The LORD is my Strength and my Shield: my heart hath trusted in Him, and I am helped therefore my heart danceth for joy, and in my song will I praise Him.

The LORD is my Strength and He is the wholesome Defence of His Anointed.

O save Thy people, and give Thy blessing unto Thine inheritance : feed them, and set them up for ever.

Glory be to the FATHER, &c.
As it was in the beginning, &c.

S. PETER.

"Feed My sheep."-S. John xxi. 16.

When our LORD was about to confide His sheep and lambs to S. Peter, He asked him first, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these ?" And to this Peter answered, "Yea, LORD, Thou knowest that I love Thee." In which answer we observe the humility of the Apostle, not daring to say that he loved CHRIST more than others, and not trusting to his own knowledge of himself, but appealing to the knowledge of CHRIST, "Thou knowest that I love Thee." But the question is thrice asked, and thrice

answered. Why was this? One reason we may suppose was, that the threefold confession of love might replace, as it were, the threefold denial in the judgment-hall; and another reason we may suppose was, in order that his love might be chastened and deepened by godly sorrow. And so it was, Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me?" But beyond this, our LORD's triple examination of the love of His chief Apostle was to signify that the pastor of His sheep ought to be very deeply rooted in charity. Peter is taken in lieu of all, and the question put to him is put to all pastors. They are to love CHRIST more than their goods, more than their relations and friends, more than themselves. They are to strive to love Him exceedingly and perfectly. It is 'feed thy sheep, or thy lambs," but My lambs and My sheep; to give pastors to understand that they are not the lords of the flock, but only the substitutes of CHRIST, and that the love which they bear Him is to be shown in their loving and tender care for the flock committed to them.

not ""

Again, "Feed My sheep, feed My lambs," is to point out the disinterestedness which distinguishes the true shepherd from the hireling. "Feed My sheep," not thyself;

seek My glory, not thine; seek My interest, not thine. But alas! how many "seek their own, not the things which are JESUS CHRIST'S."

And He Who confides His sheep to His Priests and Pastors, has also told His sheep to submit to their Pastors. "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief."

Ŏ admirable care of the Good Shepherd for His flock! Not content with loving the sheep Himself, He inspires His Pastors with the same love. And we who are the sheep of His pasture will love Him in His shepherds we will pray for them, submit to them, and show them great respect for His sake. But more than this: if it is for the shepherds to feed the sheep, then the sheep must come to be fed, with doctrine, with the Word, with Sacraments, with the examples of good life, and with the desire of growing in grace; that when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, they, as well as their Pastors, may receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. And meanwhile may the LORD so gather His sheep together, that there may be "one fold and one shepherd;" "that they all may be one, as Thou, FATHER, art in Me, and I in

Thee, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

O Sovereign Pastor, Holy JESUS, King of Saints and Prince of the Catholic Church! preserve Thy flock, which Thou hast purchased with Thy Right Hand, and redeemed and cleansed with Thy Blood; the whole Catholic Church from one end of the earth to the other; she is founded upon a rock, but planted in the sea! O preserve her safe from schism, heresy, and sacrilege. Unite all her members with the bands of faith, hope, and charity, and an external communion when it shall seem good in Thine eyes. Let the daily sacrifice of prayer and sacramental thanksgiving never cease, but be for ever presented to Thee, and for ever united to the intercession of her dearest LORD, and for ever prevail for the obtaining for every one of its members grace and blessing, pardon and salvation. Amen.

O good and gracious Shepherd, grant me that I may cast very deep roots in humility and charity, so that I may attain to the end of Thy commandments, which is to love Thee with a pure heart and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith; and that, built up in Thee, I may persevere to the end, till I come where Thou art, and

may love Thee, with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST, world without end. Amen. Our FATHER, &c.

Blessed feasts of blessed martyrs,
Saintly days of saintly men!
With affection's recollections,
Greet we your return again.

Mighty deeds they wrought, and wonders,
While a frame of flesh they bore:
We with meetest praise and sweetest,
Honour them for evermore.

Faith unblenching, Hope unquenching,
Well loved LORD, and single heart,-
Thus they, glorious and victorious,
Bore the martyr's happy part,

While they pass'd through divers sorrows,
Till they sank by death oppressed,

Earth's rejected were elected

To have portion with the Blest.

By contempt of worldly pleasures,
And by mighty battles done,
They have reached the Land of Angels,
And with them are knit in one.

They are made coheirs of glory,
And they sit with CHRIST on high :
O that, as He heard their weeping,
He may also hear our cry;