Infant Jesus Parish Morley
Under the care of the Discalced Carmelite Friars
Under the care of the Discalced Carmelite Friars
Many of you have acquired the Mass of St. Teresa which I made available here several years ago.We have had this cassette and later the CD on our Carmelite catalogue for almost 30 years. There has always been a demand for it during the course of that time. I have now written this account of his life , dramatic conversion and sacred music and put it on our website. I encourage you to pray for Hermann Cohen`s Beatification as his life provides powerful example for youth and tremendous witness to the power of the Eucharist in today`s world. I have included his own words in praise of the Eucharist at the end of the article – if you wish to scroll down..
Hermann Cohen and the Eucharist .
During the course of the nineteenth century, the musical and priestly career of the German born Jewish musician Hermann Cohen criss crossed Europe on two fronts for a period of almost forty years . The fronts however followed one another in sequence. The first fifteen years (1834 -1849) saw Hermann Cohen being launched as a child prodigy on the piano, star pupil of the legendary Franz Liszt, wowing crowds of concert goers in several countries of Europe including concerts in London. But as he grew and matured, the young Cohen fell for the heady pleasures of Paris to where he had gravitated and he lost his way in a labyrinth of gambling addiction and excess . However in 1847 he was overtaken by the blistering pace of divine grace, or what the poet Francis Thompson described more trenchantly as `The Hound of Heaven` . He was still only a youthful twenty six years of age.
The following twenty three years represent the second front which witnessed Cohen play a different role, this time as a Carmelite priest, his life now transformed but with musical gifts still intact and now employed in the service of the Catholic altar and the Carmelite Order.
Who was Hermann Cohen?
Hermann Cohen was born into a Jewish family on November 10th. 1821, in a rather modest house, 189 Ellerntorbrucke, Neustadt, in the German port city of Hamburg. He shares a birthday with the famous German Reformer Martin Luther. Due to his precocious talent on the piano and also academically at an early age, he got preferential treatment as opposed to that of his siblings. In early adolescence his mother took him to Paris to facilitate a promising career as a musician. Here he was tutored by the legendary Franz Liszt, through whom he gained access to the higher echelons of Paris society. Not being able to cope with the adulation, like so many stars before and since , he drifted into a dissolute lifestyle in which a gambling habit loomed large.
In the lead up to his dramatic conversion to Catholicism , Cohen fell in love with a well known Paris equestrienne, later successful actor and author. Her name was Celeste Mogador, an intriguing figure in her own right, who can still, like Cohen , arouse our interest. In her memoirs , Celeste alludes to her friendship with the person introduced to her by a mutual friend as `the composer Hermann`. After initially welcoming the adulation of a celebrity as perhaps any young woman might , she took steps to cool his ardor which seems to have overheated her comfort zone. Celeste’s friends advised her to break off the relationship because : ‘It was better to cause a great grief than let him die slowly.’ Her friend Lise decided to deliver the ‘coup de grace’. That was it. She writes :`One day I saw him enter the church of the Madeleine where he stayed for two hours.’ Here indeed is an interesting development; the unrequited lover turning to the Jewish God he seemed prepared to deny if it meant gaining the love of a girl who belonged to the Christian God . Again she writes: ‘Soon after I had a letter from him in which he said that his life was no longer his own and that his trust in God was growing, in whom he was finding support. There was such dignity and such highmindedness in that letter that I wished to see him again and ask his pardon but he declined. I thought he had a mistress and I felt foolish for being naïve.’
After this of course they went their separate ways. Apparently one of her reasons for rejecting him was in fact his Jewish background. Cohen then embarked on a quest for God, visiting Paris churches for prolonged periods of reflection and prayer. And we can be certain that as he prayed in different churches , including the historic twin towered St. Sulpice, the Lord was drawing Hermann to himself in hidden ways. He didn’t consciously want to become a Christian or a Catholic yet – that came more dramatically later but the seed had been sown.
From here on we note a paradigm shift in Cohen`s lifestyle. Or perhaps it was simply the unchanged romantic now finding a true focus for his affections in God . We have an account of the transition from Cohen’s tutor Chevalier Asnarez, a retired Spanish diplomat in Paris. Asnarez has left a description of the elegantly dressed young man who was gifted at languages and had been taking some Spanish lessons with other young people from him but suddenly stopped. Nor did he reside at his address at 30 Rue de Provence anymore. However when he ran into one of Cohen`s friends he was told that Hermann had left the country – possibly on the run from creditors. Great was his surprise then when Cohen approached him at the corner of Rue St. Dominique and Rue de Borgogne in Paris with some trepidation , as he owed him money for unpaid lessons. The once elegant young man who formerly always wore a hat, fashionable clothes and polished boots was now very simply dressed . `Do you know I`m now a Catholic` he said. He invited Asnarez to his first floor apartment now on the Rue d`Universite and it was an austere one indeed. Asnarez observed that it contained only an iron bed-stead, a trunk, a piano, a crucifix, a little statue of Our Lady and two pictures, one of St. Teresa of Avila and one of St.Augustine: ‘The room was certainly austere as was his dress’. Asnarez was later to become one of Cohen`s first group of Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament.
Charles Asnarez was able to memorize pretty accurately Cohen`s story re the change that had come over him, and this can be favorably compared with Cohen`s own written account to his friend Alphonse-Marie Ratisbonne.The following is part of their conversation:
`It happened in the month of May last year 1847.Mary’s month was celebrated with great pomp at the Church of St-Valere on the Rue de Bourgogne. Various choirs were playing music and singing which drew people in. The Prince of Moscow who organized the music was known to me, and he asked me if I would stand in for him and direct the choirs. I agreed and went to take my place purely from my interest in music and a desire to do the job well. During the ceremony nothing affected me much, but at the moment of Benediction, though I was not kneeling like the congregation, a deep feeling troubled me within.Though deaf and distracted with worldly commotion it was as if I had found myself so to say , and the feeling was something completely unknown to me previously. I found myself automatically bowing my head. When I returned the following Friday the same thing happened and I was suddenly taken with the idea of becoming a Catholic. A few days later I was passing the same church of St-Valere in the morning while the bell was ringing for Mass. I went in and attended Mass , quite immobile and very attentive. I stayed on for several more Masses, not understanding what was holding me there. Even when I came home that evening I was involuntarily drawn to return to the same place. Again the church bell was ringing and the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for veneration. As soon as I saw it I felt drawn to the altar rail and knelt down. I bowed my head this time without effort at the moment of Benediction and afterwards I felt a deep peace pervade my whole being. I came home and went to bed and felt the same thing; either waking or sleeping my spirit was focused on the Blessed Sacrament. I burnt with impatience to attend further masses which I did at St-Valere and always with an inner joy.`
So what exactly was happening in these developments? To find out, we must examine Cohen`s story more closely. Cohen was naturally somewhat disturbed and he consulted his friend the Duchess of Rauzan, who later became his godmother, with a view to her introducing him to a priest.
