Tractatus Prior, Pars Prior, Cap. 15. De sancta et occulta vita humilis lesu.

Tractatus Prior, Pars Prior, Cap. 15. De sancta et occulta vita humilis lesu.

I bless you and give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, for the most excellent holiness of your life, which you led with your parents in Nazareth for a long time in secret, from the twelfth year until the thirtieth year of your life, living with them in great poverty, humility, and obedience. I praise and exalt you with great affection of my heart for your humble concealment among men and your fellow townspeople, that you have deemed it worthy to be called the son of a carpenter and to be spoken of, and you have not publicly shown any sign of divinity to make your Godhead known. O humility of Christ, how greatly you confound the pride of my vanity and how clearly you remind me to flee from human appearances, to avoid the crowds of the worldly, to choose to live in secret, to desire to be known only by God, to care for my own salvation above all else, and not to rush toward the outward appearances of edification, but rather to diligently observe the word of life until a heavenly admonition has been given to bear fruit. Help me, sweet Jesus, good Master, to contemplate the hidden form of your life with a vigilant heart and to dedicate myself to you inwardly, to always cherish humility and concealment, and to remain completely silent about worldly matters: let me embrace what is yours and divine with the highest desire and close the book of my conversation with you in the secret place of my heart.