BOOZ ESPOUSES RUTH. 189 forego his right, and to yield up his privilege to Booz. Booz accepted the offer, and the deed of cession being immediately made out, according to the established form, he publicly espoused Ruth, and received the good wishes of all present upon the occasion. They wished him every blessing that can attend a happy marriage; they prayed that this young woman might prove as great a happiness to his family, as Rachel and Lia had been to that of Jacob: that she might be an example of virtue, and that her name might be famous in Bethlehem. These good wishes were fulfilled; for, the issue of this marriage was a son called Obed, the father of Isai, and grandfather of David. Noemi was looked upon as one of the most fortunate of her sex, as completely blessed in her daughter-in-law, as she could have been in a numerous offspring of her own. Overflowing with affection for the little Obed, she united in her care of him, the diligence of a nurse with the tender love of a mother. In the wonderful history of Ruth, says St. Ambrose, we see the qualifications which God chiefly regards in the choice He makes of His friends. He is not determined by the nobility of their birth, or even by the sanctity of their ancestors. He considers only their personal virtues, and the dispositions of their own hearts. A daughter of the Moabites, born of idolatrous parents, was, in reward of her piety, raised to the greatest honour which was then to be enjoyed upon earth, the honour of being ranked in the genealogy of the Messias, and of thus becoming one of the progenitors of Jesus Christ, according to the flesh. Her example, says the same Saint, is a lesson for us not to rely upon the name and profession of a Christian, as if nothing more was expected of us. Such was once the infatuation of the Jews, who trusted solely to their outward observance of the Law, and vainly gloried in the name of Abraham, as if these alone were sufficient for justification. Without faith, working by charity in the performance of our Christian duties, we never can please God, nor become worthy of being admitted to the chaste nuptials of Jesus Christ in the glory of His heavenly kingdom. A.M. 2861.] Samuel under the care of Heli. [A.C. 1143. Samuel, a renowned and holy prophet, was trained up to virtue from his infancy. Anna, his mother, had for many years been married to Elcana without having any children. Overwhelmed with sorrow, she wept and prayed to God for comfort in her affliction; she joined fasting to her prayers, and bound herself by vow, if she should obtain a son, to consecrate him all the days of his life to the Divine service. Samuel was the fruit of his mother's prayers, and the recompense of her faith. In a son like him, says St. Chrysostom, Anna became more happy than if she had been mother of the greatest prince upon earth. She received him as a gift from the hand of God, and in compliance with her vow, hastened to give him back by a solemn act of religion. As soon as he was weaned, she carried him to the Tabernacle,* and placing him in the hands of Heli, the High Priest,t she consecrated him irrevocably, as she had promised, to the service of her Creator. Her sacrifice in some sort seems to resemble that of Abraham. She offered to God her darling, her only son; she offered him for life, and stripped herself of all future claim over him. The mother's piety was repaid by the virtues of her son. The youthful Samuel ministered to the Lord under Heli's direction by day, and at night he slept within the Tabernacle, near the Ark of God: there it was that God favoured him with a special revelation, the first indication of his future greatness. During the silence of the night, he heard a voice calling him by his name; unskilled as yet in the language of the Lord, the holy youth thought that the voice was Heli's, and rising hastily, asked the old man what he wanted. Heli * At this time the Tabernacle, with the Ark of the Covenant, was erected at Silo. (See Note, p. 161.) † Heli was descended not from Eleazar, the elder, but from Ithamar, the younger of the two sons of Aaron, through whom the office of the Priesthood was transmitted in Israel. The circumstances under which the office of High Priest was thus conferred on a representative of the younger line, are not mentioned in the Bible. (See Note, p. 127.) SAMUEL UNDER THE CARE OF HELI. 191 answered that he had not called, and bade the child again to compose himself to sleep. Samuel had scarcely lain down, when the same voice called him once more; again he ran to the High Priest, who again ordered him to return and sleep. Samuel was then called the third time; he again arose and went to Heli, who then perceived that the Lord had called the youth. "Go," said he to Samuel, "sleep, and if thou hear the voice again, thou shalt answer, Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." Samuel retired to take his rest, and upon hearing himself called by name for the fourth time, answered in the words that Heli had commanded him. The Lord then informed Samuel of the heavy judgments which were soon to