Meditation Ten – How the Soul Chooses the Devout Life.

Published on: May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Ten – How the Soul Chooses the Devout Life.

Preparation.

PLACE yourself in the Presence of God.
Humble yourself before Him, and ask His Aid.

Considerations.

Once more imagine yourself in an open plain, alone with your guardian Angel, and represent to yourself on the left hand the Devil sitting on a high and mighty throne, surrounded by a vast troop of worldly men, who bow bareheaded before him, doing homage to him by the various sins they commit. Study the countenances of the miserable courtiers of that most abominable king: —some raging with fury, envy and passion, some murderous in their hatred; —others pale and haggard in their craving after wealth, or madly pursuing every vain and profitless pleasure; —others sunk and lost in vile, impure affections. See how all alike are hateful, restless, wild: see how they despise one another, and only pretend to an unreal self-seeking love. Such is the miserable reign of the abhorred Tyrant.
On the other hand, behold Jesus Christ Crucified, calling these unhappy wretches to come to Him, and interceding for them with all the Love of His Precious Heart. Behold the company of devout souls and their guardian Angels, contemplate the beauty of this religious Kingdom. What lovelier than the troop of virgin souls, men and women, pure as lilies: —widows in their holy desolation and humility; husbands and wives living in all tender love and mutual cherishing. See how such pious souls know how to combine their exterior and interior duties; —to love the earthly spouse without diminishing their devotion to the Heavenly Bridegroom. Look around—one and all you will see them with loving, holy, gentle countenances listening to the Voice of their Lord, all seeking to enthrone Him more and more within their hearts. They rejoice, but it is with a peaceful, loving, sober joy; they love, but their love is altogether holy and pure. Such among these devout ones as have sorrows to bear, are not disheartened thereby, and do not grieve overmuch, for their Saviour’s Eye is upon them to comfort them, and they all seek Him only.
Surely you have altogether renounced Satan with his weary miserable troop, by the good resolutions you have made; —but nevertheless you have not yet wholly attained to the King Jesus, or altogether joined His blessed company of devout ones: —you have hovered betwixt the two.
The Blessed Virgin, S. Joseph, S. Louis, S. Monica, and hundreds of thousands more who were once like you, living in the world, call upon you and encourage you.
The Crucified King Himself calls you by your own name: “Come, O my beloved, come, and let Me crown thee!”

The Choice.

O world, O vile company, never will I enlist beneath thy banner; for ever I have forsaken thy flatteries and deceptions. O proud king, monarch of evil, infernal spirit, I renounce thee and all thy hollow pomp, I detest thee and all thy works.
And turning to Thee, O Sweet Jesus, King of blessedness and of eternal glory, I cleave to Thee with all the powers of my soul, I adore Thee with all my heart, I choose Thee now and ever for my King, and with inviolable fidelity I would offer my irrevocable service, and submit myself to Thy holy laws and ordinances.
O Blessed Virgin Mother of God, you shall be my example, I will follow you with all reverence and respect. O my good Angel, bring me to this heavenly company, leave me not until I have reached them, with whom I will sing for ever, in testimony of my choice, “Glory be to Jesus, my Lord!”

“You, at least, strive to console me.” – Time is Running Out to Respond to Our Lady’s Call

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Meditation Nine – On the Choice Upon to You Between Heaven and Hell.

Published on: May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Nine – On the Choice Upon to You Between Heaven and Hell.

Preparation.

PLACE yourself in the Presence of God.
Humble yourself before Him, and ask His inspiration.

Considerations.

Imagine yourself alone with your good angel in an open plain, as was Tobit on his way to Rages. Suppose the Angel to set before you Paradise, full of delights and joys; and on the other hand, Hell, with all its torments. Contemplate both, kneeling in imagination before your guardian Angel. Consider that you are most truly standing between Hell and Paradise, and that both the one and the other are open to receive you, according to your own choice.
Consider that the choice you make in this life will last for ever in the next.
Consider too, that while both are open to receive you according to your choice, yet God, Who is prepared to give the one by reason of His Justice, the other by reason of His Mercy, all the while desires unspeakably that you should select Paradise; and your good Angel is urging you with all his might to do so, offering you countless graces on God’s part, countless helps to attain to it.
Consider that Jesus Christ, enthroned in Heaven, looks down upon you in loving invitation: “O beloved one, come unto Me, and joy for ever in the eternal blessedness of My Love!” Behold His mother yearning over you with maternal tenderness—” Courage, my child, do not despise the Goodness of my Son, or my earnest prayers for thy salvation.” Behold the Saints, who have left you their example, the millions of holy souls who long after you, desiring earnestly that you may one day be for ever joined to them in their song of praise, urging upon you that the road to Heaven is not so hard to find as the world would have you think. “Press on boldly, dear friend,”—they cry. “Whoso will ponder well the path by which we came hither, will discover that we attained to these present delights by sweeter joys than any this world can give.”

