the saints; on the contrary they rejoice in their sufferings. And, at the same time, what is the conduct of the devils towards the reprobate? They trample upon them and reproach them with the crimes which they have committed against God, and for which they are now most justly punished. Holy Mary, mother of God, have pity on me, for you have it now in your power to take pity on me and to recommend me to your divine Son. O Jesus, thou who didst not spare thyself, to have compassion on me, but didst die upon the cross for my sake, save me, and may my salvation be to love thee for ever. I am sorry, O Lord, for having offended thee, and will love tbee with my whole heart.
Meditation Fifty-eighth.
On the love of Christ crucified.
I. WHO could have conceived that the Son of God, the Lord of the universe, to show his love for us, would suffer and die upon a cross, if he had not really done so? With reason therefore did Moses and Elias on mount Thabor speak of the death of Jesus Christ as of an excess of love. And what could be a greater excess of love than for the Creator to die for his creatures? To make thee an adequate return for thy love, my dear Redeemer, it would be necessary for another God to die for thee. It would therefore be but little, it would be nothing, were we poor miserable worms of the earth to give our whole lives for thee, who hast given thine for us.
II. What should still more excite us to love him is the ardent desire with which, through the course of his life, he longed for the hour of his death. By
