Page:TheDevotionAndOfficeOfTheSacredHeart.djvu/142

 to practise virtue, and to attain to that degree of sanctity to which Almighty God means to raise you. “ Ask all these graces with confidence,” says St. Bonaventure. Can he deny yon any thing, who imparts to you himself? When the happy moment approaches in which yon are about to communicate, imagine you hear this Sacred Heart addressing you in the following manner: “ Come to me, O sinner! that thou mayest ever renounce sin. Come, O afflicted soul! in order to receive comfort. Come, O poor and indigent creature! that thon mayest be admitted to the possession of my Fathers kingdom. Come, O faithful spouse! that thou mayest unite thyself to thy heavenly Bridegroom.” Then answer him thus: “ I joyfully embrace, O most adorable heart! thy kind and tender invitation. I come to be filled with the love of thee, and to live by thy life. I come to lose myself wholly in thee, and to live entirely for, thee. Behold I open to thee the gate of my poor and wretched heart. Open thou thine to receive mine in it. David called thee the God