Letter 34. To a young lady, on making ready to receive the new-born Jesus

How busily employed you must be during this holy season in preparing a lodging for the Guest Who is coming to you! I fancy I can see you, as solicitous as Martha, and yet as peaceful as Magdalen, preparing to give to your coming Saviour the service both of soul and body; and He is worthy of both, for He is your God. O blessed time, which brings before our minds the truth that God came in the flesh to dwell amongst us, to enlighten our darkness and to direct our feet in the way of peace, so that being made His brethren, we might share in His inheritance!

Earnestly indeed may you long for Christ’s advent, and prepare your heart to be His dwelling-place, for men wished for His coming ages before His birth, so that the Prophet styles Him “the Desired of all nations.” (Aggeus, II. 8.) Jesus gives Himself to none but those who anxiously look for Him. Choice food is thrown away on such as cannot taste it, and so those who long not after God’s presence, cannot value Him as they ought. Our Lord hears “the desire of the poor” (Ps. IX. 17.) an 4 bends His ear to listen to the sighing of their hearts after Him, for that is all He cares for in the children of men. When their sighs reach Him, He comes into their souls; nor can He refuse Himself, for, as He tells us in the Canticle (IV. 9.) “Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded my heart with one of thy eyes and with one hair of thy neck.” What can be more tender than that which is wounded by a glance of the eye, or more weak than what is bound by a single hair? How can men say that God is difficult to find, or rigorous in His treatment of us, or hard to bear with? Bitterly should we blame ourselves for caring to look on anything but on Him, and for not closing our eyes upon creatures so as in spirit to contemplate God.

The archer shuts one eye when shooting, the better to hit the target, but we will not turn our sight from creatures to be able to follow and wound our Lord with love. The soul that wishes to find God, must withraw its affections from all else and place them entirely in Him, for God is love, and it is only by love that He can be ensnared. He will have nothing to do with those who have it not, and if they say they know Him as they ought, St. John will tell them that they speak not the truth. (1. John, IV. 8.) But our Lord, who is wounded by a glance, is bound by a single hair, for that which is conquered by love is kept by recollection ^nd contemplation.

In order that men flight feel confidence that they can find God, and certainty that He will not desert them afterwards, He made Himself one of them and laid Himself in the arms of a Virgin, bound hand and foot in swaddling bands, so that He could not flee from those who came in quest of Him. O Thou celestial Bread, descended from the Bosom of the Father, Who dost remain on Thine altars throughout the world, inviting all to come and feast on Thee, and enjoy Thee! Who could refrain from seeking Thee, and receiving Thee into his bosom — Thee Who dost but ask that man should hunger for Thee, to bestow Thyself on him? What dost Thou require of the soul, but only that it should sigh after Thee and, confessing its sins, should beg Thee to come and dwell within it? How miserable are those, who, when this Bread descends close to their very doors, prefer rather to die of hunger than to stoop to pick it up. O sloth, what evil dost thou work! What riches does not such blindness lose for souls! What treasures does not their slumber steal away from them ! God has promised that “ every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened/’ (St. Matth. VII. 8.) What but our own negligence is to blame if we lose His mercies? Shall we cling to our infirmities, now that God comes to cure them? He stands at the door of our hearts, begging and imploring of us — “ Open to me my sister, my love! ” (Capt. V. 2 .) — and we, so engrossed by our vanities that we will not rise to let Him in, leave Him there with the cry upon His lips. Come hither, my soul, and tell me, in the name of God, what is it that hinders thee from giving thyself entirely to Him? For what dost thou care if it be not for this Spouse of thine? Why dost thou not love Him dearly, Who has such a mighty love for thee? It was solely out of affection for thee that He came to dwell on earth, and to gain thy profit by His own loss. Why art thou placed in this world, save to live in mutual love with the King of heaven? Dost thou not understand how everything on earth will pass away? What is all that thou dost see, or hear, or touch, or taste — what are all those amongst whom thou dost live? — they are in truth but as cobwebs, which cannot clothe thee, nor shield thee from the cold? Where art thou when thou art not with Jesus Christ? What dost thou think of, or value, or seek for, outside of Him alone, Who is the only perfect good? Let us arise and shake off this evil dream; let us awake, for it is day, and Christ Who is the light, is come; let us do the works of day, who were wont to do the works of darkness. Oh! that we might so bitterly repent of the time we spent in ignorance of God, that the memory of it might spur us on to speed the more swiftly after Him. Would that we might run, and fly to Him, and that we might burn with an ardour such as to transform us into Him. What should not we poor creatures do, when we see our Creator become man solely because of His love for U6! What passion was ever so strong as to convert the lover into the likeness of his beloved? God showed that we were dear to Him when He made us after His own image, but far stronger was the proof He gave of His love, when He made Himself in the image of man. He abased Himself to raise us to His level; He became man to make us as gods; He descended from heaven that He might raise us to dwell there with Him, and above all, He died to give us life. And shall we lie slumbering, and make Him no return for this great love?

Enlighten mine eyes, O Lord, that they may not sleep in death, and do Thou, Who hast granted us these mercies make us duly grateful for them, lest the very greatness of Thy gifts should turn to our deeper condemnation. Open my eyes, O Lord, that I may see Thee descending from the bosom of the Father into that of Thy Virgin Mother, so that I may thank Thee as I ought, and humble myself before Thee. Let me look on Thee, lying with a manger for Thy cradle, sobbing with the cold and oppressed by poverty, that I may be willing to surrender sill luxuries for Thy sake. Let Thy cries resound in my ears, and soften my heart, so that it may be as wax in Thy hands. Do not permit God to weep, and man to be indifferent to His tears, for I know not which of these two things is to be most dreaded. Seal up, O Christ, Thy words in my soul, that it may sin not against Thee: gather up the Blood Thou sheddest for me, and pour It into my heart; let my love be wholly Thine as a return for all Thy sufferings for me. It was for me Thou didst seek; for me Thou didst fight; for me Thou didst bear the mockings, and all that cost Thee so dear: let me be all Thine, since Thou hast ransomed me so dearly. God Who is about to be born has no house nor cradle ready for Him, so do you prepare your heart for His dwelling-place. Let it be warm with love, for the Babe is chilled; but still, if it be only tepid, the shivering Infant will bring it greater heat. The more He suffers from the cold for us, the more strongly does He prove His love, and so deserves our love still more. In the rigorous winter weather which He bore for us, He chose to wear no clothes to protect Him; but naked was He born, and naked died upon the Cross for us, because, both in His birth and death, He manifested the greatest excess of love. You must have ready a crib, then, in which to rock him to sleep, which symbolises the repose of contemplation. See that you treat Him well, for He is the Son of a mighty King and of a Virgin, and loves to dwell in the breasts of virgins, for the food that pleases Him is mortified and crucified nature.

He has many poor brethren, and those who love Him must love them too, for His sake.

Give them your alms, for they are the brothers of your Creator.

When our Lord comes to be born in your soul, keep careful guard over Him, and may He protect and save you for His mercy’s sake. Amen.

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