He argued, further, from Manning's longevity and energy, that the more copious and pure the oil, the more persistently and brightly does the wick burn. The energising potentialities of sanctity he illustrates in the great works accomplished by St. Francis despite the constant hæmorrhage of the stigmata.
CHAPTER XIV: COMMUNION AND EXCOMMUNION
Renunciation is the better part of possession: Francis states very clearly that compulsion must have no hand in it if it is to be profitable. He writes under the heading, "A distraught maiden complaineth against enforced virginity"—
Cold is the snow of the thawless valleys,
Chill as death is the lily's chalice,
Only she who seeks the valleys
Groweth roses amid the snow.
And he reiterated that spiritual experiences do not endure without from time to time falling back upon their base for supplies, "the confirmation and assurance of the body."[59] That the lines of communication were cut was a pressing grief. I have seen the sense of isolation come up against him, hold him, and shake him. At such times he would be within sight of children, and though no angels then "snatched them from him by the hair," he could be conscious that he was less near them than their relatives. His praises of domestic relationships ring with the note of one whose comprehension is sharpened by the desire of things out of reach. In an incomplete "Ballad of Judgement" a man, marvelling at his rewards in Heaven, asks:—
O when did I give thee drink erewhile
Or when embrace Thine unseen feet?
What gifts Thee give for my Lord Christ's smile,
Who am a guest here most unmeet?
and the answer comes:—
When thou kissedst thy wife and children sweet,
(Their eyes are fair in My sight as thine)
I felt the embraces on My feet
(Lovely their locks in thy sight, and Mine).