Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/236

62 oppressed with chains, with wounds, and misery. Therefore, it is my determination to go to him and redeem him." The son did so; and every one applauded and honoured him for the indefatigable industry with which he achieved his father's liberation.

My beloved, the Emperor is our heavenly Father, who imposes upon sons the duty of maintaining and obeying their parents. But who is our father and mother? Christ is our father, as we read in Deut. 32. His affection for us partakes more of this, than of the maternal character. You know that when the son transgresses, the father corrects him somewhat harshly, even with stripes and blows; while the doating mother soothes and coaxes her favourite into humour. Christ permits us to be scourged, because of our many failings; on the contrary, our mother, the world, promises us infinite pleasures and lascivious enjoyments. Christ forsakes us, and goes into a far country, as it is written in the Psalms, "I am made a stranger by my brethren." Christ is still bound and in