A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom

me! Alas, You treasure above all this world! My mother, my father, and all that my heart can express (such art You to me), take me with Thee! Or, to whom wilt You leave Thy wretched mother? Oh, who will permit me to die for Thee, to suffer for Thee this bitter death? Oh, misery and distress of a love-torn mother, how am I robbed of all joy, of all love, of all consolation! Oh, You greedy death, why sparest You me? Take, take away the poor mother with her poor Child; to her, to live is bitterer than to die! Him, even Him, whom my soul loveth, I see dying! And as I thus lifted up my voice in lamentation, behold, my Child consoled me very affectionately, and, among other things, said: That in no other way might mankind be redeemed, and that on the third day He intended to rise again and appear to me and His disciples; and He said further: Woman, cease thy weeping; weep no more, my fair mother, I will not forsake thee for ever! And while my Child thus tenderly consoled me, and commended me to the disciple whom He loved, and who also stood by, full of sorrow (those words of His were conveyed to my heart in a tone so lamentable, and so broken by sighs, that they pierced through my heart and soul like a sharp sword), even the hard hearts of the Jews were moved to compassion for me. I cast up my arms and my hands, and, in the anguish of my heart, would gladly have embraced my beloved, yet this I might not do. And then I sank down, overwhelmed by my heart-rending grief, at the foot of the cross and became speechless; and when I returned to myself, and could do nothing else, I kissed the blood that trickled down from His wounds, so that my pale cheeks and mouth were all tinged with blood.

The Servant. - Ah, You unfathomable goodness, what infinite torture, what infinite misery is this! Whither shall I turn, or to whom shall I cast my eyes? If I look up at the beautiful Wisdom, I only see woe and distress, at which my heart is like to sink within me. They cry out and shout against Him outwardly, the agony of death struggles with Him inwardly, all His veins are on the rack, all His blood gushes away, it is nothing but ejaculations of woe, and cheerless dying without recovery. Then, if I but turn my eyes to His pure Mother, I see her tender heart pierced, alas! with wounds as though a thousand blades had transfixed it. I see her pure soul lacerated by woe. Never were such gestures of misery and longing seen as hers; deprived was her sick body of all strength, her fair countenance besmeared with mortified blood. Oh, great misery above all misery! The torture of His heart consists in the affliction of His sorrowing Mother; the torture of His sorrowing Mother consists in the innocent death of her beloved Son, more painful to her than her own death. He beholds her and consoles her tenderly; she stretches out her hands to Him, and would gladly die instead of Him. Alas! which of the two feels here the most bitterly? Whose is the greater

distress? To both it is so unfathomable that there never was any equal to it. Alas! the motherly heart. Alas! the tender womanly mind. How was thy maternal heart ever able to support this infinite sorrow? Blessed be that heart compared to whose sorrow everything that ever was uttered of a heart's sorrow is only as a dream to the reality. Blessed be Thou, O rising blush of morning, above all creatures! And blessed be the flower-enamelled rose-scented meadow of Thy fair countenance, adorned with the ruby red blood of Eternal Wisdom! Alas! You affable countenance of beautiful wisdom, how Do You fade in death! Alas! You beautiful body, how Do You hang suspended! Woe is me, You pure blood, how hotly Do You run down on Thy pure Mother who bore Thee! Lament, ye mothers, lament with me over this affliction! All ye pure hearts, let this rosecoloured, pure blood which so be sprinkles your pure Mother, go to your hearts! Behold, all hearts, ye who ever had sorrow, behold and see, if ever there was sorrow like unto this sorrow! Truly, it is a wonder that our hearts melt not here for pity and compassion; so great, indeed, was this distress, that hard stones were rent asunder, the earth trembled, the sun was extinguished, because they would fain show compassion for their Creator!

Regard of His Interior Man The Servant. - Eternal Wisdom! the more one reflects on Thy measureless Passion, the more unfathomable it appears. Thy extremity was so very great under the cross, but still more so on the cross, according to Thy exterior powers which, at that hour, felt all the pangs of bitter death. But, gentle Lord, how was it with Thy interior Man, with Thy noble Soul? Had it no consolation, no sweetness like other martyrs souls, so as to mitigate its cruel sufferings? Or, when did Thy sufferings come to an end? Eternal Wisdom. - Now, hearken to a misery of miseries, such as You never yet did hear of. Although My soul, according to her highest powers, was at that time wrapt in the vision and enjoyment of the pure divinity, noble as, in truth, she is, behold, the lower powers of My exterior and interior nature were yet wholly abandoned to themselves, even to the very last drop of infinite bitterness of suffering, without any consolation, so that no torment was ever equal to it. And as I was thus left entirely helpless and forsaken, with running wounds, with weeping eyes, with extended arms, with the veins of My body on the rack, in the

agony of death, then it was that I lifted up My voice in lamentation, and cried out miserably to My Father: My God, My God, why has You forsaken Me? And still in all this, My will was united in eternal conformity with His will. And when all My blood was poured out, and all My strength exhausted, behold, I was seized by a bitter thirst, because of My mortal agony. But I thirsted still more for the salvation of man. Then did they reach Me vinegar and gall to quench the burning thirst of My parched mouth. And when I had accomplished the work of human redemption, I cried out: It is finished! I was entirely obedient to My Father, even unto death. My Spirit I commended into His hands, saying: Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit. And then My noble Soul separated from My body, both of which yet remained unseparated from the divinity! After this a sharp spear was thrust into My right side; forthwith a stream of precious blood gushed out, and with it a fountain of living water. Behold, My child, in an extremity so pitiable as this did I redeem thee, and all the elect, and did save thee by the living sacrifice of My innocent blood from everlasting death.

The Servant. - Alas! tender and loving Lord and Brother, with what sorrowful, what bitter toil did You not reap me in! Alas! noble Lord, how ardently did You love me, how generously did You redeem me! Woe is me, You fair Wisdom, how shall I ever be in a condition to acknowledge Thy love, and Thy sufferings? If I had Samson's strength, Absalom's beauty, Solomon's wisdom, and the riches and greatness of all kings, my only wish would be to devote them to Thy praise and service. But, Lord, I am nothing, and therefore can do nothing. O Lord, how am I to thank Thee? Eternal Wisdom. - If You hadst the tongues of all the angels, the good works of all mankind, and the powers of all created beings, You yet couldst not thank Me, nor requite Me, for the least pang which I suffered for the love of thee. The Servant. - Tender Lord, inform and teach me, then, how I may become pleasing to Thee by means of Thy grace, since no one is able to make Thee a return for the tokens of Thy love. Eternal Wisdom. - You shouldst often set My sorrowful cross before thy eyes, and let My bitter torments penetrate to thy heart, and shape thy own sufferings after them. If I allow thee to pine and wither in disconsolate affliction and dryness, without any sweetness, You shouldst not seek after strange consolation. Let thy cry of misery rise to thy heavenly Father with a renunciation of thyself and all thy desires, according to His Fatherly will. The bitterer thy suffering is

from without, and the more resigned You art from within, the more like art You to Me, and the more dear to My heavenly Father, for herein the most pious are put to the strongest proof. What though thy desires may have a thirsty craving to seek satisfaction and delight in something that might be pleasant to them, yet shouldst You forego it for My sake, and thus will thy thirsty mouth be steeped with me in bitterness. You shouldst thirst after the salvation of men. Thy good works You shouldst direct to a perfect life, and persevere to the end. Thy will must be subject, thy obedience prompt to thy superiors; thy soul, and all that belongs to it, You must surrender into thy heavenly Father's hands, and thy spirit must ever be dying out of time into eternity, in prefiguration of thy last journey. Behold, thus will thy cross be shaped after My miserable cross, and worthily accomplished in it. You shouldst wholly lock thyself up with My love-wounded heart in My open side, and dwell there, and seek there thy resting-place. Then will I wash thee with the waters of life, and deck thee out with My precious blood, in purple. I will associate Myself to thee, and unite thee with Myself eternally.

The Servant. - Lord, never was there any magnet so powerful in attracting hard iron to itself, as Thy love-fraught Passion, thus presented to my soul, is powerful to unite to itself all hearts. Alas! You loving Lord, draw me now by means of love and sorrow away from this world to Thee on Thy cross, fulfill in me the closest resemblance to Thy cross, so that my soul may enjoy Thee in Thy highest glory.

The Servant. - Ah, pure Mother and tender Lady! When did thy great and bitter affliction of heart which You hadst for thy Son, come to an end? Answer. - Listen to my words with sorrowful compassion. When my tender Child had expired, and when He hung suspended before me, and all the strength of my heart was utterly broken, though I could do nothing else, I yet cast many a glance up at my dead Child. And when they came to take Him down, it was as if I had been roused from the dead. With what motherly love did I not press them to my blood-stained cheeks, and when He was lowered down to me, how affectionately beyond measure did I not embrace Him, dead as He was in my arms; how did I not strain to my heart my only love elect, and kiss again and again the fresh bleeding wounds of His face! And yet, with what ravishing beauty His entire body was transformed, all hearts could not sufficiently contemplate. Then did I take my tender Child on to my lap, and look at Him. I looked at Him, and He was dead! I looked at Him again and again, but He had neither voice nor consciousness. Then did I fetch many a deep and heart-rending sigh, my eyes shed many tears, my whole figure was deplorable to see, scarcely had my doleful words reached my lips, when they were choked by grief, and only half expressed.

Alas, alas, cried I, whenever was anyone so cruelly used on earth as Thou, my innocent and beloved Child! Alas, my Child, my only consolation, my only joy, how art You changed for me into a source of much bitterness! Where is now the joy I experienced at Thy birth? Where the delight I had in Thy childhood? Where the honour and dignity I had in Thy presence? Whither is all gone that could ravish my heart? Oh sorrow! Oh anguish! Oh bitterness! Oh desolation of heart! truly is everything transformed into an unfathomable desolation of heart, into a mortal agony! Alas, You Child of mine, how am I so shorn of all love, how has my heart become utterly disconsolate! Such, and many such words of lamentation did I utter, because of my deceased Child.

