REMEMBER THE INNUMERABLE GIFTS OF GOD
THE DISCIPLE
OPEN my heart, O Lord, to Your law and teach me to walk in the
way of Your commandments. Let me understand Your will. Let me remember
Your blessings -- all of them and each single one of them -- with
great reverence and care so that henceforth I may return worthy thanks
for them. I know that I am unable to give due thanks for even the
least of Your gifts. I am unworthy of the benefits You have given me,
and when I consider Your generosity my spirit faints away before its
greatness. All that we have of soul and body, whatever we possess
interiorly or exteriorly, by nature or by grace, are Your gifts and
they proclaim Your goodness and mercy from which we have received all
good things.
If one receives more and another less, yet all are Yours and
without You nothing can be received. He who receives greater things
cannot glory in his own merit or consider himself above others or
behave insolently toward those who receive less. He who attributes
less to himself and is the more humble and devout in returning thanks
is indeed the greater and the better, while he who considers himself
lower than all men and judges himself to be the least worthy, is the
more fit to receive the greater blessing.
He, on the other hand, who has received fewer gifts should not
be sad or impatient or envious of the richer man. Instead he should
turn his mind to You and offer You the greatest praise because You
give so bountifully, so freely and willingly, without regard to
persons. All things come from You; therefore, You are to be praised in
all things. You know what is good for each of us; and why one should
receive less and another more is not for us to judge, but for You Who
have marked every man's merits.
Therefore, O Lord God, I consider it a great blessing not to
have many things which human judgment holds praiseworthy and glorious,
for one who realizes his own poverty and vileness should not be sad or
downcast at it, but rather consoled and happy because You, O God, have
chosen the poor, the humble, and the despised in this world to be Your
friends and servants. The truth of this is witnessed by Your Apostles,
whom You made princes over all the world. Yet they lived in this world
without complaining, so humble and simple, so free from malice and
deceit, that they were happy even to suffer reproach for Your name and
to embrace with great affection that which the world abhors.
A man who loves You and recognizes Your benefits, therefore,
should be gladdened by nothing so much as by Your will, by the good
pleasure of Your eternal decree. With this he should be so contented
and consoled that he would wish to be the least as others wish to be
the greatest; that he would be as peaceful and satisfied in the last
place as in the first, and as willing to be despised, unknown and
forgotten, as to be honored by others and to have more fame than they.
He should prefer Your will and the love of Your honor to all else, and
it should comfort him more than all the benefits which have been, or
will be, given him. |
Of the recollection of God's manifold benefits
Open, O Lord, my heart in Thy law, and teach me
to walk in the way of Thy commandments. Grant me to understand Thy
will and to be mindful of Thy benefits, both general and special, with
great reverence and diligent meditation, that thus I may be able
worthily to give Thee thanks. Yet I know and confess that I cannot
render Thee due praises for the least of Thy mercies. I am less than
the least of all the good things which Thou gavest me; and when I
consider Thy majesty, my spirit faileth because of the greatness
thereof.
2. All things which we have in the soul and in
the body, and whatsoever things we possess, whether outwardly or
inwardly, naturally or supernaturally, are Thy good gifts, and prove
Thee, from whom we have received them all, to be good, gentle, and
kind. Although one receiveth many things, and another fewer, yet all
are Thine, and without Thee not even the least thing can be
possessed. He who hath received greater cannot boast that it is of
his own merit, nor lift himself up above others, nor contemn those
beneath him; for he is the greater and the better who ascribeth least
to himself, and in giving thanks is the humbler and more devout; and
he who holdeth himself to be viler than all, and judgeth himself to be
the more unworthy, is the apter for receiving greater things.
3. But he who hath received fewer gifts, ought
not to be cast down, nor to take it amiss, nor to envy him who is
richer; but rather ought he to look unto Thee, and to greatly extol
Thy goodness, for Thou pourest forth Thy gifts so richly, so freely
and largely, without respect of persons. All things come of Thee;
therefore in all things shalt thou be praised. Thou knowest what is
best to be given to each; and why this man hath less, and that more,
is not for us but for Thee to understand, for unto Thee each man's
deservings are fully known.
4. Wherefore, O Lord God, I reckon it even a
great benefit, not to have many things, whence praise and glory may
appear outwardly, and after the thought of men. For so it is that he
who considereth his own poverty and vileness, ought not only to draw
therefrom no grief or sorrow, or sadness of spirit, but rather comfort
and cheerfulness; because Thou, Lord, hast chosen the poor and humble,
and those who are poor in this world, to be Thy friends and
acquaintance. So give all Thine apostles witness whom Thou hast made
princes in all lands. Yet they had their conversation in this world
blameless, so humble and meek, without any malice or deceit, that they
even rejoiced to suffer rebukes for Thy Name's sake,(1) and what
things the world hateth, they embraced with great joy.
5. Therefore ought nothing so much to rejoice him
who loveth Thee and knoweth Thy benefits, as Thy will in him, and the
good pleasure of Thine eternal Providence, wherewith he ought to be so
contented and comforted, that he would as willingly be the least as
any other would be the greatest, as peaceable and contented in the
lowest as in the highest place, and as willingly held of small and low
account and of no name or reputation as to be more honourable and
greater in the world than others. For Thy will and the love of Thine
honour ought to go before all things, and to please and comfort him
more, than all benefits that are given or may be given to himself. |