Coll. 6
by St. Bonaventure
Source text: Public Domain Mark 1.0. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://bonaventure.wrootpress.com/browse/12/d/6/q/bon-don-c6
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### COLLATION VI.
#### *On the gift of fortitude, second collation.*

### Summarium

*Introduction,* 1. — *Repetition and application of the text,* 2-4. — *The threefold division of the argument,* 5. — Part I. The Blessed Virgin brought forth the price of our redemption as valiant and holy. *Her threefold holiness. First, the holiness of unspoiled chastity,* 6. — *Secondly, the holiness of ready obedience,* 7. — *Thirdly, the holiness of full goodwill,* 8. — *Six figures of the Virgin, three in histories, three in words; these signify the six properties of divine love,* 9-11. — *In these we ought to imitate the Blessed Virgin, but not Eve; the rebuke of sin, and especially of lust; women are to be guarded against,* 12-14. — Part II. She paid it as valiant and loving. *Beneath the cross she offered her Son to pay the price of the world,* 15. — *On the Blessed Virgin's piety; it is threefold,* 16. — *She paid the price first by the piety of divine veneration; hence she is praiseworthy above all; the impiety of men is reproved,* 17. — *Secondly, by the piety of compassion toward Christ; compassion with Christ,* 18. 19. — *Thirdly, by the piety of mercy toward the world; the Blessed Virgin the loving mother of Christians; piety is commended to all,* 20. 21. — Part III. She possesses it as valiant and vigorous. *She was vigorous in three ways: first, fighting manfully by crushing the serpent's head,* 22. — *Secondly, triumphing nobly over the devil, as Judith over Holofernes,* 23. — *Thirdly, reigning on high, as Esther crowned,* 24.

1. *Who shall find a valiant woman*? etc. — *Pray for us, for thou art a holy woman.* This last word was the word of the priests to Judith; and it can be our word to the most glorious Virgin, who is full of holiness and grace, that she may pray for us to obtain grace and wisdom: *wisdom for the knowing of truth,* and *grace for the doing of truth.* These two we ought to ask of God. For this we have come to the sermon, that we may have a good understanding and may carry back a disposition of repentance. But we need prayer for this; and because we are dull and slow, we therefore need the intercession of the glorious Virgin, so that through her intercession we may implore the divine help, that we may be able to say something, etc.

2. *Who shall find a valiant woman,* etc. Yesterday evening we touched on that word, which is Solomon's concerning the glorious Virgin, in which he commends her from three things: first, from *the strength of spiritual fortitude;* secondly, from *the fruitfulness of a supernatural conceiving;* and thirdly, from *the discernment of saving counsel*. — And rightly are these three joined together: because the strength of spiritual *fortitude* was the beginning of the supernatural conceiving, and the gift of *counsel* was as it were its completion; for that Virgin, who was to conceive Christ, the Son of God, *the power of God and the wisdom of God*, had to be *valiant* and *of good sense: valiant* by power and *of good sense* through wisdom. And therefore the Wise Man, wishing to unfold the Virgin's conceiving, sets the spirit of fortitude before it and adds the gift of counsel after it; because she, upon whom there had to rest *the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord*, had to be filled with the sevenfold spirit of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and especially with the spirit of *fortitude* and of *counsel.*

3. But in this, that he says: *Far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her,* the glorious Virgin is understood to be commended from *the fruitfulness of a supernatural conceiving.* This I do not have of myself, but Bernard says: "If our

salvation and the salvation of all, if the restoring of innocence, is placed in a woman's hand; it is necessary that a valiant woman be sought, who is needful for so great a work"; and he adds: "Not from the earth, not from the near heaven, but *her going forth is from the highest heaven*." — *Far therefore and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her.* This is the price of which the Apostle says: *You are bought with a great price; glorify and bear God in your body.* That this price is *great,* the Apostle Peter says: *You were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold or silver, from your vain conversation of the tradition of your fathers, but with the precious blood as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled.* This had to be a great price, by which the whole world and the whole human race was to be redeemed; because man could not make satisfaction, since no man could be worth all men, nor could any creature. Nothing was sufficient to redeem the whole human race, unless it had a human nature and a nature above every creature; therefore it was necessary that it should have a divine nature and a human one.