The Choice.

O Hell, I abhor thee now and for ever; I abhor thy griefs and torments, thine endless misery, the unceasing blasphemies and maledictions which thou pourest out upon my God; —and turning to thee, O blessed Paradise, eternal glory, unfading happiness, I choose thee for ever as my abode, thy glorious mansions, thy precious and abiding tabernacles. O my God, I bless Thy Mercy which gives me the power to choose—O Jesus, Saviour, I accept Thine Eternal Love, and praise Thee for the promise Thou hast given me of a place prepared for me in that blessed New Jerusalem, where I shall love and bless Thee for ever.
Dwell lovingly upon the example set before you by the Blessed Virgin and the Saints, and strive to follow where they point you. Give yourself up to your guardian Angel, that he may be your guide, and gird up your courage anew to make this choice.

“You, at least, strive to console me.” – Time is Running Out to Respond to Our Lady’s Call

Tomislav, the First Crowned King of the Unified Croatian Kingdom on the Adriatic – Part 3

Meditation on Our Lord’s Most Precious Blood

Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

CONSECRATION OF THE CROATIAN PEOPLE TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Under the Banner of the Sacred Heart: 125 Years of Croatian Consecration

Hrvatska Zavjetna Krunica – Jubilarno ograničeno izdanje za 125. obljetnicu

Croatian Covenant Rosary – 125th Anniversary Jubilee Limited Edition

The Vices and other Very Grievous Sins

The Main Kinds of Sins

Meditation Eight – On Paradise.

Published on: May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Eight – On Paradise.

PLACE yourself in the Presence of God.
Invoke His Aid.

Considerations.

Represent to yourself a lovely calm night, when the heavens are bright with innumerable stars: add to the beauty of such a night the utmost beauty of a glorious summer’s day, —the sun’s brightness not hindering the clear shining of moon or stars, and then be sure that it all falls immeasurably short of the glory of Paradise. O bright and blessed country, O sweet and precious place!
Consider the beauty and perfection of the countless inhabitants of that blessed country; —the millions and millions of angels, Cherubim and Seraphim; the glorious company of Apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and saints. O blessed company, any one single member of which surpasses all the glory of this world, what will it be to behold them all, to sing with them the sweet Song of the Lamb? They rejoice with a perpetual joy, they share a bliss unspeakable, and unchangeable delights.
Consider how they enjoy the Presence of God, Who fills them with the richness of His Vision, which is a perfect ocean of delight; the joy of being for ever united to their Head. They are like happy birds, hovering and singing for ever within the atmosphere of divinity, which fills them with inconceivable pleasures. There each one vies without jealousy in singing the praises of the Creator. “Blessed art Thou for ever, O Dear and Precious Lord and Redeemer, Who dost so freely give us of Thine Own Glory,” they cry; and He in His turn pours out His ceaseless Blessing on His Saints. “Blessed are ye, —Mine own for ever, who have served Me faithfully, and with a good courage.”

Affections and Resolutions.

Admire and rejoice in the Heavenly Country; the glorious and blessed New Jerusalem.
Reprove the coldness of your own heart for having hitherto so little sought after that glorious abode. Why have I so long lingered indifferent to the eternal happiness set before me? Woe is me that, for the sake of poor savourless earthly things, I have so often forgotten those heavenly delights. How could I neglect such real treasures for mere vain and contemptible earthly matters?
Aspire earnestly after that blessed abode. Forasmuch, O Dear Lord, as Thou hast been pleased to turn my feet into Thy ways, never will I again look back. Go forth, my soul, towards thy promised rest, journey unweariedly to that hoped-for land; wherefore shouldest thou tarry in Egypt?
Resolve to give up such and such things, which hinder you on the way, and to do such others as will help you thither wards. Give thanks, offer, pray.