The Servant. - Oh, pure and beautiful Mother, permit me once more to console my heart in this moment with thy dear Child, my Lord, the Eternal Wisdom, before the hour of separation comes, before He is snatched away from us to the grave. Immaculate Mother! however unfathomable thy heart's affliction way, however strongly it may touch all other hearts, You did yet, methinks, find some pleasure in the affectionate embracing of thy deceased Child. Oh, pure and gentle Lady, I desire that You would offer me thy dear Child, as He appeared in death, on the lap of my soul, so that I may experience, according to my ability, in spirit and meditation, what You did in thy body. Lord, my eyes are turned to Thee in the most rapturous joy and in deepest, heart-felt love, such as no only love was ever regarded with by the beloved. Lord, my soul expands to Thy embrace even as the tender rose expands to the pure sun's brightness. Lord, my soul stretches out her arms to Thee with infinite desire. Oh, my loving Lord, with ardent desire I embrace Thee today, and press Thee to the bottom of my heart and soul, and put Thee in mind of the loving hour of Thy death, that You mayest never allow it to be lost in me; and I request that neither life, nor death, nor joy, nor sorrow, may ever separate Thee from me. Lord, my eyes contemplate Thy dead countenance, my soul kisses again and again all Thy fresh bleeding wounds, all my senses are fed with this sweet fruit beneath the living tree of the cross; and it is reasonable, for this person consoles himself with his innocent life, the other with his great exercises and strict conduct; the one with

this, the other with that; but, as for me, all my consolation, all my trust, are lodged wholly in Thy Passion, in Thy satisfaction and merited reward, and therefore, I shall at all times carry Thy Passion joyfully in the bottom of my heart, and show the image of it outwardly, in words and deeds, to the utmost of my ability. Oh, enchanting brightness of eternal light, how art You now for me utterly extinguished! Extinguish in me the burning lust of all vice. Oh, pure transparent mirror of divine majesty, how art You now defiled! Cleanse away the great stains of my evil deeds! Oh, beautiful image of paternal goodness, how art You befouled and utterly defaced! Restore the defaced and faded image of my soul! Oh, You innocent Lamb, how wretchedly art You used! Amend and atone for my guilty, sinful life! Oh, You King of all kings, and Lord of all lords, how does my soul see Thee lying here in so lamentable and ghastly a plight! Grant, that since my soul now embraces Thee with sorrow and lamentation in Thy dereliction, she may be embraced by Thee with joy in Thy everlasting glory. Amen.

The Servant. - Now, tender Lady, put an end to thy sorrow and thy sad recital, and tell me how You did separate from thy Beloved. Answer. - It was a misery to see and hear. Alas, all was yet supportable, while I had my Child with me; but when they tore my dead Child from my blighted heart, from my embracing arms, from my face pressed to His, and buried Him, what a wailing I set up in that hour would hardly be believed; and then when it came to the separation, oh, what an agony, what woe, were seen in me! Lor when they separated me from my Beloved, the separating wrestled with my heart like bitter death. Supported by their hands who led me away, I walked with tottering steps, for I was robbed of all consolation, my heart longed woefully to return to my Love, my confidence was wholly set in Him, I rendered Him alone of all mankind entire fidelity and true attachment, even to the grave. The Servant. - Oh, affectionate and tender Lady, for this do all hearts greet thee, all tongues praise thee, since all the good that the Fatherly heart has vouchsafed to give us, flowed through thy hands. You are the beginning, You art the means, You shalt also be the end. Alas, pure and tender Mother, let me remind thee today of thy miserable separation; think of thy bitter separating from thy tender Child, and help me that I may not be separated either from thee or from His joyous countenance.

Yes, pure Mother, even as my soul now stands by thee with compassionate sympathy, and embraces thee with ardent desire, and, in contemplation with heartfelt desire, with thanksgiving and praise, leads thee from the sepuchre through the gate of Jerusalem back again to thy house, so do I crave that, at my last departure, my soul may be again led by thee, O pure and tender Mother, to its Fatherland, and there be confirmed in everlasting bliss. Amen.

Nature of An Unprovided Death The Servant. - Eternal Wisdom! if any one were to give me the whole earth for my own, it would not be so agreeable to me as the truth and the advantage which I have found in Thy sweet doctrines. Therefore, do I desire from the very bottom of my heart that Thou, the Eternal Wisdom, would teach me still more. Lord, what is that which belongs, above all things, to a servant of Eternal Wisdom, who is desirous to live for Thee alone? Lord, I should like to hear about the union of pure reason with the Holy Trinity, when, in the true reflection of the eternal birth of the Word, and in the regeneration of her own Spirit, reason is ravished from herself and stands face to face with God. Eternal Wisdom. - Let not him ask about what is highest in doctrine, who still stands on what is lowest in a good life. I will teach thee what will profit thee more. The Servant. - Lord, what wilt You teach me? Eternal Wisdom. -1 will teach thee to die and will teach thee to live. I will teach thee to receive Me lovingly, and will teach thee to praise Me lovingly. Behold,

this is what properly belongs to thee. The Servant. - Eternal Wisdom, if I had the power to fulfill my wishes, I know not whether, in this temporal state, I ought to wish anything else, as to doctrine, than how to die to myself and all the world, how to live wholly for Thee, to cherish Thy love with all my heart, to receive Thee lovingly, and to praise Thee lovingly. O God, how blessed is that man who is able to do this, and who consumes in it his whole life. But, Lord, Do You mean a spiritual dying or a bodily dying? Eternal Wisdom. -1 mean both one and the other. The Servant. - What need have I, Lord, of being taught to die bodily? Surely it teaches itself when it comes. Eternal Wisdom. - He who puts his teaching off till then, will find it too late. The Servant. - O Lord, it is still somewhat bitter for me to hear about death. Eternal Wisdom. - Behold, even this is the source of those unprovided and terrible deaths whereof the towns and convents now are full. Behold, death has often bridled thee secretly, and had fain ridden thee from hence, in the same way as he does the countless multitude, one of whom I will now show thee. Open, therefore, thy interior sense, and see and listen; see what grim death is like in the person of thy neighbour, do but mark the lamentable voice You wilt hear.

The Servant heard with his understanding the voice of an unprepared dying man cry aloud and speak as follows: The sorrows of death have surrounded me. [11] Woe is me, You God of Heaven, that ever I was born into the world. The beginning of my life was with crying and weeping, and now my departure from it is also with bitter crying and weeping. Alas, the sorrows of death have surrounded me, the pains of hell have encompassed me! O death, O furious death, what an unwelcome guest You art to my young and joyous heart! How little was I prepared for thy coming! You has attacked me from behind, You has run me down. You leadest me away in thy chains like one that leads a condemned man bound and fettered to the place where he is to be slain. I clasp my hands above my head, I wring them with anguish in each other, for gladly would I escape from him. I look around me into all the ends of the earth to see if any one will give me advice or help, and it cannot be. Death I hear thus fatally speaking within me: Neither learning, nor money, nor friends can avail thee; You

art mine by right. Alas, and must it be so? O God, and must I then depart from hence? Is a last separation really at hand? Woe is me that ever I was born! O death, what art You going to do with me? The Servant. - Dear man, why Do You take it so hard? This is the common lot of rich and poor, young and old. Many more have died in their youth than in their old age. Or would thou, perhaps, alone escape death? This would prove a great want of understanding in thee. The unprepared dying man. - O Lord, what bitter consolation is this! I am not without understanding. Those are without understanding who have not lived for Him, and who are not frightened at death. Such persons are blind; they die like cattle; they know not what they have before them. I do not complain that I must die; I complain that I must die unprepared. I do not merely lament the end of my life, I lament and weep over the delightful days which are so utterly lost and vanished without any profit. For truly I am like an untimely and rejected abortion, like a blossom torn off in May. My days have sped swifter than an arrow from the bow. I am forgotten as though I had never been, like a track which a bird makes through the air, which closes behind it and is unknown to all men. Therefore are my words so full of bitterness, therefore is my speech so full of woe! Oh, who will enable me to be as I once was, to have again those pleasant times before me, and to know then what I know now! When those times were mine I did not rightly estimate them; I, foolish man, let them pass swiftly away; now are they vanished from me; I cannot recall them, I cannot overtake them.

No hour so short but I ought to have valued it more preciously and thankfully than a poor man about to receive a kingdom as a gift. Lo, this is why my eyes shed salt tears, because they cannot restore what I have lost. Woe is me, O God; that I should have feasted so many day away, and that it profits me now so little. Why did not I learn to die all the time? O ye blooming roses, that have still your days before you, look at me and learn wisdom; turn your youth to God, and with Him alone occupy your time, so that what has happened to me may not happen to you. Ah, me! how have I consumed my youth! No one would I believe; my wayward spirit would listen to no one. Alas, now am I fallen into the snare of bitter death! My days have vanished, my youth has sped. Better were it for me had my mother's womb become my grave than that I should so have squandered away my time. The Servant. - Be converted to God; repent of thy sins; if thy end be well, then will all be well.

Unprepared dying man. - Alas, what do I hear? How shall I do penance? Seest You not how terrified I am, how exceeding great is my distress? Even as a little bird caught in the claws of a cruel falcon, and become senseless in the agony of dying, I am unconscious of everything except that I would gladly escape and cannot. Death and the bitterness of separation oppress me. Alas, the repentance and free conversion of him who is capable of right doing, what a sure thing you are! He who puts you off will hardly fail of being himself put off. O long protraction of my amendment, how much too protracted has You not proved! My good intentions without works, my good promises without performance, have mined me. I have said to God, Tomorrow and tomorrow, till I am fallen into the night of death. O You Almighty God, is it not a misery above all miseries, ought it not deeply to afflict me, that I should thus have lost the whole of my life, my thirty, my forty years? I know not that I ever spent a day wholly according to God's will, or that I ever rendered to God, as in reason I ought to have done, a truly acceptable service. Oh, how the thought cuts me to the heart! O God, how wretchedly shall I not stand before Thee and the whole heavenly host! Lo, now I am departing hence;

and now, even at this hour, a single Pater Noster, uttered with devotion, would rejoice me more than if anyone were to put into my hands a thousand pounds of gold. Ah, my God, what have I not eternally neglected, what evil have I not inflicted on myself in not having seen this while it was in my power! What hours upon hours have escaped me! How have I allowed myself to be led wrong by small things in the great affair of my salvation! It would now be more agreeable to me, and would procure me more eternal reward if, from divine love, I had foregone the pleasure I took at the sight of a friend, when such pleasure was contrary to God's will, than if that friend were to demand a reward for me from God thirty years long on his knees. Hear, hear, all men, a lamentable thing: I go begging round and round, because my time is short, and beg a small alms out of the merits of good people as an expiation for myself, and it is refused me; for they are all afraid lest they should want oil in their lamps. Alas, You God of Heaven, let this move Thy compassion, that with my healthy body I could have earned such great reward and wealth on so many a day when I went about idle, and that now this small alms, begged only as an expiation, not as a reward, for which, moreover, I should stand indebted, no one will give me. Oh, let this, ye old and young, go to your hearts, and hoard up in the good season while ye can, so that ye may not become beggars, and be denied in an hour like this.

