Quesnel: Moral Reflections on the Gospels Vol 1

PREFACE. 21
Jesus Christ we shall learn how the heart of Christ
is affected toward us, and how that of a Christian
ought to be affected towards him ; and the divine
wisdom, concealed and covered, as it were, under
this adorable letter, coming into our hearts, all sorts
of good things will come into them along with it.
" The bare sight of the Gospel," says St. Chry-
sostom, " is sufficient to induce us to regulate our
thoughts and desires, and to give us a disgust to-
wards the things of this life.—When this sacred
book is in any house, it is like an arsenal filled with
arms, which keeps it in perfect safety. It removes
all the power of hell at a distance, and the devil
dares not enter it. Only to cast our eyes upon this
book with reverence, is enough sometimes to prevent
our falling into sin ; it is enough to awaken our
conscience, and to raise in us a salutary shame on
the account of those sins into which we have been
so unfortunate as to fall. But if to this we join a
careful and diligent reading, the soul will find itself,
as it were, in a divine sanctuary, and become more
pure and perfect, by means of the conversation it
has with God in reading his holy word."
Neither is this only a sanctuary ; it is, according
to St. Augustine, a heaven, where God clearly
manifests to us the wonders of his grace, the riches
of his mercy, and the adorable designs of his wisdom
and his power.
Let us enter then with confidence into this sanc-
tuary, consecrated by the blood of our blessed Sa-
viour. Let us raise ourselves, and ascend into this
heaven, which his Spirit has framed for us here on
earth- Let us open the eyes of our faith, and with