Leave me the remembrance of my first sense of the Divine absolution, when my heart overflowing with secret joy, I cried, _I am forgiven, I am forgiven_! And then the recollection of my first Communion! oh, recall it to me, LORD, with its preparation so fearful, yet so loving; its joy so calm, so holy, yet so sweet, that even now the thought of it fills mine eyes with tears! Leave me the remembrance of Thy Benefits! each year of my life is crowned with blessings ... at _ten_ ... _fifteen_ ... _eighteen_ ... _twenty_ years ... oh! I can well recall all Thy goodness to me, my GOD! Yes, receive my memory, blot out all that can estrange me from Thee, and grant that nothing apart from Thee may again find a place there! MY MIND Oh! by what false lights have I been dazzled! They showed me prayer as wearisome; religious duties too absorbing; frequent Communion as useless; social duties as a heavy bondage; devotion the lot of weak minds and those without affection.... Oh, I knew well how false it was, and yet I let myself be half-convinced! When have I ever been more _zealous in labor_ than those days when I had fulfilled all my religious duties? When more _loving and devoted_ than on the days of my Communions? When have I felt _more free, more happy_, than when having fulfilled all the duties of my social position? LORD, receive my mind, and nourish it with Thy Truth! Show me that apart from Thee, _pleasures of the senses_ leave behind only remorse, disgust, weariness, and satiety. _Pleasures of the heart_ cause anxiety, bitterness, rendings, and fears. _Pleasures of the mind_ produce a void, vanity, jealousy, coldness, and humiliations! Teach me that all must pass away ... that nothing is true, nothing is good, nothing is eternal, but Thou, Thou only, O my GOD! MY WILL My deeds are the result of my will, and it is the will only that makes them of any value. Oh, then to begin with, I will learn submission! What I _wish_, may not always be good for me; what I am _bidden_ must be right. O JESUS! grant me the grace of _obedience_, and then let me be bidden many things: works of piety, works of charity, self-renunciation, brilliant deeds, deeds that are ignored in my family life, or wherever I may be, there are numberless calls for all of these; LORD, behold Thy servant! may I be always ready when Thou hast need of me! ALL THAT I HAVE My GOD, how richly hast Thou blessed me! Treasures of love, I offer them to Thee! _I have relations_, dear ones, Thou knowest how I love them.... Ah, if it be Thy Will to take them from this world, before me, though I say it weeping, still I say it, Thy Will be done! _I have friends._... If it be Thy Will they should forget me, think ill of me, leave me alone, with that loneliness of heart so bitter and so keen ... I yield them to Thee!