The Seven Penitential Psalms.

Proper to be said on Fasting Days, and other Penitential Times.

Anthem

Remember not, O Lord, our offences, nor those of our parents; neither take thou vengeance on our sins.

The Sixth Psalm.

The Psalmist prays to be healed from sickness, and implores pardon for his sins. After obtaining his request, he exults over his enemies.

O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath.

Take pity on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, O Lord, for all my bones are shaken.

And my soul is troubled exceedingly: but thou, O Lord, how long?

Return, O Lord, and deliver my soul: O save me for thy mercies' sake.

For in death there is none that is mindful of thee: and who shall confess to thee in hell?

I have tired myself with my groanings: every night I will wash my bed, I will water my couch with my tears.

My eye is disturbed with rage: I am grown old amidst all mine enemies.

Depart from me, all ye that work iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.

The Lord hath heard my petition: the Lord hath received my prayer.

Let all my enemies be ashamed, and very much troubled: let them be turned back and put to shame very speedily.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

The Thirty-first Psalm.

The Psalmist declares all those happy, whose sins are forgiven; and, from his own example, and that of the saints, exhorts all to seek this beatitude, and to avoid brutal obstinacy. Rewards and punishments are proposed.

Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin: and in whose soul there is no guile.

Because I was silent, my bones grew old: whilst I cried all the day.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: I am turned in my anguish, whilst the thorn is fastened.

I have acknowledged my sin to thee, and my injustice I have not concealed.

I said, I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord: and thou hast forgiven the impiety of my sin.

For this shall every one that is holy pray to thee in a seasonable time.

Yet in the deluge of many waters they shall not approach him.

Thou art my refuge from the tribulation which hath surrounded me: my joy, deliver me from them that encompass me.

I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee in the way in which thou shalt go: I will fix my eyes upon thee.

Do not become like the horse and mule, that have no understanding.

With bit and bridle bind fast their jaws who do not approach thee.

Many are the scourges of the sinner: but mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord.

Be joyful in the Lord, and rejoice ye just: and glory all ye upright of heart. Glory, &c.

The Thirty-seventh Psalm.

The Psalmist, in sickness, and neglected by his friends, begs of God to pardon his sins, and to assist and heal him.

O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath.

For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me.

There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: there is no peace in my bones, because of my sins.

For mine iniquities are gone over my head: and, as a weighty burden, are become heavy upon me.

My sores are putrefied and corrupted, because of my foolishness.

I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: I walked sorrowful all the day.

For my loins are filled with illusions: and there is no health in my flesh.

I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: I roared in the groaning of my heart.

O Lord, my desire is before thee: and my sighing is not hidden from thee.

My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me: and the light of mine eyes itself is not with me.

My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood up against me.

And they that were near me stood afar off: and they that sought my soul used violence.

And they that sought evils to me, spoke vain things: and studied deceits all the day long.

But I, as one deaf, did not hear: and as one dumb, that opened not his mouth.

And I became as a man that heareth not: and that hath no reproof in his mouth.

For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped: thou wilt hear me, O Lord, my God.

For I said, lest at any time mine enemies rejoice over me: and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me.

For I am prepared for scourges, and my sorrow is always in my sight.

For I will declare my iniquity: and I will think of my sin.

But my enemies live, and are become stronger than I: and they are multiplied who hate me unjustly.

And they that return evil for good have detracted me, because I followed goodness.

Forsake me not, O Lord, my God: depart not thou from me.

Come unto my aid, O Lord, the God of my salvation. Glory, &c.

The Fiftieth Psalm.

The Psalmist begs pardon for the sins of adultery and murder, not through the Mosaic sacrifices, but through Christ, who was to come and establish his church, and by his sacrifice appease the injured justice of God.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy: and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my iniquity.

Wash me yet more and more from my iniquity: and cleanse me from my sin.

Because I know my iniquity: and my sin is always before me.

Against thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee: that thou mayest be justified in thy words, and mayest overcome when thou art judged.

For behold I was conceived in iniquities: and in sins hath my mother conceived me.

For behold thou hast loved truth: the secret and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made known to me.

Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that are humble shall rejoice.

Turn away thy face from my sins: and blot out all my iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew an upright spirit within my bowels.

Cast me not away from thy face: and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation: and confirm me with a perfect spirit.

I will teach thy ways to the unjust: and sinners shall be converted to thee.

Deliver me from blood, O God, the God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice.

Thou, O Lord, wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise.

For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, verily I had given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.

A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humble heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion: that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.

Then shalt thou accept the sacrifices of justice, oblations, and whole-burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thine altar.

Glory, &c.

The Hundred-and-First Psalm.

The Psalmist begs for mercy upon Sion, that he will raise out of it his church, to which kings and people may come and praise God.—A prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and poured out his supplications before the Lord.

O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee.

Turn not away thy face from me: in what day soever I am in tribulation, incline thine ear to me.

In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily.

For my days are vanished like smoke: and my hones are withered like fuel for the fire.

I am smitten, and my heart is withered like grass: because I forgot to eat my bread.

Through the voice of my groaning, by bones have cleaved to my flesh.

I am become like a pelican of the wilderness: I am become like a night raven in the house.

I have watched, and am become as solitary as a sparrow upon the house-top.

My enemies upbraided me all the day long: and they that praised me swore against me.

For I did eat ashes like bread: and mingled my drink with my tears.

Because of thy wrath and indignation: for having lifted me up, thou hast cast me down.

My days have declined like a shadow: and I am withered like grass.

But thou, O Lord, remainest for ever: and thy memory is from generation to generation.

Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion: for the time to have mercy on it is come.

For the stones thereof have pleased thy servants: and they shall have pity on the earth thereof.

And the Gentiles shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.

For the Lord hath built up Sion: and he shall be seen in his glory.

He hath regard to the prayer of the humble: and he hath not despised their petition.

Let these things be written unto another generation: and a people to be created shall praise the Lord.

Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: the Lord from heaven hath looked down upon the earth;

That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might unbind the children of them that are slain.

That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion: and his praise in Jerusalem.

In the assembling of the people together in one; and kings to serve the Lord.

He answered me in the way of his strength: Declare unto me the fewness of my days.

Call me not back in the midst of my days: thy years are from generation unto generation.

In the beginning, O Lord, thou didst found the earth: and the heavens are the works of thy hands.

They shall perish, but thou remainest: and they shall all grow old as a garment.

And as a vestment thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art always the self-same, and thy years shall not fail.

The children of thy servants shall continue: and their seed shall be directed for ever.

Glory, &c.

The Hundred-and-Twenty-Ninth Psalm.

The Psalmist earnestly begs pardon, foretelling redemption through Christ.

From the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.

Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my petition.

If thou wilt observe iniquities, O Lord! Lord, who will endure it?

For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and on account of thy law I have expected thee, O Lord.

My soul hath relied on his word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord.

From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.

Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Glory, &c.

The Hundred-and-Forty-Second Psalm.

The Psalmist prays that God would not regard him according to his merits, but look upon his miseries, and deliver him from them, and also from his enemies.

O Lord hear my prayer; give ear to my petition in thy truth; hear me in thy justice.

And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight no man living shall be justified.

For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath humbled my life to the earth.

He hath made me dwell in darkness, as those who have been dead of old: my spirit is in anguish upon me, and my heart is troubled within me.

I remember the days of old, I meditated on all thy works: on the works of thy hands did I meditate.

I stretched forth my hands to thee: unto thee my soul is as earth without water.

Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit hath fainted away.

Turn not away thy face from me: lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.

Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning: for I have hoped in thee.

Make the way known to me wherein I should walk: for I have lifted up my soul to thee.

Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lord: to thee have I fled: teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.

Thy good spirit shall conduct me into the way of righteousness; for thy name's sake, O Lord, thou wilt quicken me in thy justice.

Thou wilt bring forth my soul out of tribulation: and in thy mercy thou wilt destroy mine enemies.

And thou wilt destroy all those that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. Glory, &c.

Anthem.

Remember not, O Lord, our offences, nor those of our parents: and take not revenge of our sins.

The Litany Of The Saints.

Psalm lxix.

Incline unto my aid, O God: O Lord, make haste to help me.

Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul.

Let them forthwith be turned backward, and blush for shame, that desire evils to me.

Let them be turned backward, and blush, and be put to shame, who say to me, It is well! it is well!

Let all that seek thee be glad, and rejoice in thee: and let those who love thy salvation, say always, Our Lord be magnified.

But I am needy and poor! O God help me.

Thou art my helper and my deliverer! O Lord make no delay.

V. Glory be to the Father, &c.

R. As it was, &c.

V. Save thy servants:

R. Who put their trust in thee, my God.

V. Be to us, O Lord, a tower of strength:

R. Against the face of the enemy.

V. Let not the enemy prevail against us:

R. Nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt us.

V. O Lord, deal not with us according to our sins:

R. Nor reward us according to our iniquities.

V. Let us pray for our chief Bishop [N.N.]

R. May the Lord preserve him, and prolong his life, and make him happy on earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

V. Let us pray for our benefactors:

R. Vouchsafe, O Lord, for thy name's sake, to render eternal life to all those who do us good.

V. Let us pray for the faithful departed:

R. Give them, O Lord, eternal rest: and let perpetual light shine unto them.

V. May they rest in peace. R. Amen.

V. For our absent brethren:

R. Save thy servants, O my God, who put their trust in thee.

V. Send them help, O Lord, from thy sanctuary;

R. And from Sion protect them.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer:

R. And let my supplication come unto thee.

V. May the Lord be with you:

R. And with thy spirit.

Let Us Pray.

O God, whose property it is, always to have mercy and to spare, receive our petitions, that we and all thy servants, who are bound by the chain of sin, may, by the compassion of thy goodness, mercifully be absolved.

Hear, we beseech thee, O Lord, the prayers of thy suppliants, and pardon our sins, who confess them to thee; that of thy bounty thou mayest grant us pardon and peace.

Out of thy clemency, O Lord, show us thy unspeakable mercy; that so thou mayest both acquit us of our sins, and deliver us from the punishment we deserve for them.

O God, who by sin art offended, and by repentance pacified, mercifully regard the prayers of thy people who make supplication to thee, and turn away the scourges of thy anger, which we deserve for our sins.

O almighty and eternal God, have mercy on thy servant (N.) our chief Bishop, and direct him, according to thy clemency, in the way of everlasting salvation, that by thy grace he may desire the things that are agreeable to thy will, and perform them with all his strength.

O God, from whom are all holy desires, righteous counsels, and just works, give to thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that our hearts being disposed to keep thy commandments, and the fear of enemies taken away, the times, by thy protection, may be peaceable.

Inflame, O Lord, our reins and hearts with the fire of thy holy spirit, that we may serve thee with a chaste body, and please thee with a clean heart.

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, give to the souls of thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that by pious supplications they may obtain the pardon they have always desired.

Model, we beseech thee, O Lord, our actions by thy holy inspirations, and carry them on by thy gracious assistance; that every prayer and work of ours may always begin from thee, and by thee be happily ended.

O almighty and eternal God, who hast dominion over the living and the dead, and art merciful to all whom thou foreknowest shall be thine by faith and good works; we humbly beseech thee, that they for whom we have purposed to offer our prayers, whether this present world still detains them in the flesh, or the next world hath already received them, divested of their bodies, may, by the clemency of thine own goodness, and the intercession of thy saints, obtain pardon and full remission of all their sins; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end.

R. Amen.

V. May the Lord be with you:

R. And with thy spirit.

V. May the almighty and merciful Lord graciously hear us:

R. Amen,

V. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace:

R. Amen.

Motives

Which should excite us to support the Crosses of this Life with cheerfulness, and to persevere till death in the practice of Virtue.

Since all things co-operate for the good of those who love God, and as God knows how to produce good out of evil, for whom should he do it, if not for those who give themselves up to him without reserve? Nay, he even makes their past sins contribute towards their good, as is evident in the cases of David, St. Peter, and Mary Magdalen.

When God lays the filth and deformity of sin before our eyes, it is in order that we should be captivated with the beauty of virtue; if he cast us flat on the earth, as he did St. Paul, it is with a view to raise us up again to a higher pitch of glory.

If God were not actually our Father, he never would have commanded us to say, "Our Father, who art in heaven." What then have the children of such a father to fear? Without his permission not a single hair of our heads can fall to the ground? Since, therefore, we are the children of almighty God, is it not the most unaccountable folly in us, to be over solicitous about any other concern than that of persevering till death, in his love and service? The test of our love towards God, is the observance of his commandments; and its recompense, no less than the possession of himself. "If any one love me," saith Jesus Christ, (John, xiv. 23.) "he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

"When I sent you without scrip or staff," saith Christ to his apostles, "did you want any thing?" They answered, "No." Have we not suffered afflictions when as yet we had little or no confidence in God, and did we perish under these afflictions? No. How, then, can we entertain thoughts of despondency, or betray a want of courage in adversity? For if God hath hitherto protected us, notwithstanding the little or no reliance we had on his providence, can it be supposed that he will forsake us, when, placing our whole confidence in him, we put on the determined resolution of dedicating the remainder of our lives to his love and service? Ah! no, he assuredly will not. Why, then, should we perplex ourselves with apprehensions of future evils, which perhaps will never befall us? or on the supposition they did, will not God enable us by his grace to support them with Christian fortitude? He commanded St. Peter to walk to him on the water; Peter, terrified by the blustering of the wind and the turbulence of the waves, and under the dreadful apprehension of immediately sinking to the bottom, calls out to his divine Master for assistance. When God, in like manner, ordains that you should walk on the boisterous waves of adversity, take courage and fear not; for be assured, he is actually present, and will stretch forth his hand to your assistance, as he did to St. Peter.

Our condition in this short and fleeting life, is an object of little consequence, provided that in the end we are admitted to the eternal enjoyment of God and his glory. Do we not, at every step we tread, approach nearer and nearer to eternity? Nay, have we not our feet, for aught we know to the contrary, on the very brink of it this moment? What, therefore, doth it signify whether our pilgrimage through life be chequered with afflictions or not, provided it terminate in a happy eternity? Can we possibly repine under short-lived sufferings, whilst we await their recompence in never-ending consolations? Ah! whatever has not eternity for its object, is, in reality, nothing but fleeting vanity.

Awake, therefore, O my soul! "Let us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light." Let us humbly beseech the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who consoleth us in all our afflictions, to inspire us with the same sentiments as the Apostle had when he exclaimed, "Far be it from me, that I should glory in any thing but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ah! were the cross of our crucified Saviour but deeply implanted in our hearts, the most bitter crosses of this world would then appear as sweet as roses. The heart that is impressed with a lively sense of the crown of thorns which pierced the tender head of our suffering Redeemer, will feel but little or no pain from the trifling scratches of worldly afflictions.

Devotions For Every Day In The Week.

It was an ancient and pious practice among the faithful to dedicate every day in the week to some particular devotion. Conformably with this custom, a prayer is here given for each of those days, to be said immediately after morning prayers, or at any other time of the day, as each person's leisure from the necessary occupations of his state of life, may permit. But it is to be observed, that the worship of the mystery, or the devotion to the saint we purpose to honour, consists less in the prayer itself, than in the practical instructions which it contains.

Sunday,

Which by way of pre-eminence over the rest of the days of the week, is called the day of the Lord? is happily chosen to render homage, in a more special manner, to the most Holy Trinity, and to thank those three adorable Persons for the inestimable blessings we have received. It would be irreligious therefore, if not impious, to spend this day in idle amusements, or in the management of temporal concerns, whilst we are strictly obliged, both by the precepts of God and his church, to sanctify it, as well as every holy-day of obligation, by assisting at the divine offices, hearing sermons or catechetical discourses, reading pious books, employing ourselves in the exercise of corporal or spiritual works of mercy, and especially in making solid reflections on the most important of all affairs—the affair of our eternal salvation.

A Prayer To The Holy Trinity.

Glory be to the Father, who by his almighty power hath created me, and made me to his own image and likeness. Glory be to the Son, who by his wisdom hath delivered me from hell, and opened for me the gates of heaven. Glory be to the Holy Ghost, who in his mercy hath sanctified me by baptism, and who incessantly worketh my sanctification by the fresh graces I daily receive from his bounty. Glory be to the three adorable Persons of the blessed Trinity, which was as great at the beginning as he now is, or will be for ever and ever.

