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.
