效法基督 第 3 章

The Third Book: On Inward Consolation. Chapter 1. Here begins the book on inward consolation. I will hear what the Lord my God speaks within me. Blessed is the soul that hears the Lord speaking within her, and receives from His mouth the word of consolation. Blessed are the ears that catch the veins of the divine whisper, and heed nothing of the whisperings of this world. Blessed indeed are the ears that listen not to the voice sounding without, but to the truth teaching within. Blessed are the eyes that are closed to outward things, but intent upon the inward. Blessed are they who penetrate inward things, and study to prepare themselves more and more by daily exercises for the receiving of heavenly secrets. Blessed are they who yearn to be free for God, and shake off from themselves every hindrance of the world.

Mark this, O my soul, and shut the doors of your sensuality, that you may be able to hear what the Lord God speaks within you. Thus says your Beloved: I am your salvation, your peace, and your life. Keep yourself close to Me, and you shall find peace. Let go of all transitory things, and seek the eternal. What are all temporal things but seductions? And what do all creatures profit you, if you are forsaken by the Creator? Therefore, renouncing all things, render yourself pleasing and faithful to your Creator, that you may be able to lay hold of true blessedness. Chapter 2. That truth speaks within without noise. Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears. I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies. Incline my heart to the words of Your mouth.

Let Your speech flow down like dew, the children of Israel once said to Moses. Speak you to us, and we will hear; let not the Lord speak to us, lest perhaps we die. Not so, Lord, not so do I pray, but rather with the prophet Samuel I humbly and longingly beseech: Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears. Let not Moses speak to me, nor any of the prophets, but rather speak You, Lord God, inspirer and enlightener of all the prophets; for You alone, without them, can perfectly instruct me, whereas they without You will profit nothing. They can indeed sound forth words, but they confer not the spirit. They speak most beautifully, but if You are silent they do not kindle the heart. They hand down the letters, but You open the meaning.

They relate mysteries, but You unfold the understanding of the things signified. They publish commandments, but You help to fulfill them. They show the way, but You strengthen for the walking. They act only outwardly, but You instruct and enlighten the hearts. They water the outside, but You give the fruitfulness. They cry out with words, but You impart understanding to the hearing. Let not Moses therefore speak to me, but You, O Lord my God, eternal Truth, lest perhaps I die and be made fruitless, if I am only admonished outwardly and not kindled within; lest the word heard and not done, the meaning known and not loved, the thing believed and not kept, be unto me for judgment. Speak therefore, Lord, for Your servant hears: for You have the words of eternal life.

Speak to me for the consolation of my soul, however imperfect, and for the amendment of my whole life, but to You for glory and perpetual honor. Chapter 3. That the words of God are to be heard with humility. Hear, My son, My words. My words are most sweet, surpassing the knowledge of the philosophers and wise men of this world. My words are spirit and life, and are not to be weighed by human sense; they are not to be drawn to vain self-complacency, but to be heard in silence, and received with all humility and great affection. And I said: Blessed is the man whom You instruct, O Lord, and teach him out of Your law, that You may give him rest from the days of evil, and that he be not desolate upon the earth. I, says the Lord, have taught the prophets from the beginning, and even until now I cease not to speak to all.

But many are deaf to My voice, and dumb and hard. More people listen to the world more willingly than to God; they follow the appetite of their flesh more easily than the good pleasure of God. The world promises temporal and small things, and is served with great eagerness. I promise the highest and eternal things, and the hearts of mortals grow numb. Who serves and obeys Me in all things with such care as the world and its lords are served? Be ashamed, O Sidon, says the sea. And if you ask the cause, hear why. For a small stipend a long way is run; for eternal life scarcely by many is the foot once moved and lifted from the ground. A cheap reward is sought; for a single coin men sometimes shamefully quarrel; for a vain thing and a small promise men fear not to be wearied day and night.

But—alas for the grief!—for the unchangeable good, for the inestimable reward, for the highest honor and endless glory, men are too lazy to be wearied even a little. Be ashamed therefore, O lazy and complaining servant, that they are found readier for perdition than you for life; they rejoice more over vanity than you over truth. Indeed they are sometimes frustrated of their hope, but My promise deceives no one, nor sends away empty him who confides in Me. What I have promised I will give; what I have said I will fulfill—if only anyone remain faithful in My love unto the end. I am the rewarder of all the good, and the strong prover of all the devout. Write My words in your heart, and ponder them diligently:

for they will be very necessary in the time of temptation. What you do not understand when you read, you shall know in the day of visitation. In two ways I am wont to visit My elect, namely by temptation and by consolation; and two lessons I read to them daily, the one rebuking their vices, the other exhorting to the increase of virtues. He who has My words and despises them has one who shall judge him in the last day. A prayer for imploring the grace of devotion. O Lord my God, You are all my good. And who am I, that I should dare to speak to You? I am Your poorest little servant, and Your abject little worm, far poorer and more contemptible than I know or dare to say. Yet remember, Lord, that I am nothing, can do nothing, and have nothing.

You alone are good, just, and holy; You can do all things, supply all things, fill all things, leaving only the sinner empty. Remember Your tender mercies, O Lord, and fill my heart with Your grace, You who will not that Your works be void. How can I bear myself in this wretched life, unless You comfort me with Your mercy and Your grace? Turn not Your face away from me; delay not Your visitation; withdraw not Your consolation, lest my soul become as land without water before You. Teach me, O Lord, to do Your will.

