by St. John Eudes
Jesus shows His love for His Father in His Incarnation
O Jesus, I adore Thee at the moment of Thy Incarnation, which is the first instant of Thy mortal life. I adore all the marvelous things that took place in Thee at that moment. What great accomplishments were effected in Thee and by Thee, in that blessed instant, in the eyes of the Father, the Holy Spirit, Thy sacred humanity, and Thy Blessed Mother! What thoughts, what affections, what love! How Thy holy soul in that instant devoted itself, before Thy Father’s face~ to adore and glorify Him and sacrifice Thee entirely to His glory, and to accomplish all that He willed!
O Good Jesus, I adore Thy first thoughts and Thy first acts of adoration, oblation, love and praise, which Thou didst offer to Thy Father at that time. How exalted and divine were the love and glory Thou gavest Him then! Truly Thou didst give Him infinitely more honor and love in that moment alone than all the angels and all men accorded Him in the five thousand years that preceded Thine Incarnation, or ever shall give Him for all eternity.
O Father of Jesus, what satisfaction for my soul to behold Thee so loved and glorified by Thy Son! O Jesus, be Thou blessed, adored and glorified forever for the honor and love Thou didst give to Thy Father at the blessed moment of Thine Incarnation!
Jesus shows His love for Mary in His Incarnation
O Jesus, when I consider Thee in this mystery, I see by the light of faith that Thou dost entertain most exalted thoughts and great designs upon her in whom the Incarnation was accomplished, and that Thou dost indeed effect great and marvelous works in her. O Jesus, I adore the first thoughts, the first acts of love and movements of grace, of light and of eminent sanctity which Thou didst produce in Thy Blessed Mother at the moment of Thine Incarnation. So, too, do I adore the first acts of adoration, praise and love of the most admirable Mother for the Most Adorable Son.
Blessed be Thou, O Jesus, Son of Mary, for all the wonders Thou didst work in Thy divine Mother by this stupendous mystery! Blessed be thou, O Mother of Jesus, for all the glory thou hast given thy Son in this same mystery! Unite me, I implore thee, to all the love and honor thou didst give thy Dear Son in the first instant of His life, and grant that I may share in thy peerless love for Him and in thy zeal for His glory.
The Nativity, Jan Ladislaw Sýkora, 1899
Jesus shows His love for me in His Incarnation
O Most Amiable Jesus, at the same instant that Thou didst look up to the Father, after the Incarnation, Thou didst also look upon me. Thou didst begin to think of Him, refer Thyself to Him and love Him and Thou didst likewise begin to think of me, to give Thyself to me and love me. At the very instant Thou didst begin to live, it was to live for me, to prepare and acquire for me most extraordinary graces, and to form plans for my salvation. From that very moment Thou didst plan and desire to create in me an image of the mystery of the Incarnation and to become incarnate in me, that is, to unite me to Thyself, and Thyself most intimately to me, both physically and spiritually by Thy holy grace and Thy divine sacraments, and then to fill me with Thyself, and establish Thyself in me to live and reign perfectly in me. O what goodness! What boundless love! Infinitely blessed be Thou, O Good Jesus! May all Thy mercies and all Thy wonders for the children of men bless Thee forever!
I most humbly beg Thy forgiveness for the obstacles which I have put in the way of the accomplishment of the great designs Thou hast deigned to have in my regard. Never allow me to impede Thy grace again. From now on I desire to annihilate, at all costs, everything in me that opposes Thy holy will. My Jesus, may it please Thee to grant me the grace and strength to do this.
Ejaculatory prayer:
“He came down from heaven for us men and our salvation.”
Propter nos homines et propter nostram salutem descendit de caelis.
This excerpt is taken from St. John Eudes’ beautiful devotional writing, Meditations on Various Subjects, which is in the public domain. You can purchase a copy at this affiliate link.
St. John Eudes was born in France in 1601. Ordained into the Oratory of Jesus and Mary, his primary apostolate was preaching parish missions – over 120 of them over the course of his life, always with a team of confessors and catechists to minister to the parishioners. Pope St. Pius X named St. John Eudes “the father, doctor, and apostle of liturgical devotion to the hearts of Jesus and Mary.” Of St. John Eudes, Ven. Fulton J. Sheen said, “Among spiritual giants towers the figure of St. John Eudes.”