Cohen writes to his friend fellow convert Jew Alphonse-Marie Ratisbonne:
`I told her I wished to see a priest to talk things over. This was amazing seeing I distrusted them. However I didn’t meet one immediately, but eventually I was introduced to a priest named Legrand .He listened with interest, calmed me and told me to continue as I was doing. He told me to trust in divine providence which would show me what to do. At the end he gave me the book, ‘An Account of Christian Teaching`, by Lhomond. I found this churchman good and kind and he certainly changed my opinion of priests, having only known them in the pages of novels where they threatened excommunication and hell-fire. Now I had met a learned man, humble, kind and open-minded, looking to God – not himself. So in this frame of mind I left for Ems in Germany to give a concert. As soon as I arrived there I sought out the parish priest of the little Catholic church, as I had a letter of introduction from Pere Legrand. The day after I arrived was a Sunday, but braving the ridicule of my friends, I went to Mass. Everything affected me – the hymns and prayers and God’s invisible presence. I was very moved and felt the Lord was touching me. When the priest raised the host my tears began to flow. It was a consoling and unforgettable moment…Lord you were there with me filling me with your divine gifts. I really prayed to you, all-powerful and all-merciful God and this memory of your beauty would be impressed on my inner being, proof against all attack, together with lasting gratitude for your favors..I felt then what Augustine must have felt in the garden of Cassiacum when he heard the famous words, `Take and read’..or what you yourself must have felt in St.Andrew’s church in Rome on January 20th.1843 when Our Lady appeared to you. I remembered having cried as a child, but I certainly never experienced tears like these. And while the tears flowed a deep sorrow for my past welled up. I immediately wanted to confess everything to the Lord, all the sins of my life. There they were all before me, countless and despicable and deserving God’s punishment. But at the same time I felt a deep peace which really healed me and I was convinced that the merciful Lord would forgive me, and overlook my sins and accept my sorrow.I knew he would forgive me recognizing my resolve to love him above all things from now on.By the time I left the Church at Ems, I already felt I was a Christian, or at least as much a Christian as it is possible to be before being baptized.!”
Cohen attributed the grace of conversion to Our Lady.
Here we have a good introduction to what the late Donald Cave in a study of the Eucharistic Movements of Peter Julian Eymard , Hermann Cohen and their friends, calls `the emotive piety` of Cohen. He writes:` Hermann Cohen was a passionate man refusing all half-measures`. The fact that he wished to pursue this matter while temporarily out of the country speaks for itself. Again Cave goes on to say that he `really he lived the Christian life with the same intensity and on some occasions, with the same exaggeration as characterized the years of his youth.` Cave is highly critical of Cohen`s spirituality while acknowledging his better points.
In fact when Cohen came out of the church in Ems he met a friend who noticed the change in him and enquired about it. Cohen told her what had happened and this friend urged him to thank Our Lady for this grace and be devoted to her. Then she gave him a picture of Mary’s assumption. Cohen himself needed no encouragement to attribute favors to Mary, to whom he became increasingly devoted.
Meanwhile everyone noticed the change and Cohen himself was anxious to get back to Paris and see Charles Legrand, the first priest to whom he had been introduced. Perhaps at their first encounter Legrand was somewhat suspicious of his resolve considering his past life. This time he was more impressed and felt that the Lord was at work. Now Cohen had to embark on a course of instruction and he came to see Legrand every evening. He enjoyed Catholic worship and liturgy and he felt he had shed a great burden. He longed for full communion with the Church and especially to receive the Eucharist. His fervent preparation reminds us of the intensity of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins’ desire to become a Catholic in England some years later. It was Legrand who had introduced him to Alphonse-Marie Ratisbonne, a person who shared a similar Jewish background to himself.
His reception would take place at Ratisbonne`s church.The date was fixed for August 28th. 1847, which was the feast of St. Augustine whom he would take for his patron. It was a natural choice. On his first visit to the Church of Our Lady of Victories, he heard the priest there , Charles Desgenettes , speak on St. Augustine ; his godmother , the Duchess de Rauzan chose this name for him.
Cohen recalled that he was first touched by grace in Mary’s month of May. He would later refer to her as `Mother of the Eucharist`, since he felt it was she who revealed Christ to him.
The Power of the Eucharist.
So it is clear that the events relating to his conversion marked a transition phase in Cohen`s life. We see how the soul-searching we noted earlier had yielded unforeseen results. Pivotal to the story are the twin theological themes of Eucharist and Mary (the month of May) but for Cohen there was just one – Mary , Mother of the Eucharist.
As we scan these events from this distance, it appears that a thunderbolt of grace can indeed strike people unawares. Cohen referred to Augustine of Hippo but we could also point further back to Paul of Tarsus on the Damascus road. Cohen himself, the Ratisbonne brothers, Charles de Foucauld, French author Andre Frossard – all are examples of new found faith that are extremely hard to explain away or dismiss out of hand.
The phenomenon we have witnessed in Cohen`s dramatic conversion experience then, cries out for further investigation. Like other such stories however it didn`t take place in a vacuum but emerges from a tissue of human relationships. The main characters in the cast are Cohen himself, then Marie-Therese (Theodelinde Dubouche), now Blessed, who founded the Sisters of Adoration, Raymond de Cuers, Alphonse Ratisbonne and St. Peter Julian Eymard. All of these except Eymard lived in Paris at the same time as Hermann Cohen. Eymard lived there for a short period . Certainly the story doesn`t quite break the mould of 19th century French Eucharistic spirituality but there are hints however that the whole religious movement was opening to the future.
Nocturnal Adoration of the Eucharist.
“My well-beloved when all are sleep
And seem to overlook your love;
Allow me at least a vigil keep
Alone with you in this abode.”
During the revolution and upheavals of 1848 there was much anarchy and bloodshed on the streets of Paris with thousands of people killed. Parisians got down to doing what they were good at – building barricades in the streets.
However Hermann Cohen`s thoughts seem to have been elsewhere. Gone were the strong political leanings shared in his youth with revolutionary friends. Cohen`s prayer life grew in intensity and he spent long hours in church. It might however be more correct to say that he was still politically aware but now he looked to prayer for a solution to France`s problems as did many others.
Hermann Cohen was instrumental in propagating a movement for Nocturnal Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in France, which was later to become a very popular movement indeed . Another traditional devotion had been renewed in 1843 by Mlle Maroy or (de Marois) known as the `Quarante Ore` or Forty Hours` adoration which began at St-Valere, the church that sparked off Cohen`s conversion. This practice acted as a spur for the movement of Nocturnal Adoration.
Moreover diurnal or daily adoration was already commonplace in Paris. Cohen`s friend , Leon Dupont, `the Holy Man of Tours`, describes how the Movement started in Paris in November 1848 ; `It happened that one afternoon the zealous convert who liked to visit churches where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed entered the chapel of the Carmelite Sisters , where the Blessed Sacrament was displayed in a monstrance for veneration. Behind the monstrance there was a large cross enveloped in a cloth bearing the image of the Holy Face, Veronica`s veil. There were some women gathered for adoration . Eventually one of the Sisters came to lock the chapel and politely asked Cohen to leave. He enquired why the women were allowed to remain and the Sister told him that they would be praying there all night. `
Cohen consulted his confessor, Vicar General of Paris, Francois de la Bouillerie who told him, ` you find the men and we will allow you to do the same.` De La Bouillerie himself was frequent adorer of the Eucharist at the chapel of Carmel. He also wrote a popular book on the Eucharist which was translated into English . He was the originator of perpetual adoration in the home, whereby people undertook to observe an hour`s adoration in their homes from eight in the evening until eight in the morning. So Cohen set himself the task of finding companions for this work. Hermann thought of going to the church of Our Lady of Victories, which he loved and where he knew that Cyrille Mont de Benque might be interested. In fact he was interested and together they recruited up to 17 more men. They saw their prayer vigils as an answer to the problems of the times in the light of the recent violent events referred to. They met together in Cohen`s room at 102 Rue de L`Universite on November 22nd and so the Association of Nocturnal Adorers was born. The first official meeting for adoration took place on December 6th. 1848 in the Basilica of Our Lady of Victories. This first meeting was also a response to the news that the Pope had been forced to leave Rome in disguise and set up his Curia in Gaeta, near Naples. There is a marble plaque in the Basilica attached to the pillar near the altar of St Augustine , recalling the first meeting for Night Adoration and its founder.
