Might silently perfume; Would I could plunge my heart in thee, 5. The wick of faith, of love the oil, III. ELEANOR C. DONNELLY 31. ST. MICHAEL AND THE HERMIT. A PART FIRST. POOR but venerable hermit, weêring the habit, sandals, and cord of St. Francis of Assï'sï, traveled, from dawn until the going down of the sun, over the flowery highways of verdant Nor'mandy, passing through boroughs1 and villages, căstles and towers. 2. "What art thou seeking, pious traveler? Thy ardor is greater than that of a knight-errant,2 longing to break a lance in honor of the fair lady whose color he wears." 3. "I am seeking a soul," replies the hermit, "because St. Michael the Archangel has made known to me that a throne in the eternal mansions awaits some soul from earth, a throne of dazzling beauty, resplendent with sapphires and diamonds, and the golden pälms of the heavenly Jerusalem. But the soul thus summoned to a throne on high must not be too young." 4. "Keep on thy way. Old men are to be found in every country on the earth." And the hermit kept on his way from the earliest dawn to eventide. At last he found an aged abbot beneath the Gothic arches of an old Benedictine abbey. His reputation for sanctity and his great age, which was four-score years, made the pilgrim hope that he had found the object of his search. 1 Bor'ōugh, an incorporated town, smaller than a city. 2 Knight-ĕr'rant, a knight wandering in search of adventures. 5. Joyfully, therefore, did he offer to St. Michael, on bended knee, the name of the venerable abbot, with an account of his exemplary 1 life; but the archangel said to him, "Continue thy search. The abbot Fulgentius, worthy as he is, merits not this high reward. That servant of the Lord is still too young." 6. "He is four-score years of age, of which sixty-four have been spent in the monastic state and in the same monastery."— "He has not yet lived twenty years as years are reckoned by the guardian angels. Pursue thy way, good hermit, and continue thy search." 7. After three months the pilgrim, worn by fatigue and prolonged vigils,2 brought four more names to St. Michael. They were chosen from among thousands. The first on the list was that of a noble lord, illustrious through his ancestors, and still more for his own charity. His castle was always open to all pilgrims and strangers as well as to the unhappy. 8. He himself waited upon them at table, åfter having washed their feet with his own hands, and he never suffered them to depart until he had given them älms and recited prayers with them in his chapel. His many children reverenced him, and all his vassals proclaimed his fatherly kindness. What more could be asked that he might exchange his earthly power for a throne in heaven? 9. The second on the list was the mother of fifteen children, seven of whom were brave soldiers, seven others were priests, and her only daughter had many children who were reared under the careful eye of their grandmother. What more could be asked that she might pass from family honors to a throne in heaven? 10. The third was a noble warrior, covered with wounds and scars gained in the service of God. Many battles had he fought against the Turks, and thousands of Christian slaves had he redeemed from bondage. He seemed truly endowed with valor and sanctity, which made up for want of age, for he was only twenty-nine. What more could be asked that he might pass 1 Ex'ěm pla ry, serving as a pat- for the sake of prayer. tern or model. 2 Vig'ils, abstinence from sleep 3 Vǎs'sals, servants; tenants. 4 Sanctity (sănk'ti ty). from the midst of combats to the bosom of everlasting peace, and from the triumphs of victory to a throne in heaven? 11. The fourth name was that of a widow, like the prophetess Anna, who departed not from the temple of Jerusalem, by fasting and prayers serving God day and night. Like her, she was devoted to good works, to the care of the sick, the help of the infirm, and the charge of orphans. She was called "the eye of the blind" and "the consolation of the afflicted." IV. 32. ST. MICHAEL AND THE HERMIT. PART SECOND. ROUD of all these names, the hermit, at the early hour of lauds,1 presented the list to St. Michael; when evening had brought the hour of compline, the holy chant being ended, St. Michael gave back to the hermit the precious paper, and said to him: "Faithful servant, continue thy search; all these names are dear and precious in the eyes of God; but they who bear them are still too young." 2. "But the lord of Falaise 2 has seen almost a hundred years påss over his now bald head, and his beard is whiter than the snows of Mount Saint Bernard !"-"That noble lord of a hundred years is only reckoned fifteen by the calendar 3 of the guardian angels," replied the archangel. 