"Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." -- Col. i.12.

Mechthild of Hellfde, 1277.

tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899

The mind saith to the soul --

"In the glory of God no foot hath trod;

A devouring Fire dread to see;

In the blinding light of the face of God

No soul can be.

For thou knowest that all high Heaven is bright

With a glory beyond the sun,

With the radiance of the saints in light,

And the fount of that Light is one.

From the breath of the everlasting God,

From the mouth of the Man Divine,

From the counsel of God the Holy Ghost

Doth that awful glory shine.

Soul, couldst thou abide for an hour alone

In the burning fire around His throne?"

And the soul makes answer --

The fish drowns not in the mighty sea,

The bird sinks not in the air,

The gold in the furnace fire may be,

And is yet more radiant there.

For God to each of His creatures gave

The place to its nature known;

And shall it not be that my heart should crave

For that which is mine own?

For my nature seeketh her dwelling-place,

That only, and none other;

The child must joy in the Father's face,

The brethren in the Brother.

To the bridal chamber goeth the bride,

For love is her home and rest;

And shall not I in His light abide,

When I lean upon His breast?

* * * * *

And she who is beloved with love untold,

Thus goes to Him Who is divinely fair,

In His still Chamber of unsullied gold,

And love all pure, all holy, greets her there --

The love of His eternal Godhead high,

The love of His divine Humanity.

Then speaketh He and saith, "Beloved one,

What wouldst thou? It is thine.

From self shalt thou go forth for evermore,

For thou art Mine.

O soul! no angel for an hour might dream

Of all the riches that I give to thee;

The glory and the beauty that beseem

The heritage of life that is in Me.

Yet satisfied, thou shalt for ever long,

So sweeter shall be thine eternal song."

O Lord my God, so small, so poor am I,

And great, Almighty, O my God, art Thou!

"Yet art thou joined to Christ eternally,

My love a changeless everlasting NOW."

And thus the joyful soul is still

At rest in God's eternal will;

And she is His, and thus delighteth He

Her own to be.