OCR Text |
Show j l ill;-. j BOOK 3: CHAPTER XVII. Son. suffer Me to do with thee what I will; I know what is expedient for thee. TJjou thinkest as man; thou judgest in many things as human nature sug-gesteth. sug-gesteth. ' Lord, what thou sayest is true. Greater is thy care for me than all the care I can take of myself. For at too great hazard doth he stand who casteth not his whole care on Thee. Lord, provided that my will remain true and firm towards Thee, do with me whatsoever it shall please Thee. For it cannot but be good, whatever Thou shall do with me. If Thou wilt 1 have me to be in darkness; be Thou blessed; and if Thou - wilt have me to be in light, be Thou again blessed; if Thou vouchsafe to comfort me, be Thou blessed; and if it be Thy will I should be afflicted, be Thou still equally blessed. Son, thus must thou stand affected, if thou desire to walk with Me. Thou must be as ready to suffer as to rejoice; thou Vnust be as glad to be poor and needy as to be full and rich. Lord, I will willingly suffer for Thee whatsoever Thou art pleased should befall me. I am willing indifferently to receive from Thee good anl evil, sweet and bitter, joy and sorrow, and to give Thee thanks for all that happeneth j to me. Keep me from all sin,. and I will fear neither death nor hell. ' So that Thou cast me not off forever, nor blot me out of the book of life, what tribulation soever befalleth me shall not hurt me. . CHAPTER XVIII. Son, I came down from heaven for thy salvation; I took upon Me thy mis eries, not of necessity, but that thou mierhtest learn patience, and bear without repining temporal mi.series. For from the hour of my birth until I expired upon the cross, I wa.-3 not without the endurance of grief; moreover. more-over. I suffered great want of all earthly things. I frequently heard many complaints against Me: I meekly bore disgrace I and reproaches; for benefits I received I ingratitude; for miracles, blasphemies; j for heavenly doctrine, reproofs. Lord, because Thou wast patient in Thy lifetime, herein especially fulfill- ! ing the commandment of Thy father, it is fitting that I, a wretched sinner, should, according to Thy will, bear myself patiently, and. as long as Thou pleasest, support the burden of this corruptible life, in order to my salvation. salva-tion. For though this present life is felt to be burdensome, yet it is now-rendered, now-rendered, through thy grace, very meritorious, and by Thy example and footsteps of the Saints, more bright and supportable to the weak. O what erreat thanks am I bound to render unto Thee, for having vouchsafed to I show me and all the faithful a right and good way to thine everlasting kingdom! For Thy life is our way: and by holy patience we walk one to Thee, who art our crown. If Thou hadst not gone before and "instructed us, who would care to follow? Alas, how many would have stayed afar off and a great way behind, had they not before their eyes, Thy glorious glor-ious example. Behold, we are still tepid, notwithstanding notwith-standing all Thy miracles and instructions instruc-tions which we have heard; what, then would it be if we had not so great light to follow Thee? (To Be Continued.) |