wisdom, power and glory. No sooner has a child obtained the faculty of speaking, but he is taught to bless himself in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. It is by these sacred names of the adorable Trinity that every exorcism, consecration and benediction is performed, all our sacrifices and prayers are offered, every good action is begun and ended, and our souls are sent forth at the awful hour of death and recommended to the divine mercy, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to denote that there is no grace, no justification, no salvation, but by the faith of Trinity. Without the belief of it we cannot understand the incarnation of the Son of God, or the mystery of our redemption; nor was it possible for us to have the least idea of it if God had not vouchsafed to reveal it, it being impenetrable, unsearchable, incomprehensible, and infinitely above the reach of all human reason, though it is not against reason to believe it, since nothing can be more conformable to right reason than to believe most firmly what God has revealed, though reason be not able to comprehend or clearly understand it. It is indeed evident to reason itself, that there is only one God. and that there can be no more, two beings absolutely infinite and two universal sources of perfection, implying a contradiction, which made St. Athanasius say, that polytheism, or a plurality of Gods, is atheism or .a nullity of Gods; for two free all-powerful beings are incompatible and destroy each other, since the power of one could be restrained and his counsels discovered by the other. The very uniform design of the universe shews, that there is but one only Author and Sovereign Ruler of all things; none but the fool can deny it, as the Scripture says. We need but open our eyes to be convinced of the existence of this Supreme Being; the Heavens publish his glory, the sun announces his Majesty, the stars proclaim his magnificence, and the whole universe discovers his infinite power, wisdom and providence. But the mystery of the Trinity is infinitely beyond the reach of every creature, and surpasses the capacity of all human understanding; the most subtle philosophers, and the brightest wits, after all their study and search of natural causes and effects for so many ages, could never attain to it; nay, if you except some of the holy Patriarchs and Prophets, to whom it seems to have been notified by a special revelation, the Israelites and Jews, who were God's own chosen people, seem to have been stranger's to this sublime mystery. An explicit and distinct knowledge and belief of it was reserved for the children of the new Testament. With what awful respect ought we then to celebrate this day's solemnity, which is dedicated to the everblessed Trinity? How gratefully ought we to acknowledge the infinite goodness and mercy of the Lord, in calling us to this admirable light of faith and enrolling us among his true worshippers? Such unlimited bounty should excite us this day to

consecrate afresh the three powers of our souls, our memory, understanding and will, to the Three Persons of the most Holy Trinity, and never to cease paying them an unfeigned homage of praise, love and adoration, but to refer our whole being, our life and all our actions to the honour and glory of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, as the Saints and Angels do in Heaven for all eternity. This is what we solemnly promised at the sacred font, when we were spiritually born in the Church, and baptized in the name of the most Holy Trinity. To animate you, therefore, to a faithful correspondence with these important duties, permit me to lay before you the signal grace and mercy bestowed on you at your baptism, and the weighty obligations which you have thereby contracted. Let us first implore the light of the Holy Ghost, through the intercession of the blessed Virgin, &c. Ave Maria.

St. Paul, speaking of the Sacrament of Baptism, Ephes. c. v. v. 25, 26, says, that Christ loved his Church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life; and again, Tit. c. iii. v. 5. He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Ghost. This is the sovereign remedy which his infinite goodness established for the remission of original sin, wherein we were all born. By virtue of it we are re-born and receive a new life in Jesus Christ; our souls are raised from a state of spiritual death and restored to the life of grace, and it is for this reason that baptism is called a sacrament of the dead. It is allowed to be a sacrament of the new Law, even by those who have rejected most of the other sacraments. Its necessity may be proved from the words of Christ to his Apostles, when he commissioned them to teach and baptize all nations; for he immediately adds, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned; in which words he requires that all nations should believe the truths taught by the Apostles, and consequently be baptized, promising salvation, not to faith alone, but to faith and baptism together, which shews the necessity of the one as well as of the other. The necessity of baptism also appears evidently from St. John, c. ii. v. 5. where our Saviour expressly says, that unless a man be re-born of water aud the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God; from whence it follows clearly, that as no man can enter into this world, or enjoy a corporal life, except he be born of his carnal parents, so, no one can enter into Heaven, or attain to life everlasting, unless he be regenerated or gets a second birth in Jesus Christ, by being baptized with the external element of water and the internal virtue of the Holy Ghost; for where actual baptism of water cannot be had, it must, at least be in desire, there being but two cases in which the want of this sacrament may be supplied; the first is martyrdom, otherwise called Baptism of Blood; the second is Baptism of Spirit; or Baptism of the Holy Ghost, that is, an ardent desire