Teach me to walk before You worthily and humbly, for You are my wisdom, who knows me in truth, and knew me before the world was made, and before I was born into the world. Chapter 4. That we must walk before God in humility and truth. Son, walk before Me in truth, and seek Me always in simplicity of heart. He who walks before Me in truth shall be guarded from vain assaults, and the truth shall free him from the seducers and detractions of the wicked. If the truth has freed you, you shall be truly free, and you shall not care about the vain words of men. Lord, it is true as You say; so let it, I pray, be done with me. Let Your truth itself teach me, itself guard me, and preserve me unto a saving end;

let it free me from every evil and inordinate affection, and I will walk with You in great liberty of heart. I will teach you, says the Truth, what things are right and pleasing before Me. Think upon your sins with great displeasure and grief, and never reckon yourself to be anything because of good works. In truth you are a sinner, subject and entangled in many passions. Of yourself you always tend toward nothing; quickly you slip, quickly you are troubled, quickly you are undone. You have nothing whereof you may glory, but many things whereby you ought to despise yourself, for you are far weaker than you are able to comprehend. Let nothing therefore seem great to you of all that you do.

Let nothing appear great, nothing precious and admirable, nothing worthy of reputation, nothing lofty, nothing truly praiseworthy and desirable, except what is eternal. Let the eternal truth please you above all things; let your own exceeding vileness displease you above all things. Fear and flee nothing so much as your vices and sins, which ought to displease you more than any losses of things whatsoever. Some walk not sincerely before Me, but led by a certain curiosity and arrogance they wish to know My secrets and to understand the high things of God, neglecting themselves and their own salvation. These often fall into great temptations and sins, on account of their boasting, pride, and curiosity, with Me opposing them. Fear the judgments of God, dread the wrath of the Almighty.

But do not discuss the works of the Most High; rather search out your own iniquities—in how many things you have failed, and how many good things you have neglected. Some carry their devotion only in books, some in images, and some in outward signs and figures. Some have Me in the mouth, but little in the heart. There are others who, enlightened in understanding and purified in affection, ever pant after eternal things, hear of earthly things with heaviness, and serve the necessities of nature with grief; and these perceive what the spirit of truth speaks within them. For it teaches them to despise earthly things and to love heavenly, to neglect the world, and to desire heaven all day and night. Chapter 5. On the wonderful effect of divine love.

I bless You, heavenly Father, Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who have deigned to remember me, a poor man. O Father of mercies, and God of all consolation, I give You thanks, who sometimes refresh me, unworthy of all consolation, with Your consolation. I bless and glorify You always, together with Your only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, unto the ages of ages, amen. Ah, Lord God, my holy Lover, when You come into my heart, all my inward parts shall exult. You are my glory and the exultation of my heart; You are my hope and refuge in the day of my tribulation. But because I am still weak in love and imperfect in virtue, therefore I have need to be strengthened and consoled by You.

Therefore visit me the more often, and instruct me in Your disciplines. Free me from depraved and evil passions, and heal my heart from all inordinate affections, that, inwardly healed and well purged, I may be made fit to love, strong to suffer, steadfast to persevere. Love is a great thing, a good altogether great, which alone makes the heavy light, and bears equally every unequal thing; for it carries a burden without burden, and makes every bitter thing sweet and savory. The noble love of Jesus impels to do great things, and ever stirs up to desire things more perfect. Love wills to be on high, and to be held back by no base things. Love wills to be free, and estranged from every worldly affection, lest its inward vision be hindered;

lest he sustain entanglements through any temporal advantage, or sink down through any disadvantage. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing broader, nothing more delightful, nothing fuller, nothing better in heaven or on earth, for love is born of God, and cannot rest except in God above all created things. 4. The one who loves flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and is not held back. He gives all for all, and possesses all in all, because he rests in the one Highest above all things, from whom all good flows and proceeds. He looks not to the gifts, but turns himself to the Giver above all goods. Love often knows no measure, but glows fervently beyond all measure.

Love feels no burden, reckons no labours, desires more than it is able, does not plead impossibility, for it judges that all things are lawful and possible to itself. It is therefore able for all things, and accomplishes many things, and brings them to effect, where one who does not love faints and lies prostrate. Love keeps watch, and sleeping does not slumber; wearied, it is not slackened; constrained, it is not straitened; terrified, it is not confounded, but like a living flame and a burning spark it breaks upward and passes through safely. 5. If anyone loves, he knows what this voice cries out. A great cry in the ears of God is the burning affection of the soul, which says: My God, my Love, You are wholly mine, and I am Yours. 6.

Enlarge me in love, that I may learn to taste with the inward mouth of the heart how sweet it is to love, and to be melted and to swim in love. Let me be held by love, going beyond myself through excessive fervour and wonder. Let me sing the song of love; let me follow You, my Beloved, on high. Let my soul faint in praise of You, exulting from love. Let me love You more than myself, and myself only for Your sake, and all in You who truly love You, as the law of love commands, which shines forth from You. 7. Love is swift, sincere, dutiful, prudent, long-suffering, manly, and never seeking itself. For where anyone seeks himself, there he falls away from love.

Love is circumspect, humble and upright, not soft, not fickle, nor intent upon vain things; it is sober, stable, chaste, quiet, and guarded in all the senses. Love is submissive and obedient to superiors, lowly and despised in its own eyes, devoted and grateful to God, trusting and ever hoping in Him, even when God is not sweet to it, because one does not live in love without sorrow. 8. Whoever is not prepared to suffer all things, and to stand at the will of the Beloved, is not worthy to be called a lover. The lover must gladly embrace all that is hard and bitter for the sake of the Beloved, and not be turned away from Him by adverse happenings. Chapter 6. On the proof of the true lover. 1. My son, you are not yet a strong and prudent lover. Why, Lord?

