Tractatus Prior, Pars Prior, Cap. 6. De vagitibus infantis lesu. 20

Tractatus Prior, Pars Prior, Cap. 6. De vagitibus infantis lesu. 20

I bless you and give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, joy of the angels, comfort of the miserable, for the tears and cries of your infancy, through which you sorrowfully lamented the sins of the children of Adam. What a marvelous and astonishing dignity that God, as a little child, cries in the cradle; whom the angels praise in heaven, sucking the breasts of His mother, as a mortal; He who provides the substance of life for all, is held as powerless in human hands; carried in arms, He who thunders in the clouds and waters the earth with rain. Behold how the lowest things are joined with the highest, and human with divine. So, the tears of your infancy wash away my sins; your tears lament my offenses. Therefore, I owe you more for your injuries, Lord, because I have been redeemed, than I owe for the works I have done, since I was created. O how much I must weep for my sins, since you, Lord, have not ceased to weep for them. Oh, how grave were the wounds of my soul, for which you shed such abundant tears. But it's not surprising or absurd if you shed tears out of compassion, for which you came to pour out your precious blood, so that you might wash us clean from our sins. So I praise you, beloved Jesus, and I will always give thanks for your loving compassion toward me, a wretched sinner.