Page:Spiritualcombat.djvu/197

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182
OF PREPARATION FOR COMMUNION

disinterestedness of Thy love for me; for Thou dost give me Thy Whole Self to be my Food, for no other purpose than that I should be wholly changed into Thee. And this Thou doest, not that Thou hast any need of me, but that, Thou living in me and I in Thee, I may by a loving union be changed into Thee, and my earthly heart be made with Thee a heart only Divine."

Then, filled with wonder and joy at the thought of God's high esteem and love for you, and knowing that He, by His Almighty Love, seeks and desires only to draw your whole heart to Himself, detach yourself from all creatures, and from yourself also as one of them, and offer yourself without reserve as a whole burnt-offering to your Lord, that His Love and His Divine pleasure may henceforth guide your understanding, your will, and your memory, and may regulate all your senses.

Then, perceiving that nothing is so calculated to work in you these Divine effects, as a worthy reception of the most holy Sacrament of the Altar, open your heart for this purpose with the following ejaculations and loving aspirations:—

"O most Heavenly Food, when will the hour come when I shall wholly sacrifice myself to Thee in the fire of Thy Love? When, when? O Love uncreated!