68. From the Alpha to the Omega of Perfection — Sermon for the Sixth Sunday After Trinity

Synopsis — This begins with an ordinary good Christian life — Sincerely done, it is all that God requires of many souls — Others are called to many additional works of religion land penance and a higher degree of virtue — These shall be judged by their inner fidelity rather than by their outicard conformity — Nor does this mean a barren intellectuality of religion, but deeply-lying simplicity of intention — Various comparisons — the supremacy of loving God in a career of perfection.

SECOND SEEAION FOE THE FOUETH SUNDAY AFTEE

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosoms. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again. — Luke vi, 36-38.

Children, it is a pitiable thing how alien to some men's hearts is the beautiful virtue of mercy. Every man is bound to be merciful to his neighbor in all his needs, and' that not only in temporal matters ; for he is bound to have a pitiful heart for his moral and spiritual defects. But, alas, everybody strikes at his neighbor with his condemnation. If any misfortune happens him we add the weight of our accusation, attributing the basest motives we can think of. Blessed be God that He does not do the like. What untold misery comes from an evil tongue, which hurries in with its condemnations without a moment's consideration. I beg thee, my dear man, for the sake of thy eternal welfare, to pause awhile, and come to an understanding with thyself, carefully weighing both thy thoughts and thy words about thy neighbor. It is a shameful thing and almost blasphemous, thoughtlessly to sit in judgment on thy neighbor, and to launch against him injurious words, spiritually murdering him in the minds of thy hearers.

Hence those words of Christ : "Judge not, that you may not be judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall he judged; and with what measure you mete, it shall he measured to you again'' (Matt, vii: 1-2).

And now, children, let us consider the Lord's words: "With the same measure that you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again.'' Devout teachers understand four kinds of measures here — good, full, pressed down, and flowing over. The first means a pious Christian life with God's grace, ending in eternal life. The full measure means God's gift to us of a glorified body at the last day. The measure pressed down means the blessed companionship granted us among God's saints and angels in everlasting bliss. And the overflowing measure is our possession of God Himself in perfect happiness and in the fulness of every desire.

Such are God's measures to us. And now let us inquire what are our measures to God, given by that power of loving which we call the will, by which we weigh out all our words and works and life — the will, to whose properties we cannot add nor take away. And let us ever bear in mind that with what measure we mete here in this life, it shall be measured to us again in life eternal.

First, what is our good measure? It is a hearty turning to God, with a sincere purpose to observe God's commandments and those of holy Church; that we hold fast to the true faith; that we devoutly receive the sacraments; that we interiorly detest our sins and totally give them up; that we live a life of penance, trusting securely in God's mercy and grace. Alas! It seems as if nobody at all gives God this good measure nowadays, nor lives in His holy fear. But whosoever does follow this true Christian life will without doubt enter into eternal joy. And it is the indispensable rule of our religion for all and every one. There are men from whom God requires no more; it is their good measure. And it may, therefore, happen that some upright souls who thus conform to God in this life, shall go straight to Heaven, escaping all purgatory. And yet it is the very lowest degree of the divine service.

Other men God invites to a much higher degree; and these may, nevertheless, have their purgatory, because before their death they have not perfectly conformed to the will of God in their case — and their pains shall be great beyond expression. But that being done and over, they will be raised very high above the others in Heaven.

for they originally had the courage to undertake a far more spiritual career, although death interrupted their progress in perfection.

And what is our full measure? It refers to those whom God calls to a life of holy observances, many prayers and kneelings, and much fasting, and other such devout practices. They give God a full measure, if they will but cultivate an interior spirit of real fervor together with their outward piety, seeking God within their soul and finding His kingdom there. This life is as different from the other two kinds as running is different from sitting.