“You, at least, strive to console me.” – Time is Running Out to Respond to Our Lady’s Call

Tomislav, the First Crowned King of the Unified Croatian Kingdom on the Adriatic – Part 3

Meditation on Our Lord’s Most Precious Blood

Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

CONSECRATION OF THE CROATIAN PEOPLE TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Under the Banner of the Sacred Heart: 125 Years of Croatian Consecration

Hrvatska Zavjetna Krunica – Jubilarno ograničeno izdanje za 125. obljetnicu

Croatian Covenant Rosary – 125th Anniversary Jubilee Limited Edition

The Vices and other Very Grievous Sins

The Main Kinds of Sins

Meditation Seven – Of Hell.

Published on: May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Seven – Of Hell.

Preparation.

PLACE yourself in God’s Presence.
Humble yourself, and ask His Aid.
Picture to yourself a dark city, reeking with the flames of sulphur and brimstone, inhabited by citizens who cannot get forth.

Considerations.

Even so the lost are plunged in their infernal abyss; —suffering indescribable torture in every sense and every member; and that because having used their members and senses for sin, it is just that through them they should suffer now. Those eyes which delighted in impure vicious sights, now behold devils; the ears which took pleasure in unholy words, now are deafened with yells of despair; —and so on with the other senses.
Beyond all these sufferings, there is one greater still, the privation and pain of loss of God’s Glory, which is for ever denied to their vision. If Absalom cared not to be released from exile, if he might not see his father David’s face (2 Kings 14:32), how much sorer will it be to be deprived for ever of the blessed vision of God?
Consider how insupportable the pains of Hell will be by reason of their eternal duration. If the irritating bite of an insect, or the restlessness of fever, makes an ordinary night seem so long and tedious, how terrible will the endless night of eternity be, where nought will be found save despair, blasphemy and fury!

Affections and Resolutions.

Read the Prophet’s descriptions of the terrors of the Lord (Is. 33:14), and ask your soul whether it can face them—whether you can bear to lose your God for ever?
Confess that you have repeatedly deserved to do so. Resolve henceforth to act differently, and to rescue yourself from this abyss. Resolve on distinct definite acts by which you may avoid sin, and thereby eternal death. Give thanks, offer yourself, pray.

“You, at least, strive to console me.” – Time is Running Out to Respond to Our Lady’s Call

Tomislav, the First Crowned King of the Unified Croatian Kingdom on the Adriatic – Part 3

Meditation on Our Lord’s Most Precious Blood

Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

CONSECRATION OF THE CROATIAN PEOPLE TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Under the Banner of the Sacred Heart: 125 Years of Croatian Consecration

Hrvatska Zavjetna Krunica – Jubilarno ograničeno izdanje za 125. obljetnicu

Croatian Covenant Rosary – 125th Anniversary Jubilee Limited Edition

The Vices and other Very Grievous Sins

The Main Kinds of Sins

Meditation Six – On Judgement.

Published on: May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Six – On Judgement.

Preparation.

PLACE yourself in the Presence of God.
Intreat Him to inspire you.

Considerations.

When the time comes which God has appointed for the end of this world, and after many terrible signs and warnings, which will overwhelm men with fear, —the whole earth will be destroyed, and nothing then left.
Afterwards, all men, save those already risen, shall rise from the dead, and at the voice of the Archangel appear in the valley of Jehoshaphat. But alas, with what divers’ aspects! for some will be glorious and shining, others horrible and ghastly.
Consider the majesty with which the Sovereign Judge will appear surrounded by all His Saints and Angels; His Cross, the Sign of Grace to the good and of terror to the evil, shining brighter than the sun. 4. This Sovereign Judge will with His awful word, instantly fulfilled, separate the evil and the good, setting the one on His Right Hand, the other on His Left—an eternal separation, for they will never meet again.
This separation made, the books of conscience will be opened, and all men will behold the malice of the wicked, and how they have contemned God; as also the penitence of the good, and the results of the grace they received. Nothing will be hidden. O my God, what confusion to the one, what rejoicing to the other! Consider the final sentence of the wicked. “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Dwell upon these awful words. “Go,” He says—for ever discarding these wretched sinners, banishing them for ever from His Presence. He calls them “cursed:” O my soul, what a curse: a curse involving all other maledictions, all possible evil, an irrevocable curse, including all time and eternity; condemning them to everlasting fire. Think what that eternity of suffering implies.
Then consider the sentence of the good. “Come,” the Judge says—O blessed loving word with which God draws us to Himself and receives us in His Bosom. “Blessed of My Father”—O blessing above all blessings! “inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.” O my God, and that Kingdom will know no end!

Affections and Resolutions.

