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the DAILY KNIGHT

34 Acts of Love to Jesus Christ in Honor of His Years of Life ~By St. John Eudes

Alexandra Clark | The Daily Knight


Dear Faithful Souls, as we enter this Passiontide of the final weeks of Lent, let us increase our acts of Love to the Divine Savior whose Sacrifice on the Cross was the climax of His expression and the giving of His all for the Love of us! May these Thirty-Four Acts of Love of Jesus Christ, written by Saint John Eudes in Honor of the Thirty-Four Years of His Life on Earth inflame our hearts to Love Christ Crucified! Below you will also find a button for a printable PDF version that I have created with inspirational pictures to help you pray them with great fervor. May the Pure Love of Christ reign and burn in our hearts now and forever!!!


Taken from The Life and the Kingdom of Jesus in Christian Souls

a Treatise on Christian Perfection by Father St. John Eudes



34 Acts of Love


1. 0 Jesus, my Saviour, Thou art all lovable, infinitely lovable and infinitely worthy of love. 0 my God, I need no other knowledge but this. What concern have I with so many studies and ideas and considerations? It suffices me to know that my Jesus is all lovable, and that there is nothing in Him that is not worthy of being loved beyond measure. Let my mind then he satisfied with this knowledge; but may the hunger of my heart to love Him Who can never be loved enough, never be sated.


2. Alas! My Saviour, I know that this poor, insignificant, imperfect heart of mine is not worthy to love Thee. But Thou art exceeding worthy to be loved, and Thou didst create this poor heart only that it might love Thee. Thou dost command it to love Thee under pain of death, eternal death. God of my heart, Thou hast no need to command. To love Thee is what I want, what I desire, what my heart sighs after. Yes, my Jesus, I no longer want any other desire. Farewell all other thoughts, all other inclinations, all other wishes. I wish to have but one increasing purpose here on earth; I desire nothing, only to love Jesus, who i s the love and delight of heaven and earth. Ah, Jesus! Ah, My Dear Jesus! What do I desire on earth? Nothing, 0 my all, but only to love Thee.


3. 0 Jesus, worthy of all desire, indeed I long to love Thee, not only with all the power of my too feeble will, but to the full extent and with all the might of Thy divine will, which is mine since Thou hast given me all. Add to that the will of all men and angels. They also are mine, since in giving Thyself to me Thou hast given me everything. 0 sweetest Lord, would that I were entirely transformed into desires, aching, yearning, and longing to love Thee ever more and more!


4. 0 Thou desire of my soul, grant me the favor I implore; hearken to the cry of my heart. Thou knowest, Lord, what I ask of Thee; my heart has so Often told Thee. I ask nothing but the perfection of Thy holy love. I desire only to love Thee and ever to grow progressively in that desire. 0 Thou object of all my desires, increase in me the desire to love Thee, which Thou hast given me. Increase it so much and make it so burning and strong that I may henceford incessantly with the desire of Thy love.


5. 0 Jesus, worthy of all love, crown of all desire, enkindle in my soul so burning a thirst and so extreme a hunger for Thy holy love that it may be to me a ceaseless martyrdom not to love Thee enough, and let nothing more in this world be able to cause me sorrow, except that I love Thee too little.


6. 0 Good Jesus! Who is there who would not wish to love Thee? Who would not desire to love ever more and more such lovable goodness? My God, my life and my all, I cannot be content to tell Thee that I desire to love Thee as perfectly as possible, and that I desire it so much that, if it were possible, I should will my whole spirit to be transformed into wishing, my whole soul into desire, my heart into yearning, my life into longing.


7. 0 King of my heart, take pity on my misery. Thou knowest that I want to love Thee. But alas! Thou seest how much there is in me that goes against Thy love. Thou seest the innumerable multitude of my sins, my self-will, my self-love, my pride and all the other vices and imperfections which keep me from loving Thee perfectly. I detest and abhor all these defects which so obstruct my desire to love Thee! What must I do to destroy them? I stand ready to do and suffer all that pleases Thee for that end. Exert the strength of Thy powerful arm to exterminate in my soul all the enemies of Thy love.

