Father Look On Me With Mercy

O Father of Jesus

Help me to approach thee with deepest reverence,

not with presumption, not with servile fear, but with holy boldness.

Thou art beyond the grasp of my understanding,

but not beyond that of my love.

Thou knowest that I love thee supremely,

for thou art supremely adorable, good, perfect.

My heart melts at the love of Jesus,

my brother, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh,

married to me, dead for me, risen for me;

He is mine and I am his,

given to me as well as for me:

I am never so much mine as when l am his

or so much lost to myself until lost in him

Then I find my true manhood.

But my love is frost and cold, ice and snow:

Let his love warm me.

Lighten my burden,

be my heaven;

May it be more revealed to me in all its influences

that my love to him may be more fervent and glowing,

Let the mighty tide of his everlasting love

cover the rocks of my sin and care;

Then let my spirit float above those things which had wrecked my life.

Make me fruitful by living to that love,

My character is becoming more beautiful every day.

If traces of Christ's love-artistry be upon me,

may he work on with his divine brush

until the complete image be obtained

and I be made a perfect copy of him,

my Master.

O Lord Jesus, come to me,

O Divine Spirit, rest upon me,

O Holy Father, look on me in mercy

for the sake of the well-beloved.

—Valley of Vision