liveth by faith,' says the Apostle (Gal. iii. 11). It is faith that makes the just live in the grace of God, and that gives life to their souls, by detaching them from earthly affections, and reminding them of the eternal goods which God holds out to those who love Him.
" St. Teresa used to say that all sins had their origin in a want of faith. Therefore, in order to overcome our passions and temptations, we must frequently revive our faith by saying: 'I believe in the life everlasting. I believe that after this life, which for me will quickly finish, there is an eternal life, either full of delights, or full of torments, which will be my lot, according to my merits or demerits.'
"St. Augustine, also, was wont to say that a man who believes in eternity, and yet is not converted to God, has lost either his reason or his faith. 'O eternity!' (these are his words) 'he that meditates upon thee, and repents not, either has no faith, or, if he has faith, he has no heart.' In reference to this, St. John Chrysostom relates that the Gentiles, when they saw Christians committing sin, called them either liars or fools."
4. Raise your heart to God by meditation, by mental prayer. Only in this way will your hope, as well as your faith, be maintained and kept from degenerating into presumption or despair.
5. The sinner often resembles the ostrich, which lives in the sandy deserts of Africa. When it is pursued it buries its head in the deep sand, that it may not perceive its pursuer, and imagines itself to be unseen; all too late it discovers its mistake, when the fatal bullet has inflicted a mortal wound. After a similar fashion do
