Book I, Part 2, Chapter 5. Of the fourth Privilege of Virtue, that is, the Consolations which good Men receive from the Holy Ghost

1. I might here very well, after having spoke of the light of the Holy Ghost, which enlightens the darkness of our understandings, count charity and the love of God, with which our wills are inflamed, as the fourth privilege of virtue, especially since the apostle accounts it the first fruit of the Holy Ghost.

But our design at present being not so much to treat of virtue itself, as of the favors granted to it, and charity being not only a virtue, but of all virtues the noblest, we shall forbear to treat of it here ; not but that we might speak of it in this place, though not as of a virtue, yet as of a gift which God bestows on the virtuous, inflaming their wills in an unspeakable manner, and making them love God above all things. The more perfect this virtue grows, the pleasanter it becomes, so that we may therefore look on it as the fruit and reward, not only of the virtues, but of itself too. But not to be thought ambitious of speaking too much in commendation of this virtue, which gives us so many other occasions of speaking in its favor, I will assign the fourth place to the joy and comfort of the Holy Ghost, it being the natural property of charity itself, and one of the chief fruits of this same spirit, as St. Paul tells us, Galat. v. 22.

2. This privilege is a branch of the former ; because, as we said before, this light, with which God enlightens his servants, does not stop at the understanding, but descends into the will, and there darts out the rays of its brightness, with which it entertains them, and gives them a wonderful delight in God. So that from this spiritual light comes the spiritual joy we speak of, as the material light produces the heat we perceive by our senses. This gave the royal prophet occasion to say, " Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart;" Ps.xcvi. 11. We have treated on this subject elsewhere, yet we may venture to speak of it again, without any fear of repeating what we said before.

3. For the better pursuing the design of this book, we must first explain the greatness of this joy, because the knowing of this will go a great way towards making men in love with virtue. We all know, that as all kinds of miseries are included in vice, so are all kinds of delight in virtue, those excepted which the wicked complain they have not. For which reason, man being naturally a friend to pleasure, these persons tell us, by their actions at least, if not by word of mouth, that they had rather enjoy what pleases them, though at the expense of their salvation, than not to satisfy their sensual desires, though hell follows the consenting to them. Lactantius, writing on this subject, says, " that men are frightened into a flight from virtue, and charmed into a pursuit of vice, because vice has a sensible pleasure attending it;" L. 2. de Falsa Relig. c. 2. This being the rise of so many misfortunes, he that shall disabuse men of this mistake, and show them plainly that the way of virtue is much more pleasant than that of vice, must certainly be very serviceable to mankind in general. My design, therefore, is, to prove! this to them by unquestionable authorities, drawn particularly from the Holy Scripture, the best proof we can bring for matters of this nature, since " heaven and earth shall pass away, but the words of God shall not ;" Mark xiii. 31.

4. Tell me, then, blind, deluded man! if the way to heaven be so rough and so unpleasant as you imagine it is, what means the prophet David, when he says, (l O how plentiful is thy sweetness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee!" Ps. xxx. 20. Here he lets us see what delights the virtuous enjoy, and why they are unknown to the wicked, because God hides them from such. What, likewise, do these words of the same prophet signify : " My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall be delighted in his salvation. All my bones," that is, all the powers of my soul, " shall say, Lord, who is like to thee?" Ps. xxxiv. 9, 10. This is to teach us, that the comfort the just have is so great, that, notwithstanding it is immediately received by the spirit, it rebounds in such a manner on the flesh, that though its chief delight is in carnal things, yet, by the communication of the spirit, it is pleased with the spiritual, and places its satisfaction in God, and that with such transports of joy, that all the bones of the body being ravished with this sweetness, men are forced to cry out, " Who is like unto "thee, O Lord ?" What pleasures are to be compared with those we enjoy in thee? What content, what love, what peace, what delight can any creature give, like what we receive from thee ? What is it again the same prophet means by his saying, " The voice of rejoicing and of salvation is in the tabernacles of the just ?" (Ps. cxvii. 15) but to tell us, that true peace and pleasure are no where to be met with, but in the dwellings of the just. He says again, " Let the just feast and rejoice before God ; and be delighted with gladness ;" Ps. Ixvii. 3. And this to show us, what spiritual feasts God often makes for the entertainment of his elect, by giving them a taste of heavenly things for the refreshment of their souls.

