ment, that we have reason to fear! Shown by an example. pends! who shall not fear, who shall dare to indulge in forbidden pleasures, when he thinks of thee? Raulinus writes of a certain Christian prince who was always thinking of death, and never indulged in idle amusements or in the vain joys of the world. His jester once asked him why he was so thoughtful and fond of solitude; why he did not sometimes enjoy him self. “Wait a little,” answered the prudent prince, “I will soon show you the cause of my seriousness.” He then ordered a worm-eaten chair to be brought in, a fire to be lit under it, and a sword to be suspended over it by a thin thread; and then he told the jester to sit down on it. We can easily imagine what the jester’s feelings were on the occasion. “Well,” said the prince to him, “what do you think of yourself now? Are you not inclined to be merry and joyful?” “Ah,” answered the other, “how can I be merry in the frightful danger in which I am? If the chair breaks, I shall fall into the fire; while over my head hangs the sword suspended by a thread! How can I possibly be merry?” “Oh! is that so?” said the prince; “then you should not be astonished that I take no pleasure in the vain joys of earth; for I am just in the position in which you are now; for in one moment the chair of my life can break and hurl me into hell, while over my head hangs the sword of divine justice.”
Hence we should labor beforehand to make this moment a happy one by leading a good life. O my God, if I always remembered this, would it be possible for me to live so carelessly in the state of sin? O last and only moment on which a twofold eternity depends! Would that thou wert happily gone by for me! But why wish for that which is in my own hands, in my own free will? I can die happily in that last moment if I wish, and if I faithfully correspond with the grace of God, which will never be refused me. My dear brethren, the game we have to play is no game of chance, in which mere luck decides the fall of the dice or cards. The result depends on how we prepare for the last moment, on whether we lead a pious or a wicked life. For no one dies a bad death who has lived well to the end; no one dies a good death who has lived wickedly to the end. What more reasonable object, then, O Christian souls, can we have for all our care than to lead a pious, modest, humble, God-fearing life, that we may once die well, and by that one good death gain heaven?
Then we need not fear it. After the example
St. Jerome relates that a band of robbers once met a holy hermit named Hilarius, and asked him what he would do if he were attacked by robbers. The holy man, who was then only eighteen