We adore thee, O holy Trinity! we reverence thee; we thank thee with the humblest sentiments of gratitude, for having been pleased to reveal to us this glorious and incomprehensible mystery. Grant that, by persevering in this faith till death, we may see and glorify in heaven what we believe here below on earth: one God in three divine Persons, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Monday.

Although the three adorable Persons of the blessed Trinity, concur unanimously in the sanctification of our souls, our spiritual regeneration, and all the graces we receive from heaven, are, nevertheless, attributed more especially to the operations of the Holy Ghost; because these favours being the effects of God's love towards us, we acknowledge him as the author of them, who is the love of the Father and the Son. It is inconceivable what blessed effects this divine Spirit produces in the souls of such persons as oppose no obstacles to his operations. What abundance of light and strength doth he not communicate by his seven gifts, and those fruits and beatitudes which peculiarly flow from his bounty, if, with fidelity and attention, we are docile to his inspirations! Let us then rejoice at being under the conduct of so wise and beneficent a guide; let us continually study the motions of our hearts; let us follow those which the Holy Spirit produces, and which alone can vanquish every evil inclination excited in us, either by the corruptness of our nature, or the machinations of our spiritual enemy; let us dread nothing so much as to resist, or desire nothing so much as to preserve his grace; or, if we have incurred the misfortune of losing it by sin, let us have immediate recourse to the sacrament of reconciliation, by which we may regain it, and live more attentive to our spiritual welfare in [the] future.

A Prayer To The Holy Ghost.

Author of the sanctification of our souls—Spirit of Love and Truth! I adore thee as the primary source of my eternal happiness; I thank thee as the sovereign dispenser of the benefits I receive from on high; I invoke thee as the beneficent giver of that portion of light and strength, which thou knowest to be necessary for me in the practice of good works. Spirit of Wisdom! enlighten my understanding, fortify my will, purify my heart, regulate all its motions, and grant me an attentive docility to all thy holy inspirations.

Pardon, O Spirit of Grace and Mercy! pardon my continual infidelities, and the unworthy blindness with which I have so often refused to correspond with the most tender and moving inspirations of thy grace. I purpose for the future, with thy assistance, to cease to be rebellious, and to follow the motions of thy grace with so much docility, that I may be enabled to taste those fruits, and enjoy those beatitudes, which are produced in our souls by the influence of thy sacred gifts. Amen.

Tuesday.

We ought to have such profound sentiments of respect, gratitude, love, and confidence, towards our Guardian Angels, as the dignity of their nature, their tender care of us, and the solicitude they conceive for our welfare, require. Let us then incessantly invoke their assistance; let us consult them in all our undertakings; let us frequently beseech them to procure the joint intercession of the heavenly host, their companions in glory, in our behalf; but, above all, let us be particularly docile to their holy inspirations.

A Prayer To Our Guardian Angel.

O holy Angel, whom God, by the effect of his goodness, and the tender regard of my welfare, hath charged with the care of my conduct; who doth assist me in all my wants, and comfort me in all my afflictions; who supporteth me when I am discouraged, and continually obtaineth for me new favours; I return thee profound thanks, and conjure thee, most amiable protector! to continue thy charitable care and defence of me against the malignant attacks of all my enemies. Keep me at a distance from all occasions of sin. Obtain for me the grace of hearkening attentively to thy holy inspirations, and of faithfully reducing them to practice. Protect me in all the temptations and trials of this life, but more especially at the hour of death; and do not quit me till thou hast conducted me into the presence of my Creator, in the mansions of everlasting happiness. Amen.

Wednesday.

The glorious functions wherewith God honoured Saint Joseph in this world, and the rare examples of humility, wisdom, patience, fidelity, obedience, and submission, which he hath given us, should inspire us with the highest idea of his sanctity, and the greatest devotion towards him. Honour him, therefore, but more especially by a faithful imitation of his virtues. Have recourse to him with confidence, and inspire this confidence into others. St. Teresa assures us, that she never asked any favour of God in his name but what she obtained.

A Prayer To St. Joseph.

Illustrious Saint! who art that good and faithful servant, to whom God committed the care of his family; whom he appointed guardian and protector of the life of Jesus Christ, the comfort and support of his holy Mother, and co-partner in his great design of the redemption of mankind; thou who hadst the happiness of living with Jesus and Mary, and of dying in their arms; chaste spouse of the Mother of God; model and patron of pure souls; humble, patient, and reserved; be moved with the confidence we place in thy intercession, and accept with kindness this testimony of our devotion.

We give thanks to God for the signal favours he hath been pleased to confer on thee, and we conjure him by thy intercession, to make us imitate thy virtues. Pray for us, then, O great saint; and by that love which thou hadst for Jesus and Mary, and by the love which Jesus and Mary had for thee, obtain for us the incomparable happiness of living and dying in the love of Jesus and Mary. Amen.

Thursday.

In order to make some return to that boundless love, of which Jesus Christ has given us a testimony in the institution of the blessed Sacrament of the altar, let us unite ourselves to him by holy and frequent communion. Let us often pay him our homage under the sacramental veils. Let us, at least, never omit a Thursday without acquitting ourselves of this consoling duty. Let us sometimes present ourselves in the most profound sentiments of adoration, before him, as did the Shepherds and the Eastern Kings or Magi. Let us, at other times, go to hear and receive his instructions, in imitation of his apostles and disciples. Let us approach him, like Magdalen, to contemplate his admirable perfections, and weep bitterly over our sins. Let us again present ourselves before him, after the example of the sick man in the gospel, to be healed from our spiritual infirmities; or, like the poor, to disclose to him our wants, and demand those comforts and graces which our doubts, or the tribulations and crosses incidental to human life, may require. But on all or every one of these occasions, be careful to present thyself before him with that profound degree of modesty, recollection, respect, fear, love, gratitude and confidence, which a lively faith of his real presence in this most blessed sacrament seldom fails to produce.

A Prayer Before The Blessed Sacrament.

Sweet Jesus! O amiable Saviour! who, by an effect of thy infinite goodness and love, hast vouchsafed to remain really present amongst us in the adorable Sacrament of the altar; I acknowledge thee for my Sovereign Lord and God; I adore thee with the most profound sentiments of humility; I give thee thanks, from the bottom of my heart, for the numberless instances of thy love and tenderness towards me, a most wretched and miserable sinner, who, for my manifold offences, have rather deserved to be cast into the infernal abyss, and there punished according to the rigour of thy severest justice. Penetrated with grief at the sight of my ingratitude, I come, O God of Majesty! to crave pardon for all the profanations, sacrileges, and impieties which ever have been committed, or may be committed against thee, in this adorable sacrament. And O that I could sufficiently express the grief which I now feel, for having so often appeared before thee with irreverence, and so often approached thee with so little fervour and devotion.

Forget, O Lord, our iniquities, and remember only thy mercies. Accept my sincere desire to honour, and see thee honoured, in this admirable sacrament of thy love. Yes, I ardently desire to bless, praise, and adore thee therein, with as much love and fervour as the saints and angels bless, praise, and adore thee, encircled with the rays of ineffable glory in thy heavenly kingdom. O amiable Jesus! I conjure thee by thy precious body and blood, before which I now prostrate myself, that I may adore thee for the future with such reverence, and receive thee so worthily, as to deserve after death to be admitted into thy divine presence, and with the choirs of celestial spirits, praise and glorify thee for ever and ever. Amen.

Friday.

It is not sufficient that we carefully avoid whatever can renew the passion and death of our divine Redeemer, but we must also endeavour to honour them, by every pious exercise which a tender devotion can inspire. The holy sacrifice of the Mass, offered with this intention; fervent communion; prayer before a crucifix; frequent reflections on the sufferings of our Lord; voluntary acts of penance, such as fasting on Fridays; patience and perseverance under the inevitable troubles and afflictions of this life; or, in other words, carrying our cross, after the example of our divine Redeemer, and with the same intentions; will serve as so many pious practices, by which we may testify the excess of our love, and apply to ourselves the fruit of his passion.

