of the human intellect is the Divine
Truth; other truths perfect the intellect by way of preparation
for the Divine Truth.

* * * * *

_S. Augustine:_ Martha, Martha, thou hast chosen a good part, but Mary
hath chosen the better. Yours is good--for it is good to busy oneself
with waiting on the Saints--but hers is better. What you have chosen
will pass away at length. You minister to the hungry, you minister to
the thirsty, you make the beds for them that would sleep, you find
house-room for them that need it--but all these things will pass away!
For there will come a time when none will hunger, when none will thirst,
when none will sleep. And then thy care will be taken from thee. But
Mary hath chosen the better part, which shall never be taken from her!
It shall not be taken away, for she chose to live the life of
contemplation, she chose to live by the Word. What kind of life will
that be that flows from the Word without spoken word? Here on earth she
drew life from the Word, but through the medium of the spoken word. Then
will be life, from the Word indeed, but with no spoken word. For the
Word Himself is life. _We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He
is_[363] (_Sermon_, CLXIX., xiv. 17).

* * * * *

_S. Augustine: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek
after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life!_[364]

Whosoever asks for This One Thing and seeks after It prays with sure and
certain confidence; nor need he fear lest, when he shall have obtained
It, he shall find It disagreeable to him, for without It naught that he
prays for as he ought, and obtains, is of any avail. For this is the
one, true, and only Blessed Life--to contemplate the delights of the
Lord for eternity, in immortality and incorruptibility of body as well
as soul. For the sake of This One Thing are all other things to be
sought after, and only thus our petitions for them are rendered not
unbecoming. Whosoever hath this One Thing will have all that he wishes
for, nor indeed will he be able to wish there for anything which is
unfitting. For there is the Fountain of Life, for which we must now
thirst in prayer as long as we live by hope--as long, too, as we see not
What we hope for. For we dwell 'neath the shadow of His wings before
Whom is all our desire, that so we _may be inebriated with the plenty
of_ His _house, and may dr