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 David said  that  by  the  remembrance  of  his  God  he  was filled with  joy  and  consolation. I remembered  God,  and was  delighted.  However  great  the  affliction  and  desolation of  a  soul  may  be,  if  it  loves  God  it  will  be  consoled and freed  from  its  affliction  by  remembering  its  beloved Lord. Hence, souls  enamoured  of  God  live  always  with a tranquil  heart  and  in  continual  peace;  because,  like the sunflower  that  always  turns  its  face  to  the  sun,  they in all  events  and  in  all  their  actions  seek  always  to  live and act  in  the  presence  of  God. "A true  lover,"  says St. Teresa,  "always  remembers  her  beloved."2

Let us  now  come  to  the  practice  of  this  excellent  exercise of  the  divine  presence. This exercise  consists partly in  the  operation  of  the  understanding,  and  partly in the  operation  of  the  will:  of  the  understanding,  in beholding  God  present;  of  the  will,  in  uniting  the  soul to God,  by  acts  of  humiliation,  of  adoration,  of  love,  and the like:  of  the  latter  we  shall  speak  more  particularly hereafter.

I. With  regard  to  the  intellect,  the  presence  of  God may be  practised  in  four  ways:

By imagining  that  our  Redeemer,  Jesus  Christ,  is present,  that  he  is  in  our  company,  and  that  he  sees  us in  whatsoever  place  we  may  be. We can  at  one  time represent him  in  one  mystery,  and  again  in  another:  for example, now  an  infant  lying  in  the  manger  of  Bethlehem, and  again  a  pilgrim  flying  into  Egypt;  now  a boy  working  in  the  shop  of  Nazareth,  and  again  suffering as  a  criminal  in  his  Passion  in  Jerusalem,  scourged, or crowned  with  thorns,  or  nailed  to  a  cross. St. Teresa praises this  method  of  practising  the  presence  of  God.