Novena Day 5 - Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross

PRAYER:  O my God, the time of my justice has not yet arrived for me. You have spared me until this day, to breathe the sweet air of Your mercy. You have granted me the grace of this time. Suffer me, then, to say with Your Prophet: “Enter not into judgment with Your servant, O Lord, for in Your sight will no man living be justified.” I implore Your goodness and I hope for a favorable sentence. Help me to discern my faults and to work on virtue. Give me the grace to always turn to Our Good Mother and Queen for guidance while there is still time on this earth. When the time comes to stand before You, I pray that She may be at my side and plead for Your mercy at the time of my judgment.

MEDITATION:  The rigor of the judgment which will be exercised upon the soul at the moment of its separation from the body, exceeds all that we can imagine, since the Judge is God. Who possesses an infinite exactitude in the appreciation of faults, an infinite precision in the examination of consciences, an infinite justice in the application of punishment. This examination, this appreciation, this sentence, requires not a considerable time, for the soul invested all at once with the brightness of the light of God will see herself entirely as she is, not only her sins, but her least imperfections, her abuse of the graces of God; and the consequences of all these faults will appear to her in an instant. Nothing can escape her; neither the sins of her youth of which she has lost the remembrance, nor the faults committed in the indulgence of her passions.  She will be judged upon the least thought she had formed in her mind; each word that had escaped her lips; all her affections, her desires, her hatreds, her repugnances; upon all her steps, actions and the undertakings which had filled her entire life. Nothing will be omitted, since, according to the testimony of Jesus Christ Himself, we will render an account for every idle word.

This account will extend to all the gifts of nature and of grace; it is Jesus Christ Who again assures us of this in His Gospel: “Render an account,” says the Master to His unfaithful servant, “Render an account of what I have confided to your care.”

Yes, render Me an account of your body and all its senses, of your soul and all its faculties, your hands, your feet, your eyes, your mouth, your ears – how have you used them? Your understanding, your memory, your will, to what have you applied them? How have you used riches, beauty, credit, nobility? What use have you made of My creatures: the light of day, the darkness of night, fruits, plants, animals – in a word, of all the beauty and riches with which I have clothed the universe for You? Render Me an account.

And of grace – there will be an account. The soul will understand then their infinite value and the important obligations which flow from them upon her. She will then see the sacramental and actual graces that were given her. She will render an account of all the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, and of the manner in which she has corresponded to them; of the trials, afflictions, spiritual aridities, as well as of the consolations and interior lights, because all have been measured out to her with equal wisdom for her salvation.  This soul must answer to the Judge, not only for her own sins, but also for the sins and faults which she has caused others to commit; for the relaxation and dissipation, of tepidity and sloth which she has given them. For those guiding others, a good example, warnings and corrections will be examined.
He will judge even our good actions, examining for what motive and under what circumstances they have been performed, and reducing their number to those which have been truly meritorious, not according to the opinion of man, but according to that of Truth itself. How many of our good works will be found infested with secret vices and soiled with the poison of self-love. May they not be found worthless in the eyes of God on Judgment.
​
May the Blessed Mother show us the way to perfection. May She guide us on to seeing what is good, right and holy. May we not seek to please man but to please God. May we weep and repent now over our sins, so that at our judgment and being near Our Blessed Mother we may hear, “Come Ye Blessed of My Father” – “Come good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”