This church of Our Lady of Victories was Louis Martin`s favorite refuge for prayer during his time in Paris and on subsequent visits. He introduced his family to this church also. Therese herself passed over the glories of Paris and Notre Dame to sing the praises of this little church which for her was the jewel in the crown of Paris. In recent years a new central altar, octagonal in shape, has been installed in the basilica . It contains eight panels illustrating the stories of those connected with the church. One of these is dedicated to St.Therese of Lisieux to commemorate her link with the church. On 13th. May 1883 she was cured during the course of a novena of masses being offered there.Therese tells us in her autobiography the Blessed Virgin smiled at her and cured her. On 4th. November 1887, she visited the church with her father and sister Celine on their way to Rome in order to thank Our Lady for her intercession. It was because of the connection with St.Therese that Pope Pius X1 raised the church to the rank of basilica in 1927. Another panel of the altar is devoted to Hermann Cohen her Carmelite brother.It depicts him holding a chalice and host accompanied by a colleague and with an pipe organ in the background suggesting his musical accomplishments.It is indeed a fitting tribute to two Carmelites whose memories are enshrined in this place of prayer. This unprepossessing church is the most frequented shrine of Our Lady in the whole of Paris.There are around 30,000 plaques covering the walls as expressions of thanks from grateful members of the faithful. It should be mentioned too that Therese`s father Louis Martin, now Blessed, considered Nocturnal Adoration , founded by Hermann Cohen in the Church of Our Lady of Victories, as his primary devotion. While living in Alencon, in addition to his membership of the `Catholic Club` and the `Conference of St. Vincent de Paul`, he never missed his vigils before the Blessed Sacrament.
These first nights of nocturnal adoration made a great impression on him, and he would recall them later in the ‘dedication’ of his hymns to the Eucharist. There is a romantic thread running through here featuring the theme of night. It may not have been quite the dark night of St. John of the Cross, but it was a night of love and prayer that contrasted with the sleeping city or if not asleep , awake to nights of passion.
“My well-beloved when all are asleep
And seem to overlook your love;
Allow me at least a vigil keep
Alone with you in this abode.”
In this context Cohen addressed fervent prayers to God, expressing his Eucharistic devotion in his typical sentimental tones that have grated so much on the ears his critics:
“In order to contemplate you as fully as we desire, daylight hours fly by too quickly.I called together some like-minded Christians and we went along to spend the nights in your churches…a priest directed us..and the dawn found us still kneeling before you.
……”Oh Jesus my love, I should like to kindle in the hearts of my former friends the fire which burns in me.I should like to show them the happiness you give to me…..If you no longer see me trying my utmost for applause and empty respect, it is because I have found my renown in the Eucharist…If you no longer see me wasting my resources in casinos or chasing riches, it is because I have found wealth and inexhaustible treasure in the cup of love sealed in the Eucharist.If I no longer come and drown my worries in noisy parties, it is because I am nourished at the wedding feast with the angels of heaven.It is because I have found true joy.Yes I have found it, what I really love, it is mine and no one can take it from me.Unhappy riches, cloying pleasures, honors that only debase – those are the things I looked for in your company.But now that my eyes have seen, and my hands have touched and my heart has beaten on the heart of God, I can only be sorry for your blindness in pursuing pleasures that are unable to satisfy your hearts.So come to this heavenly feast which has been prepared by eternal wisdom.Come, draw near.Abandon your baubles and empty dreams, cast off the rags that cover you.Ask Jesus for the shining robe of pardon, then with a new heart, with a pure heart quench your thirst at the limpid fountain of his love.Cast yourselves down at his feet.
Give your heart to him and he will bless you, and you will taste joys so great that I cannot describe them for you – unless you come and try them.
‘Taste and see how sweet is the Lord’,
If King David danced before the ark which prefigured you o my true covenant, then with what songs of triumphs ought I break out?
“Having loosened worldly bonds, I can now penetrate the dark cloud that surrounds the tabernacle and open myself to the piercing rays from the sun of your grace, and plunge into this sea of light so as to be burnt in the flame of this blazing furnace.Then, taking shelter in the shade of this tree of life I can taste its fruits.For me those days and nights pass joyfully in intimate converse with your adored presence, between the memory of today’s communion and the hope of tomorrow’s, God united with the least of his children.”
Meanwhile De la Bouillerie, was anxious that the movement should grow and become a good influence for Paris and indeed the whole of France. He thought to make the Carmel the center of the overall endeavor with Dubouche as Director of the Third Order co-ordinating the whole Association. Unfortunately things didn`t work out quite like that.
As Cohen`s Nocturnal Adoration group expanded they had to look for other premises so as not to disrupt parish activities at Our Lady of Victories. At the end of January 1849 , Cohen, Count Raymond de Cuers and Charles Fage approached the Marists on Rue Montparnasse. It was here Cohen also met Peter Julian Eymard , now canonized , who was on a visit to Paris for the first time. Eymard was a Marist priest himself at the time and Vicar General of the Order. Cohen requested permission from him to continue their prayer vigils there which he willingly granted. Furthermore he allowed Cohen and his assistant Count Raymond de Cuers and Charles Fage, to reside in the Marist community. Here they lived on subsistence diet and the expression of their devotion showed all the exhuberance of first fervor. For instance they would not turn their backs on the Blessed Sacrament exposed but would backtrack from their places in the chapel sustaining bruised elbows and legs in the process!
Eymard and Dubouche and Cohen are major figures in the evolution of Eucharistic devotion in France in the 19th century and there was a veritable explosion of such devotion at this period. Eymard and Dubouche were founders of religious institutes still flourishing in the church and Cohen founded the Movement for Nocturnal Adoration. Had he not joined the Carmelites it is likely that he too would have founded an Order to honor the Eucharist. Julian Eymard`s own Eucharistic understanding was evolving around the time of his first visit to Paris and he was pleased to encounter perpetual adoration groups there as we noted above.
Marie-Therese Dubouche had a very complete Eucharistic understanding, in many ways anticipating developments in the next century and leading up to our own times. Though herself a visionary she never allowed her mystical experience to deprive her of a down to earth and practical approach. She had certainly imbibed the Carmelite spirit and some of her reflections were echoed in later years by St. Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity.She enlisted her visions to serve her apostolate of prayer involving the people around her. In this she greatly resembles St. Teresa of Avila. Like Teresa she too encountered more than her share of opposition.
