in what the greatness of God consists and are far from conceiving that mortal and earthly Greatness is very small and inconsiderable and infinitely less than that of GOD because it cannot suit or equal it self to little things when Wisdom and Love obliges it so to do Take notice if you please that the Immensity of God infinitely surpasses other Immensities and that it alone is Divine and Soveraign because at the same time it is of greater extent then the World it is also as little as the least Creature and that 't is as intirely in a little Flower as in the whole Universe and in the Imperial Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says a Holy Father of him God is greater than all and equal to all Meditate but a little Devout Soul on this Truth and by it you will clearly discern that God is the most amiable and lovely of all those whom you Love and which also Love you and that he is the true and only object of Love because in him alone you will find the two most necessary things to be Lov'd to wit Superiority and Equality that is a great Infinity which Infinity elevates him above you and an infinite Goodness that as I may say lessens him so far as to be equal with you thereby to bring to pass that all his Perfections and Power may as it were be able to enter into your heart and thereby render you infinitely and eternally Happy He alone is your Master and equal And therefore 't is of him you may say with Truth My beloved to me and I to him Notwithstand he is God and I am nothing by an ineffable Mystery he is fit for me and I for him His Wisdom has taken my measure upon him and rendred my littleness capable after some manner of containing his Immensity CHAP. XVI When particular Reverence is to be shown WHerefore O holy Sunamite in the Church and at times of Adoration and Divine Mysteries appear not in his Presence but as an annihilated Shadow by a profound Humility But in the places and at the times I have before spoken of and during your Solitary and Domestick Conversations you are both to blame and ungrateful if you have not all the liberty familiarity and tenderness that one ought to have for a Spouse he tenderly Loves and at such times speak no other Language but that of Tenderness and Love. 'T is there he stiles you his Beloved his unspoted Dove and even forbids you to call him Lord and Master Call me says he the God of your Heart the God of your Comfort the Father of the Mercies you expect the Beloved of your Hopes and Desires the most Lovely the most Perfect your All and your only One whose Heart is but one with yours and whose Grace enters into your Soul to be its Life never to be separated from it commanding you not to call him hereafter Baalim that is Lord but to call him the Spouse CHAP. XVII How to Discourse with God concerning Himself MOreover during these Colloquies do not always speak of thy self nor of thy own Affair nor of thy own Comfort or Afflictions but Change thy Discourse and after thou hast made thy complaints or entertain'd him with what happens in thy Houshold Affairs Elevate thy Mind and Entertain him with what belongs to himself Speak to him of his Happiness and Greatness of his Divine Attributes and Operations of the power of his Word when by it he gave a Being to all Creatures and drew them out of their eternal nothing speak to him in the Language of the Saints who by Sighs and devout Exclamations shew'd their Eloquence whilst they prais'd his Works How admirable is thy Name How magnificent are thy Works And how profound thy Thoughts O Wisdom that hast form'd this great World. How Sublime art thou and how incomprehensible in thy Thoughts how profound art thou in thy Designs How magnificent and admirable in thy Works What a vast Immensity do the Heavens contain what a Lustre and Brightness do those uncorruptible Lights ranged in so Beautiful an Order send forth what a variety of Goods doth the Earth produce and the Sea and other Elements bring forth How great a magnificence and Beauty have all these Creatures and how pleasing a thing it is to Contemplate them in Silence and to let our Soul be fill'd with Admiration and Heavenly Thoughts whilst it considers them Thy Power and Justice reacheth to the highest how great things hast thou made O God who is like unto thee CHAP. XVIII How to Treat with Him of his Birth and Passion BE not forgetful also of the greatest of all his Miracles the Incarnation of the Word and the Redemption of Mankind Tell him this is the ordinary subject of your Meditation every day as it is the subject of the Meditation of the Angels in Paradise for Eternity O Redeemer of my Life how often do I think of them and how sweet a repose doth the Contemplation of your Crib and Cross your Glorious Annihilations bring along with them Hereupon call to mind such Thoughts as occurr'd