Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

mountains jour own Vesuvius ?"
" I linvo Him," said the child in an untroubled voic(>, "and
Ho i-f mightier lliiin nil UIH works. "
" Or the. buildings of your city the stately palaces, tho
sainted temples ? Yonder little church, for instance, which
we have just quitted, and which might have been tho wurk
was a shade of grave rebuke in Agnese's voice ;
long not to behold His works, shall I sigh to look upon His
creature's V"
"
Well, Agnese, the flowers, at least, are His own lovely
work of love tell ; me, do you not sometimes sigh to gaze
upon the flowers, which He has scattered so profusely over
this soft southern land ? Never have I walked before among
such llowers, with their velvet-like richness of touch anil hue,
and their perfume, which comes over one's senses like a dream
in this manner ?"
" Francesco, Signora ; he has taught me to know and love
Jesus ou the altar. "
The lady did not answer. Something in the child's voice
and manner had recalled sad memories to her mind, and her
tears were falling fast ; nor did she seek to check them until
they had nearly gamed the fountain, aud the grove to which
their footsteps were directed. There they found Agnese's
grandmother plying her usual trade before a table, made very
gay to look at, by the four painted stakes, placed one at every
corner, and decorated with images of Saints, colored flags, and
bunches of lemons, and bouquets of flowers, to cay nothing of
the ten already lighted lamps gleaming like fire-flies among tho
shadows of the trees. A cask, in the form of a drum, rilled
with clear ice, and water from the fountain, was placed on this
table, which likewise displayed an abundance of clean and lemons for the preparation of iced lemonade.
glasses
Many and grateful were the thanks of the old dame to the
and
good Samaritan who hail brought; her back her blind one ;
BLIND AQNESE. 5
lonely country's most lonely places, still and forever to bo found
ii|:on our altars, from thence, giving rest to the weary, 00
to tho aillicted, calmer and holier joy to tho glad of heart ;
leaving
of nngclt) or of fairies, it is so spitit-like and full of grace?"
" These are but tho creation of man, Siguora ;" and there
" and if I
it to no creature oS earth to say that he had sought his
Lord, and had not found Him, or that ho had been near
a&d had Hot been invited to the embraces of His love. J hippy
they who seek tho invitation, nnd hnppit r they who Iv. ur it,
aud obey it, by dwelling, if not always iu the body, at least
always 111 spirit and desire, beneath the shadow of His altar.
Ti.ese are they of whom it has been truly said, "They shall eat
the houey with the honey-comb," for they shall taste and see
that the Lord is sweet ; that they shall find the tears wiped
away from their faces ; they shall draw water in joy from the
fountains of the Saviour ; and they shall testify to the truth of
the promise made to us by His own living and most sacred lips,
a promise only not ofteuer fulfilled in ourselves, because we
seek not its proper fulfilment in Him " Come to Me, all you
of beauty."
"
They aresoft to the touch, and sweet to the senses," Agnese
answered, after a moment's "
pause. And He was called tho
'
flower of the root of Jesse. '
So they must be precious things,
those flowers ! But yet," she added, in an assured and earnest
tone, " I do not regard them, for I have Him, and He made
them, and beautiful as they are, lie must be a thousand million
of times more beautiful than they are."
"Happy child," eaid tho lady, sadly, "He hath, indeed,
robbed you of your sorrow would that I knew where ;
you had
found Him, that I might go and seek Him also."
" Do you not know where to find Him?" said Agnese, in
"
great surprise. He is ever on the altar if ; you are in sorrow,
go and seek Him there, and He will speak sweet cumfort
to your soul."
" Tell me, fair that labor and burdened and I will refresh you."
CHAPTER II.
Sign tho cross, and strike the breabt ;
Banish lookn of lightsome
child, who has taught you to think and speak
cheer
Heaven's monarch, mortal 1 a guest
Lol our Jesus draweth near.
One thou lovest, Lord, is ill,
As ot old, is now the tiding,
Aud, as then, it finds Him btill
Quicker even than He went
To the loved of Bethany,
Now with thoughts as fondly bent
On this loved one cometh He,
"
Sign the cross, and strike the breast,' etc.
In His lovo that call abiding.
" Sign the cross, and strike the breast, *' etc.
If His own no longer flow,
Still He dries the sinner's tears ;
If no grief is on the brow,
Still, its look of love it wears.
**
Sign the cross, and strike the breast," etc.
If no more from out the grave
He doth bid tho dead arise,
Stiil. the sinful soul to save.
On the sinner's heart He Vie*.
" Sign tho cross, and strike the breast," etc
Bids him put aside his fear.
Bids his trembling all to cease,
Whispers in his dying ear
Words of pardon, hope, and peace.
" Sign tha cross, and strike the breast," etc.
Jesu, when my hour is nigh,
Let me rest Thy arms within ;
Thus to die is not to die, .
having accepted a glass of iced water, aud pressed an alms into
the unwilling hand of Agnese, Lady Oranmore stepped into
her carriage, which had followed her from the church, promising
herself, however, to return the very next day, and renew
her acquaintance with the fair child of the fountain.
How often, during her drive to Naples, did the words of Agnese
recur to her memory "If you are iu sorrow, go and seek
Him on the altar, and He will speak sweet comfort to your
soul." She was not a Catholic, that old lady, or she would
have better understood the deep meaning