Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/489

 not sad. The world,  seeing  them  far  away  from  earthly amusements, regard  them  as  miserable  and  disconsolate; but they  are  not  so;  they,  as  the  Apostle  attests,  enjoy an immense  and  continual  peace. As sorrowful,  yet  always rejoicing.  The  prophet  Isaias  attested  the  same when he  said:  ''The  Lord  therefore,  will  comfort  Sion,  and will  comfort  all  the  ruins  thereof;  and  he  will  make  her  desert as  a  place  of  pleasure,  and  her  wilderness  as  the  garden  of  the Lord. Joy and  gladness  shall  be  found  therein,  thanksgiving and  the  voice  of  praise.''  The  Lord  well  knows  how  to console  the  solitary  soul,  and  will  give  a  thousandfold compensation for  all  the  temporal  pleasures  which  it has  forfeited:  he  will  render  its  solitude  a  garden  of  his delights. There joy  and  gladness  shall  be  always  found, and nothing  shall  be  heard  but  the  voice  of  thanksgiving and praise  to  the  divine  goodness. Hence, Cardinal Petrucci describes  the  happiness  of  a  solitary  heart  in the  following  words:  "  It  appears  to  be  sad,  and  it  is  filled with  celestial  joy.  Though  it  treads  on  the  earth,  its dwelling  is  in  heaven.  It  asks  nothing  for  itself,  because in  its  bosom  it  contains  an  immense  treasure.  It  appears to  be  agitated  and  overwhelmed  by  the  tempest,  and  it is  always  in  a  secure  harbor."

In order  to  find  this  happy  solitude,  it  is  not  necessary for you,  dear  sister,  to  hide  yourself  in  a  cave  or  in  a desert;  even  in  the  monastery,  you  can,  whenever  you wish, find  the  solitude  which  you  desire. Shun the grates, shun  useless  conversations  and  discourses;  love the choir  and  the  cell;  remain  in  the  choir  or  cell  whenever obedience  or  charity  does  not  call  you  elsewhere; and thus  you  will  find  the  solitude  that  is  suited  to  you,