Letter XV. To the Same. on the Feast of Pentecost

Arise and depart, 0 north wind, and comej 0 south wind; blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow * 0 my most dear daughter, how do I desire that gracious wind which comes from the south, from divine love, that Holy Spirit which gives us the grace of aspiring after him and of breathing for him! Ah! how I should like to give you some gift, my dear daughter! But, besides that I am poor, it is not fitting that on the day when the Holy Spirit makes his presents we should be engaged in making ours; we must only be ready to receive gifts in this great day of largess.

How great a need have I of the Spirit of strength! for I am indeed weak and infirm. Still I glory in it, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.t I would rather be infirm than strong before God, for the infirm he takes into his arms, while the strong he leads by the hand. May eternal wisdom be ever in our heart, that we may relish the treasures of the infinite sweetness of Jesus Christ crucified.

Tell our dear daughter that she must like me glory in weakness, which is the most proper condition for receiving strength: for to whom should strength be given if not to the weak?

Good night, my very dear daughter. May this sacred fire which changes all into itself deign to

• Cant. iv. 16. t 2 Cor. xii. 9.

LET. XVL] Letters for Various Festivals. 423 entirely transmute our heart, so that it may in future be nothing but love, and that so we may be no longer loving but love itself; no longer two but one single self, since love unites all things in a sovereign unity. Adieu, my dear daughter; let us persevere in the desire of this unity, which God, having made us enjoy it here below as far as our infirm condition can allow, will make us enjoy more perfectly in heaven.