Chapter 28: The thrice-repeated prayer, the prostration before the Father of the Lord Jesus, and the resignation by Him of His Own Will

I BLESS You, and give thanks to You, O Lord Jesus Christ, Stay of Angels, Refuge of the distressed, for Your agonizing prayer, and Your lowly falling flat upon the ground; when thrice, upon Your bended knees, You did earnestly and devoutly beseech Your Heavenly Father that, if it were possible, the Chalice of Your Passion might pass from You, and yet did ever add the words: " Nevertheless not as I will, but as You will."

I praise and glorify You, for Your mighty struggle against the fear of death, and of the anguish of Your most bitter Passion; when the flame of Divine Love burnt so fiercely within You, as to thrust out all human fear.

I praise You, and give thanks to You, for the copious shedding of Your Sweat of Blood; when, being in an Agony, You did pray yet more fervently; and, against the order of nature, did give out from Your body, as sweat, drops of blood.

I adore You, and give You glory, for Your humble acceptance of the angelic consolation, which You, the Maker and the King of the Heavenly Host, for the more strengthening of our feebleness, did not disdain to receive at the hands of Angels: that so, weaklings as we are, we may be led to seek, not the comfort which is but for a moment, but that true strength which comes from above.

O most sweet Jesus, with what fervour of Love must You have loved me, that You did pray for me so earnestly as to give forth — in Your great desire to suffer for me — in place of natural sweat. Your Own warm Blood, trickling down upon the ground.

O Almighty Creator of my soul, and perfect Pattern of my life, I praise You, and magnify You for ever, for Your boundless resignation; and for Your complete conquest of Your Own Will, and of all Your feelings as a Man, which would have made You shrink from pain and death. I praise and magnify You for having at once, without the least wavering, when the hour of Your Passion was at hand, resigned Yourself freely and willingly to Your Father's Will, saying: " Father, not my will, but Yours, be done." Words indeed these were, with which You did magnify Your Heavenly Father's glory: did heap further benefits upon us; did yet more firmly tread the devil under foot; and did show forth, to those who believe in You, more plainly than ever before, the model of perfection, the ensign of salvation, and the path of the highest virtue.

O adorable Jesus, You Whose example we must ever keep before us, grant, I most earnestly beseech You, that I may obtain the fruit of this Your thrice-repeated prayer, and that in the life in Religion which I have taken upon myself, I may strive to imitate the example of Your self-denial. Give me grace manfully to bring into subjection to the spirit the stubbornness of my flesh; to crush all shrinking from bodily pain; to use prayer more often than before; to be ever watchful therein; to trust lovingly to You for help; to leave confidently in Your hands the issue of all my undertakings; utterly to renounce my own will in everything; and to be always ready courageously to bear whatever troubles may come upon me.