Prayer of Abandonment to God’s All-Lovable Will

Embracing God’s Foreseen Crosses in His Divine Wisdom

Homily:

St. Francis de Sales reveals a profound truth: every cross we encounter is a carefully chosen gift from God’s most intimate Heart. It is not a random burden, but an intentional offering, lovingly foreseen from all eternity by His divine wisdom. This teaching calls us to view suffering not as an arbitrary misfortune, but as an integral part of God the Father’s perfect and provident plan for our sanctification. He desires our ultimate good, guiding all circumstances towards our salvation. Such a perspective transforms our understanding of trials, allowing us to see divine purpose in every hardship. We are invited to embrace these challenges as manifestations of His boundless love.

Furthermore, St. Francis de Sales assures us that God the Father meticulously weighs each cross, ensuring it is “not one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy” for us. This profound insight underscores God’s tender, merciful love and His intimate knowledge of our strength and courage. He blesses each trial with His Holy Name, anointing it with His consolation, providing the necessary grace to bear it. Such tailored suffering is a sign of His intimate care for each soul. Truly, every challenge is a special greeting from God, an alms of the all-merciful love of God, designed precisely for our spiritual growth. We are never abandoned in our struggles, for His presence is ever near.

Prayer:

O Most Holy Trinity, God the Father, in Your eternal wisdom and boundless love, we adore Your divine Providence that governs all things. You foresee every moment of our lives, preparing each cross as a sacred gift from Your inmost Heart. We humbly accept the trials You send, knowing they are perfectly measured for our souls’ purification and growth in holiness. Strengthen our faith, O Lord, that we may always trust in Your good and perfect will. May our hearts ever rest in the certainty of Your unfailing care for us.

God the Son, Jesus Christ, You willingly embraced Your Cross, setting the ultimate example of filial obedience and complete surrender to the Father’s will. Grant us the grace to imitate Your perfect submission, carrying our own crosses with patience and love. Help us to unite our sufferings with Your redemptive Passion, making them fruitful for our salvation and that of others. May Your Sacred Heart, pierced for our sins, be our refuge and strength in every tribulation. Let us never shrink from the path You have consecrated by Your own sacrifice.

God the Holy Spirit, Consoler of souls, we implore Your divine presence within us, especially amidst the weight of our trials. Infuse our hearts with Your supernatural strength, enabling us to bear our burdens with courage and peace. Anoint our spirits with Your consolation, transforming our sorrow into profound trust in God’s loving design. Illumine our minds to discern the hidden graces within each difficulty, revealing Your perfect plan for our sanctification. Guide us always in truth, for You are the Spirit of wisdom and understanding.

We humbly ask for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who stood steadfastly at the foot of her Son’s Cross, and of all the Saints who embraced their sufferings for love of God. Especially we invoke St. Francis de Sales, who taught us to welcome the cross as a gift from God’s hand. May their powerful prayers assist us in enduring every affliction with a joyful heart and unwavering confidence. Inspire us by their examples of heroic virtue and profound abandonment to divine will.

Therefore, O Lord, we offer ourselves entirely into Your hands, abandoning our fears and anxieties to Your divine Providence. We believe that You will never permit us to be tested beyond our strength, and that Your grace is always sufficient for us. May every cross we bear draw us closer to Your Most Sacred Heart, transforming us into more faithful disciples. Grant us perseverance in faith, hope, and charity, until we reach the eternal joy of heaven. Amen.

Reflection:

St. Francis de Sales’ profound teaching on the cross as a “gift from God’s inmost heart” offers a radical reorientation of our perception of suffering. This perspective invites us to move beyond merely tolerating hardship and instead embrace it as a personalized expression of God’s love and wisdom for our salvation. It challenges the common human inclination to avoid pain, revealing that God meticulously crafts each trial to fit our individual capacity and spiritual needs, never allowing it to be “one inch too large and not one ounce too heavy”. Indeed, every difficulty becomes a unique path to holiness. Truly, this insight transforms perceived misfortune into an opportunity for profound spiritual growth and deeper intimacy with the divine. It reminds us that His loving gaze is perpetually upon us, even in our deepest valleys.

By understanding suffering through this Catholic lens, we are encouraged to unite our personal crosses with the redemptive Passion of Jesus Christ, thereby participating in His saving work. This union not only purifies our souls but also allows our struggles to become meritorious, offered for our own sanctification and for the good of the entire Church. Such abandonment to God’s wise and loving will cultivates virtues of patience, humility, and unwavering trust. It leads us to a profound peace that surpasses human understanding, even amidst life’s greatest difficulties. Our cooperation with divine grace truly transforms all adversity. Ultimately, this path promises a deeper communion with the Most Holy Trinity, now and for all eternity.

