Page:Thecompleteascet02liguuoft.djvu/26

 loved Thee. But now  that  I  can  repent,  I  grieve  with my whole  heart  for  having  offended  Thy  infinite  goodness;  and  I  love  Thee  above  all  things,  more  than  I  love myself. Forgive me,  and  grant  that  from  this  day  I  may love no  other  but  Thee,  who  hast  so  loved  me. May I live  for  Thee  alone,  my  Redeemer,  who  for  me  didst  die upon the  cross! All my  hopes  are  in  Thy  bitter  Passion. O Mary,  Mother  of  God! assist me  by  thy  holy  inter cession.

1. We  must  die! how awful  is  the  decree! we must  die. The sentence  is  passed:  It  is  appointed  for  all  men  once  to die.1   Thou  art  a  man  and  thou  must  die. St. Cyprian  says that we  are  born  with  a  rope  around  our  necks,  and  as  long as we  live  on  earth  we  hourly  approach  the  gallows,  that is, the  sickness  that  puts  an   end   to  our  life. It would be madness  for  any  one  to  delude  himself  with  the  idea that he  shall  not  die. A poor  man  may  flatter  himself that he  may  become  rich,  or  a  vassal  that  he  may  be  a king;  but  who  can  ever  hope  to  escape  death? One dies old, another  young,  but  all   at  last  must  come  to  the grave.

I therefore  must  one  day  die  and  enter  eternity. But what will  be  my  lot  for  eternity? happy or  miserable? My Saviour  Jesus,  be  Thou  a  Saviour  to  me!

2. Of  all  those  who  were  living  upon  the  earth  at  the beginning of  the  last  century,  not  one  is  now  alive. The greatest and  most  renowned  princes  of  this  world  have exchanged their  country;  scarcely  does  there  remain  any remembrance of  them,  and  their  bare  bones  are  hardly preserved in  stone  monuments.

Make me,  O  God! more and  more  sensible  of  the  folly