Chapter XI — The Sweetness of the Conduct of Incarnate Wisdom

6. She Is Sweet in All Her Conduct

123. Jesus, finally, is sweet in his actions and in the whole conduct of his life: dulcis in opere. He did all things well: omnia bene fecit; that is, everything that Jesus Christ did was done with such precision, wisdom, holiness, and sweetness that no defect or deformity can be found in it. Let us see with what sweetness this lovable Incarnate Wisdom conducted himself in all his ways.

124. The poor and the little children followed him everywhere as one of their own; they saw in this dear Savior so much simplicity, kindness, condescension, and charity that they pressed around him to get near. One day, when he was preaching in a street, the children, who were accustomed to being near him, pressed in from behind; the Apostles, who were nearest to Our Lord, pushed them away. Jesus noticed, reproved his Apostles, and said to them: "Sinite parvulos ad me venire. Let these dear little children come to me." When they were near him, he embraced and blessed them. Oh, what sweetness and kindness!

The poor, seeing him dressed poorly and simple in all his manners, without pomp or pride, delighted only in his company; they defended him everywhere against the rich and proud who calumniated and persecuted him; and he, on his part, gave them at every opportunity a thousand praises and blessings.

125. But who can describe the sweetness of Jesus toward poor sinners? With what sweetness he treated the sinful Magdalene; with what gentle condescension he converted the Samaritan woman; with what mercy he forgave the adulterous woman; with what charity he went to eat at the houses of public sinners to win them! Did not his enemies take occasion from this great gentleness to persecute him, saying that by his gentleness he caused the law of Moses to be transgressed, and calling him, as an insult, the friend of sinners and publicans? With what goodness and humility he tried to win the heart of Judas who wished to betray him, by washing his feet and calling him his friend! Finally, with what charity he asked God his Father to forgive his executioners, excusing them on account of their ignorance!

126. Oh, how beautiful, sweet, and charitable is Jesus, Incarnate Wisdom! How beautiful she is in eternity, since she is the splendor of her Father, the spotless mirror and the image of his goodness, more beautiful than the sun and more brilliant than light itself! How beautiful she is in time, since she was formed by the Holy Spirit, pure, without any sin, and beautiful, without any stain; since she charmed during her life the eyes and the hearts of men; since she is now the glory of the angels; how tender and sweet she is toward men, and especially toward poor sinners, whom she came to seek visibly in the world, and whom she seeks every day invisibly!

7. She Is Still Sweet in Glory

127. And let no one imagine that Jesus, for being now triumphant and glorious, is any less sweet and condescending; on the contrary, his glory perfects, in a certain manner, his sweetness: he has not so much desire to appear as to pardon, to display the riches of his glory as those of his mercies.

128. If one reads the histories, one will see that when this Incarnate and glorified Wisdom has appeared to his friends, he has appeared not in a thundering and terrifying manner, but in a gentle and kind one; he has not taken the majesty of a sovereign and of the God of armies, but the tenderness of a bridegroom and the sweetness of a friend. He has sometimes made himself visible in the Eucharist; but I do not recall reading that he appeared there in any other form than that of a gentle and beautiful child.

129. Some time ago, a wretched man, enraged at having lost his money at gambling, drew his sword against heaven and blamed Our Lord for his loss. An astonishing thing! Instead of thunderbolts and lightning falling upon him, a little piece of paper came fluttering down from heaven around him. He was startled; he took the paper, opened it, and read: "Miserere mei Deus, Lord God, have mercy on me!" The sword fell from his hands; he was touched to the depths of his heart; he threw himself on the ground and cried for mercy.

130. St. Denis the Areopagite relates that a bishop named Carpus, having converted an idolater with much difficulty and having learned that another idolater had in a moment caused him to renounce his faith, prayed to God during an entire night to take vengeance for such an insult done to his majesty, by punishing the guilty. While he was in the most ardent heat of his zeal and his prayer, he suddenly saw the earth open, and on the brink of hell he saw this apostate and this idolater whom the demons were trying to push in. He raised his eyes upward, he saw the heavens open, and Jesus Christ coming toward him with a multitude of angels, who said to him: Carpus, you ask me for vengeance; you do not know me. Do you know what you are asking and what sinners have cost me? Why do you want me to destroy them? I love them so much that I would be ready to die a second time for each one of them, if need be. Then Our Lord, drawing near to Carpus and showing him his bare shoulders, said to him: Carpus, if you wish to take vengeance, strike me rather than those poor sinners.

131. After this, shall we not love this Eternal Wisdom who has loved us and still loves us more than his own life, and whose beauty and sweetness surpass all that is most beautiful and most sweet in heaven and on earth!

132. It is related in the life of Blessed Henry Suso that Eternal Wisdom, whom he ardently desired, appeared to him one day in this manner. She took a corporeal form surrounded by a bright and transparent cloud, seated on a throne of ivory and casting from her face and eyes a radiance like the rays of the noonday sun; her crown was eternity; her robe, felicity; her speech, gentleness; and her embraces caused the fullness of all the blessed. Henry saw her in this state, and what astonished him most was that now she appeared as a young maiden who was the marvel of heaven and earth in beauty, and now as a young man who seemed to have espoused all created beauties to paint his face with them; now he saw her raise her head above the heavens, and at the same time tread the depths of the earth beneath her feet; now he saw her far from him, and now drawing near; now majestic, and now condescending, kind, sweet, and full of tenderness toward all who approached her. When she appeared to him in this way, she turned toward him, and, giving him a pleasant smile, said to him: "My son, give me your heart." At that moment Henry threw himself at her feet and made her an irrevocable gift of his heart.

After the example of this holy man, let us make to Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom an irrevocable gift of our hearts, which is all she asks of us.