that in his utter astonishment he exclaimed: Non lavabis mihi pedes in æternum-Thou shalt never wash my feet, how much greater sentiments of awe and reverence ought to awake in thy heart on beholding with the eye of faith Jesus reduced to so lowly a condition under the appearance of bread and wine, in order to wash thee with His blood, and feed thee with His flesh!

II. Consider that Jesus washed the dirt from the feet of His Apostles before giving them Holy Communion, to signify the cleanness of heart that is required by way of preparation for Holy Communion, inasmuch as this cleanness of heart ought to consist in freedom, not only from mortal sin, but also from venial faults, and from all inordinate and wrong motions of love and hatred which are, as it were, the feet of the soul. In order to acquire this cleanness of heart, thou must needs wash thy soul by sacramental confession, and also immediately before Communion make acts of contrition in imitation of holy Job, who said: Antequam comedam suspiro-Job iii. 24 -Before I eat I sigh. It is well that these acts of sorrow should be general, including all thy sins, known or unknown, confessed or not confessed, because if by any chance thou shouldst receive Communion in a state of mortal sin, in good faith, through some inculpable ignorance, thou wouldst be enabled by means of this general sorrow, although itself imperfect, to rise from the death of sin to the life of grace in virtue of the Blessed Sacrament.

III. Consider that by means of this typical washing of the feet Our Lord teaches thee what are the acts of virtue thou oughtest to practise with regard to thy neighbour, by way of preparation for Holy Communion. They consist in acts of humility and charity, in imitation of the example Jesus has set thee: Exemplum dedi vobis, ut quemadmodum ego feci vobis, ita et vos

faciatis-Joan. xiii. 15-I have given you an example, that as I have done, so do you also. Thou must also elicit acts of these two virtues of humility and charity in honour of thy Saviour, Who lowers Himself to such a degree to manifest the extreme refinement of His love for thee in this sacrament. Would to God that on His entrance into thy breast, Jesus be not forced to reproach thee as He did the Pharisee of the Gospel: Intravi in domum tuam; aquam pedibus meis non dedisti-Luc. vii. 44-I entered into thy house; thou gavest Me no water for My feet-the water, namely, of wholesome compunction of heart, with which to wash at one and the same time My feet and thy own soul: oleo caput meum non unxisti-My head with oil thou didst not anoint, by pouring forth from thy heart the sweetsmelling oil of devout affections: osculum mihi non dedisti-thou gavest Me no kiss, as a sign of love and peace never more to be violated.

THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.

Cum dilexisset suos qui erant in mundo, in finem dilexit eos. -Joan. xiii. 1.

Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them unto the end.

I. CONSIDER the excessive tenderness of the love of Jesus in the institution of the Holy Eucharist, firstly by reason of the gift itself, in which under the sacramental species He bestows on thee His flesh, His blood, His soul, and His Divinity, with all its untold treasures and in such a manner, too, that in giving thee this morsel, He gives thee all that He has that is precious in the treasures of His divinity.

And

wilt thou not even take the trouble of thanking Him for so great a gift, and feel thyself constrained to love Him in return for such boundless love? Any trifling token of love thou receivest from a fellow-creature smites thy heart, and forces thee to love him in return; and can it be that a God Who gives thee His whole Self in the excess of His love, cannot succeed in winning over thy heart, and oblige thee to love Him in return? Dost thou not blush at thy chariness in the scanty return thou hast hitherto made for the prodigal liberality of thy God?

II. Consider the wondrous tenderness of Jesus' love in the manner in which He gives thee Himself, coming down from the bosom of His Eternal Father to clothe Himself with the sacramental species, in order thus to enter thy breast, and become one with thee after the fashion of food, thus linking, as it were, together His own most holy body with thy sinful flesh, His own divine Spirit with thy soul, His divinity with thy humanity. There is no one thing that is more closely united with us than our food, which, once assimilated to the system, cannot possibly be disparted. How far dost thou on thy side further this so close a union, invented by the love Jesus bears thee how far dost thou endeavour to keep lovingly united to Him in thought and affection? It is, alas! to be feared that even during the short space of time that He actually tarries in thy breast, thou art perhaps far away from Him in both thought and affection!

III. Consider what was the end and intent Jesus proposed to Himself in the sacramental union. It was no other than that He might sanctify our bodies with His most pure flesh, sanctify our souls with His soul and divinity, to such a degree that we should be animated with His Spirit and live a life more divine than human, according to the saying of the Apostle : Vivo ego, jam non ego; vivit vero in me Christus-Gal. ii.

20-I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. The alchemists of old pretended to be able to give any base metal the beauty and valuable qualities of gold, by means of a certain extract obtained from gold by dint of fire and labour. So also Jesus unites Himself with us under the sacramental species containing the quintessence of all that is divine, in order to change us into divine beings. But what effect can these inventions of divine love work in thee, if whilst Jesus is intimately present to thee, thou knowest not how to keep thyself present to Him by means of the powers of thy soul? If thou wouldst reap abundant fruit from this blessed union, thou must, when thou receivest Jesus into thy breast, keep thy heart aloof from all created things, and withdraw thy soul into its own solitude to entertain there thy God alone: thus will be verified in thee those words of Isaias, xlv. 14: Tantum in te est Deus-Only in Thee is God; only Jesus in thy memory; only Jesus in thy understanding; Jesus alone in thy will.

FRIDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CORPUS CHRISTI.

Sciens Jesus quia venit hora ejus, ut transeat ex hoc mundo ad Patrem in finem dilexit eos.-Joan,

xiii. 1.

Jesus knowing that His hour was come, that He should pass out of this world to the Father. He loved them unto the end.

I. CONSIDER what great lustre the mystery of the Holy Eucharist receives from the circumstances of the particular time when it was instituted by our divine

Redeemer. Knowing that the hour had arrived for Him to leave His disciples, He determined on making good the privation of His natural and visible presence by His sacramental presence, and thus to give the finishing stroke to the work of our salvation. As he had come down on earth to put on our mortal flesh without leaving His Father, so now He wished to return to His Father without leaving His disciples. He thus gave proof of how strongly He was bound by the ties of love to His disciples, since He could not make up His mind to part from them even in death. Delicio mea esse cum filiis hominum-Prov. viii. 31-My delight is to be with the children of men. But if Jesus cannot for an instant be at a distance from His ungrateful creatures, how canst thou be so little anxious to betake thyself to His loving presence in the Blessed Sacrament, where He awaits thy coming and offers Himself to thee, to be thy guide, thy physician, thy consolation and thy strength! Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos-Matth. xi. 28 -Come to me, all ye that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you.

II. Consider a further and still greater refinement of love in the circumstance of the particular time of the institution, on which the Apostle dwells: In qua nocte tradebatur-1 Cor. xi. 23—the same night on which He was betrayed; thus contrasting an excess of treachery with an excess of love, and causing the light of His goodness to shine forth all the more brilliantly 'mid the darkness of human malice: Lux in tenebris lucet— Joan. i. 5-The light shineth in darkness. Is it not enough to make one shudder to see men plotting against the life of Jesus in order to drive Him far from them, whilst He, on that memorable night, is contriving by such wondrous means to remain with them on earth? to see Him spreading a banquet of heavenly delights for His disciples on that very night