Various - "Scientific American Supplement, No. 344, August 5, 1882"

Various - "Notes and Queries, Number 190, June 18, 1853"

r, The Inner Life of the Author - "Ernest Linwood"

Various - "Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society Vol. 3"

Editorial
This article examines the wide range of anonymous and pseudonymous naming practices to be found in West African newspapers between the 1880s and 1930s, and asks about the shape of a West African history of anonymity as compared with recent histories of anonymity in European literature. The article also discusses the ways in which colonial West African uses of anonymity and pseudonyms challenge postcolonial scholarship on agency, subjectivity, resistance, authenticity and identity.

The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints

A >> Alban Butler >> The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints




When the Arian emperor Valens, in 375, commanded the monks to be turned
out of their deserts, and enrolled in the troops, and several Catholics
reviled them as bigots and madmen, St. Chrysostom took up his pen to
justify them, by three books, entitled, Against the Impugners of a
Monastic State. T. 1, p. 44, he expresses his surprise that any
Christians could speak ill of a state which consists in the most perfect
means of attaining to true virtue, and says they hurt themselves, not
the monks, whose merit they increase; as Nero's persecution of St. Paul,
because he had converted one of the tyrant's concubines, enhanced the
apostle's glory. A more dreadful judgment is reserved to these enemies
of the love of Christ. They said, they drew no one from his faith. The
saint retorts: What will faith avail without innocence and virtue? They
alleged that a Christian may be saved without retiring into the desert.
He answers: Would to God men lived so in the world that monasteries were
of no advantage! but seeing all disorders prevail in it, who can blame
those who seek to shelter themselves from the storm? He elegantly shows
that the number of those that are saved in the world is exceeding small,
and that the gate of life is narrow. The multitude perished in Noah's
flood, and only eight escaped in the ark. How foolish would it have been
to rely carelessly on safety in such danger! Yet here the case is far
more dreadful, everlasting fire being the portion of those that are
lost. Yet in the world how few resist the torrent, and are not carried
down with the crowd, sliding into anger, detraction, rash judgment,
covetousness, or some other sin. Almost all, as if it were by common
conspiracy, throw themselves into the gulf, where the multitude of
companions will be no comfort. Is it not, then, a part of wisdom to fly
from these dangers, in order to secure our only affair in the best
manner possible?

Whereas parents sometimes opposed the vocation of their children to a
monastic state, in his second book he addresses himself to a Pagan
father, who grieved to see his son and heir engaged in that profession.
He tells him he has the greatest reason to rejoice; proving from
Socrates, and other heathen philosophers, that his son is more happy in
voluntary poverty and contempt of the world, than he could have been in
the possession of empires: that he is richer than his father, whom the
loss of one bag of his treasures would afflict, whereas the monk, who
possessed only a single cloak, could see without concern even that
stolen, and would even rejoice though condemned to banishment or death.
He is greater than emperors, more happy than the world, out of the reach
of its malice or evil, whom no one could hurt if he desired it. A father
who loves his son ought more to rejoice at his so great happiness than
if he had seen him a thousand times king of the whole earth, and his
life and kingdom secured to him for ten thousand years. What treasures
would not have been well employed to purchase for him such a soul as his
was rendered by virtue, could this blessing have been procured for
money? He displays the falsehood of worldly pleasure; the inconstancy,
anxiety, trouble, grief, and bitterness of all its enjoyments, and says
that no king can give so sensible a joy as the very sight of a virtuous
man inspires. As he speaks to a Pagan, he makes a comparison between
Plato and Dionysius the tyrant; then mentions an acquaintance of his
own. This was a holy monk, whom his Pagan father, who was a rich
nobleman, incensed at his choice of that state, disinherited; but was at
length so overcome by the virtue of this son, that he preferred him to
all his other children, who were accomplished noblemen in the world,
often saying that none of them was worthy to be his slave; and he
honored and respected him as if he had been his own father. In the third
book, St. Chrysostom directs his discourse to a Christian father, whom
he threatens with the judgment of Hell, if he withdrew his children from
this state of perfection, in which they would have become suns in
heaven, whereas, if they were saved in the world, their glory would
probably be only that of stars. He inveighs against parents, who, by
their discourse and example, instil into their children a spirit of
vanity, and sow in their tender minds the seeds of covetousness, and all
those sins which overrun the world. He compares monks to angels, in
their uninterrupted joy and attention to God; and observes that men in
the world are bound to observe the same divine law with the monks, but
cannot so easily acquit themselves of this obligation, as he that is
hampered with cords cannot run so well as he that is loose and at
liberty. He exhorts parents to breed up their children for some years in
monasteries, and to omit nothing in forming them to perfect virtue. In
his elegant short treatise, entitled A Comparison between a King and a
Monk, t. 1, p. 116, he beautifully shows that a pious monk is
incomparably more honorable, more glorious, and more happy than the
greatest monarch, by enjoying the favor of heaven, and possessing God;
by the empire over himself and his own passions, by which he is king in
his own breast, exercising the most glorious command; by the sweetness
and riches of divine grace; by the kingdom of God established in his
soul; by prayer, by which all things are in his power; by his universal
benevolence and beneficence to others, procuring to every one all
spiritual advantages as far as lies in him; by the comfort which he
finds in death which is terrible {256} to kings, but by which he is
translated to an immortal crown, &c. This book is much esteemed by
Montfaucon and the devout Blosius.

