Exclamation XII

1. O ye souls free from all dread of ever losing your bliss, — you, who are constantly absorbed in the praises of my God, how blessed is your lot! How just it is that you should ceaselessly adore Him! How I envy you, who are delivered from the grief I feel at witnessing the hateful offences committed against my God in these unhappy days and the gross ingratitude of men's indifference to the multitude of souls Satan is dragging down to hell. -

2. O blessed souls dwelling in paradise! Relieve our miseries and intercede for us with the divine Mercy, that He may give us some little share of your felicity,¹ and of the certain knowledge you possess. Grant us to understand, my God, what reward Thou givest to those who fight valiantly during the nightmare of this wretched life. 0 souls inflamed with love, obtain for us grace to comprehend your delight at reflecting on the eternity of your bliss and your rapture at knowing it will never end!

3. Wretched creatures that we are, O Master mine! we know and believe these truths, yet our old-established habit of not reflecting on them makes them too strange for souls either to realise or seek to grasp them. And you, self-seeking, craving for pleasure and enjoyment, since you will not have the patience to wait but a short time, when you could enjoy them in abundance — to wait a year, or a day, or an hour, or perhaps no more than an instant — forfeit them all for the sake of some miserable and momentary gratification that offers itself.

4. Oh, oh, oh! How little do we trust Thee, Lord! far more precious riches and treasures didst Thou entrust to us — the three and thirty years of Thy Son's sufferings, His death and agony, and Thy Son Himself! And these didst Thou bestow on us centuries before we were born, knowing at the time that we should repay Thee nothing; yet Thou didst not hesitate to consign to us this inestimable treasure wherewith, if we augment its value by the aid of Thy Son, we can purchase eternal happiness from Thee, O compassionate Father!

5. Oh, blessed souls, so wise in knowing how to make good use of this loan — who bought with it the matchless prize of so joyful and eternal an inheritance, teach us how you gained through Him such endless bliss! Help us, you are so near the fountain-head! draw water for us who perish with thirst in this world.