Ah, dear children, how happy is the man whose outward piety is no obstacle to his interior progress in perfection — happy, indeed, and holy, for two good things are better than one. If, therefore, thou perceivest that any outward observance hinders thy inward recollection, give up the outward and concentrate thy soul upon the .interior life with all thy might. This pleases God better. Do as we priests do in our monasteries at Easter and Pentecost; for then our vocal prayers are greatly shortened, in order that the holy interior spirit of these festivals may be the better enjoyed. Thus do you, when God invites you to the high festival of His inner visitation, so that leaving off some of your external devotions, you may be the more intently engaged with Him in your soul's inmost depths — there He will accomplish His dearest will with you. In such case thou mayest confine thyself to those outward exercises of religion that are required of thee, as, for example, by the rule of thy order, and boldly cut off all the rest — suposing them to impede thy interior recollection. I declare to thee that this interior life is most divine, most sweet, most fruitful of virtue, if thou wilt but hold steadfastly to it. To this end turn to account the best aid thou canst have. And that is to contemplate the blessed life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Study His bitter death and count His blessed wounds streaming with His precious blood. Or meditate even on the eternal Godhead itself and the holy Trinity, God's eternal wisdom, infinite power, and His merciful goodness to thyself and to all mankind in life and in death.

Whichever of these divine subjects arouses most thy pious sentiments, turn inwards and ponder it, full of humility and gratitude, sinking deep into the divine abyss, and there awaiting God's coming. Now this method, if followed faithfully, produces more aptitude for receiving God than all outward devotions whatsoever, for the interior life is far better than the exterior. All exterior virtues draw their worth from the interior life of the soul. A drop of the interior spirit will sanctify a whole cask of external exercises.

But it sometimes happens that men can think deeply of our Lord in their interior soul, but yet are spiritually superficial — like a wide stretch of water of scarcely a finger's depth. Now, the reason is that they are deficient in real humility, and they lack a universal lore for their fellowmen. Says St. Augustine : "The blessedness of one's life consists not in the length of time given to pious exercises, nor in doing many good works ; but it consists in the greatness of love." Take an example from poor farm laborers. They raise the best ot wheat and of wine, but not for their own benefit — they eat only brown bread and drink only water. Such is the case with men who do good works without deep interior dispositions.

Let us now consider the measure that is pressed down and overllowing. This means superabundant charity, drawing into a great heart all good works, all painful trials, all that is good in the whole world, whether done by God's servants or by His enemies. A man of this degree of love is more truly the proprietor of the good works of others than they are themselves — as long as those persons are lacking in such high charity — so strong is the attraction of love. Consider the many recitations of the divine office, the many masses offered, the many sacrifices made for God — the good of all this is more theirs who have this great heart of love than the ones who actually did all these holy things — supposing them not to have this same fulness of divine love. For I assure you that God will not acknowledge any good works of which He is not both the beginning and the end; according to St. Paul : "And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing" (I Cor. xiii: 3).

The love of God is a virtue above all virtues, drawing into the bosom of love all the good deeds done by the grace of God in heaven and earth. The evil that is in a man is his own ; all the good he has is to be attributed to divine love. As the grain that is poured into a measure is all pressed together and held into one mass by the sides of the measure, so does love press together into unity all the saints and angels in Heaven and all their merits, as well as all the pains suffered on earth for God, — which but for love we should have neglected and lost. Hence the teaching of certain holy commentators of Scripture: "In everlasting life so deep a love shall the elect have for one another, that if one sees another gifted with greater joy and higher contemplation than himself, this will be to him as much happiness as if he himself had merited it and were now enjoying it."

In proportion to one's share of this overflowing love in this life, s > shall be his enjoyment of it in the life to come. Hence it is that the evil one hates these men. And he tempts such a one by insinuating a sense of self righteousness, and by inducing dislike for his neighbor. The devil leads him to sit in judgment on his neighbors conduct, to rate his good works and his devotions as hypocritical. If he consents to this uncharity, he has fallen from his holy state of love. He condemns others right and left, and his tongue shoots out poisoned arrows that wound the souls of men un+o eternal death. And by the same stroke of false and rash judgment, thou hast stripped thyself of all the merits and virtues thou hadst gathered by thy overflowing measure of love. Thou art now distracted and distressed, peace has fled away from thy soul, and thou art come into a very dangerous state. O, I counsel thee in all fidelity, that thou guard thy tongue most vigilantly, if thou wouldst continue to be called and to be a friend of God.

