Act of Oblation as Victim to God's Merciful Love
(Composed by St. Thérèse)
In order that my life may be one act of perfect Love,
I offer myself as a victim of holocaust to Thy merciful Love,
imploring Thee to consume me unceasingly,
and to allow the floods of infinite tenderness gathered up in Thee to overflow into my soul,
so that I may become a very martyr to Thy Love,
O my God.
May this martyrdom,
after having prepared me to appear in Thy presence,
free me from this life at the last and my soul take flight
-- without delay --
into eternal embrace of Thy Merciful Love.
O my Beloved!
I desire at every beat of my heart to renew this oblation an infinite number of times,
'till the shadows retire,'
and everlastingly I can tell Thee my love face to face.
