Part 1, lesson 24. Of the mystery of the Resurrection, and of the grace that it operates in us

Q. What does the holy mys tery of the Resurrection of our Lord give us ? What grace does it operate in us ?

A. It is a grace of separation from the world, of detach ment from the present life, which makes us sigh for the life to come, and aspire con tinually to heaven, after the ex ample of our Lord, who, since his resurrection, could not even live with his disciples, nor bear their incredulity and hardness of heart, so impatient and desirous was he of being with his Father, as he had already tes tified during his life, when he said: Glorify me, my Father, etc.*

Q. But one should be out of the world, to be in this state ?

A. Yes; for our Lord, af ter his resurrection, appeared again, it is true, with his dis ciples; he conversed with them, but more rarely; he eat with them, but with reluctance.

Q. Can there be any attach ment to creatures in this state ?

A. No; as we may see in what passed between our Lord and St. Magdalen; he no longer

• Pater, venit hora, clarilica Filium tuum. Joan, xii, 1.

permitted her to approach his person, no longer suffered her holy familiarity; he kept her at a distance from him, because the state of holiness in which the soul risen from the dead enters, carries with it the se paration from all visible crea tures. Be holy, O Magdalen, for I am holy; cease to be at tached to the profane things of the world ; for, being holy as I am, I cannot have any thing to do with them, nor consequently with you, if you have still any attachment to them.

Although the state of resur rection carries with it separa tion from creatures, union and application to God; it is not so perfect, however, as that of As cension.