been listening to those conversations between Heaven and you, creature of earth, dialogues that fill the angelic spirits with amazement. And these marvelous scenes and loving dialogues are renewed and enacted before our very eyes.
Look upon this child in the light of a strong living faith. Some day he will be privileged to sing with me the eternal praises of the Lord. But do you know the price to be paid for this privilege? Yet have no fear … I shall be silent and allow my heavenly Queen to relate to you, exiled in this vale of tears, the story of her own exile and that difficult journey across the desert which saved from death the Infant God, our King. Bowing low, I shall listen to this story of the anguish of Love’s Queen, and at the same time, I shall silently adore in the most pure chalice of your child’s heart, the same Infant Jesus Whom I so often adored in the arms of His Immaculate Mother.
But that you may be less unworthy of receiving the lessons of Mary, kneel down once more, Christian Mother, and pray to obtain the grace of understanding clearly your mission in behalf of this child. Pray for the supernatural light that dispels all illusions, and that will show you not only the dangers that await your child here below but also the help that comes from above.
You see, all Heaven is interested in your child. He is here on earth as a traveler passing through; his is a temporary exile. We are waiting for you and your child on the threshold of eternity which is drawing ever closer for you both. Pray then, with heavenly fervor, and I will endorse your prayers.
THE MOTHER’S ACT OF CONFIDENCE. Heart of Jesus, the closer I come to You, the more clearly do I perceive, by the light of the divine flames issuing from Your Heart, the frightening abyss that would engulf the soul of my child. But also, the nearer You come to this poor mother and her child, the more I feel myself calm and peaceful, for then I see another abyss whose supernatural beauty appeases the torments of my maternal heart. That abyss is the Wound made by love in Your transpierced side … it is Your Heart ever open, especially to mothers and their innocent children.
Because of my weakness and ignorance, O Jesus, I have reason to fear many things, but because of Your goodness and bounty, I can hope for all things from Your merciful love, which has always been my help. Have You not given further proof of this, O King of Glory, by granting me the grace to understand that motherhood is a vocation and a divine mission, and that my child and I are but two drops in the eternal ocean of Your love?
Therefore, since I believe in Your love with a blind but strong faith, I cast myself with my child into Your arms, into the furnace of Your Heart. Guard us both, dear Jesus, in spite of the temptations and enticements of this frivolous and deceitful world.
Adorable Master, You have confided to me the salvation of an immortal soul. Who am I to direct him in the path of holiness? I could even die tomorrow, leaving my child in the keeping of infinite mercy. But I shall not fear, I shall not be troubled, no matter what mysterious path you have traced for me. My child will never be a real orphan, because You are a kind and tender Father, and Mary is there to cradle his rest and watch over his soul. I believe, O Jesus, I believe in Your love, and that is why I repose with unfaltering trust and with peaceful abandonment within Your adorable Heart. You watch over the lilies and the sparrows. But this little one, Lord, for whom You have shed Your Blood, is worth more than all the lilies of the field, more than all the birds of the air. Keep him entirely for Yourself. Keep him also for me … keep us both for Your Heaven above, for Your glory here below.
“Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee.” A short fervent prayer in the name of the child and your family, to ratify these expressions of confidence. “Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief!” “Lord, that I may see!” “Increase my faith, increase my love!”
MARY SPEAKS TO THE MOTHER. The Angel told you, well-beloved daughter, how the heavenly hosts marveled when they beheld the intimate scenes and heard the dialogues that took place in Bethlehem and Nazareth, between the eternal One and His poor creatures. He also admires the childlike confidence with which you speak to the King and Queen of Paradise, thus reviving for him the scenes of long ago.
But the angelic spirits cannot penetrate the Heart of Jesus and my maternal heart! They cannot understand our joy, our deep emotion, the jubilation of our Hearts in contact with yours. Beloved daughter, in spite of the chasm that separates us, we are both creatures, you and I, sisters with the same nature, and like you, I too was filled with anxiety, anguish and sorrow.
That is why, as creature and mother, I can comprehend your worries and fears better than the angels, and I also know that you understand me better than they.
While you were speaking to my Jesus of the unavoidable dangers that your child must face in the future, in my mind I was journeying again to Egypt over the sands of the desert. O the sudden and precipitous flight, the difficult and dangerous journey, the trying sojourn in an unfriendly land!
Beloved daughter, that exile was not to end! Jesus, our King, is still banished everywhere. In so many Catholic families He is an unwanted stranger. In his lonely Tabernacle He is unrecognized, forsaken by that vast multitude which lavishes all its affection on its worldly idols.
