'Tis likewise certain, that the Work of Salvation is our greatest Business; that we are sent into the World for this End alone; that we must employ our whole Lives in it, and that, after all, we cannot be sure of it; yet how few Christians do indeed make this their great and only Business?
Hear what S. Chrysostom says to the great City of Constantinople; how many (says he) do you think will be Saved out of this vast City? (one of the greatest and most populous in the World) I shall terrify you by my answer, and yet I am bound to tell you, that of so many Thousand Inhabitants there will hardly be One Hundred Saved; nay, I doubt even of the Salvation of these.
And yet this Imperial City was then as well regulated as any of those wherein we live, full of those we call honest Men; its inhabitants were reputed devout, frequented the Sacraments, and lived as we generally do: Let this great Saint's Decision, who would never have spoken so positively without an extraordinary Light, give us an idea of the small Number of the Elect.
Of the Small Number of Those that are Saved. By Fr. Jean Croiset
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