Tremble, my soul, at the thought. O God, who will be my stay in that hour when the pillars of the earth are shaken?
Abhor your sins, which alone can cause you to be lost when that fearful day comes. Surely, I will judge myself now, that I be not judged; —I will examine my conscience, accuse, condemn, punish myself, that the Judge may not condemn me then. I will confess my faults, and follow the counsels given me.

Conclusion.

Thank God for having given you means of safety in that terrible Day, and time for repentance. Offer Him your heart, and ask for grace to use it well. OUR FATHER, HAIL MARY. Gather your bouquet.

“You, at least, strive to console me.” – Time is Running Out to Respond to Our Lady’s Call

Tomislav, the First Crowned King of the Unified Croatian Kingdom on the Adriatic – Part 3

Meditation on Our Lord’s Most Precious Blood

Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

CONSECRATION OF THE CROATIAN PEOPLE TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Under the Banner of the Sacred Heart: 125 Years of Croatian Consecration

Hrvatska Zavjetna Krunica – Jubilarno ograničeno izdanje za 125. obljetnicu

Croatian Covenant Rosary – 125th Anniversary Jubilee Limited Edition

The Vices and other Very Grievous Sins

The Main Kinds of Sins

Meditation Five – Of Death.

Published on: May 20, 2025May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Five – Of Death.

Preparation.

PLACE yourself in the Presence of God.
Ask His Grace.
Suppose yourself to be on your deathbed, in the last extremity, without the smallest hope of recovery.

Considerations.

Consider the uncertainty as to the day of your death. One day your soul will quit this body—will it be in summer or winter? in town or country? by day or by night? will it be suddenly or with warning? will it be owing to sickness or an accident? will you have time to make your last confession or not? will your confessor or spiritual father be at hand or will he not? Alas, of all these things we know absolutely nothing: all that we do know is that die we shall, and for the most part sooner than we expect.
Consider that then the world is at end as far as you are concerned, there will be no more of it for you, it will be altogether overthrown for you, since all pleasures, vanities, worldly joys, empty delights will be as a mere fantastic vision to you. Woe is me, for what mere trifles and unrealities I have ventured to offend my God? Then you will see that what we preferred to Him was nought. But, on the other hand, all devotion and good works will then seem so precious and so sweet: —Why did I not tread that pleasant path? Then what you thought to be little sins will look like huge mountains, and your devotion will seem but a very little thing.
Consider the universal farewell which your soul will take of this world. It will say farewell to riches, pleasures, and idle companions; to amusements and pastimes, to friends and neighbours, to husband, wife and child, in short to all creation. And lastly it will say farewell to its own body, which it will leave pale and cold, to become repulsive in decay.
Consider how the survivors will hasten to put that body away, and hide it beneath the earth—and then the world will scarce give you another thought, or remember you, any more than you have done to those already gone. “God rest his soul!” men will say, and that is all. O death, how pitiless, how hard thou art!
Consider that when it quits the body the soul must go at once to the right hand or the left. To which will your soul go? what side will it take? none other, be sure, than that to which it had voluntarily drawn while yet in this world.

Affections and Resolutions.

Pray to God, and throw yourself into His Arms. O Lord, be Thou my stay in that day of anguish! May that hour be blessed and favourable to me, if all the rest of my life be full of sadness and trial.
Despise the world. Forasmuch as I know not the hour in which I must quit the world, I will not grow fond of it. O dear friends, beloved ones of my heart, be content that I cleave to you only with a holy friendship which may last for ever; why should I cling to you with a tie which must needs be broken? I will prepare for the hour of death and take every precaution for its peaceful arrival; I will thoroughly examine into the state of my conscience, and put in order whatever is wanting.

Conclusion.

Thank God for inspiring you with these resolutions: offer them to His Majesty: intreat Him anew to grant you a happy death by the Merits of His Dear Son’s Death. Ask the prayers of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints. OUR FATHER, HAIL MARY. Gather a bouquet of myrrh.

“You, at least, strive to console me.” – Time is Running Out to Respond to Our Lady’s Call

Tomislav, the First Crowned King of the Unified Croatian Kingdom on the Adriatic – Part 3

Meditation on Our Lord’s Most Precious Blood

Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

CONSECRATION OF THE CROATIAN PEOPLE TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Under the Banner of the Sacred Heart: 125 Years of Croatian Consecration

Hrvatska Zavjetna Krunica – Jubilarno ograničeno izdanje za 125. obljetnicu

Croatian Covenant Rosary – 125th Anniversary Jubilee Limited Edition

The Vices and other Very Grievous Sins

The Main Kinds of Sins

Meditation Four – On Sin.

