FURTHERMORE, my daughter, you should endeavor to assist at the Offices, Hours, Vespers, etc., as far as you are able, especially on Sundays and Festivals, days which are dedicated to God, where we ought to strive to do more for His Honor and Glory than on others. You will greatly increase the fervor of your devotion by so doing, even as did S. Augustine, who tells us in his Confessions, that in the early days of his conversion he was touched to the quick, and his heart overflowed in happy tears, when he took part in the Offices of the Church.

Moreover (let me say it here once for all), there is always more profit and more consolation in the public Offices of the Church than in private acts of devotion, God having willed to give the preference to communion in prayer over all individual action. Be ready to take part in any confraternities and associations you may find in the place where you are called to dwell, especially such as are most fruitful and edifying. This will be pleasing to God; for although confraternities are not ordained, they are recommended by the Church, which grants various privileges to those who are united accordingly.

And it is always a work of love to join with others and take part in their good works. And although it may be possible that you can use equally profitable devotions by yourself as in common with others,—perhaps even you may like doing so best,—nevertheless God is more glorified when we unite with our brethren and neighbors and join our offerings to theirs. I say the same concerning all public services and prayers, in which, as far as possible, each one of us is bound to contribute the best example we can for our neighbor’s edification, and our hearty desire for God’s Glory and the general good of all men.

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1. SO far I have said nothing concerning the Sun of all spiritual exercises, even the most holy, sacred and Sovereign Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Eucharist,—the very centre point of our Christian religion, the heart of all devotion, the soul of piety;—that Ineffable Mystery which embraces the whole depth of Divine Love, by which God, giving Himself really to us, conveys all His Graces and favors to men with royal magnificence.

2. Prayer made in union with this Divine Sacrifice has untold power; through which, indeed, the soul overflows with heavenly grace, and leaning on her Beloved, becomes so filled with spiritual sweetness and perfume, that we may ask in the words of the Canticles: “Who is this that comes out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? ”

3. Strive then to your utmost to be present every day at this holy Celebration, in order 99 that with the priest you may offer the Sacrifice of your Redeemer on behalf of yourself and the whole Church to God the Father. Saint Chrysostom says that the Angels crowd around it in adoration, and if we are found together with them, united in one intention, we cannot but be most favorably influenced by such society. Moreover, all the heavenly choirs of the Church triumphant, as well as those of the Church militant, are joined to our Dear Lord in this divine act, so that with Him, in Him, and by Him, they may win the favor of God the Father, and obtain His Mercy for us. How great the blessing to my soul to contribute its share towards the attainment of so gracious a gift!

4. If any imperative hindrance prevents your presence at this sovereign sacrifice of Christ’s most true Presence, at least be sure to take part in it spiritually. If you cannot go to Church, choose some morning hour in which to unite your intention to that of the whole Christian world, and make the same interior acts of devotion wherever you are that you would make if you were really present at the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist in Church.

5. In order to join in this rightly, whether actually or mentally, you must give heed to several things:

(1) In the beginning, and before the priest goes up to the Altar, make your preparation with his—placing yourself in God’s Presence, confessing your unworthiness, and asking forgiveness.
(2) Until the Gospel, dwell simply and generally upon the Coming and the Life of our Lord in this world.
(3) From the Gospel to the end of the Creed, dwell upon our Dear Lord’s teaching, and renew your resolution to live and die in the faith of the Holy Catholic Church.
(4) From there, fix your heart on the mysteries of the Word, and unite yourself to the Death and Passion of our Redeemer, now actually and essentially set forth in this holy Sacrifice, which, together with the priest and all the congregation, you offer to God the Father, to His Glory and your own salvation.
(5) Up to the moment of communicating, offer all the longings and desires of your heart, above all desiring most earnestly to be united for ever to our Savior by His Eternal Love.
(6) From the time of Communion to the end, thank His Gracious Majesty for His Incarnation, His Life, Death, Passion, and the Love which He sets forth in this holy Sacrifice, intreating through it His favor for yourself, your relations and friends, and the whole Church; and humbling yourself sincerely, devoutly receive the blessing which our Dear Lord gives you through the channel of His minister.

