offers the garment of charity to every one. " He will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. ii. 4.) And men out of sloth often refuse. But on your part earnestly beg this grace of God, and do not presume to approach the sacraments without it.
III. Consider the indignation of the king against the man who presumed to be present at the marriage feast without the wedding garment. " Having bound his hands and feet," he thus commands his servants: " Cast him into exterior darkness." The punishment of the sinner is manifold. He is perpetually imprisoned in hell, he dwells in horrid darkness, since he is deprived of the sight of God; he is obstinate in evil, his hands are tied, so that he cannot perform a meritorious action, his feet are bound, so that he cannot escape from the place of his confinement. Beseech your Lord to deliver you from all these evils.
FRIDAY.
The Ten Virgins.— I.
I. "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins." (Matt. xxv. 1.) In the Church militant there are both good and bad, wise and foolish, all expecting the coming of Christ the spouse of the Church, in order to celebrate His nuptials in heaven. Those that keep their faith without charity, which is the life of faith, are like the foolish virgins who had no oil in their lamps, What can be more unwise than to expect the coming of a judge who sees all things, and not to prepare against His coming? Examine whether you be guilty of this folly.