4. Where shall that price be found? Surely nowhere save in the womb of the glorious Virgin. Whence Isaiah: *Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel.* — *Emmanuel* is interpreted *God with us.* It was not fitting that the Virgin should have a son unless he were God, nor that God should have a mother unless she were a Virgin. That price could not be found save in the Virgin. It is *far and from the uttermost coasts,* because in him the *highest* is joined with the *lowest,* and the *first* with the *last.* That price is *far,* by which the whole human race is redeemed; because the *lowest* is redeemed, therefore it is the *highest;* because the *last* is redeemed, therefore it is the *first.* Man was created last among the creatures.

5. *Far and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her;* and whose is *her?* The price is this woman's, the blessed Virgin's, the price by which we may be able to obtain the kingdom of heaven; or it is *hers,* that is, *taken* from her, *paid* through her, and *possessed* by her: *taken* from her in the incarnation of the Word; *paid* through her in the redemption of the human race; and *possessed* by her in the attaining of the glory of paradise. She *brought forth* that price, *paid* it and *possessed* it: therefore it is hers as of one *originating,* as of one *paying out* and as of one *possessing.* This woman *brought forth* that price as *valiant* and *holy;* she *paid* it as *valiant* and *loving;* and she *possessed* it as *valiant* and *vigorous.*

6. I say first, that she *brought forth* that price, namely God and man. The blessed Virgin brought it forth as a woman *valiant* and *holy* — holy, I say, with the holiness *of unspoiled chastity,* with the holiness *of ready obedience* and with the holiness *of full goodwill.* — First, I say, the blessed Virgin brought forth that price as *valiant* and *holy* with the holiness *of unspoiled chastity.* Whence in Ecclesiasticus: *Grace upon grace is a holy and modest woman;* and the Angel said: *Hail, full of grace,* because *holy* and *modest: holy* in flesh and *modest* in mind. The Apostle: *The unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit.* Upon that word, *The Angel Gabriel was sent* etc., Bernard says: "*Gabriel was sent to a Virgin* such as the Apostle describes, *holy in mind and body,* found neither newly nor by chance, but chosen from eternity, foreknown by the Most High and prepared for himself, guarded by the Angels, foreshown by the Patriarchs, promised by the Prophets." To that Virgin Gabriel had to be sent as a bridal envoy. She alone pleased the Most High. Likewise Bernard: "The royal Virgin, resplendent with the twofold beauty of mind, drew upon herself the gaze of the citizens above, so that she both inclined the King's heart to a longing for her and drew down to herself the heavenly messenger from on high."

7. Secondly, the blessed Virgin brought forth that price as *valiant* and *holy* with the holiness *of ready obedience.* Whence in Ecclesiasticus: *Everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, and the commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman.* The Church had to be founded; therefore it was necessary to lay foundations, namely the commandments of God, and it was necessary that they should be placed in some person. This could not be save in the glorious Virgin; the Psalm: *The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains; a man is born in her, and the Highest himself hath founded her.* He says: *The commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman,* that is, of the glorious Virgin. She was not idle, she was not one who knew and did not do, but she was obedient. Therefore these commandments of God were founded in her heart. It is said in the Gospel: *Every one that heareth the word of God and doeth it, is like to him that buildeth his house upon a firm rock; but he that heareth and doeth not, is like to him that buildeth upon the sand.* — First it was necessary to find a person in whom the commandments of God might be placed, namely a valiant woman. This was the glorious Virgin. Whence in Luke: *A certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him: Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the paps that gave thee suck. And Jesus said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.* — Not only is she blessed who conceived him and gave him suck, but also those who follow her. And who are they? Those who

hear the word of God and fulfil it. Eve, by transgressing the commandment of God, destroyed the house which God had prepared for us unto salvation; but the wise woman built the house and repaired our salvation.