If, however, you wish to follow your daily course of meditation on special mysteries during the Sacrifice, it is not necessary that you should interrupt yourself by making these several acts, but it will suffice that at the beginning you dispose your intention to worship and to offer the holy Sacrifice in your meditation and prayer; since every meditation includes all the above-named acts either explicitly or implicitly.

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WE retire with God, because we aspire to Him, and we aspire in order to retire with Him; so that aspiration after God and spiritual retreat excite one another, while both spring from the one Source of all holy thoughts. Do you then, my daughter, aspire continually to God, by brief, ardent upliftings of heart; praise His Excellence, invoke His Aid, cast yourself in spirit at the Foot of His Cross, adore His Goodness, offer your whole soul a thousand times a day to Him, fix your inward gaze upon Him, stretch out your hands to be led by Him, as a little child to its father, clasp Him to your breast as a fragrant nosegay, upraise Him in your soul as a standard. In short, kindle by every possible act your love for God, your tender, passionate desire for the Heavenly Bridegroom of souls. Such is ejaculatory prayer, as it was so earnestly inculcated by S. Augustine upon the devout Proba; and be sure, my daughter, that if you seek such nearness and intimacy with God your whole soul will imbibe the perfume of His Perfections. Neither is this a difficult practice,—it may be interwoven with all our duties and occupations, without hindering any; for neither the spiritual retreat of which I have spoken, nor these inward upliftings of the heart, cause more than a very brief distraction, which, so far from being any hindrance, will rather promote whatever you have in hand. When a pilgrim pauses an instant to take a draught of wine, which refreshes his lips and revives his heart, his onward journey is nowise hindered by the brief delay, but rather it is shortened and lightened, and he brings it all the sooner to a happy end, pausing but to advance the better. Sundry collections of ejaculatory prayer have been put forth, which are doubtless very useful, but I should advise you not to tie yourself to any formal words, but rather to speak with heart or mouth whatever springs forth from the love within you, which is sure to supply you with all abundance.

There are certain utterances which have special force, such as the ejaculatory prayers of which the Psalms are so full, and the numerous loving invocations of Jesus which we find in the Song of Songs. Many hymns too may be used with the like intention, provided they are sung attentively. In short, just as those who are full of some earthly, natural love are ever turning in thought to the beloved one, their hearts overflowing with tenderness, and their lips ever ready to praise that beloved object; comforting themselves in absence by letters, carving the treasured name on every tree;—so those who love God cannot cease thinking of Him, living for Him, longing after Him, speaking of Him, and fain would they grave the Holy Name of Jesus in the hearts of every living creature they behold. And to such an outpour of love all creation bids us— nothing that He has made but is filled with the praise of God, and, as says S. Augustine, everything in the world speaks silently but clearly to the lovers of God of their love, exciting them to holy desires, which gush forth aspirations and loving cries to God. St. Gregory Nazianzen tells his flock, how, walking along the seashore, he watched the waves as they washed up shells and sea weeds, and all manner of small substances, which seemed, as it were, rejected by the sea, until a return wave would often wash part thereof back again; while the rocks remained firm and immoveable, let the waves beat against them never so fiercely.

