low me. Of what art thou afraid? My ways are beautiful ways;[1] and when thou hast entered there, thy steps shall not be straitened: I have made the crooked straight, and the rough ways plain.[2] My yoke is easy, and my burden light. I, who am thy guide, will also be thy helper, and at the last thy exceeding great reward.
§ 12. Conclusion and thanksgiving for the Life and Passion of Christ.
From St. Bernard.
Let every tongue, O Father, give thee thanks for the superabundance of thy love, because thou sparedst not the only Son of thy heart, but deliveredst him to death for us all, that we might have him as a faithful Advocate in thy presence in heaven.
For behold, he stands for us before thee, crowned with glory and honour at the right hand of thy Majesty, for he is our flesh and our brother. Look, O Lord, upon the face of thy Christ, who became obedient to thee even to the death of the Cross; nor let the scars of his wounds depart from thy eyes for ever, that thou mayest remember how great is the satisfaction which thou hast received from him.
And what thanks shall a man like me, a poor creature of dust, render thee, O Lord Jesus, most Mighty and Jealous?[3] For what shouldst thou have done for my salvation that thou hast not done? From the sole of thy foot to the crown of thy head, thou hast sunk thy whole self in the waters of suffering, that thou mightst draw me entirely out of them; and they have entered even into thy soul, for thou hast given even thy own soul to death, that thou mightst restore to me mine which I had lost.
Behold, then, thou hast laid me under a twofold obligation. For I am thy debtor, both for thy own life, which thou hast given for me, and also for my own which thou hast given to me, once in creation, and once in redemption. I have nothing but it that I can give thee more justly in return.
But for thy precious soul, that was so afflicted, I know not what sufficient requital can be made by a man. For though I should give thee for it the heaven and the earth, with all the furniture of them, assuredly I could not even so reach the measure of my debt. But it is of thy bounty, O Lord, that I give thee myself, which I both owe and can give.
I must love thee, O Lord, with my whole heart, my whole soul, and my whole
