Fifth Sermon for the Feast of the Ascension: On the Manner in Which We Must Follow Christ to Heaven by Our Intellect and Will

£ If you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; relish* the things that ave above, not the things that are upon the earth.” — Col. iii; 1,.

To-day, my brethren, the Son of man is presented to the “ Ancient of days ” (Dan. vii. 9) Whose throne He is destined to share as an Equal, so that henceforth not only “ shall the Bud of the Lord be in magnificence and glory,” as the Prophet predicted, but also “the Fruit of the earth shall be high” (Is. iv. 2). O blessed alliance! O mystery worthy to be embraced with joy inexpressible! For the Same is the ‘‘ Bud of the Lord ” and the “‘ Fruit of the earth ” ; the Same is the Son of God and the Fruit of Mary’s womb ; the Same is the Son and the Lord of David (Matt. xxii. 45), whose joy in Him is fulfilled to-day. Hence he sang of Him of old in the prophetic spirit, “ The Lord said to my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand ” (Ps. cix. 1). For how is He not Lord Who is the “ Bud of the Lord” ? Nevertheless, the Same is also David’s Son, inasmuch as He is “the high Fruit of the earth,” the Fruit of that rod which “ came forth out of the root of Jesse ”’

Canticles, vol. i. p. 71, vol. ii pp. 513-15 (Mount Mellery Translation) ; cf. also A Lapide on this verse.—(Translator.)

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(Is. xi. 1). To-day, therefore, the Father has “ glorified with Himself ” the Same Christ Who is His own Son and the Son of man—glorified Him with the glory which He had before the world was, with Himself (John xvii. 5). To-day heaven rejoices at having restored to it the Truth That “is sprung out of the earth ” (Ps. lxxxiv. 12). To-day the Bridegroom has been taken away from His children, and they are left to mourn, as He Himself has foretold (Matt. ix. 15). For “the children of the Bridegroom” could not mourn so long as they had the Bridegroom with them ; but the day of parting has now come and He has been taken from them, so that henceforth their portion shall be fasting and tears. Where now, O Peter, where now are those joyous exclamations which burst from thee upon the Mount, “ Lord, it is good for us to be here: If Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles `` (Matt. xvii. 4)? For behold thy Lord has gone inte “a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hand, that is, not of this creation’’ (Heb. ix. 11).

How, therefore, can it be good for us to be here any longer? Is it not rather painful, and grievous, and perilous? For here we find an abundance of malice and but very little wisdom, if any at all (Wisdom vii. 30) ; here everything is glutinous, and slippery, and shrouded in darkness (Ps. xxxiv. 6), and covered with the snares of sinners ; here our souls are ever in danger ; here our spirits are afflicted, for there is nothing under the sun but “vanity and vexation of spirit” (Eccles. i. 14). Therefore, my dearest brethren, “let us lift up our hearts with our hands to the Lord in the heavens ” (Lament. iii. 41); let us endeavour to follow our ascending Lord with the feet of our faith and devotion.

The time indeed will come when, without the least difficulty or delay, ‘‘ we shall be taken up in the clouds, = to meet Christ, into the air” (1 Thess. iv. 16), and our then spiritual bodies shall have a power of ascending which is now justly denied to our animal souls. For, at present, what labour it costs us to lift up our hearts! And that because—as each of us may read in the book of his own sad experience—the corruption of the body is a load upon them, and the earthly habitation presseth them down (Wisdom ix. I).

But perhaps it is necessary to explain to you what I mean by lifting up the heart, and in what manner it ought to be lifted up? Well, then, receive the explanation, not from myself, but from the Apostle : “ If you be risen with Christ,” he calls out to us, “seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Relish the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth ” (Col. iii. 1, 2). As if he should say in clearer terms, “ If you have arisen with Christ from the dead, ascend into heaven with Him also: if you live with Him, reign also with Him.” Let us follow Him, brethren, let us “‘ follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth ” (Apoc. xiv. 4). Let us follow Him in His suffering, let us follow Him in His rising, let us follow Him more joyously in His ascension into heaven. Let us see to it “that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, to the end that we may serve sin no longer” (Rom. vi. 6), having “ mortified our members which are upon the earth ” (Col. iii. 5). And “as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so let us also walk in newness of life” (Rom. vi. 4). “For to this end

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Christ died and rose again ” (Rom. xiv. 9), “ that we, being dead to sins, might live to justice ” (x Peter ii. 24).

