Thirty-eighth point. His virtue of religion

Her answer on the thirty-eighth point was :

All who knew him can testify that the holy Bishop possessed in a supereminent degree the virtue of the holy Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion. He held in the highest respect all that had to do with Divine worship, and performed all its actions with a profound reverence, gravity and de votion, having before his eyes the greatness of Him Whom he was serving. At the principal feasts of the Church, he displayed a sort of radiant joyousness, doubtless because his thoughts were wholly absorbed in the great mysteries which the Church was then commemorating. He celebrated the sacred offices at those times pontifically, with such profound attention, such intense recollection, and

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178 Saint Sane #. tie (ZHjantal's! Jiepstttons such meek dignity, that those who were present were filled with admiration. I was a witness of this before I entered religion.

He especially loved preaching at the great festivals, so as to stir up his people to celebrate them devoutly, and to make them understand the mysteries which Holy Church then com memorated, in order to kindle their fervour.

He said. Holy Mass every day, and, as has been already mentioned, with profound devotion. When he carried the Blessed Sacrament in processions, he held It pressed to his breast, his eyes almost closed, and his countenance so calm and abstracted in its expression, that it was evident how closely his heart was united to that of his Saviour. In this action, all who saw him were filled with admiration, and felt their own devotion kindled by it.

One day, when he had been carrying this Divine Sacrament in procession all through the town, on the Feast of Corpus Christi, the heat of the weather being extraordinary, and his fatigue, as we knew, extreme, we, fearing that his health might have suffered, sent to know how he was. He wrote to us thus : " Yes; it is true that I was a little weary in body, but in heart and mind how could I be so, after having held on my breast and close to my heart a burden so divine, as I did this morning all through the procession ? Ah ! if humility and self-contempt had made rny heart a deeper and more sheltered resting-place for that most holy Treasure, It would doubtless have taken refuge there, not only outwardly but inwardly in my heart, for so much does our dearest Lord love these virtues that wherever He sees them dwelling, He takes the fortress by storm. The sparrow has found herself a house and the turtle a nest for herself where she may lay her young ones (Ps. Ixxxiii.), says David. My God ! when this psalm was sung, how deeply my heart was stirred within me ! for I said to myself : Sweet Queen of heaven, pure turtle dove ! is it possible that thy little One has now His nest in my breast ? And again these words of the Bride touched me deeply : My Beloved to me and I to Him (Cant. ii. 16), He shall abide between my breasts (Ib. i. 12), for I held Him there; and those of the Bridegroom : Put me as a seal upon thy heart (Ib. viii. 6). Ah yes ! but having taken away the seal I do not see its impression left upon my heart." At another time he wrote : " To-day is the great Festival of the Church, on which, carrying the Saviour in the procession, He of His infinite grace gave me a thousand sweet thoughts — so sweet that, as they filled my mind, I could scarcely restrain my tears. I compared myself with the High Priest of the Old Law, and considered how he wore a rich breast plate adorned with twelve precious stones, in which were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. But ah ! how much richer was my breastplate, although com posed of only one single pearl, since that is the Pearl of great price, formed out of the blessed dew from heaven in the spotless womb of the i8o Saint Sane J. tie CIHjantal'g JBepostttons

Mother Pearl. For, remember, I was holding the Blessed Sacrament pressed to my breast, and it seemed to me that all the names of the children of Israel were graven upon it. Ah ! would that my heart could have opened to receive this precious Saviour ! But alas ! I had not the sword with which to pierce it, for only love can do that. Yet at least I had a great desire to possess that love." Such were the holy thoughts which filled the heart of our Blessed Founder while he was carrying the Saviour of the world on his breast.

He took part in all the processions where his presence was needed, with such modesty and re collection as to inspire reverence in all beholders. Sometimes he was recognised in that of the peni tents who on the night of Holy Thursday walk, clothed in black, and barefooted, and there was nothing to distinguish him from the others.

He never failed to be present at the preaching of sermons in the city : he listened to them with great attention, and when, on leaving the Church, he went to preach elsewhere, which he generally did, he frequently repeated something which he had heard, adding words of praise of the preacher, for he often said that there was nothing good in himself, except that he loved to hear the Word of God. He told us to make it a rule to honour the Word of God through whatever channel it came to us, and never to criticise or censure the preacher.

He generally went to say Holy Mass at places where there were Indulgences; he was present at the public prayers and Benediction of the Most

Blessed Sacrament which took place in the evening, often desiring these to be offered for the necessities of Princes and their people; he never failed to say Mass in Churches on the feasts of their Patron Saints : he often preached there, and took part in the prayers which were said after the sermon, and on all these occasions and in all these places his attentive devotion was conspicuous.

He held the relics of the Saints in great honour. The Prior of Quoe'x, whom I have already men tioned, told me how much he had admired the reverence and devotion with which the holy Prelate knelt before the relics of St. Germain, while his brother, the Bishop of Chalcedon, was consecrating the altar of the Chapel. The Prior said that he never saw him turn his head, or move his eyes from these holy relics, and that he spoke afterwards of his happiness in this contemplation.

When he was preaching at Grenoble one Lent, the Minimes begged him to go and preach in their Church on the Feast of St. Francis of Paola. After his sermon they showed him the cloak of St. Francis. Our Blessed Founder being on his knees before it, the people came crowding round him to venerate the sacred relic, jostling him and treading on his feet, pushing him and pressing on him, without his making the slightest movement or gesture to prevent them. There he knelt motionless, absorbed in his prayers, calm and devout, to the great admiration of one who was present at this scene and described it to me.

1 82 Saint Sane ff. tie (tljantaP* Hepogtttons

He honoured all according to their rightful claims, but especially Priests. He wrote thus on one occasion : " I do not at all approve of Priests being made use of in menial household offices, and if sometimes their poverty should make this permissible or even desirable, however homely and unpolished they may be, we must never lose sight of the respect due to their condition and to their priestly character. I see that everywhere they are treated according to their birth and social position, but this I cannot suffer; it disgusts me absolutely." A person speaking to him one day of an Ecclesiastic as " the little Priest," he reproved her for using the expression, as not sufficiently respectful.

And this is well known, &c.