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But finally, methinks S. Paul makes the most
forcible, pressing and admirable argument that ever
was made, to urge us all to the ecstasy and rapture
of life and operation.
Hear, Theotimus, I beseech you; be attentive and
weigh the force and efficacy of the ardent and
heavenly words of this Apostle, ravished and
transported with the love of his Master. Speaking
then of himself (and the like is to be said of
everyone), the charity, says he, of Christ presseth
us.(1) Yes, Theotimus, nothing so much presses man's
heart as love; if a man know that he is beloved, be
it by whom it may, he is pressed to love in his turn.
But if a common man be beloved by a great lord, he is
much more pressed; and if by a great monarch, how
much more yet?
And now, I pray you, knowing well that Jesus
Christ, the true eternal God omnipotent, has loved us
even to suffering death for us, and the death of the
cross --- is not this, O my dear Theotimus, to have
our hearts under the press, and to feel them strongly
pressed, and to feel love pressed out of them by
violence and constraint, which is so much the more
violent by how much it is more lovable and beloved!
But how does this divine lover press us? The
charity of Christ presseth us, says his holy Apostle,
judging this. What means that judging this? It means
that our Saviour's charity presses us then especially
when we judge, consider, ponder, meditate, and attend
to, the resolution of this question which faith
gives. And what resolution?
Mark, my good Theotimus, how he proceeds, graving,
fixing and stamping his conception on our hearts.
Judging this, says he; and what? That if one died for
all, then all were dead, and Jesus Christ died for
all. It is true, indeed: if one Jesus Christ died for
all, all then are dead in the person of this only
Saviour who died for them, and his death is to be
imputed unto them, since it was endured for them and
in consideration of them.
But what follows from this? Methinks I hear that
apostolic mouth, as with a peal of thunder startling
the ears of our hearts! That follows then, O
Christians, which Jesus Christ dying for us desired
of us. And what did he desire of us but that we
should be conformed unto him, to the end, says the
Apostle, that those who live may not now live to
themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose
again.
True God! Theotimus, how powerful a consequence is
this in the matter of love! Jesus Christ died for us;
by his death he has given us life; we only live
because he died; he died for us, as ours, and in us;
our life then is no more ours, but his who has
purchased it for us by his death: we are therefore no
more to live to ourselves but to him, nor in
ourselves but in him, nor for ourselves but for him.
A maiden of the Isle of Sestos had brought up a
young eagle with the care children are wont to bestow
upon such affairs; the eagle being come to its full
growth began little by little to fly and to chase
birds, according to its natural instinct; then
getting more strength it seized upon wild beasts,
never failing faithfully to take home the prey to its
dear mistress, as in acknowledgment of the bringing
up which it had had from her. Now it happened upon a
day that this young damsel died, while the poor eagle
was on the hunt, and her body, according to the
custom of that time and country, was publicly placed
upon the funeral pile to be burnt; when even as the
flame began to seize upon her the eagle came up with
strong and eager flight, and, when it beheld this
unlooked-for and sad spectacle, pierced with grief,
it opened its talons, let fall its prey, and spread
itself upon its poor beloved mistress; and covering
her with its wings, as it were to defend her from the
fire, or for pity's sake to embrace her, it remained
there constant and immovable, courageously dying and
burning with her; the ardour of its affection not
giving way to flames and ardours of fire, that so it
might become the victim and holocaust of its brave
and prodigious love, as its mistress was of death and
fire.
O Theotimus! To what a high flight this eagle
moves us! Our Saviour has bred us up from our tender
youth, yea he formed us and received us as a loving
nurse into the arms of his divine Providence, even
from the instant of our conception.
Not being yet, thy holy hand did make me;
Scarce born, into thy arms thy love did take me.
He made us his own by Baptism, and tenderly
nourishes both our soul and our body with an
incomprehensible love; to purchase us life he
suffered death, he has fed us with his own flesh and
blood. Ah! what remains then, my dear Theotimus, what
conclusion are we to draw from this, except that
those who live should live no more to themselves but
to him that died for them: that is to say, that we
should consecrate all the moments of our life to the
divine love of our Saviour's death, bringing home to
his glory all our prey, all our conquests, all our
actions, all our thoughts, and all our affections.
Let us behold him, Theotimus, this heavenly
Redeemer, extended upon the cross as upon a funeral
pile of honour, where he dies of love for us, yea of
a love more dolorous than death itself, or a death
more amorous than love itself. Ah! why do we not
spiritually cast ourselves upon him to die upon the
cross with him, who has truly willed to die for love
of us? I will hold him, should we say, if we had the
eagle's generosity, and will never depart from him. I
will die with him and burn in the flames of his love,
one and the same fire shall consume this divine
Creator and his poor creature. My Jesus is wholly
mine, and I am wholly his: I will live and die upon
his breast, nor life nor death shall ever separate me
from him.
Thus then is made the holy ecstasy of true love,
when, we live not according to human reason and
inclinations, but above them, following the
inspirations and instincts of the divine Saviour of
our souls.
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