Chapter 4. On the Couches in the House of God.

LET us now pass from the chambers to the couches. " The saints shall rejoice in glory," saith David, "they shall be joyful

in their beds." (Psalm cxlix.) These "beds" signify nothing more, than the eternal rest of the saints, and that " sleep " of which the prophet speaks in other places, 1 When he shall give sleep to his beloved ; behold the inheritance of the Lord," &c. And again, t( In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest." In fine, this is that 'rest' of which St. John makes men tion; "Write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours ; for their works follow them/' (Apocalypse, chap. xiv. 13.) Great is this blessing, possessed only by the saints ; for in this life no one is entirely free from labour, and those who seem at rest, such as nobles and rich men, are often oppressed with the greater troubles. Not without reason hath our Lord compared riches to thorns, in the parable of the sower; and Job saith ; " Man s life upon earth is a war fare," and one of his companions : "Man is born to labour and the bird to fly." But Ecclesiasticus is the clearest of all on this point : " Great labour is created for all men, and a heavy yoke is upon the children of Adam, from the day of their coming out of their mother's womb, until the day of their burial into the mother of all. Their thoughts, and fears of the heart, their ima gination of things to come, ^and the day of their end : From him that sitteth on a glp- .rious throne, unto him that is humbled in

earth and ashes. From him that weareth purple and beareth the crown, even to him that is covered with rough linen: wrath, envy, trouble, unquietness, and the fear of death, continual anger and strife." (chap, xl.) Thus Ecclesiasticus most beautifully teacheth us, that no mortal can enjoy 'rest' at any time. But I will briefly explain these words, that all may understand how great is the ( sleep/ that is, the rest of the blessed. " Great labour is created for all men, and a heavy yoke is upon the children of Adam." Occupation is opposed to rest: but because many are occupied in pleasant things, in hunting, in games, in music, in dancing, it is added — " A heavy yoke," to show us that he speaks of laborious and troublesome labours with which no one is pleased, and which all fly from. But these troublesome labours are " created for all men," that is, destined for men from their creation, as their individual and insepara ble companions. This Ecclesiasticus explains, lest perhaps he might not be understood by some, " From the day of their coming out of their mother's womb, until the day of their burial in the mother of all." Wherefore, oxen that sometimes bear a heavy yoke, but rest at night, are better off than man who is compelled to carry his " heavy yoke " day and night. He then briefly mentions a part of the troublesome occupations, which like unto a most heavy yoke, press upon the neck of

mortals. " Their thoughts and fears of the heart, their imagination of things to come, and the day of their end." The first por tion of their labour is the thought of the future, for they are always solicitous about to-morrow, saying within themselves, 'What will happen after this? Shall we lose the little we possess 1" From this soli citude proceeds a continual fear, which does^ not suffer man to be at rest. This solicitude, with its offspring, which is fear, is two- fold: one which the mind imagines to itself; the other which is certain, and which one can avoid. Of the first Ecclesiasticus speaks, ' Their imagination of things to come :" of the latter, " The day of their end." Men imagine, that is, re present to themselves various future con tingencies, which no less disturb them than if they were certainly to happen. But the thought and fear of ' death' especially frightens them, which is called " the day of their end :" all await this with so much terror, that St. Paul in his Epistle to the He brews, calls it a continual " servitude :" for the expectation of death can embitter all the pleasures of life. Lastly, Ecclesiasticus adds, that this laborious occupation is so common to all the sons of Adam as to be long to all men, from the first unto the last; "from him that sitteth on a glorious throne, that weareth purple and beareth the crown, unto him that is humbled in earth and ashes." Thus all men, since the. sin of

Adam, are more miserable even than the beasts of the field: for these live without fear, and are not solicitous for to-morrow, neither do they remember past labours, nor are they disturbed by ' the imagination of things to come/' And therefore hath Ecclesiasticus said, that this yoke is upon " all the children of Adam," in order that he might both exclude the beasts of the field, and show us that the cause of all this misery, was the sin of our first parent.

But the lot of those who aspire not after their heavenly home is the most miserable of all, because, after having carried a heavy yoke in this life, they will be forced to bear a still more heavy one in hell. In this world our troubles are often united with some consolations ; but in hell there will be labour and sorrow, without rest or consola tion : for, in the blessed House of God alone can there be rest without labour, and con solation without sorrow. With reason doth the prophet say: " The saints shall rejoice in glory : they shall be joyful in their beds." (Psalm cxlix.) They rest not as those that sleep, who do not feel their rest, but they rest with great*' joy/' knowing and feeling with eternal gratitude their most happy rest, free from labour, pain, fear, and trouble. Truly, if there were nothing else in the House of the Lord but this eternal rest, would it not be worthy of being purchased by all the sorrows and labours of this life ? and if in hell there were no other

torment but an everlasting want of rest, would it not be worthy of being redeemed by the daily prayers and tears of a whole life ? As it will be consoling to the saints to behold, at their departure from this world, the end of all their labours and sorrows, so, likewise, will it be bitter for the wicked to reflect, at their death, that henceforth they can hope for no rest from their sorrows.

Death is- said to be the chief of all terrible things ; and yet, because it appears to bring some rest, therefore most miserable are they who shall descend into hell, for "They shall seek death, and shall not find it : and they shall desire to die, and death shall fly from them/' (Apocalypse ix. 6.) Where fore, the being deprived of all rest will be a more grievous evil than even death itself. And yet, so great is the blindness of men, that they think nothing of losing eternal rest, and of descending into that pit wherein their^ torments will never admit of con solation.