8. 0 Jesus, everything in Thee is love, and all love for me. And although I ought to be all love for Thee, there is in me nothing of myself, whether in body or in soul, that is not opposed to Thy love. Oh, what pain! Oh!, what anguish! How can I tolerate my own self? Where art Thou, divine love? Where is Thy power? Where the force of Thy mighty arm? 0 consuming and devouring fire, where are Thy heavenly flames? Why dost Thou not totally annihilate this wicked and sinful life of mine, and establish Thy life, divine and holy?


9. 0 all-powerful love, I surrender myself entirely to Thy holy might. Come, I beseech Thee, into my soul, there to destroy all that displeases Thee, and to establish Thy heavenly kingdom. If suffering is all that is required to effect this change, I offer myself with my whole heart to Thee, that I may suffer all the martyrdom and torments that ever have been and ever shall be suffered in the world. Spare me not, love! Nothing matters except that I he set free from all that displeases my Saviour and of all attachments that keep me from loving Him. I long to love my Jesus and I will to love Him perfectly, no matter what the cost, no matter what the sacrifice.


10. 0 God of love, Thou art all lovable, all loving, all love and all love for me. Why am I not also all love for Thee? Why are not heaven and earth transformed into a pure flame of love for Thee?


11. My sweet love, who shall henceforth prevent me from loving Thee, now that I realize Thy immense goodness? Shall my body? I will grind it to dust first! Shall my past sins? 0 Jesus, I plunge them deep into the sea of Thy Precious Blood. Take my body and my soul and make me suffer all that pleases Thee, to purge them utterly, so that they may no longer prevent me from loving Thee. Shall the world, or creatures stop me? No. With all my might I renounce all affections of sense and all created things. I consecrate my whole heart and all my affections to Jesus, my Creator and my God. And as for you, 0 world, excommunicated from Jesus, since He and His disciples are not of this world, and since He said that He prayed not for the world, know once and for all that I give you up forever. I fly from you as from an excommunicate; it is my will to consider you as an antichrist, the enemy of my Lord Jesus Christ. I will set no more store by your praises and censures, your pleasures and ambitions, or by all that you most highly value and cherish than I would by a dream or a puff of smoke that vanishes away. I will hold in abhorrence your spirit, your code of behavior, your opinions and your accursed maxims. Finally, I will hate and persecute your malice just as much as you hate and persecute the goodness of my Lord Jesus Christ. Farewell then, world, and once again farewell to all that is not God. Jesus shall henceforth be my world, my fame, my fortune, my delight and my all. I no longer desire to see anything but Jesus Christ. Eyes, dose yourselves up against all else, for He alone is a worthy Object of vision. I no longer want to please anyone but Jesus. I no longer want to have any love or affection save for Him. I no longer want to rejoice except in His love and in performing His most amiable will. Nor do I any longer wish to grieve except for what offends Him and is contrary to His divine love. 0 love! 0 love! Let me love or let me die: nay, rather let me both die and love! Die to all that is not Jesus, and then love Him alone to perfection.


12. 0 King of my love, Thou hast placed me on earth only that I may love Thee. Oh, how noble, how holy and how lofty is the end for which Thou hast created me! 0 what a favor, 0 my heart! What an honor was given Thee, when Thou wast created for the same purpose as the God who made Thee, and to employ thyself in the same divine activity which is His ceaseless concern! This great God exists only to contemplate and love Himself eternally and continually. My soul is created only to love the God who made it , and to be forever employed in loving and blessing Him. May He be forever loved and blessed, the King of all hearts, who has given to me a heart ,capable of loving Him! God of my heart, since Thou hast created me only to love Thee, do not allow me to live except in love of Thee, ever growing in Thy love. Death or love! Give me more life, my God, only that I may love Thee more. Better a thousand deaths than the loss of Thy love.


13. 0 divine love, be the life of my life, soul of my soul, heart of my heart. Let me live no more save in Thee and by Thee. Let me no more subsist save by Thee and for Thee.

14. Thou sole object of my heart, Thou alone art worthy to be loved. All that is not Thee is mere nothingness and deserves not even one passing glance. It is Thee alone that I desire, Thee alone that I seek, Thee alone I long to love. Thou art my all; the rest is nothing to me now and I no longer want to regard anything or love anything, save Thee in all things. 0 Dearest Jesus, Thou art my greatest friend; indeed Thou art my one and only friend. To me Thou art Father, Brother, Spouse and Head. Thou art all mine. I desire to be all Thine forever.


