thine? when shall I embrace thee with ardent affection? when wilt thou inflame, and consume me with the flames of love? when wilt thou pierce and replenish me on every side with thy sweetness? when wilt thou lay open and manifest to my poverty, that precious kingdom which is within me, that is to say, thy sacred self, with all thy riches? when wilt thou unite me perfectly unto thee? when wilt thou transform and swallow me up wholly in thee, that from thee I may never depart? when wilt thou remove from me all obstacles, which hinder me, that am not one spirit with thee. O beloved of my soul! O delight of my heart I look down upon me and hear me, not for my own merits, but out of thine infinite goodness, instruct, illuminate, direct, and help me in all, and through all, that I neither speak or do any thing, but that which I shall know to be grateful before thy sight.
O my God, my love, my joy, my pleasure, my fortress, and my life! why dost thou not help the poor and needy, imploring thy assistance 1 thou who fillest heaven and earth, why dost thou suffer my heart to be empty? thou who cloathest the flowers and lilies of the fields with beauty; thou who nourishest the birds of the air; thou who sustainest the least creature of the earth; why art thou unmindful of me, that forgetteth all things for the love of thee? O immense goodness! I had knowledge of thee too late, that I loved thee
