Vow(1): or Prayer to Jesus, to offer himself as a sacrifice and victim

or Prayer to Jesus, to offer himself as a sacrifice and victim to be

immolated to His glory and pure love

(1637) Jesus, Mary 0 my most amiable Jesus, I adore Thee and glorify Thee endlessly in the most bloody martyrdom Thou didst suffer through Thy Passion and Cross.

I adore Thee and bless Thee with all my might in the state of offering and victim in which Thou art present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, where Thou art continually sacrificed for the glory of Thy Father and love of us.

I honor Thee and venerate Thee in the most sorrowful martyrdom suffered at the foot of Thy Cross by Thy Holy Mother.

I praise Thee and magnify Thee in the various martyrdoms of Thy saints who endured so many atrocious torments for love of Thee.

I adore and I bless all the thoughts, intents and infinite love Thou hast had from all eternity with regard to all the blessed martyrs who have been in Thy holy Church since the beginning and will continue to be there until the end of the world.

I adore and I venerate in every way I can Thy extreme desire and most ardent thirst to suffer and die in Thy members until the end of the world, in order to fulfill the mystery of Thy Holy Passion and glorify Thy Father through the way of suffering and death until the end of time.

In honor of and in homage to all these things, and in union with the boundless love in which Thou didst offer Thyself to the Father, from the first moment of Thy Incarnation, as a sacrifice and victim' in order to be immolated for His glory and for love of us through the most sorrowful martyrdom of the Cross; and also in union with the love of Thy Holy Mother and all Thy holy martyrs: I offer and aban (1). It is interesting to note that John Eudes's saintly director, Father Charles de Condren, also took a vow of martyrdom. Cf. Emile Georges, Saint Jean Eudes, p. 39.

don myself, I vow and consecrate myself to Thee, 0 Jesus my Lord in the capacity of sacrifice and victim, that I may suffer in body and soul, according to Thy pleasure and with the help of Thy holy grace, all manner of pains and torments, and even shed my blood and sacrifice my life for Thee through any death pleasing to Thee; and this for Thy sole glory and for pure love of Thee.

I vow to Thee, 0 my Lord Jesus, never to revoke, that is, never to make a formal act of disavowal, of this my oblation, consecration and sacrifice of myself to the glory of Thy Divine Majesty. And should there arise an occasion on which I should have either to die or to renounce Thy holy faith, or else do something of consequence against Thy divine will, I make a vow and promise to Thee, as firm and constant as possible, while trusting in Thine infinite goodness and the help of Thy grace, to confess, acknowledge, adore and glorify Thee in the presence of everyone, at the price of m y blood, my life and all the martyrdoms and torments imaginable, and to suffer a thousand deaths, with all the tortures of earth and hell, rather than deny Thee or do anything serious that is contrary to Thy holy will.

0 good Jesus, receive and accept this vow of mine and this sacrifice which I make to Thee of my life and my being in homage to and by the merits of the most divine sacrifice Thou didst make of Thyself to Thy Father on the Cross. Look upon me henceforth as an offering and victim dedicated to be wholly immolated to the glory of Thy holy name. Grant, through Thy great mercy, that my whole life may be a perpetual sacrifice of love and praise for Thee. Let me live a life that may perpetually imitate and honor Thine own holy life and that of Thy Blessed Mother and holy martyrs, that I may never pass a day without suffering something for love of Thee; and that I may die a death conformable to Thy holy death.

That is what I beg of Thee very humbly and earnestly, 0 most kind Jesus, by that ardent love which brought Thee to a death on the Cross for us, by that precious blood Thou didst shed, by that most sorrowful death Thou didst suffer, by the overwhelming love Thou didst bear for Thy most Holy Mother, the Queen of martyrs, by Thy love for all the holy martyrs and their love for Thee; in short, by all Thou dost love and all who love Thee, in heaven and on earth.

0 Mother of Jesus, Queen of all martyrs, 0 ye holy martyrs of Jesus, implore this same Jesus, I beseech you, to effect these things in me, through His infinite goodness, solely for His glory and most pure love. Offer Him this vow of mine, and pray Him to confirm and fulfill it by virtue of His precious blood, just as I am about to sign it with my own blood in testimony of my desire to shed it even to the last drop for love of Him. Done at Caen, in the Oratory of Jesus, this 25th day of March, 1637.(2)

John Eudes

Live Jesus and Mary, Whom I love more than my life

Jesus, Mary

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.

Amo te, amantissime Jesu, amo te, bonitas infinita: amo te ex toto corde meo, ex tota anima mea, et ex totis viribus meis, et magis atque magis antare Polo.

Beati qui ad coenam nuptiarum Agni vocati sunt! Beati qui laverunt stolas suas in sanguine Agni! Majorem charitatem nemo habet, quam ut animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis. Amen.

Veni Domine Jesu. Jesus Maria. Jesu fortitudo Martyrum, miserere nobis. Regina Martyrum, Pea pro nobis. Omnes sancti Martyres, clarificate et orate Jesum pro nobis. Jesus Maria. (2). The date is significant. St. John Eudes had been trained in the school of de Bérulle and de Condren, who held up the Incarnate Word as the perfect model of the Christian and the priest. In his spiritual classic, The Kingdom ot Jesus, Part 1, P. 75, St. John Eudes explains that at the moment of His Incarnation Jesus Christ took a vow of obedience and martyrdom, thus offering Himself as a victim entirely immolated to the glory of His Eternal Father. It Was in memory of this vow that the Saint choose the Feast of the Annunciation to consecrate his whole life to God as 2 victim to His glory and pure love. Cf. Georges, Op. Cit., P. 41