Sweet Jesus, when I see You,
a great love for You comes alive in me.
You know, Jesus, how much I love You
and that we are best friends.
It requires more courage to suffer.
But every suffering is for me
the only way to Your kingdom.
I am happy, even when I suffer,
for from now on I become the being
that You have chosen,
I am one with You,
the only God.
So leave me here alone.
The cold cannot bother me
even when people cannot reach me here.
I remain alone, but I do not complain.
After all, You, Jesus, are with me
and I have never been so close to You.
Stay with me, Jesus, so sweet,
Your blessed presence
compensates for everything.
(Titus Brandsma, February 12-13, 1942, in prison in Scheveningen,
translated by Terezie Brichtová OP)