St. Chrysostom, in his treatise on Virginity, t. 1, p. 268, says this
virtue is a privilege peculiar to the true church, not to be found, at
least pure, among heretics: he proves against the Manichees, that
marriage is good: yet says that virginity as far excels it as angels
men, but that all its excellency is derived from the consecration of a
soul to God, and her attention to please him, without which this state
avails nothing.

After he was ordained deacon at Antioch, he composed his book To a Young
Widow, (t. 1, p. 337,) a lady who had lost her husband Tarasius,
candidate for the prefectship of the city. He draws motives to comfort
her from the spiritual advantages of holy widowhood, and the happiness
to which her husband was called. His second book To the Widow, (t. 1, p.
349,) is a dissuasive from second marriages, when they are contracted
upon worldly motives.

His six incomparable books on the Priesthood, he composed to excuse
himself to his friend Basil, who complained that he had been betrayed by
him into the episcopal charge; for Chrysostom persuaded him they had
time yet to conceal themselves; yet secretly absconded himself and left
the other to be chosen. Basil, when he met him afterwards, was not able
to speak for some time but by a flood of tears; and at length broke
through them only to give vent to his grief in bitter complaints against
the treachery of his friend. This work is wrote in a dialogue between
the two friends. St. Chrysostom, in the first book, alleges (t. 1, p.
362) that he could not deprive the church of a pastor so well qualified
to serve it as Basil was; nor undertake himself a charge for which he
had not the essential talents, and in which he should involve others and
himself in ruin. In the second book he justifies his own action in not
hindering the promotion of his friend to the episcopacy, by observing
that to undertake the charge of souls is the greatest proof we can give
of our love for Christ, which He declared by putting the question thrice
to St. Peter whether he loved him, before he committed to him the care
of his flock. John xxi. 15. If we think it an argument of our love for a
friend to take care of his servants or cattle, much more will God
recompense faithful pastors, who feed those dear souls to save which God
died. The pastoral charge is certainly the first of all others in merit
and dignity. The saint therefore thinks he should have prevaricated if
he had deprived the church of a minister capable of serving it. But in
order to justify his own flight, he adds that the dangers and
difficulties of this state are proportioned to its pre-eminence and
advantages. For what can be more difficult and dangerous than the charge
of immortal souls, and of applying to them remedies, which, to take
effect, depend upon their own co-operation and consent, and must be
always proportioned to their dispositions and character, which must be
sounded, as well as to their wounds? Remissness leaves a wound half
cured: and a suitable penance often exasperates and makes it wider.
Herein the greatest sagacity and prudence are necessary: Nor is the
difficulty less in bringing back to the church members which are
separated from it. Basil replied to this discourse of St. Chrysostom:
"You then love not Christ, who fly from the charge of souls." St.
Chrysostom answered, that he loved him, and fled from this charge
because he loved him, fearing to offend him by taking upon him such an
office, for which he was every way unqualified. Basil retorts with
warmth, that his treachery towards himself was unpardonable, because he
was acquainted with his friend's incapacity. Chrysostom answers, that he
should never have betrayed him into that dignity, if he had not known
his charity and other qualifications. In order to show that he had
reason to shun that charge, he in his third book sets forth the
excellence and obligations of that dignity; for it is not earthly, but
altogether heavenly, and its ministry would do honor to the angels; and
a pastor ought to look upon himself as placed among the heavenly
spirits, and under an obligation of being no less pure and holy. This he
shows, first, from the tremendous sacrifice of the altar, which requires
in the offerer a purity truly becoming heaven, and even far surpassing
the sanctity which was required in so terrible a manner of priests in
the Old Law, a mere shadow of ours. "For," says he, "when you behold the
Lord himself lying the victim on the altar, and offered, and the priest
attending, and praying over the sacrifice, purpled with his precious
