"Yes, it is a strange thing, but I affirm it true,--that none of you
know anything whatever about the contents of this small volume which
is the foundation of the Christian Faith! You never read it
yourselves,--and if we priests read it to you, you never remember
it! It is a locked Mystery,--perhaps, for all we know, the greatest
mystery in the world,--and the one most worth probing! For the days
seem to be coming, if they have not already come, which were
prophesied by St. John the Divine, whom certain 'clever' men of the
time have set down as mad;--days which were described as 'shaking
the powers of heaven and creating confusion on the earth.' St. John
said some strange things; one thing in particular, concerning this
very book, which reads thus;--'I saw in the right hand of Him that
sat upon the throne a book sealed with seven seals. And I saw a
strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice; Who is worthy to open
and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven or in earth was
able to open the book neither to look thereon. And I wept much
because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book,
neither to look thereon.' But St. John the Divine was mad, we are
told,--madness and inspiration being judged as one and the same
thing.
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