It often happens that the evil spirit will cause thee to dislike a good pious Christian, and if thou yieldest to this and speakest it out, then God withdraws from thee thy share of that man's graces in the practice of virtue, as well as thy part in the enjoyment of His own holy love. As the prophet spoke of the oil of consecration flowing down from the head of Aaron even upon his beard, so does God's love in a holy man's soul flow out upon all who love Him — it is the overflowing of God's love and all the virtues that belong to it. Whosoever shuts out any one from the spirit of universal love, is himself deprived of his own share of God's love. See to it carefully, dear children, that you cling fast to this divine virtue; hold all mankind in good favor; be sure to avoid contention ; profane not that temple of God that every man is, a temple consecrated by the Supreme Pope and Father of Christendom, namely, God; take care lest you fall under the ban of the eternal God.

Alas, that our poor human nature should be so turned against true brotherly love. If one happens to see his neighbor fall into mortal sin, he lets him lie there and perhaps says the worst things about him. Look carefully to your own faults. How do you stand before God in reference to love? And learn diligently the fear of God while you are in this life; for beyond this life all is over with you, and you can neither gain nor lose any degree of virtue — tears of blood shed for you (were it possible) by our Blessed Lady and all the saints will then be of no avail. But now God is steadfastly patient; He is ever ready to grant us more than we are ready to ask Him. Meanwhile the love of God is never idle : labor and suffer cheerfully for His sake, and the superabundant fulness of the measure will be given thee, so full and rich and abundant and sweet, that it will spread everywhere over thy life and fill every corner of thy soul.

And now God comes and touches with His finger the well-filled vessel of his graces, and immediately it overflows and is poured back again into the divine being out of which all its treasures originally came. The soul now is united to God without intermediary and loses itself in Him — will, knowledge, love all overflow into God and are lost in Him and made one with him. The eternal God loves Him — self in this soul, all of whose works are done by Him. But this flow and overflow of God into the soul cannot be limited to itself alone, which most longingly petitions our Lord, and says: Ah, dear Lord, have mercy on all mankind, and forgive them their sins; and especially have pity on all those who once did good deeds and then fell away from Thy grace; give them, beloved Lord, the crumbs that fall from Thy table; convert them from their sinful ways and save them through the fires of purgatory; give them the well-filled measure of thy grace, that by Thy merits they may be saved.

These elect souls thus turn back again into God's bosom all their gifts whatsoever, their own selves included, and all created things. They embrace within their souls all that happens in holy Chruch everywhere in the world, offering all up in a happy, humble and self-denying spirit to the eternal heavenly Father, for themselves and for all men whether bad or good. Their love bars out nobody still Hving in this time of grace, for they constantly join themselves in spirit to the whole human race. And if we in our days did not have among us men of this godlike character, our lot would be an evil one indeed. Therefore let us pray the merciful God that we may be granted this overflowing measure of His love. Amen-

Jrajjrr, loral mb MtnUi

Syrwpsis — Elevation of the thoughts and affections to God is the essence of prayer — This involves thoroughgoing detachment from created things — How even good works may hinder prayer if done out of order or from defective motives — True prayer makes the active and passive life one — Examples drawn from our Lord's life.

FIRST SERMON FOR THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

Dearly beloved : be ye all of one mind. — I Peter iii, 8.

In this Sunday's epistle St. Peter bids us be all of one mind, and that is chiefly fulfilled in prayer, which is the most necessary, and delightful, and fruitful, and honorable work that we can perform in this life. Now I would have you clearly to know what prayer is, and what its essence is, what its method is, and in what place we ought to pray.

What is prayer and what is its essence? The essence of prayer is the going up of the soul into God, as spiritual writers define it. And what is the place in which one should pray? It is in the spirit itself, as our Lord taught us. As to how we should pray, I will briefly explain. When any good man starts to pray, he should gather back into himself the life of his senses, and he should inspect his soul to find whether or not it be really turned to God. This method of praying a man can practice in the highest degree of recollection, or the lowest, or midway between these two. Let a man carefully note what form of praying arouses his soul most effectually to a devout feeling — and that let him use. But whosoever would acquire a prayer that is genuine and that God will surely attend to, must turn away from transitory things, and from outward things, and from all that is not of the things of God. He must relentlessly cut off everything that does not mean God to him truly and in its very cause, whether friends or joys or the vanities and ornaments and apparel of this life. He must sever the bonds of disorderly affection that hold him outwardly or inwardly, in words or behavior, to any created thing. Such is the preparation for the true practice of prayer. The soul must cleave to God alone; a man must turn his face towards God ever present in his inmost soul ; he must meekly and affectionately cleave to God.

