+- The Catacombs (https://thecatacombs.org)
+-- Forum: Repository (https://thecatacombs.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=10)
+--- Forum: Prayers and Devotionals (https://thecatacombs.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=67)
+---- Forum: In Honor of Our Lord (https://thecatacombs.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=117)
+---- Thread: Act of Confidence in God (/showthread.php?tid=796)
Act of Confidence in God - Hildegard of Bingen - 01-10-2021
ACT OF CONFIDENCE IN GOD
by St. Claude de la Combiere
My God, I am so convince that Thou keepest watch over those who hope in Thee, and that we can want for nothing when we look for all from Thee, that I am resolved in the future to live free from every care, and to turn all my anxieties over to Thee. “In the peace I find in Thee I will sleep, and I will rest: for Thou, O Lord, hast singularly settled me in the hope I have of Thy divine goodness” (Ps 4:9-10). Men may deprive me of possessions and of honor; sickness may strip me of strength and the means of serving Thee; I may even lose Thy grace by sin; but I shall never lose my hope. I shall keep it until the last moment of my life; and at that moment all the demons in Hell shall strive to tear it from me in vain. “In the peace I find in Thee I will sleep and I will rest . . . “ Others may look for happiness from their wealth or their talents; others may rest on the innocence of their life, or the severity of their penance, or the amount of their alms, or the fervor of their prayers; for Thou, O Lord, hast singularly settled me in hope.” As for me, Lord all my confidence is my confidence itself. This confidence has never deceived anyone. No one, no one has hoped in Thee, Lord, and has been confounded (Ecclus. 2:11)
I am sure, therefore, that I shall be eternally happy, since I firmly hope to be, and because it is from Thee, O God, that I hope for it. “In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded (Ps. 30:2). I know, alas I know only too well, that I am weak and unstable. I know what temptation can do against the strongest virtue. I have seen the stars of Heaven fall, and the pillars of the firmament; but that cannot frighten me. So long as I continue to hope, I shall be sheltered from all misfortune; and I am sure of hoping always, since I hope also for this unwavering hopefulness.
Finally, I am sure that I cannot hope too much in Thee, and that I cannot receive has than I have hoped for from Thee. So I hope that Thou wilt hold me safe on the steepest slopes, that Thou wilt sustain me against the most furious assaults, and that Thou wilt make my weakness triumph over my most fearful enemies. I hope that Thou wilt love me always, and that I too shall love Thee without ceasing. To carry my hope once and for all as far as it can go, I hope from Thee to possess Thee, O my Creator, in time and in Eternity. Amen.