that they were so charmed with the beauty of their God, they had little feeling for what they suffered in loving and pleasing him. If worldlings knew the spiritual delights which God makes those taste who quit the world for him, they would have a great contempt for the indulgence of the body; but because this truth is comprehended much better by example than words, it is sufficient to mention here, for giving a faint idea of the happiness of the saints in this life, that they live more content in poverty and suffering, than worldly men do in the midst of abundance and pleasure; and that they would not change a single moment of the pains, which they endure with Christ, for all the joys in the world. IV. There are some persons in the world, who are neither so irregular as to seek the conveniences of life to the prejudice of their salvation, nor so fervent as to resolve to leave all things with a design of pleasing God: and although what we have said does not regard them so directly as those who aspire to Christian perfection, yet it is certain that they find in Christ's austerity a great subject of consolation, and powerful reasons for loving him; for he has so much goodness towards us that even when he walks before us, and gives us bright examples of mortification, he does not oblige us to practise it in that degree of perfection: and whilst he refuses himself all things in order to merit for us eternal blessings, he permits us the use of temporal conveniences, provided they destroy not in us the love and obedience which we owe to him. Therefore, although some allow great liberty to their senses, if they frequent the sacraments, practise the virtues proper for their state, and prevent the care of the body from making them abandon that of the soul, God may raise up children to Abraham from those stones, roses from those thorns, and fruit from that almost barren ground. Christ loves us so affectionately, and esteems humility of heart so much, that our good desires often make him excuse our defects.

V. Our first father was condemned, after his sin, to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow; that is, that he could not live but by labouring much, and reaping little. Christ submitted to the same law in all its rigour; his life was a continual labour through the love he had for us. Į CONTEMPLATION.-I. Why dost thou not soften the hardness of my heart, O divine tenderness! that I may love and adore the inventions of thy mercy! How canst thou suffer my soul to remain cold and frozen in the midst of flames of thy love which so surround it? Permit not that fire of love, O Lord, to be wholly employed within thyself; permit some sparks of it to fly unto me, where it will find matter to exercise-a great deal of hardness of heart to soften, sin to destroy, and imperfections to consume. I adore thee, O divine Infant! I love thee with all my heart, O my sove

reign good! Thou art great in everything. Thy humanity cannot conceal from us the abundance of thy riches. But what wilt thou do, O Lord! when that body is stronger and more capable of suffering, since at a time wherein it ought to be spared, thou treatest it with so much rigour? I behold it, tender and delicate as it is, trembling with cold, laid on the hard ground, and yet thy providence interferes not to diminish thy sufferings; the Blessed Virgin is so poor, that she scarcely has wherewith to cover thee; the stable is open to every wind; there is in that place but extreme poverty, and privation of convenience.

II. Thou leavest not thy work imperfect, O divine Saviour! having commenced thy life by suffering, thou continuest the same to thy death, and lovest austerity, which we so much dread. How often has the rising sun found thee with eyes livid and countenance pale? How often have thy hair and clothes been soaked with the rain and dew? How many times has thy most pure body been bathed with sweat in thy labours and journeys?

III. O charitable Father of souls! O Master of the pure and eternal truth! O faithful Companion of poor sinners! how remote art thou from those who perform not what they command of others. Thou speakest not, yet thy works already speak for thee. Thou seest that I spend my time in flattering this miserable body of mine, that I am wholly taken up with exterior cares, so as to forget interior things; that I obey the desires of the flesh even at the risk of losing thee; I live in the arms of a formidable enemy, not refusing what it desires. I know by experience how unprofitable all endeavours which I use are for satisfying it-the more I give it, the more it requires of me; and in order to recompense me for my complacency, it separates me from thee, O my sovereign felicity! It abases my soul to everything that is gross and unworthy of it; and it cannot suffer me to serve thee in prejudice of its own pleasures.

How many reasons have I here to bewail and deplore my own misery! Thou seest the depth of it, O Lord! have mercy on me, and chastise me not in thy wrath; thou alone knowest my interior state, and the evils which the slavery of this body occasions my soul to suffer. Although I should weep all my life, there would still remain a thousand things to be wept for; and what pardon soever thy goodness grants me for the past, I have always reason to tremble for the future.

IV. Assist me, therefore, O Lord! against myself; thou knowest what I have to fear, for having given to the indulgence of my body the time I ought to have employed in thy service; how I ought to blush for the remissness wherewith I have sought thee, when thou preventest me with thy grace: for, have I ever done as much for thee, O divine Jesus! as worldlings are wont to do for their

bodies? They observe no bounds, in the luxury of clothes, magnificence of houses, and search of conveniences; they grudge no expense for removing everything from them that might give them pain; they refuse nothing to their carnality, whilst the poor, the widow, the orphan, and thy altars, O my God! are neglected, and want the most necessary things; and, as for me, when I return to thee, drawn by thy grace, and when thou comest into my soul, what a recompense do I give thee? what an abode do I here prepare for thee? with what purity do I receive thee therein, O infinite Goodness! so patient in bearing with me, and so easy in pardoning me?

Although one single moment of those divine sweetnesses which thou makest them feel that love thee, be infinitely more precious than all worldly delights, yet the men of the world take a great deal more pains for those false pleasures, than I do for the true ones; my soul is so penetrated with sorrow and confusion for it before thee, O my God! that it is only capable of a profound silence. Have mercy on thy poor creature, for whom thou hast so much goodness. I labour continually for my body, and scarce do anything for thee; my miseries are proportioned to my wicked heart, which is expanded for evil, as it is small and contracted for good! but the greatness of thine, O Lord! appears in suffering for me, in loving and pardoning me, in taking no notice of my sins, and in accommodating thyself to my weakness.

