when He was about to be betrayed by one, denied by another, and abandoned by all of them into the hands of His enemies? Wilt thou not learn from these instances of such surpassing love, to return good for evil and to love him who hates thee?

III. Consider that when Jesus instituted this most Holy Sacrament He foresaw that the only return He would receive for this excess of love in our regard would be an excess in the opposite direction of the most disgraceful treatment at the hands of men. He foresaw how His sacred Body would be trampled under foot by unbelievers, and insulted in the most shameful way; and, what is still worse, how amongst the faithful themselves, who profess to believe in His real presence in the consecrated Host, He would be left in utter abandonment on the altar, wearied and grieved by a thousand irreverences, and would even be received sacrilegiously into many a heart stained by most hideous crimes. And yet in the midst of all this darkness, our good Jesus did not withdraw the bright light of this His excessive love and undaunted patience Hospitabitur, et pascet, et potabit ingratos; et ad hæc amara audiet-Eccl. xxix. 31-He shall entertain and feed and give drink to the unthankful; and moreover he shall hear bitter words. Now if Jesus has chosen to submit in the Blessed Sacrament to so many and so great injuries and insults, and all for thy sake, why shouldst not thou also for His greater glory put up willingly and cheerfully with what is distasteful to thee? Why not endeavour, as far as it lies in thy power, to make Him some little compensation for the coarse ingratitude He meets with at the hands of the greater part of mankind, by oft-repeated visits and acts of adoration, which will cost thee only a few steps; humbling thy soul in His presence and bending thy knees to honour Him and offer Him thy tribute of adoration by thy interior and exterior acts of worship?

SATURDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CORPUS

CHRISTI.

Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem sæculi.-Matth. xxviii. 20.

Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.

I. CONSIDER that the object Jesus has in view in abiding with us in the Blessed Sacrament is to perpetuate in our behalf all the advantages which His visible presence on earth brought with it; to instruct and enlighten our minds, to heal our ailings, to encourage and strengthen us in the attainment of virtue. His first object then is to instruct and enlighten us from the tabernacle, as from His professor's chair. Non faciet avolare a te ultra præceptorem tuum-Isa. xxv. 20-He will not cause thy teacher to flee away from thee any more. And, pray, what wholesome truth is there that thou needest which Jesus does not teach thee as He darts forth from the sacred Host bright rays of light to enlighten thy mind and silently speaks to thy heart?-loquar ad cor ejus-Osea ii. 14.-S. Thomas Aquinas learnt more by devoutly remaining in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament than by reading the most learned books. Qui appropinquant pedibus ejus, accipient de doctrina illius-Deut. xxxiii. 3-They that approach to His feet shall receive of His doctrine. Oh how fortunate thou art to be able at all hours to hearken to the teaching of so great a master! But to what

extent dost thou frequent this school? How far art thou anxious to learn His heavenly doctrine? Remember, too, that if thou wouldst be taught by thy Lord, thy mere bodily presence is not enough unless thou draw nigh in spirit also, placing thyself, like Magda

lene, at His feet, to listen to His words and His teaching. Accedite ad eum et illuminamini-Ps. xxxiii. 6– Come ye to Him and be enlightened.

II. Consider that Christ remains on our altars to heal thee as of old Moses raised the brazen serpent in mid-air to heal the Israelites of the venomous bites of the serpents: Qui percussus aspexerit, vivet-Num. xxi. 8-Whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live. During the interval that our divine Redeemer held visible intercourse with men on earth, He continually worked miraculous cures on behalf of the bodily health of those who appealed to Him. Even more wondrous and oft-repeated favours does Jesus still confer, veiled under the sacramental species, on those souls who make devout recourse to Him. How many there are who when they run for help to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, are healed of their poisoned wounds! and if thou canst not succeed in recovering from thy own spiritual ailings, it is because thou art careless in betaking thyself to Jesus Who alone is able to make thee sound.

III. Consider that Jesus remains on our altars to encourage and urge thee on to acquire the virtues thou needest, by the examples He brings to thy mind of the virtues He Himself practised during His mortal life, as also by the examples of the virtues He actually gives thee under the sacramental species. The Blessed Sacrament, therefore, is a remembrance of all Jesus has done and undergone for thee, and it is on this account called by St. Augustine: Sacramentum memoriæ a sacrament of memories. Moreover, because this mysterious love-token is full of life and animation, it imparts courage and vigour to follow in Jesus' footsteps. Still more does it strengthen and encourage thee by reason of the example it puts before thy eyes of the virtues which Jesus actually shows thee therein as for instance of obedience in

coming down from heaven under the species at the bidding of the priest; of humility and patience by remaining so close a prisoner under the accidents and by putting up with so many irreverences and affronts for thy sake. Place thyself in the presence of Jesus and turn over diligently in thy mind the various virtues of which this sacrament is a memorial, and the virtues which He actually displayed therein. Imagine thou hearest the Eternal Father speaking to thee, and saying as He did to Moses from the tabernacle, Inspice et fac secundum exemplar-Ex. xxv. 40, and so thou wilt take fresh courage in the pursuit of virtue.

SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CORPUS CHRISTI.

Hoc facite in meam commemorationem-Luc. xxii. 19. Do this for a commemoration of Me.

I. CONSIDER that Jesus comes under the sacramental species not only to dwell amongst us, but also in order to offer Himself up as an unbloody victim in the sacrifice of the Mass, in which He daily renews the sacrifice of Calvary, thus giving us to understand how much He has at heart that we should bear in mind the bitter death He underwent for our sakes on

the cross. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass represents

His death and sacrifice on the cross to us in several ways. It represents it mystically by the separate consecration of the precious Blood under the appearance of wine, and of His adorable Body under the appearance of bread. It represents it virtually by

the Body of Christ remaining under the accidents as it were in a state of death. It represents it really by Our Lord's losing, when the species are consumed, that sacramental existence which by means of the consecration He again acquires. How then canst thou assist at this representation of the death of the Son of God with less attention and interest than thou wouldst bestow on the representation of some fictitious tragedy on a stage?

II. Consider that in the sacrifice of the Mass there is not merely a representation-but a renewal of the great sacrifice offered on Calvary to the Eternal Father, to whom it is just as acceptable as the bloody sacrifice on the cross. The reason is because in the Mass, the same victim is offered up as was offered up on Calvary; it is also the same High-Priest that offers it up, since Jesus is the primary minister in the Mass, and He offers it up to His Eternal Father for the same end and with the same intensity of love with which He offered up His bloody sacrifice. It is just as though he were again to shed the last drop of His blood on the cross. Moreover the worth and value of the Mass is not lessened one tittle by reason of the unworthiness of the priest who celebrates. This renewal of the sacrifice of the cross which is daily offered up on our altars was invented by Jesus in order that we might daily satisfy the debts and obligations we have contracted with Almighty God. Our first and chief obligation is that of honouring Him, and the Mass meets this requirement inasmuch as it is a holocaust: we have to appease Him for our sins, and it does this inasmuch as it is a propitiatory sacrifice: we owe Him thanks for benefits received, and we can fulfil this obligation in virtue of its being a Eucharistic Sacrifice, or Sacrifice of thanksgiving: and, finally, we have to beg from Him further blessings we stand in need of, and it effects this inasmuch as it is a