Monday, November 16, 2009

Feast of St. Gertrud of Helfta

Oh, if my wish were granted that, with Jesus, the best beloved, you captured and bound me and treated me, a little woman, as your own heir! By consorting and discoursing with this divine hostage, from a sinner I would be made into a saint; from one useless into a truly spiritual human being; from an enemy into a true friend of God; from one lukewarm into someone truly thirsting for God; from one barren and unfruitful into one sprouting the perfection of all virtues and the holiness of all religion.

There, my dear Jesus, may the bosom of your mercy be the bowels of my captivity. There, let the chain of your divine heart be my bond in such a way that, in the violence of living love, I may become your prisoner forever, indivisibly glued to you, living entirely for you and clinging to you so that, for eternity, I may never be capable of being separated from you. Amen.

Spiritual Exercises VII:57-69
Tr. Gertrud Jaron Lewis and Jack Lewis
Cistercian Publications, 1989.

No comments: