Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/191

 for war  who  slightly  bend  and  use  their  hands  as cups,  but  all  that  lying  prone  shall  lap  the  water  up like  dogs  will  surely  fail  in  battle."  The  result  left Gedeon  scarce  three  hundred  men,  and  yet  they fought  the  enemy  and  gained  a  glorious  victory.  Oh blessed  teaching  of  our  angel  guide,  which  proves the  kingdom  of  God  suffereth  violence  and  that  not the  timid  but  the  violent  bear  it  away!  To  conquer in  the  struggle  for  salvation,  we  must  not  cling  too closely  to  the  world,  nor  drink  too  deeply  of  its  pleasures, nor  too  eagerly  feast  upon  its  delicacies,  but with  our  faces  as  much  as  may  be  ever  turned  to  God we  should  seek  and  take  from  earth  no  more  than our  necessities  demand.  But  not  alone  from  unseen perils  do  our  angels  guard  us,  but  from  visible  dangers too. Let Josue,  Ezechias  and  Eliseus  testify how angel  hosts  did  battle  for  them  in  their  hour of need. Judith returning  with  Holofernes'  head declared: "  The  angel  of  God  hath  been  my  keeper going  hence,  and  abiding  there,  and  returning hither." From wild  beasts,  too,  the  angels  guard  us, as witness  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den  and  the  martyrs in the  arena. From inanimate  objects,  too,  as  for example, the  three  youths  in  the  fiery  furnace. But most of  all  our  angels  stay  the  arm  of  God's  wrath deservedly upraised  to  strike  us. You remember  the parable of  the  fig-tree,  barren  for  three  long  years and which  the  owner  ordered  finally  to  be  cut  down and burned;  but  the  gardener  begged  for  one  year more to  prune  and  water  it. Ah! how many  a  soul through boyhood,  youth,  and  manhood  bears  no