5. It is at these divine banquets they drink that delicious wine, the same prophet so highly commends : They shall be inebriated, says he, 0 Lord, with the plenty of thy house, and thou shaft make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure ; Ps. xxx v. 9. Could the prophet have used more expressive words to show how these delights even force men to a hearty love of God ? For as one, that has drank a deal of wine, loses the use of his senses, and is, in that point, like a dead man ; so he, that has once drank of this celestial banquet, dies to the world, and to the irregular desires of what is in it.

6. We read again, Happy is the people, that know what jubilation is ! Ps. lxxxviii. 16. Others would perhaps have said, Happy they who roll in riches, who are enclosed with strong walls, and have their soldiers to defend them ? But holy David, who had a good share of these things, terms only him happy, who, by experience, knows what it is to rejoice in God, and that not with an ordinary joy, but with such a one as deserves the name of jubilation ; which, according to St. Gregory, is a joy of spirit, we can neither express by words, nor discover by outward signs and actions ; L. 24. Moral, c. 3. Happy they, who have made such an advance in the love of God as to have experience of this jubilation ! It is a knowledge, which neither Plato, with all his wisdom, nor Domosthenes, with all his eloquence, could arrive to. For God resides in none, but in the pure and humble of heart. If, then, God be the Author of this joy, how great must it be of course, since the comforts, that come from him, are as equally proportioned to himself, as are the punishments he inflicts ? If, then, he punishes with so much rigor, with what sweet delights must he fill the souls of those that love him ? If his arm is so heavy, when he holds it out to chastise, how light must it be when stretched out to caress ? For he is more wonderful in his works of mercy than in those of justice.

7. What cellar of rich wine is that, which the Spouse in the Canticles (ch. i. 3) boasts of her being carried into by her beloved, and of being filled there with charity and love? What noble banquet is that, which the same Spouse invites us to ? Eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved ; Cant. v. 1. We look on that man to be drunk, when, having had more wine than his natural heat can digest, the vapors fly up into his head, and rendering him incapable of governing himself, force him to follow the impressions they make on his imagination. If this be so, what condition must a soul be in, that has drank so much of this heavenly wine, and is so full of God and of his love, as to be overcharged with an excess of delight and pleasure, and to be made unable, with all its force, to bear up under such a weight of happiness ? So it is written of St. Ephrem, that he was so often overpowered with the strength of the wine of this divine sweetness, that his body not being able to support these delights, he was forced to cry out, (i Retire from me a little, O Lord ! because my body is too weak to endure the force of thy sweetness any longer ;" St. John Clim. deg. 19.

8. O unspeakable goodness ! O immense sweetness of this sovereign Lord ! who communicates himself with such profusion to his creatures, that their bodies are too weak, and their hearts too narrow, to endure and contain the strength and fulness of such charms ! It is by this celestial wine the powers of the soul are lulled to rest ; it is this, that gives them a gentle slumber of peace and life; it is this, that raises the soul above herself; it is by virtue of this she knows, and loves, and enjoys such pleasures, as are far above the strength of her natural faculties. Hence it follows, that as water over a fire, when it has arrived to a certain degree of heat, forgetful, as it were, of its own quality, which is to be heavy, and consequently to tend downward, mounts upwards, borrowing the natural lightness of fire, which gives it this extraordinary motion; so the soul, warmed with this heavenly fire, lifts herself up above herself, and, endeavoring to fly from earth to heaven, from whence this flame was darted, is transported with the desire of enjoying God ; runs after him, with all the speed she can, and stretches out her hand to embrace him, whom she so passionately loves. But if she can neither overtake him, nor cool the heat of her flames, she pines and languishes under the loss of her wish, and all the comfort she has is to send up her amorous sighs to heaven, crying out with the spouse, in the Canticles (v. 8), Tell my beloved that I languish with love. Holy writers inform us, that these languishings proceed from the opposition the soul meets with, in the effecting of her desires. Whereon, one of them says, " Be not discouraged, O amorous soul, for thy sickness is not to death; it is for God's glory, and that the Son of God may be glorified thereby ;" St. John c. xi. 4. But what tongue can express the charms and pleasures these happy lovers enjoy, on Solomon's stately bride-bed, which was made of the wood of Libanus, the pillars thereof were of silver, and the bottom of gold ! Cant. hi. 9. 10. Here it is the spiritual marriage-feast is kept. It is called a bed, for its being a place of rest and love, and where they enjoy such pleasures that, as St. John says in his Revelation, no man can conceive how great they are, but he that has experienced them. Though the knowledge of these things be hid from us, we may nevertheless frame to ourselves some idea of them. For if a man does but consider what an excess of love the Son of God had' for him, in suffering such unheard-of injuries and torments for his sake, he cannot wonder at what we now say, since it is but little when compared to this. What will he not do for the just, who has undergone so much for sinners ? How will he caress and make much of his friends, who has endured such pains, as well for his enemies as for them! We have a token of this in the book of Canticles, where the heavenly bridegroom shows such a passionate tenderness to his bride, which is the church, and every particular person in the state of grace. Such amorous discourses pass there between them, that no other eloquence or love can express.