blood, do you seem to remain among men and on earth, or not rather to be
translated into heaven? O wonderful prodigy! O excess of the divine
mercy! He who is seated above at the right hand of the Father, is in
that hour held by all in their hands, and gives himself to be touched
and received. Figure to yourself Elias before the altar, praying alone,
the multitude standing around him in silence, and trembling, and the
fire falling from heaven and consuming the sacrifice. What is now done
is far more extraordinary, more awful, and more astonishing. The priest
is here standing, and calls down from heaven, not fire, but the Holy
Ghost: he prays a long time, not that a flame may be kindled, but that
grace may touch the sacrifice, and that the hearts of all who partake of
it may be purged by the same." c. 5, p. 385. (See the learned prelate
Giacomelli's Note on St. Chrysostom's doctrine on the real presence of
the body of Christ in the Eucharist, and on the sacrifice of the altar,
in hunc librum, c. 4, p. 340.) Secondly, he mentions the eminent
prerogative of binding and loosing, not bodies, but souls, with which
the priesthood of the New Law is {257} honored: a power reaching the
heavens, where God confirms the sentence pronounced by priests below: a
power never given to angels, yet granted to men. John xx. 22. All power
was given by the Father to the Son, who again transferred it on men. It
is esteemed a great authority if an emperor confers on a private person
power to imprison others or to set them at liberty. How great then is
the authority with which God honors the priesthood. The priests of the
Old Law declared lepers healed; those of the New really cleanse and heal
our souls. They are our spiritual parents, by whom we are reborn to
eternal life; they regenerate us by baptism, again remit our sins by
extreme unction, (James v. 14,) and by their prayers appease God whom we
have offended. From all which he infers that it is arrogance and
presumption to seek such a dignity, which made St. Paul himself tremble
(1 Cor. xi. 3, &c.) If the people in a mad phrensy should make an
ignorant cobble general of their army, every one would commend such a
wretch if he fled and hid himself that he might not be instrumental in
his own and his country's ruin. "If any one," says he, "should appoint
me pilot, and order me to steer a large vessel in the dangerous Egaen or
Tyrrhenian sea, I should be alarmed and struck with fear, and rather fly
than drown both myself and crew." The saint proceeds to mention the
principal temptations to which a pastor of souls is himself exposed, and
the storms by which he is assailed; as vain-glory, for instance, a more
dreadful monster than the sirens of the poets, which passengers, by
standing on their guard, could sail by and escape. "This rock," says he,
"is so troublesome to me even now, when no necessity drives me upon it,
that I do not quite escape being hurt by it. But if any one had placed
me on so high a pinnacle, it would have been as if, having tied my hands
behind my back, he had exposed me to wild beasts to be torn in pieces."
He adds the danger of human respect, fear of the great ones, contempt or
neglect of the poor; observing that none can encounter such dangers, but
such as are perfect in virtue, disinterested, watchful over themselves,
inured to mortification by great abstinence, resting on hard beds, and
assiduous labor: lastly, what is most rare, dead to themselves by
meekness, sweetness, and charity, which no injuries or reproaches, no
ingratitude, no perverseness, or malice, can ever weary or overcome: for
a perfect victory over anger is a most essential part of the character
of a good pastor, without which all his virtues will be tarnished, and
he will reap no fruit of his labors. He makes this dreadful remark, that
within the circle of his own acquaintance he had known many who in
solitude led lives pleasing to God, but being advanced to the
priesthood, lost both themselves and others. If no Christian can call to
mind, without trembling, the dreadful account which he is to give at the
tribunal of Christ for his own sins, how must he tremble at this
thought, who sees himself charged with the sins and souls of others?
Heb. xiii. 17. In the fourth book he proves that one unfit for the
pastoral charge is not excused because it is imposed on him by others,
as one unacquainted with the rules of architecture can by no means
undertake to build, nor one to practise medicine who is a stranger to
that profession. He speaks of the crime of those who choose unworthy
pastors, and of the learning necessary for this charge, especially in