Gratitude for God’s All-Lovable Will Amidst Feared Crosses

Homily:

St. Francis de Sales invites us to a radical posture of gratitude, even when faced with the very crosses we most feared. He teaches us to thank and praise God for accomplishing His holy and “all-lovable will,” irrespective of our own desires. This profound acceptance stems from a deep conviction that God the Father’s plan is always for our ultimate good, even if it entails suffering we would naturally wish to avoid. Indeed, His love is constant and unchanging in every circumstance. Such a disposition transforms perceived misfortune into a testament of unwavering trust in His divine wisdom. We are called to surrender our limited perspective to His boundless foresight.

To receive a feared cross “with my whole heart, in spite of my heart” is the hallmark of true spiritual maturity and authentic abandonment to God. It acknowledges the natural human aversion to pain while simultaneously asserting the triumph of faith and will over mere sentiment. This acceptance, rooted in veneration for God’s choice and love, echoes the perfect submission of Jesus Christ in Gethsemane. Our Lord’s willingness to suffer makes our trials instruments of sanctification and deeper union with His Most Sacred Heart. We embrace them with gratitude and joy, knowing they come from His loving hand. Such a profound embrace reveals the true freedom found in divine obedience.

Prayer:

O Adorable God the Father, from the depths of my being, I thank You and praise You for the accomplishment of Your holy and all-lovable will in my life. Though my human heart may falter in fear, with my whole will, I receive this cross that I once dreaded. It is Your choice, O Lord, a testament to Your infinite love and perfect design for my soul. May my spirit ever align with Your divine decrees, knowing they are always for my greatest good.

God the Son, Jesus Christ, You did not shrink from the chalice of suffering, but drank it to the last drop, perfectly fulfilling the Father’s will. Grant me the grace to venerate this cross, which You have chosen for me, embracing it as a share in Your own redemptive sacrifice. Never would I wish it had not come, since You, in Your divine wisdom, have willed it for me. Help me to carry it without complaint, following in Your hallowed footsteps on the path to Calvary.

God the Holy Spirit, Fount of all grace, enlighten my mind and strengthen my will, so that I may keep this cross with gratitude and profound joy. Instill within me the fortitude to bear it without letting it drag, extending to it all the reverence and affection Your divine works deserve. Transform my natural reluctance into supernatural docility, enabling me to see Your loving hand in every circumstance. May Your indwelling presence purify my intentions and sanctify my every struggle.

Through the intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Martyrs, who perfectly embraced God’s will at every moment of her life, and of St. Francis de Sales, who taught profound abandonment, we offer our prayers. We also ask the Saints, who found joy in their sufferings, to pray for us, that we may imitate their heroic virtue. May their examples inspire us to welcome every trial as a precious opportunity for growth in holiness. May their prayers assist us in persevering with unwavering faith.

O Divine Will, may my entire being surrender to Your holy pleasure, even when it demands the ultimate sacrifice of my own desires. I abandon myself entirely to Your paternal care, trusting that all things work for good for those who love You. May this cross, freely accepted for love of You, lead me to deeper union with Your Sacred Heart. I pray for the grace of final perseverance, that I may glorify You always, in suffering and in joy. Amen.

Reflection:

The words of St. Francis de Sales, “With my whole heart, in spite of my heart, do I receive this cross I feared so much!”, offer a profound lesson in spiritual realism. They acknowledge the human heart’s natural aversion to pain and suffering, while simultaneously calling us to a higher act of the will: to embrace God’s will despite our feelings. This is not a denial of suffering, but a supernatural transformation of it. We recognize that God the Father’s “all-lovable will” always intends our deepest good, even when His path is difficult. Such an embrace enables us to cooperate with divine grace, turning trials into triumphs of faith. It is a true act of selfless love and trust in His infinite goodness.

This radical acceptance of God’s will, characterized by gratitude and joy for even feared crosses, is a cornerstone of Catholic spirituality. It aligns us with Christ’s own perfect surrender on the Cross, where He transformed suffering into salvation. By willingly venerating and carrying our cross, as St. Francis de Sales encourages, we enter into a deeper participation in the Paschal Mystery. True peace and sanctification are found not in avoiding suffering, but in lovingly offering it back to God the Father for His glory and our eternal beatitude. This spiritual discipline perfects our love for Him. It also prepares our souls for the unending joy of the heavenly kingdom.