But inasmuch, as this newness of life demands a safer abode than can be found upon earth, whilst the dignity of our moral resurrection requires a position more exalted, let us also follow Him in His ascension, that is to say, let us “ seek the things that are above,” where He reigns in glory, let us “ relish the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth.” Do you wish to know, my brethren, what is that place above whereof I am speaking? Attend to St. Paul: “That Jerusalem,” he says, “‘ which is above, is free, which is our mother ” (Gal. iv. 26). And would you like me to tell you what is there to beseen? It isa vision of peace.* “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion. Because He hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, He hath blessed thy children within thee, Who hath placed peace in thy borders ” (Ps. cxlvii. 1-3). O peace, “which surpasseth all understanding ” (Phil. iv. 7)! O measure above measure “ pressed down, and shaken together, and running over” (Luke vi. 38)! Suffer, then, with Christ, O Christian soul, rise with Christ, ascend with Christ : all which thou shalt do by obeying the Prophet’s injunction, “ Turn away from evil and do good, seek after peace and pursue it” (Ps. xxxiii. 15). The Apostle also, as you may read in the Acts, gave his hearers the same recommendations, discoursing to them of justice and continence and the hope of eternal life (Acts xxiv. 25). And speaking to the same purpose, Truth Itself admonishes us in the Gospel to have our loins girt and our lamps lighted, and to be henceforth

“like to men who wait for their Lord” (Luke xii. 35, 36).

But if you consider the matter carefully, you will notice that the Apostle is commending to us a twofold ascension, in that he exhorts us not alone to seek but likewise to relish, not the things below, but the things which are above. And perhaps it will appear to you that the Prophet also wished to mark this distinction when he said, “ Seek after peace and pursue it’’: so that to seek after the peace which we are bound to pursue, and to pursue it when the seeking is ended, signify the same respectively as to seek after what we should relish, and to relish what our seeking has found, that is to say, “ the things which are above, not the things which are upon the earth.” For as long as our hearts are divided, as long as they are found to have as yet many folds and do not appear to be perfectly one in themselves, so long do they require to be raised up little by little, and (if I may so speak) member by member, in order that they may be bound into unity in that heavenly Jerusalem “ wherein all are united together” (Ps. cxxi. 3), where not alone each heart singly, but all collectively begin to “ dwell together in unity ” (Ps. cxxxii. 1), that is to say, neither divided in themselves nor from each other. Now the two principal of what I have called the members of our hearts or minds are the intellect and the will. These are frequently in opposition to each other, because whilst the former endeavours to mount to the things above, the latter desires to embrace the things below. But how great is the affliction, how great is the torment of the soul whilst she is thus distracted, thus dismembered, thus divided in herself, can be con-

ON HOW WE MUST FOLLOW CHRIST 273 jectured, at least, from a dislocation of the bodily limbs which we may all easily experience—in case any of you should have failed to observe it in his spirit, through an insensibility that would be very perilous, aye and very pernicious. Suppose, for instance, the legs of a man drawn in opposite directions, and the feet kept wide apart by means of a longish piece of wood placed between them: what intolerable anguish he would suffer, even though the skin remained as yet entire! *

Such, dearest brethren, such is the affliction which we observe with sorrow to have befallen those, who, although associating with us externally and perhaps similarly enlightened, are found to be very differently affected. They appear to know as well as their brothers that good which they ought to do ; but their love of the good they know is not in proportion to their knowledge. For with regard to ignorance, what excuse can there be for any of us, whose minds are constantly fed with heavenly doctrine, for whom there is hardly ever any intermission of spiritual lectures and spiritual instruction? ‘‘ Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there beany virtue, if any kind of discipline: these things you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen ’’ (Phil. iv. 8, 9) in the example and words of the perfect amongst you, whose counsels and conversations have fully enlightened all. Would to God that what has given light to the intellect gave also motion to the will! Then we should not experience in ourselves that most bitter contradiction and most painful divorce, one of our faculties drawing us up to the things above, the other dragging us down to the things that are upon the earth.

