Wisdom. Forbid thyself the pleasure of curious and lax seeing and
hearing; let love make sweet to thee those things which formerly
thou shrankest from; eschew bodily pleasures; rest in Me alone; bear
sweetly and moderately the ills that come from others; desire to
despise thyself; break thy appetites; crush out all thy pleasures
and desires. These are the first elements in the school of Wisdom,
which are read in the volume of the book of My crucified body. But
consider whether anyone, do what he may, can make himself for My
sake such as I made Myself for his.

Servitor. Come then, my soul, collect thyself from all external
things, into the tranquil silence of the inner man. Woe is me! My
heavenly Father had adopted my soul to be His bride; but I fled far
from Him. Alas, I have lost my Father, I have lost my Lover. Alas,
alas, and woe is me! What have I done, what have I lost? Shame on
me, I have lost myself, and all the society of my heavenly country.
All that could delight and cheer me has utterly forsaken me; I am
left naked. My false lovers were only deceivers. They have stripped
me of all the good things which my one true Lover gave me; they have
despoiled me of all honour, joy, and consolation. O ye red roses and
white lilies, behold me a vile weed, and see also how soon those
flowers wither and die, which this world plucks. And yet, O most
gracious God, none of my sufferings are of any account, compared
with this, that I have grieved the eyes of my heavenly Father. This
is indeed hell, and a cross more intolerable than all other pain. O
heart of mine, harder than flint or adamant, why dost thou not break
for grief? Once I was called the bride of the eternal King, now I
deserve not to be called the meanest of his handmaids. Never again
shall I dare to raise mine eyes, for shame. O that I could hide