myself in some vast forest, with none to see or hear me, till I had
wept to my heart's desire. O Sin, Sin, whither hast thou brought me?
O deceitful World, woe to those who serve thee! Now I have thy
reward, I receive thy wages--namely, that I am a burden to myself
and the whole world, and always shall be.

Wisdom. Thou must by no means despair; it was for thy sins and those
of others that I came into this world, that I might restore thee to
Thy heavenly Father, and bring thee back to greater glory and honour
than thou ever hadst before.

Servitor. Ah, what is this, which whispers such flattering things to
a soul that is dead, abhorred, rejected?

Wisdom. Dost thou not know Me? Why art thou so despondent? Art thou
beside thyself with excessive grief, My dearest son? Knowest thou
not that I am Wisdom, most gentle and tender, in whom is the Abyss
of infinite mercy, never yet explored perfectly even by all the
saints, but none the less open to thee and all other sorrowing
hearts. I am he who for thy sake willed to be poor and an exile,
that I might recall thee to thy former honour. I am He who bore a
bitter death, that I might restore thee to life. I am thy Brother; I
am thy Bridegroom. I have put away all the wrong that thou ever
didst against Me, even as if it had never been, only henceforth,
thou must turn wholly to Me, and never again forsake Me. Wash away
thy stains in My blood. Lift up thy head, open thine eyes, and take
heart. In token of reconciliation, take this ring and put it on thy
finger as My bride, put on this robe, and these shoes on thy feet,
and receive this sweet and loving name, that thou mayst both be and
be called for ever My bride. Thou has cost Me much labour and pain;