Because for a slight contrariety you give up, and you snatch at consolation and seek it too greedily. The strong lover stands in temptations, and does not believe the cunning persuasions of the enemy. As I please him in prosperity, so neither in adversity do I displease him. 2. The prudent lover considers not so much the gift of the one who loves, as the love of the giver. He heeds the affection rather than the value, and sets all gifts beneath the Beloved. The noble lover does not rest in the gift, but in Me above every gift. Not all is therefore lost, if at times you feel less well of Me or of My saints than you would wish.

That good and sweet affection which you sometimes perceive is the effect of present grace, and a certain foretaste of the heavenly fatherland; upon which one must not lean too much, because it goes and comes. 3. But to strive against the evil motions of the soul that arise, and to spurn the suggestion of the devil, is a mark of virtue and of great merit. Let not, then, strange fancies disturb you, of whatever matter they are brought in. Keep your purpose bravely, and your intention upright toward God. It is not a delusion that you are sometimes suddenly caught up into ecstasy and at once return to the accustomed trifles of the heart. For these you suffer rather unwillingly than do, and as long as they displease you and you resist, it is merit and not loss. 4.

Know that the ancient enemy strives in every way to hinder your desire for what is good, and to make you void of every devout exercise: from the veneration of the Saints, from the pious memory of the Passion, from the profitable recollection of sins, from the guarding of your own heart, and from the firm purpose of advancing in virtue. He brings in many evil thoughts, to make you weary and horrified, and to call you back from prayer and from holy reading. A humble confession displeases him, and, if he could, he would make you cease from holy communion. Do not believe him, nor heed him, though he has often set the snares of deception for you. Charge it to him when he brings in evil and unclean things. Say to him: Away, unclean spirit; blush, wretch; away, you are unclean, who bring such things to my ears.

Depart from me, most wicked seducer; you shall have no part in me, but Jesus shall be with me as a strong warrior, and you shall stand confounded. I had rather die and undergo every punishment than consent to you. Be silent and dumb; I will hear you no more, though you contrive against me many troubles. The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? If armies should stand against me, my heart shall not fear. The Lord is my helper and my redeemer. 5. Fight like a good soldier; and if at times you fall through frailty, take up strength stronger than before, trusting in My more abundant grace, and beware greatly of vain complacency and pride.

Because of this, many are led into error, and sometimes fall into a blindness almost incurable. Let this ruin of the proud and of those foolishly presuming on themselves be a warning to you and a perpetual humility. Chapter 7. On hiding grace under the guard of humility. 1. My son, it is more useful and safer for you to hide the grace of devotion, and not to lift yourself up on high, nor to speak much of it, nor to weigh it too much, but rather to despise yourself, and to fear it as given to one unworthy. One must not cling too tenaciously to this affection, which can be very quickly changed into its contrary. Consider how wretched you are wont to be in grace, and how destitute without grace.

Nor does the progress of the spiritual life consist only in this, that you have the grace of consolation, but in this, that you bear its withdrawal humbly, with self-denial and patience: so that you do not then grow sluggish in the pursuit of prayer, nor allow your other works that should be done by custom to fall away entirely, but as best you can and understand, do gladly what is in you, and do not wholly neglect yourself because of the dryness or anxiety of mind which you feel. 2. For there are many who, when things do not go well with them, at once become impatient or slothful. For the way of man is not always in his own power, but it is God's to give and to console, when He wills and as much as He wills, and to whom He wills, as it shall please Him, and no more.

Some incautious persons have destroyed themselves on account of the grace of devotion, because they wished to do more than they were able, not weighing the measure of their own littleness, but rather following the affection of the heart than the judgment of reason. And because they presumed greater things than was pleasing to God, therefore they quickly lost grace, and were made destitute and left mean, who had set their nest in heaven: so that, humbled and impoverished, they might learn not to fly on their own wings, but to hope under My feathers. Those who are still new and inexperienced in the way of the Lord can easily be deceived and mocked, unless they govern themselves by the counsel of the discerning. 3.

But if they prefer to follow their own feeling rather than to trust others who are practised, the outcome will be perilous for them, if nevertheless they will not be drawn back from their own conception. Rarely do those who are wise in their own eyes suffer humbly to be governed by others. It is better to know little with humility and small understanding, than great treasures of knowledge with vain complacency. It is better to have less than much, of which you might be proud. He acts not discreetly enough who gives himself wholly to joy, forgetting his former destitution, and the chaste fear of the Lord, who does not fear to lose the grace that has been offered.

Neither does he taste virtuously enough who, in time of adversity and of any difficulty whatever, conducts himself too despairingly, and thinks and feels less confidently of Me than he ought. 4. He who in time of peace wishes to be too secure will often, in time of war, be found too dejected and fearful. If you knew how always to remain humble and small in yourself, and also to moderate and govern your spirit well, you would not so quickly fall into peril and offence. 5. It is good counsel that, when a spirit of fervour has been conceived, you should meditate on what will come when the light departs. And when this happens, remember that the light can return again, which for your warning, but for My glory, I have withdrawn for a time.

