8. Be to us, we beseech thee, holy Malachy, another Moses, or another Elijah, like them imparting _of thy spirit_[1183] to us, for thou hast come _in_ their _spirit and power_.[1184] Thy life was _a law of life and knowledge_,[1185] thy death the port of death and the portal of life,[1186] thy memory the delight of sweetness and grace, thy presence _a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord_[1187] thy God. O _fruitful olive tree in the house of God_![1188] O _oil of gladness_,[1189] giving both anointing and light, cherishing with favours, _resplendent with miracles_,[1190] make us partakers of that light and graciousness which thou enjoyest.[1191] O sweet-smelling _lily, blossoming and budding_ evermore before the Lord, and spreading everywhere a _sweet_ and life-giving _savour_,[1192] _whose memorial is blessed_[1193] with us, whose presence is in honour with those who are above, grant to those who sing of thee that they may not be deprived of their share in so great _an assembly_.[1194] O _great luminary_[1195] and _light_ that _shinest in darkness_,[1196] illuminating the prison, _making glad the city_[1197] by the rays of thy signs and merits, by the lustre of virtues put to flight from our hearts the darkness of vices. O _morning star_,[1198] more brilliant than the rest because thou art nearer the day, more like to the sun, deign to go before us, that we also may _walk in the light as children of light_, and _not_ children _of darkness_.[1199] O thou who art the dawn breaking into day upon the earth, but _the noon light_[1200] illumining the higher regions of heaven, receive us in the fellowship of light, by which illuminated thou sheddest light far without, and sweetly burnest within, by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reigneth One God, world without end.--Amen. FOOTNOTES: [1005] The evidence that this discourse was delivered on the day of Malachy's death is cumulative. (1) The opening words of § 1, and the closing sentences of § 8 (note "this day"). (2) The statement in § 5, "He said _to us_, 'With desire I have desired,'" etc., implies that those who tended Malachy in his sickness were present (see _Life_, § 73). The first person plural in § 2 suggests the same conclusion. (3) In § 6, "dwelling among them _up to this time_" implies that his death was not long past. (4) The striking parallels with Letter iv.; for which see the notes on it. (5) The tone of the sermon--in marked contrast to that of Sermon ii.--indicates that the community was crushed with sorrow for a recent bereavement. See _R.I.A._ xxxv. 255 ff. [1006] _damnum uestrum ... damnationem meam._ [1007] Lam. iv. 4 (inexact quotation). [1008] Acts ii. 23. [1009] Cp. Matt. x. 29.