15. 0 Jesus, who alone art worthy to be loved, who alone dost love and alone art loved by the Eternal Father and by all the elect who love in heaven, grant that I may love Thee above all things, alone in all things, and that if I love any created thing, I may love it only in Thee and for Thee.


16. 0 Thou only love of my heart! 0 Thou sole object of my love! Nothing in heaven or on earth is worthy of love save Thee. When, therefore, shall it be ordained that men will see nothing and love nothing in heaven and on earth save Thee?


17. 0 Jesus, 0 my one and only love, detach me altogether from myself and from all things. Draw me inescapably close to Thee. Possess me so fully and so absolutely that nothing but Thee may ever retain any part of my mind or my heart.


18. 0 Dearest Jesus! How lovable Thou art, and yet how little loved! The world thinks not of Thee, nor of loving Thee. it thinks only of offending Thee and of persecuting those who desire to love Thee. Let me then think of Thy love instead of the world and concentrate all my thoughts on loving Thee! Grant that I may love Thee as much as the world ought to love Thee.


19. 0 Eternal Son of the Eternal Father, Thou art all lovable, all loving, and all love. From all eternity Thou didst begin, without beginning. to love me forever. If I had existed from all eternity, I should have been bound to love Thee always. As I have only existed in time I should at least have loved Thee from the first moment 1 obtained the use of reason. Alas! I have begun to love Thee late indeed, nor do I even dare to say that I have even now begun to love Thee as I should. 0 Eternal God, Thou hast never passed a moment without loving me, through all the extent of Thy eternity, and yet I hardly know if I have ever spent a single moment of my life in loving Thee as I ought. On the contrary, I know only too well that I have never spent a day without offending Thee. What pain, what heart break for my soul, 0 Lord; I can not tolerate myself when I think of this. Break with grief, 0 my heart. Dissolve into tears, 0 eyes! Why am I not dissolved into a sea of tears of penance and of blood, to lament and wipe out my prodigious ingratitude towards such great kindness! 0 love, no more offenses, no more sin, no more infidelity, no longer anything but love!


20. 0 eternal love, Thou art loved from all eternity by the Eternal Father and by the Holy Spirit. Boundless is my joy at this; I unite myself with this love, and I lose myself in the ceaseless love of the Father and the Holy Spirit for Thee from all eternity.


21. 0 everlasting beauty! 0 eternal goodness! If I had an eternity on earth, I should be bound to employ it all in Thy love. How great, then, is my obligation to use what little life and time remain for me to love Thee! 0 dearest Lord, I consecrate it all to Thy holy love. Grant that I may no longer live save to love Thee, and that no moment of my life may pass without being employed in Thy divine love! But above all, grant me to love Thee for all eternity. Whatever happens, I unite myself now with all the love that shall be Thine throughout eternity. 0 eternity of love! My Dearest Jesus, consume me with thy divine Fire; dismember me, reduce me to dust and make me suffer everything Thou dost please in this world, provided only that I may love Thee eternally.


22. 0 King of Ages, Thou hast bought, at the price of Thy blood, every minute of my time and of my life so that I might use them in loving Thee. Too much, too much, alas, have I wasted on self-love, on love of the world and on attachment to created things. Too much time have I lost, time that has cost Thee so dearly, which ought to be so precious to me, since it could be employed in such great and important work as the infinite concerns of Thy divine love. It is indeed time, 0 Jesus, high time, that I begin seriously to practise the holy exercises of Thy sacred love. Let me have no more days and hours, except to love Thee. Let me so dispose my life that there may remain for me in all the world only myself and Thee. May I have nothing to do but think Of Thee and converse with Thee, heart to heart, spirit to spirit. And may nothing, of all the things that happen in the world, touch me or pertain to me, save only the one care and the one desire to love Thee. 0 Jesus, increase in me this desire, and make it become so burning and so urgent that it may grow from a simple desire, into continual longing. May I aspire to Thee incessantly; may I tend towards Thee perpetually; may I yearn for Thee night and day without ceasing. 0 Sweetest Jesus, Thou only love of my desires, when will the time come when I shall be utterly transformed into a pure flame of love for Thee?


