You greatly refreshed me and made me rejoice, when, in telling me of your misfortunes, you added the word, which we should always say in everything befalling us: ‘Glory be to God in all things’. This is a stroke which hits the devil in the right place; this is great security and happiness in every danger to the man who utters it. In giving voice to it, dark despondency vanishes. Cease not, then, from saying it and from teaching it to others. Thus a destructive storm, even should it increase in fury, will be changed into peace; thus the storm-tossed will reap a greater reward, whilst they are also removed from evils. This it was which crowned Job; this word overthrew the devil, and made him retire in confusion; this removes all anxiety. Continue, therefore, to use it on all occasions. Let no one be in trouble about this place. For if Kucusus be indeed a solitude, I enjoy much quiet there, and I have been able to cure a large part of the no small infirmity contracted through weakness on my journey, by sitting constantly in the house. · · · · · · · Vanity of Vanities. (_Homily on Eutropius_,[30] _Benedictine Edition_, tom. iii., p. 381.) At all times, but especially now, it is pertinent to say, _Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity_. Where is now that splendid consulship, those magnificent torches and applauding assemblies, those balls and banquets and stately feasts? Where are those crowns and curtains, those gatherings of a whole city, the cheerings of amphitheatres, the flatteries of crowded houses? All these things have vanished: a mighty gale has blown down the leaves, and shown us a naked tree, one shaken from its foundations. Such has been the force of the wind that, after sapping the tree’s life, it threatens to tear it up by the roots. Where are now those false friends, and those drinking parties and banquets? Where are those swarms of parasites, that wine which never ceased flowing all day long, those wonderful dishes produced by the cooks, those servants of the consulate,—all those who spoke and acted to curry favour? They were a night’s dream, and they vanished with the daylight; they were spring blossoms scorched by summer heat: they were passing shadows, dissolving smoke, bubbles which have burst, a cobweb torn away. Therefore I would put before you the frequent use of those spiritual words: _Vanity of vanities, all is vanity_.