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months, he began by divine instinct to perform the office of Christ's Precursor, to acknowledge his incarnation and pay. him his first homage of love and adoration; for, as the Gospel informs us, he leaped with joy in the womb of Elizabeth when the mother of our Lord favoured her with his and her presence, Luke, c. i. v. 24. It is the received opinion of St. Augustine, Ep. 187. and of others, that the Baptist, though conceived in original sin, was on this occasion freed from the guilt of it, and sanctified in his mother's womb at the presence of his Redeemer, as appears from the following words of the Angel to Zacharias, Thy wife Elizabeth shall bring thee forth a son, and he shall be replenished with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. But why should I dwell so long on the childhood of a saint, whose whole life was one continued chain of the most heroic virtues, and in whom the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost grew up with his years? As he was elevated to the most exalted ministry that man ever appeared in, and surpassed all his predecessors by the dignity of his office, he was raised of course to a degree of sanctity suitable thereto. The very nature of his ministry gave him a superiority over all the prophets, and his sanctity was not inferior to his dignity. It is herein that his greatness may be briefly said to have consisted. preserve his innocence and sanctity unspotted and unblemished, he sequestered himself at an early period from the society and evil communication of the world. Shunning the dangerous occasions of sin, he retired into a dreary wilderness in Judea, where he devoted the best part of his days to the spiritual exercises of prayer and heavenly contemplation, until the time of his manifestation to Israel Luke, i. v. 86. The Gospel is silent on many of the virtues which he practised in his holy retreat, and concealed from the eyes of men, but which rendered him truly great in the sight of the Lord. He united the inno cence of an Angel with all the rigorous austerities, self-denials, and mortifications of a penitent, and allowed himself no other nourishment or relaxation but what was barely sufficient to support nature. His garment consisted of camel's hair, and was no better than a species of coarse camlet. He wore a leathern cincture about his loins, the naked ground served him for a bed, and his food was locusts and wild honey, which the desert supplied him with. He neither eat bread, nor drank wine nor any strong drink, which gave occasion to the Saviour of the world to say of him, that John came neither eating nor drinking, Mat. c. xi. v. 18. his life being one continual fast and spiritual martyrdom. O how opposite is the conduct of the modern disciples and followers of Christ to the conduct of the forerunner of Christ? What a striking contrast is there between his life and our lives, though Christ assures us, Mat. c. xi. v. 12. that from the time of John the Baptist till the present, the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and those that use violence bear it away.

Far from resembling those fickle inconstant Christians who,

like unto a reed, shaken with every blast of wind, are carried awayby the torrent of their passions and yield to the most trifling temptation, John persevered in the service of his Divine Master, and was not to be warped from his duty by any means. Having appeared at the age of thirty years on the banks of the river Jordan, he entered publicly upon the sacred functions of his ministry, and began by his word, as well as by his example, to preach the necessity of the baptism of penance, which was a figure of, and a preparation for, the baptism of the new law. He reproved the vices of all orders of men with undaunted zeal, and inveighed particularly against the pride and hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees, the injustice of publicans, the extortions of tax gatherers, and the oppressions and cruelties of the military. Luke, iii. and his labours were crowned with such wonderful success, that crowds of proselytes flocked to him from the neighbouring countries, repenting and confessing their sins and receiving his baptism, Mat. c. iii. v. 6. The Jews, edified by the splendor of his doctrine and the lustre of his virtues, conceive so high an esteem and veneration for him, that they imagine him to be the promised Messiah. The zealous preacher of penance repeatedly assures them he is not even worthy to render the Messiah the least or the lowest service. He takes as much pains to undeceive and disabuse them of their mistaken notions, as others are apt to take pleasure in unmerited praises and applauses which they have no right to seek or to assume. His soul being truly humble he is little in his own eyes, though great in the sight of the Lord. It is the loftiest trees, says St. Augustine, that always shoot their roots deepest in the earth; and the higher a stately edifice rises, the lower in proportion is the foundation that is laid. In like manner, the more sublime and the more exalted the virtues and perfections of John the Baptist were, the deeper was the foundation of humility which he sunk and grounded them on. His spotless innocence, his angelic purity, his spirit of prayer and retirement, his unparalleled austerities and penance were wonderfully great, but his humility was the more profound in proportion. This was the crown of all his greatness. He openly declares to a solemn embassy of Jewish Priests and Levites who waited on him, that he is no more than an empty sound or a mere voice, to be attended to only on account of the meaning it conveys and the object it signifies. He even declines the title of a Prophet, as he did not foretel things to come, though he was more than a Prophet, as he pointed out, the Messiah then already come. He denies that he is Elias, as he was not Elias in person, though he was Elias in spirit and office, Jo. c. i. He is unacquainted with his own high preroga tives and excellent perfections, and entirely taken up with promoting the honour and glory of his divine master. Whilst the world admires him, he undervalues himself; he forgets himself in the very bosom of glory; he annihilates himself in the most

