Mystery of the Cross

beginning and until the end of ages, nevertheless shows himself to all men sooner or later, for a long or short time, according to the counsel of his wisdom and our needs: either as a gnawing lion cub, if he does not devour entirely, or as a Lion who penetrates to the very entrails and gnaws even to the bones. He knocks a man from his horse, like Saul A reference to the conversion of St. Paul (formerly Saul), who was knocked to the ground by a divine light on the road to Damascus.; he surrounds a man within and without with the horrors of death, like David; he reduces a man to a state where he curses the day of his birth and complains to God, asking why he was ever born, like Job. Yes, he throws down whatever opposes him, until one abandons oneself entirely to his judgment, to his condemnation, and to the rigor of his justice. Only then does he remove his mask and show himself as he truly is: namely, the ardent Lover original: "Amateur ardent." In this historical context, "Amateur" does not mean a hobbyist, but a "Lover" or one who is devoted to someone. of men, to whom he only shows himself as a Lion in order to turn them into Lambs; and he then makes them drink in long draughts the sweetness of his love, after having led them into

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