Though Hermann Cohen was totally committed to the work of Eucharistic Adoration , he had previously set his sights on a religious vocation and eventual priesthood. He hoped that pursuing this goal would not hinder his dedication to Nocturnal Adoration.
Cohen decided to make a retreat and it would seem that it was at this time that he discovered the writings of St. John of the Cross, Co-reformer of Carmel with St. Teresa of Avila.The ideal of the Carmelite Reformer appealed to him. He would have delighted in reading about the `Living Flame of Love` which longs to communicate itself to the contemplative soul, to inflame it and transform it into itself, making it too a ‘living flame.’ This is the sublime theology of love sung about by John of the Cross in his poems, ‘The Living Flame of Love’, and ‘The Spiritual Canticle’. Later no doubt he would come the know and appreciate the Eucharistic allusions in John`s poetry, such as these verses from the `Song of the soul that rejoices in knowing God through faith`:
`This eternal spring is hidden
in this living bread for our life`s sake,
Although it is night.`
When John of the Cross goes on to describe the flowering of love in the Christian life he is at his best.
“And let us go forth to behold ourselves in your beauty.”
Here John is commenting on a phrase from his great poem, ‘The Spiritual Canticle’, in the book of the same name. With total disregard for brevity in a sentence, and a corresponding disregard for repetition of the same word in the same sentence, John includes the word `beauty`, `hermosura` over twenty times in a sentence that runs to around one hundred and fifty words! Just as a composer doesn’t hesitate to repeat a haunting melody in his work, so John is reluctant to return to earth as he gazes on the beauty of God. This is a book which appeals to all followers and devotees of the teaching of St.Teresa and St.John of the Cross. The poetic lines `silent music` and `sounding solitude` from the Canticle would certainly have appealed to Hermann Cohen who had an eye and ear trained for beauty in nature and in music and which is a characteristic of all great artists. A deep longing arises in the contemplative to be transformed into this beauty. And for John of the Cross, God’s beauty is now revealed in the face of his incarnate word.Cohen would certainly feel at one with John’s theology here . Christ is the mediator and savior in the story of salvation. Christ, dead, but risen again, Christ our lover , Christ sacrificed but alive in the Eucharist.
The nineteenth century developments in regard to the Eucharist fed on a centuries-old devotional and even mystical life of prayer for the individual Christian. In turn Hermann Cohen and others nourished the Eucharistic faith of those who would follow them. We find this very much in the Carmelite Reformers also , Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross. Teresa frequently composed her white-hot prose on divine union in the moments after Holy Communion; John in his poetry would speak about `the Supper that refreshes and enkindles love` .
However it is also possible that a more static devotion to the Eucharist could lose sight of an important point: adoration originates in the Eucharist itself, as celebrated with the faithful and it should always lead back to that same liturgical celebration. In this regard, liturgist Nathan Mitchell repeatedly points to the constant teaching of the Church from earliest times down to the present. `In this, he says, `The Council`s reforms are merely a reiteration of ancient Christian thought: the Eucharist was instituted as food and drink, not as an object to be gazed upon or carried about`.
At the same time, the present Pope, writing as Cardinal Ratzinger is highly critical of similar slogans such as ` The Eucharist is for eating, not for looking at`. He sees no need to set up a confrontation between the two.He writes:` Eating it means worshipping it. Eating it means letting it come into me, so that my “I” is transformed and opens up into the great “we”, so that we become one in him (cf Galatians 3.16) Thus adoration is not opposed to Communion, nor is it merely added to it.`
I have pointed to a period of Church life in the mid-nineteenth century. Regarding this period, Donald Cave a deceased Blessed Sacrament priest from Melbourne , Australia writes: ` From the point of view of its extension at least (this) has no parallel in the history of Christian spirituality.`
Music of Hermann Cohen in the service of the Eucharist – `How can I cease from singing?`.
The Romantic movement in music is huge in its scope from the beginning of the nineteenth century on, the period that concerns us . Hermann Cohen was part of this developing scene. He was on familiar terms with some of its best exponents – Liszt , Mendelssohn, Chopin, Charles-Marie Widor and Berlioz . `The Romantic is an idealist, he pursues love as a dream, often an impossible dream.` Later on as Carmelite priest his preaching would be imbued with a Romantic streak.
Cohen had known the limitations and disappointments of human love in his youth and now he had turned wholeheartedly to the only love that can truly satisfy. He would devote the remainder of his life to sharing this new found love with others who were also searching as he had done. He had found this love through Jesus in the Eucharist.
Like Therese of Lisieux, but unlike Hermann Cohen , Elizabeth of Dijon was also saved from traversing blind alleys in her search for happiness. However both Hermann and Elizabeth knew that by entering the Carmelite Order they were not abandoning what they held most dear – rather they were responding to a better beauty, to
Speaking of Cohen, French Carmelite Pere Benoit-Marie ocd writes; `Inspired by love for the Eucharist, inspired also by love for music, for musical Beauty – these two poles were perfectly fused : his is a true interpreter who effaces himself before the musical reality, a humble instrument who inspires people and so reaches with full freedom into the heart of the public`.
Some of Cohen`s eminent associates like Marie-Therese Dubouche and Peter Julian Eymard criticised the music Cohen played in church as being more suited to the operatic stage than the Church altar. But this criticism seems to me somewhat unfounded. If a melody is beautiful and uplifting why not use it to praise God rather than leave all the best tunes to the devil! However Sr. Marie-Pauline seems to have put Cohen`s mind at ease on this matter.
Again Pere Benoit-Marie sums up the issue:`The poet and the musician have but one heart and one soul. Indeed it is hard to say which inspired the other, the melody is the poetry singing, the poetry the melody speaking`. And we seem to have an insight into this statement from Cohen himself, writing to Marie-Pauline: `Yesterday as I read your poem only once, I seemed to hear within me the music of the hymn`. One of these in particular, `A Little Flower at the door of the Tabernacle`, for which Cohen himself partly composed the words as well as the music, greatly influenced St. Therese of Lisieux, which she refers to in her `Story of a Soul`.
Just as St. John of the Cross expressed his love for Christ in romantic poetry of extraordinary lyrical and literary power, so Hermann Cohen , romantic composer, expressed his love for Christ in the Eucharist in a Latin Mass and in four collections of motets .
As we look at Cohen’s musical work today we find it very impressive indeed. It consists of motets in polyphony, for organ or piano accompaniment. His Latin Mass dedicated to his `Seraphic Mother St. Teresa of Jesus` , was first sung on the feast of St. Teresa in 1852 by three of his musical friends. One of them was an outstanding tenor, Count de Cahuzac who later joined the Carmelite Order and attracted crowds to the church to hear him sing. Later Cohen rewrote this Mass for choirs with solos and duets with organ support. The organist in St. Andrew`s Cathedral, Bordeaux , Joseph Schad, where it was first performed , has described the Mass as follows: `This musical work, executed in 1856 in this town,(Bordeaux) is remarkable for the purity and ease of its melody, so easy to remember, something which is becoming more and more rare. The solos are beautiful in feeling; the Kyrie Eleison is reminiscent of the German school.The Sanctus and Agnus Dei, are two striking pieces and are indeed inspired`.
Benoit-Marie observes regarding the first baritone solo for the Kyrie Eleison, `We are immediately entranced by the purity and simplicity of the melody: the secret lies in the fact that the composer put all his art into an expression of faith for the glory of God alone`.
Bishop Baunard, writing at the beginning of the 20th. century, referred to them in these words.”…The artist (Hermann) was to sing the sweetest, the most mystical and penetrating melodies ever heard in our century”.
Another comment:
“Hermann’s romantic impulse never became pretentious. The listener could also sense that there is a high degree of complexity in his piano technique and there are unexpected chords which some musical commentators thought had been invented in the 1930′s! Even in the ‘ritornelle’ there is a great sense of German music.”
In regard to the motets in general mentioned above which comprise the greater part of Cohen`s sacred musical compositions , this is how it came about. He became acquainted with the above-mentioned Visitation sister in a convent near the Paris Carmel, Sr. Marie-Pauline du Fougerais. A talented poet, between the years 1841 and 1842 she had composed 32 canticles which she then put aside for several years. Then it happened that she wished to help a family threatened with financial ruin and it occurred to her that, if set to music, her poems could be sold in order to help them. Her Superior acquiesced in the idea and having consulted the Marist Superior, he suggested that they approach Hermann Cohen. He agreed and so his first collection entitled `Gloire a Marie` was born.
In regard his second collection of canticles , Cohen began composing music for more of Sr. Pauline’s poems in November 1850 and the work was finished before March 21st. 1851. Some regard this as his best effort. It allows him to express the theme of love, a favorite with the Romantics of course. Thirty were written in French and ten were in Latin. Though the lyrics for these were written by Sr. Marie-Pauline, they perfectly expressed his own Eucharistic sentiments. That was one reason why the music for them flowed so rapidly from his pen. Cohen began composing music for Sr. Pauline’s poems in November 1850 and the work was finished before March 21st. 1851.
Here is a typical extract from one of the motets:
`As this flickering flame,
Lit by faith unswerving,
Which burns by day and night
Before your altar throne,
So may my heart, my God,
Before you self-consuming,
Become at last all yours,
Become at last all yours.
In 1869 his third collection, `Flowers of Carmel` was published.This includes the beautiful `Flos Carmeli` which is included in our CD of Cohen`s Latin Mass. His fourth and final collection was called `Thabor`, comprising some twenty canticles and one Latin motet dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament . Most of these were composed in the silence and seclusion of the `Holy Desert ` he had established in Tarasteix near Lourdes. The lyrics for his last two collections were written by various authors including his friend Bishop de La Bouillerie, Pere Louis Negre SJ and at least some were written by himself.
One of testimonies to Cohen`s musical genius quoted above comes from a lifelong friend and eminent musician , Bavarian born Joseph Schad. They first met in Geneva where Liszt arranged for Cohen to be installed as Professor of Music at age 15. Schad was a fellow Professor at age 24. Later they met up again briefly in Paris on the musical circuit. Schad then spent a long time in Germany and then returned to Paris, but, he tells us, `Hermann had disappeared`! Great was his surprise when he took up a position as Organist in Bordeaux Cathedral and found Hermann Cohen was living in the vicinity as a Discalced Carmelite. `I found in him my former friend, somewhat changed physically and morally. He gave me his collection (of motets) `For the love of Jesus Christ` and I transcribed some of them for the piano.(The Collections) ` as to melody and religious feeling are very remarkable compositions, and they are based on a harmony which is pure and happily varied.`
It is true that Hermann Cohen is not well known as a composer in spite of his great talents, but at a time of great poverty in church music in the 19th century, Cohen’s motets were a welcome and original creation adapted to the times in which he lived.
Cohen`s less ambitious motets than Liszt`s sacred music, nevertheless became very popular and were subsequently often sung in cathedrals, churches and schools throughout France right into the 20th. Century.They have therefore their place in the history of church music in the 19th.century.
In conclusion one could say that Hermann Cohen , in keeping with the Carmelite tradition, saw no contradiction either in theory or practice between nocturnal adoration and sacramental communion. For him adoration was essentially mystical and was the fruit of his sharing in the Eucharist. In this he was followed by the Therese of Lisieux who described her First Holy Communion as `that first kiss of Jesus to my soul`. It has been objected that the infrequency of holy communion in the nineteenth century was due to the practice of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. But this was not the case .The infrequency of holy communion was due rather to Jansenistic influences that held sway at that time. Jansenism took tight hold of much of Europe and even the Carmelite convent on Rue d`Enfer had been infected with Jansenism, though that was over 100 years previously. Indeed people like Hermann Cohen and St. Julian Eymard and of course St. Therese of Lisieux prepared the way for both Leo X111 and Pius X’s promulgation of earlier and more frequent holy communion.
Summing up.
Hermann Cohen himself always retained his deep devotion to the Eucharist and linked it to his devotion to Our Lady whom he thought of as having revealed the Eucharist to him. Franz Liszt writing after Cohen’s death, attested that his life was one of constant and deep devotion to the Eucharist.
Many people today acknowledge Hermann Cohen as the founder and the inspirer
of the movement for the Nocturnal Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Hermann Cohen is the patron of the Mouvement Eucharistique Du Canada which is based in Montreal. There are still countless people in various countries who find this devotion a great source of strength for their Christian lives.
From the unique fact that God became man flow all good things for the Christian.The son of God became man to redeem and save us and he does this not just once but over and over again. The Carmelite Order has a strong tradition of devotion to the Eucharist. One of the stipulations of the Carmelite Rule reads: `Let an oratory be built in the midst of the cells where the brothers can meet each day to celebrate the Eucharist.`
By taking part in the Eucharist we enter into God’s plan to redeem, heal us and sanctify us . The good news, proceeding from the word becoming flesh is not something that we can allow to remain in the past or await in the distant future; rather it belongs to the present , it is being proclaimed in the here and now. The proclamation, the kerygma should move us to faith, repentance, conversion and deeper union with the Lord. Often in St. John’s gospel we are told that those who heard and witnessed such and such an event believed in him, in other words found faith. “And his disciples believed in him” , the refrain goes. The Holy Spirit is always at work urging more and more people to listen to this good news and discover this treasure of faith. You have only to think of the blind man , the crippled man or the Samaritan woman. This is what happened to Hermann Cohen in the quiet Parisian church of St.-Valere one evening in May. We need to notice how close the connection is between incarnation, Eucharist and church. Human nature united to the Person of the Word is the visible sign of God’s presence. Jesus saves us through his lived human life and through his death and resurrection. The Eucharist then reveals the meaning of people’s work to them , since bread is the `fruit of the earth and work of human hands` and wine is the fruit of the vine refined by human industry. Bread and wine are now used as a signs that God loves and saves us through his Son Jesus. This is what happens at every Eucharist.
