sake of pleasing God, and then you will be the same, whether you are alone or in the presence of others. And you will learn in this way sometimes to leave a virtue for a virtue, and God for God. Do not swerve to the right hand nor to the left, neither turn back. Be discreet; love to be alone, to meditate and pray, beseeching God continually that He will grant you the virtue and perfection for which you are seeking, since God Himself is the Fountain of all virtues, and of the perfection to which He hourly calls us.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Of Love towards Enemies.
ALTHOUGH Christian perfection consists in perfect obedience to the commandments of God, nevertheless it chiefly proceeds from the love of our enemies; so greatly does this precept resemble the ways of God.
If then you wish to attain to perfection by a short road, strive very accurately to observe the command of Christ, which He gives in the precept to love our enemies; love, do good to, and pray for, them, not stiffly and coldly, but with such affection, that your heart, as it were, for-