Children, everything we have little and great comes from God, and back again to God must it go, to be given with an undivided heart. So, too, we must collect together and offer to God all the powers of our soul and body. Such is the right method of prayer. Never imagine that noisy mouth-praying, hurried recitations of the Psalms, the heart meanwhile inattentive and straying off, is true prayer. So-called prayers and socalled good works may sometimes even hinder the soul from real praying; do not hesitate to give them up no matter how good they seem, or what people may say, if they distract thee from God — excepting, of course, the divine office and the devout exercises prescribed by holy Church.

It sometimes happens that a community is obligated to certain long vocal prayers, and that a member feels that hereby he is hindered from inward recollection : what should he do? He should both observe the outward obligation and take proper means to preserve interior recollection. While joining outwardly with his brethren, he should bridle all his faculties and senses, and he should turn his mind inward to God's blessed presence, making interior acts of conformity to the divine will, into which he should sink himself and all created things ever deeper and deeper. Thus does he faithfully perform every task imposed on him, begging God to show forth His honor and praise in those persons who have been commended to his prayers : — this is n better prayer than if he had a thousand mouths to pray with. Prayer in the spirit immeasurably exceeds in value prayer that is outward. All other prayer pays tribute to this. Thus the Father would have men pray ; and when any prayer serves not this kind, then delay not to let it go. It is like the building of a church with which a hundred men are occupied in many different sorts of work, some making mortar, others laying stone; but it is all for one single purpose — to build a house of prayer. So let everything be made to help you in acquiring a true interior method of prayer. When this true prayer of the spirit is established, then all that helped to this happy result is perfected, extending far beyond the results of external methods, which, besides, are now blended with the interior spirit, one kind of prayer being no manner of hindrance to the other.

It behooves a thoroughly converted and enlightened man that his life of act and his life of joy should be made one, as they are one in God in their uttermost development, interfering with each other not in the least degree. God's act is in the divine persons and His joy we attribute to His most simple essence. The heavenly Father, as He is distinctly Father, is pure act, by which He begets in divine self-knowledge His beloved Son, and from the ineffable embrace of Father and Son the Holy Ghost proceeds, — He is their mutual joy and love. And this is the essential act of the divine persons. To the most simple essence of God is attributed the divine joy, and thus in act and in joy God is one, as in persons and in essence God is three in one. And all creatures, being made like unto God, are created to act; even the sun and stars and all other lifeless creatures. But far above these are angels and men, each active according to its laws of being. Not a little flower or leaf but is acted on by the heavenly bodies, and by God Himself. And shall not noble man, made in God's likeness, resemble Him in activity? As man is formed after God's image in his soul's powers and in his soul's essence, must he not have a much higher activity than reasonless creatures like stars and planets? There must be a close resemblance to God both in man's activity and in his contemplation ; and this resemblance must be seen both in his higher and lower powers. And man's activity is characterized by its object, whether that be God or creatures. And whatsoever man makes all the objects of his activity heavenly and divine, turning his back resolutely on all transitory things, that man makes the life and activity of his soul wholly divine.

The glorious soul of our Lord Jesus Christ was ever turned towards the Godhead, as far as His higher faculties were concerned. This was always so from the first moment of His incarnation, just as much as it is now in the bliss of Heaven. But as to His lower powers, these were constantly moving in His life of work and suffering, at the same time that the higher ones were rapt into union with the divine nature. Even when He hung dying on the cross, His soul was with God in its more spiritual powers, essentially the same as it is with Him now. So must we be, if we will imitate Him: we must keep God deep and peaceful in our heart, while in our ordinary occupations we nre engaged with many different things. 0, children, the man who neglects this interior privilege, and allows his nobler spiritual powers to lie idle, lives in constant danger. He wastes precious years of life, he merits an intolerable purgatory, and his eternal reward will be the least possible. He will feel in Heaven like a coarse rustic creature, who finds himself suddenly thrust into the presence of the King surrounded by his court. As to a self -conceited man whose life is all external, he will be unfit even to behold the happy place in which God's friends will eternally dwell. And what of those sluggards who are far worse, who live without God both inwardly and outwardly? The evil spirits eagerly assail them with temptations and lay snares in their path.

