Beloved brethren! I greet you with joy in the Lord, Who has vouchsafed you to receive the most precious gift—His holy, all-pure, and life-giving Body and life-giving Blood.
Worthily partaking of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, you become partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pt. 1:4), one with the Lord: He is in you, and you in Him (cf. Jn. 6:56). The same Lord Jesus Christ, Who was born of the Virgin, Who suffered for us and rose again, Who sits at the right hand of the Father, Whom the angels worship, Who is Lord of all—He is with you, in you, beloved brother, and you are in Him. Reverently receive this Heavenly guest, abide with Him, and pray that this Most Holy visitor of souls might be with you.
Don’t be surprised and don’t doubt that you have such a great guest. He is such in His essence; all His works are infinitely great: If He loves, then He loves infinitely: He not only gives everything that belongs to Him, that was created by Him, to those He loves, but He gives Himself, to bear His beloved in Himself and to be borne by those who love Him. Whoever clings to Him with his soul, He embraces with a tender hand, as it says in the Psalm: My soul hath cleaved after Thee, Thy right hand hath been quick to help me (Ps. 62:8).
Won’t some say: “I don’t really feel the Lord’s close fellowship with me—why is that?” Isn’t it because you didn’t pay due attention to this Heavenly guest: When He came to you, you left Him: He came to your house, and you left. Instead of taking care to receive Him, to converse with Him, you occupied yourself with vanity, with empty conversations with friends. How can He reveal Himself to you when you turn away from Him?
But try, stay at home, enter into the cell of your soul, stand mentally before the Lord, prayerfully call out to Him—and perhaps He won’t hesitate to declare Himself in His goodness, if He finds you worthy of such. If He isn’t pleased to reveal Himself to you quickly, don’t be disconcerted by this: He sometimes hesitates to appear to those who seek Him in order to arouse greater zeal for seeking Him in them. He sometimes comes secretly, as it were, to those who seek Him: He speaks to them but they don’t recognize His voice. Thus, after the Resurrection, He appeared to those traveling to Emmaus, but they didn’t recognize Him (Lk. 24:15-16). On the mountain, He appeared to 500 of the brethren. Some of them recognized and worshiped Him, while the others doubted (Mt. 28:16-17).1
So it happens now: The faithful receive Him with joy, but those who doubt don’t recognize Him. However, let none think that He can be found simply by strained thought, or an intensified desire to sense His approach. He doesn’t appear when those who question Him would like it, but whenever He pleases. Moreover, He doesn’t reveal Himself to all those who cry out to Him: “Lord! Lord!”—but to those who love Him and fulfill His word. He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me … and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him (Jn. 14:21), He told His disciples, Who loved Him. So, He Himself will appear, He will reveal Himself, He will say to your heart: “Here I am!” and you’ll easily recognize Him, without strained thought: Your heart will sense Him, as if seeing Him, and it will rejoice in Him.
May the Lord Who has vouchsafed you to receive Him help you to hold Him, behold Him, and rejoice in Him. When this happens, then everything else will seem insignificant and insufferable for you, and He alone will be your desired, dear, beloved, inextinguishable, sweet visitor of souls.