9. We may also conceive it from the just themselves, God's true friends ; for if you look into the hearts of those persons, you will find their greatest concern and desire, and the perpetual employment of their thoughts, is the service of God, and the putting themselves in a condition of doing something for him, who has done^ and who continues every day to do so much for them, treating them with such sweetness and love. If, therefore, man, of himself so unfaithful, and so unable to do any good, can nevertheless be so faithful to God, what is there that God will not do for him ,} — God, who is infinite in his fidelity and love. If it is the property of God, as the psalmist says, to be holy with the holy, and good 16 L with the good (Ps. xvii. 26), and if man can arrive to such a degree of goodness, as we have said he can, how far will the goodness of God reach ? If God should vie with just men on this point, how much will he outdo them in this glorious strife ? If, therefore, a good man is willing to do so much to make himself pleasing to God, what will not God do in return to comfort and please him ? He will do more than we can express or conceive. For this reason the prophet Isaias says, The ear hath not heard, neither hath the eye seen what thou, 0 God, hast prepared for them that to ait for thee; ch. lxiv, 4. This is to be understood, not of the goods of glory only, but, according to St. Paul (1 Cor. ii.), of those of grace too.

10. This surely may suffice to show how pleasant the way of virtue is, and that the delights of this world are not to be compared with what the just enjoy. For what comparison is there between light and darkness, Christ and Belial, between the pleasures of earth and those of heaven, the satisfactions of the flesh, and those of the spirit, the thoughts which come from the creature, and those from the Creator ? It is certain the more excellent it is, the more capable it is of contenting us. What did the prophet mean else, when he said, Better a little to the just, than the great riches of the wicked ? Ps. xxxvi. 10. And in another place : J had rather be the abject person in the house of my God, than dwell in the tabernacles of simiers ; Ps. Ixxxiii. 11. These words of the spouse, in the Canticles, teach us the same lesson : Thy breasts are better than wine. And a little lower : We will be glad and rejoice in thee, remember my breasts more than wine (Cant. i. 1, 3) ; that is to say, we will think of the most delicious milk of comforts, and caresses more sweet than wine, with which you feed your spiritual children at your breasts. It is certain, that neither material wine nor material milk is meant here ; for by these are understood the pleasures of the world, which the lewd woman in the Apocalypse (xvii.), seated over many waters, clothed in scarlet and holding a golden cup in her hand, made the inhabitants of Babylon drunk with ; thus drowning their senses, that they might be heedless of their ruin.

§ 1. It is particularly in Prayer that the Virtuous enjoy these divine Consolations. — -11. If, on further inquiry into this matter, you should ask me, where it is particularly the virtuous enjoy these comforts, God himself will answer the question, by the prophet Isaias (ch. lvi. 6, 7) : The children of the stranger, says he, that adhere to the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name, to be his servant: every one that keepeth the Sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast my covenant : I will bring them into my holy ■mount, and make them joyful in my house of prayer. So that it is in this holy employment particularly, that the Lord comforts his elect in such a manner. It was on this occasion, St. Laurence