A Prayer To Our Suffering Jesus.

Lamb without spot or blemish!—innocent Victim! whose blood has cancelled the sins of the world, efface mine, and do not permit thy sufferings to become useless to me. Jesus, deserted and forsaken by every body! Jesus, sorrowful and aggrieved! Jesus, agonized, patient, and resigned! help me to bear, with the like resignation, all the afflictions thou mayest be pleased to send me in this life. Jesus, calumniated, despised, and outrageously insulted! teach me to despise the judgments of men, and patiently to suffer the blackest calumnies. Jesus, whose virginal flesh was swollen with blows, mangled with wounds, pierced with thorns, and covered with blood for love of me! teach me to endure, for thy love, the pains and inconveniencies of sickness. Jesus, condemned to suffer the ignominious death of the cross! enable me to shun the praises of men, and to love the most humble situations. Jesus, bending beneath the heavy load of the cross! unite my cross to thine, and enable me to bear it with the like resignation, strength, and meekness. Jesus, elevated on the cross for my sake, and who expiredst thereon for my salvation! raise up my affections to heavenly desires, that living only for thee, and at length expiring in thy divine embraces, I may be for ever occupied in singing, forth thy praises. Amen.

Saturday.

The eminent holiness of Mary, her dignity as Mother of God, the glory she enjoys, and the power she has received on earth and in heaven, her tenderness for mankind, and more especially for such as seek her intercession, or imitate her virtues, are the motives which have inspired all the saints with the most lively and affectionate devotion towards her. Let us also devote ourselves to her, after their example. "Devotion to the Blessed Virgin," (says St. Bernard,) "is a mark of predestination." The best devotion we can practise with regard to her, and that which is most strenuously recommended by the saints, is a faithful imitation of her excellent virtues; particularly her love of purity and humility, and that heroic patience and fortitude under the severest crosses and afflictions which she suffered, and wherewith almost her whole life was embittered. Let us therefore celebrate her festival, by preparing ourselves on the eve, and communicating on the day, in her honour. Let us pay to her images and pictures that respect and veneration which the Catholic church, ever guided by the Spirit of Truth, recommends. Let us sometimes recite her office, at other times her litanies or rosary, according as the duties of our state of life may afford us leisure, or our devotion direct. Let us often address her with the utmost respect, attention, and confidence, in the words of that beautiful prayer, composed partly by the Angel Gabriel, partly by St. Elizabeth, and partly by the church, and with the same spirit and sentiments. In fine let us have recourse to her in all our wants and necessities, and omit nothing to procure her assistance at that most critical period, when we stand in most need thereof—the hour of death.

A Prayer To The Blessed Virgin.

Most Holy Virgin! Mother of God; and, by that august quality, worthy of the most profound respect from angels and men, I come to render thee my most humble homage, and to implore thy help and protection. Seated above the heavenly hosts of saints and angels, next to the throne of the Almighty, thou art most powerful, and thy goodness towards mankind equals the power thou hast in heaven.

Thou knowest, O most sacred Virgin, that I have been taught from my infancy to look up to thee as my mother, my patroness, and most powerful advocate; and thou hast vouchsafed from on high, to look down on me as one of thy children. I acknowledge, with the most humble sentiments of gratitude, that it is by the means of thy most powerful intercession I have received such innumerable graces and favours from the Almighty. Why then has not the fervour of my devotion towards thee been equal to thy zeal in succouring me in my necessities? Alas! the sense of my ingratitude overwhelms me with shame and confusion; but accept, O amiable Queen, of my determined resolution to love, honor and serve thee with more fidelity for the future.

Receive, then, O sacred Virgin, the protestation I now make of being hereafter entirely thine. Accept the unshaken confidence which I place in thy clemency and goodness. Obtain for me, most powerful advocate with thy dear Son, my Saviour, (who can refuse thee nothing that is conducive to my salvation,) a lively faith, a firm hope, and a generous, tender, and constant love. Procure for me such a purity of soul and body as nothing can defile or contaminate; such a profound humility as nothing can alter or change; and such patience and submission to the will of heaven, as nothing can perplex or disturb. Lastly, most blessed Virgin, obtain for me such a faithful imitation of thyself, in the practice of every virtue, during life, as may procure for me thy powerful aid and protection at the hour of death. Amen.

The following short ejaculatory Prayer to the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, has been recommended and experienced by many as an excellent preventative against impure temptations.

Through thy sacred virginity and immaculate conception, O most chaste Virgin, obtain for me purity of soul and body; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Pious Reflections For Every Day In The Month.

Translated from the French of the Rev. F. Bouhours. The following reflections, on account of their conciseness and simplicity, require neither much time nor application to be read and understood. They do not merely regard the social duties of mankind, like those of Epictetus or Seneca; they are Christian thoughts on the important truths of religion, and the most elevated maxims of the gospel. They are not only adapted for such as, by retirement, are familiarized to the practice of mental prayer; but likewise for those who, from their secular occupations, are as yet but little versed in the use of meditation. Even worldlings are still capable of sometimes elevating their thoughts to heaven; for, in whatever occupations persons may be engaged, they may always find sufficient leisure for a short lecture. If the multiplicity or urgency of the concerns of this life will not afford you sufficient time for regular meditation, you may at least suffer a good thought to take possession of your mind, before the business of the day is entered upon. Such is the design of these short reflections; and the method of using them is as follows:—Every day in each month, after having acquitted yourself of the indispensable duty of morning prayer, place yourself again in the presence of God, and read the Thoughts of the Day; but in order that you may the better comprehend their meaning, read them with deliberation, and the most profound attention. After reading the first article, allow yourself a short interval for reflection before you pass on to the second. Do not rest satisfied with barely conceiving the truth of the maxim you read; but after ruminating seriously upon it, apply it to yourself; and observe the same rule with the second and third articles. But should the urgency of business allow you but sufficient leisure merely to read them, be satisfied, under the assurance that pious thoughts have the same effect on the soul, as a seal has upon melted wax; for, should they enter but ever so slightly into the mind, they will always leave some impression behind. If you cannot find leisure to read these Thoughts in the morning, read them at least in the course of the day, or at night before you go to bed. The Practical Resolutions immediately following the Thoughts, must not be omitted. An act of virtue, or a short reflection, is soon made. The passages from the holy Scriptures and Fathers, at the close of the Reflections, are, as it were, an abridgment or abstract of the Thoughts of the Day; they collect, as in a focus, their whole strength and sense in a few words. Being short and concise, they are easily remembered; being pithy and affecting, they are happily calculated to rouse, support, and nourish the soul throughout the course of the day. They are as grains of essence, which contain a strong and fragrant odour within a small compass; or as an ingenious piece of mechanism, which can execute a great deal of work in a very little time. Be not content with reading these reflections once over; but read them over and over again, month after month, till by making a lasting impression on the mind, you may reap all the spiritual advantages they are capable of producing; for there is always something new to be found in the truths of religion; they are mines which cannot be too deeply dug into; they are fountains whose sources are inexhaustible; but they are also seeds which produce little or no fruit, unless they take root by being deeply planted in the heart.

First Day.—On Faith.

1. All that Faith teaches is grounded on the authority of the word of God. It is from Christ himself that the church has learned whatever she proposes to the faithful as the object of their belief. When truth itself is the guide, one cannot go astray; and there is nothing more reasonable than to submit reason to faith.

2. Of what use is faith to a Christian, if it be not the rule of his conduct? If it be the most consummate folly to doubt of a doctrine which God has revealed, which so many martyrs have sealed with their blood, and which the devils themselves have so often confessed, is it not downright madness to believe this doctrine, and yet to live as if it were supposed to be false? Not to live conformable to our belief, is to believe just as the damned do.

3. Faith, then, shall henceforth be the sole principle of my actions, and the only rule of my life. Whatever it condemns, I also absolutely condemn. In spite of every natural repugnance, I will oppose the maxims of the gospel to those of the world, as often as the occasion presents itself. What does the world say?—Follow the natural bent of your inclinations, suffer nothing, &c. But what doth Jesus Christ say?—quite the contrary. But who is right—Jesus Christ or the world?