The Servant. - Alas, my dear friend, thy distress rends my very heart. By the living God, I conjure thee, give me some advice so that I may not come into The unprepared dying man. - The best advice I can give thee, the greatest wisdom and prudence on earth, is this: That You prepare thyself by a full confession of and an abstinence from all those things with which You know thyself to be infected, and that You hold thyself at all times ready, as though You shouldst have to depart hence in a day, or at latest in a week. Imagine now, in thy heart, that thy soul is in Purgatory, and doomed to remain there ten years for her evil deeds, and that this year alone is granted thee to help her in. Look at her very often, see how woefully she calls out to thee and speaks to thee: O You my best beloved friend, reach me thy hand, have pity on me, and help me to pray that I may speedily come out of this raging fire of Purgatory, for I am so miserable, that there is nobody, except thee alone, to help me ;with charitable works. I am forgotten by all the world, because every one is busy about himself.

The Servant. - This were a choice doctrine for whoever might actually feel it like Thee in their hearts. But though Thy words are so piercing, yet do people sit here and give little heed to them; they have ears and hear not; they have eyes and see not; no one will really die before his soul departs out of him. The unprepared dying man. - Wherefore, when at last they are caught on the hook of death, and cry aloud in woeful distress and cruel pain, they are not heard. Lo, even as among a hundred persons who wear the appearance of holiness (of others I will say nothing), not one pays attention to my words, that he may be converted and reform his life, so is it come to that pass that among a hundred, not one but falls into the snare of death unprepared; as also certainly happens to those who die suddenly, or in an unconscious state; for the comforts of the body, perishable love, and the greedy pursuits of sustenance, blind the multitude. But if You would be delivered from this miserable and unprovided death, then follow my advice. Behold, diligent meditation on death, and faithful assistance given to thy poor soul, who appeals so piteously to Thee, will advance thee so far that You wilt not only be without fear, but more, You wilt expect death with all the ardour of thy heart. Think of me every day, and write down my words in the bottom of thy heart.

In my bitter distress see what thy future lot will be; look what a night this is. Oh, happy the man, that ever he was born, who arrives well prepared at this hour, for his passage will be a good one, however bitter his death; behold the bright angels will guard him, the saints escort him, the celestial court receive him; his final marching forth will be a glorious entry into his everlasting fatherland. But me, alas! where will my soul lodge this very

night in that strange, mysterious country? Oh, my soul, how art You utterly forsaken! O God, how very miserable she will be among all miserable souls! Who is there that will help her with entire fidelity? And now let me put an end to my sad complaints; for my hour is come. I see now that it cannot be otherwise. My hands begin to grow cold, my face to turn livid, my eyes to lose their sight. Alas, the shocks of furious death wrestle with my poor heart. I begin to fetch my breath very hard. The light of this world begins to vanish from me. I begin to see into the next world. O God, my God, what a sight! The horrible forms of black Moors assemble together; the wild beasts of hell surround me. They gloat over my poor soul to see if it will be theirs. O You just judge of the severe judgment seat, how very heavy in Thy scales are those things which in ours are so light! The cold sweat of death bursts, from very anxiety, through my flesh. Oh, the wrathful aspect of the severe judge, how very sharp Thy judgments are! Now let me turn in spirit to that world where I am led by the hand into Purgatory, and where, in the land of torments, I see anguish and distress. O God, I see the wild, hot flames dart up on high, and meet over the heads of suffering souls.

They wander up and down amid the dark flames, and great is their affliction. What heart would like to contemplate our pangs, the bitterness of our woe? Many a sad cry is heard. Help! help! ah, where is all the help of our false friends? Where are the fair promises of our false friends? How have they deserted us, how have they utterly forgotten us? Oh, have pity on us, some little pity; at least you our best beloved friends! What services have we not rendered you, and how are we now repaid. Oh that we should not have warded off these sufferings when we could have done so with things so trifling! Is not the least torment here greater, much greater, indeed, than any torment ever was on earth? One hour in Purgatory lasts a hundred years. Lo! now we boil, now we burn, now we shriek aloud for help; but, more than all it is our misfortune to be deprived so long of the joy of His countenance; this it is that cuts through the heart, the sense, the soul! - And thus I expire.

The Servant. - O Eternal Wisdom, how has You forsaken me! O God, how has death all at once become present before me! Alas, You soul of mine, art You still in my body? Lord of Heaven, do I still live? Ah, Lord, now will I praise Thee, and vow reformation to Thee till death. Oh, how very terrified I am! I did not think death was so near me. Truly, Lord, this sight shall not fail to profit me; every day I will be on the watch for death, and will look about me that he take me not by surprise. I will learn how to die; I will turn my thoughts to yonder world. Lord, I see that there is no remaining here; Lord, in sooth, I will not save up my sorrow and repentance till death. Oh, how terrified I am at this spectacle, I marvel that my soul is still in my body! Begone, begone, from me, soft reclining, long sleeping, good eating and drinking, perishable honours, delicateness and luxury! If but a little suffering here is so painful to me, how shall I ever endure immeasurable agony? O God, it indeed I were now to die thus, how would it be with me? What a load have I not still upon me! Lord, this very day I will set a poor man [12] to pray for my poor soul, and since all her friends have forsaken her I will befriend her.

Eternal Wisdom. - See; this shouldst You diligently look to whilst You art in thy youth, and whilst You has still time to make things better. But when, in truth, You has reached this hour, and You canst not make things better, then shouldst You look at nothing on earth, except My death and My infinite mercy; so that Thy trust may repose wholly in Me. The Servant. - O Lord, I prostrate myself at Thy feet, and I beseech Thee with bitter tears to chastise me here as You wilt, only keep it not in store for me in the next world. Woe is me, Lord, the fire of Purgatory and its unspeakable torments, how could I ever be so foolish as to think lightly of them, and how do I now stand in such great fear of them! Eternal Wisdom. - Be of good heart, this thy fear is the beginning of wisdom, and a path to salvation. Or has You forgotten how all the Scriptures declare what great salvation is contained in the fear and diligent contemplation of death? You shouldst always praise God, for not to one in a thousand has it been granted to know Him, as to thee. Listen to a lamentable thing: they hear it spoken of; they know of it beforehand, and yet they allow it to pass by, and heed it not till they be swallowed up by it, and then they howl and weep when it is too late.

Open thy eyes, count upon thy fingers, see how many of them have died around thee in thy own times; talk with them a little in thy heart; join thy old man to them as though it were dead; question them together; see with what fathomless sighs, with what bitter tears they will say: Oh, blessed is he that ever he was born, who follows sweet counsel and, in the misfortunes of others, learns wisdom! Prepare thyself well for thy departure hence; for truly You sittest as a bird on the bough, and art as a man who stands on the water's edge, and looks at the swift sailing ship in which he will presently take his seat, and sail away for a strange land whence he will never more return. Therefore, so regulate thy life that when the ship comes for thee You mayest be ready, and mayest joyfully take thy departure hence.

The Servant. - Lord, many are the rules, many the ways of a godly life, the one is so, the other so. Many and various are the ways. Lord, the Scriptures are inexhaustible, their precepts innumerable. Teach me, O Eternal Wisdom, in a few words, out of the abyss of all the things they contain, to what I ought chiefly to hold fast in the way of a truly pious life. Eternal Wisdom. - The truest, most useful, and most practical doctrine for thee in all the Scriptures that, in a few words, will more than amply convince thee of all the truth requisite for the attainment of the summit of perfection in a godly life, is this doctrine: Keep thyself secluded from all mankind, keep thyself free from the influence of all external things, disenthrall thyself from all that depends on chance or accident, and direct thy mind at all times on high in secret and divine contemplation, wherein, with a steady gaze from which You never swervest, You has Me before thy eyes. And as to other exercises, such as poverty, fasting, watching, and every other castigation, bend them all to this as to their end, and use just so much and so many of them as may advance thee to it. Behold, thus wilt You attain to the loftiest pitch of perfection, that not one person in a thousand comprehends, because, with their end in view, they all continue in other exercises, and so go astray the long years.

The Servant. - Lord, who can exist in the unswerving gaze of Thy divine vision at all times? Eternal Wisdom. - No one who lives here below in this temporal scene. This has been said to thee only that You mightest know at what You shouldst aim, after what You shouldst strive, to what You shouldst turn thy heart and mind. And if ever You losest sight of it, let it be to thee as if thy eternal salvation were taken away from thee; and do You speedily turn to it again, so that You mayest again obtain possession of it; and then must You look carefully to thyself, for, if it escape from thee, You art like a sailor from whose grasp the oars in a strong swell have slipped, and who does not know whither he shall direct his course. But if You mayest not as yet have a constant abiding place in divine contemplation, let the perpetually repeated collecting of thy wandering thoughts, and the assiduous withdrawing of thyself to engage in it, procure thee constancy so far as it is possible. Listen, listen, My child, to the faithful instructions of thy faithful Father. O give heed to them! Shut them up in the bottom of thy heart;

think Who it is that teaches thee all this, and how very much in earnest He is. Do You wish to become ever more and more faithful? Then set My precepts before thy eyes. Wherever You sittest, standest, or walkest, think that I am present to thee, and that I either admonish or converse with thee. O, My child, keep within thyself keep thyself pure, disengaged, and retired. See, in this way wilt You become conscious of My words; that good, too, will be made known to thee which, as yet, is greatly hidden from thee. The Servant. - O, Eternal Wisdom, praised be You for ever! Ah, my Lord and most faithful friend, if I would not do it otherwise, You would yet force me to do it with Thy sweet words and Thy gentle teaching. Lord, I ought and will do my very best towards it.

