Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/233

 I insulted  Thee? And with  what  tenderness  hast  Thou  pardoned all  my  sins? I have  promised  to  be  faithful  to  Thee,  and still I  have  returned  to  my  sins! Shall I  wait  till  Thou  abandon me to  my  tepidity,  and  thus  to  eternal  misery? I desire,  O Lord,  to  amend;  and  I  place  all  my  confidence  in  Thee,  and purpose to  seek  continually  Thy  assistance  to  be  faithful  to  Thee. Hitherto I  have  trusted  in  my  own  resolutions,  and  have  neglected to  recommend  myself  to  Thee. This self-confidence  and neglect of  prayer  have  been  the  cause  of  my  past  sins. Eternal Father, through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  have  mercy  upon me and  assist  me;  give  me  grace  to  recommend  myself  to  Thee in all  my  wants. I love  Thee,  O  my  Sovereign  Good,  and  desire to  love  Thee  with  all  my  strength;  but  without  Thee  I  can do nothing. Give me  Thy  love  :  give  me  holy  perseverance. I hope  for  all  things  from  Thy  infinite  goodness.

O Mary,  Mother  of  God,  thou  knowest  how  much  I  confide  in thee;  assist  me;  have  pity  on  me.

St. Andrew  Avellini  used  to  say,  that  he  who  wishes to advance  in  perfection  should  begin  zealously  to  mortify the  appetite. " It  is  impossible,"  says  St.  Gregory, " to  engage  in  the  spiritual  conflict,  without  the  previous subjugation  of  the  appetite." Father Roggacci,  in  his " Treatise  on  the  one  thing  necessary,"  asserts  that  the principal part  of  external  mortification  consists  in  the mortification of  the  palate. Since the  mortification  of the  taste  consists  in  abstinence  from  food,  must  we  then abstain altogether  from  eating? No; it  is  our  duty  to preserve  the  life  of  the  body,  that  we  may  be  able  to serve  God  as  long  as  he  wills  us  to  remain  on  earth. But, as  Father  Vincent  Carafa  used  to  say,  we  should attend to  the  body  with  the  same  feelings  of  disgust  as a  powerful  monarch  would  perform  by  compulsion  the meanest work  of  a  servant.