against us, according to these words of the Apostle: " If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged; but whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world." [1] These matters, if explained to the faithful, must have considerable influence in exciting them to penance.
Of the great efficacy of penance we may form some idea, if we reflect that it arises entirely from the merits of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ: it is his passion that imparts to our good actions the two-fold quality of meriting the rewards of eternal life, so that a cup of cold water given in his name shall not be without its reward, [2] and, also, of satisfying for our sins. [3] Nor does this derogate from the most perfect and superabundant satisfaction of Christ, but, on the contrary, renders it still more conspicuous and illustrious; the grace of Jesus Christ appears to abound more, inasmuch as it communicates to us not only what he alone merited, but also what, as head, he merited and paid in his members, that is, in holy and just men. This it is that imparts such weight and dignity to the good actions of the pious Christian; for our Lord Jesus Christ continually infuses his grace into the devout soul united to him by charity, as the head to the members, or as the vine through the branches, and this grace always precedes, accompanies, and follows our good works: without it we can have no merit, nor can we at all satisfy God. Hence it is that nothing seems wanting to the just: by their works done by the power of God, they fulfil the divine law, as far as is compatible with our present condition, and can merit eternal life, to the fruition of which they shall be admit ted, if they depart this life adorned with divine grace: " He," says the Redeemer, " that shall drink of the water that I will give him, shall not thirst for ever; but the water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting." [4]
In satisfaction two things are particularly required; the one, that he who satisfies be in a state of grace, the friend of God: works done without faith and charity cannot be acceptable to God: the other, that the works performed be such as are of their own nature painful or laborious. They are a compensation for past sins, and, to use the words of St. Cyprian, " the redeemers, as it were, of sins," [5] and must, therefore, be such as we have described. It does not, however, always follow Note that they are painful or laborious to those who undergo them: the influence of habit or the intensity of divine love frequently renders the soul insensible to things the most difficult to be endured. Such works, however, do not, therefore, cease to be satisfactory: it is the privilege of the children of God to be so inflamed with his love, that whilst undergoing the most cruel tortures for his sake, they are either entirely insensible to them,