The Servant. - Eternal Wisdom, if my soul could only penetrate the heavenly shrine of Thy divine mysteries, I would question Thee further about love. And this would be my question: Lord, You has so entirely poured out the abyss of Thy divine love in Thy Passion, that I wonder if You canst show any more signs of Thy love? Eternal Wisdom. - Yes. Even as the stars of heaven are countless, so the lovetokens of My unfathomable love are uncounted. The Servant. - Ah, sweet Love of mine! ah, tender Lord elect! how my soul languishes for Thy love! Turn Thy mild countenance towards me, outcast creature that I am; see how everything vanishes and passes away in me except only the one treasure of Thy ardent love, and therefore tell me something further of this rich and hidden treasure. Lord, You know well that it is love's right never to be satisfied with what concerns the Beloved; that the more it has the more it desires, how unworthy soever it may acknowledge itself to be, for such is the effect of the omnipotent power of love. O, beautiful Wisdom, now tell me the greatest and dearest mark of Thy love that in Thy adopted human nature You did ever manifest, without taking into account the unfathomable love-token of Thy bitter death.

Eternal Wisdom. - Answer Me now a question. What is that of all lovely things which is most agreeable to a loving heart? The Servant. - Lord, to my understanding nothing is so agreeable to a loving heart as the beloved Himself and His sweet presence. Eternal Wisdom. - Even so. See, and on this account, that nothing which belongs to true love might be wanting to those who love Me, did My unfathomable love, as soon as I had resolved to depart by death out of this world to My Father, compel Me to give Myself and My loving presence at the table of the last supper to My dear disciples, and in all future times to My elect, because I knew beforehand the misery which many a languishing heart would suffer for My sake. The Servant. - Oh, dearest Lord, and art You Thyself, Thy very Self, really here? Eternal Wisdom. - You has Me in the sacrament, before thee and with thee, as truly and really God and Man, according to soul and body, with flesh and blood, as truly as My pure Mother carried Me in her arms, and as truly as I am in heaven in My perfect glory.

The Servant. - Ah, gentle Wisdom, there is yet something in My heart, may I be allowed to utter it to Thee? Lord, it does not proceed from unbelief, I believe that what You wiliest You canst do; but, tender Lord, it is a marvel to me (if I may venture to say so) how the beautiful, the delightful and glorified body of my Lord in all its greatness, in all its divinity, can thus essentially conceal itself under the little shape of the bread which, relatively considered, is so out of all relation. Gentle Lord, be nor angry with me on this account, for, as You art my Wisdom elect, I should be glad by Thy favour to hear something on this head out of Thy sweet mouth. Eternal Wisdom. - In what manner My glorified body and My soul, according to the whole truth, are in the Sacrament, this can no tongue express, nor any mind conceive, for it is a work of My omnipotence. Therefore oughtest You to believe it in all simplicity, and not pry much into it. And yet I must say a little to thee about it. I will thrust this wonder aside for thee with another wonder. Tell Me how it can be in nature that a great house should shape itself in a small mirror, or in every fragment of a mirror, when the mirror is broken? Or, how can this be, that the vast heavens should compress themselves into so small a space as thy small eye, the two being so very unequal to each other in greatness?

The Servant. - Truly, Lord, I cannot tell, it is a strange thing, for my eye is to the heavens but as a small point. Eternal Wisdom. - Behold, though neither thy eye nor anything else in nature is equal to the heavens, yet nature can do this thing, why should not I, the Lord of nature, be able to do many more things above nature? But now, tell me further, is it not just as great a miracle to create heaven and earth, and all creatures out of nothing, as to change bread invisibly into My body? The Servant. - Lord, it is just as possible for Thee, so far as I can understand, to change something into something, as to create something out of nothing. Eternal Wisdom. - Do You wonder then at that, and not at this? Tell Me further, You believest that I fed five thousand persons with five loaves, where was the hidden matter which obeyed My words? The Servant. - Lord, I know not. Eternal Wisdom. - Or Do You believe You has a soul? The Servant. - This I do not believe, because I know it, for otherwise I should not be alive.

Eternal Wisdom. - And yet You canst not see thy soul with thy bodily eyes. The Servant. - Lord, I know that there are many more beings invisible to human eyes than such as we can see. Eternal Wisdom. - Now listen: many a person there is of senses so gross as hardly to believe that anything which he cannot perceive with his senses really exists, concerning which the learned know that it is false. In like manner does the human understanding stand related to divine knowledge. Had I asked thee how the portals of the abyss are constructed, or how the waters in the firmament are held together, You would perhaps have answered thus: It is a question too deep for me, I cannot go into it: I never descended into the abyss, nor ever mounted up to the firmament. Well, I have only asked thee about earthly things which You seest and hearest, and understandest not. Why shouldst You wish, then, to understand what surpasses all the earth, all the heavens, and all the senses? Or why wilt You needs inquire into it? Behold, all such wondering and prying thoughts proceed alone from grossness of sense, which takes divine and supernatural things after the likeness of things earthly and natural, and such is

not the case. If a woman were to give birth to a child in a dark tower, and it were to be brought up there, and its mother were to tell it of the sun and the stars, the child would marvel greatly, and would think it all against reason and incredible, which its mother, nevertheless, knows so well to be true. The Servant. - Indeed, Lord, I have nothing more to say, for You has so enlightened my faith that I ought to think of marvelling in my heart again, or why should I seek to enquire into the highest, who cannot comprehend the lowest? You art the truth which cannot lie; You art the highest wisdom that can do all things; You art the omnipotent who can dispose of all things. Oh, noble and loving Lord, I have often desired in my heart that, like holy Simeon in the temple, I might have received Thee bodily in my arms, might have pressed Thee to my heart and soul, so that the spiritual kiss of Thy presence might have been as truly mine as it was his. But now, Lord, I see that I receive Thee as truly as he, and so much the more nobly as Thy tender body is now glorified, and impassible, which then was passible. Wherefore, dearest Lord, if my heart had the love of all hearts, my conscience the purity of all the angels, and my soul the beauty of all souls so that by Thy grace I should be worthy of Thee, I would fain receive Thee today so affectionately, and so bury and sink Thee in the bottom of my heart and soul, that neither joy nor sorrow, neither life nor death, could separate Thee from me.

Ah, sweet Lord, hadst Thou, my chosen love, only sent me Thy messenger, I should not have known, for all this world, how I ought to offer him a sufficient welcome. How then ought I to behave myself towards Him whom my soul loveth? Truly art You the only one thing in which everything is included, that, in time and eternity, my heart can desire. Or is there any thing else that my soul can desire of that which is contrary to Thee, or which is without Thee, for that would be repugnant to me. Truly art You the comeliest of all to the eyes, the sweetest of all to the mouth, the tenderest of all to the touch, the most beloved of all to the heart! Lord, my soul neither sees nor hears, nor feels aught of all that is here below, but she finds it severally a thousand times lovelier in Thee my chosen love. Ah, Eternal Lord, how am I to restrain myself in Thy regard from wonder and delight? Thy presence inflames me, but Thy greatness terrifies me. My reason will needs do honour to its Lord, but my heart desires to love its only good, and lovingly to embrace it. You art my Lord and my God, but You art also my Brother, and, if I may venture to say so, my beloved Spouse. Oh, what love, what rapture, and what great joy, what dignity do I not possess in Thee alone! Ah, sweet Lord, methinks that had I only been vouchsafed the grace to receive out of Thy open wounds, from Thy heart, one single drop of blood into my mouth, if I could have had my desire, it would have given me the

fullness of joy. Ah, heartfelt, inconceivable wonder, now I have not only received one or two drops, but I have received all Thy hot, rose-coloured blood through my mouth into my heart and soul. Is not this a great thing? Ought I not to appreciate this which to the exalted angels is precious? Lord, would that all my limbs, and all that I am, were transformed into an unfathomable love for the sake of this sign of Thy love. Lord, what is there else in all this world that could rejoice my heart, or that it could desire, when You givest Thyself thus cordially to me to enjoy and love! Truly is it called a SACRAMENT OF LOVE. When was there anything lovelier seen or heard of than to embrace love itself; than to be changed by grace into love itself? Lord, I see no difference except that Simeon received Thee visibly, and I receive Thee invisibly. But as little as my bodily eyes can see Thy true humanity, just as little could his bodily eyes contemplate Thy divinity, except through faith, as I do now. Lord, what new power is lodged in this bodily sight? He whose spiritual eyes are opened, has not much to see with his bodily eyes, for the eyes of the spirit see far more really and truly. Lord, I know by faith, so far as one can know it, that I have Thee here;

what do I wish for more? Lord, it is a thousand times better for me that I am unable to see Thee; how could I ever have the heart thus visibly to partake of Thee! As it is, that which is lovely and delightful remains, while that which is inhuman falls away. Lord, when I truly reflect how inscrutably well, how lovingly and wisely You has regulated all things, my heart with a loud voice, exclaims: Oh, the great treasure of the abyss of Divine Wisdom, what must You not be in Thyself, if You art so much in Thy fair emanations! Now, O glorious Lord, look at the great and sincere desire of my heart. Lord, never was king or emperor so worthily received, never dear strange guest so cordially embraced, never bride so beautifully and tenderly taken home, nor so honourably maintained, as my soul desires to receive Thee, my most honoured emperor, my soul's most lovely Bridegroom, this day, and to introduce Thee to the innermost and the very best that my heart and soul are able to afford, and to offer it Thee as worthily as ever it was offered Thee by any creature. Wherefore, Lord, teach me how I should behave myself towards Thee, how, with due honour and love, I should receive Thee.

Eternal Wisdom. - You shouldst receive Me worthily, You shouldst partake of Me with humility, You shouldst keep Me earnestly, You shouldst embrace Me with conjugal love, and have Me in My godly dignity before thy eyes. Spiritual hunger and actual devotion must impel thee to Me more than custom. The soul that wishes to feel Me interiorly in the recesses of a secluded life, and sweetly to enjoy Me, must, first of all, be cleansed from sin, must be adorned with virtue, encircled with self-denial, decked out with the red roses of ardent love, strewn over with the fair violets of humble submission, and the white lilies of perfect purity. She should pray to Me with peace of heart, for in peace is My dwellingplace. She should clasp Me in her arms to the exclusion of all strange affections; for these I avoid, and flee as the free bird avoids and flees the cage. She should sing Me the song of Sion, which is a song of fervent, loving, and measureless praise; then will I embrace her, and she shall incline herself on My breast. There, if she finds a calm repose, a pure vision, unusual fruition, a foretaste of eternal bliss, let her preserve it, let her keep it for herself, and, with a sighing heart, let her speak as follows: Truly art You the hidden God, the secret good which no one can know that has not felt it.

