CITIZENS OF THE CHURCH TRIUMPHANT, FRIENDS OF GOD. WHO ARE RETurned from THE WORLD'S EXILE, AND NOW POSSESS YOUR HOME. WHO STOUTLY RAN THE RACE OF VIRTUE, AND WHO HAVE BORNE AWAY BY VIOLENCE THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AND REJOICE NOW, LIKE CONQUERORS WHO HAVE WHO, CLOTHED IN WHITE ROBES, FOLLOW THE LAMB WHITHERSOEVER HE GOETH. YOU HAVE PASSED THROUGH FIRE AND WATER; NOW YOU ARE BROUGHT INTO YOUR REFRESHMENT. ONCE YOU CAST YOUR SEEDS WEEPING; NOW YOU CARRY YOUR SHEAVES WITH JOY. YOU HAVE HUNGERED AND THIRSTED AFTER JUSTICE; NOW YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH THE PLENTY OF THE HOUSE OF GOD. POOR IN SPIRIT, YOU HAVE LEFT ALL THINGS; NOW, WITH LARGE INTEREST, YOU HAVE RECEIVED ONCE FAITHFUL SERVANTS AND STEWARDS; NOW SET OVER ALL THE GOODS OF THE LORD, IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING. ONCE LITTLE IN YOUR OWN SIGHT, AND VILE IN NOW MADE EXCEEDINGLY HONOURABLE; AND YOUR PRINCEDOM IS STRENGTHENED EXCEEDINGLY. YOU HAVE TRAVERSED THIS STORMY SEA OF THE WORLD; NOW YOU HAVE HAPPILY GAINED THE HARBOUR. SECURE FOR YOURSELVES; ANXIOUS for us. SO THE BOND OF LOVE BIDS US HOPE, WHICH IN CHRIST KNITS TOGETHER THE CITIZENS OF THE MILITANT AND THE GRANT IT THOU, O JESUS! KING AND CROWN OF BLESSED ARE THEY THAT DWELL IN THY HOUSE, O LORD! THEY SHALL PRAISE THEE FOR EVER AND EVER. PART II. OF THE HONOUR AND VENERATION OF THE SAINTS WHO REIGN WITH CHRIST IN HEAVEN. FOR MONDAY. CHAPTER I. Colloquy between Christ and Man on the method and practice of honouring the Saints. MAN. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for thy courts! For, when I contemplate the happiness of thy elect, who now feast with thee in thy kingdom, and are inebriated with the plenty of thy house, and are made to drink of the torrent of thy pleasure, my soul too thirsts after thee, the strong living God; when shall I come, and appear before the face of God? My soul is weary of my life, that is full of so many miseries and pains. Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly, and be at rest? For better is one day in thy courts above thousands. Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I long to be dissolved, and to be with thee, my Christ Jesus. Oh, how blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord! They shall praise thee for ever and ever. CHRIST. Have a little more patience, my son; and, to be the more sure of arriving there, first learn the way whereby the saints my friends have attained to glory. Mark their footsteps, if thou wilt win the same race. See thou refuse not the toils and the wrestlings of those whose rewards delight thee. None will be crowned but he who strives lawfully. Were not they, and even I myself, obliged to toil and suffer, and so enter into glory? And see, my elect too, amidst those miseries of the flesh, endured to live while they longed to die; but they had learnt well from my words and example, that the kingdom of heaven should suffer violence, and the violent bear it away. Nor shalt thou be deprived of those good things, if, like them, thou walk in innocence, and dispose in thy heart to ascend by steps, in the vale of tears, in the place that has been set for thee by thy first parents', and by thy own sin. But fear not, I, thy protector, am with thee. I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth. I, who have aided the saints, will not fail thee; and I will give thee my blessing, that thou mayest go from virtue to virtue, until, with my elect, thou see the God of gods in Sion, and art inebriated with the plenty of my house. MAN. Blessed is the man whom thou instructest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law. Teach me, I beseech thee, to do thy will, for I too long to be partaker with all that fear thee and keep thy commandments. CHRIST. Thy sanctification is my will. Be holy, because I am holy; from me all the saints derived all the holiness they possessed. I might propose to thee myself only, as the perfect pattern of all virtue and perfection; for I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the door; by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. But it will be very useful to thee to look upon my elect, thy brethren, like thyself in the infirmity of the flesh, who yet bravely overcame the world, the flesh, and the devil. It may not perhaps seem wonderful, if a singular and extraordinary perfection is discovered in my works, because all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily in me. But thou canst not but wonder to see how the saints lived not according to the flesh, but, by a saving hatred of self, lost their lives in this world, that they might keep them to life eternal. I. Praise of the Saints. In the first place, then, often hear, read, meditate upon, and admire the acts of the saints. Praise their virtues, their constancy, patience, fortitude; celebrate their obedience, poverty, and contempt of the world. For the more marks of virtue thou celebratest in them, the more miracles thou celebratest of my power and goodness. If, therefore, thou wilt honour my friends who reign with me in glory, or venerate one of the saints whom thou most lovest as thy patron, and wouldst render them an acceptable service, praise God, and give him thanks, for having chosen, from all eternity, St. N. to be his friend; for |