Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/228

 very extraordinary  fact  of  St. Lucian, a  monk  and  martyr. By his  modesty  he  induced  so  many  pagans  to  embrace the faith,  that  the  Emperor  Maximian. fearing that  he should  be  converted  to  Christianity  by  the  appearance of the  saint,  would  not  allow  the  holy  man  to  be  brought within his  view,  but  spoke  to  him  from  behind  a  screen.

That our  Redeemer  was  the  first  who  taught,  by  his example, modesty  of  the  eyes,  may,  as  a  learned  author remarks, be  inferred  from  the  holy  evangelists,  who  say that on  some  occasion  he  raised  his  eyes. And he,  lifting up  his  eyes  on  his  disciples. When  Jesus  therefore  had lifted  up  his  eyes. From  these  passages  we  may  conclude that the  Redeemer  ordinarily  kept  his  eyes  cast  down. Hence the  Apostle,  praising  the  modesty  of  the  Saviour, says: I beseech  you,  by  the  mildness  and  modesty  of  Christ.

I shall  conclude  this  subject  with  what  St.  Basil  said to his  monks:  If,  my  children,  we  desire  to  raise  the  soul towards heaven,  let  us  direct  the  eyes  towards  the  earth. From the  moment  we  awake  in  the  morning,  let  us  pray continually in  the  words  of  holy  David:  Turn  away  my eyes,  that  they  may  not  behold  vanity.

We must  practise  modesty,  not  only  in  our  looks,  but also in  our  whole  deportment,  and  particularly  in  our dress, our  walk,  our  conversation,  and  all  similar  actions.

I. Modesty  of  dress  is  not  incompatible  with  neatness or cleanliness. But how  disedifying  is  the  conduct  of the  religious  who  attends  too  much  to  the  neatness  of her  person  and  to  the  fineness  or  richness  of  her  apparel, who wears  superfluous  ornaments,  whose  dress  is  made