And then the Saint went on to reflect that feeble hearts let themselves be carried hither and thither by the varying waves of sorrow or consolation, as the case might be, like the shells upon the seashore, while those of a nobler mould abide firm and immoveable amid every storm;— when he breaks out into David’s cry, “Lord, save me, for the waters are gone over my soul; deliver me from the great deep, all Your waves and storms are gone over me;” for he was himself then in trouble by reason of the ungodly usurpation of his See by Maximus. When S. Fulgentius, Bishop of Ruspe, heard Theodoric, King of the Goths, harangue a general assembly of Roman nobles, and beheld their splendor, he exclaimed, “O God, how glorious must Your Heavenly Jerusalem be, if even earthly Rome be this!” And if this world can afford so much gratification to mere earthly lovers of vanity, what must there be in store hereafter for those who love the truth? “If so Your lower works are fair,—If so Your glories gild the span of ruined earth and guilty man,—How glorious must the mansions be Where Your redeemed dwell with You!” We are told that S. Anselm of Canterbury, (our mountains may glory in being his birthplace was much given to such thoughts. On one occasion a hunted hare took refuge from imminent death beneath the Bishop’s horse, the hounds clamoring round, but not daring to drag it from its asylum, where his attendants began to laugh; but the great Anselm wept, saying, “You may laugh, but to the poor hunted beast it is no laughing matter; even so the soul which has been led astray in all manner of sin finds a host of enemies waiting at its last hour to devour it, and terrified, knows not where to seek a refuge, and if it can find none, its enemies laugh and rejoice.” And so he went on his way, sighing. Constantine the Great wrote with great respect to S. Anthony, at which his religious expressed their surprise. “Do you marvel,” he said, “that a king should write to an ordinary man? Marvel rather that God should have written His Law for men, and yet more that He should have spoken with them Face to face through His Son.” When S. Francis saw a solitary sheep amid a flock of goats; “See,” said he to his companion, “how gentle the poor sheep is among the goats, even as was Our Lord among the Pharisees;” and seeing a boar devour a little lamb, “Poor little one,” he exclaimed, weeping, “how vividly is my Saviour’s Death set forth in you!”

A great man of our own day, Francis Borgia, then Duke of Candia, was wont to indulge in many devout imaginations as he was hunting. “I used to ponder,” he said, “how the falcon returns to one’s wrist, and lets one hood its eyes or chain it to the perch, and yet men are so perverse in refusing to turn at God’s call.” St. Basil the Great says that the rose amid its thorns preaches a lesson to men. “All that is pleasant in this life” (so it tells us mortals) “is mingled with sadness— no joy is altogether pure—all enjoyment is liable to be marred by regrets, marriage is saddened by widowhood, children bring anxiety, glory often turns to shame, neglect follows upon honor, weariness on pleasure, sickness on health. Truly the rose is a lovely flower,” the Saint goes on to say, “but it moves me to sadness, reminding me as it does that for my sin the earth was condemned to bring forth thorns.”

Another devout soul, gazing upon a brook where the starlit sky of a calm summer’s night was reflected, exclaims, “O my God, when You call me to dwell in Your heavenly tabernacles, the stars will be beneath my feet; and even as those stars are now reflected here below, so are we Your creatures reflected above in the living waters of Your Divine Love.” Therefore, another cried out, beholding a rapid river as it flowed, “Even then my soul will know no rest until it plunge into that Divine Sea where it came forth!” S. Frances, as she knelt to pray beside the banks of a pleasant stream, cried out in ecstasy, “The Grace of my Dear Lord flows softly and sweetly even as these refreshing waters” And another saintly soul, looking upon the blooming orchards, cried out, “Why am I alone barren in the Church’s garden!” So, S. Francis of Assisi, beholding a hen gathering her chickens beneath her wings, exclaimed, “Keep me, O Lord, under the shadow of Your Wings” And looking upon the sunflower, he ejaculated, “When, O Lord, will my soul follow the attractions of Your Love?” And gathering pansies in a garden which are fair to see, but scentless, “Ah,” he cried out, “even so are the thoughts of my heart, fair to behold, but without savor or fruit!” So it is, my daughter, that good thoughts and holy aspirations may be drawn from all that surrounds us in our ordinary life. Woe to them that turn aside the creature from the Creator, and triple times blessed are they who turn all creation to their Creator’s Glory and make human vanities subservient to the truth. “Verily,” says Saint Gregory Nazianzen, “I am inclined to turn all things to my spiritual profit.” Read the pious epitaph written for S. Paula by S. Jerome; it is marvelous in that to see how she conceived spiritual thoughts and aspirations at every turn.