The Servant. - Alas, the great blindness in which I have hitherto lived! I have plucked the red roses and have not smelt them; I have wandered among the blooming flowers and have not seen them; I have been as a dry branch amid the fresh dews of May. Never, O never can I sufficiently repent Thy having been for many a day so near me, and my having been so far from Thee. O, You sweet guest of pure souls, what a sorry welcome have I hitherto given Thee, what an ill return have I so frequently made Thee! How little desirous have I not shown myself of the sweet bread of angels! I had the precious balsam in my mouth, and felt it not. Ah, You delight of all angelic eyes, never as yet did I feel true delight in Thee! If it were announced to me that a bodily friend would visit me in the morning should I not rejoice at it all the night before? And yet, never did I prepare myself for the reception of Thee, as in reason I ought, You worthy guest, whom heaven and earth equally honour. Alas! how have I been wont to turn quickly away from Thee, how to drive Thee out of Thy own! O Eternal God,

You even You Thyself, art here so truly present, and the angelic host is here, and yet I have approached so shyly and sluggishly. Of Thee I will say nothing; but, truly, Lord, I know of no spot within many miles, whither, if I had known for certain of the presence of blessed angels, those high and noble guests who at all times behold Thee, I should not have repaired of my own accord, and even if I had not seen them, still my heart, on their account, would have leapt in my body for joy. O sweet Lord and God, that You Thyself, the Lord of all angels, shouldst have been present here, and shouldst have had with Thee so many angelic choirs, and that I should not have given more heed to the place; this, this must ever be a sore affliction for me! I ought, at all events, to have approached the place where I knew Thee to be thus present, even though nothing else might have come of it. O God, how often have I stood distracted and without devotion on the very spot where You wast before me, and with me in the Blessed Sacrament; my body

indeed stood there, but my heart was elsewhere. How often have I thought so little of Thee in Thy presence, that my heart has not even offered Thee an affectionate salutation, with a devout inclination. Gentle Lord, my eyes ought to have looked at Thee with joyous delight, my heart ought to have loved Thee with the fullness of desire, my mouth ought to have praised Thee with heartfelt, fervent jubilee; all my strength ought to have melted in Thy glad service. What did not Thy servant David do who leapt so joyously with all his might before the ark, in which there was nothing but corporal bread of heaven, nothing but corporal things! Lord, now do I stand here before Thee, and before all Thy angels, and with bitter tears fall at Thy feet. Remember, O, remember, tender Lord, that here, before me, You art my flesh and my brother, and forego Thy displeasure. O, forgive me all the dishonour that ever I offered Thee, for I am sorry for it, and must ever be sorry for it; for the light of Thy wisdom begins only now to enlighten me; and the place where You art, not only according to Thy divinity, but according to Thy humanity, shall be honoured by me evermore. Ah, You sweetest good, You worthy Lord and lovely guest of my soul, another question would I gladly ask: Tell me, gentle Lord, what is it You givest Thy beloved with Thy real presence in the Sacrament, provided she receives Thee with love and desire?

Eternal Wisdom. - Is that a fitting question for a lover? What have I better than Myself? He who possesses the object of his love, what else has he to ask for? He who gives himself, what has he refused? I give Myself to thee, and take thee from thyself, and unite thee to Me. You loseth thyself, and art wholly transformed into Me. What does the sun in his brightest reflection bestow on the unclouded sky? Yes, what does the bright star of the morning dawn bestow on the dark night? Or what do the fair and ravishing adornments of summer bestow after the cold, wintry, melancholy season? The Servant. - O Lord, they bestow precious gifts. Eternal Wisdom. - They seem precious to thee because they are visible to thee. Behold, the smallest gift that flows from Me in the Blessed Sacrament reflects more splendour in eternity than any sunny brightness; it sheds more light than any morning star; it adorns thee more ravishingly in eternal beauty than ever did any adornment of summer the earth. Or is not My bright divinity more radiant than any sun, My noble soul more resplendent than any star, My glorified body more ravishing than any ravishment of summer? And yet all these things has You truly received here.

The Servant. - O Lord, why then are they not more sensibly felt? Lord, I often approach in such dryness that all light, all grace and sweetness are as strange to me, methinks, as to a man born blind, who never saw the sun. Lord, if I may venture to say so, I could indeed wish that, in Thy real presence, You hadst given testimony of Thyself. Eternal Wisdom. - The less the testimony, the purer thy faith and the greater thy reward. The Lord of nature operates with such secrecy a blessed increase in many a fair tree, that no eye nor other sense can perceive it till it is accomplished. Now, I am not an exteriorly working good, but an interiorly shining light; an interiorly working good which is so much the nobler as it is the more spiritual. The Servant. - Alas! how few men there are who perceive this, who weigh thoroughly what they receive. They draw near like the rest generally, in an ill and inconsiderate manner, and, therefore, as they go up empty, they come away without grace. They do not ruminate their food so as to ponder what they have received. Eternal Wisdom. - To the well prepared I am the bread of eternal life, to the little prepared the bread of dryness, but to the unprepared I am a deadly blow, an eternal curse.

The Servant. - O Lord, what a terrible thing is this! Lord, whom Do You call the well prepared, the little prepared, and the unprepared? Eternal Wisdom. - The well prepared are the purified, the little prepared such as cleave to temporal things, but the unprepared are the sinful who continue by will and by deed in mortal sin. The Servant. - But, tender Lord, if at the time a person is heartily sorry for his sins, and strives, to the best of his ability, to rid himself wholly of them, conformably to Christian precept, how is it then with him? Eternal Wisdom. - In such a case a man is, for the time, no longer in sin. The Servant. - Lord, in my opinion, it were one of the greatest things this world could accomplish, if any person, while living in this temporal state, was able to prepare himself worthily enough for Thy reception. Eternal Wisdom. - That person was never yet born; nay, if a man had the native purity of all the angels, the sanctity of all the saints, and the good works of all mankind, he would yet be unworthy. The Servant. - Ah, beloved Lord, with what trembling hearts ought not persons so unworthy, so deprived of grace, as we are, to approach Thee.

Eternal Wisdom. - If a man only does his best, nothing more is required of him, for God completes what is left incomplete. A sick man should cast aside all reserve, and should approach the physician whose attendance is his cure. The Servant. - Lord, beloved Lord, which is better, OLTEN, or SELDOM, to receive Thee in the Blessed Sacrament? Eternal Wisdom. - For him whose grace and devotion perceptibly increase by it, to receive Me often is profitable. The Servant. - But, Lord, if a man in his own opinion remains the same, and cannot prove that he either increases or decreases by it in holiness, or if he is often visited by spiritual dryness, how should he then behave himself? Eternal Wisdom. - A man, provided only he does his part, should not withdraw himself because of spiritual dryness. For the salvation of that soul which by God's will suffers from spiritual dryness is often accomplished as nobly in the light of pure faith alone, as in great sweetness. I am a boon which, turned to account, increases, but which, saved up, wastes away. It is better to approach once a week with a deep sense of real humility, than once a year with an overweening self-approbation.

The Servant. - Lord, at what time does the influence of grace from the Blessed Sacrament take place? Eternal Wisdom. - In the very moment of actual reception. The Servant. - Lord, but what if a man have a fervent desire for Thy bodily presence in the Sacrament, and he must yet be deprived of it? Eternal Wisdom. - Many a man after being filled with Me, goes away hungry, and many a man obtains Me, though the table be empty; the former merely receives Me bodily, the latter enjoys Me spiritually. The Servant. - Lord, has that man any advantage who receives Thee bodily and spiritually, over him who only receives Thee spiritually? Eternal Wisdom. - Tell me whether that man has more who has Me and My grace, or he who has only My grace alone? The Servant. - Lord, how long Do You remain in Thy real presence with a man who has received Thee? Eternal Wisdom. - As long as the image and likeness of the Sacrament remain. CHAPTER XXIV. A Prayer To Be Said When You Goest To Receive Our Lord's Holy Body O You living fruit, You sweet blossom, You delicious paradise apple of the blooming fatherly heart, You sweet vine of Cyprus in the vineyard of Engaddi, who will give me to receive Thee so worthily this day that You shalt desire to come to me, to dwell with me, and never to separate from me!

O unfathomable good, that fillest heaven and earth, incline Thyself graciously this day, and despise not Thy poor creature. Lord, if I am not worthy of Thee, yet do I stand in need of Thee. Ah, gentle Lord, art You not He who with one word created heaven and earth? Lord, with one word canst You restore health to my sick soul. O Lord, do unto me according to Thy grace, according to Thy infinite mercy, and not according to my deserts. Yes, You art the innocent Paschal Lamb, which at this day is still offered up for the sins of all mankind. Ah, You sweet-tasting bread of heaven, which contains all sweet tastes according to the desire of everyone's heart, make the hungry mouth of my soul to rejoice in Thee this day; give me to eat and to drink; strengthen, adorn, and unite me interiorly to Thee. Ah, Eternal Wisdom, come down so powerfully this day into my soul, that all my enemies may be driven out of her, all my crimes be melted away, and all my sins be forgiven. Enlighten my understanding with the light of true faith. Inflame my will with Thy sweet love. Cheer up my mind with Thy glad presence, and give virtue and perfection to all my powers. Watch over me at my death, that I may enjoy Thy beatific vision in eternal bliss. Amen.

CHAPTER XXV. How We Should At All Times Praise God The Servant. - "Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord; I will sing to my God as long as I shall be." [13] Who will grant, O God, to my full heart to fulfill before my death its desire for Thy praise? Who will grant me worthily to praise, in my day, the beloved Lord whom my soul loveth? Ah, tender Lord, would that there issued from my heart as many sweet tones as ever have issued from sweet harpings, as many as there are leaves and blades of grass, would that they were all addressed on high to Thee in Thy heavenly court, so that a song of such a delightful and unheard of praise might burst from my heart, as would be pleasing to the eyes of my Lord, and full of joy to all the heavenly host! Ah, beloved Lord, although I am not worthy to praise Thee, still my soul desires that the heavens should praise Thee, when, in their ravishing beauty and sublime splendour they are lit up with the multitude of glittering stars; and the fair delightful meadow, when, in all the bliss of summer it glistens afresh in blithesome beauty, in manifold flowery adornment; and all the sweet thoughts and fervent desires that ever a pure and affectionate heart conceived for Thee when it was encompassed by the refreshing summer delights of Thy illuminating Spirit.

