I Believe Dearest Jesus
I believe, dearest Jesus,
That Thou art united to my soul,
By Thy real presence.
Filled with consolation,
I clasp Thee to my breast,
And return Thee thanks
For this Thine infinite mercy.
Why unite Thyself to a soul so full of self-love,
So cold towards Thee,
So averse to mortification and self-denial?
Thou knowest how much I am attached to pleasure,
Comfort and honour,
How ill I endure the slightest provocation,
A harsh word,
Or the most trifling adversity.
Why, then, my sweet Saviour,
Unite Thyself to so vile and despicable a creature?
It is not sufficient for Thee
To visit my soul with Thy divine lights,
To lead me on in the paths of salvation?
Why condescend to visit me in person?
Dear Jesus,
I have neither words nor feelings
Adequately to express the extent of Thy goodness.
I clasp Thee to my heart;
I adore Thee as my first treasure,
My supreme Lover,
My first beginning,
And my last end,
My chief and only good.
O that I could adore Thee
With those feelings with which
The Blessed Virgin adored Thee on earth,
And with which she now adores Thee in heaven!
O that like her,
I could die,
Consumed by transports of the most ardent love for Thee!
Complete, my dear Saviour,
The salutary designs which
Thou hast in paying me this visit.
Thou hast given me light and strength
To abandon the paths of perdition;
Grant me now light and grace to know,
And steadily to advance in the ways of salvation.
Dear Jesus,
Deny me not the grace
Requisite for overcoming my passions,
And remaining faithful to Thee.
Grant that I may renounce all earthly satisfactions,
And place my delight in pleasing Thee,
My God, my treasure, and my all.
By Thine infinite goodness,
And by Thine infallible promise of never abandoning
Those who cast themselves into Thine arms,
To be directed by Thee,
I beseech Thee, O Lord,
Amen.