Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1903-11-13

ligion, and without its full and FIRE,
exercise we cannot hope to pleas,
God or to gain an entrance into tn,
kingdom of heaven, and receive tha
welcome saiutation, "Well done, thou
good and faithful servant, enter thou
into the joys Of thy Lord" Charity
ls from the heart and not from the
head. 1t arises from faith in God
and expects its reward only in the
future state. 1t enables us to view
acts and things on the part of Others
in very different light from what
we see or think of them without the
exercise of that heaven-sent gift Of
God.
st. Paul said: SHOW abideth faith,
hope, charity, these three; but the
greatest of these is charity" Charity
in the days of st. Paul meant q very
different thing from what it is
generally understood to mean in the
present day. Then it meant love-
love for God as our creator, benefac-
tor, preserver, and redeemer-a deep
seated love for all mankind, an in
cessant desire to see all men chris
tians, and determination to do all
that lies in ones power to bring
them to a saving knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 1t meant a will
lingness to spend and be spent, to do
all anu be all things to all men, if
by doing SO some poor fallen man
might be brought to see the error of
his way and lead to Christ. and to
use all the powers of ones being to
spread pure and unde6led religion
throughout the length and breadth
Of the world.
At the present time the word
charity, according to the dictionaries,
Is used in a narrower sense, and is
defined as meaning kindness, good
will, foi bearance toward mankind in
general; and, In still lower sense,
as the giving of aims. In the Roman
Catholic Church it is used to desis-
nate the Sisters of Charity, band
of women whose whole lives are de-
voted solely to the relief of mankind, -,
to the giving of aims to the poor and
needy, to the rendering of aid to all
who are in distressed circumstances
and in visiting the sick and afflicted,
either in body or mind, and offering
comfort and consolation to them.
But taken in either sense in which
the word is used, it is one of the
most ennobling and most beautiful
virtues with which man has been en-
dowed, and one which always has its
reward, if not in this world, in the
world to come. Used in the sense of
love it causes us to love our neigh
bors as We love ourselves. 1t enables
US, If our eating meats offend our
brother, or is stumbling block in
his way, or he is made weak by the
use OF them on our part, to abstain
from meats 30 long as life shall last.
1t enables as to let our light SO shine
that others, seeing our good works,
may be constrained to follow our
example. It prevents us from doing
anything whereby our brother may
be made to sin.
Charity will find its own image
wherever it exists, and will seek
what it loves. and will lovingly cover
all the faults and rough places of
the human heart. It prompts us to
take our fallen brother by the hand,
lift him mp and lead him along the
dark and stormy ways of life, until
he comes into the light and liberty
of Christ Jesus. The charity that
thinketh no evil, trusts in God and
trusts in man.
True charity's plant divinely nursed-
Fed by the love from which 1t rose st
first
Thrives against hope, aud in the rudes,
scene
Storms but enliven its unfading green
Exhuberant in the shadows 1t supplies
Its fruit on earth, its growth above the
skies.
hut In its narrower meaning il
still retains its place as one of the
greatest and one of the most lovely
of the virtues. In either of its
meanings it is one of the grandesi
and most comprehensive words in
our language. What more beautiful
sight than man whose soul is filled
with charity-one who goes about
with love for God and man in his
heart, doing all he can to save MAJ,
from the awful consequences of sir
and leading him to the throne OF
grace, one who feels for the woes OF
mankind and gives literally of the
good things that God has bestowed
upon him for the amelioration of the
needy, and ministering in all ways tc
the wants of his fellow men, in lift
ing up the fallen and persuadine
them to lead nobler and higher life
Wouldst thou from sorrow find swee
relief?
! Or is thy heart oppressed with woe,
uA.oldr
Balm wouldst thou gather for corrodin.
griefe
Pour blessings round thee like ,