the universe, gave way to all the different worships of the nations she had subjugated; and beheld, exalted within her walls, the different idols of so many conquered countries, that they became the public monuments of her folly and blindness, rather than of her victories.
But, after all, though all flesh had corrupted bis way, God no longer wished to pour out his wrath upon men, nor to exterminate them by a fresh deluge; he wished to save them. He had placed in the heavens the sign of his covenant with the world; and that sign was not the shining, though vulgar rainbow which appears in the clouds; it was Jesus Christ his only Son, the Word made flesh, the true seal of the eternal covenant, and the sole light which comes to enlighten the whole world.
He appears on the earth, and restores to his Father that glory of which the impiety of a public worship had wished to deprive him. The homage rendered to him, by his holy soul united to the world, at once makes amends to his Supreme Majesty for all the honours which the universe had hitherto denied him, in order to prostitute them to a creature. A Man-God adorer renders more glory to the Divinity than all idolatrous ages and nations had deprived him of; and such homage must indeed have been agreeable to the sovereign God, seeing it alone effaced idolatry from the earth, made the blood of impure victims cease to flow, overturned the profane altars, silenced the oracles of demons, reduced to dust the vain idols, and changed their superb temples, till then the receptacle of every abomination, into houses of adoration and prayer. Thus was the universe changed: the only God, unknown even in Athens, and in those cities most celebrated for knowledge and polished manners, was worshipped: the world acknowledged its Author: God entered into his rights; a worship worthy of him was established over the whole earth; and he had every where adorers, who worshipped him in spirit and in truth.
Behold the first blessing accruing from the birth of Jesus Christ, and the first glory which he renders to his Father. But, my brethren, is this grand blessing for us? We no longer worship vain idols, — an incestuous Jupiter, a lascivious Venus, a cruel and a revengeful Mars; but is God, therefore, more glorified among us? In their place do we not substitute fortune, voluptuousness, court favour, the world, with all its pleasures? For, whatever we love more than God, that we worship; whatever we prefer to God, that becomes our God: whatever becomes the sole object of our thoughts, of our desires, of our affections, of our fears and hopes, becomes likewise the object of our worship; and our gods are our passions, to which we sacrifice the true God.
Now, what idols of this kind still remain in the Christian world? You, that unfortunate creature, to whom you have prostituted your heart; to whom you sacrifice your wealth, your fortune, your glory, your peace; and from whom neither religious motives, nor even those of the world, can detach you, that is your idol; and what less is she than your divinity, since, in your madness, you do not
