PRAYERS TO OUR LADY

ACT OF HOPE AND CONFIDENCE IN GOD--by St. Claude de la Colombiere

ACT OF HOPE AND CONFIDENCE IN GOD--by St. Claude de la Colombiere

My God, I believe most firmly that You watch over all who hope in You, and that we can want for nothing when we rely upon You in all things.

Therefore I am resolved for the future...to cast all my cares upon You.

People may deprive me of worldly goods and status.

Sickness may take from me my strength and the means of serving You.

I may even jeopardize our relationship by sin, but my trust shall never leave me.

I will preserve it to the last moment of my life, and the powers of hell shall seek in vain to grab it from me.

Let others seek happiness in their wealth and in their talents.

Let them trust in the purity of their lives, the severity of their mortifications, in the number of their good works, the enthusiasm of their prayers, as for me, my Rock and my Refuge, my confidence in you fills me with hope.

For You, my Divine Protector, alone have settled me in hope.

"This confidence can never be vain.

No one, who has hoped in God, has ever been confounded."( anger or annoyance.)

I am assured, therefore, of my eternal happiness, for I firmly hope in it and all my hope is in You. "In You, O loving God, have I hoped: let me never be confounded."

I know too well that I am weak and changeable.

I know the power of temptation against the strongest virtue.

I have seen stars fall and foundations of my world crack; these things do not alarm me.

While I hope in You, I am sheltered from all misfortune, and I am sure that my trust shall endure, for I rely upon You to sustain this unfailing hope.

Finally, I know that my confidence cannot exceed Your generosity, and that I shall never receive less than I have hoped for from You.

Therefore I hope that You will sustain me against my evil inclinations, that You will protect me against the deceitful attacks of the evil one, and that You will cause my weakness to triumph over every hostile force.

I hope that You will never cease to love me and that I shall love You unceasingly.

"In You, O loving God, have I hoped: let me never be confounded."