Page:Complete ascetical works of St Alphonsus v6.djvu/310

308 white, and with palms in their hands: Clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. The palm is the symbol of martyrs, and yet all the saints did not suffer martyrdom; why, then, do all the saints bear palms in their hands? St. Gregory replies, that all the saints have been martyrs either of the sword or of patience; so that, he adds, "we can be martyrs without the sword, if we keep patience."

The merit of a soul that loves Jesus Christ consists in loving and in suffering. Hear what our Lord said to St. Teresa: "Think you, my child, that merit consists in enjoyment? No, it consists in suffering and in loving. Look at my life, wholly embittered with afflictions. Be assured, my child, that the more my Father loves any one, the more sufferings he sends him; they are the standard of his love. Look at my wounds; your torments will never reach so far. It is absurd to suppose that my Father favors with his friendship those who are strangers to suffering." And for our consolation St. Teresa makes this remark: "God never sends a trial, but he forthwith rewards it with some favor." One day Jesus Christ appeared to the blessed Baptista Varani, and told her of three special favors which he is wont to bestow on cherished souls: the first is, not to sin; the second, which is greater, to perform good works; the third, and the greatest of all, to suffer for his love. So that St. Teresa used to say, whenever any one does something for God, the Almighty repays him with some trial And therefore the saints, on receiving tribulations,