1. SINCE you also take pleasure in receiving my letters, by means of
which, although separated from each other, we discourse together as
if present, I will for the future more frequently converse with you by
letter when I am alone. For[233] I am never less alone than when I seem
to be so, nor ever less at leisure than in the intervals of labour. For
then I summon at pleasure whom I will, and associate to myself those
whom I love most or find most congenial; no man interrupts or intrudes
upon us. Then it is that I more intimately enjoy you, that I confer
with you in the Scriptures, that we converse together more at length.
Sidenote: S. Luke i. 35.
Sidenote: Acts x. 10.
Sidenote: Gen. iii. 8.
2. Mary was alone when addressed by the Angel, alone when the _Holy
Ghost came upon her, and the power of the Highest overshadowed her_.
She was alone when she effected the salvation of the world, and
conceived the Redemption of the universe. Peter was alone when the
mystery of the sanctification of the Gentiles all over the world was
made known to him. Adam was alone, and he fell not, because his mind
adhered to God. But when the woman was joined to him he lost his power
of abiding by the celestial precepts, and therefore he hid himself when
God walked in Paradise.
3. And even now, while I read the sacred Scriptures, God walks in
Paradise. The book of Genesis, wherein the virtues of the Patriarchs
bud forth, is Paradise; Deuteronomy, wherein grow the precepts of the
Law, is also Paradise, wherein the tree of life brings forth good fruit,
and diffuses over all nations the precepts of eternal hope.
Sidenote: S. Matt. v. 44.
Sidenote: Ib. xix. 21.
Sidenote: S. Luke vi. 29.
Sidenote: Heb. iv. 13.
4. So when I hear, _Love your enemies_, when I hear, _Sell that thou
hast, and give to the poor_; when I hear, _unto him that smiteth thee
on the one cheek offer also the other_; when I hear these things and do
not perform them, nay, when I barely love him who loves me, when I will
not part with what I have, when I desire to avenge the injuries I have
received, and to recover what has been wrested from me, whereas the
Scripture bids me give up more than I have been asked for or deprived
of, I perceive that I am acting contrary to the commands of God. Thus
opening the eyes of my conscience, I perceive that God is present and
walking with me; I desire to hide, I desire to clothe myself; but I
am naked in His sight unto Whom _all things are naked and opened_!
I am abashed therefore, and desire to conceal the shame of my crimes
as though they were the secret members of my body; but since God sees
all things, since I am manifest to Him, though covered with leaves and
shaded by thickets, I think to conceal myself from Him by the covering
of my body. This is that coat of skins, in which Adam was clothed
when he was cast out of Paradise, neither shielded from the cold, nor
protected from scorn, but exposed to misery as well as guilt.
Sidenote: Gen. iii. 8.
Sidenote: Ib. i. 27.
Sidenote: S. John xvi. 32.
5. From whence it appears that it is when alone that we offer ourselves
to God, that we open to Him our souls, that we put off the cloak of
fraud. Adam was alone when placed in Paradise; alone also when made in
the image of God: but when cast out of Paradise he was not alone. The
Lord Jesus was alone when He redeemed the world; for it was no herald
or messenger, but the Lord Himself alone Who redeemed His people,
although He, in Whom the Father always dwells, can never be alone. Let
us also then be alone, that the Lord may be with us. Farewell: love me,
for I also love you.