Meditations on the principal mysteries of our faith, by Ven. Luis de la Puente

WHEN infirmity disabled the servant of God, and prevented his labours for, the good of his neighbour, either in the pulpit or professor's chair, he ardently wished to help them at least with his pen, by writing treatises on spiritual or sacred subjects, which might turn to the more universal and permanent advantage of the faithful. Fearful, however, of being deceived by his own self-love, he spent several days in earnest prayer, beseeching God to make known His divine will to him on this point. Our loving Lord did not leave him long unsatisfied.

One day, as the holy man was prostrate before the Divine Majesty, a copious flood of celestial light filled his mind, accompanied at the same time with such a vehemence of divine love, that, overpowered with excess of bliss, and feeling his heart bursting, as it were, in his bosom, he exclaimed aloud: "Enough, enough, O Lord ! Not so much light, O Lord!" He afterwards owned in confidence, when speaking of this affair, that his room at the time became like a furnace.

That this light was also the voice whereby God approved his desire, and encouraged him to put his hand to the work, was shown from the admirable effects produced by this signal favour. These were, first, a sublime intelligence of holy Scripture, especially of matters referring to mystical theology, on which he wrote with as much depth and clearness as if the objects had been actually before his eyes; the second effect, no less admirable, was his facility in writing on such difficult and abstruse subjects, in terms so appropriate, with reflections so correct, and similitudes so just, and all this so clearly and so expressively, that some one more than human seemed to have been his teacher; so much so, that many very learned men asserted that he had rendered these matters more clear and intelligible than any previous writer.

With this assistance from on high, and being assured of the Divine Will, he applied himself to his writing. The first work which issued from his pen was the book of "Meditations" on the principal mysteries of our faith, on the Life and Passion of our Lord, of His Blessed Mother, &c. It was written in Spanish, in two volumes, and printed in the year 1605. It is in truth an immortal work, in which the reader scarcely knows which to admire most, either the extensive learning, or the order of arrangement, or the multiplicity and correctness of the reflections, or the unction with which the mysteries are unfolded. It cannot be read without feeling the will excited to devotion, or without a desire to profit by it. It passed through three editions, and was translated into several other languages within one year after its first appearance. In it he explains admirably the practice of prayer, at the same time furnishing ample materials for it. In it directors and confessors may find wherewith to instruct those committed to their charge. In it religious of every order may find celestial manna for the daily food of their devotion. In it, in fine, every person of every state may learn how to appreciate the eternal truths, and the mysteries of our holy faith, and also how to live well, if they will frequently read and meditate upon them. The pious Emperor Ferdinand II. declared that this book had been most useful to him, and was accustomed to say that he knew it almost by heart. Lastly, we may say that most writers who have latterly dealt with this subject have borrowed from Father de Ponte's inexhaustible mine.

Meditations on the mysteries of our holy Faith (Volume 1)
Meditations on the mysteries of our holy Faith (Volume 2)
Meditations on the mysteries of our holy Faith (Volume 3)
Meditations on the mysteries of our holy Faith (Volume 4)
Meditations on the mysteries of our holy Faith (Volume 5)
Meditations on the mysteries of our holy Faith (Volume 6)