Lignum vitae

Jesus, son of the king who is king.

45. The eternal kingdom of God must indeed be judged glorious and noble according to the loftiness of him who reigns, because a kingdom takes its origin not from the kingdom but from the king. And this is the king who has written on his garment and on his thigh: King of kings and Lord of lords, whose power is eternal, which shall not be taken away, and whose kingdom shall not be corrupted, whom all tribes and peoples and tongues shall serve forever. And this is truly the peaceful king, whose face both heaven desires and the whole earth. O how glorious is the kingdom of this most excellent King, in which all the just reign with him, whose law is truth, peace, charity, life, eternity, which is neither divided by the multitude of those reigning, nor lessened by sharing, nor confused by number, nor disordered by inequality, nor bounded by place, nor changed by movements, nor measured by time!

Jesus, the sealed book.

46. For the perfect glory of the kingdom there is required not only excellent power but also shining wisdom, so that the governance of the kingdom is ordered not according to the pleasure of an indeterminate will but according to the splendors of the eternal laws flowing from the light of unerring wisdom. And this wisdom is written in Christ Jesus as in the book of life, in whom God the Father has hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And thus the Only-begotten of God, as the uncreated Word, is the book and light of wisdom in the mind of the supreme Artificer, full of living and eternal reasons, as the Word breathed forth in angelic and blessed intellects, as the Word made flesh in rational minds joined to flesh. So the manifold wisdom of God shines forth from him and in him throughout the whole kingdom, as from a mirror containing the beauty of all forms and lights, and as in a book in which all things are written according to the deep mysteries of God. O if I could find such a book, whose origin is eternal, whose essence is incorruptible, whose knowledge is life, whose writing is indelible, whose beholding is desirable, whose teaching is easy, whose knowledge is sweet, whose depth is unsearchable, whose words are unspeakable, and yet one word is all things! Truly, whoever finds this book shall find life and draw salvation from the Lord.

Jesus, the fontal ray.

47. In this eternal kingdom all good gifts and perfect presents descend in abundance and plenty from the Father of lights through him who is the superexcellent ray, Christ Jesus, who, though he is one, can do all things, and abiding in himself makes all things new. For he is a certain pure emanation of the brightness of the almighty power of God, and therefore nothing defiled can fall upon this fontal ray. Run to this fountain of life and light with living desire, whoever you are, soul devoted to God, and with the innermost force of your heart cry out to him: "O inaccessible beauty of the most high God and purest brightness of eternal light, life vivifying all life, light illumining all light and keeping in perpetual splendor a thousand thousand flashing lights before the throne of your Divinity from the earliest dawn! O eternal and inaccessible, bright and sweet outflow of the fountain hidden from the eyes of all mortals, whose depth is without bottom, whose height is without end, whose breadth is uncircumscribed, whose purity is untroubled." From him flows the river of the oil of gladness, which makes glad the city of God, and the torrent of fiery vigor, the torrent, I say, of divine delight, by which, drunk with joyful inebriation, those heavenly guests jubilate with unceasing hymn. Anoint us with this holy oil and refresh with the longed-for drops of this torrent the thirsting throats of parched hearts, so that with the voice of exultation and confession we may sing to you songs of praise, proving by the witness of experience that with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light.

Jesus, the longed-for end.

48. For the end of all desires is agreed to be blessedness, which is "the state perfect by the gathering of all goods." To this state no one attains except through final resolution into him who is the fountain and origin of goods, both natural and freely given, both bodily and spiritual, both temporal and eternal. And this is he who says of himself: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, because, just as all things are brought forth through the Word spoken eternally, so through the Word joined to flesh they are restored, advanced, and brought to completion. And thus he is truly and properly called Jesus, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby anyone can obtain salvation. Into you therefore as the end of all things, believing, hoping, and loving with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, with all my strength may I be borne, longed-for Jesus, for you alone suffice, you alone save, you alone are good and sweet to those who seek you and love your name. "For you, my good Jesus, are the redeemer of the lost, the savior of the redeemed, the hope of exiles, the strength of laborers, the sweet solace of troubled spirits, the crown of the triumphant and the imperial height, the one reward and joy of all the citizens above, the noble offspring of the most high God and the sublime fruit of the virginal womb, and the most abundant fountain of all graces, of whose fullness we have all received."