changing the love I bear myself into love for thee alone.
Pardon, dearest Lord, my many sins, for thy mercy's sake, for though I do not deserve it, yet I ask it through thy merits. Thou hast abundantly satisfied for all my debts, I therefore lay claim to thy pardon; grant it me then, since I can pay more than enough: for I offer thee, dear Jesus, thy death and passion, the merits of which thou hast made over to me, and with which thou must needs be satisfied, and I cleansed from guilt. Wilt thou lose anything by forgiving me, or who will blame thee for thy mercy? Rather wilt thou not acquire great glory by it, since it is ever more glorious to thy name to save than to condemn? Pardon the many sins I have committed, partly through ignorance, but alas! much more frequently through malice: in both I have offended thee. Cure the wounds they have inflicted on me; thy wisdom knows the depth of them: thy power is able, and thy goodness is, I am sure, willing: this makes my hopes stronger than my fears. Look upon me then as the prodigal, who, after wandering forth from his father’s house, returned, and with a heart breaking with sorrow, cast himself at his feet, imploring forgiveness. His repentance blotted out the remembrance of his crime; a fatted calf was killed, and his return was welcomed by a sumptuous repast. Since I have imitated the prodigal in his wanderings, and I hope also in his repentance, suffer me to implore thee to treat me with the same fatherly tenderness that was shown to him. I own my unworthiness, after having fed upon carnal delights, to partake of the bread reserved for thy children. But the greater my misery, the more ample field for the exercise of thy mercy. I hope that if I be permitted to
