Esther 2:1

The worldly philosophers drive out an old passion by instilling a new one; they hammer out one nail by hammering in another. It was on this principle that the seven princes of Persia acted toward Ahasuerus, for they subdued his regret for Vashti by inducing him to love other maidens. But whereas they cured one fault by another fault and one sin by another sin, we must overcome our faults by learning to love the opposite virtues. "Depart from evil," says the psalmist, "and do good; seek peace and pursue it."

After Judea had been expelled from the royal marriage, different peoples and different individuals from each nation from different parts of the world were led to the royal congregation by the holy preachers who were ministers of the evangelical word. They were given into the custody of Hegai, whose name is interpreted as "celebration" or "solemnity." He was the superintendent of the royal women. In other words, they were given to the care of the pastors and leaders of the church to whom the custody of the souls of the faithful was entrusted.

When, therefore, Judea had been repulsed from its relationship with the king, various nations—and the various inhabitants of particular nations from the various parts of the world—were brought in to receive a share in the royal grandeur through the holy preachers, who were ministers of the words of the Gospel. And they were placed under the hand of Hegai, meaning quick or customary, who was in charge of the king's women; that is, under the care of the shepherds and rulers of the Church to whom the governance of the souls of the faithful was committed, so that they might be able to offer them, in word and by example, whatever they needed for the cultivation of righteousness. And so whatever souls pleased the eyes of the inner breast in proper faith and pure conscience would be brought, pure and holy, to the bed of the eternal king in place of the stubborn and shameless Vashti who had been cast out.