during your Meditations or those you have read in Books or heard in Sermons Recount them as things you cannot forbear Speaking or Meditating of and mingle with them Acts of Love Thanksgiving Admiration and Faith I believe those inestimmable Mysteries what your Church and Gospel Teaches I have believed them ever since my Birth and I say every day and will say to the hour of my Death that Jesus Christ Crucified is my Lord and my God. This is the first Word they taught me in my Cradle and I hope it will be the last I shall pronounce going out of the World and that I shall bear Engraven upon my Heart going to appear in Judgment My Lord and my God. CHAP. XIX How to Converse with God concerning the Sins of our past Life TEll him with Devotion that upon the Cross you do no less clearly behold your own Humiliations and the Disgraces of your Life then the Exaltations of the Justice and Goodness of God. What I would say is that during these sorts of Conversations with our Saviour you ought not to fail Entertaining him with the sins and miseries of your Youth Speak of them to this dear Spouse and though in your former days of Pennance you forgot not to tell him all you knew yet be not afraid to importune him by humbling your self in repeating the same things Tell him the whole Story of those miserable years and all those sad occasions of offending him into which your Companions brought you Remember each fault Sigh and Lament it with Tears and exercise Acts of Contrition worthy of those Graces which the Death of your Spouse hath merited and which have drawn you out of Hell. That which displeaseth me my Beloved and above all afflicts me in these my enormous Sins is that my Heart is too weak to have hatred for them Alas it is very little that mine alone
a Source I should be to blame notwithstanding should I demand that your infinite Sanctity should not regard my Failings with displeasure I am displeas'd with them my self and suffer most sorrowful Regrets and Remorses for them I tell you however what I do to comfort my self and what in my opinion you should do to appease your anger and to have towards me no other Sentiments but of Compassion and no other designs but of Mercy For my part O my God at the very moment I have Sinned I look upon you in the same State and Condition you were in on Mount Calvary where you thought of nothing but of Pardoning and blotting out of Sins and searching out Sinners throughout the whole World to wash them in your most precious Blood. This is that which I behold and this makes me run to you O adorable Mercy behold here the Sinner you seek after For your part O my God in the same moment you see me fallen behold me in the same state in which by your Mercy I hope to be one day in Heaven where I shall think of nothing else but loving you When you behold me here below you see a Person who during thirty or fourty years of his Life passes not one day nay perhaps not one hour without Offending you by some Fault or other But when you behold me in Paradise you behold a Saint that passes millions of Years and Ages nay an intire Eternity without offending you so much as once and that ceases not each moment of this long Eternity to Glorify and Love you Look upon me then in this state and be not angry to see me upon Earth for fifty or sixty years that is two or three Minutes in respect of Eternity to be the subject of frailty and frequent failings CHAP. IX How to make your Applications to God in ordinary Doubts and Difficulties REmember to acquit your self of this Duty of Confidence of which I speak in the occasions where you ought to deliberate upon some unforeseen event or of some difficulty that troubles you where you cannot well perceive what you are to do nor what Resolutions you are to take Give O Lord a word in my Mouth and counsel in my Heart Send forth O my God your light to direct me By some mark of your Wisdom teach my Soul what to Answer what 't is to do in this conjuncture and which is the best means of those that occur to me or that my Friends propose direct my Path and permit me not to go astray I see a great many Advises but I desire to know which is yours give me a knowledge of it and with your Hand direct and guide my Inclinations to bend that way you direct and to pitch upon the choice you inspire I cannot but act prudently and prosperously whilst the splendour of your Wisdom shines upon me to direct me in the Darkness I am in when your Light shines upon my Head by it I shall walk securely in the midst of Darkness In a word Live in a continual exercise and communication with God Look upon him no otherwise than a powerful and faithful Friend who is night and day by your fide Have with him as I have said the most free and amorous Familiarity you can confiding even your Diffidences and Fears to him as also your most