of receiving the Sacrament of Baptism with a perfect repentance. Baptism was prefigured in the old Law by the Sacrament of Circumcision, by the Ark of Noah at the time of the deluge, whereby the world was purged; by the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea, and their deliverance from the bondage of Pharao; by the washing of Naaman the Syrian in the River of Jordan; by the Probatica of Jerusalem and by the baptism of St. John the Baptist.

The necessity and obligation of receiving this sacrament, commenced in general after our Saviour's ascension, when the Gospel was sufficiently promulged; it was then the Apostles began publicly to execute the commission given to them by their Divine Master to teach all nations, and to administer baptism in water, without exception to all persons both young and old that were converted to Christianity, even to such as had received the Holy Ghost, and consequently who had been already baptized by the Spirit, as we read in Acts, ch. ii. viii, ix. x. xvi. and xxii. Did we but seriously consider the gift of God, and the special favour he conferred on us by calling us thus to the light of his Gospel and the pale of his Church, by the labours of his Apostles and their successors, we would be convinced that we can never return him sufficiennt thanks for his mercy; it is so great a benefit, so signal a grace, that it calls loudly upon us for the most grateful acknowledgment and the most faithful correspondence on our part. Whilst thousands of others are left perishing in idolatry, and in their nátive misery, whilst they are out of the pale of the Church and excluded from the communion of saints; whilst they are seduced by error, blinded by infidelity, and, as the Scripture expresses it, sitting in darkness and the gloomy shades of death; whilst they are tossed to and fro by every blast of false doctrine, and wandering away from the paths of salvation, the Lord in his infinite mercy has vouchsafed to call us to the true saving faith, and to place us in the bosom of his Church by the regenerative grace of our baptism. By means of this grace we have been made Christians and children of God, and heirs of everlasting life. By nature we have been conceived in iniquity, and born children of wrath and slaves of Satan, liable to eternal misery; but by the grace of baptism, we have been re-born the adoptive children of the eternal Father, the brothers and co-heirs of Jesus Christ, and the living temples of the Holy Ghost; we have been rescued from the jaws of the infernal dragon, delivered from the bondage of sin, sanctified and consecrated by the sprinkling of the precious blood of our Blessed Redeemer. In short, we have been sealed with the unction of the Divine Spirit, raised to a royal dignity and priesthood, as St. Peter speaks, 1 Ep. c. ii. v. 9. and advanced to the participation of the divine nature, when the character of a Christian was stamped on us and imprinted in our souls at our receiving baptism in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. To denote these singular graces, advantages and prerogatives of baptism, the three persons of the most Holy Trinity appeared at the time our Saviour was baptized by St. John in the river Jordan; the Father by the voice that was heard, saying, This is my beloved Son; the Son under the form of man, and the Holy Ghost under the form of a dove; the Heavens at the same time opening to give us to understand, that Baptism not only constitutes us the adoptive Sons of God, and restores to us the innocence of a dove, but also opens the gates of Heaven for us and gives us an unquestionable right and title to the enjoyment of eternal glory.

