ons, their corrupt inclinations gain
such a mastery, that they seem natural to them. Vigilance is
absolutely necessary to remove this insinuating enemy; and purity of
conscience begets prudence, which can never be found under the
tyranny of the passions, and which is the eye that guides the soul
through the craggy paths of this life. Pure souls are raised by
divine grace to dwell with God on earth by holy contemplation, and
are fitted for eternal bliss, (Hom. 4;) true Christians differ in
their desires and actions from other men. The wicked burn with
lawless passions, and are disturbed with anxious desires and vain
wishes, hunt after, and think of nothing but earthly pleasures; but
the true Christian enjoys an uninterrupted tranquillity of mind and
joy, even amidst crosses, and rejoices in sufferings and
temptations, hope and divine grace sweetening their severest trials.
The love of God with which they burn, makes them rejoice in all they
suffer for his sake, and by his appointment. It is their most ardent
desire to behold God in his glory, and to be themselves transformed
into him. (2 Cor. iii.) Even now the sweetness with which God
overwhelms them, renders them already, in some measure, partakers of
his glory; which will be completed in them in heaven. (Hom. 5.) In
prayer we must be freed from all anxious care, trouble of mind, and
foreign thoughts; and must cry out to God with our whole hearts in
tranquillity and silence; for God descends only in peace and repose,
not amidst tumult and clamors. (Hom. 6.) A soul astonished to see
God, who is crowned with infinite glory, visit her with so much
sweetness, absorbed in hi, sovereignly despises all earthly things,
and cries out to his in strains of admiration at his condescension
and goodness. (Hom. 7) When a person, endowed with the gift of
supernatural prayer, falls on his knees to pray, his heart is
straight filled with the divine sweetness, and his soul exults in
God as a spouse with her beloved. This joy in one hour of prayer in
the silence of the night, makes a soul forget all the labors of the
day; being wrapt in God, she expatiates in the depth of his
immensity, and is raised above all the toys of this world to
heavenly joys, which no tongue can express. Then she cries out, "Oh!
that my soul could now ascend with my prayer out h