applying suitable remedies to every spiritual disorder, in confuting
Pagans, Jews, and heretics, and in instructing the faithful. A talent
for preaching is an indispensable qualification. In the fifth book he
prescribes the manner in which a preacher ought to announce the word of
God, with what indefatigable pains, and with what purity of intention,
desiring only to please God and plant his love in all hearts, and
despising the applause of men, insensible both to their praise and
censures. His discourse must be set off by piety, natural eloquence,
plain simplicity, and dignity, that all may hear the divine word
willingly, and with respect and pleasure, so as to wish at the end of
the sermon that it were longer. The extreme danger of vain-glory so much
alarmed him, that in the close of this book he again speaks against that
vice, and says, that he who entirely subdued this furious wild beast,
and cut off its numberless heads, enjoys a great interior calm, with
infinite spiritual advantages; and that every one is bound to stand
always armed against its assaults. In the sixth book, he shows that
priests will be punished for the sins of others. It is no excuse for a
watchman to say, _I heard not the trumpet: I saw not the enemy
approach_, (Ezech. xxxiii. 3,) for he is appointed sentinel to watch and
announce the danger to others. If a single soul perishes through his
neglect, this will condemn him at the last day. In how great
watchfulness must he live not to be infected with the contagion of the
world, with which he is obliged to converse! With what zeal, vigilance,
and fervor is he bound to acquit himself of all his duties and
functions! For priests are ambassadors of heaven, sent not to one city,
but to the whole earth, with a strict charge never to cease scattering
the divine seed, preaching and exhorting with so great diligence, that
no secret sinner may be able to escape them. They are moreover appointed
by God mediators to intercede with him for the sins both of the living
and the dead; to offer the tremendous sacrifice, and hold the common
Lord of all things in their hands. With what purity, with what sanctity
ought he to be adorned, who exercises so sublime a function? In it
angels attend the priest, all the choir of heaven joins, and the holy
place near the altar is occupied by legions of blessed spirits, in honor
of Him who is laid upon it. This he confirms by a vision of a holy old
man, who saw a multitude of bright spirits surrounding the altar,
profoundly bowing their heads. "Another," says the {258} saint, "assured
me, that he had both seen himself, and heard from others, that the souls
of those who receive the holy mysteries before death, depart out of
their bodies attended by angels as troops of heavenly guards." Lastly,
he shows that sins are more easily committed, and are more grievous, in
the episcopal ministry than in holy retirement. Basil, at this
discourse, almost swooned away in the excess of grief and fear with
which he was seized, till after some time, recovering himself, he said
in the bitterness of his heart, What has the church of God committed to
have deserved so dreadful a calamity, that the pastoral charge should be
intrusted to the most unworthy of men? For he had before his eyes on one
side the glory, the sanctity, the spiritual beauty and wisdom of the
sacred spouse of Christ; and on the other, the sins and miseries of his
own soul; and this consideration drew from him a flood of tears.
Chrysostom said, that as to himself, upon the first news of his danger
he had swooned away, and only returned to himself to vent his grief by
abundance of tears; in which agony he passed all that time. He adds: "I
will now discover to you the deplorable state of my mind at that time,
that out of mere compassion you may forgive me what I have done; and I
wish I could show you my wretched heart itself.--But all my alarms are
now converted into joy." Basil replied: "But I am now plunged in bitter
sorrow and tears: and what protection can I seek? If you have still any
bowels of tenderness and compassion for my soul, any consolation in
Christ, I conjure you never to forsake me in the dangers in which you
have engaged me." St. Chrysostom answered, smiling, "In what can I serve
you in your exalted station? However, when a respite from your functions
affords you any leisure, I will wait upon you, and will never be wanting
in any thing in my power." Basil at this arose weeping. St. John,
embracing him and kissing his head, said, "Be of good courage, trusting
in Christ, who has called you to his holy ministry."

