But after our Lord has led us by the hand along the road of good works which require our co-operation in order that they may become meritorious, He carries us in His arms, producing certain effects within us, in which we seem to take no part, as, for instance, in the Sacraments. Tell me candidly, what is it that we do in order to merit the reception of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, which contains all the sanctity and sweetness of heaven and earth? Does not our Lord carry us in His arms in permitting us to receive Him in this Sacrament? Oh, how happy are those souls who so pass through this mortal life as never to leave the arms of His Divine Majesty, except to do all in their power to labour in the practice of virtue, still keeping hold of the hand of their Lord! Let us never believe ourselves capable of doing the least good of ourselves. The Sacred Spouse of the Canticles teaches us this truth when she says to her Beloved: _Trahe me post Te in odorem curremus unguentorum tuorum--'Draw me, and we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments_.' She says '_draw me_,' to teach us that our soul can do nothing of itself unless it be drawn, assisted, and anticipated by Divine Grace. But to show us that she corresponds voluntarily to this attraction, she quickly adds: '_We will run_,' as if she wished to say: If only, my Beloved, Thou stretch out Thy hand to draw me, I shall not cease to run, until Thou hast received me into Thine arms, and united me to Thy Divine Will.