which is so indispensable for the reception of his gifts. Struggling, like another Jacob with God,' under the effort of this unsparing purification, the creature feels herself to be undergoing a sort of indescribable martyrdom. She has become the favoured object of Jesus' research; and, as He intends to give himself unreservedly to her, so He insists on her becoming entirely His. It is with a view to this, that he, in the delicate dealings of his mercy, subdues and breaks her, in order that he may detach her from creatures and from herself. The piercing eye of the Word perceives every least crease or fold of her spiritual being; his grace carries its jealous work right down to the division of soul and spirit, and reaches to the very joints and marrow, scrutinising and unmercifully probing the thoughts and intents of the heart. As the Prophet describes the refiner of the silver and gold, which is to form the king's crown and sceptre,3 so our divine Lord: he shall sit, refining and cleansing, in the crucible, this soul so dear to him, that he wishes to wear her as one of the precious jewels of his everlasting diadem. Nothing could exceed his zeal in this work, which, in his eyes, is grander far than the creation of a thousand worlds. He watches, he fans, the flame of the furnace, and he himself is called a consuming fire. When the senses have no more vile vapours to emit; when the dross of the spirit, which is the last to yield, has got detached from the gold, then does the divine purifier show it, with complacency, to the gaze of men and angels; its lustre is all he would have it be; so he may safely produce on it a faithful image of himself. When the Jewish people were led forth by Moses from Egypt, they said: The Lord God hath called us; we will go three days' journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice unto the Lord our God." In like manner, 1 Gen. xxxii. 24. 2 Heb. iv. 12, 13. 3 Malach. iii. 3. 5 Exod. iii. 18. the disciples of Jesus have retired into the wilderness, as our to-day's Gospel tells us; and, after three days, they have been fed with a miraculous bread, which foretold the victim of the great Sacrifice, of which the Hebrew one was a figure. In a few moments, both the bread and the figure are to make way, on the altar before which we are standing, for the highest possible realities. Let us, then, go forth from the land of bondage of our sins; and since our Lord's merciful invitation comes to us so repeatedly, let our souls get the habit of keeping away from the frivolities of earth, and from worldly thoughts. And now as we sing the Offertory-anthem, let us beseech our Lord that he may graciously give us strength to advance further into that interior desert, where he is always the most inclined to hear us, and where he is most liberal with his graces. OFFERTORY. Perfect thou my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps be not moved: incline thine ear unto me, and graciously hear my words: show forth thy wonderful mercies, O thou that savest them, who trust in thee, O Lord. Perfice gressus meos in semitis tuis, ut non moveantur vestigia mea inclina aurem tuam, et exaudi verba mea: mirifica misericordias tuas, qui salvos facis sperantes in te, Domine. The efficacy of our prayers depends on this,-that the object of those prayers be prompted and animated by faith. The Church has just been receiving her children's offerings for the Sacrifice; she now asks, in the Secret, that we may all be endowed with faith. SECRET. Be appeased, O Lord, by our humble prayers, and mercifully receive the offerings of thy people and, that the : Propitiare, Domine, supplicationibus nostris, et has populi tui oblationes benignus assume: et ut nullius sit irritum votum, nullius vacua postulatio, præsta; ut quod fideliter petimus, efficaciter consequamur. Per Dominum. Vows and prayers of none may be in vain, grant, that we may effectually obtain, what we ask with faith. The other Secrets as in page 135. We were just admiring the work of purification, achieved by the Angel of the Covenant in his chosen souls. The Prophet Malachy, who spoke to us about this mystery of refining the elect, tells us, in the next verse, why all this is done; his words give us an explanation of the Communion-anthem we are now going to chant: And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years.1 COMMUNION. Circuibo, et immolabo in tabernaculo ejus hostiam jubilationis: cantabo et psalmum dicam Domino. I will go up, and sacrifice, in his temple, a victim of praise: I will sing, and repeat a psalm to the Lord. The sacred Mysteries are the true fire that purifies: they entirely cleanse from the remnants of sin every Christian that allows their divine heat to tell upon him; they also strengthen him in the path of perfection. Let us, then, unite with the Church in this prayer: POSTCOMMUNION. Repleti sumus, Domine, muneribus tuis: tribue quæsumus; ut eorum et mundemur effectu, et muniamur auxilio, Per Dominum. We have been filled, O Lord, with thy gifts; grant, we beseech thee, that we may be cleansed by their efficacy, and strengthened by their aid. Through, etc. The other Postcommunions, as in page 137. Malach. iii. 4. VESPERS. The Psalms, Capitulum, Hymn, and Versicle, as above, pages 74-84. ANTIPHON OF THE MAGNIFICAT. I have compassion on the multitude, for behold! they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat; and, if I send them away fasting, they will faint in the way. Alleluia. LET US PRAY. O God of all power, to whom belongs whatsoever is best: implant in our hearts the love of thy name, and grant us an increase of religion: that thou mayst nourish what is good in us, and, whilst we make endeavours after virtue, mayst guard the things thus nourished. Through, etc. Misereor super turbam, quia ecce jam triduo sustinent me, nec habent quod manducent, et si dimisero eos jejunos, deficient in via. Alleluia. OREMUS. Deus virtutum, cujus est totum quod est optimum, insere pectoribus nostris amorem tui nominis, et præsta in nobis religionis augmentum, ut quæ sunt bona nutrias, ac pietatis studio, quæ sunt nutrita, custodias. Per Dominum. VOL. XI. N THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. The Dominical cycle of the Time after Pentecost completes to-day its first seven. Previous to the general adoption of the changes introduced into the Sunday Gospels for this portion of the Year, the Gospel of the multiplication of the seven loaves gave its name to the seventh Sunday; and the mystery it contains is still evident in more than one section of to-day's liturgy. As we have already seen, this mystery was that of the consummation of the perfect in the repose or rest of God himself; it was the fruitful peace of the divine union. Nothing, then, could be more fitting, than that Solomon, who is the Peaceful by excellence, the sacred and authorised chanter of the nuptial Canticle, should have been selected to come forward, on this day, to speak the praises of infinite Wisdom, and reveal her ways to the children of men. When Easter is kept as late in April as it is possible, the seventh Sunday after Pentecost is the first of the month of August; and the Church then begins, in her night Office, the lessons from the Sapiential Books. Otherwise, she continues the historic scriptures, and that, some years, for five weeks more;-but, even in that case, Eternal Wisdom maintains her rights to this Sunday, which the number of Seven had already made hers in so special a way. For, when we cannot have the inspired instructions of Proverbs, we have Solomon's own example preaching to us in the third book of Kings; we find him preferring Wisdom to |