be refreshed, He it is Whom, above all, my mind desireth to love; He it is from Whose Presence my soul, with mighty groanings, complaineth that it is separated.

But while I long for the Son, do I at all neglect the Father? Be it far from me. For how can this be, when nothing else is the Father That begat, than the Son Who is begotten; that Substance is the Father which is the Son, though He is not the same Person Who is the Father, as He Who is the Son. And how can I long for the Father and the Son, without the Love of the Father and the Son, Who is nothing else than what the Father is and the Son is, though He is another Person than the Father and the Son? In no way.

Say then, O my soul, say to thy Creator, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, One GOD, "I have sought Thy Face; Thy Face, LORD, will I seek!" Behold, O LORD, I ask, I seek, I knock; when shall I find? when shall I receive? when shall it be opened unto me? To Thee, O LORD, are open the secrets of my heart: Thou seest that the presence of Thy Countenance is the only hope of my comfort. Ah me! how far am I cast forth from the unspeakable joy of that Countenance! How then shall I be comforted? How, unless that Beauty of Thy Countenance appear, whereon hangeth the hope of all my comfort? Let then, O LORD, "mine eyes long sore for Thy Word, saying, O when wilt Thou comfort me?"e Listen, O LORD, to the one only desire of my soul; listen to the groaning of my heart, and put before Thy Sight my tears, which I shed in the grief wherewith my soul is stricken, failing for the absence of Thy Countenance; my life is waxen old with heaviness, and my years with mourning." Have mercy upon me, O LORD, f Ps. xxxi. 11.

e Ps. cxix. 82.

"for

have mercy upon me; in season and out of season will I cry unto Thee: nor will I leave Thee until Thou make me glad with the presence of Thy Countenance; I will refuse myself all comfort. By grief alone for the absence of Thy Countenance will I chasten myself.

O glorious Countenance ! O bright Face of GOD! So long as I shall not see Thee, my soul will remain in darkness. O hard, O bitter absence of the Face of GOD, how long wilt Thou torment me? O burdensome life of this vain world, how long wilt Thou keep my soul, unhappy in dwelling in thee, shut up, as in a prison, in thy vanities? O my soul, what delighteth thee in this mortal life? Why hastest thou not to come to the happiness of the Vision of GoD, from Which by the deserts of thy fault thou art severed? Wherefore dost thou not shudder to be absent from the Face of God, and to be fettered in the impure chains of this world? Wherefore with all thine affection desirest thou not to share in the joys of that happy life, and to be away from the filthiness of this foul life? Why fliest thou not from this? why runnest thou not to that? If this life be given thee for an intermediate time, why delayest thou? why stayest thou to offer quickly such penitence to GoD, that He may pardon thy sins and mercifully take thee to Himself?

But to Thee, O GOD, do I turn, that Thy Mercy may look upon me, and strengthen my mind in its longing for Thy Countenance, and Thy Clemency may restore me persevering; for I believe that I shall not be kept away from Thy Bliss, if I be not wearied with longing.

May my soul continually long for the Glory of Thy Countenance, may my mind love it, may my thoughts stretch out to it, the whole affection of my heart

sigh for it, my whole substance be occupied with love for it; only, while I bear this mortal body, let Thy Love bid me to be rooted in Thy Fear, to be bold in Thy Love, to be learned in Thy Law, to be devoted to Thy Commandments, to be most fervent in longing for Thy Promises, to trample under foot vices, and to practice virtues, wherewith adorned, I may attain both ever to please Thee, and with all speed happily to reach Thee, where there is Glory to Thee without end, Praise without limit, Honour for ever. Amen.

S. Anselm's Meditations.

MEDITATION XVII. [XXI.]

ADDRESS TO ALMIGHTY GOD;a

OR TRUTH SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND GOD."

COME now, hapless man, flee awhile thine earthly occupations, hide thyself a space from thy troublous thoughts, cast away now thy burdensome cares, and defer thy toilsome engagements. Be at leisure awhile for GOD, and rest awhile in Him. Enter into the chamber of thy mind; shut out all else beside GOD, and what may aid thee to seek Him; and when thou hast shut to the door, seek Him, and say now, O my whole soul, say now to GoD, "I seek Thy Face, Thy Face, O LORD, will I seek."

66

But

Come then now, O LORD my GOD, teach Thou my heart where and how to seek Thee, where and how to find Thee. LORD, if here Thou art not, where shall I seek Thee absent? But if Thou art everywhere, why see I not Thee present? truly Thou dwellest in the light which none can approach unto; and where is that light? or how shall I approach to the light which none can approach unto? or who shall guide me and bring me

a Collected from the Proslogion of S. Anselm.

to it, that in it I may see Thee? Lastly, by what signs, under what appearance shall I seek Thee? I have never seen Thee, O LORD my GoD, I know not Thy Face. What shall he do, O LORD most highest, what shall Thy exile so far from Thee do? What shall Thy servant, distressed with love for Thee, and cast away far from Thy presence, do? He panteth to see Thee, and Thy Face is too far distant from him: he longeth to approach Thee, and Thy dwelling none can approach unto: he desireth to find Thee, and he knoweth not Thy place; he striveth to find Thee, and he knoweth not Thy Countenance.

Alas, what has he What is gone, and

LORD, Thou art my GoD and my LORD, and I have never seen Thee. Thou hast made me, and re-made me, and all my goods Thou hast conferred upon me, and as yet I know Thee not. Finally, I was made to see Thee, and as yet I have not done that for which I was made. O miserable lot of man, that man has lost that for which he was made. O hard, O dreadful downfall. lost, and what has he found? what has remained? He has lost the bliss for which he was made; he has found misery, for which he was not made. That is gone, without which nothing is happy; that has remained, which in itself is only miserable. Man then ate the bread of Angels, which now he hungreth after; he now eateth the bread of sorrows, which then he knew not. Ah, common grief of mankind, universal wailing of the sons of Adam ! He nauseated his fulness; we sigh over our hunger. He had plenty; we are beggars. He happily possessed, and miserably abandoned; we unhappily lack, and piteously long, and alas! remain empty. Why kept he not for us, when he easily could, what we so grievously want? Why hath he thus shut out the light from us, and covered