Vigils Reading

THE SOJOURN

OF OUR PEACE

From the writing of Dom Columba Marmion

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When we thus submit ourselves entirely to Christ Jesus, when we abandon

ourselves to Him, when our soul only responds, like His own, with a perpetual

Amen to all that He asks of us in the name of His Father…then Christ Jesus

establishes His peace in us: His peace, not that which the world promises, but the

true peace which can only come from Himself…

Doubtless, here below, peace is not always sensible; upon earth we are in a

condition of trial and, most often, peace is won by conflict… We may be slighted,

opposed, persecuted, be unjustly treated, our intentions and deeds may be

misunderstood; temptation may shake us, suffering may come suddenly upon us;

but there is an inner sanctuary which none can reach; here is the sojourn of our

peace, because in this innermost secret of the soul dwell adoration, submission and

abandonment to God. “I love my God,” said St. Augustine, “no one takes Him from

me: no one takes from me what I ought to give Him, for that is enclosed within my

heart…

Death cannot trouble the soul that has sought only God. Has it not confided

itself to the One Who says: “He that believes in Me, although he be dead, shall

live”…

In one of her “Exercises,” St Gertrude allows her assurance, which the

infinite merits of Jesus give her, to overflow. “Woe, woe unto me, if, when I come

before You, I had no advocate to plead my cause!… Come with me to judgment…

there let us stand together. Judge me, for the right is Yours; but remember You are

also my Advocate. In order that I be fully acquitted, You have but to recount what

You did become for love of me, the price with which You have purchased me…”

For souls moved by such sentiments, death is but a transition; Christ comes

Himself to open to them the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem… There will be no

more darkness, trouble, tears, or sighs; but peace, infinite and perfect peace.

“Peace first becomes ours with the longing and seeking for the Creator; it is in the

full vision and eternal possession of Him that peace is made perfect.”