And in that world, in this modern Egypt, your child will have to live!
Catholic mother, defend him in his earliest years against the influence of those idols that surround him on all sides. I suffer with you at the thought that a flower that today is so beautiful and delicate, tomorrow must thrust its roots into the burning sands or the marshes of a paganized world. But, have courage dear daughter, fill the soul of your child with divine fortitude. From the very dawn of his life, mold him into a staunch Catholic. Prepare also your own soul to meet together with your son, the first assaults that he shall have to face, for mother and son must fight together for the cause of Jesus the King. His first Kingdom is the heart and soul of your child, which, as you will soon discover, are being fought for by Satan. This child’s peaceful sleep, so much like the smile of an angel, cannot last forever. You will soon feel the shock of the first sudden awakening of his nature. You will see his defects and unpleasant traits of character and what is worse, you will be the sad witness of his first falls, the first bitter fruits of original sin in that virginal soul.
O, then is the time to bring him back to Jesus, to the miraculous pool of His Heart … Prepare him for the saving bath of his first confession … Plunge him into the Blood of the Lamb. At the earliest possible moment, unite the soul of your child to the soul of Jesus. You will ward off many dangers by this marvelous friendship of our two children, the One grasping the hand of the other. Is not this the way we would like to see them walking together towards our heavenly home?
Take courage, my daughter, never grieve to excess. You need to confide in me … speak to me, am I not the Mother of your child and the much-loved Queen of the child’s mother?
THE MOTHER SPEAKS. Mary, it is true, we are both mothers. But I am not a queen as you are. Nevertheless, handmaid and daughter of such a Queen as I am, I find in you, O Mary, enlightenment and comfort that the angels can never give. O be ever my gentle Queen, and grant that I, miserable though I be, may remain forever your privileged slave.
Yes, gently you have torn away for me the veil of the future. With delicacy and tact you have helped me foresee what my motherly heart had already instinctively, though reluctantly, guessed: the first struggles, even the first falls of my child.
O peerless Mother, who had to flee, pressing the Child Jesus to your breast to defend Him from the dangers of death, you already know the feelings of my soul, aware of its incapacity to defend the soul and divine life of my child. This is a cause of great anguish for me.
Defend him then yourself, all-powerful Queen, remembering your flight into Egypt. What can I do without you and without Jesus, O Mary, when the Egypt of our pagan society, a still more dangerous land with its living idols, will tempt and entice to sin my beloved little child who is likewise yours? Defend your property as you defended Jesus … Defend in him Jesus Himself! Have pity on him, have pity on his distressed mother, O Mother divine! Cover him entirely with the mantle of your protection, for, whichever way he turns his childish eyes, his innocent heart already finds a deadly poison prepared. Unconsciously he breathes in everywhere that fire which melts the snow of virginal souls. Take pity on him!
Mother of purity, speak to Him Who is Purity itself. May He take for himself alone, the soul of the Benjamin of His Heart — even if He must uproot him by death! O yes, I accept my sacrifice if at that price I can bring joy to Jesus by the perfect beauty of his innocence, and perfect happiness to my child.
Beloved Queen, I know of other flames that will protect our souls against the deadly fires of this sinful world. O Mary, cast us both into the burning furnace of Jesus’ Heart. You are the gate of Heaven, you are the dispenser of the treasures of the King of Love. Then, never allow this mother and child to leave that sanctuary of peace and love and of eternal life.
Prayer of the Two Mothers
The Mother of Jesns and the Mother of the Child
MARY: Heart of my Infant Jesus, remember the emotion of my heart when I learned of the danger of death that hovered over Your poor cradle. Remember, my sweet little King, with what overwhelming fatigue we crossed the desert to escape the peril. Remember the time of our painful exile in a strange land. In return for all those trials of Your loving and beloved Mother, enfold in Your own arms this child that I love and which I consecrate to Your love. Save him!
THE MOTHER: Remember Jesus, Your heavenly rest in Mary’s arms, while her maternal heart grieved in secret. By that grief, to repay her solicitude and tenderness, save my child likewise entrusted to the arms of Mary.
MARY: If I still have power over Your Kingly Heart, do not permit worldly idols to deceive this innocent heart, keep it that it may be entirely Yours and only Yours.
THE MOTHER: So be it forever, Jesus! Yes, may he be all Yours. I love him only for You. The very thought that some day he could cease to love You makes me suffer. Through Mary, ward off that evil, the only real evil here below.
