2. Of the praise of God during the barrenness or tepidity of devotion

" Pauper et inops laudahunt nomen iuum, Dominey* " The poor and needy shall praise 1 . If in prayer or holy meditation, thou shouldst fall into a state of dryness, coldness or sadness, be sure not to give way to despair, or cease to call humbly on the name of Jesus.

But in poverty of spirit, persevere in giving praise and thanksgiving to God ; and take comfort abundantly when reading these words : " The poor and needy shall praise thy name, O Lord !"

For, many holy and devout souls have been proved by dryness, and seemed for a long while as it were abandoned by God, that they might thereby learn patience and compassion for others, by the sense of their own sorrow and need ; and not to presume too nuich on themselves in the moment of fervour, and in the season of spiritual jubilation.

Say with the Psalmist, " I am needy and poor."* In the Lord will I put my trust, for He is my strength and my salvation, and all good comes from God.

2. Restrain thyself then from presumption, when gladness is vouchsafed, and beware of discouragement, when the clouds of sorrow gather around : receive each of these as it shall please God to send them, and in all be content ; for thou hast nothing of good in thyself : all is from God.

When the grace of devotion is granted, the sun of justice shines on thee I'rom the heights of heaven ; thy soul walks in brightness and rejoices in its riches. But, if, permitting thyself to be deceived by any feeling of vanity or presumption, thou will confide on thy own strength, thou wilt indeed be wretched.

When the grace of devotion is withdrawn on account perhaps of the abuse made of it, thy soul becomes really poor and weak, capable of but very little, and with no relish for prayer : receive these privations with gratitude, for in withdrawing these gifts, and humbling thee with His elect, God giveth a new proof of His love.

I o His hand strikes thee with the rod, with which He corrects His children, for the hidden excesses and numberless acts of negligence of which thou art daily guilty, in order to inspire thee with a contempt for thyself, and to hinder thee from having so high an estimate of thy own merit ; as St. Paul says, •' Be not high-minded but fear.*^ The soul is a great gainer when deeply penetrated with a sense of self-contempt, it gives entirely to God all the glory of the good it may have done. o o