his glorious Mother, St. John the Evangelist, His apostle St. Paul, St. Dominic, founder of her Order, and with them the prophet David who drew from his harp tones of heavenly sweetness. The Mother of God took in her holy hand, the right hand of Catherine, in order to present it to her Son, asking Him to deign to espouse her in Faith. The Saviour consented to it with love, and offered her a golden ring, set with four precious stones, in the centre of which blazed a magnificent diamond. He placed it himself on Catherine's finger, saying to her: "I thy Creator and Redeemer, espouse thee in Faith and thou shalt preserve it pure, until we celebrate together in Heaven the eternal nuptials of the Lamb. Daughter, now act courageously; accomplish without fear the works that my Providence will confide to thee; thou are armed with Faith, thou shalt triumph over all thy enemies." The vision disappeared, and the ring remained on the finger of Catherine. She saw it, but it was invisible to others. She acknowledged to me, while blushes mantled her cheek, that it never left her, and that she was never weary with admiring it. There was already one Catherine, queen and martyr, who, after baptism, espoused our Lord. We have here a second, who, after many victories won of the flesh and the devil, celebrated also her regal espousals with Jesus Christ.
Let us admire the beauties of her ring, and observe its mysterious meaning. What is there stronger than diamond ? it resists everything by its hardness and penetrates the most solid bodies, nothing but lamb's blood can cause it to sparkle. In like manner, the faithful heart triumphs over all difficulties by fortitude, and only yields to the Blood of Jesus Christ. The four precious stones indicate four kinds of purity practiced by Catherine,