Thank God for being incorporated with his church, and recite the Creed slowly, as a solemn profession of your faith.

"Lord increase my faith." Luke, xvii.

"What doth it avail to believe like a Catholic, and yet to live like a heathen?" Peter Dam.

Second Day.-— On the End of Man.

1. God alone is our last end; he did not create us but for himself. Our hearts tell us that we were made for him; we cannot disown it without belying ourselves.

2. Every one should have what justly belongs to him; let us then give ourselves to God, since it is he that has a right to us. If we be not his children of our own accord, we must be his slaves in spite of us. We must of necessity live under the dominion of his justice or his bounty. Which choice shall we make?

3. Every thing should tend to its proper object, and act according to its nature. If the sun, which is made to shine, refused its light to the world, it would be a monster in the universe; nor is that heart less monstrous, which, being made for God, doth still refuse to belong to him. Do I behave myself as a creature which belongs to God? Are my thoughts and all my actions directed to him? Ah, how little do I do, that may be called truly done for God? What doth all the business in this world avail me, if I forget the only affair for which I am come into it.

Make here a resolution of seeking God alone, and of depriving him of nothing which he has a right to.

"Thou art my Lord and my God." John, xx.

"He requires you entirely, who hath made you entirely." St. Augustine.

Third Day.—Contempt of the World.

1. From the moment we are attached to the world, we cease, in some measure, to be Christians. This profane world, so passionately fond of grandeur, of pleasure, of every thing that can flatter self-love, is the capital enemy of Jesus Christ; their maxims, their commandments, their interests, are quite opposite; they cannot be obeyed at once, we must break off either with one or with the other.

2. We cannot take part with the world, without a breach of the promises we made at our baptism. When we renounced Satan and his pomps, we bound ourselves down, by solemn oath, to trample under foot whatever is greatest in the esteem of worldlings. What perfidy! what sacrilege! to prefer the goods of the earth to those of heaven, and to become idolaters of vanity.

3. The world has nothing worthy of an immortal soul; it has not even wherewith to requite its most devoted servants. Its treasures, its amusements, its honors, may indeed occupy and disturb the heart of man, but they can never satisfy it. They are, in reality, but false goods, vain shadows, and illusions; or, to speak more properly, they are real evils. They make a man wicked; they can never make him happy. The most brilliant fortune is not only frail and dangerous, but is often a source of the most painful uneasiness. There are sighs and sufferings upon the throne, as well as in chains and dungeons.

Beg of God to destroy in you the spirit of the world, and give you strength to despise its allurements.

"The figure of the world passeth away."—1 Corinthians vii.

"Wo to those who adhere to what is transitory; because with those things they themselves must pass away." St. Augustine.

Fourth Day.—Upon Death.

1. A Christian who does not lead the life of a Christian, has great reason to be afraid of death. What a dreadful account must he give after a worldly and sensual life! what bitter regret to have lost the opportunities of saving himself! to die an enemy of God! O dismal death! O dreadful moment, which concludes the pleasures of time, to begin the pains of eternity.

2. What would we, at the hour of death, wish that we had done? Let us do at present what we would then be glad we had done. There is no time to lose: every moment may be the last of our life. The longer we have lived, the nearer we approach to the grave. Our death is not less distant, the more it has been put off.

3. What will our notion of this earth he, when we are forced to quit it? Let us now take advice from death; it is a faithful counsellor; it will not deceive us. What will become of this beauty, this money, this pleasure, this honour? What will be our thoughts of them at the hour of death? In our life-time appearances often deceive us; but at our death we shall see things as they really are. Man, whilst alive, esteems the world; man when dying despises it. But which should we reasonably believe—man living, or man at the point of death? Ah! how trifling will the world appear at the light of that torch which faintly glimmers near the bed of death! But alas! it will then be no longer time to undeceive ourselves.

Think seriously on what you chiefly apprehend were you this moment to die, and regulate it immediately. Accustom yourself from this moment, to perform every action, as if you were to die instantly after it. Above all things, observe this practice in the use of the sacraments.

"Death and I are divided but a single step." 1 Kings, xx.

"There is no to-morrow for a Christian." Tertullian.

Fifth Day.—On the Last Judgment.

1. I must one day appear before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, to be there judged upon the good or evil I shall have done. There is nothing more formal nor express in the gospel than this truth; I believe it as firmly as if the last trumpet had already sounded to call up all the dead to judgment.

2. What shall we say at the sight of so many bad thoughts, of so many criminal actions, of so many graces despised? O what a terrible day is the day of God's wrath! where the inmost recesses of the heart shall be openly exposed; where every fault shall be strictly examined! If the just themselves shall be hardly found just, what must become of unhappy sinners.

3. What sentence must an impenitent sinner expect from an offended and inexorable God? O tremendous condemnation! Depart ye accursed, &c, Alas! where shall these miserable wretches go, to whom you thus give your malediction? To what part of the world shall they retire when they withdraw from you? Where can there be so miserable a dwelling? To be banished from the presence of God! to be accursed of God! O what a shocking destiny!

Imagine yourself now before the tribunal of Christ. What are you most ashamed of at this very moment? Reflect seriously on it, and remember that all your secret sins shall be exposed at the day of Judgment, if you do not here efface them by a sincere repentance.

"Who shall be able to stand before the face of his wrath?" Nahum, i.

"Wo even to the praiseworthy life, if without mercy, O God, thou shalt examine it." St. Augustine.

Sixth Day.—Upon Hell.

1. How great would be our horror, if the shrieks of the damned—if their groans and blasphemies could reach us! They roar like wild beasts; they accuse themselves of their sins; they bewail—they detest them. But it is too late; their tears but add new strength to the fire that torments them. O repentance of the damned! how rigorous art thou! but ah! how fruitless!

2. Never to see God! to be burning in flames for ever! the blood boiling in our veins, the marrow in our bones! to be trampled on by the devils! to have all that is hideous for ever before our eyes! to have rage, anguish, and despair eternally rooted in our heart, without comfort or mitigation! O what a life!

3. These wretches are outrageous at having had so many opportunities of saving themselves, and for having neglected them. The recollection of their past pleasure is one of their most sensible torments. But nothing more keenly gnaws them, than the impossibility of forgetting that God whom by their fault, they have miserably forfeited.

Go down in spirit into hell, and inquire of the damned what is it that has made them fall into it. Question them upon their present state, and learn of them to fear God and your own danger.

"Which of you can dwell with devouring flames." Isaiah, xxxiii.

"The impious pass from one punishment to another—from the burnings of concupiscence to the flames of hell." St. Augustine.

Seventh Day.—On the Eternal Torments of the Damned.

1. Can the wrath of God go farther than punishing pleasures which are so soon over, by tortures which will never have an end? To be miserable while ever God is God!—can any misery be like it? Is it not enough that the evils of the damned are extreme? Must they still, besides this, be eternal? To be hurt by the point of a pin, is trifling in itself; yet were this pain to last always, it would become insupportable: What shall it be then, &c.

2. O eternity! when a damned soul shall have shed tears enough to make up all the rivers and seas in the world, did he shed but one tear in every hundred years, he shall not be more advanced, after so many millions of ages, than if he had only just began to suffer. He must begin again, as if he had yet suffered nothing; and when he shall have begun as often as there are grains of sand on the seashore, or atoms in the air, or leaves on the trees, he shall still be as far off from the end of his sufferings as ever.

3. The damned must not only suffer during eternity, but suffer every moment an eternity entire. Eternity is always present to them; it enters into their punishment; their mind is incessantly struck with the endless duration of their torments. O cruel thought! O deplorable condition!—to rage for an eternity!—to burn for an eternity! Ah, that we could conceive this, as those damned souls conceive it.

Make an act of faith upon the duration of the punishments which the justice of God inflicts for mortal sin. We must at least believe, what we are not able to conceive. It is a great misfortune for a Christian not to be persuaded of this eternity, but by his own sad experience.

"Those who do not obey the gospel, shall suffer eternal punishment." 2 Thessalonians i.

"Momentary is that which delights, eternal is that which tortures." St. Chrysostom.

Eighth Day.—On Heaven.

