able to the will of God; always asking for that which is truly the best, and thus, in our prayer, following the method of which we have here been speaking.

SECTION II.

Of the other petitions.

The principal petition about which we have hitherto spoken, and which divides itself into two heads, — first, that in which we ask for justice and sanctity for ourselves; secondly, that by which we ask every thing that is just, is also the principle which gives an order to all our other petitions. And indeed, the principle of justice, which, when considered in itself, is simple and indivisible, when applied to various circumstances produces consequences which become so many rules of conduct, in individual cases, to the followers of Christ, whose one only object and end is justice.

These special rules, which arise out of the great principle of justice, when applied to practice, may be reduced to the three following:

1. That we fulfil with punctuality all duties belonging to our own office.

2. That we follow the invitations of Divine Providence, or the will of God, manifested to us by external circumstances in the good work which we undertake.

3. That we labour to advance as much as possible in all that regards the contemplative life, or union with God.

From these three general rules arise three different classes of petitions: 1st, petitions in which that which we ask for is determined by the fixed duties of our calling and state of life; 2d, petitions in which that which we

ask for is determined by accidental manifestations of the Divine will in our regard; 3d, petitions which arise spontaneously, and in which we ask of God whatever most pleases us, and in which we are free to ask whatever we feel most desirous of obtaining. We will say a few words on each of these three classes of petitions.

§ 1.

Of that which we ought to ask in consequence of our own particular state.

The first thing which we should ask of God, after our own justice and sanctification, and after every thing else which is just as regards ourselves, according to the rule laid down above, is the sanctification of those souls which are in any way confided to our care by God, if any have been so confided.

And this special prayer for others is contained implicitly, as we have observed, in the general petition for our own sanctification, and is itself also an act of justice; because if God has confided any souls to our care, it becomes our duty to pray for them, since to pray for them is the very best way we can take to do them good. Hence it is that the Church imposes on bishops and parish priests the duty of offering the holy sacrifice of the Mass every Sunday for the people committed to their charge. And this is according to the example given by our Blessed Lord, who in the prayer which He made at His last supper, before He went forth to Gethsemane, first of all prayed for Himself; but since He already possessed all justice, He needed only to ask of His heavenly Father the just effect and consequence of justice, namely, the glory which was its due, saying, "Father, the hour is come,

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glorify Thy Son." And even this glory He asked out of love for the glory of His Father, referring all His own glory, by an act of justice and perfect generosity, to that of His heavenly Father; since to the prayer, "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son," He adds, "that Thy Son also may glorify Thee." Then, having thus prayed for Himself, He prays next for His Apostles, for those, namely, who held the nearest place amongst those which had been given Him by His Father : I pray for them ;” and He adds as the reason, because they had been given into His hands by His Father: "Holy Father, keep through Thy name those whom Thou hast given Me." And for them He asks only spiritual blessings, but asks that these may be given in the highest possible, even as it were in an infinite degree; saying, in words as strong and expressive as the human language is capable of, "That they all may be one, as We are one." Having prayed for them who belonged to Him most nearly, and were more closely allied to Him in the spiritual order, He prays for them also who belonged to Him, but who were less nearly connected with Him: "And not for them alone do I pray, but for those who shall believe in Me through their word." Whereby He gives an example to all superiors, that they should pray not only for those who are at present under their charge, but for all those who may hereafter be committed to their care.

It is, therefore, a duty incumbent on every one, after having prayed for himself, to pray for the souls comnitted to his charge, for it is according to justice that he should do so; but in his prayer he must follow the order of the will of God, which he will the better understand by means of the following considerations:

'John xvii. 1.

Every one knows for certain that God wills his salvation, wills that he should be perfect as his Father who is in heaven is perfect; he knows also that his own free will, cooperating with Divine grace, is the cause of his salvation. But if he is able, by an act of his own free will, assisted by Divine grace, to effect his salvation, he cannot in like manner save the soul of his neighbour, unless the neighbour himself consents. Hence a man may be certain of having his petitions granted in all that regards his own salvation, if he co-operates with Divine grace; but he cannot be equally certain of obtaining the salvation of his neighbour. He ought, therefore, to pray for this conditionally, submitting every thing to Him who, being under no obligation to any created being, has from all eternity, of His own free and gratuitous act, predestinated some to glory, and foreseen the damnation of others by reason of their own fault. All prayers, then, which we offer up on behalf of others should be offered in conformity with the eternal predestination of the elect; praying always for nothing else but that the most perfect, wise, holy, and most just predestination of the elect should have its fulfilment, according as it was determined before all ages in the will of the infinitely perfect Being, since nothing can be more perfect than that which has from all eternity been preordained by the will of a God of infinite goodness and perfection. When, therefore, we pray for our brethren, our prayer should be, that all the elect may realise their election, according to the good pleasure of our heavenly Father. Of this conformity with the Divine will, which is the high rule of all perfection, Jesus Christ gives us an example: "I pray not," He says, "for the world, but for those whom Thou hast given Me, because they are Thine;" for those, namely, whom Thou hast predestinated to eternal

life, and hast given to Me. I pray for them not because they are Mine, but because they are Thine, and such is the good pleasure of Thy will; for these do I pray for the sake of that infinite and boundless love which I bear to Thee.

In regard of the prayers which the Church orders to be made by a positive command, we should enter into the spirit of the Church itself, and observe a due order in the petitions we make therein to God. It will, therefore, be useful to keep in mind that order and method which we have just laid down; and which method or order may be shortly comprised in the two following rules:

1. That in praying for others we always make eternal salvation the first object of our prayers, according to that maxim of our Lord, "Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them in like manner;" and again, “What will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?""2 Hence, whenever we ask for temporal blessings, we should always ask them conditionally, provided they will conduce to the good of the soul.

2. That when we pray for particular persons, we intend to pray implicitly for the good of the whole body of the Church, that the vine of Jesus Christ may produce the greatest possible fruit, and that each soul which belongs to the vine may render the greatest possible return to the Divine Master of the vineyard; since in this consists the glory of our heavenly Father, which it is the unceasing object of Jesus Christ to promote and increase; for "in this," says He, "is My heavenly Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and that you become My disciples.”3 So in the parable of the vine, Jesus Christ de1 Matt. vii. 12. 2 Matt. xvi. 26. 3 John xv. 8.