exalted degree of dignity and sanctity; but the more he han bled himself, the more our Blessed Saviour exalted him and éxtolled his merit, comparing him, Jo. c. v. v. 35. to a burning and shining lamp, burning with the most ardent zeal, and shining by the fervour of his charity and other brilliant virtues, with which he was endowed.

When Jesus Christ produced himself in public, about the age of thirty years, and submitted by the most astonishing condes scension to the baptism of his forerunner, whose humility yielded to the duty of obedience after some resistance, the Baptist concluded that, having announced his Divine Masters to the world, it was high time for him to retire. He saw the Holy Ghost descending on him at the river Jordan in the ap-s pearance of a dove, and heard a voice from Heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, Mat. c. iii. He therefore resolved to leave him the glory of shining alone, as the morning star which precedes and announces the sun and shines with its rays, withdraws its borrowed light and leaves the glory of enlightening the world to the sun alone, as soon as it appears and shows itself above the horizon. The grand object of the Baptist was to bear testimony to the truth, that, as the Gospel says, all men might believe through him, and be induced by his preaching to embrace the light which enlightens every man that cometh into this world, Jo. c. i. He acquitted him self faithfully of this duty, fulfilled his ministry with joy, v. 29. and manifested Christ to mankind by so many illustrious testimonies, that he had the pleasure to see his glory shining, more brightly every day, and eclipsing the great renown he himself had justly acquired. To raise his reputation the more, he sent those he had baptized to receive from Christ a more powerful and a more efficacious baptism. Behold, said he to them, the Lamb of God; behold him that taketh, away the sins of the world. This is he who is preferred before me, because he was before me. I baptize in water, but it is he that baptizeth in the Holy Ghost, Jo. c. i. and again, c. iii. v. 30. He must increase, but I must be lessened and diminished in the opinion of mankind, when they begin to believe in him and know his great superiority over me. It was with this view, and not for his own instruction, but for the greater edification of his disciples, that he dispatched and sent them to Christ, Mat. c. xi. for he had reason to believe that the sight of his sacred person would charm their eyes, the sanctity of his doctrine would subdue their hearts, his heavenly conversation would attract their affections, and that the splendour of his miracles would remove all their doubts, convince their understanding, and engage them to become his disciples. Thus St. John took care like a good father, to provide the best of masters for them before he consummated his ministry, and to induce them to enter into the school of Jesus Christ and learn his heavenly doctrine. Behold here, my brethren, a sketch of his