In the first tome of his works, p. 228, we have a book which he composed
when he was first made bishop of Constantinople, in 397, Against those
who have sub-introduced Women; that is, against such of the clergy as
kept deaconesses, or spiritual sisters, under the same roof to take care
of their household. Saint Chrysostom condemns this custom as criminal in
itself, both because dangerous, and because scandalous to others.
Whatever pretext such persons allege of imaginary necessities, and of
their security and precautions against the danger, he shows that there
is always danger of their finding a lurking pleasure in such company.
Though they perceive not any secret passion, he will not believe them
exempt; for men are often the greatest strangers to their own hearts. He
urges that this conduct is at least criminal, because it is an occasion
and incentive of evil. Job, so holy a man, so dead to himself by long
habits of mortification, durst not cast his eyes upon a virgin. St.
Paul, not content with his continual fatigues and sufferings, added
voluntary chastisements of his flesh to subdue it. What austerities do
anchorets practise to tame their bodies, by perpetual fasts, watching,
and sackcloth! yet never suffer even visits of persons of the other sex.
Ironically inveighing against the presumption of such as had not the
like saving apprehension of danger, he tells them; "I must indeed call
these strong men happy, who have nothing to fear from such a danger, and
I could wish myself to be endowed with equal strength," (t. 1, p. 231.)
But he tells them this is as impossible as for a man to carry fire in
his bosom without being burnt. "You bid me," says he, "believe that
though I see you converse with a virgin, this is a work of piety, not
passion. O wonderful man! this may be said of those who live not with
men, but among stones," (t. 1, p. 235.) Our zealous pastor shows that
the capital point in this warfare is, not to awake our domestic enemy,
but by watchfulness to shun whatever can rouse him: and he adds, that
though a man were invulnerable, he ought not to scandalize the weak, and
by his example, draw them into a like snare. The stronger a person is,
the more easy must it be to him not to give scandal. To the pretext of
necessity, he answers, that this is mere madness, for a clergyman ought
not to be so nice, either in his furniture or table. The saint addressed
a like book to women, under this title: That regular (or religious)
Women ought not to live in the same house with Men, (t. 1, p. 248.)
Besides condemning this abuse and scandal, he zealously inveighs against
the airy, light dress of many ladies, and pathetically invites all
servants of God to mingle floods of tears with his in the bitter anguish
of his soul, for a scandal by which snares are laid for others, souls
murdered, (though undesignedly,) and sin against the divine Majesty
propagated.