Published on: May 20, 2025May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Four – On Sin.

Preparation.

PLACE yourself in the Presence of God.
Ask Him to inspire your heart.

Considerations.

Consider how long it is since you first began to commit sin, and how since that first beginning sin has multiplied in your heart; how every day has added to the number of your sins against God, against yourself and against your neighbour, by deed, word, thought and desire.
Consider your evil tendencies, and how far you have followed them. These two points will show you that your sins are more in number than the hairs of your head, or the sand on the seashore.
Apart from sin, consider your ingratitude towards God, which is in itself a sin enfolding all the others, and adding to their enormity: consider the gifts which God has given you, and which you have turned against the Giver; especially the inspirations you have neglected, and the promptings to good which you have frustrated. Review the many Sacraments you have received, and see where are their fruits. Where are the precious jewels wherewith your Heavenly Bridegroom decked you? with what preparation have you received them? Reflect upon the ingratitude with which, while God sought to save you, you have fled from Him and rushed upon destruction.

Affections and Resolutions.

Humble yourself in your wretchedness. O my God, how dare I come before Thine Eyes? I am but a corrupt being, a very sink of ingratitude and wickedness. Can it be that I have been so disloyal, that not one sense, not one faculty but has been sullied and stained; —not one day has passed but I have sinned before Thee? Was this a fitting return for all my Creator’s gifts, for my Redeemer’s Blood?
Ask pardon; —throw yourself at the Lord’s Feet as the prodigal son, as the Magdalene, as the woman convicted of adultery. Have mercy, Lord, on me a sinner! O Living Fountain of Mercy, have pity on me, unworthy as I am.
Resolve to do better. Lord, with the help of Thy Grace I will never again give myself up to sin. I have loved it too well; —henceforth I would abhor it and cleave to Thee. Father of Mercy, I would live and die to Thee.
In order to put away past sin, accuse yourself bravely of it, let there not be one sinful act which you do not bring to light.
Resolve to make every effort to tear up the roots of sin from your heart, especially this and that individual sin which troubles you most.
In order to do this, resolve steadfastly to follow the advice given you, and never think that you have done enough to atone for your past sin.

Conclusion.

Thank God for having waited till now for you, and for rousing these good intentions in your heart.
Offer Him all your heart to carry them to good effect.
Pray that He would strengthen you.

“You, at least, strive to console me.” – Time is Running Out to Respond to Our Lady’s Call

Tomislav, the First Crowned King of the Unified Croatian Kingdom on the Adriatic – Part 3

Meditation on Our Lord’s Most Precious Blood

Feast of the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ

CONSECRATION OF THE CROATIAN PEOPLE TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Under the Banner of the Sacred Heart: 125 Years of Croatian Consecration

Hrvatska Zavjetna Krunica – Jubilarno ograničeno izdanje za 125. obljetnicu

Croatian Covenant Rosary – 125th Anniversary Jubilee Limited Edition

The Vices and other Very Grievous Sins

The Main Kinds of Sins

Meditations

Published on: May 20, 2025May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditations – St. Ignatius of Loyola

Two Standards

Meditations – St. Francis DeSales

The following meditations are taken from St. Francis DeSales classic book “An Introduction to a Devout Life”. They were written as an aide to spiritual renewal, “In order to obtain this sensitiveness and contrition, exercise yourself carefully in the following meditations which, if well practiced, will, by the grace of God, uproot from your heart both sin and the affections of sin. I have prepared them to that end; and would have you take them in order, one daily, and as early in the morning as possible, for that is the fittest time for such exercises, then ponder and ruminate over it during the rest of the day.”

Meditation One – On Creation.

Meditation Two – Of the End for Which we Were Created.

Meditation Three – Of the Gifts of God.

Meditation Four – On Sin.

Meditation Five – Of Death.

Meditation Six – On Judgement.

Meditation Seven – Of Hell.

Meditation Eight – On Paradise.

Meditation Nine – On the Choice Upon to You Between Heaven and Hell.

Meditation Ten – How the Soul Chooses the Devout Life.

Meditation Three – Of the Gifts of God.

Published on: May 20, 2025May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Three – Of the Gifts of God.

Preparation.

PLACE yourself in the Presence of God.
Ask Him to inspire your heart.

Considerations.