8. Thirdly, the blessed Virgin brought forth that price as *valiant* and *holy* with the holiness *of full goodwill.* Whence Gabriel the Angel said to her: *Blessed art thou among women,* etc. *The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.* Augustine: The Holy Spirit is love, and although he is given with his gifts, there is no gift from which he cannot be separated except the gift of love. Whereas the other virtues are common to the good and the wicked, the love of God and of neighbour is proper to the good and the pious; it alone is that which sanctifies. *The Holy Spirit cometh upon her,* because love is added to love, that she might pass beyond the bounds of others. Whence Hugh says: "Because the love of God burned in the Virgin's mind in a singular way, therefore in her flesh it did wonders." — It is said in Exodus: *The bush burned and was not consumed;* that is, the glorious Virgin, bringing forth the Son of God and the light, gave light to the world through the fire of divine love and was not corrupted. The love of charity preserves from corruption. *And therefore also that which shall be born of thee,* through a love unstained and unpolluted, *shall be called the Son of God.* As from the love of a man with a woman a fleshly son is born, so from the love of the Virgin with God the Son of God was born.

9. But there went before it the figure in *the bush and the fire,* which Moses saw; the figure in *the rod and the flower of Aaron*; the figure in *the fleece and the dew* of Gideon; and there went before it the figure in *the valiant woman* and *her price,* whom Solomon desired; the figure in *the woman* and *the man,* because Jeremiah says: *A woman shall compass a man.* All that was fulfilled in the glorious Virgin. Whence Bernard: "What was shown to Moses in the bush and the fire, to Aaron in the rod and the flower, to Gideon in the fleece and the dew — this Solomon plainly foresaw in the valiant woman and her price; more plainly Jeremiah foretold it of the woman and the man; most plainly of all Isaiah declared it of the Virgin and her son: and at last Gabriel presented her by his greeting of the Virgin."

10. Here histories are touched upon. The first history is in *the bush and the fire,* where the mystery of the incarnation is expressed. The second history is in *the rod of Aaron,* which, cut off and dry, in the space of a single night put forth leaves, blossomed and brought forth fruit. The third history is that Gideon asked of the Lord that the falling *dew* should be wholly in *the fleece,* and that the floor should remain dry; and he filled a bowl with the dew. — Three other words are Solomon's, Jeremiah's and Isaiah's. Solomon's word is of *the valiant woman* and her price. Jeremiah's word is of *the woman and the man: The Lord,* he says, *hath created a new thing upon the earth; a woman shall compass a man.* Isaiah's word is of *the Virgin and her son: Behold,* he says, *a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel. And this shall be a sign unto you,* etc.

11. Who brought it about that the Virgin should conceive? Surely the Holy Spirit, who is love *fervent, fruitful, unpolluted, manly, uncorrupted* and *deifying.* That he is *fervent* love is signified to us in *the bush and the fire.* That he is *fruitful* love is signified in *the rod* of Aaron, which in the space of a night put forth leaves, blossomed and brought forth fruit. That he is *unpolluted* love is signified in *the fleece* left whole, because the dew did not stain the fleece but cleansed it. That he is *manly* love is signified to us in *the woman and the man,* because *the woman compassed the man,* that is, girded him on every side. That he is *uncorrupted* love is signified to us in *the Virgin who conceived a son.* That he is *deifying* love is signified to us in *the Virgin bringing forth God.* — That price is most precious. For this reason Isaiah says: *A man shall be more precious than gold, and man than the finest of gold.* This he says of Christ, who made us precious.

