All Else Confusion

Prayer of St. Therese

O my God! O Most Blessed Trinity! I desire to love Thee and to make Thee loved – to labor for the glory of the Holy Church by saving souls here upon earth and by delivering those suffering in Purgatory. I desire to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will and to reach the degree of glory Thou hast prepared for me in Thy Kingdom. In a word, I wish to be holy, but knowing how helpless I am, I beseech Thee, my God to be Thyself my holiness.

Since Thou hast loved me so much as to give me Thine Only-Begotten Son to be my Savior and my Spouse, the infinite treasures of His merits are mine. Gladly do I offer them to Thee, and I beg of Thee to behold me only through the Eyes of Jesus, and in His Heart aflame with love. Moreover, I offer Thee all the merits of the Saints both in Heaven and on earth, together with their acts of love, and those of the holy Angels. Lastly, I offer Thee, O Blessed Trinity, the love and the merits of the Blessed Virgin, my dearest Mother – to her I commit this Oblation, praying her to present it to Thee.

During the days of His life on earth, her Divine Son, my sweet Spouse, said to us: “If you ask the Father anything in My Name, He will give it to you.” Therefore I am certain Thou will fulfill my longing. O my God, I know that the more Thou dost wish to bestow, the more Thou dost make us desire. In my heart I feel boundless desires, and I confidently beseech Thee to take possession of my soul. I cannot receive Thee in Holy Communion as often as I would like, but O Lord, art Thou not all-powerful? Abide in me as Thou dost in the Tabernacle – never abandon Thy little Victim.

I long to console Thee for ungrateful sinners, and I implore Thee to take from me all liberty to sin. If through weakness I should chance to fall, may a glance from Thine eyes straightaway cleanse my soul and consume all my imperfections – as fire transforms all things into itself.

I thank Thee, O my God , for all the graces Thou has granted me, especially for having purified me in the crucible of suffering. At the Day of Judgment I shall gaze on Thee with joy as Thou bearest Thy scepter of the Cross. And Since Thou has deigned to give me this precious Cross as my portion, I hope to be like unto Thee in Paradise and to behold the Sacred Wounds of thy Passion shine on my glorified body.

After earth’s exile, I trust to possess Thee in our Father’s Home. But I do not seek to lay up treasures in Heaven. I wish to labor for Thy Love alone – with the sole aim of pleasing Thee, of consoling Thy Sacred Heart, and of saving souls who will love Thee throughout eternity.

When the evening of life is come, I shall stand before Thee with empty hands, because I do not ask Thee, my God, to take account of my works. All our works of justice are blemished in Thine eyes. I wish, therefore, to be robed with Thine own Justice, and to receive from Thy Love the everlasting gift of Thyself. I desire no other Throne, no other Crown, but Thee, O my Beloved! In Thy sight, time is naught – “One day is a thousand years.” Thou can, in a single instant, prepare me to appear before Thee.

In order that my life may be one Act of perfect Love, I offer myself as a Victim of Holocaust to Thy Merciful Love, imploring Thee to consume me unceasingly, and to allow the floods of infinite tenderness gathered up in Thee to overflow into my soul, so that I may become a very martyr of Thy love. O My God, may this martyrdom, after having prepared me to appear in Thy Presence, free me from this life at the last, and my soul take its flight – without delay – into the eternal embrace of Thy Merciful Love!

O my Beloved! I desire at every beat of my heart to renew this Oblation an infinite number of times, “till the shadows retire,” and everlastingly I can tell Thee my love face to face. Amen.

Labels: Novena