Martha, the Lord answering, said to her, thou art careful and art troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary (15). Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her (16)." By this short answer he apologized for those who give to the repose of contemplation all the time which is not engrossed by duty; and he vindicated them beforehand from the impious railleries which they have to encounter from libertines, and the indecent sarcasms often launched against them by impious cavillers.

(15) Several interpreters understand this expression as referring to a single sort of food, whence they conclude that the Saviour here reproved Martha's superfluous care in preparing several dishes. This sense, besides conveying a moral, appears to flow naturally enough from the text. However, as it is stated that Jesus Christ travelled with his disciples-and we cannot believe but that the two sisters invited them with their Mastera single dish, supposing even that it was sufficient in quantity, could not with decency be presented before so numerous a company; and this construction, so natural in itself, is already met by this first difficulty. Another more embarrassing one is, that it appears, by the sequel of the discourse, that the Saviour here opposes occupation to occupationthat of Mary to that of Martha. Mary, saith he, hath chosen the best part, which is equivalent to saying that that of Martha is not so good. What, then, else can the one thing necessary signify, but the affair of salvation in which Mary was directly occupied, whilst Martha, whose occupation was not counter to it, labored only indirectly thereunto? for the direct object of her labor was bodily refreshment, which cannot be the only thing necessary, but which may bear a reference to it, and which actually did bear a reference to it in the circumstance wherein Martha found herself placed. The part which she had chosen was, therefore, good; but that of Mary, who was solely occupied with Jesus Christ and his speech, was best.

Contemplation is better than action, which is not obligatory; but if the action were obligatory, contemplation substituted in its stead would be but an illusion.

The union of both constitutes the perfection of this life, in which prayer is necessary, and labor indispensable.

(16) Action, which presupposes wants and miseries, shall pass away with this life, which is replete with them. Contemplation shall remain, or rather, shall be more perfect, when, instead of that feeble ray of the eternal splendor which it merely catches a glimpse of here below, it shall see that light in its source, and the divine essence in itself.

CHAPTER XL.

THE LORD'S PRAYER, ACCORDING TO SAINT LUKE.—PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER.—

GOD GIVES WHAT IS NECESSARY. THE PURE EYE.—THE PHARISEES CONDEMNED.

WE shall give the following facts in the order in which they are placed by one of the evangelists. It is impossible to assign them precise dates as to time and place. Had we a knowledge of these matters, our curiosity might be more gratified; but would we be more edified thereby, or receive more salutary instruction? The reader will also meet with some discourses of the Saviour which seem to be only a repetition of other discourses which we have already noted. So they are in point of fact, not because one evangelist states over again what another evangelist had already stated (those statements which are repeated in this manner are only once given in this work), but because the Saviour himself pronounced them more than once, and in different circumstances. Moreover, as it scarcely ever happens that they are exactly alike, it will not be considered irksome to read over again what Jesus Christ has not deemed it useless to repeat.

(a) "It came to pass that as he was in a certain place praying, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him: Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. He said to them: When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come; give us this day our daily bread; forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us, and lead us not into temptation."

This was a good opportunity to make better known to the disciples the utility and efficacy of prayer. Wherefore "Jesus then said to them [making use of figures and sensible comparisons, according to his usual custom]: Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight, and shall say to him: Friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine is come off his journey to me, and I have not what to set before him; and he from within should an

(a) St. Luke, xi. 1–13.

swer and say: Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. Yet if he shall continue knocking, I say to you: Although he will not rise and give him, because he is a friend; yet because of his importunity he will rise, and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you: Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened."

Thus, provided that perseverance be joined to fervor, it is certain, we should even say that it is of faith, that the prayer will be heard, even when it does not appear to be so. For, and this it is which renders this faith doubtful and vacillating, it frequently happens that prayer has the qualities we have just spoken of, and yet we do not see it followed by any effect. Thereupon doubt arises, and confidence grows weak. The reason is, that we do not consider how we often ask for that which, in point of fact, would be injurious to us. We are ignorant of the real nature of what we ask, and this is the reason why we ask it. God knows exactly what the thing is, and, consequently, he refuses it to us. Shall we call this rigor or obduracy on his part? But his goodness does not stop here. In place of the apparent good and real evil which we ask for, he gives us that which is really salutary, what we should have asked for by name, and in preference to every thing else, if we knew its properties as he does, or if we had foreseen its consequences. Thus it is that he really grants while appearing to refuse, and such is the sense concealed under these words which the Saviour adds: "Which of you, if you ask his father for bread, will he give him a stone? or a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him."

