89 praise of the virgin mary, mother of god age, but she was always occupied either by deep contemplation or zealous prayer or useful reading. For in everything she began so wisely, so devoutly, so saintly and respectably, that she could have passed as an instructor in the eyes of her formators. O Virgin abundantly filled with God, not subject to the world in the least thing, free from imperfections, given over to virtues so much that, the most eloquent St. Ambrose, admiring her, as if in ecstasy, cries out: “How many kinds of virtues radiate from the one Virgin: the secret of shame, the standard of the faith, complete consecration to God, virgin in family life, companion in the fulfillment of domestic duties, mother for the temple!” “How on earth could I be able to keep her temperance in the eating of food — I here fill up the insufficiency of my works with the sublimity of Ambrose — in the face of an excess of duties? Those others were above the strength of the feminine nature, nature itself was not capable of managing it. In duties, not a moment of respite, and if we speak of her food, the entire day was spent in fasting. And when the desire for food came, the food was normally simple, so as not to die, but not to cause pleasure. The desire for sleep did not appear earlier than was necessary, and when her body did rest, her spirit kept vigil, which often, sometimes during her sleep, repeated content she had read, or analyzed a given command, or prophesied those which had yet to be given.” What am I to say about her remaining virtues? She was a Virgin not only in body, but in mind, and no extent of her vow ever went against her purity of emotions. She was humble of heart; she maintained seriousness in speech; she was marked by prudence; she was sparing in words, zealous in reading, and she did not place her trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the prayer of the simple; she was given over to work; reserved in conversation; not in man, but in God she sought the judge of her thoughts; she never offended anyone; desired good for all; she gave up her place for the elderly, she did not foster aversion to her equals, she avoided bragging, she guided herself by reason, she fell in love with virtue. And did she ever, even by a simple glance, offend her parents? Did she ever argue with her relatives? Did she ever
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