holy life. How many instructive lessons does it not furnish us with? Should not his example make a deep impression in our souls, and teach us the indispensable obligation we are under to lead a penitential life, in order to carry the kingdom of Heaven by an holy violence to our corrupt nature? Should we not endeavour, like him, to discharge with fidelity all the duties of our vocation, and to imitate his humility, his zeal, and such other of his eminent virtues as are centred within our sphere, proportioned to our strength, and suitable to our respective states? This is the true method of honouring the Saints of God, and the surest way to be crowned hereafter with them in glory. Our Saint finished his career by a glorious martyrdom under the tyrannical government of Herod Antipas. What was the cause hereof? for, as St. Augustine remarks, it is not the punishment but the cause that makes a martyr. Martyrem non facit pæna sed causa. An insatiable fury in a lascivious woman, a wanton address in her dancing daughter, a barbarous com plaisance in a sacrilegious tyrant, a noble intrepidity in a mortified Saint, were the motives that cast him into an obscure and nauseous prison, condemned him to a frightful dungeon, loaded him with chains, and deprived him of his life amidst the dazzling splendor of a royal court, and the rejoicings of a birthday banquet. His sacred head, spouting forth rivulets of blood, was served up upon a dish to gratify the rage and vengeance of a lewd incestuous Queen. Cease then, O Christians, to murmur, complain and repine when you are visited with crosses, disappointments and sufferings, since you here behold innocence and sanctity bleeding, vice and iniquity triumphing, , the greatest man born of a woman persecuted and oppressed, whilst a monster of impiety was permitted by an all-wise Providence to enjoy the momentary comforts of this transitory life, and wallow in filthy pleasures. All the inhabitants of Jerusalem were witnesses of the incestuous and adulterous conversation of Herod with his brother's wife, but none of them had the courage to speak to him about the scandalous state wherein he lived. St. John was too sensible of the strict obligation of fraternal correction on similar occasions, to be silent either through fear or human respect. His zeal and charity prompted him to give the tyrant an admonition, and to reprove his misconduct with an impartial freedom and an undaunted authority, in these few words: It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. The consequence was that Herod, at the request of Herodias ordered his head to be cut off in the prison, and to be brought up in a most inhuman manner to his own table, Mark, c. vi. Thrice happy Saint! whose death, equal to his life, was precious in the sight of the Lord, and rewarded with the everlasting joys and glory of Heaven. Let us, my brethren, endeavour to bear some resemblance of him, by an imitation of the virtues of his holy life and happy death as nearly as we can, that after living and dying in the service

VOL. II.

and grace of our Creator, our souls may be translated from the miseries of this sinful Babylon to the charming mansions of heavenly Jerusalem. Which is the blessing that I cordially wish you all, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.

On the Necessity of an Operative Faith, accompanied with Good Works, and the Practice of Christian Virtues.

Omnis arbor, quæ non facit fructum bonum, excidetur, et in ignem mittetur. Mat. c. vii. v. 19.

Every tree that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down and cast into the fire. Mat. c. vii. v. 19.

THE moral sense of these words of this day's Gospel is plain and obvious. It is evident that the fate of Christianity is hereby emblemed and pointed out. Not only the tree that brings forth bad fruit shall be condemned to the flames, but this also shall be the fate of the barren tree on which no good fruit is found; that is to say, not only those who live openly engaged in the practice of vice shall receive the sentence of eternal fire, but likewise the indolent Christian, who does not produce the real fruits of solid virtue and good works. A mere speculative or abstractive faith will not save him; for the true saving faith is active and operative. It worketh by charity and the practice of Christian virtues, Gal. c. v. v. 6. The advantages of faith are indeed great in themselves, but, as St. James remarks, they will avail us but little without good works. To be justified in the sight of God, two conditions are essentially necessary, faith and obedience; that is, we must not only believe what Christ has taught, but we must also obey what he has commanded. Our actions must agree with our belief, and our lives must correspond with the purity of the faith we profess. As Catholics you are fully persuaded hereof, my brethren; you know that it is by a practical and active faith that the just man lives, and hopes to reap the benefit of Christ's Redemption, who expressly says in the Gospel of this day, Not every one who saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he who doth the will of my Father who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Yet how few are there to be found who practice what they believe, and live up to the holy law and will of God? There are millions who firmly believe