Synopsis "Meditations on the Love of God (in English)"
DIEGO DE ESTELLA, the author of the work from which the following pages have been translated, was born A. D. 1524, at Estella, in the Kingdom of Navarre. In due course he assl.uned the cowl of the Order of S. Francis, as one of the Friars Minor of the Regular Observance, at Salamanca. He was appointed Royal Preacher, Adviser and Theologian to King Philip II., and became Confessor to Cardinal Granvela. To his pen we owe, besides several works in Latin, the following written in Spanish: 1. De la vanidad del mundo; 2. Meditaciones del Amor de Dios; 3. La vida y excelencias de san Juan Evangelista. The first of these works was one of the very few books recommended by Dona Oliva de Sabuco; the second is the subject of the present translation. Diego died at Salamanca, 1st August, 1578, aetat. fifty-four. ALL Thy creatures declare to me, O Lord, that - I should love Thee, and in everyone of them I discover a tongue which proclaims Thy goodness and greatness. The beauty of the heavens, the brightness of the sun and moon, the effulgence of the stars, the splendour of the planets, the currents of the waters, the verdure of the fields, the diversity of flowers, the variety of colours, and all that Thy divine hands have made, O God of my heart and Spouse of my soul, tell me that I should love Thee. Everything that I see invites me to Thy love, and reproaches me when I love Thee not. I cannot open my eyes without beholding preachers of Thy most exalted wisdom! I cannot open my ears without hearing those who proclaim Thy goodness; for everything that Thou hast made tells me, O Lord, what Thou art.