There are to be found in almost every religious community certain members who are always replenished with divine consolation and superabounding with heavenly joy; who are always pleasant and cheerful, always full of spiritual fervour ; who meditate day and night on the law of the Lord (Ps. i. 2), often raising their eyes to heaven, and “lifting up pure hands in prayer ” (x Tim. ii. 8) ; who keep a careful watch over their conscience and show themselves diligent “‘ pursuers of good works” (Titus. ii. 14) ; to whom monastic discipline appears pleasant, fasting sweet, manual labour attractive, watching in prayer a delight which never lasts long enough, in short, all the austere practices of our way of life easy and delectable. But you will find others of the contrary disposition: who are pusillanimous and remiss; who sink under the burden, and require to be stimulated with whip and spur; who grow lax in joy and cowardly in sadness ; whose compunction is as infrequent as it is short-lived ; whose thoughts are all carnal, and whose lives are all tepid ; who obey without devotion and speak without prudence ; who pray without recollection and read without profit ; who lastly—as we may see for ourselves—can scarcely beheld back by the fear of hell-fire, or hindered by shame, or governed by reason, or restrained by the discipline of the rule.* Does it not seem to you, my express the effect of training to wit, good order, and by a further use of the same figure of metonymy is sometimes made to

ON HOW WE MUST FOLLOW CHRIST 275 brethren, that “ the life of such as these is drawing near to hell ” (Ecclus. li. 9), since, whilst their intellect is opposing their will and their will their intellect, they are obliged to “ put out their hand to strong things ” (Prov. xxxi. 19), although they are not nourished with the bread of the strong, being the partners of our tribulation but not of our consolation ? Let us, therefore, I beseech you, as many of us, I mean, as are such, let us arouse ourselves, let us repair the injuries we have done to our souls, let us recollect our spirits, and renounce for ever this accursed tepidity, if not because of its danger, if not because God is wont to vomit the lukewarm out of His mouth (Apoc. iii. 16), of which we have sometimes seen melancholy examples,* at least because it is so bitter, so full of misery and pain, because it is rightly regarded as the vestibule of hell and the shadow of death.

My brethren, if we truly seek the things above, let us strive to relish them also, and to enjoy a foretaste of them even during this our mortal existence. For it seems to me that we can without any impropriety understand of the intellect and the will respectively the Apostle’s admonitions to seek the things above, and to relish the things above. That is to say, we are admonished to lift up our hearts to God in their two principal members (as I have already remarked) with the hands, so to speak, of pious affections and spiritual meditations. All of us, unless I mistake, seek the things that are above by the perception of faith and the signify the penalties employed as a means to render training efficacious. In this third sense the word is often used in the Holy Rule of St. Benedict.—(Translator.)

judgment of reason, but we have not all the same relish for the things that are above, some of us being strongly drawn to the things that are upon the earth by a violent force of affection. For whence that diversity of disposition whereof I have been speaking? and that great variety of taste? and that equally great disparity of conduct? How is it that some are so devoid of spiritual grace whilst others are enriched with a superabundance? Certainly, the Giver of grace is neither poor nor parsimonious, but the oil cannot flow where there are no empty vessels (4 Kings iv. 6). The love of the world insinuates itself everywhere. With its consolations, or better call them desolations, it watches all the entrances of the soul : it leaps in through the windows and takes possession of the mind, not however of minds such as his who said, “ My soul refused to be comforted: I remembered God and was delighted ” (Ps. Ixxvi. 3, 4). Now divine consolations keep aloof from the soul that is preoccupied with worldly desires. For there can be no commingling of true delights with false, of eternal with transient, of spiritual with sensual, of noble with base: you cannot at the same time relish the things above and the things that are upon the earth.

Happy, my brethren, happy are those two men in whom, as we read, the ascension of the Lord was prefigured, Henoch translated (Gen. v. 24 ; Ecclus. xliv. 16) and Elias taken up (4 Kings ii. 11). Happy indeed, because they alone of mortals live now entirely to God, they alone are completely absorbed in the contemplation, the love, and the enjoyment of Him.*

or rather four, opinions. Some, as SS. Ambrose and Jerome, believe them to be in the true heaven, enjoying God as do the

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For to them who are known to have “ walked with God” (Gen. v. 24) we can no longer apply the words of Wisdom, “ the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many things ” (Wisdom ix. 15). Every obstacle has been removed from their path, every occasion of sin put away, nothing comes nigh them that can either weigh down their will or depress their understanding. For Holy Scripture tells us of Henoch that he was taken away lest perhaps in his case evil should overcome wisdom (Wisdom vii. 30) and “lest wickedness should alter his understanding or deceit beguile his soul” (ibid. iv. rr) any more.

