Dear Jesus...

Dear Jesus...
make me perfect in fearing you.
Make me pleasing to you
in humility of spirit,
in sisterly charity,
in chaste simplicity,
in humble modesty,
in purity of heart,
in the guarding of my senses,
in holiness of life,
in ready obedience,
in gentle patience,
in spiritual discipline,
in freely chosen poverty,
in holy leniency,
in maturity of conduct,
in cheerfulness of spirit, and
in all thrugh,
in good conscience,
in steadfast faith,
in holy perseverance,
in strenght of hope,
in fulness of charity, and
in the blessed consummation of your cherishing-love:
so that the thornbush of my heart may be converted
into a paradise of all virtues and a red berry bust of total perfection,
as if it were a field blessed by the Lord,
full of all peace, holiness, and devotion.

St. Gertrude the Great

Spiritual Exercises

in Essential Monastic Wisdom