134
SPIRITUAL
TORRENTS.
mind,
I
think
it
is
better
not
in
any
way
to
regu-late
the
time
spent
in
prayer
by
our
varying
emotions.
This
painful
dryness
of
which
I
have
spoken
belongs
only
to
the
first
degree
of
faith,
and
is
often
the
eflfect
of
exhaustion;
and
yet
those
who
have
passed
through
it
imagine
them-selves
dead,
and
write
and
speak
of
it
as
the
most
sorrowful
part
of
the
spiritual
life.
It
is
true
they
have
not
known
4he
contrary
experience,
and
often
they
have
not
the
courage
to
pass
through
this,
for
in
this
sorrow
the
soul
is
deserted
by
God,
who
withdraws
from
it
His
sensible
helps,
but
it
is
nevertheless
caused
by
the
senses,
because,
being
accustomed
to
see
and
to
feel,
and
never
having
experienced
a
similar
privation,
they
are
in
despair,
which
however
is
not
of
long
duration,
for
the
forces
of
the
soul
are
not
then
in
a
state
to
bear
for
long
such
a
pressure
;
it
will
either
go
back
to
seek
for
spiritual
food,
or
else
it
will'
give
all
up.
This
is
why
the
Lord
does
not
fail
to
return:
sometimes
He
does
not
even
suflfer
the
prayer
to
cease
before
He
reappears;
and
if
He
does
not
return
during
the
hour
of
prayer,
