Augmented and Generally Improved Heavenly Love-Kiss

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Glow of Love toward his only soul-beloved, Jesus. For the honor of this Divine Flame of Love, he prepared the largest part of this work with a weak hand and a trembling pen. He held all other things to be vain, and wished to make himself learned for the kingdom of heaven through the love of God. original: "Matth. 13: 52" We saw verified in him what is written in the Song of Solomon: "Love is stronger than death." original: "Cant. 8: 6" Indeed, we do no violence to the truth if we say: the love of God in him was stronger than death. The more death reached for his life, the brighter that Divine Flame of Love burned from his heart. So he did a few days before his death, when he laid the final hand to the completion of this present book, after which this Flame changed into a fiery chariot of Elias Elijah that took him away to heaven. Thus, although death has robbed the temporal body, the soul nevertheless lives eternally with God and loves its highest good.

But, Most Illustrious Princess, our blessedly deceased Lover of the Flame has flamed and been fervent toward heaven as well as toward heavenly-minded souls. In this regard, we recall at this hour how his body, exhausted unto death, nevertheless spoke with a tongue full of spiritual joy of Your Illustrious Princely Highness as a highly renowned Christian lover of God in the world, with all praise and worthiness. His weak soul rejoiced heartily in God when there came to his ears the most highly praiseworthy fame that is owed to Your High Personage due to your merits. This concerns Your Illustrious Princely Highness's inward, fervent love for God, earnest spiritual meditations on God's most holy word, excellent heavenly wisdom, and incomparable praise and thanksgiving to God as the Fountain of Grace. These do not pour out words, but pure Flames of the Spirit and bright sparks, and other High Princely Virtues, I mean those that have become known to the entire Christian world. He called those happy who, having only heard with their ears from others, saw with their own eyes and could be considered fortunate in such a mirror, especially those who might perceive and experience the conforming image of virtue therein. He thanked with deep humility for the invaluable graces that Your Illustrious Princely Highness deigned to grant him, that Your Highness, in the reading of Spirit-filled books, deigned to look upon his writings with gracious eyes. It was his only and innermost desire to be able to show his most submissive duty of thanksgiving with heart and mouth, according to his meager ability, so as to at some time acknowledge and offer up a minor and small spark to the fire of the Divine Flame of Love, which—oh, sorrow!—his untimely death has prevented.

We venture and take the liberty, Illustrious Princess, to most obediently perform that which our Husband and Father was prevented from doing,

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and lay in the deepest submissive reverence this present Flame of Love at Your Illustrious Princely Highness’s feet. This is a humble token of the gratitude and humility still glowing in the cold earth from the deceased Author and from ourselves. The fire-circle of the sun also takes and draws the smallest sparks to itself, which run toward its center from the world's orbit. Your Illustrious Princely Highness's most highly praiseworthy heavenly-mind will undoubtedly serve as a sun for us, and shine upon this Flame with merciful eyes and favor us. The great God also takes pleasure in small gifts, even from the small and speechless. This gives birth in us to the hope and expectation that Your Illustrious Highness, who by Jehovah, the great God, has been placed as a sun over the Duchy of Saxony, etc., and together with Your Illustrious Princely Consort is held as a God of the earth, will follow God in this. You will not only consider the insignificant offering of a grieving widow and abandoned orphans (as its content involves God's honor and an awakening to Divine love) and thus allow us to enjoy those great graces that were so mildly granted to our Husband and Father, according to Your innate Illustrious Princely and very friendly kindness, and receive us into Your Illustrious Princely protection. With which we wish Your Illustrious Princely Highness, together with Your Illustrious Princely and very honored Consort, length of life with health, peaceful reign, High Princely well-being, and faithful zeal, remaining under the unspeakable