131 (The National Church of Sweden)

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i 4 . ST. BIRGITTA : HER LIFE IN SWEDEN. 131
As an owl desires the night so does man ;
he hunts after vain
things and hates those belonging to eternity
"
(i. 2; vi. 45).
"
There are tears which are like the pouring rain, when man
laments his temporal need ;
others are like the snow or hail
when man weeps after his God, but not out of love and longing,
but with an icy cold heart full of fear of hell ; and. would be
content, be it in heaven or on earth, to find a little place, where
he could get rid of the torment and satisfy for ever his desires.
On the contrary, those tears which draw the soul to heaven,
and heaven to the soul, are like the dew which falls on a rose-
leaf. When man bethinks himself of the love of the Lord and
of His cruel and bitter passion ;
then the eye is filled with tears
which surround the soul as the dew drops lie round the flower ;
which refresh the soul and make it fruitful and bring God the
Lord into it"
(i. 81).
"
If the kernel of a date is planted in a fertile soil, it takes
root, the palm branches unfold themselves, the tree throws off
a beautiful perfume, and its fruit ripens. So is the thought of
the divine Judgment, when it penetrates a heart which has
acknowledged its sin ;
then the sacrifice of its own will, together
with holy exercises, form the stem ;
the branches grow by love ;
the fruit which ripens under the word of preaching is the joy to
proclaim the honour of God" (i. 43).
"
The rock gave water when the staff of Moses touched it.
Thus flow the tears of repentance when the hard heart is
touched by the fear and love of God "
(i. 2).

The rose has a sweet scent, is lovely to look upon, and soft
to the touch ;
and yet it grows among thorns. So the good
among the bad ;
the one cannot be without the other. Bear
thou also with the enemies of Christ, so long as He himself bears
with them into that which."
"Love changes the beloved one into that which he loves"
(cp. i.
54; vi. 17).
Hammerich thus concludes his selection of passages :
The ground thought on which everything rests, her prin
ciple of knowledge is the same as in Bernard and Hugo,
namely, love. . . . We are changed into that which we love ;
by love God is enclosed in the soul ; being loved, He is com
prehended as the externally present One, and thus is He, and in
Him His creation, enjoyed by us.
"Where the fulness of love is there is also knowledge ;
he
who loves sees God in everything. But all true love rests on a
thorough discernment of that which is loved by the loving one

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