Wednesday, January 4 : Saint Gertrude of Helfta

O Holy Father, receive me in thy most tender and fatherly love, that, having finished the race which for love of thee I have begun to run, I may receive thee as the everlasting prize of my course (1 Co 9:24). O most loving Jesus, receive me into thy sweetest brotherhood; bear with me the burden of the day and the consuming heat (Mt 20:12); be thou my consolation in toil, my companion and my guide in all my weary wandering. O Holy Spirit, receive me into thy most merciful love ; be thou the master and teacher of my whole life, and my soul’s most tender friend. Take away the hedge of my life past, and throw down the wall thereof, that wall which separateth me from thee. Draw me to thee with force so mighty that I may henceforward and evermore follow thee lovingly and willingly, ravished and borne onwards by the sweetness of thy love. O merciful Jesus, I can indeed desire and resolve, but such is the frailty of my human nature, that I find not how to accomplish what is good; wherefore do thou aid me with thine almighty grace (Rm 7:18). Turn my whole soul towards thee with the mighty impulse of thy love. Then shall I run in the way of thy commandments (Ps 118:32), and not be weary; then shall I cleave inseperably to thee; and thou wilt be with me, O my Master, my succour and my strength, in the great work I have taken upon me for love of thy love.
Roman Catholic Ordinary Calendar – rosary,team