As the bees go all round their hive gathering honey here and there, and when they have collected it take pleasure in working it up, on account of its sweetness, so we meditate that we may acquire the love of God; and then we contemplate Him, and are attracted by His goodness through the sweetness which His love causes us to experience. Hence the soul is never satiated with considering and looking upon the Divine Beauty.--_St. Francis of Sales._ The occupations that are necessary for each one in his state of life are no hindrance to piety, but increase it and adorn the work of devotion. The nightingale loves its own melody when it is silent as much as when it sings; the devout heart also cherishes Divine love no less when it is distracted by the external duties of life than when it prays. Its action and its contemplation, its occupation, as well as its repose, equally chant the canticle of love.--_The same._ EXAMPLE. _Beauty of the 'Ave Maris Stella.'_ In this hymn are celebrated all the prerogatives of Mary. She is the powerful Mother of God and the most glorious of Virgins--_Dei Mater alma atque semper Virgo_--and at the same time the most sweet and humble of Virgins--_Virgo singularis inter omnes mitis._ The Most Holy Virgin performs the function of advocate with her Divine Son in our favour, and offers Him our prayers--_Monstra te esse Matrem._ She is the Gate of Heaven. She loosens the chains of sinners, guides the blind in the way of virtue, removes every kind of evil from us, and asks in our name for every grace necessary for us to reach the port of eternal life.--_Solve vincla reis._ Nothing is more appropriate to inspire us with a tender confidence in Mary than the _Ave Maris Stella_, for its verses contain considerations of time and eternity. Let us, then, repeat it often, and Mary will load us with benedictions, as many miraculous facts in the lives of the Saints attest. Indeed, this Queen of Heaven herself showed how dear to her is this hymn when she appeared one day to St. Bridget, and thus addressed her: 'My Son, the Sovereign Master of heaven, of earth, and of hell, can Himself alone suppress all the powers of evil, from whatever source they may arise. I shall henceforth be a shield of defence for you and for the others against all the attempts of the enemies of your souls and bodies, on condition, however, that all your community meet together to sing every evening the _Ave Maris Stella_.'