Now, in the practice of this spiritual retreat and of these ejaculatory prayers the great work of devotion lies: it can supply all other deficiencies, but there is hardly any means of making up where this is lacking. Without it no one can lead a true contemplative life, and the active life will be but imperfect where it is omitted: without it rest is but indolence, labour but weariness,— therefore I beseech you to adopt it heartily, and never let it go.

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THIS is a matter, dear daughter, to which I am very anxious to win your attention, for in it lies one of the surest means of spiritual progress. Strive as often as possible through the day to place yourself in God’s Presence by some one of the methods already suggested. Consider what God does, and what you are doing;—you will see His Eyes ever fixed upon you in Love incomparable. “O my God,” you will cry out, “why cannot I always be looking upon You, even as You look on me? why do I think so little about You? O my soul, my only resting place is God, and yet how often do I wander?” The birds have nests in lofty trees, and the stag his refuge in the thick coverts, where he can shelter from the sun’s burning heat; and just so, my daughter, our hearts ought daily to choose some resting-place, either Mount Calvary, or the Sacred Wounds, or some other spot close to Christ, where they can retire at will to seek rest and refreshment amid toil, and to be as in a fortress, protected from temptation. Blessed indeed is the soul which can truly say, “You, Lord, are my 88 Refuge, my Castle, my Stay, my Shelter in the storm and in the heat of the day.” Be sure then, my child, that while externally occupied with business and social duties, you frequently retire within the solitude of your own heart. That solitude need not be in any way hindered by the crowds which surround you—they surround your body, not your soul, and your heart remains alone in the Sole Presence of God.

This is what David sought after amid his manifold labors;—the Psalms are full of such expressions as “Lord, I am ever with You. The Lord is always at my right hand. I lift up my eyes to You, O You Who dwells in the heavens. My eyes look unto God.” There are few social duties of sufficient importance to prevent an occasional retirement of the heart into this sacred solitude. When S. Catherine of Sienna was deprived by her parents of any place or time for prayer and meditation, Our Lord inspired her with the thought of making a little interior oratory in her mind, into which she could retire in heart, and so enjoy a holy solitude amid her outward duties. And henceforward, when the world assaulted her, she was able to be indifferent, because, so she said, she could retire within her secret oratory, and find comfort with her Heavenly Bridegroom.

So she counseled her spiritual daughters to make a retirement within their heart, in which to dwell. Do you in like manner let your heart withdraw to such an inward retirement, where, apart from all men, you can lay it bare, and treat face to face with God, even as David says that he watched like a “pelican in the wilderness, or an owl in the desert, or a sparrow sitting alone upon the housetop.” These words have a sense beyond their literal meaning, or King David’s habit of retirement for contemplation;—and we may find in them three excellent kinds of retreats in which to seek solitude after the Savior’s Example, Who is symbolized as He hung upon Mount Calvary by the pelican of the wilderness, feeding her young ones with her blood. So again His Nativity in a lonely stable might find a foreshadowing in the owl of the desert, bemoaning and lamenting: and in His Ascension He was like the sparrow rising high above the dwellings of men. Thus, in each of these ways we can make a retreat amid the daily cares of life and its business. When the blessed Elzear, Count of Arian-enProvence, had been long separated from his pious and beloved wife Delphine, she sent a messenger to inquire after him, and he returned answer, “I am well, dear wife, and if you would see me, seek me in the Wounded Side of our Dear Lord Jesus; that is my sure dwelling-place, and elsewhere you will seek me in vain.” Surely, he was a true Christian knight who spoke this.

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AS I have counselled you before your material dinner to make a spiritual repast in meditation, so before your evening meal you should make at least a devout spiritual collation. Make sure of some brief leisure before suppertime, and then prostrating yourself before God, and recollecting yourself in the Presence of Christ Crucified, setting Him before your mind with a stedfast inward glance, renew the warmth of your morning’s meditation by 86 some hearty aspirations and humble upliftings of your soul to your Blessed Saviour, either repeating those points of your meditation which helped you most, or kindling your heart with anything else you will.

