the offences which are committed against thy infinite majesty; and thou indeed art able to avenge thyself, whenever thou pleasest; and dost thou dissemble? Men despise thee; they make promises to thee and afterwards betray thee: and dost thou seem not to behold them, or as if thou hadst little concern for thy honour? Thus, O Jesus, hast thou done towards me. Ah! my God, my infinite good, I will no longer despise thee, I will no longer provoke thee to chastise me. And why should I delay until thou abandonest me in reality and condemnest me to hell? I am truly sorry for all my offences against thee. Would that 1 had died rather than offended thee! Thou art my Lord, thou hast created me, and thou hast redeemed me by thy death; thou alone hast loved me, thou alone deservest to be loved, and thou alone shalt be the sole object of mv love.
III. My soul, how couldst thou be so ungrateful and so daring against thy God? When thou didst offend him, could he not have suddenly called thee out of life and punished thee with hell? And yet he waited for thee; instead of chastising thee, he preserved thy life and gave thee good things. But thou, instead of being grateful to him and loving him for such excessive goodness, thou didst continue to offend him! O my Lord, since thou hast waited for me with so great mercy, I give thee thanks. I am sorry for having offended thee — I love thee. I might at this hour have dwelt in hell, where I could not have repented, nor have loved thee. But now that I can repent, I grieve with my whole heart for having offended thy infinite goodness; and I love thee above all things, more than I love myself. Forgive me, and grant that from this day I may love no other but thee, who hast so loved me. May I live for thee alone, my Redeemer, who for me didst die upon the cross. All my hopes are in thy bit-
