opportunities to take away his life, and was so much incensed against every one that relieved David, or shewed him any kindness in his greatest distress, that for this reason he caused all the inhabitants of Nobe to be massacred, without even sparing the children, or the brute animals themselves, and ordered Abimelech with fourscore and four priests to be put to death, because they had given David some of the sanctified loaves to eat during the time of his exile. Notwithstanding all this unheard of cruelty, David loved Saul most affectionately, spoke favourably of him wherever he went, and rendered him all the good services in his power, at the very time that Saul thirsted after his innocent blood, and was searching the mountains and dark caverns of the earth where he supposed David was hiding, in order to find him and put him instantly to death. On one of these occasions David, accompanied with a number of his trusty friends, happened to meet Saul alone in a solitary place, where, had he been disposed to be revenged, he might have easily secured his own life and peaceable possession of the royal crown of Israel for himself and his family after; but he was so far from laying violent hands on him, that he dismissed him unhurt, after cutting off the skirt of Saul's robe to shew that he had him in his power. This made St. John Chrysostom say: as often as I reflect on the meekness and charity of King David, finding his greatest enemy alone in a solitary cave, I look upon that cave as a temple, where he offered unto God the most acceptable of all sacrifices, not that he sacrificed the flesh of animals there, but because he surmounted his own anger, and resisted all desire of revenge, which is a thousand times more agreeable to the Lord; he acquired more glory in suffering Saul to go away unhurt than he acquired by defeating the formidable Giant Goliah, and cutting off his head; he stood in no need of a sling, a stone or a sword; he obtained, without weapons, the most signal of all victories in forgiving his enemy; he did not return from the field of battle carrying the head of a giant in his hands, but subduing the most violent of all passions. The women and daughters of Israel did not sing as they did after the defeat of Goliah, Saul killed a thousand and David ten thousand, but the Angels in Heaven, who were faithful witnesses of his sincere charity, proclaimed his victory, and published his glory among the blessed.

Say no longer, then, my brethren, that it is impossible to love your enemies, and do good to those who pursue you with the greatest malice, hatred and disdain. Christ does not command impossibilities; His yoke is sweet, and his burden is light. Thousands of holy martyrs amongst the primitive Christians, who wore the same flesh and blood with us, preserved in their hearts the most sincere affection and charity for their enemies, and sought no other way to be revenged of them than by praying for them, and overcoming evil with good. They suffered

the loss of every thing that was dear to human nature with patience, and endured the sharpest trials and the most barbarous cruelties with the meekness of lambs and the simplicity of doves. Far from retaliating, far from regarding their persecutors as objects of their anger and aversion, they looked upon them as the instruments of divine justice, and bore the injuries done them as coming from the hand of God, and designed for their spiritual good. When they were imprisoned, scourged, stoned and put to death, they prayed for their enemies, they rejoiced that they were deemed worthy to suffer ignominy for the name of Jesus, and they laid down their lives without shewing the least resentment. Where shall we find such examples of charity and moderation now-a-days? How often, alas! do modern Christians, for want of observing the maxims of the Gospel, turn enemies to their own repose and traitors to their conscience? How often do they provoke the divine vengeance against themselves, and unchristianly, as well as imprudently, revenge upon their own souls the real or imaginary injuries done to their persons? If they do not imbrue their hands in the blood of those whom they suppose to be their enemies, and that for fear of falling victims to the justice of the civil laws, how often do they wish for their death, and murder them with their hearts, though not with their hands, and stab their reputation with their envenomed tongues? They grieve at their prosperity, rejoice at their adversity, inveigh against them with bitterness, and take pleasure in hearing them reviled, traduced and detracted by others; they cannot endure their presence, nor bear to hear a favourable word said of them; they obstinately reject all terms of reconciliation, and refuse to return even an answer or a salute. Others, indeed, more moderate, will say that they forgive those whom they call their enemies, that they bear them no ill-will and wish them no harm, but never desire to see their face or sit in their company. Surely, my brethren, it cannot be reasonably supposed that this is sufficient to comply with the great law of charity, and discharge the obligation of fraternal love, which our Divine Legislator commands us to bear unto all those who are created after his image, redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and destined to inherit his kingdom. Would we be satisfied to be forgiven ourselves by God on these terms only, so as never to be admitted into his divine presence, nor to see his blessed face? To bear no ill-will, or wish no harm to our neighbour, what is this more than what we do to the common beasts? The Law of God requires a more sublime perfection and sanctity from us. If thy enemy be hungry, says St. Paul, feed him; if he be thirsty give him drink; for in doing this thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, Rom. c. xii. v. 20, that is, according to the interpretation of St. Ambrose, thou wilt mitigate his anger and make him your friend. The effects of your charity will rekindle his that was dead, as a burning coal lights

