16.18

Galatians 2:20—Christ in Me

In Galatians 2:20 Paul writes, “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.”

John Gabriel Perboyre (1802–40) was a French priest who served as a missionary in China, where he became a martyr. He was canonized in 1996. He is best remembered by many for a prayer attributed to him, a prayer that concludes with words from Galatians 2:20.

O my Divine Saviour,

Transform me into Yourself.

May my hands be the hands of Jesus.

Grant that every faculty of my body

May serve only to glorify You.

Above all,

Transform my soul and all its powers

So that my memory, will and affection

May be the memory, will and affections

Of Jesus.

I pray You

To destroy in me

All that is not of You.

Grant that I may live

But in You, by You and for You,

So that I may truly say,

With St. Paul,

“I live—now not I—

But Christ lives in me.”