CIUDAD to - the Catholic Kingdom!

THE CORONATION 611
of my banishment; the refuge and ease of my labors; my
recreation, my joy and my hope;
thou hast sustained me
in my course; in thee have I lived as a pilgrim to the
Fatherland; and thou hast nourished me after I had re
ceived in thee my existence in grace through thy head,
Christ Jesus, my Son and my Lord. In thee are the
treasures and the riches of his infinite merits; thou shalt
be for his faithful children the secure way to the prom
ised land, and thou shalt safeguard them on their dan
Thou shalt be the mis
gerous and difficult pilgrimage.
tress of the nations to whom all
owe reverence; in thee
are the rich and inestimable jewels of the anxieties, la
bors, affronts, hardships, torments, of the cross and of
death, which are all consecrated by those of my Lord,
thy Progenitor, thy Master, thy Chief, and are reserved
for his more distinguished servants and his dearest
friends. Thou hast adorned and enriched me with thy
jewels in order that I
might enter in the nuptials of the
Spouse; thou hast made me wealthy, prosperous and
happy, and thou containest within thee thy Author in the
most holy Sacrament. My happy Mother, Church mili
tant, rich art thou and abundant in treasures ! For thee
have I always reserved my heart and my solicitude but
;
now is the time come to part from thee and leave thy
sweet companionship, in order to reach the end of my
course. Make me partaker of thy great goods; bathe
me copiously in the sacred liquor of the blood of the
Lamb, preserved in thee as a powerful means of sancti
fying many worlds. At the cost of my life a thousand
times would I bring to thee all the nations and tribes
of mortals, that they might enjoy thy treasures. My be
loved Church, my honor and my glory,
I am about to
leave thee in mortal life; but in the eternal life I will
find thee joyful in an existence which includes all
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good.