Page:TheParadiseOfTheChristianSoul.djvu/119

 end of  all  good. Yet, when thou wert  such  and  so  great, thou hast  vouchsafed  so  to  exalt our  human  nature,  by  uniting it  to  thyself,  that  it  may truly be  said,  that  God  is  man, and man  is  God; God  by  nature, man  by  condescension and grace. Besides this,  thou hast also  further  promised me eternal  happiness  and bliss; and  confirmed  it  by innumerable  evidences  and signs, both  in  the  Old  and New Testament. Oh, the condescension, the  boundless goodness of  God  and  our Lord!

2. I therefore  earnestly wish and  desire,  O my  Lord, that, for  the  future,  all  the happiness of  my  soul,  by  the help of  thy  grace,  may  be  in and  from  thee  alone,  and from the  things  that  are thine, and  which  attract  me to  thee. Well was  it  said  of thee,  My  God  and  my  all.

Thou only  art  the  goodness, the treasure,  the  paradise  of the  rational  creature,  in  this world and  in  the  next.

3. But  this  world,  and  all that belongs  to  it,  I utterly loathe and  abhor. It is  as painful  to  me  to  see,  to  hear, and to  think  of,  as  the  filthiest sewer,  a putrid  corpse, or a dunghill. For I count all things,  in  comparison  of thee,  as  dung; I detest  them as a plague.

4. I desire,  too,  to  taste thy sweetness  only,  and  to feel  joy  and  pleasure  only from what  is  thine;  but  to reject,  hate,  and  abhor  all worldly things,  and  whatever turns my  heart  away  from thee. Help me  to  do  this  of thy  goodness,  O Lord,  that, by joyfully  and  perfectly serving thee  in  this  life,  I may  see  and  enjoy  thee  for ever with  the  blessed  in  the next. Amen.

1. My  most  jealous  God, who givest  not  thy  glory  to  another,  and  alone  hast  created  all  the  souls  that  exist; and  wouldst,  therefore, among thy  other  names,  be  called  a jealous  Lord,  and  a jealous  God;  I am  grieved and exceedingly  tormented  in  behalf  of  all  those  who,  in their  actions,  have  left  thee, the  only  true  and  right  end of  their  existence,  the  highest and  only  good; who  seek  and love  more  than  thee  the  frail and  transitory  things  of  this world;  and,  by  sinning  continually,  deliver  themselves into the  power  of  their  most