Chapter XVII

Because you came one day so simply along the
paths of devotion and took my life into your
beneficent hands, I love and praise and thank you
with my senses, with my heart and brain, with my
whole being stretched like a torch towards your
unquenchable goodness and charity.

Since that day, I know what love, pure and bright
as the dew, falls from you on to my calmed soul.
I feel myself yours by all the burning ties that
attach flames to their fire; all my body, all my
soul mounts towards you with tireless ardour; I
never cease to brood on your deep earnestness and
your charm, so much so that suddenly I feel my
eyes fill deliciously with unforgettable tears.

And I make towards you, happy and calm, with the
proud desire to be for ever the most steadfast of
joys to you. All our affection flames about us;
every echo of my being responds to your call; the
hour is unique and sanctified with ecstasy, and
my fingers are tremulous at the mere touching of
your forehead, as though they brushed the wing of
your thoughts.