Justinian said (Tract, de Ord. Lig. Vitse), " The hearts of the just are inflamed with this love of their Creator, whilst they are at prayer. It is then they are at times raised above themselves, and imagine they are amidst the choirs of angels, singing with them in the presence of their God ; it is then they love and sigh ; it is then they praise, wTeep and rejoice ; it is then they eat, and are still hungry, they drink without being satisfied, and endeavor, with all the force that love can give them, to transform themselves into their Lord, whom they contemplate by faith, whom they adore with humility, whom they desire with passion, and enjoy with the utmost heat of love. It is then they, by their own experience, find these words of his to be true : My joy shall be fulfilled in you;" John iii. 29. This joy, like a gentle stream, spreads itself over all the faculties of the soul ; it enlightens the understanding, it pleases the will, it refreshes the memory, and makes them think of nothing but God, and they lovingly embrace what they are unacquainted with, and which yet they have such a passion for, that they had rather die than lose it. Thus the heart wrestles with this divine .sweetness, lest it should get away, being the only object of its washes, as the patriarch Jacob did with the angel ; Gen. xxxii. 26. And thus, like St. Peter on the mountain, it cries out, 0 Lord, it is good for us to be here ; Matt, xvii. 4. It is here the soul has all that amorous discourse, which is in the Canticles addressed to her, wiiilst she, on her part, sings these charming airs of love ; His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me. Support me with flowers, and comfort me with apples, for I languish with love. Cant. ii. 5, 6. Then it is, the soul, inflamed with these divine heats, desires nothing more than to break out of the prison of her body, whilst her tears are her food both day and night, because the time of her enlargement is not yet come. Life is the trial of her patience, but the object of her desire is death, and, therefore, she is continually using these words of the spouse : Who will tell me where thou art, my brother, who suckest the breast of my mother? When I shall find thee without I ivould kiss thee. Cant. viii. 1. It is then she is astonished at herself, and wonders how such treasures could be hid from her so long ; but finding it is a happiness which every man is capable of enjoying, she longs to run up and down in the streets and public places, and to cry out, Fools and mad-men! whither do you run? what is it you are in search of? why do you not run to the possession of such a treasure as this is ? Taste and see how sweet the Lord is ; happy is the man that puts his trust in him ; Ps. xxxiii. 9. When the soul has once tasted these spiritual pleasures, none carnal will please her. Company is then a restraint on her, whilst she looks on solitude as a paradise ; for all her desire and comfort is, to be alone with her God whom she loves. Honors and preferments are but a burden to her, and an estate and family a torment. She would not for all the world, no not for heaven itself, be deprived of her comforts ; and, for this reason, all her endeavors are to disengage herself from the world. She has but one love, and one desire ; so that, whatsoever she loves, it is for the sake of one alone, and this one she loves in all things ; she knows how to cry out, with the royal prophet, What have I, 0 Lord, in heaven, or what is there upon the earth that I desire besides thee ? My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart, God is my portion for eve? Ps. xxii. 25, 26.

12. The knowledge of holy things seems no longer obscure to a soul in this state ; she sees them now with other eyes, and feels such motions and changes within, as are strong proofs of every article of faith. She thinks the day long and tedious, and the management of her temporal concerns is troublesome to her, longing till the night comes, that she may spend it in the company of her God. She never looks on the night as too long ; the longest, on the contrary, are those she desires most. If they happen to be clear, with their eyes cast up to heaven, she admires its beauty and the brightness of the moon and stars, considering them quite differently from what she used to do, and much more cheerfully ; she looks on them as so many marks of her Creator's beauty, and so many mirrors of his glory, as so many messengers that come to bring her news of him, as so many lively drafts of his grace and perfections, and as so many presents which the bridegroom sends his bride, to endear and make her constant to him, till he himself shall come and lead her by the hand to this happy marriage, for an eternity in heaven ; she looks on the whole world as a book that treats of nothing else but of God ; she regards it as a letter from her beloved, and a token of his love. These are the pleasures and delights they who love God pass the nights in; these the quiet sleeps they enjoy. For the regular motions all creatures observe, are like a harmonious concert to the soul, that makes her slumber a little, and lulls her into the gentle and soft sleep, of which it is said, / sleep, and my heart ivatcheth ; Cant. v. 2. And when her dearest spouse perceives her thus at rest within his arms, he takes care not to disturb her, and gives orders that no one presumes to wake her, saying, J adjure you, 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and harts of the field, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved awake, till she please ; Cant. ii. 7.

