Holocaust

When St. Gertrude had once offered this holocaust to God, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to her, bearing her oblation and setting it forth before the Blessed Trinity as a gift of exceeding price; and as he passed through the midst of heaven the whole heavenly host knelt before him in reverence for that choice oblation. Whence she understood that whenever any one offers his prayers or his desires to God, the whole company of heaven bears them up to the throne of God as gifts most precious and acceptable; and that whenever the merits of Jesus Christ are added thereunto, the saints bow and adore them as aforesaid.

O GOD of glorious majesty, Ruler of heaven and earth, I thy most unworthy creature offer thee, upon the most sacred altar of the sweetest Heart of Jesus Christ, myself with all that I am, all I have, all I can do, together with every good gift which thou hast ever bestowed on me from thine unfathomable, overflowing bounty. Moreover I offer thee all the treasures and the wealth of this world, all kingdoms, royalties, princedoms, honours, and dignities, with this intention: that were they all mine, I would distribute them to thy poor, and employ them in pious uses, that for very love of thee I might abide with joy in my present state of poverty.

Further, I offer to thee on the same altar all the virtues, devotions, merits, and holiness of all the just; all the affliction, the crosses, the poverty, and want of all the poor, the afflicted, and the sick; all the pangs, the torments, the wounds, the bloodshedding, and the death of all martyrs; all the penance, the mortification, the fastings, vigils, and austerities of all confessors; all the love, the continence, the purity of all virgins: and I offer them all to thee with this intention: that were they all mine, I would do and suffer them all with most pure intention for thy glory.

Thirdly, I offer thee all the whole fulness of grace and glory, transcending all human thought, wherewith thou hast so super-abundantly enriched thy saints in heaven, and especially the most glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of thy only-begotten Son. And above all these I offer thee the virtues and merits which thy Son manifested on earth, and all the gifts of grace, drawn from the infinitely exuberant treasury of the most Holy Trinity, which thou hast bestowed on his most sacred Humanity. For all which I desire, on behalf of all in heaven and earth, and under the earth; and through the most sacred and blessed Heart of thy Son, which gives forth its ravishing harmony at the touch of the Holy Ghost the Comforter, I sing unto thee praises and thanksgivings, and thus give thee back thine own.

Lastly, I offer thee the priceless ineffable abundance of riches and perfections which thy divine Essence contains within itself, and which one divine Person communicates to another in sweetest, most transcending, and unimaginable manner. For all which I give thee thanks with all my heart and strength: I congratulate thee that thou dost contain within thyself and for thyself such inexhaustible treasures and delights, and dost perpetually and for ever communicate them to thine elect. Wherefore, O my King, live for ever, and enjoy evermore that bliss which is thyself, and vouchsafe to bestow on us wretched exiles in this valley of tears some crumbs from thy heavenly table. Amen.