CHAPTER XVIII
☙ Of the fasting, and the temptations, of the all-unconquered Jesus
BLESS Thee, and give thanks to Thee,
O Lord Jesus Christ, for the holy fast,
which, in the loneliness of the desert,
Thou didst keep for forty days and forty
nights, that Thou mightest be to us a model of
holy abstinence. There, as a hermit, far from the
abodes of men, Thou didst dwell with the wild
beasts, and yet hadst Thou Angels for Thy companions; thus setting to all Religious a great example of detachment.
I praise and magnify Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, Food of Angels, and Refreshment of men, for the many pangs of hunger, for the wondrous abstinence, for the stern chastisement of Thy most sacred Body, for the many long watchings, for the holy prayers, and for the most pure meditations, which Thou didst accomplish there in the wilderness.
I praise and magnify Thee for ever for Thy mighty conflict with the devil; for the many attacks of that most wicked tempter; for Thy scorning of all his evil suggestions; for the wise answers from Holy Writ, with which Thou didst confound him; and for Thy most glorious victory over the three cardinal sins — all which Thou didst mercfully bring to pass for the perpetual confounding of Satan, and for the strengthening of our weakness. On meekly bended knees, I join the holy Angels, who, with the reverence which is Thy due, then ministered to Thee, in praising and adoring Thee: and I beseech Thee that, so long as I live in the
