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 be put  to  shame  and  confusion. And thus  also should we  do;  that  is  to  say,  not  give  up  our  prayer for every  temptation,  but  resist  courageously,  for " Blessed  is  the  man  who  endureth  temptation," says the  Apostle,  "  for  when  he  hath  overcome,  he shall  receive  the  crown  of  Eternal  Life:"  but  if  a man  depart  from  prayer,  because  of  temptation, of a  surety,  he  shall  be  put  to  shame,  or  vanquished by his  diabolical  foe.

A Brother  said  to  Brother  Giles:  "  Father,  I  have seen  other  men  who  received  from  God  the  grace  of devotion  and  of  tears  in  their  prayers,  and  I  cannot feel  in  myself  any  such  grace,  when  I  go  to  worship God." To whom  Brother  Giles  answered:  "  My Brother,  I  counsel  thee  to  persevere  humbly  and faithfully  in  thy  prayers;  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth cannot  be  had  without  toil  and  labor  applied  beforehand;  and  even  after  we  have  labored,  the  desired fruit  does  not  follow  immediately,  but  only  in  its season,  when  the  fullness  of  time  has  come.

"And thus  also,  God  does  not  give  these  graces immediately  to  a  man  in  answer  to  his  prayer;  but in  the  end,  when  the  time  appointed  is  come,  as  it pleases  Him,  and  not  until  the  mind  is  cleansed from  every  carnal  affection  and  vice.  Therefore, my  Brother,  labor  humbly  in  prayer;  for  God,  Who is  all  good  and  gracious,  knoweth  all  things,  and discerneth  what  is  best;  and  when  the  time  and  the season  has  come  He  will  graciously  give  thee  much fruit  of  consolation."

Another Brother  said  to  Brother  Giles:  "  What doest  thou.  Brother  Giles,  what  doest  thou?" And he replied:  "  I  do  evil." The Brother  said:  "  What evil  doest  thou?" And Brother  Giles  turned  to another  Brother,  and  said:  "Tell  me,  my  Brother, which  is  the  readiest,  our  Lord  to  give  us  His grace,  or  we  to  receive  it?  "  And  the  Brother  answered:  "  Of  a  surety,  God  is  more  in  haste  to  give us  His  grace  than  we  are  to  receive  it." Then said Brother Giles:  "  How  then,  do  we  do  well?  "  And the same  Brother  answered:  "  On  the  contrary,  we do  ill." Then Brother  Giles  turning  to  the  first Brother, said:  "  Behold,  Brother,  it  is  clearly proved,  that  we  do  ill;  and  what  I  answered  thee awhile  ago  was  the  truth,  that  I  was  doing  ill."

Brother Giles  said  also:  "  Many  works  are praised  and  commended  in  the  Holy  Scriptures, such  as  the  works  of  mercy,  and  other  holy  works; but  of  prayer,  the  Lord  says  thus:  '  Your  Father in  Heaven  seeketh  men  to  adore  Him  (on  earth)  in spirit  and  in  truth.' "  Again  Brother  Giles  said, that the  true  Religious  are  like  the  wolves,  because they are  seldom  seen  in  public,  except  of  great necessity; and  with  all  haste,  they  seek  how  they may return  to  their  secret  place  again,  without holding much  converse  with  men.

Good works  adorn  the  soul,  but  prayer  adorns and illumines  the  soul  more  than  all  others. A Brother who  was  an  intimate  companion  of  Brother Giles, said  once:  "  Father,  how  is  it  that  thou  dost not  sometimes  go  forth  to  speak  of  the  things  of God,  and  to  procure  and  minister  to  the  salvation of  Christian  souls?" To which  Brother  Giles  replied:  "  My  Brother,  I  would  edify  my  neighbor by  humility,  and  without  doing  hurt  to  my  own soul,  namely,  by  prayer." And the  Brother  said to him:  "At  least  thou  shouldst  visit  sometimes thy  family." And Brother  Giles  answered: " Knowest  thou  not,  that  the  Lord  says  in  the  Gospel:  '  He  that  forsaketh  father  or  mother,  or brother,  or  sister,  or  possessions  for  My  Name's sake,  shall  receive  a  hundred  fold?'  "

And he  said:  "A  certain  gentleman  whose  riches amounted  to  about  sixty  thousand  lire  ($12,000), entered  the  Order  of  Friars  Minor;  what  great gifts  then  await  the  man,  who  for  the  love  of  God, gives  up  great  things,  seeing  that  God  will  give him  back  a  hundredfold  more!  But  we  in  our blindness  cannot  understand  the  perfection  of  a  man truly  virtuous  and  in  favor  with  God,  on  account  of our  own  imperfection  and  blindness.  But  if  a  man were  truly  spiritual,  hardly  would  he  ever  wish  to see  or  to  hear  any  one,  except  of  great  necessity; because  he  who  is  truly  spiritual  desires  continually to  be  separated  from  all  men,  and  to  be  united  to God  by  contemplation."

Then Brother  Giles  said  to  one  of  the  Brothers: " Father,  I  would  fain  know  what  manner  of  thing is  contemplation?" And the  Brother  answered him: "  Father,  I  know  not." And Brother  Giles said: "  It  seems  to  me  that  the  state  of  contemplation is  a  Divine  fire,  and  a  sweet  unction  of  the  Holy Spirit,  and  a  rapture  and  suspension  of  the  mind, inebriated  by  the  contemplation  of  that  inaffable