1. _I have to establish my position._ There is a certain place prepared for me in Heaven, which _may_ be mine through all eternity. What is to decide whether I get it or not? The way I "pass the time of my sojourning" here. By the time my exile is over, I must so have lived that there must be no doubt about it that I belong to the Heavenly land; that I am a child of GOD and an heir to His Kingdom; that I seek not the things of earth but those which are above; that Heaven is my Home. And what will be my position there? Mary earned her position as Queen of Angels, of Patriarchs, Prophets, Martyrs, Virgins, as Mother of the Church. What position shall I earn? That depends, as Mary's did, on my fidelity to grace. I shall have just that degree of glory and merit to which I have attained when I am called hence to give an account of my stewardship--no less and no more. The position I have to establish, then, during my exile, is that of being known by all the inhabitants of Heaven--all the Angels and Saints--as one who is sure to join them one day. "Make your calling and election _sure_." 2. _I have to suffer._ One of the actual reasons for my being here on earth is that I may _suffer_--not that suffering is in itself good, but it gives me the means--perhaps the greatest means--of developing the virtues which must be mine if I am to enter the Kingdom one day. Our Lord chose for Himself and for His Mother a life of suffering, to make us understand and to show us how suffering may aid us--yes, the very same suffering which hardens the sinner. What is the secret, then, of suffering? That by means of it, and because of it, we may make Acts of Love and Contrition and Submission to GOD'S Will. Suffering is too powerful an instrument to leave our human nature untouched by it; we _must_ do something under it--either _curse_ GOD and die, as Job's wife advised him to do, or _bless_ Him all the more fervently, as Job did. Let me remember, then, that one of the things I have to do as an exile is to see to it that GOD gets, out of each piece of suffering that He sends me, the extra _love_ that He expected would result from it. 3. _To do the work GOD wants me to do_; to work in my little corner of His vineyard; to co-operate with Him in His great work of the salvation of souls; and to show sympathy and kindness to my fellow-exiles. _Colloquy._ _The Salve Regina_:--"Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy; hail, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning, and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us; and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, JESUS: O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary." (_Anthem from Trinity to Advent._) _Resolution._ To learn the exile's lessons.