As to the examination of conscience, which we all should make before going to bed, you know the rules: 1. Thank God for having preserved you through the day past.

2. Examine how you have conducted yourself through the day, in order to recall where and with whom you have been, and what you have done.

3. If you have done anything good, offer thanks to God; if you have done amiss in thought, word, or deed, ask forgiveness of His Divine Majesty, resolving to confess the fault when opportunity offers, and to be diligent in doing better.

4. Then commend your body and soul, the Church, your relations and friends, to God. Ask that the Saints and Angels may keep watch over you, and with God’s Blessing go to the rest He has appointed for you. Neither this practice nor that of the morning should ever be omitted; by your morning prayer you open your soul’s windows to the sunshine of Righteousness, and by your evening devotions you close them against the shades of hell.

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Besides your systematic meditation and your other vocal prayers, there are five shorter kinds of prayer, which are as aids and assistants to the great devotion, and foremost among these is your morning prayer, as a general preparation for all the day’s work. It should be made in this wise.

1. Thank God and adore Him for His Grace which has kept you safely through the night, and if in anything you have offended against Him, ask forgiveness.

2. Call to mind that the day now beginning is given you in order that you may work for Eternity and make a stedfast resolution to use this day for that end.

3. Consider beforehand what occupations, duties and occasions are likely this day to enable you to serve God; what temptations to offend Him, either by vanity, anger, etc., may arise; and make a fervent resolution to use all means of serving Him and confirming your own piety; as also to avoid and resist whatever might hinder your salvation and God’s Glory. Nor is it enough to make such a resolution, —you must also prepare to carry it into effect. Therefore, if you foresee having to meet someone who is hot-tempered and irritable, you must not merely resolve to guard your own temper, but you must consider by what gentle words to conciliate him. If you know you will see some sick person, consider how best to minister comfort to him, and so on.

4. Next, humble yourself before God, confessing that of yourself you could carry out nothing that you have planned, either in avoiding evil or seeking good. Then, so to say, take your heart in your hands, and offer it and all your good intentions to God’s Gracious Majesty, entreating Him to accept them, and strengthen you in His Service, which you may do in 85 some such words as these: “Lord, I lay before You my weak heart, which You do fill with good desires. You know that I am unable to bring the same to good effect, unless You do bless and prosper them, and therefore, O Loving Father, I entreat of You to help me by the Merits and Passion of your Dear Son, to Whose Honor I would devote this day and my whole life.”

All these acts should be made briefly and heartily, before you leave your room if possible, so that all the coming work of the day may be prospered with God’s blessing; but anyhow, my daughter, I entreat you never to omit them.

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IF it should happen, Philothea, that you have neither relish nor consolation in your meditation, I implore you not to be in the least troubled thereat, but sometimes open the door to vocal prayers: complain to our Lord, confess your unworthiness, ask him to come to your aid, kiss his image if you have it, say to him these words of Jacob: I will not let you go, Lord, unless you bless me; or those of the woman of Canaan: Yes, Lord, I am a dog, but the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters. At other times, take a book in your hand and read it with attention, until your spirit be awakened and restored within you; sometimes stir up your heart by some posture or movement of exterior devotion, prostrating yourself on the ground, crossing your hands upon your breast, embracing a crucifix; that is, if you are in some private place.

