the fire and to be burned. Pray, pray fervently, that you may know and do the will of God.
" 'Tis Thy good pleasure, not my own,
In Thee, my God, I love alone;
And nothing I desire of Thee
But what Thy goodness wills for me.
O will of God, O will divine,
All, all our love be ever Thine.
" To Thee I consecrate and give
My heart and being while I live;
Thou, O my God, alone shalt be
My love for all eternity.
May heaven and earth with love fulfil,
My God, Thy ever-blessed will."
The Religious State
XC. The Happiness of a Religious Vocation
1.I SHOULD not consider that I had entirely completed the task I set myself in writing these pages, were I not to add a few words concerning the religious state. In many countries the present time is certainly not favorable to it. Religious are harassed, persecuted, and chased out of the quiet retreats they have chosen for themselves. These persecutions are, however, quite unable to stifle the sublime vocation to the life of the cloister. The vital sap which circulates so abundantly within the Church
