A story for every day...
The great lamp and an infinite number of small lamps.
We read in the revelations of St. Matilda that she saw the Heart of Jesus like a translucent lamp and the hearts of a multitude of men, also in the form of lamps, attached by chains to the Lord’s Heart. Some were held very straight by three chains, so that the oil of the great lamp overflowed abundantly; others were held by only two chains, and others, held by only one, seemed to hang from top to bottom and were empty of oil. – The three chains indicate faith, hope and charity; the two indicate that the soul has only faith and hope left, and the single chain shows that this soul still has only faith. Some of the lamps were completely detached and fell into the abyss: they indicated the souls that have lost faith and are totally separated from God.
– As long as we still have faith, we are not completely separated from God; “but faith once lost, all is lost.” Hence the proverb: To lose one’s fortune is to lose much; to lose one’s life is to lose more; to lose faith is to lose everything.
