I do love Thee with my whole heart; I love Thee above all things, more than I love myself, and I desire nothing so much as to be loved by Thee; and, recollecting how I have despised Thy love, I would willingly die of grief for having done so. Jesus, grant me perseverance in virtue. Mary, my holy mother, obtain for me the happiness of being faithful to God.
MEDITATION XIV.
The Suffering of Souls in Hell in their Mental Faculties.
1. The souls in hell will be tormented in their memory. Never, in the abode of infinite misery will they lose for a moment the remembrance of the time that was allowed them in this life to practise virtue, and to make amends for the evil which they have done; and never will it be concealed from them that there is no longer the least hope of remedy. They will call to mind the lights which they received from God, his many loving calls, his offers of pardon, all despised; and they will see that all is now at an end, and that nothing remains for them, but to suffer and to despair for all eternity.
O Jesus! Thy blood, Thy sufferings, and Thy death are my trust and hope. Alas! suffer me not to fall into hell, there to curse forever even the blessings which Thou hast bestowed upon me.
2. The souls in hell will be tormented in their under standing, by thinking continually of heaven, which they have wilfully lost through their own fault. The immense felicity enjoyed by the blessed in the abode of delights will be forever before their eyes; and this will render their life of dreadful sufferings, which they must drag on forever in the prison of despair and woe, still more tormenting.
Had I then died, my Redeemer, when I was in sin, I should now have had no hope of ever enjoying Thee in