V. Oh! when will the time come wherein the ardour of my love shall supply the langour of my body? O divine love! that canst do all things, make thyself the master of my heart, and work thy wonders therein. Give me, O Lord, an absolute empire over my body; and if I cannot suffer so much in my flesh as thou sufferest in thine, inspire me with so insatiable a hunger after justice, that I may at least have the desire of doing much for thee, as thou didst much for me. Take from me all superfluity, and teach me to give this enemy only what is necessary: turn all my thoughts towards thyself, since they are profitably employed on nothing but thee: take thou care of what concerns me, that there may no further care remain to me than that of loving and pleasing thee. What can I desire besides thee, O my sovereign good! and what shall be wanting to me, if I am happy enough to possess thee? O lost years! O life ill employed as that which I have spent at a distance from thee! Thou art the only repose of my soul, the true remedy of my evils, and my sure remedy in all my pains; why then art thou not sufficient for me? Open this heart, sound the depth of its corruption, and heal its inveterate wounds; for, in fine, O Lord, such as I am, I am thine! and since I am already thine by justice, make me also such by love.

VI. But permit me to ask thee here which torments thee most,

the cold occasioned thee by the season, or that which thou beholdest in my soul? Everything speaks in thee, O Lord, teach me to hear and obey thee. I plainly perceive that thou endurest the rigours of winter for expiating my delicacies, and that thou endurest them joyfully, to pierce this tepid heart with the darts of thy charity. Alas! what will become of me, O infinite mercy! I do not remember to have spent so much as an hour of my life in the fervour of thy love. Thou sufferest cold and heat, as a traveller does who hopes to refresh himself when he is arrived at his own home; and when thou comest into my heart, to repose therein as in thy own house, thou wouldst gladly find in it affection, sweetness, and peace. Oh, that I always received thee a with pure love! that I should never reject thee by my tepidity!

Thou dost nothing, O my God! but what thou dost for me; thou hast created me for thyself, and hast given me a heart which cannot find its repose in anything but thee; thou will be the centre of my desires, and it seems thou hast put me in this place of banishment only to make me sigh after thee. But since thou ordainest me to support the fatigues of this life, in view of the end whereat I am to arrive, permit me not, as a traveller passing over a dry and barren country, to stay by the way. Ah, Lord! thou preventest my desires; I already feel thy presence, and find thee within me; comfort, therefore, my dejected soul, fortify it, and tell it, thyself, that thou art its salvation and sovereign happiness.

If I seek thee at any time without finding thee, and if thou delayest to come to me, it is that I may desire thee more ardently, and have a better relish of the sweetness of thy presence afterwards; for thou wilt establish in me thy abode, thy repose, and thy delight. If thou findest my heart frozen against thee, or possessed with another love, thou art deeply concerned thereat: but when the place is ready to receive thee, thou thinkest thyself well recompensed for all thy sufferings. How many times hast thou knocked at the door of this heart, and I have not opened it to thee, O eternal beauty! How many times have I banished thee from thence after having received thee. How many times have I chosen rather to lose myself than to possess thee? Why do I live, O my God, if I live not for thee? Put an end to my misery, O Lord! and since, in spite of all my repulses, thou still triest to enter into my soul, grant that thou mayest be received therein, and never depart from thence.

VII. Come, my Hope and Salvation! drive out those usurpers who have taken possession of thy house, kindle therein the fire of thy love, shut it up against every other but thyself, and suffer nothing to go into it against thy will. Especially, O Lord! be diffident of me; for thou knowest that, in thy presence, I am always rich in promises and desires; and that out of it I become

remiss in thy love, and slow to execute what I have promised thee. Do thy work, O Lord! in spite of my resistance; for I can have no good but what comes from thee. Let not the designs of thy goodness be reversed by my malice; re-establish what is destroyed, restore me what I have lost, glorify thyself in thy creature, reign in thy own kingdom, dwell in thy own house, and never permit me to be separated from thee, who art my God and sovereign felicity.

VIII. Thou didst condemn Adam to eat his bread in the sweat of his brow, and often to gather nothing but thorns, where he had sown good grain: and thou, O my God! who art the new Adam, our true Father, and who hast no sweeter food than the love of our hearts, although thou knewest they would produce thee thorns, yet thou hast not ceased to sow the seeds of eternal blessings therein. Thereby thou hast undergone the punishment of our first father, with this difference, that he suffered for his own sin-you suffered for mine. But, O Lord! what advantage canst thou draw from our love? Pardon me, O my God! I desire perhaps to know too much, and it is enough for me to be assured that thou desirest to be loved. If thou requirest nothing else from me, why do I not love thee? Thou bestowest a great favour on me by loving me, thou grantest me a great one by desiring me to love thee; and I know not which of the two is the most advantageous for me. 0 love! that lovest so tenderly, and forgettest nothing for making thyself beloved, what hinders thee from accomplishing what thou desirest? Without thy aid how can I love thee? Thou commandest me to love thee; give me that aid, and command me as thou pleasest. Burn the briars and thorn which choke, in my soul, the good grain thou sowest there; open this earthly heart, plant thy divine love in it, warm its tepidity, and possess it entirely; but open thy treasures at the same time, O eternal Love! for thou canst do whatever thou wilt.

O Mother of God! most pure abode of the Word incarnate, you who have received him within yourself after so gracious a manner, obtain of him for me what he requires of me, since you know there is no salvation for me but in him alone. Blessed spirits, citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, most pure hearts, wherein God reposes for ever, remember that you were once, as we are now, travellers upon earth; cast your eyes upon the dangers to which we are exposed, and beseech the Lord that I may one day become his abode for all eternity. Amen.

SEVENTH SUFFERING OF CHRIST.-His Circumcision.

Christ was pleased, soon after his birth, to begin the shedding of his blood; and to give us, as one may say, the first fruits of that