2. Nothing, therefore, ought to be more my care and study than to be united to thee in vision, love, and joy; because, in this union consists both my highest good, and thy highest glory. In comparison of this greatest good, I look upon all the delights and allurements of this life as mere filth and dung. And, from this moment, I direct to this end all my thoughts, works, and desires, nor will I be wearied or desist until I arrive at it.
3. But since of myself I am incapable of so great a good, I have recourse to thee, O most merciful God, of thy boundless goodness, by which thou hast created the world, and becamest man, and for sum’s sake hast willingly subjected thyself to death; and by thy other infinite blessings bestowed upon me, and by thy eternal will, by which thou hast freely predestined me to so sublime a height of glory, not to close against me the overflowing fountain of thy goodness, while I still have time to do good, most ungrateful and negligent though I am. But let this rather incite thee, the weaker I am, the more to assist and protect me. Remember, I beseech thee, the end to which thou hast destined me from all eternitv, that thy most holy counsel and desire may not be frustrated in me.
4. Enlighten my mind by the light of thy Holy Spirit, that by his guidance I may be able to understand perfectly the vanity of this world, and to see clearly the dangers that lurk in it. And that I may understand also, on the other hand, the greatness, excellence, and sweetness of the infinite blessings which thou hast prepared for me in thyself, for which I thank thee with my whole heart, and willingly renounce all vanity.
5. Grant, O my Lord, that my mind may entertain no other thought, and my understanding receive no stronger impression than that of my last end; that, despising universally all perishable and temporal things, I may quickly raise myself to the love of eternal things, and to the desire of this my last and happy end.
Let my good desires never fail, nor my sighs and groans never cease for that happy home. And grant that I may never cease from fighting against myself, as I now propose to do, until I reach the end of my course, when all the saints shall repose in thee, their chief good and last end, bv vision, love, and unspeakable comfort, when they have attained the completion of their purpose, and the fulfilment of the desire they had so wished and waited for; that is to say, their last end and highest good, for which they have so heroically fought,
