heaven! Thou gavest me life that I might gain heaven, and now have I lost heaven for something worse than nothing, by losing Thy grace! I love Thee, O God, and I am sorry for having offended Thee; and I hope, through the merits of Thy Passion, to come to love Thee forever in heaven.
3. The souls in hell will be tormented in their will, by being denied everything which they desire, and by having every punishment inflicted upon them which they do not desire. They will never have anything which they wish for, but everything which they abhor. They will long to rid themselves of their torments and to find peace; but there will be no peace for them; they will be forced to dwell in the midst of their torments forever. Their perverse will, by hating God when they know him to be the supreme good, and worthy of infinite love, will become their greatest torment.
So it is, my God; Thou art an infinite good and worthy of infinite love, and I have exchanged Thee for nothing! Oh that I had died and had not offered Thee so grievous an injury! I love Thee, my sovereign good. Have pity on me and suffer me not to be again ungrateful to Thee! I renounce all the delights of this world, and embrace Thee as my only good. I will be forever Thine; be Thou forever mine. This is my hope, my God, my love, and my all. Deus mens et omnia. O Mary! thou art all-powerful with God; obtain for me the grace of leading a holy life.
MEDITATION XV.
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
i. Jesus is the mediator of justice; Mary obtains for us grace; for, as St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure, St. Bernardine of Sienna, St. Germanus, St. Antoninus, and others say, it is the will of God to dispense through the hands
