Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/85

 give me  wings  like  a  dove,  and  I  will  fly  and  be  at  rest. Who will  give  me  the  wings  of  the  dove  to  fly  to  my God,  and,  divested  of  all  earthly  affection,  to  repose  in the  bosom  of  the  divinity? Holy desires  are  the  blessed wings with  which  the  saints  burst  every  worldly  tie,  and fly to  the  mountain  of  perfection,  where  they  find  that peace which  the  world  cannot  give.

But how  do  fervent  desires  make  the  soul  fly  to  God? "They," says  St.  Laurence  Justinian,  "supply  strength, and  render  pains  light  and  tolerable." On the  one hand, good  desires  give  strength  and  courage,  and  on the  other  they  diminish  the  labor  and  fatigue  of  ascending the  mountain  of  God. Whosoever, through  diffidence of  attaining  sanctity,  does  not  ardently  desire  to become  a  saint,  will  never  arrive  at  perfection. A man who is  desirous  of  obtaining  a  valuable  treasure  which he knows  is  to  be  found  at  the  top  of  a  lofty  mountain, but who,  through  fear  of  fatigue  and  difficulty,  has  no desire  of  ascending,  will  never  advance  a  single  step towards the  wished-for  object,  but  will  remain  below  in careless  indifference  and  inactivity. And he  who,  because the  path  of  virtue  appears  to  him  narrow  and rugged, and  difficult  to  be  trodden,  does  not  desire  to climb  up  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  and  to  gain  the treasure of  perfection,  will  always  continue  in  a  state  of tepidity,  and  will  never  make  the  smallest  progress  in the  way  of  God.

On the  contrary,  he  that  does  not  desire,  and  does  not strenuously endeavor,  always  to  advance  in  holiness,  will, as we  learn  from  experience  and  from  all  the  masters  of the  spiritual  life,  go  backward  in  the  path  of  virtue,  and will be  exposed  to  great  danger  of  eternal  misery. The