another that was quenched. By this condescension you will contribute to save his soul, and extricate him from the jaws of hell. This is charity; this is loving our neighbour in God and for God; this, in short, is loving God in our neighbour, and it is in this manner we are to love our enemies and gain over those that hate us. Look down upon us, we beseech thee, O Blessed Jesus, from the throne of thy bliss with the eyes of pity, and grant us, by the merits of thy passion and death, that spirit of charity with which thou didst cry out from the cross for thy most cruel enemies, saying, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Verify in our hearts what we so often repeat with our tongues, saying, Father, forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. Fill our hearts with such abundant charity as may entitle our souls to the joys of Heaven, where we hope to see and enjoy thee for never ending eternity; which is the blessing, my brethren, that I sincerely wish you all, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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SECOND DAY OF NOVEMBER,

On the Sufferings of the Souls in Purgatory.

Miseremini mei, miseremini mei, saltem vos amici mei, quia manus Domini tetigit me.Job. c. xix. v. 21.

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, at least you my friends, for the hand of the Lord has smitten me.—Job. c. xix. v. 21.

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WE have reason to thank the Lord, for having called us to a religion, whose charity and zeal extends itself beyond the li mits of our mortal life, and we should deem ourselves happy in being the children of a Church which, after closing our eyes here below is solicitous to assist us in the other world. of our separated brethren thinks no more of her members when she once ceases to see them; her solicitude for them reaches no farther than the grave, and this is but a natural consequence of the innovations made in the ancient faith in the two last cen turies; but the Catholic Church, that plaintive dove and beloved spouse of Jesus Christ, does not intermit her sighs and her prayers until she has placed us in the bosom of eternal happiness; her charity embraces all the members of Christ; it maintains a mutual intercourse between them, and engages her to share both the miseries and afflictions, the comforts and blessings of all that are comprised in her communion. Hence, as she is composed of three parts, the triumphant Church in Heaven, the militant

Church on earth, and the patient or suffering Church in Purgatory, she unites every part of her mystical body, and from the vespers of the present great festival of all the saints in Heaven, she celebrates the solemn commemoration of all the souls in Purgatory, that the faithful here on earth, who compose the Church militant, may join unanimously on these days in imploring the intercession and prayers of the saints who Compose the Church triumphant, and in praising and glorifying the Lord for their triumphs and crowns, and that they may in a particular manner solicit the divine mercy in favour of the Church patient, and afford them a share in their alms-deeds, devotions sacrifices and other good works, as they are not able in the least to assist themselves, the time of mercy and merit being now over for them, and the night being come in which they cannot work, as St. John speaks, c.ix. v. 4. It is for this reason that these suffering souls address themselves to us, and borrow the voice of the Church, which to express their moans and to excite our compassion cries out to us for them in these words of Job, Miseremini mei, &c. Have pity upon me, &c. My present design is to expound the belief and doctrine of the Church concerning purgatory, and then to lay before you not only the motives that should excite our compassion and engage us to assist the souls of the faithful therein detained, but also the means whereby they may be effectually relieved. Behold the subject and plan of the following discourse. Let us previously implore the divine aid, through the intercession of the blessed Virgin, greeting her with the angelical salutation, Ave Maria.

