that feareth the Lord it shall go well in the latter end, and in the day of his death he shall be blessed”[1]—then great indeed must be the joy of the soul when it sees that the evening of life is approaching, when it beholds the treasure of merits and good works it has amassed. Origen, speaking of the words of the Psalmist, “He will bring forth thy justice as the light,”[2] uses these words by way of consolation to the dying just man: “God shall bring forth into the light your justice, even that which you have done in secret, and He will show that you are just.”[3]
When he thinks of all his good works. You shall see all the years, and in the years so many months, weeks, days, hours, and moments that you have spent in the service of God, in the state of sanctifying grace, from which grace even the most trivial and apparently worthless of your actions, provided they were done with a good intention, acquired such great worth and value that for each one of them you are justly entitled to an eternity of glory and happiness. You will count all the Masses, confessions, Comrriunions you have offered to God, partly through obedience to the law, partly of your own free will; all the sermons you have heard through a desire to understand better and do with more zeal the will of God; the frequent visits you have paid the churches, disregarding heat and cold, rain and wind, in order to perform your devotions and adore your God; the usual morning and evening prayers, the rosaries and litanies, the examinations of conscience, which you had the holy habit of making every evening on your knees with all the members of your household; countless acts of virtue, of faith, hope, charity, Christian mercy, patience, and humility that you have made during your life; in a word, each and every good work shall come forward like a blaze of light, and say for your consolation: “we are your works.” Do you know me? I am that grief and sorrow with which you repented of your sins on that occasion. I am that victory you gained over yourself when you conquered your feeling of false shame and disclosed the hidden wounds of your soul in confession. I am that act of self-denial and mortification by which you restrained your eyes from looking at curious or dangerous objects; closed your ears, not to hear unlawful, unchaste, or uncharitable discourse; kept
