Page:Thecompleteascet01grimuoft.djvu/99

 "I am  resolved  to  save  my  soul." And in  spite  of  her opposition he  entered  religion;  but  after  some  time  his ardor cooled,  and  tepidity  stole  into  his  heart. His mother died,  and  a  little  after  her  death  he  was  seized with a  dangerous  malady. In his  sickness  he  thought he saw  himself  before  the  judgment-seat  of  God,  and  his mother reproaching  him  with  the  violation  of  his  first  resolution: My  son,  said  she,  you  have  forgotten  the  words, "I am  resolved  to  save  my  soul,"  by  which  you  replied  to all  my  entreaties. You have  become  a  religious,  and  is it  thus  you  live? He recovered  from  his  infirmity,  and,  reflecting on  his  first  fervor,  he  began  a  life  of  holiness,  and practised such  mortifications  that  his  companions advised him to  moderate  his  austerities. To their  admonitions he answered:  "If  I  have  not  been  able  to  bear  the  rebuke of  my  mother,  how  shall  I,  if  I  abuse  his  graces, support  the  reproaches  of  Jesus  Christ  in  judgment?" The reading  of  the  Lives  of  the  saints  is  very  profitable to us;  their  examples  humble  us,  and  make  us  know  and feel our  own  miseries. The poor  understand  their  poverty only  when  they  see  the  treasures  of  the  rich.

VI. The sixth  means  is,  not  to  lose  courage  when  you perceive that  you  have  not  as  yet  arrived  at  the  perfection to  which  you  aspire. To be  discouraged  by  the imperfections which  you  desire  to  correct,  would  be  to yield  to  a  great  illusion  of  the  devil. St. Philip  Neri used to  say,  that  to  become  a  saint  is  not  the  work  of  a day. It is  related  in  the  Lives  of  the  Fathers,  that  a certain  monk,  after  having  begun  his  religious  career with great  fervor,  relaxed  his  zeal,  and  remained  for some time  in  a  state  of  tepidity;  but  reflecting  on  his unhappy condition,  he  began  to  sigh  after  his  former piety, and  became  greatly  afflicted  because  he  knew  not how to  recover  it. In this  disposition  of  mind  he  sought advice from  an  aged  Father. The good  Father  con-