WORKS OF ST. CHRYSOSTOM. [HOMILY XXIV. Therefore, is there need not only that we " pray without ceasing," but also, that we should do so "watching; and watching," saith he, " thereunto." Whether he is here speaking of vigils/or of the wakefulness of the soul, I admit both meanings. Seest thou how that Canaanitish woman watched unto prayer ? and though the Lord gave her no answer, nay, even shook her off, and called her a dog, she said, " Yea, Lord : for even the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table " (Matt. xv. 27), and desisted not until she ob tained her request. How, too, did that widow cry, and persist so long, until she was able to shame into yielding that ruler, that neither feared God, nor regarded man (Luke xviii. 1-7)? And how, again, did the friend persist, remaining be fore the door in the dead of night, till he shamed the other into yielding by his importunity, and made him arise. (Luke xi. 58.) This is to be .watchful. Wouldest thou understand what watchfulness in prayer is? Go to Hannah, hearken to her very words, "Adonai Eloi Sabaoth." (i Sam. i. n.) Nay, rather, hear what preceded those words ; " they all rose up," says the history, " from the table " (i Sam. i. 9), and she, forth with, did not betake herself to sleep, nor to re pose. Whence she appears to me even when she was sitting at the table to have partaken lightly, and not to have been made heavy with viands. Otherwise never could she have shed so many tears ; for if we, when we are fasting and foodless, hardly pray thus, or rather never pray thus, much more would not she ever have prayed thus after a meal, unless even at the meal she had been as they that eat not. Let us be ashamed, us that are men, at the example of this woman ; let us be ashamed, that are suing and gasping for a kingdom, at her, praying and weeping for a little child. " And she stood," it says, "before the Lord" (i Sam. i. 10); and what are her words ? " Adonai, Lord, Eloi Sabaoth ! " and this is, being interpreted, " O Lord, the God of Hosts." Her tears went be fore her tongue ; by these she hoped to prevail with God to bend to her request. Where tears are, there is always affliction also : where afflic tion is, there is great wisdom and heedfulness. " If thou wilt indeed," she continues, " look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then will I give him unto the Lord all the days of his life." (i Sam. i. n.) She said not, "for one year," or, " for two," aswe do ; nor said she, " if thou wilt give me a child, I will give thee money " ; but, " I give back to Thee the very gift itself en- 1 iravvvxi&a*. St. Chrysostom often speaks of vigils, which were Church Services extending past midnight into the morning; vid. Horn, in Esai. i. i, iv. i, etc.; vid. Bingham, Antiqu. xiii. 9, 4. tire, my first-born, the son of my prayer." Truly here was a daughter ofAbraham. He gave when it was demanded of him. She offers even be fore it is demanded. But observe even after this her deep rever ence. " Only her lips moved, but her voice," it saith, "was not heard." (i Sam. i. 13.) And thus does he who would gain his request draw nigh unto God ; not consulting his ease, nor gaping, nor lounging, nor scratching his head, nor with utter listlessness. What, was not God able to grant, even without any prayer at all? What, did He not know the woman s desire even before she asked? And yet had He granted it before she asked, then the woman s earnestness would not have been shown, her virtue would not have been made manifest, she would not have gained so great a reward. So that the delay is not the result ofenvy or ofwitch craft, but of providential kindness. When there fore ye hear the Scripture saying, that " the Lord had shut up her womb " (ver. 5, 6), and that, " her rival provoked her sore " ; consider that it is His intention to prove the woman s seriousness. 2 For, mark, she had a husband devoted to her, for he said (ver. 8), "Am I not better to thee than ten sons ? " " And her rival," it saith, " provoked her sore," that is, reproached her, insulted over her. And yet did she never once retaliate, nor utter imprecation against her, nor say, " Avenge me, for my rival reviles me." The other had children, but this woman had her husband s love to make amends. With this at least he even consoled her, saying, " Am not I better to thee than ten sons? " But let us look, again, at the deep wisdom of this woman. " And Eli," it says, " thought she had been drunken." (Ver. 13.) Yet observe what she says to him also, " Nay, count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial, for out of the abundance of my complaint and my provo cation have I spoken hitherto." (Ver. 16.) Here is truly the proof of a contrite heart, when we are not angry with those that revile us, when we are not indignant against them, when we reply but in self-defense. Nothing renders the heart so wise as affliction ; nothing is there so sweet as "godly mourning." (2 Cor. vii. 10.) " Out of the abundance," saith she, " of my complaint and my provocation have I spoken hitherto." Her let us imitate, one and all. Hearken, ye that are barren, hearken, ye that desire children, hearken, both husbands and wives ; yes, for husbands, too, used oftentimes to contribute their part ; for hear what the Scrip ture saith, " And Isaac intreated the Lord for Rebekah his wife, because she was barren." (Gen. xxv. 21.) For prayer is able to accom plish great things.