Consider the material gifts God has given you—your body, and the means for its preservation; your health, and all that maintains it; your friends and many helps. Consider too how many persons more deserving than you are without these gifts; some suffering in health or limb, others exposed to injury, contempt and trouble, or sunk in poverty, while God has willed you to be better off.
Consider the mental gifts He has given you. Why are you not stupid, idiotic, insane like many you wot of? Again, God has favoured you with a decent and suitable education, while many have grown up in utter ignorance.
Further, consider His spiritual gifts. You are a child of His Church; God has taught you to know Himself from your youth. How often has He given you His Sacraments? what inspirations and interior light, what reproofs, He has given to lead you aright; how often He has forgiven you, how often delivered you from occasions of falling; what opportunities He has granted for your soul’s progress! Dwell somewhat on the detail, see how Loving and Gracious God has been to you.

Affections and Resolutions.

Marvel at God’s Goodness. How good He has been to me, how abundant in mercy and plenteous in loving-kindness! O my soul, be thou ever telling of the great things the Lord has done for thee!
Marvel at your own ingratitude. What am I, Lord, that Thou remembers me? How unworthy am I! I have trodden Thy Mercies under root, I have abused Thy Grace, turning it against Thy very Self; I have set the depth of my ingratitude against the deep of Thy Grace and Favour.
Kindle your gratitude. O my soul, be no more so faithless and disloyal to thy mighty Benefactor! How should not my whole soul serve the Lord, Who has done such great things in me and for me?
Go on, my daughter, to refrain from this or that material indulgence; let your body be wholly the servant of God, Who has done so much for it: set your soul to seek Him by this or that devout practice suitable thereto. Make diligent use of the means provided by the Church to help you to love God and save your soul. Resolve to be constant in prayer and seeking the Sacraments, in hearing God’s Word, and in obeying His inspirations and counsels.

Conclusion.

Thank God for the clearer knowledge He has given you of His benefits and your own duty.
Offer your heart and all its resolutions to Him. 3. Ask Him to strengthen you to fulfil them faithfully by the Merits of the Death of His Son. OUR FATHER, HAIL MARY. Gather the little spiritual bouquet.

Meditation Two – Of the End for Which we Were Created.

Published on: May 20, 2025May 20, 2025 by KOFPB

Meditation Two – Of the End for Which we Were Created.

Preparation.

PLACE yourself before God.
Ask Him to inspire your heart.

Considerations.

God did not bring you into the world because He had any need of you, useless as you are; but solely that He might show forth His Goodness in you, giving you His Grace and Glory. And to this end He gave you understanding that you might know Him, memory that you might think of Him, a will that you might love Him, imagination that you might realise His mercies, sight that you might behold the marvels of His works, speech that you might praise Him, and so on with all your other faculties.
Being created and placed in the world for this intent, all contrary actions should be shunned and rejected, as also you should avoid as idle and superfluous whatever does not promote it.
Consider how unhappy they are who do not think of all this, —who live as though they were created only to build and plant, to heap up riches and amuse themselves with trifles.

Affections and Resolutions.

Humble yourself in that hitherto you have so little thought upon all this. Alas, my God, of what was I thinking when I did not think of Thee? what did I remember when I forgot Thee? what did I love when I loved Thee not? Alas, when I ought to have been feeding on the truth, I was but filling myself with vanity, and serving the world, which was made to serve me.
Abhor your past life. I renounce ye, O vain thoughts and useless cogitations, frivolous and hateful memories: I renounce all worthless friendships, all unprofitable efforts, and miserably ungrateful self-indulgence, all pitiful compliances.
Turn to God. Thou, my God and Saviour shalt henceforth be the sole object of my thoughts; no more will I give my mind to ideas which are displeasing to Thee. All the days of my life I will dwell upon the greatness of Thy Goodness, so lovingly poured out upon me. Thou shalt be henceforth the delight of my heart, the resting-place of all my affections. From this time forth I will forsake and abhor the vain pleasures and amusements, the empty pursuits which have absorbed my time; —the unprofitable ties which have bound my heart I will loosen henceforth, and to that end I will use such and such remedies.

Conclusion.

Thank God, Who has made you for so gracious an end. Thou hast made me, O Lord, for Thyself, that I may eternally enjoy the immensity of Thy Glory; when shall I be worthy thereof, when shall I know how to bless Thee as I ought?
Offer. O Dearest Lord, I offer Thee all my affections and resolutions, with my whole heart and soul.
Pray. I entreat Thee, O God, that Thou wouldest accept my desires and longings, and give Thy Blessing to my soul, to enable me to fulfil them, through the Merits of Thy Dear Son’s Precious Blood shed upon the Cross for me. OUR FATHER, HAIL MARY. Gather your little spiritual bouquet.