tians were looked upon as scavengers of the world, Tanquant purgamenta hujus mundi; and we often are confused when called upon to practise the duties of His service, and this, too, at the time when the Christian religion is dominant, and when many powerful monarchs have willingly professed it.
Happy are the Christians who feel the honour and acknowledge the grace which God has bestowed upon them when He has received them as His servants! Oh! what a good Master we have! how magnificent are His promises! how faithful He is to carry them out! how liberal are His rewards!
How happy is he who serves Him! and thrice happy is the choice he has made! Oh! if all men knew what it was to be a servant of God, they would have no more ardent wish or aspire to a higher honour than to be reckoned among the number of His faithful servants.
O my Lord and my God! my heart is filled with bitter grief when I call to mind the years of my past life. Alas! far from having employed them in Thy service, I am one of those unfaithful servants who have had my own self-interest in view.
However, as You are my Lord and King, I this day take an oath of allegiance, and from henceforth, swear that my wish is to live and die in Thy service.
The service of God is not only our most important, but our sole work. This is so obvious that it requires only to be stated. Time and words would alike be wasted in the attempt to prove it. Yet, alas! even spiritual persons need to be reminded of this elementary truth. Let us subject ourselves to a brief examination upon it. Are we
