 Welcome to The Commentaries, a podcast series from Tan in which you'll learn how to read and understand history's greatest Catholic works from today's greatest Catholic scholars. In every series of The Commentaries, your expert host will be your personal guide to not just read the book, but to live the book, shining the light of its eternal truths into our modern darkness. Visit tancommentaries.com to get your copy of the book and to subscribe for access to all the great reading plans, new episodes, bonus content and exclusive deals for listeners of The Commentaries. Hello, and welcome back. I'm Father Robert Nixon, a Benedictine mum and director of the Institute for Benedictine Studies at the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity in New Norsia, Western Australia. This is The Commentaries series on the imitation of Christ, the great spiritual masterwork written by the venerable Thomas A. Kempis. Today is day 15 of our series of podcasts, and we'll be covering book 4, chapters 1-7, of the Tan edition of this amazing work. But before we delve into its contents, let's begin with a short prayer. And book 4 is focused upon the Blessed Sacrament, so fittingly, our prayer today will focus on the presence of Christ in that wonderful mystery. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. O Christ in bread and wine disguised, hidden from our earthly eyes, but present here in mystery, from death and sin, please set us free, grant us pure and true devotion, rule our senses, thoughts, emotions, let thy blood refresh our souls, let thy body make us whole. Amen. So, as I mentioned, book 4 of the four books which comprise the imitation of Christ deals with the Blessed Sacrament. And in the early days of printing, for the first few centuries after the Middle Ages, from the 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th centuries, there were many, many editions of the imitation of Christ. Now, many of the editions in Protestant countries actually left out this book on the Blessed Sacrament because, obviously, their theology and understanding didn't have the complete fullness of truth which the Catholic Church has, but it's an integral part of the book. So this whole process of self-denial and focus on interior things which Thomas Ackampus has been leading us through, leads us to something. It leads us to union with God himself, and this union takes place in a mystical and wonderful way through the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist. Chapter 1 of book 4 is entitled with how great reverence Christ is to be received. And this is talking about the great reverence and awe with which we should receive the Holy Sacrament. And it begins with the voice of Christ saying some words from Scripture, Come to me, all ye that labour and are burdened, and I shall refresh you. The bread that I will give you is my flesh for the life of the world. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. Now these words are pretty compelling evidence about the truth of the Catholic theology of the Eucharist. The true presence of Christ in the species of bread and wine, his body and blood which unites us with him mystically. And then we have a reflection upon how great and awesome this thing is, and how little worthy we are to receive it. And we read, in this sacrament is conferred spiritual grace, lost virtue is repaired in the soul, and beauty disfigured by sin returns again. And so great sometimes is this grace that from the abundance of the devotion that is bestowed, not only the mind, but the frail body also feels a great increase in strength. I've always been struck by that line, and by the truth of it, and I'm sure many of our listeners also, that in receiving the Eucharist we receive not only this spiritual renewal, not only this purification of our soul and mind and heart, but also a kind of physical strength, and this I think is not to be wondered at, because Christ was the incarnate Son of God. He was united with us, not only in his divinity, but also in our humanity. And in this sacrament we're united with him, fully both in humanity and divinity. But he regrets then that some people don't take that much regard of the sacrament. It is therefore much to be lamented that many esteem so lightly this saving mystery, which rejoices heaven and preserves the whole world, owe the blindness and hardness of the heart of man that does not, more highly prized, so unspeakable a gift, and from daily use falls into a disregard of it. This is something which I think we need always to be careful of, that we never come to take the awesome mystery of the Blessed Sacrament for granted, that familiarity never breeds contempt in us. Chapter 2 God's great goodness and charity are shown to man in this sacrament. And this I think the title is explanatory of the contents of the chapter, that this is a wonderful expression of the love, the charity of God and his mercy in being truly present with us, because we should remember that this sacrament commemorates not only the Last Supper, but also the sacrifice of Christ upon the altar of the cross. And in a mystical sense, every celebration of the Eucharist participates in this one saving sacrifice, and we read, Behold, you are the saint of saints, and I am the greatest of sinners. Behold, you, bowest yourself down to me, who am not worthy to look up to thee. Behold, you, come unto me, thou art willing to be with me, thou inviteest me to thy banquet. Thou will give me thy heavenly food, and the bread of angels to eat, no other verily than thyself, the living bread, who didst come down from heaven, and who gives life to the world. This I think is quite wonderful, this realisation of the ineffable awesomeness of the presence of God with us in this sacrament. And he willingly joins himself to us. He invites us lovingly to this banquet, as he said, Come to me all you who labour and are heavily burdened. Chapter 3 is entitled that it is profitable to communicate often. In other words, that it is useful and beneficial to receive Holy Communion often. And we read in this chapter. The imagination of man are prone to evil from his youth. And unless your divine medicine helps man, he very quickly becomes worse. The Holy Communion therefore withdraws him from evil and strengthens him in good. But if I am so often negligent and lukewarm now when I communicate or celebrate, how would it be for me if I were not to take this remedy and seek so greater help? And although I am not fit every day nor well disposed to celebrate, yet I will endeavour at proper times to receive the divine mysteries and to make myself partaker of so great a grace. So this is a reminder of the saving and healing effects of receiving the Blessed Sacrament. And he talks about receiving Communion often, that it is profitable to communicate or receive Communion often. Now we need to bear in mind that in those days receiving the Blessed Sacrament every day or even every week for lay people was the exception rather than the rule. So to receive Communion once a month would have been considered frequently in those days. And many people, most people in fact, would receive Communion only once a year. When we read the life of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, we're told that he received Communion very frequently. But then we're told he spent three days fasting and praying each time before he received it and then three days afterwards in praying and reflecting and giving thanks. So clearly even he, a great