Break its alluring spell.

(by John MacDuff)

Blessed Jesus, alas! I have to mourn
that the world which crucified You . . .
  should be so much loved by me;
  that its pleasures should be so fascinating;
  and its pursuits so engrossing.

Wean me from it.

Break its alluring spell.

Strip it of its counterfeit charms.

Discover to me . . .
  its hollowness;
  the treachery of its promises;
  the precariousness of its best blessings;
  the fleeting nature of its most enduring friendship.

The world has deceived me, but You never
have. Guide me by Your counsel. Savior, let
me come up from this wilderness leaning
on Your arm; exulting, amid its legion foes,
that greater is He who is with me than all
those who can be against me.

Bend Your pitying eye upon me, as I travel,
burdened with sin and sorrow, through this
valley of tears. So "sanctify me through Your
truth," that, though in the world, I may not
be conformed to its sinful practices and lying
vanities.