Lord, when I but think of Thy high praise, my heart is ready to melt in my breast, my thoughts wander from me, speech fails me, and all knowledge escapes me. Something shines in my heart beyond the power of words, when I will needs praise Thee, O infinite Good; for, if I take the fairest creatures, the most exalted spirits, the purest beings, You yet surpassest them all unspeakably. If I enter the deep abyss of Thy goodness, there all praise disappears in its own littleness. Lord, when I behold living forms of beauty, creatures gentle and engaging, they say to my heart: Oh, see how right gracious He is from whom we emanate, from whom all that is beautiful has issued! If I traverse heaven and earth, the universe and the abyss, wood and grove, mountain and valley, lo! they one and all fill my ears with a rich canticle of Thy unfathomable praise. Then, when I mark with what infinite beauty and harmony You orderest all things, both evil and good, I am dumb and speechless. But, Lord, when I remember that You Thyself art this praiseworthy good which my soul has chosen out solely for herself, as her one only and undivided love, my heart, for praise, is like to burst within me, and to cease its throbbings. Oh, tender Lord, have regard, therefore, for the great and ardent desire of my heart and soul, and teach me how to praise Thee worthily, and how to serve Thee acceptably before I depart hence, for this is what my soul thirsts after in my body.

Eternal Wisdom. - would You then gladly praise Me? The Servant. - Alas! Lord, why Do You provoke me? You know all hearts, You know that my heart is ready to turn round in my body from the true desire of Thy praise, which from my childhood's day till now I have had. Eternal Wisdom. - Praise becometh the upright. [14] The Servant. - Alas! my Lord all my uprightness lies in Thy boundless compassion. Beloved Lord, the frogs praise Thee in the pool, and if they cannot speak, yet do they croak. Full well do I know who I am. Lord, I know that rather than praise Thee, I ought to lament and beg pardon for my sins. And yet, O unfathomable good, scorn not the desire I have to praise Thee, miserable worm that I am. Lord, though the cherubim and seraphim, and the countless number of all exalted spirits, praise Thee according to their utmost powers, yet what can they do more as regards Thy infinite dignity, far removed above all praise than the very least of Thy creatures? Lord, You standest in need of no creature's praise; but Thy infinite goodness is made all the more manifest the more You givest Thyself to the praise of those who are without desert.

Eternal Wisdom. - Whoever thinks he can praise Me to the fullness of My worth, acts like him who chases the wind and trys to grasp a shadow. And yet it is permitted to thee and all creatures to praise Me according to your ability; for there never was a creature so little, nor so great, nor so good, nor so wicked, neither will there be one, but it either praises Me or testifies to My praise; and the more it is united with Me, the more praiseworthy it finds Me; and the more thy praise is like the praise of eternal glory, the more praiseworthy it is to Me; and the more this praise of thine is abstracted in imagination from all creatures and united in true devotion to Me, the more it is like the praise of eternal glory. A fervent contemplating sounds better in My ears than merely a praising with words, and a heartfelt sighing sounds better than a lofty appeal. A total subjection of one's self under God and all mankind, in the wish to be as nothing in their sight, is a sound for Me above all sweet sounds. I Myself never appeared on earth so worthy of praise before My Father as when I hung in mortal agony on the cross. Some persons praise Me with fair words, but their hearts are far from Me, and of such praise I make no account. So likewise, some persons praise Me when things go according to their desires, but when things begin to go wrong with them, their praise ceases, and such praise is disagreeable to Me. But that praise is good and precious in My divine eyes when, with thy heart, thy words and works, You Do praise me as fervently in sorrow as in joy, in utter adversity as in full prosperity; for then You thinkest of Me and not of thyself.

The Servant. - Lord, I desire not sufferings from Thee, neither will I give cause for such things; but I will give myself up wholly and entirely, according to the desire of my heart, to Thy eternal praise, whereas, before, I never could truly forsake and utterly forget myself. Lord, if You wert to permit me to become the most despised person the whole earth could produce, Lord, even this I would suffer for the sake of Thy praise. Lord, I yield myself up this day to Thy grace and mercy; nay, if I were to be accused of the foulest murder that ever any man committed, so that whoever say me should spit in my face, Lord, I would willingly bear it in praise of Thee, provided I only stood guiltless in Thy sight. But even if I were guilty, I would still endure it in praise of Thy blessed justice, which is a thousand times more precious to me than my own honour. For every term of reproach cast at me I would give Thee a particular praise, and with the good thief would say to Thee: Lord, I receive the due reward of my deeds, but what has You done amiss? Lord, remember me, when You comest into Thy Kingdom! And should it be Thy will to take me now from hence, if it were for Thy praise, I would not look about me for a respite, but I would desire to be taken hence;

and I would desire that, if it should have been my lot to have become as old even as Mathusaia, every year of the long period, and every week of the years, and every day of the weeks, and every hour of the days, and every minute of the hours, might praise Thee for me in such rapturous praise as never did any saint in the veritable bright reflection of the saints, and this as many times as the grains of dust are countless in the sunshine, and that they might fulfill this my good desire, as though I myself had all the time lived to fulfill it. Therefore, Lord, take me early or late to Thyself, for such is my heart's desire. Lord, I will say still more, that, if I had now to depart hence, and it were to Thy praise that I should burn fifty years in purgatory, I am ready to incline myself at Thy feet, and gladly accept it all to Thy eternal praise; blessed be the fire of purgatory in which Thy praise is fulfilled in me! Lord, Thou, and not myself, art what I here love and here seek. Lord, You comprehendest all things, You know all hearts, You know that these are my unshaken sentiments; nay, if I knew that I should have to lie for ever at the bottom of hell, however it might afflict my heart to be robbed of Thy ravishing vision, I yet would not cease from Thy praise;

and could I retrieve the lost time of all men, reform their misdeeds, and by means of praise and honour, make full amends for all the dishonour that ever was shown Thee, I would willingly do it; and if it were indeed possible, then, from the lowest abyss of hell must needs burst forth from me a beautiful song of praise which would penetrate hell, the earth, air, and all the heavens, till it arrived before Thy divine countenance. But, if this were not possible, I would yet wish to praise Thee here all the more, that I might even here rejoice in Thee

all the more. Lord, do with Thy poor creature what is for Thy praise; for let what will happen to me, so long as there is any breath in my mouth I will utter Thy praise; and when I lose my utterance, I desire that the raising of my finger may be a confirmation and conclusion of all the praise I ever spoke; nay, when my body falls to dust, I desire that, from every grain of dust, an infinite praise may pierce through the hard stones, through all the heavens up to Thy divine presence, till the last day, when body and soul shall again unite in Thy praise. Eternal Wisdom. - In this desire and good intention You shouldst remain till death - such praise is pleasing to Me. The Servant. - Ah, sweet Lord, since You deignest and desirest to receive praise from me, poor sinful person that I am, it is my desire that You would show me three things, namely, how, wherewith, and at what time I ought to praise Thee. Tell me, dearest Lord, is the external praise which is given by words and singing, any way profitable? Eternal Wisdom. - It is certainly profitable, and especially as it stirs up the interior man, which it very often stirs up, above all in the case of newly converted persons.

The Servant. - Lord, I also am filled with the desire (seeing that one should be glad to begin in time, what one will have to practice in eternity) to attain the diligent praising of Thee in my interior, and that I should not be interrupted in Thy praise at any time, even for the space of a second. Lord, out of this very desire I have often spoken as follows: "O, You firmament why Do You hasen and revolve so fast? I beseech thee, stand still in this moment, until I shall have thoroughly praised my Lord according to my heart's desire. Lord, when perchance I have been a little while neglectful of Thy present praise, and have shortly come to myself, I have interiorly cried out as follows: O Lord, it is a thousand years that I have thought no more of my Beloved! O Lord, teach me, then, as much as You canst, while my soul is yet in my body, how I may attain to praise Thee continually and without relaxation. Eternal Wisdom. - He who in all things is mindful of Me, who keeps himself from sin, and is diligent in virtue, praises Me at all times; but still, if You would seek after the highest sort of praise, listen to something more: The soul is like to a light peacock's feather; if nothing is attached to it, it is very easily borne aloft by its own mobility towards the sky, but if it is laden with anything it falls to the

ground. In like manner, a mind that is purified from all heaviness of sin is also raised by virtue of its native nobility, with the help of gentle contemplation, to heavenly things; and therefore, when it happens that a mind is disengaged from all bodily desires, and is set interiorly at rest, so that its every thought cleaves at all times inseparably to the immutable Good, such a mind fulfills My praise at all times; for in the state of purity, so far as words can express it, man's carnal sense is so wholly drowned and so wholly transformed from earthiness into a spiritual and an angelic semblance, that, whatever he receives exteriorly, whatever he does or operates, whether he eats, drinks, sleeps, or wakes is nothing else but the very purest praise. The Servant. - Ah, Lord, what a truly sweet doctrine is this! Lovely Wisdom, three things there are still that I should be glad to have explained. One is: Where shall I find the most reasons to praise Thee? Eternal Wisdom. - In the first origin of all good, and then in its outflowing springs. The Servant. - Lord, as to the origin, it is too high for me, too unknown to me; there let the tall cedars praise Thee, the heavenly spirits, the angelic minds. And yet will I too press forward like a rude thistle with my praise, that they may be admonished by the spectacle of my impotent longings of their own high worthiness, that they may be incited in their pure brightness to praise Thee, just as though the cuckoo were to give the nightingale occasion to sing a ravishing song.