The character of a Christian is, of course, a character of holiness; a character of such honour, eminence and dignity, that, as St. Augustine says, 1. 5. de civ. c. 10. the Emperor Theodosius justly looked upon all the honours, dignities, and pompous titles of the world, as nothing in comparison of it. It is so noble a character that St. Lewis King of France, preferred the honour of being a Christian to that of being monarch of one of the most flourishing kingdoms of the earth; for which rea son he always paid more attention and regard to the title, which he took from the place of his baptism, than to that which he derived from the place of his coronation. The character of baptism is, in fine, a permanent and indelible character, that does not vanish or forsake a person at the hour of death, but follows him to the tribunal of God, and remains like a spiritual mark or seal imprinted in his soul for all eternity, either for his greater glory in Heaven, if he lives up to it here on earth, or for his greater confusion in hell, in case his life be not answerable to its dignity, or does not correspond to the weighty obligations and duties that are thereto annexed.

And really, as the dignity of a Christian and child of God is so very eminent, the obligations that attend this dignity are great in proportion, and require that we should demean ourselves in a manner becoming so exalted a rank, and worthy of so noble a character. The renowned St. Basil says, that whoever has received the baptism of the law of grace, has obliged himself by an irrevocable and indispensable contract to imitate Jesus Christ, to copy after the virtues of his most holy life, and to endeavour to resemble him as an image resembles its original. This is our duty in quality of Christians and disciples of Christ. We are to see and do according to the example he has set before our eyes; as the Scripture says, Exod. We are to be clothed with Jesus Christ, as St. Paul speaks, 3 Galat. We are to learn from him to be meek and humble of heart; we are to take up our Cross and follow him; we are to bear a resemblance of his mortification in our mortal bodies; for as he is our Head, we his members; he our Pastor, we his flock; he our Pontiff, we his Church; he our Divine Master and Legislator, we his people, his conquest, and the price of

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his blood; if there be no likeness or resemblance of him in us, though we should otherwise have all the perfections of Angels, God will not acknowledge nor count us in the number of his elect, since, according to St. Paul, those who are predestinated by him must be conformable to the image of his Son; they must walk in his footsteps by an imitation of his virtues, and an inviolable observance of his laws; they must renounce their own will, and seek to do in all things the will of God; they must curb and correct their passions and natural inclinations by self-denial and mortification, if they mean to support the glorious character and dignity of disciples of Jesus Christ; for, as the Apostle teaches, Galat. c. v. v. 24. They who are of Christ have crucified their flesh with their vices and concupiscences; from whence it follows, that such as do not comply with these necessary duties are excluded from the number of his disciples, and, of course, from the participation of his glory. This is what made Tertullian call a Christian, who lives up to his character, a man crucified and dead to the pomps of the world and the deeds of the flesh; that is, to his own corrupt inclinations and passions. Wherefore, to be a Christian it is not sufficient to believe in Jesus Christ, and make outward profession of his doctrine, but it is likewise necessary to observe his law and avoid every thing that it forbids, and omit nothing it commands; for as every one who formerly received Circumcision incurred thereby a strict obligation to fulfil all the precepts of the Jewish law, Gal. v. 3. so in like manner every one that is regenerated in the laver of Baptism is bound to keep all the commandments and precepts of the Gospel, to serve God in spirit and truth, and to edify his neighbour by the good odour of Christian virtues and an innocent life. Hence, when our Saviour said to his Apostles, go, and baptize all nations, &c. he immediately added, teach them to observe whatever I commanded you; to give us to understand that we must square our actions according to his law, join obedience to the purity of our belief, and honour our faith by the holiness of our lives.

It is to inculcate these obligations, as well as to represent the graces and wonderful effects of Baptism, that the Church, ever since the earliest years of Christianity, has made use of so many sacred ceremonies in the solemn administration of this Sacrament. Among the rest, in former ages the newly hap tized were clothed in white garments for the space of eight days, during which time they appeared daily in the Church with a Crown or Garland on their heads, and a burning light in their hands. According to the modern discipline, the heads of such as are baptized are covered with a white linen cloth, and a lighted taper is put into their hands; the one to denote the innocence and purity required in a Christian, the other to signify the fire of charity with which his heart ought to be always inflamed, and the light of faith and good example