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

30 /, ) 1)1 A.
touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still, anil He
'
said: Youiig man, I say unto thee arise,' and he that was
dead, sat up, and began to speak. And He gave him to his
mother."
" That same Lord," said Dionysius, " who felt pity for the af-
flicted widow of Nairn, feels also for thee, and the moment will
come, in which He will say to thee:
'
Weep not,' and He will
restore to thee thy beloved son.
Metella felt herself gaining new strength, as she heard of this
wonderful event : and with the saint's explanation. "You give
me also the same hope that Athenagoras did; he suid that I
should yet be united to the blessed in Heaven."
" Certainly, if you fulfil the conditions on which God grants
the crown of happiness."
Faith and virtue unite themselves to our Lord, like the two
sisters, Martha and Mary, while OUR sits at His feet, the other is
anxiously occupied about Him. Whoever is acquainted with
the one sister, will most certainly be introduced to the other.
Form a friendship with Christian virtue, and that virtue will
soon lead you to faith. '
'
Will you know if my doctrine is from God
said Christ, so observe it." It is something beautiful to occupy
one's self with study, and to refresh one's self in the treasures of
knowledge as in a cooling spring. There is something dignified
in reflecting on the things we have read, that we may come
nearer and nearer to the truth. But virtue leads you higher
than wisdom. Worldly wisdom is a deep sea, many draw from
it the pearl of truth, but many, death."
"
But what virtues do you recommend to me in particular, in
order that I may secure for myself the "
happinsss of Heaven?
" A holy pope," said he, " sent a letter once to our Church in
Corinth, which we still read on Sundays. It commences thus:
' The all-wise Creator of the world knows the multitude and
beauty of the Heavenly enjoyments. Let us strive to be found
amongst the number of those who wait to partake of His promised
gifts. How shall we attain thereto? If we in the faith
hold fast on God, if we reflect upon what is pleasing and agreeable
to God, that we may accomplish His holy will. Let us
walk in the path of truth, and cast aside all injustice, covetous-
ness, discord, wickedness, lust, loquacity, hatred, arrogance,
pride, vain-glory, and self -sufficiency.'*
Metella listened with profound attention, and on the venerable
man rising to depart, she promised him to practice zealously all
the virtues he had just dictated.
Report soon circulated amongst her friends and acquaintances,
that she was about to adopt a religion which was nothing short
of folly. They used their utmost endeavors to dissuade her
from such a step. Her ancient nobility, her dazzling wealth,
the fame of her learning, the displeasure of the Emperor all
these, they said, should deter her from becoming a Christian.
She was placed in the most agonizing position. Doubts
gnawed again upon the freshness of the soul, and it appeared
to her as though she must sink under the combat that was
passing within.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE CONVERSION.
MONTHS had passed, since the Greek matron had received the
melancholy intelligence of her son's death. Harvest and Winter
had come and gone, and she was still at her Villa. Pale and reduced
to a shadow, she wandered through her costly apartments
clad in deep mourning. Nothing could charm her now. She
often sat in the court-yard for hours, gazing listlessly on the
- of the fountain, or wandered by moonlight seeking con-