1. Heaven! thou glorious state! no heart can conceive, no tongue can describe what thou art! Exemption from all that is evil; assemblage of all that is good; masterpiece of God's omnipotence; the price of the blood of Jesus; and more than man can desire.

2. To see God clearly, and as he is in his glory; to love God without measure; to possess God without ever fearing to lose him; to be happy in the felicity of God himself; such is the object of my hope. But a day or two of pilgrimage or exile, and then I shall be with him for ever.

3. What matters it how we fare here below, provided we be with Jesus for all eternity? Can I justly complain that a never-ending happiness should cost me so little? The martyrs purchased heaven at the price of their blood, and thought it was given them for nothing. Shall not I then sacrifice my corrupt will for it? O happy eternity! if men only knew what thou art worth.

Excite within yourself a great desire of heaven, and behold the earth with a proportionable contempt. Were you filled with a proper sense of it, nothing here below could allure or disturb you.

"I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear." Psalm xvi.

"If the labour terrifies, the reward invites." St. Bernard.

Ninth Day.—On the Presence of God.

1. God at this moment beholds me, as if I were alone in the world; or rather, he is within me as an eye infinitely enlightened, which observes me attentively, and which nothing can escape. He sees me as clearly as he comprehends himself, and with as intense an application, as if he ceased to contemplate himself, in order to study me.

2. Ought I not to be infinitely more ashamed that my sins should appear in his sight, than that they should be exposed to the eyes of the whole world? Would I commit in the presence of a servant, what I dare commit before the King of kings? O what blindness to fear so much the eyes of men, and so little the eyes of God!

3. The most obscure darkness can never conceal me from light itself; the most distant and solitary retreats are always filled with the divine Majesty. Let me shun, as much as I please, the sight and the company of men, I will find God every where.

Put yourself in the presence of God, and see whether there may be any thing in you that may offend his eyes. The most powerful remedy against sin, is to say frequently within yourself, "God is looking at me:" there needs no more to restrain you in the greatest violence of temptation.

"All things are clear and open to his eyes." Hebrews, iv.

"If you be determined to commit sin, seek first a place where God will not see you, and then do what you please." St. Augustine.

Tenth Day.—Care of our Salvation.

1. The affair of Salvation is, properly speaking, the only business of man; every other concern, when compared with it, should be accounted as nothing. The enterprises of kings, their negotiations, &c, are as the amusements and the triflings of children. The important and the only affair, therefore, is to serve God, and thereby save our souls: the whole good—the whole perfection of man consists in this. It would be irrational, and therefore degrading to man, to neglect an affair whose consequences are so great, whose success is so uncertain, and whose loss is irreparable. What blindness! what folly! to think only of living, and not to think of living well! to apply so much time to making our fortune, and so little to the saving of our soul! "What doth it avail a man to gain the whole world, if he lose his own soul?"

2. All creatures are made but for our salvation; they become useless when not employed for that great end: so that from the moment a man ceases to labour for his salvation, the sun also should cease to shine, the planets should stop in their course, the earth should no longer support him, the angels should abandon him; he should fall back into his original nothing. He is unworthy of life, when he liveth not for God.

3. However, the greater part of mankind think less of saving themselves than of any thing else. Every other business is carefully attended to, except the affair of salvation. All other concerns are turned to account. This sum of money must be put out to interest; this field must be tilled; these lands must be let at a more considerable rent. All other losses are bewailed, except the one without resource. Great expenses are incurred for the body, and nothing at all is done for the soul: from the manner in which we live, it should seem that our soul does not really belong to us, but that it is the soul of our most mortal enemy, or the soul of some brute; or rather, that we have a soul just merely to destroy it.

Make now a firm resolution to save your soul, let it cost you what pains it will: be of the same sentiment with a certain pontiff, who, when a king had asked something of him, which could not be granted without sin, replied: "If I had two souls, I would give one of them to thee. O Prince, but as I have only one, I do not choose to forfeit it."

"Moreover, one thing is necessary." Luke, x.

"Where there is the loss of salvation, there surely there can be no gain." St. Euch.

Eleventh Day.—On Horror for Sin.

1. How great a loss is the loss of God! Men think themselves unfortunate when they lose all their possession at law, or by bankruptcy, or by some other accident. What is it, then, to lose an infinite God! Unhappy the soul which loses its God by sin; but far more unhappy the soul who considers this loss as nothing.

2. O sin! how common art thou among men! but how little at the same time art thou known to them! Playing and amusing themselves, they become the execration of God. And what play—what amusement is this? God, who is all love, detests sin with infinite hatred: should any thing, therefore, be so shocking in our eyes as this hellish monster.

3. A soul in the state of grace, is beautiful beyond expression! it is a brilliant image of God himself; the Holy Ghost animates it. But when mortal sin is allowed to infect it, its beauty is lost, its light is extinguished, the Divine Spirit departs, the devil takes possession; all then is darkness, filth, and deformity. If a God-man dying was a dreadful spectacle, mortal sin is yet more dreadful; for Christ died but to atone for sin, and sin can daily frustrate all his merits; he is crucified over and over; his blood is trampled upon by ungrateful sinners.

O detest at this moment all your sins. Lament from your heart the loss of God's grace; there is no loss so much to be lamented; it is the only loss which sorrow can repair.

"What advantage had you in those things at which you are now blushing?" Romans vi.

"Wo to that daring soul, which hoped that having retired from you, she might still find something better." St. Augustine.

Twelfth Day.—On Repentance.

1. "Repent, and believe the Gospel." Our Lord here joins faith and repentance together, in order to teach us, that the rigours of penance, and the profession of Christianity, are inseparable. During his mortal life he was a penitent God, ever occupied in expiating our sins, to appease the justice of his eternal Father. Surely, we should follow his example. If the Holy of Holies fasted, prayed, and wept, what should not be done by such vile wretches as we are?

2. Sin must necessarily be punished, either by him who commits, or by God, against whom it is committed. If sinners do not punish themselves in time, the Divine Justice will punish them in eternity. The flames of hell must punish what the waters of penance have not effaced. Is it not, therefore, better to weep for a few days, than to burn for eternity.

3. To be reconciled with God, it is not enough to prostrate ourselves before a priest, cover our heads with ashes, and our whole bodies with hair-cloth. If we have not a sincere sorrow for our sins, if we do not entirely renounce our criminal attachments, we are impostors, and not penitents. Prayers, alms, fastings, and macerations of the flesh, are but the outside of repentance; the hatred of sin is its very spirit and essence.

Implore God's mercy for having hitherto led a life so opposite to the Gospel: and beg of him the grace to live for the future as the first Christians did, in the constant practice of penance.

"Unless you do penance, you shall all perish alike." Luke, xiii.

"To penitents, I say, To what purpose is it that you be humbled, if with this you be not changed?" St. Augustine.

Thirteenth Day.—On Delay of Conversion.

1. By deferring so long to give myself up to God, it should seem as if I intended to escape out of his hand. Is it then a misfortune to belong to him? To-morrow! to-morrow!—Why not to-day? why not at this very moment? Will my chains be more easily broken to-morrow? will my heart be less hard?—No, certainly. Time, that weakens every thing else, adds new strength to bad habits. By putting off the remedy, the complaint becomes incurable.

2. What is it that prevents our obeying the voice that calls us to repentance? What is it that terrifies us? That there is great difficulty in changing our lives, must certainly be granted; but what should not a Christian do, who adores a crucified God, and who looks up to heaven? If we have any thing to fear, it should be the abuse of God's graces.

3. There is time to come; but can I call it mine? Is it a possession I am master of? God waits for me, it is true—the scriptures tell me so—but still they do not tell me how long I am to live. He that promised pardon to those who repent, has not promised another day to those who continue in their vices. Perhaps I shall have time, and perhaps I shall not. Must not I have lost my senses, to trust my salvation to a mere perhaps?

Reflect now upon the time you have been deferring your conversion to God, and tremble at the sight of your danger.

"I said: now I have begun." Psalm lxxix.

"We cannot be too cautious, where eternity is at stake." St. Gregory.

Fourteenth Day,—On Human Respect.

1. What will the world say? Let it say what it will: should the talk of fools hinder you from being wise? But what will my acquaintance say? They will say, that you fear God more than you fear man; the greatest libertines will secretly admire you, and acknowledge within themselves that you are doing right. But what matters it, after all, what people may say of you, provided you do your duty, and that God be satisfied?

