Page:TheParadiseOfTheChristianSoul.djvu/691

 children in  the  furnace  of  Babylon. Bring me,  too,  out safe, when  it  shall  be  thy  will, that, with  all  thy  creatures, I may bless  thee  for  ever, saying: O all ye  works  of  the Lord, bless  the  Lord,  &amp;c.

1. O Eternal  Wisdom,  who reachest from  end  to  end mightily, and  orderest  all things sweetly! thiou strikest  me  mightily  with  this  bodily disease  and  affliction; but order it  sweetly  to  thy  glory and my  salvation,  who  orderest all  things  in  weight,  number, and  measure.

2. O Father  I from  whom is every  good  gift  and  every perfect gift,  is  not  this  my infirmity  or  affliction  thy  gift also? Shall I attribute  it to  chance  or  accident,  not acknowledging thy  providence? God forbid,  For  I know  that  thou  rulest  all things, and  that  it  is  thou too, O Lord,  who  keepest  all our bones; without  thee  shall not one  of  them  be  broken; with thee  the  very  hairs  of  our head are  all  numbered. My lots are  in  thy  hands. Thou woundest and  healest,  thou killest and  niakest  alive. Whether we live,  O Lord,  or  whether we  die,  we  are  thine. Thy will  be  done  in  all  things. If we  have  received  good things from  the  hand  of  the Lord, why  should  we  not  endure evil? which yet  will  not be evil,  if  we  accept  them  according to  the  intention  of the  Lord,  who  chastises  us for  discipline  as  sons,  since these very  evils  work  together for  good  to  them  that love God.

3. O Lord! I am thy  servant, and  the  son  of  thy  Handmaid; do  with  me  what  is pleasing  in  thy  sight: for  who am I that  I should  withstand thee? For who  ever  resisted thee and  had  peace? Behold I am the  clay,  and  thou  the potter. Fashion me  and  purify me, if  so  it  seem  good  to  thee, in the  furnace  of  tribulation, that I may  become  a vessel to honour.

4. O Physician! who, when thou knowest  it  to  be  for  the sours benefit,  curest  with  a word  all  diseases  no  less  of the  body  than  of  the  soul; heal me,  O Lord,  and  I shall be healed  in  my  soul: save me, and  I shall  be  saved  also in my  body. In thee  do  I trust, not in  physicians,  nor  in  any remedies of  theirs. True, I do  not  reject  them; but  unless thou  restore  the  crumbling house  of  my  body,  they all labour  in  vain  that  build  it.