“Listen, Maud,” she said, “and I will tell you what I mean.  For you to like such things is no sin, as long as you are still too young to have it explained to you why you should overcome that liking.  As I said, you are now old enough to begin to think of more than a child’s foolishness, to ask yourself what is the meaning of the life which has been given you, what duties you must set before yourself as you grow up to be a woman.  When once these duties have become clear to you, when you understand what the end of life is, and how you should seek to gain it, then many things become sinful which were not so before, and many duties must be performed which previously you were not ready for.”

Miss Bygrave spoke with effort, as if she found it difficult to express herself in sufficiently simple phraseology.  Speaking, she did not look at the child; and, when the pause came, her eyes were still fixed absently on the picture above the mantelpiece.

“Keep in mind what I shall tell you,” she proceeded with growing solemnity, “and some day you will better understand its meaning than you can now.  The sin which Christ came to free us from was—­ fondness for the world, enjoyment of what we call pleasure, desire for happiness on earth.  He Himself came to set us the example of one to whom the world was nothing, who could put aside every joy, and make His life a life of sorrows.  Even that was not enough.  When the time had come, and He had finished His teaching of the disciples whom He chose, He willingly underwent the most cruel of all deaths, to prove that His teaching had been the truth, and to show us that we must face any most dreadful suffering rather than desert what we believe to be right.”

She pointed to the crucified figure, and Maud followed the direction of her hand with awed gaze.

“And this,” said Miss Bygrave, “is why I think it wrong to make Christmas a time of merriment.  In the true Christian, every enjoyment which comes from the body is a sin.  If you feel you like this or that, it is a sign that you must renounce it, give it up.  If you feel fond of life, you must force yourself to hate it; for life is sin.  Life is given to us that we may conquer ourselves.  We are placed in the midst of sin that we may struggle against its temptations.  There is temptation in the very breath you draw, since you feel a dread if it is checked.  You must live so as to be ready at any moment to give up your life with gladness, as a burden which it has been appointed you to bear for a time.  There is temptation in the love you feel for those around you; it makes you cling to life; you are tempted to grieve if you lose them, whereas death is the greatest blessing in the gift of God.  And just because it is so, we must not snatch at it before our time; it would be a sin to kill ourselves, since that would be to escape from the tasks set us.  Many pleasures would seem to be innocent, but even these it is better to renounce, since for that purpose does every pleasure exist.  I speak of the pleasures of the world.  One joy there is which we may and must pursue, the joy of sacrifice.  The more the body suffers, the greater should be the delight of the soul; and the only moment of perfect happiness should be that when the world grows dark around us, and we feel the hand of death upon our hearts.”