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The Servant.--Lord, if I forget Thy worth, Thy gifts, Thy
benefits, and all things, still one thing moves me and goes to my
very heart; this is, when I well reflect not only on the way of
our salvation, but also on its unfathomably faithful way. Dear
Lord, many a one so bestows a gift on another, that his love and
faith are better known by his way than by his gift. A small gift
in a faithful way is often better than a great one without this
way.
Now Lord, not only is Thy gift so great, but also the way of
it, methinks, is so unfathomably faithful. Thou didst not only suffer death for me, but Thou didst also seek whatever is deepest
in love, whatever is most intimate and hidden, in which suffering
can or may be experienced. Thou didst really do as though Thou
hadst said: Behold all hearts, if ever a heart was so full of
love; look on all my limbs; the noblest limb I have is my heart;
my very heart have I permitted to be pierced through, to be slain
and consumed, and bruised into small pieces, that nothing in me or
upon me might remain unbestowed, so that ye might know my love.
Alas! Lord, how was it in Thy mind, or what were Thy thoughts?
Might one not indeed learn something farther on this head?
Eternal Wisdom.--Never was there a thirsty mouth that
longed so ardently for the cool fountain, nor a dying man for the
pleasant days of life, as I longed to help all sinners and to
render Myself beloved of them. Sooner couldst thou recall the days
that are gone, sooner couldst thou make green all withered
flowers, and gather up every drop of rain, than possess the power
to measure the love which I bear to thee and all mankind.
And, therefore, was I so covered with marks of love that one could
not have placed the small point of a needle on any spot of My
lacerated body that had not its particular love-mark. My right arm
stretched out; My left very grievously distended; My right foot
perforated; My left cruelly transfixed; that I hung fainting, and
in great distress of My divine limbs; all My delicate members were
immovably fastened to the hard bed of the cross. My hot blood,
because of My anguish, burst forth in many a wild gush, which
overflowed My expiring body, so that it was a most piteous sight
to see. Behold a lamentable thing! My young, My fair and blooming
body began to fade, to wither and pine away, My weary and tender
back had a hard pillow on the rough cross, My heavy body gave way,
My whole frame was gashed with wounds, and like one great sore,
and all this My loving heart willingly endured.
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