The following maxims had been already pronounced in the presence of the apostles, but it is highly probable that the greater part of the disciples had not heard them. Jesus then repeats them, and says: (a) "No man lighteth a candle, and putteth it in a hidden

(a) St. Luke, xi. 33-54.

place, nor under a bushel; but upon a candlestick, that they that come in may see the light (1). The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole body will be lightsome; but if it be evil, thy body also will be darksome. Take heed, therefore, that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If, then, thy whole body be lightsome, having no part of darkness, the whole shall be lightsome, and as a bright lamp shall enlighten thee.

"As Jesus was speaking, a certain Pharisee prayed him that he would dine with him. Jesus going in, sat down to eat. And the Pharisee began to say, thinking within himself, why Jesus was not washed before dinner. The Lord [who saw his thoughts] said to him" and to the others of his sect, several of whom had been invited to this repast: "Now, you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but your inside is full of rapine and iniquity."

Here man is compared to a vase, of which the body is the outside, and the soul is the inside. Now the Pharisees, who were very exact in washing the body, but gave themselves little trouble in purifying the soul, were like unto him who should take pains to clean the outside of a vase, whilst he left the inside full of filth. A servant who did so would be deemed a fool; wherefore the Saviour does not spare them, and, profiting by this occasion, tells them to their faces what they but too well deserved to hear. "Ye fools [said he to them], did not he that made that which is without, make also that which is within? But yet [added he, for he wished merely to humble them, and not to drive them to despair] that which remaineth give alms; and behold all things are clean unto you (2)."

To neglect alms-giving which is of precept, in order to attach themselves superstitiously to usages which God never prescribed,

(1) Part I., page 120.

(2) That is to say, your conscience shall be purified: thenceforth all shall be bepure fore God, who knows no other purity or impurity than that of the conscience. Alms-giving doth not directly and of itself purify it; this purification can only be the effect of penance; but penance is conferred upon alms-giving, which we thus find to be the first cause of the sinner's justification. It is in this sense that we should understand the texts of Scripture which promise to alms-giving the remission of sins. These promises are so formal that we venture to give assurance that, of those who give abundant alms, very few, if any, are reprobates. This, however, is only our own idea.

and which were merely founded on human traditions, was one of the illusions of the Pharisees. Another was, to think themselves just, because they scrupulously observed the smallest precepts, whilst they failed in the fundamental duties of religion and morality; this is what Jesus Christ anathematizes in these words: "Woe to you, Pharisees, because you tithe mint and rue, and every herb, and pass over judgment and the charity of God. Now, these things you ought to have done, and not to leave the other undone (3)." Then he strikes at their pride, and unmasks their hypocrisy: "Woe to you, Pharisees [said he again], because you love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and salutations in the market-place (4). Woe to you! because you are as sepulchres that appear not (5), and men that walk over are not aware."

(3) Here is one of those oracles which comprise more meaning than entire volumes can contain. By regulating the order of duties, he insures the observation of all. To fail in the principal duties, whilst we scrupulously observe the minor ones, if not the effect of a detestable hypocrisy, is at least the grossest of illusions. The contrary illusion which induces us to spurn trifling duties, and only value those which appear important; this illusion, I say, though less glaring, is not the less dangerous; and inasmuch as it is more common, it is found to be still more pernicious. We may fail in slight duties, and we often do fail from surprise, from inattention, or from weakness. But to fail therein from an impression that God does not require them, is to contradict his word. Yet to believe that he does require them, and still to deem them insignificant, is equivalent to regarding himself insignificant. To say that we degrade ourselves by accomplishing them, is elevating ourselves as high as God, or lowering him to our own level; it is at least ranking him below every thing which we respect in the world; for do we blush to render the slightest services to the great ones of the earth? To insult those who do fulfil them is outraging the saints, and in their person Him whom they serve with that perfect fidelity. which we make the cause of our unjust contempt. To esteem ourselves more than them, because we do not stop, as it is said, at these trifles, is endeavoring to extract glory from the baseness of our own motives. For to obey God merely upon important occasions, and when, robed in thunder, he threatens disobedience with eternal chastisements, is acting merely from the motive of servile fear. But to obey him when we might disobey him without crime, to execute his will when he appears to entreat rather than to command, is acting from love; for what other motive can sustain obedience, when there is neither paradise to lose nor hell to dread? Yet this is precisely what is termed littleness of mind, whilst the individual with low and grovelling virtues (if even this be not too much to say) is pleased to consider himself enlightened and strong-minded.

(4) Could we believe, if we did not hear it from the mouth of him who is truth itself, that the immoderate desire for distinctions and pre-eminence is sufficient to deserve this dreadful malediction?

(5) Covered sepulchres, concealed vices; whitened sepulchres, vices embellished with the colors of virtue.