But for us, dearest brethren, where shall we find truth in this darkness, where shall we look for charity in this wicked world which, according to the Evangelist, “is wholly seated in malice” (x John v. 19)? Can one be found, think you, who shall enlighten our intellect and inflame our will? Yes, undoubtedly, if blessed. Others, as SS. Justin, Irenæus, and Thomas Aquinas, influenced by what is said in Ecclesiasticus xliv. 16: “ Henoc pleased God and was translated into paradise,” hold that they are both living in the terrestrial paradise, whither they were carried through the air. According to St. Gregory, Elias dwells alone in some secret part of the earth; whilst SS. Cyprian, Chrysostom, and Augustine consider it idle to speculate as to their whereabouts. One thing is admitted by all: that whatever be their place of abode, their life is passed in uninterrupted contemplation, God miraculously delivering them from the necessities of the body and even preserving their garments as He did for the Israelites in the desert (Deut. xxix. 5). As to whether they are still capable of meriting, authors are divided. Some affirm, on the ground that they are still “ viatores” and to compensate them, so to speak, for the postponement of their beatitude. Suarez and Vasquez deny, for the reason that so great an extension of the time for meriting would enable them to surpass in holiness all the other saints with the exception of the Blessed Virgin. Cf. A Lapidein 4 Kings ii. rr. — (Translator).

only we are converted to Christ, so that the veil may be removed from our hearts (2 Cor. iii. 15, 16). For He it is of Whom the Prophet says, “ The people that walked in darkness have seen a great Light; to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, Light is risen ” (Is. ix. 2). For “ God indeed, having winked at the times of this ignorance, hath now declared unto men that all should everywhere do penance,” as St. Paul testified to the Athenians (Acts xvii. 30). Recall to mind the incarnated Word and Wisdom of God, Whose sole occupation during all the time when that unspeakable Power, that Divine Glory and Majesty, condescended to be “ seen upon earth and to converse with men ” (Bar. iii. 38), was to enlighten the eyes of men’s hearts and to win them to faith by His preaching and miracles. So He said of Himself, “ The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, wherefore He hath anointed Me, to preach the Gospel to the poor He hath sent Me” (Luke iv. 18). And on another occasion He spoke thus to His apostles, “ Yet a little while the Light is among you. Walk whilst you have the Light, that the darkness overtake you not ” (John xii. 35). Nor was it only before His passion that He appeared at more pains to instruct their understanding than to purify their will: He acted in the same way after His resurrection, “ by many proofs for forty days appearing to them and speaking of the kingdom of God ” (Acts i. 3), when He also “ opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures” (Luke xxiv. 45). How indeed could their minds, as yet carnal, have been brought to relish things spiritual? Not even had they the power to support for a moment the pure light of the Divinity, but could only contemplate the

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Word in the flesh, the Sun in the cloud, the Light in the lamp, the Honey in the comb, the Candle in the lantern. “A Spirit before their face was Christ the Lord,” but not yet without the shadow of faith under which they still “lived among the gentiles ” (Lament. iv. 20). Nay, we read that the Virgin Mary herself was protected by this shadow (Luke i. 35), lest even her eagle eye should bedazzled by that excessive splendour, overpowered by the white light and most pure refulgence of the Godhead. And as for that “light cloud ” (Is. xix. 1) of the Word’s Humanity, that too, of necessity, had a purpose to fulfil, and was turned to account in the interests of our salvation. For the Saviour inspired with the love of His own Flesh the minds of the apostles, who could not have been brought to an understanding of the things of faith without some previous change in their affections, nor were they able as yet to rise to the love of things purely spiritual. Thus it was that at first they clung to Him as to a Man Who spoke and wrought wonders : clung to Him with a love that was human, I allow, and still carnal, yet very strong and superior to all other purely natural affections. This love may indeed be likened to that rod of Aaron which, transformed into a serpent, devoured all the serpents produced from the rods of the Egyptian enchanters (Exod. vii. 12). Hence Peter was able to say, “ Behold we have left all things and have followed Thee” (Matt. xix. 27). Blessed, assuredly, were the eyes that beheld the Lord of majesty present in the flesh, the Creator of the world conversing amongst men and resplendent with all virtues, curing the sick, walking upon the waves, restoring the dead to life, commanding the demons, and bestowing the like powers upon men; yet withal “meek and humble of heart” (Matt. xi. 29), kind, affable, overflowing with the bowels of compassion, the Lamb of God, without sin Himself, and bearing the sins of us all (Luke x. 23). Blessed also the ears which merited to hear the words of life from the lips of the incarnate Word. Blessed they to whom “the only-begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the Father declared’’ (John i. 18) and ‘‘ made known all things whatsoever He hath heard of His Father ” (John xv. 15), so that they drank in from the most pure source of Truth Itself the floods of heavenly doctrine which they were afterwards to pour out, or rather to belch forth (Ps. xliv. 1) for the refreshment of all peoples.

