or perfection to which a priest ought not to aspire. To aim at any mark or measure below the highest is to fall short of our vocation. "Not to advance in virtue, nor out of our old selves to be made new, but to linger in the same state, we account to be a vice."[1] S. Gregory of Nyssa says: "Let no one complain at seeing the liability of nature to change, but let him be always changing himself for the better, and being transformed from glory to glory, becoming better by daily growth, never thinking that he has attained the bounds of perfection. For this is truly perfection: never to stand still in the growth towards what is more perfect, nor to fix any limit to perfection."[2] S. Bernard also says: "Jacob saw angels on the ladder ascending and descending. Did he see any standing still or sitting? It is not possible to stand hanging on a frail ladder, nor in the uncertainty of this mortal life can anything abide. We have not here an abiding city, but we are seeking one to come. Ascend or descend you must. No man is certain that he is good who does not desire to be better; and where you begin to be unwilling to become better, there you begin to cease to be good." And if this warning be true of
- ↑ S. Greg. Naz. Orat. iv. § 124, tom. i. p. 147.
- ↑ S. Greg. Nyss. Orat. de Perfect. Christ. tom. i. p. 298.
