Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: INTRODUCTORY. 3 have you, fathers, whom Christ left as his vicegerents, you the bishops of his household, the watchmen and guards of his fortress, you doctors and keepers of this city, leaders in this warfare, preserved the purity of the holy spouse of Christ t Suppose, oh ! fathers, that Christ should now return —He will return quickly—and require of you his spouse as He left her to your care, how will you restore her to Him ? Her who goes proudly in this profane pomp and secular apparel 1 Her who now contends with princes in the magnificence of her palaces. Her who lives at ease in the abundance of secular delights? Is this that Holy City separated from the spirit of the world 1 Is this that city of God governed by divine laws ! The very same. Alas ! how changed from what she was. Is this that city of perfect beauty, the joy of the whole world 1 Must wo not rather call her all hideous, all her beauty gone—' the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint, from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is no soundness.' Where are thy ornaments with which thou wast prepared to be delivered to thy bridegroom 1 Where is that faith which even raised the dead ? Where thy charity t Where that contempt of life and things present? Where that ardent desire of death and heavenly things ? Where that thirst to behold the kingdom of God? Where that love of poverty? Alas ! alas ! my fathers, who shall behold her with tearless eyes ? Oh ! citizens of the New Jerusalem, that royal and holy city, who that understands these things can remain unmoved ? Who that has a Christian's heart can hear these things without trembling ? Who can but pity his mother ? I will pray with Jeremy, ' Oh that my head were waters and mine eye a fountain of tears.''l But when we consider that ' an enem... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.