Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/351

 neighbors? It is  because  God  loves  them. Hence St. John  says  that  if  any  man  say  I  love  God  and  hateth  his brother,  he  is  a  liar.  But  as  hatred  towards  our  brethren is incompatible  with  the  love  of  God,  so  an  act  of  charity performed  in  their  regard  will  be  accepted  by  Jesus Christ as  if  done  for  himself. I say  to  you,  says  the  Redeemer, as  long  as  you  did  it  to  one  of  these  my  brethren  you did  it  to  me.  St.  Catharine  of  Genoa  used  to  say  that our love  of  God  is  to  be  measured  by  our  love  for  our neighbor.

But holy  charity — the  beautiful  daughter  of  God, being banished  from  the  world  by  the  greater  part  of mankind,  seeks  an  asylum  in  the  monasteries  of  religious. Oh, what  then  will  become  of  the  convent  from which charity  is  exiled! As hell  is  a  land  of  hatred,  so paradise  is  the  kingdom  of  love,  where  all  the  blessed love one  another,  and  each  one  rejoices  at  the  happiness of the  rest  as  at  his  own. Oh, what  a  paradise  is  the convent in  which  charity  reigns! it is  the  delight  of God  himself. Behold, says  the  Psalmist,  how  good  and how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity. The Lord  looks  with  complacency  on  the  charity  of brethren  and  sisters  who  dwell  together  in  unity,  who are united  by  one  will  of  serving  God,  and  who  seek only to  sanctify  one  another  that  they  may  be  all  united one day  in  the  land  of  bliss. The highest  praise  bestowed by  St.  Luke  on  the  first  Christians  was  that  they had but  one  heart  and  soul. And the  multitude  of  the  believers had  but  one  heart  and  one  soul.     This  unity  was  the