call to consecrate their
virginity to Jesus Christ, led the lives of angels amid the
fascinations of the world.

All these have led pious lives. They mortified their passions; they
were given to prayer; they frequented the sacraments; they performed
acts of charity according to their means; and practised the virtues
of their rank and calling. All these have, therefore, reached the
honors and distinctions which God distributes among them who have
served Him with fidelity. Though they are neither martyrs, nor
doctors, nor religious, they all led holy lives; they all have
received a "crown of justice," which was due to them as a reward for
their love of God, and for the virtues they practised while on earth.
Many of them were great saints, such as a St. Louis, king of France;
a St. Elizabeth, queen of Portugal; a St. Monica, widow; a St.
Genevieve, the virgin-shepherdess; a St. Zita, the angelic
servant-girl; and many others, whom the Church has placed upon her
altars, and proposed to our imitation.

You see, then, that the high honors of heaven do not belong,
exclusively, to any privileged classes, as you might imagine the
martyrs, doctors, virgins, and religious to be. A high degree of
glory is offered to all, and by the grace of God is attainable by
all, without any exception. If, therefore, you have hitherto looked
upon it as a presumption to aim at a high degree of glory, because
you were neither a consecrated virgin nor a religious, banish such a
thought from your mind. For, instead of being a presumption, it is a
virtue to aspire to a high sanctity, and, consequently, to a high
degree of union with God in heaven. Therefore, whether you are
married or single, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, you are called
upon by your Lord Jesus to fight the good fight unto the end, with a
solemn assurance that, when you have finished your course, a just
Judge will encircle your brow with a "crown of justice," and admit
you into the society of those who signalized themselves in His
service.

Before closing this chapter, we must say a few words, at least, about
the two remaining classes of the blessed, and, probably, by far the
most numerous in heaven. The one is composed of those who were not
pious, nor generous to God. Many of them sinned often, and
grievously, and did very little to atone for their sins; and the
virtues they practised were few, and never brought to any perfection.
This class also includes all those who spen