SR
Exclamations of the Soul to God/Book 1 · Exclamaciones del alma a Dios
Chapter 14Exclam.1.14

Exclamación XIV

The Terror and Beauty of God's Gaze

The soul reflects on the fearful reality of divine judgment versus the sweetness of being looked upon by God.

O Lord, my true God! Whoever doesn't know you doesn't love you. Oh, how deeply true this is! But what sorrow, what sorrow, Lord, for those who refuse to know you! The hour of death is a fearful thing. But oh, my Creator, how terrifying the day will be when your justice is carried out! I often reflect, my Christ, on how sweet and delightful your eyes appear to those who love you and whom you, my greatest good, choose to look upon with love.1 It seems to me that just one such tender look upon the souls you claim as your own is reward enough for many years of service. Oh, God help me—how hard it is to explain this to anyone except those who already know how sweet the Lord is!

The War of Sin and the Fear of Loss

A call to recognize sin as an act of war against God and a plea to be spared the agony of his averted face.

Oh, Christians, Christians! Consider the bond of kinship you share with this great God. Know him and don't despise him, for just as his gaze is pleasing to those who love him, it is terrifying and full of dreadful fury toward those who persecute him. Oh, how little we understand that sin is an open war against God, waged by all our senses and all the powers of our soul! The greater the power, the more betrayals it devises against its King.2 You know, my Lord, that many times I was more afraid at the thought of seeing your divine face turned against me in anger on that dreadful day of final judgment than I was of all the torments and furies of hell that I could imagine. I begged your mercy to spare me so grievous a fate, and now I beg you for the same, Lord. What could happen to me on earth that could compare with this? I would take every earthly suffering at once, my God, if only you would deliver me from so great an affliction.3 My God, don't let me lose the joy of beholding such beauty in peace.

The Remedy of Divine Mercy

An invitation to take courage in God's willingness to forgive and his desire for our friendship.

Your Father gave you to us; may I never lose such a precious treasure, my Lord. I confess, Eternal Father, that I have guarded this treasure poorly; but there is still a remedy, Lord—there is a remedy as long as we live in this exile. Oh, my brothers and sisters—brothers, sisters, and children of this God! Let’s take courage, let’s take courage, for you know that His Majesty says that as soon as we’re sorry for having offended him, he will no longer remember our sins and wicked deeds. Oh, such boundless mercy! What more could we want? Is there anyone who wouldn’t be ashamed to ask for so much? Now is the time to accept what this merciful Lord, our God, is giving us. Since he wants our friendship, who would refuse it to the one who did not refuse to shed all his blood and give his life for us? Remember, what he asks is nothing, and doing it is for our own good.

The Madness of Earthly Attachment

A lament over the human tendency to value trivial earthly things more than the eternal majesty of God.

Oh, God help me, Lord! Oh, what hardness of heart! Oh, what madness and blindness! If we lose some small thing—a needle, or a hawk that does nothing more for us than give our eyes a moment's pleasure as we watch it fly—we're upset; yet we aren't grieved at the thought of losing that mighty eagle, the majesty of God, and a kingdom where our joy in him will never end!4 What is this? What is this? I don't understand it. My God, heal us of such terrible madness and blindness.

Read the original Latin

—¡Oh Señor y verdadero Dios mío! Quien no os conoce, no os ama. ¡Oh, qué gran verdad es esta! Mas ¡ay dolor, ay dolor, Señor, de los que no os quieren conocer! Temerosa cosa es la hora de la muerte. Mas ¡ay, ay, Criador mío, cuán espantoso será el día adonde se haya de ejecutar vuestra justicia! Considero yo muchas veces, Cristo mío, cuán sabrosos y cuán deleitosos se muestran vuestros ojos a quien os ama y Vos, bien mío, queréis mirar con amor. Paréceme que sola una vez de este mirar tan suave a las almas que tenéis por vuestras, basta por premio de muchos años de servicio.

¡Oh válgame Dios, qué mal se puede dar esto a entender, sino a los que ya han entendido cuán suave es el Señor!

—¡Oh cristianos, cristianos! , mirad la hermandad que tenéis con este gran Dios; conocedle y no le menospreciéis, que así como este mirar es agradable para sus amadores, es terrible con espantable furia para sus perseguidores. ¡Oh, que no entendemos que es el pecado una guerra campal contra Dios de todos nuestros sentidos y potencias del alma! El que más puede, más traiciones inventa contra su Rey. Ya sabéis, Señor mío, que muchas veces me hacía a mí más temor acordarme si había de ver vuestro divino rostro airado contra mí en este espantoso día del juicio final que todas las penas y furias del infierno que se me representaban; y os suplicaba me valiese vuestra misericordia de cosa tan lastimosa para mí, y así os lo suplico ahora, Señor. ¿Qué me puede venir en la tierra que llegue a esto? Todo junto lo quiero, mi Dios, y libradme de tan grande aflicción. No deje yo, mi Dios, no deje de gozar de tanta hermosura en paz.

Vuestro Padre nos dio a Vos, no pierda yo, Señor mío, joya tan preciosa. Confieso, Padre Eterno, que la he guardado mal; mas aún remedio hay, Señor, remedio hay, mientras vivimos en este destierro.

—¡Oh hermanos, oh hermanos e hijos de este Dios! Esforcémonos, esforcémonos, pues sabéis que dice Su Majestad que en pesándonos de haberle ofendido no se acordará de nuestras culpas y maldades. ¡Oh piedad tan sin medida! ¿Qué más queremos? ¿Por ventura hay quien no tuviera vergüenza de pedir tanto? Ahora es tiempo de tomar lo que nos da este Señor piadoso y Dios nuestro. Pues quiere amistades ¿quién las negará a quien no negó derramar toda su sangre y perder la vida por nosotros? Mirad que no es nada lo que pide, que por nuestro provecho nos está bien el hacerlo.

—¡Oh, válgame Dios, Señor! ¡Oh, qué dureza! ¡Oh, qué desatino y ceguedad! Que si se pierde una cosa, una aguja o un gavilán, que no aprovecha de más de dar un gustillo a la vista de verle volar por el aire, nos da pena, ¡y que no la tengamos de perder esta águila caudalosa de la majestad de Dios y un reino que no ha de tener fin el gozarle! ¿Qué es esto? ¿Qué es esto? Yo no lo entiendo. Remediad, Dios mío, tan gran desatino y ceguedad.

Notes

  1. 1Rendered as “my greatest good,” since bien here names Christ as the speaker’s supreme good rather than merely addressing him as something good.
  2. 2The phrase refers back to the soul's senses and powers: the more capable a faculty is, the more ways it can betray God.
  3. 3Literally, “I want it all together”; in context, the speaker accepts every earthly suffering rather than face God's anger.
  4. 4The source's striking image of a powerful eagle is retained as an image of God's majesty.

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