For such a trial is often more useful than if you always had prosperity according to your own will. For merits are not to be estimated from this, whether anyone has more visions or consolations, or is skilled in the Scriptures, or is set in a higher rank: but rather whether he is founded in true humility, and filled with divine charity; whether he always seeks the honour of God purely and entirely; whether he reckons himself as nothing, and truly despises himself, and even rejoices to be despised and humbled by others rather than honoured. Chapter 8. On the lowly esteem of oneself in the eyes of God. 1. Shall I speak to my Lord, since I am dust and ashes? If I esteem myself more, behold, You stand against me;

and my iniquities bear true witness against You, and I cannot contradict it. But if I make myself vile, and reduce myself to nothing, and fall away from all self-esteem, and reduce myself to dust as I am, Your grace will be favourable to me, and Your light near to my heart, and all self-esteem, however slight, will be submerged in the valley of nothingness and will perish for ever. There You will show me to myself: what I am, what I have been, and whence I came, for I am nothing and knew it not. If I am left to myself, behold, I am nothing, and all weakness; but if You suddenly look upon me, at once I am made strong, and filled with new joy. And it is a great wonder that I am thus suddenly lifted up, and so kindly embraced by You, I who by my own weight am ever borne down to the depths. 2.

This Your love does, going freely before me, and coming to my aid in so many necessities, guarding me also from grave perils, and, to speak truly, snatching me from innumerable evils. For by loving myself wrongly I lost myself; and by seeking You alone and loving purely, I found both myself and You together, and out of love reduced myself more deeply to nothing. For You, O most sweet One, deal with me beyond all merit, and beyond what I dare to hope or to ask. 3. Blessed be You, my God, for although I am unworthy of all good things, yet Your nobility and infinite goodness never ceases to do good even to the ungrateful, and to those far turned away from You. Turn us to You, that we may be grateful, humble, and devout, for You are our salvation, our strength, and our fortitude.

Chapter 9. That all things are to be referred to God as to their last end. 1. My son, I ought to be your supreme end. From this intention your affection will be purified, which is too often wrongly bent back upon itself and upon creatures. For if you seek yourself in anything, at once you fail within yourself and grow dry. Refer all things therefore principally to Me, who am all things, who have given all. Consider each single thing as flowing from the highest good. And therefore all things are to be referred to Me as to their origin. 2. From Me the small and the great, the poor and the rich, draw living water as from a living fountain. And those who serve Me of their own accord and freely shall receive grace for grace.

But whoever wishes to glory apart from Me, or to delight in any private good, shall not be established in true joy, nor enlarged in his heart, but shall be hindered and straitened in manifold ways. You ought therefore to ascribe nothing of good to yourself, nor attribute virtue to any man, but give all to God, without whom man has nothing. I gave all, I will have all back again, and with great strictness I require thanksgiving. 3. This is the truth by which the vanity of glory is put to flight. And if heavenly grace and true charity have entered in, there will be no envy, nor contraction of the heart, nor will private love take possession. For divine charity conquers all things, and enlarges all the powers of the soul.

If you taste rightly, you will rejoice in Me alone, in Me alone will you hope, for none is good except God alone, who is to be praised above all things, and blessed in all things. Chapter 10. That it is sweet to serve God, the world being despised. 1. Now again I will speak, Lord, and will not be silent. I will say in the ears of my God, and of my King who is on high: O how great is the multitude of Your sweetness, Lord, which You have hidden for those who fear You! But what are You to those who love You? What to those who serve You with the whole heart? Truly ineffable is the sweetness of the contemplation of You, which You bestow upon those who love You. In this above all You have shown the sweetness of Your charity, that when I was not, You made me, and when I was wandering far from You, You led me back, that I might serve You, and You commanded that I should love You. 2.

O fountain of perpetual love, what shall I say of You? How can I forget You, who have deigned to remember me? After I had wasted away and perished, You showed mercy upon Your servant beyond all hope, and beyond all merit You bestowed grace and friendship. What shall I render to You for this grace? For it is not given to all to renounce all things, abandon the world, and take up the monastic life. Is it not a great thing that I should serve You, whom every creature is bound to serve? It ought not to seem great to me. But rather this seems to me great and wonderful, that You deign to receive one so poor and unworthy as a servant, and to join him to Your beloved servants. 3. Behold, all that I have, and whereby I serve You, are Yours.

Yet, on the contrary, You serve me more than I serve You. Behold, heaven and earth, which You created for the service of man, stand ready and daily do whatever You have commanded. And this is little: nay, You have even created and ordained the Angels for the service of man. But this surpasses all these things, that You have deigned to serve man Yourself, and have promised to give Yourself to him. 4. What shall I give You for these thousands of good things? Would that I could serve You all the days of my life! Would that even for one day I were able to render worthy service! Truly You are worthy of all service, of all honour and eternal praise. Truly You are my Lord, and I am Your poor servant, who am bound to serve You with all my strength, and ought never to grow weary in Your praises.

So I will, so I desire; and whatever is lacking in me, may You deign to supply. 5. It is a great honour, a great glory, to serve You, and to despise all things for You, for Your sake. For they shall have great grace who of their own accord submit themselves to Your most holy service, and they shall find the most sweet consolation of the Holy Spirit. They shall obtain great freedom of heart, who for Your name's sake enter the narrow way, and have neglected all worldly care. 6. O pleasing and delightful service of God, by which man is truly made free and holy! O sacred state of religious servitude, which renders man like the Angels, pleasing to God, terrible to demons, and commendable to all the faithful!

