Part I, Chapter IX

First Meditation: On Our Creation

Preparation

1. Place yourself in the presence of God. 2. Beseech him to inspire you.

Considerations

1. Consider that so many years ago you were not yet in the world, and that your being was a mere nothing. Where were we, O my soul! at that time? The world had then lasted so long, and we were not known.

2. God has drawn you out of this nothing, to make you what you now are, merely out of his own pure goodness, having no need of you whatever.

3. Consider the being that God has given you; it is the greatest in this visible world, capable of eternal life, and of being perfectly united to his Divine Majesty.

Affections and Resolutions

1. Humble yourself profoundly before God, saying from your heart, with the Psalmist, “O Lord! my whole being is as nothing before thee, and how hadst thou remembrance of me to create me?” Alas, my soul! thou wast ingulfed in that ancient nothing, and hadst yet been therein had not God drawn thee thence; and what couldst thou have done hadst thou remained in such a state?

2. Return thanks to God. O my great and good Creator! how much am I obliged to thee, since thou hast vouchsafed to draw me out of nothing, and by thy mercy to make me what I am? What can I ever do to bless thy holy name as I ought, and to render due thanks to thy inestimable goodness!

3. Confound yourself. But, alas! my Creator, instead of uniting myself to thee by loving and serving thee I have made myself a rebel by my disorderly affections, separating myself, and straying far away from thee to unite myself to sin.

4. Cast yourself down before God. O my soul! know that the Lord is thy God; it is he that has made thee, and not thou thyself. O God! I am the work of thy hands.

Henceforward, then, I will take no complacency in myself, since, of myself, I am nothing. What hast thou to glory in, O dust and ashes? or, rather, thou very nothing! Why dost thou exalt thyself? To humble myself, therefore, I resolve to do such and such things, to suffer such and such disgraces. I will change my life, I will henceforward follow my Creator, and esteem myself highly honored by the being which he has given me, employing it entirely in obedience to his will, by such means as I shall learn from my spiritual father.

Conclusion

1. Give thanks to God. Bless thy God, O my soul! and let all that is within me praise his holy name; for his goodness has drawn me forth, and his mercy has created me out of nothing. 2. Offer. O my God! I offer to thee the being thou hast given me; from my heart I dedicate and consecrate it to thee. 3. Pray. O God! strengthen me in these affections and resolutions, O holy Virgin Mary! recommend them to the mercy of thy Son, with all those for whom I ought to pray.

Our Father. Hail Mary.

After your prayer, gather a little nosegay of devotion, to refresh you during the rest of the day.

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