The belief of a Purgatory, or of a third and middle state of souls, is an article of faith, grounded not only upon Scripture, but also upon the perpetual tradition and constant practice of all ages and nations since the earliest years of Christianity, as appears from the unanimous testimonies of the holy fathers, the most ancient liturgies, and the most venerable monuments of antiquity both in the Greek and Latin Church. There are no less than six texts in the new Testament to prove the existence of a Purgatory, and the old Testament is so explicit on this head that nothing can be more conclusive. It is true, indeed, the last sentence in the general judgment only mentions Hea ven and hell, because these are the two only great receptacles of all men both good and bad, for all eternity, as there will be no Purgatory after the general judgment. It is also very true of every man at his death, that on whatever side the tree falls, on that it shall always lie, whether this text be understood of the body or of the soul; the doom of the soul is then fixed for ever, either to life everlasting or to eternal damnation, so that in this respect it will find itself always in an unchangeable state, whether it comes to the south or to the north, that is to Heaven or to hell. If it departs this life under the guilt of mortal sin, it will ever remain in that state, and eternal torments will be its portion. If it departs in the state of grace, it will

likewise remain so, and everlasting bliss will be its inheritance. But this does not exclude a temporary state of purgation before the last judgment for those who die in a state of grace, and who nevertheless, at the hour of their death, are defiled with some lesser blemishes and stains of venial sin, or who have left some part of the debt, which they owed to the divine justice, uncancelled on account of something that was wanting in their life-time to the perfection of their repentance; for St. Paul, 1 Cor. c. iii. speaking of such Christian souls, whose works have been imperfect and defective, though not to the degree of losing Christ, expressly says that they shall be saved, yet so as by fire;" from whence it follows that they cannot enter immediately into the joy of the Lord, without passing first through a temporary state of purgation, or as the Apostle says, through a fiery trial, that is, through the fire of Purgatory, for it is evident that no one can ever be saved who suffers hell fire, since out of hell' there is no redemption.

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Moreover, the Gospel, Mat. c. xii. v. 32, gives us plainly to understand that some lesser sins may be forgiven in the world to come, according to the remark of St. Augustine, and consequently that there must be a middle state or a Purgatory, for the relaxation of such sins, as no sin can enter Heaven to be forgiven there, and in hell there is no forgiveness. Christ also, Mat. c. v. v. 27, mentions a prison and place of punishment, out of which souls shall be delivered though not before they shall have paid the last farthing, and this place of punishment, according to St. Jerom and St. Cyprian, cannot be understood. of any other place than of Purgatory, out of which the souls therein confined, are not to be released, until they shall have fully satisfied the divine justice for the least venial sim they have committed. Such is God's hatred of the least sin, and such is the opposition which the stain of sin bears to his infinite justice and sanctity, that the smallest fault excludes a soul from Heaven so long as it is not blotted out. Nothing which is not perfectly pure, clean and spotless, can stand before him who is infinite purity and sanctity, and who cannot bear the sight of the least iniquity; for which reason the Scripture says, that nothing defiled shall enter into the holy city of the heavenly" Jerusalem, Apoc. c. xxi. v. 27. Unless, therefore, a Purga tory be admitted for purifying the souls of the faithful departed, it would follow that a just man, who dies suddenly after com mitting a venial sin, can never enjoy the presence of God, which is inconsistent with the goodness of God, and repugnant to the dictates of reason. It would also follow, that except three classes of Christians, scarce any, if any at all, can ever be admitted into the kingdom of Heaven; for except children who die in their baptismal innocence; secondly, martyrs, who seal their faith with the effusion of their blood; thirdly, renowned saints and illustrious penitents, who by extraordinary rigours and penitential austerities fully expiate all their faults in this