Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/511

 "Consider that  God  is  always  present,  and  that  he  is looking  at  you." St. Dorotheus  relates  that  the  good disciple was  so  faithful  to  the  advice,  that  in  all  his  occupations, and  even  in  the  severe  infirmities  with  which  he was  visited,  he  never  lost  sight  of  God. Thus after  being a soldier,  and  a  dissolute  young  man,  he  attained  in five  years  so  high  a  degree  of  sanctity,  that  after  death he was  seen  in  heaven  seated  on  a  throne  of  glory  equal to that  of  the  most  holy  among  the  anchorets.

The great  servant  of  God,  Father  Joseph  Anchieta, who by  the  exercise  of  the  divine  presence  arrived  at such  perfection,  used  to  say  that  nothing  else  but  our inattention to  it  can  divert  us  from  so  holy  an  exercise. The prophet  Micheas  says:  ''I  will  show  thee,  O  man,  what is  good,  and  what  the  Lord  requireth  of  thee,. . .  to  walk  solicitous with  thy  God.''  O  man,  I  will  show  you  in  what your welfare  consists,  and  what  the  Lord  demands  of you;  behold  it:  he  wishes  you  to  be  solicitous,  and  that your whole  concern  be  to  do  all  your  actions  in  his  presence; because  then  all  shall  be  well  done. Hence, St. Gregory  Nazianzen  has  written:  "So  often  should  we remember  God  as  we  draw  breath." He adds,  that  by doing  this  we  shall  do  all  things. Another devout author says  that  meditation  may  in  some  cases  be omitted;  for  example,  in  the  time  of  sickness,  or  of  important business,  which  cannot  be  deferred;  but  the  exercise of  the  presence  of  God  must  be  always  practised by acts  of  purity  of  intention,  of  oblation,  and  the  like, as will  be  more  fully  explained  hereafter.

II. Hitherto we  have  spoken  of  the  operation  of  the  in-