of thy holy prophet, with whom I exclaim, Let the people confess to thee, O God, let all the people give praise to thee . Let all the earth adore thee, and sing to thee. Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations; praise him, all ye people.
4. I also willingly offer thee, if need be, my life and my blood, to defend the truth and confession of this faith. And I would it might please thee, O most holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to give me the grace to undergo for it martyrdom. With thy grace I would not only most readily offer myself for all hard and difficult services, but would even esteem it the greatest favour to be permitted to endure much suffering for the love of thy truth. Hear me graciously, O my most loving God.
III.
Act of Hope and Confidence towards God.
Do not lose your confidence, which hath a great reward.[1]
Hope is a virtue infused into our minds by God, by which we ought certainly to expect eternal happiness, through the merits of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, together with our works preceded by the grace of Christ.
1. Bowed down and prostrate before thee, O my almighty God, I adore and worship thee, to whom nothing is
impossible or difficult; as it
has been most truly said, No
word is impossible with God.
By thy almighty power thou
hast promised to give me the
glory of heaven, and hast invited me to share it with thee,
and be like thee, O infinite
goodness! I hope, therefore,
and desire to obtain eternal
life from thee alone, by thy
help, and the good works
which, by thy special grace,
I determine to do.
2. O God, who art indeed almighty, behold, I most certainly know that, without thy mediation, I cannot possess the great happiness promised me; I know, too, that thou desirest and wishest to give it me, for this is why thou hast given thy Son to die for me.
3. I rejoice and congratulate myself my most sweet Jesus, my infinite goodness, that I can be made happy by thee only, and that there is no other name under heaven given to us whereby we may be saved. Not bliss itself would satisfy me, unless
- ↑ Heb. x. 35.
