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← The Imitation of Christ/Book 3 · On Inward Consolation
Chapter 29Imit.3.29

Qualiter instante tribulatione Deus invocandus est.

A Cry from the Depths

The soul blesses God in the midst of tribulation, confesses its inability to escape, and cries out for rescue.

May your name, Lord, be blessed forever, who willed this temptation and tribulation to come upon me. I can't escape it, but I need to take refuge in you, so that you'd help me and turn it to my good. Lord, I'm in trouble now, and my heart is not at ease — I'm greatly troubled by what I'm going through.1 And now, beloved Father, what should I say? I'm caught between a rock and a hard place.2 Save me in this hour.

Humility Before the Father

The sufferer acknowledges that the trial exists for God's glory, confesses utter helplessness, and pleads for patience and courage.

But that's why I came into this hour — so that you'd be glorified when I've been deeply humbled and set free by you.3 Please, Lord — rescue me.4 For what can I, a poor wretch, do? And where can I go without you? Give me patience, Lord, even this time. Help me, my God, and I won't be afraid, no matter how heavily I'm weighed down.

Thy Will Be Done

The soul surrenders to God's will, accepts just affliction, and resolves to endure patiently until the storm passes.

And now, in the midst of all this, what am I to say? Lord, your will be done. I have well deserved to be afflicted and weighed down. So I must endure it — and would that I could endure it patiently — until the storm passes and things grow better.5

The Almighty Hand

Trusting in God's power to lighten the burden, the soul rests in divine mercy and the transforming work of the Most High.

But your almighty hand is powerful enough to take this temptation from me as well, and to soften its assault, so that I don't collapse under it entirely — just as you have so often dealt with me before.6 My God, my mercy.7 And the harder this is for me, the easier it is for you — for <quote>this is the change wrought by the right hand of the Most High.</quote>✦8

Read the original Latin

Sit nomen tuum, Domine, benedictum in sæcula, qui voluisti hanc tentationem et tribulationem venire super me. Non possum eam effugere, sed necesse habeo ad te confugere, ut me adjuves et in bonum mihi convertas. Domine, modo sum in tribulatione, et non est cordi meo bene, sed multum vexor a præsenti passione. Et nunc, Pater dilecte, quid dicam? Deprehensus sum inter angustias. Salvifica me in hac hora. Sed propterea veni in hanc horam, ut tu clarificeris, cum fuero valde humiliatus, et per te liberatus. Complaceat tibi, Domine, ut eruas me. Nam quid ego pauper agere possum? et quo ibo sine te? Da patientiam, Domine, etiam hac vice. Adjuva me, Deus meus, et non timebo quantumcumque gravatus fuero.

Et nunc inter hæc quid dicam? Domine, fiat voluntas tua. Ego bene merui tribulari et gravari. Oportet itaque ut sustineam, et utinam patienter, donec transeat tempestas, et melius fiat. Potens est autem omnipotens manus tua, etiam hanc tentationem a me auferre, et ejus impetum mitigare, ne penitus succumbam, quemadmodum et prius sæpe egisti mecum. Deus meus misericordia mea. Et quanto mihi difficulius, tanto tibi facilior est hæc mutatio dexteræ Excelsi.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Ps.76.11 — Surely the wrath of man shall praise you; the remnant of wrath you shall gird on yourself.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩cordi est mihi: impersonal idiom rendered as 'my heart is not at ease' to preserve the interior-life sense of cor.
  2. 2 ↩inter angustias: literally 'between straits/narrows,' rendered idiomatically to preserve the sense of being hemmed in with no way out.
  3. 3 ↩clarificeris: 'be glorified' — the passive subjunctive with ut expresses purpose; rendered as 'you'd be glorified' to keep the prayerful tone.
  4. 4 ↩Complaceat tibi: jussive/optative subjunctive expressing a polite, earnest request; rendered as 'Please' to capture the devotional tone.
  5. 5 ↩itaque rendered as 'So' to capture the inferential force; ut introduces the required subordinate clause; et links the two purpose clauses; donec marks temporal limit.
  6. 6 ↩autem rendered as 'But' for the continuative-adversative shift; et links the two infinitive purposes (auferre, mitigare); ne introduces the negative purpose clause; quemadmodum draws the comparison to past experience.
  7. 7 ↩misericordia rendered as 'mercy' per lexeme policy; the phrase echoes Ps 58:18 (Vulg.) / Ps 59:17 (Heb.) 'Deus meus misericordia mea'.
  8. 8 ↩hæc mutatio dexteræ Excelsi — marked as italic/candidate in source. Likely an allusion to Ps 76:11 (Vulg.) / Ps 77:10 (Heb.): 'mutatio dexteræ Excelsi.' Final resolution deferred to tx-08 Moses pass.