where, as in the sacred temple of thy glory. Thou hast, however, sanctified my soul, which is much more noble and capacious than the corporeal world, like a temple, m a particular manner to thy worship, and consecrated it to be an habitation for thyself, and thus I am able to behold thee dwelling in the innermost recesses of my soul; here, in holy silence, I may converse with thee thyself; here I may enjoy myself with thee; here I may propitiate thee with my service; here adore thee, here ask thee to bestow on me this holiness and purity. And this, O my Lord, I now desire to do, and to obtain, with my whole heart, and with all the powers of my soul.
4. I will endeavour, too, O Lord, and I now propose to myself, with my whole strength, to flee from all impure and inordinate affections and all the stains of the soul, by which a temple sacred to thee might be violated and profaned; because, O Lord, as doubtless thou necessarily very much lovest thine own holiness, so, of necessity, thou greatly hatest sin, and abhorrest all impurity.
5. Lastly, to thee, as the author, the end, the rule, and the pattern of all holiness, from which, to which, and according to which, all things in heaven and earth are sanctified, be glory, blessing, and thanksgiving, from all creatures in heaven and earth. Amen.
1. O my Lord, thou art called good by reason of thy natural perfection, by reason of thy holiness, and by reason or thy beneficence, which may be called bounty. This is no more than thy natural inclination to communicate thy blessings to inferior things and creatures, according to the capacity of each.
Oh, how truly beautiful dost thou show thyself, O Lord! When thou wert in need of nothing, and wert all-sufficient to thyself, thou didst nevertheless create all things out of nothing, and draw them forth out of the abyss of their nothingness; giving them essence, form, beauty, desire for good and aversion for evil, strength, functions, force, motion, situation, measure, order, perfection, and bounds, as was proper and agreeable for each. And this thou didst, not for any convenience or benefit to thyself, but to them, that they might participate in thy blessings, each according to his capacity, and taste the fruit of thy bounty. Therefore all things
- ↑ Luke vi. 35