23. 0 immense love, God of the Universe, Thou dost fill heaven and earth; Thou art everywhere and in all things. Everywhere dost Thou infinitely love the Father and the Holy Spirit, and art infinitely loved by Them. So, too, Thou dost love me infinitely in all places and in all things. Let me love Thee also in all places and all things, and let me love all things in Thee and for Thee. To that end, I unite myself to Thy divine immensity, and in its fathomless power, I direct my mind and my will everywhere and into all places in the world. There, in all the power and immensity of Thy spirit and Thy love, I love Thee, glorify Thee and adore Thee infinitely. I also unite myself to the all-embracing love of Thy Father and Thy Holy Spirit for Thee, manifested everywhere and in all things that are in heaven, on earth and even in hell.


24. 0 infinite goodness, an infinite love would be necessary to love Thee as Thou dost deserve. What joy for my soul, what satisfaction for my heart, to know Thou art so good, so perfect, and so lovable that even if all creatures on earth and in heaven were to exert all their strength, throughout eternity, they would never be able to love Thee enough. There is none but Thyself, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, capable of loving Thee worthily.


25. 0 infinite goodness, if I had every single heart and the total capacity for love possessed by all men and angels, I should be bound to exert them all in the love of Him who is infinitely lovable, and directs all the sources of His wisdom, power and goodness to loving me and working so many wonders for my love. How great, then, is my obligation to exert my little strength in loving His goodness! Henceforth, 0 my Dear Jesus, I desire to pour forth all the powers of my body and soul in loving Thee. But that is not enough. I desire also to gather unto myself all the might of heaven and earth, which belong to me by Thy gift of Thyself, and exert them all in loving Thee. I desire to employ likewise all the powers of Thy divinity and humanity, which are also mine, since Thou hast Thyself given Thyself to me. I love Thee, then, 0 Jesus, I love Thee with all my might, with all the strength of my body and my soul, all the capacity of every creature in heaven and on earth, and all the powers of Thy divinity and humanity.

26. But what am I saying, 0 my God? I am not worthy to love Thee. To Thee alone belongs so holy and divine a function. Therefore, I annihilate myself at Thy feet, plunging into the deepest abyss of my nothingness. I give myself all to Thee. Do Thou Thyself destroy me by the power of that most mighty love, which reduced Thee even to our nothingness, and establish Thyself in me in order to love Thyself there with a love worthy of Thee. Let me love Thee, henceforth, no longer by myself nor by the powers of my own mind and my own love, but by Thee and by Thy mighty spirit and Thy flaming love.


27. 0 Most Lovable Jesus, Thou dost assure us in Holy Writ that the Father loves us even as He loves Thee, that is, with the same affection and the same love with which He loves Thee. Thou dost command us to love Thee as Thou dost love the Heavenly Father and to remain ever in Thy love, even as Thou dost ever dwell in the love of the Father. But, Lord, Thou knowest my powerlessness to love Thee by myself. Grant me the grace to perform what Thou dost command of me; then command me as Thou wilt. Destroy my own heart and my self- love. Implant within me Thy Heart and Thy love, so that I may henceforth love Thee as Thou lovest the Father and as the Father loves Thee. May I always remain in Thy love, as Thou dost remain always in the love of Thy Father; and may I do everything by the power and under the guidance of that love. Yes, my Jesus, it is in that eternal, infinite and immense love of the Father for Thee, and of Thee for the Father for all eternity, that I desire to love Thee from now on, consecrating to that love my every thought, word and deed for Thee. It is Thy infinite love, Thy immense Heart all filled with treasures of sublime love, that I offer to Thee as my own heart and love, since Thou gavest it to me in giving me Thyself, together with the beloved heart of Thy peerless Mother, the most lovable, the most loved, and the most loving of all human hearts. To these I add the hearts of all the saints and holy persons in heaven and on earth, and I offer them as my own, since Thy holy apostle, St. Paul, teaches us that the Almighty Father, in giving Thee to us, gave us all things together with Thee (Rom. 8, 32).


