“Lord, you are not seen except by the pure of heart. I seek by reading and meditating what is true purity of heart and how it may be attained, so that with its help I may know you, if only a little. Lord, for long have I meditated in my heart, seeking to see your face. It is the sight of you, Lord. that I have sought (Ps 27[26],8); and all the while in my meditation the fire of longing. the desire to know you more fully, has increased. When you break the bread of sacred Scripture for me, you have shown yourself to me in that breaking of bread (Lk 24,30-35), and the more I see you, the more I long to see you, not just in the outward rind of the letter but in the taste of experience.
“Nor do I ask this, Lord, because of my own merits, but because of your mercy. I too in my unworthiness confess my sins like the woman who said that “even the little dogs eat of the fragments that fall from the table of their masters.” So give me, Lord, some pledge of what I hope to inherit, at least one drop of heavenly rain with which to refresh my thirst, for I am on fire with love.”
So the soul, by such burning words... seeks to call its spouse. But the Lord, whose eyes are upon the just and whose ears can catch not only the words but the very meaning of their prayers, does not wait until the longing soul has said all its say, but breaks in upon the middle of its prayer, runs to meet it with all haste, sprinkled with sweet heavenly dew, anointed with the most precious perfumes, and he restores the weary soul. He slakes its thirst, he feeds its hunger, he makes the soul forget all earthly things. By making it die to itself he gives it new life in a wonderful way, and by making it drunk he brings it back to its true senses.
↧