yet they served not riches, but God; for they put not their trust in riches, nor did they keep them like slaves, but like masters they dispensed them bounteously; holding them in use, not keeping them in desire; and having them by their side, as gifts they had received, to be given again profitably away. Hence, the blessed David, when set on the throne of his kingdom, showed that he put not his trust in deceitful riches, when he said: "But I am poor and needy, as all my fathers were." (Ps. cviii. 22.) Yea, even those who were rich could say, "If riches abound, set not your heart upon them." He, then, that keepeth his riches as a slave, and dispenseth them not as a master, is the slave of the devil; and by serving riches, he is compelled to serve the devil; for by his lust after them, he binds himself subject to the devil, who, by height of wickedness has supremacy over earthly things, or as he is called by our Lord, the prince of this world. Wherefore, then, let those that are rich give ear; and choose rather to be the servants of Christ, than sell themselves to the bondage of riches. Let them learn not to strive after present things, but rather to sow the seeds of hope for eternity; that the indigence of the poor may fulfil their souls, and their sins be redeemed thereby.

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"Therefore, I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body what you shall put on." As if he were to say: Since you cannot serve GOD at the same time with the lusts of the world; and you ought not to put your trust in the uncertainty of riches, therefore I say to you be not solicitous in heaping up riches; in which your mind being entangled, will be estranged from the love of your Maker. It is not said, you must not seek after what you shall eat or what you shall put on, but be not solicitous, it is not the toil that is forbidden, but the anxiety. For it is written, "that in the sweat of his face man shall eat bread,” (Gen. iii. 19.)—-“ with labour and toil he shall eat thereof all the days of his life." (Id. 17.) Therefore, the acquiring of necessaries in not forbidden, but all solicitude; that is, superfluous care in the procuring of these. Now, solicitude has been defined by one of the ancients* to be a sickness of the mind caused by immoderate care; it is a thing superfluous, and an anxiety more than is just, for the labour after necessaries is by no means forbidden thus the Psalmist says: "Thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands." (Ps. cxxvii. 2.) And the apostle Paul says: "Rather let him labour working with his hands that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need." (Ephes. iv. 28.) Therefore, labour must be used

"Sollicitudo est ægritudo animi cum immoderata cogitatione."-Cic.

to supply what is needful, and all solicitude avoided, which consults not necessity but lust.

"Is not the life more than the meat, and the body more than the raiment?" Of these two, the soul, namely, and the body, man is formed. All that we seek must be either for its own sake, or for some other end. Wisdom, that is GOD, must be sought for His own sake; all else, but as a medicine which is taken not for itself, but with a view to the health of the body. No one can doubt that that is the greater which is sought for itself, than that which is sought for some other end. Whence it follows, that the life is more than the food, which is sought for but to maintain life; and the body more than the raiment, which is only sought to cover its nakedness. Hence our Lord calls to our mind, that He who gave us our being, and gave us both soul and body, will also give us food and raiment; and that He who has already given us what is greater, will give us also what is less, namely, the necessary means to their sustenance.

"Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them." Without a doubt, man is better than a bird of the air, for man is made after the image and likeness of GOD; but a bird is an irrational creature, and when it dies, both soul (i. e. the living principle) and body die, but when man dies in the body, yet his soul liveth in the sight of GOD. "Behold (i.e. consider) the birds of the air; they neither sow nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them;" that is, they are nourished by the will of GOD. If, then, the birds of the air, which are mortal, are nourished by the Providence of GOD, how much more shall not men, to whom eternity is promised, be over-ruled by His Providence; for "are not you of much more value than they ?”— not more in respect of numbers, but of dignity,-of a higher price, that is of more value; for they are but irrational, and when they die, perish body and soul; but you were made after the image of GOD, predestined to eternity, and in your very nature more exalted; therefore, you ought to weigh well what you are, lest being given too much to earthly things, you fall unto the earth, yea, to its lowest depths.

"And which of you by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?" As if he would say, God hath created you, yea, without your solicitude, hath clothed and fed you. You could not do the least thing for yourselves without God; therefore leave to his Providence the care of providing food and raiment for the body, as you must leave to him its growth. Again, as an example was given from the birds of the air,

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of food, so an illustration of His providing raiment is given by the comparison of the lilies of the field, as follows: "And for raiment, why are you solicitous? consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they labour not, neither do they spin." By which lesson we are taught, that though destitute of sense and reason, yet are they clothed by the Providence of GOD; that if they are clothed in comeliness and fairly adorned, who, being senseless, need it not; how much more do you not think shall not reasonable man, if he put all his hope on GOD, want for that which he is taught to look for from His divine favour? Where, note that our Lord here prefers the lilies of the fields before all other herbs, which toil not in their growth, nor spin, that is, twist their fibres, as their beautiful clothing shows; of which he goes on to say, But I say to you, that not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed as one of these." Nor must we omit to note what some of the doctors assert, that here we are admonished, by the example of the angels; for they say well that more is to be understood here than a flower; as assuredly more than man was understood in Solomon, who, for his excellence, was more than man; seeing he founded the Temple of God, and that he was, in a mystery, a figure of the True Solomon, that is, of Christ. Therefore, by the lilies is expressed the glory of the heavenly angels, by whose light we are adorned, and by whose odour of sanctity we are delighted. Again: those angelical lilies, that is, those blessed troops -are weighed down with no solicitude-they use no labour nor toil, but do service in the grace of divine liberty and the gifts of their divine nature. To this may be added, that the lilies require no culture, and that their reproduction is not as other herbs:

"Redit agricolis labor actus in orbem."