28. 0 Jesus, Thou art purity itself and Thou dost love me with an exceedingly pure love. I desire also to love Thee with the purest love possible. Hence, I wish to love Thee in Thyself, in Thy own love; I desire to love nothing but Thee for Thyself alone, and solely for Thy good pleasure. I love Thee, 0 my Dearest Jesus, I love Thee with that exceeding pure love Thou hast for Thyself. I love thee also in the most pure love of the Eternal Father, the Holy Spirit, Thy most pure Mother, Thy angels and Thy saints. 0 Father of Jesus, angels of Jesus and His saints, 0 all creatures, come to my aid. Help me to love your Creator and mine. Come, let us love Him, our most lovable Lord, let us employ and expend all our being and all our powers in loving Him who created us only that we might love Him.


29. 0 Thou my heart's dear Friend and Thou dear Heart of my love! How desolate it is, and how much to be lamented with tears of blood, to see Thee loved so little even by those who claim to love Thee. And this is strange because there is no one so worthy of love as Thou; yet it seems there is nothing in the world less loved than Thou art. There are many souls who love the thought of heaven and the sweetness of Thy grace and the consolations of Thy love, but out of a thousand good men scarcely one will be found to love Thee purely for love of Thyself alone. 0 most pure love, my dearest Saviour, Thee alone do I seek, Thee alone do I desire, Thee alone do I love. I desire to love Thee not for my own interest and satisfaction, not because it is sweet full of consolation, but because Thou art most worthy to be loved for Thyself alone.


30. When shall I love Thee so purely that I shall be able to say with truth: My Jesus is my all and everything else to me is nothing. He alone sufficeth me, and I desire no other. I desire Him not for myself but for His own goodness. The joys of Paradise, the consolidation. of heavenly love, are not my aim. I seek the Lord of Paradise and the divine Author of all consolations. And even if He were never to favor me with any consolations or reward (which would not be possible to His goodness), yet should I wish to love Him always, because He is most worthy of love, for love of Himself. I desire no other reward than to have the power to love Him for His own sake alone. 0 Good Jesus, implant these loving dispositions in my heart and in the hearts of all mankind especially those to whom Thou knowest I am indebted and eager to remember in my prayers. 0 King of all hearts, behold I offer to Thee each poor human heart Thou hast created to love Thee, desiring now only to breathe Thy love. Destroy in those chosen hearts all that is contrary to Thy sacred affection; fill them with Thy divine love. 0 dearest Saviour, draw them to Thyself; unite them to Thy Sacred Heart; engulf them i n Thy love and number them among the blessed of whom it is said: vivent corda eorum in saeculum saeculi: "Their hearts shall live for ever and ever" (PS. 21, 27), that is, they shall live with the life of divine love, in order to love forever the God of love and of life! How blessed are the hearts consecrated for all eternity to adore, praise and love the most adorable and exceedingly lovable Heart of Jesus! Blessed be He who has created these cherished hearts that He might be glorified and loved by them forever!


31. 0 God of my life and of my heart, Thou dost ever love me. Thou dost employ all Thy powers and all creation in heaven and on earth, to testify to me of Thy love. I learn from one of Thy dearest saints: "Heaven and earth and all creation never cease to tell me that I should love the Lord my God" (St. Augustine., Manuale, c.24). Everything that I hear, everything I see, taste, touch and smell, everything that can be known or desired by my memory, understanding and will, all things visible and invisible that are contained in the order of nature, grace and glory, all the temporal and eternal graces I have received from Thee, all the angels and saints, all the encouraging examples they have given me by their virtues and their holy lives, all the wonders Thou hast worked on behalf of Thy most holy Mother, all the perfections inherent in the essence of Thy Divine Person, all the mysteries of Thy divinity and humanity, all Thy divine attributes and virtues, all Thy thoughts, words, deeds and sufferings, every step Thou didst take on earth, every drop of Thy Precious Blood, all the wounds of Thy sacred body, in a word, all things that are or ever were, in created or uncreated being, in time and in eternity, constitute so many tongues, by which Thou dost continually proclaim to me Thy goodness and Thy love. All these things incessantly testify that Thou dost love me and dost urge me to love Thee in return. All are so many voices by which Thou dost say constantly to me: Amo te, amo te: dilige me quia ipse prior dilexi te. Dilige Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, ex tota anima tua, et ex totis viribus tuis. I love thee, I love thee; love Me for I have loved thee first. Love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and thy whole soul and thy whole strength."

