Page:Thefourlastthings.djvu/214

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service ; and this I will do in the hope of winning Thee, the infinite and eternal Good, and beholding for evermore Thy infinite beauty. Nay, even did I know that I should be lost, I would still love Thee. For I do not love Thee because I hope for eternal salvation through Thee, but I love Thee because Thou art perfect Beauty and infinite Goodness, worthy to be the sole object of our affections and aspirations.

Thus believing and thus hoping, I desire to live and die, and I call the Angels and Saints to witness to the truth of what I say.

And in attestation of the same I repeat with heart and voice:

My God, I love Thee, not because
  I hope for Heaven thereby;
Nor because they who love Thee not
  Must burn eternally.

Not with the hope of gaining aught,
  Not seeking a reward;
But as Thyself hast loved me,
  O ever-loving Lord.