12. Everyone who wishes to be holy ought to follow the glorious Virgin in the holiness *of unspoiled chastity, of ready obedience* and *of full goodwill.* And as by following the glorious Virgin we are made precious and holy, so by following Eve we are made evil and cheap. Whence in Proverbs: *The price of a harlot is scarce one loaf; but the woman catcheth the precious soul of a man.* Foolish Eve, for the eating of one apple thou hast sold thyself and thy husband and all of us! O son of Eve!

beware lest thou be an imitator of Eve; but if for any pleasure whatever thou givest thy soul, thou art an imitator of Eve. *What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?* For all that God has created I would not give my soul. Christ gave his blood to redeem thy soul, and for a sin thou sellest thyself and thy soul!

13. Do you know what happens through sin? The most precious becomes the cheapest. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: *A woman that is a fornicator shall be trodden upon as dung in the way.* What then is a cleric and a priest who is a fornicator? Surely an abomination to the Lord. Flee therefore concupiscences and follow the Virgin, who believed Gabriel the Archangel, not the woman who believed the serpent. Solomon followed foolish women, and therefore he laments and says in Ecclesiastes: *I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunters' snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her; but he that is a sinner shall be caught by her.* She is a *snare* to those who look, a *net* to those who lust and consent, and *bands* to those who touch.

14. I say first, that she is a *snare* to those who look; whence it is written: *Many, admiring the beauty of another man's wife, have become reprobate.* It is read of blessed Bernard that his sister came to see him, adorned with the most beautiful adornment; he spat in her face and fled from her. She, indignant, asked why he did this; he answered: "because in a harlot's adornment thou comest to take souls, and thou carriest the devil with thee." Therefore he says: *She is the hunters' snare,* that is, the devil's, who through her takes souls; because *whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart*. — Likewise, she is a *net* to those who lust and consent. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: *For the beauty of a woman many have perished.* It is difficult *to carry fire in one's bosom and not have one's garments burnt.* — Likewise, *a woman's hands are bands* to those who touch, because she holds so tightly that a man cannot be separated from her. Whence the Apostle: *It is good for a man not to touch a woman.* — *From garments cometh a moth, and from a woman the iniquity of a man.* — If we wish to be most precious, we ought to cleave to the price of the most valiant woman, the Virgin unspoiled, most obedient and most loving. That woman, namely Eve, drives us out of paradise and sells us; this one leads us back and buys us. — She brought forth therefore that price as a woman *valiant and holy.*

15. Secondly, she *paid* that price as a woman *valiant and loving,* namely when Christ suffered on the cross to pay out that price, that he might cleanse us, wash us and redeem us; then the blessed Virgin was present, accepting and consenting to the divine will. And it pleased her that the price of her womb should be offered on the cross for us. Whence in John: *There stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son* — namely, he who shall be handed over as the price of the redemption of the human race; as if he said: it is fitting that thou lack me, and that I lack thee — and thou thyself, as holy, didst conceive him, and, as loving, dost offer him — let it please thee, O Virgin, that I redeem the human race and appease God. And lest she be left destitute, he said to the disciple: *Behold thy mother;* he gave a virgin man to the Virgin.

16. Let us hear something of her piety. This is our hope, who paid that price, as loving, by the piety *of divine veneration;* secondly, by the piety *of compassion toward Christ;* and thirdly, by the piety *of mercy toward the world,* and chiefly toward the Christian people.

17. First, I say, she paid that price as *valiant and loving, by the piety of divine veneration.* Whence in Proverbs: *Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain; the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.* Now there is no one who could render back to God the honour taken from him except Christ. And the blessed Virgin is one who venerates and restores the honour taken from God, and a mother consenting that Christ should be offered as the price. Therefore *she shall be praised.* Anna was praised because she offered Samuel; whence it is said of her: *The woman went her way, and ate, and her countenance was no more changed into divers looks.* She offered her son to serve; but the blessed Virgin offered her Son to be sacrificed. — Abraham, thou didst wish to offer thy son, but thou didst offer a ram! but the glorious Virgin offered her own Son. — The poor widow is praised, because she offered

all that she had; but this woman, namely the glorious Virgin, most merciful, loving and devoted to God, offered her whole substance. — In this the impiety of men is reproved, who do not render thanks to God for what they have received. So many good things hast thou received from God, namely prebends and other things; if thou doest anything for God, it seems to thee a great matter. But if thou shouldst give thyself and all that thou hast for God, it is nothing. The blessed Virgin paid that price as valiant and loving, by the piety of divine veneration. Piety consists chiefly in the worship of God.

