Page:Life and life-work of Mother Theodore Guerin Foundress.djvu/16

xvi they shall take wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

It shows the garnered fruits of charity — the blessing of the Lord to them that fear Him and walk worthy of God in all things pleasing.

And, finally, it shows how tribulation worketh patience; and patience hope; and hope confoundeth not.

Every one who pledges himself to the work of saving souls must expect to suffer if his ministry is to be profitable. Multiplied labors are not the greatest rigors. Distress of mind and heart, human weakness, lack of sympathy and support, misunderstandings, to say nothing of the malice of men and the snares of the devil — this is the burden of the apostolate. All seem to know it, yet when it comes to the exercise how few are found with magnanimity of soul enough or with spiritual nerve enough to endure the test! Many there are who are willing to sit with Christ at His table, but few to share His fast; many to behold His glory, few to bear His ignominy. (à Kempis.)

It is in generous acceptance of the cross that strength comes for the warfare; so it is also in self-sacrifice that we discern the halo of holiness — God's presence in His elect.

Sacrifice shorn of its glory, inasmuch as it was scarcely recognized, epitomizes the life of Mother Theodore Guérin. The keynote of her intensely spiritual character is sounded in these lines addressed to the estimable Bishop of Mans: "I consider it the greatest privilege of my life to have suffered something for my