Exclamación VII
The Wonder of Divine Delight
The soul marvels at God's condescension in finding delight in humanity despite our frailty.
O my hope, my Father, my Creator, my true Lord and Brother! When I reflect on your saying that you delight in the children of humanity, my soul rejoices greatly. O Lord of heaven and earth! And what words these are, keeping every sinner from despair! Lord, can it be that you lack someone to delight in, so that you seek out a foul-smelling little worm like me? The voice heard at the Baptism says that you delight in your Son. Are we all to be treated as equals, then, Lord? O what immense mercy, and what utterly undeserved favor! And yet, we mortals forget all of this. Remember such misery, my God, and look upon our weakness, for you know everything.
Contemplating the Trinitarian Life
The soul turns its gaze toward the internal love and unity of the Holy Trinity.
O my soul! Consider the great delight and love the Father has in knowing his Son, the Son in knowing his Father, and the burning love with which the Holy Spirit unites himself with them—and how none of the three can be separated from this love and knowledge, because they are one and the same.1 These sovereign Persons know one another, love one another, and delight in one another. So what need is there for my love? Why do you want it, my God, or what do you gain from it?2 Oh, blessed are you! Oh, blessed are you forever, my God! May all things praise you without end, Lord, since there can be no end in you.
Resting in the Son's Knowledge of the Father
The soul finds comfort and purpose in the fact that the Son perfectly knows and loves the Father, inviting us to join in that praise.
Rejoice, my soul, because there is someone who loves your God as he deserves. Rejoice, because there is someone who knows his goodness and worth. Thank him for giving us someone on earth who knows him in this way: his only Son.3 Sheltered by this truth, you can approach him and plead that, since his Majesty delights in you, nothing on earth may be enough to keep you from delighting and rejoicing in the greatness of your God and in how worthy he is to be loved and praised; that he may help you play some small part in the blessing of his name; and that you may say with truth, “My soul magnifies and praises the Lord.”45
Read the original Latin
—¡Oh esperanza mía y Padre mío y mi Criador y mi verdadero Señor y Hermano! Cuando considero en cómo decís que son vuestros deleites con los hijos de los hombres, mucho se alegra mi alma. ¡Oh Señor del cielo y de la tierra! , ¡y qué palabras estas para no desconfiar ningún pecador! ¿Fáltaos, Señor, por ventura, con quién os deleitéis, que buscáis un gusanillo tan de mal olor como yo? Aquella voz que se oyó cuando el Bautismo, dice que os deleitáis con vuestro Hijo . ¿Pues hemos de ser todos iguales, Señor? ¡Oh, qué grandísima misericordia, y qué favor tan sin poderlo nosotras merecer!
¡Y que todo esto olvidemos los mortales! Acordaos Vos, Dios mío, de tanta miseria, y mirad nuestra flaqueza, pues de todo sois sabedor.
—¡Oh ánima mía! considera el gran deleite y gran amor que tiene el Padre en conocer a su Hijo, y el Hijo en conocer a su Padre, y la inflamación con que el Espíritu Santo se junta con ellos, y cómo ninguna se puede apartar de este amor y conocimiento, porque son una misma cosa. Estas soberanas Personas se conocen, estas se aman y unas con otras se deleitan. Pues ¿qué menester es mi amor? ¿Para qué le queréis, Dios mío, o qué ganáis? ¡Oh, bendito seáis Vos! ¡Oh, bendito seáis Vos, Dios mío para siempre! Alaben os todas las cosas, Señor, sin fin, pues no lo puede haber en Vos.
—Alégrate, ánima mía, que hay quien ame a tu Dios como Él merece. Alégrate, que hay quien conoce su bondad y valor. Dale gracias que nos dio en la tierra quien así le conoce, como a su único Hijo. Debajo de este amparo podrás llegar y suplicarle que, pues Su Majestad se deleita contigo, que todas las cosas de la tierra no sean bastante a apartarte de deleitarte tú y alegrarte en la grandeza de tu Dios y en cómo merece ser amado y alabado y que te ayude para que tú seas alguna partecita para ser bendecido su nombre, y que puedas decir con verdad: Engrandece y loa mi ánima al Señor .
Notes
- 1 ↩The feminine singular refers implicitly to none of the three divine Persons.
- 2 ↩The pronoun refers back to the speaker's love.
- 3 ↩The Spanish syntax is compressed. In context, the most plausible sense identifies God's only Son as the one on earth who knows God in this way.
- 4 ↩Literally, “some little part toward his name being blessed”; the translation preserves both the speaker's humility and her desire to contribute to God's praise.
- 5 ↩A clear echo of the Magnificat, rendered directly from the supplied Spanish rather than conformed to a comparison translation.
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