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HIS desire  of  death,  to be  really  good,  must  be  divested of self-love. We sometimes  wish  for  death,  that  we may  be  delivered  from  an  unhappy  life;  now,  this  desire is not  entirely  pure. A fervent  soul  never  desires  to  be freed  from  this  fife  merely  because  it  is  an  unhappy  one,full  of  pains  and  trials:  on  the  contrary,  if  there  were  no other  evil  in  it,  she  would  do  all  in  her  power  to  preserve it; since  the  more  pains  and  trials  we  have,  the  greatest sacrifices we  may  make,  to  God,  and  the  more  we  may prove our  love  to  him. We may  wish  for  death,  because it will  bring  us  to  the  possession  of  the  object  of  our  creation—the enjoyment  of  God ;  we  may  wish  for  it, because after death  we  shall  be  no  longer  exposed  to  the  danger  of offending  God. The Saints  desired,  death  for  these  reasons,  and  so  also  may  we.

HE purest  and  best  motive  for  desiring  death  is,  because we  cannot  live  without  sinning,  and  instead  of becoming  more  and  more  pleasing  in  the  eyes  of  God,  we disobey  him  daily — adding  sin  to  sin. Who, that  loves God, can  help  wishing  for  death  from  this  motive? What pain can  be  so  insupportable  as  to  love  God  ardently,  and yet see  ourselves  in  a  sort  of  impossibility  to  avoid  offending him,  either  through  the  evil  inclinations  of  our  corrupt nature, or  the  habits  we  have  contracted  by  the  sins  of  our past life?

O my  God! when I  reflect  that  not  a  day  passes  in which  I  do  not  offend  thee,  and  commit  even  the  sins  I would  wish  most  to  avoid,  that  I  do  so  little  good,  not even the  good  I  desire  to  do;  how  can  I  help  wishing  to be  delivered  from  the  body  of  this  death? What are  all the sufferings  of  this  world,  compared  with  the  misfortune of offending  my  God! It is  not  the  happiness  of  the  blessed I sigh  for,  so  much  as  the  joy  and  happiness  of  no  more offending thee,  my  God;  of  being  no  more  unfaithful  to thy  grace.

Come then,  O  Death! that I  may  no  more  offend my God, no more oppose his will.