We must live and breathe this truth. So we must never lose sight of the fact that the Eucharist must be first and foremost an occasion when we can encounter the Lord. Each celebration of the Eucharist recalls the fact that Christ came to live among us and spoke to people using an agreed formula of words which constitutes the primary human sign language. We are a group of people who freely and lovingly acknowledge God’s sovereignty over us. Under the old law God’s people acknowledged this by means of a sacrificial system, a priesthood and an identity of their own. We acknowledge these same basic facts when take part in the Eucharist. Life is made up of a web of experiences and relationships. We bring all these to God in the Eucharist and ask the Lord to help us to make sense of them. We know we ought to live in peace and communion with others. We know we ought to try to serve others and be instruments of peace and healing to them in their needs. The Eucharist is a powerful symbol of all these values.We offer a sacrifice to God and then share in it by the sacred meal of Holy Communion. Although no Eucharist can be regarded as a purely private affair still we can use the opportunities it provides to nourish our personal prayer and devotion. I mentioned already that Carmelites have a longstanding tradition of devotion to the Eucharist. St. Teresa herself was a model of this.
Hermann Cohen`s untimely death on January 20th. 1871 while unselfishly and heroically ministering to French prisoners of war , was the ultimate living out of the Eucharistic mystery which had taken hold of him in spectacular and nothing short of miraculous fashion , many years previously when he finally admitted to himself that he had lost his way.
What the Eucharist meant to Hermann Cohen – in his own words.
Hermann Cohen`s ordination as a Carmelite priest on April 19th 1851 was the culmination of a long cherished dream. Now he could devote himself exclusively to the Eucharist. In fact the made a vow never to preach without referring to this great gift of God.
So in the following extract from Cohen`s first sermon in Paris after his ordination he was conscious of having to make amends for what he looked back upon as the scandalous example he had given there only a few years previously. This passage is very typical of his devotional and florid style. It was delivered in the historic twin towered church of St. Sulpice. Eucharistic allusions are most obvious – the `golden door` of the tabernacle, the young man inviting him to sit down to a banquet and be bathed in his precious blood. And then more explicitly , `eat this, drink this`..
`One stormy night I found myself lost in a range of steep mountains surrounded on all sides by frightful precipices.The thunder rolled and the wind raged uprooting ancient trees.I was thrown down with great violence.Suddenly in the side of a neighbouring mountain, a flash of lightning revealed to me a little golden door in a granite hollow. My courage revived in the hope of finding a resting-place and a helping-hand. I dragged myself breathlessly through the brambles and through water all dishevelled, until I reached the little door on which I began to knock asking for help.As soon as I knocked the door opened and a young man, clothed in majesty and with graciousness on his lips appeared on the threshold and introduced me to his mysterious abode.Immediately the sound of the storm abated and I was restored to peace.An unseen hand removed my mud splattered cloak and plunged me in a refreshing bath where I found strength and health.This bath, not only removed every stain of the journey, but also healed my wounds, filling my veins with new life.He renewed the joy of my youth.The perfume he emitted was so exquisite that I wished to know where it came from.
Think of my amazement to see beside me the handsome young man who had opened the door to me.He held out his hands and in each there was a deep wound from which the blood was flowing.I looked at him and looked at myself and I saw that I was bathed in this young man’s blood.This blood filled me with such inner strength that I felt ready to face a thousand storms even worse than the one I have just described.And I was even more surprised when his blood, far from making me turn red, made me strikingly white instead, whiter indeed than snow..Gratitude and love began to stir in my heart.I was hungry, I was thirsty – the fatigue and struggles of my journey had drained me, but he made me sit down to a banquet, in a brightly lit festive hall – though I could see no lamps there.The young man himself was the lamp there and rays of light shone from his face. I was hungry, I was thirsty.He gave me bread and said to me,’eat this’.He offered me a cup saying to me, ‘drink this’.He blessed the bread, then held the cup to the wound in his side and it was at once filled with a marvellous wine.When I had eaten and drunk I understood that this was no ordinary food, but nourishment which transformed me and gave me a deep joy.I looked at the handsome young man and saw him dwelling in me and being adored by angels..Then the young man spoke to me.His words were like heavenly music , delighting me and causing me to shed tears of love and joy.And then he drew me to himself, embraced me and held me to his heart, caressing me and soothing me gently with the melody which fell from his lips.I lay my head on his breast and my happiness was so great that my spirit fainted.
(I slept on the heart of my loving friend.It was no ordinary sleep, but one filled with an immense sense of peace which the young man induced in me after the storm.The psalmist sings:
‘In peace in him I sleep and take my rest’.
I slept a long time and I had a dream of heaven during my sleep.O dream of love,I wish I were able to express it.Then he touched my eyes and I awoke at once filled with inexpressible love.Bowing down I thanked him for his welcome and he said to me, ‘if you wish you can stay here every day.Each day I will bathe you in my blood.I will warm you in my heart, I will enfold you with my light and I will make you sit down to my table..If you leave me, watch out for the storm will quickly begin again.’ ‘Let others’,I said,’fight the storm and wade through the mud on the road,but for me, since you will keep me here, I wish to live here, here I wish to die’.Yes, every day I will drink from the torrent of life which flows from your open side.But tell me your name so that I can bless you with the angels. He replied,’my name is love, my name is Eucharist, my name is Jesus.’
Let us then love Jesus Christ, for there is only one happiness to love Jesus Christ and to be loved by him.”
Sermon at the church of St-Clothilde, Paris , 1858.
This magnificent twin spired church had only recently been completed. The famous organ builder Aristide Cavaille-Coll, a friend of Herman Cohen , had installed the organ. Cesar Franck became organist there the following year and remained there for over thirty years.
The next sermon is less personal and less autobiographical. Cohen had shortly before met the Cure d’Ars and consulted him about founding a movement for Thanksgiving.The sermon concerns a new `Eucharistic Work`, Cohen had in mind and in addition to his Movement for Nocturnal Adoration before he became a priest, this new movement became a second major contribution to Eucharistic devotion in those times.
Movement for Thanksgiving
`Some months ago I found myself by the side of a venerable priest , the perfume of whose sanctity has spread across the catholic world.I wish to talk of the virtues of the admirable Cure d`Ars.In spite of the constant crowd of penitents and pilgrims who gather there I had the pleasure of being able to speak to him for a short while. I said, Father, have you not said that it is good to ask the Lord for those graces with which he will reward those who receive them? `Yes`,he told me, ` its very true: we are like the lepers who are cured but don’t say thanks.` But , Father, would it not be possible to found a Work which will have for its aim to return unceasing thanks to God for the torrent of favors which he pours out on the world? Yes, he said, you are right. Do that, God will bless you.It is a lack in works of devotion, a lack that ought to be filled.` My brothers, this is the first time for me to speak in public about this thought which has not yet progressed from the sate of being a simple project.
“Many people in close contact with God in prayer have confided to me the complaints communicated to them by the Lord about the ingratitude of the world to the gifts he has given.
And yet our praise is not the highest form of thanks. It is through the divine Eucharist and through it alone, that you can rightly pay your debt of gratitude to God.`
…………………………………….
Having described two degrees of love, Hermann went on to talk about a third:
`This is the third, the highest degree of thanksgiving which consists in adding to the gratitude of heart and tongue that of hand and arm, giving back something more than one has received. To give back merely what one has received is to give nothing. It is in the holy Eucharist that we find a surplus, something freely given, of which St.Thomas speaks.
