stand ready, holding not only the lamp of faith , but also the oil of good works in their hands. The foolish virgins are those bad Christians who have indeed the lamp of faith, but to whom is lacking the oil of active love, and whose faith is therefore dead. They pass their lives carelessly, taking no thought of that eternally decisive moment which is before us all. At midnight, when none of the virgins were expecting him, the bridegroom came! In other words, death took them unawares. Wise or good Christians, even though death may take them by surprise, are always ready to meet the Lord, and enter into eternity; for they have not only kept the faith, but also gained merit. Foolish, careless Christians do not live in accordance with their faith, but put off their conversion till the hour of death. Death comes on them unawares, and then they find out with terror that their faith is dead, and that there is lacking to them the oil of good works. The merits of their fellow-Christians can avail them nothing, and they have no time to gain merits of their own by the performance of good works. For them, indeed, the night has come “when no man can work”! (John 9, 4.) They may wail and cry out “Lord! Lord!” but they will find themselves shut out from heaven, for our Lord Jesus has said: “Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 7, 21).
Watchfulness. Our Lord Himself points the moral of this parable by His concluding words: “Watch you, therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour (of your death).” We ought to live on the watch, and be always ready for the coming of our Divine Judge, because 1. we know not when we shall be called away; 2. the hour of death is, as a rule, too late for conversion and the gaining of merit; and it is therefore a mischievous act of carelessness to put off conversion till the hour of death.
Prudence is one of the four cardinal virtues. The wise or prudent virgins desired to be admitted to the heavenly marriage-feast; therefore they took pains to become worthy of admission by virtues and good works. They avoided sin, and persevered in grace and in the practice of the love of God, and were therefore found ready when death surprised them. The foolish virgins also wished to take part in the banquet, but they did not use those means by which alone they could gain admission. The virtuous are prudent, but sinners are fools!
Dead faith. Even as a lamp goes out when it is not fed with, oil, so does faith die, if it is not nourished and sustained by works of piety, mortification and brotherly love.
Humility. It was not from selfishness that the wise virgins refused to share their oil with those who were foolish. Humility made them act thus, because they feared that they would not have enough for themselves. The just do not rely on their good works, but “work out their
