FOR THURSDAY.
"GOD having given us his own Son,” so reasons St. Paul, how can we fear that he will ever refuse us anything? ” (Rom. viii.) And this all the more, since we know that the Eternal Father has given all things into his hands. (St. John xiii.) Let us, then, always thank the goodness, the mercy, and the bounty of our most gracious God, who has been pleased to enrich us with every good and every grace by giving us Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Altar. (1 Cor. i.) Have I not good reason, then, to think,
O Saviour of the world, O incarnate Word, that thou art mine, and if I desire it. wholly mine? But can
I say as truly that I am wholly thine as thou wouldst have me? Ah! my Lord, grant that the world may be no longer witness to this injustice and ingratitude which I show thee by not yielding myself up entirely to thee, according to thy desire.
Ah! let it be so no more. Let the future be something far different from the past. To-day with the most steadfast resolution I consecrate myself all to thee. I consecrate to thee my life, my will, my thoughts, my actions, and my sufferings, while time lasts, and eternally. Behold! I am all thine; like a victim devoted to thee, I detach myself from creatures and offer myself all to thee: consume me with the flames of thy divine love. No! I am unwilling that creatures should any longer have a place in my heart. The many marks of love which thou hast given me, even when I did not love thee — these make me hope with confidence that thou wilt accept me, now that I do love thee and give myself entirely to thee through love.