But if after all this you obtain no consolation, be not troubled, however great your dryness may be, but continue to keep yourself in a devout attitude before your God. How many courtiers there are that go a hundred times a year into the prince’s presence-chamber without hope of speaking to him, but only to be seen by him and to pay their respects. So also, my dear Philothea, should we come to holy prayer, purely and simply to pay our respects and give proof of our fidelity. If it please the divine Majesty to speak to us and to converse with us by his holy inspirations and interior consolations, it will doubtless be a great honour for us, and a very delightful pleasure; but if it please him not to show us this favour, leaving us there without so much as speaking to us, as though he saw us not and as though we were not in his presence, we must not, for all that, depart, but, on the contrary, we must remain there before this sovereign Goodness, with a devout and peaceful mien; and then infallibly will he be pleased with our patience, and will take notice of our diligence and perseverance, so that another time when we come again before him, he will favour us, and will converse with us by his consolations, making us realize the sweetness of holy prayer. But even though he should not do so, let us be satisfied, Philothea, that it is an exceeding great honour for us to be near him and in his presence.

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ABOVE all things, Philothea, when you quit your meditation, bear in mind the resolutions and intentions which you have formed, in order to practise them carefully during the day. This is the great fruit of meditation, without which oftentimes it is not only useless, but hurtful, because virtues meditated upon and not practised, sometimes puff up the spirit and the heart, making us think that we are such as we have resolved and determined to be, which doubtless is true if the resolutions are vigorous and solid; but they are not such, nay, rather vain and dangerous, if they be not put into practice. We must, therefore, by all means try to practise them, and to avail ourselves of the occasions, be they small or great, of putting them into practice. For example, if I have resolved to win by gentleness the hearts of those who offend me, I will seek that very day an opportunity of meeting them in order to greet them amicably; if I fail to meet them, I will at least try to speak well of them and pray to God on their behalf.

When you have finished this prayer of the heart, you must take care not to give any jolt to your heart, lest you spill the balm which you have received by means of your prayer; I mean by this, that you must keep silence for a little while, if possible, and move your heart quite gently from your prayer to your occupations, retaining, for as long a time as you can, the feelings and the affections which you have conceived. A man who receives some precious liquor in a beautiful porcelain vase to carry home with him walks carefully, not looking from one side to the other, but sometimes straight before him, for fear of stumbling over a stone or of making a false step, sometimes at his vase to see if it be well balanced.
You must act in like manner when you have finished your meditation: do not withdraw your thoughts from it all at once, but look only before you. For example, if you must meet someone, to whom you are obliged to speak, or listen, you cannot help it and you must put up with it, but in such a way that you are mindful also of your heart, so that the cordial of holy prayer may be spilt as little as possible. You must even accustom yourself to know how to pass from prayer to all sorts of actions which your vocation and profession justly and lawfully requires of you, though they seem very far removed from the affections which you have received in prayer. I mean that the advocate must learn to pass from prayer to pleading; the merchant to business; the married woman to the duties of her state and to the cares of her household, with so much gentleness and tranquillity that the spirit be not disturbed thereby; for, since both are according to the will of God, we must make the passage from the one to the other in a spirit of humility and devotion.

It may happen to you sometimes that immediately after the preparation you will find your affection stirred up towards God: then, Philothea, you must give it the reins, without trying to follow the method which I have given you; for although ordinarily the consideration ought to precede the affections and resolutions, yet if the Holy Spirit give you the affections before the consideration, you should not make the consideration, since it is only made in order to stir up the affections. In a word, whensoever the affections present themselves to you, you must receive them and make room for them, whether they come before or after all the considerations. And although I have placed the affections after all the considerations, I have only done so the better to distinguish the different parts of prayer; for at the same time it is a general rule that one must never restrain the affections, but always allow them free play when they present themselves. And this I say not only with regard to the other affections, but also with regard to the thanksgiving, the oblation, and the petitions, all of which may be made among the considerations; for they must not be restrained any more than the other affections, even though afterwards, in order to bring the meditation to a conclusion, it may be necessary to repeat and resume them. But as to the resolutions, they should be made after the affections, and at the end of the whole meditation, before the conclusion, because, as they represent to us particular and familiar objects, if we were to make them among the affections, they might be a cause of distraction to us. Among the affections and resolutions it is good to make use of colloquies, and to speak sometimes to our Lord, sometimes to the Angels, and to the persons represented in the mysteries, to the Saints and to oneself, to one’s own heart, to sinners, and even to inanimate creatures, as we see that David does in his psalms, and the other Saints in their meditations and prayers.

