Page:PracticeOfChristianAndReligiousPerfectionV1.djvu/78

 In the  same  manner,  ought  we  daily  to  apply  ourselves,  to  gain and lay  up  new  treasures  for  heaven,  as  if  hitherto  we  had gathered no  treasures,  but  rather  made  every  effort  to  squander and lose  them.

This is  the  means  St  Gregory  thinks  most  convenient  for all sorts  of  persons,  nay  even  for  the  mot  perfect. And as perfect  as  the  holy  prophet  David  was,  he  did  not,  for  all that, forbear  to  make  use  of  it,  as  he  himself  signifies  in  these words, "  I  said  to  myself  now  I  do  but  begin." (Psal. lxxvi.  1 1.) He had  so  much  fervour  and  zeal  for  God's  service,  that  even  in his  old  age  he  continued  the  same  fervent  desire  and  diligence to serve  God,  as  if  he  had  but  then  begun  to  serve  him. It is likewise  evident  from  the  saying  of  the  Wise  Man,  "  When  a man  shall  have  finished  his  task,  then  he  shall  begin  anew" (Ecclus. xviii.  6);  the  more  the  true  servants  of  God  advance and approach  to  their  end,  which  is  perfection,  the  more  they increase in  fervour  and  redouble  their  activity. For as  St. Gregory  says,  "  Men  who  are  digging  for  a  great  treasure,  the deeper  they  dig  the  more  earnestly  and  diligently  they  go  on still  in  their  work;  for  hoping  they  are  not  far  from  what  they looked  for,  they  imagine  that  a  little  more  pains  will  bring  them to  it;  and  by  these  hopes  they  encourage  themselves  to  work afresh,  without  being  tired.  In  like  manner  those  who  truly take  to  heart  the  great  affair  of  their  salvation,  the  farther  they are  advanced  in  the  way  of  perfection,  and  the  nearer  they  approach, they  are  still  the  more  pressing  to  arrive  at  it.  There is  but  a  little  earth  that  hides  your  treasure  from  you,  dig  a  little farther  and  you  will  discover  it,  take  courage,  make  haste (Greg.  1.  v.  Mor.  c.  3),  and  labour  so  much  the  harder,  as  you see the  day  nearer  to  approach  (Heb.  x.  25),  as  the  apostle counsels the  Hebrews;  as  if  he  would  say,  that  the  nearer  we draw  towards  our  end,  the  harder  we  ought  to  labour. When a stone  falls  down  from  above,  the  nearer  it  draws  towards  its centre, the  quicker  it  moves,  till  it  reaches  it:  so  when  a  man walks diligently  in  the  way  of  God  and  proposes  no  other  end to himself,  than  to  please  him  alone,  the  more  he  advances  in perfection,  and  the  nearer  he  approaches  to  him,  who  is  his centre, and  his  last  end,  the  more  he  hastens  and  labours  to arrive  thither. Those who  live  thus,  says  St.  Basil,  are  perfectly such  as  the  apostle  would  have  them  be;  "  Perpetually careful,  most  fervent  in  spirit,  knowing  that  it  is  God  whom they  serve." (Rom. xii.  1 1.)  There  are  certain  religious  who  have