Eighteenth meditation. The means by which the religious soul ravishes the Heart of her Beloved

First point.

Consider that as God has sweetly drawn you away from the world, He wishes by a humble mutual exchange that you should ravish His Sacred Heart with love. What method will you adopt? Listen! He Himself teaches you: "My sister," He says, " thou hast ravished My Heart with one of thy eyes, and with one of thy hairs." Behold! by heroic works and great virtues you will gain the Heart of this Beloved; you will do so, likewise, by the practise of the little and lowjy virtues.

Second point.

Eeflect that as the human body has only two eyes, but an abundance of hair, your Spouse displays incomparable mercy in allowing you to ravish His Heart with a single hair. Ah! at any moment you may possess that Divine Heart; for what are hairs but the ordinary observances, those little ceremonies, those daily virtues which we may practise at every turn? When you disregard them, you do not consider that you are neglecting to ravish the Heart of God. " If you would enter into life/' said the meek J esus to His apostles, " keep with fidelity all that I have taught you."

Third point.

Eeflect on the value the saints attached to the practice of these little virtues. They remembered that he who neglects little sins shall soon fall into greater. The small

^Digitized - monastic observances are the hedge which preserves the religious life, like the vine of Our Saviour, from wild beasts, and whoever demolishes that hedge shall be bitten by the infernal serpent Moreover, these minute observances are the habit of religion, which appears plain and without ornament. In short, the holy Founder remarked, that if he were in one of our convents, he would be so exact in all the little practices as thereby to ravish the Heart of God.

Affections.

O sovereign goodness of the great God,how adorable you are! Did a king ever give his vassals access to his cabinet that they might take from him his treasures? Yet at all times, O God of goodness, Thou dost teach me how I may obtain possession of Thy Heart and make it my own! Ah,

Lord! if it were only the martyrs that could ravish Thy Heart by their eyes and their blood, what would we do? But the mortified have the same privilege. If only they who convert nations, what would we do? Ah! they who speak humbly and lovingly of Thee, who inspire others to do good, — they have the same reward. If it were only conquerors of others, what would we do? But self-conquerors have the same happiness. Blessed forever be Thy sweet goodness!

O holy and little virtues, which grow like flowers at the foot of the cross of my Jesus, with holy solicitude I desire to cull you, that I may reverently present you to my Spouse. O my Jesus, preserve me from the reproach that Thou didst make to the Pharisees, saying that "they attended to small things, and neglected great ones." Grant me the grace to do the latter and omit not the former, in imitation of Thee, O Lord. Thou didst take little children into Thy arms through love and sweetness, but Thou didst not fail to carry sinners on Thy shoulders through mercy. Grant that I may carefully observe the silence of obligation, and that through devotion I may speak no useless words; that I may strictly obey my Superiors through a principle of duty, and willingly condescend to my equals through love.

O religion, most dear Mother, may it please God that I never divest myself of your holy habit, or break down the hedge which preserves you! Mj God, with Thy grace, I desire to observe all my obligations, but in the end to acknowledge myself a useless servant.