answered clearly; thou hast said it: nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven.-Matt. xxvi. 64. For though those impious persons be not destined to see the divine essence for ever, yet they shall all one day see the humanity of Christ sitting at the right hand of God, encompassed with glory and majesty, coming to judge his own judges, with as much confusion to them as joy to the good.

Caiphas, who had not interrogated our Saviour in order believe in him, but to have an occasion of condemning him, having heard this answer, rent his garments, according to the custom of the Jews, who showed thereby their great indignation, and cried out: he hath blasphemed; what further need have we of witnessess? Behold, now you have heard the blasphemy. What think you? But they answering, said: he is guilty of death; to which they had long before resolved to condemn him.-Matt. xxvi. 65, 66.

IV. But this cause did not yet appear sufficient to them for crucifying him, according to the design they had formed thereof: for as it was not permitted them according to the law to put any one to death, they needed the authority of Pontius Pilate, who, being a Gentile and an idolater, would not have much regard to the law and religion of the Jews. Thus seeing they could not obtain what they desired but by suppositious crimes; and as that of his having blasphemed, by calling himself the Son of God, would make no great impression on the mind of Pilate, they resolved to add two others thereto, which were manifestly capital. The one was, of having forbidden to pay tribute to Cæsar; and the other, of having raised a sedition among the people, by designing to make himself king. They also aggravated these two falsities before the Roman president with great exclamations; whilst Christ said not so much as one single word for his own defence, according to these words of Isaias: He shall be led as sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth.-iii. 7.

Let any one judge by himself, how sensible this pain was to Christ, and what his patience was. For we often see, that he who has undergone great labours and very sharp pains, with an invincible constancy, rises up against false witnesses. It is rare to see a man suffer them without complaint; and there are very few virtues that are proof against great calumnies. When a servant of God does so much as to suffer them in silence, it is because he acknowleges the infinite obligations he has to Christ, and finding in himself a great number of sins, he suffers false ones to be laid to his charge, in order to expiate those that are true. But our Saviour knowing no sin in himself, and having no obligation to those for whom he suffered, he could not have borne those false accusations, but purely out of the love he had for us.

V. This trial is so severe, that persons fearing God, and unwilling to allow themselves the least desire of revenge, have not the strength of restraining their complaints, when any evil is imputed to them which they have not done. We sometimes see men, otherwise very mortified, and who yield without difficulty to all the reasons there are of suffering other crosses, defend themselves against this, so far as to think themselves obliged in conscience, for the glory of God, the honour of virtue, the hindrance of scandal, and preserving their authority, to undeceive the world, and even to engage, under pretence of zeal, the powers of the world in their justification.

I know very well that Christ forbids us not to justify ourselves, nor obliges us to this perfection which he practised; but he who professes to follow him, ought to be persuaded that this divine Saviour has given us no example of virtue, in what regards morality, but what may be imitated: this truth is confirmed by the actions of apostolical men, and by the lives of the most illustrious saints. Let those, therefore, who do not yet relish so sublime a doctrine, humble themselves before God, whose goodness compassionates their weakness, by being unwilling to oblige them strictly to so great a purity of virtue; but let them esteem it in others, and desire it for themselves, with so much the more earnestness, as they find themselves the more remote from it.

That

VI. Let us learn from this Divine Master, that the true means of preserving our honour, is to lead a life so holy, as to give no cause of scandal to our neighbour: for, according to St. Augustine (Ep. 204, ad Donat.), he is cruel, who being content with the testimony of his own conscience, neglects his reputation. holy doctor would not have us seek it with eagerness, nor lose it with pain; but to preserve it carefully, by the examples of a good life. Exterior modesty, an interior communication with God, meekness, silence, patience in adversity, an observation of the divine law, application to the duties of one's state, an inclination to do good, and aversion to evil, and other virtues, thereby to gain the esteem of men, without its being sought for, and confound slander and detraction. Thus it was that the malice of the Jews was confounded, without our Saviour's saying one single word in his own justification; and he that follows this way shall always walk securely.

I own, that to suffer calumny without answering anything, and to defend ourselves only by silence, is a secret difficultly to be comprehended. It is true, it is a great perfection, and that the feeble heart of man cannot attain to so sublime a state, without a singular grace; but it must be owned also, that this happy state is full of celestial blessings, and established in a region of divine peace, which surpasseth all understanding.-Phil. iv. 7. No one

can express it, but he that has the experience thereof. It is sufficient to mention here, by way of conclusion to this discourse, that Christ suffered this pain, which perhaps was the greatest of his life, with a virtue so much the more admirable, as it is the less known; and that he has promised to all those who shall imitate him in this heroic silence, a throne of glory, upon which they shall judge their enemies.

CONTEMPLATION.-On Christ bearing the false witnesses of the Jews.-I. O Jesus, the glory of the just, their way, truth, and life! there is no injustice but what thou hast endured for my sake. Thou hast even permitted false witnesses to rise up against thee, O Eternal Truth! I adore thee, O sovereign Purity! I adore thee, only Son of the Eternal Father! O my God, my King, and my Lord! Has the world found any fault in thee? Could it say anything against thee, without falsehood aud blasphemy? And yet thy enemies will have it that thy doctrine is erroneous, and thy actions irregular. How contrary is this kind of injury to what thou art, O divine Word! But how admirable is thy patience! Ought not what I see thee suffer make me love thy reproaches, and give me joy, when I am so happy as to be treated like thee? How different I find myself from thee, O my Saviour, how sensible am I of everything that is said against my honour, and how soon do I lose the consideration of thee, whenever I am accused of any fault which I have not committed, and which can hurt my reputation. I therefore choose rather, O model of all perfection! to be esteemed by the world than to resemble thee. The world cannot without calumny accuse thee of any fault, because there is none in thee. But even when it imposes a false crime upon me, thou beholdest an infinite number of true ones in me, that would justly convict me.