O service to be embraced and ever to be desired, by which the highest good is won, and a joy is won that shall remain without end! Chapter 11. That the desires of the heart are to be examined and moderated. 1. My son, you still need to learn many things, which you have not yet learned well. What are these, Lord? That you set your desire wholly according to My good pleasure, and be not a lover of yourself, but a desirous lover and zealot of My will. Desires often kindle you and impel you vehemently; but consider whether you are moved more for My honour, or for your own honour or advantage. If I am the cause, you will be well content however I shall ordain. But if anything of your own gain lies hidden, behold, this is what hinders and weighs you down. 2.

Beware therefore lest you lean too much upon a desire conceived beforehand without consulting Me, lest afterward perhaps you repent and be displeased with what at first pleased you, and for which you were zealous as for something better. For not every affection that seems good is straightway to be followed; nor again is every contrary affection at first to be fled. It is sometimes expedient to use restraint even in good pursuits and desires, lest through importunity you incur distraction of mind, lest by lack of discipline you become a scandal to others, or lest even by the resistance of others you be suddenly troubled and fall. 3. Sometimes, however, one must use violence, and manfully resist the sensitive appetite, and not heed what the flesh wills and what it wills not;

but rather strive for this, that it be subject to the spirit even against its will, and that it be chastised and forced to remain under servitude so long, until it is ready for all things, and learns to be content with little, and to delight in simple things, and not to murmur against any inconvenience. Chapter 12. On the forming of patience, and the struggle against concupiscences. 1. Lord God, as I hear, patience is very necessary for me. For many things befall contrary in this life. For howsoever I have ordained concerning my peace, my life cannot be without sorrow and conflict. It is so, my son. For I do not wish you to seek such a peace as lacks temptations, or feels no contrary things;

but rather, that you should then esteem that you have found peace, when you have been exercised by various tribulations, and proved in many adversities. 2. If you say that you cannot suffer many things, how then will you endure the fire of purgatory? Of two evils the lesser is always to be chosen: so that, in order to escape the eternal punishments to come, you should study to bear the present evils calmly for God's sake. Do you think that the men of this world suffer nothing, or little? You will not find it so, even if you should seek out the most delicate. But they have, you will say, many delights, and follow their own wills: therefore they weigh their tribulations lightly. Be it so, that they have whatever they will; but how long, do you think, will it last? 3.

Behold, those who abound in the world shall pass away like smoke, and there shall be no remembrance of their past joys. But even while they yet live, they do not rest in them without bitterness and weariness and fear. For from the very thing whence they conceive delight, they frequently receive the punishment of sorrow. Justly does it befall them that, because they seek and follow delights inordinately, they fulfil them not without bitterness and confusion. 4. O how brief, how false, how inordinate and base they all are! Yet through drunkenness and blindness they do not understand, but like dumb beasts, for the sake of a little delight of corruptible life, they incur the death of the soul. You therefore, my son, go not after your concupiscences:

and turn away from your own will. Delight in the Lord, and He shall give you the petitions of your heart. 5. For if you truly wish to be delighted, and to be consoled more abundantly by Me, behold, in the contempt of all worldly things, and in the cutting off of all base delights, shall be your blessing, and abundant consolation shall be rendered to you. And the more you withdraw yourself from all solace of creatures, the sweeter and more powerful consolations you shall find in Me. But at first you will not attain to these without a certain sadness and the labour of conflict. The inveterate habit will resist, but it shall be overcome by a better habit. The flesh will murmur again, but it shall be bridled by the fervour of the spirit.

The ancient serpent will instigate and exasperate you, but he shall be put to flight by prayer; moreover, by profitable labour his great approach shall be blocked. Chapter 13. On the humble obedience of the subject, after the example of Jesus Christ. 1. My son, he who strives to withdraw himself from obedience withdraws himself from grace, and he who seeks to have private things loses what is common. He who does not gladly and freely submit himself to his superior: it is a sign that his flesh does not yet perfectly obey him, but often kicks back and murmurs. Learn therefore quickly to submit yourself to your superior, if you wish to subdue your own flesh. For the outward enemy is more quickly conquered, if the inner man has not been laid waste.

There is no enemy more troublesome and worse to the soul than you are to yourself, when you do not agree well with the spirit. It is necessary for you to take up a true contempt of yourself, if you wish to prevail against flesh and blood, because you still love yourself too inordinately: therefore you tremble to resign yourself fully to the will of others. 2. But what great thing is it for you, who are dust and nothing, if for God's sake you subject yourself to man, when I, the Omnipotent and Most High, who created all things out of nothing, humbly subjected Myself to man for your sake? I became the most humble and lowest of all, that you might overcome your pride by My humility. Learn to obey, O dust; learn to humble yourself, O earth and clay, and to bow down beneath the feet of all.

Learn to break your own wills, and to give yourself up to all subjection. 3. Be hot against yourself, and do not suffer pride to live in you, but show yourself so subject and so much dust, that all may walk over you and trample you down like the mire of the streets. What have you, O empty man, to complain of? What, O filthy sinner, can you reply to those who reproach you, you who have so often offended God and so often deserved hell? But My eye spared you, because your soul was precious in My sight, that you might know My love, and might be ever grateful for My benefits, and might continually give yourself to true subjection and humility, and patiently bear your own contempt. Chapter 14.

On considering the hidden judgments of God, lest we be lifted up in good things. 1. You thunder Your judgments over me, Lord, and with fear and trembling You shake all my bones, and my soul is greatly afraid. I stand astonished and consider that the heavens are not clean in Your sight. If You found wickedness in the Angels, and yet did not spare them, what shall become of me? The stars fell from heaven; and I, dust, what do I presume? Those whose works seemed praiseworthy fell to the lowest, and those who ate the bread of Angels, I have seen delighting in the husks of swine. 2. There is therefore no holiness, if You withdraw Your hand, Lord. No wisdom profits, if You cease to govern. No fortitude avails, if You cease to preserve.

