Quod nemo cito pertingit ad summam deuocionem neque dulcedine contemplacionis debriatur

Quod nemo cito pertingit ad summam deuocionem neque dulcedine contemplacionis debriatur

It's clear to those who love that in the early years, no one reaches the height of devotion or is intoxicated by the sweetness of contemplation. Indeed, very rarely and only momentarily is one allowed to taste something of the divine, and gradually, as one progresses, one is strengthened in spirit. Then, when one begins to take on the weight of virtue and ascends to the stability of the mind, as the present instability allows, a certain perfection is attained through great labors, so that joy may be felt in divine love. However, it seems that all great and noble souls, in virtue, immediately feel the warmth of divine love, whether created or uncreated, and, melting in the immense fire of love, sing within themselves a song of divine praise. This mystery is hidden from many, but revealed to a few and to those who are especially chosen. Because this level is higher, it has fewer inventors in this world. Indeed, we rarely find anyone holy or even perfect in this life who is so enraptured by love that they are lifted into contemplation to the point of being raised by joyful song, so that they might receive within themselves the infused heavenly sound, and praise God as if resonating with melody, creating sweet harmonies, and composing many spiritual songs in praise of God, and so that they might truly feel within themselves the ardor of God's love. Yet it’s remarkable if anyone would dare to be considered contemplative in any other way, because the psalmist, transforming himself into the person of a contemplative man, says: "I will go into the house of God with a voice of exultation and confession, namely, the praise which is the sound of feasting, from the sweetness of the heavenly joy."^✦ Moreover, those who are perfected and taken into this abundance of eternal friendship live imbued with the sweet and indelible delight of the glorious cup of love, and they draw forth a joyful fervor into their hearts from the hidden depths of blessedness. Those who are continually joined to the eternal banquet have an inestimable comfort. And this indeed is the nourishment that exists for those who love, a height of eternal inheritance, which certainly comes to pass in this exile. And in the meantime, this won't seem inappropriate to them, so that they may be sustained for several years, who are to be raised up inseparably to the heavenly seats. Therefore, they are chosen from all flesh to be most beloved in the sight of the Creator and to be crowned most gloriously, burning like the seraphim in the heights. Their bodies sat in solitude, and their minds were among the angels, walking toward the beloved. They sang most sweetly the oracle of eternal love in Jesus, rejoicing: O honeyed ardor, sweeter than all delights, more delightful than all works! O my God, O my love: come to me, pierced by your love, wounded by your beauty; come, I say, and comfort the one who is languishing: show yourself, O medicine, to me, a wretched lover. In you is all my desire, everything my heart longs for. My soul longs for you; my flesh thirsts for you, yet you do not open to me. Instead, you turn away your face, you close your mouth, you pass by and decline, and you laugh at the innocent's pain. Yet, in the meantime, you draw your lovers away from all earthly things, lifting them above every worldly desire, making them capable of your love and effective in loving. Therefore, in a spiritual song, they offer praises to you that burst forth from the fire of love, and they feel the dart of love with sweetness. Behold, O eternal and beloved love, which lifts us from the depths and presents us so often to the sight of divine majesty! Come to me, my beloved! Whatever I had for you, I gave; but I also refused to hold on to it, so that you might have a dwelling in my soul and comfort it, nor let me ever be abandoned by you, whom I see burning with such great desire, and may I continually cling to you in your embrace, participating in the most ardent longing; grant that I may love you, rest in you, so that I may deserve to see you in your kingdom without end. Amen.