Here there appears at first sight to be a difficulty. We have nothing that is not infinitely inferior to God, and all that we have, we possess solely by his mercy.The thanksgiving we express for his gifts is itself only an outpouring of his goodness. We can say to God with even more reason than the Roman nobleman who said to Augustus who had spared his father`s life, a sworn enemy of the emperor, `Look Caesar, the only harm I have received from you, by the magnitude of the benefit you have bestowed on me, is that you condemn me to live an die an ungrateful person, without the means of recognizing sufficiently the debt I owe you.`
And then, my dear brothers it seems to me that our holy faith places in our hands the possibility of fulfilling the precept of St. Thomas, who wishes that we give back to God more than we owe him.
Here, it should strike us how important thanksgiving is.
And first , our faith teaches us that the demands of justice require us under God to fulfill the precepts and commandments of the Church; every time then we do something in addition to this, something that is not strictly required for our salvation, in some manner we give to the Lord something more that he has wished us to give, then in his immense goodness , for a great number at least he is content with us keeping the commandments.
Every time then you do a good work, over and above what is absolutely required, you can in some manner acquit yourself of what you do owe God;every alms that you give, beyond what you owe in justice, will be an alms offered in thanksgiving.Every work of mercy,every sacrifice, every denial you impose on yourself, beyond the penance imposed by the Church, will be an act of thanksgiving infinitely pleasing to God.Every gift you give,every flower you offer to brighten up the worship we render him, every communion you make in addition to your Easter duty, every mass you attend in addition to your Sunday obligation, all the works in a word of devotion and love are like a donation with which you recompense God like a surplus added on to the sacred duty of worship.
And now I come at last to a point I want to put forward in this talk, in fact I hate to be repeating it so often – on the occasions of communions, and of thanksgiving masses that I talk about. It is in the divine Eucharist and by it alone that we can worthily return thanks to God.Yes, by it alone in a worthy manner; for it is in the divine Eucharist that you find this surplus this thanks about which St. Thomas speaks. This is the point I want to emphasise to you. I say that the Eucharist is the only means of thanksgiving worthy of God that it is within our power to offer and I can show this in the first instance from the words of the Holy Spirit himself who cries out in a holy outburst on the lips of the royal prophet:
Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi? ‘What shall I render to the Lord for all he has given me? And he joyfully replies , `Calicem salutaris accipiam`, `I will take the chalice of salvation’, he gladly sings. This chalice of salvation , this chalice of the Lord is nothing other than the Eucharist.
Secondly , I can show it from the words of Jesus Christ , when he instituted the testament of his love in the cenacle, at the moment he gave his body and blood to the apostles and to us, he said, Hoc facite in meam commemorationem`, ‘do this in memory of me’, and the thing that proves it is in memory of his gifts is that which is written, `Memoriam fecit mirabilium suorum, escam dedit timentibus se`.in other words, in memory of all I have done for you.The Lord in his mercy instituted a memorial of his gifts, giving himself as food to those who fear him. The sacrament of the altar has always been called the memorial, the resume of God’s gifts to us.
God knows the human heart, how soon it forgets and becomes ungrateful.Just as ingratitude has its source in forgetfulness of God, so gratitude is based on the memory of his goodness.God ordered the Israelites to keep a container filled with manna in the tabernacle, in memory of the gifts he showered on them when he fed them in the desert.Manna has always been regarded as an image of the holy Eucharist.But the name of the true manna ,the lovely name ‘Eucharist’ expresses in one word all the treasures of God’s goodness literally in Greek it means ‘thanksgiving’. But since human thanksgiving is not enough,this treasure is called,’the divine Eucharist’,- the divine act of thanksgiving, infinite and inexhaustible, suitable for the greatness and goodness of God.O yes, I know it, O my God,when I offer you this host of praise and love, I hear again your father’s voice from heaven as Jesus entered the waters of the Jordan and you said, `Hic est filius meus dilectus in quo mihi bene complacui`.’this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased’.If then we offer him his well beloved son who became our heritage in the divine Eucharist, we render to the eternal father a thanksgiving which is infinite, agreeable, one which is worthy of him and thus supreme liturgical praise.
This is what the church sums up and professes in that truly sublime hymn in the mass called the Preface, the thanksgiving song of creation…The priest at the point of offering to God Jesus Christ himself who comes to immolate himself in order to cancel all the debt owed to the divine Majesty,debts of adoration, of acknowlegment, ,of reparation, of supplication, first raises his voice in order to raise our hearts to heaven and says, `sursum corda , ‘lift up your hearts’, and when we have replied that our hearts are in unison, habemus ad Dominum,’we have raised them up to the Lord’,implying that we , like him are ready to praise and thank God for his goodness, dignum et justum est, he responds intoning the song of praise ,`it is truly right and just ,equitable and salutary that we give thanks always and everywhere, O holy Lord, All powerful Father,,eternal God, per Christum Dominum nostrum,through Jesus Christ our Lord, by whom, per quem, the Angels praise your majesty, the Dominations adore you, the Powers fear and revere you , the heavens and the powers of the Heavens , all celebrate your glory together, leaping in transports of joy.Through Jesus Christ we ask that our voices will be heard, and that we join in singing with them, bent before you, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.!
In this way, brethren, we can give thanks to God our divine mediator, Jesus in the Eucharist, the sacrifice of the altar, through Jesus Christ, without whom we cannot pay back to God either glory or praise or blessing , corresponding to the unlimited greatness of his gifts.
This is what sets our faith apart compared with other religious and philosophical systems current in the world.They don’t have the power or even the very concept of mediating between the finite and the infinite, between the world and its author which unites the tow in a supreme way without any confusion.
………………………………………………
Here then are my thoughts.
In such and such a parish in Paris you can find devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in place;in another devotion to the poor souls in purgatory.;further afield there is the confraternity of the holy Rosary;in others special devotion t the holy Cross for the crown of thorns of our Savior.So, in the same way I wish to see St.-Clothilde`s distinguished by a special ardour , on fire with love for the holy Eucharist. But, you will say to me, devotion to the august Sacrament of our altars is widespread,its well established,its alive in all the churches of the diocese.I agree, I`m glad and I praise God: but still here is my response:
The holy sacrifice of the mass, the sublime summing up of all our religious acts, was instituted by Jesus Christ for four principal ends:
1.To offer God the supreme cult of adoration, acknowledging his supreme reign over all that exists.
2. To return thanks to God for all God`s gifts;
3.To make reparation to God for all the offences against God`s majesty;
4 . To obtain from God fresh grace in the temporal and spiritual order.
Now, my people, we already have three forms of perpetual adoration, which correspond to three of these principal ends; but for the fourth there remains a vacuum to be filled
In effect, perpetual adoration day and night of the Forty Hours corresponds to the first need for a supreme and unceasing cult, which is known as the cult of Latria.
Reparatory adoration also exists and we admire those generous victims, who spend day and night with Jesus at the foot of the tabernacle.
Supplicatory adoration of intercession is found also more frequently than the others, consisting of a number of people who constantly come and pray to the divine Eucharist, whether for the conversion of the sinner, or the healing of the sick or for protection from danger.
But nowhere have I seen one Eucharistic practice having for principal and special purpose to offer God uninterrupted thanksgiving for all the gifts received by means of all these other devotions which I have instanced.