Abandonment to God’s Mercy and Unfailing Goodness

Homily:

St. Francis de Sales wisely teaches the necessity of self-mistrust, acknowledging our inherent limitations and susceptibility to error. This awareness of our fallen nature is crucial for humility. However, he immediately redirects our focus, emphasizing that this self-awareness serves no advantage unless it compels us to place all our confidence wholly in God the Father and wait upon His boundless mercy. True spiritual progress lies not in self-reliance, but in complete and humble dependence on the divine. This radical trust transforms our weaknesses into opportunities for God’s grace to abound. It unlocks the torrents of His loving Providence in our lives.

The Saint further instructs that even when feelings of confidence are absent, we must not cease making acts of abandonment, persisting in prayer and surrender to Our Lord. This steadfastness, though difficult, is always within our power, serving as a powerful testimony of our faithfulness to God. Such unwavering dedication, especially in spiritual dryness, pleases God profoundly, for it shows true love. It invites His active Providence to govern every aspect of our lives and bring forth unforeseen good. Our fidelity then becomes a living prayer, even when words fail us. This constant turning to Him transforms our trials into graces.

Prayer:

O Almighty God the Father, we humbly acknowledge our human weakness and the tendency to mistrust ourselves, yet we yearn to place all our confidence in Your infinite mercy. We know that apart from You, we can do nothing of lasting value, and our own efforts are insufficient. Therefore, we cast all our cares upon You, for You are our benevolent Creator and our ultimate hope. May our trust in Your divine Providence never waver, despite our inherent fragility.

God the Son, Jesus Christ, You taught us perfect abandonment by commending Your Spirit into the Father’s hands upon the Cross, even amidst profound desolation. Strengthen our faith in Your Passion and Resurrection, reminding us that Your mercy triumphs over all our imperfections. When our feelings of confidence wane, grant us the grace to persist in acts of surrender, affirming that You are our God and we are entirely Yours. Help us to imitate Your profound trust in the Father’s loving plan.

God the Holy Spirit, Source of all grace and strength, infuse our souls with the virtue of hope, enabling us to abandon ourselves completely into God’s hands. Dispel all anxiety and doubt that may hinder our full surrender to divine Providence. Even when spiritual consolation is absent, empower us to make conscious acts of trust, testifying to our unwavering faithfulness to Our Lord. Guide our intellect and will to always choose reliance on God’s goodness above all else.

We seek the powerful intercession of St. Francis de Sales, who masterfully articulated the path of holy abandonment, and of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who exemplified perfect trust in God’s merciful love. May all the Saints who walked the path of complete surrender to God’s will inspire us and intercede for us. Help us to learn from their examples to persevere in faith, even when faced with insurmountable obstacles. Their lives testify to the profound peace found in complete reliance on God.

O Most Merciful Lord, we abandon ourselves entirely into Your divine Hands, knowing that You are our only hope and our supreme good. Take hold of our lives, our present, our future, and dispose of us according to Your most holy will. Though we may experience difficulty in performing these acts of abandonment, grant us the perseverance to continue, thereby testifying our unwavering faithfulness to You. May Your unfailing goodness lead us to eternal glory. Amen.

Reflection:

St. Francis de Sales’ teaching on abandonment to God’s mercy highlights a crucial paradox in the spiritual life: recognizing our weakness is not an end in itself, but a necessary step towards profound reliance on God’s strength. This “mistrust of ourselves” serves to humble us, opening our hearts more fully to the boundless mercy and unfailing goodness of God the Father. It is a call to surrender our tendency to control outcomes and instead embrace a radical trust in His divine Providence. His divine plan lovingly directs all things for our ultimate salvation. Such humility prepares the soil of our souls for abundant grace. This path reveals the true freedom found in complete surrender to the divine will.

The emphasis on making acts of confidence even when feelings are absent is particularly liberating, as it grounds faith not in fleeting emotions, but in a deliberate choice of the will. This consistent act of abandonment, though challenging, allows us to remain immovably fixed on God alone, regardless of external circumstances or internal spiritual states. Such fidelity in dryness is a testament to true love and paves the way for deeper intimacy with God. It confirms that He truly takes care of all who abandon themselves completely into His paternal hands. This spiritual discipline strengthens our resolve and purifies our intentions. Ultimately, it leads to a profound and lasting peace in His presence.