Life of St John Vianney.pdf - the Catholic Kingdom!

"""A""298 THE CURit OF ARS.he was being stoned, saw Heaven open .over his head.St. Paul was ravished thither, and declared that he f,ouldgive no idea of what he had seen there. St. Teresa hada sight of Heaven, and ever after, as she tells us herself,every thing on earth seemed but as mire and dirt toher."But we, alas, we are all earthly We ! creep alongon the earth, and know not how to rise above it. We aretoo dull, too heavy.Earth is a bridge for crossing the water."A bad Christian cannot understand that brighthope of Heaven which consoles and animates the goodChristian. All that constitutes the happiness of theSaints seems hard and irksome to him.Consider, my children, these consoling thoughts:With whom shall we live in Heaven ? With God, who isour Father ;with Jesus Christ, who is our Brother ;withthe Blessed Virgin, who is our Mother ;with the angelsand saints, who are our friends.*king said sorrowfully in his last moments : MustI, then, leave my kingdom, to go to a country where 1know no one ? This was because he had never thoughtof the happiness of Heaven. We must make friendsthere now, that we may find them after death ;and weshall not be afraid, like this king, that we shall know noone there."The extraordinary gift of illumination with whichM. Vianney was endowed shone forth preeminently inhis direction of souls.It seemed,"says M. Monnin,that in the mind ofthis humble priest there was a type of truth ; a latentbut infallible criterion ; a key which openedto him thedoor of the most securely and carefully closed hearts ; a