VIRGILII GEORG. II. 401.

"To the husbandmen, in circling course, returns their wonted toil;" yet though the flower was cut down and cast aside, and seemed to wither and become dry, yet was it nourished inwardly in the virtue of its root; and, by-andbye, called out by the softness of spring's return, it is clothed once again in the bravery of fair flowers; so the angelical dignities ever receive of that beauty which they had in the lot of their first origin, as it pleased him to appoint it. Hence, the earthy Solomon, albeit surrounded with the greatest glory, could not be compared to such flowers; for although the glory of his intellect and works adorned the weakness of his corporeal nature with a certain majesty; yet could it by no means be compared with the angelical height; since being without the hindrance of human frailty, they kept the adornment of incor31

VOL. VI.

rupted goodness-even that beauty of immortality, that incorruptible vesture, which our Lord hath promised he will give unto his elect in the resurrection, when he saith, "They shall be as the angels of GoD in Heaven." (St. Matth. xxii. 30.)

"But I say unto you, that not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed as one of these." Of all the kings of Israel, the sacred history tells of none that equalled Solomon in riches; and that amongst the other riches of his dignity, he abounded in the glory of his garments, and of their precious variety, so that all that ministered before him were clothed in his costly raiment. As we read of the Queen of Saba, who had come from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon: "When she saw the order of his ministers, and their apparel, she had no longer any spirit in her." (3 Reg. x. 5.) But yet, though he was adorned with so great honour, and decked in such splendour of apparel; yet was he not clothed in so much beauty as one of these lilies. And in very deed, what weaving or work of women can equal the beauty of flowers? What tint so lovely as the rose? what fairness like that of the lily? what purple can equal the beauty of the violet, or what tincture can overpass it? No! "Not even Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed as one of these;" "in all his glory," that is, in all the greatness of his kingdom; in the beauty of his delicacies; or, as we have said, in all the variety and costliness of his apparel.

Now the reason why this similitude, drawn from his splendour, was used, appears in what follows: "And if the grass of the field which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, GOD doth so clothe, how much more you, O of little faith ?" He calls the same the ye grass of the field, which he had called above the lilies of the field; that is, all herbs adorned with fair colours. Now this word, tomorrow, does not mean the succeeding day, but, as often in other places of holy Scripture, it is put for a succeeding time, and the sense is this: if God So clothe the grass to-day, in its freshness and greenness, which shall so soon fall and wither, and girds about with so much comeliness what tomorrow shall be cast into the fire, with how much more weighty diligence will he provide you with all things necessary for your preparation for the eternal inheritance? which, since you believe not (as you ought), but still doubt; therefore, are ye "of little faith." He calls his apostles very little ones in faith, for as yet they had not reached to the summit of faith: whence they also said to our Lord: "Increase our faith." (St. Luc. xvii. 5.)

"Be not solicitous, therefore, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be cloathed?" Where observe that he does not say, do not seek after nor be solicitous for meat or drink; but what you shall eat and what you shall drink. In which those are particularly pointed at, who, living in community, despise the general rule and seek after some singularity, either of relaxation or severity, contrary to the rest, as if they thought themselves either better or stronger than the others; both are blameworthy, for both are singular; for elation is got of too much pomp; and from too great abjectness and mean appearance of raiment under the semblance of religion, praise, and the matter of acquiring favour, is ministered to. Between both lies the royal road; so that neither too costly a garment may show one to be high, nor too mean a one show him to be more religious than just.

But those to whom such solicitude is suitable, is intimated in what is subjoined ; "For after all these things do the heathens seek." With the exception of the few Jews, who, having the law, worshipped the GOD of Heaven; the rest of the nations over the whole world, who served idols, were called Gentiles; of whom our Lord speaketh when he saith: "These things do the Gentiles seek,"-those namely, who know not God, and who have no thought but of earthly things; who are especially touched with worldly cares; who have no hope of things. to come; whose toil has no reference; whose sole delight is in the present moment. Such have been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them." (Ps. xlviii. 21.) But ye are otherwise instituted, and having been set for heavenly dignity, let your thoughts be of spiritual and everlasting things, and fear not that the use of temporal goods shall fail you while so doing; neither distrust the power of God, who knoweth better than we do what things we have need of, and who will provide for us much more salutarily than we can for ourselves. Hence it is added, "For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things." Here some crafty dogmatic may object, that if God knoweth before we ask, what we have need of, there is no need for us to pray in our necessities; for we speak idly to one that knoweth: to such we may reply, that we do not tell our wants, we ask for their relief. "Non sumus narratores, sed potius rogatores." It is one thing to tell one that knoweth not; another humbly to beg from one that knoweth all. He would therefore be entreated by us, who knoweth already what we ought to seek, that our supplication may be followed by its reward. And what we ought to seek, with all the desire of our