's Treasury of Grace_

Since, then, no soul in the Church of God, whether in this world or
beyond, can increase in grace without that same grace flowing also into
my soul and helping me, the recollection of the Communion of Saints and
the vast treasury of spiritual power upon which I can continually draw
must be a never-failing source of hope and courage.

I may be far from the state of spiritual perfection that constitutes
what the Church calls a Saint, but no gift of grace is ever laid hold
upon by a Saint in which I do not have a share. The gifts of God, in
whatever form they may come, and upon whomsoever they may be directly
bestowed, are "for the edifying of the Body of Christ,"[10] for the
enriching of every member thereof.

Nor do these graces operate but for a little time, and then lose their
activity. Once the grace of God is set in operation, it goes on
forever. The sanctity of the Saints moves on through the ages. The
Church to-day is strong with the strength which long labour and
faithfulness won for the Apostles and Prophets, the Confessors, the
Martyrs, the Virgins. The grace {208} bestowed upon St. John in his
earthly life still holds its place in the Body of Christ, and so long
as I am in that Body that very grace which was given to him helps me,
and is a part of the defence of my soul in the hour of battle, if I
will only rise up to use what God is offering me.

More wonderful than this, however, is the relation of the Saints in
glory to my soul. Not only am I helped by the grace they received in
their earthly pilgrimage, but every access of glory given them in their
heavenly life is a like increase of grace to every member of the same
Body of which I am a part, and so an added help to me.

Thus wondrously does the law of divine grace work. When the Saints on
earth go on from strength to strength, their strength flows into me;
when the Saints in heaven pass, in their unceasing progress, from glory
to glory, I again am made the beneficiary of what is given them.

All this, however, operates on one condition. Am I keeping the
channels open through which the life and strength of the Body flow into
the members? If I bind fast a member of my body with a cord the
circulation ceases, and strength and life begin to ebb in that member.
If I permit myself, a member of the Body of Christ, to be bound with a
cord of sin, the circulation of {209} the divine life and grace is cut
off from me, and grace