3 3. "But this mother of fifteen children and twelve grandchildren who are her crown and glory? And the pious widow? -"The mother will only be eight years old on the festival of the Assumption of our Lady, her holy patroness; and the pious and chaste widow is hardly older than the lord of Falaise." 4. "And the knight of Malta? Illustrious and brave above his fellow-knights, he is only twenty-nine years old according to the record of his baptism; but these few years have been 1 Lauds, that pōrtion of the psälms of the divine office formerly chanted at daybreak, between the hours of matins and prime. Compline is that part of the evening office which 3 Căl ́en dar, a measure of time. well employed in defending Christendom against the infidel Tûrks." 5. "The knight has made progress, it is true, in the way of re'al life. He is almost old enough to reign; but his guardian angel demands yet a space of time before imprinting on his soul the seal of the eternal and heavenly life. Go thy way, and continue thy search." 6. The hermit, in the silence of his cell, was terrified to see how hard it was to attain length of years according to the reckoning of the angels; but he redoubled his zeal to discover the râre treasure demanded by St. Michael. Seven Sundays having påssed away, weeping and praying in the undercroft 1 of the church of St. Gerbold, he saw the archangel with his sword of gold coming toward him, resplendent with light. 7. Troubled in the depths of his heart, the hermit said to him humbly: "I have only one name to present thee, and this name offers but little that is worthy of relating; yet I lay it before thee." And he held forth the paper, wet with his tears, to St. Michael, who took it, smiling meanwhile on the trembling hermit. 8. The paper had hardly been placed in the angel's hands when the sombre crypt was filled with a soft light; an unknown per'fume embälmed 2 the air, and the hermit, almost in ecstasy,3 at once understood that the chosen one, so long sought after, was at last found. 9. The elect soul rose like a blue vapor above the tower of the church, above the lofty mountains, beyond the stars; it rose luminous and full of majesty, till it came to the courts of the New Jerusalem to take its place upon the dazzling throne awaiting it among the angels. 10. "How old, then, is this soul according to the calendar of eternal life?" were the first words addressed to St. Michael by the hermit, still on his knees. 11. And St. Michael graciously replied: "This saint was only twenty-one years old according to the reckoning on earth, 1 Un'der croft, a vault or chapel under the choir of a church. Crypt is another name for such a chapel. 'Em balmed', filled with sweet odors; perfumed. 3 Ec'sta sy, extreme joy. 4 Lū'mi nous, full of light; shin ing; emitting light, but he was a hundred by that of the guardian angels who watch over souls. Not one hour of his short life was lost for eternity. It was not only not lost, but-which is necessary to attain length of years that are meritorious and venerable in our eyesnot one hour failed to be reckoned twice or thrice, and sometimes a hundredfold, by the merit of his deeds of faith, hope charity, and mortification.1 12. " "Nothing is lost which is pleasing in the eyes of our Lord. A glass of water given with love in His name becomes a majestic river flowing on forever and ever; while the greatest treasure given without love or from human motives is counted as nothing in the great Book of Life. To really live, thou must love God while exiled here below, as we love Him in the home of the blessèd. Thou must also love thy neighbor, whose soul reflects the image of its Maker." 66 13. With these words, the archangel disappeared, leaving behind him a long train of light in the dim vaults of the crypt of St. Gerbold. "O Lord!" cried the hermit, "grant me a true knowledge of the Christian life-the only life really worth the name that at my last hour I may not hear resounding above my head the terrible words, Too young! 14. "Teach me, O my God! the value of time, which is only given us that we may lay up treasures for heaven. Time is the money of eternity! time is the price of our Saviour's blood! time, so fleeting, which we seek to kill, and which will surely kill us; time, the inflexible tyrant who spâres no one! Oh! that I might in turn triumph over time by making it serve to the sanctification of my soul and the winning of an eternal crown." V. 33. THE BELLS OF ABINGDON. ING-ting-yet never a tinkle; Stirs the beds of periwinkle, 1 Mor'ti fi ca'tion, the denial of natural desires, especially of those in themselves innocent, through a religious motive. |