As I mentioned in the previous post, this is the Act of Oblation that I noticed when I picked up a notebook, unpacked awhile ago, that had been packed for a several years. The page with this Act of Oblation caught my eye in the flutter of pages. I looked through a bit, and this is from a book I have and read sometime after I'd been to a Benedictine monastery and was perusing their library shelves.
Some of you might find the oblation excessive or strange; regardless, such an act is not to be taken lightly, and not without discernment and a willingness to accept whatever the Lord allows and wills for you. Such offerings (as is the case with my own personally written Vow of Consecration of Suffering that I offered the Lord in 2000) are either accepted by the Lord or not, based on His knowing of our hearts and minds and souls, of what we are capable and what we are not. But if such an act of vow is accepted, one must be prepared to endure the unfolding and persevere in whatever trials.
This Act of Oblation is taken from the Guide for Victim Souls of the Sacred Heart, compiled by Fr. Kreuter, OSB, (Benziger Bros. 1939) and also from a previous Manual for Victim Souls of the Sacred Heart, Schmidt, Max, ed., 1920. The oblation was advised per discernment and offering in the presence (and approval) of one's confessor or spiritual director. As is the case with the lesser grasp and focus of mystical theology in seminaries and among parish priests currently, the offering of suffering in formal sense is not, as one could say, in vogue, in general practice or awareness.
At the time this Act of Oblation and the Guide for Victim Souls of the Sacred Heart was compiled, there was a growing movement of women, developed in Europe, of women whose charism, of sorts, was to unite their sufferings with that of Christ, to be willing to suffer in union with Christ's sufferings, for the salvation of souls and for the Holy Catholic Church. A priest was their director, and they took the name of Daughters of the Heart of Jesus.
Over passage of time in the 20th century, the changes brought in about in effect of the Second Vatican Council, and a general shift in tone within the church, the movement of those offering their sufferings and making oblations as Victim Souls of the Sacred Heart of Jesus waned. In a more modern mindset and with the movement more toward corporal works of mercy and lay associations, lay communities, the emphasis veered from and priests even looked down upon the mystical; the offering of oneself as a victim soul of Jesus was less heard of and discouraged by those who did not understand the value of suffering for those called mystically to such an offering. Granted, it can easily be misunderstood and devalued, even categorized as sadistic, morose, masochistic.
Thus, such a vow or offering of one's suffering, is not to be taken lightly. Frankly, the Lord will not ask this of those with psychological aberrations; always, too, the Lord can reject such an offering. A spiritual director such as a holy priest, bishop, or religious order superior are wisely necessary to help discern if the Lord is calling a soul to be a victim of love and suffering, of His Sacred Heart.
I share that I received a call from Jesus, discussed and discerned with my spiritual director. Then followed a verbal offering and then a more formal, written vow, and thus my offerings and renewal of offerings over the 24 years. My confessors, my late spiritual father, a monastery abbot (now emeritus), a bishop, and a few priests who either received my vow and renewals or with whom I asked permission to include something additional in the offering, have found the offering of myself as a victim soul of Jesus, to be appropriate, acceptable, and even beautiful.
Yet those who have read much of my various blogs will note the reality of how difficult is the suffering, and how I feel often enough, that I do not suffer well. The Lord knows; only the Lord knows my heart and my willingness, however. Suffering through not only physical pain but also temporal trials and persecutions, is not at all easy; the devil seems to all the more attack; the victim soul can feel at times very much abandoned by God and by the Church. Of course, one is not--but suffice it to emphasize, offering to suffer in union with Christ is a humbling and quite serious offer.
Act of Oblation
"Ecce Venio," Behold me, O good and sweet Jesus! Divine Lamb, perpetually offered on our altars for the salvation of the world. I wish to be united to Thee, to suffer with Thee, to be immolated with thee in union with the Daughters of the Heart of Jesus.
"For that end I offer Thee whatever pains, griefs, humiliations, and crosses Thy Divine Providence has placed in my path. To Thee I offer them according to the intentions for which Thy Sacred Heart offers and immolates Itself.
"May my poor sacrifice bring blessings upon the Church, on the priesthood, on our country, on our brethren and all poor sinners. Be pleased to accept it through the hands of Mary, our Mediatrix, and in union with the sufferings of Her Immaculate Heart. Amen."
Now, the above may seem quite simple. I admit it is far more concise than the Vow of Consecration of Suffering that I wrote five years prior to my coming upon this guide book in the Benedictine Monastery's (and seminary) library. Yet I am further emboldened that Jesus, His Mother, the Holy Spirit, and my guardian angel approved of and inspired all that I wrote in my personal offering, since I was unaware of any other like-kind offerings already written. (I do plan to share it in a blogpost; for one thing, it is humbling in the pouring out of far more detail than necessary!)
While I emphasize the seriousness of offering to suffer in union with Christ, and to offer the sufferings the Lord deigns to allow us in the course of our daily lives, I also remind that when we offer to suffer and offer our sufferings in union with Christ, he determines if and what and when and how much. Also, we no longer suffer alone nor without help. We suffer in the faith, hope, and love of God Himself. His yoke is easy, His burden light. He is with us through all, even when we forget in the throes of suffering that we have offered ourselves to suffer in union with Christ.
I will add that one time in particular the Lord sent an angel to remind me of my offering. It was after I had made a simple offering of my sufferings in union with Jesus, for His Church. That offering was a simple prayer, a pleading sentence or two off the top of my head one morning while praying before the Tabernacle, not long after I'd become Catholic but upon learning of something terrible that a priest was allowing and in fact benefitting from--reprehensible, really, and I was not able to dissuade him.
So that night, in a dream the Lord sent an angel to me. The angel was in the form of a woman, and she sat by me and tightened a halo around my head. It was in effect like the spinal headache that I was suffering in a pain siege. I cried out in pain, and she simply spoke in gentle tone and with slight, kindly smile, "But you agreed to this, did you not?" Yes, I had, and I admitted as such.
Nor will I forget that I agreed to suffer... other than when in the throes of suffering--particularly sufferings that are of the persecution types involving people, especially my fellow Catholics or priests, or when I am taken unaware by some suffering caused by a wrong action of someone or thing unexpected, of the temporal world. Yet I still complain; I still do not suffer heroically or well due to my own weakness of will and imperfect faith and love.
With more perfect faith, more hope in God, more love of God in Himself I will suffer better because it will not be me suffering, but me in Christ and Christ in me, suffering in His exaltation and His purity of love as God.
God bless His Real Presence in us!
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