his companions: "Observe the poor little sheep, how mild it is among the goats; our blessed Lord walked as meekly and humbly among the Pharisees" At another time, seeing a lambkin devoured by a hog, he said: "Ah! little lamb, how lively dost thou represent my Saviour's death." St. Basil the Great says of the rose among its thorns: " The most pleasant things in this world are mingled with sorrow. The rose is a fair flower, but it puts me in mind of sin, for which the earth has been condemned to bring forth thorns."
My Prayer-Book aims to point out the brighter side of life — the silver lining to the cloud o'erhead — the sunshine that follows the rain — the sweet little wildflowers that grow by the wayside amid thorns and briers.
" Sweet are the uses of adversity
Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head."
— As You Like It.
"The good are better made by ill,
As odors crushed are sweeter still."
— Rogers, Jacquelin.
"As aromatic plants bestow
No spicy fragrance while they grow,
But crushed or trodden to the ground
Diffuse their balmy sweets around."
— Goldsmith, The Captivity.
The Royal Psalmist voices the sentiments of a deeply religious soul in many expressions of grateful praise to God, of joy in the Lord, and of absolute
