whereby he ought to shine in the Church of God. that, like unto the five prudent virgins in the Gospel, he may always be in readiness to go and meet Jesus Christ, the Divine Bridegroom, to whom his soul was espoused at Baptism, and to answer his call at whatsoever hour he shall invite him to the nuptials of his Heavenly Kingdom. Hence it is that the bap tizing Priest says to the baptized Christian, Receive this white garment, which mayest thou carry unstained before the judgmentseat of our Lord Jesus Christ, that thou mayest have eternal life, Amen; and again, receive this burning light, and keep thy Baptism without reproof; observe the commandments of God, that when our Lord shall come to his nuptials thou mayest meet him, together with all the saints, in the heavenly court, and mayest have life eternal. Amen.

As for the solemn renunciation of Satan, and of his works, and of his pomps, which is then made, it deserves our particular attention; for it is a vow and promise made in the face of the Church; and in the presence of God and his angels; it is an indissoluble contract and alliance, whereby we have engaged ourselves to abandon the party of the devil, to have nothing to do with his works, that is with the works of darkness and sin, and to cast away from us his pomps, that is, the maxims, modes and vanities of the world. It is, according to the Roman Catechism, p. 1. a. 2. n. 20, an holy and solemn profession, by which we have devoted ourselves to the service of the Blessed Trinity, as a religious man devotes himself to the service of God, by entering into a religious order, or as a Priest devotes himself to the service of the altar by receiving ordination. It is, in fine, a covenant or spiritual wedding like that of a bride with her bridegroom, contracted with God, in virtue of which we on our part swear allegiance to him, promise never to abandon his cause, renounce his faith, or deny his religion, but to combat vigorously under the banner of the Cross against the most dangerous enemies of our souls, the devil, the world and the flesh; to make always a steady and sincere profession of the great truths of Christianity, not by words only, but by the constant practice of good works; and God, on his part, promises us life everlasting if we prove faithful to our engagements, and preserve the white robe of our baptismal innocence pure and undefiled to the hour of death.

These engagements and vows we are bound to ratify and fulfil, when we come to the use of reason, as the Council of Trent teaches, Sess. 7. because they were made by our godfathers and god-mothers, in our name, at the baptismal Font. The holy Fathers and other spiritual writers advise all Christians to renew their baptismal vows every year on on the anniversary of their Baptism, and also on the grand solemnities of Easter and Whitsuntide, and on the feast of the most Holy Trinity. St. Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. 39. informs us that the

Greek Church celebrates a particular festival for this purpose, which they call the holy feast of lights. St. Bernard, Conc. I de dedic. Eccl. says, that we ought to look upon the feast of the dedication of the Church, as a day appointed for returning thanks every year to the Lord for the benefit of our vocation to Christianity, and for having consecrated the temples of our souls by the grace of Baptism. St. Charles Borromæus, Conc. 6. says, that the faithful ought to be admonished to pay unto the Lord an annual tribute of praise and thanksgiving on the anniversary of their baptism, and to spend that day in works of piety and devotion, such as renewing their baptismal engagements, meditating on the goodness of God in having brought them to this great Sacrament, reflecting seriously on the weighty obligations they have thereby contracted, and fervently imploring grace to fulfil them. And really if the Israelites were ordered by Moses, Exod. xiii. to keep a solemn feast every year in perpetual memory and thanksgiving, for the benefit of their deliverance from the Egyptian bondage, and their miraculous passage through the Red Sea, how much more reason have we to celebrate, in a particular manner, the anniversary of our baptism every returning year in grateful remembrance of the signal mercies of our God, who on that day vouchsafed to deliver us from the bondage of sin, to wash and purify us in the blood of the immaculate Lamb, Jesus Christ, and to exalt us to the eminent dignity of his adoptive children ?

Wo, nay double wo to us, if after having received so many signal favours and blessings from Heaven, we shamefully degenerate from the character and dignity of Christians, and perfidiously violate the promises we have made! It were better for us never to have been regenerated in the waters of baptism, never to have borne the glorious title of Christians, never to have known the way of justice, as St. Peter speaks, 2 Ep. c. ii. v. 21. than after the knowledge to turn back again, to strike a league with hell and dissolve the covenant we made with God. Alas! the manifold graces we have received will only serve to render us the more accountable to the Divine Justice, if we receive them in vain. They are so many funds of obligations, so many talents entrusted to us, and for which we shall be called to a more strict account, if, instead of improving them to the honour of God, the edification of our neighbour, and the advantage of our own souls, we abuse them to the dishonour and scandal of the Christian name. The very faith we profess, will serve for our greater confusion, and be the rule of our condemnation, if we do not conform our conduct to it. The white robe with which we were clothed at our baptism, will appear against us at the last day, and reproach us with our infidelity; nay, as the Holy Fathers speak, it will be dipped in a pool of fire 'and brimstone, and contribute to increase the torments of wicked Christians and Catho

