Since ever I have known Love's mighty power Thus hath it wrought its work within my soul-- Whate'er it findeth there, or good or ill, It turneth all to gain; its living flame Transforms my soul into its very self. [5] [5] St. John of the Cross. HOW sweet is the way of Love! True, one may fall, one may not be always faithful, but Love, knowing how to draw profit from all, very quickly consumes whatsoever may displease Jesus, leaving naught but humble and profound peace in the innermost soul. HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VIII THINKING one day of those who offer themselves as victims to the Justice of God in order to turn aside the punishment reserved for sinners by taking it upon themselves, I felt this offering to be noble and generous, but I was far from feeling moved to make it. "O my Divine Master," I cried in the depths of my heart, "shall Thy Justice alone receive victims of holocaust? Has not Thy Merciful Love also need of them? On all sides it is ignored, rejected . . . the hearts on which Thou wouldst lavish it turn to creatures, seeking happiness in miserable and fleeting affections instead of casting themselves into Thine arms, into the ineffable furnace of Thine Infinite Love. "O my God, must Thy Love--disdained--remain within Thy Heart? Methinks that if Thou shouldst find souls offering themselves as victims of holocaust to Thy Love, Thou wouldst consume them rapidly; that Thou wouldst be glad not to restrict the flames of infinite tenderness pent up within Thee. "If Thy Justice--the Justice which Thou dost exercise on earth-- be pleased to find voluntary victims on which to discharge its weight, how much the more must Thy Merciful Love also desire its victims, since _Thy Mercy reacheth even to heaven_. [6] "O Jesus, that happily I may be that holocaust consume Thy little victim in the fire of Divine Love." HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VIII [6] _Cf_. Ps. xxxv, 6. AH! since that day love penetrates me and surrounds me; this _Merciful Love_ each moment renews and purifies me, leaving in my heart no trace of sin. No, I cannot fear Purgatory; I know that I do not merit even to enter with the Holy Souls into that place of expiation, but I know too that the fire of Love is more sanctifying than the fire of Purgatory, I know that Jesus cannot will needless suffering for us, and that He would not inspire me with the desires I feel if He were unwilling to fulfil them. HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. VIII TO offer oneself as a Victim to Divine Love is not to offer oneself to sweetness--to consolation; but to every anguish, every bitterness, for Love lives only by sacrifice; and the more a soul wills to be surrendered to Love, the more must she be surrendered to suffering. HIST. D'UNE AME, CH. XII