Page 18 - VOWS AND ACT

renew the sweet, holy bonds that unite me so closely to you.
Far from scaring me, their chains cheer me and strengthen
me. By all means let me be wholly bound to you, held close
from every side, no longer owner even of a thought, nor even
of a glance. I am quite content provided you give me the grace
to please you. I renew most gladly the sweet bond of virginal
Chastity: grant me a thousand deaths, a thousand martyrdoms
rather than permit that I be unfaithful to you. My heart must be
entirely yours, and equally so my body and my freedom, too. I
reserve myself no other option than that of loving you with all
the powers of my being, if you help me.

I renew my binding-vow of charity towards my neighbour. Lord,
give me a generous heart, help me in all that I undertake,
purify my intentions, help me in my weakness; on my part I
resolve to shake off my laziness once for all, to find all ways
and means to be of spiritual and material benefit to my
neighbour, as much as my limited strength permits.

With trepidation, yes, but with a generous and resolute
heart I renew the strictest of my bonds, that of seeking in all
that I do, think and speak what I clearly know to be more
perfect. By this I put myself under the obligation to seek myself
no longer, but instead, to go against myself and deny myself

what I feel like, to let suffering be my life’s nourishment, to
seek after a hidden life of humiliations, in a word: I am strictly
bound to check every thought, look or word except when I
have to use them for your glory and for the good of souls: of
others and my own.

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