lics in hell's devouring flames. The crimes they commit will be deemed more grievous and more deserving of punishment, on account of the base ingratitude, contempt, treachery, and perfidiousness which they imply. Their baptismal vows, their own consciences, the Priest who baptized them, the Angels who were witnesses, will bear testimony and demand vengeance for the abuses and profanations of their baptism; nay, as the Gospel says, the very Ninivites and other infidels will then rise up in judgment against them, and convict them of perjury and apostacy. The numerous tribes of barbarians who are deprived of the grace of baptism, and have not the happiness to know God, may plead some excuse and expect some mitigation in their punishment; but the servant who knows the will of his master, and does it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. The Christian who is enlightened with the light of faith, and does not live up to his profession, but confessing God with his mouth denies him by his actions, will have nothing to say in his own defence, but will be liable to a far greater punishment than either Jews or Heathens; for, as the holy character of priesthood aggravates the guilt of a Priest, if he dishonours it by the irregularity of his life and the corruption of his morals, so in like manner, the holy character of baptism, profaned and dishonoured by a wicked life, renders a Christian more criminal, and will cover those at the last day with everlasting shame and confusion, who, after being washed in the blood of Jesus, after being made members of his mystical body, and after being favoured with so many means and opportunities to work their salvation, have ungratefully trampled under foot the most sacred laws of God and his Church, and re-plunged themselves into the bondage of Satan. Grant, O merciful Jesus, that we may conform our lives to the sanctity of our state, and model our actions upon the laws of thy Gospel. If hitherto we have sinned against Heaven and earth, and rendered ourselves unworthy to be called thy children; if unhappily we have made a shipwreck of our baptismal innocence and violated our vows, we return to thy mercy in the bitterness of our souls, and most humbly beseech thee to pardon us what is past, and preserve us from future relapses. O most holy and undivided Trinity, we adore and glorify thee for having called us to the wonderful light of faith, and incorporated us by the grace of our baptism in the pale and bosom of thy Church. Give us grace to

become worthy members of so illustrious a body, that we may edify our neighbour and promote thy honour and glory by the sanctity of our lives and by the purity of our morals, until we have the happiness to see and enjoy thee in the kingdom of thy glory, Which I wish you all, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

On the Necessity and Signal Advantages of Alms and Works of Mercy.

Estote misericordes, sicut et Pater vester misericors est.-Luc. c. vi. v. 36.

Be you merciful, as your Father is merciful.-St. Luke, c. vi. v. 36.

HEAVEN and earth, and all the wondrous works of the universe, proclaim the existence of an all-wise Providence which presides over all things, preserves regularity and perfect order in all things and extends its attention and care to every part of the creation, even to the birds of the air, to the fish of the sea, to the beasts of the field, and to the very least and the most minute insects. By Providence I mean the eternal will, infinite wisdom, power and goodness of God, by which he directs, governs and supports all his creatures according to his own wise purposes, and conducts them to their term or last end by such means as he knows to be the best adapted and the most suitable thereto. It is our indispensable duty to adore, obey and second the views and designs of his Divine Providence, with an unlimited dependance and submission. Whether he thinks proper to place us in a high or in a low station of life, in health or in sickness, in prosperity or in adversity, in affluence or in poverty, we are to rest satisfied with our condition, to bow down and conform to his holy will, to receive all things as coming from his blessed hands, and to be firmly persuaded that he orders all things sweetly and for our real benefit and greater advantage; for, as the Royal Prophet says, Ps. cxliv. v. 9. The Lord is sweet to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works; and again, Psalm cii. As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him. The grand end and view of God's Providence in the dispensation of the goods of this world to mankind, being the eternal salvation of their souls, it appertained to his wisdom, to establish a variety of states and conditions, and to place some in a more exalted station, others in a more humble; some at the head of the community, others at the feet; some in the possession of riches, others under the pressures of indigence; that by assisting each other, and fulfilling the different duties and functions of their respective states, they might all attain

the great and happy end for which they have been sent into the world. If there was a perfect equality in the states and conditions of men, if all were upon the same level and footing, who would take upon themselves the painful but necessary tasks of life? If all were masters, who would serve them? If all were servants, who would employ them? If all were poor, who would supply their wants? If all were equally rich and at their ease, who would work for them? Who would apply to hard labour and useful industry? Who would till and cultivate the earth in the sweat of their brow?

In the beginning, indeed, God made all things common, and commanded the earth to bring forth its fruits spontaneously, that every one might partake of them according to his necessity; but in process of time, sin and the corruption of man's heart rendered it necessary to make a division of earthly goods into unequal shares, and to consign a larger portion of them to some, and a smaller share to others. By this wise arrangement peace and subordination are preserved in human society, anarchy and confusion are prevented, daily labour and honest industry are promoted and rewarded. The rich and the laborious are rendered mutually dependant, and this mutual depen dance serves as a link to form a closer union between them, and to engage them to be useful and serviceable to each other like members of the same body.

But what means of subsistence has Divine Providence or damned for the distressed poor who are past their labour, incapable of applying to honest industry, and who have neither health nor strength to earn their daily bread in the sweat of their brow? Have they any reason to murmur against Heaven or to complain of the economy of Providence, as if they were forgotten in the distribution of its gifts? No, my brethren, the Father of Mercies has not abandoned or forgotten them, though for his own wise reasons he has not judged it expedient to deposit in their hands the perishable riches of this transitory life, which are generally abused and made instrumental to sin. If he leaves them in a state of poverty, it is that they may have an opportunity to atone for their sins, to sanctify their souls, to secure their salvation, and to merit everlasting happiness by their patience, humility and resignation. In the in terim, he has taken care to provide sufficiently for their corporal necessities, by giving them a just right and title to have their wants supplied out of the abundance of the rich; for he has appointed the rich to be the trustees, stewards, and co-operators of his Providence, and has absolutely commanded them, as Sovereign Lord and Master of all they possess, to relieve the distressed poor by alms-deeds according to their respective abilities and wants. To convince you of these important truths, and to induce you to a faithful and cheerful compliance with so essential a duty, is the design of the following discourse. The strict obligation and indispensable necessity of giving alms