praise thee without hinrance! when thou dismissest thy servant in peace, that he may purely serve thee!
But before I go hence and be no more, I desire at least to begin, with all the strength of my soul, to offer to thy divine Majesty in this valley of tears the sacrifice of praise; that henceforth I may praise thee for ever and ever.
Therefore I thank thee infinitely, because thou hast from eternity vouchsafed to think of me so lovingly, and in time to create me to thy Image, and when the fulness of time was come, to redeem me with the Blood of thy only Son; to spare me so often when I sinned, and so often to recall me out of the darkness of sin into thy marvellous light.[1]
But what return, O Lord Jesu, shall I make thee for thy toilsome Life and most bitter Death, for so often vouchsafing to feed me with thy own Body and Blood, and for all that thou hast done for me, O beloved Spouse of my soul!
The deep of my own nothingness and misery calls on the deep of thy infinite goodness and charity with the voice of the Five outpourings of thy Wounds. In them is all my hope and my confidence; by them, and by the infinite ocean of thy mercy that flows from them, it is that; though miserable, naked, and poor, I can come to thee securely; for thou art rich towards all, and hast no need of my goods. Gladly will I receive at thy hand the chalice, bitter though it be, of salvation which thou givest me to drink; and will drink it with thee, because thou first drankest it all for me, when thou thirstedst so vehemently for my salvation. I will call too on the Name of the Lord, and will sacrifice to him the sacrifice of praise.
For this, who is there that can give me most closely to embrace thee with all the affection of the heavenly Court, of all the Angels and Saints, and, more than all, of thy most holy Mother, that I may praise thee and glorify thee with the voice and affection of them and of all creatures?
Receive, O Lord, for a holocaust my heart, which I now offer entirely to thee. I also give my eyes, to see thee alone, and all things in thee; my ears, to hear thy Word; my mouth, or rather my tongue and my lips, to be filled with thy praise, and to sing forth thy glory and thy greatness all the day long; my hands, to be stretched forth to heaven in prayer, or to my neighbour in almsgiving, and for the fulfilment of thy commandments; my feet, to be directed into the way of peace:
- ↑ 1 Pet. ii. 9.
