THE BURNING LOVE AND STRONG DESIRE TO RECEIVE
CHRIST
THE DISCIPLE
WITH greatest devotion and ardent love, with all affection and
fervor of heart I wish to receive You, O Lord, as many saints and
devout persons, most pleasing to You in their holiness of life and
most fervent in devotion, desired You in Holy Communion.
O my God, everlasting love, my final good, my happiness
unending, I long to receive You with as strong a desire and as worthy
a reverence as any of the saints ever had or could have felt, and
though I am not worthy to have all these sentiments of devotion, still
I offer You the full affection of my heart as if I alone had all those
most pleasing and ardent desires.
Yet, whatever a God-fearing mind can conceive and desire, I
offer in its entirety to You with the greatest reverence and inward
affection. I wish to keep nothing for self but to offer to You,
willingly and most freely, myself and all that is mine.
O Lord God, my Creator and my Redeemer, I long to receive You
this day with such reverence, praise, and honor, with such gratitude,
worthiness and love, with such faith, hope, and purity as that with
which Your most holy Mother, the glorious Virgin Mary, longed for and
received You when she humbly and devoutly answered the angel who
announced to her the mystery of the Incarnation: "Behold the handmaid
of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word."[52]
Likewise as Your blessed precursor, the most excellent of
saints, John the Baptist, gladdened by Your presence, exulted in the
Holy Ghost while yet enclosed in the womb of his mother, and afterward
seeing Jesus walking among men, humbled himself and with devout love
declared: "The friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him,
rejoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice,"[53] even so I
long to be inflamed with great and holy desires and to give myself to
You with all my heart.
Therefore I offer and present to You the gladness of all devout
hearts, their ardent affection, their mental raptures, their
supernatural illuminations and heavenly visions together with all the
virtues and praises which have been or shall be celebrated by all
creatures in heaven and on earth, for myself and all commended to my
prayers, that You may be worthily praised and glorified forever.
Accept, O Lord my God, my promises and desires of giving You
infinite praise and boundless benediction, which in the vastness of
Your ineffable greatness are justly due You. This I render and desire
to render every day and every moment of time, and in my loving prayers
I invite and entreat all celestial spirits and all the faithful to
join me in giving You praise and thanks.
Let all people, races, and tongues praise You and with the
greatest joy and most ardent devotion magnify Your sweet and holy
name. And let all who reverently and devoutly celebrate this most
great Sacrament and receive it in the fullness of faith, find kindness
and mercy in You and humbly pray for me, a sinner. And when they have
received the longed-for devotion and blissful union, and, well
consoled and wonderfully refreshed, have retired from Your holy, Your
celestial table, may they deign to remember my poor soul. |
Of fervent love and vehement desire of receiving
Christ
The Voice of the Disciple
With the deepest devotion and fervent love, with
all affection and fervour of heart, I long to receive Thee, O Lord,
even as many Saints and devout persons have desired Thee in
communicating, who were altogether well pleasing to Thee by their
sanctity of life, and dwelt in all ardent devotion. O my God, Eternal
Love, my whole Good, Happiness without measure, I long to receive Thee
with the most vehement desire and becoming reverence which any Saint
ever had or could have.
2. And although I be unworthy to have all those
feelings of devotion, yet do I offer Thee the whole affection of my
heart, even as though I alone had all those most grateful inflamed
desires. Yea, also, whatsoever things a pious mind is able to
conceive and long for, all these with the deepest veneration and
inward fervour do I offer and present unto Thee. I desire to reserve
nothing unto myself, but freely and entirely to offer myself and all
that I have unto Thee for a sacrifice. O Lord my God, my Creator and
Redeemer! with such affection, reverence, praise, and honour, with
such gratitude, worthiness, and love, with such faith, hope, and
purity do I desire to receive Thee this day, as Thy most blessed
Mother, the glorious Virgin Mary, received and desired Thee, when she
humbly and devoutly answered the Angel who brought unto her the glad
tidings of the mystery of the Incarnation. Behold the handmaid of the
Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.(1)
3. And as Thy blessed forerunner, the most
excellent of Saints, John Baptist, being full of joy in Thy presence,
leapt while yet in the womb of his mother, for joy in the Holy Ghost;
and afterwards discerning Jesus walking amongst men, humbled himself
exceedingly, and said, with devout affection, The friend of the
bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of
the bridegroom's voice;(2) even so I wish to be inflamed with great
and holy desires, and to present myself unto Thee with my whole
heart. Whence also, on behalf of myself and of all commended to me in
prayer, I offer and present unto Thee the jubilation of all devout
hearts, their ardent affections, their mental ecstasies, and
supernatural illuminations and heavenly visions, with all the virtues
and praises celebrated and to be celebrated by every creature in
heaven and earth; to the end that by all Thou mayest worthily be
praised and glorified for ever.
4. Receive my prayers, O Lord my God, and my
desires of giving Thee infinite praise and unbounded benediction,
which, according to the multitude of Thine unspeakable greatness, are
most justly due unto Thee. These do I give Thee, and desire to give
every day and every moment; and with beseechings and affectionate
desires I call upon all celestial spirits and all Thy faithful people
to join with me in rendering Thee thanks and praises.
5. Let all peoples, nations, and tongues praise
Thee, and magnify Thy holy and sweet-sounding Name, with highest
jubilations and ardent devotion. And let all who reverently and
devoutly celebrate Thy most high Sacrament, and receive it with full
assurance of faith, be accounted worthy to find grace and mercy with
Thee, and intercede with all supplication for me a sinner; and when
they shall have attained unto their wished-for devotion and joyous
union with Thee, and shall depart full of comfort and wondrously
refreshed from Thy holy, heavenly table, let them vouchsafe to be
mindful of me, for I am poor and needy. |