MARY: I take the child as I took You, Child Jesus, when danger threatened. Yes, I take him with his mother, and in Your company, O King of Love, together we shall cross the desert into Egypt. And with You, after their exile, they will leave for the Promised Land. Jesus, it is Your own Mother who, on bended knees, requests this favor.
THE MOTHER IN THE CHILD’S NAME: Sacred Heart of Jesus, I love Thee! (5 times, while kissing an image of the Sacred Heart)
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Thy love for me! (5 times)
I love Thee, Jesus, because Thou art Jesus! (5 times)
Here say the Memorare: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, and sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.
Remain in peace, Christian mother, for your prayer has moved the Heart of Jesus. You need not fear too much this world and its temptations, if after your child’s first confession you continue to develop in his soul hatred for sin and love for Jesus.
III
The Child Jesus Lost in Jerusalem
The anguish of the first unexpected separation … The earnest search … Mary’s distress.
The critical hour draws near for the child … unavoidable separations …
The First Communion and the Eucharistic Life of the Little Tarcisius
THE CHILD’S GUARDIAN ANGEL. You would have reason to weep, afflicted mother, at the sight of the difficult critical stage drawing near for your child, were you alone and forsaken. But fortunately for you, the Queen of Love has just reminded you that you will meet the crisis with the help of Jesus and Mary. So dry your tears and with courageous heart begin your work of prayer and action.
Never forget that the struggles of your child, his first spiritual battles will be waged in his still feeble heart. That is why the future must find the Eucharistic King of Love deeply enthroned therein. Devoted mother, do you wish to forestall many dangers? Nourish your child’s heart with the Sacred Host. Do you want him to become a valiant and resolute Tarcisian in spite of his tender years? Do you want to see him become an athlete of Christ, while remaining ever child-like and pure? Lead him to the Fountain, that he may drink deeply from the Chalice of Jesus’ Heart. In order for him to remain not only faithful but strong and zealous in the spiritual battle he will be called upon to wage, his heart must be molded in the crucible of the Tabernacle. Hunger for the Eucharist must consume him.
You, his mother, wise with the wisdom of Christianity, are the only one who can intensify that hunger for the Eucharist in the soul of your child, and thereby save his soul. Encourage him to receive Holy Communion as often as possible, even daily, in an unselfish spirit not only for himself, but also for his parents and for those who seldom or never go to Mass and Communion. In this way he will become a true apostle of the Eucharist, a genuine missionary, saving souls for Jesus.
Mother, if you have well understood the importance of this evangelical doctrine, both for yourself and your child, your tears shall soon be turned into joy. O, join with me in pleading for the grace that the child Heaven has entrusted to us may become a true Tarcisius of Jesus in the Host … the fervent friend and faithful apostle of the Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist. Make this the first object of your prayers and all the rest “will be added unto you.”
THE MOTHER’S ACT OF LOVE. O divine King, deeply moved in spirit, I kiss your childish footprints in the city of Jerusalem, when for three days You were separated from Jesus and Mary. Likewise I kiss the footprints of the Immaculate Queen, hurrying with sorrowing heart in search of her lost Child.
Yet I feel that I do not have to speak, my Jesus; in my eyes, veiled with tears, You see what my mother’s heart is trying to say to You about my cares and concern for my child and family. But since it is Your wish that I speak, I will do so, but only to say a word about my love for You, the only thing that always has the power to touch Your Heart.
Yes, I love You Jesus, in my own name, because you are Jesus! Freely You have lavished Your graces upon me — how I long in return to love You without reserve! But realizing my own spiritual poverty, it is my intention and my desire that this child who already belongs to You, and likewise my family, be a living expression of my grateful love.
I love You Jesus, in the name of my child, because You are Jesus! From now on may he understand this too, and repeat it often, especially by his frequent Communions and generous sacrifices. Grant that the heart of the mother and the heart of the child, fused into one single heart for Your glory, may love You and be united to You by love, as You and Mary were inseparably united here below.
I love You Jesus, because You are Jesus, with a love stronger than death, imploring Your adorable Heart for the grace of never being separated from You, and for the gift of perseverance for my child and for all those You have confided to me.
Jesus of Nazareth and Bethany, God of Love, so little understood, so little loved, even by those who call themselves Your friends, come, take up Your abode with us in this land of exile, where-we await our Heavenly home. Dwell with us under the same roof, sharing our life, our joys and our sorrows as Your Mother shared them and as we would like to share in Yours. Be our King through love, be our friend by the intimacy of our hearts. Continue to love us O Jesus, despite our miseries — or rather because of them — and grant that all the members of our family may repay Your love by giving You their hearts without reserve, in exchange for Yours.
