23. Better, I know well, and far more
precious than eye can see, is thy present lot, the song of them that
keep holy-day, Ib. xlii.
4. the throng of
angels, the heavenly host, the vision of glory, and that splendour,
pure and perfect beyond all other, of the Trinity Most High, no longer
beyond the ken of the captive mind, dissipated by the senses, but
entirely contemplated and possessed by the undivided mind, and flashing
upon our souls with the whole light of Godhead: Mayest thou enjoy
to the full all those things
whose crumbs thou didst, while still upon earth, possess through the
reality of thine inclination towards them. And if thou takest any
account of our affairs, and holy souls receive from God this privilege,
do thou accept these words of mine, in place of, and in preference to
many panegyrics, which I have bestowed upon Cæsarius before thee,
and upon thee after him—since I have been preserved to pronounce
panegyrics upon my brethren. If any one will, after you, pay me
the like honour, I cannot say. Yet may my only honour be that
which is in God, and may my pilgrimage and my home be in Christ Jesus
our Lord, to Whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be glory for
ever. Amen.