pacific sacrifice or peace-offering. Oh, what a wonderful mystery is this! When thou celebratest, or assistest at the Holy Sacrifice, endeavour to offer it up and direct it to each and all of the ends just mentioned, namely, to honour the infinite majesty of Almighty God, to appease Him, to thank Him, and to beg graces from Him. 1f, moreover, thou unitest these thy intentions with those of Jesus, the primary minister in the Mass, they will be all the more acceptable to God and profitable to thyself.

III. Consider that this unbloody sacrifice of the cross is not less profitable to us than the bloody sacrifice of the cross. This latter was the general cause which wrought and completed the treasury of Christ's merits, for the benefit of all men in general. The former applies these merits and distributes them for the benefit of each individual, by bestowing on us the actual possession of these merits in proportion to the dispositions and co-operation it finds in each one. Since therefore thou art aware that Jesus on the altar places at thy disposition during the time of Mass such an inexhaustible fund, in order to enrich thee with His heavenly treasures, how canst thou remain listless and thoughtless during that time without heeding the greatness of the mystery and without eliciting those acts of worship and devotion which are absolutely required to render the Holy Sacrifice profitable in thy regard?

MONDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CORPUS CHRISTI,

Qui manducat meam carnem et bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet et ego in eo.-Joan. vi. 57.

He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.

I. CONSIDER that in the same way that our most loving Redeemer has deigned to institute in the Mass a renewal of the sacrifice of the cross, so also He has had the wondrous goodness to institute in the Holy Eucharist a prolongation and extension, as it were, of the mystery of His divine Incarnation. On the worthy communicant He bestows, by means of the sacramental union, a share of those exhaustless treasures which were the result of the hypostatic union of His most Sacred Humanity with the Eternal Word. See what an honour and dignity it was for Jesus to be assumed, as man, to the intimate communion of the Godhead; and yet He is loth to keep the benefit of this privilege to Himself alone, but would wish us also to be in a certain manner partakers of the same by means of Holy Communion. Claritatem quam dedisti mihi, dedi eis.—Joan. xvii. 22– The glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given to them, said He in His prayer to His heavenly Father-in the supper-room after He had given Holy Communion to the Apostles. He meant by these words that He had made His disciples partakers of that glory which He had received through the union of His human nature with the Word, by giving them His own Body and Blood in the Blessed Sacrament. Oh wondrous bounty of Jesus! Let it never be true that thou

shouldst be slow to thank Him for so wonderful a mystery, or fail to conceive a great esteem for it.

II. Consider that although this sacramental union is lower in dignity than the hypostatic union of Christ's manhood to the Eternal Word, it is nevertheless the closest and most intimate union we can hope for in this life, because at one and the same time it unites us with Christ bodily, spiritually and mystically. Firstly, it unites us bodily by the physical contact of His most pure flesh which sanctifies our bodies: it unites us spiritually with the Divinity which is hypostatically united with His sacred Body: it unites us mystically by making us mystical members of Jesus, animated by His divine Spirit and raised to a divine life: Qui adhæret Domino, unus spiritus est-1 Cor. vi. 17-He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. This divine life which sacramental union with Our Lord confers on us, is alluded to in these words: Ego vivo propter Patrem: et qui manducat me, vivet propter meJoan.vi. 58-As I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me the same also shall live by Me. As I live a divine life which is communicated to Me by means of the divine union of Persons, so also he that eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives a divine life by means of the sacramental union. How can we hear these truths and believe that Jesus is so intimately united with us, and yet live far from Him in thought and affection?

III. Consider that the sacramental union with Christ is called Communion, because by means of it He communicates to us all the treasures of His merits and satisfaction which He has gained for us: Pasceris in divitiis ejus-Ps. xxxvi. 3-Thou shalt be fed with His riches, without any other limitation than that of our own dispositions and capacity: In omnibus divites facti estis in illo.-1 Cor. i. 5-In all things you are made rich in Him, being put in possession of all the

riches Jesus possesses as Man-God. In giving Christ to us the Father has given us all things, according to those words of S. Paul: Quomodo non etiam cum illo omnia nobis donavit-Rom. viii. 32-How hath He not also, with Him, given us all things. So also Christ bestows on us all He has in giving us Himself in Holy Communion. But after so many Communions what fruit hast thou reaped? One Communion alone ought to suffice to make a saint of thee; and yet so many Communions have not been enough even to make thee live like a real religious.

TUESDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CORPUS CHRISTI.

Parasti in conspectu meo mensam adversus eos, qui tribulant me.-Ps. xxii. 5.

Thou hast prepared a table before me, against them that afflict me.

I. CONSIDER that Holy Communion serves us in a threefold capacity-as medicine, as armour, and as food. It serves as a medicine to cure the diseases of our ill-regulated passions. All our passions, whether of soul or body, are caused by the connection we have contracted with the sinful flesh of Adam; it is to cure these spiritual infirmities that Jesus comes in Holy Communion to unite His own deified flesh most intimately with our own, under the appearance of food, in order that if we have inherited our spiritual sickliness through our connection with the sinful flesh of Adam, so also by our union with the flesh of Christ our Redeemer we may obtain a remedy and a cure. Thus Holy Communion is our best and most effica

cious remedy against the sting of our rebellious flesh and the best means of checking the vicious whims of the old man. In proportion therefore as thou findest thy passions more boisterous and thy flesh more rebellious, approach Holy Communion with greater devotion and frequency, since it is a universal remedy that will heal all the diseases of thy soul.

II. Consider that Holy Communion is the best armour we can use against the assaults of the devil, as it possesses an especial virtue to put the infernal spirits to flight and conquer them-a power which

was shadowed forth in the unleavened loaves of Gideon, who routed the army of the Madianites. A soul that is well fortified with the Eucharistic Bread will never be overcome by the united efforts of all the legions of devils; they have an exceeding fear of the soul with whom Jesus is present, and who even after the sacramental species have ceased to exist, is defended in an especial manner by His loving Providence. If the sign of the cross is enough to put the evil spirits to flight, how much more Jesus Himself in Person? Si Deus pro nobis, quis contra nos?-Rom. viii. 31-If God be for us, who is against us? Endeavour therefore to keep closely united with Jesus, and thou wilt be victorious over all thy spiritual foes.

III. Consider that Holy Communion gives nerve and strength to work and toil for God much more effectually than the ember cakes which enabled Elias to walk for forty days and ascend the heights of Horeb. In this pilgrimage of life thou lackest the necessary strength to mount the cragged steeps of virtue and to overcome the hindrances that corrupt nature puts in thy path: and lo! Jesus sets before thee this banquet of His own most Holy Body and Blood, to strengthen thy weakness, to give thee courage to overcome the difficulties of the undertaking, and enkindle in thy heart a generous resolution to