Passage of the Day from “The Heptameron” by Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549)

“And we, who are all of good birth, ought to die of shame at the thought that our hearts may be tinged with worldly feelings, even a poor mule-driver’s wife does not fear to face was a most cruel death. Can any women regard herself as virtuous unless she has, like this woman, resisted to the last. So let us humble ourselves for God’s graces are not given to men for their noble birth and for their riches, but according as it pleases Him in His goodness. He has no regard for persons but elects whom He will and those whom He has elected. He honours with virtues and crowns with His glory. Often does He choose that which is low, that He might confound that which the world places high and considers worthy, even as He himself has said, “Let us not rejoice in our own virtues but let us rejoice that we are not inscribed in the Book of Life, from which not Death, nor Hell, nor Sin can erase us.”