A few moments of silence to ratify this act of love pronounced, in the name of the child and the entire family.
MARY SPEAKS TO THE MOTHER. How well I understand the anxieties of your motherly heart! Some day this beloved child of yours, now so pure, so innocent and affectionate, might wander away from his mother and might even forget you. But what is this loss compared to the loss of Jesus, banished from his soul, expelled from his heart? Some day Jesus might again be crucified by the infidelity of this child whom, together with Jesus, we have watched over as the apple of our eye.
This child might lose his bodily health …
In time, fellow creatures might cause him great suffering …
He may be cruelly tried by great misfortune …
But if he never experiences the only real evil, the loss of Christ and His love, all other sufferings will be more than bearable and, in fact, a source of grace and merit.
Peace, as you well know, my daughter, is not the twin sister of fortune, nor of good health … Peace is the gift of the Heart of Jesus.
Your child will possess this peace and be happy even in the midst of misfortunes and trials, if like a good Tarcisius, he courageously guards Jesus in the Host, pressing Him against his heart and defending Him from His enemies.
And Jesus will watch over His Tarcisius, your child.
How sorrowful and painful were those three days during which we tramped the streets of Jerusalem, searching for Jesus the treasure of our home! From this experience I can understand somewhat the horrible desolation and the gnawing despair of the damned in Hell, deprived of Jesus forever.
How right you are, beloved daughter, to be gravely concerned on this account, for it is the thing in the education of your child that is serious and important.
What does it matter if he lose all earthly possessions provided he keeps his only true Benefactor?
Therefore watch over your child with the utmost care. Already his awakening reason is being attacked by the enemy of souls, and his will, now beginning to assert itself, would, if not guided properly, lead him astray. Watch over his heart and the perfect purity of his senses. Courageously keep from him all that might natter his passions, so that he may always remain an angel in innocence and purity.
Tactfully but firmly, lead him to the Tabernacle. He needs the Eucharistic Jesus, living in him by frequently and daily Communion. Never forget, dear daughter, Heaven for you and your child has its starting point at the altar!
Teach him to be zealous for all that concerns the interests of the Heart of Jesus. Make of him a true Tarcisian, a real apostle, bringing Jesus in the ciborium of his heart to the many unfortunate souls who neither know nor love Him.
From his earliest years, encourage him to spread love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus everywhere. From your own happy experience you know well the divine King never forgets what we do for Him. He will protect His youthful missionary and will guard him both for Himself and his mother.
Eucharist, Eucharist! If you are anxious about your child, mother, listen to me: the child who through frequent Communion finds his God, Jesus, in the temple, will in his turn be guarded by Jesus both here below and for all eternity!
THE MOTHER SPEAKS TO MARY. Mother most admirable, tell Jesus never to leave the soul of my child. Most merciful Queen, ask Him to dwell forever in the humble ciborium of my child’s heart. By the sorrow you underwent for three days when you lost Jesus, beg Him not to inflict that sorrow on you again through the loss of Jesus by my child. By far I would prefer to water his tomb with my tears than to see profaned the dwelling place of Jesus, the chalice of his heart.
Extend your maternal mantle over my child and yours, O Virgin Mary, and guard both his heart and mine, which poor as it is, cost the shedding of the Blood of your divine Son.
Watch over his little heart, whose secret beatings often escape me. Queen of Heaven, control and bless them. Awaken in the depths of that budding soul a thirst for the Eucharist that will grow in intensity as time goes on.
And if, O most tender of mothers, you should perceive some small failing unknown to me; if you should detect some dangerous tendencies that escape my watchful care, a threatening temptation or some danger for his soul, O then, Blessed Virgin, shield in your arms your Jesus, slumbering within the poor cradle of my child’s heart.
Shelter Jesus, by saving the faith, love and innocence of my child and yours.
When I stand on the threshold of eternity, I shall await from your hands the soul of my child!
Prayer of the Two Mothers
MARY: I embrace You, divine Child, with the same tenderness with which I embraced You on that happy day when I found You again in the Temple, pressing You, my Treasure, to my heart, and I beseech You to have pity on me in the person of this mother. If my tears moved You then, O Jesus, by those same tears, for the sake of us three, keep in Your adorable Heart the soul of this child, your youthful apostle.