No chastity is secure, if You do not protect it. No self-guarding profits, if Your holy vigilance is not present. For if we are left alone, we are plunged in and perish; but when visited, we live and are raised up. For we are indeed unstable, but through You we are confirmed; we grow lukewarm, but by You we are kindled. 3. O how humbly and abjectly I ought to feel concerning myself; how as nothing I ought to count it, if I seem to have any good! O how deeply I ought to submit myself beneath Your abyssal judgments, Lord, where I find myself to be nothing other than nothing and nothing again! O immense weight, O sea that cannot be swum across, where I find nothing of myself but utter nothing! Where then is the hiding-place of glory? Where the confidence conceived of glory?

All vain glory is swallowed up in the depth of Your judgments over me. 4. What is all flesh in Your sight? Shall the clay glory against him that formed it? How can he be lifted up by vain talk, whose heart is in truth subject to God? The whole world will not lift up him whom truth has subjected to itself. Nor shall he be moved by the mouth of all who praise him, who has fixed all his hope in God. For even those who speak, behold, they are all nothing, and shall fail with the sound of words. But the truth of the Lord remains for ever. Chapter 15. How one ought to stand and to speak in everything desirable. 1. My son, if you say in everything: Lord, if it be pleasing to You, let this be done so; Lord, if it be Your honour, let this be done in Your name;

Lord, if You see it to be expedient for me, and prove it to be useful, then grant me this, to use it to Your honour. But if You know it will be harmful to me, and of no profit to the salvation of my soul, take away from me such a desire. For not every desire is from the Holy Spirit, even though it seems to a man to be just, right, and good. It is difficult to judge truly whether a good spirit or an evil one impels you to desire this or that, or whether you are moved by your own spirit. Many have been deceived in the end, who at first seemed to be led by a good spirit. 2.

Therefore one must always desire and ask, with the fear of God and humility of heart, whatever desirable thing occurs to the mind, and above all, with self-resignation, commit the whole to Me and say: Lord, You know what is better for me in this or that; as You will, give me what You will and as much as You will and when You will. Do with me as You know, and as it shall best please You, and as shall be the greater honour to You. Place me where You will, and deal freely with me in all things. I am in Your hand; turn me and turn me back round about. Behold, I am Your servant, ready for all things: for I desire not to live to myself, but to You, would that it were worthily and perfectly. A prayer for doing the good pleasure of God. 3.

Grant me Your grace, most gracious Jesus, that it may be with me, and labour with me, and persevere with me to the end. Grant me always to desire and to will what is most acceptable to You, and most dearly pleases You. Let Your will be mine, and let my will always follow Yours, and accord with it most perfectly. Let there be one willing and one not-willing with You; nor let me be able to will or to not-will anything except what You will or will not. 4. Grant me to die to all things that are in the world, and for Your sake to love to be despised and unknown in this age. Grant me, above all things desired, to rest in You, and to make my heart peaceful in You. You are the true peace of the heart, You alone the rest; outside of You all things are hard and unquiet.

In this peace, in the selfsame, that is, in You, the one and highest and eternal good, I will sleep and take my rest. Amen. Chapter 16. That true comfort is to be sought in God alone. 1. Whatever I am able to desire or to think for my comfort, I do not expect here, but hereafter: because, if I had all the comforts of this world, and could enjoy all delights, it is certain that they could not last long. Wherefore you cannot, O my soul, be fully consoled, nor perfectly refreshed, except in God, the consolation of the poor and the upholder of the humble. Wait a little, O my soul: wait for the divine promise, and you shall have abundance of all good things in heaven; and if you crave these present things too inordinately, you shall lose the eternal and the heavenly.

Let temporal things be in use, eternal things in desire. You cannot be satisfied with any temporal good, because you were not created to enjoy these. 2. Even if you had all created goods, you could not be happy and blessed; but in God, who created all things, consists your whole blessedness and happiness, not such as seems and is praised by the foolish lovers of the world, but such as the good faithful of Christ await, and the spiritual and pure of heart at times foretaste, whose conversation is in heaven. Vain and brief is all human comfort: blessed and true is the comfort that is inwardly perceived from the truth. The devout man everywhere carries with him his comforter Jesus, and says to Him: Be present with me, Lord Jesus, in every place and time.

Let this be my consolation, gladly to be willing to do without all human solace. And if Your consolation should be lacking, let Your will and Your just trial be to me for the highest consolation. For You will not be angry for ever, nor threaten to eternity. Chapter 17. That all anxiety is to be placed in God. 1. My son, suffer Me to do with you what I will: I know what is expedient for you. You think as a man; in many things you feel as human affection persuades you. 2. Lord, it is true what You say. Greater is Your care for me than all the care that I could exercise for myself. For he stands too much by chance, who does not cast all his anxiety upon You.

Lord, so long as my will remains upright and firm in You, do with me whatever pleases You. For whatever You do with me cannot be anything but good. If You will me to be in darkness, may You be blessed; and if You will me to be in light, again may You be blessed. If You deign to console me, may You be blessed; if You will me to be afflicted, may You be ever blessed. 3. My son, thus must you stand, if you desire to walk with Me. You must be as ready to suffer as to rejoice. You must as willingly be needy and poor as full and rich. 4. Lord, I will gladly suffer for You whatever You are pleased to let come upon me.

