Prayer for Divine Love

O dear Lord Jesus Christ,
You have said: “Ask, and you shall receive;
seek, and you shall find;
knock, and the door shall be opened to you.”

Please place within my heart
a sweet longing and a burning desire
for Your holy love,
so that I may love You truly
with all my heart,
both in my words
and in all that I do.

And may I never stop loving You,
for You live and reign with God the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
forever and ever.
Amen.

This prayer (page 10) comes from a very small and beautiful Catholic prayer book printed in Augsburg, Germany, in the year 1776. The little book is titled Auserlesenes Gebethbüchlein — which means “A Choice Little Prayer Book.” It contains morning and evening prayers, prayers for Confession and Holy Communion, litanies, and many other devotions for daily Catholic life.

The book was first prepared for the "young nobility" of Austria, but later published for the spiritual benefit of all Catholics. Inside are old German blackletter pages, hand-pressed in the 18th century, along with delicate devotional engravings meant to inspire prayer and recollection.

The opening approval pages show that the prayers were carefully examined and officially approved by Church authorities in Augsburg in the year 1752 before later editions were printed. These old “Imprimatur” pages remind us how lovingly the Church protected the purity of Catholic prayer books in those days.

Now, almost 250 years later, these prayers are being gently translated into clear, easy-to-understand English by Sister Mary Claire for her little sister Kathy at Camp Littlemore Farm, so they may once again be prayed slowly and reverently by loving hearts.