St. Chrysostom seems to have been only deacon when he compiled his book
On St. Babylas, against the Gentiles; in which he speaks of the miracles
wrought at his relics, as of facts to which he and his auditors had been
eye-witnesses, (t. 2, p. 530.) Montfaucon refers to the same time his
Synopsis of the Old Testament: in which he places in the canon the
deutero-canonical books of Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Esther, Toby, and
Judith: and out of the seven canonical epistles counts only three, viz:
that of St. James, one of St. Peter, and one of St. John, (no others
being received by the Syrians, as appears from Cosmas Indicopleustes,)
t. 6, p. 308.

St Chrysostom was ordained priest by the patriarch Flavian, in 386, and
appointed his ordinary preacher. On this occasion the saint made a
sermon, (t. 1, p. 436,) in which he expresses his dread and surprise at
his promotion, earnestly begs the prayers of the people, {259} and says
he desires to entertain them on the praises of God, but was deterred by
the checks of his conscience, and remorse for his sins: for the royal
prophet, who invites all creatures, even dragons and serpents, to sound
forth the praises of God, passes by sinners as unworthy to be allowed a
place in that sacred choir: they are ignominiously ejected, as a
musician cuts off a string that is not tunable with the rest.

The holy doctor, grieving for the spiritual blindness of many who were
seduced by heresy, and considering their dangers as most grievous, and
their miseries most pressing, preached five most eloquent sermons on the
Incomprehensible Nature of God, against the Anomaeans. He had taken
notice that these heretics, who were very numerous in Syria, resorted
willingly to his sermons with the Catholics, which afforded him an
opportunity of more easily reclaiming them. The Anomaeans were the
followers of Eunomius, who, to the errors of the rankest Arianism, added
a peculiar blasphemy, asserting that both the blessed in heaven, and
also men in this mortal life, not only know God, but also comprehend and
fathom the divine nature as clearly as we know our own, and even as
perfectly as God comprehends himself. This fanaticism and impiety St.
Chrysostom confutes in these five homilies, demonstrating, from the
infinitude of the divine attributes, and from holy scriptures, that God
is essentially incomprehensible to the highest angels. He strongly
recommends to Catholics a modest and mild behavior towards heretics; for
nothing so powerfully gains others as meekness and tender charity; this
heals all wounds, whereas harshness exasperates and alienates the mind.
(Hom. 2, p. 461.) His method is to close every discourse with some
pathetic moral exhortation. In his third homily, On the
Incomprehensible, he complains bitterly that many who heard his sermon
with patience, left the church when it was at an end, without attending
the celebration of the divine mysteries. He shows the efficacy of public
prayer to be far greater than that of private, and a far more glorious
homage to be paid by it to God: by this St. Peter was delivered from his
chains; to it the apostles ascribed the wonderful success of their
preaching. He mentions, that ten years ago, when a magistrate condemned
for high treason was led to execution with a halter about his neck, the
citizens ran in a body to the hippodrome to beg a reprieve; and the
emperor, who was not able to reject the request of the whole city,
readily granted the criminal a full pardon. Much more easily will the
Father of mercy suffer himself to be overcome by the concord of many in
prayer, and show mercy to sinners. Not only men join the tremendous
voice during the sacred mysteries, but the angels and archangels present
to the Father of all things the body of the Lord, entreating him to have
mercy on them for whom he shed his blood, and sacrificed this very body.
"By your acclamations you testify your approbation of what is said; but
by your compliance show that your applause is sincere. This is the only
applause that can give me pleasure or joy," &c., (p. 471.) In the
following sermon (Hom. 4, p. 477) he commends their compliance by all
assisting to the end of the public office, but severely finds fault that
some conversed together in the church, and in that awful hour when the
deacon cried out, "Let us stand attentive." He bids them call to mind
that they are then raised above created things, placed before the throne
of God, and associated with the seraphims and cherubims in sounding
forth his praises, (p. 477.) In the fifth homily he again makes fervent
and humble prayer, by which all things are obtained and effected, the
subject of his moral exhortation. Public prayer is a duty which he
frequently inculcates as a most essential obligation, a homage most
honorable to God, and a most powerful means of grace to ourselves and
all mankind. (See Hom. de Obscur. Prophet, t. 6, p. 187, &c.) We have
seen other homilies of this father against the Anomaeans, in which he
proves the consubstantiality of God the Son; subjoining exhortations to
prayer, humility, good works, &c. His sermon Upon not Anathematizing,
(t. 1, p. 691,) was the fruit of his pious zeal to induce the Meletians
and Paulinians to concord, and prevent private persons from
anathematizing or branding others with the crime of heresy or schism;
censures being reserved to the chief pastors, who are very sparing in
using them. The spirit of Christ is meekness, and compassion and
tenderness the means to gain souls. By this discourse he healed the
sores left in the church of Antioch by the late schism. The Jews and the
Gentiles shared in the fruits of his zeal and charity. Eight sermons
which he preached against the Jews, whom he proves to have been cast off
by God, and their ceremonial rites abolished, have reached us, and many
others are lost. In his book Against the Jews and Gentiles, he
demonstrates the Christian religion from the propagation of the gospel,
the martyrs, prophecies, and the triumph of the cross: this ensign now
adorns the crowns of emperors, is carried by every one on his forehead,
and placed everywhere with honor, in houses, market-places, deserts,
highways, mountains, hills, woods, ships, beds, clothes, arms, vessels,
jewels, and pictures; on the bodies of beasts when sick, on energumens,
&c. We are all more adorned with it than with crowns and a thousand
precious stones; all eagerly visit the wood on which the sacred body was
crucified; men and women have small particles of it set in gold, which
they hang about their necks. On the 20th of December, 386, our saint
pronounced his discourse on St. Philogonius, the twenty-fast bishop of
Antioch. who had zealously opposed the rising heresy of Arius, and died
on this day in 322. St. Chrysostom left the subject of the panegyric to
his bishop Flavian, who {260} was to speak after him, and entertained
his people with an exhortation to the holy communion on Christmas-day,
five days after. He tells them the Magi had the happiness only of
adoring Christ, but that they who should approach him with a pure
conscience, would receive him and carry him with them; that he whose
life is holy and free from crimes, may communicate every day; but he who
is guilty in the sight of God, not even on the greatest festival.
Nevertheless, the sinner ought to prepare himself, by a sincere
conversion and by good works, during the interval of five days, and then
communicate. The Ninevites appeased the divine vengeance in three days
by the fervor of their penance.

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