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, 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.
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 Thou 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 hast Thou done amiss? Lord, remember me, when Thou 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, Thou
comprehendest all things, Thou knowest all hearts, Thou knowest 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 thou shouldst remain till death--such praise is pleasing to Me.
The Servant.--Ah, sweet Lord, since Thou
deignest and desirest to receive praise from me, poor sinful person that I am,
it is my desire that Thou wouldst 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, thou firmament why dost thou hasten 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 Thou 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 thou wouldst 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 Thou hast protected me, from what evil chains and bonds
Thou hast delivered me, O Thou Everlasting Good, it is a wonder that my heart
does not wholly melt in Thy praise! Lord, how long didst Thou not wait for me,
how kindly didst Thou not receive me, how sweetly in secret didst Thou not
anticipate me and interiorly warn me! How ungrateful soever I might sometimes
be, still Thou didst not desist until Thou 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 thou 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, Thou 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 thou seest a
great number of people, as often as thou 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 hast
Thou 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 thou 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, Thou whom my soul alone seeks
and desires, Thou knowest 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
thou 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.
[13] Psalm cxiv. i.
[14] Psalm xxxii. i.