Finally, all these things are so many preachers, so many voices crying out to me without ceasing: Love, love for Jesus, who is all love for you, who employs all that He is, all that He has, all that He knows, all that He does and all that depends on Him, in heaven and on earth, to make you realize the love He bears you, and to win your heart and compel you to love Him. My Lord and my God, how surpassingly great is Thy bounty and how wonderful Thy love for me! Thou dost love, desire and seek me with intensity and fervor, as if I were of great concern to, Thee, as if I were indeed truly necessary to Thee. Thou dost desire to possess me and dost fear to lose me as if I were a precious treasure. Thou dost pursue my friendship with as much insistence as if Thy happiness depended upon it. Would there be anything more Thou couldst do for me, 0 Lord, even if Thy whole happiness and glory did depend upon my love?

0 profound kindness, I lose myself in Thy fathomless depths. 0 priceless kindness, how can it be Thou art so little valued, so little loved, and so much offended and persecuted by those whom Thou lovest so? 0 hearts of men, how hardened you must be not to be softened by so many persuasive and loving voices! How frozen, not to be melted by so many sacred fires and flames! How can I resist so many powerful attractions of Thy infinite kindness? What dost Thou desire or expect of me, 0 my Saviour, except that I reply to Thee with St. Peter, the Prince of the apostles: Amo te, amo te, I love Thee, I love Thee" (John 21, 15-17). But instead of replying to Thee thus, I have cried out against Thee with the cruel Jews, by the voice of my sins: Tolle, tolle; crucifige eum (John 19, 15). 0 what anguish and heart rending sorrow! All my sins, my ingratitude, my perverse inclinations, my self-love, my seIf-will, my pride, all my other vices, all my evil thoughts, words and actions, all the misuse of my bodily senses, of spiritual faculties, all are so many voices worthy of hell that clamor against Thee unceasingly with the Jews: Tolle, tolle; crucifige eum. 0 detestable traitor! Is this how you love Him who is all love for you? Is this your answer to Him who calls you with such sweet persuasion to His love? Is this how you repay His unbounded kindness for all the blessings you have received from Him? Forgive me, 0 most generous Lord, I beseech Thee, forgive me. May all Thy kindness and mercies (if I be permitted to say it thus) ask forgiveness for me. May Thy holy Mother, with all the angels and saints, cast themselves down at Thy feet to win this pardon from Thy clemency. May all the creatures by which Thou dost cry out to me, I love you," be so many suppliants on my behalf before the throne of Thy benignity, crying with all the humility, repentance and contrition that ever was or ever shall be: "Forgive, forgive, have mercy on this poor sinner!" 0 most merciful Saviour, may it please Thee to accept and approve by Thy great mercy the promises I am about to make for the future. 0 my Most Lovable Jesus, since Thou dost constantly love me, and since Thou dost employ all that is within and without Thyself in loving me, I, too, desire to be ever concerned in loving Thee, employing all that is within and without me in Thy holy love.

And even if, to imagine the impossible, I were to be in no way under obligation to love Thee, I should, nevertheless, desire to love Thee with my whole heart and all my strength. To that end, if it please Thee, I desire to dedicate all my thoughts, words and deeds, all die functions and senses of my body and faculties of my soul, my every breath and heartbeat, every pulse of my veins, every instant of my life, all things that have been, are, and shall be in me, even my sins, so far as it is possible, to Thy wisdom, which well knows how to make all things cooperate for the good of those who love Thee. I desire that all these things may turn into so many voices, by which I may continue ceaselessly and eternally telling Thee, with all the love in heaven and on earth: Amo te, amo te, etiam Domine Jesu, amo te. I love Thee, I love Thee, yes, my Lord Jesus, I love Thee." And if any element of my Soul or part of my body says the contrary, I desire that it may be ground into powder and cast to the winds.


32. I also desire that all things that ever were, are and shall be in the orders of nature, grace and glory, in heaven or on earth and even in hell, may be as many voices proclaiming without ceasing forever, on my behalf: Amo te, amo te, Domine Jesu, I love Thee, I love Thee, Lord Jesus." This is the spiritual use I am bound and freely desire to make of all things, in so far as they belong to me and have been given to me by Thee to employ in Thy love.