What do you think now of such nights as these? which do you imagine to be the pleasanter, these, or those of worldlings, who spend their time, lying in wait to defile innocent virgins, to rob them of their chastity, and make them lose their honor and their souls ? Thus they miserably expose themselves to the hazard of their own lives, heaping up for themselves a treasure of vengeance against that day, wherein God will punish them according to the heinousness of their crimes; Rom. ii. 5.

§ II. Of the Comforts they enjoy, who begin to serve God. — 13. Perhaps you will tell me such extraordinary favors as these are for none but those who have already advanced irr perfection and virtue. It is true they are for them, but yet God presents even those who are but just entered into his service, with all the blessings of his consolation. He feeds them at first like children with milk, and brings them by degrees to eat more solid meats. You see how the prodigal son was entertained at his return, and welcomed home with music and feasting. This is but a representation of the spiritual joy which the soul conceives, when she sees herself escaped out of Egypt, and freed from the captivity of Pharao, from the slavery of the devil ; Luke xv. For how can a slave, when he has got his liberty, choose but to be glad of such a benefit ? What can he do less than invite all creatures to thank his deliverer with him? Let us sing to the Lord, for he has gloriously magnified, the horse and the rider he hath thrown into the sea ; Exod. xv. 1.

14. If this were not so, where would be that providence which supplies every creature so fully, according to its nature, strength, age and capacity ? For it is certain, carnal men could never be able to enter into this new road, and trample the world under foot, unless God showed them such favors. To this end, his divine providence takes care, as soon as ever it has determined to disengage them from the world, so to smooth and plain the way that they meet with no rubs to make them stumble. This is admirably represented to us by God's leading the children of Israel into the land of promise, whereof Moses gives us this relation : When Pharao had sent out the people, the Lord led them not by way of the land of the Philistines, which is near, thinking lest perhaps they would repent, if they should see wars rise against them, and would return into Egypt ; Exod. xiii. 17. The same Lord who took such care to conduct the Israelites into the land of promise, after he had brought them out of Egypt, takes no less at present, to bring those to heaven, whom he is pleased to call to this happiness, after having made them quit the world.

15. But I would have you to conceive, that though such as have arrived to perfection in virtue are caressed after a particular manner, yet, God is so good to beginners, that, considering their poverty, he helps them forward in the new way they have under-taken, and perceiving they are still exposed to temptations of sin, and have passions to overcome, he gives them, imperfect as they are, so much comfort, that their joy does not fall short of what they possess, who are advanced much further. This he does for no other end, but to give them an entire victory over all their inordinate appetites, to make them break off with their own flesh, to wean them from the milk, that is, from the weak delights of this world, and to tie them to him with such strong bonds of love, that they may never be able to break loose. If this does not convince you, consider what God has been pleased to signify to us by the feasts of the Old Testament, where he commanded the first and last day to be observed with an equal solemnity. As for the six days which were between them, they were no more than the ordinary days of the week, but these two they always kept with much greater veneration. What can this be but a figure of what we are now treating ? He ordered the first day to be kept solemnly, as well as the last, to give us to understand that he makes much of those who serve him in the beginning of their conversion, as well as those who have attained the utmost perfection. This he does in consideration of what these have deserved, and of what those stand in need of, dealing with the one according to the rules of his justice, by giving them what their virtue has deserved, and treating the other according to the dictates of his grace and mercy, by bestowing on them much more than they have deserved, on account of their necessities.

