Prayers of the Saints
O God, I Love Thee (St. Francis Xavier)
The Latin hymn O Deus ego amo te, long attributed to St.
O God, I love thee, I love thee —
not out of hope of heaven for me
nor fearing not to love and be
in the everlasting burning.
Thou, thou, my Jesus, after me
didst reach thine arms out dying,
for my sake sufferedst nails and lance,
mocked and marred countenance,
sorrows passing number,
sweat and care and cumber,
yea and death, and this for me,
and thou couldst see me sinning.
Then I, why should not I love thee,
Jesu, so much in love with me?
Not for heaven's sake; not to be
out of hell by loving thee;
not for any gains I see;
but just the way that thou didst me
I do love and I will love thee:
what must I love thee, Lord, for then?
For being my king and God. Amen.
O Deus ego amo te, tr. Gerard Manley Hopkins
About the prayer
Francis Xavier, in Gerard Manley Hopkins's celebrated English version. It is the classic prayer of loving God for God's own sake rather than for reward, and is used in Ignatian retreats and on Xavier's feast.
Related prayers
- Prayer of St. Richard of ChichesterDaily Prayers
- Eternal God, Eternal Trinity (St. Catherine of Siena)Prayers of the Saints
- Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee (St. Bernard of Clairvaux)Prayers of the Saints
- The Suscipe (Prayer of St. Ignatius)Prayers of the Saints
- Canticle of the Sun (Canticle of the Creatures)Prayers of the Saints
- Act of Oblation to Merciful Love (St. Thérèse of Lisieux)Prayers of the Saints
Read 0 times
Provided by findmyprayer.com
Find My Prayer