Let us return to our former statement, that man's likeness to God is in his power of combining interior restful joy with exterior activity; and that means the interior man's unalterable adherence to God in his deepest consciousness, pure and perfect. This is a state quite different from the outward methods of serving God, as different as running and sitting down. The interior state is a perception of God's presence, joined to the happiness of His possession. And it is from this that an interior man goes forth to his outward activity as necessity or as the good of himself or others may require — and again returns into the same divine centre and source. Thus does the interior life supervise the exterior life. A master workman, for example, has many servants under him, all of whom do the work that he lays out for them and in the way he points out, while he himself does no work, and does not often go into the workshop, though he gives his men the rule and form of their work; they call him the master workman, as if he alone did all that they do, on account of his showing them how to work and what to work. It is all his from his command over them and his planning, for it is in carrying out his plans that their work consists. So in the interior life the master workman set over the exterior life; it is from his interior that a man enlightened by God constantly guides his external faculties in their activity. In the depths of his soul he is immersed in God, in whom he is absorbed in joy; there he remains free and unhindered by his external activity. And every external work down to the least and smallest, is in the service of the interior. It is precisely so in the ordering of the spiritual body of Christ, namely, holy Church, of which our Lord Jesus Christ is the head. Or. again, in a man's body and its many members— the eye sees all the other members and yet sees not itself. Mouth, hands and feet, and the other members, all have their peculiar offices, but are not for themselves, but for the whole body, under direction of the head. And so, too, in our Christian religious life, every act, even down to carrying a candle and ringing a bell, is done to serve the interior work of God in the soul.

And the unity between the different members of holy Church should be so close, that one should no more harm the others than he harms himself. If I find any member of this body of Christ worthier than I am, I must hold him dearer to me than I hold myself, just as a man's hand and arm protect the head and heart more carefully than they do themselves. So should be the instinctive love of God's members one for another, esteeming them according as their devout life and their virtue make them more precious to our divine Head. And whatever my neighbor would wish to have, or not have, should concern me just as if it were my own desire. If I love the good that is in him more than he loves it himself, then that good is more mine than his. If he has any evil thing, that remains wholly his own, whereas the good that I love in him is rightly mine as well as his. That St. Paul was rapt in ecstacy was granted by God to him and not to me. But if in this rapture of St. Paul I adore the will of God, then I had rather that the rapture was his than mine — and yet in loving it in him it all becomes truly mine. That and every other holy thing that God did in him is made mine, just as if it happened to me, supposing that I truly love it in him. And this would be true of me in relation to any man, even if he were beyond the sea, nay, even if he were my enemy. Thus strict is this coworking of God's spiritual body; and thus I am made rich with all the spiritual goods of God's friends on earth and in Heaven in God who is the head of all, all flowing from Head and members, from God and angels and saints, into me. This is because I am joined to this divine Head and to all His members by love, being made and formed like unto Him and them, and yet in them separated from myself and made unlike unto myself. But, alas, we sometimes seem to love God and His holy will, whereas as a matter of fact it is our own selves that we love or some of our possessions : sometimes what looks like gold is not worth as much as copper. But when a man has sincerely gone out of self and is detached from all his own belongings, has become truly poor in spirit, then to him all earthly things whatsoever are equal — he stands indifferent to them. Oh, children, an equal love for joy or sorrow is a rare thing to find among the generality of people.

Tt remains to describe the three degrees of perfection accessible to men. The first degree of an interior life, leading to God's high truth, is when a man turns inward in search of the marvellous evidences and the ineffable gifts of the hidden deity, and this results in a state of soul called jubilation. The second degree is destitution of spirit, in which the soul experiences a special drawing of God amid a terrible process of stripping and deprivation. The third is a transcending movement of the creature into a God-like form, uniting the created spirit with the uncreated deity; this may be named essential transformation. Of those who attain to this last degree, we can hardly believe that they will ever fall away from God.

To the first degree we attain by meditating on the evidences of divine love everywhere found in earth and Heaven. O how much has God favored us among all His creatures. The whole world blooms with the beauty of God, Who overwhelms all creation with His gifts for our sakes. How tenderly has He not sought us out, invited us and admonished us and waited long and patiently for us. For us He became man, suffered and died, offering His blessed soul and body to His Father for our sakes ; and to how indescribably close a friendship lias He not invited us. How long has the Holy Trinity waited for us, that we might share the divine joy eternally. Let a man but deeply ponder all this, and the interior rush of heavenly joy will overpower him, and his poor body will be too weak to endure the strain. It often happens that during the stress of this feeling, the blood will burst its veins and pour from the mouth ; in other cases one is affected with serious illness.

