My lord and faithful guide of my life, when I reflect on what thou art and what I myself am when--I think of my ingratitude and thy incredible goodness to me-- my mind is, as it were lost in an abyss. I am confounded, and am able only to say, Thou art a bright intelligence of the Blessed Eternity, a pure spirit, a spirit all light and splendor a spirit of pure love a great prince of the empyrean, and one of the mighty kings of Paradise; and as for me, I am but dust and ashes, a vile lump of clay, a blind and miserable wretch, a very great sinner, yea the worst of sinners. Here in thy holy presence I declare--I desire to say it before all men and to publish it everywhere--that I look upon myself as deserving not only the last place upon earth, but the lowest place in hell--below all the devils--and acknowledge myself to be the vilest creature in the whole world.

And yet thou deignest to love a creature such as this; thou art pleased to bestow a watchful care on all that concerns it to assist it; in all its needs interior and exterior, to defend it against all its enemies, to support it against all the power of hell; thou art pleased--O inconceivable thought!-- to accompany it continually, to be its inseparable companion; and thou rejoicest in loading it with benefits, notwithstanding all the contempt, infidelity, and ingratitude with which it hath treated thee. Next to the love of Jesus and Mary, who ever heard of love like this? Surely it is a love unparalleled in constancy and fidelity; a love the most disinterested, the tenderest the most patient the most beneficent; love the most merciful, the most generous, the strongest, the most devoted.

Great prince, why dost thou love me thus? Whence is it that there is not a single moment of my life which is not marked by some benefit of thine? O my soul, it is sweet to thee to muse upon the signal mercies for which thou art indebted to this dear prince of thy life. It is sweet to thee to remember how he hath saved thee from hell, to recollect the graces he hath obtained for thee the unspeakable assistance he hath given thee on all occasions, the loving care he hath taken of all that regards both thy temporal and thy spiritual interests. O my lord, what return can I make thee for all these benefits? Ah! too clearly do I see that it is impossible for me to make any worthy acknowledgment for the exceeding favors thou hast shown me. Should I give thee thanks with every breath I draw, it were but a small requital. O my soul what then, shall we do? Let us enter into the powers of the Lord, (1) and offer out of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary a worthy thanksgiving for so much goodness. When we have thought and said everything it will not be enough; should we even give our life for so beneficent a prince, we should not pay the debt we owe him replenished as we have been through his favour with every manner of blessings, and delivered from every kind of evil.

But, O most amiable prince as both words and strength fail me, I would speak to thee through the Precious Heart of the Adorable Jesus and that of His most holy Mother. Alas! I know well that I cannot comprehend the ineffable language of those Sacred Hearts; but at least I desire to say all that They will say to thee for me. Receive as my thanksgiving, which I fain would pay thee but cannot the thanks that They will offer thee. Let them be for ever the just reward of thy services and the rich acknowledgment of all thy love. My heart also pledges itself by an inviolable resolution to love thee truly. O my lord, bestow, I pray thee, thy benediction on these good desires and on the sincere intention which I have to honor thee by all the actions of my life, in God only, and for God only, desiring to live as thy servant and the servant of all the Nine Choirs of Angels for the remainder of my days. Our Blessed Lady will rejoice that her servant should be thy servant also as well as of all the other Princes of Heaven, thy companions and that his whole life should be devoted to honor thee and them, together with herself, unceasingly, to its last moment, and throughout eternity, and that all his days here below should be like so many festivals of Paradise.

Present, dear ruler of my heart this resolution which thou knowest I have long taken, together with this little work, to all the Three Hierarchies, to all the Nine Angelic Choirs--the burning Seraphim, the radiant Cherubim, the glorious Thrones, the mighty Dominations, the divine Virtues, the tremendous Powers, the sacred Principalities, the holy Archangels, and the loving Angels; and say to them all which thou wilt know so well how to say in thy angelic fashion, and which I am wholly unable to express. The offering of a miserable life like mine and of this poor work, is most unworthy of their deserts; but do thou supply my poverty and my imperfections. Coming from thy hand, an angelic hand, Angels cannot but receive it graciously. Tell them also that my heart is full of desire to honor and to love them in a far more excellent way; and that fain would it possess the hearts of all men to give them to all the angelic choirs, that they may present them without reserve to the Most Amiable Hearts of Jesus and Mary, where reigns, and ever has reigned God Only. It is this God Only, O most faithful, most constant, and most loving of my friends, whom I desire in all these desires: but once again, O my lord, for an end so worthy, bestow thy holy blessing upon all the days of my life and at the awful hour of death. Amen. Amen. God Only, God Only, God Only-- Who is the end of all devotion to the most holy Virgin, to the Angels, and the Saints, and Whom I desire to honor without ceasing in all the honors which I render them.


"The Angels," says St. Augustine, "love us as their fellow-citizens, and hope to see us fill up what has been lost to their own number by the fall of the rebel angels. For this reason they are always present with us, and watch over us with the greatest care. At all times, and in every place, they are ready to help us, and to provide for our wants. They walk with us in all our ways; going out and coming in, they follow us still, anxiously considering whether we live piously and purely in the midst of a wicked world. They assist those who labor; they guard those who rest; they encourage those who light; they crown those who conquer; they rejoice with the joyful, and sympathize with the suffering. When we do well, the angels are glad, but the devils are sad. When we sin, the devils rejoice, but the angels are cheated of their joy." (Solil.ap. 27.) We ought, therefore, to honor these blessed spirits with very great reverence and affection, and to pray to them, especially our guardian angels, to whom God has given charge over us, to keep us in all our ways (Ps. xc), and we may be sure that this devotion will be most pleasing to them, and most useful to ourselves.




O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise Him and exalt him above all forever. Praise the Lord from the heavens: praise ye Him in the high places. Praise Him, all ye His angels; praise ye Him, all His hosts. Bless the Lord, all ye His angels, you that are mighty in strength, and execute His word, hearkening to the voice of His orders. Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts; ye ministers of His that do His will. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all He hath done for thee. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion. For He hath given His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon. The Angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them.


V. I will sing praise to thee, O my God, in the sight of the Angels.
R. I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to Thy name.

O God, who, in most admirable order, dost assign the various offices, both of angels and of men: grant, we beseech thee, that they who always minister before thy face in heaven, may also defend us in this our life on earth. Through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.