Note 52 — XIII. THE TEN VIRGINS.
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They turn themselves to the wise, whom, perhaps, they had lately laughed at, with the prayer: “Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.” They betake themselves, if they are Catholics, to the dead saints, if they are Protestants, to the living, whom they have been accustomed to revere as their guides on account of their wisdom and grace, and plead, Help us, comfort us, pray for us, that we may be brought into a state of grace. In vain. They answer: Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you. What you desire is impossible. None of us has any surplus merit out of which he could give a portion to another.—Arndt, ii. 177.[52]