Him, and He shall be a comfort in my cares and grief " (see Wisd. viii. 9-16). When thou takest thy rest, He departs not from beside thy pillow; He remains thinking always of thee, that when thou wakest in the night He may speak to thee by His inspirations, and receive from thee some act of love, of oblation, of thanksgiving; so as to keep up even in those hours His gracious and sweet converse with thee. Sometimes also He will speak to thee in thy sleep, and cause thee to hear His voice, that on waking thou mayest put in practice what He has spoken: " I will speak to him in a dream" (Num. xii. 6).
He is there also in the morning, to hear from thee some word of affection, of confidence; to be the depository of thy first thoughts, and of all the actions which thou shalt promise to perform that day to please Him; of all the griefs, too, which thou offerest to endure willingly for His glory and love. But as He fails not to present Himself to thee at the moment of thy waking, fail not thou, on thy part, to give Him immediately a look of love, and to rejoice when thy God announces to thee the glad tidings that He is not far from thee, as once He was by reason of thy sins; but that He loves thee, and would be beloved of thee: and at that same moment He gives thee the gracious precept, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart " (Deut. vi. 5).
III.
Of what, when, and how we should converse with God.
1. In General.
Never, then, forget His sweet Presence, as do the greater part of men. Speak to Him as often as thou canst; for He does not grow weary of this nor disdain it, as do the lords of the earth. If thou lovest Him, thou wilt not beat a loss what to say to Him. Tell Him all that occurs to
