CONTENTS.

PAGE
PREFACE xi
PROLOGUE xv

FIRST MEDITATION.
OF THE DIGNITY AND THE WOE OF MAN'S ESTATE.
SECT.
1. Our creation to the Image and Likeness of God
1

2. To praise God eternally the end of our creation 4

3. Wherever we are, we live, move, and are in Him; whilst also we have
Him within us
6

4. All of us who have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ 10

5. We are the body of Christ
11

6. In Christ we are one, and are with Him one Christ 12

7. A consideration of our sins, for the which our conscience does the more sting us, and by which we have forfeited all these blessings 16

8. A review of our Lord's Incarnation, by means of which we have
recovered all these losses
19

9. The duty of praying to be drawn out of the pit of misery and the
mire of dregs
24

10. A consideration of the miseries of the present life 27

11. Of the body after the soul's departure
30

12. Of the soul after her separation from the body 32

13. A consideration of the day of judgment, when the goats shall be set
on the left hand
33

14. A consideration of the joy when the sheep shall be set on the right
hand
34

SECOND MEDITATION.

OF THE AWFUL JUDGMENT: FOE AWAKENING FEAR IN ONESELF.

15. The sinner's fear
36
16. The sinner's hope
42
THIRD MEDITATION.
A BEMOANING OF VIRGINITY SADLY LOST.
17. The sinner's past
44
18. The sinner's future
48
FOURTH MEDITATION.

TEACHING THE SINNER TO BESTIR HIMSELF FOR THE AMENDMENT OF HIS SINS.

19. The necessity and the benefit of careful self-examination 53

20. The goodness of God, and the malignity of the Devil 56

21. The compassion of Jesus
58
FIFTH MEDITATION.
22. On the life of soul and of flesh
62
23. And of the glory of the good soul
64

24. And the misery of the wicked soul, on their departure from the body 65

SIXTH MEDITATION.

DESIGNED TO BRACE THE HEART AGAINST DESPAIR, FORASMUCH AS WE SHALL WITHOUT DOUBT FIND TRUE MERCY FOR ALL OUR SINS IF WE DO TRUE PENANCE.

25. The condition of the sinner
69
26. The Divine mercy before the Incarnation
70
27. The Divine mercy in the Incarnation
72
28. The sinner's contemplation of himself
75
29. The sinner's prayer to Jesus Christ
77
SEVENTH MEDITATION.

30. Of the changefulness of all that is in the world 81

31. Of the manifold blessings of Almighty God
82

32. Here the sinner chides himself for his ingratitude 83

33. An acknowledgment of sin
85
34. The sinner's review of himself
87
35. The sinner's cry to God
89
EIGHTH MEDITATION.
THE PENITENT'S ADDRESS TO GOD HIS FATHER.
36. A prayer for mercy and help
93
37. The penitent's hope in the Divine mercy
97
NINTH MEDITATION.
OP THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST.

38. The glories and the condescension of our Lord Jesus Christ 101

39. The Nativity of Christ, and its sanctification of poverty 104

40. The hidden life and ministry of our Lord
106
41. The meekness and humility of Christ
109
42. The agony and the betrayal
111
43. The condemnation and the crucifixion
114
44. The humiliations of the Passion
117
45. The glories of the Passion
119
46. Joseph in Egypt a type of Christ
120

47. Love our only possible return to Christ for His sufferings 122

48. The likeness of His Death and of His Resurrection 124

49. Aspiration and prayer
130
TENTH MEDITATION.
50. Of the Passion of Christ
133
ELEVENTH MEDITATION.
OF THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND.
51. Cur Deus Homo
136
52. Thanksgiving for the liberation of mankind
145

53. Man's past condition and present privilege 147

54. The soul's surrender of itself to God
150
TWELFTH MEDITATION.
OF THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST.
55. The Mystery of the Incarnation
152

56. Hope inspired by the thought of the Incarnation 153

57. Joy inspired by the thought of the Incarnation 155

58. Love inspired by the thought of the Incarnation 157

59. Jesus the Salvation of sinners
160
THIRTEENTH MEDITATION.
OF CHRIST.
60. The Son of God, archetypal Beauty
163
61. The nine Choirs of Angels
166
62. The desires of the soul aspiring to God
170
63. The Saints in heaven
174

64. The joys of Mary, Queen of Heaven, and Mother of God 176

65. The loving aspirations of the soul to Jesus
177
FOURTEENTH MEDITATION.
66. Of the wonderful Being of God
181

67. Of the science of God, and the inadequacy of human speech to utter
it
184

68. Of the desire of a soul thirsting after God
185

69. Of the misery of a soul that loves not and that seeks not our Lord
Jesus Christ
187

70. Of the desire of the soul
189

71. Of the happiness of the soul set free from her earthly prison 190

72. Of the joy of Paradise
192
73. Of the kingdom of heaven
193

74. God comforts the sorrowing soul after her great griefs 195

FIFTEENTH MEDITATION.

OF THE MEMORY OF PAST BENEFITS FROM CHRIST, OF THE EXPERIENCE OF PRESENT BENEFITS, AND OF THE HOPE OF FUTURE.

75. On the subjects of meditation
197
76. The Annunciation
199

77. The Visitation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Kings 200

78. The flight into Egypt 202

79. The early life, baptism, fasting, and ministry of our Lord 203

80. Our Lord's works of mercy
205
81. Bethany and the Coenaculum
207
82. Gethsemane and the high-priest's palace
211
83. The Prætorium
213
84. The Crucifixion
214
85. The Entombment and Resurrection
217
SIXTEENTH MEDITATION.
OF PRESENT BENEFITS FROM GOD.

86. The writer's review of his past life, and exhortation to his sister 221

SEVENTEENTH MEDITATION.
OF FUTURE BENEFITS FROM GOD.
87. Death and its immediate sequel
228

88. The Day of Judgment: the right hand and the left 231

89. The joys of Heaven, and the joy of joys
234
EIGHTEENTH MEDITATION.

THANKSGIVING FOB THE BENEFITS OF THE DIVINE MERCY, AND PRAYER FOR THE DIVINE ASSISTANCE.

90. Thanksgiving for past blessings, and prayer for future 238

91. The same subject
245
NINETEENTH MEDITATION.

OF THE SWEETNESS OF THE DIVINE MAJESTY, AND OF MANY OTHER THINGS.

92. Wonder at the unspeakable goodness of God the Creator, and the deep
misery of man the creature
252

93. The degree to which man may be loved by man, and the reason why God
should be more loved than any human being
254

94. God made all things good, but He alone is Good essentially 256

95. The praise of the Creator by the whole creation 258

96. The resemblance of man to his Creator
259

97. Man is composed of two parts; by the one of which he is raised to highest things, and by the other dragged down to lowest 261

98. Here man prays God not to allow him to make ill use of his free
power of choice
262

TWENTIETH MEDITATION.
99. Complaint of the soul banished from God
266
100. The soul's absence from God
269
101. Complaint of the soul banished from God
273
102. The soul's return to God
275
TWENTY-FIRST MEDITATION.

THE SOUL OF MAN URGED TO SEEK AND TO FIND ITS GOD.

103. The mind aroused to the contemplation of God
281
104. The inapproachable dwelling-place of God
286
105. The goodness of God, the creative Life
288
106. The fulness of joy
292