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The Servant.--Ah, pure Mother and tender Lady! When did thy great
and bitter affliction of heart which thou hadst for thy Son, come
to an end?
Answer.--Listen to my words with sorrowful compassion. When my
tender Child had expired, and when He hung suspended before me,
and all the strength of my heart was utterly broken, though I
could do nothing else, I yet cast many a glance up at my dead
Child. And when they came to take Him down, it was as if I had
been roused from the dead.
With what motherly love did I not press
them to my blood-stained cheeks, and when He was lowered down to
me, how affectionately beyond measure did I not embrace Him, dead
as He was in my arms; how did I not strain to my heart my only
love elect, and kiss again and again the fresh bleeding wounds of
His face! And yet, with what revishing beauty His entire body was
transformed, all hearts could not sufficiently contemplate.
Then did I take my tender Child on to my lap, and look at Him. I
looked at Him, and He was dead! I looked at Him again and again,
but He had neither voice nor consciousness. Then did I fetch many
a deep and heart-rending sigh, my eyes shed many tears, my whole
figure was deplorable to see, scarcely had my doleful words
reached my lips, when they were choked by grief, and only half
expressed.
Alas, alas, cried I, whenever was anyone so cruelly used on earth
as Thou, my innocent and beloved Child! Alas, my Child, my only
consolation, my only joy, how art Thou changed for me into a
source of much bitterness! Where is now the joy I experienced at
Thy birth? Where the delight I had in Thy childhood? Where the
honour and dignity I had in Thy presence? Whither is all gone that
could ravish my heart? Oh sorrow! Oh anguish! Oh bitterness! Oh
desolation of heart! truly is everything transformed into an
unfathomable desolation of heart, into a mortal agony! Alas, Thou
Child of mine, how am I so shorn of all love, how has my heart
become utterly disconsolate!
Such, and many such words of lamentation did I utter, because of
my deceased Child.
The Servant.--Oh, pure and beautiful Mother, permit me once more
to console my heart in this moment with thy dear Child, my Lord,
the Eternal Wisdom, before the hour of separation comes, before He
is snatched away from us to the grave.
Immaculate Mother! however
unfathomable thy heart's affliction was, however strongly it may
touch all other hearts, thou didst yet, methinks, find some
pleasure in the affectionate embracing of thy deceased Child.
Oh,
pure and gentle Lady, I desire that thou wouldst offer me thy dear
Child, as He appeared in death, on the lap of my soul, so that I
may experience, according to my ability, in spirit and meditation,
what thou didst in thy body.
Lord, my eyes are turned to Thee in
the most rapturous joy and in deepest, heart-felt love, such as no
only love was ever regarded with by the beloved. Lord, my soul
expands to Thy embrace even as the tender rose expands to the pure
sun's brightness. Lord, my soul stretches out her arms to Thee
with infinite desire. Oh, my loving Lord, with ardent desire I
embrace Thee today, and press Thee to the bottom of my heart and
soul, and put Thee in mind of the loving hour of Thy death, that
Thou mayest never allow it to be lost in me; and I request that
neither life, nor death, nor joy, nor sorrow, may ever separate
Thee from me.
Lord, my eyes contemplate Thy dead countenance, my
soul kisses again and again all Thy fresh bleeding wounds, all my
senses are fed with this sweet fruit beneath the living tree of
the cross; and it is reasonable, for this person consoles himself
with his innocent life, the other with his great exercises and
strict conduct; the one with this, the other with that; but, as
for me, all my consolation, all my trust, are lodged wholly in Thy
Passion, in Thy satisfaction and merited reward, and therefore, I
shall at all times carry Thy Passion joyfully in the bottom of my
heart, and show the image of it outwardly, in words and deeds, to
the utmost of my ability.
Oh, enchanting brightness of eternal light, how art Thou now for
me utterly extinguished! Extinguish in me the burning lust of all
vice. Oh, pure transparent mirror of divine majesty, how art Thou
now defiled! Cleanse away the great stains of my evil deeds! Oh,
beautiful image of paternal goodness, how art Thou befouled and
utterly defaced! Restore the defaced and faded image of my soul!
Oh, Thou innocent Lamb, how wretchedly art Thou used! Amend and
atone for my guilty, sinful life!
Oh, Thou King of all kings, and Lord of all lords, how does my
soul see
Thee lying here in so lamentable and ghastly a plight! Grant, that
since my soul now embraces Thee with sorrow and lamentation in Thy
dereliction, she may be embraced by Thee with joy in Thy
everlasting glory. Amen.
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