saint and would have been a Jesuit novice at that time didn't receive Communion every week. But we need to decide for ourself what is frequent reception of Communion. And of course for priests as we celebrate the mass if possible every day that involves reception of the body and blood. And in doing that, making that sacrifice, we're sanctifying the world for other people, for lay people to receive the sacrament is also to participate in this work of sanctification and to obtain healing and strength for their own souls. Having said that, reception of Communion shouldn't become so frequent that it's a thing which is done without proper awe and reverence. And there can be times when a person genuinely doesn't feel properly disposed for whatever reason. This might be sometimes a state of sin. It could be something not quite so dramatic, a state of emotional anxiety or it could be a state of physical or mental unwellness. So we don't want to receive Communion to such a point that we forget that it's an awesome mystery. So when we say, Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed. We shouldn't just be saying that as a formula, but actually believing that. I think it's important at this point to draw a proper interpretation of what is meant by frequent reception of Communion. And of course, there's not one hard and fast rule for everyone, but it doesn't automatically mean receiving Communion every single day. Now next chapter, chapter four, many benefits are bestowed on those who communicate devoutly. And this, of course, is very true. So it's the degree of faith and devotion with which we receive the Blessed Sacrament which manifests itself in its effects and its fruitfulness upon us. We read in this chapter, I believe, O Lord, that thou art present, both body and soul in the adorable sacrament which I am about to receive. Thou wilt there make me partaker of the merits of thy blessed humanity and wilt inebriate me with the plenitude of thy divinity. Change then, O Lord, change the indifference of my heart into an ardent desire of loving me, of pleasing and possessing me. Permit me not to regard or receive thee with coldness. Who cometh to inflame my heart with the fire of thy love? Supply in me whatever is wanting of faith in a mystery so incomprehensible toward human understanding. Enliven me with a lively sense of thy presence, and grant that my heart may receive thee as its God with reverence, as its Savior with confidence, and as its Father with love. Some very beautiful words there in the reflection which follows chapter 4. In chapter 5 we are dealing with the dignity of the sacrament which we have touched on already to a great extent and of the priestly state. And in this we read that a priest clad in his sacred vestments is Christ's vice to pray to God for himself and for all the people in a suppliant and humble manner. He has before him and behind him the sign of the cross of the Lord, that he may always remember the passion of Christ. He bears the cross before him in his vestments, that he may diligently behold the footsteps of Christ, and fervently endeavor to follow them. He is marked with the cross behind that he may mildly suffer, for God's sake whatsoever adversities shall befall him from others. When a priest celebrates he honors God, he rejoices the angels, he edifies the church, he helps the living, he obtains rest for the dead, and makes himself a partaker of all that is good. Now this I think is very wonderful and inspiring words, and of course when Thomas A. Kempas was writing this book he was expecting a lot of his readers to be religious and also to be ordained priests, so I think speaking reminding them there of the great dignity of the sacrament of holy orders, and the privilege of becoming vessels of Christ. And of course Christ is the true priest, ordained priests of the church are participating as his representative. So I think this is important to bear in mind. And sometimes it can be difficult for congregations, for people to maintain the level of reverence which they should have for the priesthood. And this reverence for the priesthood is nothing to do with a certain individual demanding to be respected and so forth. On the contrary this is reverence for Christ himself, for the sacrament of ordination which is then manifested through the ordained priest. Chapter 6 is a petition concerning the exercise proper before communion, and this is a very short chapter. So it begins with the disciples saying, When I consider thy greatness, O Lord, and my own vileness, I tremble very much and am confounded in myself. For if I come not to thee, I flee from life, and if I intrude myself unworthily, I incur thy displeasure. What then shall I do, O my God, my helper, my counsellor in necessities? Do thou teach me the right way? Appoint me some short exercise proper for the holy communion. For it is necessary to know in what manner I should reverently and devoutly prepare my heart for the profitable receiving of thy sacrament, or for celebrating so great and divine a sacrifice. Now this question which takes up the whole of Chapter 6 is then answered by Christ in Chapter 7, and it's entitled of the examination of one's conscience and of a resolution of amendment. When Christ begins, in answer to the question we just heard, above all things it behooves the priest of God to come to the celebrating handling and receive this sacrament with great humility of heart and lowly reverence, with an entire faith and pious intention of the honour of God. And then continues, and this applies both to people receiving communion as well as the priest who is celebrating the sacrament, diligently examine your conscience and to the best of your power cleanse and purify it by true contrition and humble confession, that there can be nothing weighty to give you remorse or hindi or free access, repent of all your sins in general, and in particular lament and grieve for your daily offences. If you have time confess to your God in the secret of your heart all the miseries of your passion. And then he goes through a list of all the faults which people are inclined to succumb to, not necessarily to all of them but at least to a number of them, being covetous to possess much, being curious to hear news, being prone to relaxation and the pleasures of a flesh, being greedy while eating, to be hasty to make an end of prayers, to be negligent in saying prayers, to be easily moved to anger, to be prone to judge, to be joyful in prosperity but weak in adversity and so often proposing good things but doing so little. So I think there is a veritable treasure trove of material to reflection there, the necessity of examining one's conscience very carefully and of repenting of having a good resolution of amending one's life before receiving so great a second. And this brings us to the end of day 15 in our study of the imitation of Christ. Thanks very much for listening once again and joining me on this great journey. This session will be continuing with book 4, chapters 8 to 14. Until then, may Almighty God bless you. This has been an episode of The Commentaries, a podcast brought to you by Tan. To follow the show, study more of the greatest Catholic classics, and to support The Commentaries and other great free content from Tan, visit tancommentaries.com to subscribe and use coupon code C-O-M-25 to get 25% off your next order, including the imitation of Christ and countless more spiritual works to deepen your interior life and guide you to heaven.