My God, I am so convinced that you keep watch over those who hope in You, and that we can want for nothing when we look for all in You, that I am resolved in the future to live free from every care, and to turn all my anxieties over to You. “In peace, in the selfsame, I will sleep and I will rest, for Thou, O Lord, singularly has settled me in hope.” (Ps 4: 9-10)
Men may deprive me of possessions and of honor; sickness may strip me of strength and the means of serving You. I may even lose Your grace by sin; but I shall never lose my hope. I shall keep it to the last moment of my life; and at that moment all the demons in hell will strive to tear it from me in vain. “In peace, in the selfsame, I will sleep and I will rest.”
Others may look for happiness from their wealth or their talents; others may rest on the innocence of their life, or the severity of their penance, or the amount of their alms, or the fervor of their prayers. “Thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope.” As for me, Lord, all my confidence is confidence itself. This confidence has never deceived anyone. No one, no one who has hoped in the Lord has been confounded!
I am sure, therefore, that I shall be eternally happy, since I firmly hope to be, and because it is from You, O GOD, that I hope for it. “In Thee, O LORD, have I hoped; let me never be confounded.” (Ps 30:1) I know, alas! I know only too well, that I am weak and unstable. I know what temptation can do against the strongest virtue. I have seen the stars of heaven fall, and the pillars of the firmament; but that cannot frighten me. So long as I continue to hope, I shall be sheltered from all misfortune; and I am sure of hoping always, since I hope also for this unwavering hopefulness!
Finally, I am sure that I cannot hope too much in You, and that I cannot receive less than I have hoped for from You. So, I hope You will hold me safe on the steepest slopes, that You will sustain me against the most furious assaults, and that You will make my weaknesses triumph over my most fearful enemies. I hope that You will love me always, and that I too shall love You without ceasing. To carry my hope once and for all as far as it can go, I hope from You to possess You, O my Creator, in time and in eternity.
AMEN.