18. Secondly, the glorious Virgin paid that price as *valiant and loving, by the piety of compassion toward Christ.* It is said in John: *A woman, when she is in labour, hath sorrow, because her hour is come.* Because of childbearing a woman has pain, namely a pain going before the birth. But the blessed Virgin had no pain going before the birth; because she did not conceive out of sin, as Eve did, on whom the curse was laid; but she had pain after the birth. Whence she gave birth before she travailed. She travailed on the cross; whence in Luke: *And thy own soul a sword shall pierce.* In other women the pain is of the body, in her it is of the heart; in others it is a pain of corruption, in her it is a pain of compassion and charity. Whence she invites us to consider her sorrow, in Jeremiah: *All you,* he says, *that pass by the way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.*

19. That sorrow ought to pierce through the minds of all. Christ died for thee — oughtest thou not to suffer with him? The blessed Virgin suffered with him most of all; but on the other side it pleased her that he should be handed over for us. No one knows how much compassion for Christ avails. There is nothing that so extinguishes temptations and pride as that the mind be kept in compassion for the sorrow of Christ. The time of Christ's passion has come; and some are *again crucifying to themselves the Son of God*, namely so far as in them lies. It is the height of the cruelty of Christian iniquity, that thou who art washed in the blood of Christ shouldst by sinning crucify him again, so far as in thee lies.

20. Thirdly, the blessed Virgin paid that price as a woman *valiant and loving, by the piety of mercy toward the world,* and especially toward the Christian people. Isaiah: *Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee.* This is said of Christ. — And it can be understood here that the whole Christian people has been brought forth from the womb of the glorious Virgin; which is signified to us by the woman formed from the side of the man, who signifies the Church. Whence in Genesis: *The Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam; and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs,* and made a woman, *and brought her to Adam.* And Adam said that she was *woman, because she was taken out of man. This,* he says, *is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.* And the Lord said: *Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother* and sons and daughters, *and shall cleave to his wife.* And the Apostle said: *This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church.* — And why, while he slept, did he take one of his ribs? Could he not have done this while he was awake? This is a mystery. Was the Church formed from the side of Christ until Christ fell asleep on the cross? And from his side flowed *blood and water*, that is, the Sacraments, through which the Church is reborn. From Adam's rib Eve was formed, who was joined to him in marriage. As man was formed from virgin earth, so Christ from the glorious Virgin. And as from the side of the sleeping Adam the woman was formed, so the Church from Christ hanging on the cross. And as from Adam and Eve Abel and his successors were formed, so from Christ and the Church the whole Christian people. And as Eve is the mother of Abel and of us all, so the Christian people has the Virgin for its mother.

21. O what a loving mother we have! Let us conform ourselves to our mother and follow her piety. So greatly did she suffer with souls, that she counted temporal loss and bodily suffering as nothing. So, for the salvation of our soul, let it please us to crucify our body. It is said in Matthew: *When Jesus was in the house of Simon the leper, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment, and she broke the alabaster box and poured out the ointment on the head of Jesus. And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. The disciples, seeing this, some of them murmured, saying: To what purpose is this waste? For this might have been sold for much and given to the poor. And Jesus said: Why do you trouble this woman? She hath wrought a good work upon me; for the poor you have always with you, but me you have not always.* Magdalen bears the figure of penitents; she broke the alabaster box of ointment out of the piety which she had toward Christ. And we too ought to have piety toward the universal Church and toward the penitent soul. And as Magdalen by offending lost God, so, when she anointed the feet and the head of Christ, she found him. — See that each one of you has that ointment, so that he may be lovingly disposed toward God and may repent and beware of sin. Some have compassion on their flesh, not on their soul. Whence

