Act of Resignation

Act of Resignation

It was revealed to St. Gertrude that those who submit and conform themselves entirely to the Divine will, desiring above all things that the adorable will of God may be most fully done in all that concerns them whether in body or in soul, touch the Sacred Heart most sensibly. For such perfect resignation is an acknowledgment of God's sovereignty, and gives Him as much honour as is given to an earthly king when the crown of his realm is set on his head.

O MOST holy Father, I Thy poor and vile creature entirely renounce my own will, and offer and resign myself to Thy most holy will and pleasure; above all delights of this world, I wish and desire that Thy most adorable, most placid Will may be perfectly done in me, by me, in all that concerns me whether in body or in soul, in time and in eternity. And to this end I would readily submit all the members of my body to suffering of any kind and degree.

O my God, wert Thou to give me fullest choice of asking all I wish, and didst Thou swear to me by Thyself that Thou wouldst grant my petition in all things, I would neither desire nor ask aught else than that Thy most adorable will may be perfectly done in me and in every creature of Thine, according to Thy supreme and faultless good pleasure. Wherefore, in union with that resignation with which Jesus committed Himself wholly to Thy will in the garden of Olives, and in union with His affection and His intention, I say from His heart and in His words:

Not my will, but Thine be done, O most holy Father, in time and in eternity. Amen.

Should any affliction threaten you, add the following words, which are most pleasing to God, as He condescended to reveal to St. Gertrude. If anyone, says she, offers his whole will to the will of God when he knows that affliction is coming on him, his offering will be as acceptable to God as though, during the Passion of Jesus, he had allayed the anguish of His wounds with fragrant ointments.

AND more especially, O good Jesus, I offer and resign myself to Thee, in perfect readiness of will to bear that affliction which I foresee coming upon me; I will accept it with unshaken will as from Thy Hand, and I will bear it with what patience I can; in union with that love wherewith Thou didst accept all Thine afflictions from Thy Father's Hand, and didst offer them to Him again in ineffable gratitude; beseeching Thee that Thou wouldst grant me fortitude and patience, that I may manfully endure, to Thy eternal glory and to the welfare and peace of all the world. Amen.

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