De recta intentione ad Deum erigenda
The Purity of Intention
The soul is called to direct all actions toward God while avoiding the snare of vain glory.
My eyes are always on the Lord, for he will free my feet from the snare. In all your thoughts, words, and actions, always have a right and pure intention toward God, so that you may do everything for the praise and glory and honor of God and for the building up of your neighbor. He is the source of all good merits and the giver of eternal rewards. He must be the beginning and end of all your works, so that you don't lose the fruit of your labors. If you remember the terrible judgments of God, you will not boast in vain. The worst plague is vain glory and the desire to be praised by others. This is indeed the most vain and a sign of pride, contrary to the grace of God. What then will you do, and in whom will you place your trust and hope?
Turning to the Creator
True security is found by looking away from worldly advice and toward God through prayer and constant focus.
Look not to yourself, nor to any human being, nor to anything in this world, nor to the stars of heaven, but to your Creator, God alone—who made you, holds you, and holds all created things in His hand and power, without any burden or helper. Say this, then, and pray with David in the psalm. My eyes are always on the Lord, for He will pull my feet from the snare. And again: Lord, all my desire is before You, and my groaning is not hidden from You. Therefore, leave behind the vain arguments and advice of men; in all your needs, turn instead with prayers and holy longings confidently to the Lord your God. He is the one who will pull your feet from the snare, so that you aren't moved from the straight path of virtue and true humility, but stand fixed in God until the end. Every good work done for God's sake gladdens the conscience, illuminates the mind, and earns more grace. Every evil work, however, saddens the one who does it, stains a good reputation, and hinders the influence of divine consolation.
The Path of Humility
Humility is cultivated by recognizing one's own fragility and refusing to judge others or seek worldly approval.
Anyone who does something for the sake of empty glory puts out their lamp with the wind of pride; and anyone who acts for the sake of the world and longs to be seen falls quickly into the mud when God gets angry. Don't take joy in any happiness of this world like fools do; instead, always stand in the fear of God and in the knowledge of your own fragility. Your frequent falls and easy mistakes will teach you to think humbly and poorly of yourself. Don't want to praise anyone too much in this life, because you don't know what each person will become. And don't be too quick to judge someone who is falling, because God can just as quickly lift up someone who is weeping. Pray for everyone, and entrust everyone to God. Be lowly in your own eyes so that you may become great in the eyes of God, who looks upon the humble, knows the proud from afar, and suddenly casts them down. If you are despised by people and others are put ahead of you, don't be too sad; because it's better and safer to be humbled with the meek and simple than to be rejected by God with the rich and the proud.
Hiddenness in Christ
The soul finds true honor and consolation by fleeing worldly esteem and choosing to remain hidden in God.
Be wary of praise, fear being magnified; blush at being honored, flee from being esteemed, and seek to remain hidden. Choose to be free for God, and apply yourself diligently to holy reading and devout prayer. Anyone who rejects worldly praise and honor for the sake of God is not without praise and honor. Nor is the person without divine consolation who considers all the joys of this world as nothing, who willingly endures everything contrary to himself for Christ, and who daily longs to be with Him in heaven.
Read the original Latin
Oculi mei semper ad Dominum: quoniam ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos. In omni cogitatione locutione et operatione tua habeas semper rectam et puram intentionem ad Deum: ut omnia facias ad laudem et gloriam et honorem Dei et proximi aedificationem. Ipse est causa omnium bonorum meritorum: atque largitor aeternorum praemiorum. lpse principium et finis omnium operum tuorum esse debet: ne perdas fructum laborum tuorum. Si memor fueris terribilium iudiciorum Dei: non vane gloriaberis. Pessima pestis vana gloria: et velle laudari foris ab hominibus. Hoc utique vanissimum est et superbiae signum: gratiae Dei contrarium. Quid ergo facies; et in quo confides et sperabis?
Non in te nec in homine, nec in aliqua re mundi, nec in stellis caeli, sed in solo creatore Deo tuo: qui fecit te et habet te et omnia creata simul in manu et potestate sua sine onere et adiutore. Dic ergo et ora cum David in psalmo. Oculi mei semper ad Dominum: quoniam ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos. Et iterum. Domine ante te omne desiderium meum: et gemitus meus a te non est absconditus. Relictis ergo vanis rationibus et consiliis hominum: in cunctis necessitatibus tuis potius cum precibus et sanctis desideriis recurre confidenter ad Dominum Deum tuum: quoniam ipse est qui evellet de laqueo pedes tuos; ut non movearis a recta via virtutis et vera humilitate: sed stes fixus in Deo usque in finem. Omne opus bonum propter Deum factum laetificat conscientiam; illuminat mentem: et ampliorem meretur gratiam. Omne autem malum opus maestificat agentem et maculat famam bonam: et impedit divinae consolationis influentiam.
Qui aliquid propter vanam gloriam facit: elationis vento lucernam extinguit; et qui propter mundum agit et apparere appetit: cito Deo irascente in lutum cadit. Non ergo laeteris in aliqua felicitate huius mundi quemadmodum stulti: sed sta semper in timore Dei, et cognitione fragilitatis tuae. Frequens lapsus et facilis error tuus: docebunt te humiliter et viliter de te ipso sentire. Neminem velis in hac vita nimis laudare: quia nescis qualis sit quisque futurus. Nec temere iudices cadentem: quia potest Deus cito erigere flentem. Pro omnibus ora: et omnes Deo committe. Esto vilis in oculis tuis; ut fias smagnus coram oculis Dei: qui humiles respicit, et altos a longe cognoscit et subito prosternit. Si ab hominibus despiceris et alii tibi praeponuntur, ne tristeris nimis; quia melius et securius est i humiliari cum mitibus et simplicibus: quam a Deo reprobari cum divitibus et elatis.
Cave laudari, time magnificari: erubesce honorari, fuge reputari, quaere latitare. Elige Deo vacare: sacris lectionibus et devotis precibus sedule immorari. Non est sine laude et honore: qui propter Deum spernit laudes et honores. Nec est sine solacio divino: qui omnia huius mundi gaudia reputat pro nihilo; et omnia sibi contraria sustinet libenter pro Christo: et cotidie anhelat esse cum eo in caelo.
The Little Garden of Roses & The Valley of Lilies companion
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Chosen Portion serves the complete Little Garden and Valley of Lilies — plus the Imitation — as daily portions.
These treatises were composed as brief daily counsels for a community's rhythm of reading, and Chosen Portion delivers them the same way: one short chapter each morning.
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