I had it through thee, because all my hope and confidence is fixed on thee, and in thee alone I would have it fixed and confirmed, most good and most sweet Jesus, the supreme and final joy of my heart.
And hence it is that the joy, consolation, and confidence that I feel are so great, that I seem to myself already to hold and possess the happiness I desire, since I know that thy only-begotten Son, through whom thou wilt give me so great a blessing, is my Redeemer, and my faithful Advocate in all my distress.
4. And, therefore, O almighty Father, with my whole heart I most firmly hope to obtain from thy infinite bounty all things whatever that are necessary for my salvation: first, pardon of all my sins, however great and enormous; secondly, strength to overcome all the difficulties that meet me in this life; and lastly, grace to attain to the perpetual enjoyment of thy most happy presence.
And though heaven and earth and all creatures should conspire against me, and though I were even now standing at the gates of hell, yet I would always hope and trust in thee, O most gracious Father, and say with the prophet, In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, I shall not he confounded for ever. I have put my trust in the Lord, and shall not be weakened. Amen.
IV.
Act of Love towards God and our Neighbour.
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart.[1]
So great is the dignity and excellence of the love of God, that all the blessed, and all things that are, or can be created, can do nothing that is more noble than to love God. Now an act of love is, to wish well to the object beloved, to rejoice in the good which it has, and lastly, to wish it to have what it has not.
i. Most gracious God and
most sweet Lord! desiring
to exercise this most excellent act, I supremely rejoice,
delight in thee, and praise
thee for thy infinite perfections and attributes, because
thou only art who art, the
supreme infinite good; and
because thou art a God unsearchable and immeasurable,
whom no creature can comprehend or adequately know,
- ↑ Luke x. 27.