I am willing to receive without distinction from Your hand good and evil, sweet and bitter, joyful and sad, and to give thanks for all that befalls me. Keep me from all sin, and I shall fear neither death nor hell. So long as You do not cast me off forever, nor blot me out of the book of life, no tribulation that may come upon me shall harm me. Chapter 18. That temporal miseries are to be borne with equanimity after the example of Christ. 1. My son, I came down from heaven for your salvation; I took upon Myself your miseries, not from necessity, but drawn by love, that you might learn patience and bear temporal miseries without resentment.

For from the hour of My birth until My departure on the cross, the endurance of pain never failed Me, and I suffered great lack of temporal goods. Often I heard many complaints against Me, I bore reproaches and insults with gentleness, blasphemies in return for miracles, rebukes in return for My teaching. 2. Lord, because You were patient in Your life, herein chiefly fulfilling the commandment of Your Father, it is fitting that I, a wretched little sinner, should patiently bear myself according to Your will, and as long as You Yourself will, should carry the burden of this corruptible life for my salvation. For though this present life is felt to be burdensome, yet by Your grace it has become exceedingly meritorious, and by Your example and the footsteps of Your saints more tolerable and more glorious for the weak.

And it is far more consoling than it was of old in the Old Testament, when the gate of heaven remained shut, and the way seemed even darker, when so few took care to seek the kingdom of heaven. Indeed, not even those who were then righteous and to be saved could enter the heavenly kingdom before Your passion and the event of Your sacred death. 3. O how many thanks am I bound to render You, because You deigned to show me and all the faithful the right and good way to Your eternal kingdom. For Your life is our way, and through holy patience we walk to You, who are our crown. Had You not gone before us and taught us, who would have cared to follow? Alas, how many would draw far back, did they not behold Your shining examples.

Behold, we still grow lukewarm though we have heard so many of Your signs and teachings. What would become of us if we had not so great a light to follow You? Chapter 19. On the endurance of injuries, and who is shown to be truly patient. 1. What is this you say, My son? Cease to complain; consider My passion and that of the other saints. You have not yet resisted unto blood. Little is what you suffer in comparison with those who have suffered so much, been so strongly tempted, so grievously afflicted, so manifoldly tried and exercised. You ought therefore to call to mind the heavier sufferings of others, that you may bear your own slight ones more lightly. And if they do not seem slight to you, see that this be not the doing of your own impatience.

Yet whether they be small or great, strive to bear all things patiently. 2. The better you dispose yourself to suffering, the more wisely you act, and the more you deserve, and you will bear it more lightly in mind, being by habit prepared for this and not slothful. Do not say: 'I cannot endure these things from such a man, nor are such things to be borne by me; for he has done me grievous harm, and reproaches me with what I never thought of; but from another I will gladly suffer, and as I see fit to be borne.' Foolish is such a thought, which does not consider the virtue of patience, nor by whom it is to be crowned; but rather weighs the persons and the offenses done to it. 3. He is not truly patient who is willing to suffer only as much as seems good to him, and from whom it pleases him.

But the truly patient man does not consider from what man it comes—whether he be tried by his superior, or by an equal, or by an inferior; whether by a good and holy man, or by a perverse and unworthy one. But without distinction, from every creature, however much and however often any adversity befalls him, he accepts it all gratefully from the hand of God, and reckons it great gain; for nothing, however small, suffered for God's sake, can pass without merit before God. 4. Be therefore prepared for battle, if you wish to have the victory. Without combat you cannot come to the crown of patience; if you are unwilling to suffer, you refuse to be crowned. But if you desire to be crowned, fight manfully, endure patiently.

Without labor one does not reach rest, nor without struggle does one attain victory. 5. Make possible for me, Lord, by grace, what seems impossible to me by nature. You know that I can suffer little, and that I am quickly cast down when a slight adversity arises. May every exercise of tribulation become lovable and acceptable to me for Your name's sake: for to suffer and be afflicted for You is very wholesome for my soul. Chapter 20. On the confession of one's own weakness, and on the miseries of this life. 1. I confess against myself my own injustice; I will confess to You, Lord, my weakness. Often it is a small thing that casts me down and saddens me. I resolve to act firmly, but when a slight temptation comes, I am in great distress.

Sometimes it is a very trifling thing from which a grievous temptation arises; while I think myself somewhat safe, when I least feel it, I find myself sometimes nearly overcome by a slight gust. 2. Behold therefore, Lord, my humility and my frailty, known to You on every side. Have mercy on me, and rescue me from the mire, that I may not be stuck fast, that I may not remain forever overcome. This is what often beats me back and confounds me before You: that I am so prone to fall, and so weak in resisting the passions; and though not entirely to consent, yet even their assault is troublesome and grievous to me, and it greatly wearies me to live daily thus in conflict. Hence let my weakness be made known to me, since abominable fantasies always rush in far more easily than they depart. 3.

Would that You, most mighty God of Israel, zealous for the souls of the faithful, would look upon the labor and sorrow of Your servant, and assist him in all things to which he sets out. Strengthen me with heavenly might, lest the old man, this wretched flesh not yet well subject to the spirit, should gain the mastery—against which it will be necessary to fight as long as breath remains in this most wretched life. Alas, what kind of life is this? Where tribulations and miseries are never lacking; where all things are full of snares and enemies. For when one tribulation or temptation departs, another comes; and even while the former conflict still lasts, many others come upon us unexpectedly. 4. And how can the life of man be loved, having such great bitterness, and subject to so many calamities and miseries?