But the outflowings of Thy goodness; these will be proper for my praise. Lord, when I ponder well what I was formerly, how often You has protected me, from what evil chains and bonds You has delivered me, O You Everlasting Good, it is a wonder that my heart does not wholly melt in Thy praise! Lord, how long did You not wait for me, how kindly did You not receive me, how sweetly in secret did You not anticipate me and interiorly warn me! How ungrateful soever I might sometimes be, still You did not desist until You hadst drawn me to Thee. Ought I then not to praise Thee, my gentle Lord? Yes, truly do I desire that a rich praise should ascend before Thy eyes, even such a great and joyous praise as that rendered by the angels when they first beheld the sight of their own constancy and the reprobation of their fallen companions; as that uttered in the joy felt by the miserable souls in Purgatory when they come forth from their grim prison house before Thee, and behold for the first time Thy countenance beaming with delight and love; a praise even as that unfathomable praise which will resound in the streets of the heavenly city after the last

judgment, when the elect shall be separated in everlasting security from the wicked. Lord, one thing I should also like to know respecting Thy praise is this: How all that is naturally good in me may be referred to Thy everlasting praise? Eternal Wisdom. - Inasmuch as nobody in this temporal state can be sure, from actual knowledge, of the true difference between nature and grace, so when anything gracious, joyous, or agreeable, arises in thy mind, whether it be from nature of from grace, enter quickly and speedily into thy interior, and make an oblation of it to God, so that it may be consumed in My praise, because I am the Lord of nature and grace, and in this way will nature now to thee become supernatural. The Servant. - Lord, but how then shall I turn even the imaginations of evil spirits to Thy eternal praise? Eternal Wisdom. - To the suggestions or inspirations of an evil spirit speak You as follows: Lord, as often as this wicked spirit or any other sends me against my will such disagreeable thoughts, let me of my own premeditated will send Thee the most fervent praise in his stead, even the very praise which the same evil spirit ought to have given Thee throughout all eternity had he remained loyal, so that in his reprobate state I may represent his place in praising Thee; and as often as he inspires me with such odious thoughts, let my good praise ascend to Thee.

The Servant. - O Lord, now do I indeed see that to good men all things may be turned into good, when even the very worst things of the evil spirit can in such a way be made good things. But now tell me one thing more. Ah, You gracious Lord, how am i to turn all that I hear, all that I see, to Thy praise and glory? Eternal Wisdom. - As often as You seest a great number of people, as often as You beholdest an exceeding fair multitude, say from the very bottom of thy heart: Lord, as often and as beautifully must the thousand times a thousand angelic spirits who stand before Thee salute Thee lovingly this day in my name, and the ten thousand times a thousand spirits who serve Thee praise Thee today for me, and they must desire for me all the holy desires of the saints, and that the ravishing beauty of all creatures may do Thee honour today for me. The Servant. - O my sweet Lord, how has You not refreshed and increased my zeal in Thy praise! But truly, Lord, this temporal praise has stirred up my heart and alas! set my soul a longing for the praise which is everlasting and eternal.

When, my own elected Wisdom, when will the bright day arise, when will the glad hour arrive of a perfectly prepared death and departure from this scene of wretchedness to my Beloved! Ah me, I begin so to languish, so ardently to long after my heart's only love! When, O when shall I ever possess it? How lingering is the time, how late it will be before I behold face to face the delight of my soul's eyes, before I enjoy Thee according to my heart's desire! O misery of banishment, what a misery You art to him who considers himself banished in very truth! Behold, Lord, there is hardly any one on earth but has some friend to visit, some place on which to rest his foot a little while. Alas, my only one, You whom my soul alone seeks and desires, You know that I have no other refuge, than in Thee alone! Lord, whatever I hear and see, if I find Thee not, is a torment to me; the society of all mankind without Thee is bitterness to me. Lord, what should rejoice me, what detain me here? Eternal Wisdom. - Here on earth shouldst You often wander in the delightful orchard of My blooming praise. In this transient life there is no truer prelude to the celestial habitations than is to be found among those who praise God in the joy of a serene heart. There is nothing that cheers a man's mind so much, and lightens his sufferings; that drives away evil spirits, and makes sadness disappear, as joyous praising of God. God is near those who praise Him; the angels are familiar with them: they are profitable to themselves; it betters their neighbour and gladdens the soul; all the heavenly host is honoured by cheerful minded praise.

The Servant. - Sweet Lord, my tender, my Eternal Wisdom! I desire that when my eyes first awaken in the morning, my heart may awaken too, and that there may burst from it a high-flaming fiery love-torch of Thy praise, with the most fervent love of the most loving heart that exists in time, according to the most ardent love of the most exalted seraphim in eternity, in the fathomless love with which Thou, Heavenly Father, lovest Thy only Son, and with the most sweet love of the Holy Ghost who proceeds from Father and Son; and I desire that this praise may resound so sweetly in the Fatherly heart as never did yet the strings of all earthly instruments in a joyous mind; and that this love-torch may send up so sweet a savour of praise as though it were smoking incense composed of all precious herbs and spices of all virtues finely powdered together in their highest perfection; and lastly, that the sight of it may be so beautifully blooming in graces as never any May was known to be in its most ravishing bloom; so that it may be a delightful aspect for Thy divine eyes and all the heavenly host. All my desire is, that this love-torch may at all times blaze out fervently in my prayers,

from my mouth in my singing, in my thoughts, words, and works, that it may subdue all my enemies, consume all my sins, and obtain for me a happy end, so that the end of this my temporal praise may be but the beginning of my everlasting, my eternal praise. Amen. Let everybody who desires to meditate briefly, properly, and earnestly on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all our salvation lies, and who desires to be thankful for His manifold sufferings, learn by heart the hundred choice meditations which hereafter follow, severally, according to their sense, which is comprised in few words, and go over them devoutly every day, with a hundred venias or otherwise, as it may suit him best, and at every venia, when it relates to our Blessed Lady, let him say a Pater Noster, or an Ave Maria, or a Salve Regina, for in this manner were they revealed to a preacher by God, at a time when he stood before a crucifix after Matins, and fervently complained to God that he could not well meditate on His torments, and that it was so bitter a thing for him to meditate on them, inasmuch as; up to that hour, he had had herein great infirmity,from which he was then relieved. The prayers he afterwards appended, in a short form, so that all might be free to find matter for themselves to pray agreeably to their own feelings, but should the prayers prove too many for a person all at once, let him divide them into even daily hours, or into the seven days of the week, according as they are here noted down.

ONE HUNDRED MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS COMPRISED IN FEW WORDS O Eternal Wisdom, my heart reminds Thee of Thy sorrow of soul. 1. When after the Last Supper on the Mount, You wast bathed in Thy bloody sweat because of the anxiety of Thy heart; 2. And when like an enemy You wast made prisoner, cruelly bound, and led miserably away; 3. When, Lord, You wast sacrilegiously maltreated in the night with hard blows, and with blindfolding of Thine eyes; 4. Early accused before Caiphas and pronounced worthy of death; 5. Seen by Thy affectionate mother with unspeakable sorrow of heart; 6. You wast ignominiously presented before Pilate, falsely accused, and condemned to die; 7. Thou, O Eternal Wisdom, wast mocked as a fool in a white garment before Herod; 8. Thy fair body was torn and rent without mercy by the cruel whips of Thy scourgers; 9. Thy delicate head was pierced with sharp thorns and Thy sweet face, in consequence, drenched with blood; 10. Thus condemned You wast led miserably and shamefully with Thy cross to death. Alas, my only hope, let me, therefore, remind Thee to give me Thy fatherly aid in all my distresses. Oh, unloose my sinful fetters, guard me against secret vice and open guilt, shelter me from the false councils of the enemy, and from the occasion of all crime, inspire me with a sincere sympathy for Thy own sufferings and for those of Thy tender mother. Lord, at my last departure, judge me mercifully, teach me to condemn worldly honours, and to serve Thee wisely. Let all my infirmities be healed in Thy wounds. Let my reason be fortified and adorned by the injuries inflicted on Thy head, and may Thy whole Passion be imitated by me according to my ability. Amen.

Sweet Lord! 1. When on the high branches of the cross Thy eyes were extinguished and turned in their sockets; 2. Thy divine ears filled with mockery and blasphemy; 3. Thy delicate nostrils stopped with rank smells; 4. Thy sweet mouth with bitter drink; 5. Thy tender feeling visited with rude blows. Therefore do I beg that You would guard this day my eyes from all dissolute sights, my ears from voluptuous speech. Lord, take away from me all relish of bodily things, make all temporal things unpleasant to me, and rid me of all tenderness for my own body. Ah, tender Lord! 1. When Thy divine head was bowed down by weakness and utter debility; 2. Thy fair throat very grievously distended; 3. Thy blessed features polluted with spittle and blood; 4. Thy clear complexion made livid; 5. All Thy beautiful form smitten with death. Grant me, therefore, O Lord, to love bodily pain, and to seek all my rest in Thee, to endure injuries willingly from others, to desire contempt, to die to my affections and all my lusts. Sweet Lord! 1. When Thy right hand was nailed down; 2. Thy left hand struck through; 3. Thy right arm extended; 4. Thy left stretched out; 5. Thy right foot hammered through; 6. Thy left made fast; 7. You did hang suspended in a swoon; 8. And in great weariness of Thy divine limbs; 9. All Thy tender joints

were immovably strained on the hard bed of the cross; 10. Thy body was drenched in many places with Thy hot blood. Therefore, O Lord, I beseech that I may be made immovably fast to Thee in joy and sorrow, that all the powers of my body and soul may be distended on Thy cross, and my reason and affections nailed to it. Grant me inability to indulge in bodily pleasure, promptness in seeking Thy praise and honour. I crave that no limb of my body may be without a living token of Thy death, a spontaneous proof of the image of Thy Passion. Tender Lord! 1. Thy blooming body pined and withered away on the cross; 2. Thy weary and tender back leant uneasily against the hard wood; 3. Thy heavy frame painfully gave way; 4. All Thy limbs were covered with sores; 5. Thy heart endured it lovingly. Lord, be Thy withering a re-blooming to me for ever. Thy uneasy leaning my spiritual rest. Thy giving way, my powerful support. All Thy wounds must heal mine, and Thy loving heart inflame mine with fervour. Sweet Lord! 1. First in Thy mortal agony You wast mocked with scornful words; 2. And with contemptuous gestures; 3. You wast utterly annihilated in their hearts; 4. You did continue under it steadfast; 5. And did pray to Thy Father for them lovingly; 6. Thou, the innocent Lamb, wast numbered with the guilty; 7. You wast condemned and reviled by the thief on Thy left; 8. But wast invoked by him on the right; 9. You forgavest the latter all his sins; 10. You did unlock for him the gates of paradise.

Beloved Lord! teach me, Thy servant, to bear with firmness every ignominious word, every scornful gesture, and all sorts of contempt for Thy sake, and lovingly to excuse my enemies before Thee. Ah, You infinite good, behold, this day I offer up, before the eyes of Thy heavenly Father, Thy innocent death for my guilty life. Lord, with the thief I cry out to Thee: Remember me when You comest into Thy kingdom! Condemn me not for my evil deeds, forgive all my sins, undo for me the gates of the heavenly paradise! Tender Lord! 1. At that hour You wast forsaken for my sake of all men; 2. Thy friends had renounced Thee; 3. You stoodst naked and robbed of all honour and raiment; 4. Thy power then seemed overcome; 5. They treated Thee without mercy, and You did bear it all in meekness and silence; 6. Alas, for Thy gentle heart, You who alone did know at that time the depth of Thy Mother's sorrow of heart; 7. And did see her deplorable state; 8. And did hear her lamentable words; 9. And at Thy mortal separation did commend her to the filial piety of Thy disciple; 10. And the disciple to her maternal love.