16. We are never more taken with the sight of trees, than when they are in their flourishing condition, and their fruit is ripe. The day of betrothing and the wedding-day are always devoted to mirth and festivity. Almighty God, on the return of a soul to him, betroths her to himself; and when he marries her, he is at all the charges of the wedding-feast, which he makes according to his estate and ability, not according to the deserts and quality of his spouse ; and, to that purpose he says, Our sister is little, and hath no breasts (Cant. viii. 8), and, therefore, she must live on another's milk. The bride, speaking to her bridegroom, tells him, The young maidens have loved thee ; Cant. i. 2. She does not say the maidens, which are those souls that have made a considerable progress in virtue, but those who are not of so ripe an age, that is, such as have but just opened their eyes to this new light. These, says she, have an ardent love for thee. For young lovers do usually express their passion with the greatest force and heat. This is what St. Thomas tells us, when, among several other reasons, he alleges this, that the newness of the state, of the love, of the light, and of the knowledge of divine things discovers those beauties to them, which they never perceived before ; filling them with admiration, giving them at the same time a particular delight, and teaching them what returns they are to make him who has so kindly restored them their sight, after they had been so long blindfolded and in the dark. When a man first comes into any great town or noble place, he walks up and down for some time, and is pleased with wThat he sees ; but having satisfied his curiosity with the frequent sight, he is less taken with it than he was before, nor does he admire it so much. Thus stands the case with those who first came into this new country of grace, for they are surprised to find such wonderful things. So that i* is not to be admired, that beginners in devotion should feel more fervor in their souls, than old practitioners; for the newness of the light and of "their understanding divine mysteries, causes greater sensations in them. This, as St. Bernard remarks (Serm. 14. in Cant.), is the reason why the prodigal son's elder brother was not in the wrong, when he complained to his father, and told him, that for his so many years' service, without ever disobeying the least of his commands, he had never shown him so much favor, as he had done this extravagant, lewd son at his return home. This new love, like new wine, ferments at first, and as water over a fire boils up as soon as it feels the heat it never felt before ; the flame, after these first sallies, grows more strong and equal, though in the beginning it is more violent and impetuous.

17. God entertains those, who enter anew into his house, with a deal of kindness and love : he bears all their charges at first, and makes every thing seem light and easy ; he deals with them as traders do with their customers, who give samples of their wares gratis, but will have their full price for what they sell. The affection we show little children is usually more tender, though perhaps not greater, than what we show those who are of riper years. We cany those up and down in our arms, but let these go by themselves ; and whilst these are laboring and toiling, we lay those to sleep, and let them take their rest ; without giving them the trouble of asking for their meat, we feed them ourselves, and put their victuals into their mouths.

It is this kind reception new beginners find with God, and the manifest favors he shows them, which occasions that spiritual joy and comfort the royal prophet speaks of: The young plant shall flourish with thy drops ; Ps. lxiv. 11. Now, what is this plant, and what these drops, but the dew of the divine grace with which God waters these spiritual young plants, which he has lately dug up from amongst the wild brambles of the world, and set in his own garden? These are the plants which the prophet means, when he says, They shall rejoice in drops ; Ibid. This shows how great the joy of such persons is at their first receiving this new visit. Nor are you to think that, because these favors are called but drops, they have no more in them than their name seems to promise : " For (as St. Augustine says) he that drinks of the river of paradise, one drop of which is more than all the ocean, is sure, though he drink but one single drop, it will quench his thirst forever."

18. If, when you think of God, you are sensible of these comforts, it is no argument against what has been said. For if the palate, when it is out of taste by any bad humor, cannot distinguish what is bitter from what is sweet, but judges what is sweet to be bitter; what wonder is it if your soul, corrupted with so many vices and irregular affections, and which longs so earnestly-after the flesh-pots and onions of Egypt, should not relish the manna of heaven and the bread of angels ? Wash your mouth first clean with the tears of penance, and then you will be able to taste and see how sweet the Lord is ; Ps. xxxiii. 9.

What I have said being so undeniably true, is there any pleasure in the world to compare with these ? Holy writers tell us there are two sorts of happiness ; the one, a happiness that is but begun ; the other, complete and perfect ; the latter the blessed above enjoy, and just men here on earth the former. What, therefore, can you desire better than from this very moment to begin to be happy, and even in this life, to receive the pledges of that divine marriage, which is to be solemnized in heaven, though it be proposed here but at a distance ? O mortal man ! whosoever you are, since it is in your own power to live in paradise, and to enjoy such treasure, go and sell your all, to purchase so great an estate for so small a sum. It is Jesus Christ will sell it, and he will let you have it, in a manner, for notning. Do not defer the opportunity any longer, for every moment lost is of more concern than all the riches of the world. And though you may perhaps meet with an occasion of purchasing it hereafter, assure yourself yet the time you shall have lost will be a trouble to you, and will force you to cry out with tears, as did St. Augustine, "O ancient goodness! it is too late I have known thee;" Solil. c. 31. The lateness of this glorious saint's conversion, though he failed not of his crown, was the perpetual subject of his complaints and tears. Have a care, therefore, lest it should be your misfortune to deplore the loss of both, if you should be deprived of the benefits of glory, the inheritance of the saints in the next life, and of those of grace, the reward of the just in this.