The Spiritual Guide (Tr.). Repr. of the Ed. of 1699 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1885 Excerpt: ... to this holy hatred of itself, lives overwhelmed, drowned, and swallowed up in the depths of its own nothingness, out of which the Lord raises him, by communicating Divine wisdom to him, and filling him with light, peace, tranquillity, and love. CHAPTER XII. Inward solitude is that which chiefly brings a man to the purchase of internal peace. "IT" NOW, that although exterior solitude doth much assist for the obtaining internal peace, yet the Lord did not mean this, when He spake by His prophet (Hos. ii. 14)--/ will bring her into solitude, and speak privately to her; but He meant the interior solitude, which jointly conduces to the obtaining the precious jewel of peace internal. Internal solitude consists in the forgetting of the creatures, in disengaging one's self from them, in a perfect nakedness of all the affections, desires, thoughts, and one's own will. This is the true solitude, where the soul reposes with a sweet and inward serenity in the arms of its chiefest good. Oh, what infinite room is there in a soul that is arrived at this Divine solitude Oh, what inward, what retired, what secret, what spacious, wha vast distances are there within a happy soul that is once come to be truly solitary There the Lord converses and communicates Himself inwardly with the soul; there He fills it with Himself, because it is empty; clothes it with light and with His love, because it is naked; lifts it up, because it is low; and unites it with Himself, and transforms it, because it is alone. 0 delightful solitude and cipher of eternal blessings 0 mirror, in which the Eternal Father is always beheld There is great reason to call thee solitude; for thou art so much alone that there is scarce a soul that looks after thee, that loves and knows thee. 0 Divine Lord H...