upon this oT)ject shining from afar, and has felt that owing to
40 ON CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. [BOOK 11 a man not boastful, but sorrowful. And in tliis frame of mind he implores witli unremitting ])rayers the comfort of the
Divine help that he may not be overwhelmed in despair, ancl so he gradually comes to the fourth step,—that is, strength and resohUion}—in which he hunc^ers and thirsts aft<'r righteousness. For in this frame of mind he extricates himself from every form of fatal joy in transitory things, and turning away from these, fixes his affection on things eternal, to wit, the unchangeable Trinity in unity.
11. And when, to the extent of his power, he has gazed upon this oT)ject shining from afar, and has felt that owing to the weakness of his sight he cannot endure that matchless light, then in the fifth step—that is, in the counsel of compassion^—he cleanses his soul, which is violently agitated, and disturbs him with base desires, from the filth it has contracted. And at this stage he exercises himself diligently in the love of his neighbour ; and when he has reached the point of loving his enemy, full of hopes and unbroken in strength, he mounts to the sixth step, in which he^jmrifics the eye itself ^chich can see Gocl^ so far as God can be seen by those who as far as possible die to this world. For men see Him just so far as they die to this world ; and so far as they live to it they see Him not. But yet, although that light may begin to appear clearer, and not only more tolerable, but even more delightful, still it is only through a glass darkly that we are said to see, because we walk by faith, not by sight, while w^e continue to wander as strangers in tliis world, even though our conversation be in heaven.* And at this stage, too, a man so purges the eye of his affections as not to place his neighbour before, or even in comparison with, the truth, and therefore not himself, because not him whom he loves as himself. Accordingly, that holy man will be so single and so pure in heart, that he will not step aside from the truth, either for the sake of pleasing men or with a view to avoid any of the annoyances whicli beset this life. Such a son ascends to ivisdom, which is the seventh and last step, and wliich he enjoys in peace and tranquillity. For the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.*^
' Fortitwlo. ' Consilium raiserkordice. ' Matt. v. 8.
1 Cor. xiii.