I. O MY God, how worthy art Thou to be the Father

of such a Son, and how manifest it is that He is Thy
Son indeed ! Mayest Thou be for ever praised ! Would
not this great favour have come more suitably at the
end of the prayer ? From the very first. Thou dost fill
our hands and dost grant us a grace so great that it
would be well if the understanding could be absorbed
so as to preoccupy the will, and to make us unable to
say another word. How appropriate, my daughters,
would be perfect contemplation here ! Well might the
soul retreat into itself, the better to rise above self, so
that this holy Son might teach us what the “ heaven “
is like in which He tells us that His Father abides.
Let us leave this world, daughters, for we ought not to
hold this favour so cheap, after we have once realised
its value, as to remain on earth any longer.

^ Valladolid edition, ch. xxix. ; Escorial, ch, xliv.

172 THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXVII.

2. O thou Son of God and Lord of mine ! Why dost
Thou give us so much with the very first word Thou
speakest ? Besides humbling Thyself to the dust by
joining Thy petitions to our own, and by making Thyself
the Brother of such miserable wretches as ourselves,
Thou dost give us, in Thy Father’s name, all that can
be given — Thou dost ask Him to make us His children,
and Thy word cannot fail, but must perforce accomplish
its object. Thus dost Thou bind Him to do Thy will,
which implies no slight obligation, for since He is our
Father, He must bear with us, however deeply we
offend Him, if, like the prodigal son, we return to
Him. He must pardon us ; console us in our trials ;
maintain us in a way that becomes Him Who
must needs be a far better Father than any earthly
parent, since all His attributes must be supreme in their
perfection. More than this. He must make us brethren
and co-heirs with Thee ! Thy love for us, O Lord,
and Thy humility, remove all obstacles : besides. Thy
having lived on earth, clothed with a mortal body,
offers some reason for Thy caring for us, seeing
that Thou dost share our nature. But remember,
that, as Thou hast told us. Thy Father dwells in
heaven, therefore Thou shouldst guard His honour.
Although Thou hast offered Thyself to suffer shame
for our sake, yet leave Him free ! Impose no such
ties upon Him on behalf of any one so guilty as myself,

CHAP. XXVII.] god’s children. I73

who will most certainly requite Him ill. O good
Jesus ! how clearly hast Thou shown that Thou art
One with Him, that Thy will is His, and His is Thine.
What confession of Thy love for us could be more clear ?
Thou didst perplex the devil and hide from him that
Thou wert the Son of God, but Thine ardent longing for
our welfare made Thee set aside all else, in order to
grant us this sublimest favour. I wonder that the
devil did not guess, from this word alone. Who Thou
art, to the exclusion of any doubt. Who but Thyself
could have bestowed it on us. Lord ? I see that, like
a dearly loved Son, Thou didst speak both for Thyself
and for us, and through Thy power didst obtain that
Thy petition made on earth should be granted in heaven.
Blest mayest Thou be for ever. Lord, Who dost so love
to give that naught can stay Thy hand.^

3. Now, daughters, do you not consider Him a kind
Master ? for He begins by conferring on us this signal
grace, in order to persuade us to learn what He is teaching
us. Do you not think it would be well for us to efface
from our minds the meaning of this prayer while we say
it with our lips, lest our hearts should be rent in pieces
at the very idea of such a love ? Yet no one could say
this who recognised the depths of this tenderness. What
son could be found on the face of the earth who would

2 Escorial edition, ch. xlv. It is most important that those who
sincerely wish to be daughters of God should ignore pride of birth.

174

THE WAY OF PERFECTION. [CHAP. XXVII.

not try to discover who his father was if the latter had
been as good, as princely, and as powerful as our heavenly
Father ? If God were not such as He is, I should feel no
surprise at our reluctance to be called His children. It is
the way of the world for a son to feel ashamed of recog-
nising a parent in an inferior position. Such a thing cannot
happen here, for, please God, none of us ever think of such
things. Let the nun who comes of the highest family be
the last to mention her father : we must all be equals here.

4. O blessed College of Christ ! which, by His wish,
ranked St. Peter the fisherman higher than St.
Bartholomew,^ who was a king’s son. His Majesty
foresaw how the world would wrangle over the question
of who was made out of the finest clay — which is like
disputing about whether clay is fittest for making bricks,
or a mud wall ! Good God, what a misery this is !
May He deliver you, sisters, as I trust He will, from such
contentions, were they only in fun. When you notice
anything of the sort in one of the nuns, you must at once
apply some remedy. Let her dread lest she be a Judas
among the Apostles. Rid yourselves, if possible, of such
a bad companion ; but if this cannot be done, impose
on her penances until she understands that she is not
fit to be even common clay.

3 Some medieval writers thought the name Bartholomew was
derived from the Chaldean word Bar (Son) and the name of
Ptolemy, as though the Apostle had been a descendant of the
Macedonian dynasty.

CHAP. XXVIII.] LOVE FOR OUR FATHER. 175

5. You have a good Father given you by the holy
Jesus : let no other father be known here through any
words of yours. Strive, daughters, to merit God’s
caresses ; cast yourselves into His arms. You know
that He will never send you from Him while you remain
dutiful children. Who would not guard against losing
such a Father ? Ah, what a consolation this is ! Still,
rather than enlarge on the subject, I prefer to leave it
to your own thoughts, for, however inconstant your
imagination may be, between such a Son and such a
Father the Holy Spirit must perforce be found. May
He inflame your will and constrain you with most fervent
love, since even your own great gain sufhces not to
urge you to it.