Part 1, lesson 12. That honor is due to G-od alone ; how we ought to act, when we are despised

Q. Who is he who ought to be honored ?

A. God alone; "to God alone," says St. Paul, "be all honor and glory;* and to us confusion," says the Prophet Daniel. t

Q. Can you give some reason for this ?

A. Yes; it is because God alone is perfect in himself, as our Lord says; none is good but

• Soli Deo honor et gloria. 1, Tim. i, 17.

| Nobis autem confusio faciei. Dan.

ix, 8.

God alone *. Every thing else is nothingby itself, and possesses no good but from God; where fore our Saviour said of him self: my doctrine is not mine nor of me t.

Q. But ought we not to honor the Saints who are in heaven? does not God wish us to honor them?

A. The honor we render to the Saints who are in heaven, is an honor which we render to God himself dwelling in them; and when we honor the just upon earth, it is the Holy Spirit that we honor in those in whom he

• Nemo bonus, nisi solus Deus. Luc. xviii, 19.

f Mea doctrina non est mea. Joan, vii, 16.

dwells, whom he justifies, and to whom he gives grace and vir tue to be faithful to God.

Q. Is it for this reason that we read in the holy Scripture, that God is wonderful and ad mirable in his Saints ?*

A. Yes; because by his pow er he elevates their weakness to the practice of sublime vir tues, enlightens their ignorance, and makes his grandeur shine forth in their baseness.

Q. Is it thus God wishes to be honored in his Saints ?

A. Yes; our Lord himself, when upon earth, wished that his Father should be honored in him; he did not wish to re-

| Mirabilis Deus in sanctis suis. Psal. xvii, 36.

ceive any praise for himself, but referred it all to his Father. He said to those who called him good: do not say so; no one is good but my Father. The good ness which shines in me comes from him, it originates in him, and if he had not given it to me, I would not have it. Before my Father had communicated it to me, I was nothing, had nothing; I was a mere nothing, like the rest of men; my humanity was created out of nothing, as well as that of other creatu res. God poured himself upon me, arid infused into me the plenitude of his treasures, so that they are all his, and whatever is good, beautiful and perfect in me, is from him; this good is God's, not mine; he is the author of these perfections and beauties; he ought to be honored for his work, and above all, for th\s masterpiece of his hands.

Q. It was then in as much as he was nothing of himself, that he called himself the reproach of men and the outcast of the people ?*

A. Yes, and it was also be cause he was charged with the sins of the whole world.

Q. You have told us won derful things about our divine Saviour, which I beg you to ex plain a little more fully. But, before leaving this subject, tell us still more particularly how

• Opprobrium hominum, et abjectto plebis. Ps. xxii, 7.

we ought to act, when we are despised, and when no kind of notice is taken of us.

A. When we are passed by unnoticed, we should rejoice, and say in ourselves : O my God ! how happy I am not to be seen or noticed by men. How glad I am that nobody thinks of me ! for, in this manner, 0 Lord ! I do not occupy in the thoughts or minds of thy creatures the place which thou alone shouldst oc cupy in them. How delight ed I am to be left out of their view, that I may also be left out of their hearts! This was the disposition of thy holy mar tyr St. Ignatius, when he fore saw that he would be en tombed in the body of the beasts which were on the point of de vouring him, "at least, said he, Ijhali be seen there by no one, I shall occupy no one's mind, nor shall I fill any one with myself."*