Thus is this man granted a powerful influx of sweetness from oui Lord, as he is embraced in entire and sensible union with Him. Thus does God forcibly draw a man out of himself and correct all dissimilarity. Let no man meddle with these gentle souls, nor impose on them their commonplace outward observances — be not guilty of such a thing. Nor need the Prior be disturbed if such a brother leaves the choir during recitation of office, for he cannot do otherwise, and he is not a vain creature who must be watched and corrected. Once onr Lord offered a special friend of His to give him this kiss of jubilation. But he answered and said: "Beloved Lord, I do not desire it; for it would make me beside myself with joy, so that T should be a useless creature: how could I pray for the poor souls in purgatory and help them to Heaven, or for poor sinners who are but just now departed this life? And how could I pray for poor sinners yet in this life and who will not pray for themselves? For God has willed to help them only through our prayers in this time of His grace." Ah, children, how great love was this, that a soul would deny itself these heavenly joys for the sake of helping others.

The second degree is when God has drawn a man far away from created things. He is no longer a child to be fed with the dainties of spiritual sweetness, but he must be content to eat the hard rye bread of tribulation, as becomes a man; for a man he is now grown to be. Hard and strong food it is that this man needs — not the baby's bread and milk. Before him lies a desert road, dark and lonely, and as God leads him through it, He deprives him of all the solaces and joys that He ever gave him. The poor man is so confused that he knows nothing of God — he does not know whether there is a God above him or not. Woe is upon him deep and heavy, and the wide world is too narrow for him. And while he feels not and rightly knows not God, neither does he feel at home with created things. He seems to himself penned in between two steep walls, a sword before him, a spear behind him. What shall he do? He dare not go forward, he dare not go backward. He can but sit down disconsolate and exclaim : All hail to Thee, 0 pure and bitter pain, may God bless thee, for thou art full of all graces. If hell could be added to this purgatory of his, it would be — so it seems to him — a softening of his pain. To love so deeply and yet to be deprived of the supreme Good that one loves — such is his torment. Talk to him as thou pleasest of the comforting things of religion; it is as if thou offerest a hungry man a stone to eat: — and how mcuh less comfort shall he have in all creatures. The greater his spiritual sweetness was before, the greater is now the misery of his deprivation. O now behave thyself well, thou favored soul, for the Lord is surely nigh unto thee, holding thee fast by the link of living faith ; be sure that all will yet be well with thee. But, alas, this poor soul is in anguish so deep, that he no more can believe that all will yet be well with him than he can believe that darkness shall be turned into light.

This trial prepares a man for God's higher work in him more than all the devotions and pious practices that can be thought of. And when our Lord finds him well enough purified by hanging upon this cross of insufferable agony, He then comes to him to introduce him to the third degree. Immediately He removes the bandage from his eyes and reveals to him the truth. Forth bursts the bright sunshine, lifting and dispersing every cloud ; every sorrow vanishes away — he seems to himself to be a man risen from the dead. The Lord leads him back into his own soul, there to behold every anguish gone, every wound healed. For now out of a human he is led into a divine way of living, free from pain, fast fixed in security of spirit. Whatsoever he now is and does, that is God in him and that does God in him, being made by grace what God Himself essentially is by nature — as far as this may be. He feels lost to himself in God; he can find self nowhere; he knows nought but the simple essence of God.

Children, to be truly placed in this state, is to begin by being rooted in the deepest depths of humility and self-abnegation, a depth beyond our power to comprehend, for it involves a most perfect knowledge of one's own nothingness. It is the deepest immersion of the soul in humility; and the deeper the sinking the higher the rising, for deep and high are all in God. But if a man in this state should waver from the straight path, if he should resist God and strike about him, if he should return to self as a foundation, if he should depart out of this high festival and return into self-complacency, that would be like the fall of Lucifer. Herein consists the good of the single-minded prayer of which we began by treating, and which brings us into union with God. May the blessed Trinity grant us entrance into that single-minded prayer. Amen.