How can it even be called life, when it begets so many deaths and plagues? And yet it is loved, and many seek to take delight in it. The world is often blamed as being deceitful and vain, yet it is not easily forsaken, since the lusts of the flesh hold sway. But some things draw to loving it, others to despising it: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life draw to the love of the world; but the pains and miseries that follow them beget hatred and weariness of the world. 5. But, alas for the grief, a depraved delight conquers the mind given over to the world, and it reckons it delight to be among the thorns, because it has neither seen nor tasted the sweetness of God and the inward pleasantness of virtue.

But those who perfectly despise the world, and strive to live for God under holy discipline, are not ignorant of the divine sweetness promised to those who truly renounce; and they see how grievously the world errs and how variously it is deceived. Chapter 21. That one must rest in God above all goods and gifts. 1. Above all things and in all things, O my soul, you shall rest in the Lord always, for He Himself is the eternal rest of the saints.

Grant me, sweetest and most loving Jesus, to rest in You above all health and beauty, above all glory and honor, above all power and dignity, above all knowledge and subtlety, above all riches and arts, above all gladness and exultation, above all fame and praise, above all sweetness and consolation, above all hope and promise, above all merit and desire, above all gifts and favors that You can give and pour forth, above all joy and jubilation that the mind can grasp and feel. Finally, above all angels and archangels, and above all the host of heaven, and above all things visible and invisible, and above everything, my God, that You Yourself are not:

because You, my God, are the best above all things. 2. You alone are most high, You alone most mighty, You alone most sufficient and most full, You alone most sweet and most comforting, You alone most beautiful and most loving, You alone most noble and most glorious above all things; in whom all good things together are, were, and shall be perfect. And therefore whatever You give me besides Yourself, and whatever You reveal or promise concerning Yourself, is little and insufficient, while You are not seen nor fully attained: since indeed my heart cannot truly rest, nor be wholly content, unless it rest in You, and transcend all gifts and every creature. 3.

O my most beloved bridegroom Jesus Christ, purest lover, ruler of all creation, who will give me the wings of true freedom, to fly and to rest in You? O when will it be fully granted me to be at leisure, and to see how sweet You are, Lord my God? When shall I fully gather myself together in You, that for love of You I may not feel myself, but You alone, above all sense and measure, in a manner not known to all?

But now I often groan, and bear my unhappiness with sorrow, because many evils befall me in this vale of miseries, which more often disturb me, and sadden and darken me, more often hinder and distract, allure and entangle me, so that I may not have free access to You, nor enjoy the delightful embraces ever present to the blessed spirits. Let my sighing move You, and my manifold desolation on earth. 4. O Jesus, splendor of eternal glory, comfort of my soul's pilgrimage, before You my mouth is without voice, and my silence speaks to You. How long does my God delay to come? Let Him come to His poor little one, and make him glad; let Him stretch out His hand, and rescue the wretched from all anguish.

Come, come, for without You no day or hour will be peaceful, since You are my joy, and without You my table is empty. I am wretched, and in a way imprisoned and shackled and burdened, until You refresh me with the light of Your presence, and grant me liberty, and show me Your friendly countenance. 5. Let others seek anything else they please instead of You; but as for me, meanwhile nothing else pleases or shall please, except my God, my hope, my eternal salvation. I will not be silent, nor cease to beseech, until Your grace return to me, and You speak within me. 6. Behold, here I am; behold, I come to you, because you called Me. Your tears and the desire of your soul, your humbling, and the contrition of your heart, have inclined Me and led Me to you. 7. And I said:

Lord, I have called upon You, and have longed to enjoy You, ready to reject all things for Your sake: for You first stirred me up to seek You; may You therefore be blessed, Lord, who have shown this goodness to Your servant according to the multitude of Your mercy. What more has Your servant to say before You, Lord, except to humble himself greatly before You, ever mindful of his own iniquity and weakness and vileness? For there is none like You among all the wonders of heaven and earth. Your works are very good, Lord, Your judgments true, and by Your providence all things are governed. Praise therefore and glory be to You, O wisdom of the Father; let my mouth, my soul, and all created things together praise and bless You. Chapter 22.

On the remembrance of God's manifold benefits. 1. Open, Lord, my heart in Your law, and teach me to walk in Your precepts. Grant me to understand Your will, and with great reverence and diligent consideration to remember Your benefits, both in general and in particular, that hence I may be able to render thanks. Truly I know and confess that I cannot pay the due praises of thanksgiving even for the smallest point. I am less than all the goods bestowed upon me; and when I consider Your nobility, my spirit fails before the greatness of it. 2.

All that we have in soul and in body, and whatever we possess outwardly or inwardly, naturally or supernaturally, are Your benefits, and they commend Him as bountiful, kind, and good, from whom we have received all good things. And if one has received more, another fewer, yet all are Yours, and not the least can be had without You. He who has received greater things cannot glory in his own merit, nor exalt himself above others, nor insult the lesser; for he is the greater and the better who ascribes less to himself, and is more humble and devout in giving thanks: and he who esteems himself baser than all and judges himself more unworthy, is the fitter to receive greater things. 3.

But he who has received fewer things ought not to be saddened, nor to bear it with resentment, nor to envy the richer: but rather to attend to You, and most of all to praise Your goodness, in that You bestow Your gifts so abundantly, so freely, so willingly, without respect of persons. All things are from You, and therefore You are to be praised in all things. You know what is expedient to be given to each, and why this one has less and that one more; it is not for us, but for You, to discern, who knows the determined merits of each. 4. Therefore, Lord God, I count it also a great benefit not to have many things whence outwardly and according to men praise and glory might appear: