In His Presence: Seven Visits to the Blessed Sacrament is the perfect book for holy week, which it is. In His Presence: Seven Visits to the Blessed Sacrament is short, at 55 pages, contains illustrations from Dante’s Divine Comedy (a classic), and should appeal to those interested in deepening their knowledge of the Eucharist heading into Easter. This short book, from 2006, is a great resource for Catholics seeking to deepen their faith this holy week. This book will also help those who want to get better at meditation. Are you currently looking to deepen your faith heading into Easter?
Summary of In His Presence: Seven Visits to the Blessed Sacrament
Here are the seven visits listed in In His Presence: Seven Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, each has a chapter dedicated to it, and in each chapter, the meditative visits map to a deadly sin and a cardinal virtue. There is a helpful summary table in the introduction. The first visit is the seven days of creation, which maps to the deadly sin of pride and the cardinal virtue of faith. The second visit is the seven beatitudes. That corresponds to the deadly sin of envy and the cardinal virtue of Justice.
The third meditation is the seven last words of Christ on the cross. Which corresponds to the deadly sin of anger and the cardinal virtue of courage. The fourth visit is the seven times Jesus said, “I am.” That one corresponds to the deadly sin of sloth and the cardinal virtue of prudence.
The fifth visit is the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That corresponds to the deadly sin of covetousness and the cardinal virtue of temperance. The sixth visit is the seven corporal works of mercy. This one corresponds to the deadly sin of gluttony and the cardinal virtue of Charity. The seventh meditation is the seven sacraments, which correspond to the deadly sin of lust and the cardinal virtue of hope
Dante’s Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri. It was begun around 1308 and completed around 1321, shortly before the author’s death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of Western literature. The Divine Comedy is a classic, simply put.
In brief, the Divine Comedy arranges the sinful into seven circles of hell. Dante mostly picks contemporaries to place in hell, but he also picks some of the greatest scoundrels. Notably among these are the three greatest scoundrels in history who are being chewed by the three-mouthed satan. They are Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, and Cassius and Brutus, who betrayed Julius Caesar.
Therefore, it is fitting that Christine Haapla chooses to include images from it. These are the images included in In His Presence: Seven Visits to the Blessed Sacrament:
The Cross
The Pridful – Oderisi
The Sun – Glorified Souls
The Envious
Mars
Jupiter
The Cross
The Eagle
The Eagle
The Avaricious
Saturn
The Queen of Heaven
The Gluttons
The Heaven of the Fixed Stars
Crystalline Heaven
The Seventh Circle – The Lustful
The Empyrean
The Heaven of the Fixed Stars
Conclusion
In His Presence: Seven Visits to the Blessed Sacrament presents a surefire way for Catholics to deepen their faith during holy week. The meditations tips are great and give Catholics something to do during Eucaristic Adoration. Plus they offer helpful tips to anyone who wants to get better at meditation, to improve at that much-need skillset. In His Presence: Seven Visits to the Blessed Sacrament is highly recommended to Catholics now.
