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 enjoy Him forever in the life to come? "He was," say St. Ambrose, "wrapped up in swaddling-clothes, that you might be loosed from snares; His poverty is my patrimony; the feebleness of the Lord is my strength His tears have washed away my guilt." Very great would be your ingratitude to your God, O Christian soul, if you were not to love Him, after He has bee pleased to be bound in swaddling-clothes, that you might be released from the chains of Hell; after He had become poor, that you might be made partaker of His riches; after He has made Himself weak, to give you power over your enemies; after He has chosen to suffer and to weep, that by His tears your sins might be washed away.

But, O God! how few there are who show themselves grateful for so immense a love by faithfully loving this their Redeemer! Alas! the greater part of men, after so incomparable a benefit, after so many great mercies and so much love, still say to God: Lord, we will not serve Thee; we would rather be slaves of the devil and condemned to Hell than be Thy servants. Listen how God upbraids such thankless wretches: Thou hast burst My bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve. [Jer. 2:20] What say you, my brother? have you too been one of these? But tell me, whilst living far from God and the slave of the devil, tell me, have you felt happy? Have you been at peace? Ah, no, the Divine words can never fail: Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and gladness of heart, thou shalt serve thy enemy in hunger and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things. [Deut. 28:47] Since thou hast