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 cessor, to  whom  Christ  gave  authority  to  decide when He  said:  "I  have  prayed  for  you  that  your faith  fail  not,  and  you  being  confirmed  in  the  faith, confirm  the  brethren." Nor must  we  reject  a  single truth from  the  faith  of  Christ — the  foundation  must be as  broad  as  truth  itself,  else  the  superstructure erected thereon  will  be  too  small  for  the  indwelling of the  Lord. Our faith  must  be  as  lively  as  was Mary's, which  merited  from  St.  Elizabeth  that  high encomium: "  Blessed  art  thou  that  hast  believed, because these  things  shall  be  accomplished  in  thee  that were  spoken  to  thee  by  the  Lord,"  because,  being but a  simple  village  maiden  she  readily  answered  to the  angel's  salutation  of  Mother  of  God:  "Be  it done  unto  me  according  to  thy  word." Our faith must be  as  self-sacrificing  as  was  hers  when,  like  another Abraham,  she  stood  by  and  saw  her  only  Son immolated to  the  will  of  His  Father. Finally, our faith must  be  as  firm  as  hers  when  she  refused  to  accompany the  other  women  to  her  Son's  tomb,  knowing well  that  the  Lord  was  not  there,  but  was  already risen.

Faith, therefore,  is  the  foundation. And as  the walls rise  from  the  foundation,  so  from  faith  rises hope, ever  higher  and  higher,  ever  nearer  and  nearer, to God. Here I  speak  of  a  hope  as  strong  and  firm as was  Mary's — a  hope  of  which  Isaias  says:  "They who  hope  in  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength, they  shall  take  wings  as  eagles,  they  shall  run  and not  be  weary,  they  shall  walk  and  not  faint " — a  hope that sustains  us  as  it  sustained  Mary  through  all  the