In response to a question regarding the “greatest commandment,” Jesus says to his disciples, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38).
It is a difficult commandment to live up to, one that we fail to fulfill on a daily basis. However, God still invites us to love him in return, always pursuing us, sending us Valentines every second of the day.
One way that we can respond is by affirming our deep and abiding love of our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. We can use our own words, or if we don’t know what to say, we can look at the treasury of prayers for inspiration.
Here is one way to express our love of God, and it comes from Pope Pius VI, an influential pontiff of the 18th century. He wrote a “Litany of the Love of God” and it is a bold proclamation of our love, expressing the desires of our heart.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.Thou Who art Infinite Love, I Love Thee, O my God. Thou Who didst first love me, I Love Thee, O my God. Thou Who dost command me to love Thee, [I Love Thee…]With all my heart, With all my soul, With all my mind, With all my strength,Above all possessions and honor, Above all pleasures and enjoyments, More than myself and all that belongs to me, More than all my relatives and friends, More than all men and Angels, Above all created things in Heaven or on earth, Only for Thyself,Because Thou art the sovereign Good, Because Thou art infinitely worthy of being loved, Because Thou art infinitely perfect, Even hadst Thou not promised me Heaven, Even hadst Thou not menaced me with Hell, Even shouldst Thou try me by want and misfortune, In wealth and in poverty, In prosperity and in adversity, In health and in sickness, In life and in death, In time and in eternity, In union with that love wherewith all the Saints and all the Angels love Thee in Heaven, In union with that love wherewith the Blessed Virgin Mary loveth Thee, In union with that infinite love wherewith Thou lovest Thyself eternally,Let Us Pray. My God, Who dost possess in incomprehensible abundance all that is perfect and worthy of love, annihilate in me all guilty, sensual, and undue love for creatures; kindle in my heart the pure flame of Thy love, so that I may love nothing but Thee or in Thee, until, being entirely consumed by holy love of Thee, I may go to love Thee eternally with the elect in Heaven, the country of pure love. R. Amen.
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The Love of God and Valentine’s Day
And today we celebrate...