In the inmost cellar Of my Beloved have I drunk; and when I went forth Over all the plain I knew nothing, And lost the flock I followed before. My soul is occupied And all my substance in His service; Now I guard no flock, Nor have I any other employment: My sole occupation is love. (_Spiritual Canticle, Trans. D. Lewis._) HIST. D’UNE AME, CH. VIII Oh! if souls weak and imperfect as mine, felt what I feel, not one would despair of reaching the summit of the mountain of Love, since Jesus does not demand from us great deeds, but only self-surrender and gratitude. _I have no need_, saith He, _of the goats of thy flocks.... If I were hungry I would not tell thee.... Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving._[3] See then, all that Jesus asks of us! He has not need of our works but only of our _love_. This very God who declares that He needs not to tell us if He were hungry, did not hesitate to _beg_ of the Samaritan woman a little water.... He thirsted!!! But in saying: “_Give me to drink_,”[4] it was the love of His poor creature that the Creator of the universe besought. He thirsted for Love! And now, more than ever is Jesus athirst. He meets with none but the ungrateful and the indifferent among the disciples of the world; and amongst _His own_ disciples He finds, alas! very few hearts that surrender themselves without any reserve to the tenderness of His infinite Love. HIST. D’UNE AME, CH. XI 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] 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.