Second meditation. The end for which we were created

First point.

Eeflect that God has made us to His image and likeness > in order that we may love Him. It is so true that our heart is created to love its God that, as soon as it dwells attentively on the divinity, it experiences a certain sweet emotion which testifies that God is the God of our heart

Second point.

Reflect that, if God had not created man, He would, indeed, have been sovereignly good, but He would not have been actually merciful, in so far as mercy is exercised only toward the miserable. O sweet consolation! The sun was created to enlighten me, the fire to warm me, and so on with other creatures; but you, 0 my soul, poor and wretched, you were created that you might become the object of the divine mercy.

Third point.

Reflect, moreover, that you were created to aspire continually to God. Eivers flow unceasingly and, as the Wise Man says, return to the place whence they came. " O God," exclaims St. Augustine, " Thou hast made my heart for Thyself, and it will never find rest but in Thee; yes, Lord, for Thou art the God of my heart, my portion and my inheritance."

Affections.

Eeturn thanks, O my soul, to this divine Master and Author of nature, who daily bestows upon you all the assistance necessary to attain the end for which He created you, which is to love Him. Ah! I was not made for this world. There is a sovereign Artisan who made me for Himself; therefore, I should aspire after and return to Him in order to unite myself to His goodness to which I belong.

0 sweet and desirable meeting of the wealth of my God and of my poverty! Ah! how happy I am to be placed in the world for an end so excellent as to proclaim the excess of sovereign goodness!

O all you who are upon the earth, you are pilgrims, created to exclaim with St. Augustine: " 0 to desire, 0 to love, 0 to approach, O to attain to God! " Come, let us go to our lasting city, to the place of our repose. Our hearts should be like the children of Jonadab, who dared not build houses on this earth. O religious soul! prepare yourself well, for the earth upon which you tread is holy, and the place to which you journey is sanctified.