The practice which I have thought through and which I will recommend to your devoted reflection, parallel to those that already exist is a totally gratuitous and generous seal over all; for , while others ask for forgiveness or pray for grace, here by contrast we always and everywhere return thanks to God.I don`t of course intend to exclude those other good works – God forbid! Recommendations to prayer need no apology, for we are so poor,such great sinners, that always and everywhere we ought to strike our breasts..but I would like to say that these last two acts of religion are supplementary, a necessary accompaniment by reason of our weakness. But the overall intention of adoration will be precisely the recognition and, if I may use the expression, the reimbursement to God for gifts for which were are indebted to him and this cancellation will work itself out by means of the treasures contained in the divine Eucharist.;Because, as the Council of Trent states, `the Eucharist contains, embraces and absorbs all God`s goodness.`
Furthermore, just as you go to Our lady of Victories to obtain the conversion of the sinner , or go to St-Merri for the purpose of belonging to the Archconfraternity of the souls in Purgatory, to pray for the deceased, you will come and approach this new Eucharistic practice to offer amass of thanksgiving or to recite the Te Deum to acknowledge our gratitude.
Hermann Cohen to Rome at the beginning of 1859 and asked Pope Pius 1X for permission to found such a confraternity.This was officially launched in the Carmelite church at Lyons presided over by Cardinal de Bonald.The Pope further agreed that the movement should be elevated to an archconfraternity so that Hermann could found other such groups throughout France. In a few years this movement counted up to 50,000 members.
More Eucharistic reflections
The following is the Foreword to a collection of motets composed by Hermann Cohen :
“Adorable sacrament, blessed spring from which my dry lips can drink the first fruits of eternal life, my heart is filled with joy.I need to bless you and sing your praises in songs of joy and thanksgiving.Indeed I have learnt that my brothers in Paris can now adore you each day in the practice of perpetual adoration.The Church bells in the city are ringing, and processional banners go before you.The Archbishop is promoting this devotion,calling Christians together to arrange the altars and asking the children to come and sing.He himself is taking part in this uninterrupted adoration from church to church, making it a kind of image of the eternal praise given by the blessed to God…You have given me o God of love, the language of harmony.Am I to remain dumb and not use it? If your friends do their best to adore you o divine sacrament, have I not also an hosanna to sing to your glory and a palm branch to place beneath your feet? Adored Lord, I must unite my songs with the hymns of Paris! For it was in that great city,hidden in the Eucharist that you revealed the truth to me, and the first mystery you revealed was that of your real presence in the blessed sacrament. Even then, although I was still a Jew,I wished to present myself at the holy table and receive you.
I was anxious for baptism in order to be united to you.But I did indeed receive untold consolation from you.And when at last I could receive the heavenly banquet I found there the strength I needed, and I was changed.It became my protection and treasure;I longed to drink that living water and I hungered for the bread of angels.I am now obliged to sing joyful hymns to you, because it was your sacrament which did all this,which turned me from what was harmful to a frugal life, and from an extravagant life to one of a humbler kind.Not only have I made solemn vows which consecrate me to you in Mary’s order and makes me your beloved for ever,but you ask me out of your jealous love, to make a further vow appropriate to your divine sacrament, a vow which will bind me with indissoluble bonds to the love of love itself”. (The vow referred to was Hermann’s resolution never to preach without mentioning the Eucharist.)
O Jesus my love, how I want to enkindle my former friends with the love with which you have enkindled me.How I want to witness to the happiness which you give me.But unfortunately I stop short, not able to say any more, for my songs don’t have the fire of love I wished them to have and I can do no more.It is to you o God that I come for help.Give me the hidden strength with which you alone know how to draw me.Then like a torch thrown on a heap of wood,it will light a fire of love for the Eucharist.Amen “.
Carmelite Priory, Agen, March 1851.
Preface to another collection of Motets.
`O Adorable Jesus, adorable for me whom You have led into the solitude that You may speak to my heart … for me whose days and nights pass sweetly away in heavenly exchange with Your adorable Presence; between the remembrance of today’s Communion and the hope of the Communion of tomorrow . . . in the loving union of God with the poorest of His creatures; I fervently embrace the walls of my beloved cell, where nothing disturbs me from my only thought, where I breathe but to love Your Divine Sacrament; where, freed from the burden of ‘perishable possessions, stripped of all that holds to earth, and breaking through the snares which take the senses captive, I can, like the dove, fly upwards to the heavenly region of the Sanctuary, pierce the clouds of mystery enveloping Your Tabernacle, bask in the searching, rays of this bright Sun of Grace, plunged in an ocean of light, and consumed as in the flames of a glowing furnace . . .
Then, taking shelter in the refreshing shade of this Tree of Life, I inhale the fragrance of the flowers, I en joy the sweetness of the fruits, .. . . I am soothed by the melody of Your loving words, and, overcome with. happiness and love, I fall asleep at the feet of my Well-Beloved . Let those come who knew me formerly, those who despise the God Who died for love of them. . . . Let them come, 0 my Jesus! and they will learn if You can change the heart. Yes, worldlings, I say to you, prostrate before this Love so misunderstood, – if you see me no more upon your soft carpets, straining to win applause, and courting empty honors, it is because I have found glory in the lowly a Tabernacle of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,- Jesus our God. If you no more see me stake the inheritance of a whole family on playing cards, or rush eagerly after money, it is because I have found riches and treasures inexhaustible in the ciborium wherein is Jesus in the Sacred Host!
If I no longer take my place at your sumptuous tables or give myself up to your frivolous festivities, it is because I have found a feast of delights, in which I am nourished for immortality, and rejoice with the Angels of Heaven; it is because I have found the highest happiness; yes, I have found it; that great good which I love is my own, I possess It, and no man can take It from me!
Poor riches, pitiful pleasures, humiliating honors were those which I so eagerly ran after with you. . .. But now that my eyes have seen, my hands have touched, my heart has beaten beneath the Heart of God! Oh! how I pity you who, in your blindness, pursue those pleasures which are powerless to satisfy the heart!
Come, then, to this Heavenly Banquet prepared for you by Eternal Wisdom. Come, draw near.Leave behind you your baubles and fantasies, cast away these mocking rags which cover you; ask of Jesus the white robe of pardon, and, with a new heart,-with a pure heart, drink of the limpid fountain of His love.
Believe me, now that your Divine Saviour, to give you audience, daily ascends His throne within your Churches, He will hear you with still greater clemency. Throw yourselves at His Feet; give Him your heart, and He will bless you, and you will taste joys, -joys so immense that, if you do not taste them for yourselves, I cannot describe them to, you. Taste then and see how gracious the Lord is!
O Jesus, Beloved, would that I could show to them the happiness You give to me! No, I can venture to affirm that if Faith did not teach me that to contemplate You in Heaven is a still greater joy, I could not believe greater happiness possible than that which I experience from loving You in the Eucharist, and receiving You into my poor heart- so rich through You! . . . What peace! what blessedness,- what holy gladness!`
——————————————————————————————-Tadgh Tierney ocd, Morley
With the opening of our borders on 14 November, the need to revisit our commitment to the Phase 4 COVID-19 regulations is of paramount importance. While family groups will be [...]
Dear Parishioners, It is a distinctive characteristic of the teaching of Jesus that we are called to forgive others, even our enemies. Read more…