What wonder, therefore, if sadness filled their hearts on hearing Him declare that He was about to leave them, and adding, “ Whither I go you cannot come now ” (John xiii. 33)? What wonder, I say, if their souls were shaken and their hearts disquieted and their minds perplexed and their looks troubled and their hearing confounded ? What wonder if they could not patiently endure to hear a word about His departure from them, about their being abandoned by Him for Whose sake they had renounced all things ? But if Christ had drawn all the love of their hearts towards His own sacred Flesh, it was not with any intention that it should rest there finally, but in order that it might be transferred thence to the Spirit, so as to enable them to say sometime, “ And although we have known Christ according to the flesh, now we know Him so no longer ” (2 Cor. v. 16). Hence also that most loving-kind Master, comforting them with sweet consolation, said, “I will ask my Father, and

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He shall give you another Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, that He may abide with you for ever ” (Johnxiv. 16, 17). Also, “I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you : but if I go I will send Him to you” (John xvi. 7). Here, my brethren, we have a profound mystery. What means thé expression, “If I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you?” Are we to suppose that the presence of Christ is displeasing to the Paraclete ? or that the Holy Spirit abhors the society of the Lord’s Flesh, Which, as we know from the Archangel’s announcement, could not even have been conceived without His intervention ? (Luke i. 35). Impossible! But how then shall we explain the words, “If I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you”? Perhaps the meaning is this: “‘ Unless My sensible presence is withdrawn from you, your minds, thus preoccupied, cannot give admission to the fulness of heavenly grace, your souls cannot receive nor your hearts contain eis

What think you, brethren? If what I have just been saying is true, nay, rather, because it is true, shall any lover of fallacious delights, any pursuer after the pleasures of the flesh, of that flesh which is the “flesh of sin” (Rom. viii. 3), begotten in sin, accustomed to sin, and in which “there dwelleth not that which is good ” (Rom. vii. 18): shall any such person, I ask, presume to hope for the Divine Paraclete ? What ? Shall he who is always clinging to his dunghill, who fosters his flesh, who sows in the flesh and reaps in the flesh (Gal. vi. 8), have the boldness to expect the comfort of that heavenly visitation, to look for that “torrent of pleasure” (Ps. xxxv. 9), that grace of the “ mighty Spirit”? (Acts ii. 2), which, according to the testimony of Truth Itself, the apostles could not receive so long as they clung to the Flesh of the Word? He is assuredly in error, whosoever believes that there can beany alliance between that divine sweetness and this earth and ashes, between that celestial balsam and this prison, between those spiritual graces and these unworthy delights. And as for thee, O blessed Thomas, thou art deceived, thou art deceived, I say, if thou hopest to see thy Lord whilst separated from the society of thy brother-apostles (John xx. 24). He Who is subsisting Truth has no love for singularities ; divisions do not please Him. He “standeth in the midst ” (ibid. 26), that is to say, He is found in the common life and discipline, uniformity of observance is His delight. How long, therefore, O miserable man, wilt thou pursue thine own little particularities ? How long wilt thou seek with so much labour the consolations of self-will, or beg for them with so much shame? “But then,” thou mayest ask, “what am I todo?” “Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free-born (Gen. xxi. 10). For, as I have observed before, there can be no fellowship of truth with vanity, of light with darkness, of spirit with flesh, of fervour with tepidity.

