Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Praying ONLY for the knowledge of His will for us

For the last few months I have been found myself drawn into trying to learn how to discern God's will for me. After all, according to the 11th Step it is the ONLY thing we are supposed to pray for!

A few months ago I came across a tract by St. Alphonsus de Liguori entitled "Uniformity With God's Will". It has had an impact on my life and always digging deeper I had been looking for poem that St. Alphonsus had written that may have been the starting point for this tract.

In the Preface of the tract currently published by TAN it is written:

Prof. Candido M. Romano says this brochure was written probably in 1755, as appears from a letter by the Saint, under date of Nov. 2, 1755, to Sister Giannastasio, at Cava. Romano goes on to say:


“This (i.e. God’s will) was for Alphonsus a theme of predilection, a theme dearest to his heart. Just as St. Ignatius stressed ‘the greater glory of God,’ St. Alphonsus in all his works, gave prominence to ‘the greater good pleasure of God.’ Most likely the occasion that brought forth this treatise was the death, in 1753, of Father Paul Cafaro, C.SS.R., St. Alphonsus’ confessor and director. The death of this worthy priest deeply affected the Saint and he expressed his sentiments in a poem on God’s will. The wide acclaim it received may have suggested to him the thought that a tract on the same subject would be helpful to the souls of others. If this be true, his surmise proved correct, for the appearance of his subsequent pamphlet was greeted with instant favor.”

I am happy to report that I found the poem today and am looking forward to spending some time with it:

O WILL OF GOD! O WILL DIVINE!

'Tis Thy good pleasure, not my own,
In Thee, my God, I love alone;
And nothing I desire of Thee
But what Thy goodness wills for me.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.

In love no rival canst Thou bear,
But Thou art full of tenderest care;
And fire and sweetness all Divine
To hearts which once are wholly Thine.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.

In Thee all pure affections live,
To love Thou dost perfection give;
While ever burning with desires
The loving soul to Thee aspires.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.

Thou makest crosses soft and light
And death itself seem sweet and bright.
No cross nor fear that soul dismays
Whose will to Thee united stays.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.

To all the glorious choirs of Heaven
Their very bliss by Thee is given;
And Heaven itself deprived of Thee
Would be a land of misery.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.

Yea, to the lost who burn in hell,
If in their souls Thy love could dwell,
The very flames and torments there
Would seem but sweet and light to bear.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.

Oh! that one day my life may end
In closest bonds to Thee enchained
For thus to die is not to die,
But live, and live eternally.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.

To Thee I consecrate and give
My heart and being while I live;
Jesus, Thy Heart alone shall be
My Love for all eternity.
O will of God! O will Divine!
All, all our love be ever thine.

Alike in pleasure and in pain
To please Thee is my joy and gain;
That, O my Love, which pleases Thee
Shall ever more seem best to me.
May heaven and earth with love fulfil,
My God, Thy ever-blessed will!