in the Lamentations: *The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children.* Such a one is not like the Virgin nor like Christ. He *cooks his children* who has no compassion on his own soul, but exposes it to the burning of concupiscences and of the torments of hell. Of such a woman it is said: *Better is the iniquity of a man than a woman doing a good turn;* thou canst not afflict the body too much. Let us not give our body to sin. We are *bought with a great price*. *Become not the bondslaves of men,* nor of demons, nor of sins. If I had redeemed some slave, I would not give him away for nothing. — It is now plain how the glorious Virgin *brought forth* that price as *valiant and holy* and *paid* it as *valiant and loving.*

22. Thirdly, she *possesses* that price glorified in heaven, because she is *valiant and vigorous,* manfully *fighting,* nobly *triumphing* and sublimely *reigning.* — First, I say, the blessed Virgin possesses that price, because she is valiant and vigorous as one *fighting manfully.* In Genesis: *The Lord said to the serpent: I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.* Bernard says of the glorious Virgin: "She crushed the head of the ancient serpent, when she brought to nothing every suggestion of the evil one, both of the enticement of the flesh and of the pride of the mind." — Do not allow the serpent to enter into thy heart by suggestion; for Gregory says that when the serpent's head has entered into some hole, then the whole body easily enters. For this reason the Psalm says: *Blessed is he that shall take and dash his little ones against the rock* — that is, the first motions against Christ; and then he shall have peace. He who wishes to defend his land fears for himself, lest the enemy enter into the land; because he who holds the borders of the land in strength possesses the interior more securely.

23. Secondly, the blessed Virgin possesses that price, because she is valiant and vigorous, *triumphing nobly,* which is signified in Judith, where it is said: *One Hebrew woman hath made confusion in the house of Nabuchodonosor.* Judith cut off the head of Holofernes, and all his men fled. In the Gospel it is said: *Thy own soul a sword shall pierce;* and Judith slew Holofernes with his own sword. — How then does Judith signify the glorious Virgin? Look at the New Testament and the Old. Holy Simeon: *Thy own soul a sword shall pierce,* that is, a living sorrow. Whence? Surely from the passion of Christ. Who brought the passion upon Christ? The Jew, the pagan, Pilate. These were the *instruments;* but who *moved* them to it? Surely the devil was making the sword by which the Virgin's soul was pierced through; and she was healed, and the devil was overcome. The devil wished to have the flesh of Christ as food; but the Godhead clung to his throat like a hook; she drove a nail into the temple of Sisara. He who destroyed the army of the Madianites triumphed nobly. — Therefore, after her example, let us not allow ourselves to be overcome.

24. Thirdly, the blessed Virgin possesses that price, because she is valiant and vigorous, *reigning on high.* Whence in Esther it is said that Esther found favour before Assuerus above all women, and he set the diadem upon her head and made her queen. The blessed Virgin, because of her holiness, her piety and her exaltation, had *a crown of precious stones.* What is that stone? Surely Christ. Whence blessed Peter: *Behold, I lay in the foundation a precious stone.* With that stone the blessed Virgin was crowned in the flesh, seeing in the *flesh* the body of Christ glorified, seeing in the *spirit* his soul glorified and in his *mind* the Godhead. Christ was crowned first, and she afterwards. Whence in the Canticle: *Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the joy of his heart* — that is, in flesh and in mind, because he first put on flesh, suffered and afterwards was glorified; and the whole Church is crowned through him. Whence in the Apocalypse: *A great sign appeared in heaven:*

*a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.* — We shall have that crown, if we are willing to imitate the glorious Virgin. Whence it is written: *Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life;* and in the Apocalypse: *Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life* — which may he vouchsafe to grant us who with the Father, etc.

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