2. O what cowardice, to blush at the gospel? To wear the livery of a prince is held honourable: is it then shameful to wear that of Jesus Christ? The lowest mechanics make open profession of the trades they follow; and yet Christians, in the church, blush at being thought Christians! The Son of God will deny before his Father in heaven, the Christian that shall have denied him before men.

3. What then? Is there any thing in Jesus that you should be ashamed of? Is his name infamous? Is it a disgrace to follow his maxims and example? You are not ashamed, perhaps, of being a libertine, a drunkard, a blasphemer; you may probably even glory in it; and yet you blush at being a good man. But let people say what they will, the man that is most esteemed is he who serves God with most fidelity, and who openly professes himself to be a follower of Christ.

Ask yourself seriously whether this phantom of the world doth not frighten you, and prevent your fulfilling the obligations which the Christian religion imposes.

"I do not blush at the gospel." Romans i.

"Why should you fear or be ashamed, when armed with the sign of the cross?" St. Aug.

Fifteenth Day.—Diffidence in Ourselves.

1. We have nothing to fear so much as ourselves. Our own weakness is more alarming than the united powers of hell. A thought, a word, a single look is enough to overcome us. Angels have rebelled, Adam hath fallen, Solomon hath bowed to idols, Peter hath denied his Master. When cedars have yielded, how shall osiers stand?

2. Our own heart is our most dangerous enemy; our senses and our passions are always conspiring against us; we are vanquished almost without a struggle. Let us then never be so weak or foolish as to trust to ourselves. Many whom torments could not shake, have wretchedly perished in a slight temptation: they were victorious over tyrants, but vanquished by concupiscence.

3. There is no man, of how exemplary soever a conduct, that should not tremble at the justice of God, because he cannot be certain whether he be worthy of love or hatred. To the all-seeing eye of Infinite Perfection, the very angels themselves shall not appear without blemish. Sanctity may be lost in a single moment, and the saint may be transformed into an odious reprobate. We should all, therefore, cry out with St. Philip of Neri: "Watch me, O Lord, this day, for abandoned to myself I shall surely betray thee."

Beware of the occasions of sin; the most dangerous are often what you are least afraid of.

"Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall." 1 Corinthians iv.

"Though you be in a place of safety, do not on that account think yourself secure." St. Bernard.

Sixteenth Day.—Use of Divine Grace.

1. Whatever grace we have, was dearly purchased: our Saviour gave his blood for it. Wherefore to reject a pious thought, to resist an holy inspiration, is, in fact, to trample on the merits of Christ, and to frustrate, as much as we can, the ends he proposed to himself in dying for us.

2. We are accountable to God, not only for the graces we have received, but also for those which he intended to confer on us, provided we ourselves had not put an obstacle to them. His sun shines, but we shut our windows against it. Are we the less indebted to him for its light?—No; for we may, if we please, make use of it.

3. Many years, perhaps, has God been inviting us in vain; soliciting, reprehending, and threatening us, to no manner of purpose. But let us remember, that he is a creditor who will not thus be put off, and that the longer our debt is unpaid, the more strictly will he require the interest. There is possibly a measure of sins which may force him at last to abandon us.

Thank the Almighty now for all his gifts and graces. Beg pardon for having been unfaithful to him, and resolve to correspond with docility, to all the suggestions of his grace for the future.

"From him to whom much hath been given, much will be required." Luke, xii.

"Grace is followed by judgment." St. Basil.

Seventeenth Day.—Good Use of Time.

1. The loss of time is one of the greatest misfortunes in the world. This life is so short! all its moments so precious! yet we live as if it were never to end, or as if we had nothing to fear hereafter.

2. Alas! if a damned soul had but one single moment of the time we now squander away, what good use would he make of it! Every instant of our life we may purchase a happy eternity. The opportunity of enriching or amusing ourselves we never miss; but the means of salvation appear to us indifferent.

3. The day that is best employed, is not always the one that has most forwarded our temporal affairs, but that which has added most to our merits, and which God has been best pleased with. Let us always so regulate our time, that God and our salvation may be our constant objects.

Renew the resolution you have taken to serve God faithfully; and be firmly persuaded, that the time which is not employed for God, is no more than so much time lost for ever.

"God hath given to no person time for sinning." Ecclesiastes xv.

"You have leisure to become a philosopher; you have none to become a Christian." St. Paul.

Eighteenth Day.—Use of the Sacraments.

1. The sacraments are the channels of divine grace; through them the merits of Christ abundantly flow into our souls. We must therefore take care to approach them worthily; for otherwise his merits will not avail us, nor will our salvation of course be possible.

2. The abuse of the sacraments is an evil of the first magnitude. They were instituted as the means of life; but, when perverted, lead to eternal death. There is no medium; they must be either our food or our poison. How dreadful then must it be to reflect, that after so many confessions we should be so little improved, that after repeated communions we should still follow the same sinful course!

3. The unworthy communicant receives his own condemnation, and becomes, as it were, incorporated with his own ruin. What answer can he give when called to account for his baseness? How shall he hope to escape, when arraigned for such daring profanations?

Examine yourself carefully upon the use you have made of the sacraments, and receive them for the future, as if death were immediately approaching.

"Let a man prove himself." 1 Corinthians.

"There are bad Christians, who are called by the name of faithful, and who are not such; by whom the sacraments of Christ are dishonoured and profaned." St. Augustine.

Nineteenth Day.—On the Mass.

1. A sacrifice is an exterior or visible offering made by a lawful minister to God alone, in testimony of his supreme dominion. Our absolute dependance on God, and the homage we owe him, render sacrifice essential to religion. Hence, from the beginning of the world it has been always offered: Abel, Noah, Melchisedech, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have sacrificed to the Almighty; and a variety of sacrifices were prescribed in the written law of Moses.

2. All these however, were only weak figures of the sacrifice of Christ upon the cross; for sin was too great an evil, its guilt was of too black a die to be ever removed by the blood of sheep and oxen. No other atonement could possibly compensate for its enormity, than the excruciating sufferings of a God; therefore did he come. "In the head of the book it was written of him, that he should do the will of his Father." By the one oblation of himself he paid off all our debts, closed up the abyss of separation, cancelled the hand-writing of sin that lay against us, and the sanctified he perfected for ever.

3. Was not this enough? Most undoubtedly it was; nay, one drop of his blood was fully adequate to all these purposes. Why then is the same sacrifice daily renewed in the Mass? Why is he still immolated upon our altars? Why is his body mystically drained of his blood, by the separate consecrations of the two species? Because his love for us would have it so; he would leave us a standing memorial of his death; he would daily apply to our souls the infinite merits thereof, just as he prays for us still, though his prayer on the cross was already heard for us; he would, as a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech, continue to the end of time the same unbloody sacrifice; he was willing that his faithful on earth, united not only in spirit, but in outward ties of religion, should ever have this sacrifice before them, as the strongest bond of love, and the most perfect act of adoration.

Make a resolution to hear Mass every day, and to hear it with the devotion which so august a sacrifice requires. For this purpose go to the church as you would to Mount Calvary; adore Jesus Christ in his state of humiliation: pay him your homage with fervour at the foot of the altar. It is shameful in us and most displeasing to him, that he should be so much deserted in the midst of our churches, and that his court should be so empty, whilst earthly kings have their levees crowded.

"In every place there is a sacrifice, and a pure victim is offered to my name." Malic. i.

"He will then be our victim indeed, when we sacrifice ourselves to him." St. Gregory.

Twentieth Day.—On Alms Deeds.

1. We minister to Christ when we relieve the poor. He abides in the Eucharist to receive our adoration, and to become our nourishment; he abides in the poor to excite our compassion, and to be fed by us in our turn. Happy the man who gives alms to Jesus! but wretched is he who refuses to assist him. Shall we feed our dog, and let Christ famish with hunger!

2. What we give to the great ones of the earth may, in a great measure, be considered as forfeited: but what we present to God is always attended with advantage. He gives it back with interest. He repays with liberality the crumbs that are given for his sake; his rewards are laid up even for a cup of cold water. Play, luxury, and debauch, have ruined innumerable families, but alms have impoverished no one.

