I want you to stop planning, to stop wishing, and allow Me to give you
The most thrilling plan existing . . . one you cannot imagine.
I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you.
— From Be Satisfied With Me by St. Anthony of PaduaÂ
One of my favorite and most-used Catholic apps is Laudate developed by Aycka Soft. It’s available for both Android and iPhone/iPad users, and provides a large range of prayer tools right into one app: multiple versions of the Bible, tons of prayers, confession prompts, Liturgy of the Hours, the Rosary, and more.
One of the prayers I recently found while scanning the prayer library is Be Satisfied With Me, attributed to St. Anthony of Padua. While some of its words make me think it’s for an unmarried person praying to find his or her life’s companion, the prayer certainly seems applicable to those of us already in married life. It’s quickly becoming a new favorite go-to prayer. So in honor of St. Anthony of Padua‘s feast day today, here’s his thought-provoking prayer.
Be Satisfied With MeÂ
by St. Anthony of Padua
Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone,
To have a deep soul relationship with another,
To be loved thoroughly and exclusively.
But to a Christian, God says, “No, not until you are satisfied,
Fulfilled and content with being loved by Me alone,
With giving yourself totally and unreservedly to Me.
With having an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone.
Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found,
Will you be capable of the perfect human relationship,
That I have planned for you.
You will never be united to another
Until you are united with Me.
Exclusive of anyone or anything else.
Exclusive of any other desires or longings.
I want you to stop planning, to stop wishing, and allow Me to give you
The most thrilling plan existing . . . one you cannot imagine.
I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you.
You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things.
Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I am.
Keep listening and learning the things that I tell you.
Just wait, that’s all. Don’t be anxious, don’t worry
Don’t look around at things others have gotten
Or that I have given them
Don’t look around at the things you think you want,
Just keep looking off and away up to Me,
Or you’ll miss what I want to show you.
And then, when you’re ready, I’ll surprise you with a love
Far more wonderful than you could dream of.
You see, until you are ready, and until the one I have for you is ready,
I am working even at this moment
To have both of you ready at the same time.
Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me
And the life I prepared for you,
You won’t be able to experience the love that exemplified your relationship with Me.
And this is perfect love.
And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love,
I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me.
And to enjoy materially and concretely the everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love that I offer you with Myself.
Know that I love you utterly. I AM God.
Believe it and be satisfied
Needed this.
Thanks for sharing, Lisa. I love this prayer. I had this on a prayer card and taped to my mirror back in my single days. You’re right – it still is applicable in many ways today. Thank you St. Anthony!
Thank you!
I love this prayer and it made me cry when I first prayed it. I wish every woman, especially lost women seeking fulfillment in relationships that lead nowhere in today’s secular culture, would get to know Jesus – he is their “the one”. I wish I had. I know what I will teach my daughter if I’m blessed with one.
I just don’t know about this prayer…the theology is not sound, honestly it sounds likeProsperity Gospel. I get that we need to Love God first, I agree with that, but when it starts talking about fulfilling us and sending The One, the person That will fulfill our dreams… that’s where you lose me. It’s not Biblical, it’s also not reasonable. If we are All called/Destined to marry one particular person…what if 500 years ago somebody married the wrong person…wouldn’t that mess it up for everybody. I don’t think St Anthony really wrote this. This is just spiritual babble