hidden Weaknesses all your Thoughts and Desires and the different Motions of your irresolute Prudence or your secret Disquiets Before thee O God is all my Desire and my Groans are not hid from thee CHAP. X. He is not displeas'd with every Complaint to him of himself and in what manner we may do it GOd is so well pleas'd that you should speak to him in a Familiar and Friendly manner that though you should have a mind now and then even to complain of his own Providence and of that Severity wherewith he seems to treat you he will not be angry at it provided it be done in an Amorous and Respectful way When you are overwhelm'd with Grief and can receive no Answer to your Prayers you may imitate our Blessed Saviour on the Cross and lovingly Cry out unto him My God my God why hast thou forsaken me You may say with David Why O Lord have you gone from me and do despise me in the occasion What is this O my God that you know me not when I weep and withdraw your self from me whilst I am bath'd in Tears and have most need of your Comfort and your helping hand c. I cry unto you and you hear me not I stand before you and you behold me not you are chang'd and become cruel towards me Where are you O my Divine Saviour Where is your Mercy Where is your Love I call you and you answer me not I cry out as loud as I am able and you do not hear me I make known the grief that oppresses me and the deplorable condition I am in and you turn your face from me and will not behold me But after these pious Complaints fail not to return to your Sentiments of Confidence and Humility Yet O Lord you do not stretch out your Hand to consume me Tho' great God you are angry yet I perceive your design is not to destroy me all these blowes from your Hands are favourable stroakes and presage my Happiness 'T is your Goodness is the cause of my Suffering the more I suffer the more I am assur'd of your Love and that your Providence hath secret Thoughts and designs of Love towards me which when I least hope for them will comfort me and surpass my desires Behold thou art our God we expected thee and thou shalt save us we waited and we shall exult and rejoyce in thy Salvation CHAP. XI We are to represent the Afflictions of others unto God as well as our own YOu do well to think of your Troubles and Pains when you are in his presence but think also of those that others suffer Tell him the News of those you know and endeavour to draw some Grace and Mercy from his Heart for the Comfort of such as according to the Prophet are nourish'd upon Earth with the Bread of Tears their Misery is the ordinary subject of discourse they Talk and make Complaint of it in all Companies but the Complaints they make profit them very little They will do them service Devout Soul when in your familiar Entertainments you make them and recount them to God telling him the Poverty and Miseries you know are in several Families In Truth my dear Master I can go no where but I find some Tears and I may say with Truth that from the time I knew and began to converse with Men I have scarce known one without a Complaint and whom I have not beheld to shed just Tears of grief It seems to me I am born only to behold Afflictions and afflicted People and to behold them with a seeming Cruelty not being able to help them This want
and the heart of my Confessor who hath known and deplor'd them should be touch'd with them I wish I had the heart of all Men and Angels and with this multitude of Hearts that I were able to form such a violent hatred and detestation as might equal my Sadness and Misery O Lord employ your Power and Mercy Create in me a new heart and give it me to no other end but to Love you This desire pleaseth our Saviour as did the desire of David St. Peter and many other Penitent Sinners who after they had employ'd many years in sighing and bewailing their Sins having exhausted their Tears asked for those who might raise in their Soul such a source of bitter Waters that might not be exhausted but might endure their whole Life Who will give water to my Head and a Fountain of Tears to my Eyes that I may Weep day and night says the Royal Prophet Contemplating the open Veines of your Crucified Spouse O Devout Soul repeat the same Words but say them sincerely and from your Heart and rather Sighs of Love then Words Who will give Water to my Head c. O my dear Master how happy should I be to see Torrents of Tears flow from my Eyes which might joyn themselves to the torrent of your Blood and run together with it in each Corner where my Sins have been committed to the end that those who have known me a Sinner may know me also a Penitent and see eternal marks of my Sorrow O all of you who have heard of the scandal of my Life come and hearken to my Cryes and Lamentations and behold my Sorrow Behold it O my God and consider