33. I also desire further, 0 my Jesus, that all the powers and perfections of Thy divinity and humanity, all Thy states, mysteries, attributes, virtues, thoughts, words, acts and sufferings, all Thy sacred wounds, every drop of Thy Precious Blood, every moment of Thy eternity, if such an expression he permissible, all things that are or ever existed in Thy body, soul and divinity, may be so many voices proclaiming to Thee forever for me: Amo, te, amantissime Jesu, amo te bonitas infinita; amo te ex tote corde meo, ex tota anima mea, et ex totis viribus meis, et magis atque magis amare volo. I love Thee, 0 Most Loving Jesus; I love Thee, 0 infinite goodness; I love Thee, with my whole heart, with my whole soul, and all my might, and I desire to love Thee ever more and more." Finally, my Saviour, I desire, if it please Thee, that there may no, longer be anything in existence, in my body or in my soul, in my life and my eternity, which is not transformed into love for Thee. In order to implement my desires and wishes effectively, I desire and will all this, not with my human and natural will, which is too weak and unworthy to he employed in willing such great and holy things, but with Thy divine will, 0 Jesus, which is all powerful and belongs to me, since Thou art all mine. 0 my Lord, if my powers were as great as my desires, I should in deed make everything achieve its perfect fulfilment for Thy glory and love. But it is for me to desire and for Thee to effect-Thou cast do all things and dost the will of them that fear Thee. Grant, then, these my cherished and deepest desires, 0 Most Beloved Jesus.

I beg this of Thee by all that Thou art, by Thy infinite goodness and mercy, by everything Thou dost love, and by all who love Thee in heaven and on earth for Thy most pure love and satisfaction. Thy love is mine and since I will what I have said in the power of Thy divine will, my confidence is firm that, in Thy infinite goodness, all these things shall be effected as Thy eternal wisdom deems most fitting to the glory of Thy divine greatness.


34. Good Jesus, when will the time come when there will no longer remain anything in me to prevent me from loving Thee? Too well I know that this shall never be on earth, but only in heaven. 0 beautiful heaven! How you appeal to my desires! 0 blessed city where Jesus is perfectly loved and His glorious love fully reigns, where no hearts dwell that are not completely transformed in this divine love! 0 earth, 0 world, 0 body, dark prison of my soul, how unbearable you are! Wretch that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Do I still have long to remain in this miserable exile, in this strange land, in this place of sin and accursedness? Will not that day soon come, that desirable hour for which I have so often longed, in which I shall begin to love most perfectly my most lovable Lord?


My Dearest Jesus, shall I then never love Thee as I desire? God of mercy, wilt Thou not take pity upon my sorrow? Wilt Thou refuse to hear my supplication? Wilt Thou not grant what I implore with such pitiful cries? 0 my Lord, to Thee do I cry, Thee do I desire, for Thee do I long. Well Thou knowest that I desire nothing on heaven or earth, in life or in death, except Thy pure love. Mother of Christ, angels and saints of Christ and all His creatures, take pity on my sorrow; speak on my behalf to the Beloved of my soul; tell Him that I pine away with love of Him. Tell Him that I desire nothing in time or eternity but His pure love; I desire neither heaven, nor the glory of heaven, nor the great joys of paradise, nor the delights of His grace, but only His most pure love. Tell Him that I can no longer live without that pure love. I implore Him to make haste, to fulfil in me the designs and work of His grace and to consume me utterly in His divine love, in order to take me soon into His eternal kingdom. Amen. Veni, Domine Jesu! "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus" (Apoc. 22, 20). Come, my life and my light, come, my love, my all, come unto me and eradicate everything that works against Thy love. Come to me to transform me wholly into love for Thee. Come to draw me to Thee, and to establish me soon in that abode of love where true and perfect love reigns, where all is love, pure and continual, changeless and everlasting.


Come, 0 Dearest Jesus, Thou sole love of my heart. !!!



Taken from Part Five, Chapter Eight in “The Life and the Kingdom of Jesus in a Christian Soul,” a Treatise on Christian Perfection by Father St. John Eudes (Died August 19th, 1680)


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