k not that delight without, lest ye swell with it and find
yourself unable to enter by the narrow gate! See how Mary saw the Lord
in the Flesh and heard the Lord by the voice of the Flesh--as ye have
heard when the Epistle to the Hebrews has been read--as it were through
a veil. (_A new and living way which He hath dedicated to us through the
veil, that is to say, His Flesh_.[479]) But when we shall see Him face
to Face there will be no "veil." Mary, then, sat--that is, she rested
from toil--and she listened and she praised; but Martha was anxious
about much serving. And the Lord said to her: _Martha, Martha, thou art
careful and art troubled about many things; but one thing is
necessary[480]_ (_Sermon_, CCLVI., v. 6).

"Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless
His holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all
He hath done for thee. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: Who
healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from
destruction: Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion. Who
satisfieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be
renewed like the eagle's. The Lord doth mercies, and judgment
for all that suffer wrong. He hath made His ways known to Moses:
His wills to the children of Israel. The Lord is compassionate
and merciful: long suffering and plenteous in mercy. He will not
always be angry: nor will He threaten for ever. He hath not
dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities. For according to the height of the Heaven
above the earth: He hath strengthened His mercy towards them
that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath
He removed our iniquities from us. As a father hath compassion
on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear
Him: for He knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust:
man's days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he
flourish."[481]

IV

Does the Active Life precede the Contemplative?

S. Gregory says[482]: "The active life precedes the contemplative in the
order of time, for from good works a man passes to contemplation."

One thing may precede another in two ways: firstly by its very nature;
and in this sense the contemplative life precedes the active in that it
is occupied with chiefer and better things, and hence it both moves and
directs the active life. For, as S. Au