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The Disciple
What, Lord, is the trust which I have in this life,
or what is my greatest comfort among all the things
that appear under heaven? Is it not You, O Lord, my
God, Whose mercies are without number? Where have I
ever fared well but for You? Or how could things go
badly when You were present? I had rather be poor for
Your sake than rich without You. I prefer rather to
wander on the earth with You than to possess heaven
without You. Where You are there is heaven, and where
You are not are death and hell. You are my desire and
therefore I must cry after You and sigh and pray. In
none can I fully trust to help me in my necessities,
but in You alone, my God. You are my hope. You are my
confidence.
You are my consoler, most faithful in every need.
All seek their own interests. You, however, place my
salvation and my profit first, and turn all things to
my good. Even though exposing me to various
temptations and hardships, You Who are accustomed to
prove Your loved ones in a thousand ways, order all
this for my good. You ought not to be loved or
praised less in this trial than if You had filled me
with heavenly consolations.
In You, therefore, O Lord God, I place all my hope
and my refuge. On You I cast all my troubles and
anguish, because whatever I have outside of You I
find to be weak and unstable. It will not serve me to
have many friends, nor will powerful helpers be able
to assist me, nor prudent advisers to give useful
answers, nor the books of learned men to console, nor
any precious substance to win my freedom, nor any
place, secret and beautiful though it be, to shelter
me, if You Yourself do not assist, comfort, console,
instruct, and guard me. For all things which seem to
be for our peace and happiness are nothing when You
are absent, and truly confer no happiness.
You, indeed, are the fountain of all good, the
height of life, the depth of all that can be spoken.
To trust in You above all things is the strongest
comfort of Your servants.
My God, the Father of mercies, to You I look, in
You I trust. Bless and sanctify my soul with heavenly
benediction, so that it may become Your holy dwelling
and the seat of Your eternal glory. And in this
temple of Your dignity let nothing be found that
might offend Your majesty. In Your great goodness,
and in the multitude of Your mercies, look upon me
and listen to the prayer of Your poor servant exiled
from You in the region of the shadow of death.
Protect and preserve the soul of Your poor servant
among the many dangers of this corruptible life, and
direct him by Your accompanying grace, through the
ways of peace, to the land of everlasting light.
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