Spiritual Bouquet: "Create a clean heart in me, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Ps. 50, 12)
Affections: O my God, enlightened by Thy grace, what weakness do I detect in myself, what bitterness and harshness in my character! How insincere and perverse is my will! O Lord, give me with this knowledge of self also the strength to remove all these hindrances from my heart. This, however, cannot be done without the true spirit of immolation, without mortification and self-denial. Oh, give me these so necessary virtues, that I may practice them on all occasions and thus experience that Thy yoke is sweet and Thy burden light. Give me that sincerity and uprightness of mind, which characterizes Thy true children and which I should strive pre-eminently to acquire in my holy state. O holy Virgin, Mother of God send the fire of thy love into my heart warm it and complete its purification by thy powerful intercession, that our Emmanuel, when thou wilt give Him to us, shall find no obstacle to His entrance into our hearts. With what love and eagerness do we not anticipate His coming! "O Adonai, Thou Leader of the House of Israel, Who didst appear to Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him Thy law on Mt. Sinai, come and stretch out Thy arm to redeem us."
