nation and passion of Christ, and is fired by the love of him.

Every one ought to receive the body of his Redeemer sacramentally and with loving reverence on certain days and at stated times; and in doing so, to seek more the honour and glory of God than his own comfort and good; but he who does not prepare himself until the eve of a festival is at hand, or until custom obliges him to do so, will be often unprepared.

Blessed is he who offers himself up as a sacrifice to the Lord whenever he goes to communion!

Thou shouldst humble thyself most when thou feelest within thee little or no devotion; and yet thou shouldst not be too much cast down by the want of this grace. Ask for the grace of devotion earnestly, seek for it wistfully, wait for it patiently and trustfully, receive it thankfully, keep it humbly, heedfully make the most of it, and leave to God the manner and the continuance of this holy visitation : though thou mayest blame thyself and thy sins when it is not bestowed, and when it is suddenly withdrawn.

Beware of curious and bootless searching into this mighty sacrament, if thou wouldst not be overwhelmed in the depths of doubt." He that is a searcher of majesty, shall be oppressed by glory." God can do more than man can understand. Blessed is that single-mindedness which

leaves the difficult ways of dispute, and follows the even and sure path of the commandments of God. Many have lost their devotion while seeking into high things. Faith is required of thee and an honest life; not the height of understanding, not the depth of the mysteries of God. If thou canst not understand the things that are beneath thee, how wouldst thou understand those that are above thee? Bow thyself down to God, submit thy senses to faith, and the light of knowledge will be given to thee so far as it shall be needful to thee.

Some are strongly tempted about faith in this sacrament: but this is not their fault but rather that of the enemy. Heed not such thoughts, argue not with them, nor seek to answer doubts sent by the devil; believe only in the words of God; believe in his prophets and saints, and the wicked enemy will fly from thee. Go on with a true and undoubting faith; and draw near to the sacrament with single-hearted reverence: and whatever thou canst not understand, leave trustfully to Almighty God.

Human reason is weak and may be mistaken; but true faith cannot be deceived. God the everlasting and the great, the God of endless power, does great and inscrutable things in heaven and on earth, and there is no searching into his wonderful works.-IMITATION OF CHRIST.

DEATH OF THE SINNER.

Then does the dying sinner find in his remembrance of the past, nought but regrets which overwhelm him; in all that is going on around nought but sights which afflict him; in thoughts of the future, nought but horrors which terrify him. Not knowing to whom to turn for help; neither to creatures who are slipping from him, nor to the world which is passing away, nor to man who cannot save him from death, nor to the righteous God whom he looks upon as a declared enemy from whom he can no longer hope for mercy-he flounders amid the horrors of his state, and struggles to escape from death which is grasping hold of him, or to escape, at least, from himself. Something gloomy and fierce glares from his dying eyes and betrays the anguish of his soul; from the depth of his sorrow, he utters words, broken by sighs, which are only half-heard; and no one can tell whether they spring from despair or from repentance. He casts startled glances upon the image of a crucified God, and none can say whether they express fear or hope, hatred or love: spasms come over him, and one doubts whether they betoken that his body is at its last gasp, or that his soul feels the near approach of its judge: he sighs deeply, and

one knows not if these sighs break forth from the remembrance of his sins or from despair that he must die. At length, amid all these sad struggles, his eyes become fixed; a shade steals over his countenance; his features change; his livid lips open of themselves; his whole being quivers; and, in this last effort, his unhappy soul parts, as if with reluctance, from his dust-formed body; falls into the hand of God; and finds itself all alone at the foot of His dreadful judgment-seat.-MASSILLON.

FEW ARE CHOSEN.

Let me suppose that your last hour and the end of the world is come; that the heavens are about to open above our heads and Jesus Christ to appear in his glory in the midst of this church; that you are now gathered together to hear him, like trembling criminals on whom a favourable judgment or a doom of everlasting death is about to be passed; for, deceive yourselves as you may, you will die just such as you now are all the plans of amendment which now fool you, will fool you on to your deathbed such is the experience of all ages. You will find nothing changed about you save that, perhaps, the account which you will then have

to give will be a little longer than that for which you would have been called upon today: so that by thinking what would be your lot if you were to be judged at this instant, you may almost tell for a certainty what will happen to you at your death.

Now then, I ask you, o'erwhelmed myself with fear and without separating my lot from yours in this matter, but arousing within me that same state of mind which I wish you to put on: I ask you now, if Jesus Christ were now to appear in this church, in this congregation, to judge us, to make the fearful separation of the goats and the sheep, do you think that the greater number of us all would be placed on the right hand? Do you think that we should at least be equally divided? Do you think that there would be found amongst us even ten just ones, whom the Lord could not heretofore find in five whole cities? I ask it of you. You do not know; and I myself, I do not know. Thou only, oh God! dost know those who belong to thee. But if we know not who do belong to him, we know, at all events, that sinners do not belong to him. What then are those now preWealth and rank go for nothing: you will be stript of them before the day of judgment: what then are those now present? A great many sinners who do not wish to be converted a still greater number who do wish

sent?