If thy friend see a fault in thee, ask his assistance to correct it; for he will bring down a reproof upon himself, if he see thee in need of reproof, and correct thee not, not only as a teacher, but as a friend and a brother. This is friendship; and one brother, supported by another, becometh as it were a strong city. (Prov. xviii. 10.) Again, Hom. in Act. Apost. XXVI. "Every house with a family is a church; nor think it otherwise, if there be only the husband and the wife therein; for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.' (Matt. xviii. 20.) Where Christ is in the midst, there is a mighty host; for where He is, the angels, and archangels, and the other powers, must be likewise. Ye are not then alone, if ye have the Lord.

Be ye filled with the Holy Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things.'Epist. Ephes. v. 18, 20.

Dost thou wish to be cheerful? Wouldst thou profitably employ thy hours? Learn to sing hymns and spiritual songs, according to the advice of the great Apostle; do this, and thou shalt feel the delightfulness of the employment; for they who sing psalms become filled with the Holy Spirit, as they who sing the songs of the enemy of souls, are filled with his unclean spirit. And what is meant by, in your hearts to the Lord? It means to sing with the mind and the understanding. For they who sing not thus, sing to little effect, uttering the words, while their heart is roaming elsewhere.-Hom. xix. Ephesians.

THE GREAT EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE.

The priesthood is exercised on earth, but it ranks among the things of heaven. And properly so: for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any created power, but the Holy Spirit himself has ordained it, enabling mortals dwelling in the flesh to image forth the ministry of angels. Therefore doth it behoove one of the sacerdotal order to be pure, as though he stood in heaven itself, in the midst of the celestial powers. For if those things which preceded the dispensation of grace, were solemn and awful, such as the ornaments of the priests, the ephod, the mitre, the robes, the golden plates, and the rest of the sacerdotal array; not to speak of the Holy of Holies, and the profound silence that reigned within the Sanctuary; you will find that solemn as they were, they are nothing comparable to the grand and awful characteristics of the dispensation of grace. We may say of them in the language of St. Paul, that which was glorious in this part, had no glory, in comparison with the glory that excelleth.' When you contemplate an immolated Lord, and the priest bending over the Sacrifice pouring forth prayers, and the people empurpled with that sacred blood; can you, at that moment believe yourself among mortals, and standing upon earth, and not rather transported to heaven? Is not every fleshly affection banished from your mind, and does not your soul, unfettered from the dominion of the senses, commingle with what is passing in the world of spirits? O prodigy!

He who sit

oh ineffable bounty of God to man! teth at the right hand of the Father in heaven, deigns to be touched by the hands of all, yields himself to those who desire to embrace and receive him, and reveals himself to all by the eyes of faith. Would you contemplate, in another wonderful display, the exceeding excellence of the Eucharistic Sacrifice? Picture to yourself the prophet Elias, and the countless multitude surrounding him, at the moment of his offering the sacrifice. The victim is extended upon the stone, and all the assistants wait in solemn and profound silence. The voice of the prophet is heard alone, pouring forth prayers when suddenly the flame descends from heaven upon the victim. How imposing the scene, how calculated to inspire the heart with astonishment and awe! now turn your eyes to what is passing in our temples, and you will see, not things amazing, but surpassing all amazement.

:

The Christian priest stands forth, and calls down not fire from heaven, but the Holy Spirit. He prays, and that for a long space, not that the flame may descend from above, and consume the offering, but that grace, falling on the Sacrifice, may inflame by it the souls of all the faithful present, and render them more pure than gold refined in the fire. Who, then, but one of disordered mind, could undervalue so matchless a mystery?

Think how wonderful it is, that man, still encumbered with flesh and blood, should become capable of being drawn near to that blessed and perfect nature, and you will in part comprehend how vast the honour with which the grace of the Holy Spirit, dignifies the priest. By his minis

try these things, and others not inferior, are performed, tending to our glory and salvation.

What manner of man ought he to be, who acts as ambassador for the city of God, ambassador for the whole world, and who supplicates God to be merciful to the sins of all men, not only of the living, but also of the dead. When he shall have invoked the Holy Spirit, and completed the tremendous Sacrifice, often holding in his hands the common Lord of all, let me ask you, in what order shall we rank him? What purity of heart, what integrity of life, what godliness of character, should we not demand of him? Reflect what those hands should be, what the tongue that utters those words, how pure and holy the soul that has been so honoured. At that moment do angels stand round the officiating priest, and the whole host of the heavenly powers cry aloud, and the space around the altar is filled with them in honor of the sacrifice. Nor is this incredible from the nature of the solemn action there performed. I have heard some one relate, that a certain venerable man told him that he was thought worthy to behold such a sight, and that he suddenly beheld, at the moment of the sacrifice, a multitude of angels, as far as it was possible for him to do, clad in shining raiment, encircling the altar, and bending their heads from above, as one might behold a band of soldiers, standing in presence of their king.-Book of the Priesthood.

[See also above, pages 151 and 153.]

CONFESSION.

You have a tablet on which you set down your daily expenses; be your consciences also a tablet, on which you mark your daily sins. When you retire to rest, and no one intrudes, open this tablet; before sleep fall upon your eyelids, repass in wholesome review the faults and failings of the day; recal to mind whatever you have done amiss, in thought, word, or deed. In the words of the prophet: Stand in awe, and sin not; be sorry on your bed for the designs which you have in your hearts.' (Psal. iv.) During the day you have been actively employed; its thousand cares have engaged your thoughts. Now, when these have subsided, and all is tranquil, thus commune with your heart: The day is passed: What good have I done? What evil have I done? If good, give thanks to God; if evil, resolve to do it no more. But let the recollection of your sins touch your heart, let it bid the tear bedew your pillow, for so shall you efface them from your soul. Such a closing up of the day will render heaven propitious. Having thus called yourself to account, and acknowledged your failings. compose yourself to rest. In a practice like this what is there arduous or troublesome? Such a self-confession as this will arouse and prepare you for a more active inquiry into your failings hereafter.-Hom. II. in Psalm I.

To mortals has been committed the dispensation of heavenly things, a dispensation not given by God to angels or archangels: for to these it was not said: 'What you shall bind on earth shall be bound in