Rorate Caeli

Minuisti eum paulo minus ab Angelis:
gloria et honore coronasti eum.


Oh, how exceeding great is the glory of Aloysius, Son of Ignatius!

Never could I have believed it, had not my Jesus shown it to me. Never could I have believed that such glory as that, was to be seen in heaven! Who could ever explain the value and the power of interior acts? The glory of Aloysius is so great, simply because he acted thus, interiorly. Between an interior act and that which is seen, there is no comparison possible. Aloysius, as long as he dwelt on earth, kept his eye attentively fixed on the Word; and this is just why he is so splendid.

Aloysius was a hidden martyr; whosoever loves Thee, my God, knows Thee to be so great, so infinitely amiable, that keen indeed is the martyrdom of the one who sees clearly that he loves Thee not so much as he desires to love Thee, and that Thou art not loved by Thy creatures, but art offended! .... Thus he became a martyrdom unto himself.

Oh, how he did love, whilst on earth! Wherefore, now in heaven, he possesses God in a sovereign plenitude of love. Whilst still mortal, he discharged his bow at the Heart of the Word; and now that he is in heaven, his arrows are all lodged in his own heart. For this communication of the Divinity which he merited by the arrows of his acts of love and of union with God, he now verily and indeed possesses and clasps for ever.
Saint Mary Magdalen de Pazzi