Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

to the tree of the cross: preserve mine, I beseech Thee, from all sinful touching.

Thy blessed feet were likewise pierced and fastened to the same rood: O, fix my steps that I run not to evil actions; direct them in Thy paths, and make me speedy in all works concerning Thy honour and the assistance of my neighbour.

Thy holy mouth was free from guile, full of wisdom: put Thy words, sweet Jesus, into mine; let it always speak of Thy love, and only sing Thy praises.

Thy divine ears were filled with blasphemies and derisions: let not mine be open to hear vanities and detractions.

Thy sweet eyes poured out floods of tears for me: O, give unto mine tears of compassion for Thy sufferings, and of compunction for my own sins.

Thy taste was tormented with the noisome potion of gall and vinegar: O, take from me, I beseech Thee, all desire of delicacies; let me not eat or drink but for mere sustenance and necessity.

Thy whole humanity, O gracious Jesus, was martyred and murdered: O, grant that I may be truly and totally mortified; let me not see, feel, hear, taste, smell, eat, drink, do anything, or make use of anything as following my own gust, sensuality, and self-seeking, but in pure conformity to Thy will and pleasure.

6. O merciful Redeemer, how great and grievous were the inward sufferings of Thy soul! O, for these Thy sorrows and Thy tender mercies' sake, cleanse,

cure, enlighten, inform, reform, and transform all my inward man.

O, permit not my understanding, where the knowledge of Thy greatness and goodness should be only seated, to be overspread with ignorance and error.

Let not my memory, which should be totally taken up with Thee, be stuffed with vain fancies or impertinent curiosities.

Let not my will, which Thou gavest me to desire and love Thee above all Thy creatures, O my only Lord and Love, be enslaved to any inferior affection.

Repair, O gracious Redeemer, this lively image of the lovely Trinity, which is almost defaced by my brutish sensuality. Grant, O dear Saviour, that my understanding, will, and memory may be incessantly busied in knowing, loving, and remembering Thee, and that they may forget and forego all other objects, save only in Thee and for Thee.

7. O that my heart were perfectly disengaged from the love of all creatures! Drain it, sweet Jesus, and deliver it from all foreign and domestic affection, and fill it up again with Thine own, that it may never love, desire, nor will anything but Thee alone, O my Lord, my Love, and my All.

O that my will were conformable to Thine without reservation or retraction! Take it unto Thee, dear Lord, freely and fully, for time and eternity. I will have no will but Thine; dispose of me as Thou pleasest here and hereafter.

O that my memory were disencumbered of all imaginations, and purged from all impressions but of Thee only! Empty it, O Thou only amiable object of my soul, and then replenish it with such holy and heavenly notions as may best please Thy Divine Majesty.

O that my understanding were imbued with some measure of the knowledge of Thy Divinity! O my Lord, infinite in goodness, dreadful in majesty, and unspeakable in all perfection; O my great, gracious, and glorious God, quicken it, sharpen it, elevate it, and illuminate it, that, knowing Thee, I may not choose but love Thee, and that, knowing and loving Thee, I may be eternally happy. Behold, Lord, I make an absolute divorce from all self-love, sensuality, and affection to creatures, and give Thee myself by an irrevocable donation.

Behold, Lord, the keys, the lodging, the treasure, and the master prostrate at Thy sacred feet. Enter freely, possess all fully, dispose universally, and command absolutely. Put me where Thou wilt, give me what Thou wilt, treat me as Thou wilt. Thine I am, O my Lord, my Love, and my All, for time and for eternity!

FRIDAY.

TO OBTAIN MORTIFICATION AND PERFECT ABNEGATION.

The Fifth Exercise.

1. O eternal and ever-blessed Lord God, Thou hast framed me of soul and body, and fitted me with faculties proportionable to attain the end of my creation, which is to love Thee entirely, and to live with Thee eternally. But, alas, how far am I from observing Thy blessed and beautiful order!

Thou, O Lord, gavest me a soul to bear all the sway in my body, reason to have the chief regency in my soul, the law to be the guide of my reason, and Thy Self to be the sole mover and governor of my whole man.

But, O how have I wilfully crossed Thy sacred design, contradicted Thy intention, and swerved from this perfection! My body is all brutish, my soul all animal, and my reason all sensual. I am all blindness, selflove, and immortification.

Yet I know well, and Thou, O eternal Verity, hast expressly told me, that unless I renounce all, deny myself, take up my cross and follow Thee, I can never become Thy true disciple.*

Ah, harsh words to my carnal ears!-'If thou wilt be My disciple, deny thyself; if thou wilt be perfect, sell all, give away all, reform all, renounce all, relinquish all; if thou wilt possess life eternal, contemn * Luke xiv. 27; Matthew xvi. 24.

this life temporal; if thou wilt be exalted in heaven, humble thyself in the world; if thou wilt wear a crown with Me, bear thy cross with Me.'

But, O my soul, how wilt thou brook that more dismal sentence:-Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire!*

Wherefore, O my Lord, my Love, and my All, since Thou hast taught me these things by Thy sacred word, and showed them by Thy holy example-and Thou art the Way, the Truth, and the Life-grant, 0 infallible Truth,' that I may courageously walk in this Thy perfect Way,' that so I may happily come to Thee, the only true and eternal 'Life' and love of my soul.

[ocr errors]

2. What dreadest thou, O my fearful and faithless heart? Behold, Christ, thy King and Captain, has marched on before thee. Take up thy cross and travel after Him. He leads thee to a kingdom. Heaven is worth thy pains. O take courage to mortify thyself, deny thyself, and die to thyself, that thou mayest live to Jesus, and with Jesus eternally.

Learn, O my soul, this short and secure lesson: Leave all things, and thou shalt find one thing which is all in all. Take courage and fight valiantly against thy own bad nature; pray, suffer, stoop, bear repugnances, swallow down contradictions, digest injuries :-the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence. The end thou aimest at is perfection, the reward of thy conquest is eternal love, eternal life, eternal happiness.

[blocks in formation]
« ZurückWeiter »