II. Thou knowest, O my God! who penetratest the bottom of hearts, that if the world beheld, as thou dost, the abominations of my thoughts and desires, I should be to it an object of horror and contempt. In what manner soever it behaves in regard of me, what false crime soever it lays to my charge, it treats me always mildly, in comparison of what it would do, if it knew all the hidden crimes which I confess before thee, all thy bounties, and all my ingratitudes. Although thou hidest my shame from it, which thou mightest discover to it, my pride is so great, that I still esteem myself, always seek to justify myself before men, cannot bear the least reflection on my reputation, blush to be like thee, and think myself humbled when I endure, without complaining, some little contempt, after having seen thee loaded with reproaches. Thou teachest me to defend my honour only by purity of conscience, innocency of life, sanctity of manners, and patience in injuries. And I, with a conscience such as thou beholdest, destitute of

virtue and merits, would defend myself by my impatience and words, and do myself an honor by such a justification as thou hast commanded me to despise. Have mercy on me, O Lord! permit me not to follow any other way than that which thou hast shown me. Imprint deeply in my heart the truth which thou teachest me, and make me comprehend how necessary it is for me.

III. Destroy in me, O Lord! all the esteem I have of myself, and of the sentiments of the world. Am I not very blind and miserable, to esteem in this life what thou hast despised! I sometimes imagine I labour for thy glory, when I am seeking my own; and I flatter myself that thou wouldst be offended, if I should suffer a calumny without justifying myself. Where then is my reason? where is my wisdom? If thine be true, O Lord! as I cannot doubt of it; and if I adore it in thee, why am I not willing to imitate it? and if it be clear, how comes it that I walk in darkness? Why am I not persuaded, that by keeping silence, by suffering for thy sake, by resigning to thy providence the care of my reputation, I shall acquire more glory, virtue will be honoured more, and truth better known, than if I were to make a great deal of noise in defending it? Permit me to ask thee, O sovereign reason! O eternal wisdom! where is that light so resplendent and so hidden at the same time? it is concealed from me by a thick cloud; I believe it, but I see it not, because all its splendour is included in thee. It is not discovered, nor relished but by the love and experience which thou givest thereof to those who are truly touched with the desire of imitating thee. Give me therefore, O my God! that love which alone makes one comprehend those truths which are so sublime, and far above all human understanding. Teach me to resign myself to thee with a pure and generous faith, that I may behold that divine light, follow it, and be always enlightened thereby.

IV. When shall I endeavour to become like thee, what evil shall befal me thereby? What is this world; what obligations have I to it; what good can it do me; and why shall I be ashamed of imitating thee, out of a desire of pleasing it? The world judges blindly; it approves and condemns without reason; it looks upon thy servants as its enemies; it makes promises and keeps them not; it flatters us only to destroy us; and gives us nothing but the vain smoke of honour, which is dissipated in an instant: but the glory thou givest, O my God! is eternal like thyself. Thou promisest and art always faithful to thy promises; thou art incorruptible in thy judgments, and liberal in thy rewards. Thou heapest blessings on those who suffer for thee, and makest those who are desirous of walking after thee, sensible of the ineffable sweetness of thy spirit, and nevertheless I fly from thee in order to follow the world; I prefer its glory to thine, and choose rather

to subject myself to the vanity of human opinions, than to the truth of thy words. How long shall this disorder continue, O infinite Mercy! and when shall I see in my soul the change thou desirest therein? There is nothing in me, O my God! that can make me deserve the glory of resembling thee, and I am worthy of nothing but the torments which thou enduredst for me. Change my heart, O omnipotent Father! I am ashamed of seeing myself so contrary to thee, and of not esteeming as much as I ought, the divine truth which thou teachest me.

But

V. But behold, O Lord! the resolution I make this day. I resolve, with the help of thy grace, to bear for the future all false witnesses, all calumnies and all injuries which shall be laid upon me. I pardon all those, with all my heart, that have offended me, or shall ever offend me; I dispense them, for thy sake, with restoring me the honour which they have deprived me of, and desire to have no other than that of serving thee. Permit not, O my God! any person to be punished, for having abused me. Render to my persecutors good for the evil they have done me; and give them thy love for the hatred they have borne me. if this desire be not yet so generous and extensive as thou desirest it, dilate my heart by thy charity. Hide not the rays of thy light from me; destroy in me every sentiment of bitterness and revenge; that I may love thee without reserve, and love in thee all those that persecute me. Give me, or destroy in me the esteem of men, according as it shall be more proper for thy glory; but in such a manner, that thou mayest take out of my heart the esteem of myself: and that, if it be necessary for thy service I should have some reputation, I may never lose the sincere desire of contempt and humiliations.

VI. But what do thy enemies say against thee, O infinite purity? Grant, O Lord! that whilst those impious persons judge ill of thee I may acknowledge and adore thee for what thou art. They say thou madest thyself Son of God, and accuse thee of a sacrilegious usurpation. They are deceived, O my sovereign good! it is not falsely that thou takest upon thyself the quality of the Son of God: for thou art truly God of God, begotten from all eternity in the bosom of the Father. For my part, O Lord! prostrate before thy divine majesty, hidden under that sacred humanity, wherewith thou vouchsafedst to be clothed for my salvation; I adore thee with all the faith and all the love I am capable of, as the true Son of God, as the eternal and Almighty God, infinitely wise, infinitely good, and infinitely great, equal in all things to God thy Father.

Whatever those blind wretches say of thee, thou art my happiness, treasure, greatness, and glory. The cherubim and seraphim greatly adore thee; all the celestial court acknowledge thee; and I, who am but a worm of the earth, join myself to them, and