Sayings of the Fathers of the Desert, Part V [pp. 851]

Sayings of tahe Fathers of the Desert.
the works of Las Casas, to master
their contents; and when understood,
they will lay their hand on what remains of his noble intellect, and exclaim, "Thou art the man." Then
will be unfolded the mysteries of the
Spanish colonial double codes, and
advocates will expound them with
the courage and confidence with
which they expatiate upon the common law of England.
It was as idle to look among various races of peaceful aborigines,
for the founder of their civilization,
clothed in the garb of a warrior, wearing a sword at his side, as to expect
to encounter the great protector and
first chief magistrate of a mighty military nation under the cowl of a
monk. Las Casas was to the Spanish domain west of the Mississippi
river what Washington was to our
English territory east of it; and as
resort is constantly had to the writings of the great general, to understand the principles of government
in one portion of the republic, reference must be made to the essays of
the great missionary to explain the
ideas and objects for which the
other was inhabited. American jurisprudence will be the channel
through which a proper estimate of
Las Casas will be attained. Then
shall his works be placed in the alcoves of libraries along with the
documentary legacies of Washington,
ofJefferson, of Hamilton, and Adams;
and chapels will be erected to enshrine
his relics in marbles, in malachite
and lazuli, in gems and in gold.
For it will then be established that
Bartoleme Las Casas in America
gained and preserved more souls to
the church, than in Europe the heresy of Luther ever lost.
SAYINGS OF THE FATHERS OF THE DESERT.
THERE were two brothers of great
sanctity, living in the same congregation, who, by their merits, saw in
each other the grace of God. Now,
it chanced that one,of them went
out on the sixth feria, apart from the
rest of the congregation, and saw a
person eating at an early hour.
"Dost eat at this hour on the sixth
feria?" said he. The next day Mass
was celebrated as usual, and when
the other brother looked at him, and
saw that the grace which had been
given him was gone, he was sad.
And when they had entered his cell,
he said: "What hast thou done, brother, for I no longer see the grace of
God in thee as heretofore?" "I re
member to have done nothing bad
either in thought or in deed," was
the answer. "Have you spoken to
any one in an uncharitable manner?"
asked the brother. Then recollecting himself, he replied: "Yes. Yesterday I saw some one eating at an
early hour, and asked him whether he
ate so early on the sixth feria. This,
then, is my fault. -But come, work
with me for two weeks, and let us
pray God to forgive me." They did
so, and after two weeks' time he beheld God's grace again descending
upon his brother, and, giving thanks
to God, who alone is good, they were
full of consolation.
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