On Life
XVI. On Life
1. O divine, eternal and holy Life!
infinite goodness lives in You
<and is filled> with the bonifier, the bonifiable and bonifying.
2. God lives in the lover, the loveable and the loving,
the vivifier, the vivifiable and vivifying,
by virtue of generation and spiration.[1]
3. God is alive, without mortality,
and in Him live mercy and compassion,
which is why no one should despair.
4. Worthy understanding thrives upon virtuous loving,
and loving upon honourable thoughts,
and understanding and loving thrive upon valid remembrance.
5. Goodness thrives upon magnifying
and greatness upon bonifying,
but goodness perishes through the commission of evil.
6. He who entertains honourable thoughts lives,
while he who commits sins dies,
and he who loves God more than his relatives flourishes.
7. Whoever desires to live for the sake of receiving honours
brings about their own death in the burning fire,
<where he shall be> dishonoured in perpetuity.
8. It is better to die honourably
than to lead a long and despicable life,
because whoever lives ignobly perishes daily.
9. One who lives virtuously cannot die,
nor can one who lives wickedly be of service to God
or achieve <everlasting> life.
10. One should not live for the sake of eating,
nor for that of honours or idle repose,
but rather for the purpose of serving and honouring God.
[1] Cf. n. 1, Ch. IV, § 4.