“ But in the meantime,” perhaps thou wilt answer, “whilst the Spirit tarries, I cannot do without some consolation.” Nay, my brother, be patient: “if He should make any delay wait for Him; for He shall surely come and shall not be slack ” (Hab. ii. 3). The

ON HOW WE MUST FOLLOW CHRIST 283 apostles passed ten days in this expectation, “ persevering with one mind in prayer with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus” (Acts i. 14). Therefore, do thou likewise learn to pray ; learn to ask, to seek and to knock, until thou shalt receive, and shalt find, and it shall be opened to thee (Matt. vii. 7). The Lord “knoweth our frame ” (Ps. cii. 14); “and God is faithful, Who will not suffer us to be tempted above that which we are able ” (x Cor. x. 13). I am confident in Him that, if thou wilt faithfully wait for His coming, even before the tenth day shall thy patience becrowned. For He will surely “prevent with the blessings of sweetness ” (Ps. xx. 4) the desolate soul that is given to prayer. Thus happily and ‘“ not unto folly in thee ” (Ps. xxi. 3) “ refusing to be comforted ” (Ps. Ixxvi. 3) by creatures, thou shalt “ remember God and be delighted ” (ibid. 4), thou “ shalt be inebriated with the plenty of His house” and made to “ drink of the torrent of His pleasure” (Ps. xxxv. 9). So the Prophet Eliseus is said to have prayed of yore, whilst lamenting that his sweetest consolation, namely, the presence of Elias, was about to be withdrawn from him. But consider carefully what it was he petitioned and what answer he received. ‘‘I beseech thee,” he said to the elder Prophet, “that in me may be thy double Spirit” (4 Kings ii. 9). For he thought it necessary that the Spirit should be given him in double measure in order that the twofold grace might compensate for the loss of his master. Elias, therefore, answered and said, “ If thou see me when I am taken from thee thou shalt have what thou hast asked” (ibid. 10). For the Spirit would be duplicated in him by the sight of his master ascending, who, borne up to heaven before his eyes, would carry with him thither all his (Eliseus’s) affections, so that he also might begin to “relish the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth ” (Col. iii. 2): the Spirit, I say, he would receive in double measure from the vision of the departing Prophet, in the sense that to an enlightened understanding should be added a spiritualised affection, his heart being lifted up to heaven together with that flesh to which it was most tenderly attached.

In the case of the apostles also, and indeed more evidently, you may see the same thing accomplished. For when, “‘ while they looked on,” their beloved Master “was raised up” (Acts i. 9) and borne to heaven so manifestly that they had no longer any need to inquire, “Lord, whither goest Thou?”’ (John xiii. 36), they were taught by their faith, now endowed with the faculty of vision, if I may express it so, to “lift up pure hands in prayer” (x Tim. ii. 8), with suppliant eyes upraised to God, eagerly imploring the promised gifts of grace: until “suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty Spirit coming ” (Acts ii. 2), of the coming of that Fire doubtless Which the Lord Jesus was casting on the earth, and Which He desired should be mightily enkindled (Luke xii. 49). It is certain, indeed, that they had previously also received the Holy Ghost, that is, when “He, the Saviour, breathed on them and said: Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John xx. 21). But He came upon them on that occasion as the Spirit of faith and understanding to enlighten their intellect, rather than as the Spirit of fervour to inflame their will; and of this “ double Spirit ” they had need. First, the Word of the Father

ON HOW WE MUST FOLLOW CHRIST 285 taught them “ discipline and knowledge ” (Ps. cxviii. 66), and “filled their hearts with understanding ” (Ecclus. xvii. 6). Afterwards the Divine Fire descended, and finding the vessels of their souls now clean, He poured into them a richer treasure of graces, and made their affections entirely spiritual. Thus, all inflamed with the charity which is “strong as death ” (Cant. viii. 6), they would no longer deign—I do not say, to close their doors, but even to close their mouths “ for fear of the Jews” (John xx. 19). With regard to ourselves, dearest brethren, in order to be prepared to receive that grace according to our little measure, let us strive to empty our hearts and souls completely of all earth’s miserable and transient delights and consolations. And particularly during these days which separate us from the feast of Pentecost we should be found with more than ordinary fervour and fidelity “‘ persevering with one mind in prayer,’ (Acts i. 14). Thus shall we deserve to be visited and comforted and confirmed by the Spirit of benignity, the Spirit of sweetness, the Spirit of fortitude, Who will strengthen what is weak in us, make smooth what is rough in us, and purify our hearts ; Who is one and the same Substance with the Father and the Son, yet not one and the same Person. For that the One Substance is Three in Person and the Three Persons One in Substance the Catholic Church most truly and most faithfully acknowledges, that Church which has been adopted by God the Father, espoused by God the Son, and confirmed by God the Holy Ghost, Who, as They are One in Nature, so do They reign One in glory for ever and ever. Amen.