I long to behold the light of his gaze.
Oh! What splendor must shine in his eyes!
In contemplating this Only Begotten of the Father
I will have the Three and I will have all of Heaven!
He will make his light shine in my soul,
He will purify me in divine flames.
O my adored Word
Luminous Beauty,
Look upon me!
Let us quicken our faith by constant communing with Him. Let us live with God as with a friend. That is how saints are made. We carry our heaven about within us, since He who satisfies the glorified soul in the light of vision gives Himself to us in faith.
Nothing is accomplished without effort, wihtout struggle. In our better moments, we no longer shed tears over our own weaknesses or over those of others, but we recall what was interiorly said to St. Paul: My grace is sufficient for you; in union with me you can do all things.
Take God for your spouse and friend and walk with him continually, and you will not sin and will learn to love, and the things you must do will work out prosperously for you.
Since this flame is a flame of divine life, it wounds the soul with the tenderness of God's life, and it wounds and stirs it so deeply as to make it dissolve in love. What the bride affirmed in the Song of Songs is fulfilled in the soul. She was so moved that her soul melted, and so she says: As soon as he spoke my soul melted [Sg. 5:6]. For God's speech is the effect he produces in the soul.
But when souls are worn out from many years of meditation and of having sought this Bridegroom, and most weary of worldly things, they sit under the shadow of Truth, they do not seek their comfort or calm or rest anywhere except where they understand they can truly have it. They place themselves under the protection of the Lord; they desire no other.
With bold surrender, I wish to remain gazing upon You, O Lord, my divine Sun. Nothing will frighten me, neither wind nor rain, and if dark clouds come and hide You from my gaze, I will not change my place because I know that beyond the clouds You still shine on and Your brightness is not eclipsed for a single instant.
So let us be renewed in our innermost souls, stripping ourselves of the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new...according to the image of Him who created us (Col. 3:9-10). It is to be done gently and simply, by withdrawing ourselves from all that is not God. Then the soul no longer fears or desires anything. It's will is completely lost in God’s will and since that is what constitutes divine union, it can say, ‘I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me’ (Gal. 2:20).
The mirror in which we ought to look at ourselves that we may reach divine union is Jesus Christ, because no one can attain it except by means of and through the merits of Jesus Crucified.
Before the divine fire is introduced into and united to the substance of the soul through a person's perfect and complete purgation and purity, its flame, which is the Holy Spirit, wounds it by destroying and consuming the imperfections of its bad habits. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit, in which He disposes it for the divine union and transformation in God through love.
A created spirit can ascend to God only by rising above itself, God, in a a word, as Creator and preserver of every being, is the foundation that upholds them all. That which ascends to Him, at the same time descends to its most secure center of gravity.
Have great love for trials and think of them as but a small way of pleasing your Spouse, Who did not hesitate to die for you.
