it
more
beautiful
than
it
was
before
it
fell.
Those
then
who
have
greatly
sinned,
and
for
whom
I
now
write,
are
conscious
of
a
great
fire
consuming
all
their
sins
and
hindrances
;
they
often
find
their
course
im*
peded
by
besetting
sins,
but
this
fire
consumes
them
again
and
again,
till
they
are
completely
subdued.
And
as
the
fire
thus
goes
on
consuming,
the
obstacles
are
more
and
more
easily
surmounted,
so
that
at
last
they
are
no
more
than
straws,
which,
far
from
imped-ing
its
course,
only
make
it
burn
the
more
fiercely.
Let
us
then
take
the
soul
in
its
original
condition,
and
follow
it
through
its
various
stages,
if
God,
who
inspires
these
thoughts,
which
only
occur
to
me
as
I
write,
wills
that
we
should
do
so.
As
God's
design
for
the
soul
is
that
it
should
be
lost
in
Himself,
in
a
manner
unknown
to
ordinary
Christians,
He
begins
His
work
by
imparting
to
it
a
sense
of
its
distance
from
Him.
As
soon
as
it
has
perceived
and
felt
this
distance,
the
natural
inclina-tion
which
it
has
to
return
to
its
source,
and
which
has
been,
as
it
were,
deadened
by
sin,
is
revived.
Then
the
soul
experiences
true
sorrow
for
sin,
and
is
painfully
conscious
of
the
evil
which
is
caused
by
this
