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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: glorious soul. She is passing through her struggle on the Mount of
Olives; her tears bathe the white roses of her crown as they fall, one
by one, from the head of this wedded Jephtha. Wait; do not see her
yet. You would bring to her the atmosphere of the court; she would see
in your face the reflection of the things of life, and you would add
to the bitterness of her regret. Have pity on a weakness which God
Himself forgave to His Son when He took our nature upon Him. What
merit would there be in conquering if we had no adversary? Permit her
confessor or me, two old men whose worn-out lives cause her no pain,
to prepare her for this unlooked-for meeting, for emotions which the
Abbe Birotteau has required her to renounce. But, in the things of
The Lily of the Valley |
