St. Bernadette

Ave Maria Meditations

From the Private Notes of St. Bernadette Soubirous:

O Jesus and Mary, let my entire consolation in this world be to love you and to suffer for sinners. I shall spend every moment loving. One who loves does not notice her trials; or perhaps more accurately, she is able to love them.

I must die to myself continually and accept trials without complaining. I work, I suffer and I love with no other witness than his heart. Anyone who is not prepared to suffer all for the Beloved and to do his will in all things is not worthy of the sweet name of Friend, for here below, Love without suffering does not exist.

O my Mother, to you I sacrifice all other attachments so that my heart may belong entirely to you and to my Jesus.I shall do everything for Heaven, my true home. There I shall find my Mother in all the splendor of her glory. I shall delight with her in the joy of Jesus himself in perfect safety.

From this moment on, anything concerning me is no longer of any interest to me. I must belong entirely to God and God alone; never to myself.

Love overcomes, love delights. Those who love the Sacred Heart rejoice. Jesus, my God, I love you above all things. O Jesus, I would rather die a thousand deaths than be unfaithful to you!

+ St. Bernadette