Oh therefore, You pattern of all virtues, take away from me all pernicious love of men, and all inordinate affection of friends; strip me of all impatience; give me steadfastness against all evil spirits, and meekness against all violent men. Give me, gentle Lord, Thy bitter death in the bottom of my heart, in my prayers, and in the practice of good works. O tender Lord, I commend myself this day to the true fidelity and care of Thy pure Mother and Thy beloved disciple. [Here say a Salve Regina or an Ave Maria.] O pure and tender Mother, I shall remind thee today of the infinite sorrow of heart which You did endure. -1. At the first aspect of thy dear Child when You did see Him suspended in agony; 2. You couldst not then come to Hiss assistance; 3. You did gaze in anguish of heart at thy beloved Son expiring before thine eyes; 4. You did lament over Him with great lamentation; 5. And He comforted thee very kindly; 6. His divine words pierced thy heart; 7. Thy lamentable gestures softened the hard hearts of the Jews; 8. Thy maternal arms and hands were most reverentially lifted up; 9. But thy sick body sank exhausted on the ground; 10. Where thy tender mouth did affectionately kiss His fallen blood.

Oh, then Mother of all graces, watch over me like a mother for my whole life, and graciously shield me in the hour of my death. O gentle Lady! behold, that is the hour for the sake of which I desire to be thy servant all my days. That is the dreadful hour which frightens my heart and soul, for then there will be an end to prayer and supplication. Then shall I, poor wretch, not know to whom to turn. Therefore, You unfathomable abyss of divine compassion, I fall at thy feet this day with the fervent sighs of my heart, that I may then be found worthy of thy joyous presence. How should he ever despond, or what can injure him whom here, O purest Mother, You Do protect? Ah, You only consolation, defend me against the terrible looks of the wicked spirits, lend me aid and protection against the hands of the enemy! Hearken consolingly to my wretched sighs, look kindly with the eyes of thy compassion on my ghastly and enfeebled frame. Reach me thy beneficent hands. Receive my poor soul. With thy radiant countenance present it before the severe Judge, and install it in everlasting bliss!

O You most intimate delight of the Heavenly Father! 1. How wast You abandoned at that hour on the cross to every pang of bitter death exteriorly, and robbed of all sweetness and solace interiorly! 2. You did utter a cry of misery to Thy Father; 3. Thy will You did unite wholly to His; 4. You did thirst bodily by reason of great dryness! 5. You did thirst spiritually by reason of great love; 6. Thy thirst was bitterly quenched; 7. And when all things were fulfilled You did exclaim: Consummatum est? 8. You wast obedient unto Thy Father, even unto death; 9. And You did commend Thy Spirit into His Fatherly hands; 10. And then Thy noble soul separated from Thy body. Ah, You loving Lord, in this Thy love I desire that You would open Thy Fatherly ears at all times to my call, and give me in all things a will united to Thine. Lord, quench in me all thirst after bodily things; make me thirst after spiritual goods. Sweet Lord, let Thy bitter drink change all my afflictions into sweetness. Grant me to persevere in perfect thoughts and in good works until death, and that I may never swerve from Thy obedience. Eternal Wisdom, let my spirit be transferred from this day forth into Thy hands, so that at its final departure it may be joyfully received by Thee. Lord, grant me a life pleasing in Thy sight; a death well prepared for; an end made sure by Thee. Lord, let Thy bitter death make amends for, and complete my insufficient works, so that at my last hours, guilt and punishment may be wholly effeced.

Ah, my Lord, remember, 1. How the sharp spear was thrust into Thy divine side; 2. How the purple blood ran out; 3. How the living water gushed forth; 4. And with what bitter toil You did garner me up; 5. And how generously You did ransom me; Loving Lord! may Thy deep wounds shelter me from all my enemies; Thy living water cleanse me from all my sins; Thy rose-coloured blood adorn me with all graces and virtues. Tender Lord! May the praise You did so bitterly win bind me to Thee! The ransom You did so freely pay unite me eternally with Thee. Oh, You chosen consolation of all sinners, Ho, You sweet Queen, remember today. 1. How You did stand under the cross, and how, as thy Son hung dead above thee, You did cast on Him many a look of misery; 2. How affectionately His arms were received by thee; 3. With what fidelity pressed to thy blood-stained face; 4. His bleeding wounds, His dead and ghastly features, were by thee kissed again and again; 5. How many a death-wound thy heart then received; 6. How many a fervent unfathomable sigh burst from thee; 7. How many scalding tears You did shed; 8. Thy miserable words were so full of sorrow; 9. Thy most gracious figure was so steeped in affliction; 10. Thy woeful heart was without consolation from all mankind. Oh, pure Lady, on this account forget not to be a constant protectress of my whole life, and my faithful guide.

Turn thy eyes, thy mild eyes, at all times, with compassion on me. Watch over me like a mother in every temptation. Protect me faithfully against my enemies, protect me beneath thy tender arms. Let thy faithful kissing of His wounds be to me as a tender reconciliation with Him; Let the wounds of thy heart obtain for me a cordial repentance of my sins; Thy fervent sighing procure for me a constant yearning; And let thy bitter tears soften my hard heart; Be thy lamentable words even as a renunciation to me of all voluptuous speeches; Thy weeping form as a casting away of all dissolute conduct; Thy disconsolate heart as a despising of all perishable affections.

1. O, You ravishing brightness of eternal light, how art You at this moment, when my soul embraces Thee under the cross as dead in Thy sorrowful mother's lap, with lamentations and thanksgiving, how art You utterly extinguished! Extinguish in me the burning desire of all vice. 2. O, You pure clear mirror of the Divine Majesty, how art You defiled for very love of me! Wash out the great stains of my evil deeds. 3. O, fair and shining Image of the Fatherly goodness, how grievously disfigured You art! Restore the disfigured image of my soul. 4. O, innocent Lamb, how piteously art You abased! Atone and reform for me my guilty sinful life. 5. O, King of all kings, O, Lord of all lords, vouchsafe me, since my soul embraces Thee with sorrow and lamentation in Thy abasement, that it may be embraced by Thee with joy in Thy eternal glory. O, pure Mother, worthy of all love, remember today, 1. The forlorn condition in which You foundest thyself when they tore thy murdered Son from thy breast; 2. Remember thy separation from Him; 3. Thy faltering steps; 4. Thy heart sighing again for His body; 5. The constant fidelity which You alone did evince for Him in all His woe till He was laid in the grave. Obtain for me, from thy tender Son, that in thy

sorrow and His sufferings I may subdue my own. Moreover, that I may shut myself up with Him in His sepulchre from all temporal anxieties; That I may be inspired with disgust for all this world; That I may only cherish a perpetual desire of Him, and may persevere in His praise and service to the grave. Amen. When all this was ready and written out, there still remained a little to make up at the end of a chapter, appertaining to our Blessed Lady, and in that very part he had left a blank space until he should be inspired with it by God, for he had been many months in a state of spiritual dereliction, so that he could not finish the chapter. Then he besought our Blessed Lady, the Mother of God, that she would do it. And, on the eve of Saint Dominic, at night, after he had sung matins, it seemed to him in his sleep, as if he were in a chamber; and as if, while he was sitting there, a very fair youth entered with a ravishing harp, and with him four other youths with flutes. Then the youth with the harp sat down by the brother, and began to touch his harp, and play upon it very sweetly. This was pleasant for the brother to hear, and he said to him, O, when wilt You come to the place where I dwell, and lift up my heart a little with thy music?

Then the youth asked the brother if he was still busy with what he had for a long time been occupied with? To which he said, Yes. Then the youth answered and said: It is hard to play. So he turned to the four with flutes, and bid them blow. Then one of them answered and said that if two of them blew it would be enough. But the other said, that two would not be enough, and that they must all blow their flutes together, and he gave them a certain tune, which was well known to him, but of which the brother knew nothing, and it was done accordingly.

Meanwhile he presently neither saw nor heard any harp or flute, but saw that the youths had in their hands a picture, above all measure lovely, of our Blessed Lady, and that it was worked in cloth, and the mantle of the picture was red and purple, with damask embroidery, which it was delightful to behold, and the ground was as white as snow. Then the brother marvelled greatly, and took pleasure in the sight; and he perceived that they would needs complete it, and, first of all, fill up the empty space. Then they said, See how it grows! Presently he saw it completed. And then one of them took a needle and thread, and made on the fore part of the mantle very skillful cross stitches, and they were very finely done, and wonderfully adorned our Blessed Lady. And now his eyes were opened, and he understood that he should no longer doubt that it was given him to complete the ground, the blank space, and the spiritual picture, which had so long been denied to him; for he was accustomed to have all that he had hitherto performed clearly manifested to him by God in the way of some similitude like

the above, and so, on the morrow, he finished his work to the end. [1] A form of prostration, "at full length on the right side," practiced by the Dominicans. [3] Ecclesiasticus 24:24, 26, 27; xl. 20 [5] Without prejudice, however, to their own individuality, as Suso elsewhere clearly teaches. [6] 1 Corinthians 2:2 [7] Sancti Bernardi Sermones in Cantica Canticorum. Sermo xliii. [10] According to a legend of the Middle Ages, the unicorn loves chastity so much that it can only be caught by a virgin, who in consequence lies in wait at a place where the unicorn is accustomed to seek its food, and which is no is no sooner conscious of the virgin's presence than it approaches her softly, and lays its head in her lap and falls asleep. Then she makes a sign, and the concealed hunters rush upon their prey. [12] According to a practice of the middle ages. The original print version on which this is based was published in London, England by Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd., publishers to the Holy See. It bears a Nihil Obstat by F. Thomas Bergh, O.S.B., and Imprimatur by Petrus Esus Southwarcen, dated 14 April 1910. The file is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library at Calvin College, http://www.ccel.org. The cover illustration is from a 14th century manuscript showing Blessed Henry Suso dancing with angels, as he did in one of his visions.

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