acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee" (a); and, there, S. Laurence Justinian, echoing the voice of God, writes: "In the case of the just, tribulation is a proof of love” (b). Nay more, he adds: "The more dearly anyone is loved, the more severely is he punished in the present life (c). There is, moreover, this further consideration to be kept in view that if God, by sending us afflictions, shows His love for us, we, on our part, by bearing those trials joyfully prove our love for Him! Wherefore, S. Catherine of Sienna says: "The more we suffer, the greater proof do we give of our love" (d).

3. Adversity is a sign of predestination, as S. Augustine affirms, saying: "It is probable that God, when He chastises you with severe trials, has marked you out for the number of His elect" (e). And S. Laurence Justinian asserts the same thing when he writes: "In the just, tribulation is an indication of love, a presage of future happiness, and a proof of predestination" (f). What is now your opinion? Will you not call the afflicted soul happy, if such splendid rewards follow in the wake of persecution?

Nor is the abundance of grace less which lies concealed beneath the mantle of adversity. For (1.) S. John Chrysostom says: "Truly it is the very greatest grace to be deemed worthy to suffer something for Christ. It is a truly perfect crown, and a reward not inferior to that of future retribution" (g). Nay,

(a) Tobias xii. 13.

(b) De casto connubio, cap. vi. (c) Idem. fasiculo amoris, cap. viii. (d) Dialog. cap. v. (f) Lib. de casto connubio, cap. vi.

(e) Epist. ad Allipi.

(g) Hom de S. Anna.

he adds that, even though our sufferings merited no reward, it would be in itself a sufficient reward to suffer for one we love (a).

2. It is a greater thing to suffer than to work miracles. S. John. Chrysostom says: "For the power of working miracles I am a debtor to God; but by my patience I make Christ my debtor" (b). Wherefore, the Blessed Baptist Verana used often exclaim: “O Lord, if you were to reveal to me all the secrets of your most loving heart, you would not confer on me such a favour as by sending me afflictions."

See how the saints felt concerning the glory and the happiness of suffering; see what are the sentiments of the children of God; and, therefore, try not to be the degenerate descendant of those valiant souls; for which purpose, apply yourself earnestly and perseveringly to the practice of the third degree of humility.

EXAMEN.

On Patience and Obedience.

Since no one can attain the third degree of humility, and persevere therein, unless he be armed with the greatest patience; and since, on the other hand, obedience continually furnishes us with occasions of suffering; the order of things demands that we should set forth the object, the degree, and the motives of both these virtues.

(a) Hom. 8, in Ep. ad Ephes. (b) Idem in cap. 1, in Ep. ad Ephes.

1. Patience is a virtue which inclines the will to bear calmly every adversity. Its object is the loss of the goods of fortune by means of poverty; of honour and reputation, by means of contempt and calumny; of health and of life, by means of sickness and of death; and of peace of soul, by means of scruples, annoyances, and trouble of mind.

We should bear all those trials (1.) with silent patience, without complaining of our grievances to others, without being at all disturbed in mind, or pouring out our lamentations before God, but generously locking them up in our own hearts, and forgetting them.

2. We ought to bear them with a grateful joy; for the apostles not only rejoiced to suffer insults for the sake of Christ, but they even thanked God for them as for signal favours.

3. We ought to bear them with a desire of suffering still more. Jesus Christ Himself gave us an example of this upon the cross, where He thirsted for fiercer tortures; S. Paul challenged every kind of tribulation; and S. Francis Xavier, in the midst of his many labours and sufferings, used to exclaim: More, O Lord! more, O Lord".

4. We ought to bear them with a firm persuasion that our trials are a mere nothing in comparison with those of Christ, of the martyrs, and of so many most afflicted saints; and, finally, that they are nothing in comparison with the pains of purgatory and hell, which we have so often merited by our sins.

Moreover, we should bear all evils in the manner just mentioned-(1.) through a motive of self-humiliation, and in acknowledgment of the full and absolute

dominion which God has over us. (2) With the intention of satisfying the Divine justice, which we have so often provoked. (3.) Through a motive of penance. (4.) Through a motive of love for Jesus Christ, and for His Eternal Father. Here examine yourself, and strive to discover whether your patience extends itself to all those evils which we have enumerated above, and whether you suffer in that manner, and for all these motives, which we have already set down.

II. Obedience is a virtue by which man, for the sake of God, obeys another man in things that are lawful. Its object is the person whom, and the thing in which, we obey. For, first, The truly obedient man obeys all his superiors, (2.) even those who are less virtuous, less prudent, and less learned than himself; nay, even though in issuing their orders they should display a hasty, passionate, and tyrannical disposition. (3.) Still more, we should obey even our inferiors, when they command in the name of the superior.

Secondly. He who is truly obedient obeys in all things that are enjoined; even when to obey involves a risk (1.) of losing health or life; or (2.) of forfeiting honour, reputation, or the acquisition of learning; or (3.) becomes particularly repugnant to our feelings, because we discover in him who issues the command manifest injustice, or partiality, or other sinister dispositions.

Thirdly. The truly obedient person obeys in that manner which is most perfect-(1.) With the greatest alacrity, so as even to stop short in the middle of a word, or to leave the formation of a letter unfinished. (2.) With an entire conformity of his

will to the will of the superior, not murmuring with himself, or pouring his complaints into the ears of others. (3.) With a blind submission of the intellect, believing that to be best which the superior commands; and if that which the superior orders should be something imprudent, difficult, and troublesome, he thanks the Lord for having afforded him an opportunity of sacrificing at once his intellect and his will.

Finally, we must obey-(1.) Through a motive of faith, showing thereby that we believe Christ, who said: "He who hears you hears me". (2.) Through a motive of hope, trusting that, by means of obedience, we shall be governed and saved by Divine Providence. (3.) Through a motive of charity, making, by means of obedience, a free gift to God of that which we hold most dear and precious, namely, our will and our intellect. Examine yourself, and discover what degree you have attained in this virtue. Do you obey promptly, with joy, and with entire submission of your own judgment?

This method of practising patience and obedience greatly lessens the difficulty which is found in the third degree of humility; and as we are accustomed to feel an aversion for those who cause us to suffer in our character, in our person, or in our property, or to obey in things that are difficult and repugnant to self-love, we shall find a remedy for this evil in the following meditation, in which Jesus dying on the cross will teach us to love, and serve, our enemies.