THE MOTHER: I do not ask You, Lord Jesus, to relinquish Your rights over my child, O no! For the sake of the Blood You shed for him, for the sake of Mary’s tears and mine, forever keep and guard Your own possession, the treasure of Your Heart, the child You loaned to me to add to Your glory.
MARY: For the glory of Your Father Who deprived me of Your company for three days in Jerusalem, and Who asked You to go joyfully to Your death; in the interests of Your Reign, I implore You to spare me the pain of seeing wither and fade this tender flower which has been watered by Your Blood. To preserve and save it, give it to me forever.
THE MOTHER: Together with the child, kind Jesus, give me to the Virgin Mary … do not separate what You have joined together. Queen of Love keep all those the King has entrusted to you, let them be all yours, all Jesus’, in life and in death, in time and for eternity.
MARY: Listen to my last prayer, divine King. When I found You in the Temple You made up for everything by returning with me to Nazareth and being subject to me. Once again, I ask You to do the same, for I have built here a new Nazareth for You. In this home, behold the home of Your Mother! Reign here as King and command. If You would give Your Mother pleasure, remain in this home as its Friend. And since this family has lovingly offered shelter to its King and its Queen, I claim for them the redemption of the solemn pledges made by Your divine Heart to families that enthrone You as King, and consecrate themselves to my Immaculate Heart. Be their consolation during life and their safe refuge at the hour of death!
THE MOTHER IN THE NAME OF THE CHILD: Sacred Heart of Jesus, I love Thee! (5 times, kissing an image of the Sacred Heart)
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come! (5 times)
I love Thee, Jesus, because Thou art Jesus! (5 times)
Hail Holy Queen
Hail Holy Queen, our life, our sweetness and our hope, to thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us, and after this our exile, show unto us the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!
Final Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank You for having been able to watch one hour with You in Gethsemani, and I would be only too happy to remain in spirit close to Your Tabernacle. But in leaving You, I carry away with me the peace that comes from having consoled You, and the satisfaction of having given You, beloved Master, the reparation, faith and love You so earnestly begged of Your confidant, St. Margaret Mary.
Lord Jesus, so good and gentle, listen to my last prayer:
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … Be the perseverance in faith and innocence of the children who receive You in Holy Communion, be their Friend!
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … and be the consolation of the heads of Christian homes, be their Life!
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … and be the love of all working men who suffer, be their King!
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … and be the consolation of the afflicted, of souls steeped in desolation, be their Brother!
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … and be the strength of tempted souls, of those who are weak, be their Victory!
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … be the fervor and constancy of the tepid, be their Love!
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … and be the center of the life of the Church militant, be its triumphant Standard!
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … and be the ardent and conquering zeal of all apostles, be their Master!
Agonizing Heart of Jesus, triumph … in the Eucharist be the holiness of souls, be their Heaven here below, be their All!
When the angels of the sanctuary will praise Thee in the Sacred Host, and my child and I will be in our last agony, their praises will be ours: remember these poor servants of Thy divine Heart!
When the intimate friends of Thy Sacred Heart will console Thee, their hearts inflamed with love, and my child and I will be in our last agony, their compassion and their tears will be ours: remember these prodigals, vanquished by Thy divine Heart!
When Thy priests, religious and apostles will proclaim Thee as King, preach Thy love, and enthrone Thee in homes, and when my child and I will be in our last agony, their zeal, their fervor will be ours: remember these apostles of Thy divine Heart.
When Thy Church will pray and offer sacrifice at the altar, and my child and I will be in our last agony, her prayers and her sacrifices will be ours: remember these faithful friends of Thy divine Heart!
When Thy intimate friends, by their love and reparation during the Holy Hour, will make Thee forget the cowardice and infidelity of so many who betray Thee, and my child and I are in our last agony, their consolations will be ours: remember Thy Bethany and the faithful family of Thy divine Heart!
When Thy Mother will adore Thee in the Eucharist, to repair the innumerable crimes here below, and my child and I will be in our last agony, her adorations will be ours: remember these children of Thy divine Heart!
May Thy Kingdom come! Amen!
A Pater and an Ave for the agonizing and for sinners.
A Pater and an Ave for the universal triumph of the Sacred Heart, especially through daily Mass and Communion, the Holy Hour and the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart in families.
A Pater and an Ave for the personal intentions of all members of the family.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come! (5 times)
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. (3 times)
St. Joseph, pray for us.
St. Margaret Mary, pray for us.
Return to Table of Contents (21 Holy Hours by Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC.)