Desiderium amantis ad Deum explicatur: et amor mundi detestabilis multis exemplis declaratur; et quod memoria Dei in mundi amatoribus non moratur

Desiderium amantis ad Deum explicatur: et amor mundi detestabilis multis exemplis declaratur; et quod memoria Dei in mundi amatoribus non moratur

With an unbreakable bond, I bind your sweet love, Jesus, in me, seeking the treasure I long for, and I continually find a longing, because I never cease to thirst for you: hence, like the wind, my pain vanishes, for my reward is the melody that no one among men sees; it turns into a song of persuasion for my inner nature, and I languish with love, ready to die. The grandeur of gifts delights clearly and torments with the joy of love's success, while they come close and, by receiving, refresh. But they lack what would show the beloved to the languishing, so that they wound the longing, and they do not yet fully heal the pain; rather, they increase it because as love grows, longing intensifies. My life is in pain, and my years are spent in groaning, because I am separated from the beloved, and the desire for death is delayed, and the remedy for the wretched is held back; I rise up in cries and say: Woe to me, for my sojourn has been prolonged. Love is what torments; love is what delights. It torments: because what is deeply loved is not quickly given; it delights: because it restores hope and pours in an inestimable comfort in the very ardor of love. Indeed, the intense longing grows when the joy of love fills the soul with the song of songs, and the fervor provides a sweet increase; nor does it now please me as it did before to think of life and death. The flower in which love flourishes cannot be extinguished; rather, the glory that continually grows in the lover makes it evident that death and melody exist together as one. For when I arrive at death, the fullness of my blessedness begins in me, which the Almighty, whom I love, is about to grant me. My seat is indeed prepared in a place where love does not know how to grow cold or decline into lethargy. Indeed, his love ignites my heart, because I can feel his fire, which gives strength to my soul that does not know weariness, as I remain completely grounded in the comfort of love. I find myself lacking in love and spend all my time in holy longings: and in this, I won’t be ashamed before the angels of God, to whose company I ardently aspire, with whom I expect to be fulfilled in firm hope, and rather, the joyful praise will now refresh my weary spirit, and the blessed vision will clearly reveal what I have loved. But truly, those whose days have been consumed in vanity and whose years have passed in haste are utterly lost, without the fruit of love; they languish in unclean love, and for the beauty of decaying flesh, which is nothing but a veil of decay and corruption, they are led to death without sweetness; over them also the fire of desire and anger has fallen, and they have not seen the sun of eternal light. They go to destruction, walking after vanity; they have become vain like the things they loved. Therefore, when they are judged, they will see Christ as harsh and unbearable to their eyes, because they did not sense Him as sweet in their hearts during this life. But those who find sweetness in Him here will undoubtedly see Him as delightful there. For what we are now is how He will appear to us then; to those who love Him, He is lovable and desirable, but to those who do not love Him, He is hateful and cruel. This change is not due to any alteration on His part, but rather to our own. He himself is unchanging, but every creature will see him as it deserves. The object of the will reveals itself to each person as they desire. Therefore, in the same moment, He will appear as placated to the righteous and as angry to the unrighteous. A rational love indeed acts within the soul, so that it will be judged according to whether it is good or evil. Nothing is as effective in pressing down the joy of eternity as the love of Christ, and nothing leads to the ultimate damnation more than the love of the world. Therefore, let eternal love inflame our minds, and let the vile affection for carnal desires be cast far away. May the sweetness of heavenly life intoxicate us, so that we do not find pleasure in loving the bitter sweetness of this present life, because it is the poison of dragons, the worst malignity or bitterness of deceit, the wine of the wicked; for those who drink it become so intoxicated that they do not pay attention to what will happen to them; and the venom of asps, which is a deadly drink for them, adds to their incurable malice. The world has deceitful delights of misery, empty riches, harmful pleasures, toxic joys, false happiness, and insane desires; it offers a love that is foolish, hateful, dark, beginning in the noon and ending in eternal night. It also has tasteless salt, insipid flavor, and a beauty that is ugly; a horrible friendship that soothes in the morning but stings in the evening; bitter honey and a fruit that brings death. It has a rose of foul odor, joy of lamentation, melody of misery, a proclamation of disdain, truly the nectar of death, an ornament of abomination, a leading seducer, a prince of oppression. It has a groaning gem, a praise that mocks, a lily of decay, a sound of clamor, a putrid appearance, a discordant harmony, a snow that melts away, a desolate comfort, and a kingdom that leaves one in want. It has a more powerful, bellowing dove; a mournful voice, an ignorant lamb; a wolf-like skin covering a sheep; and a dove that is fiercer than a wild beast. Therefore, let us flee from the corrupt and impure love, which has a stinging back, even if its appearance is alluring; its flower is bitter, and it bears a fruit that, though hidden, is poisonous; its taste separates the soul from God, and its bath burns with the fire of hell; its gold turns to ashes, and its incense emits a sulfurous flame. This is a love that lacks mercy, full of madness and delicacy; it does not allow the soul bound to it to join the company of the saints or to delight in divine love. For those whose hearts are inclined toward the love of this world are burdened and find it intolerable to think about God, even though His memory is most sweet, and it becomes wonderfully delightful to those who reflect on Him. If they start to think about God, their minds quickly slip away, and they return to their former thoughts, in which they had rested for a long time without effort. They are bound by their own bad habits, nor can they taste the food of angels with minds that are so weak and impure, without a great and prolonged exercise of spiritual thoughts and a turning away from bodily imaginations. They have a corrupted palate of the heart, infected by the fever of wicked love, which is why they cannot. They cannot sense the sweetness of heavenly glory. Just as, if good thoughts ever come to their minds, they don't linger there; once the signs of divine inspiration are expelled through the root of evil, they pass from bad to worse, and fall into even greater condemnation, the more they are touched by good things, yet do not settle in them. So, those chosen who are completely consumed by divine love and who cling inseparably to Christ, if ever they are troubled by evil or impure thoughts, and if these thoughts try to enter their minds, they quickly cast them aside, looking up to heaven, and extinguish them with the fervor of their intentions; indeed, they stir themselves up through good habits, so that they take in nothing earthly or anything poisonous and sweet that might delight them. Indeed, the perfect love that burns within does not feel sin or any wicked pleasure; rather, it rejoices in its God, and neither anguish nor impurity disturbs it.