Lift up thine eyes, O my soul; behold and see the power of thy King, the grace of thy God, the love of thy Saviour, now that thou art so near to Him. Take now thy rest, taste and see how fair and how comely is the Spouse thou hast chosen. See what the delights are of that country towards which thou art sighing. See how fair the splendor of that crown for which thou toilest. See what is the essence and what the infinite grandeur of thy God, Whom thou hast loved, Whom thou hast worshipped, for Whom thou hast constantly longed.
O God of my life, what praises worthy of Thee can I offer Thee? Truly I know not. What shall I render unto Thee, O my well-beloved, for all the benefits wherewith Thou hast overwhelmed me? Thou in me, and I in Thee, O Jesus, my one good; this is the thank-offering I set before Thy glory. I have nothing else beside. My one only offering is what I am in Thee, my life in Thee.
O God, Thou sacred object of my love, expand my heart in Thee, enlarge my soul, and fill me with Thy glory. Oh, when shall it be said unto my soul: “Turn again into thy rest, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee”? When, oh, when shall I hear that blissful word: “Come, enter into the holy place of the rest of thy Spouse”? O Jesus? my sweetest peace, when shall I lay me down and take my rest in Thee, whilst Thou showest me all Thy glory?
Pius VII., by a rescript, Aug. 11, 1818, granted an indulgence of three hundred days to all the faithful who should recite, with a contrite heart, a succession of acts of the love of God, arranged in form of a crown, with five Glory be to the Fathers, etc. By saying them ten times a month for a whole year, a person may gain a plenary indulgence on any day he may choose; confession, communion, and prayers according to the Pope's intentions being supposed.
[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected.]
Footnotes
[1.] Page [234]. [2.] This novena is begun on the twenty-ninth of November. [3.] The novena is begun on the sixteenth day of the month.