Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/221

 sorrows which  Thou  hast  endured  for  my  sake. Inflame my will  with  holy  affections,  that  I  may  seek  only  what  pleases Thee, and  may  desire  only  the  accomplishment  of  Thy  will,  and to belong  entirely  to  Thee. Grant, O  Lord,  that  I  may  love Thee, and  that  I  may  love  Thee  ardently. For if  I  love  Thee, all pains  will  be  sweet  and  agreeable  to  me.

Holy Virgin  Mary,  my  mother,  assist  me  to  please  God  during the  remainder  of  my  life. In thee  I  place  all  my  hope.

Almost all  our  rebellious  passions  spring  from  unguarded looks;  for,  generally  speaking,  it  is  by  the  sight that all  inordinate  affections  and  desires  are  excited. Hence, holy  Job made a  covenant  with  his  eyes,  that  he  would not  so  much  as  think upon  a  virgin.  Why  did  he  say  that he would  not  so  much  as  think  upon  a  virgin? Should he not  have  said  that  he  made  a  covenant  with  his  eyes not to  look  at  a  virgin? No; he  very  properly  said  that he would  not  think  upon  a  virgin;  because  thoughts  are so connected  with  looks,  that  the  former  cannot  be separated  from  the  latter,  and  therefore,  to  escape  the molestation of  evil  imaginations,  he  resolved  never  to fix  his  eyes  on  a  woman.

St. Augustine  says:  "The  thought  follows  the  look; delight  comes  after  the  thought;  and  consent  after  delight. From  the  look  proceeds  the  thought;  from  the thought  the  desire;  for,  as  St.  Francis  de  Sales  says, what  is  not  seen  is  not  desired,  and  to  the  desire  succeeds the  consent.  If  Eve  had  not  looked  at  the  forbidden apple,  she  should  not  have  fallen;  but  because  she