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,Thou 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 Thou orderest all things,both evil and good,I am dumb and speechless.But,Lord,when I remember that Thou 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.--Wouldst thou then gladly praise Me?
The Servant.--Alas!Lord,why dost Thou provoke me?Thou knowest all hearts,Thou knowest 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,Thou standest in need of no creature's praise;but Thy infinite goodness is made all the more manifest the more Thou 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,thou dost praise me as fervently in sorrow as in joy,in utter adversity as in full prosperity;
for then thou thinkest of Me and not of thyself.
