Love Is the Virtue Which Gives Us Strength.
“Love is strong
as death”. As there is no created strength which can resist
death, so there is no difficulty for a loving soul which love cannot overcome.
When there is a question of pleasing its beloved, love conquers all, losses,
contempt, and sorrow. “Nothing is so hard, but that the fire of love can
conquer it.” This is the most certain mark with which to know if a soul really
loves God, if it is as faithful in love when things are adverse as when they
are prosperous. Saint Francis de Sales said that “God is quite as amiable when
he chastises as when he consoles us, because he does all for love.”
Indeed, when he
strikes us most in this life, then it is that he loves us most. Saint John
Chrysostom esteemed Saint Paul in chains more fortunate than Saint Paul caught
up into the third heaven.
O God of my soul,
I pretend to love You, and yet I do nothing for Your love. Would it not be a
sign that I love You not, or very little? But send me the Holy Spirit, O Jesus,
the Holy Spirit Who will give me strength to suffer for Your love and do
something for You before I die. I pray You, O my beloved Redeemer, let me not
die now, cold and ungrateful to You as I have been. Though I have committed so
many sins for which I should be in hell, grant me the courage to love
suffering, to do something for You.
O my God, Whose
nature is all goodness and love, You desire to be the guest of my soul from
which I have so often driven You. Oh! Come and dwell in it: be You its Master
and make it all Yours.
Act of Filial Submission
O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do, give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will. Amen.
Our Father
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and in the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Prayer
for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost
O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven, didst promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Thy work in the souls of Thy Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul the work of Thy grace and Thy love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal; the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Thy divine truth; the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven; the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with Thee and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation; the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints; the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable; the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord, with the sign of Thy true disciples and animate me in all things with Thy Spirit. Amen.
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