“While the Lord was calling me, all the world’s pleasures stood nearby. As though holding deliberations with a friend, my mind pondered what course to take, which to abandon. Thanks be to you, Good Jesus, who, moved by the holy entreaties of your servant, broke my bonds and cast upon me the bonds of love.” ~ St. Hilary of Arles
Immediately, after reading this, I thought of the incredible Baroque masterpiece by Giovanni Baglione: “Sacred Love and Profane Love” (1601-1602.) At the center of the composition, that was heavily influenced by his contemporary Caravaggio, Sacred Love is represented as a beautiful angel who interrupts a weird sexual tryst between Cupid and the devil. While the devil is screeching with fright, Cupid lies languorous and rather peculiarly unperturbed. That is how Our Lord works: gently and lovingly. After cursing Jesus, as I collapsed dying on an emergency room gurney, I desperately called out to Him in a fit of fear. Before that, I was rather like Cupid, stewing in my own filth, quite stupidly resigned to my fate and smugly secure that I would perish within my sins. But, when Christ came to me - it was much like the demeanor of that angel: sweet, caring, and not at all angry.