O Thou Who givest food to all, and wast Thyself content with so little, feed my soul, I beseech Thee, with the rich banquet of Thy Holy Word, and give me grace to serve Thee, and to give thanks to Thee, so long as I shall dwell in this frail tenement of clay.
CHAPTER IX
☙ Of the painful Circumcision of the Lord Jesus
LORD JESUS CHRIST, Saviour of the
world, Fountain of purity. Pattern of
spotless innocence, I bless Thee, and
give thanks to Thee for the painful circumcision of Thy most tender Flesh, according to
the law of Moses; to which, in order that in all
things Thou mightest conform to it, Thou didst
submit Thyself, albeit Thou wast Thyself without
any spot of sin.
I praise Thee for the first spilling of Thy innocent Blood, which on this day Thou didst shed for us. O most meek Lamb of God, how brightly were the excellence of Thy love and the depth of Thy patience shown forth, when, at so tender an age, Thou didst submit Thy holy and innocent Flesh to the pain of circumcision, a pain which It had not deserved.
It is I who have sinned; it is Thou Who payest the penalty of my sin. I indeed was conceived and born in sin: Thou wast conceived without sin, and yet dost Thou meekly submit to be branded with a sinner's mark. What was there in Thee faulty, or useless, that needed to be cutaway? And yet, because I could myself never make to Thee full
