The Voice of the Disciple.
1. Who will give me, O Lord, to find thee alone, that I may open my whole heart to thee, and enjoy thee as my soul desireth; and that no one may now despise me, nor any thing created move me or regard me; but thou alone mayest speak to me, and I to thee; as the Beloved is wont to speak to his Beloved, and a friend to banquet with his friend.
This I pray for, this I desire, that I may be wholly united to thee, and may withdraw my heart from all created things; and by the holy communion, and often celebrating, may more and more learn to relish heavenly and eternal things.
Ah! Lord God, when shall I be wholly united to thee, and absorpt in thee, and altogether forgetful of myself:
Thou in me, and I in thee; and so grant us both to continue in one.
2. Verily thou art my Beloved, the choicest amongst thousands, in whom my soul is well pleased to dwell all the days of her life:
Verily, thou art my peace-maker, in whom is sovereign peace and true rest; out of whom is labour and sorrow, and endless misery:
Thou art in truth, a hidden God, and thy counsel is not with the wicked; but thy conversation is with the humble and the simple.
Oh! how sweet is thy spirit, O Lord, who, to shew thy sweetness towards thy children, vouchsafest to feed them with the most delicious bread which cometh down from heaven!