fall upon the High Priest and his family, in punishment of sins that were too enormous to be expiated by the sacrifices they offered; for in the words of the sacred narrative, Ophni and Phinees, the sons of Heli, were children of Belial; by their rapacity in the exercise of the priestly office they had filled all Israel with loathing, so that men were turned from the sacrifices of the Lord. God then declared to Samuel that He could no longer bear the sinful negligence of a father who, knowing the disorders and seeing the profane excesses of his two sons, had contented himself with gentle reprimands, when a just zeal for the honour and sanctity of God's altar required the most exemplary severity. Heli next morning was most pressing to know from the child what the Lord had said. Samuel showed a great unwillingness to speak, and nothing but Heli's importunity could have prevailed upon him to impart the melancholy secret. Heli humbly submitted to the Divine decrees, and with the deepest regret for his past misconduct, became sensible that, to fulfil the duties of a father, it was not enough to be himself good, that moreover he ought to have endeavoured to instil goodness into his children: he acknowledged his neglect, and resigned himself to the punishment thereof. Heli, says St. Gregory, has many imitators both in the Church and in private families. Pastors silently behold the disorders of their flocks, which they ought to correct; and parents, either from indolence or false fondness, suffer those passions to grow up in their children which ought to have been checked at their first appearance. Such a neglect tends to the ruin of their children's souls, and draws down God's displeasure upon both parent and child. A.M. 2888.] Heli's Punishment.—1 Kings, iv. [A.c. 1116. The sins of the Israelites once more cried to Heaven for punishment, and the Philistines were again chosen by God to be their scourge. Equally destitute of Divine favours as of public virtues, the Israelites were torn to pieces by a calamitous war, their armies were put to flight, and their country plundered. In times of public calamity, they had often humbled themselves under the hand of God, and by repentance recovered His friendship. But now they thought only of carrying the Ark into their camp, so as to force the Almighty to come to their assistance, if He would not allow the most sacred emblem of their religion to become a prey to their enemies. The Almighty, whose mercy is not to be swayed by the empty pretence of religion, saw the Ark advance, but He was not, on that account, the more propitiously inclined towards His people. The two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, attended the procession to their own ruin; such attendants were more likely to hasten, than the presence of the Ark was to avert, the punishment which was about to fall upon Israel. When the Ark reached the camp, the whole army shouted with joy, and new courage seemed to animate the desponding Israelites. The Philistines, on the other hand, grew dejected, for they dreaded the arm of the mighty God of Israel. But when their first alarm had subsided, they began to encourage one another, and resuming their former vigour, they rushed out to battle with such impetuosity that they bore down all before them. Ophni and Phinees were slain, with thirty thousand of the common people; the rest of the army saved themselves by a shameful flight, and the Ark of God fell into the hands of the Philistines. In the meantime, Heli, now sightless and decrepit with age, had seated himself before the door of his house, facing the highway, and was waiting with impatience to hear the issue of the battle: his mind was filled with gloomy fore THE IDOL OF DAGON. 193 bodings; his troubled heart beat with anxiety for the Ark of God. As evening was falling, a Benjamite, who had escaped from the field of battle, came running by, and told him that the Israelites had been routed with great slaughter, that his two sons were amongst the slain, and that the Ark had been taken by the enemy. At the mention of the Ark, the poor old man fell backwards from his seat, broke his neck, and died nnon the spot. From such a terrible exercise of Divine justice, we may perceive how severely God punishes the misuse of holy things, and how grievously He is angered at the sins of those whose duty it is, by a purity of life conformable to the sanctity of their character, to stay His arm when it is uplifted to chastise the sins of others. By the taking of the Ark we see that it is not merely in the name, or in the holiness of a symbol, however sacred, that we are to trust for the Divine protection; we must by the uprightness of our lives make ourselves worthy of those graces which God has annexed to a right use of His holy institutions. He takes under His special protection, none but those who deserve it by their virtues, and who honour Him by their actions. A.M. 2888.] The Idol of Dagon.-1 Kings, v. [A.C. 1116. Although the Ark of God, by its capture, seemed to have been dishonoured, yet, stripped, as it was, of those marks of |