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 thou never swervest,thou hast 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 thou 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 thou mightest know at what thou shouldst aim,after what thou shouldst strive,to what thou shouldst turn thy heart and mind.And if ever thou losest sight of it,let it be to thee as if thy eternal salvation were taken away from thee;and do thou speedily turn to it again,so that thou mayest again obtain possession of it;and then must thou look carefully to thyself,for,if it escape from thee,thou 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 thou 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.Dost thou wish to become ever more and more faithful?Then set My precepts before thy eyes.Wherever thou 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 thou 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 Thou for ever!Ah,my Lord and most faithful friend,if I would not do it otherwise,Thou wouldst 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.
CHAPTER XXIII.How We Ought Lovingly To Receive God 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,Thou hast so entirely poured out the abyss of Thy divine love in Thy Passion,that I wonder if Thou canst show any more signs of Thy love?
Eternal Wisdom.--Yes.Even as the stars of heaven are countless,so the love-tokens 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,Thou knowest 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 Thou didst 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 Thou Thyself,Thy very Self,really here?
Eternal Wisdom.--Thou hast 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 Thou willest Thou 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 Thou art my Wisdom elect,I should be glad by Thy favour to hear something on this head out of Thy sweet mouth.
