331 part ii: meditations for more solemn feasts immortal bridegroom, without oil, without light, in the darkness of the spirit! Be on your guard so that the same does not happen to you now, when if you wish to receive the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist full of distractions and without concentration, it may be said to you: “I do not know you” (cf. Mt 25:12), and the grace and also the virtue, which this heavenly food causes, be denied to you. 2. “all of them became drowsy and slept” (Mt 25:5). Marvel at and bewail your idleness, because as soon as you see the others rest, you take your leisure at once. Oh! Don’t you know that inactivity is not advantageous for everybody? You don’t know that in order to rest, some people must necessarily interrupt their labors, while for others, uninterrupted labors are necessary. Behold the whole group of virgins slumbered, but this rest does not benefit all of them, for five of them were cast off and rejected from the wedding. Why? It was because they allowed themselves to sleep deeply, while the oil had to be prepared, while good works had to be practiced. It was possible for the wise ones to rest for they had with them everything prepared for the celebration of the wedding. It was not possible or beneficial for the foolish to rest. Therefore, you should love and devote yourself to your works lest, being recognized as a fool for lacking in good works, you be excluded from the heavenly court. Spoiled salt is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men (cf. Mt 5:13). Do you think that you are so frequently refreshed by the heavenly food for any other reason than to be more suitable for your works? Beware that you do not eat in vain this bread of angels. [f.101r] 3. “Our lamps are going out” (Mt 25:8). O my Light! My Sun, most gracious God! How fittingly this sentence can apply to and be said about me: “Your lamp is going out!” The light fails you, and you find yourself in more darkness than the Cimmerii.146 For where is my progress? Woe to me! 146 According to Homer, a darkness prevailed in the mythical country of the Cimmerii, located north of the Black Sea. Cf. Dizionario Enciclopedico Italiano, Vol. III, Istituto Dell’Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma 1956, p. 215 (s.v. Cimmeri). Cf.
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