what passeth in my Soul. I hope in you in the state I am in have the goodness not to refuse to Love me in it At least refuse not to behold me and to let that vertue pass from your Eyes to my Soul which gives Grace and Life Behold me O God and consider me God beholds thee O Sunamite and during these holy Hours in which thou findest thy grief and the convulsions of thy afflicted Conscience to return he fails not to comfort thee repeating by himself Interiorly what he hath caused the Prophets and Evangelists to tell thee that thy Sins are pardoned and blotted out and that the least stain of them remains not in thy Heart This I know O Divine Saviour but there remains still a memory of them in thy mind Alas great God it seems little comfort to tell me I pardon you It seems to me that to make this comfort perfect you should find some invention to be ignorant of what I have done and to forget whatever happened to me during the years of my criminal and scandalous Life For how is it possible to live in the presence of God who has beheld all my Infidelities and still remembers them And how is it possible to be comforted by the news they daily tell me from you that my Sins are wash'd in the Blood you spilt for me so long as I also know that they appear yet in your sight and will do so for an Eternity and that amidst the Splendours of Paradise the Age of my Ingratitudes will be an Eternal object Thou hast put our Sins in thy sight our Age in the light of thy Countenance God who beholds with pleasure this kind of holy Fears and Anxieties in your Mind is ready to give you an entire Consolation And when during these familiar Entainmens he Comforts you about them he speaks as One who by an ineffable Miracle has extended his Power so far as to put all in Oblivion and buried the memory of your Sins in such an Abyss as they shall never be able to get out of He will dispose our Iniquities and cast our Sins into the depth of the Sea because he will have Mercy CHAP. XX. In what manner we are to Treat with God in Scruples and Fears of our Salvation or any thing else BUt if peradventure that should happen to you which often does even to most innocent Souls to be troubled out of Fear that some hidden Sin lurks still in your Conscience or that God has a design of anger and Reprobation against you as soon as you perceive this thought fail not to enter into your self and to be angry and blame your self for this disquiet as a fault perhaps more hateful to his Wisdom and Mercy than all the Sins you have Committed Be asham'd of it and resist it as a blast from Hell and speak of it to your Spouse with abomination and horror detesting such a blind and criminal diffidence In regard also of those weaknesses which make fear the Power of Men or Devils forming in your imagination scruples and Chimerical ideas which prosecute you very importunely and excite in your Soul inclinations to Despair take care you permit your self not to be dejected by this importunity of the enemy Open your Eyes and behold how unworthy you are that God should Love you whilst you let your self to be frighted in this manner and permit these fumes and shaddows to have so much force as to trouble you who art beloved by God and sustain'd by his Grace and therefore tell him O my beloved what blindness and what unworthiness is this From whence proceeds this Fear and how can it enter into my heart to distrust you amidst those many Miracles of your Mercy and Love towards me 'T is true I have been a sinner I came from nothing and am Dust and Ashes a Worm generated of Filth But you are a God an eternal Comforter an invincible Protector of the miserable and it is you that say to me My dear Creature as nothing as thou art and as small a worm worthy to be trampled underfoot take comfort fear nothing because I am thy Saviour thy Beloved thy Faithful Friend and because it is I that have Sworn That the World shall sooner perish then that I should permit thee to do so or that the Devils should take thee out of my hand or the least evil arrive to thee so long as thou continuest in my Love. You tell me this O most powerfully Merciful and yet I cease not to tremble Mad and Senseless that I am your Prophet assures me that you keep me on your Knee as a tender Mother doth her only Infant and tenderly embrace me with the like transports of Love hiding me in your Breast as she doth her Beloved carrying me also so in your Arms as a Father doth his Son not able yet to go alone and that you will if I hinder it not in this manner support me to the end of my Life though I should arrive to never so great an Age. You tell me this my God I hear it I know it is you that speak and yet I ask you if you Love me if you think of me if you take notice of my Tears and if you hear my Voice And after the many Promises which you have made me