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FINALLY, the meditation must be closed by three acts which should be made with as much humility as possible. The first is the act of thanksgiving by which we thank God for the affections and resolutions which he has given us, and for his goodness and mercy which we have discovered in the mystery upon which we have been meditating. The second is the act of oblation by which we offer to God this same goodness and mercy of his, the death, the blood, and the virtues of his Son, and, together with these, our own affections and resolutions. The third is the act of petition, by which we demand of God and implore him to communicate to us the graces and virtues of his Son, and to bless our affections and resolutions, so that we may be able faithfully to put them into practice; then we pray in like manner for the Church, for our pastors, relations, friends and others, availing ourselves, for this purpose, of the intercession of our Lady, and of the Angels and Saints.

Lastly, I have noted that one should say the Pater noster and Ave Maria, which is the general and necessary prayer of all the faithful. To all this I have added that one should gather a little boutique of devotion. My meaning is as follows: Those who have been walking in a beautiful garden do not leave it willingly without taking away with them four or five flowers, in order to inhale their perfume and carry them about during the day: even so, when we have considered some mystery in meditation, we should choose one or two or three points in which we have found most relish, and which are specially proper to our advancement, in order to remember them throughout the day, and to inhale their perfume spiritually. Now we should do this in the place where we have made our meditation, either staying where we are, or walking about alone for a little while afterwards.

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AFTER the action of the imagination, follows the action of the understanding, which we call meditation, which is no other thing than one or many considerations made in order to stir up our affections towards God and divine things: and herein meditation differs from study and from other thoughts and considerations which are not made to acquire virtue or the love of God, but for other ends and intentions, as, for example, to become learned, to write, or to argue. Having then confined your spirit, as I have said, within the enclosure of the subject upon which you intend to meditate, either by the imagination if the subject be something perceptible to the senses, or by the simple setting forth thereof, if it be something imperceptible, you will begin to make considerations on it, some examples of which you will find fully developed in the meditations which I have given you.

And if you find sufficient relish, light and fruit in one of these considerations, stay there without passing on to another, acting like the bees, who do not leave a flower so long as they find any honey there to gather. But if you do not find anything to your liking in one of these considerations after having dealt with it and tried it for a little while, pass on to another; but proceed quite gently and simply in this matter, without undue haste.

PART 2 – CHAPTER VI. OF THE SETTING FORTH OF THE MYSTERY, WHICH IS THE THIRD POINT OF THE PREPARATION

MEDITATION produces good movements in the will or affective part of our soul, such as the love of God and of our neighbour, the desire of heaven and eternal glory, zeal for the salvation of souls, imitation of the life of our Lord, compassion, admiration, joy, fear of God’s displeasure, of judgement and of hell, hatred of sin, confidence in the goodness and mercy of God, confusion for our bad lives in the past; and in these affections our spirit should expand and extend itself as much as possible. And if you desire to be helped in this matter, take in hand the first volume of the Meditations of Dom Andres Capiglia, and read the preface, for he shows therein how to enlarge these affections; and Father Arias does the same more fully still in his Treatise on Prayer.

However, Philothea, you must not dwell upon these general affections to such an extent that you omit to convert them into special and particular resolutions for your correction and amendment. For example, the first word that our Lord spoke on the cross will doubtless stir up in your soul a good affection of imitation—namely, the desire to pardon your enemies and to love them. But I say now that this is of little value, if you do not add to it a special resolution to this effect: Well then! I will not hereafter be offended by such or such annoying words, which such or such a person, a neighbor of mine perhaps, or a servant, may say of me, nor by such or such an affront which may be put upon me by this person or by that: on the contrary, I will say and do such or such a thing to gain him, and appease him, and so also in other matters. By this means, Philothea, you will correct your faults in a very short time, whereas by the affections alone you will do so but slowly and with difficulty.

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