3. Men at the day of judgment shall be accountable for their alms; but what answer can the unfeeling rich ones make when the poor shall accuse them, when Jesus Christ himself shall reproach them with their insensibility? "Go, ye accursed, into eternal fire: I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was naked, and you did not clothe me," &c. A heart that is hard to the poor, is the heart of a reprobate; but on the contrary, a soul that is truly charitable, is a soul predestined. What can our Judge say against us, when he shall see our clothes upon himself, when he shall see our bread and our money in his own hands? We shall approach his awful tribunal with confidence, provided the poor be our advocates.

Consider seriously how you behave to the poor; whether you treat them as members of Jesus Christ, by doing them all the good in your power.

"He gives at interest to the Lord, who has pity on the poor." Proverbs xix.

"Give unto all, lest he whom you refuse should be Jesus Christ." St. Augustine.

Twenty-first Day—On Bad Example.

1. Bad example has damned more souls than the preaching and good example of all the saints together have been the means of saving.

2. Were the gates of hell to be laid open, scarcely would any one be found that would not say, it is such or such-a-one that has damned me. O what a reproach! We are commanded to love our enemies: why then should we destroy souls which have never done us an injury? A man who has been unfortunate enough to ruin souls redeemed by the blood of a God, hath much reason to fear for his salvation. What can we reasonably hope from Jesus Christ, after having torn from him what he hath so dearly purchased? O fathers and mothers, who do not live as Christians ought to live, it were far better for your children that they had never been born! You have given them life only to put them to death; that dreadful death which is eternal! When they shall require of you the heaven they have lost, what will you he able to answer them?

3. Let us clothe ourselves with Jesus Christ, according to the words of the apostle; let his conduct, his virtue, and his spirit shine forth in us, so that he may be remembered when we are seen. We contribute not less to our neighbour's salvation by an edifying life, than we do to his damnation by a scandalous one.

Be very careful to do nothing that may scandalize your neighbour; and humbly beg pardon of God for the sins you have occasioned.

"Wo be to the man by whom scandal cometh." St. Matt. xviii.

"The scandalous sinner must answer for the crimes which his bad example hath caused to be committed." Salvian.

Twenty-second Day.—On Mortification.

1. We are not Christians merely to be rich and to live at our ease. It was not necessary to institute Christianity for that purpose: the world might have been left as it was, under the empire of passion and opinion. The life of a Christian is a crucified life: unless the cross be embraced, faith must be renounced.

2. What doth the gospel say? "Blessed are those who weep: wo be to you, O rich, who have your consolation in this world!" Such is the language of the Holy Ghost. But it is now looked on as nonsense to believe that felicity consists in tears, and that the rich are unhappy.

3. The Son of God was to die on the cross, that he might take possession of his glory; the saints have arrived at heaven by the path of sufferings. Shall we then imagine that what the Son of God and the saints have so dearly purchased, shall be given to us for nothing? No; the cross is the distinctive mark and portion of the elect: a soul which suffers nothing, and is resolved to suffer nothing, bears the strongest character of a reprobate. We must of necessity suffer in this world or in the next.

Adore Christ crucified, and beg of him the grace to participate now in his suffering life, that you may be one day a partaker in his life of glory.

"Whoever doth not carry his cross is not worthy of me." Luke, xiv.

"What a shame to be a delicate member of a head crowned with thorns." St. Bernard.

Twenty-third Day.—On Conformity to the Will of God.

1. The greatest happiness of a rational creature is, to will that which his Creator willeth. It is in this, precisely, that real sanctity consists. The saints are saints only because their will corresponded with the will of God. Whatever virtue we may possess, if we have not that of conformity to the divine will, we are not truly virtuous.

2. A soul that is not satisfied with the will of God, seems to doubt, in some measure, of his authority. To desire that what he ordains and permits in this world should go on otherwise than it does, is to desire that God should not be master. Every thing that happens to us, happens by his order; and is it not just to acquiesce in whatever is ordained by infinite wisdom?

3. All things but sin fall out by God's appointment. Though his arm be raised to strike, we are sure that his hand is conducted by his heart. What have we to fear from a heart that loves us? We will then desire nothing but what he pleases; we will not complain of losses, sickness, trouble, &c. The name and the nature of these things are changed as they pass through the hands of God. What the world calls misfortunes, affliction, dishonour, is an advantage, a grace, and a favour from heaven, when considered in the order of providence.

Renounce your own will, and beg of God that his maybe accomplished in you.

"Be it so, Father, because it is thy will." Matthew xi.

"He is pleasing to God, to whom God is pleasing." St. Augustine.

Twenty-fourth Day.—Confidence in God.

1. God is the greatest parent of mankind; our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us to call him Father. Not a hair can even drop from our heads without his knowledge. His providence reaches from end to end, disposing all things sweetly. What madness, therefore, to doubt of his protection, or to be slow in trusting ourself to his guidance!

2. The insects are an object of his care; how much more we who are created to his image, and redeemed by the blood of his only-begotten Son! If God feed the infidels, who know him not; if he heaps favours on the impious, by whom he is blasphemed, what will he not do for Christians who honour and love him?

3. Our affairs are much better off when in his hands, than they can be in our own: let us therefore leave them all at his disposal. He is at the same time our Father and our Creator. The tenderness he has for his children obliges him to take care of them. He has promised us his protection; he will then be as good as his word. Sooner shall the heavens and the earth he destroyed, than that man should perish, who places his confidence in God.

Examine your heart, and see whether your confidence be worthy of the goodness of God, and the merits of Jesus Christ.

"Thou art my God: my lot is in thy hands." Psalm xxx.

"Throw yourself upon him, he will not withdraw to let you fall." St. Augustine.

Twenty-fifth Day.—On the Love of God.

1. God has loved us to such a degree, as to give us his only Son: had he any thing better he would have given it us. Is it not buying our love too dearly, to purchase it at so dear a rate? A trifling bounty from a fellow-creature is entitled to our love; why, then, shall we not love a bounty that is infinite? Why doth its being infinite render it less amiable?

2. God has strictly enjoined me to love him. Is a commandment rigorous, which orders us to love what is infinitely worthy of our affections? He commands us to love him with all our hearts. Is a heart so small as mine, too much for a God so great? But in saying all, he admits of no exception. Whatever share I give him, if I give him not all, I give him nothing.

3. If eternity could have an end, the torments of the damned in hell, even to the day of judgment, would not be too much to obtain this heavenly love. There is not one of these miserable souls that would not think itself happy, provided that, after ages of sufferings, it could love that infinite beauty. We can love God if we please: every moment invites us to it. Not to do so while it can be done, is a monstrous insensibility.

Disclaim every love but that of God alone, and endeavour to love him above all things.

"If I have not charity, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians xiii.

Twenty-sixth Day.—Love of Jesus Christ.

1. Nothing was ever purchased at so dear a rate as my soul. A divine life was given to redeem it. I deserved hell: justice cried out for punishment; but Christ would listen only to the emotions of his heart: it pleaded in my behalf, and I obtained forgiveness. If I return him not life for life, the least I can do is to return him love for love.

2. The dog that I feed, watches, caresses, and attends me: Jesus has given his blood for me, and continues to give me himself; yet I am still insensible. Learn, then, ungrateful soul! learn, I say, thy duty from a brute! thy dog is thy teacher and thy judge. If his example reform not thy heart, thou art more brutal than he.

3. We can feel for our friends; we are not insensible of the good they do us; we pique ourselves upon gratitude. Shall we then be ungrateful only to Christ? Shall he alone find us hard-hearted? Had we ever a friend that sacrificed himself for us?

Beg the love of Jesus from Jesus himself. Without his grace we shall never be able to love him.

"If any one love not the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed." 1 Corinthians vi.

"If I belong to him entirely for having created me, what shall I add for having been redeemed, and redeemed in so excellent a manner?" St. Bernard.

Twenty-seventh Day.—Love of our Neighbour.

1. If we love not our neighbour, we cannot love God. Whatever good we do, is to no purpose, if we do not love our brethren. Even martyrdom itself will not avail us, without charity.