of Thy open setting at nought cannot but touch deeply the hardest heart; cannot but assuage the wrath of the angriest; cannot but bring tears to the eyes of those who love Thee! Thou, the most High God, art brought as low as the lowest of mankind; Thou, the Almighty One, art rejected as one of no account; Thou, the All-Wise, art derided as a fool; Thou, the All-Holy, art adjudged to be the wickedest of men!
Woe to me, a miserable sinner, lying under a heavy burden of sin; for so far as my own merits are concerned I have deserved endless torments; and I must have passed to them, hadst not Thou, my loving, holy, and just God, vouchsafed to be mocked and despised, in order to save me, wretch as I am, from the mockings of the devil and his angels, and from everlasting death.
I beseech Thee, therefore. All-powerful Jesus, Whom no malignant, no contemptuous words could provoke, that Thou wouldst root out from me all vanity and daintiness, and that Thou wouldst give me grace to be content with poor clothing; for it is a shameful thing that one, who is but dust and ashes, should wish to be clothed in handsome or soft garments, when Thou, the King of Heaven, wast content to be set at nought in a white garment. Keep ever before my eyes the shame and the derision which Thou hadst to endure; teach me to follow Thee in willingness to be set at naught, and to be glad to be despised; teach me not to put my trust in the sons of men, nor in the princes of this world, nor in what friends can do for me; teach me to despise all earthly good, and those who run after it; to follow, with a steadfastness from which nothing can turn me. Thee, O Lord Jesus, the Author of my salvation; and ever to
